slingem

I'm going to raise a couple of points on two posts.

 

First of all the question of fans interest in football finances.

 

There appear to be two issues being debated, based on posts on this thread so far:

 

1. Do supporters have the capacity to understand their/other clubs finances?

2. Should they be interested in their/other clubs finances?

 

For 1, I have to say that I am aware of a number of fans, myself included, who have owned businesses. Now it's probably fair to say that none of us have owned football clubs, or possibley even 'large' businesses, but our experiences will give us the capacity

to form a reasonable understanding of the accounts, and form an opinion (using other knowledge) of associated forecasts/predictions.

 

For 2, I believe it is essesntial for some (I have to accept that some are simply not capable) fans to have an interest in the clubs finances. The club is like any other business; it needs to be operated correctly and solvently. However, a football club is also unlike many other businesses in that it's fans don't move to other clubs (like you could change to a different brand of ketchup if you wanted), the true fans will stay with the club whoever owns it, whoever is employed by it, or whatever receipe they decide to use. For this reason, and even though the club is not (usually) in direct ownership of the majority of the fans, the club is answerable to it's customers - the fans. As such, it should be able to prove it is operating in a way that is beneficial to the name of the club (that which shall remain after the current owners have departed). This can only be verified by the fans themselves. Finally, all clubs are competing for a slice of a limited revenue/market. It is essential to understand what other clubs who are also competing for this revenue are doing in order to ensure you are maximising your oppurtunities. For all those reasons, fans should have an interest in club finances.

1/ My bold.....That only seems to happen when fans speak of their own clubs finances and receeds into nonsense when speaking of oposining clubs.

2/McCabe, Mandaric answer to no one because they know the fans are there for the love of the club come what may.

I can't see where any of the above would improve the fans match day experience or aid the club with it's financial situation.

I also think if a fan is interested in HIS/HER clubs finances it's fair enough but to be obsessed with the opositions finance to the extent of trying to use it as an argumentative tool when their team is doing badly on the pitch doesn't make sense.

When a fans team is losing week in week out it doesn't make sense for them to stick their head in the sand by saying "yes but that other team across the road is skint" and not address the on field problems of their club which is what the large majority of fans are more concerned about.

In a nutshell put your own shop in order before worrying so much about someone elses and people in glass houses should not throw stones.

One thing is for certain where sheffield clubs are concerned, there is not a thing any of us can do about it because we go and watch teams that we have no financial say whatsever over.

We have followed our teams through highs and lows bought shares, had collections, donated supporters club money etc etc and still never had any say in the club....One thing remains the same, WE ARE STILL THERE WEEK IN WEEK OUT.

Hamas are trying to start an all out war between Isreal and the Arabs and what do peope expect Isreal to do?

You can wipe Benitez off the list Chelsea have just pinched him from under your noses.