Hey Gaffa! Whose Side Are You On?

Much has been written, both by RTG and other parts of the media, about how modern footballers no longer seem able to relate to the supporters who come to watch them each week and, effectively, pay their wages. RTG could offer up a great deal of evidence of events in recent times that would back this up and you’d probably have heard most of it all before. But what of managers? As the corporate animal slowly but surely devours the game of football are we now beginning to see the inevitable loss of respect for supporters from the team bosses themselves?

Supporters traditionally have always treated the manager as custodian of the team’s interests. He has always been a figurehead who fights the chairman for more money to boost the squad and, when their club was successful, you could hear no wrong said from the fans on the terraces.

The relationship between club chairmen and managers was always an uneasy one. Brian Clough was famous for criticising chairmen and it was indeed the breakdown of his relationship with Sam Longson at Derby County that led to his resignation in 1973. It is now well documented that Clough himself was no saint but he was adamant that he had deserved better treatment for what he had done for the club and its supporters.

Clough’s battles, of course, were in the days when the club chairman was usually a local successful businessman. The huge sums of money involved in football today have changed club governance immeasurably and, in RTG’s opinion, the relationship between manager and supporter is therefore beginning to look very different.

Ask any Manchester United fan and Sir Alex Ferguson is, quite rightly, a legend. He has built a dynasty at United turning them from a there-or-thereabouts team into perennial winners. And he has done it through building new team after new team.

"We don't want the club in anyone else's hands. I have always tried to the bridge between the club and the fans. I have tried to support the fans in a lot of their pleas and causes. It's important for the club to recognise the fans. When the plc started, there were grave doubts about it - I had them myself - but I think the supporters have come round to that. There's a stronger rapport between the club and the fans than there's ever been."

Sir Alex Ferguson, November 2004

When the Glazers arrived, United fans protested at the huge debts that they heaped on the club where once there were reasonable profits—profits that were spent on the team and facilities for supporters. Supporters looked to their talisman to come out and state his own disapproval regarding what was happening to the club. Surely, Sir Alex himself would be concerned at the impending money squeeze that would inevitably occur. But he remained diplomatically silent other than to state his disregard for the fans who formed FC United of Manchester, claiming they were self-publicists and had no real interest in saving Manchester United. It was, he said, more an act in their own self-interests.

"I've got close friends who've been working with me here for 15 years. They come first in all of this….If you don't like it, go and watch Chelsea."

Sir Alex Ferguson, August 2005,

And then, disappointingly, two seasons ago, to the chagrin of the United faithful, he came out in support of the Glazers management of the club. “They've been great owners”, he said. 'They have supported me every way I've asked them.”

Last season, following the departure of Christiano Ronaldo for a record £80M, saw the rise of the green and old campaign, a campaign that RTG wholeheartedly supports for its stance against the use of a football club as a cash cow to prop up their ailing business interests in a foreign country after having used the club’s own money to buy it in the first place. Surely now, Sir Alex would at least express some degree of concern about lack of spending money and perhaps some sympathy for supporters who had seen their star player sold for a record transfer fee with very little coming back in the way of class players to strengthen the squad.

But no. Sir Alex continued to maintain that his squad was good enough and he came out and, earlier this year, criticised the green and gold campaign. He effectively dismissed those behind, what is a worthy and heartfelt campaign, as idiots. United did, in fact, secure second in the Premier League last season but the signs were there that some cracks were beginning to appear.

Before you start to think, where is RTG going with this? That you’d be more than happy if your club were to finish second in the Premier League! That is not the issue. The point is that, what should be a fantastic football legacy left not only to the club by Sir Alex, but also to English football itself, is in danger of being slowly but surely squandered away. And why? So a few American businessmen can pay off their debts back home and continue to draw funds from what is their only cash generating concern. The objective of the business has clearly changed to a distinctly non-footballing agenda.

Sir Alex was reputedly paid upwards of £3.6M in 2008. RTG can only assume it is more than that now. If he comes out and criticises the Glazers, where does that leave him? He seems to be one of these people that supports socialism right up to the point that it leaves him worse off. He’ll be OK. He’ll retire, when he chooses to do so, in a more than comfortable state. United supporters, and yes, English football as a whole, will be left with the Glazers and the mess.

