[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=38856.msg1052002#msg1052002 date=1265723471]
[quote author=RedStar link=topic=38856.msg1051997#msg1051997 date=1265723202]
the entire landscape of football has changed since the last title we won, its not enough now to have a decent manager and some top players who give their all for the club. Its about revenue streams wealthy bankrollers, 70,000 seater stadiums with corporate boxes pulling in millions, squads with millionaire internationals sitting on the bench.
The the formation of the Sky/Premier league the game changed, it became global, a brand, it was the death of the small provincial club like Forest or Ipswich as a force in football, and its unlikely we will ever see that again. Utd after their years in the wilderness were lucky enough to be riding high at the time and became the poster boys for the "new" football they embraced it, expanded their ground floated the club on the stock exchange and became a money producing bohemoth that never looked back with gigantic sporship deals and 3 replica shirts a season crass commercialism, funding the world class talent that they brought in over the last 15 years.
The rest of the league were left playing catch up. We seemed to think it was a fad, a thing that would pass, just keep doing what we always did and success would return we were told. The game may have changed but the basics havent, continuity, family club etc. That led to old boys like Souness and Evans taking the reigns. It didnt, we floundered, and with each season the gap seemed to grow until we were not considered real title contenders. Other clubs, notably Arsenal, moved on mordernised, saw the writing on the wall and tried to adapt, we didnt.
Then the era of the oligarchs arrived and it was clear that a change was required, probably a decade to late in a club that had become reactionary rather than one at the vangaurd. No longer could a club, whatever its history, compete for the best talent on their name alone, we needed revenue. So we put out faith in the hands of two busniess men who promised to be custodians of the club and build that stadium that could see us finally return to our former glories.
And so thats where we are now, constantly struggling to keep up, pushing the boulder up the hill every few years to build a title winning side only to see it roll back down again at a critical point. And as the clubs like City become more numerous so our grip on the "elite" becomes more teneous, where do we go from here in terms of winning the league? a change of owners, definately. A new manager, probably. Serious investment in the squad needed at a time when serious investors are few and far between.
While those factors remain in place its quite likely we will surpass Utds 26 years without a league title
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good post. enjoyed reading that.
I actually thought we had our best oppertunity of breaking the duck in the 90's. we had macca, fowler, stan james (when he was good) an incredibly talented crop of kids. I wonder what the fuck happened. I thought our core was stronger than manu's core but they ground out win after win (like they do now) and we missed our chance. I especially thought we'd do it after we beat n'castle at home in what was (and is) the best match I have ever seen in my life but we drew the very next game.
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We didn't have James when he was good, we had James when he attracted the epithet 'Calamity'. I still shudder at the thought of him flapping at corners.
