New Euro Super league to be announced Sunday

Zomp

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Mike Keegan hearing whispers the Glazers are looking to sell. Not sure how reliable he is but he did break the players not being happy and Woodward going.


if that happens YA’LL ARE FUCKED.
 

teddykgb

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Mike Keegan hearing whispers the Glazers are looking to sell. Not sure how reliable he is but he did break the players not being happy and Woodward going.


if that happens YA’LL ARE FUCKED.
Let’s not be hasty here Glazers there’s room to apologize and mend fences
 

Carbo Loading

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It's very interesting how quickly this move seems to be falling apart. I understand why people would be upset with the change because in general people resist change. However, how did these people feel in the early 90's when the Premier League and Champions League were formed? Those moves were driven by money just like this one. I was just listening to the Money Talks podcast on Anfield Index with Mo Chatra and Dave Hendricks, two people that aren't in FSG's pocket, and they weren't positive about the Super League, but they understood why it was happening. They also were clear that a team like Liverpool had to be part of this because any team not part of it will be left behind. Where would these outraged Liverpool fans be if they didn't join this league and were left behind as the clubs in the Super League dominate the domestic leagues with their financial advantages? Both of the hosts felt that the game was over for the fans back in the 90's so why fight it since for a Liverpool fan the team will be in better shape in the long run.

The German teams hadn't signed up yet due to their ownership structures which would have required a vote before signing on. PSG not signing up now, and City and Chelsea dropping out are a function of their owners not really helped by the extra money as much. When push comes to shove, if this league took off, all of those clubs will be part of it.

They also felt that in the long run this Super League would have expanded and grown to something larger with more teams participating.
 

Steve Dillard

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And well-deserved.

This might be it for me and the Sox too. John Henry and the other American owners have been despicable here.

Kids don't ask for hedge fund T-shirts for Christmas
I assume Henry would not have done this but for the pressure by Lebron James.

joking aside, I wonder how much of this was the predicate for Henry trying to sell part of the Fenway group to Redbird, and how those investors (Lebron) feel about the big-picture business plan being DOA.
 

Vinho Tinto

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Which union are they collectively bargaining a salary cap/revenue sharing with?

Are we sure a salary cap would be legal in EU and British labor law?

I’m not being snarky. I’m curious how this would work.
 

fletcherpost

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I find the idea that an Oligarch with questionable ties to Russian mafia and oil rich arabs who have been proping up City being dragged into anything pretty amusing. But he is right about one thing, Liverpool ownership were absolutely spineless in letting Klopp have to field questions about the SL yesterday. If I'm a Liverpool fan, I want these cowards gone pronto.
Yeah, I think his observations regarding Liverpool have the most credence, for obvious reasons.

Yeah, any movie where the supposed good guys are FIFA, Roman Abramovich and SKY TV is a fucked up movie.
 

teddykgb

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I’m quite open to reforms but the SL wasn’t reform. It was a repeat of the formation of the PL which resulted in an unstable pyramid that supposedly needs saving.

For the PL clubs, we are in the midst of a season where West Ham is pushing CL and Leicester as well. All of these clubs make a lot of money and we should have discussion now about how to maintain competitive balance but the goal shouldn’t be to save any clubs from themselves. It’s very relevant where Leeds are back in the PL. Nobody formed a new league or broke the entire sport when Leeds messed their finances up
Edit: I guess Leeds did play a major part in FFP so my above statement isn’t really correct
 

Kliq

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I know that with Glazer, Henry and Kroenke it is easy to put this at the feet of American ownership, but I do think that ignores the issue of the general fact that global soccer has an incredible corruption and greed problem that often works against the best interest of fans and the sport in general. I don't see a ton of that here, but online in general it seems like people are really focused on the American ownership when the reality is, especially in Europe, corruption and greed are an enormous issue.
 

67YAZ

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But this could be about anything.

RedBird had to have known about these plans where they plopped down $725m a couple weeks by ago. If not, they need to sue their lawyers. But given the structure of FSG, I don’t think they sell LFC. They’ll offer Gordon as a sacrifice and hire on some club legends to reform their image.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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The biggest lesson we should be taking out of this is that the current system is totally fucked and unsustainable. Uncompetitive domestic leagues, increasingly boring European competitions, the 2018 and 2022 World Cups effectively sold to the highest bidding dictatorship, and huge numbers of clubs across the continent on the verge of bankruptcy.

