Excellent post.
I have posted before it is a media agenda and they work in concert together. It is blatantly obvious they do.
Bad press / articles / TV coverage etc about Everton generates hits & clicks from the legions of Liverpool armchair supporters in London, Dublin, Asia & beyond. That's why they do it. Good press about Everton does not. There is no such thing as reasoned, balanced, objective journalism these days. It doesn't exisit. The so called 'journalists' in the newspapers (think Oliver Holt) and on TV are just fanboy cheerleaders for their own clubs (think Carragher & Neville). They play out the media script and agenda to serve their own purpose. Liverpool & United equals good. Everton & City equals bad. That's the business model. Just you wait till you win something or take Liverpool's place in the top four. The bad press will increase by x100 and I'm not joking. It's relentless. It's just so transparent it's a joke. The bias is not even subtle or implicit. It is blatant and explicit (think SKY TV and the BBC). You just have to let it go and not let it get you down, because that's exactly why they do it. Once you eventually get your head around that, you can sit back, laugh at them and enjoy it. However, that journey is not an easy one to take...
You're not wrong on that. Soem of the stuff about City, not even as a City fan, is ridiculous. Look I'm not a City lover either, I've always felt Everton were at it's core a much bigger club. I got frustrated with City's chase of Lescott and loved going to your ground and winning regularly as much as anyone. I'm not some biased pro-City merchant.
Some of the criticism is absolutely ludicrous though. Phrases like financial "doping". It's an insult to actual doping to start inserting it into spaces it doesn't belong. I remember asking someone what "financial doping" meant- and essentially what it meant was spending money. Spending money is now viewed as cheating. City don't even spend that much, United and Liverpool spend more than City on wages, and in United's case transfers. And they are the clubs that bang on about it the most. If a fella who supports Burnley, or Brighton or whoever says it's unfair, I can kind of understand that, but you've got fans from two teams who spend more money, complaining about anoter who invests in line with them. And they have the audacity to make out it deserves the same candor as "doping".
I mean I was critical of how much City, United, Liverpool, Chelsea spent. However you can't differentiate between them. You also have to acknwoledge spending money is not a crime as comparable as cheating by using illegal drugs.
The other bit of it, is sponsorships. So like United and Liverpool gets sponsors partially through connections they make, the fact their owners and senior execs will know people on other boards etc- the old you scratch my back I scratch your back kind of thing. Thats considered sacrosanct. But when a brown person (and lets be honest here, a lot of the criticism comes down to that as well- good old fashioned racism) wants to do the same, it's again beyond the pale.
The entire business eco system we live under exists due to shareholder investment. It's not an optional extra, it's a central part of what makes the capitalist economy we live in function. Shareholders will invest profits and funds into a business, with the aim of building a successful company. It pushes innovation, quality etc. Yet in football, the powers that be seem to have ruled it should be made illegal. Absolutely crackers.
Objectively, the best thing that happened to the PL was Abramovich. The leagues was about to tank at that point and fall behind. The 2nd best thing was City's takeover. Both of them put so much money into the football eco structure, they have allowed it to become the best league in the world, which everyone has benefitted from. That this level of analysis is beyond most people on the edges of football- but who are all happy to take their cut of the bigger cake thats been created is highly hypocritical. Your FSG's and your Glaziers are takers. They suck out of football. They don't put anything in.
