Premier League turning into a circus

[ratherton]

What a laugh its been over the last 24 hours:

Firstly, Man City get bought by a bunch of Arabs who are spending money like a women in a shoe shop.

Ferguson basically kidnaps Berbatov from Manchester Airport and hides him away so City can't sign him.

In the meantime, Man City are trying to sign every top player in the world with approaches for Berbatov, David Villa, Messi before smashing the British transfer record.

Today, Newcastle can't make up their mind whether to sack Badger-Head or not.

Its a joke - far too many rich men just throwing money around like spoilt kids in a toy shop. The game is destroying itself.

[Real_Zidane]

Agreed. The premiership is going to hell in a hand-basket. (Except I have taken a fancy to Sunderland and will support them this year.)


BTW:More stupid antics abound in the premiership.

[ScottyBoy]

this arab wanker clearly knows nothing, and has no respect for football

he wants to "spend whatever it takes to bring sucess"

bidding for players at the last minute like villa and messi, as if they would go to city, the only reason they got robinho is because he's a greedy little shite

he's seriously considering making a £135 million bid for cristiano ronaldo in january, and other ridiculous offers

same with this berbatov nonsense, he had no intention of going to city

i know there are 3 leagues in the premiership already, but how long will it be before there are only 2. The clubs who are owned by Billionaires, and those who arnt?

How long will it be before arsenal are pushed out of the top 4,5 or 6 because they cant compete with clubs like city spending £80 million every transfer window?

and im sure this isnt the first arab money to come in. Im sure some sheikh will fancy buying a club in the near future

and what about "England" the future looks bleak anyway and city have arguably the best youth academy in Britain producing players like johnson, swp, richards, hart and they won the FA youth cup, how long until their academy becomes irrelevant when they can spend whatever they like on superstars?

[soccer11]

i just read the story. these guys are crazy. they want to buy thierry henry, david villa, messi, and a whole bunch of other players to try to gear up for a champions league title. it's never going to happen though. those players won't go there. i'll be surprised if one does

[dhs]

ok first of all city have shocked me this transfer time city always kinda felt like the working mans manchester club but now it seems like the new chelsea.

I think very few players will want to go to city except for those whoa re very greedy such as ronaldinho i also think that the priemiership needs a revamp.


what happened to leeds?

[KPatel]

Its a joke - far too many rich men just throwing money around like spoilt kids in a toy shop. The game is destroying itself.

I must say I disagree regarding the GAME killing itself beying destroyed. The Premier League is going through a financial high just as Serie A and La Liga did in past years.
It's just a (relatively) temporary financial high that will eventually lead to a crash which will bring the league back to the ground.

I'm not the slightest bit worried about this, because this isn't 10 years ago. It's now, and this is how the market plays out. I'm almost certain that English football will go back to the old days, but for now expect to see £200k a week footballers and transfers approaching £100 million.

[KPatel]

Yes, I'm double posting. I'm doing it for a reason. So, no, don't try and police me.

I have since changed my opinion in light of the recent news that these owners are willing to snatch away world class players from across the globe. If this goes through, riots will ensue, and I'd like to say that I'll be right in front. If this involves burning down the City of Manchester stadium, so be it. This is getting absolutely ridiculous.

Mind you, it's nothing new in the world. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are just withering and turning to dust.

[hustler89]

Well thats what capitalism does - encourages inequality by rewarding greed.
The story of all the money currently flowing around the top leagues is simple economics - demand and supply. Football is the number one global sport and audiences have doubled since 1980, which will obviously provide owners with a huge scope for larger revenues (shirts, TV deals etc), therefore prospective buyers will view purchasing a club as a long-term investment, i.e. greater demand for clubs leading to an increase in the price of shares. Price elasticity for footballers, particularly in top leagues is almost perfectly inelastic since there are so few world class footballers relative to demand. For example, there are no more than 300 Premiership footballers, meaning clubs are willing to pay huge sums of money to secure the services of such players.

Further to the point above, it must be remembered that football is a competitive business and since owners want a long term return on their investments, they are willing to buy the best players for ridiculous prices in order to increase the club's global popularity which will inevitably increase revenue.
There is also competition on the broadcasting front which is much too tedious to discuss.

As long as football sustains its worldwide popularity, there is very little chance of financial restructuring within clubs and the Premiership as a whole.

