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Post by borobob on Apr 19, 2021 9:07:38 GMT
Not wishing to say I told you so, but I have said many times before, that the only way Senior football in this country can continue is if the top six money grabbers clear off and join the other like minded Clubs in a 'European Super League', leaving the rest of us to enjoy football on a level field, without the continual money chase!!
The current situation 'may' be a bargaining chip with EUFA to gain more from the Champions League, which again continues the greed theme, but to go against the wishes of EUFA and FIFA would put everyone involved in jeopardy of being isolated from football worldwide. This will almost certainly mean that TV companies would not follow, as would be necessary for its success, and make it a non starter.
IF it could be achieved, eventually, with the blessing of EUFA and FIFA then maybe, just maybe, the rest of our domestic football could settle in to a competition that could be enjoyed without the ongoing financial pressures on the rest of the Clubs.
Luckily 'normal' football at our level will still continue, and maybe even prosper, as supporters turn away from the fantasy world of the Premiership!!
Far from destroying the football pyramid, this scheme could actually enhance it!!!
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Admin
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Post by Admin on Apr 19, 2021 11:30:37 GMT
I don't see how a closed shop Super League would be sustainable if the various country FAs and UEFA mandate that players contracted to any club playing in an unsanctioned competition would automatically disqualify themselves from playing in any sanctioned competitions, ranging from domestic leagues to the World Cup. Yes, a 30+ player going for one more pay day is more likely to take ESL money, but would an ambitious 19 year old?
Chelsea and Man City would find they suddenly have playing squads of 100+ if the players they've loaned out all had to return at once!
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Post by borobob on Apr 19, 2021 16:11:07 GMT
And serves them right Nigel. They all do it! Only signing all these extra players to keep them out of the grasp of others!! Pure greed!!
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Post by Tom Bowen on Apr 19, 2021 16:37:11 GMT
Honestly, bad doesn't even cover it. I think it is the worst decision I've seen in my lifetime and will change the structure of football heavily. Yes in 1992 we had the Premier League, but at that point there was already a top flight division and a lot of the fundamental structure of the game was already there.
Now we have this situation where a group of 12 (6 from England and 3 from Italy and Spain) are involved in a European Super League which brings them a lot more money than they currently already get. And this isn't about the managers or the players or the clubs. It's the billionaire owners and shareholders that want EVEN MORE money than they already have. They couldn't give a monkey's about the history, or the local area, or the sport. It's the dosh they care about.
Gary Neville called this a disgrace on Sky, and I completely understand that both Sky and BT Sport are also not entirely angelic when it comes to revenue, however it's the lesser of two evils. Would you rather have money poured into broadcasting rights and the structure of the footballing system be kept secure, or have the footballing system changed by greedy clubs?
The managers, let me be clear, such as Klopp and Mourinho, completely oppose this idea and is nothing to do with them. As I say, it's to do with the ones at the top. It's the rich getting richer and the ones in the leagues below them and in grassroots suffer and get left behind. An example of this is that, some of the wages that are earned per week by people like Messi and Ronaldo could fund Farnborough FC for an entire season, maybe multiple. And I'm not completely against money in football, but this is the straw that breaks the camel's back and is a step too far.
A glimmer of hope on the positive side tells me that there are still multiple hoops left to jump through before it is fully confirmed and that all the governing bodies will work together to stop it, but I fear it won't be enough. The teams have already started to leave the ECA (European Conference Association) and I don't believe they can be let back in, so they can't play in the domestic leagues (such as Premier League) or continental leagues (such as Champions League) or play in international football (such as the World Cup).
It is a shambles.
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Post by hawleybootboy on Apr 19, 2021 20:40:35 GMT
Thing is this rears it’s head every year or so as the big clubs demand more money for less effort, they threaten to do one and UEFA threatens sanctions before giving them some concessions and it settles down till the next time.
The main movers in England are 4x American owners (Spuds, Arse, Liverpool, Man Ure) who want the guarantees of the closed system of American sports leagues, along with the team backed by the other gulf state that doesn’t have the rights to broadcast the CL (why PSG are not in the 12) & an oligarch. The big 3 in Spain lost the ability recently to individually market their broadcast rights (La Liga only recently adopted collective bargaining for broadcast rights) so are now having to share the money, plus the 3 Italian clubs, one of whom has not qualified for the CL for a long while (AC) and another who will miss-out this season (Juve) and the third who will likely go bust this summer (Inter) through bankruptcy of their Chinese owners.
This has nothing to do with football and everything to do with squeezing more money to boost their coffers... They do not have the funding secured at present, only a team of bankers hawking letters of intent hoping the likes of Saudi Arabia will bank-roll the venture. If it does happen then the playing pool will be very small, so a large number of the world’s best would be playing outside of the Super League whatever happens.
Players play for 2 reasons: glory and the money, there will be none of the former and not much more with the latter should they go to the new league, plus would they take the hit to their careers of ineligibility for international tournaments, normal league and cups? This is not like Kerry Packer with the cricket in the 70s where he offered players a chance to make a good living where they were only paid for 6 months a year, the players this will affect are multi millionaires so it will not be a financially motivated decision of the nature cricket faced back then.
