The Shelf: Greedy rich clubs call for Champions League revamp

Manchester United has joined the calls of AC Milan that it was ridiculous that they were drawn together in the Champions League.. Even Wenger stuck his nose in and agreed with his arch rivals.

Apparently Manure and Milan believe that it is their god given right to progress into the very final stages of the Champions League and having to play someone who is half decent has totally hindered that aim. They want UEFA to adjust the competition so when you reach the last 16 the best team in the competition gets to play the worst, the second best plays the second worst and so on. This type of system would thus allow the Champions League, and thus all the money, to be totally dominated by Manure, Madrid and so on subsequently making the Premiership even more one sided than it already is. In fact I'm not surprised that Wenger has jumped on the band wagon as it would be the only way for the filth to make any decent progess in Europe!

Anyway, shurly UEFA should tell them to stick it. European football and its respective national leagues are dominated by an elite few. DO they really think that making these teams even stronger is going to help the dwindiling attendences in the Premiership and the Champions League?

11 Comments:

Anonymous said...

goodpoint well made. it'll just make the rich richer. And what would be the point in qualifying for Europe you would never win if you had to play all the top teams to get to the final. Its all in the LUCK of the draw. If you get knocked out it simply means you werent good enough!

8:10 PM, March 22, 2005

We are talking about Football administrators here. Since when did common sense have anything to do with it?

They will continue to do fuck all right up until the whole rotten mess collapses and the TV money dries up. And it will. People aren't stupid, (They are slow) eventually, the penny will drop and people will begin to ask why pay to watch a product where the winners come from an elite few?

Look at Formula 1!

9:00 PM, March 22, 2005

How true. They seem hell bent on creating an even more uneven playing field. Stack the cards high enough and they'll come tumbling down.

9:05 PM, March 22, 2005

Supremely intelligent points, By the way I believe it is surely and not shurly

10:27 PM, March 22, 2005

Actually the idea really works well, it is the same idea as over here in the US in basketball, if you have a good consistent season the best team plays at home in the first stage, then away to the worst team, the 2nd plays at home to the 7th team etc. It is basically a reward for consistency, why play great all year and then get drawn against the next best team? This way an off-night is not disastrous, also the 2 best teams should get to play each other which makes good financial sense and good football. Having said that over the last few seasons in basketball not always the expected teams win and an underdog often comes through to the final, also good for the fans.

10:33 PM, March 22, 2005

This is truly ridiculous. These clubs fail to win, so they wish to change the rules of the competition. You can be sure that if United had not performed so poorly this year, they would certainly not be calling for changes. I don't hear Wenger or Ferguson calling for similar changes in the FA cup. Of course both teams are likely to reach the final of that competition, but it doesn't have to same financial rewards which is their real concern here.

The BBC carry an article on this topic here.

11:35 PM, March 22, 2005

You are missing the point! The FA Cup is a knockout competition, ie. luck of the draw 50-50 chance of winning or going home....the Premiership is based on the best consistent team wins....the Championship is a hybrid, initially a league followed by a knockout stage, if a team wins its' division why not then base the knockout stage on its league performance ie points, goals for -against, if necessary then use yellow/red cards as a basis to pick the top team. If you look at all angles this is a fairer way to play as opposed to a 50-50 lottery.

4:10 AM, March 23, 2005

I think it is you that is missing the point. Anyway I think the CL is money oriented,and a contradiction in terms anyway as it has been purely the champions that qualify. I think the proposal is simply a way for the big clubs to enhance there chances of consistently progressing further and therefore increasing their revenue. Also try to think ahead a couple of years (humour me here), to when Spurs start qualifying for the CL, it would mean we are automatically drawn against the so-called "big" clubs such as Madrid or Barca, instead of relying on the luck of the draw.

7:55 AM, March 23, 2005

re-post:
I think it is you that is missing the point. Anyway I think the CL is money oriented,and a contradiction in terms anyway as it has been a long time since purely the champions that qualify. I think the proposal is simply a way for the big clubs to enhance there chances of consistently progressing further and therefore increasing their revenue. Also for those of you who advocate that the system has it's merits, try to think ahead a couple of years (humour me here), to when Spurs start qualifying for the CL, it would mean we are automatically drawn against the so-called "big" clubs such as Madrid or Barca, instead of relying on the luck of the draw.

7:58 AM, March 23, 2005

Think about it. Who would seed the clubs in the last 16 of the CL and, on what basis (previous performances in Europe/current domestic league position/standings in the league phase of the CL/or a combination of all of these). It won't happen because there is no way the clubs would ever agree on the seedings.