Big money has ruined football

Is anyone really surprised by the latest scandal to hit Football? English football to be exact? I’m not. I know we’re not supposed to judge a book by the cover but take a good look at Sam Allardyce who just got sacked from his managerial post, having served just two months as England Coach for just two months and right away, you get the feeling that something’s not right. I always thought he was boisterous and like I said, I saw this coming. What’s surprising is that he was entrusted with a sensitive job despite clearly exhibiting flawed traits. Like the saying goes, “If someone shows you who they are, believe them.” Allardyce himself has never shied away from a good deal and I’m sure he regarded his new job as the perfect opportunity to negotiate the best deals of his career and why not? English football is not as clean as many want us to believe and once you realize that many of those around you are looking out for themselves, you can’t help but do the same. Sadly, big money has hijacked the beautiful game and my worry is that it’s too late to do anything about it. I mean where do you start? Fans are getting ripped off through costly tickets, merchandise and dubious betting schemes while those running football reap huge profits through broadcasting rights and related deals. Everyone’s talking about how the disgraced Allardyce should have been happy with his £3,000,000 a year salary instead of going out and trying to negotiate £400,000 speaker fees in exchange for helping interested parties skirt FA laws, and my thoughts were, are you kidding me? That’s what many players in the Squad he was charged with earn in a matter of days, if you factor in wages and endorsements, so in a way, the man was only trying to catch up. If we want serious reforms in football, we have to cut back on the ridiculous spending and insane transfer deals. Contracts are no longer honoured by players, they’re just a formality and their agents are always on the hunt for the next big deal. Clubs are being bought off by oligarchs who then hire and fire managers at will. When someone feels their job is threatened, they may be tempted to cut corners and make as much money as they can while they can. What I find astonishing is how naïve Allardyce was. He’s been in the business long enough to know all about the British Media hype. The minute he accepted that job, all eyes were on him and so for him to go ahead and put himself out there without a care in the world is what I find astounding. He should have been more careful and this is not me condoning his actions but in the glare of Social Media, if you’re going to get up to some underhand dealings, you might as well get someone to do the dirty work for you. He didn’t and has paid heavily for it.

Lifestyle

Big money has ruined football