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The fans are supposed to pay their Sky subs and sit at home.
I read DAZN were lined up to 3.5 billion for the TV rights... not sure if this has put it up the Sky or BT pundits
This is really a terrible offering, two thoughts from me, this current big 6 is a joke, United who I support havent won a league in 9 years, Liverpool have won one league in 30years, Tottenham have never won it and Arsenal havent won it in nearly 20 years. You could argue from recent form that Leicster have been hard done by here, then you are forgetting the years when Everton where a top 6 side every season.
Man United have been pretty awful since Fergie left and gone through numerous managers with some good moments and some bad with some awful league finish positions, the low league position finishes have meant we haven't been in the CL which has been good as then I dont get to see us get destroyed by a European team at their peak (although Pep's Barca destroyed two very good teams). If a United went through another rebuild why would I want to watch that and see United prop up a table they couldn't be relegated from!
It’s also interesting to see no German or French teams there.
Naïve to believe that Uli Hoenss and Bayern aren't a big part of this, they just have to be more careful with the announcement due to to the 50+1 rule.
I hope some of the managers speak out against it, won't hold my breath though.
I also saw that the Juventus president was the head of the European clubs association, how the **** did that happen when he has been proposing this power and money grab for years, just shows the power the big clubs already exert in intimidating the smaller clubs.
This is really a terrible offering, two thoughts from me, this current big 6 is a joke
I think that when they're referring to 'top six' they're basing that on one metric only...
Revenue
Given that money is the only metric, once a seat at the table has been guaranteed, can't see the likes of MU, Arsenal and Spurs wasting cash improving their mediocre squads.
The only thing that gives me hope is the second sentence of the Arsenal statement; "There’s lots more to do to bring the competition to life".
The fans are supposed to pay their Sky subs and sit at home.
If this happens, I guarantee this will be pay-per-view via the nobbers own platform.
As a spurs fan I want to stay part of the premiership. If this is mutually exclusive with the super league...I want to stay part of the premiership.
Overhaul the European comps, fine. Not sure that a league is the best thing, but well... Fans opinion matters little.
There is no way any of these teams should be allowed to play in this and the premier league. These clubs will be guaranteed the big money each season and then be allowed to use that extra wealth to build squads and at the weekend get to then play against clubs in domestic competition that can never access that money.
If any of these associations have anything about them they need to act now and not wait until the end of the season.
Someone just raised the point that this could actually be illegal under EU competition law as it creates what is effectively a cartel.
Now Spurs have the money from the ESL they have been able to pay Jose off
Jose off
This is more horrible news for this morning. As a gooner I was hoping the full 3 yr destruction cycle 🙁
I wonder how much money he's made over the years with severance deals?
He's had 25 million just from Chelski, hasn't he?
Spursy
It's very strange timing since they have the League cup final on Sunday.
It’s very strange timing since they have the League cup final on Sunday.
I think yesterday's events tell you how much interest the Spurs board has in the UK cup competitions.
Normally he loses the dressing room, but when you've even lost the Dulux Dog, it's time to go.
I wonder if he only found out about the super league stuff yesterday and didn't react the way the higher-ups were hoping? Let's face it, a team like Porto isn't going to get a sniff in the future.
They're just showing their ambition.
They don't want to carry on winning nowt in the England, they want to spread their wings, broaden their horizons and win nowt in Europe instead 😉
rumours are he was sacked for refusing to take training after been told about the league thing. we shall see he doesn't strike me as a fall on his own sword type or maybe he wanted out anyway.
rumours are he was sacked for refusing to take training after been told about the league thing. we shall see he doesn’t strike me as a fall on his own sword type or maybe he wanted out anyway.
I think the writing was on the wall anyway. Levy would get rid at the end of the season. Taking a stand means he can use Super League as a reason for leaving rather than results.
I wonder if he only found out about the super league stuff yesterday and didn’t react the way the higher-ups were hoping?
I've no doubt he'll come out and say that he had it out with Levy because he feels it is against football and that has cost him his job (definitely not Spurs being 7th). Then next season he'll rock up at RB Leipzig when they become the only German club that join the ESL.
