The death of competition

[Dante Lavelli]

I agree, I do not get this anti Platini thing.  As far as can see he is trying to stop clubs bankrupting themselves.

[ktvillan]

I've been saying for years that between them Sky,  UEFA and the PL (mainly that c**t Scudamore) are slowly killing the goose that lays the golden eggs - competition - in the lust for cash.   The game has been stolen from the fans and only a few big clubs can genuinely compete.  Chelsea have had a shit season by their recent standards  yet have somehow comfortably cruised in to second place.  I can't abide American sports but at least the Americans realise the importance of keeping genuine competition alive with their draft systems.  The top 3 have been pretty much set in stone for a few seasons now, and it used to be top 4 when Liverpool had their act together.  The only real competitionin the PL now is who will get 4th and 5th, and who will be relegated.  With the emergence of City, you can see 4th place being stitched up again for a while now.

[Meanwood Villa]

Obviously a few differing opinions about who may or may not be responsible for it, and also whether other countries are worse or better than England but I seem to detect a broad consensus that there is a disticnt lack of competition in terms of winning the title. The other thing I was wondering is do people think this matters?
While I accept we don't have a snowball in hell's chance of winning the league I still retain an unhealthy obsession (as my girlfriend would probably call it) with the Villa and I've been on cloud 9 since Sunday. This is the kind of blind faith I'm sure Sky and the league etc know they can count on and it's the kind of interest and dedication that I'm sure many on here share.
Given this continuing level of commitment by us and thousands of other fans and the simple joy we gain from our team winning on a weekend does it really matter that 2 or 3 behemoths at the top of the league take home all the honours (other than when they inflict the twice annual defeats on our teams of course)?
 Of course success and failure in football is all relative. Rochdale fans will have an immense glow of satisfaction from finishing 9th in div 3, which would be a complete and utter disaster for us. Their joy is no different from the Man U fan singing that "champione" bollocks or us toasting another win at the Emirates so maybe we should just accept things and take enjoyment from the game where we can. Something like "how I learned to stop worrying and love the Premier League". What do people think? Is this giving up?

[cheltenhamlion]

I much prefer to keep writing about why modern football is wank.

[Percy McCarthy]

There are cases going through the courts at the moment that, if they go the right way, could really bugger up the Premier and Champions League TV deals. EU courts would, I assume, have no say over the world-wide rights, which are distributed equally between the 20 clubs. Could be a really good thing for competition.

In the meantime, I have made good money by betting a couple of idiots at work that Liverpool would not finish in the top four the last two seasons.

[Whiney MacWhineface]

There are cases going through the courts at the moment that, if they go the right way, could really bugger up the Premier and Champions League TV deals. EU courts would, I assume, have no say over the world-wide rights, which are distributed equally between the 20 clubs. Could be a really good thing for competition.

What cases are these Percy? How would they be good for competition?

[cdward]

I much prefer to keep writing about why modern football is wank.

Birmingham City winning a Coca Cola Cup is modern football, so yes i agree.

[not3bad]

I much prefer to keep writing about why modern football is wank.

Birmingham City winning a Coca Cola Cup is modern football, so yes i agree.

So if Arsenal or Man United had won it you'd disagree?

[5ft811st2 Durham]

Obviously a few differing opinions about who may or may not be responsible for it, and also whether other countries are worse or better than England but I seem to detect a broad consensus that there is a disticnt lack of competition in terms of winning the title. The other thing I was wondering is do people think this matters?
While I accept we don't have a snowball in hell's chance of winning the league I still retain an unhealthy obsession (as my girlfriend would probably call it) with the Villa and I've been on cloud 9 since Sunday. This is the kind of blind faith I'm sure Sky and the league etc know they can count on and it's the kind of interest and dedication that I'm sure many on here share.
Given this continuing level of commitment by us and thousands of other fans and the simple joy we gain from our team winning on a weekend does it really matter that 2 or 3 behemoths at the top of the league take home all the honours (other than when they inflict the twice annual defeats on our teams of course)?
 Of course success and failure in football is all relative. Rochdale fans will have an immense glow of satisfaction from finishing 9th in div 3, which would be a complete and utter disaster for us. Their joy is no different from the Man U fan singing that "champione" bollocks or us toasting another win at the Emirates so maybe we should just accept things and take enjoyment from the game where we can. Something like "how I learned to stop worrying and love the Premier League". What do people think? Is this giving up?

It is giving up, you are happy to accept a few crumbs of comfort,while the wealthy gorge themselves on a bonanza from Sky, The Champions League, and corporate sponsorship.

Every change in our game has been driven by a desire to accede to the demands of the wealthiest clubs  who as a consequence have achieved the omnipotence that they always desired. This is so far removed from the game of my childhood that in this case the past truly is  a foreign country.

There needs to be a revolution basically, but I don't think there is sufficient anger out there, although I'm bloody furious! 

[Percy McCarthy]

There are cases going through the courts at the moment that, if they go the right way, could really bugger up the Premier and Champions League TV deals. EU courts would, I assume, have no say over the world-wide rights, which are distributed equally between the 20 clubs. Could be a really good thing for competition.

