09-08-2019, 08:40
I understand what you`re saying about 3 coming down from League 1, Matt, but surely if Bury are expelled from the EFL that`s going to leave 91 clubs overall; so an extra 1 has to be found from somewhere. The ripple would go all the way down the pyramid to whatever level Bury (or its reincarnation in whatever form) slotted back in, I`d have thought.
This probably seems like a large dose of schadenfreude on my part, but it`s really not. I`ve been to Gigg Lane a few times over the years and always enjoyed the place (although not always the result, to be fair). A welcoming place and a decent bunch of supporters who I feel desperately sorry for, as i do Bolton fans as well. It`s not the fault of the supporters when a club gets into a financial mess. In Bolton`s case, maybe both, it just shows how blurred the dividing line can be between ambition and financial recklessness.
I think there are a lot of clubs below the Premiership who are walking a financial tightrope. I know it`s not the responsibility of the Premier League clubs to subsidise them, but least when the F A (and I`m not saying that they`re perfect by any means) ran the whole show, there was at least some distribution of wealth over the league as a whole. There isn`t now; and the influx of foreign players that you mention, Matt, has just exacerbated the situation. I`ve been banging on for years that there ought to be a restriction on the number of overseas players in the Premier League – for the sake of the England team, if nothing else – which would achieve a level of redistribution through natural market forces.
Unfortunately, EU ‘freedom of employment` legislation makes that very difficult to bring about and there`s no way around that. Absolutely none.
Oh........hang on. Wait a minute.......well, alright, until Hallowe`en, then.
This probably seems like a large dose of schadenfreude on my part, but it`s really not. I`ve been to Gigg Lane a few times over the years and always enjoyed the place (although not always the result, to be fair). A welcoming place and a decent bunch of supporters who I feel desperately sorry for, as i do Bolton fans as well. It`s not the fault of the supporters when a club gets into a financial mess. In Bolton`s case, maybe both, it just shows how blurred the dividing line can be between ambition and financial recklessness.
I think there are a lot of clubs below the Premiership who are walking a financial tightrope. I know it`s not the responsibility of the Premier League clubs to subsidise them, but least when the F A (and I`m not saying that they`re perfect by any means) ran the whole show, there was at least some distribution of wealth over the league as a whole. There isn`t now; and the influx of foreign players that you mention, Matt, has just exacerbated the situation. I`ve been banging on for years that there ought to be a restriction on the number of overseas players in the Premier League – for the sake of the England team, if nothing else – which would achieve a level of redistribution through natural market forces.
Unfortunately, EU ‘freedom of employment` legislation makes that very difficult to bring about and there`s no way around that. Absolutely none.
Oh........hang on. Wait a minute.......well, alright, until Hallowe`en, then.