European Super League.

[BigDoddyKane]

5 minutes ago, DiegoDiego said:

How's it a Ponzi scheme?

wrong choice of word by me, I was really meaning its not a sustainable business model.

 

The players wages arms race , funded mainly by ever increasing TV money deals and sponsorship deals, increasing ticket prices and even with that these clubs are operating on huge debt

At some point theres no more money increases coming

 

[topcat(The most tip top)]

I may be behind the curve on this but

Perez was reelected unopposed about a week ago

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/real-madrid/story/4357229/florentino-perez-named-real-madrid-president-for-four-more-years-after-unopposed-election

The lack of opposition may be down to everybody else thinking he's doing a jolly good job or maybe other potential candidates looking at the gargantuan challenge of sorting out Real's finances, without incurring the wrath of one of the worlds most entitled fanbases, said "f**k that, he can take the heat"

The limitation that the president "must have sufficient personal wealth to be able to obtain a bank guarantee worth at least 15% of the club's budget." not only cuts down the number of people that could do it even in good times but will deter people if times are going to be tough and that guarantee becomes something that might possibly be called  on.

 

[Michael W]

1 hour ago, Ross. said:

The pandemic has played a huge role in the happening now. When you have the kind of debts these clubs have, you can’t afford to drop 30 or 40m from your turnover. They need immediate cash injections and this would have done it. It’s their own fucking faults for having such catastrophic levels of debt, but Covid has taken their debt from being a big problem to deal with in the future to being a huge problem needing dealt with now.

True. Although my attitude to these things is that it always makes sense to be cautious and that the club was in a bad position even without a pandemic. 

They've been unlucky in the sense that it's caused their issues to come all at once, but their position was always going to catch up at some point. Unfortunately for them it makes it also makes it harder to resolve the fundamental issues - they are never recovering the Dembele/Coutinho fees, for example, but depressed revenues mean that very few clubs can make a reasonable offer and also pay whatever mental sum the players on at Barca. 

It's probably fair to say that the club also got very lucky during the Guardiola years when they dominated. Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Valdez, Puyol, Pedro and Busquets all come through the youth sides and so there was no big outlay on a number of key players that were with the club for years. Even Gérard Pique cost a modest 5m Euros when they bought him back. Granted there were a number of big money signings in the squad, they didn't have to spend big in every area because they were well set from the off with most the players in the starting XI costing nothing in transfer fees. That team naturally needed to be replaced as players aged and their attempts to do so have been an unmitigated failure, with big money signings not delivering in addition to Barca paying far too much for them. 

I do wonder as well if part of the reason the youth system didn't produce quality players for a few years was as a result of the club simply spending big money instead? In leaner times they maybe didn't quite have as much resource behind them and therefore looked to their academy rather than try to keep up appearances. 

Whatever the result, terrible management has landed them there. 

[ahemps]

1 hour ago, Aim Here said:

What they mean by 'football isn't working' is 'the owners of these elite clubs aren't able to make the clubs profitable'.

They have this fantasy that, contrary to 150 years of practice, a major football club isn't an endless money sink for those foolish enough to own one, but actually some sort of profitable enterprise that generates return on investment, whereas the reality is that any money they make will usually have to be splurged on trying to keep up with the competition, upon pain of losing revenue due to poorer competition results. Between them, these elite clubs have amassed a horrendous shitton of debt, and the owners' plan was to leverage their name and reshape European football into being a perpetual money-making vehicle just for them, so they could at least start to clear the debt off their books, rather than, say, cutting their player wage bill and having to face a fan revolt.

Happily an even more severe fan revolt happened anyways

These teams who wanted to be part of the ESL could all actually sit down together and decide on salary and transfer structures that would curb this astronomical spending that is causing the debt. PSG and Man City could tell them to bolt though and unless it is a rule then it would only last so long.