True, very convenient, particularly as his next employer is unlikely to be one of these 'founder members'.
So.... who next for Spurs?
I honestly don't care, as long as Mourinho's gone. Despite some exceptionally talented players, we've been playing horrible football that clearly wasn't working, with everyone to blame except Jose. I can tolerate it if we were grinding out results, but we've been appalling.
Quite happy with Mason til the end of the season, or even Harry in for 7 or so games. Cup final aside, we've got an easy-ish run in, so anyone who can get the players to play close to their abilities will get results.
Edit: Bet Mourinho spins this as his brave protest against the Super League, rather than him being sacked for being outdated, stubborn and not getting results.
It's nothing to do with the ESL, and everything to do with trying to keep Kane from pissing off at the end of the season.
I love this Super League stuff, been looking forward to this for a long time.
The entire edifice of elite football is hopefully about to come crashing down. I hope it's captured on VAR for posterity.
It's been heading in this direction since Murdoch got involved, and here we are - American finance companies, Russian plutocrats and quasi-fascist Middle East states are about to make it all blow up in the faces of the stupid idiots who've enabled this.
A world cup staged in Qatar! Ha ha ha!
At the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, the base of each goalpost was painted with a black band on the otherwise white upright. This was done by the groundsmen at the stadiums, as a mark of protest and respect for the disappeared victims of the ruling military dictatorship. The junta wanted to use the tournament to portray itself in a positive light to the rest of the world and the request from the national team to wear black armbands was firmly turned down with sinister threats. So the ground staff took matters into their own hands, and explained to the dictatorship's generals who cared little for football that the painted black bands were an obscure FIFA rule. This protest went by largely unnoticed by everyone except the target audience - the Argentine people, who the tournament rightfully belonged to. They knew.
This story reminds me of that story.
Read this this morning - made me smile:
Tottenham joining a European super league is like bananaman getting called up as an avenger.
Spurs fan here..
We haven't won a trophy in 13 years and we call ourselves a big 6 team. We are an embarrassment.
Gary Neville summed it up nicely yeaterday unfortunately when he said liverpool and man u should know better, arsenal were a shambles of a club right now and in no way deserving of being called a top team, and most damming of all..he didn't really care about spurs whatsoever..
Re Jose going. The problem isn't the manager. It's that fundamentally spurs are a club who think they are better than they are, yet conversely seem to have a losing mentality about them.
the base of each goalpost was painted with a black band on the otherwise white upright. This was done by the groundsmen at the stadiums, as a mark of protest and respect for the disappeared victims of the ruling military dictatorship.
I never knew that, but the base of my Subbuteo goals had a thin strip of insulating tape to be like them. Even as a nine year old I was a revolutionary!
I think the proposed chairman and vice chairmen reveal the architects, it looks like others may have been less enthusiastic but just not have wanted to be left behind.
And compering it to the rule of a past military junta is less accurate than just comparing it to the current oligarchy that the west has become.
I welcome the ESL announcement.
Do we really think that FIFA, UEFA, Premier League, FA have done such a wonderful job of giving us fans what we want? Or has it just given its stakeholders and leaders billionaire lifestyles? Have they given us the best of all possible games? Are there no improvements to be had? Apart from even more teams in the World Cup, European Cup*. Oh, and VAR.
This is just the opening salvo to get everybody wound up. It's not going to end up like this.
*I'm a Villa fan (not really a football supporter then), so I still think of it as the European Cup seeing as we won it. We absolutely love being the underdogs. Summed up by a bloke standing next to us in the Holte End as we were 3 nil down coming to the end of a winter game: wizard of dribble Frank Carrodus beats 3 defenders heading to an open goal and this bloke in a wonderful brummie accent shouts "Carrodus! Don't you DARE put us out of our misery!"
And the phrases I hate hearing on the radio commentaries are "great game for the neutrals" - sod the neutrals, who are they, the idiots who call it footy? and "playing from left to right" - no they're not.
Spurs are the 5th richest club in the country. The teams wanting to be in the ESL, it has nothing to do with merit (clearly spurs fans 🙂 ) it is all about money, making it and keeping it.
