A couple of things I've noticed

[dhickl 0]

I''m sorry if these have been mentioned, but I haven''t seen them.  They are just sidepoints I have noticed in the press over the last week.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/8407584.stm

Firstly: "Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger once contemplated signing the powerful striker when he was at Crewe." - so we beat Arsenal to him! ;-)

Secondly: There were comments from Crewe, West Ham, Arsenal, but not Norwich (or former Norwich).  Do you really think no-one was asked?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/portsmouth/8394092.stm

Last week not only Pompey couldn''t pay the wages.  From the PFA chairman - "we''ve had problems with wages at Crystal Palace, at Watford and we''ve had lower division clubs who''ve had trouble paying wages"

[Canary_on_the Trent 0]

He was only with us a year, he grew up at Crewe and achieved a lot more at West Ham

[Camuldonum 0]

There are several other clubs currently in League One who have been late paying wages according to the PFA.  We know Southend is one of them but they are currently declining to name the others.

[Barclay hero 0]

[quote user="Camuldonum"]There are several other clubs currently in League One who have been late paying wages according to the PFA.  We know Southend is one of them but they are currently declining to name the others.[/quote]

I think unfortunately that we are on the brink of a major cataclysmic event in football - similar to the effects of Sky & the Premier League in 92 but in reverse.  Expect to see at least 6 clubs from the Championship and Premier League go into administration within the next 2 seasons

Incidentally I recall reading somewhere that the penalty for Administration in the Prem is less than the Football League - possibly 8 or 9 points rather than 10.  Anyone else seen this?

[NCFC Sinky 0]

i think thats based on less teams in the premier league than the football leagues to try and even it out :)

 

[Shaun Tilly Lace 0]

Unfortunately far too many football clubs are living way beyond their means with the insane wages they pay their footballers. If enough clubs fall into unmanageable debt, maybe, just maybe, we might find players are paid a much more realistic wage in the future.

 

 

[chicken 0]

[quote user="Pablo Picarsole"]

Unfortunately far too many football clubs are living way beyond their means with the insane wages they pay their footballers. If enough clubs fall into unmanageable debt, maybe, just maybe, we might find players are paid a much more realistic wage in the future.

 [/quote]

I think football as a whole is living beyond its means. Clubs don''t survive simply on their own income anymore. Many clubs need big and strong financial backing from outside parties - in otherwords rich consortiums or owners.

Footballers are able to demand too big an amount in wages. Why does a top premier league team need to pay a player £100k a week or more when the very same top players can earn as much or more in sponserhip deals?

This is not going to be an attempt to justify the approach at the board but just an observation.

Not so long ago it was enough to be wealthy to back a football club of the stature of Norwich - you have the chairman of Everton and Jordan at Palace who are both millionairs that at one point were able to back their clubs enough for them to be competetive. Yet in the last couple of seasons they have begun to struggle. Players cost too much in transfer fees and in wages. The fact that the Glazers and Liverpools backers have been reported to be struggling at the moment says it all to me. Multimillionaires if not billionairs and they still struggle.

The problem with football starts at the top and ends at the feet of the players. FIFA have a big task on their hands - they will have to face up to sorting it out at some point or face a generation of football which will see many clubs burn only to be re-born from the ashes. What fans expect and their clubs can afford are often a world appart now - and it shouldnt be that way. Fans should know what to expect from their club.

I don''t think City fans are as far away as some, for example Leeds, but I think there are times when that gap is visable.

Football does need to change. I have banged on about it for a while now but I think they should come up with a wage and price cap and then sort out the way that the money trickles down through football including establishing a fund for supporting clubs that struggle financially through no fault of their own. For example Northwich Victoria who appear to be doing all they can, selling players when decent offers come in etc.

If the FA is serious about a future world cup bid they need to start aiding clubs where the support would justify a larger stadium, not just where it would be convenient to have one. Look at what has happened around the Olympics and other world cup facilities - some purpose built stadiums are never at capacity, some largely unused.

This would spread the money further than the already wealthy premier league clubs and also bring more of the ''provincial'' parts of the country into what is otherwise a very centralised system.

The Carling Cup could be changed, I think instead of the draw being random in terms of home and away, if the teams are from different divisions the lower team automatically gets the home tie - it gets them a little more income and also means that if Man U draw say Paulton the gap is perhaps altered and the financial benefits are more of a boost to Paulton. I think it would help people such as blind Man U fans realise that there is a lot more to football than flamboyant upstarts like Ronaldo.

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="dhickl"]

Secondly: There were comments from Crewe, West Ham, Arsenal, but not Norwich (or former Norwich).  Do you really think no-one was asked?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/portsmouth/8394092.stm

[/quote]

I heard an interview with Nigel Worthington on Radio 5 last night.  There''s hardly anyone left at Norwich who was here when Ashton was.