Those who seem to complain about the transfer forum are the normally same ones that only frequent it during close season and pre season when there is rarely any matches to discuss and as a result there's a lot of activity in the transfer forum which inevitably leads to a quality downgrade. If those same posters actually had a look at the transfer forum during active season, when threads are created due to the club being linked to players who are performing well, then they'd see that it's actually not a place normally full of spastics and that it's usually a very useful part of the forum.
Getting emotionally invested in transfers
- Thread starter Brwned
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss Amad saving our blushes in a win against Southampton as well as our now annual loss at home to Brighton. They discuss Amorim's post-match comments, revisit how mid-table we may or may not be, and discuss some transfer news.
So then that's the point I was making. The massive percentage of the 200 pages that is not about the only relevant bit, may as well be about my playstation team. And as such has no place in the football forum. If the thread was, as you say, about the team with him in it, you'd be right, but most of it is not.
So close it during the windows? I'd settle for that.
Most of it is about people speculating if he'd come based on various sources. Some dependable, some shit. People speculate and discuss because at the base of it all is Manchester United football club as he's someone who could play a massive part because of how much he'd improve us. As I said, similar discussion and interest wont be there for a potential CB signing. Even though it isnt directly about the football, its because of the part it will play in the football if it does happen. The discussion also includes thinks like potential fee, comments from clubs, journalists etc because they're all related to the thing people are actually interested in: the football club.
If this was a fabregas to psg saga, people wouldnt be as interested.
And have the transfer discussion spill over to the football forum? would me a much bigger headache unless you want to go all RAWK at the place and forbid transfer talk completely.
Good spot, I didn't mean to say that. I tried to couch the rest of my post but must have missed that bit. But it was only one sweeping assumption, not a lot as you claimed. And this thread is all about conjecture, ultimately.
Just as an aside, I work with young people here in Manchester. I must have met hundreds of football fans over the years and the point of view I described is really not that rare.
The crux of it is very real. We're interested in signing a top drawer CM that'd improve us hugely. Not just interested, we've bid for him too.
That's all the facts, so there is a fair bit of padding in the 240 pages which, whatever way you defend it is shite to read.
Your 1st post about people being interested in transfers more because it'd improve their online FIFA teams and less the actual team on the pitch was absolutely ridiculous. You really think low of your fellow posters if you believe that.
I've seen and heard it being discussed in classrooms more than once over the years.
To those who arent interested? Yes. Which is why they can choose to stay away. It serves a purpose as it keeps those who are interested restricted to a particular part of the forum thus keeping the rest of it clean and also gives the ones who are interested a chance to discuss it with others who are similar to them. I dont believe there's anyone that actually comes to the transfer for news anyways so its fairly easy to ignore too. It actually helps to keep the quality of the forum high as it restricts what isnt strictly football to a part of the site.
Not all of it, no. I got bored after a while. Am discussing the case for others here, not my own
Damo updating the thread titles is bliss for me. I only go in now when I have nothing else to do.
young Kids i hope?
No, that doesn't apply to any other section of the site where quality is expected. People are interested in the potential transfer and it's effect on the team, and they have to trawl through endless bollox to read it. It would not be allowed in any other part of the forum and how it was allowed to descend into such a mess is a mystery.
And the reason nobody comes for news is because it's drowned out by hystrerical irrelevant nonsense, again the opposite to the rest of the site.
What exactly is this endless bollox that you're referring to? What kind of discussions?
And much more easier and convenient ways of finding the latest transfer news so I'll never understand those who come to the caf for news only.
Just checked the last few pages.
talk about his character and situation at barca.
hand over the title to us if he comes.
wages.
tweets that say he could have cleared the air by now and has chosen not to. which is very fair.
ruud10 being a nutter.
discussion about martino's comments.
cant be arsed to go back further but i dont see anything wrong with all this except ruud's huge post which i didnt read.
talk about his character and situation at barca.
hand over the title to us if he comes.
wages.
tweets that say he could have cleared the air by now and has chosen not to. which is very fair.
ruud10 being a nutter.
discussion about martino's comments.
cant be arsed to go back further but i dont see anything wrong with all this except ruud's huge post which i didnt read.
