At work, I sit next to a lovely fella who is a Villa fan. I've only been at my job a few weeks and come Monday morning's we have gentle banter and a laugh over the weekend's results. He probably thought I was a normal guy with a perfectly normal passion for the game. Then last week, the Tevez affair hit the headlines again. Rather than gently talk of the topic, I turned into a frothing lunatic. He looked slightly scared and tried not to bring up the topic again.
Why was this? Well, clearly because it affected a club that means so much to me. A club I've loved since my first game in 1982 and who have made me scream with delight (Zamora against Preston), made me lots of money (Di Canio against Man Utd) or cry on Valentine's Day (Oldham 6 West Ham 0). But actually, it's more than that. It's not just about a club I love, it's about a game I love too. Sky, Abrahimovic, rich arabs et al have come into the game in recent years and have threatened to overwhelm it. But it has still kept its drama, tension and excitement. Now, the next time an important result occurs, you can think, doesn't really matter, we can always sue them.
Some may think this is a ridiculous argument, that football will never come that stage. I'm afraid my friend, it already has. Sheffield United's rabid pursuit of 'justice' has opened floodgates, floodgates which will not close now the affair is over. And the silence of other members of the leagues and a lack of outrage from football supporters surely has something to do with this.
When I talk to other fans, their lack of understanding of the implications of this whole debacle astounds me. To be fair to fans of Ambulance Chasers Sheffield United FC, I would not expect them to be against their club receiving a large sum. Turkeys don't vote for Christmas. But what about everyone else? It might be our club today pal, but tomorrow it could be yours. I recall Brighton being in trouble a few years ago and sending them a few quid and my best wishes, as I would hope any other supporters would do to my club if they hit the wall. In the past week I've heard indifference and smug smiles (mostly from trophy-less Spurs fans) but no one has quite understood the implications of this or made a vocal shout of support in our defence (save for some excellent media commentaries by the likes of Martin Samuel).
The only thing we can do now is sit back and wait for this ugly action to occur again. I think it is the end for us regarding our payments, but already Sheffield United are now looking at action being taken agaisnt them by Ken Bates. Others may even follow. And then one day, a secretary at a lower league club will forget to fill in a form or send a fax. A player will ply his honest trade throughout a season and then at the end of it, irregularities will come to light and the club will be sued by the other clubs in the league. And small voices will cry in despair as bankruptcy threatens their club and they seek to rally round people they imagine will support them. Other fans and indeed blogs - blogs like this one. And what will they hear in response? Oh, just silence.....
Ah Men!! i think that West Ham should sue the FA - if they had the balls to stand up to sheff utd, and say No, enough's enough, you're bringing the game into disrepute... none of this would have happened - i'm not saying what west ham did was right, but i think they'e being punished for a technicality - how is it that Man U and Liverpool can loan Tevez and Mascherano in as far as i aware, virtually identical deals (as far as they have to pay to buy them outright, etc) and no one bats an eye lid. all west ham did was forget/missunderstand/take advantage of a grey area... i'm pretty sure at no point were tevez and masch, under a third party arrangement where outside influences could affect their playing. hence why masch was hardly ever used and also tevez in the first half of the season.
the very least that the FA could do now, is say - thats an end to it. its been settled, no one else can profit (or lose) from any other court cases...
as for sheff utd fans, i can understand your frustrations - but you can't deny that you fudged it up. you beat us 3-1 i think, and just needed a draw on the last game, but no, you bottled it and we, under the influence of an inform few (not just tevez) played there hearts out and won when it mattered!!
so just accept that the better team overall stayed up.... tevez or no tevez, we were the better team. thats why only one of your players have gone on to succeed in the premiership - where are the rest of the team?? either struggling to break into a prem teams squad, or slumming it in the lower leagues where they deserve to be... and as for warnock - if he was prem standard, he'd have got a job in the prem, and not at the palace.......
rant over
Posted by: Dave | 18/03/2009 at 23:08
As for the Tevez deal at Old Trafford..........that is more 3rd party than when he was at West Ham!! They have been told they must pay £32m or he wont be there next season as talks with Barcelona and Real Madrid have already been held by Kia. So why no protest by other clubs? Because over the years several clubs.....Everton, Pompy etc have had 3rd party players in their teams and dont wont the Prem or FA to start checking.
This whole thing has and will get out of hand big time. The money Sheff U got will disappear down the swanny when players and clubs sue them for loss of this and loss of that.
The Prem should have just docked the Hammers 1,2,3 pts at the start.......end of arguement.
Who knows they could have still escaped from relegation by beating Sheff U instead of losing 3-0!!
I still think that Sheff U should be very nervous about all this as there will be other problems around the corner.....ie Chelsea could well start an investigation into the team Sheff U played at Old Trafford after Warnock stated "we wont get anything from up there so I will rest some of my first team players" thus handing the Prem title to Man U!!
Posted by: Brian | 19/03/2009 at 08:37
but west ham did CHEAT and LIE didn't they?
Posted by: aardvark | 27/03/2009 at 16:02