I think I'm done with football!

[FD]

Apologies for the grandious, dramatic thread title but I wondered if anyone else was feeling this way?

The injustice yesterday has kinda "broken" me. No matter how well we do, no matter how much we deserve the result, the people in the game are just not up to running the game. From the top blokes down to the refs on the pitch, they just can't get it right enough.

The violence at West Ham, the same old misery every weekend. I feel like I can't be bothered any more.

I'm sick to death of this top four bullsh*t, the constant decisions going their way, the lack of TV time to anyone but them, the lack of funds to anyone who isn't owned by some foreign billionaire.

I don't know why I watch football any more!

I really don't mean this to be as dramatic as it probably appears, I just wondered if anyone else was feeling this way at the moment?

[seanworth]

I still have NHL Hockey, and NFL to fall back on.

I do find that football is a great game but run by greedy individuals. A bit like baseball and to be honest I stopped following baseball many years ago largely as a result. I know where you are coming from, but I am sure a couple wins and your spirits will be back up. I wasn't even shocked by what happened yesterday. I simply used the occasion to throw one barbed comment after another to the scouse supporters in the pub.

[screech powers]

Im afraid im fed up of it in terms of the way the Premier League is set out and the media coverage. But i could never fall out of love with the actual game itself, or the club. There will become a time where the whole Premier League will combust on itself, and then we might get back to what watching football once was.

[bobby5]

Apologies for the grandious, dramatic thread title but I wondered if anyone else was feeling this way?

The injustice yesterday has kinda "broken" me. No matter how well we do, no matter how much we deserve the result, the people in the game are just not up to running the game. From the top blokes down to the refs on the pitch, they just can't get it right enough.

The violence at West Ham, the same old misery every weekend. I feel like I can't be bothered any more.

I'm sick to death of this top four bullsh*t, the constant decisions going their way, the lack of TV time to anyone but them, the lack of funds to anyone who isn't owned by some foreign billionaire.

I don't know why I watch football any more!

I really don't mean this to be as dramatic as it probably appears, I just wondered if anyone else was feeling this way at the moment?

Well I'm certain there will be a bad decision that will go in favour of Bolton over the course of a season. Yesterday was hardly an injustice. It wasn't the reason we lost the game. Muamba could have still shackled Gerrard. Take strikers off, pack midfield. Did you see the goals. Not much closing down on the Liverpool players. Essentially we can't cope against the tide when we have the backs to the wall.

Anyway, the way football is today, foreign millionaires is just the way it is. Even Notts County have an ambitious owner. Nowt wrong with ambition. I doubt there are many Man City fans who are disillusiond (yet!).

I have Sky Sports and rarely actually sit down to watch a game in full, usually it's on in the backround (Pompey vs Man City atm ) Let's face most neutrals want to watch the top 4, they certainly don't want to watch the likes of Bolton.

Essentially FD, I feel the same way about football in general, but it's too addictive to give up. If it wasn't around then I'd miss it. You want to pop down and see a team in the lower leagues once in a while. I pop up to see Hereford a few times a season, it's only half an hour away for me . It's both shit and wondeful at the same time. Helps put a human face on football. Not all football is about the top 4.

[Jakerbeef]

I still have NHL Hockey, and NFL to fall back on.

Maybe FD can take a bit of inspiration from the NFL.

Seriously. My team are the Dolphins for instance. I had to endure almost half a decade of dross and the team being a laughing stock.

Suddenly they go from 1-15 to 11-5 and they become division champions. They get a few key personnel in, a few guys with something to prove, and admittedly a bit of a backroom clearout. Now they're one of the teams to beat.

There's a masochistic nobility in supporting one of the grunts. Eventually our time will come again.
We'll duff up the big 4 on occasion and push for Europe. We just have to get through these dodgy times.

[FD]

Well I'm certain there will be a bad decision that will go in favour of Bolton over the course of a season.

Can you remember a single one last season?

[boltonboris]

Well I'm certain there will be a bad decision that will go in favour of Bolton over the course of a season.

Can you remember a single one last season?

Korean lad for West Brom, didn't that cross the line after it thundered off the underside of the crossbar?

[bobby5]

Well I'm certain there will be a bad decision that will go in favour of Bolton over the course of a season.

Can you remember a single one last season?

Korean lad for West Brom, didn't that cross the line after it thundered off the underside of the crossbar?

