Don't eat that pasty, Jo!

[TheOstrich]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... d-trafford

In fairness, I do wonder about the hygiene standards at some of the grounds I've attended over the years .....

[cromwell]

Urgh.
There is a site on the web which posts picture of the refreshments you get at football matches.
The lower league and non-league clubs seem to offer the best value.

[Workingman]

Jo has more things to worry about than mice poo pasties... it's the poo Amorim puts out on the pitch and that's the problem - not that he has much choice...

As a Leeds United fan I am not that interested in Man U, but I am concerned that such a famous club could go down the pan so quickly.

It is lucky for them that Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton are so bad.

[miasmum]

'scuse me........

We are not 'so bad'. We do not have the premier experience, squad, money of Southampton or Leicester.

I am not going to berate Leeds or any one else's team.

But we are not so bad, just struggling as the new boys fresh from Primary school, in the big boys school. We beat Wolves with a squad of which 75% came from League One.

Yes we lost 4-0 to an on fire Newcastle, but Villa lost 3-0 to them.

[Workingman]

It's a simple fact that the bottom five in the EPL are averaging less than one point per game - that's bad.

Another simple fact is that sides from smaller cities and larger towns do not have the stadium capacities to compete with larger clubs - about 30,000 – so do not have the funds to compete even if the stadiums are full for evey game.

It used to be different before the money men, agents (Spivs) and TV rights got involved. There was more of a level playing field back then. It's clubs like Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton - and football - who have all suffered.

[cromwell]

It gets harder and harder for teams promoted from the Championship to the PL.
The longer you are in the PL, the more money you get, the better players you should be able to sign.
Teams which look good in the Championship, like Sheffield United a couple of years ago, get battered in the Premier League.
It's no coincidence that the bottom three in the Premier League at the moment are the three promoted teams from last year.
It's one reason I admire Brentford and their manager Thomas Frank; they shouldn't really have survived in the Premiership, but there they are.

[Workingman]

I have this horrible nightmare that the Premier League could become like the American Football NFL
.
There would be a block of, say, the 32 best supported teams in England / Wales (poss Celtic and Rangers) split into mini leagues with play-offs for the main prize but no relegation or promotion.

The Championship and L1 & L2 would be for the rest.

It is not beyond the realms of possibilities given what the "suits" at the FA and the many US club owners know or care about the fans.

Let's not forget that there was (still is) talk of a breakaway Euro league.

[miasmum]

Not sure I agree about ground capacity and smaller cities having a knock on effect Frank. Bournemouth, Notts Forest, Brighton seem to do ok. Portman Road is bigger than their grounds and the smaller London clubs, Fulham, Palace do ok too.

All I want this year is to survive. Not because I like bing in the Prem, I hate it to be honest, I love the Championship, but the fear of what/who we will lose if we get relegated.

What people need to realise is that we didnt spend to try and stay up, we are still playing many of our players from our Academy, and the players that come through our back to back promotions with us. I love that, that we are still a team, not a load of expensive strangers.

Personally I would like a super leagues, so those high spending, millionaire owning, huge capacity clubs, can go and play each other and the Prem become a more balanced league like the Chamionship.

But that wont happen, too much money involved and the big clubs like playing the minnows, even Man City have a chance to shine then Helps keep them all in the top 6 for Europe

Like Cromwell I like Brentford and also Notts Forest, I have dreams that if we can survive we could be a Brentford or a Notts Forest.

I love the fact that everyone wants Ipswich to survive, we are a well liked, well respected team with few enemies (bar Norwich) and long may it stay that way although Omari Hutchinson needs to knock the falling over on the head, those Prem lessons we dont need to learn

[cromwell]

Personally I would like a super leagues, so those high spending, millionaire owning, huge capacity clubs, can go and play each other and the Prem become a more balanced league like the Chamionship.

I feel that way too MM; and I tell you something, the clubs who go would be shocked at how little they are missed.
Fans like their local derbies and league matches. Man City v Barcelona playng in a league in Saudi Arabia in front of 2,000 people?
You can keep that.

[JoM]

Don’t worry, apart from paying for our ticket every Summer we refuse to give the club another penny so buy our food elsewhere

Shell, I really hope you stay up. We had a fantastic time in Ipswich last month, a group of us spent the afternoon before the game in a pub with Ipswich flags in the windows. The supporters in there were great, we asked for directions to the away pub and they told us it was crap and to stay where we were Even had a group photo taken on their insistence. Loved the stadium too, a proper ground and not a soulless bowl.

We’re at Anfield on Sunday (God help us, we’re getting the train so alcohol can be involved) and apparantly there’s a protest, with fan groups from both sides joining together, about ticket prices and how supporters are being priced out. I think it’s happening at other grounds this weekend too. What’s recently happened at Man Utd is that concessions have been halted. Regardless of age and regardless of where you sit in the ground, the price per ticket for the rest of the matches this season is £66. Going back just 8 years to when Joe was 16 (and years before that) we were buying our tickets on a match by match basis and I was paying £13 for his, that concession has risen over the years to £25 at the start of this season obviously that’s been scrapped and is now £66.
How they’ve got the nerve to charge that with the dross that’s being served up on the pitch I’ll never know.
We’re all bracing ourselves for how much our season tickets will be next season. We’ve had 5% increases for the last two years but we’re expecting at least 10% when renewals open in February.

Chinese lad on our row last night, big carrier bag full of Megastore purchases and a VIP lanyard around his neck. All that means is that he paid in excess of £500 for his ticket, a souvenir lanyard, free programme and a burger in the O2 venue across the road which they use pre match. That’s the kind of supporters that they want, the tourists who’ll pay big money for their ticket and also spend a small fortune in the souvenir shop. Not season ticket holders who don’t spend anything throughout the season.