Fly emirates and visit rwanda guys. Dont forget to betfair on you friday evening 9pm kick off with no trains back for the away fans.
Football has been shite for years. Covid proved to them that fans in stadiums are not required despite all the #forthefans hashtags. This is just the logical conclusion.
I'm soooooo HAPPY
He's gone !!
My boycott can be lifted ... I can now watch on Sunday and win lose or draw/lose,lose or lose.... I'll be watching Spurs again.
This is a very HAPPY DAY
UEFA FIFA threatening to ban players is punishing the wrong people IMO. To punish the owners, who seem to be the ones pushing for this, they should release the players registration allowing new clubs to sign them. This isn't a decision made by the players, they are just employees caught up in the melee.
Covid proved to them that fans in stadiums are not required despite all the #forthefans hashtags
I thought much the same. I bet that the next conclusion that the pandemic has helped them reach (they probably already have) is that geographical location isn't important either. So why have the games at Anfield or Old Trafford? Why not have them in Dubai, Singapore or New York?
If this ESL idea ends up anything like the NFL we will have all sorts of interesting changes - adverts every throw in or foul, 4 quarters, franchises (Rome Hotspur, Inter Birmingham) following the money. Can't see it working as several huge teams are missing - Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Roma, Lazio, Aston Villa) - and the cultural element of football, such as the rivalries and david beating goliath games which make football such a fascinating and compelling sport to watch. I'm sure Liverpool fans would prefer playing Everton, than a couple of games against Inter Milan.
Christ on a bike. What a crazy 24 hours for football.
My love for the game has been waning for years, and this is pretty much the final huge nail in the coffin for me.
I'm not sure what to think. One part of me thinks this is just a huge bluff, the other that it could change football for ever. But I wish it was how it was about 20 years ago and stayed that way.
Can't get me head around this.
How different is this from, say RL Superleague?
so I still think of it as the European Cup seeing as we won it
Really? Villa fans don't tend to mention that much, I didn't realise.
Oliver Dowden, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport is about to make a statement in parliament about this.
This should be good.
I wonder if someone has sat him down and explained to him what football is?
possible premier league for 2021-22
Leicester
West Ham
Everton
Leeds
Aston Villa
Wolves
Crystal Palace
Southampton
Newcastle
Brighton
Burnley
+ any 9 from....
Fulham
West Brom
Sheff Utd
Norwich
Watford
Swansea
Brentford
Bournemouth
Barnsley
Reading
Cardiff
Millwall
depending what happens with relegation
Euro 2020 England Team looks alright without the ESL teams (assuming Dortmund don't sign up) England might actually stand a chance. We would need PSG to join though, then that'd rule out Mbappe.
Pope/Pickford
Matt Cash
Konza
Dunk
Cresswell
Rice
Bellingham
Sancho
Maddison
Grealish
DCL
Stand back everyone! Oliver Dowden has just announced a government 'fan-led review' of football
Take that Joel Glazer!
I am really surprised that banning the players is legal, I thought it would be a restrictive employment practice. I think this will be challenged, although the owners won't care, less matches for their assets to be injured in so they will take it as a win.
Stand back everyone! Oliver Dowden has just announced a government ‘fan-led review’ of football
And another easy win falls into the laps of bojo and the tories so they can pretend to be on the side of the common people.
Really? Villa fans don’t tend to mention that much, I didn’t realise.
:o)
PSG have just won the champions league !?
and Roma vs Villareal for the Europa
Which franchises do we think would be first to be moved to another country?
United and Liverpool to the US? both have American owners and grounds badly in need of modernisation, why invest improving what you have if you can get an American city to mainly fund you a new stadium. Chelski to Moscow, again needed ground modernisation got abandoned a year or two ago. City could flip to New York city being the main team in the city group.
London could hold 2 teams probably not 3, and 3 would be too many concentrated in the north west. Same goes for 2 Madrid and 2 Milan teams, they will want to spread them out a bit more.
Wit from The Guardian’s preamble of tonight’s Leeds v Liverpool match:
“It’s an important game for Liverpool, who need to finish one of the top four divisions if they are to qualify for next season’s European Super League. Can they do it?“
I think it's quite funny. Football has been a money game for many years, since way before the Premier League era.
