Premier League — Matchweek 27

Luton are wank so far.

Get in!

Come on Villa!

This narrative that Luton are amazing is a crock. Absolutely turgid. no way near the premium shit standard we play!

And Luton equalise. Shit.

3-2 Villa thank fook

Ex-Everton bloke with brilliant header at the far post!

Digne-Dong

TFF Luca Digne. We should send him a bottle of champagne. If we need something when we play Luton at the end of the season, we are screwed. Can you imagine EFC coming back to equalise 2 nil down to Villa - no, me neither.

Bournemouth now 2-0 up on Burnley in minute 89... good

Burnley are surely gone but will likely take points off us in the Dyche derby next month. Our next home game.

Bit of a late comment but I noticed Liverpool were first on MotD last night and also the Sky Game of the Day – even though there was a 5-goal game at Luton. No media bias there.

Just been an almighty roar in Oslo.

Has anyone heard when the derby has actually been rearranged for?

Some were saying on the last mid-week of the season so that would be the last home game right?

I think that lot will already have the league won with two games left, I firmly believe they'll blow Man City away (who never ever turn up at Anfield) next weekend, that will be the league won if they win that.

What would be hard to take though is them already being winners and still winning at Goodison in typical Everton fashion.

Shit by Foden. Through one on one with the goalie and hits it straight at him.

Most worrying thing about the start of this game is that Man City look tailor-made for the counter-attacking style of Liverpool.

It's early days but I'm hoping for City to turn it around for a 4-1 victory, although maybe I'm being optimistic because the game seems to be suiting Man Utd right now.

Man Utd have had 1 shot on target which ended up as a goal - would that make their xG better than ours yesterday? :)

Does no one else think it's inevitable the shite will win all 4? Jurgen's last year, Jurgen's kids blah blah

Julian – it is bad enough being an Evertoniain – I avoid watching them and certainly do not worry about them at all – the Devil's children...

Yes, Julian. I too think they'll win all 4 I'm afraid!

OMG! What a miss by Haaland!

OMG….miss of the season by Haaland. Literally on the goal line and he hits the ball over the bar.

He's been watching DCL

DCL missed chances DVD should be R rated lol.

Beto would have missed that better!

Haaland showing what happens when you spend your spare time studying the finishing technique of Everton strikers.

Ha, Ha, Mike D - cracker...

There’s just been an almighty roar all over Merseyside.

Rob, that's what happens when you put your laces through the ball!

I thought you got booked if you kicked the ball away?

Or doesn't it count if you play for the Top 6?

I've thought this before but, like when playing for Belgium, De Bruyne doesn't deliver in big games.

Second big roar on Merseyside.

And Foden puts them 2--1 up!

😁😁😁😁👍🏻

Southgate thinking "I can bring Foden off the bench when Henderson gets tired…"!!!!

I took my youngest for a little training session for a couple of hours today, with his little mate, and after watching Foden play today, I wish I had the energy to go out and play football with them now in the street.

So refreshing watching that kid play because he’s always on the move, rarely ever stands still, and he plays football as if his life depends on it. What a player 👏

Incredible Edward, because it’s true. Southgate has never really had a clue how to use an ultimate team player.

Hat-trick roar!

First kick Haaland gets in the 2nd half and he scores.

I was just thinking that Man City have completely ran Mann Utd into the ground. It would be interesting to see if they could keep the ball for the next 8 minutes, before De Bruyne took the wrong option.

I'm glad Haaland has made it three but a part of me wishes that it had stayed 2-1 because the day definitely belongs to the kid from Manchester.

I wonder if Man Utd will complain that Man City should be investigated soon – not next year?

Man City are a possession machine but Man Utd haven't tried to engage them at all, just stood off and watched them play until the inevitable happens.

But I'll take the 3 points!

That Man Utd team is terrible. But still too good for us next weekend…

Tony (37),

The day still belongs to Foden, Haaland's goal takes away some of the embarrassment of that miss just before half-time… but not all of it.

