The money game

I’ve been prowling through fan forums of late and discovered a wide range of football related discussions. But the one that caught my interest was the debate about money.

Money is often the burden of the modern game and the wide held belief is that you cannot consistently compete for honours without spending millions of it.

Of course, occasionally you’ll get an exception as Leicester City proved last season with their heroic and miraculous title triumph.

But the blueprint set out by Liverpool and Manchester United in the past simply cannot be done nowadays. Bringing through players from the youth academy is still common, but making up a successful teams built purely from academy products now seems almost impossible.

The old saying goes ‘whoever spends the most money will win the most trophies’. That isn’t far from the truth. In Spain, Barcelona have found a blend of top academy products (which they’ve previously spent millions investing in the academy infrastructure) and top class signings. Their mantra is the style of football in which they play. But money still plays a big part.

Predictably, Manchester City cropped up during the conversation. The point was made that City have purchased success rather than built it. However, we can’t take anything away from their recent achievements. Yes, a gargantuan amount of cash has been thrown at the cause but isn’t that the way to do it these days?

Would City have been better waiting 15 years to build in the way Liverpool and United did many years back with no guarantee of success at the end of it?

As Blues fans, we look from the outside in. We will never have a great deal of success unless Roman Abramovich the second rides through Small Heath on horse back pledging his wealth to the club. Somehow, I can’t see that happening. So what should we expect as fans of a club that will never have a realistic chance of winning the title or playing in the Champions League?

We live for the little glory we get, it’s what keeps us going. The League Cup success in 2011 was a fantastic achievement for a club of Blues’ stature – does it get any better though? Are we wasting our time dreaming of days that will never arrive?

Football is about loyalty and we know something that glory hunters will never know – how to support our team through thick and thin. Money or no money. Success or no success.