2021-2022 English Football Thread

[ProfessaPackMan]

I did for a brief second until I realized that considering the other sports I watch and support faithfully(NBA/NFL)and knowing how the Owners/representatives from the teams and leagues operate, that I’d be a complete hypocrite in taking some sort of moral stance all of a sudden and it would be a waste of time/energy to get on a high horse and pretend that I care about how disgusting those people/leagues are.

[Suntan Superman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Krebstar

Has anyone else found that during this international break is the optimal time to voluntarily or involuntarily ponder the...grossness that is the Premier League? I know to be a sporting fan at all requires acute levels of cognitive dissonance, but something about the Newcastle sale has made me more than ever stop and think about how the league is a living monument to wealth above all else. I guess I'll just continue my slow but increasing viewing and interest of other leagues.

it bothers me to some degree, makes me turn off sports every now and then, makes me reconsider purchases instead of donations, and other such things, but knowing what I do doesn't matter because as long as you give people a bowl of popcorn they don't care how many people died to bring them their entertainment, I end up just giving up. The world sucks, I'll never have the individual power to make significant change so it's either get off the rock and hope the next life is better somehow or just try put the blinders on and enjoy sports.

Basically I still watch, just have an existential crisis everytime I do.

[Krebstar]

Quote: Originally Posted by ProfessaPackMan

I did for a brief second until I realized that considering the other sports I watch and support faithfully(NBA/NFL)and knowing how the Owners/representatives from the teams and leagues operate, that I’d be a complete hypocrite in taking some sort of moral stance all of a sudden and it would be a waste of time/energy to get on a high horse and pretend that I care about how disgusting those people/leagues are.

Something drastically different to me is the structure of the league itself. The Premier League is not a franchised, closed league. So, while yes, money has always been what separates one club from another, this feels different.

In the other leagues you mentioned, there is no relegation, and you're in a sense, rewarded by finishing low with high draft picks. Finish low in the Premier League and you're no longer in the league.

To me, that's a huge difference and why it doesn't make sense to me to compare it to American sports leagues, but I also essentially view only one American sports league (MLB).

What I've been thinking about is not just the morality of owners, it's the continuing lack of competition within the league that we're continuously heading towards. There will never be another Leicester City, and that's because it happened. What I mean by that is that the bigger (richer) clubs for years have continuously tried to close their ranks, poach or hoard even more young talent, and make it, well, a closed league (European Super League).

I have issues with the morality of ownership, but I have just as many issues with Newcastle being a competitive threat in several years not because they invested into the structure of the club systematically within their existing means, but because they were purchased by a nation.

Plus, I wasn't going to say it, but **** it. There's not a chance any NBA/NFL owner has even close to the morality issues/human rights abuse records as Saudi Arabia. Not even close.

Quote: Originally Posted by Suntan Superman

but knowing what I do doesn't matter because as long as you give people a bowl of popcorn they don't care how many people died to bring them their entertainment, I end up just giving up.

For me it's not about eliciting change through my individual actions, as I know that's impossible. It's about just not enjoying watching the league as much as I have in the past, and knowing that in the future I'll enjoy watching it even less as we continue down this road. The Premier League has never been more of a product than a sporting competition than it is today.

—

I just can not get over how different this is. It's not just another club sale, and it's not just another ****ty owner. It's much, much bigger than that, but I'm not expecting anyone to feel exactly the same way I do.

[Zac]

Quote: Originally Posted by Krebstar

I just can not get over how different this is. It's not just another club sale, and it's not just another ****ty owner. It's much, much bigger than that, but I'm not expecting anyone to feel exactly the same way I do.

This is exactly why Amanda Staveley is the figure head for the ownership group. And the one who will be in the media/spotlight for the club. To make people forget who the real owners are.

[Krebstar]

Quote: Originally Posted by Zac

This is exactly why Amanda Staveley is the figure head for the ownership group. And the one who will be in the media/spotlight for the club. To make people forget who the real owners are.

To an extent, yes, but they also very much bought the club not because they're Newcastle supporters or because they dream of trophies.

The best term I've heard for this whole thing in the past week actually sums it up perfect. Sportswashing is too vague—it's reputation laundering.

[BunnyHardaway]

If Newcastle wins a Champions League before us I swear to ****ing god

[KG]

I’m hoping they get relegated this year


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[jb12780]

Well that’s one of the countless international breaks over with. Here’s this weeks fixtures:

Saturday:







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