FIFA, UEFA and the national FAs are a cartel anyway and not very progressive. They're just upset as someone is effectively stealing their lunch
The more I think about it the more I think it will happen now. The prize for the owners is massive, it will be a European league expanding to a world wide league in 10 years or so, the money involved will be massive, it will make the PL look like a provincial backwater league. National teams will be history as the big clubs now represent nations in a world league.
In 20 years time the 2 or 3 world league teams left in the UK will mop up all the fans and the controversy will be long forgotten.
I think it’s quite funny. Football has been a money game for many years, since way before the Premier League era.
Yeah I think you probably have to go back to the 50's for any semblance of sporting equality in football, and even that might be looking at the past through rose tinted spectacles.
FIFA, UEFA and the national FAs are a cartel anyway and not very progressive. They’re just upset as someone is effectively stealing their lunch
Bojo coming out on the side of the premier League kind of backs that up.
Isn’t it just mad that they’ve announced this when there are no fans in grounds to show their overwhelming support over the next few weeks. Absolutely mad.
There’s already a European league in basketball. The Americanisation of sports is not necessarily a bad thing, some aspects of it they do much better.
I don't mind if a European league forms, it is inevitable sooner or later. But there has to be some form of promotion and relegation, and no guarantees for the clubs who believe that past glories are more important than current form. If you want to remain at the high table you have to keep earning it.
FIFA, UEFA and the national FAs are a cartel anyway and not very progressive. They’re just upset as someone is effectively stealing their lunch
It’s a unique situation because pretty much everyone involved here is representative of the most vile, corrupt, money-grubbing self-serving bastards on the planet
It’s coming to something when the people who brought you the premier league are claiming the moral high ground
None of the parties involved in this spat give a shit about anything other than their own already enormous bank balances
If you want to remain at the high table you have to keep earning it.
Talking of unlikely candidates for taking the moral high ground... Looks like Leeds are keen to remind Liverpool (and the other 5) of that this evening
I see a new cliche coming (and not Gael)
"Football, It's a game of four quarters."
Come to think of it, the money men must have been licking their lips during the summer when the drinks breaks were introduced mid way through each half.......Space for an advert or two..or three....or...
Well, you get the point.
Big Shaka isn't wrong.
With all this shenanigans about the superleague lets take a moment to appreciate the legend that is Big Dunc, sending a message to someones little brother to stop slacking in school
https://twitter.com/JackSimmo1998/status/1384191352703832064?s=20
If you've not watched the MOTD 'Top Ten Hard Men' its well worth a viewing, just to witness the eye-watering tackles going in back in the day. No spoilers as to who number one was, but you can probably guess
West Ham claiming their rightful place as the best team in the land.
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/sport/2148133/how-would-the-premier-league-table-looked-if-big-six-were-banned/amp/
West Ham claiming their rightful place as the best team in the land.
And Potterball finally taking us to the top 10 finish that we were aiming for.
With all this shenanigans about the superleague lets take a moment to appreciate the legend that is Big Dunc, sending a message to someones little brother to stop slacking in school
Top man.
If you stick in and get on with your photography Big Dunc will pay you a visit and take you for some lunch.
And if you don't Big Dunc will 'pay you a visit' and organise some hospital food for you
No spoilers as to who number one was, but you can probably guess
Darren Anderton ?
How do you feel if ESL promises to ditch the rubbish VAR instances and miniscule off sides ??
Oh... actually this is a good game.
Howabout a 10min sin bin for crap diving?
What other fan winning rules could they bring in ??
What other fan winning rules could they bring in ??
Kiss Cam, obviously.
Cheerleaders, snazzy ref outfits, or they could go the whole WWF and make it scripted, to avoid disappointment for the big six.
For crap dives, you're made to play the rest of the match in a pink tutu
Less VAR? I say more! 5 min stoppage for every decision, where a celeb panel of ex-players mull over the super slow-mo to establish how much contact there was and give their verdict on how much writhing and howling in pain the player did.
Could be usurped with Instagram style adverts of the players showing off their latest 5 jillion pound cars - that’ll get the kids spending.
