Turkeys and Christmas

As I write this, the nation stirs in anticipation of UEFA announcing its FFP naughty list i.e. the clubs whose losses exceed the acceptable threshold.  Various media outlets and, of course, Twitter, are already alive with suggestions that City and PSG will be found guilty and punished, potentially by expulsion from European competition.

Now I’ve covered before why FFP is a ludicrous, scandalous piece of market rigging, designed by and for the established elite clubs whose various financial shenanigans miraculously seem to fall outside of the very specific legislation around owner investment.  So I won’t labour the point.

What I find interesting is the reaction of supporters.  Not the Arsenal fans, brainwashed as they are by Wengernomics and their now-immovable moral framework built around the virtues of revenue maximisation by any means and the shunning of any form of investment.  Their value system ensures that the “news” of City’s imminent demise is met with puffed out chests and cries of “about time too”, their only concerns being around leniency should UEFA fail to disband the club with immediate effect.  No, that much was predictable, as are the similar reactions from fans of the other G14 clubs.

What’s more interesting is the response of the downtrodden.  Those poor souls whose clubs are now the football equivalent of the various districts in The Hunger Games.  Living in their own worlds, seemingly unaware and broadly accepting of their place in the world and comforted by the complete control exerted over them by the plump and satisfied population of the Capitol.

I read one particularly partisan tweet, which I now can’t find, from a Coventry fan looking forward to UEFA throwing the book at City.  Now he may just not like Manchester City.  Maybe he was one of those that stormed the Main Stand at Maine Road in the FA Cup in the nineties (note to self - do some research at some point and insert the specific year here, you lazy swine.  And look again for that Coventry tweet).  But I suspect it reflects the widely-held view I hear from fans of all manner of clubs that “sugar daddies” are the bane of our game, the “natural order” has been distorted and FFP is going to restore sanity for the good of all.  Sigh.

So given that they could hardly be more wrong, why are so many fans in favour of FFP?  Here are three suggestions.  Any more? :

1)   The propaganda

From managers to chief executives to chairmen.  From half-baked pundits to sanctimonious broadsheet journalists.  From UEFA executives to concerned bloggers with graphs and spreadsheets.  Basically anyone that would like the competitive landscape to be exactly as it was for the decade prior to City’s takeover is backing FFP, seemingly without feeling the need to apply even the tiniest amount of dispassionate assessment.

No, it’s time for that terrible new phenomenon of owner investment that has only emerged in the last century or so to be stopped.  Football got cozy when the Champions League riches ensured the same teams succeeded every year and lots of people don’t want that ruined.  So they talk about how good FFP will be.  And as most folk are simple souls who believe what they’re told to believe, they buy it entirely.  It’s why companies still employ cold-callers.  People are gullible.

2)   A rose by any other name

It’s obvious.  Do you want fair play?  Yes, please.  There endeth the analysis for most people.  If the Tories had called the Poll Tax “Financial Fair Play” there would have been none of that kerfuffle.

3)   FFP is great for most club owners

Reality check.  You’re worried about owners that want to put money INTO a football club.  Did you know all the rest are looking to take money OUT?  Scary eh?  So for owners looking to buy a club, enjoy the ride, extract some dividends and sell for a profit, FFP looks pretty attractive.

If clubs can’t invest, the chances of a rival from the division below becoming upwardly-mobile and pushing you down the food chain are suddenly reduced.  So now you can retain the status quo more easily and when the fans get frustrated at the lack of incoming transfers or the sales of a star player, you can shrug sincerely and say “Sorry folks.  It’s FFP.  My hands are tied”.  Particularly handy for the sort of investors a certain ex-United captain was filmed drinking with perhaps…  So if most of the clubs are in favour of FFP, it must be a good thing right?  Right…?