Buxtongent

I am one of the 'older generation' but I get excited by some of the football played at present. It is a vast improvement on the football I first watched. But surely, the 'Money Men' have already got hold. I certainly would not wish to go back to the £20 /week maximum wage. However I still cannot see a Footballer who is 'worth' £100k per week. Parachute payments were brought about by the top clubs wishing to remain an exclusive club They would have been better, though God forbid, to have removed promotion and relegation. The point I was trying to make is that if Person A, who's fortune is counted in Billions, wants to buy a football club, provided that he can guarantee his spending will not bring about the situation that we had at Bolton earlier, whereby the staff, bills and taxes could not be paid, he should be allowed to spend his money. The situation exists in Horse Racing where the best horses are owned by people who have money to spare. It does not preclude the 'poorer' people from forming consortiums to buy. If Chansiri, or even myself, a humble ex-miner, wants to spend the money on a player, provided we are not going to fail to pay our debts, why shouldn't we?

English Football carried on for something like 130 years without recourse to this EUFA - driven ( I believe that most of the ideas came from Michel Platini)were brought in. Very few clubs went bust or were unable to meet Tax and Wages bills. Many were set up as 'rich men's toys' and often as a sop to the local populace. Blackpool were an excellent example of this, with the Oyston name being synonymous.Then came the boom in European football and the rise of EUFA , and after , the Television companies. Many local businessmen made profits and losses in various places. Noone particularly cared. Then came FFP, and the Bean Counters got involved, and, as is typical, chaos. The one suggestion i read that made sense to me was this 'The Owner should be made to place a bond which would ensure that all bills and taxes are paid. Outside of that, let the Owner spend whatever he wants of money gained from TV, Advertising and such rights, and if he still wants to pour millions OF HIS OWN MONEY, let him. Yes, Wednesday would gain by this since Chansiri has stated that he would put more money in if he were able.. I doubt if this is the case with Gibson, but I am sure it would have avoided the fiasco of Bolton Wanderers this season, since I'm certain some Oil Sheik or such would have come along. I have recently spent some tome watching Horse Racing, which would cease to exsist without the 'big.owners and trainers. Maybe this is the future of football.. One thing is certain. Football, and its FFP etc. reminds me of the classic definition of a camel - a horse designed by a committee.

can we continue with this year's kit? Is there any possible need to change kits year upon year? Take a look on a reasonably full kop (not often, these days) and there is a sea of kits varying for some 10 years. Many people are still wearing the much despised pin-stripe

Don't want to comment on Brighton's dealings since I haven't watched them this season, BUT, and it is a BIG BUT, I honestly think we as supporters need to take a good look at ourselves. We have got Steve Bruce in replacement for both Carlos and Jos, thankfully. However, , whilst a great improvement on both, I think we are going overboard with the idea that Bruce is the be all and end all. His record may be excellent, but it is far from the best. We have all wished for a top English manager, but , in the cold light of day, Of the top six of the Premiership clubs, Man.City, Liverpool,Chelsea, Spurs, Man Utd , Arsenal , are all managed by foreigners Bruce, and I for one , appreciate him, is not the Lord God Almighty most of our supporters think.

Whllst trawling the net, I came across what I considered a very funny story. Three Spurs fans, all season ticket holders at WHL, or wherever Spurs are playing at present,all drank 12 pints of ale each, pre the Champions League Second Leg. The visitors, having won the 1st leg. were leading Spurs at half-time, with Spurs apparently not playing well . The 'loyal' supporters decided they'd had enough and came out at HT. Spurs then turned it round, and scored 4 to win the semi and set up a final with Liverpool. Thinking back to our last season, how many times have games including SW have interesting twists in the final 10 mins,or even in injury time? But yet we still have a major exodus of Wednesday fans who exit after 80 minutes .It can't be to escape the crowds, since so many do it. It can be very annoying for fans actually watching the game to be so consistently interrupted by this. Surely, this time to get away can be factored in to one's plans?

