yeah, they peaked too soon didn't they? Terrible decision to sell cantona to man utd and they didn't even get the player they rang up about. The reality is only spurs of the big 6 never won the damn thing (thankfully) and only blackburn and leicester can claim to have broken the list. In spain you have to go back to 2004 for valencia who I am shocked have not managed to get a position. the only others team as deportivo in 200 and before that you need go back to the 1980s in italy you need go back to 2000 when roma won it. the reality here needs to start to set in for these leagues. After having a bleat and a mon they have little option but to turn to uefa to crush this. take psg our of france and i'm sure it would improve the league (if they can get crowds back in) however it does have to become very much a league on crowd money. italy gets their big three winners hollowed out but have some good southern clubs around rome and napoli where the power would swing to. The tv money question again arises In spain its an unmitigated disaster and the financial bubble effect might be large BUT a lot of clubs simply have to make do at a certain level there already s the big clubs take all the cash. Some clubs in the lower reaches might be fine. In england clubs can say what they like but the reality is the tv money is huge and the payments are keeping many afloat in the sea of agents and wages. we need to see that the parachute payments tamper with the championship also where a lot of clubs survive on very little and low fees for players etc. the reality is a new english league can emerge but it will be knocked back 10 years in terms of tv deals and has to pay off all their debts. someone said a nuclear war was declared today somewhere. I think this is probably most accurate. Nobody wins here but mutually assured destruction is the inevitable outcome.
Fifa could have cut this stuff off years ago if they had taken the right actions: Agent fees, should have capped this or brought in some rule that stopped football agents going too far (too late now) Salary caps, in this day and age its a disgrace that Messi is on his wage (400k?) or that Haaland can even think to be offered 500k. This is whats driving these clubs to need more money. Transfer fee caps, no player is worth £200m and it just another way for clubs to get themselves into heavy debt. Ownership, state and oligarch ownership has taken the game to new levels of spending. Granted whilst it'd be hard to exclude anyone who can afford to own a fooball club, there should be some control over how the ownership is done (perhaps with the other caps etc this wouldn't be such an issue) But of course Fifa (and Uefa, PL, FA etc) didn't want to do that cause they were raking it in for themselves.
I don't know of a single person who's happy about this news. It would be interesting to know the reaction of fans from other countries as for them, on the whole, it just means more exposure, more money and better players more consistently on their TV...probably seems like a good move for them. For fans in England though, particularly those who live locally, the impact this would have on the domestic league and grass-roots game will be huge and is deeply concerning. When Billy Hogan said that this was a good move for the club, he's right in a sense; loads more money and marketing. Perfect for American owners who see the club like an American business. What they are simply missing (or ignoring perhaps) is how we need the domestic league and that the game is far bigger than just the supposed 'big 6'. I also don't think they understand (or care) about the passion of fans in this regard - all levels of the game. The FA cup dream, the local lads trying to make it big, the working up the pyramids, how clubs such as Tranmere, Southport FC or Marine FC have passionate supporters and how every weekend, there are players and fans lining up watch teams like Litherland. Football runs deep in our community. I actually thought our owners might have learned something over the past few years: furloughing workers, increasing price tickets, talking about the breakaway last year - all met with fan disapproval and a swift change around in stance. Nope. Still the same. Greed is killing this game, but as others have said, it has been doing so for many years now. I laughed at the Chelsea fans statement talking about the problem of clubs being money grabbers when in effect, their last 15 years have been built upon a money grabbing owner inflating the market, just like City today...but never mind. UEFA need to grow a pair and sort out this madness but sadly, they're just as corrupt and money hungry as our dear owners are. I just hope if the breakaway happens, it royally falls on its arse...but I think there's too much demand for it from abroad. I do think that would massively cripple the PL - far less income without the big teams and players through TV deals. I don't see how this resolves in a fair and balanced way. It's all a steaming pile of ****e.
The question is going to be, are the owners understimating the importance of the domestic game, or are we all overestimating it (for LFC at least)?
Past year has shown that you can play football without local fans. Whether we think it’s any good or not, football has continued, it’s shown and watched on tv all over the world.
Problem is that Uefa think they did sort this out. They think their expanded CL was the answer, which all the clubs pretty much said they weren't that interested in. Yet Uefa have continued to try and push the idea through, hence why the announcement came yesterday before Uefa's approval of the new CL. These clubs are trying to undermine uefas plans, so that they can get control over what does replace the CL.
has it though? TV money has kept coming but is everyone enjoying it? Personally I think it’s sh*t without fans and have cut the amount of footy I watch down dramatically
Fifa are hypocrites anyway. They are pushing for an African Super League, guess why .... money. They are trying to work out atm which 20 teams would be picked to join .... sound familiar?
don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying it’s better or even comparable, but football has carried on and let’s be real, once this thing starts, there will be people at Anfield once allowed
I think it's utterly ruined without fans. Circumstances have dictated it be so, but if that's the future then it's screwed, imo.
They have probably calculated that they will get massive TV revenue, especially from the Far East and Middle East, and the Yanks like a system where there is no relegation/promotion. No doubt they will introduce some form of draft system for the players as well.