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Comment | Is Greed In A Crisis Finally Turning The Fans Away
by saintmark1976 at 18:17:12
A good well written article Nick.
The fault however does not rest with Spurs. It falls full square with a government that lends them £175 million of tax payers money without any apparent stipulation as to how it can be spent. P A Y E for the little people to purchase and fund the life style of already mega rich overrated footballers. |
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Comment | Is Greed In A Crisis Finally Turning The Fans Away
by A1079 at 17:36:27
A good interesting article Nick.
I have never been able to purchase a season ticket, but until I moved 200 odd miles away I barely missed a match - home or away. I have always been a member wherever and whenever I can. As someone else mentioned, being a supporter, a fan is almost unconditional and it is in your blood, psyche etc. It never goes away, even when you feel frustrated and annoyed with your team or club. But, it is hard to imagine why you would purchase a season ticket in this current time.
But, I have to admit, alot about football makes me disappointed and it is less important to me now than it used to be. I don't have Sky and never had but even when the chance arises I actually watch very little football on TV because football for me is very much about the whole experience of going - good, bad or indifferent.
The obscene sums is hard to understand when you see what is happening. I used to watch smaller clubs locally when I could not go to Saints and yes it was a different enjoyment. The sums seem even more obscene when you hear of staff being made redundant whilst in the next breath you hear of clubs paying extortionate transfer fees or wages for a player.
I suppose it is unlikely to change now as long as there is the supply and demand though, I can see interest in attending games waning as people get used to not going and realise what they are saving and what else they can do with their time and hard earned cash. |
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Comment | Is Greed In A Crisis Finally Turning The Fans Away
by Dellwizard at 15:12:56
Good article Nick.
I've been saying for a long time now, that there should be a transfer tax made by the football authorities, for every transfer that is made.
This money would then be distributed right through to grass roots level.
This would be a fair solution as the bigger clubs will then contribute the most to helping out those that are less fortunate. |
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Comment | Is Greed In A Crisis Finally Turning The Fans Away
by the_saint at 15:09:06
Sometimes I agree with you nick with the defence issues, sometimes I don't like what season ticket holders should get priority to home games when the gates open.
But this article is superb, well written and good facts so credit where credit is due well done nick |
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Comment | Is Greed In A Crisis Finally Turning The Fans Away
by saintjf at 13:14:31
A very, very good article. Certainly does not apply just to football.... Increasing wealth gaps in life. Supporting a team is not just about logic it is an emotional attachment. That emotion should neither be taken for granted or exploited. |
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Comment | Is Greed In A Crisis Finally Turning The Fans Away
by SanMarco at 12:25:08
Great article. Greed has been institutionalised in recent decades and nowhere more so than in football. Spuds-Macclesfield is a fascinating analogy. In the 2008 crash and with Covid the bigger you are the more chance you have of being bailed out. This comes from the 'too big to fail' mantra. My question is: why are Spuds too big to fail - its just a football club. If it needs a loan from the state it can't afford Bale. Fullstop. There are millions of hard-working struggling people at the moment who should take permanent priority over Daniel Levy and Gareth Bale and the likes.
As for Greed making me rethink my support: if I was going to do that I would have done it years ago. Our support isn't really a choice is it? It is more an emotion than a transaction. If someone gave me a million to 'stop supporting Saints' and I accepted would my heart still skip a beat at the words "There's been a goal at St. Mary's" - of course it would.
I believe that football should be forced to become a self-sustaining business like a chain of retail stores. John Lewis, say, has the choice to close stores or subsidise the smaller ones. If football wants Macclesfield and Scunthorpe etc then support for those teams needs to come from within the game. Bale could get by on a few bob less a week. Football itself needs to redistribute resources. No need for 'free market' bullspit - neoliberalism is dead. What comes next won't kill BIG football anymore than it will kill BIG banks but it could do for vast swathes of football. Do I care? Yes. Will stopping supporting Saints do anything to solve the problem? No. |
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Comment | Is Greed In A Crisis Finally Turning The Fans Away
by PaleRider at 11:37:19
I hate Sky and the Premier League with a passion. Many of the above comments ring true and as a supporter of a PL club I feel completely disengaged from the whole experience.
