Utd to develop OT into the‘Wembley of the North’

OT has been going downhill for years and the other big clubs are leaving them way behind. The amount of work that needs to be done not only to the Stadium, but their training facilities as well is insane. That's without mentioning the on field issues. I know Ratcliffe is worth a few quid, but I don't think he's got the money for it all.
 
WilliamMunny said:
How is it already happening? Man City, Liverpool and Man Utd remain a bigger draw to overseas players than pretty much all the London clubs, perhaps bar Chelsea, but they are a waning force.

Even if there is a Super League someday (I very much doubt it and have been saying so for 20+ years), I don't see why the North West would be any less attractive to players than it is now.
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Just my opinion, I’m not saying next few years, maybe 10 or 20.

At the moment the Premier League is the attraction so players and coaches will go anywhere within that league to join ‘rich‘ clubs so the geography is not so important.

Once the league turns international then that is a different prospect because far fewer clubs will be allowed access and I think London and its global profile will become dominant.

When I say it is already happening I think that in the last 20 to 30 years clubs like Spurs, Chelsea and West Ham have become much bigger and wealthier than they used to be and I think being in London gives middling to small clubs like Palace, Fulham and now Brentford a massive advantage.

I don’t post this with any hope that it happens, I just think it will.
 
viv_andersons_nana said:
People hate Wembley. It’s a nightmare to get away from after a game, the FA charge absolutely obscene prices for drinks, food, etc, and you can’t hear yourself think because of the PA system, which can be heard on Mars.
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Its the reason I book a close-by, fully refundable hotel for the play-off final every previous summer, just in case.

The thought of having to stand on Wembley Way waiting to get in a massive queue to get on the tube after the match just fills me with dread (having done it several times in the 00s). Even if Boro won the Champions League at Wembley one day, I'd still consider it one of the worst days of my life if I had to stand in that hideous queue.

In all seriousness it would take the shine off any victory, and make any loss ten times worse.
 
HolgateCorner said:
I fear for the big northern clubs in the long term.

When the super league inevitably comes their international geographical location will make it difficult to compete for the top players and in this country the London clubs will become the elite football centre for this country.

It is already happening to some extent and has been for a while.

Money has ruined the sport unfortunately.
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Really? Trophy count over the last decade doesn’t support this.
 
VestasBoro said:
They're the biggest club in England.
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Nothing is forever, in 1900 Aston Villa won the league for the fifth time in seven years, Manchester United were still playing as Newton Heath LYR FC and were two years away from a winding up order...
 
atypical_boro said:
Take cover mate. Capy won't have any of this 'some clubs are bigger than others' stuff.
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They are in a ropey patch now and since Sir Alex left, but they're still the biggest club in England. They've won the league more than any club, 2nd most FA cups, 3rd in League cup wins, most charity shield, biggest fanbase of any club in England, biggest stadium in England etc etc... They are the biggest club, their stadium used to be a part of their identity but its fallen behind not in terms of capacity but just in terms of stature perhaps, and infrastructure.

They should have the best ground in the country, and rivalling Barca/Madrid for best in the world.

These titles of biggest club can and probably will change, in 50 years it could be City if they continue their path of winning titles, improving the ground, signing the best players etc there is every chance that they can become the biggest club, but at the minute it's United.

Muttley said:
Nothing is forever, in 1900 Aston Villa won the league for the fifth time in seven years, Manchester United were still playing as Newton Heath LYR FC and were two years away from a winding up order...
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I agree 100%. I'm talking about now and right now they are the biggest club. They're in a situation where they can go one of two ways. They can shift, they can sort the ground issue and the boardroom goings on, they can sign 2/3 players and they could become resurgent or they can continue to stutter along while other clubs chase their records down and this will lead to them losing their crown.
 
Capybara said:
Thanks. I'm not posting much as I'm travelling but you are doing my job for me.

The other question; why is anyone bothered?
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I can only speak for myself, but I do take interest in football beyond the Boro. Even the 'big'/awful PL clubs, especially as I live and work fairly close to 2 of their grounds.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
If Man Utd have been left behind, are we living in the dark ages?
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They're clearly being left behind by the clubs they could credibly call their peers in the latter years of Ferguson's reign - Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern - and are being caught up and overtaken by clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, City. I'm not talking only of league position, but overall club structures/facilities for players etc.
 
Piccadilly Day Tripper said:
They're clearly being left behind by the clubs they could credibly call their peers in the latter years of Ferguson's reign - Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern - and are being caught up and overtaken by clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, City. I'm not talking only of league position, but overall club structures/facilities for players etc.
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Not in terms of spending but only in terms of the money being wasted on gash players, see Chelsea too for this.
 
Piccadilly Day Tripper said:
They're clearly being left behind by the clubs they could credibly call their peers in the latter years of Ferguson's reign - Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern - and are being caught up and overtaken by clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, City. I'm not talking only of league position, but overall club structures/facilities for players etc.
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Surely Arsenal and Liverpool fans could argue that Man Utd had caught up and overtaken them after the introduction of the Premier League. Both were previously dominant forces in English football and we can all recount Liverpool's dominance in European football.

I think we all know that football and football clubs go in cycles and a team dominating the league this season isn't necessarily going to dominate it next season. The name Manchester United is huge and will always attract fans, players and sponsorship.

Going back to the point in my original statement, where does that leave teams like Middlesbrough?
 
Brian Marwood said:
Not in terms of spending but only in terms of the money being wasted on gash players, see Chelsea too for this.
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They haven't been able to replace Ferguson and it must be hard for any manager to go into Old Trafford knowing Ferguson is in the stands looking over your shoulder.
The only English team that ever got this right was Liverpool when they had the likes of Paisley working with Shankley, etc.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
Surely Arsenal and Liverpool fans could argue that Man Utd had caught up and overtaken them after the introduction of the Premier League. Both were previously dominant forces in English football and we can all recount Liverpool's dominance in European football.

I think we all know that football and football clubs go in cycles and a team dominating the league this season isn't necessarily going to dominate it next season. The name Manchester United is huge and will always attract fans, players and sponsorship.

Going back to the point in my original statement, where does that leave teams like Middlesbrough?
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I don't think we're in the Dark Ages as a club. We've never ever been a fixture in European competitions and top division title challenges. Since I started watching Boro in 91/92 we've spent 15 seasons out of 33 in the top flight, 18 in the second tier. We're not competing with Real Madrid and Bayern, Liverpool, Arsenal and City, we're up against the top 10 clubs in the Championship and bottom 10 clubs in the PL. That's our pool. And we're hopefully getting back to the point in the cycle where we'll be a really competitive force against those clubs again.
 
Piccadilly Day Tripper said:
I don't think we're in the Dark Ages as a club. We've never ever been a fixture in European competitions and top division title challenges. Since I started watching Boro in 91/92 we've spent 15 seasons out of 33 in the top flight, 18 in the second tier. We're not competing with Real Madrid and Bayern, Liverpool, Arsenal and City, we're up against the top 10 clubs in the Championship and bottom 10 clubs in the PL. That's our pool. And we're hopefully getting back to the point in the cycle where we'll be a really competitive force against those clubs again.
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For a while since then Man City were in the 3rd tier, now that is cyclical to the extreme.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
They certainly did, Frank O'Farrell replaced him and lasted a couple of seasons before being replaced by Tommy Docherty who got them promoted back to Div 1 and steadied the ship. We all know how that finished though.
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Was knobbing his secretary wasn't he. Still, they'd never have had Ron Atkinson if that hadn't happened.
 
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