The Round Ball Game - II

[LMcD]

Steady now LMcD, some of the players are assets, the lower down the table you get the more liabilities there are.

Very true! I'm assuming that Ipswich's new owners will settle for nothing less than a place in the ESL within 3 years.

[Hitch]

This is all a brilliant wheeze hatched solely to save Fulham from relegation.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Well done for Klopp for speaking out today.

[teamsaint]

Writing as a supporter of a club which is now effectively 95% owned by the Arizona State Pension Fund (really!) I'm just trying to be realistic.
I understand that negotiations with Abba are underway for the exclusive rights to use one of their hit singles to promote the new league.

Yeah, whatever happened to that new Abba single ? Xmas 2019 it was going to be, IIRC.

Anyway, right now I don’t really care about the super league or anything else at the top end of football.
I won’t go to any ground( or any other venue) that demands a vaccine passport, because that is simply not part of the deal .The top flight sold its soul decades ago, ( though it is still fun to watch often enough) in any case,and this is just one more step.
If football has to be watching a local semi pro team , then so be it. I enjoy it well enough, even though nothing will ever match seeing the Saints score or win, or grasp a last minute point.
The feeble capitulation of the PL re vaccine passports, a blatant grab for as much extra cash as they can get, pretty much put the tin lid on it for me.
The slight disappointment at our poor display yesterday is a nothing compared to the outrage I feel about the subjects above.
The government lies, lies, and lies again, and those desperate to hang onto their privileged place in the hierarchy ( football administrators for example) just go along with whatever madness they come up with next.
Sad times.

[jayne lee wilson]

Well done for Klopp for speaking out today.

I felt very sorry for him, looking and sounding so ashen and angry, having been explicitly against the Super League since 2019.....and I didn't enjoy a minute of the game, even before the inevitable, all-too-avoidable late equaliser. (Like so many, Jurgen's had a traumatic year outside football too - he was unable to attend his own mother's funeral in Germany due to Covid travel restrictions, and he was very close to her).

The game reminded me of England 1 Iceland 2 in the Euro Finals, 2016....coming just after the Brexit vote, I felt hollow and emotionless watching it, almost pleased we lost, unable to imagine which team, which country, I was supposed to be supporting.

Liverpool took a lot of flak yesterday, which neither manager or team deserved; the players looked drained toward the end of the match after a terrible day, barely clinging on for the draw, and no wonder.

Like James Milner speaking after the match, I still live in hope that this dreadful, destructive concept will be abandoned... but more managers and players in the teams involved need to speak out...

[LMcD]

I felt very sorry for him, looking and sounding so ashen and angry, having been explicitly against the Super League since 2019.....and I didn't enjoy a minute of the game, even before the inevitable, all-too-avoidable late equaliser. (Like so many, Jurgen's had a traumatic year outside football too - he was unable to attend his own mother's funeral in Germany due to Covid travel restrictions, and he was very close to her).

The game reminded me of England 1 Iceland 2 in the Euro Finals, 2016....coming just after the Brexit vote, I felt hollow and emotionless watching it, almost pleased we lost, unable to imagine which team, which country, I was supposed to be supporting.

Liverpool took a lot of flak yesterday, which neither manager or team deserved; the players looked drained toward the end of the match after a terrible day, barely clinging on for the draw, and no wonder.

Like James Milner speaking after the match, I still live in hope that this dreadful, destructive concept will be abandoned... but more managers and players in the teams involved need to speak out...

Brave (and, I've no doubt, sincere) words from the government, UEFA and others, but what can they actually DO? As I understand it, this absurd plot is - regrettably - a perfectly legal arrangement between private businesses.

[cloughie]

I felt very sorry for him, looking and sounding so ashen and angry, having been explicitly against the Super League since 2019.....and I didn't enjoy a minute of the game, even before the inevitable, all-too-avoidable late equaliser. (Like so many, Jurgen's had a traumatic year outside football too - he was unable to attend his own mother's funeral in Germany due to Covid travel restrictions, and he was very close to her).

The game reminded me of England 1 Iceland 2 in the Euro Finals, 2016....coming just after the Brexit vote, I felt hollow and emotionless watching it, almost pleased we lost, unable to imagine which team, which country, I was supposed to be supporting.

Liverpool took a lot of flak yesterday, which neither manager or team deserved; the players looked drained toward the end of the match after a terrible day, barely clinging on for the draw, and no wonder.

Like James Milner speaking after the match, I still live in hope that this dreadful, destructive concept will be abandoned... but more managers and players in the teams involved need to speak out...

Will there be any stand from the players? Yes they are well paid but it is their efforts on the pitch which are servicing the owners debts. Are the managers dispensable pawns in the game or are they willing to defend the game that has provided their livelihoods as players and coaches over the years?

