If they do this then all effort should be made to destroy these clubs, financially and structurally. They shouldn't be allowed to set up a closed shop outside of their domestic structure and need to be made an example of. Sorry Liverpool, Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs fans, you need to be leading the fight against this (Man City are yet to sign up I believe).
FIFA have already said that any player who is involved in this will be banned from playing in world cups etc. That alone will stop it, I'd imagine.
It's a stupid idea. The novelty would wear off fairly quickly, and you'd be left with a league where a number of those clubs, who are used to competing for trophies and titles, would find themselves as perpetual also-rans. It might be financially beneficial in the short-term, but there can't be more than five clubs in the world who'd stand to gain long-term.
Imagine being Spurs, Arsenal, or the Italian clubs and thinking this league is anything more than an invitation to get your teeth kicked in regularly. It appears that they want this to replace the CL, rather than their participation in the national leagues. So they're taking direct aim at UEFA's biggest source of money, creating a system that will lack the drama of the current setup while also resulting in those teams playing far more games. I'm honestly impressed with how short-sighted this is.
See if the domestic leagues actually go through with some of their threats and kick the teams out of the domestic league. They almost certainly won’t I think due to the financial implications of these teams not being involved. They’ll just have to schedule the league around this new super league, everyone will love that
Players are going to hate it, as are managers. Right now, a team in CL will play a maximum of 13 games from the group stage on (of which, usually, at least 2-4 are against middling opposition); a 15-team league would bump that to 28. You'd practically need two separate squads to navigate a season where you're playing up to 70 games.
I solemnly swear that I will never buy a ticket to anything these clubs are involved in ever again. I will watch saints in whatever league, but my hatred for these “big” clubs is limitless. They have taken the soul of the game and crushed it into a money making gamble and they can **** off. They’ve taken the soul of the game and spat in its face. Horrific. I am shocked. not only that, but they do it midway through the season on a Sunday night. **** them. Willing to die on this hill.
I’m old enough to remember the concept of this the first few times round and although it seemed bad in the surface, it was no more than financial threats to ultimately get a better CL deal. However, this announcement brings with it an absolute sh!tstorm of gamble and ultimate brinkmanship rolled into one. The clubs involved are beyond contempt due to their greed and the principles the Gary Neville clearly laid out and those words should be ringing in the ears of all those English clubs involved. The fact that of the 6 English clubs, only two of them are currently in UCL places for next season says it all. We have had an appalling season, but we aren’t that far below some of the clubs claiming they have the God given right to start this venture...??!!!... Greed upon greed upon greed nothing more, nothing less. It will be a very interesting 48 hours watching the FA and EPL trying to get their houses in order and seeing if they can find their cahunas to step up and protect the domestic game.
Don’t normally have a lot of time for Gary Neville, but he’s hit the nail right on the head here and his outspokenness deserves respect. I really hope the FA, UEFA, etc do have the bottle to call these clubs bluff and tell them to **** off into their super league, with no involvement in domestic competitions, no international caps, etc
As a side note. Being quite premature in saying this perhaps, but that leaves Saints in massive crisis. I doubt there will be any interest in buying the club now this has been announced and Gao has to sell. Possible asset stripping to recoup his outlay? I have real doubts that the club could financially survive in this scenario. Obviously I am being mr doom here, but I can’t see a way out of this situation.
Won't just be Saints in this scenario. Probably most/all of the 14 left run at a loss (especially in the last year) so unless you have an owner willing to take the loss on the chin (Everton/Leicester spring to mind) and write off the losses then we are all in the same boat. It is the main reason why I can't see the remaining clubs even considering it an option to kick out the 6, would be financial suicide for them in the short term.
I'm completely against the idea of the six being allowed to stay in the PL whilst competing in the SL (which is what they want). That absolutely has to be prevented. (And whether it's due to the PL, FA, UEFA, FIFA, players, managers, government, whoever, I suspect it will be prevented. But possibly at the cost of more money coming the way of the big six through existing competitions.) However, I'm not against the idea of the six of them being kicked out of PL and sent to play the SL alone. The financial ramifications for the rest of us (including below the PL) would be enormous. It could be like re-setting the clock about 30 years. But that might not be a bad thing. And, most of all, so many sides could realistically dream again of filling their trophy cabinets. I think I'd prefer it if the six stayed and the SL never happened - but I really wouldn't cry if they did all bugger off.
Good riddance to Mourinho. I think he was entertaining during his first spell at Chelsea even if it was initially disappointing to see Ranieri treated so unfairly, It is fascinating how coaching styles seem to have changed so radically since the 1990s when you still had managers like Clough, Atkinson, Wilkinson, Taylor, etc. In my opinion, I believe that Arsene Wenger will be considered to have been the sea change with management styles with SAF perhaps being the ultimate manifestation of the more traditional, aggressive coach. Since this decade, we have seen players like Glenn Hoddle mooted as the "new generation" and there seems to have been an increase in former players taking up a management role. What interests me is how quickly managers once considered to be the epitome of their trade seem to more quickly lose their lustre. Wenger is the best example. It arrived at Arsenal as a revolutionary yet left after overstaying as his approach to how he managed seemed to have become the norm and not the exception. I think few would consider Mourinho as "the special one" these days and whatever stardust quality he had about him has been totally lost. His cagey style of football is not really appreciated these days. I think the Guardiola has been a revelation to English football and Man City have raised the quality of football in the 2010s to the point that I feel City's reputation will now only be challenged by Man Utd's under SAF. However, you wonder how long it will last before someone start to trump Guardiola. There was a comment on here a few days ago about someone not caring to watch Man City yet I think their style of football probably has less detractors than any other team who has previously dominated English football. I just feel that they are probably the best footballing team in the history of the English game.
Have Bournemouth been taking PEDs since the arrival of Woodgate following the demise of Tindall? 4-1 winners at Millwall tonight. Their form has been briillant for the past 6 or or 7 matches hoisting themselves from outside the play-offs to 3rd as it stands. Too late for the automatics but finding form at just the right time as Brentford and Swansea continue to tread water, secure in the knowldege they are in the play-offs but a tad disappointed to have let Watford and Norwich gallop clear to the finishing post.
Untill they win the CL the media will be reluctatn to put them alongside Liverpool of the late 70s and the 80s, and maybe Manchester United in the early part of this century. However, where I agree with you is the quality of their football. Has there ever been a better team to watch in the League?
John Barnes on ESL: 'This is a power struggle between elite groups' - BBC News As eloquent off the pitch as he was on the field of play. A succinct and precise summary. This clip was followed by Johnson in the HoC who by comparison gave a stuttering performance.