Rallying cry for fan support from Lincoln City boss Gary Simpson

“As a keen follower of Barcelona, since I first went there in 1990, I knew of Morninho, so yes when I was a twinkle.

Spanish wise, I said they were dying a slow death, not that they were not doing alright in football presently. They did well last year but this year have struggled with the big two getting through and this time the ones in Europa struggling. When the full FFP rules come in it will be interesting to see which clubs are excluded. In fact Athletico Madrid who won last year were being investigated and had their UEFA prize money held back until completion of this. There was an article recently that stated that clubs are having to agree to a plan because they are so worried about them going under as they have spent big to try and compete with the big clubs. Which is what I said initially and to which you dismissed and said Barca were not that wealthy. So now I am not on the platform I have the links so you can give Google a break. For Spain's finance plan because the worry of the health of the teams http://tinyurl.com/a7v8q6v For Barca actually being quite wealthy along with Real http://tinyurl.com/b9ttvcz . Oh and going back to them spending, here is a good article on the £250m spent by Guardiola since 2008 on players. I couldn't remember his name but Chygrynskiy at £20m was the player I was thinking of who cost a shed load and did little. http://tinyurl.com/44v939x

Youth wise I would agree with you full on the issues of coaching and the lack of quality coaching available. We also need more players coming through who are English (not British) and that is a whole can of worms with academies and the new Burton development. But then we are not doing so bad at the moment. The Under 17s have been magnificent and the Under 21s have been doing well. It is when they get to that next step that problems seem to arise. I think a few players are happy to earn a lot of money while learning their trade in the reserves or sidelines. The attitude of Butland with Birmingham was exemplary and I hope that more players who are not quite there yet have a go in the Championship and work their way up. It is one of the better leagues in Europe, I suppose the only problem is the English premium which means that when a player comes to wanting to go to the Premiership they find they have a huge price tag. Compare Zaha of Palace to the Michu now of Swansea and the relative costs and it is not hard to see why the foreign option is more preferable. Ready made talent at a lower price.

Game on Saturday was a roller coaster and have me a sore head on Sunday morning.”

“Spanish football not being in "rude" health, think you mean "good" :) Anyway financially, that maybe the case, football wise? Ermmm again not sure about that sweeping statement Eatmygoal.

No books involved here, but how many Spanish sides contested last years Semi=Finals of the Europa league? Think it was 3 wasn't it, culminating in an "all Spanish" final. The last remaining "English sides" not getting beyond the last 16 I believe, with the Champions league semi finals featuring 2 Spanish sides last season. Yes the mighty Blues won it!

This season we have 3 Spanish sides still in the Champions League, with no representation from the Premier League. However there are no Spanish sides left in the Europa league this season with 3 from the Premier league. The Spanish national side currently holding the title of "World Champions" and are the only nation to win back to back Euro nations, with England only ever contesting and winning one final nearly half a century ago!

Going on the above, I can't see too many weaknesses in the Spanish game just yet. Yes it may all change, as it could in the English game!

They have made great investment in the grass roots football over the years, whereby they have around 30,000 coaches, and by coaches I don't mean "dads" doing there bit on a Saturday morning, I'm meaning people with UEFA licenses in comparison to this country's 2'900 coaches.

Anyway best get myself sorted for today's game, if its still on!”

“Eatmygoal, you are making a lot of assumptions, regarding my knowledge of football. I did look up some dates, as some of your remarks gave me cause to do so, as I was pretty sure some of your statements were and are inaccurate, and also to verify that I was correct with my facts, before responding to you. I wasn't sure how long Jose was manager of Benfica, I thought it was only a month, turns out it was 3.

My knowledge of the game does indeed come from books, internet, being involved in certain areas of the game, and other forms of press and media. Nothing wrong in gaining information by using these sources, after all, "knowledge is power" Eatmygoal.

I am very interested to establish where you gain your knowledge of the game, obviously not through books or the internet etc.,the station announcer maybe? :)

Oh and I suspect I had heard about Jose, probably whilst you were still a twinkle in your fathers eye mate.:)

Anyway, still you fail to understand the whole point of my statement, which from you, I find very disappointing.

As for Lincoln youth players not making the same route, as I have said many times, they just aren't given the opportunity, which is something that is not unique to Lincoln. I wouldn't be at all surprised if GS hasn't got a clue who some of the young lads are.

It isn't much better at the top clubs either. If a lad's dad is a former player, he will get looked at straight away, just like Beckham's lad had a trial at Chelsea recently. However, if your name is "Joe Bloggs", you won't even get a response. Oh I know they'll be inundated with parents claiming their son is the next Beckham, which can be a problem. The top clubs Academys are full of lads from overseas, which for me, should be stopped or at least capped. One of my sons played against Arsenal U14's a few years ago, in a tournament run by Everton FC. The Arsenal squad only had 4 "British" lads in it, out of a squad of 16.

Anyway I shall be at the game tomorrow, would be interested in meeting you too, be good to put a face to the post :)

Have a safe journey mate.”

