The European Super League really has put the cat amongst the footballing pigeons. I expect there to be an awful lot of hue and cry before this is over, but I think it’s important to identify precisely what the issues are.
For me, we, us, (remember kids, ‘we is us’) are all dealing with one cartel right now – and the proposed alternative is merely another cartel. So all claims of greed and awfulness need to be legitimate, or they’re just people shouting out words. And that doesn’t count.
By the same token, those left behind, this in the wake of the European Super League are pretty banjaxed. If I were a Villa fan right now, I’d be finding it pretty tough to put a positive spin upon what is a straightforward catastrophe.
This takes us back to the ‘them and us’ scenario. Which is not new. It is far from new. Or have you been living in your own bubble?!
With all due respect to them, I wouldn’t call Bradford a sleeping giant (Bradford City an FA Cup win in 1911). Big city, yes, but like with Hull, a fondness for Rugby League reduces their potential.
I follow Villa,too, but if Villa won the league in the absence of the Big Six it wouldn’t feel like a genuine title to me (I’d be saying “It’s what they used to call 7th!”) and would not afford me the immense satisfaction I derived from us winning in it in 1981, even if we were beneficiaries of Ipswich Town’s heavy programme of fixtures that year (in the days of 18 men squads) compared to our own.
There is nothing inherently disagreeable or insular, either, in appreciating one’s bread and butter!
Absolutely correct.
‘pparently not, Matt.
That’s what having £1 billion of debt does for you.
And when that happens week in and week out it’ll be no different and will quickly lose its lustre. Those special nights are because they are special and not a common occurrence.
That depends on what is changing. I think you’ll find you’re in the minority of football fans that think the ESL is a good idea.
My apologies. I did indeed misread you. But I couldn’t care less about the perceived business success of THFC. We’re a football club down 1 billion in debt that hasn’t won a trophy in over a decade. Sure, this new tournament would certainly help ease our financial woes, but at what cost? Unlike all those competitions we risk being banned from, there’s no chance in hell we’ll ever realistically be able to challenge for the ESL title. And there wouldn’t even be the threat of relegation to make things interesting. Just an endless succession of what from THFC’s perspective would basically amount to friendlies against world-class opposition. Is this truly what you’d call entertainment?
I made it quite clear that we were not a footballing success but a business success, or don’t you call being invited to join this league as one of the big 6 a business success? Try reading it again.
Chelsea withdraw from Super League.
And where’s the incentive to win games if you know your not going to win the league, doesn’t matter who you play RM or Crewe Alex you have to have an incentive to win.
Those clubs will be able to make a move without the disparate money situation. An equal playing field again. As long as clubs keep their talent, I expect there must be an embargo on transfers to a super league if they go alone. Crowds are a problem but people need to fight that Bolox too. There’s no reason not to be in grounds. Scammers. I suppose that won’t happen though sadly.
How long will they remain glamor games when your playing the same teams all season, season after season, Inter v Spurs bottom of the table, a glamor tie not to finish bottom of the table. No glamor in that as you can’t be relegated. Not so sure after awhile they’ll all be glamor ties.
“One thing Danny boy has achieved is to make THFC a global brand and a success”
How can we be a success if under him we have only ever won one trophy? Precisely the puniest one we regularly compete for. Oh wait, that’s right, success in football is no longer measured in terms of trophies, but creditworthiness. It’s no longer how much silverware you can win, but how much debt you can accumulate without going bust. No, soz, I can’t move with the times. Not at times like these.
Quiet like watching those types of games and at times will watch them over say CIty and Fulham when you know already where the points are going. At present the EPL so competitive compared to other leagues.
Exactly, we’re entering a comp that we’ve no chance of winning, certainly not for the foreseeable future, and possibly kicked of comp’s. Where as if we didn’t join and the others still join, we might actually have a chance of winning something..! No surprise with that option in mind ENIC go for the money rather than silverware.
With any luck they’ll rebrand as The Spurs and some bright spark will start AFC Tottenham and we can go back to having a proper football club to support. That sounds fun.
Not necessarily. That’s a conclusion that can’t be proved or disproved. I think this is what Levy had in mind when he told the supporters club he wanted to make us the best team in Europe. Obviously he can’t compete now, but the money from this competition might well allow us to close the gap significantly.
Couldn’t disagree more. The games I DO remember more than any are the glory ones under the floodlights with Poch against the likes of Madrid, Dortmund etc. That is a whole new level. Like comparing the PL with Division 1.
Just the peasants revolting, nobody likes change.
Totally agree H, you’ve hit the nail on the head. I can understand to a certain extent, but critics need to move with the times, this SL was as predictable as evolution. As you say we live in the capitalist West where money talks louder than words. Either you get on the bandwagon or you get left behind.
One thing Danny boy has achieved is to make THFC a global brand and a success. Now I start to understand his recent actions more, I believe he’s been thinking about this league for quite some time, and it’s likely been driving him, which might help explain why he has taken his eye off footballing matters and our lack of trophies.
I think all the hens need to stop clucking and think about the long term future for THFC. I believe we are big enough (not necessarily good enough now) for the SL. But had enic factored in that extra income to allow us to compete with the oil sheiks and Russian Oligarchs? Quite possibly as this could be a way of competing with them financially, and perhaps the only way we’d ever get to top them.
