Bolton boss, Phil Gartside - what a tosser

[Djmiles]

Day-by-day my dislike for professional football grows at an alarming rate. The whole Premiership bubble makes me sick to the bottom of my stomach.

The 39th game fiasco. Obviously about spreading the love of the game and nothing to do with filling the pockets of those that are already filthy rich on the back of Joe Public.

Super Sundays. Best League in the World. Average players earning more in a week than key workers in a year. Fans being priced out of the game. £50m for finishing bottom of the league. Parachute payments. More outlets selling replica shirts of the big four in any given city/town than the actual local team.

"No-one needs a new stadium more than Liverpool".

Hours before a potential winding up order and deadline for Rotherham United (relegated to a little sub-heading) and the main news was about Wes Brown signing a new contract. We have news channels and Sky in a panic with an emergency press conference called by Chelsea. Are they going bankrupt? Has Abramovich been assassinated? No, Lampard has signed a new contract.

'Stevie G' holding out for a new contract with Liverpool. "I am not willing to sign yet as I want to concentrate on the game itself". Cue a £20,000 a week pay rise. "It has always been about Liverpool. No-one else."

G14 wanting a share of gate receipts from international tournaments.

Richard Scudamore biting back at The FA for being overcritical of the debt culture in the Premiership. Something along the lines of... "The FA are a right bunch to talk. They have an income of £300m, whilst being in debt to the tune of £350m due to the construction of Wembley Stadium". A stadium that was crucial as opposed to selling the family silver to give Rooney a bit more pocket money.

Sadly, I can't see anything changing soon and I would not be surprised if the Premiership did become a closed shop. Gartside must hope it will come about soon as I am sure Bolton are going to struggle to hold onto their place in the near future.

Football - Established 1992.

Go on, cancel your Sky subscriptions.

Very well said.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Gartside added that owners of clubs such as Bolton, Middlesbrough, Wigan and Blackburn needed protection from the invasion of overseas investors.

Gartside added that ugly, boring, badly supported clubs from horrific post-industrial wastelands such as Bolton, Middlesbrough, Wigan and Blackburn needed protection from the prospect of relegation from the Premier League and financially catastrophic plummets, a la Leeds & Leicester, into the nether regions of the lower leagues.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

clubs should not fear change.

So, he is saying in one sentence that the last radical overhaul (i.e. the creation of the Premiership) has caused problems. Then in another he is saying we shouldnt fear change.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Hopefully some banking system style collapse will come along and allow the game to re-boot itself with a new set of rules.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Premier League 1 & 2 is only acceptable if the Albion are in the Championship at the time of changeover and Leeds are still in League 1

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Interesting article in yesterday's Guardian sports section, examining top flight football's vulnerability to the financial crisis.

Current levels of Premier League debt:

Arsenal £416m
Aston Villa £63.8m
Blackburn £17m
Bolton £40m
Chelsea £578m (what Abramovich has put in is in the form of interest free loans)
Everton £59m
Fulham £183m (they're in the same situation as Chelsea, with Al Fayed)
Hull £1m
Liverpool £350m
Man City £154 million (pre takeover- it's not known how their new owners are structuring the deal)
Man United £667m
Middlesbrough £84m
Newcastle £79m
Portsmouth £32m
Stoke £3m
Sunderland £45m
Spurs £45m
WBA £4m
West Ham £36m
Wigan £54m

Interestingly, based on debts compared to turnover and source of income, they reckon Portsmouth are one of the most likely to struggle, as Gaydamak wants out, they spend way beyond their means, and they're considered unlikely to find a billionaire saviour because of their ground situation.

I do hope the Guardian is right

 

[jcdenton08]

Interesting article in yesterday's Guardian sports section, examining top flight football's vulnerability to the financial crisis.

