The European Leagues & Competitions Thread V2

[Superblue 6,370]

Just now, Jason said:

All the English clubs are out of the Super League, although the only one yet to release a statement is us. Man City, Arsenal, Man United, Liverpool and Spurs have done it.

Briefing the press that we're out earlier was enough initially. Everyone knew as a result we were dropping out regardless of the official statement but was never going to be announced by the club with the game on tonight.

[Jase 43,479]

1 minute ago, Superblue_1986 said:

Briefing the press that we're out earlier was enough initially. Everyone knew as a result we were dropping out regardless of the official statement but was never going to be announced by the club with the game on tonight.

But the game is over now...

[Laylabelle 9,351]

I like Arsenal's statement.. saying about a mistake and apologising. Feels nice somehow

There was 6..now none lol. In 48 hours..least was a nice quick turn around 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Laylabelle

[Jase 43,479]

AC Milan now also out.

[Superblue 6,370]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

But the game is over now...

We always take forever to announce anything. 

If the club are that bothered about the timing they can word it as "As reported earlier this evening..." or "Earlier today we...".

I think it's been made clear though throughout the last couple of days and today that City and Chelsea have made a mistake following everyone else into this and been planning to remove themselves since. Not that this exonerates either from blame, but it's pretty clear who the drivers of this were.

[Superblue 6,370]

It'll be interesting to see whether Bruce Buck leaves the club shortly. I think his position is untenable now. Reports suggest Roman wasn't keen on this as it was so it must have been driven by someone and has left the club now with so much negative publicity to deal with.

Buck is about 75 years old now too, he's not going to last forever. It can be done in an amicable way similar to that of Woodward.

There's been all sorts of talks about punishments in the Premier League but I don't think point deductions will happen. Instead I think heads will roll in high up positions in these 6 clubs and new committee members will be introduced to rebuild trusts and relationships. I like the way that the likes of Bayern have ex players in these sorts of positions to represent the club. It screams of Cech to act for us in this capacity moving forward.

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

Still has to be repercussions for the clubs. Be it heavy fines or whatever. And also internally the clubs need to sort their shit out. 

Cant kick us out of competitions now this season which is good but I wouldn’t be surprised if they still pushed to try ban all 12 teams in next seasons CL. Or do something to send a message.

Plus there will inevitably be money exchanged to get out this super league. Theres no way a 23 year commitment agreement that is “legally binding” can just be walked out of After a change of heart. 

[Superblue 6,370]

I must say fair play to Arsenal. They're mostly a complete shit-show nowadays but their statement is actually excellent and very apologetic. I'd like to hope what we do end up officially announcing is of a similar sentiment.

Spurs though, Levy has expressed regret but no form of apology and basically just a statement trying to justify themselves. 

[Jase 43,479]

Never mind the fact that the Super League idea was trash to begin with. They can't even market it right.

They announced the god damn thing close to midnight on Sunday, then you have Perez giving that interview again close to midnight on Monday and now, you have everyone pulling out close to midnight on Tuesday!

WHAT A FUCKING SHITSHOW!

[Superblue 6,370]

1 minute ago, OneMoSalah said:

Still has to be repercussions for the clubs. Be it heavy fines or whatever. And also internally the clubs need to sort their shit out. 

Cant kick us out of competitions now this season which is good but I wouldn’t be surprised if they still pushed to try ban all 12 teams in next seasons CL. Or do something to send a message.

Plus there will inevitably be money exchanged to get out this super league. Theres no way a 23 year commitment agreement that is “legally binding” can just be walked out of After a change of heart. 

More information will follow but legally binding has come from Perez's interview yesterday. There's lots of speculation it was a letter of intention. I'm sure we'll see in due course.

If there are financial repercussions then it teaches a lesson. 

I'd be very surprised though if there are European bans. UEFA would secretly probably love to make an example, but they will not want to water down their premier competition to that degree next season. At the end of the day that's the whole reason this has kicked off in the first place! 

I think the biggest punishments will come politically from UEFA. PSG and Bayern will be the big dogs now in terms of positions of power and quite frankly rightly so. 

[Jase 43,479]

The hilarious thing now is the reformed Champions League is not any better than the Super League either. It still seeks to protect the interest of the big clubs. 

[robsblubot 3,502]

does anyone else want to 🤮 every time Florentino Perez opens his mouth?

Wonder if he actually tries to sound like an arrogant prick, or is it something that comes naturally to him.

[Jase 43,479]

26 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

We always take forever to announce anything. 

