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I don’t expect loyalty I expect professionalism and respect, Wedesday lost any good will when the froze him out.
 
Can you elaborate? I'm not trying to be provocative I am genuinely interested as to why you think this.

It’s unfettered, unchecked capitalism that sees the “haves” prey on the “have nots” via the access that their money and position provides.

It’s obviously a much larger philosophical conversation than a Sheffield Wednesday youngster.

I’m putting aside the way Sheffield handled the player, which itself looks rife with problems.
 
It’s unfettered, unchecked capitalism that sees the “haves” prey on the “have nots” via the access that their money and position provides.
Sheffield Wednesday surely aren’t the in the role of “have nots”, what with being a £38 million toy owned by a billionaire, some of whose money is tainted by child labour and slavery? Come on.
 
It's certainly cheeky from us but good business at the same time and Sheffield Wednesday will be kicking themselves at how they handled the situation. The bigger clubs have a larger share of the money and thus the power. We've seen it recently with Mahrez when a bigger club came sniffing. The closer we let it get to the end of those 2 years Mahrez had left the less we'd have got for him so there comes a point where you just sort of have to accept defeat and get the best deal you can for the club unless you're prepared to lose everything. A contract is like a time bomb in that respect and Sheffield Wednesday left it too late, they should have done what we did with Mahrez and taken less than they felt he was worth rather than losing him for nothing nearer the end of that contract. By leaving him out in the cold, they acted unprofessionally, childishly and it has cost them.
 
Sheffield Wednesday surely aren’t the in the role of “have nots”, what with being a £38 million toy owned by a billionaire, some of whose money is tainted by child labour and slavery? Come on.
This is exactly the point. Using moral values or one's abhorrence of capitalism as ways to judge the state of football (or any professional sport for that matter) makes no sense. Sports teams or franchises don't exist within those confines and haven't for a very, very long time, if ever. Modern football hasn't been ruined by business deals such as the aforementioned, these are just the expected evolutions that come with any growing business and sport has been a business for a huge amount of years. What is ruining modern football more than anything isn't the power of the football clubs or their dealings but much more, the power of the media outlets which, in the end, control it all. My attitude of being pleased because we may have found a loophole to gain a good player for peanuts isn't driven by capitalistic tendencies or because I feel we now belong to the 'haves' rather than the 'have nots' precisely because there are no 'have nots' in professional football anymore. Sky and BT amongst many others have seen to that. You see, if you are of the opinion that modern football is ruined by back door deals such as this then you are applying the wrong types of values to a sport in my opinion.

Some might say that modern football is much better because there are far fewer career ending challenges, we have access to systems such as VAR, many more people can attend games because vast stadiums are now accessible to more fans than ever before, modern training methods mean players are fitter and can play at the very highest level for longer etc, etc, etc. Whilst I don't necessarily agree with any of those assertions, therein lies the problem. To say that anything has 'ruined' modern football doesn't really make sense because it isn't as easily quantifiable as that. Coming full circle, this is what I meant at the beginning when I wrote that applying moral, political or sociological judgements to football is very difficult indeed. In the end, it's the players that should have most of the power - they are the ones that entertain millions of people week in, week out but despite many complaints from fans across the country, most players have a lot less control than they appear to.
 
Perhaps as a member of said media outlets I’m prone to disagree and should withhold on this topic.

Seems dodgy was my point.
 
You’re also living in a land where pro sports aren’t set up in such a capitalist manner, ironically.
Not really though. If teams were people, sure, but they aren't. Major sports leagues in the US are closed to new members unless the league decides to expand. Measures like draft systems keeping the teams even-ish only serve to maximise league revenue. Salary caps keep wages lower and profits higher. The employees - the players - have even less power there. Entire clubs can be removed from their home cities on the whim of a billionaire often with little resistance. American sport is peak capitalism.
 
Not really though. If teams were people, sure, but they aren't. Major sports leagues in the US are closed to new members unless the league decides to expand. Measures like draft systems keeping the teams even-ish only serve to maximise league revenue. Salary caps keep wages lower and profits higher. The employees - the players - have even less power there. Entire clubs can be removed from their home cities on the whim of a billionaire often with little resistance. American sport is peak capitalism.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I get all that. The aspect relating to competitiveness being based around even distribution of player talent is what I was getting at.

Having said that, baseball isn’t quite so good at it. The NBA Has also recently suffered through the concept of “ Super Teams” and players wanting to go there, although the best team in basketball (Golden State) basically got where they are through the draft still, with only one of their stars (Durant) being a big free agent signing.
 
An unusual medium, but we got a mention on Classic FM this evening. They've been doing a 'Top Twenty' of sport related classical music. At 14 they had Con te partirò sung by Andrea Bocelli, (and now I paraphrase) "as sung in celebration of Leicester City's Premier League triumph".
 
It was already one of my favourite songs.

Now i struggle to listen without Welling up
 
That's a great stat about the team's age - "Wes Morgan was the only outfield player over the age of 26". I really do feel positive about a future being built
This is the problem though isn't it? Managers like Puel, who bring through & invest in youth aren't well served by the modern game where everyone wants success by Tuesday. It takes time, young players will be inconsistent & often frustrating.

I can't help but be reminded of the late 70s when Wallace came in. That first season after (the fan's choice & all round messiah) McLintock had served up the worst football in the history of the club & got us relegated by ****ing Xmas was a pretty dire experience. There were flashes of brilliance & promise but we ended up 6th bottom of the old Div 2, only avoiding a 2nd successive relegation by 3 points.
If there had been an internet back in those days forums like this would have been filled with foaming at the mouth types demanding heads roll & the useless **** to **** off back to Scotland. In today's climate I think he probably would have been sacked. Of course the following season it all clicked & we were promoted as Champions. Ironically probably a season too soon! Experience has taught me patience. Lets hope for some.
 
This is the problem though isn't it? Managers like Puel, who bring through & invest in youth aren't well served by the modern game where everyone wants success by Tuesday. It takes time, young players will be inconsistent & often frustrating.

I can't help but be reminded of the late 70s when Wallace came in. That first season after (the fan's choice & all round messiah) McLintock had served up the worst football in the history of the club & got us relegated by ****ing Xmas was a pretty dire experience. There were flashes of brilliance & promise but we ended up 6th bottom of the old Div 2, only avoiding a 2nd successive relegation by 3 points.
If there had been an internet back in those days forums like this would have been filled with foaming at the mouth types demanding heads roll & the useless **** to **** off back to Scotland. In today's climate I think he probably would have been sacked. Of course the following season it all clicked & we were promoted as Champions. Ironically probably a season too soon! Experience has taught me patience. Lets hope for some.
Indeed, GUAW, it feels like we are turning a corner, not playing particularly well but getting results.

Patience is sadly lacking at most clubs in today's filthy rich environment.
 
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