The obscenity of the Premiership

[pomp 'n circumstance]

The transfer market has just closed - in a flurry of business that has meant a total spend of over £1.5 billion.....yes £1.5 billion! The Premiership claim that this league is the best league in the world and yet it has failed to provide the winner of the European Cup for the last 10 years or so. The moment Premier Clubs come sniffing for deals in the transfer window, the prices for players in Europe double the price and journeymen players are unveiled as the next Messi under the gleam of clubs who are almost without exception owned by foreign management.

Sell a player to Europe for £1.5million (Pogba) and buy him back 3 years later for £80 million or sell a player (David Luiz) age 26 for £40 million and buy him back aged 29 for £44 million. Or if a player is unable to get in a team, loan him out to Bournemouth (Jack Wilshire) - Jazus, it defies logic, but then there's not much logic about the Prem......I could go on, this is just a small sample of the gross abuse of finances that fans are being asked to endorse!

[pompeygunner]

Utd won the CL in 08 iirc. Other than that though "obscene" is absolutely spot on. Biggest hypocrite has to be Wenger, after slamming the fee for Pogba that Utd paid he's shelled out 100m on players apparently.

[Locky_McLockface]

When you see what has been done with the merest fragment of that level of money in sports like cycling, gymnastics, etc., I think footballers should hang their heads in shame.

[RubiconCSL]

Not really the players fault though. If someone phoned me up today and offered me 10 times what I earn now to do the same job, I expect I'd be off in a millionth of a blink. I blame the Premier League, the players agents and above all Sky Spurts. It's the poor shmuks that pay for Sky Sports subscriptions that fund this fiasco.

When you see what has been done with the merest fragment of that level of money in sports like cycling, gymnastics, etc., I think footballers should hang their heads in shame.

[pompeygunner]

Not really the players fault though. If someone phoned me up today and offered me 10 times what I earn now to do the same job, I expect I'd be off in a millionth of a blink. I blame the Premier League, the players agents and above all Sky Spurts. It's the poor shmuks that pay for Sky Sports subscriptions that fund this fiasco.
[quote="Locky_McLockface"

Well also the mind boggling sponsorship deals that clubs get, players also get massive individual sponsorships as well fior things like boots etc.

[The Cincinnati Kid]

Well....yeah...but y'all are still thinking small like youz fans buying yer cups o Bovril, yer ticket and pies and ads on ITV fund the game .
Its global now innit. I bet I funded Sir Waynes payroll this year more than you did! Everybody in the world watches prem footy. Not sure yer argument about being the best hold either.
Fer sure the record in Europe aint great but its the best for "excitement" innit?

[Locky_McLockface]

No, you can't blame the players, as you say, who wouldn't take a pay rise.

The Premier League on the other hand, could be funding grassroots football far more than they actually do. I know I've mentioned it before, but the facilities that small, local clubs have is head and shoulders above what we have over here. They are all along the lines of what AFC Portchester or Fareham Town have, with halfway-decent spectator facilities, but the first team pitches are 3G, (even the U6s train on them) and a number of grass pitches in the same complex.

Not really the players fault though. If someone phoned me up today and offered me 10 times what I earn now to do the same job, I expect I'd be off in a millionth of a blink. I blame the Premier League, the players agents and above all Sky Spurts. It's the poor shmuks that pay for Sky Sports subscriptions that fund this fiasco.

When you see what has been done with the merest fragment of that level of money in sports like cycling, gymnastics, etc., I think footballers should hang their heads in shame.

[Weybridge]

Utd won the CL in 08 iirc. Other than that though "obscene" is absolutely spot on. Biggest hypocrite has to be Wenger, after slamming the fee for Pogba that Utd paid he's shelled out 100m on players apparently.

And Chelsea won it four years ago.

But no doubt, the money is absolutely nauseating. At no stage in the last ten years or so, have I ever thought about watching a game purely because of a £40m+ player is in the line up.

[rumourmonger]

And my reaction to quite a lot of the players who have been brought in for multi million fees is "Who?"

So many of them are just names these days. I used to consider myself quite well up on European football but there are fees of £10m plus going out on players that I seriously have barely heard of.

Crazy !!!

[The Cincinnati Kid]

Are y'all sure this isn't just salary envy?
Sold out stadiums and a tv audience of 3 billion worldwide ....ticket prices seem not unreasonable for 2 hrs of entertainment when compared to say rock concerts and the like.....most of us watch the worlds most exciting sports spectacle for free on our big screens!

ok..i'll give you the FACT that free isn't free on tv but the $100 ish per month we all pay for cable / sat / whatever....a miniscule portion of that is for the prem.

Best league in the world?....you better believe it....where else do 6-7 ish teams have a shot at the title ??...and the battle at the bottom end is just as exciting. I take it y'all were NOT absorbed by Leicester winning last year? or Man City winning in that memorable game against QPR....or all the fantastic managerial personalities currently here?
The monies for the Pogbas etc stays in the game and trickles down to other players....(sure Pogbas cash went Euro but Ronaldos stayed here).and the Prem is England's most successful export and treasury tax earner after Dr. Who (ok ...I made that bit up).......what's the problem again?

btw...go google Premier League tax / economic impact on Uk.......have a nice day!

[Selsey Bill]

It's the poor shmuks that pay for Sky Sports subscriptions that fund this fiasco.

...of which I am unashamedly one. However, it is beyond the realms of fantasy for my household to imagine life without SKY

[Fratton End Exile]

It's the poor shmuks that pay for Sky Sports subscriptions that fund this fiasco.

...of which I am unashamedly one. However, it is beyond the realms of fantasy for my household to imagine life without SKY

Me & mine too Selsey

[richisbradders]

(David Luiz) age 26 for £40 million and buy him back aged 29 for £44 million.

Bit of artistic licence on that transfer eh....

[Selsey Bill]

(David Luiz) age 26 for £40 million and buy him back aged 29 for £44 million.

Bit of artistic licence on that transfer eh....

Chelsea have actually done well out of David Luiz - they bought him from Benfica for €25m in 2011. They then sold him to PSG in 2014 for £50m (€60m) and bought him back this year for £34m.

[past memories]

That means he cost 9 million + inflation.