This Manchester City funny business will surely end in tears
WE'RE pretty much used to laughing at Manchester City.
Niall Quinn running to the touchline to tell Alan Ball he actually needed to win that last match, Steve Coppell's 33 days, Kevin Keegan revealing he was new City boss before Joe Royle had been told he wasn't - and, of course, lethal Lee Bradbury.
But for a few days this week we were laughing with them.
No sooner had the Abu Dhabi officials taken over than they were running around like kids in a toy shop.
There was the blatant bid to wind up their neighbours, by trying to hijack the Berbatov deal. There was the even funnier announcement about moving in on Ronaldo in January. Then there was the custard pie in Chelsea's face with a successful swoop for Robinho.
It was funny because it was the 'big two' on the receiving end. And it was okay because it was Manchester City, everyone's favourite self-harmers, finally getting something right.
But then the laughing stopped as the dawning realisation hit home - especially here on Merseyside.
Liverpool finished fourth and Everton finished fifth last season.
And they are the teams most at risk of being elbowed aside by another boorish gatecrasher lurching to the Premier League's top table, belching loudly in other guests' faces.
It's happened before.
Chelsea finished fourth in 2003, their highest finish since their one and only league title in 1955.
Then Roman Abramovich found himself with too much time on his hands and took over.
Second wasn't good enough the year after, so he threw more money at it, and more, and some more.
We even had the unsavoury situation of Chelsea buying players they didn't really need, just to keep them out of the hands of their rivals.
Shaun Wright-Phillips' career hasn't really recovered.
Then Abramovich headhunted one of the world's most successful coaches, and the year after Chelsea were champions.
They've stayed in the top two ever since.
Obviously managerial acumen counted for plenty, But Roman's roubles counted for an awful lot more.
If Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim is as wealthy as he says he is - and he claims "we have very deep pockets, very deep pockets" - it won't be long before City join Chelsea.
And that's both sad and worrying.
Everton are Liverpool are talking about building new stadia, to generate more revenue.
But the extra income generated by even 73,000 seater stadia - the sop Tom Hicks and George Gillett bizarrely believe will placate Reds fans over the latest stadium delay - will be dwarfed by the transfer pot the Abu Dhabi group can place at City's disposal.
It's not the best run clubs, the most astute managers, the most craftily assembled squad of players who will win titles any more.
It's the richest football clubs.
And that's desperately sad.
We will never ever see a football genius like Brian Clough drag a football backwater from the second division to become European champions.
We'll never see a boss like Bobby Robson imaginatively craft one of the most refreshingly entertaining football teams it's ever been my privilege to see.
And we'll never see the league title lifted by five different football clubs in eight years, as it did in the 1970s.
Football has sold its soul.
And that's not a laughing matter.
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Bye Bye Scousers - I really really love it !!
Couldn't agree more, although I suspect most Liverpool fans (me included)wouldn't mind joining them if DIC make a successful bid. The biggest danger facing football will be if the genuine fans are priced out and/or the potentially fickle corporate sponsors or billionaire onwers decide to throw money at something else . Imagine if Roman decided he wanted a Formula 1 team instead of Chelsea, they would need another oligarch to step in or they would surely be in a huge financial mess
A lot of what you've written is spot on. However, the days of Clough, Robson and even Toshack with Swansea and Gould with Wimbledon died a death the moment the muppet with the Premiership idea got taken seriously.
Real Madrid, Chelsea and Man U have all shown the secret of success is to just throw money at it. Even Blackburn had a go at it just to prove the model worked.
Our CEO was banging on about an elite 14 team league - sadly it will come, closely followed by a European version.
This is how OUR game has gone and the saddest part of it all is that we were ALL warned time and time and again and yet we just sat idly by and did nothing while the game was carved up so.
I agree with many of your sentiments (and I'm a City fan); Football will never be the same again, unless it becomes deeply unfashionable with foreign billionaires, and for that to happen in the short term we'd probably have to have another hooligan and disaster-prone decade like the eighties, and I'm sure none of us would want that.
However, the number of contenders for the title should increase now. Realistically it's only been between Chelsea and ManU for the last 3 years, with Arsenal and yourselves as outsiders. Soon (hopefully) we can join the party, and if serious reports from the UAE are to believed, the reason for this takeover is competition between the individual emirates as to who can be the biggest sporting nation. That means Dubai is likely to buy a club very soon (and we know who that might be); before long there may be seven Premier teams all owned by a different emirate. Not the league as we used to know and love it, but at least we'll have some competition back again...
lol i cant believe how jealous scousers and united fans are getting with man city!!! its so funny!!! for once..... something good is happening at city and you cant handle it. they cant criticize anything about city especially with signings and money. Scousers just spent 14 million on a city reject reira. Hes poor. If you want some money we will have torres off you!! we have signed some real quality this summer and cant wait for january and next summer. The premiership is ours next year!!! i promise u!! All these years liverpool never been able to win the premiership and we just come along and win it in a year. spurs will overtake lfc aswell..... so enjoy life mid table lol xx
citeh fans you aint got know history, you will never be the new united cos u aint got SAF buy who u want u still got no class
Just a thought, but perhaps you should have thought of that when the greed league started with the formation of the Premiership? And thought about it some more when the top four became self perpetuating with the money that qualification for the Champions League brings? But you didn't. You didn't care a fig.
Most City fans will tell you that they're delighted but they also kind of hope that 6 or 7 billionaires turn up and buy other clubs and kick over the top 4 apple cart good-and-proper.