11-18.
I've heard kids take pride in their club signing a marquee player simply because it means they'll have a better chance of beating their mates online. Some also prefer that their club managers sign the sorts of players whose attributes would translate better to gameplay than I've argued they would on the pitch. But that's the way teenagers think in my experience.
That's not to say these boys don't want United/City/whoever to do well in reality. They'd just like them to do well by buying the kinds of players who are also good in virtual reality. It's a fault on the part of games developers that they can't always reflect the intangibles that make a team like United so competitive, despite not always being able to match some of the other European big hitters on paper.
This is just as dull, you have already said the relevant info was only a fraction of the 240 pages and the discussion is by nature tedious. That's all I am saying. You think it's acceptable, I don't. It 's two opinions on the same thing.
Until they do, they'll get emotionally invested in transfers. Which isn't to say that all of them will grow out of it, incidentally.
I was keen on us signing Thiago - because I wanted to watch him play for us and I actually thought he'd give us something we lacked (last time I was that interested in a transfer we signed DdG). My interest in transfers is of course purely selfish, I want us to sign players who I enjoy watching. I have to watch United, but I enjoy it more when we've got play and players who make it a pleasure.
Emotionally invested? Why not? If football wasn't about emotion people wouldn't be paying 40+ for the privilege of watching it. Does transfer news make or break my day - no, but it's interesting to daydream when there's nothing better to do and some of the threads are entertaining in their own right.
Emotionally invested? Why not? If football wasn't about emotion people wouldn't be paying 40+ for the privilege of watching it. Does transfer news make or break my day - no, but it's interesting to daydream when there's nothing better to do and some of the threads are entertaining in their own right.
Specifically: because, despite our success, there's still a feeling amongst fans that we could do better...certainly in playing-style terms.
Generally: it's indicative of a cultural shift from near-unquestioning faith in authority to the erosion of that faith. Underlying this is a suspicion that there's nothing extraordinarily unique or special about the talents of these authorities (be they football managers, politicians, doctors, whatever) which would justify their financial rewards & reputations. So, in other words, many people feel - rightly or wrongly - that they could do just as well given the opportunity.
Oh mosey, are you joining me in my crusade against the transfer muppets?
They ought to finish the window. Take stock. Delete all of the peopel giving transfer news and watch the official website for confirmed bids and signings. The world would be a better place.
It's actually quite understandable. New manager after 26 years, we're all nervous and some of that anxiety has resulted in excessive transfer muppetry.
Hold the feck on. I've just realised I never actually said that, you just made the quote up. I never once used the word most.
About 15 years/ 20 years ago, the first I'd hear of a transfer was reading it on teletext or a paper after it was finalised.
Now we have months of talking about it on forums, hearing about it on SSN, Arry dangling his head out of his car window, making fantasy formations in our heads etc etc. without a bid having even been put in yet.
Its not surprising that some people get invested. Though the people who get genuinely pissed off need to calm down a tad, it can't be good for their health.
Now we have months of talking about it on forums, hearing about it on SSN, Arry dangling his head out of his car window, making fantasy formations in our heads etc etc. without a bid having even been put in yet.
Its not surprising that some people get invested. Though the people who get genuinely pissed off need to calm down a tad, it can't be good for their health.
I never really bothered about who United signed until the year of Ronaldinho. That shite was publicised all over SSN and the back of many papers for weeks that I come to expect him to be a United player. Then feck me, out of nowhere I'm watching the cnut on SSN having a fecking medical in his gay netted vest top. So for me it's SSN's fault! cnuts.