Foden, Bellingham, Saka, Rice: will there be a better midfield than that at the Euros?

Paul @42, no there won't.

The problem lies with our dreary manager.

Tony # 37…

Phil Foden will, quite rightly, take all the accolades from today's game. In front of the watching England manager, Foden must surely be a starter for England at the Euros.

Foden is doing what most of us would die for, playing professional football – something that you know all about.

I just cannot fathom out why so many players of today play as if they can't be arsed? The money Premier League players earn today has surely overtaken the professional pride most of these players seem to have given up on…

”As long as £k is paid into my bank account each week, I couldn't really give a monkey's arse” seems to be their philosophy.

However, with Foden, I genuinely believe he would play for nothing, well for a few weeks anyway! The lad is a genius, and he really does float around the pitch, almost as if without a care in the world. He is, indeed, a world class player, at the age of 23.

"Foden is doing what most of us would die for, playing professional football" for the club that he has supported all his life.

Can you imagine being between the sticks for Everton, Rob!

Would have given my right arm for it, Paul. Well, not strictly true, because you need two arms to play in goal!

Ha, ha, ha – shame that Southall kept you off the team sheet!

It's a pleasure to watch players like Foden, De Bruyne, Silva etc who just make the game look really easy.

Too many players now who are just athletes and not ball players.

Paul, he would have been my understudy! 🤭🤭🤭

Rob H was a goalie??
I knew I saw the glint of madness in his eyes!!
UTFT

What else could he be,Mark, fecking size of him?

I used to play left-back and, whenever I played in front of a new goalie, I used to say “If I'm in your way and it's your ball to gather, don't worry about me and clear me out.”

They always replied, with a glint in their mad eyes, “Oh, don't worry, I will!” And usually did!

Paul @42. That's an incredible combination of pure talent but the conundrum is the fifth midfielder and Southgate usually finds a way to play more conservatively.

Grealish, out wide, or interchanging with Foden, or even Saka, to keep one of them floating, or bolstering the midfield with a Kalvin Phillips, seems to be a no-brainer for conservative Gareth!

“That Man Utd team is terrible. But still too good for us next weekend.”

Paul, we'll beat them!

…. And yes I have, several and the night is still young….

Loved it, Mark.

I had a couple of trials at Everton when I was still at school but, like most kids back then, playing in goal was never thought of, and because I played midfield, that's what I went along as.

Needless to say, it didn't get any further than that. I genuinely think, had I gone as a goalkeeper, then my chances may have been better, who knows?

Okay, maybe not to the old First Division standard, or even Second Division, but somewhere down the football pyramid.

Just the name Kalvin Phillips, Tony, can send me into a little tunnel of gloom (I'm terrified that we might buy him). He had that really good partnership with Rice, wasn't it in the Russia World Cup?

But he must be one of Pep's worst ever pieces of business. You're right, it will be Rice and one elderly or mediocre holding midfielder.

You would have done a good job at Newcastle, I think, Rob, or maybe Spurs.

Some cracking goals in the Manchester derby, Rashford's was a screamer but I loved Foden's first, what a player he is.

How he isn't a regular in the England side is beyond me: quick feet, intelligent runs, dribbling ability and chips in with plenty of goals, fantastic footballer.

I was looking at the left winger today for City, thinking how lucky Guardiola can sometimes be, because he gets a few wrong in the transfer market!

Rob, if you couldn’t get in before Paul kin Gerrard……

Delighted with the Man City win, they're the only deterrent to RS domination.

I still can't get my head around someone on here said they would prefer to emulate Villa and Spurs rather than City this week. Man Utd kneeling to Man City is one of the inspirational sights of British football – imagine us lording it over the RS in the same fashion.

Sheikh, sheikh, sheikh sheikh, sheikh, sheikh - shake your booty

Agree Barry, and as I said earlier, when the board went up saying there was 8 minutes injury time, Manchester United had nothing left and where literally kneeling because they had been footballed to death by a team they always used to look down on, in a very similar way that Liverpudlians try to treat us with disdain.

Man City are the only club left that give me inspiration, and if you know me from these pages, I will never give in, even though things are as bad as they have ever been.

Football is an easy game that is often complicated by many different people, but the one thing you can definitely take from the best teams is that talent alone is never enough, although it usually comes out on top, when it's combined with attitude, desire and absolutely amazing fitness levels.

Anthony A (48),

Yes players like the three you named love the ball, treasure it and try not to waste it by giving it away too cheaply. It's a pleasure to watch and Man City have three like that in the same team and they previously had David Silva of the same ilk!!

If only we had had a kid who grew up loving the club and was a world class player.

If only he had a few others around him and the club had money.

So at 23, who would you take. Foden or Rooney?

Rooney

Phil #65,

Man City's money!

Phil @ 65, even though I never saw him him play, on your statement, Colin Harvey.

Every time I watch that scene from Howard's Way, I get dusty eyes.

Tom Davies starts.

Made up, can't stop looking at his hair!

I thought the Match was Sheffield United v Arsenal.

Instead, we've just been subject to a Carragher love fest on John Stones and the recent Manchester Derby.

To be fair, the extended Monday Night Football analysis is one of the best football shows on TV.

5? 6? 7? 8?

Could be the shortest odds ever on a 5-0 win.

Looks like Leicester will breach the £105M over 3 years. And could start next season on minus points. And them cheeky buggers wanted to sue us.😆

2-0.

Correction……..3-0.

Jesus what's the record prem win. - ah 9-0 x4.

Saka and Foden – two best players in the Premier League at the moment.

We can laugh at the Blades but I dread to think we will need a result on the final day of this season.

Paul, we may have an answer that at the end of the last match of the season.

Seems like Arsenal are going to be charged for breach of the PSR too. lol.

Yes, not our best hunting ground there is it. Meanwhile, I'll watch and enjoy Arsenal – feck me, 4-0!

Sam Matterface - there are gaps in United's aging stands. Last week he took the piss out of Goodison! Twat.

Matterface and Smurphy are laughing at Sheffield Utd wondering how many it is going to be.

I thought this was the most competitive League in World football – it's become a bloody joke of a league and we know why – corruption, favouritism and a product, as it is a product, to entertain the fans of 6 teams who are set up in perpetuity now.

It's 4 now!

Shite are going to get lots of help from the Premier League this season!

4 - 0

Surely a co-comm can't refer to one of the teams as "us"!

Can they?

Arsenal squad value: £1.1B.

Sheffield Utd value £146M.

Competitive League, my arse!!

Rice and Trossard cost £148M!

Unfortunately for Sheffield Utd, they don't have a single player of Premier League quality

Why can't Blades just have a go at it?

Why are they sitting so deep?

Jeez, this could easily be 10!

Shouldn't Arsenal get docked points for that kit?

Dear God, the Gooners have scored 5 in three away games on the bounce – it's never happened before, three five-goal away wins on the run.

The record for goals conceded is Swindon's 100; Sheffield Utd are on 71. No one has ever led 6-0 at half-time in the Premier League.

We might actually beat Sheffield when we play them.

Unfortunately, a good three-team race for the title will be a helpful distraction from the rest of the Premier League's problems.

Is there any reason why no one has released each club's profit or loss in the latest set of accounts..

That would at least give all of us some ammunition to debate the bastard thing.

Sheffield Utd have conceded 5 or more goals in their last 4 home matches.

For fuck's sake, I thought we were bad.

Impressive from Arsenal, especially their movement and slick one-touch passing in tight spaces. Sheffield Utd are chasing shadows – it's embarrassing tbh.

It'd be nice to see someone other than Man City win the Premier League… but only if that someone is Arsenal.

Paul Hewitt... nah we will miss 4 sitters and they will nick one in injury time...

Paul, only if we play 5 at the back and 2 defensive midfielders.

The Premier League used to pride itself on "anyone can beat anyone" on their day narrative…

Not anymore, the gulf is widening each season.

Paul,

This is why the Premier League structured a financial rules framework designed to help the smaller teams narrow the gap. :-)

Dale #89 you cheeky bugger!

It's often been said that the Championship can be a lot more competitive than the Premier League, sometimes also being said as being really difficult to get out of. Yet, for the last few years, it's usually been the same few teams that get relegated from the Premier League bounce straight back up.

Last season, Burnley were top with 101 points, Sheffield Utd 2nd with 91 points, while Luton, who did come 3rd but came up via the playoffs, got 80 points. Between the three of them, they scored 217 goals, whilst conceding 113.

This season, to date, with all three currently in the bottom three, between them they have 46 points, scored 84 goals and have conceded a massive 185.

Meanwhile, the three relegated teams last season currently occupy three of the top four places. Quite simply, there is now a massive gulf between the Premier League and the Championship.

It's obvious the parachute payments help those clubs relegated from the Premier League when it comes to buying players, providing they stay within the limits of PSR.

So my question is: Have we seen the likes of Brighton, Brentford or Bournemouth, clubs I'd never seen in the Premier League, coming up from the Championship?

Obviously Luton came up last season, and there are plenty of clubs in the Championship who have been in the Premier League recently but, without the money, they simply cannot buy the players they need.

What was the point of Sheffield United changing their manager in mid-season?

Why do many fans leave the ground when their team is losing while others stay no matter what the scoreline?

How soon will a proposal be put forward for reducing the Premier League to 18 clubs?

Will Arsenal reach double figures tonight?

We should put in sneaky bids for Saka and Gabriel. They could do a job for us.

Phil @ 65:

Rooney, all day.

From being rightly and proportionately acknowledged when he came through, I think his abilities are sometimes talked of a little minimally nowadays.

You sound like the end of that old yank comedy show, Soap, John R.

6 - most often the second half doesn't match the first in these routs. Let's see where it goes.

Arsenal doing a great job of spreading goals throughout the team; they've even included an opposition player.

Rob – true observations.

I’ve just messaged my son-in-law telling him to stay til the end, make sure he and his little lad applaud the Blades off the pitch.

This isn't competitive anymore, when one team is worth 15 times more than another, and they are only 3rd in the league, something is very, very wrong with the competition itself. Man City and Arsenal squads are valued at £1.07B and £1.02B respectively, Luton at £67M, Sheffield Utd £77M.

Just watching Arsenal destroy Sheffield Utd, the gulf now is so big its unbreachable, fans leaving in their thousands after 15 mins.

It's pointless... how can you have a competitive league when only half a dozen teams can afford good players? Why bother? Why have an FA Cup?

The game as we knew it has gone, PSR has effectively ensured, enshrined the profitability and growth of 6 clubs and ensured that no-one outside the cabal can join.

Ourselves, Newcastle, Villa, no matter how well you are backed, owners cannot spend, take the newly envisaged replacement to PSR, the 70% squad ratio, for us that means circa £120M pushing clubs further and further down a viability league, destroying, even more so, any ability to compete with either quality or money.

The Premier League clubs need to stop this decline, but just how is beyond me.

Nice one, Pete. I feel for them. Send them my best wishes!

The Premier League clubs need to stop this decline, but just how is beyond me.

Grow some balls, Christine, independent regulators, summit meeting with politicians about the Premier League's view of future priorities and principles, Parliamentary legislation about maximum wages, squad values, better redistribution of wealth to a Football League pot, government not fecking interfering on behalf of the Saudis, at least 2 academy players in each starting 11 etc.

The North Wharf lads and lasses are out of control, Christine, inflated, arrogant, and inappropriate. We need them to be regulated independently and Parliamentarily.

I'll tell you how Christine... A super league.

It will happen sooner rather than later, but until it does it will be same shit different day.

Unless the other clubs band together and "demand" a stop is put to the impartiality.

Erm Christine, gulp, 'grow some balls, I did mean the PL and HOC .

Dave Lynch, we will be asked to join a breakaway European league system if, as is being mooted, the idea is for it to consist of 64 clubs.

Christine,

the power of unprecedented mega-wealth, or control, is commandeering all. Sport is just one element of it.

So Arsenal only added one more goal, second half.

They'll win nothing - no killer instinct :-o

And we used to laugh at the Scottish League.

Our league is a joke now, three teams so far ahead of everyone else, and they can only be caught by another three teams who have the same financial clout. And it's impossible to break into the clique because of the rules.

Best league in the world, my arse. Sooner there is a Super League, the better.

Thanks Paul, but I'll give your suggestion a miss.

David, yes that's what I said on another OP. In short, an EPL1 and EPL2, the later being a domestic league with 6 clubs coming up from the Championship and only one promotion and relegation from the EPL.

There already is a super league and has been for many years.

It comprises Tier 1 Premier League clubs plus teams with big international TV audiences.

Tier 2 Premier League clubs participate to get a share of the associated revenue – not for trophies. Owners choose the former – while fans believe (or pretend to) that they are genuinely competing.

The allowance of Abramovich to buy Chelsea and pump in millions for players that brought in their first League Title in the early 2000s, the Premier League completely ignored the fact that with this influx of offshore money they carried on winning countless silverware.

This was the start for the rest of the billionaire invasion that has presented clubs that had a minor chance of winning anything now cleaning up titles.

And Everton get a 10-point deduction for a £19.5M overspend that never even got us into a final.

I used to laugh at the Yanks with their draft system… doesn't seem so stupid now though.

Sad reality, Robert.

Most fans have no more to hope for than a very rare "Leicester" or a shock cup win.

Dave @122,

While the draft system wouldn't work in the UK, I don't see why we couldn't introduce a squad salary cap which was the same for each team. So if a team wanted to splash out on the footballing equivalent of LeBron James, the balancing factor would be a group of lower-paid players.

The Premier League would hate it as it would mean some of the elite players heading for other leagues but perhaps the new regulator could see the merit?

Hand on heart, if we joined a Super League, I'll pack it in.

No matter how they structure it, the same scenario will exist. I'd rather the 6 who wanted to leave just go away and our league gets restructured with wage and spending caps.

We need to get back to what matters, the game itself and a fair chance of winning a trophy.

A derby win, Will, please!!!

Arsenal have scored the most goals, conceded the least and have the best goal difference in the Premier League.

If it stays that way, it could help Arsenal win the title. Now that would put a smile on lots of our faces, wouldn't it!!

It would, Dave, but I know Liverpool would be more pissed off by Man City winning it again so they get my backing.

I wonder what sort of welcome their coach will get at the weekend.

Paul,

of all seasons, imagine pulling that off.

Dave – which would help the cause.

The answer is in their own hands. 20 clubs vote, not 6, but the other 14 know that, without the 6, media revenues would drop significantly, so most are happy just to be in it for the money.

I wish it was the managers voting and not the owners. Masters wouldn't and shouldn't last 5 minutes.

Just watch an independent regulator go along with the party line ably assisted by some backhanders, just like PGMOL and the VAR controllers.

2nd hat-trick in a week – we should try and get that Ellis Simms guy...! :)

Mike @124,

I absolutely get your point but I would have serious reservations about young working class men having their pay capped while bankers, lawyers musicians, reality TV stars do not.

Now, if we are talking about salary caps right across the board, I would back that. No one in the world needs £300k a month. I know there is a whole economy based on rewarding talent but how about looking at what is even a tiny bit fair?

Andy 132,

It's probably not an ideal solution, however it may assist the redistribution of talent around some of the other teams, thus making the league more competitive. American pro sport certainly seems quite keen on this concept.

Good point, Mike, that it is acceptable in US sport.

Mike Gaynes, what's your thoughts?

Gerry... I wonder how much they will sell him on for ?

Bit off topic.

I see Villa lost more than us last season alone! However, taking it over a three-season period they are in compliance.

What a weird system.

I'm with Christine on not having a clue how it will get fixed.
I'll have a go anyway though:

1. Salary cap is a blunt but effective tool. Other than capping player salaries and pouring more money back into the owner's pocket, it does seem to mean that, no matter what happens, all teams will have a rebuilding period while all the ducks get put in a row to have a crack at the title. It happens in the NRL in Australia and I tend to switch off supporting my team in the off years.

2. Lending should only be allowed for long-term Capex. We're borrowing for day-to-day expenses which is a recipe for disaster. Man Utd appear to be structured solely as loans by folk that have no actual money. If you're an owner or shareholder of a club, then stump up money and recoup it when you sell up or make a profit.

3. So unlikely to happen, it isn't funny, but the distorting factor of European qualification has to be rectified. Teams that finish 4th – which, let's face it, should mean fuck-all – get a significant amount more than the next-placed team and that is nuts.

I echo Christine's comments about the new 70% salary to revenue scheme. We will be even more stuffed than we are currently. Aren't we somewhere over 90%?

It is an even worse scheme than the current one in my view. When the average revenue across the board is significantly higher than the bottom 14 teams' revenue, it tells you that it will make things less competitive.

Allegedly they have all voted to adopt this scheme, except for Man City, so why for the love of god I have no idea have the other 14 clubs agreed? It will only widen the gap between the top six and the rest. 70% of Man City's turnover is £500M. 70% of ours is £120M. The equation is the same for all the other clubs, some better, some worse.

I guess the truth is they have all decided they cannot compete with the Top 6, that actually playing in the Premier League is the objective, not to win but to stay in it, that's the win. It's the only rational explanation.

It's football, Jim, but not how we know it.

But it's not sustainable, it's the creation of a super league within the Premier League. It's no wonder they are against independent regulation, that would mean some degree of fairness for all... can't have that, can we?

Years ago we would have listened to commentators who would say the difference in league positions, from a Football League club where a Premier League club had a single player worth more than the opposition team; now, we see it happening in the Premier league.

Now they can afford the world's best players and pay them accordingly, the gulf in quality is shocking. Arsenal v Sheffield Utd a perfect example.

They have already given in to 5 subs rule, Man City's bench when we played them had a single player worth more than our team..

Why then, and I ask anybody and everybody, are the 14 other clubs letting it happen? They are not all stupid are they?

An investigative journo should ask the question of the clubs. It's wrong — so why do they continue to vote for it?

F1 introduced a cost cap, same amount for every team. Something similar (but including wages) is needed, applied equally across all teams. If we're going to continue with financial rules, at least make them equitable.

The Premier League would argue that they'd need European clubs on board or the league would be weakened but, if there was a real will for a competitive playing field, Uefa would be on board.

Unfortunately the stuffed shirts prefer instead to serve up their “know your place” rules. They then regulate in a biased way but the clubs accept it as they seem to focus purely on revenue now rather than the long-term health of the game.

Paul @115,

I thought that 64-club European Super League proposal was meant as a broad replacement for the current Uefa competitions, so there would be no breakaway as such but a limited (14-game) European league to run parallel to or within our existing Premier League (probably pared down to 18 clubs to make more room in the already overcrowded fixture schedule).

The irony being we would almost certainly be one of the 64 clubs invited (if we are still in the Premier League) but would have a massive percentage of our fans opposed to it, and dead set on spurning the added income it would provide.

Not so sure we'd be invited to the 64-team league.

Firstly, it's supposed to be open and competitive in its revised format, so not a closed shop, in which case, presumably every Uefa nation would be involved, in which case, the lineup would be reminiscent of the current Champions League line up.

If they decide to exclude the Macedonias, Faroes etc and just focus on “big” leagues and clubs, I'm still not sure we'd make it. If you look at Italy for example Juve, Inter, AC, Roma, Lazio, Atalanta and Napoli are all “big” in terms of stadium, fan base, history and recent success and all are in Europe every year. That's 7 spots taken.

Add in similar clusters of comparable German and Spanish clubs and you're at 21 teams. Then the smaller leagues with “big clubs” Benfica, Sporting, Porto, Ajax, Feyernoord, Celtic, Rangers, Club Bruges, Anderlecht, Panathanaikos, Olympiakos, AEK, Galatassary, Besiktas, FC Copenhagen, Malmo, Stockholm, Brondby, Steau Bucharest, Dinano Zagreb, Red Star Belgrade, Legia Warsaw, Sparta Prague, Slavia Prague, RB Salzburg, Dinamo Kiev, Donetsk, all of which are fairly competitive in Europe regularly, many of which have won European trophies and all of which have big followings. That's 47 spots filled.

Then France you'd imagine will get at least 4 spots so we are at 51. So 13 spots left and I've entirely excluded more than half the European leagues.

Then as to the last 13 spots, let's say we have the Sky 6, that leaves 7 spots. So assume ourselves, WHU, Villa, Newcastle are in the frame for those. But surely there's an argument based on current reality for Brighton to have a shot.

And in terms of Everton, certainly Wolves and Fulham at least would feel hard done by if they were left out, as would soon to be promoted “big club” Leeds, and Leicester City who've won all the major trophies more recently than us.

So right there you've got 9 teams for 7 spots. But I also capped Italy, Germany and Spain at 7 clubs apiece. Would they really stand for that and allow 13 Premier League clubs?

More likely they all and the French would siphon off a spot or two extra to even things up most like, leaving the Premier League with 8 or 9 clubs most likely excluding us.

It was an ill-informed comment MK. You could well be right. I have a hazy recollection of tiered leagues and when this point was made a little while back, the majority of the more sage posters did think that we would be part of it.

Appreciate the thoughts and spadework Kieran but I do wonder if you are being a tad too sensible and pragmatic in your reckoning? It will not have anything to do with league position when all is said and done. Money, money, money.

We are comfortably inside the richest 64 clubs in the world with a brand new stadium that will sell out each week. That's what will get us the invitation. The powers-that-be here don't care about plucky Fulham, Wolves, Brentford, or Brighton.

Why wouldn't they leave space in the invitations to allow a preliminary competition to qualify at the bottom end? They would like to leave some legacy connection to the old setup for perceived legitimacy and ostensible history.

They may be shite but there are probably a few clever bastards pushing this and it is about money. Why would they leave that extra cash on the table when they can propose a connection to the old system while subordinating it?

“They may be shite” but I'd leave my wife for them….

(And may not have a choice soon…)

You could be right, Michael.

There was a lot of outrage at the start of the so-called super league, myself included. But maybe it is a restructuring of the European competitions?

It's not like it hasn't happened before. The evolution of the European Cup into the Champions League even though many aren't Champions, unlike its predecessor..

The merging of the Uefa Cup and Cup Winners Cup, now rebranded as the Europa League. And now the Conference League.

It's always evolved, just as English football and other leagues have always done.

The Premier League. The Bundesliga, which didn't start until the early 60s. Football, for better or worse, will always change and evolve. We just need to move with it and not stand still like we have done for 36 years.

As much as I dislike the Red Bull multi club model, the Leipzig style of play is most appealing. They play some proper football. A couple of decent breaks for shots and confident possession so far against Carlo.

Dale,

If they did that it probably hurts our chances even more. The likes of Quarabag and HJK Helsinki are Euro regulars. As Paul Ferry points out, our own selling point is relative wealth. Our best shot of getting in is a closed shop based on $$$$$$$$.

Nowhere else to put this.

Just reading about the two Brighton supporters stabbed in Rome today.

On the back of a Newcastle supporter having his back slashed last year and Liverpool supporters been attacked a few years ago.

From experience having lived there, Italian ultras are a nasty bunch.

What will Uefa do? I leave that question open.