Right, so there have been some good posts in here, and some bad posts, and I think in many ways there is a severe over-statement of the entire thing in a similar manner to what happened when Chelsea were bought out a few years ago. Lets try and keep a sense of proportion here people, at the end of the day all that has happened is that a rather rich group has bought a mediocre club.
Firstly, as most people know, I am about as left wing as a person can get. Was I happy when THaksin bought the club? Absolutely not. Am I enamoured by the source of the new owners wealth? Absolutely not. I am politically aware and have no faith in the dealings of uber-capitalists, and were it not for peak-oil, the dependence of the global economy on a single energy source, and the international conflicts that boil down to control of that energy source. So thats out of the way... I am not entirely enthusiastic about the new owners, but I am but a single fan and I am not going to let my support of the GAME be affected.
Now, as far as this deal being the ruin of football. Absolute nonsense. Because what seems to be forgotten by the doom-sayers is that MONEY does not guarantee FOOTBALL SUCCESS. As I said in many of the anti-Chelsea threads some time ago, money will help, but will not guarantee anything. Team mentality and cohesiveness, player psychology, countering opposition tactics, pushing on in a game when you fall a goal behind, NONE of these things can be bought. Yet they are more crucial to success than having great individual players ever will be.
AS far as the transfers go in the just-closed window, look at it like this: City did not make transfer bids in the expectation that all of the nominated players would sign up. The takeover deal was last minute, and spreading the deals around was simply a statement of intent, a power-statement from the new owners to say that 'we can compete' - and the simple hope was that at least one of the players would sign on - in the event, Robinho chose to do so.
Will Robinho win us the title this year? Of course not. Would a fantasy team of the best players in the world be guaranteed to win the title next season? Of course not. Because football is still a GAME that is more than the sum of the individual parts. ANd noone seems to mention the role of the manager here. Would a team of superstars automatically win a trophy with a crap manager? With a crap youth academy? With a crap set of coaches? Absolutely not. THere is more to success than simple cash, otherwise Chelsea would already have won the Champions League.
ANd United fans who bitch about the situation, **** off. You have had it your way for many many years. Money has ALWAYS been the basis of your success in the last two decades or whatever. And money has always been the guiding principle of your Clubs decisions. Your club throws its weight around precisely BECAUSE of the financial input into the club. All that is happening now is that other clubs are playing catch-up, and doing so in an environment where the rules have changed.
I get sick of hearing people complain about smaller teams being able to do this and that - well guess what, the so-called SMALL clubs were once not-so-small - I for one would love to see Walsall and whoever else have a leap to the top. Why? Because they and their fans deserve it after years of watching clubs fortuitous enough to be in the top four continue to drive a wedge between them and the rest thanks to the Champions League money. FFS, lets get some of those small clubs with great history back into the limelight.
At the end of the day, if you know your footballing history, you will know that the game ebbs and flows in terms of dominance. Football did not beign with the Premier League, it did not begin with the Champions League, yet some of the comments on here seem to indicate that only the last decade or so matters as far as footballing history goes. THe fact is, if this deal helps my club be competitive, and maybe snatch a trophy or two over the next few seasons, then great. I can swallow it. But if there is no attempt to maintain our youth system, no attempt to make the club self-sustaining in the long-term, no attempt to incorporate the interests of the fans, then I will be shouting loud and clear what I think about the situation.
And regardless of everything, YES, it has been nice to see the united fans whinge yet again. I seem to remember whinging when Glazer took over, when Chelsea were bought out, when Ronaldinho chose Barca over United, etc. etc. etc. but GET OVER IT.
, dont worry