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I had a real dilemma today. My Dad’s funeral is this Friday. I live in New Jersey and can’t be back home for it. I ordered flowers this morning. LFC. He loved the club, Keegan, Toshack, Dalglish, Rush, Robbie, El Toro, Suarez, Mo, Bobby and Mane. Even though he just passed before this Super-League nonsense, I’m not sure how he would have felt about it all. I decided to proceed notwithstanding. I almost cancelled them. But no. Because we love this club, what it really stands for, below all the corporate bullshit. He loved beans on his fry-up, (yep). He loved LFC. Even though we are a couple of wools, (South Wales), he loved LFC and his heart flowed when we got #19. Anyhow, I’m rambling. Common sense I think has prevailed. YNWA. (Even you no-beans fascists)!

Milan ultras, Curva Sud, with a powerful message: “Football did belong to the people until the 90s, when Champions League was born, destroying the old European Cup. From that moment, an unbreachable chasm has been created between the big and small clubs" “Football did belong to the people even when nobody lifted a finger to stop the increase of ticket prices that was imposed by some Presidents". “Football did belong to the people even when nobody stepped in to stop the rise of the super agents, who took player salaries to astronomical figures, which could only be sustained with TV rights, the same TV companies that imposed increasingly chaotic fixture lists" “Football did belong to the people even when rules were imposed to stop any rapport between the players and the fans.” “Football did belong to the people even when Supercoppa Finals were played on other continents or the dates of some games were changed a few days before kick-off, damaging those fans who had booked trains or planes to get to the stadium.” “Football did belong to the people even when some clubs were allowed to circumvent Financial Fair Play, while others with less influential Presidents were penalised.” “Football did belong to the people even when the World Cup was forced to Qatar in 2022, despite moving the entire calendar and disregarding human rights violations.” “The Super League is just the latest disgusting step, but those who took football to this point are no less grotesque, so save us these ludicrous performances of rhetoric and morality.” “Now that the money is running out, feel free to fight it out between yourselves, but don’t you dare name the fans. PIGS!”

Glad that whole farce failed but what are we going back to? FIFA corruption. ‘Slave workers’ building stadiums for a World Cup in Qatar. UEFA Giving tiny ticket allocations to teams in their finals. Televised matches only on (Multiple different) costly subscription platforms. The youth being priced out of ticket sales. The elitist breakaway PL. Rich club domination. Corporate hospitality. £300K per week salaries. All this while dads and mums pick up dogs shit, broken glass and needles on parks so their kids can have a match on a Saturday. Bollocks to the narrative that we have got the beautiful game back. That ship sailed long ago and will continue to gradually get further and further away.

Bjorn not manufactured.

John Barnes talking, as is his wont, absolute sense on BBC News this morning. Yes, it was an awful idea. Yes, we should be glad that it's dead in the water. Yes, the ownerships involved have some pretty serious questions to answer. But - let's not kid ourselves that this is the first time greed has reared its ugly head in football, and let's not pretend that this is a victory for football. It's a victory for the status quo, for one group of billionaires over another group. Unless the momentum of this backlash carries on and takes aim at Sky, state-owned football, Uefa corruption and ineptitude and general inequality in football, we'll be back to grumbling about extortionate ticket prices, unaffordable TV subscription packages, ignorant kick-off times and watching the same group of clubs bankroll their way to continuous success. Doesn't sound a million times better than the ESL to me.

I was one, no shame here. The principle I agreed with, the plan I did not, not least because there wasn't a recognised plan. Well, they could almost copy and paste UEFAs CL reforms, would be close enough. The ESL was a cry for help to fight against City and PSG. Its relatively obvious some of the 12 are soon going to the wall. But that's ok, they didn't 'earn' a right to keep more of the money they helped UEFA generate for the past 20 years by piggybacking on huge support and the glow of the names. No? Football is now an entertainment industry, for better and for worse. And the likes of us add a sheen to proceedings, we put bums on seats, we sell-out their venues, we bring A-list credibility to whatever we enter. We 'earned' that, through decades of defining moments in football. Through millions of fans desperate to watch us play. And now we're destined to become wallpaper, an extra, a Walk-On role in the CL to give credibility to the sportswashing procession when City or PSG win the trophy. I don't feel good about any of this, I'm just resigned to watching everything we've built now erode, season by season. Football is currently held together by sticky tape. Covid isn't going away. But yes, FSG handled this incredibly poorly, though I don't think they now care how they're perceived, they're selling and they don't care who buys.