That one

[a1]

Well I'm certain there will be a bad decision that will go in favour of Bolton over the course of a season. Yesterday was hardly an injustice. It wasn't the reason we lost the game. Muamba could have still shackled Gerrard. Take strikers off, pack midfield. Did you see the goals. Not much closing down on the Liverpool players. Essentially we can't cope against the tide when we have the backs to the wall..

imagine the stick he'd've got doing that . he gets stick for playing "two 'defensive' midfielders at once". 4-5-0 ? they'd be burnin' his already burnt body if he tried that .. probably while muttering shite about not passing enough.

[malcd1]

Apologies for the grandious, dramatic thread title but I wondered if anyone else was feeling this way?

The injustice yesterday has kinda "broken" me. No matter how well we do, no matter how much we deserve the result, the people in the game are just not up to running the game. From the top blokes down to the refs on the pitch, they just can't get it right enough.

The violence at West Ham, the same old misery every weekend. I feel like I can't be bothered any more.

I'm sick to death of this top four bullsh*t, the constant decisions going their way, the lack of TV time to anyone but them, the lack of funds to anyone who isn't owned by some foreign billionaire.

I don't know why I watch football any more!

I really don't mean this to be as dramatic as it probably appears, I just wondered if anyone else was feeling this way at the moment?

I understand exactly what you mean FD. Unfortunately Megson broke me long before the Premier League did. I'm not intending to get into a 'Megson Out' thread as I find the whole Megson thing tedious and boring. After missing a handful of home games in 15 seasons I decided not to renew my season ticket until the ginger one had gone (The only thing is I don't winge about it every day). Consider it a protest if you like.

At the start of last season I had mixed emotions that I was missing watching the club I love but at the same glad I wasn't there. By the end of September I didn't really miss it too much at all. I have stopped Sky Sports and will never return.

I am at saturation point with football and the biased towards the big four has ruined the game for me. Yes I am still interested in BWFC and it takes up a big chunk of my day, but my love of football has gone.

[BarryKnightsWhistle]

I feel very similar.

Given up attending home games to watch us defend against teams similar to us and give up against the "big four".

I am only going to local away days (not inc. City, Man Utd and Liverpool) and away days against lower league clubs in the cup from now on.

Suggestion is to go and watch your local non-league side, atmosphere is cracking and is really how football used to be, none of these millionaire, average footballers.

[mofgimmers]

I'm torn over this.

I've been watching a lot of GAA Football recently (my gal is Irish) and I've loved the spirit of the game. No diving, no mard-arses on the pitch and a real feeling of community. It's also bloody exciting to watch. This, in turn, has made me despair of football a fair bit and more often than not, I'm scowling at it and feeling like a beaten wife who keeps sticking by the abusive husband.

However, there's certain elements of football that I'll never shake off. It's become a trashy soap opera that it's okay to like. The ins-and-out of each club, the sticking up for Bolton in the face of armchair United fans or whatever. The sport itself is still great to watch, despite Wanderers being in the closest thing to a lull we've had for a while. As a Bolton fan, who started supporting them in the old 4th, I've only ever seen us climb (okay, we yo-yo'ed a bit, but that was still fun).

Now, it feels like we're simply existing which is nowhere near as fun and as such, has switched me off a bit.

[BWFC_Insane]

Apologies for the grandious, dramatic thread title but I wondered if anyone else was feeling this way?

The injustice yesterday has kinda "broken" me. No matter how well we do, no matter how much we deserve the result, the people in the game are just not up to running the game. From the top blokes down to the refs on the pitch, they just can't get it right enough.

The violence at West Ham, the same old misery every weekend. I feel like I can't be bothered any more.

I'm sick to death of this top four bullsh*t, the constant decisions going their way, the lack of TV time to anyone but them, the lack of funds to anyone who isn't owned by some foreign billionaire.

I don't know why I watch football any more!

I really don't mean this to be as dramatic as it probably appears, I just wondered if anyone else was feeling this way at the moment?

I like the increased quality of the English league but feel its being damaged by nonsense turning the game into a non-contact sport. The bias from every angle towards the big four is also spoiling football.
It certainly doesn't have the same edge with me it used to have!

[seanworth]

You see it in other sports as well. Basketball totally prostituted themselves making exceptions for Michael Jordan, like he needed any assistance. Now many years later the game is hardly recognizable, nor is it nearly as entertaining. In hockey there was protection of Wayne Gretzky which I thought was bad for the game.

PL football is really bad I have to admit though. It seems everything is biased to protect the top 4 clubs. I understand they want to prevent more serious injuries but for Christs sake it IS a contact sport, and in the end it seems to only apply to the top players for a few privileged teams.

