European 'Super' League

[thugler]

I don't understand this idea of 'punishing the clubs'. It's nothing to do with the clubs, it's the owners. And the only punishment that will make any difference is legislation to take away their power or force them to sell. Docking the club points is punishing the players/coach as if they've done something wrong. It's entirely the owners, so get them out and bring in fan representation on the boards.

[phantom_power]

But the governing bodies clearly don't care about the owners as they allow any old cunt to take over a club. It would be nice to take away their powers or force them to sell but a) I don't think that is within their power and b) there would only be some other, probably worse cunt to come in and take over

[ersatz99]

Just carry on with the public humiliation of the owners to the point that no financier would ever want to trust their professional credibility again.

[notjosh]

What about an Owner's Code of Conduct? Something that stipulates that anyone owning a team in the Football League has to abide by certain conditions (not asset stripping, not allowing clubs to hit a certain level of debt). If they breach the code of conduct and are unwilling to rectify the situation then they must agree to make the club available to sale to someone (or an association) who can abide by those conditions. If they do not do that then the club may no longer compete in the league and would become worthless as an asset.

I know that Chelsea also have some kind of fan shareholders association which owns both Stamford Bridge and the name Chelsea FC, or something like that. There are surely multiple ways in which clubs can be protected from brazen profiteering if the political will is there.

[thugler]

What about an Owner's Code of Conduct? Something that stipulates that anyone owning a team in the Football League has to abide by certain conditions (not asset stripping, not allowing clubs to hit a certain level of debt). If they breach the code of conduct and are unwilling to rectify the situation then they must agree to make the club available to sale to someone (or an association) who can abide by those conditions. If they do not do that then the club may no longer compete in the league and would become worthless as an asset.

I know that Chelsea also have some kind of fan shareholders association which owns both Stamford Bridge and the name Chelsea FC, or something like that. There are surely multiple ways in which clubs can be protected from brazen profiteering if the political will is there.

Yeah I don't buy the idea that some how of there being nothing we can do. Some said this about the ESL proposals and they've died in 2 days.

It can be fixed and there may be the will to do it now, with the huge amount of public outcry.

[Quote]

Yeah I don't buy the idea that some how of there being nothing we can do. Some said this about the ESL proposals and they've died in 2 days.

It can be fixed and there may be the will to do it now, with the huge amount of public outcry.

Lots of people who spoke out and appointed themselves moral guardians of football (Sky, Lineker, Neville, good old BoJo) are happy to step in on this one as it's a PR open goal but probably aren't willing to push on beyond that.

You'd hope it happens obviously, but it's more difficult than overturning one obviously terrible, brazen and unpopular breakaway attempt.

[DrGreggles]

What about an Owner's Code of Conduct? Something that stipulates that anyone owning a team in the Football League has to abide by certain conditions

They already have 'fit and proper' rules in place regarding ownership, but they don't seem to matter much.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

https://bylinetimes.com/2021/04/21/european-super-league-fiasco-they-think-its-all-over-it-isnt/

Also, worth checking out John Barnes video about this on TalkSport which sensibly and soberly resets thoughts of backslapping. Been really impressed with his input on the odd occasion he is allowed on screen ahead of inanity like Micah Richards. The hosts were being quite sympathetic but then Barnes takes it further still.

[bgmnts]

Levy Out protestors now.

Would be fucking amazing if football fans collectivised and all chipped in a tenner a month (or whatever) to somehow take control of their clubs.

[BlodwynPig]

I think part of the problem is that in most cases it seems that the owners were the ones driving the participation rather than the clubs, though obviously in some ways those things are indistinguishable. If you punish the club you also punish the fans, players and everyone else who played no part in these decisions. I am not sure there are any adequate, likely punishments that the owners would give much of a shit about anyway

I think the important thing, maybe, is that they now know there is a limit to how far they can push it, and the fans have seen that direct action can have a positive effect. I have doubts that either of those things will see an overall change in the football landscape of how fans are treated but you can but hope

Should tell the owners to fuck off or MEGABAN

Tottenham petitioning to be let back in after going 1 down at home to Southampton. :))))))

[DrGreggles]

Levy Out protestors now.

Would be fucking amazing if football fans collectivised and all chipped in a tenner a month (or whatever) to somehow take control of their clubs.

Works OK in Germany, where I think a minimum of 51% fan ownership was made law.

[GMTV]

I don't understand this idea of 'punishing the clubs'. It's nothing to do with the clubs, it's the owners. And the only punishment that will make any difference is legislation to take away their power or force them to sell. Docking the club points is punishing the players/coach as if they've done something wrong. It's entirely the owners, so get them out and bring in fan representation on the boards.

Nonsense, the clubs should be banished to league 2.

[Chedney Honks]

Kill the fans when they arrive at the stadion

[chveik]

fans of Juve, Real and Barca to be shot on sight

[ersatz99]

All the clubs to be expelled into a league of their own. See how that works out.

[Chedney Honks]

Every seat in in the stadion is an electric chair, fry the fans fucking pate.

[sevendaughters]

we/Bury/Macc/several others were punished for having gobshite owners, you can't refuse to punish the team because some fans might get upset at a points docking or a justified triple relegation, it's like saying Fred West's dad did nothing wrong, exactly like that!

