This Saudi Pro League

[Dave D]

I find it strange- most of these players have so much money already. Neves for example-does it not tug at him as a footballer that he could be pulling on the shirt of clubs with such history and heritage throughout Europe- living the very dream you had growing up of playing for Liverpool, Benfica, Real, AC Milan, Juventus, United, Munich- you'd be looking in the mirror pinching yourself that you actually play for them. The chance to join the legends 

 

Now he will pull on the Al Hilal shirt. He must have just mentally switched off 

 

I suppose its not much different to players falling over themselves to play for City- there was no attraction other than money- they certainly wouldnt make the list above. In their favour- they compete in what is seen as the best league in the world 

[Harry Squatter]

Neves was touted as some generational talent when he was 19. I remember when Klopp took over and we were linked with him when he was at Porto. Then he just ends up at Wolves because his agent wanted to earn some money and now Saudi Arabia.

[Scott_M]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

I’d like to see us win another league and champions league with Jurgen on charge. Then I can bin Football off and never worry about it again.  

Have to admit, I’d be close.

 

I’d like to see us back emulate what we had when I started going - 4 European Cups and the most titles.

 

I’ve seen 2 European Cups and we need 2 titles to re-overtake the mancs. 
 

Get that and I’ll die happy. 

[Scott_M]

3 hours ago, dave u said:

 

Would be a disgrace if they allow that.

 

The World Club Cup may be about to get much more interesting though.

I agree it would be a disgrace. 
 

I bet London to Riyadh is only 4-5 hours. 
 

They’ll be wanting to host the final or Super Cup or CWC first, they won’t be jumping straight into the CL.
 

Might take >20 years but it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the end game.

 

They really are pushing non-oil investments hard now. I read somewhere they have a big stake in Nintendo as well. They are turning their shore of the Red Sea or Arabian Sea (can’t remember which) into a huge Dubai-esq holiday resort. 

[Colonel Bumcunt]

1 hour ago, Harry Squatter said:

Neves was touted as some generational talent when he was 19. I remember when Klopp took over and we were linked with him when he was at Porto. Then he just ends up at Wolves because his agent wanted to earn some money and now Saudi Arabia.

Yeah, him moving to Wolves was more prescient.

 

I have no problems with the Saudi League.

[VladimirIlyich]

22 minutes ago, Colonel Bumcunt said:

Yeah, him moving to Wolves was more prescient.

 

I have no problems with the Saudi League.

Not like you to disagree with the majority opinion.

[TheHowieLama]

Twenty years?? As if.

 

They will be included in some capacity in the next few years - no doubt.

[Scott_M]

I might have a chance to visit there towards the end of the year.

 

My wife works for a law firm who are expanding out there. She’d be a PM in some system delivery. She’s said she would feel comfortable without her husband there to protect her.
 

Sounds easy - get in the taxi with her to the office, spend all day by the pool, get the a taxi home with her and done! I hope it happens!

[redrosetints]

7 hours ago, El Rojo said:

I hope that European Super League becomes a reality in the near future. It seems a wholesome idea at this stage.

It will be this with Saudi and Quatari teams in it. Closed shop like US sports.

[Scott_M]

25 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

Twenty years?? As if.

 

They will be included in some capacity in the next few years - no doubt.

 

I don’t agree. People will flat out reject it within the next <5 years or so. They’ll need to gradually build up to it via the events I mentioned. 
 

They’ve only signed like a dozen players from Europe so far, they’ll need to ramp that up significantly to be taken seriously. 

[TheHowieLama]

2 minutes ago, Scott_M said:

 

I don’t agree. People will flat out reject it within the next <5 years or so. They’ll need to gradually build up to it via the events I mentioned. 
 

They’ve only signed like a dozen players from Europe so far, they’ll need to ramp that up significantly to be taken seriously. 

 

They have signed a dozen in the last few months. By the end of this window I think it will be double that. Any decent player on a Bosman will be targeted going forward. LFC alone has two of our most iconic players of all time onboard ( ironically God is on their side) in management and the most loved player in Klopps reign to boot.

Which people will reject it? How?

