'Hating' the Premier League

[Mellotron]

In my opinion teams in the Premiership seem much more desperate to avoid relegation than any of those leagues you mention.

Makes the end of season games incredibly exciting. And sure, it's due to the amounts of money and I'd agree with you there.

 

[stripeyshark]

This is only 18. What about the other 2?

Southampton and reading. 20th and 19th respectively.

 

[Triggaaar]

wasn't the original plan to try and pay back the stadium costs by 2023 then convert any outstanding debt into shares in the club?

Really? I hadn't heard that. Paying off £10m/yr would be tough.

Realistically he'll get nothing back whilst we're in the Championship (the costs must be eye watering without the huge tv money available in the top league), so I kind of assumed that the club would try and use a proportion of the PL money to pay him back.

Has that plan changed?

No, I just didn't know that was the plan. I thought the plan was that it was his club, and he wanted it to be self-sufficient with a starting point of an interest free loan on the ground. Perhaps someone can enlighten us.

 

[Blackadder]

Get promoted to the prem? I am prepared to take our chances.

Yes it will be more expensive but the buzz will be fantastic.

You youngsters* must be fed up of us older boys going on about the good old days under Mullery. The TV coverage is better these days and you see some of the best players in the world. Can't see the point if we don't aspire to play at the highest level, especially with the ground we have now.

* Youngsters = under 40s. It's time to get back there.

 

[Gullys Cats]

I just love my football but i think the money is killing the game, premier league would be great for a couple of seasons .

 

[Woodchip]

Think it's mostly quite childish, some of it IS jealousy and referring to it as the "Premiershit" is embarrassing. Watch a lot of people backtrack massively in that regard once we're established up there.

Is it any different to people referring to the Championship as the CHUMPionship? That happened a few years ago and now we're in it there is no better league in the world.

 

[Stat Brother]

I am most definitely one of the 'haters', unashamedly so.

To me all the PL is, is a means to repay TB quicker, for which I would love it.

But as [MENTION=13055]Ninja Elephant[/MENTION] says it's not a league to win, it's just a means to an end, which is pretty depressing.

My wish would be to win the Championship well, and enter the PL in a competitive position.
All the time that's not possible I'd be happy where we are and enjoy the ride should that change.

But as I always say, that's easy for me, it's not my £120m.

Oh and I'd love to go up so AiTC can feature in the 'we have a turnover of 100's of millions and to make ourselves feel good we let some pensioners play the Wii, in an outbuilding once a month', slot.

I'd love to see the look on the production teams face, twenty minutes after asking 'so what do you do for the community at large', and they are halfway through the reply.

We should get a proper documentary out of that.

 

[El Presidente]

I am most definitely one of the 'haters', unashamedly so.

To me all the PL is, is a means to repay TB quicker, for which I would love it.

But as [MENTION=13055]Ninja Elephant[/MENTION] says it's not a league to win, it's just a means to an end, which is pretty depressing.

My wish would be to win the Championship well, and enter the PL in a competitive position.
All the time that's not possible I'd be happy where we are and enjoy the ride should that change.

But as I always say, that's easy for me, it's not my £120m.

He doesn't want it back.

 

[El Presidente]

Get promoted to the prem? I am prepared to take our chances.

Yes it will be more expensive but the buzz will be fantastic.

You youngsters* must be fed up of us older boys going on about the good old days under Mullery. The TV coverage is better these days and you see some of the best players in the world. Can't see the point if we don't aspire to play at the highest level, especially with the ground we have now.

* Youngsters = under 40s. It's time to get back there.

It is exciting, being old enough to remember trips to OT, White Hart Lane, Anfield, Goodison, Villa Park, Highbury, Roker Park etc. (not Stamford Bridge though) in the top flight, those were exciting times. Seeing the Albion beat Manchester United, Arsenal, Citeh and others at the Goldstone also sticks in the memory.

If fans are realistic and accept for the first few years our ambition is to to well in the bottom third of the Prem then it will be great, but I am not convinced that will be the case.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

It could be what originated the term Poisoned Chalice. We all want it, and it will taste sweet, but it has the potential to do us great damage.

