Chozz
Player Valuation: £5m
Ok, this is gonna be a rant and a half, so be prepared. I guess this is something that has been bubbling under the surface for quite a while now, and our frustratingly dismal season has been the proverbial cherry on top. Just for the record I have been following football for as long as I can remember, approximately 30 years or the early 80s to be precise. And I guess it all goes back to my Dad, who was born and raised in Glasgow and then moved to Ireland in the 60s. He always loved the game. He was in Hampden Park to see Real Madrid beat Eintract Frankfurt 7-3 in the European Cup Final amongst 127,000 other fans. He travelled to Milan in 1970 where Celtic were narrowly defeated by Feyenoord in another final. His first taste of top flight football in England was at Goodison a few months later in a season opener 2-2 draw with Arsenal. A decent footballer himself, he played for his local team Dundalk, in the League of Ireland, before injuries reduced chances of a prolonged career. His love for sport transgressed into his working life also, at 17 he opened his sport shop at a time before JJBs and the idea was generally unheard of. Through connections like this, we were afforded the opportunity to always have access to football kits, tickets, equipment etc. In 1988 we went to Germany for Irelands first ever venture into international competition. Two years later we were in Italy for the World Cup, staying on after quarter final elimination, and even got tickets to the final, awful game obviously. Since then I've been to over 100 Ireland matches and travelled over for about 40 Everton games. But I digress, you get the jist of how much football played a part in my upbringing. This had often been frowned upon by society as a 'foreign' sport, as the national pastime is gaelic games, an amateur game mired in local communities and the church.
So this isn't a flippant or light decision to make. But I am consciously finding myself drifting away from the game. Being an Evertonian doesn't help obviously. Getting your hopes and dreams crushed on a regular basic and never learning anything from it is the Everton way. But its everything else that is mainly responsible. What will follow is going to be a rambling mess of observations and feelings about the modern game, so apologies in advance...
Straight off the bat - FIFA.
Everytime I see that smug, bond-villain wannabe, corrupt riddled cretin, Sepp Blatter, I feel ill. Just knowing that almost every penny spent in the game somehow winds its way into his deep cavernous pockets is galling. The man is a modern day dictator. He is head of a 'non-profit' organisation which last year made a $2bn profit from the World Cup alone. The voting process, the corruption, the legacies left behind in host countries, the fact that you could get arrested if you 're not eating or drinking an approved product at a match. How is he getting away with this? It stinks from top to bottom. He has syringed the life and soul from the game, and shot the cash proceeds directly into his sagging veins.
Next up. In game betting and the bookies.
The pools coupons have always been around. But they never pestered you. They didn't come crashing through your living room window, demanding your predictions. They weren't so accesible that you could sit on your arse at home whilst blowing your household expenditure. "It matters more when there's money on it" - the tagline of Satan himself. Naturally it'll matter more cos you might not be able to pay the mortgage this month! But more unsettling is the concept of caring more about how results are going in some lower league that normally wouldn't enter your consciousness. How many times have you heard some bloke down the pub say: "I just need Macclesfield to score" or "Queen of the South let me down today"...and thats just the small bets. I can't imagine what sums are being lost on a grander scale. Its an addiction. Yet it adorns multiple shirts in the Premier League and are official partners with almost every team. But you can't have a packet of fags or a B&H logo?
Its another indication of 'soul for sale'. And its created a 'know it all' culture among fans, who grow more fickle by the day. Everyone is an expert, which leads me to...
Where do I even start? Michael Owen mentioned the other night during the Liverpool Spurs game, that under Pochettino they were a different side now, no longer finishing 6th or 7th. Firstly they have finished 4th twice in recent seasons and secondly, they haven't yet completed one campaign under him! Its this kind of inane drivel that drives me mad. HE GETS PAID FOR THIS! Not to mention the whole host of ex-pros and hacks who force their uneducated opinions upons us. I cringe everytime I see Geoff Shreeves with a mic in his hand, knowing I'm only moments away from a mind numbingly retarded question. The transfer deadline, the 24/7 coverage, pundits being celebrities, the bantz, Robbie Savage, the soccer am culture of showboats etc etc the list goes on. I refuse to watch any analysis at this stage, Neville and Carragher are tolerable at best.
