"Man Utd and Liverpool driving 'Project Big Picture' - football’s biggest shake-up in a generation"

[wirE]

I kinda fancy the idea of less teams in the premier league and dropping the league cup. Fewer games but maybe more players avoid serious injuries caused by a tight schedule and fatigue.

 

[slartibartfast]

From a devils advocate point of view, if I’m chairman of someone like Coventry City and I see the offer of a better financial settlement from the premier league in exchange for the top 6 having more control, what do I care? Coventry are never going to be able to compete on the same level as United or Liverpool under the current set up, so why does them having more power now or in the future effect me?

So I can see why most EFL clubs would be for this.

Not true. If Coventry, or anyone for that matter, get big investment then things can change very quickly.
Man City were nowhere until relatively recently. If I'd told you 20 years ago Man City will be massive and be stuffing Man United and Arsenal you'd have called to have me committed.
If theres no chance of ever being up there with the best then whats the fucking point of it all???

 

[TheRevolution]

I kinda fancy the idea of less teams in the premier league and dropping the league cup. Fewer games but maybe more players avoid serious injuries caused by a tight schedule and fatigue.

Yeah some of the stuff sounds good. EFL getting 25% of EPL revenue, championship vs 17th play off. The big red thing sticking out for me is the "special status" for top clubs. I'm actually ok with the rest of the stuff.

 

[slartibartfast]

I kinda fancy the idea of less teams in the premier league and dropping the league cup. Fewer games but maybe more players avoid serious injuries caused by a tight schedule and fatigue.

What about the clubs that need the League Cup to make ends meet?

 

[slartibartfast]

Yeah some of the stuff sounds good. EFL getting 25% of EPL revenue, championship vs 17th play off. The big red thing sticking out for me is the "special status" for top clubs. I'm actually ok with the rest of the stuff.

I'm not too fussed about number of teams. Has gone up and down before. Agree you're bang on with the sticking point.

 

[Tucker]

Not true. If Coventry, or anyone for that matter, get big investment then things can change very quickly.
Man City were nowhere until relatively recently. If I'd told you 20 years ago Man City will be the massive and be stuffing Man United and Arsenal you'd have called to have me committed.
If theres no chance of ever being up there with the best then whats the fucking point of it all???

I guess Coventry have to weigh up the prospect of going out of business against the faint glimmer of hope that they win the lottery.

The reality is that not every club is going to win the lottery like City did, the hope for clubs like Coventry etc is that maybe one day they’ll make it into the premier league (or back there in their case) or that they’ll have a good cup run etc. I don’t see how these proposals stop either of those things. We might turn our nose up at ambitions like that, but for smaller clubs it’s the dream. I know plenty of Swansea fans who were in dream land just being in the premier league. Winning the league cup was beyond their wildest expectations.

I’m not saying I support handing more power to the big clubs, but I can certainly see the appeal for the smaller clubs in the EFL, who even before Covid were struggling to stay afloat.

Personally I don’t think the extra money is going to do anything to help the EFL clubs, wages will just go up because agents and players know the money is out there, and we will still see clubs going under etc.

 

[JCRD]

I am not the biggest fan of change but think this is a decent idea although i think the biggest gripe is the whole special status crap even if we will be one of the six.

My question and perhaps it is a silly question - what are the six to nine clubs getting for that 25% of tv revenue? Whats the catch - just special status voting rights?

 

[slartibartfast]

I guess Coventry have to weigh up the prospect of going out of business against the faint glimmer of hope that they win the lottery.

The reality is that not every club is going to win the lottery like City did, the hope for clubs like Coventry etc is that maybe one day they’ll make it into the premier league (or back there in their case) or that they’ll have a good cup run etc. I don’t see how these proposals stop either of those things. We might turn our nose up at ambitions like that, but for smaller clubs it’s the dream. I know plenty of Swansea fans who were in dream land just being in the premier league. Winning the league cup was beyond their wildest expectations.

I’m not saying I support handing more power to the big clubs, but I can certainly see the appeal for the smaller clubs in the EFL, who even before Covid were struggling to stay afloat.

Personally I don’t think the extra money is going to do anything to help the EFL clubs, wages will just go up because agents and players know the money is out there, and we will still see clubs going under etc.

I dont disagree really. Thats whats so wrong. They're making a power grab feeding on smaller clubs desperation. You're right more money will just see bigger wages. Killing the league cup osnt gonna help them.
Man City and Chelsea won the lottery and now with Man U and Liverpool, whose lives have been made harder because of it, they wanna lock the gates. Well they can fuck off as far as I'm concerned.
It stinks.

