A certain baseball team owner died today, but since most people here don't care about that sport, I won't start a thread about the man. All you really need to know is that this guy was not very popular in the U.S. outside of fans of the team he owned. And that team had the most expensive payroll in the entire world. (Based on average salary of the starting roster---not the entire team.)

http://www.sportingintelligence.com/...-shade-280301/

The interesting thing is that #2, #3, and #4 on the list are all European football teams. (Even more interesting is that none of them are Manchester United.) I imagine that those teams are also disliked your side of the pond as that baseball team is here---and the owners who pay those salaries must REALLY be popular with fans of other teams.

So which football team owner do you hate the most and why? Or do you just hate certain teams and could care less about the owner?

Far too many hate threads tonight...

Al Davis because he ruined my team :'(

Absolutely, I always hated Al Davis too, but then I as a Seahawks fan at the time, I never liked any other team in the AFC West that had a better record than the guys in blue. Davis perpetrated the Raiders "bad boy" image as a nemesis to Landry's holier than angels Cowboys, but their record never reflected Dallas's success.

On the flip side, most 'Boro fans love Gibson as he has usually supported his managers to the hilt (although Southgate leaving was a bit of a poke in the eye), is realistic with the club's funds and wages, and fundamentally supports his own childhood team.

Many fans across the football fraternity in England are recognisant of this.

That said, let's see were "South of the border Celtic" take us this year...

Simple choice of 4 really isn't it?

The Glazers and Hicks/Gillett for financially trashing their clubs (although the rest of us might be glad about that)
Abramovitch for splashing way too much cash, distorting the transfer market and pushing a nobody club with no real tradition to a place it doesn't belong
The Arabs at Man Citeh for doing the same (at least the first part) but even more so.

Jerry Jones is a douche for sure. I am not saying his tactics don't win, but he has a shotty record at best with hirings/firings of coaches in the recent past. I am not really a fan of Alex Spanos either due to his firing of Schottenheimer a few years back...

Two words: Hicks and Gillett.

NEXT TOPIC!!!

Quick comment on Al Davis. Speaking as somebody whose worst memory of my adolescence was watching the Raiders destroy my Redskins in the 1984 Super Bowl (XVIII), it's sad to see both Al Davis' reputation and that of his team plummet so precipitously. You know, not many coaches have led their team to two NFL titles as Tom Flores has, but up until now he's not been given credit for that accomplishment because fans have assumed Al Davis was the real genius and he was pulling the strings. Is it possible that Flores won not because of Al Davis but IN SPITE of him????

Absolutely

Funny thing about Malcolm Glazer---he's hated as BOTH types of football owner---the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL and Manchester United F.C. of the Premiere League. Both Bucs and Man U. fans hate him for the same reason---he bit off more than he could chew in buying MU and he doesn't have enough money to keep both teams winning. That might almost be tolerated in central Florida---Bucs fans are used to losing---but not so much with fans of the most famous European football team in the world.

I've read that there is going to be a British documentary that will go after the Glazers for their financial problems:

http://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Br...ly-BBD2125.htm

That being said, I'm grateful to Malcolm Glazer for one thing. Remember how I said that I hated the Raiders? I have seen many Super Bowl routs in my lifetime, but I have never really enjoyed them---even when my team was doing the routing. (It wasn't that I was unhappy, but in '88 I was shocked and in '92 there was no suspense and I was spoiled.) But in 2003 when the Buccaneers destroyed the Raiders 48-21, I was grinning from ear to ear until the final gun. I call that one the Schadenfreude Bowl, and I thank Malcom Glazer for making it possible.

I'll declare an interest here has a long suffering Citeh fan ....

Nobody ever has had an issue with rich benefactors in football ... Manyoo, Leeds (haha), AC Milan, Roma, Real Madrid, Bayern, Barcelona etc.

The the arabs come in a buy Citeh, and it's a huge issue. I can't work out why - racism perhaps or jealously.

The Hicks/ Gillette thang and the Manyoo take over are far more unsavoury for the long term health of the sport. It's just assest stripping. But the Manyoo were sold down the river by the perious owners ....

So Citeh will try and buy success the league and champions league - hell, it's never been done before has it - Chelsea, United, Barca and Real Mardeid being the prime examples ....

Modern sport has always been about who can buy and nurture the best talent.
It's not good for the England team ... but then the FA is a shambles and they should start there ..

Perhaps it's time that the FIFA made sure that all clubs are going concerns- but then they would have to pacify Roman A, Berlesconi, The Spansh Government etc.

And Sepp's bank balance may not be quite as healthy !!

All the English fans went nuts when Roman did the same thing with Chelsea. Man C are getting more stick for it tho because it hasn't worked yet and it is quite funny because of that. I wonder if the City fans who were saying it was awful that Chelsea bought success have switched teams yet......

There is a difference. ManUtd was one of the few PROFITABLE football clubs. Chelsea is yet to make a profit, and I guess city is also making an operating loss.

ManUtd did buy success. But they did it with the money they generated themselves as a successfully run club.

Yes ManUtd's take over is very unhealty. It went from almost debt free to being like GBP500m in debt. Now all the profits they make is used to pay interest payments.