But the most likely reaction by UEFA and the various national associations is going to be patting themselves on the back for doing such a great job.
 

CodPiece XL

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I know that with Glazer, Henry and Kroenke it is easy to put this at the feet of American ownership, but I do think that ignores the issue of the general fact that global soccer has an incredible corruption and greed problem that often works against the best interest of fans and the sport in general. I don't see a ton of that here, but online in general it seems like people are really focused on the American ownership when the reality is, especially in Europe, corruption and greed are an enormous issue.
FIFA is corrupt , UEFA is corrupt, I think that's why I'm disappointed this was all over before it started. The hypocrisy is astounding . I wanted it to drag on longer, you even had Boris interrupting his Covid briefings telling people he won't let the English teams join. It was fun while it lasted.
 

OurF'ingCity

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It's very interesting how quickly this move seems to be falling apart. I understand why people would be upset with the change because in general people resist change. However, how did these people feel in the early 90's when the Premier League and Champions League were formed? Those moves were driven by money just like this one. I was just listening to the Money Talks podcast on Anfield Index with Mo Chatra and Dave Hendricks, two people that aren't in FSG's pocket, and they weren't positive about the Super League, but they understood why it was happening. They also were clear that a team like Liverpool had to be part of this because any team not part of it will be left behind. Where would these outraged Liverpool fans be if they didn't join this league and were left behind as the clubs in the Super League dominate the domestic leagues with their financial advantages? Both of the hosts felt that the game was over for the fans back in the 90's so why fight it since for a Liverpool fan the team will be in better shape in the long run.

The German teams hadn't signed up yet due to their ownership structures which would have required a vote before signing on. PSG not signing up now, and City and Chelsea dropping out are a function of their owners not really helped by the extra money as much. When push comes to shove, if this league took off, all of those clubs will be part of it.

They also felt that in the long run this Super League would have expanded and grown to something larger with more teams participating.
I am hardly an expert on any of this and most of my information re: the SL has come from this thread, but isn't the key difference vs. the PL and CL that no team is guaranteed a spot in those leagues? Certainly there are perennial PL and CL teams (particularly from countries other than the UK where 1-2 teams dominate year in and year out) but at least for the UK teams there have been plenty of years where a perennial top-6 team scuffled and didn't make the CL in that particular year.

The Super League, by contrast, was all about money and not about competition at all for the big clubs. It's pretty clearly just a totally cynical move to guarantee income year-in-and-year-out regardless of performance, which in turn, as you say, will allow those teams to more easily do well in their domestic leagues too.
 

teddykgb

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Building on other posts, it’s unfathomable to me that they thought they could launch this without getting the players on board. They seriously seemed to think they could unilaterally change the nature of those agreements. All they had to do was have some pre agreed upon plan to ensure the players make a ton of money to present a United front here. It’s such a ridiculous oversight to have ignored player input especially by a group of American owners who are always dealing with players unions
 

Dummy Hoy

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This might be it for me and the Sox too. John Henry and the other American owners have been despicable
Pushed me out about 10-12 years ago. Only Sox team I’ve rooted for since then was that 2018 squad, because that was such a lovable bunch. But I didn’t root for them as a Red Sox fan, merely an appreciator of a fine collection of players. Henry and Werner made me agnostic.

.Yeah, any movie where the supposed good guys are FIFA, Roman Abramovich and SKY TV is a fucked up movie.
Truth
 

fletcherpost

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67YAZ

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Liverpool out.


Liverpool Football Club can confirm that our involvement in proposed plans to form a European Super League has been discontinued.
In recent days, the club has received representations from various key stakeholders, both internally and externally, and we would like to thank them for their valuable contributions.


https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/431956-liverpool-football-club-statement-20-april-2021#

View: https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1384626759518261251?s=20
This appears to be the entirety of the statement:

Liverpool Football Club can confirm that our involvement in proposed plans to form a European Super League has been discontinued.

In recent days, the club has received representations from various key stakeholders, both internally and externally, and we would like to thank them for their valuable contributions.
Clearly got a crack PR team on retainer there at FSG.
 

67YAZ

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Yeah I'm listening to Red Men TV and they're furious about the brevity and lack of apology.
at least Levy’s statement starts with regrets and meets the bare minimum for addressing a serious fuck up.

