Of interest to every club in the Championship League I would think...................

[Camuldonum 0]

From today''s East Anglian Daily Times:

PROMOTION and relegation in the Premier League could be scrapped if the proliferation of foreign owners continues.

That is the warning from Blues chairman David Sheepshanks who fears the American system of sealed divisions in its sports will take over at the top of our national game.

 

The full article is here: http://tinyurl.com/yvzfp4

[Camuldonum 0]

Sighs.....perhaps the full link will work better

 

http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/sport/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=IpswichTownFC&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=zsport&itemid=IPED11%20Sep%202007%2000%3A15%3A03%3A903

[nutty nigel 7,509]

This has been on the cards for a long time but it''s unlikely to happen until the Premier League is full of the clubs that those with the power want to be there.

Let''s be honest, relegation was already scrapped last season for West Ham but not for Sheffield United. If disaster happened to one of Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool and they finished in the bottom 3 there would be some loophole found to ensure they weren''t relegated. Just like a couple of seasons ago Liverpool managed to get into the Champions League even though they finished 5th in the Premiership. Yes, I know they were defending their title but would the rules have been bent the same for say Chelsea or another of the clubs not in the G14?

Premier League football and Champions League football is just for TV and merchandise now. Come what may the stars must appear.

 

[Old Shuck 183]

Theres no doubt in my mind the Premiership will try to make itself a "closed shop" as soon as it possibly can.

They''ll then make it sound like they''re doing everyone else a favour by doing just that-promotion is a bad thing, costs clubs a lot of money, ditto relegation and how clubs struggle financially when that happens, it''s best to introduce some continuity into the game, and "...My! Isn''t the CCC exciting these days?.." etc etc-plus of course, there''ll "still be the excitement of relegation and promotion between the football league clubs", all that and more to fob us all off.

Who do you reckon the Prem are looking for in order to get their ''ideal'' set up-perhaps its already fairly close as far as they''re concerned, maybe they''d like to "lose" clubs like Reading and Wigan and perhaps "gain" Wolves and one of the Sheffield clubs. But they''re not far off, I would guess, having the sort of permanent set up they''d all like.

I note that Platini''s idea of countries cup winners getting a Champions League place is being frowned upon by yes, the G-14 clubs, and that it is unlikely to be supported in this country because Liverpool and Man Utd object! Typical tail wagging dog in English football as usual. The nightmare scenario is, I have heard, the big 4 in this country don''t get their own way so they clear off and form a new, Euro Superleague, well, if it ever came down to that, I''d seriously suggest everyone called their bluff and let them get on with it. A Premiership without Arsenal/Liverpool/Man Utd/Chelsea, bring it on! Much more open, much more interest, you would think, also, without the "big 4''s" clout to inflate everything financially, transfers and wages might also level out a bit, ditto ticket prices. And how attractive would their Super League be, people would soon get fed up of the same old games every week, week in, week out, it would be nothing more than a 21st centrury Kerry Packer-type set up, and, with their players being banned from playing for England etc, we might get a international side that plays with a bit more pride and a lot less complacency than the current one.

England XI (less the "big 4")?

Robinson

Richards, Woodgate, King, Shorey

Lennon, Reo Coker, Barry, Taylor

Owen, Ashton

...not so bad!

 

 

[nutty nigel 7,509]

I think you''re right Old Shuck, the Premiership is nearly there now but I bet they would prefer Leeds, Nottm. F., Sheffield Wednesday and maybe Wolves over Wigan, Reading, Fulham and maybe Portsmouth.

The G14 seem to make veiled threats about breaking away every little while but I don''t think it has come very close to happening yet. Chelsea were outsiders a couple of years ago and are not in the G14.  Liverpool, Man.Utd and Arsenal were like the "Landed Gentry" and Chelsea the "Lottery Louts" in comparison. But the change in ownership of the big three now means that in essence they are "Lottery Louts" too. But on the European stage  only Liverpool are in the top two tiers of the G14 with Real Madrid, AC Milan, Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. Our big fours ''financial clout'' will not influence those illustrious clubs and in fact if they move away too much from tradition it could alienate them to the point where they are treated like Lottery Louts by the likes of  Real Madrid.

 

[we8wba 0]

i just wished the cl regulars p!ss off to there own super league, then least make league entertaining,

either this needs to happen or salary cap of some kind, or some sort of draft bit like nfl when the best of say players under 21 are picked up by the worst teams etc..

[Show Me What You Gooot! 0]

Do you know what I think - go ahead and seal the Premiership I don''t care really. Its a near impossible league to play in anyway, and the chances of winning the title are less than zero. Its becomes a sad state of affairs when teams play in the premiership "to avoid relegation" rather that "for the title". If we ever made it into a top flight league I''d want us playing to win that league, not just to survive year on year in mid table. The gap between League 2 (or even The Conference) and The Championship is probably smaller than that between just the Championship and the Premier League.

Make the Championship the new top flight and while we''re at it, lets get some caps in place (transfers/wages etc) and keep football abit more grass roots rather than a sports version of hollywood.

[Steve H 0]

I''m really not so sure that it would happen, I mean it could happen but first off it is David Sheepshanks opinion, that alone should set alarm bells ringing for any sane person.

Secondly think of the uproar it would cause amongst a lot of fans. As much as football is run by money men, it is all on the back of ordinary people and the interest they have in football, if they tried to make it a closed shop and enough people were prepared to shun the leauge both in terms of attendance of live matches and SKY TV then they could end up with egg on their face.

I think fan power is very underestimated in this country, for example I don''t think the Glazier''s expected the kind of opposition they got when they took over. And it was a simple take over, nothing else.

The real test will come when something big is tried such as a European Super Leauge or making the Premier Leauge a closed shop then we will see how much the average football fan is prepared to tolerate having his game toyed with by the powers that be.

[charlies dad 0]

With the sixteenth biggest average gates in england, despite some of the worst football, and terrible results, we should march straight into the new Premier League in place of Wigan or somesuch, and demand our rightful place. With this board in charge, its probably our best chance of getting back into the elite.