Current levels of Premier League debt:

Arsenal £416m
Aston Villa £63.8m
Blackburn £17m
Bolton £40m
Chelsea £578m (what Abramovich has put in is in the form of interest free loans)
Everton £59m
Fulham £183m (they're in the same situation as Chelsea, with Al Fayed)
Hull £1m
Liverpool £350m
Man City £154 million (pre takeover- it's not known how their new owners are structuring the deal)
Man United £667m
Middlesbrough £84m
Newcastle £79m
Portsmouth £32m
Stoke £3m
Sunderland £45m
Spurs £45m
WBA £4m
West Ham £36m
Wigan £54m

Interestingly, based on debts compared to turnover and source of income, they reckon Portsmouth are one of the most likely to struggle, as Gaydamak wants out, they spend way beyond their means, and they're considered unlikely to find a billionaire saviour because of their ground situation.

I do hope the Guardian is right

Interesting, thanks for this. Apart from Pompey does the article make any reference to turnover/profits? Debt, as we know, can be easily cleared if the business if profitable. How many of these are *unable* to clear debts due to ongoing losses?

 

[eastlondonseagull]

I'm almost certain you are on crystal meth.

.

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Well said, Barrel. Couldn't agree more. SKY invented football, innit.

.

 

[Spider]

"We have already got to the situation where the three clubs that go down from the Premier League are usually the three that come up, although a couple of others might sneak in.

What planet is this man living on? This quote in particular shows what little knowledge he must have of football. This year alone two clubs who had never been in the Premiershite before got promoted, and the list of teams relegated from it that are now knocing round the Championship is large.

To be honest though, much as every new cynical ploy to tear football from its roots makes me more and more pissed off with the game in general, with the current situation I wouldn't be averse to the Premiership shutting itself off from the Football League. The difference now is so huge that it's not really benefitting any anyone getting relegated from or promoted to. Any idiot would see that the way to address the current issues in football is nothing to do with a restructuring of the Premier League, but let them get on with it and let proper football call The Championship as its top honour.

Wankers the of of them.

 

[Keeping The Dream Alive.]

To be honest though, much as every new cynical ploy to tear football from its roots makes me more and more pissed off with the game in general, with the current situation I wouldn't be averse to the Premiership shutting itself off from the Football League. The difference now is so huge that it's not really benefitting any anyone getting relegated from or promoted to. Any idiot would see that the way to address the current issues in football is nothing to do with a restructuring of the Premier League, but let them get on with it and let proper football call The Championship as its top honour.

I wouldnt be against that. The premiership can f*** off and the real fans can have their own leauge football pyramid.

 

[Les Biehn]

It's an extremely agenda driven polemic but I actually think it's not a bad idea apart from the no relegation bit.

 

[Barry Izbak]

Day-by-day my dislike for professional football grows at an alarming rate. The whole Premiership bubble makes me sick to the bottom of my stomach.

The 39th game fiasco. Obviously about spreading the love of the game and nothing to do with filling the pockets of those that are already filthy rich on the back of Joe Public.

Super Sundays. Best League in the World. Average players earning more in a week than key workers in a year. Fans being priced out of the game. £50m for finishing bottom of the league. Parachute payments. More outlets selling replica shirts of the big four in any given city/town than the actual local team.

"No-one needs a new stadium more than Liverpool".

Hours before a potential winding up order and deadline for Rotherham United (relegated to a little sub-heading) and the main news was about Wes Brown signing a new contract. We have news channels and Sky in a panic with an emergency press conference called by Chelsea. Are they going bankrupt? Has Abramovich been assassinated? No, Lampard has signed a new contract.

'Stevie G' holding out for a new contract with Liverpool. "I am not willing to sign yet as I want to concentrate on the game itself". Cue a £20,000 a week pay rise. "It has always been about Liverpool. No-one else."

G14 wanting a share of gate receipts from international tournaments.

Richard Scudamore biting back at The FA for being overcritical of the debt culture in the Premiership. Something along the lines of... "The FA are a right bunch to talk. They have an income of £300m, whilst being in debt to the tune of £350m due to the construction of Wembley Stadium". A stadium that was crucial as opposed to selling the family silver to give Rooney a bit more pocket money.

