It's not OK to spend money your club earns?

But that just seems a bit ridiculously to me. That screams of you wanting the prem to become like Spain is.

The current situation in Spain is that Barca and Real get about 40% over the overall TV money for the league between the two of them.

They claim this is because they are the ones who sign all the big players, and get all the European success, and the ones who foreign viewers want to watch. They think that this then justifies them getting a ridiculous amount more money than the rest of the league and hence it's becoming as tedious as the SPL. No-one will ever manage to break up the monopoly of those two at the top of the league with spending 100's of millions.

Of course its ridiculous, modern football is, that's why its in the shocking state it presently is.

We now have a situation where the trophies are being won around negotiating tables, as clubs whore themselves to the richest sugar-daddies.

Unfortunately, in the quest for these billions, clubs are selling themselves down the river, flogging themselves to any old foreigner, without even questioning their motives, or their actual wealth in some cases.

Desperate clubs do desperate things....Remember Michael Knighton?....What would United have been now, if that little episode had turned out differently??

How then does a team have such a rich history? From having and spending more money than the other sides???

Aye.

Unless, of course the likes of say....

Dalglish, St John, Souness, Hansen, Barnes, Aldridge, Beardsley etc at Liverpool and Law, Cantona, Robson, Keane, Yorke, Cole, Sheringham, Schmeichel etc at Man United were all products of their youth policy???

The successful Liverpool teams from the 60's to the late 80's were full of expensive signings and despite the youth policy at United they have spent crazy money since the inception of the Premier League.

The likes of money the two clubs have spent on the likes of Veron, Ferdinand, Rooney, Carroll, Henderson, Aquilani, Johnson, Valencia, Jones, Young, De Gea, Alonso, Kuyt, Suarez, Reina, Barthez, Saha etc etc has hardly been sweetie money now has it???

Dos Santos from Spurs to Wigan Athletic this week.

I think that'd be a cracking signing, never seemed to get a fair crack of it at Spurs but has undeniable talent for sure.

On a side note I watched MOTD2 last night and Martinez really impressed me, just seems a nice bloke. Defo got a soft spot for Wigan now.

I remember watching Dos Santos in a B team game against Orihuela and being very disappointed. He's a good Championship player for me. The bottom end of the Premier League is so average that he should do a decent job at Latics.
His brother looks a really good player.

I take your point mate and I see what you're saying and I tend to agree but that's the way we have to work at Everton, the only money we can spend is when we sell. I'm willing to give City time because I think they are trying to bring money back in, trying to offload some players but with their wages it's difficult so mostly they have to loan out.

It's difficult situation for me and I'm really of an opinion one way or the other tbh - on one hand City are spending cash hand over fist and all of a sudden they're one of the best teams in the league but if they don't do that they'll be like the rest of us who can't get anywhere near a top four spot let alone first place now. Football from the top down is about having money and buying the best players you can, unfortunately now without money you can't succeed.

Salary caps, transfer fee caps and shorter transfer windows should be brought in, but they won't. I don't care how much money a club makes, if they are gaining a quite stupendous advantage from it, it isn't fair as the smaller sides will never ever get to that level.

America has the right ideas with things like salary caps and trading instead of transfer fees. It's not perfect, but the idea is generally better than football at the moment, which is so out of control it really needs action sooner rather than later.

I think the American setup for Sport is absolutely fantastic.

For a start the way that athletes in the top tier sports (NBA, NFL, Soccer, Baseball) are essentially forced to go to College, whether they recieve their degree or not they are a heck of a lot more educated than most sportsmen over here.

Secondly the draft system keeps things interesting, you rotate the sides who are the top. obviously the better run clubs will always be there or thereabouts but it can give the smaller club the better chance.

Obviously there are many, many reasons as to why it couldnt work over here, lack of setup in Universities, you need definitive franchises etc etc.

Overall though, my favourite point is that you can be traded without having a single say in the matter. a big name player can be traded to a tiny club as their contract is owned by the league and not that particular club.

Isn't it done so the teams who were worse off the season before get first pick too?

I'm sure I like the rotation idea, it happens each season doesn't it? it seems absurd that a player is forced to move to another club and have no say in the matter, I don't see the point in that. Plus I think you can offload rubbish and bring in one big named player. Just because it works for American sports doesn't mean it'll work here.

The idea of a salary cap of some sort would work but any change like a draft system or salary cap is too big a change to happen, it's taken forever for touchline technology to even be discussed so something like draft or salary cap will never happen. I still think clubs having control of their players and transfer fees are the way forward just not in the crazy way it works now, a salary cap could work but clubs will find a way round it.

Looking at the scores this weekend, it does seem that money is talking.

Real Madrid scored 6, Barcelona 5, City 5 and United 8.

I can't think it will be too long before a European super league is formed.

Bet he didn't make many Wigan friends by claiming union was better than league

The college system is essential to the way that american sport operates. Without it there could be no draft system. The other point is that its impossible under their franchise system for smaller clubs such as wigan to join the elite.

It does seem to me that you cant cherry pick different bits of the american system, its all or nothing, because each component is essential to its overall stability. Its a house of cards really, but one that's been refined to such an extent that the cards stay up. And of course it only works because its confined to one country. Try to apply it in a "UEF A" context and it would collapse.

Per Mertesacker + Andre Santos to Arsenal. Defensive reinforcements, greatly needed. Even if Santos can't defend that well!

Baseball has something called revenue sharing, teams like the Yankees and Red Sox have to filter finances through to the smaller market teams. www.bnet.com/article/mlbs-revenu ... ula/210897

Baseball has something called revenue sharing, teams like the Yankees and Red Sox have to filter finances through to the smaller market teams. www.bnet.com/article/mlbs-revenu ... ula/210897

I thought Spain was individual TV deals rather than a collective so Barca & Real can effectively hold an auction for their games and sell to the highest bidder

I'd be majorly peeved if I was an Arsenal fan at the way the club has been going.
Clichy going at the start of July, Fabregas & Nasri both having the intention of going and yet only a forward & a young winger came in???
No depth in the squad and no signings in areas they blatantly needed some.
And now another defender, Traore, has left
Liverpool have given themselves a good start against Arsenal & Spurs in the race for the Top 4

Still think United need another central midfielder. Anderson & Cleverley have done well so far but I feel Cleverley wouldn't be able to hack it against some of the top teams in England & Europe.
Whether it will be Sneijder or not remains to seen - maybe Fergie will try Jones there when the rest of the defence is fit.

Hargreaves to City? Risky. If (a big if) he stays fit, great signing. An instant upgrade over Barry.

Joe Cole to Lille on loan.

Barry's made an excellent start to the season. He might not do it at international level but he's playing well for us.

Hargreaves would be a straight replacement for Vieira. A solid anchor for our domestic cup team. Better to bring him in (if fit and I agree that its a big if) than someone expecting to start every week.

Isn't it more a case of City signing anything that can move? It doesn't matter if they waste £70,000 a week on his wages if he gets injured. Also stops another side picking him up.

Bon.

Last English player to score in the French league?

Chris Waddle?

Breaking News: Owen Hargreaves joins Man City on a pay as you play deal said to be worth approximately £0 over the next 4 seasons.