THERE MUST BE CONSEQUENCES FOR SUPER LEAGUE FARCE (LONG READ)

by .

The collapse of the Super League on day two marks one of the most spectacular fails in business history.

Owners and their exec leaders spent the pandemic scheming ways to make the most of a bad situation. As I wrote yesterday, they thought they had every base covered. They believed ‘big club energy’ would make the rest of the football world bend to their will. They hoped they could ride this out with the fans.

It did not happen.

Some thought on the tipping points.

Early morning, The AST said that Boris Johnson was not only horrified, he was actively seeking to stop the Super League from happening. Politically, as the top boy, he has a lot of power. He could have interfered with taxes, messed with player temp visas, and most importantly… toy with the residences of billionaires taking up camp in England. If Boris can sniff out political opportunity with his base, you are in trouble. He is the world’s number 1 when it comes to breaking up European alliances. It’ll take a few days to find out what tipped the scales, but I wouldn’t be shocked to learn that the political system turned some screws. I also wonder how the JP Morgan piece played into this. Did someone in the government tell the bank that this was a no-go? That Boris would drag it out and make it deeply unpopular? Watch this space.

Bayern Munich said no, with Germany politely saying fuck off to the proposal. That was followed by the news that PSG wouldn’t play ball. There are rumours they were the inside man on this deal, back-channelling to UEFA where their owner is a big deal. Regardless, how can you have a Super League without those two teams?

The third and most important impact was the wall to wall vitriol spewed in the papers, social media and the sports channels. No one had a good thing to say about the Super League. Everyone hated it. It spoke to greed, it was the antithesis of what makes European sport popular, and it shone a bright light on the characters of those engaging in this act of treachery.

Chelsea bailed first. Then City. Then Spurs, United, and Arsenal. Now there is no Super League.

Ed Woodward was the first big name to resign. He’s out at United. That is huge. He burnt all his capital with the fans and his position was untenable. There are rumours doing the rounds that the Glazers are looking to sell because football doesn’t have a high enough profit ceiling and they want out.

I wrote yesterday what people inside the game were thinking about the possible threats to their ghastly vision. A few gave me pelters suggesting the post was wrong. Not sure how people came to that conclusion. The plan was built to deliver the Super League, the 12 clubs thought they had safety from all the counter-punches. Some of those execs spent yesterday trying to sell those counter-points I wrote about.

Ivan Gazidis on why it works for the little guys.

“The Super League will provide value and support to the whole football pyramid with greater financial resources.”

Florentino Perez on the lack of power to control the big 12.

‘They won’t throw Madrid out of the Champions League, for sure,” Perez said. “Not Madrid or [Manchester] City or anyone. I’m completely sure. Or La Liga either.’

Perez on ‘content’ and the new style of fan.

‘Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to the wishes of the fans.’

Barca on how they could convince the governments the influx of money would improve infrastructure (grassroots support).

‘Those clubs in power will share €3.5billion “solely to support their infrastructure investment plans and to offset the impact of the covid pandemic’

What ended up unravelling this buttoned-up plan?

EVERYTHING.

Government intervention.

The fans.

The pundits.

The sponsors.

The players.

The explayers.

The staff.

The papers.

You can’t even call this misreading the room, because I don’t believe these execs thought this was ever going to be a popular plan. They just shit their pants. Chelsea fans literally rocked their bus and it all came crumbling down.

It was a dastardly plan, enacted by folks disconnected from fan culture, who messed their pants after TWO DAYS.

I think football fans are shocked at how easy it was to win. Fan FC, gegenpressing masters, tried to win the game inside the first 10 minutes and scored 7 goals. It was over before there was an official hashtag or a banner to fly over the stadium. We were at the mean tweets phase. I thought this would go on for weeks. I thought the billionaires would plough through like they do with every other change they bring to the game.

They bottled it.

Now what for Arsenal?

Vinai is the face of this move though not the decision-maker. Regardless, he’s lost the trust of the fans, players, sponsors and the staff in one hit. How does that affect his ability to lead us this summer? How can he ever talk about our class again after trying to slip this out the door at 11pm on a Sunday night? If he stays, he’s damaged goods, if he goes, we’re starting AGAIN. It never stops for Arsenal. There is always something terrible to deal with that is of our own making. It’s not just him. Tim Lewis, Gooner on the ground, would have been part of this as well. Plenty of people who love football at Arsenal, went along with this regardless. At least the players and staff didn’t know. Auba deleted his twitter account.

The club apologised, the only one to do so, which is at least a start, but the tone was purposefully naive and misleading.