I'm not too fussed tbh nowadays. Yes I love the BIG signings as much as the next person, and when we are in for someone like Thiago, or Fabregas, I obviously want the transfers to happen, but nowadays if a deal shouldn't come off my stance is.....feck em!
So for me it's SSN's fault! cnuts. I'm not too fussed tbh nowadays. Yes I love the BIG signings as much as the next person, and when we are in for someone like Thiago, or Fabregas, I obviously want the transfers to happen, but nowadays if a deal shouldn't come off my stance is.....feck em!
Some of you "400 posts in a thread" pricks need to get a bloody job instead of wasting my tax money. And if you're not from round here, stop wasting the Empires bloody charity money and get a job. Wankers.
I do miss the days of my youth when the only real transfer news was obtained from the Sunday papers.
I cannot even begin to describe my excitement when the the Sunday mirror had a back page headline of "Manchester United agree deal to sign Batistuta". I walked on air all fecking week only to find out the following Sunday that it was all bollocks!
That was before the days of widespread internet access and times were simpler then.
I really don't understand these posters on here that want to look like Billy big bollocks and condemn anybody and everybody for getting invested in transfer rumours. At the end of the day we all want to see our football teams aquire premium talent, so why all the hating on the "transfer muppets"?
I cannot even begin to describe my excitement when the the Sunday mirror had a back page headline of "Manchester United agree deal to sign Batistuta". I walked on air all fecking week only to find out the following Sunday that it was all bollocks!
That was before the days of widespread internet access and times were simpler then.
I really don't understand these posters on here that want to look like Billy big bollocks and condemn anybody and everybody for getting invested in transfer rumours. At the end of the day we all want to see our football teams aquire premium talent, so why all the hating on the "transfer muppets"?
I'm not arsed about the transfer hype, so I don't get involved. I gave it a go when we were in for Sneijder but it soon got tedious.
It's embarrassing is what it is. I'm just so fecking embarrassed for everyone right now.
Caftards love a moan, and this is just another pointless moaning thread that, ironically, diverts attention from discussion about actual transfers while simultaneously moaning about people being stupid in the Transfer Forum.
Well played.
Well played.
"Emotionally invested"
There are a lot of reasons for the emotional investment in transfers and a number of developments over time have created the perfect storm. Here is my top 10 for the perfect storm in transfer muppetry:
1) Football has got richer and as a result the divide between rich and the poor has grown. Keeping rich is key and that involves either rich owners, rich success, or a rich brand (which is mostly driven out of the 2nd!). Rich success is more and more dependant on obtaining the best players in the world, as opposed to having the best coaching facilities and by nature increasing your chance of rich success as players tend to be more generic and best players spread around. An exaggeration to an extent, but bare with me...
Rich owners or recent success are coming more important than the brand to players. Liverpool used to attract quality players because of their history, but this is becoming less and less the case as the differential in money terms is becoming so great from one team to another. Players no longer have the same respect of history, because money talks louder.
2) As mentioned above players are now driven by money, loyalty is rarely expected in modern day football. And if not money then the players are driven by success and as mentioned in point one these usually go hand-in-hand.
3) The international world has become "smaller" in terms of width of scouting networks, access to information via the internet, etc. This means the chance for a bargain has become less and less and the best players are known by many. This heavily increases the spotlight and the demand for the best.
4) Coaching standards an facilities have developed at every level. This now means that a generic player may not gain the marginal difference at a team with fantastic facilities versus a team with average facilities to the extent they once would have. Of course there are still differences and this is why United spend big on medical facilities, etc, but it might be taking a player an extra 5-10%, as opposed to an easy 50% rise in quality in previous days.
5) Fans appreciate the importance of staying at the top more now than they might have done previous. Looking at teams like Liverpool, Arsenal and Leeds, it is easy to see how a slip in standards can take you away from the top in varying degrees. The barriers to entry at the top have also increased. It is hard to imagine Liverpool ever being great again without a billionaire owner, because simply they cannot compete for the best players in the same way Chelsea, City and United can, the prior two from money and the later from success.