[Scott_M]

15 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

 

They have signed a dozen in the last few months. By the end of this window I think it will be double that. Any decent player on a Bosman will be targeted going forward. LFC alone has two of our most iconic players of all time onboard ( ironically God is on their side) in management and the most loved player in Klopps reign to boot.

Which people will reject it? How?

Supporters rejected the ESL, I think this could cause equal backlash.

 

I do think the current set up with UEFA would be difficult to muscle themselves in on.
 

Actually supporting the ESL or an alternative breakaway from UEFA would be their best bet, IMO - I think that gets more support by the year…

[TheHowieLama]

I think  - to use the words of the great George "Little" Bush - you are misunderestimating what stacks of cash can accomplish. Quickly.

 

The fact that some English fans got riled up to make sure the likes of Derby or Sheffield United had a few days in the sun says nothing. Well, it says something but not a good thing.

 

They were able to change the timing of the World Cup, then drape the greatest living player in ceremonial dress on the trophy stand. 

[Scott_M]

33 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

I think  - to use the words of the great George "Little" Bush - you are misunderestimating what stacks of cash can accomplish. Quickly.

 

The fact that some English fans got riled up to make sure the likes of Derby or Sheffield United had a few days in the sun says nothing. Well, it says something but not a good thing.

 

They were able to change the timing of the World Cup, then drape the greatest living player in ceremonial dress on the trophy stand. 

That not entirely true. Chelsea and Arsenal supporters, clubs who would have been in the ESL, protested outside their ground the weekend it was announced. 
 

We were at Leeds that Monday but there were banners up outside Anfield anti-ESL. Here was full of rabid comments about it (quelle surprise). Our players, all at once, put on their own social media sites, that they didn’t want it. Other players from other clubs did the same. 
 

48 hours after it was announced, it was dead due to the backlash across the board. 
 

IMO, if Saudi tried to elbow their clubs into the CL in the next few season, they’d receive a similar backlash. I think they’ll chip, chip, chip away at it (better clubs sides, host the Super Cup, host the CL Final etc) before they try and muscle in.
 

I might be wrong, it’s only my opinion. 
 

In terms of the World Cup, IMO, that’s a separate issue. Football isn’t a winter sport around the world. While I fully appreciate half the competing countries come from Europe and >95% of the best players likely play in Europe, playing in the summer does interrupt other leagues. It can’t be called the “world cup” if it’s not prepared to go to all corners of the globe. Regardless of the merits, Qatar won it and the most appropriate time to play it was in the winter.

I fully accept points of “they didn’t bid for it based on a winter tournament”, I totally agree and I strongly feel they shouldn’t have been awarded it. The temperature tomorrow in Doha is c.110 degrees. Once they got it, it’s not feasible to play in summer. 
 

Anti-UEFA sentiment is growing. The FA used their crowd control techniques at the Euro Final and it was a shambles. Paris was a shambles. Istanbul was, by all accounts, a shambles. The Saudi’s would be better trying to resurrect the ESL or something similar. They’d get further, faster. 

[TheHowieLama]

None of the top leagues play in the summer.

The World Cup has never had it's schedule moved. Ever.

 

IMO, if Saudi tried to elbow their clubs into the CL in the next few season, they’d receive a similar backlash. 

 

Why? Seriously, why do you think that?

[dave u]

They'll defo get a World Cup. The genie is out of the bottle now after Qatar got it and they halted the season across Europe to accommodate it. It's happened once so now they've got free rein to do it again.

[Denny Crane]

I wouldn't step foot over there to watch us play or watch their shitty pretend football. Reluctantly I have to say Howie is right. They will be invited probably to merge with Uefa/affiliation in some capacity fairly soon. 

 

The reason being they have no caps or limits outside and if they come under the umbrella they will have to follow rules. Oh and the Uefa suits will defo want a taste of the action. The Saudis may not want to be limited by wage restrictions etc - they might not feel it is in their interests to be dictated to.  

[Scott_M]

4 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

None of the top leagues play in the summer.

The World Cup has never had it's schedule moved. Ever.

 

IMO, if Saudi tried to elbow their clubs into the CL in the next few season, they’d receive a similar backlash. 

 

Why? Seriously, why do you think that?