There's QPR already (richer than Chelski) - I hope others also benefit. Because it's the only way the Premiership will become competative again. And once it is then maybe you will see the benefit from sharing Champions League revenue with other clubs in the league.
For me this whold is the start of serious payback. The rags at OT can't cope already - it's hillarious putting keys in their backs, winding them up and watching them go.
The one saving grace for me, as a City fan, is the behaviour of the Arab Billionairs in Horse Racing. In general they've respected the sport and invested sympathetically. I certainly hope they behave in the same way at City. Because success ISNT everything - I certainly wouldn't support City if it was.
Money always buys sucess in football it always did and it always will. Only Cloughs forrest were the exception to the rule.
Enjoy the realisation that your just a normal football club - and then perhaps we fans can impose a leveller playing field for the benefit of everyone.
History is in the past!!!!! whos cares about that. its all about the future. and yours is bleek!!! we will buy who we want and we will have class ooooosin out of us!!
"Shaun Wright-Phillips' career hasn't really recovered"
I think its on the mend after grabbing a brace against Sunderland.....!!
It doesn't matter whether its Man City or Stoke who are threatening the top 4, its the fact that Liverpool think its their god given right to be in it because of their history......what a load of rubbish....!!
Your history doesn't bring you success, you haven't won the league now in nearly 20 years, the longest period of time in the club's history that Liverpool FC has had to wait.
Why are these issues being raised now by the so called big 4? As if it was possible to do what happened with Brian Clough without City's new found wealth.
I suggest football sold its soul many a bluemmoon ago
PS. Will you boys feel the same when DIC buy out the Yanks?
PPS With Usmanov (arsenal), ADUG (City), DIC (Liverpool) and Roman (Chelsea), i sincerely hope its the rags that are relegated out of the Top 4!
Even with all of the money City have spent this summer it is dwarfed by the amount Benitez has spent and wasted(with the exception of Torres and Mascherano). It is ironic that the Americans you hate bought them for you rather than earned through the good business stewardship you spout on about.
Had City not had a calamitous second half of last season we prob could have beaten you to 4th then.
If DIC had any intention of pumping millions into Liverpool ala Abu Dhabi United then I am sure the Moores family would have sold to them. They have always stated they see Liverpool as purely an investment vehicle. You might be better with the devil you know. One of your owners does seem to care about LFC and have good sound business ideas.
You really should sort out your own house before you jealously comment on ours and attempt to put the ills of football on us. Football sold its soul years ago at the formation of the EPL and then the 4 team Champions League funded cartel. It is not the fault of City that despite success on the field you have an incompetent like Parry steering your ship and reducing your revenue capacity. Get rid of Parry, stop the infighting, get Everton to foot half the cost of the new 73000 stadium. There you go your problems are over. I always assumed the phrase moaning scousers was a snobbish outrage, was I wrong? Best wishes.
Remarkable turnaround of opinion there, lad. Seems in THIS article...
http://www.liverpoolbanter.co.uk/2008/09/spirit-of-shankly-call-to-live.html
...you're quite keen on the idea. Whatever.
Oh come on. That tired old rhetoric of football losing it's soul, it's all about money is tired and out of touch.
Football 'sold its soul' when the Premiership was created back in the early 90s. In fact it 'sold its soul' before then with the emergence of Exec Boxes.
Football, as an industry, needs to move with the times. We all remember how dire the sport was becoming through the 80s with dilapidated and dangerous stadiums, average footballers playing average football on awful pitches. Can you imagine what the state of the game would be without investment - truly awful and nowhere near the best league in the world which we all rightly claim.
So what if it takes massive investment to produce any silver wear. This is what the game demands. Without investment at best a club treads water, at worst look at Leeds now and City in the 90s.
There's no question I sense a touch of sour grapes and nervousness here too. I'm not sure Torres would've gone to Anfield without the American's supposed billions last year. And what of the DIC stories? If they do take over, will the author begrudge Liverpool their real targeted prize of Premier League champions, I don't think so.
I work and know many fans of the other big 3 clubs and I'm surprised that the majority of abuse I've had is from Liverpool fans, you must really be scared for the 4th spot. look closer to home though and Rafa's signings.
You'll all be OK when DIC buy you and you graduate up to City's level. We'll be the massive 2 with the big 2 under us! Maybe Randy at Villa will start to spend real money too. Maybe if that happens we'll get 5 teams that can win it, maybe even 5 different winners in 8 years. Imagine that.
hi,
There are plenty of inaccuracies and holes in this piece and the writer speaks like a Luddite.
If Roman's millions count for so much then why have Chelsea not won the Champions League?
How do Arsenal continue to punch above their weight?
And, call me picky if you like, but Chelsea finished 3rd in the top flight in 1999 and 1970.
Simo - How the hell can you talk about class, when you right messages like a 4 year old, and cant tell the difference between 'know' and 'no'.
Back to school for you , in Salford!
SLim
I agree with all of this but surely, all of this will continue to spiral upwards. A few years back players cost thousands, then a couple of million now tens of millions. With all of this money entering the game, it will start to become a good investment for billionaires. So surely those tens of millions will turn into hundreds of millions. There will obviously be a rather 'soul less' transitional period but I'm hoping it wont permanently cripple the game. Potentially wishful thinking. I guess the craftiness of the managers will be seen in their transfers now and how there new 'super team' will play together (Gerrard-Lampard argument)
And by the way Mr Manchester City, we are not jealous, most fans here are fans of football and its legacy, not some clowns running around in powder blue shirts. Great buy in Robinho by the way... really makes a team that arrogant man child.