Arsenal (A) - CC Semi Final 2nd (not 1st!) leg, Thu 20th Jan 2022 (7:45pm)

[Aventus]

14 minutes ago, MegadriveMan said:

Is the Shrewsbury game likely to go ahead? 

Still no match thread for it. 

 

Trumo can go in January, he's slacking. 

[Aventus]

19 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

I think there's was a lot of misinformation, mainly put out by fat samuel and the rest of the sports media over the Euro League.

 

It was never posited as a replacement to domestic leagues. This was a figment of samuel and co's imagination. The league was to replace UEFA's Champions League which also incidentally, UEFA was discussing having no relegation for certain European clubs.

 

The league was to launch with a number of clubs initially with a small number of annual qualifiers to boost the numbers. It wasnt the closed shop samuel and co proposed.

 

The big failing of the Euro League is they didnt publish or explain their proposals for launch and expansion clearly or expansively enough. But it's water under the bridge now.

 

I respect people's views like Ronnie who dont like the idea but in my view, it was an opportunity to right a lot of current wrongs in football and for clubs to be in charge instead of a bunch of administrators who dont give a fuck about the players and, more importantly, the fans.

So frustrating, they had a chance to implement some real change and they got greedy. Cunts. 

 

The fact they made the announcement before Uefa made their proposals for the champions league didn't help either, what they're about to do to that competition is disgraceful but it got forgotten about instantly because the media didn't kick off about it even a fraction of how they did about the super league. 

[VladimirIlyich]

8 minutes ago, Aventus said:

So frustrating, they had a chance to implement some real change and they got greedy. Cunts. 

 

The fact they made the announcement before Uefa made their proposals for the champions league didn't help either, what they're about to do to that competition is disgraceful but it got forgotten about instantly because the media didn't kick off about it even a fraction of how they did about the super league. 

You really believe another organisation full of wealthy clubs would have any more consideration for the average fan than the current lot? I really dont believe that for a minute.

[dockers_strike]

6 minutes ago, VladimirIlyich said:

You really believe another organisation full of wealthy clubs would have any more consideration for the average fan than the current lot? I really dont believe that for a minute.

What, you seriously believe if the clubs were running the show the majority of final tickets wouldnt go to those fans instead of sponsors and hangers on? You believe the clubs would charge the same as UEFA do for their finals? You believe the clubs wouldnt take account of fans travel arrangements for away games either? You believe the clubs would allow tv companies to schedule games and not give a fuck about fans getting to the stadium never mind getting home afterwards?

 

If you always look for negatives, dont be surprised to find them.

[Aventus]

45 minutes ago, VladimirIlyich said:

You really believe another organisation full of wealthy clubs would have any more consideration for the average fan than the current lot? I really don't believe that for a minute.

They might not have any more consideration for the average fan, but at least they'd have the best interest of the clubs at heart, even if it's for selfish reasons. Which is more than we can say for FIFA and UEFA.

[TheHowieLama]

2 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Leicester were hardly paupers either. They'd had a massive cash injection around that time too. They also had a world class manager who they were paying handsomely too. It was no fairytale.

They spent @ 70 mil in the two windows before winning the title.

[Barrington Womble]

4 hours ago, Ronnie Whelan said:

Spot on. I think in this country, others didn't kick up a fuss and might not for a few years. Tottenham fans might hate Chelsea, but were somewhat happy for them to knock Arsenal off their perch. Everyone was happy for City and Chelsea to do that to United - I was guilty of that if I'm being honest. Likewise, few non-Liverpool fans in this country were too bothered when City stopped us winning the title in 2014 and 2019. It was basically a right laugh for them.

The penny will start dropping when United and Arsenal become even less of a relevance and the other big clubs drop further down the ladder. 

I don't like the ESL because I like a world where a Derby can win the league or PSV or Celtic can win a European Cup. I suppose I need to face reality that those days are long gone (yeah I know Leicester a few years ago) and an ESL is better than City, Chelsea and Newcastle winning the league every year and us fighting for scraps.

I don't think anyone but arsenal and man United fans will morn them becoming irrelevant against a backdrop of petro clubs. Same if it happens to us. But even without those clubs, the whole thing is fucked anyway. Without trying to sound like an evertonian, the gulf in wealth between the top clubs, middle clubs, yo-yo clubs and the championship and beyond is immense and almost impossible to bridge, because wealth breeds more wealth with the system we've helped create. And across Europe, the CL money has made league after league uncompetitive - which for some must make it even more tedious as nobody can compete in Europe and their league is a one man band. I know loads of people get upset and emotional about city and Chelsea thinking they're some type of cheats. But when we helped rig the game in our favour, we were no different really, it's just we got to write the rules where as they just ignore them - it's like comparing Tories and piers Corbyn, they're all wrong.

