They're at it again | Page 24 | Vital Football

They're at it again

Rasenimp said:
I'm not an expert on it so will bow to your judgement but even as a cynical marketing ploy from the 60s, I would have thought the phrase had some weight due to the club's significance in Catalonia and as a place to speak the Catalan language etc in times gone by?

I mean its not this hyper capitalist shit and I doubt the current lot in charge care at all but even with my limited knowledge I think I could construct a meaning for it or understand why a Barca fan might identify with it?
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There was a time when it may have had some meaning, but by the late 60s it was already almost irrelevant, it certainly was by 1975 when Franco died.

That's assuming that you can attribute a political motive to everyone who went to watch Barcelona either in the run up to the Civil War or immediately after it, but you can't, they're disparate as any body of football supporters will always be.

The irony is that the original phrase had no political meaning at all. It was the idea of a man called Narcis de Carrera who was president for a short time. He only meant it in the sense that the football club played a more important part in the lives of the supporters than simply attending the weekly games - that's something everyone can get behind no matter who they support.

A further irony is that he was also a Franco apologist, even writing a newspaper article praising the Generalisimo.

In the last few decades FC Barcelona has become a gigantic corporation with millions of followers not only in the rest of Spain but all over the world. Those supporters or fans, or whoever they are, have zero interest in Catalan nationalism, but neither does the club beyond some recent presidents grandstanding over the issue.

It's telling that following democracy the actual members of Barcelona kept re-electing the wholly apolitical Josep Lluis Nunez and Joan Gaspart for 25 years against the challenge of overtly political candidates.
 
Brendan Bradley said:
There was a time when it may have had some meaning, but by the late 60s it was already almost irrelevant, it certainly was by 1975 when Franco died.

That's assuming that you can attribute a political motive to everyone who went to watch Barcelona either in the run up to the Civil War or immediately after it, but you can't, they're disparate as any body of football supporters will always be.

The irony is that the original phrase had no political meaning at all. It was the idea of a man called Narcis de Carrera who was president for a short time. He only meant it in the sense that the football club played a more important part in the lives of the supporters than simply attending the weekly games - that's something everyone can get behind no matter who they support.

A further irony is that he was also a Franco apologist, even writing a newspaper article praising the Generalisimo.

In the last few decades FC Barcelona has become a gigantic corporation with millions of followers not only in the rest of Spain but all over the world. Those supporters or fans, or whoever they are, have zero interest in Catalan nationalism, but neither does the club beyond some recent presidents grandstanding over the issue.

It's telling that following democracy the actual members of Barcelona kept re-electing the wholly apolitical Josep Lluis Nunez and Joan Gaspart for 25 years against the challenge of overtly political candidates.
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I bet you're fun at parties.
 
regardless of whether it is sam calling for them, i believe there should be sanctions.

otherwise it feels like bank employees organising a robbery, getting caught, and then saying sorry... to be told 'ok, come back to work next week'.
 
nlondonimp said:
regardless of whether it is sam calling for them, i believe there should be sanctions.

otherwise it feels like bank employees organising a robbery, getting caught, and then saying sorry... to be told 'ok, come back to work next week'.
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They didn't resign from the league and then join another league. They broke the rules of the league, clearly stated in those rules with no obfuscation fully intending to remain in the league while breaking the rules. There is no way that there can't be sanctions and all those trying to go on about how the rules should be directed at the CEOs etc and not the clubs because then it affects the fans were not that bothered about that when it was smaller clubs breaking rules or going into admin.
There is no comeback here. We now know it wasn't testing the water or trying to leverage more from UEFA. You don't sign papers to test waters. They have clearly broken the rules by signing up to those other leagues while they were quite happy to be members of the league with rules saying they can't do that.

I daresay European Qualification sanctions would have to be done by UEFA but if they bottle it then the PL must show some balls and ban them from European competition for a minimum of 2 seasons. Why 2 seasons? To ensure that any that don't qualify are punished. On top of that there has to be domestic sanctions for this serious breach of rules that they happily signed up to. That has to be a serious points deduction and not a 10 point one that most will eat up in the first 3 weeks of the new season. 20-30 points!!!! The PL will bottle applying relegation to them. If it were a smaller club like Leicester, Burnley? they would have already made the announcement that they had been banished.

If they do not sanction heavily then the PL may as well rip up their own rules and thus any kind of control over the league.
 
Dear Cityzen,

I am writing to you regarding the events of the past few days. I am sorry it has taken a little time, but the circumstances have been somewhat exceptional and it was important to me to contact you directly.

As you know, Manchester City has formally enacted the procedures to withdraw from the group developing plans for a European Super League. As always, when we make choices and decisions, we do so with the best interests of the Club in mind and we believed that being part of such an initiative could give us a voice that might be imperative to our future ability to succeed and grow.

However, in making that choice we failed to remind ourselves of the unbreakable link between the passion of our fans and the right to have the opportunity to earn success. It is a truth that is fundamental to the DNA of Manchester City and the Board deeply regrets taking a decision that lost sight of the historic values of the Club. We made a mistake and we sincerely apologise to our fans for the disappointment, frustration and anguish caused by the last 72 hours.

I want to personally assure you that the Owners, Chairman, Board and staff are completely committed to ensuring that the club continues to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing well-being of both the English and European football pyramids and their associated competitions. We will embrace the opportunity to earn back the full trust of our stakeholders and the football family in general.

I thank you for taking the time to read this and I extend my thanks to you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely
Ferran Soriano, CEO
​
 
Brendan Bradley said:
There was a time when it may have had some meaning, but by the late 60s it was already almost irrelevant, it certainly was by 1975 when Franco died.

That's assuming that you can attribute a political motive to everyone who went to watch Barcelona either in the run up to the Civil War or immediately after it, but you can't, they're disparate as any body of football supporters will always be.

