Are we partially responsible for the rise of the Billionaire owners?

[Letters]

*sigh*

Shall I just close this thread?

[LDG]

Nice dot.

[Joker]

a man city supporter will always try to discredit our club

So to say that we're not whiter than white makes me a City supporter?

Do you disagree that the formation of the Premier League set the conditions in that has allowed the buying up of clubs by billionaire owners? And we were one of the clubs pushing for it as well as it would be beneficial for the club on a personal level. Obviously, we didn't envisage that the monster we contributed in the creation of would go so out of control that we'd become one of the victims.

I have never said Arsenal are primarily or even mainly responsible for the problems of modern football. A lot of clubs (indeed most of the teams currently in the Premiership) also bare responsibility. And when I criticise the decisions made I am not criticising "Arsenal" but the greed displayed by those who run it. I don't see how that makes me anti-Arsenal.

[Letters]

*sigh*

I kinda see where you're coming from, Joker
Obviously as a 'big club' we were behind measures which would help to keep us a 'big club'.
The PL and expansion of the CL have been awful for football to the point where the only way City could have competed was with a billionaire backer.

I'm not sure you can point blame anywhere really, we were hardly going to oppose measures which gave us more money in a game where money was increasingly correlated with success.

[Joker]

*sigh*

I kinda see where you're coming from, Joker
Obviously as a 'big club' we were behind measures which would help to keep us a 'big club'.
The PL and expansion of the CL have been awful for football to the point where the only way City could have competed was with a billionaire backer.

I'm not sure you can point blame anywhere really, we were hardly going to oppose measures which gave us more money in a game where money was increasingly correlated with success.

You're right that from a purely self interested viewpoint the decisions the board took are entirely "rational". This is why I said the constant criticisms of the Noveau Rich clubs and accusations that they've ruined football don't stand up, if you consider a longer timeframe than simply post 2003 (when Abramovich took over). Everyone in the top level of football has to take responsibility, because although it was individually rational to create the Premier League for the big clubs, from the viewpoint of football itself, it was the wrong move. In the same way that although the Oligarch financed model may benefit individual clubs, in the long run football will suffer.

[Kano]

So to say that we're not whiter than white makes me a City supporter?

No.

[Joker]

No.

Well given that's the main point I've been trying to make I don't see why you've been accusing me of being a City fan.

[Özim]

so generating money isn't an issue in manchester.

That's what Liverpool thought about Liverpool and then they ran out of hubcaps.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

That's what Liverpool thought about Liverpool and then they ran out of hubcaps.

[Marc Overmars]

Charlie the Sycophant.