[ScottyBoy]

Yes, I'm double posting. I'm doing it for a reason. So, no, don't try and police me.

I have since changed my opinion in light of the recent news that these owners are willing to snatch away world class players from across the globe. If this goes through, riots will ensue, and I'd like to say that I'll be right in front. If this involves burning down the City of Manchester stadium, so be it. This is getting absolutely ridiculous.

Mind you, it's nothing new in the world. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are just withering and turning to dust.

haha i love that

I'm not the slightest bit worried about this

to rioting in the streets

anyway i think this is an upward spiral, how long will it be before that DIC consortium buy liverpool from the "super wealthy americans" who are struggling to finance the club and cant afford the new stadium, these people are nothing compared to these arab consortiums

Roman Abramovic is woth £12 billion and has spent £500 million on players

this Group that bought city is worth £511 Billion, over 1 Trillion dollars at todays exchange rate

they would have to spend £24 BILLION on players to spend the same percentage of thier wealth as Ambramovic

he's a lightweight compared to them which is Scary

when they say they will spend whatever it takes they mean it. A team of superstars.

If they are for real, it will happen, every player and man have their price

players will soon accept these paypackets to go to city when before they would say "who the fu** are city?" the likes of Kaka will know if he goes David villa will go, and he he goes Ronaldinho and buffon will both go and so on

Man city's big task is to get these first superstars to go to tempt others, Robinho isnt a superstar, i think in january offering for Cesc, Torres and Ronaldo would be a setback, because they would get 3 knockbacks which would damage their "pull" next summer

they should sign lesser profile players to help them in January and go all out next summer once they have thier new manager in charge (dont kid yourself Hughes is only there to please the fans and no big name would take City After deadline day) the new big name manager will be in place before next summer maybe christmas depending on results

[shahensha]

oooh rijkaard! no? fine

but wow this new owner is loaded. Compared to him abromovich would be appointed as his peon.

I will find it very hilarious if man city wins the title in a couple of years after a long hiatus similar to the way chelsea reclaimed their title.

I guess its the league's fault for allowing any random fellow with a briefcase full of money to walk in and say "hey I am buying this club".

[ScottyBoy]

oooh rijkaard! no? fine

but wow this new owner is loaded. Compared to him abromovich would be appointed as his peon.

I will find it very hilarious if man city wins the title in a couple of years after a long hiatus similar to the way chelsea reclaimed their title.

I guess its the league's fault for allowing any random fellow with a briefcase full of money to walk in and say "hey I am buying this club".

to be fair to these new guys they seem fine unlike that corrupt thai bastard that would fail any other ethical, ledgitimacy test in the world but would pass the FA's test

[shahensha]

Has the FA always been corrupt like this?

[ScottyBoy]

Has the FA always been corrupt like this?

Haha im sure you'd have to ask someone like Ratherton

in my opion the Premiership which started 16 seasons ago was the point when money was all that mattered

it was formed with the sole purpose to bring in TV money to improve the game, players facilities stadia etc

but i mean this abu dhabi group are worth 10 times what bill gates is worth, its just truely unemaginable

the percentage of their wealth they spent on Robinho and his wages would probably be the equivilent of what you or i spend on a can of coca cola

its just another world

[Nat_H]

For my part, I'm glad that deals like the Robinho transfer are taking place...it only helps to spread the wealth and talent out of the top 4-5 teams in the EPL. No amount of complaining or arguing is going to change the fact that much of sports revolves around money.

My $0.02

[ScottyBoy]

For my part, I'm glad that deals like the Robinho transfer are taking place...it only helps to spread the wealth and talent out of the top 4-5 teams in the EPL. No amount of complaining or arguing is going to change the fact that much of sports revolves around money.

My $0.02

its really funny, part of me feels, they cant do that!! its as if the "big 4" have the divine right to be the big 4 and i feel it is unfair that city get this money

i think the thing that makes me "anti city" is the fashion in which they are doing it, "we will spend whatever it takes", but in reality its the same as chelsea but they wernt, lets say "blunt" about it. But if you think about it how is it any different from the big 4 or any other huge global club, they all buy success

the only difference is other clubs dont say we "buy" success, this was a mistake for the city owner because its basically a slap in the face of football and its values so he wont be too popular outside the blue half of manchester