If this sounds like a direct attack on Sir Alex Ferguson, it is not meant to be. RTG just wishes to illustrate that he is the most successful manager and United are the biggest supported club in the world. You could equally take the case of Arsenal who, since moving to a bigger stadium in order to supposedly ‘compete’, have won nothing since. Yet, Arsene Wenger continues to claim transfer fees are there if he wants them. Nobody really knows the truth. No, the corporate interests and wealthy billionaire owners have seen to it that our managers are now well and truly at the mercy of the money god.

We already have alienation of the players and the supporters. Signs are that we may soon have managers and supporters alienated too. What next? Complete alienation of the clubs and its supporters? We don’t like you lot anymore. We can survive with our TV money and the supporters abroad. Season ticket to Dubai United anyone?

The Keeper

...he's punching above his weight

News of an almighty row from the American National Football League (NFL) has reached the Keeper. Apparently a former Miss Universe was subjected to ‘abuse’ by male players when doing the post match (sorry “game”) round of interviews in the changing (sorry “locker”) room on behalf of an obscure sports channel. The NFL has long prided itself on having equal access for all reporters of either gender or sexual orientation to players – extending to ignoring any issues arising from naked men running around flicking wet towels at each other, or for that matter, the “qualification” of said reporters. The Keeper is thankful that no such access exists here. No, not because the Keeper is loathe to flash women (after all, it’s legal!). But the spectre of Madams Balding, Barker, Irvine et al chasing naked men around with a large microphone would leave both parties, well…not worthy of fantasy. Anyway, if rumours are to be believed, they’d be a lot happier hanging around in female professional tennis changing rooms. However, it did make the Keeper wonder if the NFL’s politically correct approach extended the same privileges to males in female locker rooms?

Talking of being thankful, or not in this case, the Keeper was disappointed to see Alan Shearer back on the MOTD couch last Saturday. However, the Keeper was thankful to be distracted from his tiresome repetition of clichés, masquerading as analysis, by being mesmerised by his patchy bald pate, resembling something like a football pitch from the 1960’s. So mesmerised in fact, that he even missed Alan’s uninformed remark: “Ben Arfa – whoever ‘eard of ‘im”; referring to Newcastle United’s France International, Hatem Ben Arfa – five times French League Champion, with two different clubs, and regular on the Champions League scene over the last five years. Certainly contradicts the old saying that goes “grass doesn’t grow on a busy thoroughfare”! Not busy, just lazy.

Now that the England team establishment have stated that the next England manager will be English, jockeying for position in the role has been initiated, with several managers putting themselves forward. Sam Allardyce made his intentions clear by telling the media that he would win all the domestic honours, at least, if he was in charge at either Inter or Real Madrid. Knowing his predilection for the technical side of the game – through lap top analysis and blue tooth earpiece communications, the Keeper wonders if he has been drawing the wrong conclusions from playing too much with his EA Sports Champions League play station game. Besides which Sam, modern European managers usually have a command of several languages, not just a poor command of one!

On a serious note, the Keeper’s least favourite rogue administrator, the less than honourable Jack Warner, FIFA vice President and President of CONCACAF, is still managing to cock a snook to both the Trinidad & Tobago Players and the country’s legal system. Despite the fact that the T & T courts have ordered him to release the funds to pay players who participated in the 2006 world cup, he’s still refusing to do so. This from a man who was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars by FIFA for touting tickets and for enriching his own relative’s travel company at that tournament. The fact that Sepp Blatter keeps insisting that “Jack” is a paragon of virtue and all round top bloke, says more about Blatter than it does about Warner.

What Do We See Through the Transfer Window?

Sometimes when RTG ponders the wrongs in football today, we wonder if maybe we’re just spoiling it for the countless people out there who still enjoy the game and simply want to appreciate it for the spectacle that it is. There’s no doubt that there are still many things about the modern football era that are worth praising. But, too often we find ourselves viewing events that seem to be nothing short of destructive to the long-term future of the game and it is hard to be anything other than pessimistic and critical. Monday night’s transfer window deadline did nothing to change our view that English football continues to plunge further and further into the abyss.