Sadly, I can't see anything changing soon and I would not be surprised if the Premiership did become a closed shop. Gartside must hope it will come about soon as I am sure Bolton are going to struggle to hold onto their place in the near future.

Football - Established 1992.

Go on, cancel your Sky subscriptions.

Sorry not to be original BOF, but that is the best post on here for ages. Sums up exactly how I feel about the MONEY MONEY MONEY attitude of these pricks.

If Gartside had any interest in the tradition of English football rather than just thinking pound signs he would know what a load utter bollocks he has come up with. IF Albion were in the Premiershite, I would feel exactly the same. Yes I would.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Interesting, thanks for this. Apart from Pompey does the article make any reference to turnover/profits?

Arsenal debt £416m
Turnover £223m
Pre tax profit/loss +£36.7m

Aston Villa debt £63.8m
Turnover £37
Pre tax profit/loss -£2.8m

Blackburn debt £17m
Turnover £43m
Pre tax profit/loss -£3.4m

Bolton debt £40m
Turnover £51m
Pre tax profit/loss -£2m

Chelsea debt £578m
Turnover £192m
Pre tax profit/loss -£76m


Everton debt £59m
Turnover £51m
Pre tax profit/loss -£9m

Fulham debt £183m
Turnover £39m
Pre tax profit/loss -£16m


Hull debt £1m
Turnover £9m
Pre tax profit/loss -£2m

Liverpool debt £350m
Turnover £134m
Pre tax profit/loss -£22m

Man City debt £154 million
Turnover £11m
Pre tax profit/loss -£11m


Man United debt £667m
Turnover £210m
Pre tax profit/loss -£58m

Middlesbrough debt £84m
Turnover £48m
Pre tax profit/loss -£13m

Newcastle debt £79m
Turnover £87m
Pre tax profit/loss -£33m

Portsmouth debt £32m
Turnover £40m
Pre tax profit/loss -£23m

Stoke debt £3m
Turnover £8m
Pre tax profit/loss -£3m

Sunderland debt £45m
Turnover £26m
Pre tax profit/loss -£15m

Spurs debt £45m
Turnover £103m
Pre tax profit/loss +£28m


WBA debt £4m
Turnover £23m
Pre tax profit/loss +£5m

West Ham debt £36m
Turnover £57m
Pre tax profit/loss -£22m

Wigan debt £54m
Turnover £57m
Pre tax profit/loss -£8m


Only Arsenal, Spurs (apparently due to high London prices and corporate hospitality) and West Brom made a profit last year.

The alarming- or amusing, depending on your stance- figures relate to Pompey, with a turnover of only £40m, yet a loss of £23 million, to go with their debts of £32 million. No wonder the boss wants out. The report reckons West Ham are relatively secure, despite similarly crap figures.

I'm not enough of a financial whizz to understand fully the whole turnover/profit/debt relationship, but I'm sure it'll all make sense to some of you. How does the Premier League sustain itself with losses like these??

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Thought this deserved a bounce, seeing as it's a few months since he tried it and failed. What a knob-end.

.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Why would anyway listen to a man whose honesty makes a Politician look like a saint

 

[Pavilionaire]

Ok, so Pompey lost £23million. Didn't they also win the FA Cup? f*** knows what the figures will have looked like if they'd gone out in the 3rd Round.

What football needs is a Formula 1-style shake-up.

The real excitement in the Premiership is now centred around relegation. Hand on heart, if Chelsea vs Man Utd was on one side and Newcastle vs Boro on the other I'd watch the latter.

The top 4 are turning into something grotesque. Man Utd made something like 8 changes for an FA Cup semi-final so they could rest key players for "bigger" games. Similarly, Liverpool clearly prioritised on the Premiership over the Chelsea semi, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Chelsea rest players before their must-win tie vs Barca.

 

[drew]

Gartside has also demanded that British club owners be protected from foreign tycoons and for consideration to be given for players to be wage-capped.Just don't sell your shares and ensure you own 51% of the club. Simple really.