The system needs to be fixed. We must work together to find solutions which protect the future of the game and harness the extraordinary power football has to get us on the edge of our seats.

We know it will take time to restore your faith in what we are trying to achieve here at Arsenal but let us be clear that the decision to be part of the Super League was driven by our desire to protect Arsenal, the club you love, and to support the game you love through greater solidarity and financial stability.

The miscalculation was the big clubs thought their global fans were different to the noisy rabble in London. They believed the new ‘casual’ fan was engaging with football like they would an algorithm suggestion in Netflix. They believed football was just another type of content like video games, TV, or music. They were not prepared for the commoners to see stability as a collective issue. They believed their own greed and desire to be part of the elite insider group would be the same for the fans. They were all wrong, the values local fans have is part of what makes the game appealing, and they want to be part of that… and are. For Arsenal to be talking about stability after they tried to spoil the game for the many, to preserve privilege for the few, makes this statement so off-key. Values our leadership talk about are marketing gimmicks, this debacle is a proof point to that.

The open letter said a few times they were trying to protect the club and its future. A great soundbite if we were Dagenham & Redbridge. We’re Arsenal. We have a billionaire owner married to into of the most successful families that has ever existed on this planet. He is supposed to be our protection. That was the point of a billionaire owner. If we weren’t getting his investment, we were better of being run privately like we were when we were successful.

Vinai said this when he started.

‘Together we will work tirelessly with the extraordinary staff we have at Arsenal to respect and enhance our unique history, heritage and values; with the overall objective to bring success to our millions of fans all around the world and make them proud of their club’

Protecting the future of our club by eliminating competition was the plan to make us proud? Sacking Gunnersaurus? Firing 52 members of staff before signing a 32-year-old on a 3 year deal for £250k a week? This ‘proud’ strategy needs a rethink because it has never been less believable.

As for ‘mistake’.. come on. This was no mistake. This has been on the agenda for longer than Vinai. No one can be shocked Ivan spoke up about it on Tuesday, this was part of the reason he moved to Milan. Imagine what this would have done for his stock options? This was a premeditated attack on European football culture. It required deep thought and planning. It’s something they knew would distress fans and they just did it anyway. The only regret Arsenal has on this is that everyone else lost their nerve and the stress and embarrassment wasn’t worth a penny.

So what becomes of Arsenal? How does this mess affect our standing in the game? How does it affect the dressing room? How does it impact our appeal this summer?

There was a rumour that Chelsea and City pulled out of this because it levelled the playing field. They exit this debacle winners regardless because they didn’t ever need the money. Arsenal? We’re back to £20m summers in a sell to buy cycle. That felt bad before, now, it feels even worse.

If the Super League is dead, why would Stan continue to keep a club that is bottom of that power league? Isn’t it time to hand it over and admit that this little stunt was the last roll of the dice for a guy that has absolutely no vision or ideas for a game that has passed him by? Isn’t it time for him to be the bigger man and end this. Give the club to someone that likes sport. Do something fair for the fans. Last time I checked, there are 150,000 people tweeting #KroenkeOut. Cash-out. A group repping a very rich family told me they wanted to buy out Arsenal for £2 billion 3 years ago. There are buyers out there. Maybe this mess might offer them a way out as they struggle with costs and focus with The Rams complex. I’m dreaming, this is about as likely as JP Morgan leaking ‘Stan is selling’ to Talksport.

Outside the consequences for Arsenal. What are the consequences for the idea? What stops this from happening again? Who intervenes? Government? FIFA? UEFA? How can the fans be secure in the knowledge this near miss will be avoided… forever. Who will protect the sanctity of the game?

This was a coup. It failed. The lessons of history tell you that if harsh consequences are not meted out, the bad guys come back for the prize again and again. Football cannot allow this culture crime to slide. UEFA let this happen by not enforcing rules, by bungling TV deals, by being average. Time for them to get tough. Time for some accountability. Time to secure the game.

Before I go, Johnny mentioned an important point on the podcast and so have plenty of people that tweet me and contribute to the website. If the big 12 can plan a breakaway during work hours in a pandemic, don’t tell me they can’t do something big on racism in the game. We just played Slavia Prague and everyone in Europe was hoping we’d beat them because of their abhorrent behaviour that goes unchecked. If we can use the might of Arsenal to cut a mega deal at the expense of our soul, then we can use it to fix something that is still stinking out our game.

The fans won. What a moment. The biggest farce in business history and a win for the little guys. Unbelievable. Have a great day, I hope you’re smiling.

