arbitro

I don't think this is going to have a happy ending. I read yesterday that there is a real reluctance from most of the PL clubs to hand over any money to the Championship clubs. Probably the most common reason was that too many Championship clubs are in the predicament they are in because of poor management. Reading were cited as paying something like 175% of their income on wages alone. There are many others too who are living well beyond their means. Another reason was that lots of Championship clubs are owned by extremely wealthy people and it should be incumbent upon them to bail their own clubs out.

Despite my reservations Mowbray has brought in some much needed quality and more importantly in areas were it was needed. In many respects the hard bit is yet to come by getting a tune out of them and turning us into a consistent, cohesive unit.

It's strange that all 20 clubs have accepted that the proposal will not be pursued or endorsed by the PL and FA. I would have expected the two protagonists to at least not accept it and vote accordingly. The real bigger picture though is that the two American owned clubs have made fools of themselves. The clubs from Leagues One and Two have done alright though. It will be interesting to see if the Championship begging bowl is topped up. Personally I don't think it will be.

When the PL was formed it was known as the FA Premier League. The PL (under Parry) soon realised that the FA had served their purpose by supporting their inception and they couldn't bring anything else to the party so they dropped them. This country is the only one I know of where a league is more powerful than the governing body. If the big boys decide to go this would be an ideal opportunity for the FA to take control back and do what they are supposed to do and run the game from top to bottom in a manner befitting our football heritage.

What is interesting though Nick is that the email says these plans have been approved in the close season by the Championship clubs. I haven't seen any mention of this from any club or until now from the EFL. Thanks for digging around with this. Maybe one for our local hacks to take up.

I think the majority of true football fans would agree and say good riddance. Within this conglomerate are clubs that are more powerful than others and the weaker ones will be used and abused. Hopefully they leave and set up their own little league until the bigger ones think the smaller ones are dragging them down. Then a European, global and intergalactic league will be their aim ???.

If I read that right the losses you are allowed (was it £39m per season over three years) will now cover four years ie approximately £10m per season.

So true Andy. In 1969 the big FA Cup match against Man City was called off several times. Before one of the postponements Rovers put a call out for volunteers to help clear the snow off the pitch. Along with a few mates I went down, was given a broom and shovel and pointed to an area of the pitch to start clearing. There were wheelbarrows being filled and emptied at the side of the pitch. The problem was it was solid underneath and unplayable. To recognise the huge effort it was announced that the players were coming down and putting on a training session as a way of thanking us. We were allowed to stand pitch side and almost touch the players. To be so close to your heroes and hear them was something I never forgot. Quid pro quo and lots of happy schoolkids.

I suggested something similar and a few posters ridiculed the idea. During the school holidays a few dozen kids under supervision would clear the area of weeds and rubbish. Offering each of them a season ticket and a McDonalds for dinner would cost next to nothing.

Similarly weeds grow on the pavement outside my house, technically not my property but I remove them regularly. It's about pride and standards particularly when you are in the public eye. And as you say Tyrone it costs nowt.

One word. PRIDE.

And the right to veto any takeover is just bizarre and tells me exactly what their intention is. The will grudgingly accept another six clubs into their clique but heaven forbid a potential takeover of Sheik Mansoor proportions is lined up - they will just block it. They are using the effects of a global pandemic to effectively bribe other less fortunate clubs. Shame on them.

I think they joined the queue straight from t'Mecca. ??

I think it is Birdy (Alan Birkbeck) based on the fact him and his friends were at the front of the queue for City tickets. It's strange what the memory holds but I can tell you that they were singing 'we meet the Champions, we shall not be moved' as we passed them to join the queue.

Thanks for sharing these Gav. I look at them and each one raises memories and lots of questions ??.

I'm unable to like your post Ian but I do ?. When this has been put to bed (I'm confident it will) I hope the football world really sees the greed and self interest that exists amongst those who are driving this. Hopefully the clubs involved will then turn their attentions to a European Super League and leave the rest of us alone.

So the generous proposals are going to give £250m to EFL clubs but they won't be paying any more parachute payments saving tens of millions. Reducing the PL by two clubs will be another £200m they can throw into the mix so in actual fact they aren't really giving anything over and above what they currently spend. There is a real suspicion this morning that the big six (I really dislike that term) will want to have the majority to vote on PPV games. Already in this proposal there is suggestion of eight games each for PPV. The Rags reckon that one in seven people globally support them. Imagine the money from everyone of their games being sold. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12102347/project-big-picture-qa-all-you-need-to-know-about-premier-league-shake-up-proposal

https://mobile.twitter.com/RobHarris/status/1315280980958220289?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^tweet PL are disappointed with Parrys involvement.

From today's articles where it appears EFL clubs are in the dark I would say he is a lone wolf. I was told that he is only on a retainer with the EFL so maybe he is lining something up for himself. The word 'slippery' has been used to describe him in the past.

And whoever thinks these stupid Americanised names up should be sacked. Project Restart and Project Big Picture are the wrong names. Project Selfish Bastards would be more apt.

A bit more about the proposal. https://www.football365.com/news/liverpool-man-utd-drive-project-big-picture-premier-leageue-control Rick Parry is supporting this in his role as EFL Chief Executive. One of the proposals is to start the season later so clubs can maximise revenue from overseas trips. The big brother of the PL will pretty much control everything. True colours and all that.

The referee was Dave Allison from Lancaster who was my coach for several years. He was what was termed then as a players referee, quite liberal in his style who generally managed games without too many problems. It was before all the mandates were given and laws changed in an attempt to bring consistency.

This was better though.

It was Gary Bennett who he fought and it was a proper, no holds barred scrap. They started fighting on the touchline and ended up toppling into the crowd. The referee gave them both a severe talking to ???.

I have just noticed that Chris Taylor is playing for Barrow to add to the number of ex Rovers there although Platt hasn't appeared for a few weeks now.