Rob W Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Intersting article in today's Times on how the top 4 are buying up all the talent from the rest and just shoving it in the reserves which is widening the gap even more as they are taking th eone or two class palyers from the rest and leaving them struggling Best example is Sidwell - star and the main engine at Reading last season , can't get a start for Chelski - Chelski don't care but Reading are buggered................... Imagine us without Taylor, Millner & the Zog.................. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter.Sthlm Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Link please... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlin Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 This is why it will be a total disaster if we go down - even mediocre players wouldn't join the club then because they can stay in the Prem with clubs in the bottom half/middle. The Academies are going to be even more important in future years because clubs outside the Top 4 will have to bring through their own talent...it is hard to see how any club can break into this cartel now, and it will get harder still in future.The PL is almost like Scotland now - a few top clubs winning everything each year and the rest making up numbers. It will eventually result in the failure of the PL through dropping gates among all but the top 4 and even they will get disillusioned in time - Welcome to Football's brave New World.! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Intersting article in today's Times on how the top 4 are buying up all the talent from the rest and just shoving it in the reserves which is widening the gap even more as they are taking th eone or two class palyers from the rest and leaving them struggling Best example is Sidwell - star and the main engine at Reading last season , can't get a start for Chelski - Chelski don't care but Reading are buggered................... Imagine us without Taylor, Millner & the Zog.................. We live in hope Rob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 I thought Sidwell had gotten a few starts this season. Anyway, Chelsea are probably the worst for buying players for the sake of it rather than because they need them. I wouldn't say it was a policy that applies to all of the 'big four' by any means. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Reminds me of Rangers & Celtic actually. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnypd Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Intersting article in today's Times on how the top 4 are buying up all the talent from the rest and just shoving it in the reserves which is widening the gap even more as they are taking th eone or two class palyers from the rest and leaving them struggling Best example is Sidwell - star and the main engine at Reading last season , can't get a start for Chelski - Chelski don't care but Reading are buggered................... Imagine us without Taylor, Millner & the Zog.................. this has been happening for a few years now, tho i can see it occuring more when clubs are allowed 7 players on their bench. the one chink of light is the extra TV money, meaning the smaller clubs are no longer obliged to sell their best players as they dont need the money. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Reminds me of Rangers & Celtic actually. The league is very predictable in that there are only 3 in it every year. Take away the Champions League win by Liverpool (fantastic achievement, obviously) and it's really the 'Big 3' imo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Portsmouth have still made some canny signings so it's not like the top 4 can buy everyone Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Plenty of it going on, but Sidwell may one day be a Chelski 1st team regular, look at SWP. took him a while, Alex was signed then loaned out for a few seasons. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnypd Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Portsmouth have still made some canny signings so it's not like the top 4 can buy everyone even Spurs have been doing it, remember when they had 20 million central midfielders? they go out and buy someone like Murphy or Bent, by far the best players at Charlton at the time, and let them rot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manorpark Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Reminds me of Rangers & Celtic actually. The league is very predictable in that there are only 3 in it every year. Take away the Champions League win by Liverpool (fantastic achievement, obviously) and it's really the 'Big 3' imo. Our team on the pitch shows NO signs of helping us achieve this (or, of even WANTING to) but we are one of the few clubs with the earning potential (which also has a multi-billionaire owner, for 'top-up' monies!) which can get into and above the "current 2 or 3" most successful English clubs. BUT . . . We need to do it QUICKLY, or (as even Sir John Hall was saying, regularly, in the late-nineties) WE WILL GET LEFT BEHIND ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Rob's just woken from a deep sleep. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Everton can hardly be accused of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Monkey Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Portsmouth have still made some canny signings so it's not like the top 4 can buy everyone And Citeh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sniffer Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Sidwell was an interesting case because I'm sure we'd pay the same as chelski. Clearly he was never going to play much at all but he'd prefer to pick uo his wages and sit around doing nothing. Is just the association with them better than actually playing a game for another team? Seems to be so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Rob's just woken from a deep sleep. I've been busy TBH making sure the countries energy needs are met (and have you read my thoughts on oil price ElfMeister?) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Intersting article in today's Times on how the top 4 are buying up all the talent from the rest and just shoving it in the reserves which is widening the gap even more as they are taking th eone or two class palyers from the rest and leaving them struggling Best example is Sidwell - star and the main engine at Reading last season , can't get a start for Chelski - Chelski don't care but Reading are buggered................... Imagine us without Taylor, Millner & the Zog.................. The situation says as much about the players as anything, they put money before playing the game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karjala Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Portsmouth have still made some canny signings so it's not like the top 4 can buy everyone And Citeh. Yeah but while i agree, i think the point is that if chelsea wanted Elano, Petrov, Muntari and Campbell, they would sign them. Same goes for the likes of Richards, Dunne, James and Distin. Teams are signing good players, but as soon as a "big 4" want them, they are gone... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fraser Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Particularly resonant for us because of the Sidwell/Tal Ben Haim situation. They both went there to play when they could, rather than come here to play every week. It's a difficult one; they may get medals there (I don't know how many appearances are required in any particular competition) but have they won anything in the true meaning of the word? Whatever you think of Smith, he came here to play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
