Now I'm gonna have to turn my back on you...

When the TV deals dry up and the cash has gone, maybe football will return to the man in the street, but I won't hold my breath.

In the end, the game will return to its roots as a game for the common people. It will take time. The laws of gravity cannot be defied for ever. What goes up, must come down.

One thing which gives me hope that ticket prices will reduce is that Sky and BT will not be keen to see empty rows of seats on TV screens. The subsidisation of away travel is a step in the right direction.

Hopefully FFP will make a difference. Are Chelsea really that profitable?

Either way, until the FA or Prem League (whoever decides) makes CL the prize in both cup competitions and play-off for the second spot, it will remain as things are.

But the top teams remaining top are part of the brand. Why upset the overseas audience. I cannot see how things will change, even if all lesser clubs were run as well as Southampton.

In fact, for Europe I'd combine CL and Europa and have one massive un-seeded knock out tournament... wish wish wish... maybe that bubble better burst.

I said on another thread that the Atletico Madrid model has shown that highly organised and well-managed teams can still break the mould but the reality is that they are probably not going to maintain it.

Of course we will support the team but we are the hard core and over time the extra 15,000 or so who turn up because they still think there is something to play for will drift away. The PL is still only young as a competition in historic terms and it has already allowed an effective cartel to be established. I am not convinced that it will survive in its present form once people see that the chances of their team winning anything or getting consistently into Europe are becoming slimmer and slimmer but that the cost to them increases.

Will there be a European Super League at some point? I think there may be, despite the logistical difficulties, but if that does happen then one wonders what happens to the clubs left behind?

Sky Sport, for all its faults, is always on in our house and, when all that's available on terrestrial is the ailing FA Cup and 'them' on European nights, I'm one moody bastard.

We're hooked and they know it!

England is the home of football. That's part of the brand appeal around the world. It's the richest, has the best players, the football is more attacking, and had a jump start and captured the far-east supporter base.

So much more TV will be paid-for. And all sport will go pay-tv. The open has, Wimbledon is going that way. F1 did; cricket, international rugby can't be that far off, and how long too for the World Cup? That's not a bubble, it's just the way things are going.

Also, I still can't believe how much they charge for tickets at grounds where the demand isn't there. The TV companies are effectively already subsidising tickets, but the clubs haven't passed this on so don't get the fans in. Your ticket should be like a loss leader, get people in, and provide them with quality services (mostly food and beer) once inside. Why has no-one realised this?

Finally, I quite like the idea of an implosion. I don't think it's going to happen, but if it does, the clubs who produce a lot of young players are the ones who are going to do well, alongside the ones with history and tradition on their side.

The atmosphere in the stadiums has all but gone except for certain games. The players are so far out of touch with the common man due to the salaries that there are no real heroes any more.

The lure of football at the weekend is starting to fade for many who just can't be arsed watching twats like Man Utd and Chelsea pay 𧷤k a week to arseholes who don't give a shit. My love for the game is dwindiling fast and it's a chore getting to a game now. There was a time when going the match was was more important than anything else in life.

I think fans of my generation are the last of the old guard old school football supporter. What we have now at big clubs is a circus event for would-be glory hunters from all corners of the earth. Swapping teams is easy. Just follow the big boys until they go shit then jump ship and buy a different shirt.

Everton are probably one of the few remaining working class clubs left in the Premier League but that's only because we are a trophy-free zone and have a crap ground... Five trophies since the 1970 league title will not attract the fly-by-night followers. Once our generaton has gone, EFC will slowly fade away unless a Sheikh comes along with his oil money?

Sky and BT will pump more money into the players' pockets and the clubs will not see a huge increase in revenue like some think. We the fans will continue to be treated like mushrooms... Kept in the dark and shat on..

Ideally, we would have liked to have seen the likes of Barkley, Garbutt and Stones become established stars this season but only the latter has been able to make such an impact that he is undroppable.

For our part as species, we demand results – although most would have accepted six wins in twenty-five games had it been a true transition season from old to young. Or would we?

Unfortunately, they use high PL attendances as way of defending what they do. I don't know if its fleecing or the middle classes having added to supporter bases or what. But I think most fans are still supporters of their team where as the wider game is an irrelevancy.

