'Plastic' Clubs

[Dan]

Don't Wolfsburg, Sochaux & Bayer Leverkusen all have a bit of a reputation for it? PSV as well although in fairness, they've had the Philips link throughout their history.

[Captain...]

I've always found Spurd a touch plastic. Unsure why

 

Spurd? Is that a spunk turd? Are they plasticky to the touch?

[Charnwood Norris]

Ludogorets Razgrad. Obscure club from a small logging town in Northern Bulgaria, bought by a local businessman four years ago. Rose from Division 3 to Division 1 champions in a few years, sitting top of the Europa league group after beating PSV and Dinamon Zagreb home and away. Fair play to them though, starting basically from scratch.

 

True that.  And Razgrad is a town the size of Melton Mowbray, .

 

Also a lot the teams in the Faore Islands have stupid investment even the ones that play for a village of 150 population size have artificial pitches, good facilities and floodlights costing thousands. They import players from Africa and amatuers from South America and pay them a decent wage etc.  Crazy that they should be professionals and play in the Europa league qualifiers. But anyway, good for them

[AndWhat?]

Arguably Hoffenheim.

The Wigan of Germany!

[Manwell Pablo]

I hate all this 'plastic' and 'tinpot' shite.

 

Some people seem to act like we're some sort of superior side. I can't imagine fans of the likes of Everton look down on the rest of football.

 

People don't seem to see the bigger picture. What is the population of Monaco, for example? It's like when people bring up attendances when comparing us to a smaller club, it happened recently with Watford. Of course they'll have a smaller attendance, the place isn't a City and not the size of Leicester.

 

Cringeworthy isn't it.

 

Especially frustrating when people bring rich owners into it as well, as we'd still be sinking like a stone possibly all the way to League Two had not been for two buy outs, we had shite squad without a pot to piss in. 

[Langston]

Pretty much any top Russian/Ukrainian side although in fairness the likes of Shakhtar have developed. Getafe were set to be bought out by the worlds richest man. Malaga a couple of years ago.

 

The worst was easily Anzhi. Quite how they landed big money beats me. An absolute no mark nothing club in Russia, who's team can't even live in their home city for safety reasons - why the hell would anyone invest in that?

 

Monaco have always over-achieved a bit but it's a very prosperous place.

 

I actually think PSG to an extent. They have potential to be massive yet have a grand total of three Ligue One titles in their history, one of them coming last season after outspending the rest of the league combined for the second year running, and even the first time they didn't win it. Massive under-achievers as a club who are finally achieving what you'd expect, all down to a sugar daddy.

 

A little harsh on PSG's history considering were only formed forty odd years ago and were never going to set the world alight immediately, didn't begin in the top-flight and they played at the Camp De Loges for the first few years of their existence, also the likes of Saint-Etienne (who were the bollocks in the 60s/70s), Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes weren't shifting overnight. For perspective, PSG were an amateur club in the '71-72 season.

 

Pre-Qatari-takeover they had 2 league titles, 8 Coupe De Frances, 3 Coupe de la Leagues, and a Cup Winner's Cup. I'd not class that as massively underachieving when taking into account the length of their existence and how the club began.

 

Re: Anzhi's investment - Suleyman Kerimov, the moneybags behind them, is from Dagestan and as such they're his hometown club.

[Dan]

A little harsh on PSG's history considering were only formed forty odd years ago and were never going to set the world alight immediately, didn't begin in the top-flight and they played at the Camp De Loges for the first few years of their existence, also the likes of Saint-Etienne (who were the bollocks in the 60s/70s), Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes weren't shifting overnight. For perspective, PSG were an amateur club in the '71-72 season.

 

Pre-Qatari-takeover they had 2 league titles, 8 Coupe De Frances, 3 Coupe de la Leagues, and a Cup Winner's Cup. I'd not class that as massively underachieving when taking into account the length of their existence and how the club began.

 

Re: Anzhi's investment - Suleyman Kerimov, the moneybags behind them, is from Dagestan and as such they're his hometown club.

 

Genuinely had no idea they were formed so recently. Changes things a bit then to be fair.

[Langston]

Genuinely had no idea they were formed so recently. Changes things a bit then to be fair.

 

I always thought they were age old too to be honest. Always surprised at just how brilliant St.Etienne's history is, desperate to catch a game there.

[Finnegan]

Bayer, Wolfsburg, Sochaux and PSV are just factory teams. I don't see the problem there.

Bayer have a negative reputation in Germany because they strive for a family atmosphere at games.

[bovril]

Mad that. What kind of backing have they had? Because they're some impressive results.

 

It's truly insane. Four years ago they were basically semi-pro, probably about the size and ability of Wisbech Town. I don't know much about the owner. They haven't even spent that much on players and the wage bill must be one of the lowest in the Europa League. In fact I'd wager that our squad is more expensive. But they seem to have an excellent backroom staff and a very tidy set-up.

Winning the Bulgarian league was a doddle considering it's about the same level as the SPL. But their results in Europe have been mind-blowing and they're talking of building a 40,000 seater stadium in Sofia. Maybe they'll do 'a Gretna' and slip back to Balkan obscurity, but it's been great to watch so far....