The key to failure at international level.

[Garawa]

It has been debated to death about the disastrous World Cup. We have heard about reserve teams and the like and that more English players need to play. However the need to field a number of home grown players is having a big effect that may end up having the adverse effect. Some of the signings have included Fernando at £12m, Sigurdsson at £10m and Evra left Man Utd for only £1.5m.

However some of the British and Irish players have included Shane Long at £12m, Jack Rodwell at £10m and Jake Livermore for £8m. Hardly bargain basement buys like some foreign players over the past couple of years. It seems the need to include these players is inflating their prices massively which will harm the national team ultimately. Unless anyone can show me how these players are worth those sums when a tried and tested foreigner (probably an international to boot) would be a similar price.

[fan_of_mulligan]

That's why Premier League Teams buy foreign players, they are half of the price and technically just as good, Swansea City paid two million for Michu a few season's a go and yet Shane Long is somehow worth twelve million, is Adam Lallana worth twenty five million when Cesc Fabregas has been brought for thirty million ???

Premier League Sides will get stick for not buying English Players but why should they pay excessive transfer fee's when someone better is available at a cheaper price, even in The Premier League these clubs must stick with Financial Fair Play Rules and these clubs have to keep there house in order.

I don't agree with some sort of quota system either as Manager's should be able to pick the team not some rule that say's you must have five English / British Players in your starting eleven, if a rule like that comes in then it needs to be for every single domestic league and not just The Premier League, otherwise foreign players will go where there is no home grown talent quota.

Perhaps one of the answers is trying to change the loan system and change how players get loaned out and perhaps Premier League Clubs can specify how many minutes these players play per month, after all it is there player being loaned out and if there not playing then there not gaining a lot of match experience.

[Rimshot]

What it also means is that football fans ,like me, with decades of interest in the game , now couldn't care less about the top flight of English football. It's all one sorry mess of international money, managers, owners and players.

[Robpthegills]

I am with Rimshot on this one.

I grew up getting so excited about the world cup, I would have the fixtures on the wall, mark the scores etc etc.

I was on holiday for the first week of this world cup, and I watched the england v italy game, couldnt be bothered with the second game, and then watched the brazil v germany game.

I had no interest, was not bothered and cannot see that I will again anytime soon.

What happened to Southampton this year typifies what football has come to. A club that invested heavily in its youth, came into the premiership playing football with a team of not brilliant but good players. One good season and the teams with the money have just stripped them of so much. Its a disgrace.

Yes I watch the odd newcastle game on tv or sometimes I go to watch them as well as going to the gill's but my interest is at an all time low.

This has sizzled down to div 1, as lets be honest, WHAT IS THE POINT. So what if we get promotion, the championship is now a whole new ball game to the one we were in. It used to have big names in it, but not the amount of money that it now has in it. What with 2 seasons parachute payments you have about 8 clubs all with millions of pounds still coming from the premiership, how is anybody supposed to cope.

Football for the every day fan is nearing an end. Lets be honest all the gillingham fans want promotion, what if we got it, what if we then got promoted again and so the season tickets were £700 per person plus £35 for cup games. Most of the gillingham fans I know could not afford that.

Yes I know some people will say that I subscribe to the end of football by having Sky Sports. Well in all honesty that is a stupid statement. By having a car do I subscribe to all the Oil Cartels, or by wearing a suit promote capitalism.

Sunday rant over. I dont bother watching England. If that is unpatriotic then it just goes to show what a total fool the person is who makes that comment. Loving a football team does not make you patriotic

[Garawa]

You just can't get interested in it at all. I don't see any solidarity in the Premier League either. Even League 1 is starting look like a massive gulf but still manageable........so far! All the plans to rejuvenate the national side are clearly flawed unless some major collapse happens first. I don't blame Sky at all, I blame the clubs who looked at that at its most important revenue steam and stuck 2 fingers up to the fans. Fine all the while you remain a P.L. club but suffer a relegation or two and suddenly you are begging them for season ticket money. People moan about the Gills but I suspect there are clubs like that out there that did far worse. I think we owe it to everyone that we passionately keep our football ours for as long as possible and not let the greed of huge clubs destroy it for everyone.

[gillsfan1066]

I watch anything English when it comes on the TV, hell I even supported Celtic last season when they were playing in Europe, well there almost English and sure as hell would like to be playing in the English Premier Division. Any team playing a foreign team in any Euro event gets my support, but when it comes down to Premier League football, I can not even bother to learn the names of the players or who who is playing where , which spoilt brat got transferred to which team, and for how much, I just don't care.
I watch the games, kind of half hardheartedly and it's only because the games are on from 6 in the morning our time I honestly bother to watch at all, if they were on a 2 or 3 in the afternoon no chance I would watch, I would be on the golf course, well until the winter kicks in and then it's somewhat different.
As for the World Cup I thought the Italy match was a good one for England, we could have easily come away with a draw, well that ends that conversation, after that it was all a bit disappointing and to be sent home after only 3 games shows where we are in the pecking order of International football, maybe somewhere in the lower teens?

[Elgrande]

If everyone stopped their Sky subscription for a year it would hurt them big time; trouble is that too many people now think that is how you watch football, sat in front of the TV, bottle of Bud, tube of pringles and texting your mates. 70% of them have never been to a football ground, but in their eyes they are football fans.

[Garawa]

I can't agree. I wouldn't be without my sky subscription. I couldn't go and watch all the top games even if I wanted to especially attending every Gills home match. Nor could I go and watch all the big boxing matches or fly to Monaco for the grand prix etc etc. It would cost many thousands for tickets that won't be available anyway. Whilst sky have been responsible for the money in the game, they aren't responsible for the lack of English talent or how clubs have took the decision to take football away from their key supporters. The clubs are largely to blame for this whole mess.

I agree with your comment about arm chair supporters but I don't think stopping a sky subscription would have any impact at all especially when there are other companies waiting to take it on instead.