I think it's an attempt to bully Uefa and FIFA. If they go ahead, and teams are kicked out of domestic leagues and players are prevented from playing internationally, there will be disputes everywhere. I think it's brinkmanship but that what they really want is more control over the current structure
The New European Super (borefest) League
- Thread starter Azza
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Soldato
players won't give too many craps about playing for "their" countires when they are getting paid 1 million a week to play in a closed shop
Of course they will. There are some greedy players, but most are still huge fans of the game for whom the international tournaments remain the pinnacle
Soldato
not if they have to play for a team where they are only on 50 grand a week. If they can play 5 seasons at 1mil/week in the ESL it's pretty obvious where their loyalties will lay
Soldato
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I'm waiting on the response from the Premier League after their meeting with the 14 other clubs today.
I hope they push back and immediately suspend the 6 rebel clubs for the remainder of the season.
It probably won't happen, as they'll mention about entering some kind of talks etc
I hope they push back and immediately suspend the 6 rebel clubs for the remainder of the season.
It probably won't happen, as they'll mention about entering some kind of talks etc
Caporegime
Given how arrogant the owners are behaving and how little they think of the Premier League or the clubs they own, I don't think they'll give a ****.
Even then, I'd expect them to think pretty seriously about it.
Let Leicester and West ham fight it out for the prem league title. Absolute scenes!
Caporegime
0% chance of this happening. I think people are forgetting that the owners of most of those 14 clubs only care about money as well.
Indeed. The value of winning the Premier League would fall off a cliff if they suspend the big 6. Might as well cancel the season entirely.
Never going to happen.
For the most part ai.
Regardless of the ESL until FSG are gone i wont be supporting Liverpool.
Soldato
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I hear you, would be interesting to see how the managers and players react, being caught in the middle of it. These owners have nothing if there are no managers and players onside.
If they don't punish them, what does that say about the premier League
We could do the double this year, brilliant
Soldato
of course they will "think seriously" about it. But the bottom line is that money buys allegiance and loyalty. Pro footballers have a very short window to make money and then live comfortably after they retire. Those that end up in the ESL will basically win the lottery and have the rest of their lives set up. You think they will chuck that for the chance to pull on the 3 lions shirt ? Maybe 20 years ago, but not now, no chance. All this money in football has basically destroyed the basic passions like what we saw back in Italia 90. Show me one player today that throws as much emotion in to their national games as the likes of Gazza, Lineker, Platt, Ince etc, it doesn't happen anymore and the ESL will stick a few more nails in that particular coffin.
Have people seen the Wolves Twitter account?
Have people seen the Wolves Twitter account?
I have. Its incredibly childish tbh
Caporegime
This is the sad truth. If you asked any of the clubs in the league if they wanted to join the SL and get a £200-300m signing on bonus plus loads of money each year, how many would say no. Most people would sell their own mothers for enough money.
Soldato
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I feel the only way to stop this is by the large sponsors boycotting it, keep their sponsorship deals and money in the domestic leagues, let the ESL fall on it's arse when it's just the owners and JP Morgan bankrolling it.
Will it happen? No probably not, as those sponsors will also have greedy owners
Will it happen? No probably not, as those sponsors will also have greedy owners
It's a weird one. When the news come out my instant reaction was here we go again, another threat on the eve of a UEFA meeting around the structure of the CL. We've been here so many times before over the last 20 odd years and every time I say it's just a threat to get more out of UEFA but one day it will probably happen. I still think this probably is just another threat but I have to admit part of me is wondering whether this might be the real thing this time.
Like with most things, not everything about this is bad. There are valid arguments to restructuring European competition - the group stage of the CL is generally pretty boring and maybe some sort of League format would change that. There's also big question marks around the role and need for UEFA - they siphon off hundreds of millions of euros each season, for what? Your side gets to a European final and you get given circa 12k tickets in an 80k stadium because UEFA have given 60% of the tickets to suits. Despite their comments about protecting fans, they, just like these breakaway clubs, only care about their own wallets.
In fact the issue with this idea really is just the closed shop nature of it. A club run (all clubs not just these 12) European competition that cuts out UEFA, generating more money that stays within the game would be great. You could even have a two tier League with the second tier replacing the Europa.
I'm under no illusions about our owners. They didn't buy Liverpool because they loved the club, they couldn't care less about the club or sport. They saw the viewing figures and relatively low revenue, compared to US sports and realised they could make a fortune. They were smart and learned from a lot of mistakes that the Glazers and our previous owners made but their ultimate intentions are the same. The one thing we've seen is PR means a lot to them and whenever supporters have pushed back on previous bad ideas they've had, they've always backtracked. Assuming this isn't just another threat, unfortunately I can't see them backtracking this time no matter how much bad press they'll get - even if one of these 12 clubs were against the idea, they almost can't afford not to be part of it. Taking the moral decision would be financial suicide.