P.S. Special shoutout to the immense work Tim Payton and the AST Team has done on this. If you want to put your money towards a force for good in football, sign up to this link and add your voice to their growing membership.

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Graham

Le Grove Poster Super League and as a founder member I reserve the right to be in the top 12 posts every day.

Leedsgunner

Flip flop… 😂😂😂

Pedro was telling us it was inevitable yesterday. Today the ESL is a farce… 😂😂😂

Flip flop…

andy1886

Much better post today Pedro and hopefully more in line with your true feelings on the subject. And yes join the AST, been a member for years.

AKenyanGooner

#KronkeOut from Kenya

Hitman49

Top 4

AKenyanGooner

And I made the ESL!

Dark Hei

No more comments past this; the rest will be invited

andy1886

Just a follow up from yesterday’s post:

It isn’t ‘happening’

And we didn’t have to ‘suck it up’.

1-0 to real football fans.

Major_Jeneral

THE ESL top 12. Lolz

Steve

Fifa and uefa are corrupt the fans need to get at them too

Guns of Brixton

What a relief

TR7

Pedro sharpening his knife against Vinai when most probably he had no say in the matter.

gnarleygeorge9

Obviously Sky is in direct competition with the ‘rag’ you work for Pedro.

Well long may they sing God Save the Queen, coz nothing will save mainstream media!

Guns of Brixton

Twitter was on fine form yesterday.

Hoksilato

Big bad owners lost, good.
But the real “soul of football” has been saved now ? Really ?
CL semi-finals next week:
Qatar vs.Abu Dhabi
…and Shady Russian oligarch vs. Real/Perez
you couldn’t make it up

Hoksilato

TR7, doubt Vinai was a mastermind behind this lol
He seems too lightweight and weak though in swim in these shark infested waters….

Hitman49

Like the super league.. Nearly …… If any of you think this is going away brace yourself… Just look at the amounts of money they had secured just for the broadcasting rights with no sponsorship, that’s a lot of money no these guys will not walk away from the potential of that simple. They will rethink it re brand it and launch it it during close season where media will have little to no impact, this has not gone away and nor will it whether we like it or not it’s a business and money talks… As for punishment what… Read more »

DM

Pedro I say this as someone who has immense respect for you, for the blog you have created and the amount of time and energy you put into it. It seemed to me like you were doing your best to cover all your bases. On Monday, you were very clear that it was a terrible idea and would be a disgrace. Then all of a sudden yesterday you posted this very strange blog that just seemed to me like it was your way of saying, I’M IN, but while covering your tracks so that if it fell through you would… Read more »

Ishola70

I find Vinai so pointless anyway. One of the most weakest and irrelevant CEOs around.

What a complete shit Gazidis is which has been made even clearer now.

Arsenal have made a huge embarrassment for themselves and this embarrassment was entailed with destroying football as we have known it.

But let’s console ourselves shall we with a “woke” point.

We were in cohorts to completely destroy the game of football as we have known it but hey we will look out for our black brothers.

DivineSherlock

Yesterday’s post felt like an embarrasment , an endorsement of ESL . Pedro said the same thing the owners said , Arsenal rather be a part of it than sitting outside of it . It was downright insulting to the fans of this sport. ES was telling me this was inevitable. The only thing is I really wished the people and the players who rallied did the same thing for every racist in this game . My respect for Ian Wright has gone on 10x fold. Lets kick this bastard out of this club.

DivineSherlock

DM

Spot On mate .

Leedsgunner

It is because Vinai is lightweight, I can see him going.

He will fall on his sword, and his demise will be of little consequence at changing the power culture at the club but it will give the Kronkes the chance to say “We’ve learned from this…” or some other meaningless platitude.

The overwhelming positive out of all this?

It has flushed the Kronkes out and revealed their true colours.

We can now all unite against a common enemy.

#KronkeOut

Ash79

Punishing the clubs will actually punish the fans who never wanted any of this nonsense. The owners have to be targeted pure and simple. If Stan isn’t driven out now, he never will. I’m already seeing tweets seeing ‘fans’ complimenting the club for issuing an apology, saying we are classy for apologising. Absolute rubbish, the class has gone. It’s these fans that allow owners to think they can do whatever they want. To some extent our fans are also to blame for constantly accepting and revising expectations. We contributed to an environment where owners like Stan thought they could do… Read more »

Kroenke Out

Arsenal protest on Friday 6pm at the Emirates. #kroenkeout

Kaz

It amazes me so many London fans feel hurt and betrayed and really want to distance themselves from the club at the moment.