The recent megabucks tv deal is only gonna make things worse. The gulf is widening. Football stopped being a sport a long time ago, its pure and simply business now. Its so far removed from reality that we can barely comprehend it. Hazards recent deal of £200k a week is disgusting. A bloke who kicks a ball and runs about the park. Thats his job description. Other sportsmen in England, like professional Rugby Union and League players can only dream of that wedge. Some lads in Ireland who dedicate their time and lives to Gaelic and Hurling, do so without getting paid at all!
The playacting, the wags, the multi-coloured boots, the trending haircuts, the selfies on the pitch, the petulance of it all, the posing, inflated ticket prices, the posturing...I don't like it and I don't need it.
Tell me I'm wrong, make me belive again. Convince me!
Or maybe this is the end and you're just as sick of it all as me...
So this isn't a flippant or light decision to make. But I am consciously finding myself drifting away from the game. Being an Evertonian doesn't help obviously. Getting your hopes and dreams crushed on a regular basic and never learning anything from it is the Everton way. But its everything else that is mainly responsible. What will follow is going to be a rambling mess of observations and feelings about the modern game, so apologies in advance...
Straight off the bat - FIFA.
Everytime I see that smug, bond-villain wannabe, corrupt riddled cretin, Sepp Blatter, I feel ill. Just knowing that almost every penny spent in the game somehow winds its way into his deep cavernous pockets is galling. The man is a modern day dictator. He is head of a 'non-profit' organisation which last year made a $2bn profit from the World Cup alone. The voting process, the corruption, the legacies left behind in host countries, the fact that you could get arrested if you 're not eating or drinking an approved product at a match. How is he getting away with this? It stinks from top to bottom. He has syringed the life and soul from the game, and shot the cash proceeds directly into his sagging veins.
Next up. In game betting and the bookies.
The pools coupons have always been around. But they never pestered you. They didn't come crashing through your living room window, demanding your predictions. They weren't so accesible that you could sit on your arse at home whilst blowing your household expenditure. "It matters more when there's money on it" - the tagline of Satan himself. Naturally it'll matter more cos you might not be able to pay the mortgage this month! But more unsettling is the concept of caring more about how results are going in some lower league that normally wouldn't enter your consciousness. How many times have you heard some bloke down the pub say: "I just need Macclesfield to score" or "Queen of the South let me down today"...and thats just the small bets. I can't imagine what sums are being lost on a grander scale. Its an addiction. Yet it adorns multiple shirts in the Premier League and are official partners with almost every team. But you can't have a packet of fags or a B&H logo?
Its another indication of 'soul for sale'. And its created a 'know it all' culture among fans, who grow more fickle by the day. Everyone is an expert, which leads me to...
Where do I even start? Michael Owen mentioned the other night during the Liverpool Spurs game, that under Pochettino they were a different side now, no longer finishing 6th or 7th. Firstly they have finished 4th twice in recent seasons and secondly, they haven't yet completed one campaign under him! Its this kind of inane drivel that drives me mad. HE GETS PAID FOR THIS! Not to mention the whole host of ex-pros and hacks who force their uneducated opinions upons us. I cringe everytime I see Geoff Shreeves with a mic in his hand, knowing I'm only moments away from a mind numbingly retarded question. The transfer deadline, the 24/7 coverage, pundits being celebrities, the bantz, Robbie Savage, the soccer am culture of showboats etc etc the list goes on. I refuse to watch any analysis at this stage, Neville and Carragher are tolerable at best.
The recent megabucks tv deal is only gonna make things worse. The gulf is widening. Football stopped being a sport a long time ago, its pure and simply business now. Its so far removed from reality that we can barely comprehend it. Hazards recent deal of £200k a week is disgusting. A bloke who kicks a ball and runs about the park. Thats his job description. Other sportsmen in England, like professional Rugby Union and League players can only dream of that wedge. Some lads in Ireland who dedicate their time and lives to Gaelic and Hurling, do so without getting paid at all!
The playacting, the wags, the multi-coloured boots, the trending haircuts, the selfies on the pitch, the petulance of it all, the posing, inflated ticket prices, the posturing...I don't like it and I don't need it.
Tell me I'm wrong, make me belive again. Convince me!
Or maybe this is the end and you're just as sick of it all as me...