 

I don't know what the answer is because you can't just go back. But the game is fucked with or without the petro clubs. 

58 minutes ago, Aventus said:

So frustrating, they had a chance to implement some real change and they got greedy. Cunts. 

 

The fact they made the announcement before Uefa made their proposals for the champions league didn't help either, what they're about to do to that competition is disgraceful but it got forgotten about instantly because the media didn't kick off about it even a fraction of how they did about the super league. 

I can't believe how the new CL format has just been ignored. And it sounds just fucking shit. And perhaps is illustrating more than ever that there's no sporting interest. It's just ways to fill TV slots and make loads of cash. If the competition suffers, they don't give a fuck. All the top clubs involved with the ESL share the blame for this too, as they drove uefa in this direction. 

[CapeRed]

7 minutes ago, Barrington Womble said:

I don't think anyone but arsenal and man United fans will morn them becoming irrelevant against a backdrop of petro clubs. Same if it happens to us. But even without those clubs, the whole thing is fucked anyway. Without trying to sound like an evertonian, the gulf in wealth between the top clubs, middle clubs, yo-yo clubs and the championship and beyond is immense and almost impossible to bridge, because wealth breeds more wealth with the system we've helped create. And across Europe, the CL money has made league after league uncompetitive - which for some must make it even more tedious as nobody can compete in Europe and their league is a one man band. I know loads of people get upset and emotional about city and Chelsea thinking they're some type of cheats. But when we helped rig the game in our favour, we were no different really, it's just we got to write the rules where as they just ignore them - it's like comparing Tories and piers Corbyn, they're all wrong.

 

I don't know what the answer is because you can't just go back. But the game is fucked with or without the petro clubs. 

I can't believe how the new CL format has just been ignored. And it sounds just fucking shit. And perhaps is illustrating more than ever that there's no sporting interest. It's just ways to fill TV slots and make loads of cash. If the competition suffers, they don't give a fuck. All the top clubs involved with the ESL share the blame for this too, as they drove uefa in this direction. 

I dont think ESL drove uefa to the new format. I believe they were always going to expand it out of greed just as they pushed out the Nations league for internationals. For the same reason FIFA are trying to get a world cup every 2 years.....money , money , money and fuck the fans.

[Harry Squatter]

 

 

 

 

[Anubis]

Has everyone stopped crying about the postponement yet.

[Kevin D]

9 minutes ago, Harry Squatter said:

 

 

 

 

 

[sir roger]

5 minutes ago, Anubis said:

Has everyone stopped crying about the postponement yet.

Not me , I've fuck all to do tonight now.

[Halcyon Days]

9 hours ago, Ronnie Whelan said:

I don't like the ESL because I like a world where a Derby can win the league or PSV or Celtic can win a European Cup. I suppose I need to face reality that those days are long gone (yeah I know Leicester a few years ago) and an ESL is better than City, Chelsea and Newcastle winning the league every year and us fighting for scraps.

Same here long for the days of well ran clubs getting their rewards. ESL goes against all every principle I hold in everyday life but with footy now I think just fuck it all, scorch earth policy all the way.

[VladimirIlyich]

5 hours ago, TheHowieLama said:

They spent @ 70 mil in the two windows before winning the title.

So about 70 million more than our net spend.

[VladimirIlyich]

6 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

What, you seriously believe if the clubs were running the show the majority of final tickets wouldnt go to those fans instead of sponsors and hangers on? You believe the clubs would charge the same as UEFA do for their finals? You believe the clubs wouldnt take account of fans travel arrangements for away games either? You believe the clubs would allow tv companies to schedule games and not give a fuck about fans getting to the stadium never mind getting home afterwards?

 

If you always look for negatives, dont be surprised to find them.

I am just going by the club trying to increase ticket prices way beyond the racket they are now,or trying to originally furlough the staff during covid and stuff like that. I trust none of them.

[TheHowieLama]

5 minutes ago, VladimirIlyich said:

So about 70 million more than our net spend.

Those two windows we were spending like drunken sailors.

We bought Benteke FFS.

[Supremolad]

7 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

You really believe another organisation full of wealthy clubs would have any more consideration for the average fan than the current lot? I really dont believe that for a minute.

Exactly. I really think people who supported the ESL are being naive if they think the likes of Madrid, Barca and Juve were fronting it in a bid to cure the ills of football.

 

Perez especially is a cunt. How can anyone consider him a trustworthy alternative when he was one of the instigators of football's decay in the first place. Getting huge sums to relieve their massive debts is the biggest reason the two Spanish clubs are so adamant about the ESL. Not because they are interested in solving any of the sport's problems.