Hockey wanted to cut down on violence for many years. What they did with their rule changes was make the game more and more frustrating to play, and as a result more violent. They have corrected some things the past few years but for a while one thought the game was controlled by complete morons. Well with Football I don't think, I am sure it is run by incompetent greedy morons. Obvious needed changes are overlooked, while they continue to stuff as much money down their pants as possible.

[mofgimmers]

Like never before, there's a definite ill feeling about football coming from those that love the sport. It's always had dissenting voices before, usually from outside the game or those that just want to pick holes.

I'm wondering if the recent debacle surrounding Eduardo is an attempt to get some of the fire back on the pitch and, in turn, back on the terraces?

[Relentless09]

im the feeling the same way, these past couple weeks of football has been bad for the soul
Callum Davenport, West Ham and Millwall, Champions League diving, Premership diving and how cruel it can be against smaller teams
I think our clubs needs a big turn around or we are ending up in the Championship

Well ive always got my Martial arts, Kickboxing, Muy Thai, Jijistu and MMA to keep me happy

[Bruce Rioja]

Get yourselves up to Chorley, seriously, it'll renew your faith in the game!

[officer_dibble]

Aye, top flight bollocks is getting very monotonous. I'm struggling to counter any of your points really. I have to say if we had been a couple of weeks into a new Championship season I do wonder if I'd be a bit more excited/bothered...?

[fatshaft]

I still have NHL Hockey, and NFL to fall back on.

Maybe FD can take a bit of inspiration from the NFL.

Seriously. My team are the Dolphins for instance. I had to endure almost half a decade of dross and the team being a laughing stock.

Suddenly they go from 1-15 to 11-5 and they become division champions. They get a few key personnel in, a few guys with something to prove, and admittedly a bit of a backroom clearout. Now they're one of the teams to beat.

There's a masochistic nobility in supporting one of the grunts. Eventually our time will come again.
We'll duff up the big 4 on occasion and push for Europe. We just have to get through these dodgy times.

Terrible analogy. The way American sports, but particularly the NFL are structured, bears no relation whatsoever to football. Every team should at some point get themselves a legitimate superbowl team, it's all down to how good or bad their management is, in football that cannot happen in the modern game. And thew Dolphins (my team btw) were the Man Utd of the NFL in the 70s, so also a bad Boltonesque example to pick. If you'd come away with Detroit, I might have let you off with this post

[fatshaft]

Apologies for the grandious, dramatic thread title but I wondered if anyone else was feeling this way?

The injustice yesterday has kinda "broken" me. No matter how well we do, no matter how much we deserve the result, the people in the game are just not up to running the game. From the top blokes down to the refs on the pitch, they just can't get it right enough.

The violence at West Ham, the same old misery every weekend. I feel like I can't be bothered any more.

I'm sick to death of this top four bullsh*t, the constant decisions going their way, the lack of TV time to anyone but them, the lack of funds to anyone who isn't owned by some foreign billionaire.

I don't know why I watch football any more!

I really don't mean this to be as dramatic as it probably appears, I just wondered if anyone else was feeling this way at the moment?

I understand exactly what you mean FD. Unfortunately Megson broke me long before the Premier League did. I'm not intending to get into a 'Megson Out' thread as I find the whole Megson thing tedious and boring. After missing a handful of home games in 15 seasons I decided not to renew my season ticket until the ginger one had gone (The only thing is I don't winge about it every day). Consider it a protest if you like.

At the start of last season I had mixed emotions that I was missing watching the club I love but at the same glad I wasn't there. By the end of September I didn't really miss it too much at all. I have stopped Sky Sports and will never return.

I am at saturation point with football and the biased towards the big four has ruined the game for me. Yes I am still interested in BWFC and it takes up a big chunk of my day, but my love of football has gone.

I tend not to agree with FD too often, but on this I am in total accord, and with malc.

I still take an interest in the game, but I used to hoover it all up, if a Premier League game was on (either side of the border) then there was a good chance I was watching; then come the end of 07/08 I just had one too many weeks of Sky Sports advertising their latest Super Sunday wankathon, and little Phil's 39th game abortion of an idea, and I just said feck it. Cancelled Sky Sports, and didn't renew my season ticket, and told them both exactly why - for all the good that will do of course.

Above everything though, is the realisation that there are gorunds for complaint against the top 4, Davis red this weekend being a typical example, Terry's astonishing reprieved red last season, while only weeks previously the likes of Middlesboro (Alliadiare was it?) had what was a groundless red card suspension extended due to a 'frivilous appeal'.

Now I pick and choose my games (none this season yet) , and watch the odd one in the pub, but that's it.