As RTG writes this article, Manchester City has accepted a bid from Abu Dhabi United Group to take over the club from Thaksin Shinawatra. In all likelihood this is a more positive move for City than sticking with Thailand’s deposed ex-Premier, given the reported skeletons in the closet. This time last year, many commentators and City supporters were delighted with Shinawatra’s purchase of the club in that it might represent a chance for City to achieve the standards their fans have long waited for and for them to finally challenge United for honours on an even playing field. RTG were less than optimistic about this situation and our viewpoint appears to have been vindicated.

One year later, City supporters are once again delighted that control of the club has passed into new, and wealthier, hands giving them, potentially, the biggest injection of cash into a club since Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea. Despite still being in due diligence, they have broken the English transfer record with the purchase of Robinho for a reported £32.5M from right under Chelsea’s nose. At the same time, they had reportedly had a similar bid for Berbatov accepted by Spurs—a deal that was never likely to happen. RTG can only speculate as to whether this was a deliberate ploy to make Manchester United pay over the odds for the Bulgarian striker. If the “Anyone But Uniteds” out there see this as a cause to smile you shouldn’t. Football is a sport and healthy rivalry should be about competition on the field not trying to put your rivals out of business. Despite what you may think, a Premier League with no Manchester United is no Premier League at all.

In all, the whole transfer window saga did not paint English football in a very good light. Why the English media, and especially Sky Sports News, feel they have their own role to play in this by constantly fuelling rumours based on little or no evidence is beyond RTG. The entire process appears designed to squeeze out yet more money in favour of a few beneficiaries rather than benefiting football as an entertainment and a sport. At a time when three clubs are languishing at the bottom of League 2 with negative points, following administration proceedings, this constant speculation about whether a player loves his club or would be flattered to play for another in order to get a few more digits added to their weekly salary haul is utterly obscene.

So used are we now to this increasingly over-egged August shenanigans that it is easy to forget that the transfer window only started in 2002 after our old friend Sepp Blatter conceived it as a way of preventing players walking out on their contracts at any time. The European Union's competition commissioner, Mario Monti, proposed at the time that transfer fees be outlawed entirely because they were against EU regulations for fair competition and free trading across Europe.

It was also suggested at the time that having no transfer fees would effectively put clubs in the lower leagues out of business, as they rely on selling their few home-grown gems in order to pay the bills. Consequently, the whole game signed up to a compromise that has sought to escalate transfer fees way out of proportion and has further polarised the gap between the haves and have-nots. The now desperate need to sign big players before the end of August, and the money it creates, has allowed the Premier League the licence to watch our national game be gradually flogged off to the highest bidder while genuine competition within the top level of the game gets ever-more scarce. Meanwhile, more and more clubs at the lower levels are struggling to simply stay afloat.

While Arsene Wenger attempts to claim the moral high ground by refusing to get involved in this annual end of August bun fight, RTG suspects that he is really just entrenching himself in his beliefs in order to fend off criticism from Arsenal supporters who feel the side has under-achieved in recent years. It is quite possible that he is merely sounding off in frustration at his inexperienced team who will, once again, struggle to compete for honours over the course of a season. Is it not the case that, even if he were to produce another championship winning team, many of his home-developed players would simply use it as a platform to jump ship for higher wages elsewhere? RTG strongly suspects that, if Arsenal win nothing significant again this season, Wenger may well take his skills to a new challenge. Sir Alex Ferguson, in contrast, knew that he needed to buy a striker and had no option but to pay way over the odds or be left with a squad that, potentially, might already be out of the running come the January window.

It is not RTG’s goal to be the harbinger of doom. Quite the opposite in fact. Were it not for the fact that we believe in the power of the supporter’s voice, and the desire to see the game continue, we would not be writing this blog. But Monday’s events seem to reinforce the fact that the game is on a collision course to disaster. Competiton and sound administration, at all levels, are essential to the continued enjoyment and longevity of the game. Otherwise, why not just put the Premier League trophy up for auction to the highest bidder at the beginning of the season and have done with it. Supporters exist in sufficient numbers to have a voice. And that must be heard now, more than ever, if football is not to be swallowed up by the greed and short-sightedness of people who seek only to use the loyalty of supporters to line their pockets.

