Dreams of 1995

With all the things you expect to happen - do you think this is a good thing for the sport of football? And why, with all things considered, do you seem content to allow this ESL to happen?

The refusal to police games is a good point although I think currently clubs contribute to the cost of policing. In this instance it probably wouldn’t be any different for the local authority. Man Utd have the technical right to play in any league they would like so rescinding safety certificates is a bit draconian. I think expulsion from the league, relinquish titles and ban players from cross-competition registration should suffice. Almost all will stick with the ESL clubs but there’s plenty of other footballers ready to step up, and plenty of other big clubs ready to play in the Premier League. 6 could go up from the Championship this year and everyone else could get given a chance. The money might dry up but the remaining clubs could use it as a Kickstarter to regulate the sports finances and develop a fairer pyramid for all. It is the fans of the super league clubs I feel sorry for.

I agree with Jim in that the current format of the sport benefits the rich clubs. What is different though is that in theory you can still now reach them heights with good management (rich takeover) and by winning games. In this E$L they have effectively ended any ambition for other clubs and ensured they will forever be the clubs bank rolled by the bankers to the tunes of billions and billions of pounds. At the moment Man Utd could effectively still lose out on a Champions League space and lose the prize money. Leicester could qualify and earn that prize money. Under the E$L Leicester could finish above Arsenal and Tottenham and still not qualify! It makes no sense. Yes, the current state of football needs to change, but by dismissing the pure greed on show by the E$L with whataboutery about UEFA, it only plays into their hands. This saga has shown greed in its true form. Time to stamp it out.

Ever the well mannered gentleman. You must be such a delight to be around. I would let them footballers go. Plenty of others to take their place. If this is a Fifa decision it affects every country in the same way. If you want to play in this competition do not expect to represent your country at a World Cup. It will show them for what they are. If the $uper League does take the money out of the Prem / FL then so be it. As I say, there'll still be plenty of others lining up to play, and there will be plenty of fans ready to watch (in some cases even start watching again after falling out of love with the sport) because the alternative is they get a real job in the real world.

Fantastic

Don't hold your breath den They are probably working out how they can use this to recommence with the sale of the training ground. "Following the announcement of the Super League the Club wishes to reiterate our commitment to the Financial Fair Play. The obvious consequences of such a decision has meant that it is within our commercial interests to reduce overheads and we believe the use of two separate facilities is an unnecessary use of already limited fund...blah blah blah"

The commercial power of the domestic fan base shouldn't be under-estimated. I suspect the streaming will form part of a Super League based channel, where the user would pay a direct fee to the clubs as opposed as through Sky or BT etc. That probably helps the clubs out because they know they will receive money either way. What domestic fans can do though is boycott attendance. No doubt they will be replaced by tourist fans but I would imagine that paying £40 quid a ticket to see the 15th year running of Real vs Tottenham won't be exciting. The power has always been with the fans. If we simply elect not to watch this travesty of a tournament then the only viewership they will have is from an international audience, some of which will come from countries that do not have the spending power domestic based fans have.

Than represent your country in a World Cup? Seems alien to me but then again I don't have the opportunity to make 10-20m a season. If Fifa put in place a ban then all elite players across all international teams will face the same consequences. It will be a level playing field. Quite frankly I wouldn't want them playing for England even if it impacted our ability to win. Likewise, by using this opportunity to squash the mega wages and bring it back to a degree of reality, we won't see them all up in arms either. They have tried to force our hand so now we should force theirs. They can have the opportunity to play in the football league again, enjoy the immense privilege of representing their country at a World Cup and do so for a fair wages across the board. If you don't then enjoy your moment in the sunshine in your Super League.

Fifa have to get behind the international ban. This is an attempt to ruin the competition of football. If Fifa doesn't stand in to protect competitive integrity then what is it for? I don't think clubs will win vs international teams. If any footballer out there dreams more of playing for the Super League club than winning a World Cup for England then what does that tell you about them as a person?

I sincerely hope that this is a turning point in the sport. Even if the notion this was a "negotiating stance" regarding CL amendments is true then it points towards a serious lack of integrity amongst the owners of those clubs. Does this not make them fail the "fit and proper" test? They are essentially moving to remove competition. It is not in the spirit of sport at all. The 'football pyramid' is not at risk of collapse if the fans of the sport will it. The Supporters' trusts of each English club have come out in condemnation of the proposals. If they boycott then the clubs will listen. True, their places will be replaced with tourist fans, but the whole fun of the sport will be taken from them. A midweek re-run of Man Utd vs Real Madrid 3 times a year won't be fun for anyone, nor will watching the invitees getting trounced year in year out by the JP Morgan bank rolled 'super clubs'. Thoroughly disheartened at the proposals but it cements what we have known for a long time: the game is dying and it is now more important to see share prices rise than enjoyment for fans.

