seanthecanary

Probably yeah. What I don’t get is that the 12 clubs involved already have the deck stacked in their favour financially and it’s still not enough. The 3 Spanish clubs in particular. Barca and the two Madrid clubs get 70% of all La Liga tv revenue and it’s still not enough. I would sooner leave a fox in charge of a chicken coup than let Perez control our clubs finances.

I will now be interested if any punishment is dished out to these clubs. I heard pundits on Sky saying last night that it wouldn’t be fair to punish fans, players and staff for the owners discretion. I understand it to some degree but Wigan’s fans, players and staff got punished with a points deduction that ultimately relegated them last season because of an owners failings.

Seems we’re scapegoating McClean. A bit harsh because other than Hanley none of players got anywhere near their best. So many heavy touches , under/over cooked or misplaced passes and lack of composure was on display last night from everyone. We just didn’t play well at all and never got our game going. There were flashes of it but no consistency over 90 minutes and 0-1 flattered us. It’s hard to know how to judge the performance because Watford were in far greater need of the points than we were and they may have been a hangover from clinching promotion. I can see why some are worried. We are going to face this level of opposition and better every game next season. The two games against Watford and the defeat to Swansea have been poor. We need to be better in these games. Not that we have to blow them away but they are must not lose fixtures and over the past 2 seasons we’ve lost too many of them. Let’s not get carried away though, it’s been a brilliant season and we should enjoy promotion and fingers crossed another title before we start to worry about the PL

I also don’t think they expected the reaction from broadcast partners to be so severe and negative either. I guess they expected the likes of Sky, BT and Amazon to be fighting over and begging for the rights. Instead Amazon condemned the plan and Sky Sports have been quite prepared to let their reporters and pundits really lay into the idea since Sunday. They’ve been lining up people from the football world and fans to shoot down the whole thing for 3 days. If even Sky thinks it’s too much, you know you’ve gone too far.

That’s what I’ve been wondering the last two days.What did these clubs think would happen when they announced this? Overall it’s a damming indictment on football as a whole, especially at the top. You’ve got clubs like Barca, Real and Juve who manage their finances like Nick Leeson is their accountant. They almost cannot afford for this Super League to fail because they can’t reign in spending and are in financial holes. Then you’ve got the businessmen owners who have shown their true colours that it’s all about profits for them. It’s not just the 12 clubs greed on display though, it’s FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League who were all worried about how this effects their finances. Bamford also made a really good point when interviewed last night. Ask UEFA to do something meaningful about racism, you get the right noises but nothing really happens. You take their revenue away and suddenly they’re all action. He’s right as well. 10 game ban for racially abusing a player on pitch. Lifetime ban for playing in the Super League when players don’t have a choice because they’re contracted to a club. Not many football clubs or bodies are coming out of this looking good.

I’m probably being a bit harsh though. He’s is up against one of the leagues best players without playing much football in months.

Watford also need 3 points far more than we do

Goes to show how football is about opinions. I’m watching the game and totally understanding why we signed another left back. Quintilla doesn’t look comfortable at all to me and was fortunate not to have given a penalty away

Fair play to these 12 clubs though. It takes something really special to make FIFA and UEFA look like organisations that are worried about football’s best interests

It really depends on whether Sky and BT would want to renegotiate their deals with the PL and CL without the rebel clubs. I guess it would depend on viewing figures and subscription numbers. It seems that Sky especially have been blindsided by this though and the fact they are allowing their presenters, reporters and pundits let rip over it suggests they’ve had no contact about TV deals etc.

It’s also pathetic to see the President of one the richest, most powerful clubs in the world pleading poverty. I don’t see that anyone has any sympathy for them. There are crack addicts that manage their finances better than Real.

Think Pep just summed this all up well at his press conference. Firstly that the people in charge need to come out and explain themselves. He also said that a league where teams can’t get relegated etc “isn’t sport”

I think the radio silence from all the English owners shows how little they care about the fans that have turned up week in, week out for year upon year. It’s been nearly 48 hours since they dropped a bomb and have felt no need or desire to justify or explain it to their own supporters. Man Utd and Liverpool also quite quite happy to throw their managers and players under the bus while the owners hide across the Atlantic

It’s certainly a thing of the past in the Premier League. Fans of these 6 clubs can no longer delude themselves that their club is still part their community. It’s not. Just like Amazon’s delivery depot isn’t part of Norwich’s community. These clubs are businesses with investors that expect returns on their investment.