"On Wednesday night I decided I was going to try and cut Everton out of my life. The goal of course is to shit out the Premier League – that's the virus. Everton is the host. I'm 43 and have supported them since I was about six."

The rest of the blog was a collection of gripes about the Premier League: referees, fouls, excessive pay, fleecing fans etc. It's hard to disagree with much of this, but I've been a supporter of Everton for a lot longer and I could come up with a different but equally long list of complaints and deficiencies about previous eras.

If you want to stop watching the Blues or the Premier League or anything involving a ball, fine. But do you really have to parade your reasons to the rest of us (we've had a few 'that's enough I'm off' on TW as well). The internet has many virtues, but it's also an opportunity for narcissistic whining to be elevated into social commentary.

Biff the blogger (yes, that's his moniker) ultimately gives the game away when he says 'Of course if Everton were any good it might be different. But they're not so it isn't'. There have been many occasions when I have wished I didn't love the club so much. But I do and no shit league or manager or referee is going to fundamentally change that. If it does, I promise to keep it to myself.

It's a good statement when you say stop the season ticket purchases and satellite subscriptions and things will force them to change. The football was better to watch and more sporting 50 years ago when we had none of this satellite crap.

Sky have exclusive live rights to about half the Grand Prix, the rest are shared live with BBC. For the other half the BBC have highlights a couple of hours after the event.

So long as you avoid the result, it's fine as you still get about 70 mins of racing. And only 5% of that is any good.

I could give a moan about F1 as much as I could PL!

I also subscribe 㿀 per month to Racing UK, another passion. Roll on Cheltenham.

Like Phil, Sky Sports is never off but I do like the odd programmes on UFOs and Bigfoot.

With the amount of televised football on nowadays why is grass roots football also struggling, according to the discussions following the new Premier League TV deal? Now, I know that may seem contradictory but football is a bit different, lads follow a team as much as having the desire to play themselves and can do that at home in front of their own TV. Or in the pub. Fewer participants means fewer quality lads at Academies and ,maybe, a dearth of footballers from local leagues in the future.
I think allowing Sky the right to dominate even more sports is a bad thing.

Football used to be about what happens on the field, now it's about what happens in the boardroom. If you don't have obscene amounts of cash to throw away you're just there to make up the numbers.

Football has never been richer and yet we're in debt with decrepit old stadium trying to scrape the pennies together to get a new cheapo-dome, while bored players are struggling to find things to spend their money on. Every time I see a diamond stud in an ear or 㿊,000 watch on one of these players my stomach lurches at the thought they got this money from people who would see their lives transformed if they earned those wages for just a month.

Money aside, the vast majority of games are crap and are usually decided by a decision of a referee. I also take the point about "personalities" in the game. If I worked with or had a friend who acted like Mouriniho or Wenger I'd tell him to grow up and stop acting like a spoilt child.

This thread is tailor made for the "I'll always love my club" shouts, You're like the battered wives who keep going home to the abusive dickhead that's making her life a misery. Some of us are a little more pragmatic and I've got to say I'm teetering on the edge turning my back on this embarrassing circus.

One more thing, sport is about competition. If 17 out of the 20 clubs vying for the trophy before a ball has even been kicked are discounted then what is the point?

"What does he mean? - I like the PL and think it's quite fair"

As for any 'moral' dilemma of helping facilitate something that is plainly rotten, by buying season tickets (I do) and/or going to the match, that's for each individual to decide and (in mitigation?) worth remembering it's one of the few decisions in life we make when we don't apply logic, sense or clear thinking (nb: that's possibly the appeal - I know I don't apply my Everton lack of thinking to any/many other decisions I have to make in life).

Never say never I suppose, maybe it'll change for me and there'll be a moment of staggering clarity that has me (like some of my mates) saying 'Fuck 'em, watch it in the alehouse, few pints, no waiting in the pissing rain/snow for an 81 after watching 90 minutes of ineptness and incredible frustration'

But for now..

Moving on - what I can't believe is that sports channels make anything or have any subcscibers.

I'll explain.

A couple of years back I was working (for six months) in Sweden.

