leffe186

Absolutely this… …and also this. But it’s not the tribalism itself that’s killing football. The tribalism IS football. It’s the lack of parity, gulf between top and bottom, and disconnect from the community. We used to have OTT tribalism to the point where we were having pitched battles and organized rumbles. Now we piss and moan on the internet. I’m not convinced that the percentage of people that want their rivals to just not exist is any different than it was. It’s just all broken. A couple of weeks ago I heard people on here talking about how they kinda liked West Ham right now. The club that basically got given a stadium on the taxpayers’ dollar, and in the process broke league rules and nearly obliterated Leyton Orient. Fuck them forever. Growing up a football fan in London is instructive. We were mainly Spurs and Arsenal (and fucking Liverpool) in North London. I used to play footy on Stepney Green with loads of West Ham fans. At a certain level, the solidarity between grassroots fans will always be there, along with the tribalism. I will always remember dancing with and hugging an Arsenal fan at work when Campbell scored that (disallowed) goal against Argentina. Both the tribalism and the solidarity are there from day one. Dunno if I can boil it down to a point. I guess that every team has at least two identities. The club itself, and the fans. They just seem to be further and further apart than ever.

To be fair, they’ve already been denied European nights that they should have had due to their arch-rivals killing some guys. To be even fairer, they also should have been relegated on more than one occasion. if they go down this year it will be hilarious. Can’t see it, but one can dream.

Naah, I lost hope in football. Big difference.

Not too fussed tbh. I mean, I’m trying not to care in general, but I certainly don’t care all that much if Alli goes.

I post a lot on Chat but much less on Football. Mentioned it before, I’m trying to walk away from footy as much as I can. I’m always going to be a Spurs fan of course, but football…well it just all fucking sucks It just doesn’t mean what it used to…to me. Yeah the Alli thing is interesting. Of course, he was with Poch as he was developing as a player and a man - the issues came after. Maybe he doesn’t gel as well with Mourinho or Conte, but maybe he’s simply changed himself as he got older and more experienced. It’s still relatively early days with Conte though.

Currently on -5. Williams with 6pts on the bench too.

Yup, Dennis (c) here too

Brought in Cathcart on a whim at the last minute for a -4pt penalty. Nice.

Can see you spending a lot but not insane amounts. Looks like you’re aiming at £20-30M players. Also, you could argue that if it keeps you up then it doesn’t really matter all that much how much you spend.

Naah, depends upon your definition - you said the team was absolutely shit. I’ve only seen bits and bobs. I was interested to hear your thoughts on why. Just based on transfer fees it’s supposedly the second-most expensive squad in the world. Obviously the coaching has left something to be desired for a while. Is it a disconnect between recruitment and management? Sure, you’ve overpaid for a few (?) guys but with that volume and the sums you’ve spent it’s insane to me that you’re not better. Money doesn’t guarantee anything, but not being top four along with Chelsea/Man City/Liverpool after that much spend is criminal. Feels like all you really need is a truly top-class manager and a couple of years.

I’ve been generally trying to avoid football these last couple of years so I confess I’ve not been following so closely. Are you really absolute shit? How? You’ve spent an insane amount of money on this squad.

Hobjerg drags him back for that exact reason.

was just gonna say you’d hooked a couple.

Not heard him speak for a while but yeah, pretty much

Yes, you are reading too much into it. I’m confident that Leicester City are not going to ease off in games against your rivals to reduce the chances of you competing with them. First test is getting players in. Second test is getting points out of February. Fail on both counts and you’re screwed. Fail on one and it’s gonna be tough. Succeed in both and I think you’re going to be ok.

Yeah the postponements totally fucked me this week.

Hate to kick a man when he’s down, but I’d argue that you dominating the oppo and them doing fuck all is very much not the story of your season. I still think you’re reasonably placed to stay up. It’s three from the bottom four plus Leeds and Brentford IMO. You’ve still got over two weeks to spend a wodge of cash and like a few people have said, you’ve been close to winning games on a few occasions. The margins are still tight enough that the likely three or four new players could tip the balance.

The last time a country bought a club.

My point is that if you put Chelsea fans, or Man U fans, or whoever in that situation that something similar could have happened. Just as if you’d put Chelsea fans, or Man U fans, or whoever in that end at Hillsborough.

…although Alisson being out actually works.

Calvert-Lewin FFS.

This. And it’s very important to remember that it could have been any one of our teams in that position too. Most people who regularly went to away games at that time will have a story to tell about a day when it could have been them. We were all treated like shit on the regular by the authorities and some of the media, and herded like cattle into pens. It was going to happen to somebody sooner or later. It really wasn’t because it was Liverpool. Just like Heysel could have been us, or Chelsea, or Man U.

Goes back to what I’ve said in the past. If you only knew the best player each week (and so could always pick the best captain) I think you’d be nigh on unbeatable.

Leaving aside the ideal that a club are their fans, that would make you a big fan of Sullivan and Gold? Or teams getting free stadia? To be fair, I’m supposed to hate them.

Lots of positives in the last 14 years?