But blogs like this really don’t capture that mood. Must be tough being an overseas fan.

GARY_SSSSS

The Super League plan has been stalled, but this has always been the plan, this vision is why the American Billionaires have bought into Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal, the traditional big 3 of the English league. It isn’t a European Super League they want, it is a World Super League. South American teams would join in the future, a team from China, India and one of the 3 London Clubs would eventually be moved to New York, or even more likely LA. Bet your life that Kroenke would love to re-locate Arsenal to LA in 10 years time as… Read more »

Ishola70

Already said on the previous blog post.

The overwhelming majority of Liverpool fans now want Fenway Sports Group out of their club and will now push for them to be ousted after this ESL disgraceful episode.

These are owners that oversaw Liverpool winning the EPL and Champions League. But Liverpool fans now want them out because of ESL.

Now relate that to Kroenke and Arsenal.

bacaryisgod

John W Henry apology video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL8KVu1833M

He thinks this will fly? What are they smoking in Boston?

Ishola70

How embarrassing is that video from John W Henry.

It just shows these owners are quite prepared to roll around in pig shit face first for their greed.

Charles Fox

Thanks Pedro for another stimulating read and all the posters who make this a forum above all others. This saga is going to run and run and there will be book opportunities I am sure. It looks like UEFA are going the conciliation rather than punishment route at least for now. but Football finances do need serious action. As for Arsenal if we fail to win the EUL we are going to be in a sorry state unless we can get a mega cash injection from Kroenke or a new owner to cover current losses repay UK gov loans and… Read more »

Gazza

#KronkeOut from Loughborough…….

Foxy

In addition there must be serious panic at Juve, Barca and Real as a result of this financial lifeline having disappeared which is exactly what they deserve. As I said the fallout will last for months.

Leedsgunner

Another incidental good from this?

Barcelona and Real Madrid going to the wall…

Along with Man City and Chelsea, the two Spanish giants have been responsible for crazy transfer valuations of very average players.

Hopefully with these two clubs out of the picture transfer values will begin to resemble reality and not the budgets of small nations’ space programs… although this might be wishful thinking on my part, the genie once let out of the bottle might be impossible to put back.

alexanderhenry

Pedro I’m surprised the ‘big six’ folded so quickly but it shows that fan power does actually work. I’m not sure this is the end of it though. It would be a mistake if UEFA act too harshly. Anyway, regarding how it affects arsenal, to quote you: ‘If the Super League is dead, why would Stan continue to keep a club that is bottom of that power league? Isn’t it time to hand it over and admit that this little stunt was the last roll of the dice for a guy that has absolutely no vision or ideas for a… Read more »

andy1886

Leeds,

It’s the old saying, owe the banks a grand and can’t pay and you’re in trouble. Owe them a billion (like Barca) and the bank is in trouble.

The likes of Barca and Real aren’t going bust but they may have financial restraints placed on them that are enough to ensure that they don’t trouble the major competitions for a few years. A Spanish Arsenal if you like…

Ishola70

Will be interesting to see posters who were willing to enter the ESL which was basically Kroenke’s whim not the club as a whole who will now be screaming Kroenke out.

Must remember. It was never of a case of Arsenal in the ESL. It was rather Kroenke in the ESL.

WengerEagle

Unbelievable how gullible, receptive and seemingly forgiving many people online seem to be towards the club and now John Henry coming out with that crocodile teared ‘apology’ video. Stockholm syndrome at work. These snakes were laughing and rubbing their grubby palms together on Sunday afternoon at the prospect of pulling this off, now they are seething and dumbstruck behind closed doors but having to put on this transparent remorseful act to anybody that is even just remotely intelligent. Imagine trying to justify what has transpired throughout the past 48 hours with a half-hearted generic and vague few hundred word PR… Read more »

Foxy

Transfer fess and players salaries are one problem but it is all the hangers on and parasites feeding on the money pit that get to me like agents and Sky/BT pundits. All the cash comes out of fans pockets not some magical money tree

TomLG

Just in the nick of time, Pedro.

Look, if you want to get rid of Kroenke, don’t renew your season tickets. I’m not.

Hoksilato

Leedsgunner

I am afraid Real’s loss will be PSG/Qatar, City and Chelsea’s win. Hope i am wrong but doubt it.
UEFA were full of praise for PSG and City (withdrawing)

Dark Hei

WE

Would real people be so forgiving? Could be those are twitter bots.

andy1886

WEagle,

Hopefully any ESL enablers who supported the plan will take a few minutes to remember that all they are is ‘Legacy Fans’ to their corporate masters.

