Who is to blame !

I was answering a post from len (boltjean ) re in defence of harry redknapp and got a little sidetracked with the importance of money in this great game of ours that was called the working mans sport.

Len was saying that bill nic would have always put out his best team in any competition and i agreed with him but pointed out that the bigger clubs have devalued the domestic trophies because they want their best players to be fit for the comps where the money rewards are ! ie the cl and of course the path into that cash laden competition..the prem.

But we have to ask why money has become such an important thing to the bigger clubs and devalued the cc and fa cup ?

Firstly , and in bill nics day player wages werent like they are today on a simple ratio scale! what did jimmy greaves earn weekly when playing for us ? and what would he earn today ?

As i said i got sidetracked about the original subject because i suddenly realised that because player wages have spiralled in the last (at least ) 20 years out of control, and the better players command bigger wages, so the bigger clubs (that pay such wage sums) have to make a priority of the more cash rich comps.

So who is to blame ? we hear fans every new season complaining about season ticket prices, club shirts for themselves and their kids, merchandise in general etc, but still pay outlandish prices to see our heroes play, and as long as we are happy to pay such sums the more the players will ask for stupid money to kick a ball about.

Its a radical view i know but the true answer is that us fans are to blame, as long as we are happy to empty our hard earned cash into the players wallets then the longer the greed in the game will go on.

Lets be realistic here ! what fcking footballer is worth £100,000 per week to kick a ball about in a public arena:? why should a footballer earn so much more than a skilled man (surgeon for example) who could save the life of a loved one ?

Anyway at this point i will stop because i dont know if this will be a popular thread, but i welcome your views ?

the difference now is that most working class guys like most of us on here are being priced out of going, and if their wages keep going up then eventually i will have to call it a day cos my wages certainly cant compete with what the clubs want to charge. in a way i feel a bit cheated because i have been going since 1971 and now am finding it increasingly harder to find the cash to go as much as i would like. membership is 43 quid now for the level i buy then tickets average 30 -46 quid for mid table teams. i will keep going because i love match days with my lad and my mates, but when you get nights like tues when it seems the passion in the team is not there but the passion from the clubs ticket prices are most def there you start to question should you paytop dollar and travel all that way.at the end of the day i still go but its not the same passion as it used to be on the terraces of the 70s and 80s

......and thats evil shear ! that you are thinking of not going because you are being priced out of something that derives its roots from the working class man.

I stopped going because of all the travelling involved from where i live, from one train to another, switching from tube to tube, but the money factor today for me would be paramount, feeding my household comes first and i am sure many others feel the same.

i have no problem with harry playin the reserve team but he should at least set them up to attack. we hardly trobuled the goons defence yet there defence is not good and there goalie is rubbish.

harry should of set them up as 442. play players in the right position. hutton krankar all should of taken part. i would of even had crouch on the bench as the goons wouldnt be able to stop him.

i dont see how us goin out is better. we could of got an easy team next round and played more kids. it looks like the goons could win this wich is a shame as if we was in it id fancy us to do well

Well thats changed the subject a little lought !

i live in bedfordshire now near luton so the drive in is not to bad, only takes about1-1an half hour on good clear run about 33miles so its not the travelling its just the performances sometimes that get you annoyed, knowing the wages they command nowadays. all in all though over the last few years we have done a lot better but just as our expectations get there another inexplicable result pops up. but as BILL said its better to fail acheiving high.just wish some of the players felt like we do at a loss but think the wages anethistises them to it .

Perhaps this is the way forward ?
click on the link : Manchester United fans are top of the league... for sharing cost of their season tickets! | Mail Online

Its an intresting read ..... Perhaps Bill Nick Forum members should band together and buy up some tickets...Ticket ownership would be The Bill Nick Forum and I'd be the willing custodian of the tickets