ESL Revisited

[Anubis]

In light of all the shit we’ve taken over the past 24 hours thanks to some epic shithousery from the UK football authorities, would you now take a European Super League if it meant the following:

 

1. It wasn’t a cup competition but rather the best teams playing in a proper league (Chelsea can get to fuck given their fans have led the charge).

 

2. That the ESL took the best players and the advertising revenue away from the PL.

 

3. That we pulled up the drawbridge and left the rest of the PL behind with EFL level football and a massive drop in revenue that would probably drive some of them out of business.

 

4. That it enforced proper financial sustainability rules to keep it competitive.

 

5. That it took the best refs from Europe.

 

Because where before I wouldn’t entertain it, I’d be tempted now.

[Barrington Womble]

I'm not arsed about a few dickheads. Those haters have always been there and we hear it most weeks with their murderers chants. 

 

I'm more concerned about UEFA. They have never been shown capable of running these major games. And here we are 4 months after the champions league final and yet we're still waiting for their whitewash. 

 

In addition to this, uefa as a governing body, but also a a competition organiser who are in direct competition with other competition organisers is not desirable. I do not believe they should be organising with club or international matches as their only concern is to get games on for the benefit of profit, without any thought for the health and safety of either fans or players. So how can they govern for the benefit of all stakeholders, when their priority to make money trump's everything? 

[Kevin D]

This is a shit idea and John Henry is a twat.

[Megadrive Man]

19 minutes ago, Anubis said:

In light of all the shit we’ve taken over the past 24 hours thanks to some epic shithousery from the UK football authorities, would you now take a European Super League if it meant the following:

What's actually happened? I was out all day yesterday.

[Anubis]

26 minutes ago, MegadriveMan said:

What's actually happened? I was out all day yesterday.

The FA and PL announced the games were off on Friday, thinking they’d lead the way for sport and  pat themselves on the back. Within hours Rugny and Cricket announced they were playing on. Everyone started criticising the FA and PL, so late yesterday stories started being planted with sports journos that they’d  decided to do it because they could t trust some fans to observe the national anthem (*cough* Liverpool and Celtic *cough*), at which point the pile on began.

[Colonel Bumcunt]

1 hour ago, Anubis said:

In light of all the shit we’ve taken over the past 24 hours thanks to some epic shithousery from the UK football authorities, would you now take a European Super League if it meant the following:

 

1. It wasn’t a cup competition but rather the best teams playing in a proper league (Chelsea can get to fuck given their fans have led the charge).

 

2. That the ESL took the best players and the advertising revenue away from the PL.

 

3. That we pulled up the drawbridge and left the rest of the PL behind with EFL level football and a massive drop in revenue that would probably drive some of them out of business.

 

4. That it enforced proper financial sustainability rules to keep it competitive.

 

5. That it took the best refs from Europe.

 

Because where before I wouldn’t entertain it, I’d be tempted now.

For so those reasons, that's why I originally backed it and still do.

 

The PL is fucking corrupt, of course it is, for one second do you believe this league is a paragon of virtue against a headwind of government corruption?  It has no interest in being 'fair', it doesn't optimise for 'fair', there's no money in 'fair', the name of the game is brand recognition and TV deals.

They secure TV deals by promising drama and excitement, and with that promise comes the need to grease the wheels.  IE, it's no surprise that 30 years into the PL we still have no recourse to interview or challenge referees, or even mic them up.  It's a stitch-up, and I'm certain there's overseas betting syndicates now involved.

 

 

 

 

[Megadrive Man]

One thing about creating a super league is that in the long run I don't think it would benefit us or the other English clubs.

 

The Premier League clearly helps us from a financial perspective over some of the other big European clubs, so the super league would be a big leveler. I worry that we'd constantly end up in a relegation battle at the bottom of the super league!

[Aventus]

Not enough is being spoken about what UEFA are about to do to the champions league in 2024. 

[Pete]

3 hours ago, Anubis said:

The FA and PL announced the games were off on Friday, thinking they’d lead the way for sport and  pat themselves on the back. Within hours Rugny and Cricket announced they were playing on. Everyone started criticising the FA and PL, so late yesterday stories started being planted with sports journos that they’d  decided to do it because they could t trust some fans to observe the national anthem (*cough* Liverpool and Celtic *cough*), at which point the pile on began.

So the two clubs that have YNWA as a club anthem are effectively walking alone? 
 

 

[TheHowieLama]

1 hour ago, Aventus said:

Not enough is being spoken about what UEFA are about to do to the champions league in 2024. 

Yea, that format is perfect for corruption.

