Alone in the Park - it's the Prem 2020-21 thread

lol I remember when the Bradford City chairman Geoffrey Richmond was part of a prem 2 plot, for clubs that were too shit too stay up. Hopefully this goes the same way.

Good riddance, fuck the lot of them.

there goes Liverpool's bullshit "club of the people" rep

Good old Spurs eh?

Tottenham joining a European super league is like Bananaman getting called up as an Avenger

— Kai Humphries (@kaihumphries) April 18, 2021

Arsenal ffs.

Newcastle heavily tipped to be the 7th.

Hopefully they’ll be admitted and the Saudi deal will fall through so they just have to muddle through with Steve Bruce and Jonjo Shelvey.

that's what draws the big TV money

No clubs are clubs of the people unless they are owned by fans which means about 3 or 4 in the EFL and none in the prem. The change in the champions league that was gonna happen on Monday would ruin the competition anyway. Sheer folly to change the CL as is IMO. I like it with one group stage then knock out with group stage determined by domestic league finish. LFC fan here but if they can't finish top 4 then they shouldn't be in it just cos they were good a couple of seasons ago. Roll my eyes when uefa and prem go on about greed and competition tho when they are just as self serving and greedy as the 'top' clubs, and as for any outrage from them on behalf of fans they can get fucked.

XP
German clubs can't join because of 50+1 ownership model I think

ah that sounds like a good model

It doesn't really affect me tbh, Scottish football will still be shite whatever happens. I can't stand most of the teams anyway. Atletico Madrid can gtf for kicking Celtic off the field in the 1974 European Cup semi final.

Lookin fwd to spurs being three minutes away from going into this then conceding

https://thesuperleague.com/

Can't wait for Man U/Spurs clogging it out on a rainy Tuesday night in January 2022, nils-all

Lmao at Arsenal being in this.

bruges have been in as many european/cl cup finals as spurs/man city and arsenal combined and ajax + bayern have won it more times than chelsea and possibly inter as well. whole thing is laughable.

The “can’t be relegated” part is hilarious for all these teams that would never be relegated from their own leagues and be most likely to win them. Nothing says elite super team like now showing you can be beaten by Barcelona 5 teams a season, as opposed to once or twice every few years.

This from the Spurs statement. Jesus fkn Christ, they're using the pandemic as an excuse. It's absolutely unforgivable pic.twitter.com/yCE3up7mVh

— Mr Demos of Pnyx (@gem_ste) April 19, 2021

lol what a fking joke club

lol at man utd statement "by bringing together the worlds greatest clubs". except for the current european champions of course. it's gotta be a decade since utd were last in the final. a euro superleague where half the teams are english p funny. look frwd to not watching lfc play spurs at least 4 times a season if they don't get kicked out the prem and 10 times a season if they do.

All the club's statements are the same I think.

yeah I know they all suck shit, but this is the Spurs messageborad

What were the reactions when the Premier League was formed? Assume lower league clubs were upset but this time seems to be almost unanimous condemnation from pundits & fans alike

it might be interesting to see some WSC responses to the Prem from the archives from around that time. I remember weakly arguing with my step-dad at the time that it was going to be very bad for football, but being too young to really give too much of a fuck.

There was a fair bit of opposition but nowhere near as much - it took a lot longer and came packaged as a vision for changing English football, a published “Blueprint” IIRC, which at least covered the naked greed in a veil of positive reform.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzUomcSVUAE_39-?format=png&name=900x900

from a Swells piece calling to nationalise football

this was from a few years before he died

Am told by well-placed source;
*Man Utd & RM “ringleaders”
*3 US-owned PL clubs “really mean this”, sold on the NFL model of closed league with star clubs/players driving value
*others see it more as leverage over UEFA - unhappy new CL format means £ shared among more clubs..

— Dan Roan (@danroan) April 19, 2021

It ain't a Super League till Total Network Solutions are involved imo

A lot of the initial suggestions around an English super league ahead of the PL being formed were for no promotion or relegation, which caused the most fuss iirc. After that, it was TV licensing when Sky was still a relatively niche thing so the majority of people couldn't watch live matches.

tbh, i'm coming around to the idea that the European Super League will probably happen and some of the opposition will die away when it becomes clearer that nothing much is likely to change for the majority of clubs.

Truly hoping this ends in tears for all involved

According to source, some of those involved in ESL call traditional supporters of clubs “legacy fans” while they are focused instead on the “fans of the future” who want superstar names
*ESL insists modelling shows solidarity payments will be boosted £10bn Euros over 23 seasons)

— Dan Roan (@danroan) April 19, 2021

"legacy fans" - ffs! people using this kind of bullshit corporate speak ought be shot.

they are demented if they think the NFL model is in some way admirable

correction

they are demented American if they think...

I assume the pandemic has shown that actual fans at games aren't really needed when there's gazillions of possible fans willing to pay to watch online in China.

Fans at the stadium are useful in so far as they add atmosphere and colour for television viewers in Asia I suppose.

I'm not even sure how it's meant to work. Would ESL clubs who still take part in the Premier League, La Liga, etc, be exempt from FFP rules? Would the ESL generate so much more television money for them than the Champions' League currently does?

there is so much cash being poured into the Chinese Super League, perhaps in the next decade or so it will eclipse European football as the main draw in Asia.

Hopefully.

I'm interested in the possibility of rule changes, if this takes place outside the game's existing governing structure

https://falconmovies.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/roll3.jpg

Oh wow, never noticed before, but... nice.

Jose gone!

Breaking: Tottenham have sacked Jose Mourinho. Full story to follow @TeleFootball #thfc

— John Percy (@JPercyTelegraph) April 19, 2021

Six days before a cup final is a bold time but I’ll take it.

lol some ppl suggesting he left on principle!

There's a rumour he refused to run training today in opposition to the ESL.

I bet Klopp will be very quiet on ESL today

Jose's played a blinder here

The last true football man

Yeah, let's have fucking Klopp on giving us his man of the people bullshit.