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Whatever happened to the level playing field?
Apologies for an opinion piece (and not about music), but I know that some visitors to this blog care about this stuff ....
Mick McCarthy's team selection against Man United last night was absolutely shameful. Unsurprisingly, the FA's initial indication is that it will take no action.
While I feel for the Wolves fans ("£42 to see the reserves"), the implications are far more serious for the Premier League.
The whole premise of any league system is that all clubs field the team with the best chance of getting the best result against every other team in the league. (It is not like 'sacrificing' a Carling Cup tie.) Otherwise, it's not a level playing field for all the teams in the league. Effectively, Man Utd were effectively gifted 3 points from kick off and every other club in the league has a legitimate complaint here.
Wolves should be docked points, and the match replayed. Won't happen of course.
Bit by bit, the self interest of the clubs are destroying *our* game. And those who are supposed to govern the game are letting it happen.
The Premier League - best league in the world?
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Not knowing anything about soccer
Why would they do this? Surely they're just giving away the game?
resting players
for games they have a chance of winning.
re: op: Seems odd to blame smaller clubs for the in equality when the odds are stacked against them for the start of the season.
Thanks... makes some sort of sense now
but it certainly doesn't seem in the spirit of the game (speaking as a Rugby fan in Wales)
I'm sure the same happens on the sly
in rugby for a meaningless league games with a Guinness cup game coming up after.
We had a similar debate in the office this morning...
To be honest, Man U didn't put their best team out, either.
The sad thing is, the Premier League seems to have been as much about 'playing games' as it is about actually playing the game.
Roy Hodgson gave an interview to the Standard yesterday in which he admitted that Europe is not really a big deal for him, even though he'd qualified.
He used it as an opportunity to blood some players - and that's Europe.
In some ways, I understand McCarthy's point of view. He's got a much bigger and more winnable game coming up on Saturday and clearly felt he didn't want to risk some of his bigger players, for fear they got crocked.
As it is, the 2nd XI still kept it scoreless for 30 minutes, so they weren't that great.
I do feel for the fans, but you practically have to be a millionaire to support any team live nowadays.
My season ticket
cost me £120. Mind you that's the Ryman's Premier (division 7)
It's only very expensive if you want to pay the ludicrous wages of prima donnas in the massively over-rated Premier league.
I froze my bits and bobs off with 150 or so other hardy souls last night and loved every minute of it.No diving,no histrionics to the ref,just good old contact sport footie. The director even thanked me for coming.
Oh,we lost 2-0 though.Bummer.
Don't know what all the fuss is about
I feel some sympathy for the Wolves supporters who travelled, but aside from that I can't understand the wailing and nashing of teeth. What else can the Premier League (and therefore the 'big' 4/5/6/7/whatever clubs) expect when they've so effectively restricted the flow of cash throughout the rest of the league system?
One paper I read had a League source advising that there's not much they can do about it when clubs have such big squads. Well who started that?
Chickens coming home to roost.
Is anyone seriously suggesting
that a full-strength Wolves team would in any way have influenced the outcome of the game? I suppose they might have only lost 2-0.
I could be wrong here
but I've a feeling last time Wolves were in the Premiership that even though they finished bottom of the table, actually beat Manchester United at Molineux.
Now, of all their home games this season, last night's was the one they had least chance of winning (except for perhaps versus Chelsea) but if they get relegated by one point or, even worse, by goal difference, they'll look back and wonder.
Of course it works both ways. Carlo Ancelotti fielded Michael Essien for what was essentially a dead rubber against APOEL Nicosia last week and he got injured.
Actually, you're both right AND wrong!
Wolves did beat ManU at Molineux last time they were up, but last night's game was at Old Trafford. It is therefore understandable, alhough I disagree, that they thought they had no chance of a result.
I got an interesting take on it from a Wolves fan in the office here (unusual for NZ!) - his view was that before the weekend they would have hoped for maybe 1 point out of the two games against Spurs and ManU and so, since they got 3 against all expectations on Saturday, they could happily take the night off against ManU!
I do worry about the growing disparity of squads and incomes. Even as a Utd fan, I started to get fed up a few years ago of settling down to watch a game only to find the likes of Keiran Richardson were playing because the opposition was 'only' Watford. Unfortunately, it's just the way of things - and I suppose the upside is that we get to see some of the world's top players in the Premier League (at least until Real Madrid started hoovering them up last summer!)
Perhaps the main gripe of the supporters
is that Mick McCarthy surrendered before any shots were fired? United may have been far-superior on paper, and considerable favourites but that's no reason for the opposition manager to throw in the towel before the match even begins, and pray Rooney and co. take it easy with his side. Footballers should be fit enough to play two games a week. If a manager's going to spend all year worrying that his star-player's going to have his legs amputated and miss half the season then it's a surprise he's picked at all.
There appears to be a new idea in place within the Premiership at the moment, which is to focus on the game ahead (and not the one you're currently involved in).
Then I hope they go down
on goal difference.
That result took them into the bottom three.
Seeing as it was the 'big
Seeing as it was the 'big clubs' that pioneered this sort of extreme squad rotation, I think it'd be unfair to penalise Wolves. It is a squad game now, whether we like it or not, and managers will do what they think is best.
