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i know these feels ineivtable, that a closed shop is coming

it just feels compeltely wrong to me though, if you qualify on merit, you should get in

adverse consequences for domestic leagues i think, and i don't think the ECL would suffer if say chelsea, real, psg or bayern didn't make it one season.

what, in particular, do supporters of the big clubs think?



"Europe's biggest clubs are working with Uefa to review the format of the continent's elite competition.

European Club Association chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has suggested the top clubs should get direct entry into the lucrative Champions League.

The process is expected to last no longer than nine months."

Ridiculous. They are getting worried that the spending power of some if the "smaller" clubs is increasing and they are attracting better players (see the likes of stoke and Everton in the premier league) therefore they might start struggling to make it.

Will just kill off competition in all the major leagues if it happens.

to your first point, nothing is going to stop the spending power of say stoke, west ham and palace going up the way the distribution of prize money is for the new tv deal.

when stoke can get shaqiri, arnautovic, affelay, west ham payet, palace cabaye etc that will only accelerate from this summer, its £120m for finishing 20th next year....so big spending is guaranteed and a more even distribution of talent inevitable

this is fantastic new for competitive balance in the premier league and for the long term heatlh of the top flight and for future tv deal values

i don't think the logical next step from that is to then put a glass ceiling in place for these clubs if they progress beyond, say, Chelsea in any given season

So what would be the benefits to the FA and the Premier League from such an arrangement?

Surely it would dick about with the league, and make it less attractive for people to put money into middling clubs if the prospect of 'doing a Leicester' was put out of reach.

This was my point.

Yeah the TV deal is still massive, but the money and prestige for champs league suddenly becomes nearly impossible to get?

It surely can't be allowed to happen?

This is exactly why every football fan should oppose financial fair play.

This is a silly point.

Financial Fair Play is essential to stop rich people using clubs as there play things and then leaving them in the crap.

lol, seeing fans of the two manchester clubs debating this is like wondering which of Fred West and Harold Shipman are worse.

One would be totally in the crap if the Middle Eastern owners withdrew, the other would be totally in the crap, only with a lot more debt, if the drawbridge came up in Tampa Bay

both have pushed FFP to the limit, United's commercial revenue allows them to circumvent it anyway

Most likely instigated by Real and Barca we think?

I'd be pretty happy if there were no such thing as a champions league and wouldn't be bothered if Arsenal failed to qualify except for the fact it would have meant that we had slipped further away from being competitive for domestic titles. CL footie doesn't add a jot to my enjoyment of football, especially the laborious group stages

The idea of making it a non aspirational money go round makes it even less appealing.

doubtful they dropkick in, more likely english clubs. Chelseas flop this season, man u struggling the last couple.

Chelsea and United could afford to not qualify for the CL for a few seasons. I suspect Real or Barca would be in huge trouble if they missed just once.

FFP is to try and stop clubs breaking the Euro cartel. UEFA don't wanna see ''nothing'' clubs in their premier competition.

I'll be Shipman, you can be West.

Always read that as Fantasy Fair Play however hard I try to retrain myself

Agreed - why do Bayern/PSG/Madrid/Barca need this?  Surely this is a result of horrible Leicester qualifying this season, Chelsea not and Man Utd looking like missing 2 times out of 3.

If this happens it's an absolute disgrace.

Do you know the TV money split in Italy has a built in split to give teams with the most historical attendances a bigger split?  They also track Serie A performance back to the 1960s or something ridiculous to ensure the big boys get more.  My Udinese friend was telling me.

Why are these big clubs so pathetic that they don't have the courage to fight on merit?  Utter, utter cowards.

While the idea is repellent I can't see how it would it work.  2 teams from each country guaranteed spots?  For England, if they are looking at historical achievement that would be Man Utd and Liverpool.  So that would be ridiculous for Arsenal/Chelsea/City given how utterly average Liverpool have been for 20 years.

I assume Nottingham Forest get  in automatically as well?

:D

Harold Shipman imo.

My stepdad is a spitting image of Harold Shipman.  He's lucky Shipman committed suicide of he'd keep getting picked up as a prison escapee.

the 'sinister' Champions League plan by top European clubs http://bbc.in/1QbAy7I 

Oh nice they are tinning everyone but 5 leagues.  Multiple winners Ajax and Porto on the scrap heap.  What cowards they are.

Remember when all the talk was about England losing one of our CL spots?

Unless there is a European super league I wish we could just go back to the way it was when the Champions of each country got into the big competition.   I wouldn't even be adverse to the last 32 going in a Champions League. 

The fact is, greed has corrupted.  Sporting integrity means nothing now.  It is for that very reason I am screaming on Leicester in every game.  Even though I don't support them. 

Do away with seeding. Maybe keep English, Spanish etc teams apart in the group stages, but other than that have a free for all draw. Could get some absolutely cracking groups. And of course the chance of some crap groups, but we get them anyway with the seeding in place.

But UEFA would never sanction it, cos they want all the best teams through and this would threaten that.

Its the whole 3 from this country and 4 from that country, it devalues the meaning of "champions" for me.   Clubs now target top 3 or 4 rather than going all out to win the league, which should be the pinnacle of your season in my mind. 

No top four, no problem Barcelona president backs Champions League wildcards http://bbc.in/1QXx7M4 

We've got Arsenal v Barca tonight. Should be a cracking game, one of the best of the season. If they had just the champions of each countries league then games like this would never happen. You'd have to watch Viktoria Plzen v Trencin or Olimpija Ljubljana v Red Bull Salzsburg with Barca, Bayern and PSG smashing everyone till you get to a final with a game actually worth watching.

I like the idea of wildcards though. Random draw for 2 teams that came between 5th and 10th of every league. Would give an astronomical boost to the majority of teams and help shorten the gap to the elite.

ok, hold me back

Manchester United deserve European qualification ahead of Leicester regardless of position, insists US giant http://dailym.ai/21Mh9Mr

Eh so Manchester United now invented soccer? 

That chap sounds like he's wasting valuable oxygen.   I utterly despise corporate greed. 

They did, in 1992.

On a similar note, see the allocation of CL final tickets? lol

Up to 30,000 neutrals there, wp UEFA, we are not worthy.