So dismiss this at your peril critics. Don’t give away the chance to become the top club in Europe without a rich sugar daddy who is willing to splash the cash (unlike Joe), just for the sake of a pie at half time and a bawdy song about the opposition.
The PL are urinating in the wind if they think their league will still be attractive without the big 6. Empty threats.
Great post.
I remember, I think 88 we went to Derby, they battered us….it was 1 nil and we somehow got level, then Paul Moran came on and set up Clive Allen late on for the winner on the break, horrible pitch. Freezing cold but so satisfying, that to me is as appealing than a match vs Madrid.
And how do you awaken the so called sleeping giants. With better players and better managers and coaches. All these cost money. Where does the money come from. Someone mentioned crowds. Really and what about covid. It is not going away. There will be no full stadiums anytime next year I am pretty sure about that. Maybe if you are really lucky half full. Football is a very expensive game. To be a top team in any top league you need backing. Millionaires don’t cut it anymore its a billionaire now.greedy agents make for greedy players. Players what more because they are fed this by agents. The clubs you mention have had years to come back but I don’t see any of them making a move anytime soon. Ask a young player does he want to play in a league filled with average teams or move to the top league in the world playing top games with top pay. Sound familiar guess which they are going to pick most of them.
That’s exactly it. It’s not football clubs in this thing, nothing to do with the community, it’s franchise now, and that’s what they should do. New names and get on with it. Tottenham Hotspur belongs to the fans not Daniel Levy or JP Morgan.
That’s why there should be as much distance between the Spurs name and the thing ENIC have built. I want no part of it. The fans have had as much say in this as the fans of Leeds or anyone else. The ones who watch the muck will be the traitors.
This is about guaranteeing a return on investment. No relegation means no risk of losing money. Spend heavy on your team, fail, but not lose out. There will be some horse trading. We will allow more teams to qualify if you don’t ban our players from international football etc. But this ESL is going to happen in some form or another.
People always choose drab examples. You still got some massive football clubs, and with community input and local players it can be built. The Sheffield derby, the Midlands derby’s, In time Fc Utd could progress and fill a gap left….it’s down to people’s spirit and love of football. There’s sleeping giants in England that can awaken again. Sunderland, Newcastle, Bradford, Wolves, Everton, Leeds, Villa…
If it’s just a case of switching CL for SL then that’s different but if the elite get banned and ostracised, it doesn’t mean football will just die.
Sickening, a very apt metaphor.
And another thing where are all these loud mouth chairmen and owners hiding.
Bunch of f*ING cowards can’t even come out into the daylight to tell people what they’re doing, leaving managers and players out to dry.
The Liverpool bus and players was attacked in Leeds last night and Klopp and the players were shouted at when they went for a walk in Leeds city centre yesterday afternoon.
Expect a very uncomfortable time next season for the Spurs team, manager and Spurs away fans next season.
The chairman will be all right, he’ll be in a luxury box with plenty of security. Spurs team and fans will be treated like lepers next season. But who cares about the fans.
It will put back into football people who want to play football. It’ll weed out the mercenaries and leave the lovers of football like at the the start. It will be hard, but coaching and academy’s are the main ingredients of football and you can’t underestimate people’s passion and desire for sport and competition for the love of it. On the flip side, how are they going to pay these multi millions to these Super leaguers? Away fans will be gone. I can’t see grounds full year in year out in this boring format of non competition, never mind ticket prices. This could all blow up in their faces. It’s reliant on TV and eventually as I’ve said, the 5g virtual experience. How any Spurs fan would want to watch this circus is beyond me. You don’t eat chocolate cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a reason.
That would be just like Spurs, we can’t just lose something, we lose lose it.
How long will the rest survive without TV and who wants to watch with respect Southampton vs Burnley other than fans of these clubs. This super league replaces only the cl and means clubs don’t have to travel thousands of miles to play Zagreb or young boys.
This a lose lose situation for Spurs. For two reasons:
Exactly. Clubs like Forest and Sheff Wed can rise, it will be level again. Let Utd, Liverpool, ENIC, Arse$ Chelski, Cityhad go off to hell. They are dead anyway.
I don’t see the elite clubs as lucky ones either. The rest will get to compete in proper football, without the tv boom but still in competetive meritocracy. The “chosen” will rot in their bloated state of perpetual plastic nothingness.
Lets face it they just want brands, why not get rid of the locational names ie Liverpool or Manchester United and replace with nicknames like the NFL, so you would have The Reds vs The Red Devils. THen the ESL could achieve what it really wants and take it GLOBAL. Think of the massive amount of money each club could demand then, think how big all the money would be flowing into the players at those clubs. Think about money 24/7, think money is actually more important than life or death……..
If I was a Villa / Everton fan right now I’d be thinking there might be a chance we can win the Prem if the big 6 get kicked out. Fact is all the big 6 have said is they no longer want to play in UEFA European comps they want to set up their own, where the founding members will automatically qualify each season and they will consider 5 or 6 other teams to be invited / qualify to enter.
The model now is a slow stranglation, this ‘Super League’ is flat out decapitation. It suits ENIC fc down to the bitter ground. I vote to cease calling them Spurs.