Hoksilato

Andy

We are surely slowly becoming a Legacy Club 🙂

Moe

Vinai who? C’mon the poor guy probably can’t even decide on what brand coffee to stock at Emirates. If the Kroenkes even dare attempt to make Vinai the fall guy, then this spectacular backfire will become even messier for them. This was 100% Josh and Stan and their unsavory billionaire greed. It’s Kroenke out full throttle. He’s unwittingly exposed himself and his true motivations with Arsenal. Any Arsenal fan trying to support or even try to rationalize this ESL money grab is embarrassing for the club. This is a stain on the club.

Paulie

Liverpool and utd fans are pushing for their scavenger owners to leave, why have we to accept the parasitic ownership we have. Why are our ex players not shouting for theses parasites to leave. Always the same at Arsenal, moan a little but do nothing, bunch of soft nancies from players to fans the bloody lot. This will all blow over as usual with the Kronkes.
#KRONKES OUT.

Ishola70

It’s not only owners of football clubs that “misread the room” was it.

Hoksilato

Frankly we’d better be able to throw them out. The other parasites have had some form of success (sporting for LFC, commercial for MU) but we are stuck with the mediocre parasites, there is really no upside

andy1886

Hoksilato Maybe, but it’s never too late to turn it around. Can we get Stan and his ilk out of the game? Maybe. I seem to recall B63 yesterday bemoaning the ‘youth’ in Spain not being so interested in football. Maybe if that’s a trend it’s not such a bad thing. If people move on to other things, perhaps ‘e-sports’ for example Stan and the money men will follow them. Just maybe it would do football good to go back to an age where it wasn’t seen as a cool thing to support a club or go to games. Fans… Read more »

Ishola70

You will find Chelsea fans and Man City fans will “forgive” their owners and not just because of them winning the big cups under their watch. They will say their owners were not at the forefront of the ESL but rather the American owners and they were followers of it as well as some of the first to pull out of it. Not to say that is excusable in any way but that will be their take. Spurs are irrelevant because they are a basket case of a club overall. Liverpool fans as we all know are very pro-active and… Read more »

Dark Hei

andy

I follow e-sports.

I don’t want their ilk here either. Good thing the industry isn’t flush with cash or bad things gonna happen.

Hoksilato

Andy

You’re a romantic 🙂
Anyways this would be the long game…I’ve lost 90% of my love for football already, sometimes only check AFC’s result after the game, so don’t think i will have the stamina to hand in there for another 10-20 years of keffiyeh wearing Sheikhs brandishing Cups, russian oligarchs and gold-plated lamborghinis…

Andy

you really think johnson had anything to do with this and gives a single toss about football? and please stop calling him boris. he’s not your buddy.

Almuniasaynomore

Kroenkephobe Your musical reflections are infectious. I’ve been humming the boss all day “Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true Or is it something worse?” Just about sums up the legacy of the last few days. Can’t help but agree with the idea that the fan has won here but it was almost too easy,maybe life has made me paranoid. Anyway hope you are well,we can go back to complaining and reminiscing now! Tony Really enjoy your posts. Like to echo your thoughts that regardless of whether or not we agree with Pedro’s take on things there… Read more »

andy1886

Dark Hei, I’m not a watcher or (you will not be surprised) of e-sports but it does seem that there’s a lot of movement towards it and mostly it’s young people with disposable income. Throw in that costs would be extremely low I could see it becoming an area of great interest to those who look to monetise every area of human existence. Hope I’m wrong for your sake though. Hoksilato, yeah, it’s got to turn around quickly, some of us wouldn’t be in any fit state to stand on terraces again in another twenty or thirty years – if… Read more »

AFC Forever

“Football cannot allow this culture crime to slide. UEFA let this happen by not enforcing rules, by bungling TV deals, by being average. Time for them to get tough. Time for some accountability. Time to secure the game”. There needs to be a great reset for football. Look, none of us wanted this ridiculous ESL, it was a badly thought out and delivered joke. As far as bad ideas and good PR goes it was mind-boggling stupid. Yet these aren’t stupid people. Arsene Wenger warned about this years ago, he didn’t want it or support it but he knew the… Read more »

Ishola70

Fans of all the six clubs Liverpool, Man United, Chelsea, Man City, Spurs and Arsenal should be looking to oust their owners. It should be a case of we are not letting these people have a chance again to kill football.

But as said before very difficult to see Man City and Chelsea fans going full on in this one.