I bet all these great ideas and more for winning over the fans were discussed at great length by the various protagonists, whilst not for one minute were they sat on their stupid greedy arses staring longingly at a big bag of moolah, thinking humbly to themselves - we’re doing this for the fans.
RM.
What's depressing is that the superleague will have to back down, Johnson will claim this as a victory, even tho he was just caught lobbying his own government so Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman could buy Newcastle United
Letting murderous dictators, Russian oligarchs & gambling tycoons buy up Premiere league club is how this mess came about!
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/boris-johnson-saudi-bid-newcastle-united-warning-crown-prince-b929725.html
Yes Rodge, you are no doubt right.
My little idea was just how might they win you over.
I'm going for NFL style seflie screens at the side of the goals
Oh to have seen Robbie Keane's face as he saw in real time how rubbish his little rollie-pollie was !!
@Ro5ey 🤣
Robbie Keane was an innovator with his gymnastic displays! Aubamayang wouldn’t be where he is now without the founding father Keane. 🙃
RM.
Less VAR? I say more! 5 min stoppage for every decision, where a celeb panel of ex-players mull over the super slow-mo to establish how much contact there was and give their verdict on how much writhing and howling in pain the player did.
Peter Robbie Keane was an innovator with his gymnastic displays! Aubamayang wouldn’t be where he is now without the founding father Keane
Actually that would be Peter Beagrie of Everton.
I don't know what everyone is worried about, the Madrid president has explained that football will be saved by trickle down economics, what could possibly go wrong....
Isn't all of this just a natural progression from the imbalance created when multiple teams from each of the richest leagues were allowed to compete in the same,"Champions League" tournament?
Loving the irony of Real Madrid's dinosaur president, Florentino Perez, claiming that the ESL will save football and that all the top teams are losing money. All you ever hear from these clubs is the ridiculous transfer fees for players, and the absurd wages they pay them, many of whom end up languishing on the bench or being farmed out on loan to other clubs. Clubs like Real, Barcelona and Chelsea just seem to hoover up players and then that's the last you hear of most of them. Surely the easiest way for these 'top teams' to become profitable is to have a greater focus on their cost base i.e. reducing transfer fees and associated agents fees for players and agreeing a more effective salary cap.
Don't forget that Perez has been at the helm of RM whilst they have racked up record debts. Some of it from the stadium refurb but mostly though buying players, players wages etc. etc. etc.
He's one of the architects of the clubs like RM, Barcelona & Spurs having roughly $1Bn of debt yet he can save the rest of the pyramid. FFS
Here's a question for fans of one of the big 6. I just made this statement on another forum.
If this goes ahead I will never attend a Liverpool football match again or pay a subscription to watch it.
Would you?
To put into context I attended every LFC home game for 15-20+ years, after leaving the city I've still attended plenty.
The more I think about the proposed ESL the more it appears to me that one money making organisation (the clubs) wants a bigger slice of the other money making organisations (Premier League/UEFA & possibly FIFA). The relegation/promotion malarkey will get ironed out, the threats of banning players etc will slowly disappear and the money spinning will end up in the pockets of those that have the biggest attractions i.e - the highest profile players.
Once set up and given 4 or 5 years to settle down, I'm starting to think the ESL might not be such a bad thing.
He’s one of the architects of the clubs like RM, Barcelona & Spurs having roughly $1Bn of debt yet he can save the rest of the pyramid. FFS
It seems to be a European Debt Superleague. Not sure how Chelsea qualify.
He’s one of the architects of the clubs like RM, Barcelona & Spurs having roughly $1Bn of debt yet he can save the rest of the pyramid. FFS
It seems to be a European Debt Superleague. Not sure how Chelsea qualify.
The relegation/promotion malarkey will get ironed out
How? Mediocre sides like Spurs and Arsenal will be propping up the table season after season. And the whole point is they can't be relegated.
If you look at the Gross debt the picture is frightening.
The Net debt includes a lot of smoke & mirrors to make them look less rubbish
If you look at the Gross debt the picture is frightening.
That must've been a helluva contract he got if Spurs are still paying it off.