Football needs to be ran independently from the clubs. They should have an input but someone who's independent and their role is to grow the game, increase competitive balance, even out financial distribution etc. This will never happen as the clubs won't give up control even if it is for the greater good and FIFA or UEFA won't enforce it either as they are amongst the most corrupt organisations out there.

 

[TommyLeePwns]

They've shat it. 

Finding the constant peddling of '' The big six '' in the media cringe inducing to be honest. Big flops more like. Weak sauce from the hacks. 

[DMCs]

2 hours ago, Bairnardo said:

I wonder how anyone would offer up explanation for "football is currently not working"

I would contend that the only people for whom football is working currently are those who have somehow arrived at this conclusion

A lot of it is the big Italian and Spanish clubs being annoyed that the team that finishes 20th in the Premier League gets the same or not much less in TV money than the champions of their own leagues get. Which is why they are desperate for the Super League to happen eventually.

[Jambomo]

https://reclaimourgame.com/

Seen this come up

[AndyDD]

With the rats abandoning this particular ship, the cheerleaders in the media seem to have forgotten that they still remain, as ever, rats. 

I'm shocked. Shocked, I tells ya. 

[craigkillie]

Some laugh if this happens too. The worst power play of all time.

[G51]

2 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

Some laugh if this happens too. The worst power play of all time.

Have to think that this is going to be one of the very rare occasions where the smaller national associations and clubs are going to be able to win meaningful concessions from UEFA and the ECA.

Problem is that Bayern and PSG are now more influential than ever.

[NotThePars]

I hope this happens. It's much cooler when a team like APOEL Nicosia make the Quarter Finals than Arsenal scraping through to get hosed off Bayern again.

[craigkillie]

Have to think that this is going to be one of the very rare occasions where the smaller national associations and clubs are going to be able to win meaningful concessions from UEFA and the ECA.
Problem is that Bayern and PSG are now more influential than ever.

Replace the two coefficient "wildcard" spots in the group stages with two more for the next highest ranked champions, and you're immediately opening the competition up a whole lot more.

The fact it is PSG and Bayern, clubs from outside the three biggest leagues, means there's even less incentive to look after the biggest clubs in England, Spain and Italy.

[G51]

1 minute ago, craigkillie said:

Replace the two coefficient "wildcard" spots in the group stages with two more for the next highest ranked champions, and you're immediately opening the competition up a whole lot more.

The fact it is PSG and Bayern, clubs from outside the three biggest leagues, means there's even less incentive to look after the biggest clubs in England, Spain and Italy.

It depends on their motivation I suppose. Are they motivated by improving their chances of winning the competition, or by improving the value of the TV deal?

You'd have to imagine it's the former. In which case, it has the potential to be an enormous own goal for the English clubs.

[DA Baracus]

I've noted below the consequences these clubs will face from their FAs and their fans:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by DA Baracus

[Michael W]

They are doing a fine job of getting the terrible excuses in. 

[D Angelo Barksdale]

Are Boris, are brexit, are footie.

[GNU_Linux]

Leaked artist's rendition of how the Super League would've looked:
 

 

[Binos]

1 hour ago, DA Baracus said:

I've noted below the consequences these clubs will face from their FAs and their fans:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surely now uefa changing the chumps league in their favour to stop them leaving to a super league, will be wound back a tad, seeing as it's an empty threat......

[Guest TheJTS98]

18 minutes ago, Binos said:

Surely now uefa changing the chumps league in their favour to stop them leaving to a super league, will be wound back a tad, seeing as it's an empty threat......

It's the weakest the big clubs will ever be politically, and it's the most public opinion will ever be against them.

A great opportunity. Unclear where the leadership comes from though.

This is the perfect time for someone to seriously raise the issue of all but 5 countries being effectively shut out of the serious part of the continent's main football competition and to get a sympathetic ear from the public.

[Detournement]

I quite like the idea of Perez and Angelli saying that the 12 team agreement is a legally binding contract and Boris saying "Eh well, actually, you know Brexit means Brexit" then hanging up.