Leicester City involved in talks that could reshape European football

[norwichfox]

21 hours ago, lcfc matt said:

Whilst I agree with you look at the negatives that came with our league win we now have fickle fans that get the hump week in week out when we lose our don’t get results because they now want that glory again.it was a glorious feeling and one I will never forget but some people now expect too much from our club because of that amazing season.sadly the premier league is too hard to break into the top 4 without major money which we have but I’m not sure we have the backing to compete with the likes of Man City,Chelsea and Man Utd.and I don’t mean financially I mean attracting big players from majour clubs don’t get me wrong tielemans is a step in the right direction but realistically could we seriously mount a title challenge again with the likes of Liverpool and Man City the way they are playing at the moment they are playing some amazing football.we are so so lucky to have the owners we do and I thank the stars every day not many teams are as lucky as us to have owners like ours.

A bit morepunctuation wouldn't go amiss, my lungs nearly collapsed after reading that...

[lcfc matt]

1 hour ago, norwichfox said:

A bit morepunctuation wouldn't go amiss, my lungs nearly collapsed after reading that...

Apologies I did get abit carried away writing so much and didn’t intend to.Plus I’m only on an iPhone and I don’t have the smallest fingers either.So will try to remember to make my posts easier for people to read in future ?

[Wymsey]

If you want people to take you and your points more seriously, it's advised not to call them 'a*seholes'.. - right?

[lcfc matt]

8 minutes ago, Wymeswold fox said:

If you want people to take you and your points more seriously, it's advised not to call them 'a*seholes'.. - right?

Mate someone started on me for no reason.to make it worse they involved a small child so I think I’m within my rights to get abit defensive when someone tries to start on me for no reason.as I stated I come on here to talk football not come on here to get verbally attacked by people that’s all.i enjoy coming on here and joining in conversations I just don’t appreciate people starting on me for no reason.but it’s done now so let’s get back to what we all enjoy the football ?

[Guest]

BREXIT means BREXIT

[Voll Blau]

Grim. If we at any point back these proposals then I'm seriously done with this club.

[MarriedaLeicesterGirl]

2 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

Grim. If we at any point back these proposals then I'm seriously done with this club.

It would effectively turn national leagues into a farm system, like U.S. baseball. Or, alternatively, backfire (while still hurting football): People watch Champions League to see champions play each other, not to watch "brands". The plastic fans around the world watch Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayren Munich, Man City, et. al. because they "win trophies". If you make the European League the only league that matters, then that's a lot less trophies to go around. Will anyone in China care about Juve in a decade if it has literally won nothing? As opposed to winning the Serie A and Coppa Italia 9 of 10 years in a row? 

[urban.spaceman]

30 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

Grim. If we at any point back these proposals then I'm seriously done with this club.

So if I’m understanding this, under these rules, we wouldn’t have qualified for the Champions League despite winning the league, whereas Chelsea would have despite finishing in 10th? In the same season the Champions of England ended up being only the FIFTH highest earners?! So, Manchester United could theoretically be relegated after a bad season but still qualify for the Champions League?

 

This goes beyond the current unfair status quo and is utterly perverse in my opinion. 

[urban.spaceman]

 

 

[Finnegan]

41 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

Grim. If we at any point back these proposals then I'm seriously done with this club.

 

I don't see why any English club would be in favour. Obviously PSG and Juve will be keen, the big fish stuck in tiny ponds. 

 

But England absolutely dominates the world with the money Premier League generates. Why would they ever want to share that? 

[davieG]

40 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

Grim. If we at any point back these proposals then I'm seriously done with this club.

How does - Entry via coefficient not league position that relate to "based on meritocracy, not historical privilege"?

I'm confused.

[turtmcfly]

29 minutes ago, davieG said:

How does - Entry via coefficient not league position that relate to "based on meritocracy, not historical privilege"?

I'm confused.

 

1 hour ago, Voll Blau said:

Grim. If we at any point back these proposals then I'm seriously done with this club.

 

You can glean the entire direction from this one extract;

 

'Enhancement of mobility... through carefully applied promotion and relegation'

 

Naturally the criteria applied will be opaque to everyone outside of the 'new FIFA'.

[OldBob]

Money grabbing elitists, who have no real understanding and compassion for the game. Hope it  falls on its back side. I'd be done with football if this went through. The system in place already, works and is 'fair'

 

[ian_marshall]

If this ever came into effect, it'd be an end to the Premier League. I would expect every team with a co-efficient rendering them unsuitable for the competition to either form a domestic breakaway league or apply to join the Football League. They'd surely be absolutely no appetite from fans supporting teams unable to break into this competition to ditch traditional Saturday afternoon/weekend games for midweek matches. 

