European Super League announced; collapses

[Colly]

3 minutes ago, Nerf said:

I mean, technically nobody entered an additional competition, so no rule has been broken. Technically. Don't get me wrong, I guarantee you that I'm more outraged than you are about what happened.

It isn't a "we're special" attitude at all. I literally said those other clubs shouldn't have been punished either, because their owners should never have had the power to do the things that they did in the first place. I'm not sure we can all in one breath say that what happened to Leeds, for example, was a travesty, but in another breath advocate for it happening again to different clubs.

FSG are fucking disgusting and I want them out of my club as soon as realistically plausible, but more than that I want national reform to the way football clubs operate to stop anything like this or anything like what happened to Bury and Rangers happening again.

But what happened to Leeds did happen to Leeds, and they were punished for breaking the rules. I think there may have been a little sympathy for fans and players, but I don't think many felt the punishment shouldn't happen. That's why I don't get this "these clubs shouldn't be punished" attitude. Reform certainly, but there's no way these clubs should get away with it just because they were caught before climax...

[Meacon Keaton]

Well, this was quite the paige turner 

[Nerf]

6 minutes ago, Colly said:

But what happened to Leeds did happen to Leeds, and they were punished for breaking the rules. I think there may have been a little sympathy for fans and players, but I don't think many felt the punishment shouldn't happen. That's why I don't get this "these clubs shouldn't be punished" attitude. Reform certainly, but there's no way these clubs should get away with it just because they were caught before climax...

I mean, fine. I certainly won't complain about it if the clubs are punished, I just think it's silly and performative and everyone will pat themselves on the back and call it a win for football, meanwhile nothing actually changes. There's a good chance John Henry isn't even around to endure the punishment, the punishment itself does absolutely nothing to address the systemic issues that resulted in this happening, the punishment (depending on severity) likely ends up harming every other club rather than the owners in question, and we're all back here in 10 years, except Farhad Moshiri has replaced Daniel Levy at the Super League table and this time they've actually got their ducks in a row.

[Schlitzbrille]

14 minutes ago, Meacon Keaton said:

Well, this was quite the paige turner 

My eggs were certainly wykradly mumps'd.

[METALMAN]

15 minutes ago, Nerf said:

I mean, fine. I certainly won't complain about it if the clubs are punished, I just think it's silly and performative and everyone will pat themselves on the back and call it a win for football, meanwhile nothing actually changes. There's a good chance John Henry isn't even around to endure the punishment, the punishment itself does absolutely nothing to address the systemic issues that resulted in this happening, the punishment (depending on severity) likely ends up harming every other club rather than the owners in question, and we're all back here in 10 years, except Farhad Moshiri has replaced Daniel Levy at the Super League table and this time they've actually got their ducks in a row.

This is a good point. I could definitely see authorities using a one season ban or whatever to make it look like something is being done and wriggle out of any meaningful long term reform.

This man is crazee:

[Colly]

 

[FLiam]

Real Madrid just announced David Alaba is joining them on a free-transfer in the summer. 

I need Florentino Perez to tell us again of how Real Madrid are poor, have no money and are going to go bust by 2024. 

[The Lusophone]

He's on 20 million a year and will only play in midfield, if he got everything he wanted from them.

[Malenko]

37 minutes ago, FLiam said:

Real Madrid just announced David Alaba is joining them on a free-transfer in the summer. 

I need Florentino Perez to tell us again of how Real Madrid are poor, have no money and are going to go bust by 2024. 

He managed to say they'd be dead financially in 4 years and they'd be trying to sign Mbappe... in the same interview.

[METALMAN]

this might be a nice little piece for the Americans among us

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/21/european-super-league-reaction-us-fans

[Lineker]

Quote

A sustainability rating agency has downgraded JP Morgan Chase after the US bank was revealed to be funding the failed European Super League breakaway attempt.

Six of England’s richest clubs, including Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, were among the 12 European teams who hoped to gain permanent membership of a new tournament. However, the project collapsed in disarray this week after a backlash that ranged from fans to heads of government across the UK and Europe.

Standard Ethics, which grades corporations on their sustainability and is modeled on credit-ratings agencies, criticised the clubs as well as the bank.

“Standard Ethics judges both the orientations shown by the football clubs involved in the project and those of the US bank to be contrary to sustainability best practices, which are defined by the agency according to UN, OECD and European Union guidelines, and take into account the interests of the stakeholders,” it said in a statement.

It downgraded JP Morgan from an “adequate” rating to “non-compliant” in light of the Super League. Standard Ethics charges a fee to some companies to rate them based on environmental, social and governance performance, although JP Morgan’s rating was unsolicited.

The Super League plan was announced late on Sunday night after secret negotiations between clubs. The “founder” clubs – entitled to a permanent spot in what might have been a lucrative league – were Italy’s AC Milan, Internazionale Milan and Juventus, Spain’s Atlético de Madrid, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, as well as England’s Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

JP Morgan’s investment bankers reportedly committed €3.25bn (£2.8bn) to the Super League plan, mainly for a payment of between €200m and €300m to each team.

The league’s proponents argued that the new tournament would have strengthened football. A person with knowledge of the league plans said the deal would have included financing for grassroots sport and community projects. JP Morgan did not have control of the league’s strategy.

On Wednesday the Super League’s founder, the Juventus chair, Andrea Agnelli, said the competition could not go ahead after the withdrawal of multiple clubs.

Standard Ethics highlighted the “serious negative effects” of the plan flagged by critics including the UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi. Many critics highlighted the lack of engagement with fans.

The agency’s previous assessment of JP Morgan highlighted concerns about its attitude to fair competition, following US antitrust fines and taxation.

JP Morgan’s boss, Jamie Dimon, wrote at great length of the importance of “community” to the company, in his annual letter to shareholders published earlier this month. He even made reference to the importance of local sports teams to communities.

“To a good company, its reputation is everything,” Dimon wrote. “That reputation is earned day in and day out with every interaction with customers and communities.

“When I hear examples of people doing something that is wrong because they could be paid more, it makes my blood boil – and I don’t want them working here.”

JP Morgan Chase declined to comment.

 

[DavidMarrio]

 

 

[Lineker]

 

[Baddar]

Aww, he seems so sincere.

Bellend.

[Malenko]

 

[Colly]

2 minutes ago, Baddar said:

Aww, he seems so sincere.

Bellend.

I feel this sums up all of the apologies.

 

[METALMAN]

15 minutes ago, Lineker said:

 

The guy from the family that loaded the club with £500m worth of debt is literally saying he is "seeking to create a more stable foundation for the game"

[Benjamin]

Liverpool and Chelsea drew, Spurs are level with Southampton right now and Milan lost to Sassuolo. 
 

Super Shit League, more like.

[METALMAN]

what a tune. You couldn't rock out to anything like this in the super league.

[gunnar hendershow]

14 minutes ago, metalman said:

what a tune. You couldn't rock out to anything like this in the super league.

Absolute banger. And perfect for a club as well dressed as Sassuolo.

4 hours ago, metalman said:

this might be a nice little piece for the Americans among us

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/21/european-super-league-reaction-us-fans

Good read, it also reminded me of the sports hell I almost was forced into.

Quote

Glazer also out-bid Peter Angelos, the Orioles’ owner, who wanted to move the Bucs to Baltimore.

Overall it really did hit the nail on the head for why there's so much appeal, and a weird solidarity we have with a town/city in the UK most of us will never visit, for the Premier League specifically.