posted Apr 26, 2009

I oppose Phil Gartside's idea of a 2-tier Premier League but I am not opposed to the idea of the Old Firm joining the Premier League. Celtic and Rangers should join the 2nd placed team in the Championship, the 3rd placed team in the Championship, the 18th placed team in the Premier League, and the 19th placed team in the Premier League in group matches for promotion to the Premier League similar to the Dutch Eredevisie. The teams should play each other twice, home and away, and the top 2 teams in the group should be promoted to the Premier League. The 20th placed team in the Premier League should automatically be relegated and the 1st placed team in the Championship should automatically be promoted.

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posted Apr 29, 2009

UEFA will not agree - so its all irrelevant.

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posted Apr 29, 2009

Total nonsense. How can you have a two division PL.

Why should Scottish teams get entry without promotion. This is an English league and our teams have to earn their position.

However, having watched SPL on Setanta I can't see it happening as that would mean that neither of them would get to play in Europe.

Also what would hapen when they finished bottom as they would likely do. Do they get relegated to the SPL.

Not a lot of intelligent thought comes out of Lancashire does it.

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posted Apr 29, 2009

The obvious question is why? If its not broke don’t fix it.

Ranger and Celtic want it because it would them as clubs but the premiership is incredibly successful and the best league in the world and dominating the champions league – what reason is there to change it.

Personnally I reckon both sides would probably go down or be there abouts – you have the play quality week in week out in the premiership where ypu have to do it 4 times over a season in Scotland

We have the greatest league in the world – lets not change it

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posted Apr 30, 2009

If Rangers & Celtic were to join the English league then stick them in the championship cause in terms of footballing ability that's where they belong. It would be humiliating for them to put them in the EPL to get torn apart by the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea week in week out. They may have big attendances but they are not big clubs in footballing terms by any stretch of the imagination.

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posted Apr 30, 2009

If it ain't broke? Mate the European Cup wasn't broke but the big clubs in Europe wanted more money from a guaranteed number of games so forced Uefa to create the poxy Champs League under threat of a breakway.

Now they are getting more and more money each year as a result and that's created the cartel at the top of the Prem. The prem itself is a cartel set up by the then top clubs so they could negotiate their own TV deals and make more and more money for themselves.

That's why our Prem is now such an uncompetitive league with the top four sharing it out between them and cherry picking who they want from the rest. Then there's a few teams frantically trying to get their own noses in the trough, then there's a raft trying to avoid relegation. It's already a two tier league all determined by TV money and the power of the big clubs.

If they want it to happen (and there are reasons why, currently, some of the power clubs may block it) then it will happen with or without Uefa's blessing.

Suggestions like this - and playing Prem games in Singapore are the kind of stuff that will probably end up in a major split with some teams forming their own (based on a resurrected G14 or G32 or whatever) association so they can make even more money than they are now and stuff the rest.

Hope it happens soon then they can go and market their world brands and the rest of us can get back to watching genuine league football where teams compete on as level a pitch as can be provided.

Where a good manager can assemble some good players and progress from our second tier to the top of our first in a few seasons - like Clough did with Forest.

Where a single national champion club competes in a straight knockout against the champions of other nations, for the glory and pride - not the TV millions from a GUARANTEED number of games.
That's proper competition and proper football.

Naive - I know that but I miss it.

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posted May 1, 2009

If it ain't broke? Mate the European Cup wasn't broke but the big clubs in Europe wanted more money from a guaranteed number of games so forced Uefa to create the poxy Champs League under threat of a breakway.

Now they are getting more and more money each year as a result and that's created the cartel at the top of the Prem. The prem itself is a cartel set up by the then top clubs so they could negotiate their own TV deals and make more and more money for themselves.

That's why our Prem is now such an uncompetitive league with the top four sharing it out between them and cherry picking who they want from the rest. Then there's a few teams frantically trying to get their own noses in the trough, then there's a raft trying to avoid relegation. It's already a two tier league all determined by TV money and the power of the big clubs.

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So how exaclt will letting Rangers and Celtic into the premiership change this??

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posted May 3, 2009

Theres no point to trying to fix it. The championship is one of the top leagues in europe, where else would people still get crowds of 35,000 for second tier football. English football will be fatally wounded

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posted May 3, 2009

the cl in a way is ruining leagues, it is making the prem almost immpossible to get a top 5 plus, the reason we have 4 top teams is because we have 4 cl spots- the best players want to play cl.

off course the prem is by far the most successfull league at the mo- and to be honest should have more reps than spain and italy- if that was the case and we got 5 , man city probally- there purchases on top top players would come off, but uefa wouldnt allow this to happen. the only way around all of this scenario is to create either a league set up that is so lucarative, and in its self better than the cl, so we can attracct players and then the cl just becomes a carling cup , this is alkmost completly not gonna happen but it could theoritically,- and the whole including the scotish would help this scenario out.- its more likly to go into a euro super league, but then all other leagues are gonna suffer and how will we get a relegation promo scenario..

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posted May 4, 2009

Finn:
So how exaclt will letting Rangers and Celtic into the premiership change this??


I'm not saying it will - at all!

Just making the point that just because things ain't broke, doesn't mean that things won't change. If the big clubs and Sky want it to happen they'll force it to happen and no football association will stop them.

They've already proved this with the formation of the stand-alone Prem and the money-spinning CL.

The FA and Uefa collapsed under the threat of a breakaway by the big clubs in both instances.

If they want it to happen - like playing Prem games in Singapore etc - it WILL happen.

On this one, though, the other big clubs will probably prevent it happening because it doesn't give them enough benefit.

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