The BIG problem with Hooper, apart from his injury record, is that he is obviously a ONE-FOOTED player This showed particularly with Carlos insisting on playing him on the right, where , having made his way forward, he had to check and cut inside to get the ball onto his only foot - his left. Why do we consistently play obviously one-footed players on the wrong side. A good example of this is Palmer, who, despite having improved immensely, is moved to left back, where he is nowhere near as effective.

You've said it in your final statement. Our main problem is the time it takes us to change from defence to attack. We are so slow at changing the vision. We are so slow at changing our thinking, What we Lack is ANTICIPATION.

Not making my mind up on one game. The more I see of Joao, the more I'm reminded of JJ. He's fast, which suits most Wednesdayites, and can break through defences easily, but when the end comes , he doesn't know what to do half the time.He is also a 70 min. man. Like a lot of our spectators, he cannot see out a full 90 minutes. We must get better.

Agreed Nev. Add to your votes my Swan x 72, and that's only the years of WATCHING wednesday. I would also include alongside him one of the club's greatest servants - Gerry Young, a man who played almost every forward position before making the Left Half position his own. I would also add that I was a fan of Ralph O'Donnell, another classy CH, but I suppose I should have voted for Vic Mobley. Vic was not among the really top stoppers, but always did a good job for us. He would win my MOM award for his performance in the '66 Semi-final, when, though badly injured, refused to go off and hobbled around the opponents' penalty area. He did this not because he could do some good, but to tie up a man in case he did..

Does it seem strange, or is it just me? We are in a soft embargo, or nearly, with FFP. So, the Financial Report is late being filed, the Retained list is published early (for us) and the outcome is the release of some high paid players (reducing the wage bill for next year). Chelsea are in a transfer embargo as regards buying. Maybe I'm suspicious of Financiers/Accountants and like, but is this a way round some of the restrictions of FFP? We have got rid of 10 players from the current list.This has reduced our squad to a large extent, and whilst this was needed, of the 10, some will have to be replaced by transfers, season long loans etc. Maybe I'm just a suspicious old sod, but I can still see Hector coming back, either on loan, or when the Transfer Window opens..In other words, is my pint pot half full or half empty?

Yes. We sold him and made some money. None of our ex-'stars' are actually setting their various league alight. A player who can't even hit the target from 12 yards shouldn't even be considered for the next month at least. And I mean TARGET. Any GK will tell you that the only way to save a penalty is to have some luck, but come on, the size of the goals, the distance away? A professional footballer should be able to tell the GK where he's putting it , and still beat him.

how deluded and mixed up some of our supporters are. Football is a harsh game, but a lot of our supporters still enjoy living in the past.Yes, Hooper has been a good servant to Wed. but the key words are 'HAS BEEN'. Bruce is obviously a very pragmatic man , one who can appreciate the contribution made in the past, but is looking towards the future. Up to the last fortnight, Hooper's contribution has been zero. Bruce is obviously looking to the future and putting the past behind him.

Both these quotes are correct and reflect the attitudes of people at the time. Most of the Sheffielders I met at those times if asked, would always have a feeling for one or other of the clubs, but loved the game of football. It was a time when there was far less of the so-called PASSION for a club. You wanted your side to win , but that was not the be-all and end-all. You went along primarily because you love the game of footballitself. I well remember in the early '60s being at Uni in Newcastle, and going along to wherever the best game was being played, be it at Newcastle or Sunderland, or even to watch the local S.Shields just down the road from me., and enjoying ever minute. The highlight however was always on Radio at 5pm - Sports Report - to find out how Wednesday had gone on, These were pre-mobile days and the quickest way to follow your side, be it Untied or Wednesday, was to go to the team playing at home, which always put up the scores every 15 mins And believe me, watching football, your Opponents as well as your own side, was still very, very enjoyable.

First signing of the new season -Snoots & Stubbs IMO joint Players of the Season. And do it NOW, not the Weddnesday way

It may seem silly, but, if a player reaches the end of his contract, and is not on the Retained list, what happens? Do we simply stop paying him and not retain his services, enabling him to go and play football wherever he can get a game? In other words, if a player has not been sold, is out of contract, and has not been offered another, has in fact been sacked, is no longer able to be listed as a club asset , and more importantly does not get paid?