 

On paper, some of the principles of the ESL look great. But in reality, it would have been a miracle if it actually ended up improving the sport in any form. UEFA initially did expand and change the format of the CL to try and appease some of those big clubs, who still rebelled anyway as soon as they saw a bigger paycheck. They are all greedy fucks, UEFA and the ESL clubs. 

[AngryOfTuebrook]

23 hours ago, VERBAL DIARRHEA said:

Just read him basically saying, Klopp played kids against Villa and never attended as he was on his winters break? He was at the WCC you twat. 

As if a Goon would understand about stuff like that.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

On 05/01/2022 at 22:10, Aventus said:

 

 

 

 

 

What a beautiful moment to catch on video, you can see the exact second his arse goes. 

 

 

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Harry is not amused

[Reckoner]

9 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

I think there's was a lot of misinformation, mainly put out by fat samuel and the rest of the sports media over the Euro League.

 

It was never posited as a replacement to domestic leagues. This was a figment of samuel and co's imagination. The league was to replace UEFA's Champions League which also incidentally, UEFA was discussing having no relegation for certain European clubs.

 

The league was to launch with a number of clubs initially with a small number of annual qualifiers to boost the numbers. It wasnt the closed shop samuel and co proposed.

 

The big failing of the Euro League is they didnt publish or explain their proposals for launch and expansion clearly or expansively enough. But it's water under the bridge now.

 

I respect people's views like Ronnie who dont like the idea but in my view, it was an opportunity to right a lot of current wrongs in football and for clubs to be in charge instead of a bunch of administrators who dont give a fuck about the players and, more importantly, the fans.

It’s not true that people were against it because they misunderstood it. There would have been loads more games, meaning a second team would be playing in the domestic league. This would devalue the league massively, and probably lead to the big six leaving it altogether, to play the same meaningless fixtures, week after week, month after month. 

[Vincent Vega]

Some of the replies are funny as fuck. 

 

[Anubis]

‘Who left the gate to the cunt farm open?’ is my fave.

[dockers_strike]

1 hour ago, Reckoner said:

It’s not true that people were against it because they misunderstood it. There would have been loads more games, meaning a second team would be playing in the domestic league. This would devalue the league massively, and probably lead to the big six leaving it altogether, to play the same meaningless fixtures, week after week, month after month. 

I actually said there was misinformation 'mainly put out' by the likes of fat samuel.

 

The argument about playing 2nd teams in domestic leagues due to European competition is the very reason we have the EFL Cup today. Alan Hardacker and co at the Football League didnt want 'their' clubs competing in the fledgling European Cup and Inter Cities Fairs Cup, the latter actually being a FIFA organised competition.

 

So they dreamt up their own midweek competition that is now called the EFL Cup. They even threw in a Wembley Final when numerous First Division clubs including ourselves refused to enter. Then the final ignominy, they offered a Fairs \ UEFA Cup spot to the winners.

[Ronnie Whelan]

23 hours ago, DaveT said:

Leicester were the exception that proved the modern day rule. Magnificent achievement, but it only happened because they were knocked out of the cups early, had hardly any injuries - and most importantly, the big money clubs were in a bit of a lull, before re-grouping (i.e. spending a fortune) and disappearing off over the horizon. They won it with a paltry 81 points, ffs! We managed to muscle in, mainly thanks to Klopp.

I remember competing for titles with the likes of QPR ('76?), Watford, Derby, Forest..... clubs that were competing of the back of pure managerial ability and clever, but not necessarily extravagant transfer dealings.

Now, a billion pound investment gets you titles, plus an infrastructure to sustain that success. That will be Newcastle in about 4 years and the likes of us, Spurs, Arsenal, even ManU, clubs that choose to live within their means, will become also-rans. The whole thing is becoming increasingly more pointless. If I feel that way, supporting a club with one of the biggest fan bases in the world and top 10 (5?) for revenue, what must it be like to support mid- and lower-table teams who seem to exist only in order to .....exist? They mostly field weakened teams in cup competitions so that they can focus on staying in the Premier League....... and getting thrashed by City. 

 

Whislt the closed-shop nature of the ESL was a massive own goal, the media in its entirety overlooked one of the objectives, which was to put in place tighter controls on the spending of City, Chelsea and the like, which UEFA failed so miserably to do. Now, they and Newcastle, have a feee hand to do what they like. 

 

Fuck me, I'm a miserable git this morning, but 18 months of shielding (my wife is immunocompromised) and not being able to use my season ticket - plus the general state of football - can have that effect.

Really sorry to hear about your wife Dave. Football is just a bit of a laugh in the bigger picture of things. Once your family and all of our families are okay that's the main thing.