True San Diego. There will inevitably be a club to take Barcelona's place as a regular challenger at the top, at least eventually. Athletico Madrid would have an increased chance at silverware, but Real Madrid would be without a feasible short-term rival with the existing talent and financial clout, that Barcelona currently possesses. Athletico, and other teams in their area, could see their finances increase, but the Spanish league would be affected in terms of standing and ability without Barcelona. Would television companies pay as much to see a league without Barcelona? I think not. Athletico's title victory looks to be more a flash in the pan rather than the beginning of a sustained period of dominance. While the Spanish authorities are likely to be pro-Madrid, rather than pro-Barcelona, as history has proved, it would be a shot in the foot if the League dispenses with two Catalan top flight clubs. La Liga would struggle to attract revenue without Barcelona, television contracts would be decreased, and UEFA would possibly respond. It'd be interesting to know, from a legal perspective, how Barca would respond in the event they get kicked out. My two cents is that a Catalan independence referendum would not happen, at least in the immediate future.
With regards to the result, it sounds like a strong team performance and, dodgy goal aside, a good defensive display. It's another game to the packed fixture list and, with the slight lack of depth in defence and attack and in the context of a promotion fight, is slightly disconcerting. However, the result at St Marys should breed confidence, if nothing else, and with Southampton having some tough matches either side of our potentially scheduled match, we could be hosting a weakened Saints outfit. A cup run would be good, haven't had one of those in the FA Cup for a while. Be interesting to see the draw.
Good summation Nuggets. Gutted that wiziwig t.v is finished as it was a great resource. Well, at least we get our name called in the 4th round draw for the first time in a few years well done the Town!
Other Spanish clubs may see it as a chance to get into La Liga though and could have some say in it if they make a vote of the lower league teams. I'm not so sure it will be as easy to keep Barca in the league if independence is achieved. Given what the club actually stands for could they even be involved if Catalonia was it's own country?
Yeah, bummer. A lot of the streams I watch through sportlemon or firstrow came from wiziwig. I've noticed how streaming sites have less links lately, even for the UFC fight last night.
We really dug in again today and all credit to the lads for pulling off a very creditable draw against a very strong Southampton team. This team just doesn't do losing! Shame that we couldn't win and I just hope that the extra game doesn't distract us from the real business in the league. For those who doubt whether Town are good enough to compete in the PL I think today has answered that question!
True San Diego, if it came to a vote whereby the other Spanish league clubs would decide whether or not to keep Barcelona and Espanyol in the League, then those two sides would most likely be outvoted and told to go. But part of me thinks that the La Liga authorities and sponsors would not allow that to happen, and try and angle for keeping the Catalonian clubs in the existing League structure. In terms of finance and league standing, it would just be too risky axing one of its most successful clubs out of the structure. Revenue would affect all the clubs with a decreased interest in the League. While other clubs will get the opportunity to stake its claim for silverware, I struggle to believe there would be an immediate increase in revenue for sides like Valencia, Sevilla, and even Athletico Madrid, to supplant Real Madrid. Indeed, Real Madrid themselves would surely be affected by Barcelona's expulsion. They'd most become like Celtic in the Scottish Premiership. Maybe even receive less in television money, where most Spanish clubs make their money through the disproportionate system. I think Barcelona fans, while overwhelmingly supportive of Catalan independence, would realise the shortfalls of setting up a Catalan league which would, presumably, have less finance and competitiveness than even the La Liga and other leagues. Barcelona would receive a severe shortfall of expenditure and would have to sell many of their international stars to leagues where they would get a better standard of football. Other questions also need to be addressed, such as how many Champions League places would be allocated to this league and would it have an impact on La Liga. Phew, sorry about the essay.
Good post Warky! Confidence will be sky high now, roll on Saturday and Derby County at home. The Fortuna Dusseldorf lot will be over for this one, the Drum and Monkey will be banging, I'm going over on the Friday evening for an early start on Saturday, can't wait!! EI EI EIO!
Well probably the worst result we could have hoped for, second have we barely got out of our own half, well done to the defence as it was very much backs to the wall, I think the possession stats for the 2nd period would be uncomfortable viewing. One or two will come out of today with injuries, Hyam definately picked up an injury at the end but more worryingly Murph took a heavy fall at the end of the 1st half, I think he played through it but probably should have come off. Great battling result and good support from the 5,500 fans. Southampton are an excelent side make no mistake, although at times I felt they overplayed it, if they had been a bit more direct at times I think they may well have won the game. Only gripe about today, Shane Long, what a cheating diving fecker, if you blew on him he would go over.!
But could Barcelona compete in a Spanish League given what the club means to Catalonia? It's a difficult one because the club means more to the area than just football and it's standing on political issues could preclude them from being able to be involved. Their strong identity may be a problem in that respect.
This was a strong Southampton side today, a lot of first-team regulars in there. I doubt they'll field as-strong-a-side at Portman Road, despite Ronald Koeman saying he takes the Cup seriously. Southampton have Manchester United and Newcastle United to play between our likely rescheduled match, and I don't think Koeman would risk their potential push for European football, and their strong league standing, for the replay at our ground. However, we are a similar position to the Saints. Like them, we are doing well in the league and exceeding pre-season expectations. Promotion, looking more likely after every week, is still a tough challenge and we have many games left. Should we field the likes of Christophe Berra, Luke Chambers, Daryl Murphy, and David McGoldrick in the replay, after the amount of games those important players have played for us recently? It's a tough balance to strike. If we get an easy next-round tie, or a big game at Portman Road, we'd probably be more inclined to go for it because of the financial benefit. But that could just be me being cynical.
Barcelona's club motto is 'more than a club', isn't it? I've read up on them a fair bit and yes, I agree that to many, if not all, Catalans that Barcelona is not just a football club, but a main source of Catalan pride. I'd imagine there'd be some Catalans who would advocate a Catalan football division, after all it's been done before. But in the event Catalan independence is won and Barcelona, Espanyol, and other Catalan clubs involved in the existing Spanish football structure remain in La Liga, the League would have to change its name to a Spanish/Catalan league and change legislation to explicitly allow now-independent Catalan clubs to participate. Basically, I think the Spanish football authorities and sponsors would do anything to maintain the status quo.
Thanks for the responses Nuggets, it's always good having a conversation with you. As you say, the Spanish FA may well want to keep Barca in the league, I just wonder how much influence they could have on the politics of the country or the vote itself.
No problems San Diego, it's been a pleasure and it's an interesting possibility which could have wide ramifications for the sport in general. Well worth discussing of course. Yet, this is an Ipswich board and, primarily, our focus is on what has been a very good result for the club. Who does everybody want in the next round? I'd like a home game against Aston Villa. Would love to knock them out of the Cup.