[kalowski]

Now she clutched him to her bosom, "You're so beautiful, " she cried
"But if I hadn't brought you in by now you might have died"
Now she stroked his pretty skin again and then kissed and held him tight
But instead of saying thanks, that snake gave her a vicious bite
"Take me in, oh, tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in, tender woman, " sighed the snake
"I saved you, " cried that woman
"And you've bitten me, even why?
And you know your bite is poisonous and now I'm gonna die"
"Oh, shut up, silly woman, " said that reptile with a grin
"Now you knew darn well I was a snake before you brought me in"
"Please take me in, oh, tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in, tender woman, " sighed the snake

[DrGreggles]

Nonsense, the clubs should be banished to league 2.

All 6 should be relegated to the Championship (at least).
Knowing only 3 of them could come straight back up would make it even funnier.

[Clatty McCutcheon]

Super League giants AC Milan beaten 2-1 at home by Sassuolo tonight. Gutted that these football titans are being held back by their weak domestic league.

[DrGreggles]

Super League giants AC Milan beaten 2-1 at home by Sassuolo tonight.

One of Phil Collins' best.

[Clatty McCutcheon]

I prefer 'In the Ayr Tonight'.

[BlodwynPig]

Sass already have top players

[Wonderful Butternut]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFO3vzH3yug&ab_channel=talkSPORT

John Barnes' interview on the matter.

[bgmnts]

Barnesy seems spot on here.

I mean look at poor Newcastle for example; absolute scumbag fat greedy cunt owner that actively hates his customer base and has constantly dicked his club, yet the geordies pack out their stadium week in week out. The fans cannot change anything. I just wish they could.

[Kankurette]

Barnesy seems spot on here.

I mean look at poor Newcastle for example; absolute scumbag fat greedy cunt owner that actively hates his customer base and has constantly dicked his club, yet the geordies pack out their stadium week in week out. The fans cannot change anything. I just wish they could.

See, this is the problem: a lot of fans will put up with any old shit for the sake of loyalty or routine or whatever. For every fan who wants to boycott, there's ten who will keep turning up, no matter how useless Ashley the Hutt is. It's depressing. It happens with Everton every fucking season when we have a bad patch, the Park End das moan about how they're going to boycott the matches and burn their season tickets and this is the worst season ever and Martinez/Koeman/Silva/Ancelotti/Allardyce/your mum is worse than Mike Walker and they've been supporting Everton for a gajillion years but won't any more, and you know full well they'll still be turning up. As will Sheffield Wednesday fans, no matter how much they bitch about Chansiri. I always ask them why they go if they hate it so much. I stopped going to Goodison Park for reasons I don't want to go into, I can't understand why these people keep going because all they do is fucking moan. Farhad Moshiri is not going to eat your firstborn if you don't buy a season ticket.

Newcastle were in my dreams last night. I don't know why. Maybe I have a latent crush on Steve Bruce.

[DrGreggles]

Seems like a lot of fans will take a bit more convincing this time.

This cut might be a bit deeper than previous ones.

[sevendaughters]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFO3vzH3yug&ab_channel=talkSPORT

John Barnes' interview on the matter.

this is great. very impressed with Barnesy over the last year or two.

[Bernice]

See, this is the problem: a lot of fans will put up with any old shit for the sake of loyalty or routine or whatever. For every fan who wants to boycott, there's ten who will keep turning up, no matter how useless Ashley the Hutt is. It's depressing. It happens with Everton every fucking season when we have a bad patch, the Park End das moan about how they're going to boycott the matches and burn their season tickets and this is the worst season ever and Martinez/Koeman/Silva/Ancelotti/Allardyce/your mum is worse than Mike Walker and they've been supporting Everton for a gajillion years but won't any more, and you know full well they'll still be turning up. As will Sheffield Wednesday fans, no matter how much they bitch about Chansiri. I always ask them why they go if they hate it so much. I stopped going to Goodison Park for reasons I don't want to go into, I can't understand why these people keep going because all they do is fucking moan. Farhad Moshiri is not going to eat your firstborn if you don't buy a season ticket.

Newcastle were in my dreams last night. I don't know why. Maybe I have a latent crush on Steve Bruce.

Your description of the eternal cycle of Everton boo boys cuts through, but I think we should be keen to distinguish between what I'll call poor management and mismanagement. The Gwladys Street crowd are perpetually pissed off as what they see as poor management: why are we continuing with Martinez? Koeman is a charlatan; why the fuck is Fat Sam here? Etc. But ultimately, football is hard. It's very difficult for clubs outside the 'big six' to break through. And most of the other clubs left in the prem are left devising various Scooby Doo tier schemes to break the stranglehold (and some succeed- Leicester, Moyes' West Ham etc). The issue is mainly the entrenched rigidity of the distribution of money in football, but it is also, to some degree, poor management. And its far easier for fans to pin failure on the latter than the former.

But we have to be able to differentiate between that and the issue of owners who would fundamentally like to see the game changed into a model that guarantees a certain return on investment, by whatever means necessary. These are the mismanagers: they have no idea what the sport really is, and they can't accept that their 'global brand' doesn't make the money they think it should. Mismanagers like Stan Kroenke have made their club far worse than it was before they took ownership, but to them this failure is baffling. Arsenal I'd a big brand, where are the big bucks?

Ashley is the example par excellence of poor management. But he is fundamentally far less harmful than mismanagers like Kroenke, Henry, Glazer etc. The difference in many cases is only opportunity, and the prescription for both is the same: a meaningful legal framework that recognises the fans as majority stakeholders.

(Apologies if this makes limited sense, I'm quite pissed)

[Kankurette]

I don't know how Moshiri compares to the Americans. But I don't want people like the Glazers near Everton either.