For the reasons I’ve previously stated regarding the ESL backlash. It’s not right and people would stand up to it. 
 

The MLS & parts of South America don’t  follow the European calendar. The Asian Cup & AFCON Cup are in winter. 
 

The World Cup has never had to move its schedule because it’s never been in a country where it’s >110d every game for the duration of the tournament. The “hotter” countries have been in their winter. 
 

I don’t agree with the merits of the above or how they came to being awarded the tournaments, these are indisputable facts! 
 

Anyway, apart from the factual bits, the above is only my opinion. Maybe I’m giving supporters to much credit, maybe your not giving them enough, time will tell. I think we both agree the times are changing, maybe not aligned in the timescales in which they’ll change. 

[TheHowieLama]

9 minutes ago, Scott_M said:

For the reasons I’ve previously stated regarding the ESL backlash. It’s not right and people would stand up to it. 

 

The ESL backlash had nothing to do with the make up of the CL - as we can see because that makeup has changed drastically.

 

The "backlash" was against a league concept that was closed. Neither the CL or the Saudi league does that.

 

Other than a bunch of ferriners trying to force their way into what is now a closed competition what exactly is the rallying cry?

[TheHowieLama]

1 hour ago, Scott_M said:

She’s said she would feel comfortable without her husband there to protect her.

 

Assume you meant would not feel comfortable, otherwise - you dead wood!

[Scott_M]

13 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

 

The ESL backlash had nothing to do with the make up of the CL - as we can see because that makeup has changed drastically.

 

The "backlash" was against a league concept that was closed. Neither the CL or the Saudi league does that.

 

Other than a bunch of ferriners trying to force their way into what is now a closed competition what exactly is the rallying cry?

Briton has complained about a bunch of foreigners trying to take less in recent years. 
 

The ESL backlash wasn’t just the closed shop, it was also driven by people thinking (wrongly) the clubs signed up to it were leave the Premiership and also it was a huge cash grab and fuck everybody else. 
 

I would hope if the Saudis try and muscle themselves into the CL, the same principles apply - it’s a more limited shop and it’s a huge cash grab by clubs which isn’t in the majority of clubs or supporters interests. 
 

‘Kinell, I only said it might take them 20 years to get into the UEFA CL, I wasn’t excepting the Spanish Inquisition.

 

[Scott_M]

4 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

 

Assume you meant would not feel comfortable, otherwise - you dead wood!

As long as I’m left alone in peace and quiet for 7 hours, she can do what she wants. 

[TheHowieLama]

2 minutes ago, Scott_M said:

Briton has complained about a bunch of foreigners trying to take less in recent years. 
 

The ESL backlash wasn’t just the closed shop, it was also driven by people thinking (wrongly) the clubs signed up to it were leave the Premiership and also it was a huge cash grab and fuck everybody else. 
 

I would hope if the Saudis try and muscle themselves into the CL, the same principles apply - it’s a more limited shop and it’s a huge cash grab by clubs which isn’t in the majority of clubs or supporters interests. 
 

‘Kinell, I only said it might take them 20 years to get into the UEFA CL, I wasn’t excepting the Spanish Inquisition.

 

 

You did lay out Saudi Arabia's football credentials in another thread.

As for the English folks who wrongly interpreted a seemingly straight forward option - that ain't gonna change man. And at the end of the day no one will care.

 

 

[Bruce Spanner]

7 hours ago, Fugitive said:

These players are used to living in Western society and enjoy the perks that come with it on their massive salaries. How long before they start to get fed up with the restrictive culture of Saudi Arabia or will the Saudis turn a blind eye to them?

 

They'll just go to the UAE for a little break, like anyone in that part of the world does.

 

7 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Those restrictions will be lifted for the foreigners,at least short term,or they will simply hire some venue or a plane and do what they want elsewhere.

 

They won't, Saudi doesn't work like that.

 

There are only a few places that have to be completley sharia to keep up apperences and these, Iran and Kuwait have to be those to be beyond reproach.

 

No one going on Hajj if booze is available in the country and Hajj is central to KSAs hold over that part of the world.

[TheHowieLama]

The middle east is not taking over anything with regards to European football - they have been actively courted for years.