Gate receipts are an increasingly unimportant part of club income. In the National League, even in our division, many clubs struggle to attract 1500. Is the wage bill being footed out of that? Some are paying really good money to players and coaches and when they are travelling between Eastleigh and Gateshead they are literally doing nothing - they ain't catching up on paper work and emailing clients are they? In a 20 team league they'd lose 4 home gates and avoid the loss of 4 away games. And this is not to mention injuries ..... which necessitate employing medical staff and physios, rehabilitation, all for a player who you are paying a big wage to have a bad leg!
When I was supposed to be studying for my "A" Levels I was sometimes playing three games of football and one of rugby in a weekend. I wasn't playing them at a high level, in front of a baying and expectant crowd. They didn't cause me stress except when I thought of that hasty piece of homework I was handing in to BOK. Physically I could do it, because I was young and football-fit and some of the time playing in goal!
The danger with fewer games is nitwit coaches might fill the time with idiot training aimed not at creating a skilled footballer but some "superfit athlete" who then damages a hamstring in the unnecessarily demanding pre-game warm-up! Why the fcku does a keeper need to dive about before the game!? Has he forgotten how to do it since Friday when he last dived about.
And whilst I'm ranting why does a sub' need 15 minutes being shown something on an I-Pad by some grey-haired old loon? What have they been doing all week that they are so unprepared for going on the field they need a sudden crash-course?
The result of our current system is we watch STALE players trying so hard to do all they have been told that they cannot now think for themselves. This is a world in which 90% of the time a winger turns back instead of taking on his full back, looks after the ball and unthreateningly lays it back into midfield. From there it works back to a defender who naturally plays safety-first and uses his keeper, who responds by either dithering on the ball or essaying a misplaced short pass to concede a goal. The alternative is the random belt upfield!
Fewer games, concentration on quality and skill in training, fewer injuries, better product in need of far less punditry and hype. A beautiful game?
When I was supposed to be studying for my "A" Levels I was sometimes playing three games of football and one of rugby in a weekend. I wasn't playing them at a high level, in front of a baying and expectant crowd. They didn't cause me stress except when I thought of that hasty piece of homework I was handing in to BOK. Physically I could do it, because I was young and football-fit and some of the time playing in goal!
The danger with fewer games is nitwit coaches might fill the time with idiot training aimed not at creating a skilled footballer but some "superfit athlete" who then damages a hamstring in the unnecessarily demanding pre-game warm-up! Why the fcku does a keeper need to dive about before the game!? Has he forgotten how to do it since Friday when he last dived about.
And whilst I'm ranting why does a sub' need 15 minutes being shown something on an I-Pad by some grey-haired old loon? What have they been doing all week that they are so unprepared for going on the field they need a sudden crash-course?
The result of our current system is we watch STALE players trying so hard to do all they have been told that they cannot now think for themselves. This is a world in which 90% of the time a winger turns back instead of taking on his full back, looks after the ball and unthreateningly lays it back into midfield. From there it works back to a defender who naturally plays safety-first and uses his keeper, who responds by either dithering on the ball or essaying a misplaced short pass to concede a goal. The alternative is the random belt upfield!
Fewer games, concentration on quality and skill in training, fewer injuries, better product in need of far less punditry and hype. A beautiful game?