I think it is embarrassing for the clubs involved. If I was in charge of the football authorities I would elect now to take a firm stance against them. Expulsion from international tournaments and expulsion from competitive leagues should they elect to play for these clubs. If they want to make a Super League that is exempt from performance based rewards (ie no relegation) then let them do it and allow them to bathe in their own superiority. If players want to play in such a competition then they clearly do not have the integrity required to be a professional athlete. I would be even tougher and then say that if you do decide to go work for a club in the Super League you cannot then come back and work in the field of competitive of football. That would put a lot of managers off, who know their time in the big clubs is limited, and see a talent drain from the so-called "super clubs". Don't let it go un-noticed that some of these super clubs may not even qualify for the Champions League even in its current "places for the boys" format.

Does prize money get dictated by league position in the Championship? If so I'd be apoplectic at Mowbray's comments regarding not caring about the league position. We are in the midst of a pandemic that has reduced match day income to near zero; we attempted to sell our training ground to raise funds for supposedly essential work to our facilities and a matter of weeks later the boss does not care one bit about our league standing. He's digging himself a hole with every interview. Last year it was all about progress regarding the league position - I bought it - and now he simply does not care when we regress. The same goes for results based vs performance based - it changes depending on the performance and result!!!!!!! I want this bloke gone and believe me when I am next in the ground I will voice that very opinion. He's got thin skin, as told by how many jobs he has walked from, and the only reason he is still around is because we are not there imo. Mowbray Out.

In fairness Tyrone Gally got 17 goals for us playing up top in a shite Coyle squad. He hasn’t had a decent spell up top with traditional wingers under Mowbray. As for Brereton well I don’t think he’s a striker but he’s not a winger either is he. Unsure what he’s bringing at the moment but he’s shown glimpses of a player earlier in the season. A better manager might get a tune out of him.

That’s a turn up for the books. Something must have come up to do such an about turn. It’s not like him to listen to the fans so I reckon some sort of opposition has come from somewhere with regards the sale / development of the land.

No change until the end of the season imo. We are stuck with him. Hopefully we go on a winning spell soon but my fear is that if that happens it gives a clean slate in the summer. You have to wonder how many losses it will take for him to be potted or, perhaps more importantly, how many more losses we can stomach before entering a relegation battle.

I almost don’t care. That’s bad isn’t it? As soon as they scored I knew we’d lost. 13 games out of 18 we haven’t scored now. Get your head around that. 1 win in 14. I don’t know how he’s keeping his job. It just shows you what the motive behind Maggot is. It certainly isn’t results...or performances

What do you expect people to have done by now?

Cant believe he still has a job

Fantastic work Rev, it is appreciated Is there a way you can create a tool to place an online signature? That way fans can sign it retrospectively

The local newspaper wouldn’t publish the letter? That tells you all you need to know about their priorities.

I wouldn’t mind Hummel to be honest, if someone said that as a joke! I don’t want Nike or Adidas because they design generic kits for teams like us. A smaller designer would be far better, someone who will put some thought into the kit. I would like to try New Balance as they produced a great kit for Liverpool before they pulled a fast one! Umbro have made some nice kits for us imo but always made an error on the away strip although have grown to quite like the current red and blue version. Bring Kappa on for me. Their kits were bloody good.

Saw the highlights and when Buttler went couldn’t help but think “here. we. go”

Oh no, hence the comment about the situation surrounding it. If somebody with integrity had proposed we build houses on Brockhall to fund a training centre that will be able to keep what we have + upgrade I'd be all for it. As it happens, they haven't, and it is clear as day it is downgrading. That's what I was trying to get at. I'm not opposing it for the sake of opposing a land sale but because the situation warrants opposition.

I feel like any sort of fan led petition would need to have a good covering letter. I don't know about you lot but, personally, I don't oppose the sale of BRFC land absolutely. It is the situation surrounding the land sale that makes me oppose. The lack of trust in the board - given Waggott's history of failed projects - and the general downscaling of operations since the day the Venkys arrived. Whilst BRFC is a business it is, first and foremost, a community asset and therefore the views of stakeholders are vastly important. Any petition should not be dressed up as opposition to the land sale entirely, but more opposition at the devaluing of a community asset as bequeathed by a lifelong supporter with the vision of BRFC operating on that land for generations to come. That is just my opinion though and the better approach may be to stick with outright planning appeals as opposed to trying to appeal to the emotions of a councillor.

I’m unsure how it will work in this regard though Meesh. In our accounts we will likely show profit in the year we sell the land. However, I’m fairly certain that expenditure on facilities are not considered for FFP. I’m probably asking a very simple question for our accounting posters but can we use the money raised from selling land to show a profit for FFP even if we spent that money on new facilities? ie, can we say we spent £25 million on the academy and have that wrote off for FFP, but also show a say £20m profit due to land sales despite the fact all £20m contributed to the £25m facility expenditure.