Capping Foreigners Not the Answer to a Better England

Sir Alex Ferguson has come out in favour this week of a cap on the number of foreign players allowed in each Premiership squad. Given that only four of Manchester United's starting line up last Saturday were English (though four more than Arsenal it should be noted), it is likely that there is more than just a hint of tongue in cheek here from the maestro of the mind game. Sir Alex is a genius when it comes to winding up his rivals and this comment is more likely a reflection of a man with a growing confidence in his team's ability to see off challengers to United's Premiership title this year. Let's face it English football would be a sorrier place without him whether he is being serious or not.

But what would a cap actually achieve? Premiership football is where it is. It has attained a high standard and entertains supporters the World over. At least three of the big four usually qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League and last year we had three semi-finalists. The point is we can't go back and lower the standard now. Putting an artificial restriction on the number of foreign players would almost certainly do exactly that. Rather than helping English players to get better, it would more likely create an artificial situation where clubs would have to pay a premium for them to keep their quota at the required level - whether they are good players or not.

There is an argument in Scottish football that when Sky pulled out of its coverage deal with the SPL, it meant that expensive foreign imports could no longer be afforded by the clubs. The result has been that more younger, home-grown players get to play at the highest level than would have done previously. Hence, the more impressive performance by the Scottish national team in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. It certainly seems a reasonable argument but if you actually look at the stats, there are no more Celtic or Rangers players in the Scotland team now than there were in 2002, 2004 or 2006 when Scotland finished third in their Euro and World qualifying groups. You could argue that perhaps there are more Hearts players present than there were and Hearts were certainly one of the clubs who went for East European imports in some numbers. But what is not mentioned is that two of Scotland's star performers in their current run, James McFadden and Duncan Fletcher, rarely start for their clubs. And while it has to be said that Scotland have certainly surprised everybody by their current position in what is a really tough group, they haven't actually qualified for anything yet.

At RTG we actually believe that football has moved on to take on the status of a truly global sport. There is, therefore, a big argument in favour of Premiership teams employing players from places like Africa as it might actually help to instil some sort of regulation in the movement of players. With the huge spoils that are currently on offer in leagues such as the English Premiership, the procurement of a young African player's signature by an agency and his subsequent movement overseas can be likened to something little short of people trafficking or slavery. If English football can help improve the transparency of deals involving non-European players then perhaps we can see an end to the farcical situation that occurred over the Tevez affair. Of course, FIFA-affiliated national football associations could all help in this with more co-operation, transparency and less corruption involving transfers across borders. But at RTG experience leads us to suspect that this will never happen.

If we care about the development of the game overseas, then there is also a lot to be said for developing players from China, India, Korea etc. in the best European leagues, to encourage the game abroad. Let RTG stress again, we are not against the operation of football as a business. It is too late now for it to be anything else. We just want to see that genuine competition is maintained.

It is true, that there is something frustrating about seeing players like Jermaine Pennant or David Bentley struggle to break into the Arsenal team when they are clearly more than capable of holding their own in the Premership. And perhaps their attitude, that Arsene Wenger could not seem to come to terms with, was borne more out of the frustration of being highly paid millionaires sat in the reserves week after week. But the real way to develop English players is not by artificially raising the value of home-grown players. English footballers would benefit more from a proper coaching and education programme backed by the FA. That way, they would earn the right to be in their club starting line-up as skillful and intelligent footballers rather than being there because the club has to pick them. While the responsibility to develop players rests solely with the clubs they will continue to operate in their own best interests and not those of the England national squad.

Reclaim the Game - The Week's Events

• It is early days and we shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet but there are worrying signs of yet more polarisation in the game - this time in the Champions League. Is it our imagination or do teams appear to be achieving qualification for the knockout stages earlier this year and does there appear to be a bigger prevalence of teams at the bottom of their group struggling to maintain the required standard? Let's hope not. The last thing Europe's elite competition needs is for the group stage to become a meaningless bunch of games simply to see the predictable 16 teams march comfortably through.
• Rumours have reached us that Steve Maclaren actually visited LA Galaxy, not to watch David Beckham (because he didn't even attend the game in fact), but to attend an interview for the vacant manager's position. Well, all we can say is jolly good luck with that Steve. Though sources today seem to suggest that Ruud Gullit is likely to be appointed very soon. Oh well!