Agnelli hasn't resigned... yet.
Now that they know it's not happening, the clubs PR departments are getting the players to release critical statements about the SL to try and fool the fans.
No one is buying it I hope.
All 6 Prem clubs have pulled out now
Well, that league didn't last long.
I had the weirdest dream last night.....totally far fetched but just enough reality to make me spend the day wondering if it was real.
Did I dream that binners believed that Maquire (the coward who deserted his sister and fiancée in Greece) had stood up to the club.
Any story and player statement/tweet that has come out after around 6pm last night is spin by the clubs PR departments. They are trying to get the fans back on side with the team, while the owners hide away for a while hoping it all blows over, distracted by the on pitch action.
Obviously the big boys were scared of having to face the mighty hammers and decided to run away.
No doubt money has passed hands and the hammers have agreed to throw matches next season and return to where the real passion in football lays....the relegation battle.
This is far from over. All the 6 clubs have done so far is seriously devalue the Premier League as a brand. They've just shat on the goose that lays the golden eggs.
They've not really tarnished their reputation as we all knew what they truly like all along. They've just fully displayed it like a randy peacock.
It'll be interesting to see how this goes now in terms of domestic football. Will they be welcomed back with open arms by the premier league, the other 14 and the FA and they all allow them to do whatever they want to keep them sweet, or will they strike while they have this massive amount of support and nail them to make sure this s**t or something like project big picture doesn't come up again.
It would be nice to think this would be a catalyst for big changes in the way football is governed in England but I reckon it'll be business as usual in a week or so.
The premier league will face challenges anyway, the TV money will likely go down next time around. Everyone talks about the emerging Asian markets, but they are still poor markets, how many Chinese fans does it take to generate the revenue of 1 European fan, I bet it is 20 or 30.
The Dutch and Belgium leagues are merging, that is a big step and I can see that leading to a series of league mergers in the coming years.
Change is coming, trying to hold the tide back isn't going to work, lets just hope what has happened over the past few days gives the fans a voice in shaping the change. But getting all gammony and trying to take football back to a fake utopian 50's era will be worse.
So, are we still 'legacy' fans then?
I'm interested to know who the potential broadcaster was. I don't believe for a second that they were going to go ahead with this without a broadcaster nailed on already. They're all coming out and saying it wasn't them. Somebodies telling porkies.
I'd really like to see a move towards what they have in Germany with the 50+1 rule. With everything we've seen over the years in the way some owners behave towards clubs, some supporter representation is a must.
My own club very nearly went out of existence because someone bought it for £100 and used it as an opportunity to asset strip the club by removing the non-profit clause and selling off the ground to developers. The plan being for the club to go bankrupt which would allow the owners to pocket the profit from the ground sale.
Is any of this ESL shenanigans all that surprising?? Most PL clubs have been sold by fan owners to billionaire businessmen, they weren't buying these clubs because they're fans, they buy it as a business. Yes the PL makes a lot of money through sponsorship and TV rights but most of that is going to players wages or transfer fees, there's still very little profit if any to be made through football so it's hardly a surprise these owners are trying to make more money out of their assets. So much of football is still be ruined by ridiculous wages for players, and now Raiola seems to be trying to get Haaland as the first €1m per week footballer, it's ludicrous.
Unbelievable...
https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1384763846557147142?s=20
At least he's pretending to show some contrition and trying to limit the damage. Though it's clearly a bit late for that. I doubt we'll be seeing any of that from our owners
I’d really like to see a move towards what they have in Germany with the 50+1 rule. With everything we’ve seen over the years in the way some owners behave towards clubs, some supporter representation is a must.
The German model is just as flawed, 1 club has won the Bundesliga for the last 7 years, and something like 13 of the last 18. The wealthy professionals in the board rooms enrich themselves while coercing and manipulating the clueless amateur fan representatives into doing what they want. And don't forget Madrid is fan owned and were a leader in this, Barca are also fan owned and went along with it.
And lets not just blame foreign owners, spurs are British owned and run, Barca, Madrid and Juve are all owned and/or run by nationals from the countries that they operate in. Their is a lot of blame to go around. But this whole thing is about greed by already extraordinarily wealthy people, lets not get distracted by nationalistic and borderline racist excuses.
All the 6 clubs have done so far is seriously devalue the Premier League as a brand. They’ve just shat on the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Certainly the TV rights aren't worth as much if the broadcaster thinks the big clubs could possibly flounce off halfway through the contract.
Presumably negotiations are already underway for the renewal of the current deal, which expires in 2022, I think.
The German model is just as flawed, 1 club has won the Bundesliga for the last 7 years, and something like 13 of the last 18. The wealthy professionals in the board rooms enrich themselves while coercing and manipulating the clueless amateur fan representatives into doing what they want. And don’t forget Madrid is fan owned and were a leader in this, Barca are also fan owned.