Gartside said: "We have to start considering what the structure of the league is, and it is time to look at two Premier Leagues - Premier League One and Premier League Two - and the way the finance is allocated. Bolton would be in Prem 2 and be complaining that Prem 1 have the lions share of the funds. He'll come up with some other stupid scheme

"You could have 36 Premier League clubs split into 18 and 18 and that would also solve the problems of the winter break and supporting the England team.

"It would even everything out and it would make it more competitive on that basis.you would still have the top four winning every year. The only way the top flight would become 100% competitive would be if it only contained Manure, Liverpool, Chelski and the Arsenal


"I don't have the answers but it is certainly time for a debate - perhaps even on not having relegation from a second division of the Premier League."

Gartside, who has been a Bolton director for 20 years and chairman for nine, said clubs should not fear change. Don't fear change but do fear relegation.!!!!!!!!!!

He added: "It would be revolutionary but I don't think this would be as revolutionary as when the Premier League was set up, and we should open our minds to change. I know a lot of Football League clubs won't like it - but a lot will. The Prem League wasn't revolutionary. It was just a means of hiving of more money for the top flight. It still had relegation and Promotion but two less teams.

The Bolton chairman added: "I have been against wage-capping in the past but it has come to the point now where we have to look seriously at it. And who are the only clubs that would benefit, those with the biggest turnover, aka the big four.

For christ`s sake they`ll be introducing substitutions and goal nets next.

And crossbars!

Day-by-day my dislike for professional football grows at an alarming rate. The whole Premiership bubble makes me sick to the bottom of my stomach.

The 39th game fiasco. Obviously about spreading the love of the game and nothing to do with filling the pockets of those that are already filthy rich on the back of Joe Public.

Super Sundays. Best League in the World. Average players earning more in a week than key workers in a year. Fans being priced out of the game. £50m for finishing bottom of the league. Parachute payments. More outlets selling replica shirts of the big four in any given city/town than the actual local team.

"No-one needs a new stadium more than Liverpool".

Hours before a potential winding up order and deadline for Rotherham United (relegated to a little sub-heading) and the main news was about Wes Brown signing a new contract. We have news channels and Sky in a panic with an emergency press conference called by Chelsea. Are they going bankrupt? Has Abramovich been assassinated? No, Lampard has signed a new contract.

'Stevie G' holding out for a new contract with Liverpool. "I am not willing to sign yet as I want to concentrate on the game itself". Cue a £20,000 a week pay rise. "It has always been about Liverpool. No-one else."

G14 wanting a share of gate receipts from international tournaments.

Richard Scudamore biting back at The FA for being overcritical of the debt culture in the Premiership. Something along the lines of... "The FA are a right bunch to talk. They have an income of £300m, whilst being in debt to the tune of £350m due to the construction of Wembley Stadium". A stadium that was crucial as opposed to selling the family silver to give Rooney a bit more pocket money.

Sadly, I can't see anything changing soon and I would not be surprised if the Premiership did become a closed shop. Gartside must hope it will come about soon as I am sure Bolton are going to struggle to hold onto their place in the near future.

Football - Established 1992.

Go on, cancel your Sky subscriptions.

Already did 18 months ago.

 

[Napper]

Ok, so Pompey lost £23million. Didn't they also win the FA Cup? f*** knows what the figures will have looked like if they'd gone out in the 3rd Round.

What football needs is a Formula 1-style shake-up.

The real excitement in the Premiership is now centred around relegation. Hand on heart, if Chelsea vs Man Utd was on one side and Newcastle vs Boro on the other I'd watch the latter.

The top 4 are turning into something grotesque. Man Utd made something like 8 changes for an FA Cup semi-final so they could rest key players for "bigger" games. Similarly, Liverpool clearly prioritised on the Premiership over the Chelsea semi, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Chelsea rest players before their must-win tie vs Barca.

Disagree slightly , the main interest for me is the top 4 and the relegation battle to a slightly lesser extent. The bore fest is all those teams in the middle

 

[SNOOBS]

No relegation from the prem. What the f*** does he think football league clubs will think?!