If the club are that bothered about the timing they can word it as "As reported earlier this evening..." or "Earlier today we...".

I think it's been made clear though throughout the last couple of days and today that City and Chelsea have made a mistake following everyone else into this and been planning to remove themselves since. Not that this exonerates either from blame, but it's pretty clear who the drivers of this were.

If they are taking ages with the statement, then they better explain why they made the decision in the first place and apologize for causing this bloody chaos!

[Superblue 6,370]

Just now, Jason said:

The hilarious thing now is the reformed Champions League is not any better than the Super League either. It still seeks to protect the interest of the big clubs. 

Honestly the Champions League in its current format is fine. The way it's now ranked in terms of league champions being pooled in pot 1 is fairer than it used to be and helps throw up some more exciting groups (some poor ones too though). 

This one big league sounds rubbish, especially when you don't play everyone in it - how is that expected to work for fairness and integrity?

It sounds worse than the format when we first played in 99/00 when you had to get through two group stages to reach the knockouts!

The only other viable option in my opinion would be a full league format, say 10 teams in each league and you could have 4, 5, 6, 10 leagues that could be worked up and down. I actually though initially this may be the type of format these breakaway teams may look to do but obviously not! I don't really see an issue with the current Champions League format though, I think the mix of groups then knockouts is good.

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

11 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

More information will follow but legally binding has come from Perez's interview yesterday. There's lots of speculation it was a letter of intention. I'm sure we'll see in due course.

If there are financial repercussions then it teaches a lesson. 

I'd be very surprised though if there are European bans. UEFA would secretly probably love to make an example, but they will not want to water down their premier competition to that degree next season. At the end of the day that's the whole reason this has kicked off in the first place! 

I think the biggest punishments will come politically from UEFA. PSG and Bayern will be the big dogs now in terms of positions of power and quite frankly rightly so. 

Lot of rumours of a god knows pages long document. Graeme Souness mentioned it on sky also IIRC.

And also the process to get this off the ground and in motion would have required more than a letter of intent you’d think? Who knows, anyway if we get out unscathed and it buries this super league shit once and for all its all that matters. 

Now just to reform the CL in a way that also does the clubs who win leagues in Scotland, Holland, Austria etc a favour should be the next step. Hopefully this can be the kick start of UEFA trying to make amends and reintroduce these clubs to the fold in these roles, big clubs like Ajax, Celtic, Rangers historically speaking, have had to go through 3/4 rounds of qualification to get into the CL despite winning their domestic trophies. All it would take is for them to give the top leagues champions and maybe 2 other places CL spots. This guarantees for big clubs who finish 4th in England, Spain, Germany, Italy or whatever is a bit of a joke also whilst we are being completely honest and transparent about making football fair for others. 

Edited April 20, 2021 by OneMoSalah

[Superblue 6,370]

3 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

And also the process to get this off the ground and in motion would have required more than a letter of intent you’d think? Who knows, anyway if we get out unscathed and it buries this super league shit once and for all its all that matters. 

Perhaps but that may have been enough as a collective to announce this plan.

The league always seemed at least a couple of seasons away (I think an exit was likely planned at the point of the Champions League reforms), so its possible that such legal bindings would have come in at a later date.

Either way, the fact everyone seems to be bailing out now on it will probably help any potential legal matters should there be any.

[Jase 43,479]

11 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

Honestly the Champions League in its current format is fine. The way it's now ranked in terms of league champions being pooled in pot 1 is fairer than it used to be and helps throw up some more exciting groups (some poor ones too though). 

This one big league sounds rubbish, especially when you don't play everyone in it - how is that expected to work for fairness and integrity?

It sounds worse than the format when we first played in 99/00 when you had to get through two group stages to reach the knockouts!

The only other viable option in my opinion would be a full league format, say 10 teams in each league and you could have 4, 5, 6, 10 leagues that could be worked up and down. I actually though initially this may be the type of format these breakaway teams may look to do but obviously not! I don't really see an issue with the current Champions League format though, I think the mix of groups then knockouts is good.

But there's a new format coming and look at that second point...

 

[NikkiCFC 7,942]

Who knows what happened behind closed doors? Ceferin is godfather to Agnelli daughter. Maybe they are all playing the game. Even Perez sounded like that last night we he said we will speak with UEFA.

And today this news. UEFA increases the budget dramatically so clubs get what they wanted from the start. It is all the game and this played major part not fans protesting. Also it is interesting how fans are much more angry in England. Very quiet in Spain and Italy.