Is the CL good for football in general?

[simon]

Ok

Now its the new year and for most countries roughly the half way stage in the season.

If you look at the the main big countries ie spain, italy, germany, england scotland and portugal, it is unsurprising to see that there is definitly a gulf between the big clubs in the respective coutries and the others. Could this be down to the amount of money that the CL generates for the clubs

Spanish Primera Liga
Points gap from RM in 1st to Osasuna in 4th is 14pts

French Ligue 1
Points gap from 1st to 4th is 8pts

English PL
gap 1st to 4th 19pts

German Bundesliga

gap 1st to 5th 13pts

And so on

Now my point is really that while the CL is good viewing mostly... the money that these clubs get from it creates splits in all the top divisions making it more and more predictable between a few clubs who will win the league. the exception of this is if you have a rich Russian Billionair who wil spend millions.

What could be done to change this??? I dont know, but we can see each year the goal for teams other than winning the league is qualification for CL and the money that it brings in.

I would be interested in what you guys think

[Ace]

I would be interested in what you guys think

Champions league produces the best football in the world currently I reckon, but I have to agree there needs to be a better distribution of wealth between football clubs throughout europe. Capitalism in action though im afraid

[simon]

It seems that all top european divisions are going to turn out like the SPL whereby the title will be between only a few clubs and the rest will fight for survival.

Sooner or later there will be a european league with the G14(Ithink thats what its called) clubs all pulling out of their own leagues

[Ace]

As I just mentioned in another thread, salary capping like what is used in the NFL would be a solution. Might be a bit late to implement now though now G14 are organised and active.

[Niall Shaky]

The problem with football is not the amount of money involved (set by a hungry market), but the way in which it is distributed.

Trickle down economics is not working in this instance...

But isn't it inevitable that the G14 will form their own league at some point in the next few years? Then they'll be able to keep all the money for themselves and have no relagation battles to worry about?

[Ace]

The problem with football is not the amount of money involved (set by a hungry market), but the way in which it is distributed.

Trickle down economics is not working in this instance...

But isn't it inevitable that the G14 will form their own league at some point in the next few years? Then they'll be able to keep all the money for themselves and have no relagation battles to worry about?

What you complaining about? Liverpool are in it:

http://www.g14.com/G14members/index.asp

Hey nice result last night Simon stretching City's record to 13 without a win

[Slothrop]

I kind of wondered when this one would surface.

It was several weeks ago, actually, when a few radio pundits were talking in shocked tones about the fact that the PL was starting to look - shock, horror, panic - like *gasp* the DUTCH league (Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV - the rest nowhere) or the PORTUGUESE league (Benfica, Porto), or several others that were offered.

This, said the pundits, was something of a wake-up call to those who had prided themselves on England having the finest, most competitive league in the business, where anyone could beat anyone on any given Saturday.

Now, all of a sudden the once-proud king of kings found itself no better than the "bicycle monarchies" of places like Holland or Belgium or Sweden. Which is of course true in royal terms, too, but that's another issue.

No constructive ideas on what to do about it, since you can't stop the money-go-round, but the general trend will make it a hell of a lot easier to sell the idea of a Euro-League. What that would do to the likes of Wigan or Sheffield Wednesday is another matter altogether.

Apropos of such a league - how would promotion and relegation be determined? If the top, say, six teams were guaranteed a stay of execution, and if the top teams from national leagues played off for the vacant spots, wouldn't it be possible some years down the road to have a league with four or five teams from one country represented? Is that what the Euro-punter would want? Or would there be an annual shake-up based on national champions? Hard to envisage, since if you had a decent-sized Euro superleague, it would be a bit much to expect the teams taking part would also bother to play at the national level...

[Ace]

Well there are definitely some Italian Spanish and English clubs that aren't in G14 that are better than some of the French German and Dutch teams in it. WTF are Leverkusen doing there?

[simon]

Dont you think that if a Euro league were to be introduced, the games that played would not be as competitive as the CL is now.

I agree with Ace that some of the dutch teams are not as good as others in respective countries. Also on current form what would Liverpool be doing there!!!! It seems that the G14 clubs are made from the clubs with history in Europe, that said shouldnt Villa be there as well!

Also there was no room for the SPL, I dont think the likes of Celtic or Rangers would be too happy.

Here goes my predictions for the next 5 yrs PL Champ.

2004 Arse
2005 Che
2006 Che
2007 MU
2008 Arse

I bet Im not far wrong

[Niall Shaky]

What you complaining about? Liverpool are in it:

Hmm, but football will lose its soul if there is no promotion and relegation. Do you remember a few years ago that there was a proposal something along the lines of clubs who'd won the European Cup/CL 3+ times could get a permanent invitation. I think it was mooted by Real Madrid in the early nineties, back when they were mid-table in Spain.

It illustrates the G14 way of thinking. About protecting revenue streams, not serving the game.

A Euro super league with fair promotion and relegation might be OK, but as Will points out, that would immediately lead to a dominance of Italian/Spanish/English clubs.

What we really need is for the governing bodies to start laying down the law a bit more and distributing revenues more evenly. However, I really don't see that happening, the big clubs have too much power. If UEFA started retaining money for distribution further down the food chain they could just say "Stuff it" and set up there own league on their own terms.

So probably all future developments in that direction will be governed by what maximises profits for the G14, not what is really good for the game.

Huh. Rant over. Time to go home.

[simon]

"Stuff it" and set up there own league on their own terms

And I bet that Berlusconi will be right up there for that as well as the MU money men n RM...

Football will be going down the pan me thinks in a few years unless somthing really amazing happenes which I doubt.

See ya Monday

Come on the Addicts

[Ace]

And I bet that Berlusconi will be right up there for that as well as the MU money men n RM...

Yep its sad the way the Spanish government finances Real Madrid, off key that! They were Franco's favourite team innit

Do you remember a few years ago that there was a proposal something along the lines of clubs who'd won the European Cup/CL 3+ times could get a permanent invitation. I think it was mooted by Real Madrid in the early nineties, back when they were mid-table in Spain.

Thats us phucked then I think it will be a while before we win number 3.