However, let's not forget the good work that is being done by organisations like the Saints foundation who benefit from Saints being in the PL.
Won't stop me from supporting Saints but I feel much less inclined to go to matches (especially home games). |
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Comment | Is Greed In A Crisis Finally Turning The Fans Away
by Boris1977 at 10:44:34
Good article Nick. The point about getting out of the habit is a very good one. I used to have a season ticket until 2000 when I move to London and could not afford the to keep my season ticket, plus the train fare down to Soton every other week. This was mainly down to the 3 fold increase in housing costs between London and Soton. It was a massive wrench and I felt like I was betraying my club.
However time healed surprisingly quickly and I started playing football again on Saturday afternoons for the first time in ages and built up a brilliant network of friends which was invaluable in moving to a 'lonley' place like London.
I go to around 10-15 games a season nowadays so I'm certainly a casual fan. I still love the club but the fact is football has changed a lot since the late 70's when I first started going regulalry with my uncle. I'm sure some things have changed for the better (for example my aunt stopped going in the 70's due to the threat of hooliganism - which I never recall seeing as a kid even in the 80s) but on the whole the game has moved away from being an affordable part of a lot of peoples everyday life to being an entertainment expericence simliar to disney land where everything is 'awesome' and every aspect has been monetised. I'm not sure if its better but its certainly different.
The big question is if I had have kept my season ticket going and spent ever increasing money on trains and travelling down to Soton every week would I resent what is currently going on right now in terms of the uncertainty and the constant selling, or threat of selling, the clubs family silver? Yes, I think I would. As it is, I just see it as part of the game which puts a greater emotional distance between me and the what it means to be a supporter of the club. |
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Comment | Is Greed In A Crisis Finally Turning The Fans Away
by Jesus_02 at 10:29:26
Just looked at some figures RE Macclesfield Town... the world is upside down. An "Average" premiership player could have settled the debt in 2 months. The average player does get 200 times the national average wage though!
But seriously the debt was way less than the average house price in London. The League docked them points and put them in non league. Which is mad because its not like they were trying to "do a Leeds"
When I look at the money that is risked on players like Carrillo I actually feel a little sick |
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Comment | Is Greed In A Crisis Finally Turning The Fans Away
by EvertonSaint at 09:04:10
Players used to get a testimonial at the end of there careers which the majority of fans fully supported. Now a player can earn £1m + a month with admission prices soaring beyond the reach of many fans. The gap between average salary’s has gone way out of proportion.
Yes, a players career is relatively shortish, but surely £250,000 plus a week is creating a gap between the players, reality with the real world and driving a wedge between the fans and clubs. You only have to see the car park before a game.
For me the very disturbing part of this is the growing arrogance of players who are earning huge sums....”do you know who I am?”, Foden and Greenwood for England and reports of players sordid details. Time for a reality check football....you are losing touch with the world, fans and we are resenting it....BIG TIME. |
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Comment | Is Greed In A Crisis Finally Turning The Fans Away
by wessexman at 08:55:43
I have had a season ticket at Southampton FC for years. I am also an avid Poole Town FC supporter and bought a season ticket for £ 130 for 20 home games. This equates to £6.50 a game. IF Saints sell Ings to Spurs, I intend to send my season ticket back to the club and demand my money back. What Spurs are doing may not be illegal but it is immoral. |
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Comment | Saints V Brentford The Verdict
by DellBoyWally at 14:50:33
I'd get another CB to join Salisu and move Stephens to DM. We need Stuey back soon. Only wide midfielder who can attack and also cover back for RB. Hasn't happened either side these 2 games leaving attacking FBs exposed. Smallbone looked lightweight, Tella also to an extent but was a small step above although left Bertrand exposed.