Count John Henry lucky that the Anfield stands are empty for the foreseeable future. He probably shouldn’t show his mug around until it’s time to lift a trophy...and even then...
 

Mighty Joe Young

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Liverpool out.


Liverpool Football Club can confirm that our involvement in proposed plans to form a European Super League has been discontinued.
In recent days, the club has received representations from various key stakeholders, both internally and externally, and we would like to thank them for their valuable contributions.


https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/431956-liverpool-football-club-statement-20-april-2021#

View: https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1384626759518261251?s=20
Not even an apology .. kind of sums it up
 

67YAZ

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Arsenal might not win on the pitch, but the PR team is in good form.

The last few days have shown us yet again the depth of feeling our supporters around the world have for this great club and the game we love.

We needed no reminding of this but the response from supporters in recent days has given us time for further reflection and deep thought.

It was never our intention to cause such distress, however when the invitation to join the Super League came, while knowing there were no guarantees, we did not want to be left behind to ensure we protected Arsenal and its future.

As a result of listening to you and the wider football community over recent days we are withdrawing from the proposed Super League. We made a mistake, and we apologise for it.
Some EPL club statements collected here:

 

bosox4283

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Atletico is just like the wanna-be cool kid who so desperately wants to be part of the in-crowd even though it is the wrong decision but can't help but to hang around too long.
 
Arsenal might not win on the pitch, but the PR team is in good form.
FWIW, in this article on ESPN.com, several college football writers mused about which schools would be a part of a CFB Super League, and Kyle Bonagura wrote this:
One of the first steps in building a Super League, apparently, is to include a mostly irrelevant team affiliated with Stan Kroenke, which is why his alma mater, Missouri, is a founding member.
 

Zomp

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I think a shift has occurred over the past few days now, and I'm curious to see if any of Kroenke, Glazers, or FSG sell their clubs in the next year.

Neville, who before this happened hasn't really spoken bad about the Glazers, has called for their removal of the club.

Carragher tonight has said FSG has no place at Liverpool.

Ian Wright tweeted #KroenkeOut
 

rguilmar

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This is just the perfect example of soccer leadership around the world. Literally the only thing they did right was make sure the money was lined up.

Let's form a league!
First step, let's meet behind closed doors so nobody can see what we are doing.
What teams are in the league? We dunno
How will teams be added to the league? No clue
Relegated? As long as it's none of us, who cares?
Did we ask the fans about this? Who gives a crap?
What about the players? F*ck no
But do we have the money right? Hell yeah we do!
 

bosox4283

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Atletico is just like the wanna-be cool kid who so desperately wants to be part of the in-crowd even though it is the wrong decision but can't help but to hang around too long.
Apparently, Florentino Perez (president of Real Madrid) thinks that the Super League can continue without the Premier League. This shit is delusional.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Apparently, Florentino Perez (president of Real Madrid) thinks that the Super League can continue without the Premier League. This shit is delusional.
With Italy out, England out and Barca leaning no it’s more of a Madrid Super League at this point.
 

singaporesoxfan

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With Italy out, England out and Barca leaning no it’s more of a Madrid Super League at this point.
To make up the numbers, Madrid could invite other top Spanish teams into the Super League. Seville, Valencia, Real Sociedad, maybe about 20 teams altogether. And since it’s all Spanish teams, no need for the English name – change the name to Spanish to appeal to the global Latin American and Hispanophone market and call it La Super Liga. Or just La Liga for short.
 

OCST

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I seriously think I’m done with the Boston Red Sox because Of John Henry.

The 19yo me or the 36 yo me would have been shocked by that but here I am.
 

snowmanny

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When did he question his fitness to be the owner of the Red Sox? After Theo left or after Damon left? He is a squirrelly guy for sure, and all credit to the four titles I never expected in my lifetime, but under him the Sox will declare an organizational philosophy and then go against it six months later. Again, ok if it works, but grains of salt and all that on the public decrees.
 

Zomp

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Saw something good on reddit.

"Sorry this happened. We thought you guys would like love this idea. So much so that we dealt in secrecy for the past twelve months."
 

jose melendez

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I don't have the football equities folks here have, and on the baseball side, the Mookie thing disgusted me, but completely turning on the Henry ownership group is nuts. His Sox teams have won--a lot, and while there is plenty of greed, it's not like that's not par for the course in basically all sports ownership. We're not dealing with Dan Snyder here.