[Albion] Conclusions from the ESL fiasco .......

[el punal]

VAR? I love a bit of VAR, me.

I loved VAR around 3.45 pm last Saturday.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Only just seen this https://www.skysports.com/football/...wildcards-to-qualifying-by-winning-the-fa-cup
Basicaly, if you're a top team anywhere in Europe your place in the CL is guaranteed. If West Ham finish 5th they are NOT in the CL. But if Man Utd finish 5th they're in. Fair or not?

It’s not really about fairness. If that’s what people want then that’s what will be provided. I have no interest in and never watch European football and this seems in line with that particular product.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I draw the opposite conclusion from the same data. Back in the day (>38 years ago), with small crowds, shitty facilities, a recently ended salary cap, and no live TV coverage, it was much more a lottery, with scope for thuggery and bribery (Leeds) buying the small advantage that occasionally won the league. And frankly, there was less interest. Bumley won it in 1960. 'Did it?' said nobody at the time.

As for superbowl and NBA, the whole set up is franchised, with the leagues manipulated to maximise ITV-style 'excitement', TV ad-friendly interruptions, and mindless tedium. The draft. FFS. No, nay, never.

The EPL may be annoying with its dodgy super rich owners, but it is better than the old first division in every respect. And the old first division has nothing whatsoever in common with NBA or Superbowl.

Maybe there will be some changes over EPL club ownership. Who knows? But it is far far better than all that made-up bollocks the yanks seem to love.

Anyway, from the mid 70s Liverpool won the league in 10 out of 15 seasons. Before anyone starts a spreadsheet to explain how, and that this was all lovely and quite different from today, I see no difference. There is a massive chance element at work, and statistical clustering. Every club starts the season with a probablility of winning something. This guarantees nothing, even if it may seem at the time (especially just after the time) that everything is nailed on. ManU are by far the richest club (leave Toon out of it till next season) yet they haven't won the EPL for 9 seasons.

1. You seem to be writing off all English football pre-Premier League. You say nobody was interested in who won the league in 1960 but that era has given English football some of the most iconic team, from the Busby Babes, Bill Nicholson's double-winning Spurs side, the great Wolves side led by Billy Wright, Mortensen and Matthews' Blackpool, Jackie's Milburn's Newcastle side, Bobby Moore's West Ham side of the 60s, the Law Best and Charlton Man Utd side. Fans flocked to football because they loved watching those iconic players.

2. I get that you don't like American sport, but even to the uninitiated there is no denying the likes of Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Derek Jeter are supreme sportsmen. And American sport IS competitive.

3. Brighton could buy Julio Cesar Enciso, Danny Ings, keep Bissouma and Trossard, Undav could score 15 goals and we are still guaranteed to finish outside the top 6, where the only chance of a trophy is a lucky cup run where you avoid the big guns or catch them on a bad day.

 

[drew]

It's never going away.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11945/12588648/many-premier-league-clubs-opposing-uefas-plans-for-champions-league-wildcards-for-sides-with-historic-success-in-europe

https://www.skysports.com/football/live-blog/11945/12589168/champions-league-changes-qa-from-wildcards-to-qualifying-by-winning-the-fa-cup

Dorsett's answer to the last question tries to imply that the wildcards were offered by UEFA. He fails to identify that it was offered with a gun at their head by the big teams. I'm no fan of Uefa but they have a weak hand. Fan pressure on the big clubs could make a difference and also that of the domestic leagues. In the EPL, the 'other 14' need to stand together.

 

[BLOCK F]

1. You seem to be writing off all English football pre-Premier League. You say nobody was interested in who won the league in 1960 but that era has given English football some of the most iconic team, from the Busby Babes, Bill Nicholson's double-winning Spurs side, the great Wolves side led by Billy Wright, Mortensen and Matthews' Blackpool, Jackie's Milburn's Newcastle side, Bobby Moore's West Ham side of the 60s, the Law Best and Charlton Man Utd side. Fans flocked to football because they loved watching those iconic players.

2. I get that you don't like American sport, but even to the uninitiated there is no denying the likes of Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Derek Jeter are supreme sportsmen. And American sport IS competitive.

3. Brighton could buy Julio Cesar Enciso, Danny Ings, keep Bissouma and Trossard, Undav could score 15 goals and we are still guaranteed to finish outside the top 6, where the only chance of a trophy is a lucky cup run where you avoid the big guns or catch them on a bad day.

I had far more interest in football prior to the arrival of the Premier League, I must say.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

1. You seem to be writing off all English football pre-Premier League. You say nobody was interested in who won the league in 1960 but that era has given English football some of the most iconic team, from the Busby Babes, Bill Nicholson's double-winning Spurs side, the great Wolves side led by Billy Wright, Mortensen and Matthews' Blackpool, Jackie's Milburn's Newcastle side, Bobby Moore's West Ham side of the 60s, the Law Best and Charlton Man Utd side. Fans flocked to football because they loved watching those iconic players.

2. I get that you don't like American sport, but even to the uninitiated there is no denying the likes of Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Derek Jeter are supreme sportsmen. And American sport IS competitive.

3. Brighton could buy Julio Cesar Enciso, Danny Ings, keep Bissouma and Trossard, Undav could score 15 goals and we are still guaranteed to finish outside the top 6, where the only chance of a trophy is a lucky cup run where you avoid the big guns or catch them on a bad day.

When I were a lad Brighton had no chance of getting out of the third division let alone winning the top leagure or a cup. I'm happy with my lot

 

[Rookie]

With more American owners moving in at Chelsea I’ve got a feeling another fight could soon be round the corner.

 

[beorhthelm]

so they'll make the CL a Super Leauge by the back door?

should have seen it really and only question is why its taken so long.

 

[Sirnormangall]

When I were a lad Brighton had no chance of getting out of the third division let alone winning the top leagure or a cup. I'm happy with my lot

I’m happy with my lot too, but the late 70s was a great time to be an Albion fan and in 83 we came as close to winning the cup as we’ll ever get.