Both strikers should have scored: Ings bad miss; Adams good save from keeper but should have buried it. BUT if we'd scored and taken something from these games it would have papered over the cracks (chasms?) NO SPINE in midfield - Romeo and JWP been far below par - CBs.....somewhere but not where they should be (clue is in CENTRE!) Redmond again non-existent (another 0% game to go with last years 2)
This is relegation-guaranteed form with no solution in the current squad. Sunday (to be watched from behind the sofa) could be a stroll for a poor Spuds team. Odds on PEH scoring?? |
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Comment | Saints V Brentford The Verdict
by ItchenNorth at 13:55:56
Lacking a leader at the back; nothing new. Maybe Salisu is that man moving forward.
Lacking creativity; well play Boufal !
This game was another preseason game for all intensive purposes. Another game under our belt following virtually no preseason due to COVID (yes, same for all clubs, I know).
No need to panic, but we need to address centre midfield (even before PEH left), lack of creativity (hello Boufal or Redmond) and of course a better central defensive partnerships.
Ralph knows what needs to be addressed and this starts with fitness. I have full confidence he'll sort it out, but another player in the transfer window for sure. |
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Comment | Saints V Brentford The Verdict
by ElijahK at 13:15:48
Sorry but that game was DREADFUL! I mean the fact that we’ve played two teams that could be in the championship next season with our BEST TEAM! And haven’t even SCORED A GOAL! let alone goal is just RIDICULOUS! I mean the sort of football we played was just like the sort we played under Puel, having loads of possession, yet we’re really sloppy and did absolutely nothing with the ball! I mean it certainly doesn’t help that we’ve done bugger all this transfer market and basically signed nobody (as Salisu we’d got before it even opened, and we were always going to get Walker-Peters after his loan)! Or even bothered for a position in which was also shown up agin tonight, which is a central midfielder as we’ve only got one decent one (Prowse), a young still learning midfielder (Smallbone) and one that used to be good but has been really poor recently and been messing up more than he hasn’t! (Romeo)! Sorry but unless we can get another central midfielder then I really struggle to see us avoiding a relegation battle, if not relegation itself! |
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Comment | Saints V Brentford The Verdict
by ExiledSupporter at 12:55:45
Well Nick, I agree with you entirely, bar one aspect...this was a worse performance than most that I can remember (okay, at home to Leicester was even worse) and you have been far too mild in your criticism!
This was as hopeless as I have seen us for a long while and reminded me of the darkest Puel days, of slow progress up the field with two passes backwards for every one forwards.
Yesterday the team seemed to have little energy or much commitment to the cause. Several players were notable for their lethargy (Barnard, Redmond, Romeu for starters) These are all players that I normally respect and approve of! Our 'famous pressing was at about 40% of the effort put in after last season's restart, while Brentford demonstrated far more commitment, energy and concerted press. The midfield was woeful , balls into the box were haphazard,(JWP seemed to have retreated into his shell) and simple passing seemed beyond us and we preferred sideways and backward mostly.
Yes, the defence was again all over the place, defending high up the field and relying on McCarthy to play sweeper is surely a tactic designed to make an unachievable virtue out of our most obviously chronic failing...no speed on the turn in the centre of defence, attacking full backs stranded too far up the field when our abysmal passing gave the ball to opponents who were then nearer our penalty area than were our own full backs. Naive marking and low levels of aggression at the centre. On top of that Ings had an unusually poor outing, unable to get his feet to do what he wanted and Adams, again, progressively fading out of the game. I think McCarthy is a good enough (just) player inside our penalty area but he is extremely nervous once he goes up field and I shiver with concern every time he does it...if this practice continues we will concede half a dozen ludicrous 'give the ball away' (as vs Arsenal) goals every season.
Just a word for Tella, a promising debut in a seriously underperforming team who all (aside from Tella) deserve to have their match fee halved on the basis of this apathetic and limp performance
And of course there is one other question...how can Ralf decide to employ an on field strategy which depends on our defence not having the acute weaknesses and repeated failings that we all know they possess in abundance. What's going on in his head... |
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Comment | Saints V Brentford The Verdict
by Berber at 12:36:59
There is no doubt that Stephens is playing well below his level from post lockdown. But for me, Redmond is the poorest performing player in the squad, notwithstanding Romeu's shocking passing. |
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