What the leagues should do is to let the clubs go, but at the same time they have no way back unless they start from the very bottom of the pyramid and all the players who choose to go are barred from competing in any national FA sanctioned competition for 5 years... Clubs are nothing without players or without fans to watch a ‘product’ as they are turning the game into, without one or both then the new league after a fanfare will wither and die within a few years, especially with the acrimony that will be created over any promotion/ relegation: if say the Spuds finished bottom by a long way but stay up through being a founding member at the expense of a team who performed better on the pitch, then there is no competitive merit to the whole sorry thing.
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Post by Tom Bowen on Apr 19, 2021 20:46:28 GMT
i knew Garden Bowls was always the better sport.
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Admin
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Post by Admin on Apr 19, 2021 22:51:22 GMT
Well said by Hawley Boot Boy, except for one thing.
I would never penalise the players. We've all seen players at Farnborough having their heads turned by intermediaries. But, young men, sometimes cocky, sometimes not, can and do make poor decisions that don't end well (as I'm certain our manager fully appreciates). It's no different at the top level, except more money is at stake. Off the pitch, these are still just young men - some bright, some not so much.
So I wouldn't penalise players that make poor decisions, I'd give them the opportunity to not repeat them.
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Post by borobob on Apr 19, 2021 23:18:01 GMT
I think we should let them go and play in their fantasy world, but those that choose that path, players, Managers, coaches or Owners, should not be allowed back in to what remains of our Leagues for a minimum of five years after they have left!
Interesting to note that the big German clubs have not shown an interest, or PSG or Real and Barca!! Big money Clubs as well, but could it be something to do with the way those Clubs are structured??
Someone on the Radio this morning was suggesting that Glasgow Rangers should be included!!! Honestly!! I checked the date but it's the 20th of April!!!
However, when the superstars have gone to their own little fantasy playground we could, revert back to four Divisions of, comparably, even standards, and enjoy some decent games for once, without the real financial pressures that exists at the moment. You never know we might actually get to enjoy it again!!
Yes there will be financial casualties along the way, particularly those PL Clubs remaining but live by the sword etc... They all chased the dream didn't they?
Whatever happens, I'm sure that football at our level will still be enjoyable and we might even get a few more disenchanted people from PL Clubs finding out what the real world is!!!
Comeonyouyellowwssaa!! Roll on July/August.
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Post by hawleybootboy on Apr 19, 2021 23:53:00 GMT
German teams (barring Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen and CZ Jena that are historic 'works' teams of Volkswagen, Bayer & Carl Zeiss) are not allowed to be owned by one individual or organisation - they have a model where the maximum ownership is 50%-1 vote and they are all 'social clubs' (same as in Brazil mostly), just very big ones with massive memberships. They have very strict rules over how they can operate so therefore the Super League as proposed is not possible for them to entertain joining.
Barca & Real are joining, with Real along with Man U & Juve the main driving force behind it all... PSG cannot get involved for business & political reasons as they in turn are owned by the owners of broadcast rights for the CL, so would in essence be undermining themselves in weakening the value of their asset by going to join! Spanish clubs are also mostly a kind of social club for ownership, in the way they have elections for a club president over a set term so they have no outright owner, just a president who owns/ controls/ funds the operation for a limited time period only, normally around 4 years from memory. Unlike Germany though their rules of operation are less strict, also the Spanish FA and the Spanish League are 2 separate entities which are continually at loggerheads with each other, unlike over here where the FA and the Premier League are essentially both cheeks of the same arse!
I knew years of listening to European & World football podcasts would one day pay-off!
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Post by borobob on Apr 20, 2021 15:33:11 GMT
Yes I notice that Barca and Real are now in the trough, although they weren't mentioned originally.
With so many other Clubs in Europe being, successfully, fan owned, or controlled, maybe there is some merit in Supporters Trusts after all!!!
One owner with no more than 50% control sounds good to me.
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Admin
Administrator
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Post by Admin on Apr 20, 2021 22:27:49 GMT
So tonight ESL = RIP.
Well I never.
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Post by borobob on Apr 20, 2021 23:00:28 GMT
Victory for sanity!! How did they ever think it would work?
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Post by Tom Bowen on Apr 21, 2021 14:53:16 GMT
Thank the Heavens. The issue is, I still think they're only backtracking on their word because of the threats from the fans. Liverpool owner John Henry put out a video saying he had the "club's best interests" at heart. I feel that if the ESL had been reacted to positively they would never have gone back on their word, so instead their are reverting back to the Premier League to attempt to show that they did care about the fans, whereas in reality they only care about the money. It's been evident over the past few days. They want to show they care about that fans, but they don't. And I won't believe it if they say they do.
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Post by borobob on Apr 21, 2021 17:27:12 GMT
Absolutely right young Tom. I'm not convinced either that the money men in control will ever 'really' appreciate the fans and local communities the Clubs support!
Lets hope that a lot more of theses Clubs Supporters get even more disenchanted with the fantasy world, and trickle down to the real world of non league football eh?
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pugh
1st team regular
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Post by pugh on Apr 21, 2021 20:40:05 GMT
A 30 point deduction and a ten million fine each to be distributed to the grass roots would be good.
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