Gazz Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 The announcement of the revamped tournament sort of flew under the radar as in typical FA incompetent fashion, they announced it on the opening day of Euro 2016. The tournament has now been restructured to feature 64 teams, the 48 teams from League One and Two and 16 U21 teams from teams with Category One academies, which are: Arsenal Chelsea Everton Leicester Liverpool Man City Middlesborough Newcastle Southampton Stoke City Sunderland Swansea Spurs WBA West Ham TBC (since Man Utd declined to participate) These teams will have to play six U21 players in their teams throughout the tournament. Group Stage rules Sixteen groups of 4 teams will be organised on a regionalised basis. All groups will include one invited club and at least one club from each of Leagues One and Two. All clubs will play each other once, either home or away. Invited clubs will play one home game at the club's first team stadium. Clubs will be awarded 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. In the event of a drawn game (after 90 minutes), a penalty shootout will be held with the winning team earning an additional point. The top two teams will progress to the Knockout Stage. I've been saying for years that the League Cup should have been U21 or U23 for PL teams for years, so I'm quite interested to see how this format works out and whether it opens up any opportunities for academy players to force their way into first team contention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMarrio Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 We haven't confirmed if we are going to enter. There's some issues that the club aren't exactly thrilled about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 It certainly hasn't flown under the radar with the clubs affected by the 'revamp'. In fact it's causing a massive shitstorm, and rightly so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFF Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I don't see what the problem is with trying it for 1-2 seasons as a trial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 4 minutes ago, DFF said: I don't see what the problem is with trying it for 1-2 seasons as a trial. Primarily the concern is that it is a 'backdoor' way for them to force 'B Teams' upon us and enact their 'League 3' plan. At which point the game at this level will diminish rapidly, because I'm afraid people are not going to want to see their club duke it out with Everton U21s, Stoke U21s and Newcastle U21s in league competition. It will not aid the development of the national team like they claim it will, and it will not work like it does in Spain because the English football league system is unlike any other in the world. In the more immediate term, it messes with a competition that didn't really need it. This is clubs of Doncaster Rovers' level only realistic chance for a trophy and a cup final day out at Wembley. I was one of 60,000 people who saw us play Bristol Rovers in the 2007 Final, but there is no way that kind of attendance would happen if it was, say, Oxford vs Chelsea U23s. It just wouldn't be the same. And if it's two U23 teams playing each other, as is more than possible you would think, then it would be something nobody cares about at all. I don't want to see my team put on a level playing field with a 'big' club's academy team. I'm not going to pay to sit in a mostly empty Keepmoat Stadium watching us play Stoke's U23 team, why would I? They have also brought up 'fixture congestion' as pretty much the main reason why they want to re-jig the league system (even though the real reason is commercialism) then come up with a trophy format that involves giving every single team in Leagues 1 and 2 extra matches by way of this group stage, all in midweek which is also something they said they aim to reduce with the new league system proposed. It's all well and good saying it doesn't hurt for a one year trial, but the fact is it could very easily lead to wholesale changes to the leagues that in my opinion (and the opinion of many others) would completely wreck English football below the top division. In addition, the new format was apparently passed by way of a show of hands at the league AGM after a brief, hasty discussion, and any who opposed it (which was just under a third apparently) had no chance to say anything in response. No proper consultation process with clubs, and absolutely no consultation whatsoever with the fans, who continue to be ignored by the governing bodies of the game despite being the most important sector of the sport. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colly Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 In summary it's fucking silly. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA! Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I've been told by a source of a source they had to do this or else the competition would have been scrapped due to the lack of sponsorship (they were told this point blank at the AGM meeting just before voting). I'd rather they scrapped it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colly Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 They could at very least come clean about that if it is the case, people might be a bit more open to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moses Julep Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 7 hours ago, GA! said: I've been told by a source of a source they had to do this or else the competition would have been scrapped due to the lack of sponsorship (they were told this point blank at the AGM mee4ting just before voting). I'd rather they scrapped it. #gaintheknow is the better version of #nerfintheknow 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted July 7, 2016 Admin Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 It's hardly balls to me - we never have had a thread for this competition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA! Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 8 hours ago, Moses Julep said: #gaintheknow is the better version of #nerfintheknow GAIN THE KNOW 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted July 9, 2016 Report Share Posted July 9, 2016 On 07/07/2016 at 15:39, GA! said: I've been told by a source of a source they had to do this or else the competition would have been scrapped due to the lack of sponsorship (they were told this point blank at the AGM meeting just before voting). I'd rather they scrapped it. Bullshit. Why do they need sponsors? Obviously they want sponsors but they don't need them, they'd just have to reduce prize money. Besides that I don't believe that no one would want to sponsor it, perhaps they weren't offering the money they asked for but they'd have got something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA! Posted July 9, 2016 Report Share Posted July 9, 2016 9 hours ago, Matt said: Bullshit. Why do they need sponsors? Obviously they want sponsors but they don't need them, they'd just have to reduce prize money. Besides that I don't believe that no one would want to sponsor it, perhaps they weren't offering the money they asked for but they'd have got something The sponsors contribute to the 'prize pot', which is what the B-teams are supposedly doing this year. I believe that because of the competition's extremely low attendances other than the Wembley day out, which still remains an attractive prospect as League 1 and 2 teams only get said day out through the Play-Offs otherwise, teams would lose money putting those games on without a sponsor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted July 10, 2016 Report Share Posted July 10, 2016 Wembley day outs are overrated 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDK Posted July 10, 2016 Report Share Posted July 10, 2016 Tell me about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted July 10, 2016 Report Share Posted July 10, 2016 1 hour ago, MDK said: Tell me about it Ask GA, he'll tell you about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDK Posted July 10, 2016 Report Share Posted July 10, 2016 Went to old Wembley, lost 1-0 to sCunthorpe. Went to new Wembley lost on pens to Rotherham. Not even Cardiff was good to me, we lost 4-2 to Blackpool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA! Posted July 10, 2016 Report Share Posted July 10, 2016 6 hours ago, MDK said: Went to old Wembley, lost 1-0 to sCunthorpe. Went to new Wembley lost on pens to Rotherham. Not even Cardiff was good to me, we lost 4-2 to Blackpool. Lost 1-0 to Halifax a few weeks back. Lost against those cunts Bristol Rovers last year. Lost the Johnstone's Piss Pot cup against MK Dons in 2008. Lost in Cardiff against our old friends Cheltenham in the League 2 play-off final in 2006. But we've also won 3 times at Wembley. So it's all good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDK Posted July 10, 2016 Report Share Posted July 10, 2016 1 minute ago, GA! said: Lost 1-0 to Halifax a few weeks back. Lost against those cunts Bristol Rovers last year. Lost the Johnstone's Piss Pot cup against MK Dons in 2008. Lost in Cardiff against our old friends Cheltenham in the League 2 play-off final in 2006. But we've also won 3 times at Wembley. So it's all good. I'll never forget that save Ashley Bayes made in that Blackpool game. It was such a TV save, he flew thru the air, hung in the blue sky of Cardiff like Gods Bollock, and plucked it out the air. Then punched it away because it looks cooler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted July 10, 2016 Report Share Posted July 10, 2016 I'm pretty happy with my 1-0 Wembley record I have to say. So much so I'm a bit scared to ever get there again. We've won all three Finals we've been in in my lifetime, I doubt that'll continue forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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