The irony is that the original phrase had no political meaning at all. It was the idea of a man called Narcis de Carrera who was president for a short time. He only meant it in the sense that the football club played a more important part in the lives of the supporters than simply attending the weekly games - that's something everyone can get behind no matter who they support.

A further irony is that he was also a Franco apologist, even writing a newspaper article praising the Generalisimo.

In the last few decades FC Barcelona has become a gigantic corporation with millions of followers not only in the rest of Spain but all over the world. Those supporters or fans, or whoever they are, have zero interest in Catalan nationalism, but neither does the club beyond some recent presidents grandstanding over the issue.

It's telling that following democracy the actual members of Barcelona kept re-electing the wholly apolitical Josep Lluis Nunez and Joan Gaspart for 25 years against the challenge of overtly political candidates.
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Extremely comprehensive but I think you're

1) over emphasising the origin of the phrase (a bit like you'll never walk alone being from carousel or whatever) so it couldn't have any meaning if you were singing it in 1989

2) not sure the statement that fans of Barcelona have zero interest in Catalonian nationalism sounds right? Feels a bit citation needed. Especially if people at the club have grandstanded over it- who are they grandstanding to?
 
GreenNeedle said:
They didn't resign from the league and then join another league. They broke the rules of the league, clearly stated in those rules with no obfuscation fully intending to remain in the league while breaking the rules. There is no way that there can't be sanctions and all those trying to go on about how the rules should be directed at the CEOs etc and not the clubs because then it affects the fans were not that bothered about that when it was smaller clubs breaking rules or going into admin.
There is no comeback here. We now know it wasn't testing the water or trying to leverage more from UEFA. You don't sign papers to test waters. They have clearly broken the rules by signing up to those other leagues while they were quite happy to be members of the league with rules saying they can't do that.

I daresay European Qualification sanctions would have to be done by UEFA but if they bottle it then the PL must show some balls and ban them from European competition for a minimum of 2 seasons. Why 2 seasons? To ensure that any that don't qualify are punished. On top of that there has to be domestic sanctions for this serious breach of rules that they happily signed up to. That has to be a serious points deduction and not a 10 point one that most will eat up in the first 3 weeks of the new season. 20-30 points!!!! The PL will bottle applying relegation to them. If it were a smaller club like Leicester, Burnley? they would have already made the announcement that they had been banished.

If they do not sanction heavily then the PL may as well rip up their own rules and thus any kind of control over the league.
Click to expand...

Definitely a two year european ban (and that's two years when they would have otherwise qualified, so not just next two seasons) and I'd also relegate them all two divisions and move six clubs up from Championship into Premier and six clubs up from League One into Championship.

And as a precedent for a double relegation, I think that happened to Swindon once. I'm sure the experts here will know the actual facts on that.
 
Rasenimp said:
Extremely comprehensive but I think you're

1) over emphasising the origin of the phrase (a bit like you'll never walk alone being from carousel or whatever) so it couldn't have any meaning if you were singing it in 1989

2) not sure the statement that fans of Barcelona have zero interest in Catalonian nationalism sounds right? Feels a bit citation needed. Especially if people at the club have grandstanded over it- who are they grandstanding to?
Click to expand...

To those who believe in the same cause

Remember that until recently a minority of Catalans were in favour of independence, and it's still 50/50. The membership will reflect the political breakdown of the region.

As for those millions of non Catalans, who make up the majority of Barcelona's fanbase, what do they possibly care?

The origins of the phrase I only mention for context. You're quite right to say something can take on more significance later.
 
Norfolk Imp said:
Dear Cityzen,

I am writing to you regarding the events of the past few days. I am sorry it has taken a little time, but the circumstances have been somewhat exceptional and it was important to me to contact you directly.

As you know, Manchester City has formally enacted the procedures to withdraw from the group developing plans for a European Super League. As always, when we make choices and decisions, we do so with the best interests of the Club in mind and we believed that being part of such an initiative could give us a voice that might be imperative to our future ability to succeed and grow.

However, in making that choice we failed to remind ourselves of the unbreakable link between the passion of our fans and the right to have the opportunity to earn success. It is a truth that is fundamental to the DNA of Manchester City and the Board deeply regrets taking a decision that lost sight of the historic values of the Club. We made a mistake and we sincerely apologise to our fans for the disappointment, frustration and anguish caused by the last 72 hours.

I want to personally assure you that the Owners, Chairman, Board and staff are completely committed to ensuring that the club continues to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing well-being of both the English and European football pyramids and their associated competitions. We will embrace the opportunity to earn back the full trust of our stakeholders and the football family in general.

I thank you for taking the time to read this and I extend my thanks to you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely
Ferran Soriano, CEO
​
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What total self-serving bollocks.

They'll be back soon with B teams, just you watch.
 
Chesterimp said:
What total self-serving bollocks.

They'll be back soon with B teams, just you watch.
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‘They’ have been a provider of one of The Imps key players since January and one of the best young talents to ever wear the red & white shirt ... so have some respect.
 
Norfolk Imp said:
Not really, it’s still the same club, and they’ve apologised for the mistake ... that’s good enough for me, but then again I’m the forgiving type.
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Right and that's what you'd say if we had a loanee from Liverpool or united 😂😂😂

Not fooling anyone
 
Rasenimp said:
Right and that's what you'd say if we had a loanee from Liverpool or united 😂😂😂

Not fooling anyone
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We’ve got one from Spurs, who were the last team to make me cry after the 81’ Cup Final 😪 .. but he’s been one of my favourite players this season.

I’d like to think if we manage to keep hold of Appleton his contacts will mean we loan further gems from the top flight, including the Stretford Red Sox.
 
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