Were it not the for the fact that we seem to have people in charge who know what they are doing.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

He doesn't want it back.

What is the position El Pres ?

My initial understanding was it was an interest-free loan where the capital transferred to shares at some point. Is it interest free ? And what will happen to the money for the original loan ?

 

[Hamilton]

Can we go up please? I'll happily answer the question then

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I worry that the crowds will drop off after a while as we get beaten on a more regular basis although it would rise again near the end of the season being a relegation battle. After a while meaning, within 2 or 3 years. This happened in the 80s as we played out 1-0 games just to try and stay up. Football is always more enjoyable when the team is winning and near the top of the table.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

If we make it to the PL the novelty of it will wear off quick when the reality of not having a hope in hell of ever winning the title sets in.

Finishing 14th in the PL won't rival the excitement and fun of winning some of those lower league titles.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

If we make it to the PL the novelty of it will wear off quick when the reality of not having a hope in hell of ever winning the title sets in.

Finishing 14th in the PL won't rival the excitement and fun of winning some of those lower league titles.

Agree. Dyed in the wool WHU fans at work were thankful of relegation because they were getting tired of having their arses to them every week AND it also meant they would WIN some games in the championship.

 

[Stat Brother]

He doesn't want it back.

If the opportunity arose for TB to have his hand in the till, I'm sure he would.

If he didn't, I'd worry about his mental state

We'd have to come up with some scheme to pay him back, or else it'll end up like Mrs Doyle paying the bill in the tea rooms.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The thing about the Premier League is how money distorts the competition. What's particularly depressing is to see how a plucky club like Swansea have a good first season but then lose their manager and a number of their top players. The heart's been ripped out of their midfield and unless Laudrup performs a miracle they'll slip down to the mediocrity of the third quarter of the division with worse to follow the season after.

Sure, some teams like West Brom and Stoke have managed to settle in the Premier League and now sit comfortably in mid-table, but in order to achieve this they have to employ some pretty agricultural football. I expect West Ham to join this set shortly.

 

[Gritt23]

I wouldn't say I "hate" the Premiership, but neither do I find it very exciting when it is such a closed shop regarding who can be truly competitive at teh top, that doesn't make it the "best League in the World" as all of media whose livelihood relies on people going along with that premise will try to make you believe. I find that constant repeating of the "best League in the World" mantra incredibly tiresome. The players believe their own hype FAR too much, and earn obscene amounts of money, which under the surface means the "cashcow" that is the current TV deals are not making the clubs financially secure, it's just inflating the unsustainable debt levels of many clubs to even higher degrees.

Having said all that though, it IS the pinnacle of the ladder in the this country, so of course I want us to be there, because what's teh alternative, hoping you miss out on promotion? No, that doesn't work, so of course I want promotion, and want us to be there. Whatever League WE are in is automatically my favourite League anyway, because that is the League I'm most interested in. But as someone has already said, I would hope we approach it witha sensible, and sustainable Blackpool approach rather than the Pompey model.

In time, the teams who "establish" themselves as mid-table fodder, do face an existance I am in no way jealous of. Mid-table obscurity, unable to go any higher, and should be okay to retain the current holding pattern would get very dull after a while. But I'll worry about that should we ever become the next Everton .... it's not very likely, is it.

 

[Simster]

Agree. Dyed in the wool WHU fans at work were thankful of relegation because they were getting tired of having their arses to them every week AND it also meant they would WIN some games in the championship.

But a PL squad always gives you a chance in the FA Cup. We'd even half a chance in the League Cup seeing as we'd get a bye for the first round.

And with cup success comes the occasional flirt with the Europa league, as Birmingham, Fulham and Stoke have shown recently. (I don't count Portsmouth, as they CHEATED their way to Europe)

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

But a PL squad always gives you a chance in the FA Cup. We'd even half a chance in the League Cup seeing as we'd get a bye for the first round.

And with cup success comes the occasional flirt with the Europa league, as Birmingham, Fulham and Stoke have shown recently. (I don't count Portsmouth, as they CHEATED their way to Europe)

Im not so sure. In theory yes but in the cups I can see us doing an "Allardyce" and playing a reserve team even tho realistically its our only chance of silverware...