Champions League restructuring

[Brend'Watkins]

As I'm now reading and hearing the weasel words and mealy mouthed expressions of regret being issued by these clubs to their own supporters, I am actually angrier today than I was yesterday, when their attempt to establish a form of footballing apartheid was still very much alive.  I guess we will be waiting rather a long time before we might see any apologies issued to the 14 Premier League clubs who up to yesterday they had been only too keen to set adrift.

Yes. Using the "we've listened to the fans" and decided against it is an insult to their and anybody's intelligence.  It also begs the question.. if you are making such decisions without sufficient thought process in that decision should you be the head of a football club of such stature?

[Chris Smith]

All this "points deductions would be wrong, it punishes the fans who have done nothing wrong" stuff.

Isn't that the case with clubs that get points deductions for going into administration? Or is that the fault of the fans?

I agree but think that any punishment needs to be appropriate and proportionate rather than motivated by revenge.

For me the most important thing is to fix the rules preventing a few owners looking to cash in on their assets.

[Baldy]

UEFA should initiate an enquiry as to who were the driving forces behind this plot. Ban the leaders from all European Cup competition for 3 years and the other clubs for 2 years. Also impose a transfer embargo on them for incoming players. UEFA have done this in recent years already, they should do it again.

This alone will send some of the dodgy 12 to bankruptcy. Some star players will leave other clubs and their 'high handedness' will be put in check.

Domestic leagues can carry on as normal so their fans don't get punished. Be great to watch the so called bigger clubs suffer. Be very interesting to see some new faces in the Champions League. Be more of a level playing field. Football as a commodity will retain its high status, and if anything, will be more interesting.

The dodgy 12 owners will lose loads of money and the rest of us can watch in glee.

Could be a good time for Villa to put in a Bid for Kane, De Bruyne and Salah.

[jwarry]

Surely something similar will blow up when the new structure is in place and a club qualify for the CL because of their previous European record rather than league position?

Seems to me UEFA do not need to concede anything now to keep them in the fold, so they just need to say fuck off you blew it, the fans have spoken....

[danno]

I think it's telling the English clubs folded first, I don't attribute that to Gary Neville or fan reaction. I think there was a real unknown about just how far Boris Johnson and parliament were willing to go.

Then there was the FA and FIFA dropping broad hints that you can't remain in the the domestic pyramid and the European super league.

I was hoping this would result in Old Trafford being demolished and those wankers relocating to Singapore and the crispy duck pub.

Oh well!

Can't help but wonder if this will speed up Abramovich's visa application.

[sickbeggar]

Not really sure why people are angry at them. Angry sort of hints you were surprised. Lets face it, if tomorrow someone offered the biggest clubs in the championship and below the chance to form a Premier League 2 at the expense of the likes of Brentford and Watford, then they'd be off without a word, and none of the fans of the clubs invited would give a shit. And that's the fans who do go day-in day out for little reward. Only good thing to come out of this is probably the reaction of the fans of the clubs involved who decided this was a step too far. I don't think they stopped anything realistically, but its nice they still value a "cold night in stoke"

[oishiiniku]

I was really curious to hear how the fans of the six English clubs were feeling yesterday so I listened to a number of their podcasts (what is wrong with me?). And while there was a lot of anger and sadness, there were also quite a few individuals who were accepting it as a done deal and already talking about how the format would work and how it could be expanded etc. Frankly I couldn't believe that 'hardcore' fans would be willing to move on so quickly. But hey, as long as 'your club' is okay I guess that's all that matters for some.

[algy]

I agree with folk on here saying about the wrongs of punishing the fans.  It's no different to how, say, Bury were treated.  Sorry, it's really harsh and I feel for them, but ultimately we can't have special rules for the Ugly 6.  If the clubs left absolutely I'd be totally in support of helping the fan-owned equivalents (e.g. FC United of Manchester) to take their place.  However, that's not the case.  If these clubs want to come back into the fold that's great, but their actions should not go unpunished.

For me, the main one is excluding them from European competition.  I'd probably extend that to expulsion from all cup competitions for a set period.
I'd also think that it's perfectly reasonable to add points deductions for the 2021/22 season in line with, say, the level that Luton Town faced a few seasons back (-30pts).
There should also be financial repercussions, for example a 20% reduction in TV money (or parachute payments) for 3 seasons, with money redistributed to grassroots football.

