At the top of the food chain, however, fans are more sensitive. They have ideas about their club. It’s not just a motley crew: it’s a destination. The table is tilted in the big clubs’ favour, and it would be rude of the players not to be grateful to roll on down. But if a club is just a vehicle for a player’s lust for cash and glory, the dynamic changes. As much as it’s a privilege for a player to join a big club, it’s become a privilege for the club to have the player. The distance between the player and the supporter is thus more explicit than ever before. This disconnect prompts an ever-growing melancholy in the supporter of the big club. the supporter may alleviate it by invoking the club’s long and proud history, or by pointing out the permanence of the club and its suporters’ loyalty, or by figuratively waving around the club’s riches in fans of high-denomination banknotes. But it’s still there, as the supporter waits for the player to give the yea or nay. You’re at the mercy of those you once expected to serve you like hired help. The fan of the big club is like a royal removed from the civil list.