This puts us as United fans in the high risk category. We have a great brand and great success, but that might not last if we don't keep it up. A brand will only last as long as success in the modern day of football.
6) Fans understand the buzz of signings more from playing games like Football Manager and Championship Manager. The extra success from signing players is in a way more visible, more understandable from playing these games. Not just that, but we also have a rating system for players that gives us more knowledge to judge one signing to the next.
7) Fans have access to more information quicker through the internet. This gives us practically live access to rumours or breaking news stories.
8) The media have incentive as ad revenue through the net has grown. Keeping fans hooked on to stories, rubbish or otherwise, helps to generate ad revenue through the number of readers. This means that not only do fans want more, but the media are incentivised to give them more.
9) Football agents have also come into the mix keen to get their cut of sales or increasing salaries. This increases the rumour mill and with all the live info a huge hype machine can be created very quickly with pressure placed on the club to either up the salary or sell.
10) Languages barriers are broken down with more and more translators and a market place made to be adaptable to anyone, again breaking down another barrier from the past.
1) Football has got richer and as a result the divide between rich and the poor has grown. Keeping rich is key and that involves either rich owners, rich success, or a rich brand (which is mostly driven out of the 2nd!). Rich success is more and more dependant on obtaining the best players in the world, as opposed to having the best coaching facilities and by nature increasing your chance of rich success as players tend to be more generic and best players spread around. An exaggeration to an extent, but bare with me...
Rich owners or recent success are coming more important than the brand to players. Liverpool used to attract quality players because of their history, but this is becoming less and less the case as the differential in money terms is becoming so great from one team to another. Players no longer have the same respect of history, because money talks louder.
2) As mentioned above players are now driven by money, loyalty is rarely expected in modern day football. And if not money then the players are driven by success and as mentioned in point one these usually go hand-in-hand.
3) The international world has become "smaller" in terms of width of scouting networks, access to information via the internet, etc. This means the chance for a bargain has become less and less and the best players are known by many. This heavily increases the spotlight and the demand for the best.
4) Coaching standards an facilities have developed at every level. This now means that a generic player may not gain the marginal difference at a team with fantastic facilities versus a team with average facilities to the extent they once would have. Of course there are still differences and this is why United spend big on medical facilities, etc, but it might be taking a player an extra 5-10%, as opposed to an easy 50% rise in quality in previous days.
5) Fans appreciate the importance of staying at the top more now than they might have done previous. Looking at teams like Liverpool, Arsenal and Leeds, it is easy to see how a slip in standards can take you away from the top in varying degrees. The barriers to entry at the top have also increased. It is hard to imagine Liverpool ever being great again without a billionaire owner, because simply they cannot compete for the best players in the same way Chelsea, City and United can, the prior two from money and the later from success.
This puts us as United fans in the high risk category. We have a great brand and great success, but that might not last if we don't keep it up. A brand will only last as long as success in the modern day of football.
6) Fans understand the buzz of signings more from playing games like Football Manager and Championship Manager. The extra success from signing players is in a way more visible, more understandable from playing these games. Not just that, but we also have a rating system for players that gives us more knowledge to judge one signing to the next.
7) Fans have access to more information quicker through the internet. This gives us practically live access to rumours or breaking news stories.
8) The media have incentive as ad revenue through the net has grown. Keeping fans hooked on to stories, rubbish or otherwise, helps to generate ad revenue through the number of readers. This means that not only do fans want more, but the media are incentivised to give them more.
9) Football agents have also come into the mix keen to get their cut of sales or increasing salaries. This increases the rumour mill and with all the live info a huge hype machine can be created very quickly with pressure placed on the club to either up the salary or sell.
10) Languages barriers are broken down with more and more translators and a market place made to be adaptable to anyone, again breaking down another barrier from the past.