Arsenal of course should be full throttle along with Liverpool and Man United.

AFC Forever

*The reset needs to protect football for the fans and protect it from the uncompetitiveness that threatens to leave bankrupt clubs in its wake.

Kroenkephobe

Almunia
Nice piece. I spent nearly 30 years as a professional diplomat and I’m impressed by your ability to be fair and even handed. The reason I’m rather undiplomatic sometimes is by way of an antidote to the shite I had to put up with. Good on yer mate.

In other news. Pedro – your sycophancy towards Boris brought a lump of sick to my throat. He’s definitely part of the disease, not the cure. He’s where he is thanks to people like Kroenke.

Nelson

Vinai has just resigned from the European Club Assoc. He was so sure of the ESL project.

Elmo

“It was over before there was an official hashtag or a banner to fly over the stadium.” To be fair, Leeds fans flew a banner over the stadium on Monday night for the Liverpool game. BBC Sport: “Fans of Leeds and other clubs gathered outside Elland Road to stage a protest – during which a Liverpool shirt was burned – and a plane flew over the stadium displaying an anti-Super League message. Inside the stadium Leeds players wore T-shirts saying ‘Earn it’ next to the Champions League logo and ‘Football is for the fans’. A banner behind one goal had… Read more »

Bergkamp63

I hope this short term euphoria doesn’t come back to bite us, can’t imagine this is the end of this, either they will start a friendly summer tournament to see how much interest there is or try again at a later date if UEFA doesn’t get it’s shit together and ditch some of the minnows in the CL.

I would not be surprised to see several of the “Big 5” owners that are not already listed on the SE go public and offload them, it might sound appealing to some but the consequences would not be good at all.

Rich

They need to drop the 2 TV subscription packages It’s better to sell to 1 package to 2 people at £25 p/m, than it is to sell two separate packages at £50 p/m to 1 person It’s the same with licensed venues Landlords can’t afford not to pay for the football, but they can’t afford to pay for the football If they’re not careful, they’ll be no licensed venues left to sell too, because the hospitality industry is flat on its back It’s better to sell to 4 licensed venues at £100 p/month, than to sell to one at £400… Read more »

Ishola70

Yeah credit to Leeds.

They were on it right from the off in their first match after the six clubs announced they were in the ESL and of course very convenient that their first match after the announcement was against one of the six clubs.

Taking the piss out of it. Ridiculing it.

Love it.

Hoksilato

“Balogun contract announcement coming soon….”
Thank god we are run by PR wizards lol

Elmo

Nelson All the CEOs of the 12 clubs resigned from the ECA 2 days ago after announcing the ESL (after all, they were breaking away from UEFA competitions, so they had no reason nor right to remain). The question is now how they’ll be re-integrated. Do they just rejoin the ECA? Rummenigge at Bayern was incensed that his opposite numbers at the clubs, such as Agnelli and Perez, simply stopped answering his calls from Sunday night onwards. How do you rebuild that trust? What’s the reaction if Real win the CL final and Flo Perez is up on stage smiling… Read more »

Ishola70

Nelson
“Vinai has just resigned from the European Club Assoc. He was so sure of the ESL project.”

Oh you plonker Rodney!

You plonker!

Yeah but Stan told me to do it.

GoonGoonerGone

My take on Pedro regarding yesterday’s blog is the same as his views on Arteta.
He is like a bark on the ocean blown hither and thither by the waves of indecisiveness.
Pedro needs to nail his flag to the mast and stop lurching around like a, drunken sailor.

Ishola70

lol Vinai was only appointed to to the ECA in March.

Bergkamp63

Do we have a resident communist amongst us ?

Foxy

having so called Minnows in the CL is actually vital or we just have another form of ESL for Elite clubs only.

The group stages give smaller clubs across Europe the rare opportunity to play an elite club home and away and encourage growth of the game across the whole region.

It just needs to be balanced and the expanded format is probably not the way to go. I would prefer the existing 32 clubs structure with a second group stage of 4 x 4 teams with the top 4 then making up the semis.

AFC Forever

Bergkamp63 Yes. If we don’t get some form of reset football as we know it will come to pass. The pandemic has exposed the financial instability caused by foreign investment and spiralling costs of transfer fees and wages, that cannot be ignored. Hopefully, the ridiculous ESL concept will open debate and the authorities responsible for sitting idly by while transfer fees and wages escalated to stupid levels, will get off their hands and do something about it. Football has to change, it’s a financial basket case that has created an uncompetitive, volatile market place. Make no mistake, something has to… Read more »

Ishola70

Well Boris oversaw a communist lockdown of his country and one of the most nannying of the lot with mega state spending.

