Rabid Roy

Update: did I mention that I think 'Sir' Alex Ferguson is a complete douchebag and Spurs' chairman is absolutely right?

Though I mostly looked at him as a prima donna off the field (from seemingly putting personal grievances with the Irish Manager before the 2002 World Cup and subsequently not playing) and a rabid maniac on it (see video below), I have rather lightened up to his thoughts as a manager.

After weighing in on players not wanting to play for teams in smaller English centres and the role of WAGs (wives and girlfriends) influencing where players play (which, as you can guess as an Oiler fan, hits close to home), he has now put forward intelligent thoughts on the transfer of players. He explains how transfer of players, and hence club loyalty, is a two way street. A club can renege on their loyalty by selling players just as player can by requesting a ticket out of town (or in some cases, across town).

In the soccer world, things work a little different than we are used to with hockey. There are big clubs and little clubs. Big clubs are successful and have lots of money and little clubs fight to stay alive with the scraps they have. So naturally, there is a consistent flow of quality players to the big clubs. Maybe in the pre-salary cap days of the NHL, we could look to the New York Rangers as one of the resource gobblers of the league. However, they were always making trades or signing free agents to get their players. There is a strict adherence to a player's contract, by both team and player.

Contrast this with soccer where if a player wants to leave a club to which he is contracted to, all he has to do is make his wish known. Very seldom do you hear about a player being unhappy and not being transferred to another team. Similarly, if a big club wants a player, they will announce it and more often than not, that player will express interest in the move. A few of the recent exceptions might be C. Ronaldo where there are two mega-clubs vying for him and Sergio Aguero with Athletico Madrid nixing a move to Man U. due to his content in Spain. But when a player signs a 4 year contract, I just laugh, because what does that really mean for me, the fan? He could be there 4 years or 4 months. Who knows.

It makes you wonder what the soccer system would be like with NHL type rules. Maybe it wouldn't be all that different for clubs in the long run. They have bargaining power for the fee they demand for their players and can in turn buy other players with this cash. But this often isn't the case. Whereas trades in hockey have similar bargaining potential, both teams are vying for assets to help their team on the ice, ie, to win. In soccer, cash in hand in one direction might not translate to anything other than lining owners' or stock holders' pockets. They aren't getting instant returns for selling players, they have to go out and find other ones.

This type of system ensures whoever has the cash will have the trophies. In the 16 years of the English Premier League, only 4 teams have won the title. And one of those was an early aberration in history with Blackburn taking the title in 1994-95.

As a fan, this system can be very frustrating if you aren't going for a big club. To often see your best players being shipped out would be so disheartening.

In completely unrelated news, Man U are thought to be shopping for Berbatov.


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