Putting top transfers into perspective....

AFKABartram

Four deals were completed yesterday for fees alone that were larger than the yearly budget for our entire football club.

In two of the cases, it was for three times the budget.

Next season, if there is no promotion, our budget is likely to be nearly halved again, meaning the fee alone for Robinho would be nearly six times the budget of an average Championship club.

The distortion between just two leagues is obscene, and is the single biggest issue destroying the pyramid of football in this country.

There is little anyone can do to stop huge wealth coming into the high profile big clubs, but it is critical that some form of division of wealth is arranged so that a complete closed shop is avoided before it is too late.

Charlton Dan

I think its gone beyond help mate. The only way we'll see any change is if one of the top clubs goes belly up and the rest start panicking and looking at their outgoings.. However whilst there are these cash rich fools who see a PL side as a play thing then, ala Citey, if they are having problems there is another idiot waiting in the wings

razil

perhaps they could equalise the premiership prize monies, after all finishing in European places and avoiding relegation must have its own incentives, they could even divide it up into play offs for relegation amongst bottom 9, and same with a UEFA slot

also could redistribute more money to the championship, but the whole idea of the Premiership was to move away from this.

Charlton Dan

I don't think its necessarily the PL that have caused this B.

IMO its the CL and the huge amounts of money on offer there which then means you can buy "big" players therefore more or less guaranteeing a top 4 spot and another slice of the CL pie. Its like a huge snowball. One that all the other clubs spend money they cant afford in trying to chase. In turn meaning this spending needs to filter down to the likes of Hull, Stoke etc just so they can compete and get points from midtable sides.

razil

I was concentrating on the Prem, take what you say about Europe, but if so then all European countries that are part of the competition would have the same problem? Perhaps reducing the prem money, or rather sharing it more evenly would take the steam out of it a little

Charlton Dan

It was more a wider view of how the CL money effects the PL. Its slightly different to most other European leagues because the PL is a very efficient marketing organisation and therefore the club's domestic revenue tends to be higher than say their counterparts in Italy, Germany etc.

But yes agree. A pool would be a good idea.

razil

aye, I hear what your saying about the snowball

Chris_from_Sidcup

[cite]Posted By: Charlton Dan[/cite]I think its gone beyond help mate. The only way we'll see any change is if one of the top clubs goes belly up and the rest start panicking and looking at their outgoings.

That more or less happened to Leeds, champions league semis to league one in 4-5 years but it hasn't stopped any one else spending.

Not much chance of it changing unless people stop going to games, stop buying merchandise and get rid of their sky and setanta. As long as people keep buying the product, the clubs will continue to spend our money.

Charlton Dan

This the point I'm making. Leeds were rescued.

But yes agree that whilst the consumer demand is still there, then they'll keep supplying what we (allegedly) want.

razil

its tv money mainly, and its world wide although I'm not sure what the split is UK vs Global monies. Then of course there is the European money.

this is the nature of free markets they tend to allow speculation and can be unstable/ boom bust if not kept under control, so I guess we can expect it to go bang at some point. Perhaps the 'credit crunch' will eventually kill of SKY subscriptions, doesn't seem to be a the moment though.

bingaddick

Some expert was talking on Talkshit today and saying that following the takeover at Citeh, the share value of Prem Clubs has just gone up by 10%. The people buying the clubs can see an exit strategy after a few years by selling the club for a profit. He quoted the figures of Liverpool where the Yanks paid less than £200M but are refusing to sell at the moment for £500M. Taxin pretty much doubled his money on Citeh in a year. The problem is if the bubble bursts at some point. I wonder if the money which Sky and Setanta pay is going to stay at the current level, increase or decrease. I understand that Sky are struggling to generate enough income to cover their payments for the TV rights. If there is a recession looming, I think that many people will cut back their discretional spending and Sky subscriptions may be one of the first to be dropped. All of a sudden things may not be so rosy. Owners like the Abu Dhabi royal family and Ambramovitch probably wont care but those owning Liverpool, Man U, Villa and one or two others may have problems.

Oakster

But really is the football bubble going to burst?

What will 9 million Sky subscribers/3 million Setanta sunscribers watch instead?

We could hit the depths of a recession in this country & football will still be, by far & away, the number one obsession & the comfort/security blanket for your average Joe. I think in harsh times, the Sky subscription would be the last thing to go.

I know you could look back at the 80's and the dire state football was in with the recession then - however now you have a much more accessible product thanks to Sky TV, a whole new generation of predominantly "Big 4" fans and an ingeniously, incessantly marketed product.

Sco

On a more basic level it just seems to be taking the fun out of football.

After the initial thrill is over for a City (or other) fan, what does it mean to them watching a player earning enough money to pay off your mortgage in one or two weeks in a game that is so result driven that deriving entertainment from the sport is now replaced by bragging rights?

I think it could just add up to bitterness from all directions in the end and all this money will just bring out the worst in people. This includes the reasons for why people will choose a club to support.

Although the de-humanising of the game saddens me, I know that I am not a surgeon with enough talent or power to help pull football's head out of it's own @rse so I busy my mind with other things. Runaway trains generally run out of track.

razil

they can stop watching footy, sky charge quite a wedge ya know, and is it that entertaining? anyone know what the split is for uk sky, vs global tv rights?

Oggy Red

[cite]Posted By: Charlton Dan[/cite]I don't think its necessarily the PL that have caused this B.

IMO its the CL and the huge amounts of money on offer there which then means you can .......

I first thought that you meant Charlton Life .........(!)