[Brend'Watkins]

I think it's telling the English clubs folded first, I don't attribute that to Gary Neville or fan reaction. I think there was a real unknown about just how far Boris Johnson and parliament were willing to go.

Then there was the FA and FIFA dropping broad hints that you can't remain in the the domestic pyramid and the European super league.

I was hoping this would result in Old Trafford being demolished and those wankers relocating to Singapore and the crispy duck pub.

Oh well!

Can't help but wonder if this will speed up Abramovich's visa application.

Funny how he singles out football when it comes to the free market and the best interests of the people of this country.  What about the rest?

[aev]

Some of the press this morning are treating Man City and Chelsea as heroes, forgetting they signed up for this 48 hours previously.

I hope that this reset enables the removal of these stupid coefficients, and we move back towards a fairer system. Some hope...

[Brazilian Villain]

I think it's telling the English clubs folded first, I don't attribute that to Gary Neville or fan reaction. I think there was a real unknown about just how far Boris Johnson and parliament were willing to go.

Agreed, apparently Villa and the other 13 clubs were reassured in the meeting that the government were willing to drop a "legislative bomb" to ensure the ESL didn't go ahead.

Surely UEFA can ban them from European competition for a number of years just as they did with all English clubs post-Heysel. The clubs involved can hardly threaten to leave and set up their own league now.

[sickbeggar]

I was really curious to hear how the fans of the six English clubs were feeling yesterday so I listened to a number of their podcasts (what is wrong with me?). And while there was a lot of anger and sadness, there were also quite a few individuals who were accepting it as a done deal and already talking about how the format would work and how it could be expanded etc. Frankly I couldn't believe that 'hardcore' fans would be willing to move on so quickly. But hey, as long as 'your club' is okay I guess that's all that matters for some.

The depressing thing for me was the BBC were interviewing foreign fans of the Premier and they were all for it. Just didn't have a clue about any of the implications of it sadly or didn't care. Haven't bought into the culture or the history of the clubs at all. Just wanted their Real Madrid vs ManU every 2 months. 

[cdbearsfan]

All this "points deductions would be wrong, it punishes the fans who have done nothing wrong" stuff.

Isn't that the case with clubs that get points deductions for going into administration? Or is that the fault of the fans?

I agree but think that any punishment needs to be appropriate and proportionate rather than motivated by revenge.

For me the most important thing is to fix the rules preventing a few owners looking to cash in on their assets.

That's how I feel. It's all getting a bit Clemenceau at Versailles on here. They didn't actually leave, they just acted twats. If they apologise and we can get some structure in place that prevents anyone trying this again without mass support throughout the league then I don't particularly want to pursue vengeance.

[Nev]

It was rather ironic to see a Chelsea fan brandishing a sign that said "you can't buy success" when it's precisely what that club have done.

We're likely to get a good shoeing tonight and the overriding reason for that is the amount of money that our opponents have spent in relation to ourselves and as much as people have been giving it plenty of Rita Hayworth about competition it cannot be ignored that it has been distorted greatly over the last 30 years and reduced that element of the game.

Our owners appear more circumspect when it comes to spending but that could change and we could suddenly find ourselves where Man City are and if so I think I may feel the same as I suspect many Man City fans do, enjoying the success but with a sadness at how it was bought about.

The ESL may have come and gone rather quickly but the game is far from healthy as far as I am concerned.

[LeeB]

I read somewhere (but who knows whats true and isn't when it comes to this) that breaking the signed contracts could end up with multi-million pound lawsuits.

There could be no greater irony than clubs looking for money getting sued and ending up flogging their assets to cover the damages from their own failings. I look forward to the Levy fire sale.

So what assets can Spurs for example sell?
These Clubs are in massive debt.

Kane, Son, Lloris, Alli...

This is the point, isn't it? These clubs need to cut back the way we did after Lerner decided to turn the taps off, and accept a spell of mediocrity. Sadly, they think their name alone gives them a God-given right to success.

The rest of football most never let itself be shafted merely in order to sustain the gluttonous pricks' dominance.

It's exactly the point, they've spent years spending money they haven't got to bully and dominate everyone else, and now it's time to pay it off they decided to try and shaft everyone else instead.

They can have some of what we've had for the last 10 years, the wankers.