[KingsX]

3 hours ago, urban fox said:

I genuinely think that if this happened it would actually be good for football in the UK in the long term.   Once the teams joining were locked in to a no promotion/relegation close shop and barred from all other domestic competitions I also think players would then see it as a career end pension fund much like china/US currently. In the meantime, the national leagues would all become far more competitive therefore generating far more interest amongst genuine supporters.   once the TV audiences dropped off after an initial honeymoon period when people got fed up of watching non competitive matches, the main source of income would suddenly be drastically reduced and they would all come crawling back with their tails between their legs, along with the TV companies also. The FA and other national associations of course should then have the bottle to demand that any clubs allowed back into their respective domestic leagues do so at the bottom (ALA Rangers in Scotland) and then lets see who would want to sign for them and how quickly the oil sheiks and oligarchs abandon ship. 

In fact the more I think about it the more it seems we should actively encourage them to do it.  Maybe then the league would go back to being played at 3pm on a Saturday, clubs could genuinely develop and then keep their local talent without the constant fear of poaching and everyone would be happy and intrigued to see how the likes of the so called current big 6 were getting on in their battle for play off places in the second division.

 

On 26/03/2019 at 18:38, Blanchflower78 said:

Football will eventually bite itself on the arse. Too much tinkering and money will erode its pull to the average punter. 

Are you an ostrich?  That is true … if you mean the average English punter.  But for certain clubs today, that punter is more impediment than bedrock to build the club upon.

 

     exhibit A: endless fixture changes

     exhibit B: exhausting summer world tours

     exhibit C: empty swathes of choice, sponsor-bought seats (which produce more ₤₤ than the occupied remainder of the house)

 

Many refuse to take the threat of a European Super League seriously because of an Anglo-centric viewpoint.  I can easily sketch the opposite scenario.

 

The highest-profile clubs businesses are run by calculating suits.  They see the worldwide mass audience as where the money is, including all of the money at the margin.  Domestic gates and TV rights are mostly tapped out for growth.  Expansion (of income) will come from elsewhere.

 

The worldwide (even UK) media giants would be all over ESL like they currently are the Big Six … only worse.  Add in the other oligarchs like PSG, get all the sexy-to-the-casual-fan clubs in one place, and you supercharge the attraction for everyone but the committed PL/EFL fan.  Committed PL/EFL fans: tens of millions worldwide.  Potential ESL fans: a billion?

 

If you think the big six have too much financial power to poach talent, try that on steroids.  Man U have a less than 4-to-1 revenue advantage over LCFC today.  What if it becomes 10-to-1?  The PL would inevitably become a minor league.  ESL as closed shop or not, the difference would be so great that promoted sides couldn’t stay up.

 

Would a 25-year Man City STH prefer his club in a league where some matches are played on Asian or North American road trips at 2 am GMT?  Hell no.  But would a London (or Chicago, or Singapore) based Man City fan pay through the nose for the broadcasts, shirts, and one "home" game a year?  Would sponsors pay even crazier fees to be on those shirts?

 

Spread the supply of matches across huge stadiums worldwide, and gates would likely rise, not drop.  There would be more bodies in the Etihad for a Bayern match that was one of a dozen, than for Huddersfield as one of 19.  Gates don't matter like they used to anyway.

 

I am making a dystopian, worst case for effect.  But if you look at where football has gone in the last 25 years, I think expecting more change in that direction, is likelier than expecting it to return where it used to be.

[st albans fox]

you could make an argument that the current CL campaign is almost a ‘season’ outside of our PL  season - the problem the European clubs have is that the broadcast time that everyone wants is Saturday between midday and 7 pm for the Far Eastern audience. In addition, the Sunday lunchtime slot is also attractive. 

 

I presume this is the big euro clubs flexing their muscles in order to strengthen their negotiating positions in other more likely ongoing dealings with UEFA.

 

the premier league will not be keen on this at all - the owners of the big six will be. We could actually do with some proper ‘big clubs’  being promoted to replace the three dropping out. Would make for fewer ‘non games’ on Saturday afternoons - it’s hard to attract an audience for a 3pm round of fixtures with no top six involvement and no big names bolaykg each other ....

[Jattdogg]

If the top 5 or 6 wanna leave  go ahead. The caveat is that if they ever want back in they've got to start over in non league and must adhere to spending at the level they are in. These elitest clubs should all fck off.

[yorkie1999]

 it'll work for a couple of seasons, then everyone will realise what a crap idea it is and stay at home to watch on tv, at which point it becomes sunday league football. TV companies aren't selling football or club names, they're selling fans at grounds, and without fans there is no professional football.

[Guest SO1]

Crapification and greed rear their ugly heads where ever there is profit to be made. English football is the only thing I can watch anymore given that I've sworn off all american sports with the exception of Hockey.

The incessant advertising and pregame BS absolutely killed me. I don't need to watch Barcelona to be entertained. F@@k them.

[HighPeakFox]

Feels very much like it reflects society, with the obscenely rich feeling they have the inherited the earth, and are therefore shamelessly entitled.

