Rival watch

But what about Marcus Rashford? We know he'll be able to hold the Tories to account much better if he's within literal spitting distance of them...

 

21 wins on the trot and they couldn't bloody do us a favour, could they? Oh well.

Also, Scott Parker is quietly working wonders at Fulham. Hard working, confident and superbly well organised team who also play some decent football. Would love to see him given the reins of a better side. Definitely one to watch for the future i.e. after Levy sacks Mourinho, appoints Pellegrini, then sacks Pellegrini.

 

MIND THE GAP

 

Things look bad now, but dropping into Europa League II or out of European football altogether, is just going to increase that to a whole new level.

Given that Kroenke's an experienced and successful businessman and has lots of experience in owning sports franchises in the US, he's overseen some serious decline at The Nomads across all aspects of the club. There's been no sign that the current Chief Executive, Vinai Venkatesham, is any better placed to turn things round than Gazidis was.

It's a whole new world now. Leicester and Everton and Villa are not going away. They've got rich owners, who are prepared to invest money to grow and CL qualification is a long, long way from being their right, as it was for so long. They snuck into the EL this season by winning the Cup, but this might end up being a second season of mid-table mediocrity. If that becomes a third, that's going to be a lot harder to get out of.

We've got issues but in a post-Lockdown world, with the stadium full for concerts, boxing, rugby, NFL, etc. and a stadium sponsorship deal sorted, there's a revenue stream to move forward...but we need to be in the CL, or at the bare minimum, the EL.

 

My executive summary of the latest mighty Swiss Bramble opus
is that it took ONLY TWO SEASONS out of the CL to do the Goons
considerable financial damage.

I hope ENIC have similarly deduced the above in their reading of it,
and are acting accordingly ...

 

What's the actual prize money for EL2, has it been leaked/ explained yet?

I think if an English club wins Europa this season they'd pick up around £15m in prize money plus the market pool which could potentially earn around a total of £35m-ish. Nowhere near as good as CL money but still a nice enough amount, especially during the current climate.

Based on that, I'd imagine the EL2 won't be any more than around £10m-£15m for the winners, prize and market pool combined(?).

 

£2.50 and a packet of balloons

 

It's meant for the smaller clubs and nations. For the Bigger nations, it's going to be used as a competition to blood the kids. Selling tickets for a Thursday night game against a succession of teams that nobody's ever heard of, will be a really hard sell and TV rights money will be negligible.

I'm reckoning that £15m's the absolute maximum figure and £10m is probably more likely. The teams in EL2 will have really limited pulling power. The EL has some decent teams in it and by the rounds of the last 16 or 8, there's some decent clubs in it and competitive football. It will be a curse to be in it for some.

 

Have there not been clubs in England who qualified for the EL but
had to decline because the actual participation costs + squad
stress would have meant they were materially worse off ??

If that was the case, then think how much worse "EL2" will be then.

 

I remember doing the math a few years back when both European finals were contested between English sides.

The bottom line was we made more money from simply turning up to the CL group and winning 1 game (£17.9m) than Arsenal did playing 15 games to finish as runners-up of the EL (£17m).

The moment Kane's last-minute winner went in against PSV, we'd made more money than them.

 

I kind of like the idea of the competition to be honest, for that exact reason of giving smaller nations a chance to experience the European scene (not that UEFA give a toss about the fans, it’s another cash grab for them). European away days are brilliant and I think fans deserve the chance to experience it even if the opposition will likely be less than glamorous. It may also give smaller nations a chance at European glory that they wouldn’t have in the EL or CL, albeit I wouldn’t be surprised if an English/ Spanish/ German side still end up winning it.

 

I am having a quiet laugh as the Americans try to turn the City v United game into something BIG. Most of us couldn't give a crap!!!

 

How are you doing Smithy?

 

Quite well,thank you.I said good by to the wife last week at the veterans cemetery at Camp Nelson,Kentucky.Two naval officers guarded the coffin and flag,soldiers fired 3 volleys,another played last post and another played a piece on a harmonica. Turned out to be very nice. When the officer went down on one knee and gave me her flag,I lost it and cried my head off!!My church minister gave the sermon and a good one too. I wishedit could have been recorded. She would have loved it.....but I suspect,maybe,she was looking down.........

 

Tell that to Sky, they really go out of their way to try and make the Manchester derby a thing, even though half of those involved only gave a **** when the other team won the Euromillions

 

I bring you terrible news... Effing West Ham are 2-0 up against effing Leeds.

 

Come on twenty-man brawl!

 

Ex-Norwich City defender and current MK Dons manager Russell Martin with a fantastic response to critics of his style of play. Really admire this mindset and how passionate his answer is to the journalist's question:

 

Stand back and watch as we win the Carabao, lose the EL final and finish 7th in the league, becoming the first team from the PL to enter the Europa Conference Pear League.

 

We all know it's coming...but it just looks so much worse in writing.