EPL 2020/2021
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@canefan said in EPL 2020/2021:
@rapido said in EPL 2020/2021:
@kiwiwomble said in EPL 2020/2021:
@bovidae said in EPL 2020/2021:
@rancid-schnitzel If these US owners leave with their tails between their legs, then the last 48 h would have been worth it.
yeah, could be interesting if any of these clubs end up on the market, if the owners are pissed off enough
I think the two Spanish giants will need to partially privatise, now.
So, ironically, the change of ownership we could see from this will see 2 of the member owned clubs go partially private. They have like 1 billion dollar debts secured either against increasing future income or option to sell the currently un-monetised ownership of the club.
Who owns them right now?
Their members.
Their members elect a president, who serves for 4 years, who then makes decisions on their behalf and runs the club. Both clubs have been happy to elect presidents who have built up billion dollar debts to compete with the higher domestic TV money in the the EPL, they don't just compete though, they out-compete.
If Madrid and Barca want to continue competing financially against the other European giants, their most likely option will eventually be to privatise part of the club. They've already maxed out their borrowing against hard assets and future TV income.
That is not necesarily a disaster. IIRC only 3 of the Spanish clubs are member owned (I can't remeber the third, maybe Athletic Bilbao?), the rest are private owned.
As for partial privatisation, that is the common German model. Bayern are 88% member owned, rest private,.
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AFC Wimbledon welcomes any disenfranchise fans looking for a club run and owned by the fans
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So unfair. These guys were just “saving football”.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/56812151
“Perez said the move had been made because young people are "no longer interested in football" because of "a lot of poor quality games".”
That’s the spirit!
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Haha, what a shit show. Or comedy gold?
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@mariner4life said in EPL 2020/2021:
haha what a fucking joke
i am astounded at the stupidity of people in charge of that much money. Now they all look fucking idiotic. And weak, so weak.
As a casual Liverpool supporter, who already had his interest reduced by the move to Optus Sports, this is pretty much the final straw. The owners were willing to chuck everyone aside given the opportunity. So fuck 'em.
Not that they care, i didn't spend a dime on the club or their product anyway.
Casual?
Amazing how quiet the 19/20 passionate Liverpool fans have been of late.
Turns out it was because they were joining the Super League.
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@mariner4life said in EPL 2020/2021:
i am astounded at the stupidity of people in charge of that much money. Now they all look fucking idiotic. And weak, so weak.
Pretty compelling evidence that the mega-rich don't acquire their wealth by vastly superior intelligence compared to the rest of us.
Probably compelling evidence that excessive wealth is undeserved and should be taxed at about 99%!
Edit: As long as the rest of us get an off-setting tax break - the government doesn't deserve more money, either!
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Perhaps not all in vain. What major differences between that and what UEFA appear to be moving to?
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@antipodean said in EPL 2020/2021:
Perhaps not all in vain. What major differences between that and what UEFA appear to be moving to?
Aren't UEFA expanding the number of teams in the UCL? So more group games? I thought the argument was that too many group games against lesser known opposition was boring, and that the people wanted more marquee matchups (which begs the question why were we, Spurs, there?
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@canefan I guess an expanded Champions League is preferable to playing perennial cellar dwellers in domestic comps?
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@antipodean said in EPL 2020/2021:
@canefan I guess an expanded Champions League is preferable to playing perennial cellar dwellers in domestic comps?
My understanding was the ESL was to run in direct competition to the UCL. The individual domestic leagues were not to be affected. Obviously UEFA were upset because they were set to be cut out of the loop by a big group of cash cows, and the other teams in each league were upset because the foundation 12 were fixtures, making qualification for all of them into this new lucrative comp very difficult
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fuck football fans are fucking funny
I just watched a suck up video message from the Liverpool owner. It's total garbage PR
But i was interested in the comments. Some "thanks boss" some "get out!"
and then the inevitable "i'll forgive you if you buy Mbappe or Haaland" fucking LOL! we hate you for trying to make more money so you can spend money on the players we demand you buy!
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@chris-b said in EPL 2020/2021:
@mariner4life said in EPL 2020/2021:
i am astounded at the stupidity of people in charge of that much money. Now they all look fucking idiotic. And weak, so weak.
Pretty compelling evidence that the mega-rich don't acquire their wealth by vastly superior intelligence compared to the rest of us.
Probably compelling evidence that excessive wealth is undeserved and should be taxed at about 99%!
