TBh i dont think there is any stopping it. It wont be long until MSL teams join in.
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It’s the American influence on European football. The number of Americans and other mega rich individuals buying clubs want a return. American sport does not have relegation and has little appetite for clubs wining their way into their top leagues. But as Oz posted on another thread TV audiences are dropping for their sports so European football clubs should take heed. Don’t try and fix something that’s not broken. If top clubs don’t qualify on the pitch through their performance then tough. Football needs to be careful that it does not disenfranchise it’s core support.
Automatic qualification is the beginning of the end for me. I won't watch it.
I agree with yourself, Ozyhibs etc..on the motives and money will probably drive this thru.
My point is that, you may well find it becomes a TV league worldwide and loses the emotional attachment people feel for their clubs. That to me is the sticking point. God forbid this situation becomes more frequent but financial events happen, seen plenty in my lifetime. TV subscriptions are usually a first to go.
UEFA already spreading losses of £500m over 5 years in prize money apparently.
Theres a lot of big clubs in England, Germany & Italy who wont get a look in with this set up, there may also be a split in European football if this "elite" ring fencing gets hold over time.
Bring back the original Fairs Cup instead ! No Manchester clubs at all, no Bayern, no Real Madrid and a guaranteed place for at least one Edinburgh club !
As I understand it, it's one big league table but each club plays nine other teams (randomly drawn? seeded?) – the overall table represents the points you get from your games, even though you may have had harder/easier games than the teams around you. Pretty odd.
I guess you can argue that in the current setup, it's also down to the luck of the draw that some teams get an easier group and therefore an easier path to the knockout stage. But it still feels like a contrived format where the starting point was "how can we increase profit" and "what makes a good sporting contest" was a minor secondary concern.
Great news. Let elite football eat itself and don't get drawn into it. Keep the Scottish game alive and well by avoiding this nightmare that's built on sand.
Seems it wouldve been far more sensible to just increase the group sizes, to say 6 groups of 6, with 6 group winners going through and 2 best runners up.
Bizarre that you would have a league where you only play some of the teams. Is there any precedence for a set up like that?
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...674d3f99d1.png
From Celtic’s statement today.
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I agree with that. The changes at European level is what will drive change elsewhere. The top clubs are pushing uefa season by season towards a Euro super league. The knock on from that is what is interesting for Hibs.
I really don’t think that Celtic withdrew from recent Atlantic league talks because they have a new found belief in the SPFL. I think they think something better might come up.
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Is our owner not American? :devil: I'm not sure about everyone else but I'm already fed up with most football. I used to watch the EPL and the CL matches but now I just can't be bothered. I'm happy to watch the highlights if by chance I manage to catch them but I've got better things to do with my time than spend 90 minutes watching two teams trying to out manoeuvre each other in a football chess match. Throw in some of the ridiculous salaries being played to some pretty mediocre players and hearing how some of them behave, I feel I'm disengaged already.
I agree. I think we'll get a huge take up when fans are allowed back into grounds in this country. The clubs though have to make sure they have a plan to not only capitalise on that but to sustain it.
The more commercialised leagues become the less engaged I am. I used to watch all games that were on tele and Match of the day religiously, and even used to watch the games on sky sports when they showed them for full on a Saturday night (the non televised ones), now I can’t be arsed with any of it. I watch the big games on tele purely for fantasy football purposes, and the same about scores coming in for coupon and fantasy football purposes, but have no interest at all anymore.
Champions league I’ll watch some games to see certain players, but overall no interest in the games.
I watch nearly every Scottish game I can, and sportscene every night, even tune into the championship games and go and watch Preston in the non leagues. Just feels far more real and engaging, hence why I couldn’t ever get behind an Atlantic league.
Remember when European football used to be special?
A real treat on a midweek night?
you never realise what you’ve got till it’s gone.
I don't watch it now and haven't for years - what were once juicy ties are now meaningless and commonplace - sporting integrity has long since gone oot the windae.
I could not give a flying one for so called "elite clubs" and find it disgusting that they are being given a wholy undeserved free meal ticket.
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Interesting he doesn’t want less Champions league games. This is how it will happen.
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It’s an inevitable consequence of the sums involved, you pay some guys a fortune a week to play football, it’s in your interest to have them play less games that generate more revenue, than have them get knackered, or worse, injured playing a ‘little’ team.
I’m not saying that’s right of course, but you can see where they’re coming from. Pretty sure there was a suggestion to cap top divisions to 18 teams from UEFA years ago that the likes of England resisted at the time.
If there’s one club I’m not going to listen to regarding what’s right for the game and it’s fans it’s that one. Arse fell out of Marseille back in ‘93.
strangely I still prefer them to PSG, which shows how much I hate that club.
https://amp.theguardian.com/football...mpression=true
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Seen this a short while ago. Not sure if there is anything in it or just more nonsense
https://twitter.com/tariqpanja/statu...091671568?s=19