Football, HURGH!
What is it good for?
Absolutely NOTHING!
Say it aggaaaaaaiiiinnnn..

Racism being condoned

Somebody should slap you.

The manager doesn't condone racism, he just doesn't believe Suarez was intentionally racist!

For weeks the players and our ex manager gave him the benefit of the doubt!It turned out not to be correct,Terry at Chelsea is another example!I dont care what you think or say these stances are wrong.

The rampant homophobia is another one.

And it's not football per se, but the media coverage of it and control over public perceptions is pretty irritating.

Arsenal fans

Think rather than bringing up the one specific example you should concentrate on the wider picture.

Star - there's too much 'wrong' with football. However, the older I get, the more cynical I become and I am not sure it wasn't that I used to view the world through younger eyes.

Now I can't get excited about the players - there are very few I respect - largely because of the over-coverage we get of them. In our media-hungry, knowledge-obsessed, twitter posting world, everyone wants to know everything about each other - and yet knowledge is actually declining. So-called celebs occupy our attention and more people read Hello than any form of encyclopedia. People form their opinions based on media coverage, very rarely bothering to think for themselves but don't have a problem sharing their views with the world.

People pay from their sofas to support an industry which has no relation with them. It has moved from being sports to an entertainment industry. An industry with few controls, access to guaranteed income and the opportunity for a shady few to make a shady lot.

I think thats more or less what I was trying to say.I only touched on the racism thing as one of the many things, not aiming at a certain club or individual.I see our problem with Venkys and other clubs being taken over with non football people.Players and Managers in scandals, tax evasion ,I only thought these things happened with horse racing but football has quickly caught on,now its all talk of millions and players being shown no respect because of 80 grand a week that they are paid they want 120 grand and this is the tip of the iceberg.

In my opinion, there is not a great deal wrong with football, or different from years before, there are just more noughts on the end of everything now.

As to the cheats, divers, lying, racism, glory hunters and money orientated mercenaries, then I assure you it has always been this way. Its just highlighted more now and covered more widely in the media.

Somethings have improved, others not.

For example, the level of racism in football in the 70's and 80's would make peoples hair curl now!

The quality of stadia and facilities back then would disgust modern day fans.

The standard of play has improved dramatically and the overall standard of player professionalism has also improved. With notable exceptions of course.

There is a reason we all enjoy it so much and for me that was recently encapsulated by the refreshing comments from Dirk Kuyt and Skirtel after the Carling Cup Final and also by Jay Boothroyd commenting during that game. All three stated that the prestige of playing at Wembley, winning the trophy and the level of pride achieved in doing well was the primary reason all footballers played the game. The level of tension and emotion displayed by both teams during the penalty shoot-out fully demonstrated how much people were trying and how much they all cared. Even at a struggling Rovers we have seen how hard people try and I have completed a great deal of work for footballers this last few years and as a man they all talk about relative on field successess as career highlights.

I have been paid to play football but only at a semi-pro level. £70.00 quid per week. The money did not make me play any harder or better and the will to win, determination, application, motivation and inspiration required all came from within.

Evaluate how hard it has been at the Rovers this year for the fans. People care just as much as before, passions run high and interest and viewing levels remain very high. I agree that football needs to constantly re-evaluate all it stands for and portrays and must constantly seek to help the wider community and be a very good role model for all it touches, but equally it is only a game and can only achieve so much. Much about modern society is not good and naturally that is refelcted in how people, players and fans alike, behave in the course of their work and weekend recreation.

But people care just as much as before and the reason why football has superceded and marginalised most other sports in terms of interest levels and participation is due to it being the greatest game in the world.

OK thats a fair enough assessment OOJW,it makes a change to talk football without all the wums and stupid I love Kean brigade coming and stirring things up.I just hope something posotive happens to our club in the near future then we can all move on.

There are many facets of modern football that make it less appealing than it used to be. Too many players have little loyalty to their teams and squander their wealth in irresponsible ways.

And I'm very much afraid that nothing positive will happen to Rovers this season. The senior players are likely to move on, shortly followed by the fans, I imagine. I don't know how the players will maintain their morale for the rest of the season.

A team with relatively poorly paid players - either young or inexpensive - will not be competitive in either the Premier League or the Championship. I am not willing to renew my season ticket just to see the team humiliated every other week.

onlyonejackwalker (U2404)
______________________________

Sounds about right .

Top comment; I'd five star it if I could.

I concur, good read as ever oojw.

My main gripe about football these days are the financial inequalities which make the PL pointless for 14 clubs each season.

We certainly can't complain about the money as Rovers fans at only £225 for a season ticket. And I think a lot of the other issues are over-exaggerated.

Aston Villa just announced a loss of 53 million for last season. That makes a total loss of 90 million for the last 2 seasons. Maybe that answers your question Star.

As long as clubs keep running up debt like there is no tomorrow this circus will continue.Clubs should be made to stay solvent if this means wage caps and limited transfer fees then so be it.It might just create a level playing field!

Star, you are right but wrong. No way will Man U etc ever agree to a level playing field. Wage caps etc seem to work in American sports so why not.

I Don't think they should be a wage cap but i think Clubs should only be able spend a percentage of their income on player wages and transfers round 60% to 70%

If that was the case it wouldn't be only 6 clubs that have a hope in hell of winning the league, it'd be Man U and possibly Arsenal.

UEFA's idea to limit spending to a percentage of turnover simply cements the gap between the big clubs and the small clubs. At least a sugar daddy was a ladder small (or smallish) clubs could use to bridge the gap. City and Chelsea wouldn't have been within sniffing distance of the title in the last 2 decades without Abramovich and the Sheikh's, even they aren't big enough to compete with Man U on just their own wealth.

So the winners of the PL since it started would have been Man U 16 times and Arsenal twice.

The American sports recognise that they are part of the entertainment industry. There is no promotion or relegation, and steps are taken to reduce the extremes between teams in each league. And like entertainers, the biggest sports stars take an even bigger slice of the financial cake. The owners, however, do expect to make a profit. You could restate that as saying that the owners want their sports to be sustainable, and not falling into ever-deeper debt.