[Tony Moanero]

A ESL doesn’t interest me, as I reckon the trophy would look shit. The Premier League monstrosity is bad enough.

[lifetime fan]

Do people think it would be run any better than the PL or UEFA? 
 

Do people think the ESL would give fans shit load more tickets for finals and turn down the corporate dollar? 

[Barrington Womble]

37 minutes ago, lifetime fan said:

Do people think it would be run any better than the PL or UEFA? 
 

Do people think the ESL would give fans shit load more tickets for finals and turn down the corporate dollar? 

With regards tickets, a massive help would be to not give a quarter to locals who the game means nothing to. 

[lifetime fan]

1 minute ago, Barrington Womble said:

With regards tickets, a massive help would be to not give a quarter to locals who the game means nothing to. 

Agreed. But I’d wager a fair chunk of those end up in the hands of supporters from either of the sides in the final. (They just end up paying over the odds). 

[Megadrive Man]

7 hours ago, Aventus said:

Not enough is being spoken about what UEFA are about to do to the champions league in 2024. 

Wasn't that a change that was pushed for by clubs like us?

[Barrington Womble]

42 minutes ago, lifetime fan said:

Agreed. But I’d wager a fair chunk of those end up in the hands of supporters from either of the sides in the final. (They just end up paying over the odds). 

Definitely. But it would be better if fans of the clubs could buy them directly instead of being ripped off. That whole 2nd hand market for tickets brings about the whole question of the validity of your ticket coming to the ground, so makes security more difficult.  

[George Costanza]

The ESL idea is a massive no no for me but somethings needs to be done about domestic & European football.  Domestically most leagues are completely uncompetitive & in Europe most group stages are far too predictable & boring.

 

There are also far too many games in the football calendar and the new CL format will only heap further burden on players that are already being asked to do too much. Many will say that's what big squads are for but take our rose tinted glasses off as one of the top teams do we really want all the best footballers being monopolised by the richest teams and seeing some great talented players become bit part players in these exceptional squads rather than starring in a team that might be slightly less deeper/talented.

 

Domestic top leagues need reducing to 16 teams max imo. With the quality & finances of the championship over here there is an argument to have a PL1 & PL2 of maybe 14-16 teams each. 

 

In Europe I think there should be some 2 legged knockout games before a much tougher & competitive group stages. Maybe the last 16 should be 4 groups of 4 if they want more of an elite spectacle.

[Freddo]

1 hour ago, MegadriveMan said:

Wasn't that a change that was pushed for by clubs like us?

I think the gist was that clubs wanted extra games for more money. Uefa wanted four, clubs settled on two.

[alles ist gut]

I would like an alternative to UEFA and their mis-management, but if that means (FIFA plus American conglomerates), I’m not convinced that’s any improvement.

[VladimirIlyich]

All the authorities are corrupt and mostly because of the money there is now in the game. Without a giant restructuring and kicking these people out nothing will change. It's like the tory leadership elections,shuffling Titanic deck chairs.

[dockers_strike]

Id prefer the clubs had their own organisation to lead things. Everyone and his dog from FIFA, the Confederations to the FA, want to run the game. The ones who actually participate have, overall, little say.

 

The only problem with clubs running the shop is, there will always be a difference in opinion how things should operate between 'large' clubs and 'small' ones.

 

We see this today in the PL where, effectively, 13 smaller clubs wag the dog. They blocked 5 subs. They prefer clubs in European competition play them at a time that is the biggest disadvantage to them, refusing to switch fixtures from say, Saturday 12:30 kick off because they know it gives them an advantage. They could have declared the 19/20 season null and void and as we all know, a handful actually wanted that.

[Barrington Womble]

the thing with this is there is no right answer. we've all grown up with the pyramid system being integral to the whole sport - both domestically and europe. but the reality is that is breaking now with the money that comes to the very top of teams who are in the CL each year. the same is true between the divisions due to parachute payments. so the pyramid is there, but is harder and harder to climb and various forms of ffp are by design made to maintain the status quo. equally, as ian ayre once said nobody wants to watch bolton - so is any distribution of money fair? 

 

then to add all to this, fifa is desperate to have a bigger club world cup. fifa and uefa both want to expand the size of international tournaments. and while all this happens, people need bigger and bigger squads to cope. 

 

i don't know what is fair or right anymore. and i think that's because no answer to this problem is right. what is clear is across europe, competition in all leagues is dwindling and it is becoming almost pointless. 

[Alan Sex]

It doesn’t interest me at all. 
 

English is my first language, so I don’t require English as a Second Language courses. 

[Daisy]

More than likely be the only way we get back into top level of European competition after this season 

[dandyman]

I much prefer Brideshead Revisited if I’m honest