I was sitting on the Bakerloo line last night, on my way home from the work "Xmas Party" and was entertained by a couple of guys sitting opposite me talking about Football. They had been sitting on the train before me so I managed to tune in to the conversation with the conversation about the World Cup in South Africa, and how the England players that "played" let everyone down. That was actually the closest they got to talking about how the team played out there, the rest of the conversation focussed on Money; how much it cost one of them to go out to South Africa, how much those players get paid and because they get paid so much they don't care about the fans.
It doesn't surprise me at all that the conversation focussed on money particularly as Football these days is more than just a Sport, it has become a business. Many argue that since the Premier League was formed in 1992, combined with the increased Television coverage from Sky & co, money has become the talking point of the "Sport". I put quotes around Sport because the sporting element at times is lost; people, whether they be pundits, managers, players or even fans tend to focus on who's getting paid what.
Further evidence of Football becoming a business is when teams are challenging for champions league places or if a team is on the verge of being knocked out of the champions league, people tend to say things like "that will cost them X number of millions". Relegation from the Premier league loses teams 30 odd million even with parachute payments.
With money being top of the agenda for clubs and players these days it's obvious that there will be casualties and the first person than usually gets it, so to speak, is the Manager. If a team suffers a few bad results, the manager is usually under pressure and if the poor results continue after a couple of games the Manager usually loses his job. Some recent examples would be Mark Hughes at Man City last season and Chris Hughton this season. With so much at stake for these clubs aka businesses decisions are sometimes made in haste showing a lack of patience, putting managers under pressure as soon as they take the jobs.
I guess I'm just trying to say that Football seems to have lost it's focus a bit, all the conversations seem to be about how much money a club can make, a player can earn or how much money is going to be lost. Why isn't the primary focus the games? the results? the wonderful skills on display?
My beloved Liverpool were taken over by new owners a short while back; they may not have the same financial muscle as the Man City or Chelsea owners but they know sport, they know how to run a team. As long as they listen to the fans and do what's right for the FOOTBALL club they'll get my support. Money of course is now part and parcel of the game, so as long as the future of the club isn't at stake and they're securing that future they will enjoy the pure support and passion of the Liverpool fans.
Other clubs I'm sure will be taken over soon but at what cost to the sport? Has football now gone too far down the line and just become a business world? Is it still a sport? Can fans talk about Football without mentioned the word money?
Any ways, those are just a few of my thoughts and some questions I'm asking...what do you guys think?
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