[Mario]

http://fc-utd.co.uk/# Surely Mario ?

Yes I know Edgy.

I have already enrolled as a member with FC United, considering they were created for the very reason I am now so much against Manure (never thought I’d hear myself say that!)

I do however prefer LMcD’s suggestion of Salford City, a club owned by legends Butt, Giggs, the two Nevilles and Scholes, with another 10% owned by Beckham.

Somehow, with these men, there seems to be some continuity.

Mario

[Mario]

Will there be any stand from the players? Yes they are well paid but it is their efforts on the pitch which are servicing the owners debts. Are the managers dispensable pawns in the game or are they willing to defend the game that has provided their livelihoods as players and coaches over the years?

This point from Cloughie I think is fundamental.

You either stand for your principles or you don’t. You either stand for something or fall for anything. If you expressed disagreement with the Super League idea before, and it has now come to fruition, then be a man. Walk away. Just WALK AWAY! (Alone or otherwise.)

Mario

[jayne lee wilson]

Will there be any stand from the players? Yes they are well paid but it is their efforts on the pitch which are servicing the owners debts. Are the managers dispensable pawns in the game or are they willing to defend the game that has provided their livelihoods as players and coaches over the years?

Klopp and James Milner (a senior hugely-respected pro of vast experience) made their feelings clear.....but we desperately need more support.... I've just signed the 38 Degrees petition against this, too....the more who do so, the better. We still haven't heard from the big TV and Media Companies who'll be watching keenly to see all the responses... their reactions or statements could be pivotal...

Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have already spoken loudly and unambiguously.. You think they would stick around if Sky took on this appalling thing? Immediate and Public resignations, and many others too, with massive support from everyone...remember what Marcus Rashford achieved last year; but this time the government would be on OUR side...

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/we-don-t-want-the-super-league?bucket=&source=twitter-share-button-04-19&share=1fec9cf3-6e2a-4645-8e83-d3703c437774

[Mario]

Signed too, Jayne.

Incidentally, what is the reaction in the UK to the TV Sport companies, particularly Sky Sports and BT, and to a lesser extent, BBC & ITV?

Shouldn't they shoulder some of the blame by competing with each other, thereby feeding the clubs on a diet of ever-increasing revenues?

And advertising companies?

Or is it one of those vicious circles? The clubs need more money to buy better players and the players demand more money?

Mario

[Frances_iom]

it's just a public circus - keep the plebs away from power by keeping them fed entertained - media will drive the acceptance and the investors will rake in the money totally ignoring the bleats of the fans - the more important are the chinese gamblers who will drive big money to TV rights and thus in the end will win.

[LMcD]

it's just a public circus - keep the plebs away from power by keeping them fed entertained - media will drive the acceptance and the investors will rake in the money totally ignoring the bleats of the fans - the more important are the chinese gamblers who will drive big money to TV rights and thus in the end will win.

How I wish you were wrong - but I know you're right! I suspect that for the bigger clubs in the higher leagues the proportion of their income that is accounted for by gate receipts is small and getting smaller. The 'business folk' who are now planning to take complete control know that TV viewers tune in to watch players and goals, not fans.

[jayne lee wilson]

How I wish you were wrong - but I know you're right! I suspect that for the bigger clubs in the higher leagues the proportion of their income that is accounted for by gate receipts is small and getting smaller. The 'business folk' who are now planning to take complete control know that TV viewers tune in to watch players and goals, not fans.

Not entirely true, L, though it is club-specific....

Liverpool's home performances this year have suffered terribly from the lack of Anfield and Kop support, and fans watching at home really know and feel that. We've seen our team try so hard, but then their energies peter out through the second half - just when that support so often made the difference.
Many of us can't get to live games for health and other reasons, but we are still utterly devoted, and the atmosphere of a packed stadium on a big European night really burns out of the TV or radio into your room - the famous Istanbul or Barça comebacks showed that unforgettably. We might have got past Real with the Kop in full song.

Real don't even play their home games in the towering Bernabeu this season. The Milan derby at the legendary, empty San Siro was a hollow, saddening sight. But the players still find the motivation - they try their best....

My next-door neighbours always go to every Anfield match they can, and travel far for CL matches - but are still subscribers to Sky and BT and watch other teams too. They hated watching an empty Anfield at first. Would I or they sign up to a new American/Chinese/Multinational corp to watch the Superleague? No bloody chance! I scarcely know any fan that would.

But as I keep saying, watch out for those companies' responses...
Please support the petition and try to save the past and the future of our beautiful game. Never stop fighting till the fight is done

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The Super League appear to think that national leagues will co-operate, by working around their fixtures. It's more likely that La Liga, Seria A ad the Premier League will make it impossible for the rogue teams to participate - simply by ignoring them.