“UEFA should read europa”

“Nigel, wiki must be smoking from your use of it. Kind if illustrates a point that you had no idea who Jose was until he started performing his magic with major money behind him. At the risk of repeating myself he had to delve into the market each time and spend to get his teams, whether that was with Leniera, Porto etc. I noted that he came into Porto in January and also noted they were third so was not exactly a massive turn around job he would face here. He relied on transfers at all those clubs, as Simpson is now. The first three clubs he joined faced no transfer window then he signed. Now he needs to sign when one is open to get going.

Barca wise they earn a third of the TV revenue in Spain with Real having another third. The rest goes to the other teams. Barca have 80k+ attending each match and globally have some of the biggest shirt sales. That they had a 300m cash flow issue shows how prolifigate they are such as signing Ibrahimavic for something like 30m and giving Inter Eto. Yes they have good products in their youth, but they also spend a lot to compliment it. And going back to the youth point, fabregas was made by Arsenal, otherwise you could argue San Lorenzo (I think) made Messi and he refers to himself as a "leper". Going back to it, not many Lincoln youth players have made the same route, but you left that bit.

As for Spain in general not being in rude health, they were very close to not having many teams and are not what they were in UEFA which perhaps hints at the weakness coming in further down the leagues, where as the prem has three so which league is top heavy? Money wise, Michu cost £2m from Valencia who needed the money. They are owned by the state effectively to save them going under. Numerous other clubs have not paid their players for months, there was a strike by players not so long ago. Lots are in admin and continue to be so as there is no points penalty in Spain for this. A number of teams don't have shirt sponsors because businesses can't afford to back them anymore.

When you start going on about understanding points and others knowledge of football, I am writing this while waiting for a train. I'll leave you to get back to your books before your reply. I hope to see you at Sincil Bank ready for tomorrow, heart in mouth time mate! The draw was better than a win and hope it leaves Nuneaton shattered!”

“There is no need to be sorry to me Nigella,i was just commenting,not looking for a debate :)”

“Just for the record Eatmygoal, Mourinho took over at Benfica not at the start of the season, but 4 games in during Sept 2000 and was manager for just 9 league games, departing 5th Dec 2000. He took over at União de Leiria with 7 league games left in April 2001 winning 5 drawing 1 losing 1.They had won 10 out of their previous 27 league games. He left that club in January 2002, to take over at Porto. Porto were lying 5th in the league at the time, with 15 games to go. He took them on a run of winning 11 drawing 2 losing 2 finishing 3rd. So the clubs he took over for the start of a season were Chelsea, Inter, and Real. the other 3 when the seasons were under way, at various stages. Can't see that he would have spent "lots" in his first 2 managerial posts, especially at União de Leiria, as they have never had "lots" of money.”

“Hey minty how you doing? where you been lately? been missing you.

Sorry mincy,I can't help it if people wish to respond to my posts, and open up a debate, just an uncanny knack that I have I suppose :)”

“Eatmygoal , I started by saying "I would guarantee, that if someone like Mourinho were to manage the club, with his modern approach and outlook on the game, he would turn the fortunes of this club around in this league, without delving into the transfer market".

You obviously didn't understand my point. I perhaps should have made it clearer. I was trying to make the point that he could turn around our fortunes with the current squad available to him without delving into the transfer market.

You responded by saying " Nigel, name me a club Morinho went to that hadn't spent lots of money or had lots of money?

I then gave you an answer " União de Leiria FC" which is correct my learned friend. They are a club that has a history of poor financial stability. By the way Mourhino was in charge of Benfica for just 9 games before he resigned, not sure how much money he spent, or what you deem as being lots?

Seems like when you are proved wrong you wish to move the "goalposts" to suit your argument.

I will also have to correct you on a couple of points regarding Barcelona and some of the players you mention.

Pique was a product of their youth system, as was Fabregas. Yes they left and have returned, however my point is, they were products of their "academy". Without trying too hard, here are some more world class players they have produced. Valdes,Puyol,Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Thiago, Pedro, Messi, Tello.

I did say in my post, if you had read it properly, "Whilst I appreciate they have spent "big" in the past, most of their current first team squad are products of their own "academy".

Your quote of, Barcelona have "shed loads" of money behind them, maybe you can tell me then, why they couldn't pay their players wages for two months back in the summer of 2011?

The Spanish league has always been mainly about the two clubs you mention, ever since I can remember anyway, punctuated by the emergence of the likes of Valencia, and more recently Athletco Madrid, and Malaga.

Your comment that the Spanish league is dying doesn't stack up really does it, when you consider 3 of the last 8 in this years champions league are from the Spanish league, and for the first time since 1996 I think, not 1 Premier League side is left in the competition.So which league is "slowly dying"?

You mention other clubs going "bust" trying to keep up with Real and Barca, which clubs are they? I know Malaga even now are struggling financially, Villareal and Real Ovideo, and Real Zaragoza have all struggled too financially, but I'm not sure who has gone "bust " though.

Anyway Nuneaton have drawn 2-2, lets hope they run out of steam on Saturday, 3 games in what 4 days must take its toll on them, hopefully.”

“Hi Billy

"The negativity is that you are expecting them to lose".

To lose what? The next game? or Our blue square premier status? I am expecting them to win the next game Billy, however, unless this manager changes his tactics etc. I do fear that we will , ultimately, lose our Blue Square Premier status.”