There were two Scottish brothers in the office I worked in (both Hearts daft) and I became good mates with them (still am).

Anyway, after I'd been there a few days, one of them rigged up my laptop so I could get the bbciplayer/ITV/Ch4 etc out there (something to do with bypassing proxies or...something).

It meant I could go 'home' after work and watch the telly just like at home.

These two lads knew their computer onions and told me - 'There nae need tae pay fer a fuckin' thing - ye can watch whitever ye want fer fuck aw.'

And you can - every and any match.

Or if you want, you can watch it in a pub that has 500 sports channels (with the added bonus that the commentary's in Greek so you can't understand the shite being spouted by Robisoss Savagiakos)

So who is paying and...why?

The post "Link?" that appears on the live forum (or used to, haven't used it for a year or so) is often answered in seconds with three or four links.

Not only that, but it means you're not paying anything to a venal, dog's-arse, phone-tapping shit-house like Murdoch.

5 billion plus?

Anyone know how, as every none match-going blue I know never misses a game but none of them are actually paying Murdoch.

I haven't travelled since, and although I don't enjoy it as much, I'm glad I haven't had to travel home from our last two night matches in London. Instead of going straight to bed.

Simple solution to the prices would be every fan of a Premier League club, refusing to buy a season ticket this summer, until they have halved the prices. If the fans stuck together and stuck it out, I'm sure the clubs would shit themselves and have to do something about it.

If not, it wouldn't be long before Sky would be forced to go to Germany or Spain and we could get our game back.

I have thought to myself since that I could do that regularly, and as regards loyalty I attended Marine at 3 years of age, before being taken to Goodison. But, as for many of us, Everton are just in my blood. It's a bugger.

How many hundreds of millions of pounds have Everton turned over in the two decades they've had TV money? What benefit have we, the fans, seen as a result? Overpaid players and their agent aside, the answer is — sweet nothing!

We will never be able to compete financially with the richest Premier League teams. So why doesn't our club do something these richer clubs would never do – follow the German model. Let's democratise Everton and let it truly be the People's Club. Slash the ticket prices, fill the ground with kids.

Even though 90% of fans support this (according to latest figures) the PC brigade will oppose it.

Now go and give your head a good wobble.

And get over it.

I haven't had Sky since Sep '13. At first I was a bit lost. I'd had this for near enough 20 years. I missed having Goals on Sunday as I was usually out on Saturday night and missed MotD.

Then I discovered the art of 'streaming'. Since then I've never watched as much football since I was a kid!!

Now, it doesn't matter how many times Sky show us because I watch every single one of our games for, in a sense, 'free'. Granted, the pic ain't great and it can stutter but it's still preferable to paying 㿲 a month to Murdoch.

I don't understand why more people don't do it? Especially seeing as the likes of Everton are hardly on Sky anyway.

Someone mentioned the NFL's TV money being billions per year. Well the NFL is extremely well run (IMHO) and tries very hard to maintain a clean NFL brand which is competitive for all clubs, with salary caps, drafts, squad limits, weighted fixture lists, etc., etc.. If only the EPL had the balls for a salary cap, we'd have money for a stadium straightaway.

As for referees, it's obvious to me that they are left high and dry by the EPL, because the money clubs like it that way. All other professional sports use technology extensively to take the pressure off the referee on the pitch. Money clubs in football are not interested because they know they can influence, intimidate and perhaps even bribe the referee. Just that one relatively poorly paid, no image, middle-aged man puffing around the park makes decisions that have multi-million (billions maybe) impacts. Sure I'd love that situation if I had the power to influence even in a small way.

The other elephant in the room is that the money clubs are allowed to play in two leagues (EPL and CL). Can't imagine the NFL allowing anything similar. But there is a tension between the two. If EPL gets all the money (and it's not just Sky money, it's all the advertising too) then eventually CL will fall in significance or vice versa.

Things can and do change. Often very unexpectedly. So I'll keep supporting the Blues and hope!

Colin, your comment about cricket and golf being boring reminds me of just about the only humorous moment of the OJ trial. One of the witnesses, when asked something about American Football, said that she didn't watch and found it boring. Judge Ito, in response, said: "Wait till you see baseball".

Bad form, old boy!