Season 2011-12 Fan Articles

Everton to parade new Trophy at St George's Hall

By Ged   Simpson  ::  07/12/2011   22 Comments (»Last) I imagine many who read this will respond by saying I have just stated the bleedin? obvious. But I wonder sometimes are we missing the obvious. Are we just like a load of King Canutes?

I think 16 clubs out of 20 in the Premier League begin each season embarking on a campaign to avoid relegation. And we are certainly one of them.

All of them, apart from Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea, are unable to really compete in the Premier League with any sense of real optimism. They compete to stay up or maybe to win a domestic cup once every 20 years.

From time to time, a club gets a 4th spot (Tottenham may do that this time; we did once) but that is just a blip. The grim reality is 4th to the likes of us is like winning the World Cup. These clubs may get through a round or two and pay some debt as a result but in the end the others will come back because they have the money to pay what is demanded by the best players, managers, coaches, dieticians, PR men etc.

So what will change?

Absolutely bugger all unless the rules governing the game change globally. We can march around demanding we are sold, we can dream when we hear about a TaTa Chemicals takeover (TaTa ? so so funny that one), but in the end nothing will change. We may just replace one of the other 4 for a short spell.

(And then we join a league of 4 for a couple of years ? oh what a great spectacle that is.)

There are all sorts of possible changes that could be made ? fare share of income and the prize is the cup, not the money ? the American Football model. But why would anyone at the top change anything? They never will because the fans are complicit in this situation.

I think we have a generation of fans now, right across the globe (and in Liverpool too) who want footballers to be rich, glitzy, in the tabloids, shagging and cheating on pop-star wives and competing with some semi-literate knobhead on the X-Factor for advertising revenue. I think the poorer people are, the more they want that shite. So the shirts and the stories from Man Utd, Man City, Real Madrid, Barcelona etc will sell ? not just in the poor areas of England but will also sell even more in the poor areas of Africa, South America and the like...

So don?t expect any change soon. We will be fighting against relegation year after year ? along with 80% of football clubs in the world. We can finish 7th ? but really we have been fighting relegation. We will stupidly get excited with something like the Europa Cup when we fluke a top 7 place and accept the equivalent of a tenner for the honour as our players are either spotted and bought or crippled and knackered by the fixture list.

So... we can criticise Kenwright and Moyes but in the end it just seems to me they are not spending their dole cheque wisely.

And the only funny thing? I don?t blame the players, the managers, or the agents. Who would miss that opportunity? They can all be rubbish but who keeps paying them?

The blame lies with us all. We seem unable to get together as the fans of 80% of the clubs in the world and say enough is enough. And no-one in the game above the simple level of a fan will ask for change either. That would be like a turkey voting for Xmas

So my conclusion ? we have a skint club playing in a league of 16 where avoiding relegation is the prize... and we are about to get our dole cut further to help out football?s bankers. I think they should create a ?Team that Stayed Up Best? trophy!

The answer? Christ knows... I have no idea. Not a clue.

But I did enjoy a watching 15 mins of Sunday League game the other day a lot more.

Any suggestions from you wise folk ?

ps: There was one other funny thing ? the Red Shite are in the same league of 16.

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