This keeps alive Neville's dream of Salford one day reaching the CL, a dream he wouldn't profit from at all. He's an absolute bell-whiff.

These cunts only see success as figures on the balance sheet and on pitch success is secondary or means very little to them. The fact they have given Klopp close to fuck all to spend the past 2 years and allowed us to meekly surrender our title by not spending shows you what they are all about. Yes they have done some really positive things such as the ground, training complex ect however they have failed in their number 1 responsibility and that is backing the manager. 30 years to win that title and they just surrender it like its nothing. We should have ramped up recruitment as soon as we won No 6 and reinforced the squad to ensure we remained competitive on all fronts. But they decided to kick back pat themselves on the back and signal mission accomplished.

Sky really do control the narrative. It was interesting from that point of view anyway. They whipped everyone into a frenzy, all newspapers, the government, royal family. Now they'll switch it to something else. Job done, keep giving us your money plebs.

The final nail in football’s coffin for me was the day CAS overturned the ban on City, chopped UEFA off at the knees and gave the Arabs free rein to keep spending and cheating. My attitude since then has been ‘what’s the point?’

City fans (like their deranged brethren in this City) spent 1992 until 2010 dismissing United as a commercial entity, a marketing club more than a footballing club. They were a genuine club - who had known real hardship (through their own mismanagement), real supporters not a shower of glory hunting day trippers. It took them less than 2 years to forget all that shit - and boast about how wealthy they are, who they are going buy, who they will destroy, and generally look upon everyone else with contempt. They built a council house on a crack den, and gave it to them for nothing - it is a shithole surrounded by Shameless cunts and they have the temerity to sing about 'Scousers' and 'Bin Dippers' whilst they tell everyone how working class and, caring they all are. There is a small part of my mind which wants them to win the quadrulpe and win it again, and again - until they are 5 years straight winning everything in sight. And lets see how everyone views them then.

Martin Samuel, bring in legislation to Govern English football now! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-9493203/MARTIN-SAMUEL-battle-isnt-won-end-sordid-beginning.html#comments Yes Martin, we've all said pretty much the same thing to prevent oil nations and dubious Russian oligarchs or any one else, using dubious money sources to run English football clubs to the detriment of others. But you're firmly of the belief an owner should be able to pump as much money, from whatever sources, into their club no questions asked. Most people seem to think a football club should 'earn' the money it gets rather than be spoonfed billions of pounds to turn them from no marks into champions at home and abroad. But when clubs rightly or wrongly want to generate more money via the actual sport itself, that's wrong and therefore needs legislation to stop it being attempted again? You and your colleagues are now promoting the idea mansour and abramovic are the saviours of English football. What a warped sense of proportion you have, Martin. I posted this on this fat cunt's Wail or should that be 'whale's' page. But the cunt likes to censor comments on his articles so it appears the vast majority agree with him and therefore always has his finger on the pulse of fans. Instead, he's got his foot on their necks. I dont expect he'll post it either.

Can you imagine just how smug UEFA are going to be now? They'll be establishing their own version of the Super League in just a few years from now anyway. Indeed, the groundwork for it was "approved" during this clusterfuck of a shitshow circus. The new reforms to the "Champions League" are the beginnings of something that they've just tried to get shut down. As has been pointed out in this thread several times, UEFA are pissed off because someone else beat them to the punch. The corruption, hypocrisy, and ineptitude of the governing bodies throughout European/World Football really is quite staggering.