Very difficult to see him as a “conservative” isn’t it.

Did Boris win out in the ESL? Was he the game changer? Ah no. Rather like as others have said he saw where the popular over-riding opinion was on this and jumped on it.

AFC Forever

Give politics break guys. Please. It’s completely boring and nobody cares.

AFC Forever

Nelson

No, Arsenal left the European Clubs Association after they confirmed they would take part in a brand new European Super League. Not sure Vinai would be welcomed back!

Bergkamp63

UEFA should revamp the CL by letting the bigger teams with higher coefficients enter the tournament at a later date, the minnows for want of a better description can qualify in earlier rounds and play offs so there is less of them when the big boys enter so to speak. The problem at the moment is teams like ours have already played more than 50 games in.a season and the quality of the football is getting worse as the season progresses, injuries are piling up, by the time international tournaments come around players are basically done for. No easy solution… Read more »

AFC Forever

LeedsGunner “Along with Man City and Chelsea, the two Spanish giants have been responsible for crazy transfer valuations of very average players”. This is why we need a reset Leeds. Let’s look at the Champions League last 4: Abu Dhabi Oil State vs Qatar Oil State Russian Oil Oligarch vs Real Madrid (1m debt) I wonder if anyone has still yet finally understood why we have a problem? It is worth noting that the Russian Oil Oligarch club and Real Madrid are both in debt to the tune of around 1 billion euros. However, the Chelsea debt is owed to… Read more »

Buckagh

Ishola70
What the fuck are you talking about, communist lock down my arse
State spending kept people heads above water

Ishola70

Bergkamp Arsenal are not in the CL and the Europa League is not taxing on a season that is a myth. Not when you can play weakened sides up to the straight knock out rounds. I haven’t really seen Man City’s football “deteriorate” despite going deep in this over populated wrongly construed CL. I think Arsenal’s inclusion in the ESL has gone to some people’s heads. I’ve seen a few posters now keep implying that we have been top table beforehand. We keep hearing “we” have suffered. “We” suffer. Arsenal have suffered fuck all. We have been out of the… Read more »

Ishola70

Buckagh

Yeah that track and tracing really kept people’s heads above water.

As that “expert” Ferguson said “We thought we would never get away with it”

Cmansf

The apology was so meek and completely missed the point which shows it is just platitudes. They arent sorry and they will try again but only when the ducks are all in line. Its embarrassing and the protest on Friday should be reorganised into a Kronke Out protest. “The system needs to be fixed.” Right – with another closed monopoly with money only filtering down to clubs you buy their best talent from. “We must work together to find solutions which protect the future of the game and harness the extraordinary power football has to get us on the edge… Read more »

Almuniasaynomore

Kroenkephobe 30 yrs a diplomat and a married man. Would love to hear Billy Connolly talk about that! Fair play to you, everyone needs to vent and there’s nothing wrong with that particularly if you’re responding to someone who’s venting at you! I stay out of the political stuff here because I’m irish and freely acknowledge total ignorance of the nuances of British politics. Even when I’m pretty informed, Brexit, for example, my perspective is so different that I don’t feel I should comment as it renders my view irrelevant at best. I enjoy the international nature of the site,I… Read more »

Tony 2

Morning guys. When SK was brought in by DD Dein knew he’d made a mistake so got on board with Usmanov’s red & white holdings. Although AU was richer than SK he could only get 33% and was bought out. If u remember SK then shat on the fans by buying out the little man’s love of owning a part of their beloved AFC. He gave them no right to continue owning a lil bit of our club. This ESL has been 10 yrs in the making and when you consider what Souness said yest the contract was 177 pages… Read more »

The Bard

Good post Pedro bar the bit about Boris. This is a brilliant move for Arsenal fans. One massive clusterfuck on Kroenke’s part has made him a dead man walking. He sold us down the river and I dont think he can come back from it. The Kroenke out campaign will only grow.

