20 Apr 2021 09:46:45
My two-pence worth as everyone else is having a shot.

First of all, I'm definitely anti-super league. I don't want it to happen.

However, I'm struggling with the hypocrisy of Gary Neville being some white knight, a saviour for the people, for the good of the game and what's right.

This is the same Gary Neville, who part owns Salford, a club that signed players on £4k a week contracts in the Conference, in order to be the 'super club' in that league so that they could buy their way in to higher divisions.

These are the same Sky presenters telling us to take back control, but at the same time, between them and BT, charge me over £100 a month to follow my club if I want to watch them every week.

And don't get me wrong, I fully appreciate the clubs get a hell of whack in return from the likes of Sky and BT for broadcasting rights, and that's why I'll keep paying my subscriptions to watch them, but let's not pretend that they care for anything bar the money they would potentially stand to lose.

1.) 20 Apr 2021
20 Apr 2021 10:15:04
Very well said. This is all it comes down to, Sky and BT care only about the revenue it will loose as once the ESL is up and running CL will loose its aura. Then again if Liverpool were not a part of the ESL plan fan would have been complaining that we are no longer the Elite club or part of the big boys and would have blamed FSG for it. I really don't care about a new league formation or not I only care about LFC not being left behind by the rest of the bunch who would have more money than us and will be becoming more powerful and rich and we LFC will be holding on to our tradition but will be looking at the big boys making billions as we struggle to buy a CB worth 20 million. I know it will not be a popular opinion and a lot of u will jump on this opportunity to call me names but this is my opinion.

2.) 20 Apr 2021
20 Apr 2021 10:36:03
We do need to separate out two issue here - money and anti-competitiveness.

Yes, the game is awash with money, money that ultimately us fans are funding through ticket sales, Sky/ BT subscriptions, merchandise etc.

However, the core principal that has so many people aghast at the ESL is the anti-competitive nature of it. Without the security afforded to the founding teams, it isn't much different to a revamped CL. The issue is that those 15 teams could do terribly in their leagues or even get relegated and yet STILL be playing in the ESL and profiting financially from it.

I don't have an issue with the core structure (in terms of mini-leagues and midweek games) of the ESL as a replacement for the CL, albeit I would rather players played fewer rather than more games. I cannot abide the fact that those 15 teams have a RIGHT to play every year regardless of how they perform.

Much as I can't stand the spiky little dwarf that Neville is, I cannot argue with his ire at the anti-competitive nature of the ESL. And is Salford paying players £4k a week any different to Blackburn buying the league, or Chelsea or Man City or even us, having more money to spend than, say, Burnley? The only team in EPL history (imo) who didn't in some way buy the league was Leicester, who relied more on planets alligning and the hard work done by Ranieri (and Pearson) in finding and moulding the team.

I don't, therefore, find it hypocritical of him or Sky or BT. Its not about the money, its about competition.

Money is a separate and real issue in the game and whether it is addressed through wage caps, agent fee caps or any other measure, I hope that it is addressed soon and ubiquitously as unless it is mandated throughout all leagues, we will find the best players potentially moving to follow the money as they have done in the past.

But to come back to the ESL, I cannot even begin to imagine how the English clubs (especially) could not see the fatal flaw here. Sports are about competition, the chance that anyone could win (albeit, likely needing a pot of cash to do so! ) . Without competition, sport is just scripted entertainment. I want to watch the EPL and the UCL not WWE.

3.) 20 Apr 2021
20 Apr 2021 10:42:00
Football as we know would be dead. The benefits to Liverpool are secondary.

4.) 20 Apr 2021
20 Apr 2021 11:10:33
Football is not awash with money, the players are. Premier League clubs are losing millions due to mismanagement of wages and C.V.. The money to pay the players has to come from somewhere. How many times have I read on this forum that FSG need to put their hands in their pocket to buy this player or that player. Mbappe reportedly wants £750,000 per week Haarland reportedly wants £1m per week. We fans must realise that this money has to come from somewhere and the true reality is we get the owners we deserve. Football died in 1992, what is happening now is just the inevitable conclusion of the change from the Football League to the Premier League and the change of the European Cup to the Champions League.

5.) 20 Apr 2021
20 Apr 2021 13:44:21
Zedd, ironically, I’ve seen you mention the wwe and anyone that is a wrestling fan would know what happened with the plight of professional wrestling. They used to have a territorial structure which they all peacefully coexisted with, creating competition amongst each other and in turn massive popularity which extended globally. Then one company came in (wwf at the time) and bought out most of the major territories in order to nationalise that company and only that company, it was essentially monopoly. Once wwf beat out any competition that decided to match them and nationalise (wcw mainly) they became the forefront of professional wrestling and the only place you could go for it, whether you wanted to be an employee or a fan. It worked for maybe a decade at most surviving on the previous buzz pro wrestling had for decades before becoming washed up and absent of the premise it once had. Now there are no stars, far far far less of an audience and they’ve sold their soul to outside investors and made it a publicly traded company with scripts for just about everything.

The point I’m trying to make is, once competition was gone, and the rules of competition became stricter the product went down the toilet. You can’t change a structure that was built from the ground up, prospered for a century, then try to change the whole base of it over night and expect it not to fall down, the same thing will happen here with the ESL, LFC will have no affinity with Liverpool and anfield anymore once it’s eventually not even based there, which will end up happening.

6.) 20 Apr 2021
20 Apr 2021 14:02:29
NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Super Rugby, NRL aren't anti-competitive. Just a different structure.

7.) 20 Apr 2021
20 Apr 2021 14:50:53
Those leagues are micro-competitive, Faith. Liverpool can potentially play hundreds of different teams in all number of competitions right now. Those matches add revenue to smaller clubs domestically and internationally and help them prosper. Playing the same 12 teams each season helps the same 12 teams get wealthier. The competitive edge is lost when it doesn't matter if you finish 6th or 10th or 12th.