Fuck it - if Dan isn’t going to I will... Fowler’s God Opie

Love how the media have constructed the stories the manc clubs, players like warriors fought for whats right where in Liverpool sponsors and the threat of a reduction in money changed their mind. So full of shit like inbred mancunian Gary Neville putting all his focus on LFC the club, the city and its people but at Old Trafford this was an insidious coup by Darth Woodward tricking the holier than thou Manchester PLC into something they knew nothing about.

I’m one. I didnt really care for the idea but it’s preferable to watching us now slide into mediocrity, and we will, while honest competitors like City and Chelsea and probably soon Newcastle hoover up title after title and to be perfectly honest the outpouring of nauseous hypocrisy from the likes of rat boy, Sly, the PL and EUFA desperate to keep their filthy snouts in the trough made me actually warm to the idea

I remember a defining moment when the game was starting to be taken away. Nothing earth shattering but a sign of what was to come. It may not have been exactly like this - but this is how I recall the event. It was probably early nineties. We were at the match. We'd been going to matches for years. We new the pre-match routine down to the minutiae - player warm-up drill; ref warm-up; players come out etc. I seem to recall it was a 15:00 kick off which is probably not right. Anyway, games always started on time. The refs watch was the source of truth. 15:00:00 on the dot - peeee---eeeep. Every game. But today that didn't happen. Instead the ref looked over to the touchline. There was a bloke there wearing headphones - or something - someone who wasn't normally there. The clock went past 15:00. Thirty seconds later still no whistle. Forty seconds. Finally headphones-guy signaled all was OK for the game to start. The slightly less important match-going fans had just waited whilst the TV audience watched the adverts. The game could now begin in our first televised live prem game. We were now marching to the beat of the TV companies.

They will, they'll just plan and communicate it better and ensure they have the loudest mouths on board. There will be no, or token at best, consultation with supporters. There is nothing to celebrate here, the whole thing is fucked up and has shone a light on how bad things really are and has probably made things worse. More power to smaller clubs who have repeatedly shown they are only interested in themselves and can hold a whole league to ransom? Great. More power to Man City (and Chelsea?) who's practices have undermined competition and led us to exactly where we are now? Fantastic. Corrupt populist government, who have no interest in the clubs or supporters and only their rich donors and backers, sticking their oar in? Fucking wonderful.

Football is a fucking pantomime it's closer to WWE than sport these days. I feel like I'm in the last days of a dying relationship clinging on for the kids sake but doing more damage than if I just committed to fucking off.

Henry needs to imagine he's been caught fucking the maid by Linda and the only way back into the good books is to spend, spend, spend and buy lots of pretty things.

Neville singing Man City's praises last night. That's the level of his moral and political analysis.

Here is a video from a few months back when my Grandaughter first met her other Nan's Dog for the first time. VID-20201114-WA0000.mp4

Even when their shit stain of a club signed up to it, whether for money or 'fear of being left behind' they still want to lump the blame on Liverpool. You've got that owner of theirs grinning like a demented fool, having visited his beloved 'project' a couple of times to watch games since he bought them, tell you all you need to know. He thinks no more of the fans than any of the other founding members owners do. Yet they try to capture the moral high ground or rather trample over Liverpool to make themselves look better. They can fuck right off. I used to go to Maine Road with a couple of my city supporting mates. Their idea football died in 2021 is fucking laughable. Their club died sometime in the mid 80s. They are like Count Dracula, resurrected from the dead and sucking the life out of football and following their master like an unwavering disciple, scared he's going to withold their next drop of life blood if they do not follow him. Fuck em.

Imagine holding the idea that men can self-identify as women as an article of faith, but rubbishing out of hand the notion that white people can self-identify as black. Richard Dawkins is paying the price for poking holes in their "logic".

All applaud the saviours of the game

Amazing how quickly people were galvanised into “action” to protect rich men’s assets from other rich men looking to take said assets and wealth away from them. Marvellous, isn’t it, hmmm, Tommy v Fritz Christmas 1914, jumpers for goalposts.

Empty apology. He could at least have offered us a Linda treat...