 

Trouble is, money & power win.

[Trav Le Bleu]

If this had been ten years ago, Man City wouldn't be involved.

 

I used to like Man City, back when they were getting 30,000 in League One. Real fans. But now they're everything that's wrong with football.

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, yorkie1999 said:

 it'll work for a couple of seasons, then everyone will realise what a crap idea it is and stay at home to watch on tv, at which point it becomes sunday league football. TV companies aren't selling football or club names, they're selling fans at grounds, and without fans there is no professional football.

Agree exactly on this point. The ‘world fan base’ aren’t just enthralled by the actual football. They are enthralled by the culture. If the European clubs want to reduce the chance for derby games and high stake scenarios, they are fools. 

 

If they want to build a Super League, it will soon build its own hierarchy where state sponsored or oil baron clubs are at the top and the likes of Juventus who have no significant backer fall to the bottom again.  Just another reason why Juve are a very detestable club. I bet Agnelli hated losing to Ajax. 

 

I think everyone of those bullet points is utter crap. The first one about more European football is good is hilarious. The CL is at its optimum level and people are largely bored by the group stages as the gaps between the seed 1/2 to seed 3/4 are so large. So the idea is to make a blotted version of that instead and think it makes it better? 

[Fightforever]

I wouldnt work it would die out eventually but that would take in or around 10 years if it works though I'm done with football the magic would be gone.

Edited 25 April 2019 by Fightforever

[Gamble92]

5 hours ago, KingsX said:

 

Are you an ostrich?  That is true … if you mean the average English punter.  But for certain clubs today, that punter is more impediment than bedrock to build the club upon.

 

     exhibit A: endless fixture changes

     exhibit B: exhausting summer world tours

     exhibit C: empty swathes of choice, sponsor-bought seats (which produce more ₤₤ than the occupied remainder of the house)

 

Many refuse to take the threat of a European Super League seriously because of an Anglo-centric viewpoint.  I can easily sketch the opposite scenario.

 

The highest-profile clubs businesses are run by calculating suits.  They see the worldwide mass audience as where the money is, including all of the money at the margin.  Domestic gates and TV rights are mostly tapped out for growth.  Expansion (of income) will come from elsewhere.

 

The worldwide (even UK) media giants would be all over ESL like they currently are the Big Six … only worse.  Add in the other oligarchs like PSG, get all the sexy-to-the-casual-fan clubs in one place, and you supercharge the attraction for everyone but the committed PL/EFL fan.  Committed PL/EFL fans: tens of millions worldwide.  Potential ESL fans: a billion?

 

If you think the big six have too much financial power to poach talent, try that on steroids.  Man U have a less than 4-to-1 revenue advantage over LCFC today.  What if it becomes 10-to-1?  The PL would inevitably become a minor league.  ESL as closed shop or not, the difference would be so great that promoted sides couldn’t stay up.

 

Would a 25-year Man City STH prefer his club in a league where some matches are played on Asian or North American road trips at 2 am GMT?  Hell no.  But would a London (or Chicago, or Singapore) based Man City fan pay through the nose for the broadcasts, shirts, and one "home" game a year?  Would sponsors pay even crazier fees to be on those shirts?

 

Spread the supply of matches across huge stadiums worldwide, and gates would likely rise, not drop.  There would be more bodies in the Etihad for a Bayern match that was one of a dozen, than for Huddersfield as one of 19.  Gates don't matter like they used to anyway.

 

I am making a dystopian, worst case for effect.  But if you look at where football has gone in the last 25 years, I think expecting more change in that direction, is likelier than expecting it to return where it used to be.

You are completely right and this is the very real scenario that we face.

 

But it would also be the moment football truly does destroy itself. Take away your actual main core of fans and I think even this will be one step too far.

[yorkie1999]

2 hours ago, Fightforever said:

I wouldnt work it would die out eventually but that would take in or around 10 years if it works though I'm done with football the magic would be gone.

No, football would be a much better place for the rest of us once the big , and when I say big I mean big money clubs, have gone. They are the ones that are destroying football with their plastic day tripper fans and limitless funds that are driving up the price of players for the rest of us. 60 million quid for a 400 grand player past his best  as an example. Massive grounds that they can’t fill just to get round ffp that they created just so they can keep the equilibrium beaten themselves and the rest of us. The FA need to come down hard on the top clubs and make it known that should they come back they start at the bottom and are not included in FA competitions as they are no longer part of the association. I’m not bothered about playing Man Utd or Man City because they’re not bothered about playing the likes of us. Hope it all goes tits up for them and the European clubs nick all the money from them, because that’s what it’s all about, the moneys in this country and they want it, ask any bundersleague fan.

 It’s also a good opportunity to allow Celtic and rangers to join the efl 

Edited 25 April 2019 by yorkie1999