The English Football Thread

[rubber soul]

Actually, American players in general like the big lights and the money so they tend to want to go to cities like New York and Los Angeles. The NFL has rules to restrict that kind of movement, but in baseball, it gets frustrating for a city like Baltimore or Kansas City because you know that a player might star for a couple of years only to sign a rich contract with the Yankees or Red Sox or some other glamor city. It makes for an uneven playing field.

[music_collector]

I'm well aware of the Yankees or Sox taking stars from other teams. It's crazy that it's allowed, but the dollar is mighty attractive. The Jays have had trouble competing because they don't throw blank cheques at players.

I see the NFL has some of the same problems as in hockey. Let's compare the Packers and Maple Leafs. The Packers are paying Aaron Rodgers a ton of money, so much so that it hurts their ability to field a team around him. With the Leafs, they have almost half of their salary cap invested in four players. The team has 22 players. Both teams are not winning championships anymore.

It stands to reason that teams with young stars have a better chance of winning, because they make less money. The teams can afford to add more depth players.

[Trollheart]

Originally Posted by music_collector

Player loyalty to any team, in any sport, is gone. In our hockey league, it's not uncommon for a player to appear on a dozen teams. Players can pick any team they want after they hit 27, as long as their current contract is up. Even before then, players can tell a team they refuse to renew their contract, at which point they get traded.

I'm not complaining about it. It's the name of the game now. In hockey's case, players often don't want to play in Canada, where media and fan scrutiny is high. If Man U was a hockey club, there would be few Canadians playing on it. They would rather be in a place like Florida, where they can play without anyone knowing they exist.

Do football players do this? Do they demand to be transferred to a city where they can be anonymous?

Bolded one: not here. Most players are very loyal to their team, their manager and especially their fans. Many players have turned down moves to bigger clubs because either they saw their future - for the time being, anyway - with the smaller club, or because they could see how badly it would hurt the club if they left. Bigger isn't always better.

Bolded two: If you're asking me, then again no. For one thing, with social media and the internet, and everyone with a phone (ie everyone) a potential amateur paparazzo, anonymity is no longer a concept for even the slightly famous. Mostly, English players (or, more likely, foreign players in English clubs) prefer to be somewhere at least close in climate to their home, eg a Spanish player would be in no hurry to move to rainy Newcastle. There's also their wives/girlfriends to consider.

[jadis]

Stevie out at Villa. Curious to see what his successor is going to do with a certain underperforming mercurial Brazilian.

[JoeyVimsanteThePoet]

How about foreign guest sides from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, The MLS, France, Belgium, and Netherlands, in the English Football League Trophy, English League Cup. ENGLISH FA Cup, and English FA Trophy?

The Scottish allow Northern Irish and Welsh sides in the Scottish Challenge Cup.

My idea is invite all Scottish Premiership sides not in Europe, plus selected sides from the Welsh Cymru Premier, Ireland and North West France into the EFL Trophy.

Plus invite all Welsh Cymru Premier, Scottish Championship and selected sides from Ireland, France and Belgium into the FA Trophy.

I do not support a British league merger. I want cross border cups on top of domestic and European football. I want 3 strong leagues in Great Britain.

[jadis]

Something uniquely satisfying about seeing Man Utd eat $hit

[Marie Monday]

I can wholeheartedly agree with that