Football Banter

Getting back to the fines for weakened teams, it's absolutely ridiculous. As was pointed out on the Guardian's excellent Football Weekly podcast, Premier League teams now have to name a squad of 25 before the start of the season. So they should be allowed to make as many changes as they want, provided all the players are from the 25.
The accusations of big club bias probably stem from the time when Liverpool made nine changes to their team for a match at Fulham (who were struggling against relegation) in 2007 and lost the match. Fulham stayed up, Sheffield United went down, and I don't remember Liverpool being fined.
Liverpool fans, please note that I'm not saying they should have been fined, as I mentioned in my first sentence, all such fines are ridiculous.

(02-02-2011 11:03 )bigguy01 Wrote:  

(02-02-2011 01:38 )malicious fan Wrote:  did blackpool and wolves play a weakened team in the premier league? yes or no? where as my point is the so called big teams play weaker teams in other competitions which isnt the premier league. come the premier league the big teams dont make 10 or more changes at 1 time, they rotate their squads to cope with the demands of the other competitions they are involved in. the fa cant fine a big club if they put a reserve team out in the champions league can they? the champs league has got nothing to do with the the fa, where as uefa can fine them if they see fit. im sure if the big clubs made 10 changes like blackpool and wolves in the FA PREMIER LEAGUE they too would get fined, and if not i would be shocked!

man utd fielded a 2nd string 11 on saturday the fa cup then field thier 1st 11 last night, if blackpool did that would they get fined?

(02-02-2011 01:38 )hitmeuptop Wrote:  60 million minimum.........................................

for rooney too much since he has scored 3 league goals all season and done nothing much else, maybe last season before the world cup.

yes man utd fielded a weaken team in the fa cup but played a 1st 11 like you said in the premier league. if im wrong didnt blackpool get fined for fielding a weaker team in the premier league? as for wolves didnt they get fined for fielding a weakened team in the premier league as well? i think thats why teams are getting fined for fielding weakened teams in the premier league. the big teams teams like you said more often than not play their 1st teams in the league so why should they get fined? if my information is wrong bigguy then i will apologise to you ok.

Of course another reason why big teams such as Man Utd and Arsenal might not get fined for fielding weakened teams could be because, more often than not, their "weakened" teams still have more quality than the lesser team. I remember on the last day of the season in 08/09 Man Utd went to Hull, with Hull battling to avoid relegation. Man Utd played a virtual reserve team (as the title had been won the week before) but still won the game 1-0. As it happens Hull stayed up. If this ridiculous charge were to be applied then Man Utd would have been WRONGLY fined for actually winning a game. There were actually a few instances where Benitez fielded "weakened" Liverpool sides towards the end of the 06/07 season against teams from lower down the league. The reason being, Liverpool were preparing for a Champions League Final and wanted to avoid injuries. But Neil Warnock got his nose up and lambasted Benitez because we lost one of those games against Fulham, who were also fighting relegation.

I guess the point i'm making is that it's a nonsense charge which needs to be abolished. What is the point in having a 25 man squad rule if managers are not allowed to implement it and use their squad as they see fit. It is also an insult to these players who have earned the right to play in the premier league and then be labelled weaker. The F.A needs to back off and keep its nose out.

also the media makes a huge fuss as well. in other team sports they dont have this stupid charge for making "excesive" changes to starting 11. i follow cricket more than football, i have seen county sides change their 11 each week and sometimes before the game starts. if they want a rule it should be that the manager plays his "strongest" possible 11. there is not much difference between blackpools "strongest" 11 and their "weakest" 11.

maliousfan, so its ok to field a "weaker" side in the fa cup when playing against a smaller side whose fans wanted to see the likes rooney, fabregas, torres, gerrard etc?

(02-02-2011 12:18 )Master Yoda Wrote:  The F.A needs to back off and keep its nose out.

The fines are indeed absurd. However, just to point out, it was the Premier League that fined Blackpool and Wolves, not the FA.

(01-02-2011 23:50 )bigguy01 Wrote:  so how come blackpool, wolves get fined for changing their lineup (by 10 players) and man utd do and nothing happens? i just saying that the rules are not being applied consistantly. man utd made 10 changes to their line up but tomorrow morning there will be no mention of an fa investigation.


its the same in f1 where the fia are baised towards ferarri.

Right Bigguy01 (though obviously not Bigenoughguy01 to admit he's an ABU closet Liverpool fan), let's sort this little problem you have out once and for all, shall we?

Wolves (last season - suspended fine) and Blackpool this season were punished by the authorities BECAUSE THEIR MANAGERS OPENLY CAME OUT AND SAID THAT THEY WOULD BE FIELDING WEAKENED TEAMS in Premiership fixtures against Manchester United and Aston Villa respectively. Do you understand that?

If Mick McCarthy and Ian Holloway had made up some sort of injury crisis or flu epidemic then they probably would've got away with it, but they actually said beforehand that they would break the rules, which state that in the spirit of a fair league, every club should field its strongest possible available side. Therefore they were punished so as to deter the type of corrup end-of-season farce which is so prevalent in Italy that British bookmakers refuse to take bets on the last few weeks on Serie A matches, such is the level of 'arranged' results so as to ensure favours in the summer transfer window etc. We should all be thankful that we have a league where last-day dramas can - and do - still happen!

As for the 'bigger clubs' preferential treatment, well if a club with a larger pool of international players fields a much-changed side which still features 7 or 8 internationals then it's not exactly seen as 'weakened' in the same sense as the Blackpool line-up versus Aston Villa in November, many of whom have barely featured since, is it?

And as for your problem with the 'big clubs' well guess what, they've achieved over the years to get to where they are today - all are from large catchment area connurbations with large and easily accessible roads, all have developed very large fan bases through their past glories or at the very least were seen as viable targets for take-overs by foreign billionnaires, and as a result of all these pasts are able to attract the best players to their clubs today, to attract more quality players and to thus enable them to have larger squads international-wise!

lindor im not a liverpool fan or a fan of any football club

(02-02-2011 13:03 )bigguy01 Wrote:  so its ok to field a "weaker" side in the fa cup when playing against a smaller side whose fans wanted to see the likes rooney, fabregas, torres, gerrard etc?

since when do the big teams have to please the opposing fans ? the manager's of the "big" teams put out a side he feels can beat the opposition simple. you think SAF is going to put out a strong squad against crawley just because its unlikely they'll get to play one of the big boys again for a while ?

(02-02-2011 13:42 )skateguy Wrote:  

(02-02-2011 12:18 )Master Yoda Wrote:  The F.A needs to back off and keep its nose out.

The fines are indeed absurd. However, just to point out, it was the Premier League that fined Blackpool and Wolves, not the FA.

My apologies...of course i meant the Premier League

I see Gary Neville a.k.a Ratboy has retired from football with immediate effect. He's had an ok career i suppose!!!