This is a reasonable football article, not a rightwing fantasists load of shite, stop cry-arseing. Did those that reported it even read it?
Yes I read it. It's rubbish. One massive strawman of an article jam-packed with lots of baby straw..er...babies. And rubbish from the first sentence. No one is ''pretending that real football is back'', whatever that is even supposed to mean. Everyone knows that we are in an exceptional situation and everyone is trying to make the best of it, while hoping that things return to normal as soon as possible, and maybe even ''better than normal'' if we learn lessons and make improvements. Most people are trying to avoid moaning too much about the oddities and strictures and negatives and lacks that we currently have to suffer. Sadly not this guy.
The story about the fans on the pallets is cute, but I doubt anyone who vaguely knows anything about spectator sport lacks understanding about what an absence of fans means. You don't have to be steeped in English football to understand or see the significance, as he implies.
He says
''They have been saying football is back but it isn’t really''
as if to say we are being lied to. We're not. Not many people are particularly saying the football is back, and even those who are saying something like it are just trying to be positive and upbeat while we go through the necessary steps of concluding an interrupted season and the taking stock to see how much normality we can bring back.
He says
''What’s the point of staging a drama if it plays to empty theatres? I’m sorry, but I have been to a few matches behind closed doors and it has been interesting to watch the games and see moments of skill and expression but let’s stop pretending football is back. What we have is a pale imitation of football.''
The point of doing this is purely to conclude the season, and to do that in a footballing way rather than PPG or null/voiding etc. That it is a pale imitation is obvious to everyone and no-one is trying to claim otherwise. We have to be patient and go through this bit so that we can be in a position to start a new season. We all know this. Why is he trying to turn it into some kind of yoke that has been foisted upon us with sinister intent?
He says:
''It almost feels as if a coup against football has taken place during lockdown.''
I mean what absolute unmitigated bollocks that is? How can you take this seriously?
Then he goes onto try and rabble-rouse by implying that the temporary or enforced changes/additions/strictures that currently apply will become permanent (despite little or no evidence) and that this is clandestinely being forced upon fans by sinister hand-rubbing ne'er-do-wells mu ha ha ha ha. His evidence? That the five subs rule is proposed to be continued into next season without consulting with fans.
I mean where do you start? Firstly do IFAB or FIFA ever consult with the everyday fans before making rule changes? I don't know but I don't think so. I imagine they have focus groups or panels but no-body has ever surveyed me or any fan I know about any football rule changes in all my matchgoing days or since. We've always just had to lump it so there'd be nothing new there.
And secondly he's implying that the current unusual circumstances will magically end before next season and so continuing a rule brought in for this restart period is sinister. Except that next season is set to begin in a matter of weeks, with a curtailed preparation time, esp for teams who are still in the CL, Europa etc. More importantly the long established rhythms and patterns of preparation and training and time off that have existed for years have all been disrupted by the lockdown and the enforced gap followed by the nine-game mini-season. Not just that players weren't playing, but that they were not able to live their lives in the normal way but were confined indoors etc. It's not outrageous to consider that potential impacts from this might last longer than this nine-game period and so it might be wise to continue any amelioratory steps for a little longer. And if, later, we decide it was not needed, well being a little over-cautious is not the sinister thing he is making it out to be.
And then he goes into that guff about the five subs only helping the big sides - which might be true but has not been proven yet. It would have to be tried and studied for a while to see how different sizes of club react and benefit/suffer by it. We may find that smaller clubs actually find a way to leverage it to their advantage, with young players, for example. It's a question worth exploring but not this way. It's just another rabble-rousing point in this piece.
And then he says: '
'The clubs should be paying them to come to matches rather than the other way round. Season tickets should be free. ''
I mean come on. We'd all love entrance to games to be free but this is an old discussion unrelated to anything specifically
now and we all know the arguments for and against it. Like how do you decide who gets the free tickets? Do the same people go every game (like STH) or will there have to be a ballot each time? Issues like how pricing tickets acts as a form of gatekeeping to prevent clubs being overwhelmed as demand would massively outstrip supply if free tickets were introduced, even more than it is now for clubs like ours. Not an unimportant discussion point but not particularly any more relevant now than at any other time.
And then he says...oh fuck it, I don't have time to go into everything, but there's loads more bollocks where the above came from.
I dunno, Has football writing become so shite that people don't notice it anymore?
