Reform or lose money.

[Workingman]

That is the message from government to the FA.

About bl00dy time!

The FA has not been fit for purpose for decades and is long overdue a damned good clear out. If shifting the £40m out to the lower levels for them to control is the spur for reform then so be it.

HQ and the FA board have to have a lot more football people present, people who know about the game of football. The suits and blazers need to be forced out and, if necessary, by a coup of ex players, trainers and managers.

And while I am having a rant something absolutely must change in EPL. There has to be some way to get more English lads playing for premiership first teams. If it cannot be done by persuasion then it will have to be done by force. It is time to stop clubs bringing in mediocre overseas players simply because they are cheaper than local lads. The lower leagues are now littered with failed prem imports so even fewer places are available for young English lads.

I would make it the law that clubs field at least seven British and Irish players, with at least four from England, during the whole of a match.

[AggersAgain]

I would make it the law that clubs field at least seven British and Irish players, with at least four from England, during the whole of a match.

This has been my grouse for some time.

The English team should all be English. Amen.

And a town's football team should all be residents of that town. (That's how it used to be.)

The whole football business needs a damn good shake-up.

And if all the policemen who attend football matches were on the streets enforcing the law
(which is what they are supposed to be doing), then there would be less crime. Then, if there
was serious trouble at a football ground, the club should be banned from putting on matches.
(If someone ran, say, a dance club that resulted in dangerous behaviour, it would is forcibly
closed down. What's so special about ruddy football?) And why should some foreigner who plays
in an English football team be paid more money than our Prime Minister. It doesn't make sense.

How I wish I was a dictator running this country. There would certainly be some ruddy changes.

[JoM]

Something definitely needs doing (and binning Rooney from the England team would be a start).
There is the home grown player quota isn't there. Wasn't it something like there must be at least eight home grown players in a squad of 25? Having said that, Manchester City had Richard Wright in their squad for four years until his recent retirement, therefore helping them meet the quota, and he didn't play at all for the first team in that time.

Aggers, me and my son regularly go to premier league games and all 'policing' inside is done by club stewards. There's been a bit more of a police presence on the streets outside since the Paris attacks last November but it seems that they're not actually there in case of trouble from supporters (who, believe me, are very well behaved) but as more of a security presence when large crowds are at risk of a terrorist attack.

[Workingman]

Jo, having them in the squad is meaningless, as you point out. They need to be in the team, and on the bench, and playing regularly.

Other countries do it, but they do not have the FA to contend with. We might not be able to go with Aggers' "local men for local teams" but we certainly could get more English lads playing in the Prem or Championship leagues.

[TheOstrich]

... but we certainly could get more English lads playing in the Prem or Championship leagues.

Tell that to the club who are bidding £100 - £120m for Paul Pogba ....

And the new Chinese owners of clubs like Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers who want instant star names and success.

As you know, I have long since given up on the established Football League, and nothing would entice me to watch the various mercenaries at any of the local big 5 clubs (might make an exception for Walsall ) I'll stick to my non-league footie and hope that some of the cash eventually filters down from on high. There must be some fairly favourable grant scheme or other going on at present, as locally Boldmere St Michaels, Tamworth and Redditch have all installed 4G artificial surfaces this summer .....

[Workingman]

They call them plastic men with plastic datsun cogs
They play on plastic pitches in their plastic boots and togs
And we watch a plastic game on dismal rainy day
To pass some plastic time in our plastic lives away.

Vote for me and Aggers, we'll turn thing round.