My real concern
.. is that in a league (as opposed to cup) competition, this type of 'gimme' will affect not just the direct participants in the match, but will also have a bearing on all the other 18 teams in the league. Will Wolves field a similar weakened team against Chelsea, Arsenal, Villa, Man City, Liverpool (in 2 weeks time), etc? Clearly they didn't against Spurs. Say a stronger Wolves team get a point when they next play Chelsea or Arsenal, and Man U win the league by 2 points?
If Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. really don't think it's worth trying properly (by fielding a strong team) against one of the top teams in the division, then maybe they shouldn't be playing in the same league.
I don't have anything against Wolves or Mick McCarthy, and indeed I would normally support them as the underdog against the big clubs, but this runs contrary to the very heart of sporting competition.
A similarly interesting point was made in the Guardian today
What if Man U win the league with a coupld of games to spare and then field a reserve side against one of Wolves' fellow relegation strugglers. Won't Wolves feel a tad hard done by?
That said, these things have happened in the recent past anyway, so it's not really like it's within their control.
At first I thought it was Man Utd
fielding the weakened team as it was against Wolves so I was a bit surprised to find out it was actually Mick McCarthy's decision!
Pathetic! He's just given up without so much as a fight - Reading got a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford in the League, there's no reason why a full strength Wolves might not have got some sort of result too.
Does that mean teams like Burnley, Hull shouldn't just look at the fixture list and say, oh we're away to Chelsea - we haven't got a chance let's forfeit the game and hope we get three points from Bolton the week after.
It takes the piss out of the fans too but not just that, If I was a firstteam squad player at Wolves I would have relished the chance to go and play at Old Trafford - it could well end up being the highlight of sopme of those player's careers.
I suppose if there is any justice then Burnley will stuff 'em on Sunday!
Every Premiership team has a "squad"
The team for each game is chosen from this squad. That is what McCarthy did for the game against Man. Utd. I can't see that he has done anything wrong and certainly no one has any come back against him apart from the disgruntled Wolves fans I suppose.
There's been a distinct tilt for quite some time, surely?
That sloping peetch that favors mah teem? I buy eeeet.
Luck of the draw
It seems odd that, having played 38 games in a season, it can often come down to pure luck as to who is relegated.
Had Wolves got Man U on the last day of the season - with United waiting for the Champions' League Final - McCarthy's men could've played the game safe in the knowledge that they'd be up against the reserves; this is part of what kept West Ham up a couple of years ago.
Perhaps McCarthy was just being realistic: Aston Villa hadn't won at Man U for 26 years before Saturday, so what chance had Wolves got? Conversely, who knows? It might be that third goal that sends Wolves down on goal difference.
The amusing thing about this season's Premier League is the money clubs are throwing around: Spurs, Sunderland, Man City and Villa have all spent quite a bit of cash trying to get success/into the Champions' League, but just what are the supposedly wonderful financial renumerations for a good season? Everton finished 5th last season, got to the FA Cup final, sold a player for £23 million, had a net-spend on players of minus £5 million - and they STILL posted an overall finiancial loss of £6.7 million.
Could someone who knows about these things please explain just how much money a club would make if, say, they won the Champions' League, having spent £50 million on players?
Retro Man has made the most relevant points
The team that beat Spurs at White Hart lane on saturday was a young team with little experience of the Premier league and without argument it was a fantastic result. It seems likely however that come May Wolves will be in the bottom three and relegated. The reward for winning at White Hart lane? Getting dropped for the game most of those players would consider the highlight of their season. I don't think this is very astute man-management on Mick McCarthy's part. It isn't much of a surprise though given the World Cup spat he had with Roy Keane - two stubborn people locking horns in such a public fashion made great newspaper headlines but didnt put either of them in a great light. Where is the motivation for the returning players to perform well?
One final thing - I saw Birmingham beat Wolves at Molineux and they were absolutely dire. I am not sure any of the players left out would have fared any better. If they lose to Burnley at saturday it will be hilarious.
Perhaps these players shouldn't be paid as much
If a manager doesn't think his players can cope with playing 38 matches in a season, why do they pay them so much? I just find it crackers that clubs are happy to pay players tens of thousands of pounds per week not to play them. Maybe we are the mugs for paying the stupid prices to go an watch them.
Just imagine though, if your boss told you that he was resting you from whatever job it is you do, so you don't have to turn up to work next week, yet he'll still pay you. Then imagine that you're a footballer and the money that he's talking about for that week is what you are actually currently getting paid for the year.
Footballers just don't live in the real world. A player for my team (Championship team) had been injured for a couple of weeks and a mate of mine was speaking to him in the hospitality area at a game. My mate asked him how his injury was and when he'd be back. The player in question said he was actually okay now really, but didn't fancy the trip down to Bristol City the week after, so he was going to drag the injury out for another week! Glad to say the player has been shipped out on loan and hopefully won't be coming back.
I've only ever seen one football match...
...Southhampton vs someone (Jimmy Rimmer was opposition goalie, I remember that much, mainly for all the abuse he took from the nearby crowd). Anyway, Kevin Keegan was playing, and got hacked brutally and bloodily in the early minutes. After some time out for stitches, he was back on in the second half. I get the impression this wouldn't happen these days?
I'm amused
by the thought that in the Wolves squad there is this gulf of class between the the players. Does anyone really believe that the 10 that beat Spurs are that much better than the 10 that lost to Utd? I don't think so. Storm in a tea cup, move on. Oh and by the way 7 changes in Portsmouths side that nearly beat Chelsea toight.