Edit: As long as the rest of us get an off-setting tax break - the government doesn't deserve more money, either!
Think this is in the wrong thread / forum!
Once thing billionaires have in common is astounding arrogance. This was their downfall here. That, and treating over a century of family traditions / passions as some sort of transferrable commodity.
Simon Wang in Beijing I'm sure is gutted at the moment. But he knows, as we know, that this isn't over.
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@canefan said in EPL 2020/2021:
@antipodean said in EPL 2020/2021:
Perhaps not all in vain. What major differences between that and what UEFA appear to be moving to?
Aren't UEFA expanding the number of teams in the UCL? So more group games?
Expanding to 36 teams from 32.
The pivotal change in the reforms announced by the UEFA Executive Committee after its meeting on 19 April 2021 is the departure from the current format’s opening 32-team group stage. The present Champions League season begins with participants divided into eight groups of four. From the 2024/25 season, there will be a single league made up of all 36 competing clubs. This will give four more sides the opportunity to compete against the best clubs in Europe. Under the new format, teams will play four matches more than is currently the case. They will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away – but will instead face fixtures against 10 different teams, half of them at home and half of them away. This gives the opportunity for clubs to test themselves against a wider range of opponents – and also raises the prospect of fans seeing the top teams go head to head more often earlier in the competition. The new format should mean that there is more to play for right up until the final night of league action. -
@antipodean said in EPL 2020/2021:
@canefan I guess an expanded Champions League is preferable to playing perennial cellar dwellers in domestic comps?
Maybe for the big teams and the neutral...but those mismatches are games the smaller teams live for and the odd upset is one for the great things that’s great about football
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Not Champions League but some of those European mismatches create legendary moments for the smaller clubs.
Take Fulham in 2010-11 Europa League. Our journey started in the 3rd qualifying round in July against some team from Lithuania or Latvia, probably the only round we were favourites for.
We qualified second from a group that included Roma, CSKA and Basel, then in the knockout rounds defeated holders Shakhatar, Juventus after losing the away leg 3-1, Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg and Hamburg in the semi before going back to Hamburg only to lose in extra time to Athletico.
Now the point of this is actually to relive the glory days of a decade ago, but it also illustrates for me everything that is wrong about the cosy, closed shop ESL. Leicester winning the EPL was such a fantastic story and highlighted everything good about the current system. Also highlighted the BS around the ESL. In a meritocracy Leicester would be there. I hope they and West Ham make the top 4 this year. Everyone likes a battler and to see the underdog do well. This self satisfied arrangement was designed to make money for some US investor owners who understand nothing about footballers, to save the two Spanish giants from financial bankruptcy brought about by spending way beyond their means and to give relevance to some increasingly irrelevant Italian clubs.
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@dogmeat said in EPL 2020/2021:
Leicester winning the EPL was such a fantastic story and highlighted everything good about the current system.
And the following year they made the quarter-finals of the UCL - the only English team to make it that far.
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@mariner4life said in EPL 2020/2021:
haha what a fucking joke
i am astounded at the stupidity of people in charge of that much money. Now they all look fucking idiotic. And weak, so weak.
As a casual Liverpool supporter, who already had his interest reduced by the move to Optus Sports, this is pretty much the final straw. The owners were willing to chuck everyone aside given the opportunity. So fuck 'em.
Not that they care, i didn't spend a dime on the club or their product anyway.
I've been feeling a bit ambivalent about all this, TBH.
Clearly UEFA are as corrupt and incompetent as fuck and something needed to change in that regard. Obviously, the ESL was clearly not the way to do it, even if it was just for the sake of brinkmanship and forcing UEFA's hand (which I personally think it was).
But, having gone down that path, I'm actually disappointed they pussied out so quickly - now UEFA will be emboldened and will be seen to have been on the fans' side / right side of history and nothing will change until the next act of brinkmanship (or the change will come at a glacial pace).
Moreover, we will now 100% be stuck with UEFA's latest terrible idea for an expended CL, which calls for an extra 100 games a season - in an already ridiculously congested calendar, where teams of 16 year olds are regularly trotted out to play in historically significant competitions, but which have now been completely de-valued.
And, at the end of the day, it's the fans who will still suffer - the product will become even more diluted and will just be shit to watch (as it has already this year), but they'll all be charged an extra 10 quid a month on their Sky or BT subscription to watch an ever worsening product.
