Bill has a point, it seems to me, although he's coming from a different place
than most of today's fans, and I'm not referring to his professional playing
experience.

At some point the end purpose of the game turned from glory--as in Danny
Blanchflower's name for the sport, the glory game--into making money, which
meant survival above all else for teams that might conceivably be relegated.
The game was originally supposed to be a spectacle for the entertainment of fans
(and, not incidentally, the enjoyment of the players); it's turned into
something else at most clubs. The tail truly began to wag the dog when teams
began to play merely for the sake of money, for survival, rather than to
entertain, to put on a display of the beautiful game.

Most fans today go along with the survival above all else ethic.. Nick Hornby,
for example, wrote in Fever Pitch that he did not care how Arsenal played as
long as they got results. But some fans don't agree with that, and Bill
apparently is one of those. He has a different perspective, that's all, and
it's not a matter of one viewpoint being right and the other wrong. No doubt
some would say he is not a true fan of his club if he'd rather see them playing
attractive, attacking football and get relegated than see them adopt an ugly,
negative game designed to secure league position. But that's only becaue their
perspective is different.

I'm sure we'd all like to see our clubs do well in the league AND play
attractive, attacking football. Too bad not many do both.

Best to all,

Peter


----- Original Message -----
From: bill laing
To: sixtiesandseventiessoccer@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 7:07 AM
Subject: Re: [Sixties and Seventies Soccer] Re: What's happening here?


if united ever go down 50,000 will still turn up.just like they did when they
were relegated to div 2 thirty years ago

Peter <sahidab2000@...> wrote:So you'd rather see Man Utd scoring a few
goals in the 2nd Division;
Getting by on say, crowds of 20,000;
Rather than being in the Premiership... and having a mundane time of
it.
Yeah, course you would.

--- In sixtiesandseventiessoccer@yahoogroups.com, bill laing
<billy318124@y...> wrote:
> id rather see my team in a league where they can attack and try and
score goals...................derby need to drop again maybe ?
>
> golden_rams_aust <no_reply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:If your side was
relegated, you may have a different point of view.
>
> The money in the Premier League is such that relegation becomes
> catastrophic for a club in terms of the revenue being attained.
Ask
> Coventry, Derby (I'm one) or Forest fans whether they would have
> fancied a couple more 1-0 wins when they went down. These sides,
who
> have spent long periods in the top flight, can no longer afford to
> keep the players they had in the top division and don't look like
> getting back up. Being a "big" club is no insulation.
>
> So when Spurs are grinding out points but staying in the top half
of
> the table, they are doing their fans a service. With a new
manager,
> they need to find their feet as a combination before turning on any
> fireworks. And any defender they have now would have to be better
> than Justin Edinburgh.
>
>
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