Billp79

Maybe the kronekes’ can come to the realization that winning matters
Winning generates fan base
Wi.nning generates revenue

AFC Forever

Bergkamp63 “The problem at the moment is teams like ours have already played more than 50 games in.a season and the quality of the football is getting worse as the season progresses, injuries are piling up” Yep. Clubs like Abu Dhabi owned Man City can load their squad with quality to the extent that this becomes less of a problem. They can bring Mahrez or Foden on. We can’t do that. Fans moan when we rest players as it is, there is this ridiculous idea we can pick the same team Sunday, Thursday, Sunday which you can’t. Hence the injuries.… Read more »

Lacaqualidie

I hope the teams involved are docked points. 30 would be a good number.

gunnerman

Totally agreed with DM’s post at 09:33:06. Today’s article is more like the Pedro of old.
It would have been nice to have that Pedro in the midst of the storm yesterday.

andy1886

B63, give it a rest, the pro-ESL argument lost, as Pedro says ‘suck it up’. I’m an Arsenal fan of fifty years but I’m an Arsenal fan within the context of a fair and ethical framework for football based on sporting merit. I don’t want my club to gain an unfair advantage which is why it’s a bit rich to whinge about ManCity while wanting Arsenal to be in an ESL to which it didn’t qualify on sporting merit. Two wrongs don’t make it right. Fight against financial doping by all means but don’t use a cheat code at the… Read more »

gnarleygeorge9

To Stan Kroenke
“Will you please, please, please, please, please just fucking FUCK OFF?

AFC Forever

Tony 2 “These guy’s are ruthless billionaires and sadly I don’t think we’ve heard the last of it” We have heard the last of it in the format they presented. Completely daft model, which shows how out of touch they are with the English game. It won’t come back, it’s dead. However, too many people are missing the point here. As bad as it was, this wasn’t just about greed as I first thought. Football does need to be changed, the transfer fees and wages have spiralled out of control and football has proved unable to be sustainable. They wanted… Read more »

S Asoa

The evil ESL gravy train of few lazy clubs and super agents collapsed. ThGood Guys won. Respect to Rashford in particular. Now let us wait for similar outcome for arrogant bully Arteta, who also enjoyed a similar propping up.

Bergkamp63

Andy1886,

Give what a rest exactly ?

I never have been “pro ESL”, you appear to take comments completely out of context yet again, I wasn’t for it nor against it, if it happens, so be it, that’s not being pro anything.

Stop attention seeking, it doesn’t suit you.

AFC Forever

Andy “I’m an Arsenal fan of fifty years but I’m an Arsenal fan within the context of a fair and ethical framework for football based on sporting merit.” Bang on. Me too. Football is a corrupt, financially doped joke that has taken football away from the fans. Things have to change. Hopefully, this pathetic ESL nonsense will make people start to realise that we don’t want to see what is essentially Qatar & the UAE winning their domestic leagues or dominating the Champions League. We need a more level playing field instead of this ridiculous state of affairs we currently… Read more »

Savage

I find the whole super league story super funny. Watching FIFA and UEFA panicking was hilarious. And then all the stuff about the fans – please, it’s not like Arsenal fans couldn’t watch Arsenal. In fact we were going to be the benefactors – saved from our financial mess and getting to watch games against top teams again. I’m not defending the stupidity of the super league, just sad that FIFA get to claim a moral high ground they don’t deserve. And I’m also annoyed by “the fans, the fans” stuff. No, football is created primarily by top players doing… Read more »

S Asoa

Vinay is a non entity. Yesterday the walrus was beaming thinking of a windfall. Something ,has to fall in the wind. Guess Vinay is the fall guy.
But nevertheless #KroenkeOut

Danish Gooner

Kroenke is the Real culprit here he wanted more Money so ESL was the Way forward but clubs earn more Then enough anyway.

Danish Gooner

We have Got to find a Way out of the Hansa of this American psycho fuck.

Valentin

The problem that the US billionaires of the European football clubs is that they find the cultural difference inconsequential and an hindrance to their plan, while for fans it is a fundamental core values. US think on term of franchise, rest of the world think in term of local club. That’s the difference between fans and consumer of a product. You can alter the substance of a product and find new consumers. People will switch allegiance from Pepsi to Coke, to McDonald to Burger King. Try doing a fundamentally change to a product with fans and you have a backlash.… Read more »

Peckobill

Chelsea fan group wants Bruce buck to leave , christ Chelsea fans “heroism “ outside their stadium yesterday lasted less time than super league . Bruce buck for fucks sake !they won’t chase the cheque book man out who financially doped them to the top will they . Oh no they won’t go that far . Spineless cunts

Valentin

The fact that UEFA is greedy is not in question, however they have also worked hard at increasing the revenue for second tier football countries. The problem is that the explosion of the Eastern bloc has created a lot of smaller countries with many without the infrastructure nor resources to compete against more established country. It may take a further 10 years before they can create their own success story. UEFA is trying to help them grow. Not out of their good heart, but because they know that if they can grow football in those areas, football overall will grow.… Read more »

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