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

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.

Is life getting too fuckin weird or what,

Jose was much much cheaper to sack once top four was mathematically impossible *taps forehead*

Don't for a second believe superduperleague is the reason, but it would be funny if, now the idea is out there, Jose leaned into it

I can imagine him having some fun with it.

It's going to be very interesting to see who takes over. The assumption for a while has been Naglesmann but, with more or less the whole of German football opposed to the ESL, there might be some understandable reticence on his part.

Chris Powell and Ryan Mason will see out the season as co-managers.

while that chairman and those players and those aspirations stay in place only a greedy moron takes that job

Will be hilarious if Mason wins Spurs a trophy in his first week in charge

Chris better get his flat-cap dusted off, he's bigtime now!

while that chairman and those players and those aspirations stay in place only a greedy moron takes that job

I bet Klopp will be very quiet on ESL today

― calzino, Monday, 19 April 2021 10:40 (twenty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

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

― Authoritarian Steaks (Tom D.), Monday, 19 April 2021 10:42 (twenty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I suspected Liverpool-friendly board ilxor would be loving this. You'll get the chance to hear what he says tonight, he won't be able to avoid it after the Leeds game on sky. I suspect he is a decent bloke and it's not all "bullshit" but he won't be the first person to be put in a difficult place by his bosses

Our beloved PM weighs in with Man City foremost in his thoughts:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/ministers-urged-to-take-action-over-european-super-league-plan

“These clubs are not just great global brands – of course they’re great global brands – they’re also clubs that have originated historically from their towns, from their cities, from their local communities, they should have a link with those fans, and with the fanbase in their community. So it is very, very important that that continues to be the case.”

ive genuinely not noticed ilx liked any team except wolves tbh

Now, we hate united because they dont acknowledge the reffing bias

And lfc have a lot of the MAWK to mock, including the thing you just did there tbh

But do spurs get away lightly?

Everyone hates chelsea

Nobody cares about city, thats their tragedy

Arsenal are just another particle on a different stage of the joke wave than spurs

idk, idk

if that was MAWK I dont know what I can say

Xp surely this place is infested with Spurs fans

How many of us like them, though?

It is true, even a casual observer like myself has noted the Spurs experience is 99% loathing and 1% ecstasy

when I was a kid I learned the concept of "glory supporter" from various flaky liverpool fans, including my arsehole brother who later tried to remould his history as a hardcore Town fan despite photo evidence of him sporting a full reds kit in 1980 - the prick!

I was pleased for them to finally get a title, but in a very detached manner and was just as pleased to see them decline into Spurs style top 7 mediocrity this season!

Mourinho gone

And Sturridge has gone to Chelsea. Spurs are easily the most likeable team out of the Big Six, no contest. I wouldn't say I exactly like Man Utd but I don't dislike them that much either.

My family are from Liverpool, I was born there and spent my first 4 years living 5 mins from Anfield and being taken to games, can remember none of this of course and spent my childhood elsewhere, so have the same weird relationship with LFC as many do, "suporting" by taking a vague interest and watching MOTD sometimes, but actually supporting / going to see clubs wherever I live instead (so far Hereford Utd, (not Southampton), Viktoria Žižkov, (not Brighton) Dynamo Catford*, Beijing Guoan) - was still happy with the title last year, but it wasn't anywhere near as big a deal as it was for my mum.

Being unable to avoid having a certain respect/regard for Utd is one of my great shames lol

I live 5 minutes away from the Emirates but I've managed to resist the temptation to support the Arse so far, maybe mid-week games against Atletico Madrid will change that?

Jaysus, it's all coming out this morning

I don't need to justify my hatred of Liverpool FC with, y'know, stats and that, but I note that TAA's late winner vs Villa was 37th time they've won a game in stoppage time in the Prem era. Which is miles ahead of anyone else (I think Man U are next with 25). Tottenham have lost the most times to 90'+ goals.

"Ah, but this is why LFC are good not bad". Please.

Should make clear perhaps that mawk was capitalised as a play on RAWK which is iirc the long established fanzine/org for lfc

And having done so, id then nonetheless say that yeah bringing what is not for no reason a well-known lfc wider fan trait of persecution complex into the thread is tbh pretty silly for the reasons i laid out in my post which you decided to ignore in favour of focusing on the four letter pun.

Its all good like, but cmon

We had chelsea fans leave because of the abuse we gave john terry, regardless of who supports them on here spurs are a disliked running joke, klopp is an arse whom im sure we all like and wish well regardless but he is an arse.

utd are poison, obv

apart from wolves, and the two boys are turning in recent weeks, there isnt a club doesnt get the jab whem we're all here (rare enough these days) because football is shit and because we project to a ridiculous extent both positively and negatively onto the entities and events involved

Refs a cunt btw

I got the pun, I just wasnt sure how my defending the manager qualified, absurd maybe, I'd take that.

Let's not go there with the persecution complex thing, we're all friends here