Super Clubs

[Vanilla]

I think Sky, even the Premier League, perhaps even UEFA and FIFA wouldn't mind if all football was watched on TV,  with empty stadiums. That's where the big chunk of money is.

It would be the same if film producers found that DVDs and the internet make the most money, so stop releasing films at the cinema. 

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Realistic, though he does express a view that on any given game you can beat these "super" teams.

[Concrete John]

Everyone said Chelsea would dominate when Abramovic came in, they signed world class players at the time too, but in 8 years they've won 3 league titles and got to 1 Champions League final.

Man City have undoubtedly made it harder, but it's not impossible.

We just need a long term strategy and to stick to it. If it's selling high and buying low then so be it, it's worked for so many clubs across Europe (Spurs, Lyon, Porto, Sevilla).

Winning the league might not be possible in the next 7 or 8 years, but top 4 certainly is. Take away the mans credentials as a manager, but In MON's last season we got 64 points.

Arsenal finished fourth with 68 last season.
Spurs got it with 70 in 2009/10
Arsenal with (as we know) 72 in 2008/09

So an average of 70. We hit 60, 62 and 64 under MON I believe.

A Modric instead of a Sidwell, a VDV instead of an Ireland, a Gallas instead of a Collins or, as we all knew at the time, a Bent instead of a Heskey would have got us even closer.

It's difficult, but any manager worth his salt should be able to get this club around the 60 point mark with some backing from the board after a couple of years. Then he's just got to get a bit of luck to take us that bit further. It's certainly doable.

That's the spirit!

The way I see it is that in order to make that large step up what we need to to use the finances we do have in the best way possible.  Despite the results under MON, that wasn't the case.  If we can continue to build with a better focus on the aspects MON let slip, while still maintaining the on field competitiveness he gave us, then we're in with a chance.  It'll be a gradual process with no guarantee of success, but I think and hope that's the plan anyway.   

[dave.woodhall]

I think Sky, even the Premier League, perhaps even UEFA and FIFA wouldn't mind if all football was watched on TV,  with empty stadiums. That's where the big chunk of money is.

It would be the same if film producers found that DVDs and the internet make the most money, so stop releasing films at the cinema. 

No, they hate empty grounds - how can they hype a game up when it's being played in front of banks of empty seats? They used to (and maybe still do) call Wigan v Fulham-type Monday night fixtures 'Black Mondays'.

[Meanwood Villa]

That's about the top and bottom of it really. In a few years, when the Prem is utterly dominated by three uber rich teams, I'll be intrigued to see how Sky market it.

They'll market it by saying "look how great it is to see the 3 uber rich teams destroy their opponents" Not too different from now

Much of their target audience support one of the three clubs. Too many others will watch any football that's on.

Absolutely. Most people affiliated with those teams enjoy watching them thrash an inferior opponent now and that's not going to change in the future

[Quiet Lion]

Interesting article on the situation is Spain, here.
 
The comments in the article are around the issues faced by all European leagues at the present.

[Handsworth Wood Villa]

Which clubs can't compete with us?

Blackburn
West Brom
Fulham
Swansea
Norwich
Wigan
Bolton
Wolves

Can the likes of Everton, Newcastle, Sunderland, Stoke and QPR compete with us?

[Toronto Villa]

AM is correct, and the divide grows with every passing year. He never said we'd give up though, and if our targets become cup silverware and as high a finish as possible every season, then that's what it is. The league is a complete pipe dream which is incredibly sad, and CL money has put an end to the ambitions of all but 2 or 3 teams. I said it before, but the sooner these clubs split off and give us back our game and some balance then the better it will be for the great majority of us.

[Vanilla]

I think Sky, even the Premier League, perhaps even UEFA and FIFA wouldn't mind if all football was watched on TV,  with empty stadiums. That's where the big chunk of money is.

It would be the same if film producers found that DVDs and the internet make the most money, so stop releasing films at the cinema. 

No, they hate empty grounds - how can they hype a game up when it's being played in front of banks of empty seats? They used to (and maybe still do) call Wigan v Fulham-type Monday night fixtures 'Black Mondays'.

It was tongue in cheek. You could though see special effects used to superimpose a crowd and create an atmosphere with sound effects. I think they use the latter at Old Trafford.

[maidstonevillain]

Spurs, I think, are realising that qualifying for the CL once is not enough, you have got to do it nigh-on year in, year out.

I think the situation we have now is that Liverpool have been on the slide for a while (revenues, small stadium, not in the CL) and are currently having one big roll of the dice to claw back what they've lost.

Spurs aren't going to be making the kind of investment necessary to buy year in, year out CL football.

Arsenal are really feeling the fact that there's a financial gulf between themselves and the top echelon of the English game.

I thikn we will have a scenario where Man United, Man City and Chelsea basically share the league titles, and this will go on until someone comes along and makes a vast investment in a club (and given that this has only ever happened in this country twice, it probably won't happen for a long time), or the rules change massively.

Effectively, we are getting a situation very similar to the Spanish league, where two clubs share all the silverware, and there's a massive gulf to the rest, except in our case it'll be three clubs.

But one day those benefactors may simpply walk, leaving one "superclub", and Sky and the world at large will not be interested in a one club league.

Ah, we can all hope.

[Salsa Party Animal]

I know we can't be the top guns in the league, but there is no reason we can't be a good and exciting team in premier league like Villarreal. They are very good team and doing well in La Liga.

I do think Randy had joined us about 2 or 3 years too late

[The Laughing Policeman]

I think the fact that the England squad the other night, you could say had roughly £100 million worth of ex-Villa players in midfield. Players who we had to sell in their prime, says a lot. Yes you could say they didn't want to stay, so why keep them, but the fact they didn't want to stay, or the fact we couldn't encourage them to, also says something.

It's nothing to do with encouraging them to stay and more to do with the fact that we can't offer the same obscene wages that the so called big four or five can offer.
As in all walks of life, loyalty to an employer has gone out of the window. Now it's down to who can offer the biggest pay cheque.
When you see all this guff in the press about "I've moved to Whatever FC to win silverware". It's a load of bo**ocks. The only reason players move is to improve their bank balance at the expense of the poor mugs who are working all sorts of hours in order to keep their heads above water, and maybe at the end of the week have enough spare cash to be able to go to a football match and support the club that has run in their family for generations.
Long gone are the days when footballers showed any loyalty to their employer. With one or two notable exceptions, Gabby being one.

[MarkM]

I think Sky, even the Premier League, perhaps even UEFA and FIFA wouldn't mind if all football was watched on TV,  with empty stadiums. That's where the big chunk of money is.

It would be the same if film producers found that DVDs and the internet make the most money, so stop releasing films at the cinema. 

No, they hate empty grounds - how can they hype a game up when it's being played in front of banks of empty seats? They used to (and maybe still do) call Wigan v Fulham-type Monday night fixtures 'Black Mondays'.

You can imagine the future where the TV companies pay special effects companies to super impose a crowd onto the back ground in order to make the stadium seem fuller

[eastie]

The game has changed for the worse in many ways with greedy overpaid players reaping the benefits and the rich clubs getting richer-the days of a forest or derby winning the league are well gone and after 40 years of living for football i am losing my passion for the game-oh for the game i loved in the 70s and 80s.

[Percy McCarthy]

Randy won't be around for much longer anyway, I reckon. So our future prospects will depend upon the next owner and whether they can compete. Personally, I think Randy will do us proud on that score.