What cases are these Percy? How would they be good for competition?

According to an article I read a few months ago, and already hazy in my memory, a pub landlady down south somewhere is trying to win the right to show games that she sources from a Greek channel via her satellite. If she wins it is thought that each individual country's TV deal will only be worth the price of the cheapest one in Europe, including Champions League. This would only apply to the EU, so the world-wide rights would be unaffected. The hope is that the equally distributed world rights would make the CL and domestic rights less significant, creating more of a level playing field. A long way to go yet, but progress.

Incidentally, Italy is going back to a collectively negotiated TV deal, as the individual club rights system was a disaster, and Spain are seriously considering it too.

Found this, only refers to the Premier League, but something else I read mentioned that Champions League revenues were under more immediate threat.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/03/ec-tv-rights-premier-league

[Whiney MacWhineface]

Interesting. I remember this now. Of course, all this would mean is that the income from EU TV sales would be reduced, and as that income is distributed evenly throughout the PL it would probably hurt the less well off more than those that get more income from other sources.

The other issue in that article is the one about 3:00 kick-offs being (legally) shown live. Good for fans of PL clubs not having their fixtures sodded around quite as much (though Sky and ESPN will still want to move fixtures about), but possibly a bit dodgy for lower league clubs whose crowds might stay and watch Man Utd or whoever on TV rather than wander down the road.

[Percy McCarthy]

Interesting. I remember this now. Of course, all this would mean is that the income from EU TV sales would be reduced, and as that income is distributed evenly throughout the PL it would probably hurt the less well off more than those that get more income from other sources.

You're probably right that it would affect the EU-based part of the world-wide rights, but the biggest growth areas for those rights are the far-east and America. If the ruling fucks up the CL TV revenues that can only be a good thing IMO.

[Meanwood Villa]

Obviously a few differing opinions about who may or may not be responsible for it, and also whether other countries are worse or better than England but I seem to detect a broad consensus that there is a disticnt lack of competition in terms of winning the title. The other thing I was wondering is do people think this matters?
While I accept we don't have a snowball in hell's chance of winning the league I still retain an unhealthy obsession (as my girlfriend would probably call it) with the Villa and I've been on cloud 9 since Sunday. This is the kind of blind faith I'm sure Sky and the league etc know they can count on and it's the kind of interest and dedication that I'm sure many on here share.
Given this continuing level of commitment by us and thousands of other fans and the simple joy we gain from our team winning on a weekend does it really matter that 2 or 3 behemoths at the top of the league take home all the honours (other than when they inflict the twice annual defeats on our teams of course)?
 Of course success and failure in football is all relative. Rochdale fans will have an immense glow of satisfaction from finishing 9th in div 3, which would be a complete and utter disaster for us. Their joy is no different from the Man U fan singing that "champione" bollocks or us toasting another win at the Emirates so maybe we should just accept things and take enjoyment from the game where we can. Something like "how I learned to stop worrying and love the Premier League". What do people think? Is this giving up?

It is giving up, you are happy to accept a few crumbs of comfort,while the wealthy gorge themselves on a bonanza from Sky, The Champions League, and corporate sponsorship.

Every change in our game has been driven by a desire to accede to the demands of the wealthiest clubs  who as a consequence have achieved the omnipotence that they always desired. This is so far removed from the game of my childhood that in this case the past truly is  a foreign country.

There needs to be a revolution basically, but I don't think there is sufficient anger out there, although I'm bloody furious! 

I'm not saying the accepting of odd crumbs of comfort is a concious decision I have made but observing that despite my distaste for the oligarchy at the top of the game I still get an immense amount of enjoyment out of it, even in a truly crap season like this. If I didn't I wouldn't have the level of interest that I have. The sight of Man U parading the championship trophy, and god forbid the European Cup again, really makes me sick but I'm still willing to go through it all again next season knowing the same will probably happen. I'm sure many people are similar which is probably why, as you say, the revolution won't happen. Which is a shame.
Incidentally, when you talk about revolution what do you have in mind? This isn't a criticism but a genuine interest in what you think might make things better. Personally I think we've gone too far down this particular road for a change to a more American, collectivist (there's 2 words you don't often see together) style of league. The game of football has been rampantly capitalist for over a century and I don't see how it can be changed now. Which is also a shame.

[Chris Smith]

I tend to agree with Meanwood, I still get a lot of enjoyment out of the Villa and although I accept that there is a lot wrong with the game essentially for me it hasn't changed that much - a few pre match pints, take my place on the Holte, shout and swear through the game and back to the pub, happy if we've won and pissed off if we've lost. If we don't look like winning the league well then that's been true for almost every season I've been supporting them.

Football is escapism and while I won't knock those that do want to try to change things i'd rather just have some fun.

[damon loves JT]

The things I really enjoy doing, if I'm honest, I'm not very good at. So I don't ask very much of the Villa - so long as they are there, and will be there after I am dead and gone, that will be enough.