The Football.....

[Joey Shabadoo]

When your team are in the CL and the team that sacked you aren't


View: https://www.facebook.com/ynfafootball/videos/1040905282613033/

 

[AndyRM]

When your team are in the CL and the team that sacked you aren't


View: https://www.facebook.com/ynfafootball/videos/1040905282613033/

One for the CV. Up there with Second in the Championship.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

I may have a new wallpaper.

Welcome to Scotland Joey Barton. Tweet that!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

A better solution imo - 4 guaranteed spots from the 4 big European leagues.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...-breakaway-by-europes-top-clubs-with-champio/

Some of the teams that creep in each year from the smaller league would struggle to stay in our own top flight league which makes a mockery of the competition.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Yebbut it makes it ever more a closed shop and ever more a mockery of the notion of a champions league. So what if the likes of Czech Republic or Romanian champions aren't going to win the thing, they are Champions of their own competition and merit a place in there more than a German team that finished 4th and 20 odd points poorer than the champions of that competition.

It is akin to rewriting the FA Cup to a competition where the non-league and lower league teams play to a final where only 1 or 2 are left in before the premiership bother to put in an appearance.

All this is doing is postponing the inevitable European league breakaway whilst p*ssing in the face of neutral fans and less wealthy leagues.

Blyth are at Grantham today. I reckon the Tall Ships in Blyth Harbour will have a few more visitors in the famous Green and White stripes today.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Yebbut it makes it ever more a closed shop and ever more a mockery of the notion of a champions league. So what if the likes of Czech Republic or Romanian champions aren't going to win the thing, they are Champions of their own competition and merit a place in there more than a German team that finished 4th and 20 odd points poorer than the champions of that competition.

It is akin to rewriting the FA Cup to a competition where the non-league and lower league teams play to a final where only 1 or 2 are left in before the premiership bother to put in an appearance.

All this is doing is postponing the inevitable European league breakaway whilst p*ssing in the face of neutral fans and less wealthy leagues.

Blyth are at Grantham today. I reckon the Tall Ships in Blyth Harbour will have a few more visitors in the famous Green and White stripes today.

The underlying motivation for this change I guess is to stop the breakaway for sure plus it is a 'give' to the other bigger Euro leagues in terms of extra finance to counter the additional monies that are starting to pour into the EPL coffers.

I'm quite happy with the notion of only the very best teams from Europe being in the Champions League although I'd also accept that maybe the name of the competition ought to be changed. I guess it comes down to a decision on excellence vs inclusion at the end of the day.

Re the FA Cup - the term 'bother to put in an appearance' seems unfair to me. For the teams further up the FA league hierarchy the additional load of competing in more games earlier in the competition is too much plus all that would happen is that some teams further down the pecking order would probably get knocked out sooner than they might have.

Similarly, whilst accepting that early doors involvement for the 'bigger' clubs would be eg MUFC-lite or CFC-lite etc, there is a much greater risk of injury to squad players by playing on less well maintained pitches and against players who are generally clumsier in close quarter situations than those at the top of the game - a situation that can come back and harm the clubs involved when they need those players as the season progresses.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

It think you misunderstand my FA Cup point, I'm not advocating earlier entry but equating the tacit exclusion of ever more smaller teams from the top table European competition to the bigger teams appearing later in domestic competition when, even more than now, near as all of the smaller ones have gone and they know there will be no upsets or shocks and Wycombe's or Chesterfield's upsetting the status quo by getting to the later rounds.

The top of the game has a sickening amount of money as it is and the notion of trickle down is a farce, domestically or increasingly so internationally, anything making that situation worse is bad for football all round whilst massively benefitting an ever smaller cabal of global brands.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Laura Trott's predictions brought to you courtesy of the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37194060

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Looks like the BBC are grooming her for C'lebdom. In which case, definitely worth a punt on SPOTY

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Looks like the BBC are grooming her for C'lebdom. In which case, definitely worth a punt on SPOTY

Without wishing to come across as sexist, she is very easy on the eye, she can string a sentence together and comes across as a genuinely likeable person with a clean cut reputation, a tremendous pedigree in her chosen sport and an ever increasing profile outside of that.

Shes a female Gary Lineker.

TV companies would be fools not to try grooming her now to be the next big thing in presenting and punditry if that is what she wants to do when she winds down and eventually retires.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Shes a female Gary Lineker.

This may be the cruellest thing I've ever seen said about her!

That said, she does look very comfortable in her skin right now, very much at ease in front of the camera. She's got even more medals coming her way, though, and she's nobbut a lass so SPOTY can wait a couple of years for her.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Looks like the BBC are grooming her for C'lebdom. In which case, definitely worth a punt on SPOTY

The media are building her up....and when they get her high enough they'll do everything they can to destroy her. If I were her and Jason Kenny I'd concentrate on cycling and leave the tabloid spotlight to the professional celebrity whores.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

@shouldbeinbed

Yes, the money has become absurd really but horse has well and truly bolted on that one.

Tbh, I think the game (and fans) just needs to recognise that there is a massive polarisation within the sport. The top tier clubs, as you allude to, are very much global brands and maybe it is time to sever the connection with the lower tiers?

Realistically the only way that any team can really flourish, certainly within the Premier League, is for huge investment to favour a particular club. Even Leicester last year saw a significant rise in their transfer costs and wage bill which was funded by Thai Bhat - so maybe not quite the fairy tale it was made out to be although I'll not deny that they weren't overly prolific on their transfer spending compared to other teams.

Maybe one day we'll just have the top 4/5 European leagues conjoined as a mini-structure in its own right - who knows. I'd quite like to watch that tbh.

 

[mark st1]

Without wishing to come across as sexist, she is very easy on the eye, she can string a sentence together and comes across as a genuinely likeable person with a clean cut reputation, a tremendous pedigree in her chosen sport and an ever increasing profile outside of that.

Shes a female Gary Lineker.

TV companies would be fools not to try grooming her now to be the next big thing in presenting and punditry if that is what she wants to do when she winds down and eventually retires.

Are you telling me that Sky didn't recruit the stunningly beautiful Rachel Riley for her maths genius .

 

[Inertia]

I'm quite happy with the notion of only the very best teams from Europe being in the Champions League although I'd also accept that maybe the name of the competition

Im ok with it but I think its needs a rebrand, call me picky but if you are going to call it the champions league, it should consist of 'Champions', not champions plus 2nd and third bests.