European Super League announced; collapses

[DavidMarrio]

Just now, Jimmy said:

looooooool  

It's cause you'll have the European Super League money now so can afford to pay him off

[METALMAN]

41 minutes ago, Colly said:

This is fundamentally the argument I've seen. For the first couple of seasons maybe, but when Barcelona and Man Utd have played each other 4 times a year for 3 seasons (I realise that's not the ESL programme, but it would be with no domestic football) Leeds vs West Ham might actually seem appealing. The "Brand" thing might have made sense five years ago, but Messi and Ronaldo can't play forever, and the other two don't even currently play for a Super League club, and neither do other wunderkinds like Haaland and Sancho. At the end of the day these 12 clubs can realistically poach 200 or so superstars at best, and if the rest of Europe refuse to sell to what's essentially a different code of football you won't see the likes of Mahrez going to City anymore. If they lose domestic football (and indeed international football) the whole thing is knackered.

Now I'm just picturing Klopp's reaction to "legacy fans".

The brand thing is a load of rubbish. I support a team in the Scottish league. Nobody cares about us, not even our top teams. We don't have players of the standard of the English leagues but we do have teams that care about the fans in their town and city more than they care about "fans" on the other side of the world, and I can guarantee we have more fun than fans of Arsenal and Tottenham, super league or no super league.

There's nothing to be scared of without the big teams. 

[Jimmy]

12 minutes ago, DavidMarrio said:

It's cause you'll have the European Super League money now so can afford to pay him off

all hail the super league

[Plubby]

2 hours ago, Jimmy said:

I'm assuming it's some sort of power play because UEFA aren't exactly saints themselves....but it's a really dumb fucking power play that's pretty damaging for clubs and their relationships with their fans. 

If Levy's smart, he'll sack Jose today to get some of the goodwill back...

Holy Shit Jimmy

[Baddar]

Wow. I wonder if this is just down to form, or Jose speaking against the ESL.

Ryan Mason and Chris Powell to take charge until June.

[Lineker]

The ESL will be financed by JP Morgan.

[Colly]

Just realised this might mean Allardyce keeps his "never relegated" reputation...

[gunnar hendershow]

1 hour ago, DavidMarrio said:

To play devil's advocate on the bolded point. It'll be a lot tougher for teams not in the Super League to build up as much as a profile as City have over the last decade purely because of things like could they attract the big name players who they could market, would the casual fan want to watch Leicester Vs Luton when they might have Barcelona Vs Man Utd? Especially during a time where it's more brands and players such as Neymar/Messi/Ronaldo/Mbappe

 

I think there would be a knock on effect for domestic football for a period of time and then it would stabilise. The idea of English football dying is a bit daft but there would be financial ramifications for the some time before things even themselves out

 

 

The "legacy fans" bit is the key point for me. For a club in Manchester there's only so many domestic fans they can have. But between just 2 overseas countries (China and India) there's over 2 billion potential fans. And with the expectation that the economies and spending powers in those two countries will continue to grow, and eventually surpass the entire EU, that's the market these owners want their teams to succeed in. Even if they lose some fans domestically, they'll still be making more money. Whether the ESL makes that possible or not is up for debate.

I expect the lawsuits that happen over this to probably result in The Super League getting some concessions from UEFA and FIFA while possibly opening the league up a little bit and it being up to the players themselves to refuse the likely significantly higher wages of a Super League club vs a non-Super League club. The worst club in the Super League will probably have higher revenues than they do otherwise solely because of the expected massive TV deal they can negotiate. I've shifted from this is a negotiation tactic for more in the Swiss Model to this is a thing that's happening.

[Tigerstyle]

13 minutes ago, Colly said:

Just realised this might mean Allardyce keeps his "never relegated" reputation...

Why? Is he gonna manage Spurs in the ESL?

[lanky316]

46 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

all hail the super league

All hail Jose, good of the club to martyr him in this way.

Jose - "this is bullshit, me and my players are on strike"

club - "booo moar money! You go now"

[DavidMarrio]

Worst thing is fans can't protest this shite at the grounds. 

[Jimmy]

21 minutes ago, DavidMarrio said:

Worst thing is fans can't protest this shite at the grounds. 

3 hours ago, Jimmy said:

also pathetic to announce when fans can't publicly protest at stadiums etc 

i am a prophet today  

[METALMAN]

 

this is the worst part of the whole thing

[GA!]

Just now, metalman said:

 

this is the worst part of the whole thing

Can't believe I ever liked that cunt.

[OctoberRaven]

 

also, another alternative to Man Utd for you all to consider:

 

[Summers]

Fuck all these shit cunts.

Hope they all stub their toe and get removed from their domestic and UEFA competitions.

 

 

[Colly]

 

[Summers]

1 minute ago, Colly said:

 

The inaugural season ending as it should have. 

[Szumi]

 

 

 

[Hobo]

51 minutes ago, DavidMarrio said:

Worst thing is fans can't protest this shite at the grounds. 

That said, LFC fan groups are demanding the removal of their flags and banners from the Kop a head of the Newcastle game.

Football has been trending this way for years, obviously. The Premier League  is one example, the Champions League another. That the biggest and richest clubs should get everything and pretend that it somehow benefits everyone. The neoliberalist ideology that dominates how the sport is run at the highest levels.

I always thought it would just come through the way UEFA has been evolving the Champions League and Europa League and now the Europa Conference thingy into this 3 tier mammoth European competition. And that that would eventually just become a 3 tier pan European league.

Especially for American owners of clubs I can see the benefit of wanting to break away and form your own league and eventually feck off these weird ideas like promotion and relegation and stuff.