CiC

Ok, so i know many on here rather not talk about football, but... omg at Notts County, they have just landed Sol Campbell... and not long ago, they were saying that they aren't going for him.

For those that don't know, Notts County is a League 2 side (bottom division) and were struggling, they were crap and low down and in need of a new owner. Then Munto Finance... some extremely wealthy people, purchased them. Now they got an ex-England Manager as their director of football and have been signing premiership players, one is Sol Campbell, who is apparently the only player to have played in 6 major international tourneys, that means he's been playing at the very top level for at least 12 years... but england wasn't in the last major tourney, so it's more likely 14-15 years.

He claims it's not for the money, it's for the challenge of getting Notts County in the prem and playing in the prem with them. He's 35 and just done a 5 year contract. Some premiership clubs were after him but didn't offer long term deals, so he took the deal that keeps him in football longest. Tbh, thats balls.

He's only joined for the money and it's confirming that players only join for the cash. It's totally unheard of for a player to drop down to the lowest teir in english league football, unless perhaps they are a manager/player-manager, especially when they have offers from teams that play european football.

I'm from Nottingham (if you didn't already know) but support Forest, and I'm all up for nottinghamshire teams doing well. I remember the day when Foest and County were top teir teams playing each other. Those days were good. but this way of doing things will kill the modern game and totally restructure the way leagues currently look, and for that reason, I hope they fail in their mission of fast track to the premiership. They could have signed players from their own division or the division above and done equally as well this season, then do same next season, etc, and progress through skill and tactics.

Other investers typically go after instant success teams and buy premiership teams, eg Man City or Chelsea, but these teams cost big money and then you need to spend big... now if they see you can buy cheap teams and fast track them to the top flight, it's gonna kill off the game and we'll be seeing fixtures such as Barnet vs AC Milan. :/

:/ And to top it off... a team that sells a wheelbarrow as club merchandise in their club shop deserves to be a crap team.

A 5 year deal at 35 is a good reason to join a club too.

How much are the wheelbarrows?

tbh he was offered more by the prem teams but joined county simply for the lenght of contract and the offer of a coaching role after his playing days, that imo is a great bit of business for campbell who doesnt really need the money, i would join a low team if i was promised a longer career, and i would rather these lower teams get bought and not go under like southampton and other smaller teams. It brings some excitment to the lower leagues and im really looking forward to seeing how far they can go.

good on campbell tho, i would have done the same im afraid

he said he not interested in coaching and plans to play until he's 40, on radio nottingham... the shittest local radio alive. I'm happy for good players to take a step down, but i think he's doing it for the wrong reasons personally.

all for teams getting bought and not going under as well, cos hate it when teams have to go into administration, though it's their own fault it can make some divisions pointless, like league 2 last season, there was no such thing as a relegation battle as it was decided who'd be relegated straight away. I just want teams to get bought out and not given money for nothing. Now county need to perform or the team will be destroyed. This was proven a few years back, when i believe it was northwich victoria or some other none league team had been bought out. Though the guy who purchased them was no Munto Finance, or even close, he had enough money to overshadow the whole division.... then a couple of losses and he got bored and decided to sell up. Northwich had to sell all their players and basically restart, even players they did have had to leave to save the team from going under.

Also i disagree about it bringing excitement to lower leagues. From the perspective of a fan of a team in the premiership, will look interesting yes, but from teams in their division it doesn't. Plenty of excitement in the lower leagues already forest used to be in league one and been to matches where you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. If and when they start getting promoted, it'll be better then.... lots of ex-forest players in the county side, and a few of my old favs who i'd like to see do well, but this season will look more like a gimmick for them

think diff ppl feel diff then, im really looking forward to L2 but then again i got a soft spot for both notts teams

yeah this could be a good thing for the league, but to many teams are too wealthy as it is.

so.........

latest news just in. Sol Campbell walked out on a training session and has asked his agent to get him out of his contract with Notts County.

I had some respect for him choosing a lower team than a prem/championship, so long as he did it for the right reasons, but now he's quitting after 1 match :/

aye makes him look like a twat imo

Aye all confirmed now he's left the club by mutual consent. Pretty disappointing in my eyes.