It may not make any difference to who wins the league but it might stop clueless or disreputable owners being able to destroy clubs
Barca and Real vote for a president, in fact Perez even bought forward the vote to ensure he was voted in again before this was announced. I also think supporters of those 2 have seen how broke their clubs are and probably thought that was the best way out of it.
I don't think it has anything to do with nationality of the owners, it's purely about making more and more money
But this whole thing is about greed by already extraordinarily wealthy people
Yet again the Rich trying to decide that the best way of dealing with inequality is not to spread the wealth around a bit, but to shutter themselves away in quasi-self governing enclaves. It's astounding to me that folk can see this for what it is in football, but refuse (or are blind to it) to call it out everywhere else..
Glad it's failed, but I hope it drives some proper discussion and change now. Those that play and watch football have changed a great deal and leagues/competitions and everything beneath needs looking at I guess.
they'll just make sure to grease the right palms next time.
One of the ways to start clipping the wings of the bigger clubs, is to stop appointing their executives and representatives to positions of power in the football hierarchy. I was disappointed to see that Agneli was replaced at the head of the European clubs association by Rummenigge. This was surely a perfect time for the smaller clubs to display that they should be represented by one of their own. It is just replacing one fox with another to guard the hen house.
It may not make any difference to who wins the league but it might stop clueless or disreputable owners being able to destroy clubs
So the clubs are destroyed by greedy populist lying presidents instead, your just arguing for what bread you want your shit sandwich served on.
So the clubs are destroyed by greedy populist lying presidents instead, your just arguing for what bread you want your shit sandwich served on.
I’m not arguing about anything. I’m looking at what happened at Brighton back then and know that it never would have been allowed to happen if there was supporter representation at board level. Same for clubs like Bury, Wigan, Charlton, Blackpool and Orient.
My mate said the whole ESL thing was like organising a night out with your mates before everyone asks their missus
it never would have been allowed to happen if there was supporter representation at board level.
You will have to explain how you think fan representation on the board would have stopped any event from happening. Lay people in corporate and political environments just get steamrollered by the professional operators, just like in Madrid and Barca.
In even crazier news, Celtic and Valencia are apparently looking to appoint Mourinho.
You don't get this level of drama, excitement and sheer madness in rugby.
My mate said the whole ESL thing was like organising a night out with your mates before everyone asks their missus
This is an excellent analogy.
Yes if one good thing has come of this, it's hastening the departure of Jose, and I hope/suspect, allowed for his sacking for disciplinary reasons and avoided paying him £30m of wages
In even crazier news, Celtic and Valencia are apparently looking to appoint Mourinho.
Why anyone would appoint him when he has basically had every one of the last 4-5 teams hate his guts by the time he's left the club is absolutely beyond me.
City, chelsea, spurs etc thought they were signing up to professional organisation, they were disappointed. Not sure that rings true, after all we have all seen Woodward's professionalism over the past 10 years.
Spurs won without Jose.
That's what happens when you eat too much Quorn. I can Behrly believe it...
Pretty serious charges.
Re ESL I see Ed Woodward fell on his sword and knew nothing of the plans until the last minute? Really?! Was this something just cooked up by the owners themselves?
End of an era
Hi. This is a note from tonight's football editor:Tom Rostance, your live texter this evening, is much too proud and professional to make a song and dance, but today is his last ever day with BBC Sport.
It's almost exactly 10 years since Tom joined us, and since then he has brought to life World Cups, Champions League finals, Premier League moments and Olympic memories.
Most people in the country will have read Tom's work - you're reading it right now, so you're in the majority.
In short, he is brilliant and we will miss him. He's also nipped to the loo and doesn't know I'm publishing this...
If you'd like to wish him well, use the usual #bbcfootball or text on 81111.
Good luck Tom!
Anyone watching PSG v Citeh?
City have been great in the 2nd half
So happy with that result, probably should have got a 3rd. I was worrying at the end of the first half but a top class performance in the 2nd. Still work to do in the next leg mind, this game isn't over yet.
Anyone watching PSG v Citeh?
City have been great in the 2nd half
Yep, most of it. Good game and welcome fare after me ride.
cracking game, being the eternal pessimistic City fan a third at the end would have been helpful!
Loving the kevin de bruyne post match interview. Brings a new level of misery that would embarrass Morrissey.
Both Real v Chelsea and PSG v City have been great to watch as a neutral. Maybe the ESL thing was a good idea after all 😏
That was an absolute masterclass from Cavani in the second half. Ole beat his semi-final curse in style 😃
If we can turn up before half-time at some point, that’d be nice
Credit to Ole, he’s really turned things round. Should be a good title race next season!
I see managers are rushing to extend contracts or move to other clubs at the slightest hint that spurs might come calling.