Big Malc

I don’t disagree. Which is why any salary cap only works if it is worldwide. Because if it isn’t, the same issue pops up again and again in whichever country decides not to implement it anymore. I’d still like to explore the idea of not allowing owners to load clubs with debt via loans, and making them personally responsible instead. The owners of these splitters are clearly not fit and proper.

Well, English football fans will care if the talent starts disappearing abroad again. That was one of the reasons the PL became so popular as the big names started appearing here in our stadia where we could watch them live rather than just on satellite tv that very few people had at that time.

They pay the going rate for an incredibly popular product. Completely agree re kick off times Sky care about the money - if they said they cared about fans I wouldn’t believe them - because why should they? They’re a business trying to turn a profit, and as football fans we’re the most loyal/gullible demographic out there.

A salary cap only works if it’s implemented worldwide. If one country doesn’t have it, there is a temptation to just offer better wages and skew the competition. I don’t know if it’s even possible, but I’d like to see owners banned from loading the club with personal debt whether that’s as a result of buying them (Man Utd) or loaning for transfers/wages/day to day running (Dave Allen). If mega rich owners want to put their own money in with no expectation of getting it back then fine - we’re apparently operating in a free market economy.

Alternatively - Sky’s remit is to make money via advertising and subscriptions. They spotted a popular product and bid for it. The PL decide that each year the product is worth more and Sky have to keep increasing their commitment to secure access. What the PL and individual clubs then do with that money is not the fault of Sky. Every single one of those 6 clubs with their combined £1.5bn debt chose to spend their money the way they did. They didn’t have to pay players £250k a week, or an agent £1m to secure a transfer. But they didn’t want other clubs to get ahead.

The two fatal errors here were the closed shop nature reserved for the self-proclaimed biggest clubs while those deemed inferior could be tossed aside at will, and thinking they could do this while maintaining they could also continue in domestic competitions. We’ve been saying for years that we think the big clubs will break away and form their own European League. I think this shows it is closer than we think. I believe they will go away, re-group and decide that they still want a super league but they no longer want to participate in the domestic competitions. They’

They should be forced to have “Splitters 2020/21” added to their honours list

If FIFA/UEFA were serious about ‘fit and proper owners’, they should be looking at how these supposed big-hitters have managed to rack up 1.5bn of debt while hoovering up the majority of tv, prize and merchandise money. If they were really serious they would find a way of removing those in charge because they’re clearly really, really, shiit at their jobs and a clear and present danger to the existence of these historic clubs.

Screen shot saved

There needs to be consequences for these clubs whether they officially withdraw or not. A points deduction for all with an increase each day they don’t confirm they’ve withdrawn.

Absolutely

It was demanded by the clubs like the ones who have instigated this new league. They saw that they were the biggest draw for tv audiences and could not fathom why they had to share the money equally with teams they felt weren’t their equals - and they really didn’t like being knocked out early over two legs against them. So the CL was reformed to keep them sweet. As we’re finding out, blackmailers always come back for more.

If the football world really doesn’t want this to happen, there has to be an avenue back for the 6 English clubs. The threats of expulsion are fine and merited, but if if the FA/PL/UEFA/FIFA really do want them to drop it, they have to give them a way to save a bit of face and do a u-turn. It’ll be interesting to see what that is.

Some select quotes from an article that was linked earlier: ”However, its underlying message is that the 12 clubs – including six from the Premier League – had no choice but to act because of the financial costs they were facing. Citing Covid, it warns that the accumulated losses of top-level clubs exceed €5bn (£4.3bn).” “The weaknesses in the foundations of football have been known for many years, Covid simply exposed their severity and none of the game’s stakeholders have come up with a solution. Inaction is no longer an option.” Interesting that of the option