What are Jeff Stelling and the boys going to talk about?

I'd take a sickie that day if I was him!

thats crazy , stupid greediness ! i didn't mind the odd super sunday match , and the odd monday night game -- but now those 5 pm kicks offs , and what not will actually detract from the game with tv saturation -- 8 games should be kicking of at 3 pm on sats -- even American footbal, one of the most commercial games there is , mainly kick off at there regular sunday times .... madness

Whats the big deal with games kicking off or not kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday? Big swing either way.

I think its great that there's so many games on TV. I'll watch less than half of them but its nice to have the option. Its especially good for the supporters of the top teams where now most games are on live. 19 of Liverpool's first 21 games in all competitions are live. Fantastic!

EDIT: I see Sky have picked Reading v Liverpool to show live in the Carling Cup. So make it 20/21. Super fantastic!!

The Sky boys could do a lot worse than head over to station Road on Saturday to catch the Kildare V Dundalk game.

Okay there probably won't be too much skill or goals on offer but who really cares about all that nonsense.

Some of the fans are getting p1ssed off with it though, I think it was Boro had a whole series of Sunday games a couple of years ago and the fans weren't happy about it. I suppose the saturday 3:00 kickoff is kind of a tradition of the game, and season ticket holders get peed off when the fixtures are chopped and changed and it's difficult to plan ahead.

And why must United-Liverpool games always be on at some sh1tty time like 11.30 on a saturday morning? Why can't it be a 4:00 Sunday kickoff now and again? I know it will never be played at 3 on saturday due to the ban on live games, but why always 11.30 in the bloody morning? Is it just to keep the fans out of the pub before the game?

aidan24326 wrote:

And why must United-Liverpool games always be on at some sh1tty time like 11.30 on a saturday morning? Why can't it be a 4:00 Sunday kickoff now and again? I know it will never be played at 3 on saturday due to the ban on live games, but why always 11.30 in the bloody morning? Is it just to keep the fans out of the pub before the game?

Yes to stop trouble basically. Its usually under the advise of the local police too. I remember going to an Everton v Liverpool game at 8pm on Good Friday.

That was not a pretty sight as a high % of fans were drinking quite early as its a bank holiday over there. Anyway saw a good few fights on the way up and in the ground and afterwards. I reckon it was one of the last night time derbies.

thebaz wrote:

thats crazy , stupid greediness ! i didn't mind the odd super sunday match , and the odd monday night game -- but now those 5 pm kicks offs , and what not will actually detract from the game with tv saturation -- 8 games should be kicking of at 3 pm on sats -- even American footbal, one of the most commercial games there is , mainly kick off at there regular sunday times .... madness

well no, its cos a lot of teams are playing on thursday, so they are giving them the extra day to recover

DesF wrote:

Funny thing about this thread is that it was more about poor Jeff and his buddies having nothing to talk about, rather than the real debate which you have brought up.

Lads, it's highly annoying to have fixtures chopped and changed just for TV. For people who go to the games that is. You get the fixture list at the start of a season and plan your weekends. The a week or two before the gmes, the powers that be decide to change it all? Ridiculous carry on, and shows lack of respect for the people who keep the game going.

As a great man once said. Football is nothing without it's supporters.

Yeah, whatever. The reality is that football's current level of lavishness at the higher level cannot be maintaned with just the fans. In the short to medium term that is. TV has become more important to the biggest clubs as it is that medium which is putting in the majority of the money each year.

There seems to be an invisible threshold which is crossed once clubs get past a certain level. It divides clubs between those who depend on the direct input of fans in terms of gate receipts etc for their viabillity and those monsters who need to keep TV and the sponsors happy first to keep things going and pushing forward. Once that level is reached the fans are no longer considered as priority because:

A) They no longer account for the majority of the revenue;
There is such a massive base of them that you can poke and prod them a fair bit without much in the way of adverse consequences for your bottom line. This is because the vast majority of your fanbase becomes passive and purely there because you win and your brand is cool. That percentage becomes more pronounced the more popular you become.



Now, I know that the likes of you, Gimmick and the other Eircom leaguers realise this. You are too smart not too. And I also know that, as decent and loyal fans of Eircom league clubs you are deep within the grime of the games lower levels - well beneath the threshold where fan input starts becoming less important.

As such, I can understand your resentment for the game as a whole and why you carry this poor unfortunate martyr like attitude into the majority of your posts on this forum. Poor you guys, the real fans get nothing, etc.

Your argument may be won in the longterm when the game eventually comes crashing down because it has extended it's supply line and ground it's basic driving force (passion) into the dust. Problem is that the longterm may be longer than your time on the earth. You fight the good fight all the time on this forum - but you are in the minority in terms of the total number of posters who involve themselves around here. And that is why the game is the way it is - because the majority don't care as much as you do. As much as that sucks, tiresome renditions of the same arguments backed up by the same points won't change much.

Great post LuckyLloyd.