 

[Lilbaz]

Suggest the other 14 teams get together and say fk you see how well you do just playing each other in a season. We'll take you from 20 teams to 6 you entitled pricks.
Ooh I could crush a grape.
Greed, pure greed.
I said ages ago after the euro super league shit they're gonna kill the golden goose and this is another nail in the coffin for that poor lovely goose.

There are current negotiations of a revamp of the cl. Real, barca and juve want a european super league. The 6 could say bye. They could have a sealed league or two like in nfl. Draft system, wage cap and make fortunes.

 

[Lilbaz]

Guys this is a negotiation tactic. How many times have we seen it in the cl? The big clubs want a bigger slice so they threaten a super league. Uefa then negotiate and give them a bit more power.

There will be a compromise, that will probably be a bit shit for everyone outside the top 6.

 

[wirE]

What about the clubs that need the League Cup to make ends meet?

I was about to say, why not give that to the lower leagues to fight amongst. There’s is no longer a European Cup spot for the winner, so imo the cup is not a big priority for the top clubs

 

[slartibartfast]

I was about to say, why not give that to the lower leagues to fight amongst. There’s is no longer a European Cup spot for the winner, so imo the cup is not a big priority for the top clubs

They make their money through playing PL teams though. Playing each other does nothing for them financially.

 

[JCRD]

There are current negotiations of a revamp of the cl. Real, barca and juve want a european super league. The 6 could say bye. They could have a sealed league or two like in nfl. Draft system, wage cap and make fortunes.

Sounds so American and personally I cant handle that.

I do not want to see Spurs v Barcelona on loop...

 

[Ionman34]

I think the point is that it would gut the heart out of the premier league and they’d then struggle to get the big tv money without the big clubs. They’d then simply apply all these new rules to the efl and wait for the other prem clubs to come crawling back. It’s the nuclear option.

Stay in the EFL and never qualify for CL?

That’ll show ‘em eh?

 

[Lilbaz]

Sounds so American and personally I cant handle that.

I do not want to see Spurs v Barcelona on loop...

Neither do i.

 

[Tucker]

Stay in the EFL and never qualify for CL?

That’ll show ‘em eh?

I think you’re missing the bigger picture. The FA assign the European places for a start. How long do you think the premier league will last as an entity once the tv money that the big six bring in has gone?

The current TV deal is up in 2022. Do you think sky and BT are going to pay a billion pounds for Crystal Palace vs Burnley? I don’t.

 

[Ionman34]

One thing that would be very good is giving the established PL clubs a vote on the potential takeover of one of them. That would prevent another Abramovich or Mansour from ever happening again. I'd even extend that scheme to the EFL.
Ideally there'd be a drive to stamp out dodgy owners of football clubs altogether. The present "fit-and-proper" criteria are a joke and have resulted in a vale of tears for many once respectable clubs and their fans who've fallen into the wrong hands...

I’d have said that making the people who decide who is “fit and proper” be “fit and proper” for making that assessment first.

It’s really not that hard, just remove the corruption.

 

[Ionman34]

I think you’re missing the bigger picture. The FA assign the European places for a start. How long do you think the premier league will last as an entity once the tv money that the big six bring in has gone?

The current TV deal is up in 2022. Do you think sky and BT are going to pay a billion pounds for Crystal Palace vs Burnley? I don’t.

You’re presupposing that all 6 would defect. Correct me if I’ve misinterpreted, but I thought it was just Liverpool and Utd who had issued that “threat.”

 

[Tucker]

You’re presupposing that all 6 would defect. Correct me if I’ve misinterpreted, but I thought it was just Liverpool and Utd who had issued that “threat.”

I don’t know if the threat was all six or just them two, I’d imagine it would have a bigger impact if it was all six, but let’s face it even if it were just them two, it would still have a massive impact on the money from tv deals.

I also think it would be naive of us to think the other big clubs wouldn’t want this project to go ahead. United and Liverpool may have cooked this up, but Spurs, Chelsea, City and Arsenal would all benefit from it financially.

 

[Ionman34]

I don’t know if the threat was all six or just them two, I’d imagine it would have a bigger impact if it was all six, but let’s face it even if it were just them two, it would still have a massive impact on the money from tv deals.

I also think it would be naive of us to think the other big clubs wouldn’t want this project to go ahead. United and Liverpool may have cooked this up, but Spurs, Chelsea, City and Arsenal would all benefit from it financially.

Oh I’m not naive enough to think they won’t see the pound signs, but I wonder if they’d consider, and be bothered by, the death of the English game?