I love how intense Barnes is when he gets going, he always comes across as ferociously intelligent, I love the man.

A lot of these media articles I've read since this turn around come across as thinly veiled propaganda pieces to encourage our fans to cut off their noise to spite their face, all whilst blatantly shilling for the sheikh and the russian oligarch. It's nonsense and honestly its upsetting that more can't see through it.

You mean he didn't consider absolute fidelity to an ever changing set of rules half a decade ago? He's literally Hitler.

Souness knows 1st hand what it's like to irreparably burn his bridges with our fans, for as great a player that he was, many have still never forgiven him for selling his heart attack story to the rag.

Let's hope so. One of the things I find really distasteful about the internet is the way that we all pretend that we're not just sentencing these monsters to years in prison, but also to be raped while they're there. I know it's just a joke but it's such a distasteful one to me that I can't help but comment on it.

I still can't believe almost 20 percent of people on this forum want the ESL.

I was terrified of going bald as a kid. I think there are 2 fellas in the family with a head of hair, so i knew it was inevitable. I think i tried to hang on to it for a year too long. Id walk along the pier head on my way to work, trying to battle with the wind as it blew my fringe every which way, revealing my receding hairline. I eventually shaved it off. Whilst i dont get the attention from the women that i once did, im married, so its not too much of an issue. I cant lay all the blame at the door of my hair to be honest, as ive aged terribly and also put on enough weight for my mother in law to regularly ask if i am pregnant. Saving your hair is easy enough. I do it over a dry bath. Its easy enough to gather up in toilet roll and then flush. Im used to shaving it now and can do the back by feel. If you are starting out, i recommend just going over and over the back until it starts to feel raw and you feel like your taking half your scalp off.

Yes, he’s been a fucking disgrace. Piling into us and then gently pulling his own shower of shite into it to try and show “balance” Never ceases to amaze me the amount of people who have time for this horrible cunt.

City and Chelsea were only the first ones out as they were threatened with being thrown out of the CL semi finals , nothing to do with scruples. Anyway , fuck anybody who isn't us.

Really? Where on Earth do you live? A bubble? I no longer live in the City and I hear it almost every time the place comes up. It personally doesn’t bother me but it’s always there.

Henry has to spend big or sell up. He's got lipstick on his shirt and needs to buy us some flowers. I'll take Mbappe as a start.

Jeez, this great man should be heading up changes for football. Excellent interview.

James Dyson came riding to the rescue of the UK with his plan for loads of ventilators, so it was only right that he took his concerns right to the very top, apparently, according to the Tories, their pals in the media and the bootlicking supporters of the party. Interesting though that the first, overriding concern that needed to be addressed for SuperJames to come to the rescue was "can you make damn sure there'll be no tax paid." And the government's response? "We'll fix this." One of the very worst fucking humans on the planet. Pure, unfettered scum.

whats hear hear in italian

Starmers making the same mistake as Corbs in his shadow cabinet, half of them are fuvking useless, not Diane Abott levels of useless but ineffective all the same. Dodds, shadow chancellor is a no no, feel a bit sorry for her up against someone throwing around free money but she's in the wrong job, education would suit her better. Jonathan Answorth should be manager in the local tesco, he was rubbish for Corbyn and he hasn't improved. Reminds me of little Diddy David Steele, get rid. Rachel Reeves, looks the part but is a non entity. The Shadow home Secretary who's name escapes me is also another non entity. Not a lot of talent to choose from in the Labour party but imo Starmer needs to be bold and bring in a couple of big hitters in the main jobs. I'd put Yvette Balls in to take on Patel at the home office and bring back John Mcdonald to take on Sunak as Chancellor for when the finances go tits up. Right and left wing to appease the grass roots and both are competent and know the job.

So super league is dead, footballs soul is restored! The media are actually saying this whilst telling us how great the owners of City and Chelsea are, just get to fuck.

AND IT’S LIVE

Agreed. It’ll be 18 out of 18.

Everton a basically Les McQueen