1878 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Everton can hardly be accused of it. I know, I'm shocked by these allegations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Can Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 i think its more about the other clubs buying poorly...i all ways read about clubs getting premiership experianced players but they are just as risky as foreign players that get bought from a different country as the player still needs to adjust to the club and his new area..look at newcastle nearly all the players they got from other premiership clubs are very poor and there prices was too high.. while the top clubs bought players from other countrys that were inform in there leagues and national teams and u21s and rarely get another premiership player unless his contract has expired while playing at high standard or he has preformed extraordinaryly for a season which they pay crazy amounts of money usually at the end of the season which any team could use to get stronger.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
indi Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Intersting article in today's Times on how the top 4 are buying up all the talent from the rest and just shoving it in the reserves which is widening the gap even more as they are taking th eone or two class palyers from the rest and leaving them struggling Best example is Sidwell - star and the main engine at Reading last season , can't get a start for Chelski - Chelski don't care but Reading are buggered................... Imagine us without Taylor, Millner & the Zog.................. this has been happening for a few years now, tho i can see it occuring more when clubs are allowed 7 players on their bench. the one chink of light is the extra TV money, meaning the smaller clubs are no longer obliged to sell their best players as they dont need the money. The benefit of the extra TV money is a total myth. Everyone gets more money, therefore all that happens is inflation. Our position is only improved against clubs outside of the Premiership, yet most of this advantage disappears due to the fact that they know we've got more money and therefore demand higher fees for their players. You could argue that it makes the Premiership a more attractive place to play than leagues in other countries, but wasn't that the case already? The real top players will only sign for the top clubs as always and the rest are now simply more expensive. Basically all the TV money has done is raise the price of Premiership success even higher!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnypd Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Intersting article in today's Times on how the top 4 are buying up all the talent from the rest and just shoving it in the reserves which is widening the gap even more as they are taking th eone or two class palyers from the rest and leaving them struggling Best example is Sidwell - star and the main engine at Reading last season , can't get a start for Chelski - Chelski don't care but Reading are buggered................... Imagine us without Taylor, Millner & the Zog.................. this has been happening for a few years now, tho i can see it occuring more when clubs are allowed 7 players on their bench. the one chink of light is the extra TV money, meaning the smaller clubs are no longer obliged to sell their best players as they dont need the money. The benefit of the extra TV money is a total myth. Everyone gets more money, therefore all that happens is inflation. Our position is only improved against clubs outside of the Premiership, yet most of this advantage disappears due to the fact that they know we've got more money and therefore demand higher fees for their players. You could argue that it makes the Premiership a more attractive place to play than leagues in other countries, but wasn't that the case already? The real top players will only sign for the top clubs as always and the rest are now simply more expensive. Basically all the TV money has done is raise the price of Premiership success even higher!! you have to look at how increased TV money changes the balance of income at premiership clubs, that is what is important. all a sudden tv money is far more important than ever, while things that have traditionally been just as important - ie Gate receipts, merchandise, make up less of the overall proportion of earnings. similarly, the basic champion's league money is ever so slightly less important as it makes up a smaller proportion, therefore the gap between 4th and 5th could be slightly narrowed in the near future. looking at clubs in terms of Finance = Size, or ability to attract players, you can see that there is now a bit less emphasis on what would traditionally help you be a big club - the stadium, the fanbase, champion's league qualification. no longer will club x, upon receiving a bid for a player from club y, go "oh well, club y have a bigger stadium, sell more shirts than us, and qualified for the uefa cup so therefore have more money to offer this player. we can't compete'. they're also likely to say to club y 'the stakes are so much bigger now, so we want more money for this player. we also know you, like all premiership clubs, have plenty of cash lying around so you'll have to pay more.' inflation makes transfers between premiership clubs slightly less likely, knowing that a club can go out and buy a player of the same quality cheaper elsewhere. that's always been the case but never more so than now. and as you said, players from abroad will more than ever be dying to get here. of course it doesn't have as much impact on the clubs who have already built up super-incomes, namely Arsenal and Man Utd (and Chelsea who get their money from a more dubious source). these three will continue to have the money to do what they like, though arsenal decide not to bother spending big all the time and man utd only go for the very best rather than decent players from poor clubs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummie Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 There's absolutely no point these days thinking that fanbase is some amazing ticket to acquiring the best players. ALL clubs have money, and shit loads of it. That is the new financial landscape of football. 30m a year TV money to the bottom club, 50m to the top, these are immense figures. Yes, the better players want to play week in week out for the top four, CL clubs, but they can't all do that. Given this, there is little incentive to move from one cushy second tier club to another. This is what has skewed the market these days. Look at a player like David Bentley. What real reason is there for him to move from Blackburn to, say, Newcastle, Everton or Villa? There isn't. It'd be a sideways move. This is why it is so hard to sign decent players from within the UK these days - especially in the January window. Clubs will have to make play of things like who their manager is, where they are located (massive, massive advantage to comparatively unappealing clubs like West Ham), their training facilities etc etc. Football hasn't stood still for the last few years, everything has changed. Everything. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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