I guess what it comes down to is that I would probably find the Premier League as a competition a lot more interesting without those 6 teams. I am no doubt in the minority there though.

I wouldn’t have thought they need to kick them out of the PL. If in the early 90s division one clubs could decide to break away from the football league to start the PL and now these clubs breaking away to form a Super League then the 14 remaining Premier League clubs can surely just form a new league?

I think that’s part of the problem but not the main reason the owners of say Man Utd want this. They bought the club as a business concern to make profit from. In that sense, even if the sport reduced transfer fees and wages, it still wouldn’t be enough money for them. They will still want more. They only want success on the pitch because it means financial success. Removing the need to have a successful team to make money is a big thing for them.

You mean like earlier in the season when the majority of fans outright refused to pay for and ultimately reversed the decision about PPV Premier League matches? I don’t see this as partisan issue either. Even the supporters of the clubs involved don’t want it. There seems to be an almost universal agreement amongst fans that this is not wanted. This is about football as a whole not which club you support

Quite. Being “custodians” didn’t stop Wimbledon’s owners moving the club to Milton Keynes and changing the name.

That’s a point I made. I don’t think the Glazers or FSG would lose any sleep moving the clubs base out of Manchester and Liverpool respectively if the money would still roll in. When businessmen buy your club to make profit, you stop being a supporter and become a customer.

Part of me just thinks let them do what they want and see where it gets them. The majority of fans domestically support clubs outside of those involved. I’m still going to remain more interested in Norwich than any of the clubs in this Super League. I say let them take their ball and go play elsewhere and let the hundreds of European Clubs not involved get on with competitive leagues and cups. I’m quite convinced more people would watch genuine competitions over this sham and that’s where the money will migrate to.

The difference between this and the PL is that it’s a closed shop with guaranteed involvement for clubs, some of which have by no means earned it. A lot of footballs greatest moments in this country have come from teams defying odds. Forest consecutively getting promoted, winning the top league and then the European cup 2 times on the trott. Leicester miraculously avoiding relegation then winning the Premier League the following season. This Super League doesn’t allow for any of that. There is nothing any club can do to reach the pinnacle of the sport anymore if this comes to fruition. Clubs like ours can never be at the top table, ever. Premier League status, as difficult as it is to achieve and maintain is still a realistic dream for a lot of clubs. Super League status is not something any clubs outside of this elite group can ever aim for. On top of that, what’s to stop say the Glazers or FSG deciding they want to have 2 seasons where they just bank the money involved and not invest in players, accepting they’ll finish bottom? There is nothing to stop them doing it because their involvement the next season is guaranteed. You’re heading towards a situation here where clubs are rewarded regardless of success. At least in the PL they have to make the effort to qualify for the CL to get the revenue.

Where is the money coming from though? I won’t pay watch it and I doubt I’m the only one. This is universally hated by football fans. If you can’t get TV revenue from people watching there is large chunk of money gone. If the viewing figures are not high, why are companies going to to spend big on sponsorship and advertising? If FIFA can ban players from playing for their clubs due to missing internationals for no good reason, then they can do the reverse.

I originally thought that it was bargaining leverage but I think it’s clear now that it was not the overriding motivator. That said, I don’t think any of those involved thought the backlash would be quite as severe as it has been. It’s universally hated across the board. It’s going to take so much to get this off the ground now. There is no fan support inside Europe and while I understand this is not the only market, the majority of TV money comes from Europe and sponsors looking to sell their products in Europe. Without a strong fan base in Europe, it’s hard to see where the big bucks are coming from. I mean what is the average disposable income in African/Asian countries? With the Government now threatening sanctions it’s entirely possible that the owners of clubs in England could potentially have to move the clubs outside of England. As I said previously, Real and Barca’s perpetual involvement is not guaranteed either because the fans can just vote out the incumbent presidents and elect one that removes them from it. With Bayern and PSGs absence, it then starts to look a less than super, super league.

That’s part of the joke of it for me. Spurs, unless they rectify it Sunday have not won a trophy in 12 seasons and have a spotty record at best in qualifying for the CL. Arsenal haven’t qualified for the CL in what seems like an eternity. Is Spurs/Arsenal vs At Madrid really a box office fixture globally? If they want a place at the top table, they should have to earn it as has always been the way: