Morning all.
This Super League has really got the world talking and those who are in support of it are few. Jurgen Klopp has thrown his views out there, throwing his club owners under the bus really by saying he’s against the idea. Good for him. It’ll be interesting to hear Mikel Arteta’s views. Will he be bold enough to admit it’s nothing short of a disaster for Arsenal to be involved in a tournament which would boast many great teams? Barring the Toots of course.
Perhaps Stan Kroenke sees this to be a quick way to make money, money he wants to invest into the squad? Yeah, right. But the clubs who do play in this new competition should it go ahead, could receive a cheque for £250m-£300m and that’s just for starters.
So yes, for Kroenke and the other already mega rich owners of the clubs reported to become a part of this breakaway league, I can see why it’s an attractive prospect.
However, what about the fans, what about the players?
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has warned players from the 12 breakaway clubs should be banned from all UEFA competitions “as soon as possible”. What about this summers Euros?
We’re still assessing the situation with our legal team. It’s a bit too early. We will take all the sanctions that we can… and we will inform you as soon as we have a clear answer. My opinion is that, as soon as possible, the players have to be banned from all our competitions.
Can UEFA hold the Champions League without the 12 clubs?
Yes, of course. In Europe there are many good clubs. We will do it with or without them.
Thinking about Arsenal only, if players like Partey, Tierney, Martinelli, Saka, ESR and those coming through the academy don’t like the idea of this stupid Super League, surely they’re going to ask to move on. Most players feel privileged to play for their country so if UEFA ban them, they’re not going to be happy. Imagine how they’ll feel if Arsenal manage to beat Villarreal and make it to the Europa Cup Final, only to be told they can’t play in it? Imagine how Mikel Arteta would feel, you and I too.
When UEFA make these threats, I don’t think for one minute that they’re idol. They’re real.
A Super League isn’t good for the game, the fans and certainly not the players because getting beaten week in week out by the likes of City, Barcelona, Juventus, Real Madrid and Liverpool will be no fun. Nobody wins from this proposal other than the club owners, most of which have never kicked a football in their life let alone played in a League like the ones in England, let alone Europe or a top international competition.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has had his say:
Plans for a European Super League would be very damaging for football and we support football authorities in taking action. They would strike at the heart of the domestic game, and will concern fans across the country. The clubs involved must answer to their fans and the wider footballing community before taking any further steps.
I’d love to hear Kroenke’s rational for Arsenal being a part of this new League. Mind you, nothing he says can justify his decision.
See you in the comments.
Hi Rico and All If Arsenal went into the super league and won 250 mill I can see Kroenke give us 5 mill and keep the rest. and that 5 mill would only be a lone with interest on top.
As for Arteta I am hoping that he has said nothing yet because he new to the job and does not want to rock the boat.
Completely numb to the whole thing. I keep thinking of what the consequences could be, but it gets so foggy that I’ve decided to take it as it comes and see how i feel about it once the dust settles.
Doubt its going to be good.
If we are going to get kicked out of the league – why bother with that?
If we are going to get kicked out of Europe – why bother with that?
As for our players…..theyll all be waiting to see what the deal is. Contracts and law. its going to be messy.
Imagine you are Aubameyang. He may get banned from playing for Gabon. How can he protest. He’ll be breaking his contract with us?
Still loads to work out.
Thanks for the post Rico, but when did Kroenke have an opinion about anything?
Rico the agents, don’t overlook the influence of the agents and the dollar signs in their eyes because a major chunk of any new money will go into their bank accounts and the bank accounts of the players.
And what of the remaining 14 in the Premier League, what about Everton (foreign owned), Aston Villa (foreign owned) and Leeds Utd (foreign owned), what are they thinking? I wonder if their thinking ‘give it a year and then we’ll be invited into the ESL 2..?
I hate this Idea, I really wish it wasn’t happening BUT if it is happening, I hope we can still play in the Pl & in the FA Cup & obviously I hope our players can play for their countries. And if by any chance the plan is for the Five ‘Extra places’ they have each year go to the First team in each of the 5 Countries which is NOT already in the ESL then the PL will still have that competitive edge about it for everyone else , then perhaps it would not be too bad after all
Hi Geoff, all.
I guess whoever is behind the new project has given some thought to the hurdles they might face. They should have expected a backlash, as should the owners.
There’s a report in the Mirror, I know, I know, which suggests two English clubs are contemplating withdrawing form the Super League. Pray one is Arsenal and it’s true.
Imo, IF this thing happens, you ge to layers won’t have a bar of it, wishing to instead represent their countries but as time goes on, the superannuation fund will be enticing.
Aaahhhhh, the little stories inside the big story will be interesting.
IF, big if, it happens.
Surely not if footballers are anti this new league Kev. If they are, top players won’t want to move to a club involved in it. The clubs not involved are more likely to benefit imo.
Kroenke has to speak now surely?
Rico, Stan won’t speak imo
He will hide.
We may hear from Josh.
Good morning all.
Just a repeat of my comment @10.05 this morning.
If this travesty goes ahead I will call an end to close on seventy years as an Arsenal supporter.
Josh, Stan, whoever Scott. A representative from the owners has to talk to the fans imo.
That’ll be me done too Cicero. HH will cease to exist too.
Rico, agreed, but if Stan had a single ounce of decency, he’d speak.
That’s what I doubt he will.
I will not be watching games if this goes ahead.
I hope most fans follow.
That’s potentially the greatest shame Rico , the whole thing is a dog’s breakfast and needs a lot more clarity before informed opinion can be made.
I have one major problem with it and that’s the lack of promotion and relegation. It’s too American and you can see that the billionaire set have tired of putting cash in and now feel powerful enough to get returns on their investments .
Will it be such a bad thing to take power away from FIFA and Eufa both of whom are proven to be corrupt.
Is it a frying pan to fire scenario ?
I think Josh deals with Arsenal though Scott, after all, it was he who spoke to the squad during the Emery stuff.
I agree Potter, there does need to be more clarity and I think all fans need to know what penalties, if any, can be dished out by FIFA etc. If it ends up Arsenal participate in this new league only, then I don’t see a point in any discussion.
You’re stuck with me for a while yet… 😂
Hi Rico….strange days indeed.
What I really want to know from the likes of Kroenke, Levy, Ambromovich, Glazers, etc is when is enough money? Why does money always have to be the big factor. Is that you need a new car, swimming pool, super yacht, or private jet? What is it that you are missing in your sad unfulfilling lives that you need to rip apart the most amazing football league in the world? We are the envy of every country in the world. If you want to make more money than you are now then f..k off and leave this, the best league in the world alone, and wave your cheque books at some other investment, just leave us alone. As for Spain Barcelona €1b in debt, Real Madrid €900m in debt I wonder why they want this to happen? Let me think, smell the coffee English clubs?Listen to the fans, leave the system alone, it’s never been about money, it’s always been about sport and competition, those that win, and those that lose, but that’s sport for you, isn’t it great!!
Mig
I’m not so sure Scott, I doubt John Henry will speak out about Liverpool, or the Glazers at Utd and certainly not Roman or the lot at City.
Hi Mig. Rich people usually want more. Players in some respects are no different, money usually drives their next move or contract but the big named guys are already mega rich. I think the days of the sport coming first are over, certainly in the top divisions.
Rico, I get that, but I don’t care about those clubs.
I know you’re the same so I’m not suggesting otherwise, but I’d like this grub to stand up and tell us all that he’s trying to tear the game apart for his own benefit and nothing else.
I wonder what Arsenal FC is worth right now.
There is a reason US sports are not globally loved or followed in the same way that the premier league or champions league is… they are a closed shop and lack jeopardy and hence lack appeal. There is no gladiatorial drama in that anyone could ‘die’… with metaphorical death being relegation. And the opposite is also true.. a Bournemouth can reach the PL. The US system is a bland model which lacks true tension and instead replaces it with clever marketing. I see more click baits articles for adverts during the Super Bowl then anything about the game itself. Resist.
My point is Scott, you’re hoping for something which rarely happens across the game.
Rico, it doesn’t stop me wanting it to happen.
I never said I thought he would, quite the contrary in fact-I know full well he won’t.
Raka, I see the MLS as the retirement place for footballers. More so than Arsenal. 😆
The rich will never stop wanting more money is called self ego.
It’s amazing how all these owners and managers of clubs involved have gone missing in action when it time to talk about The super League If they all keep quite then I believe they all support it.
Maybe Boris should change the laws in England and make it that only English people can own English sporting clubs
Geoff, don’t blame the managers.
It’s very clear they knew nothing of this until the last few days.
It’s all on the owners.
I saw somewhere the 2 clubs unsure about this were Chelsea and Man City,but they joined up because they didn’t want to miss out.Also the report said Arsenal were one of the prime movers. The phenomenal debts of Barcelona, Real Madrid & Juventus tells me they are all over this too.
As said earlier I’d love to hear managers and players give their opinion,the PFA too.
Scott I still recon some of them new but even if they did not know it was their club involved they could still come out and say some thing
Granted, it’s only been a few, but each player and manager I’ve heard speak on this are dead against it.
That’s the guys who’ve spoken and are currently at one of “the” 6 clubs.
In fact, I’m yet to hear a single person comment in the positive about this League.
Not one.
Is there any update on Laca’s injury
Instead of the players kneeling for black life matters this weekend maybe all the players can sit down on the pitch for the first 5 minutes to show that the fans life / concerns matters.
Geoff, a bigger statement would be the players refusing to play.
I don’t believe that’ll happen and I wouldn’t blame them, but damn, that’d send shockwaves through the owners 🙂
Rumours about that City and Chavs potentially pulling out.
Hello again
This whole affair is tainted by super rich chaps wanting to have even more wonga than they neither deserve nor should receive. Not only that but having found a new trough to potentially feed from, they have the temerity to think that they can play in the same parks that they do presently and abstract cash from the EPL or Serie A etc and presumably qualify for all the UEFA competitions, rinsing them dry as they go, but, to do so with no impunity or financial penalty!
Ffs, is there no boundary or limit to their avarice?
If, and it’s a big if, this ‘project’ gets off the ground and the ESL takes real form, imo the BiG 12 should ALL be summarily stripped of their membership to the FA and or UEFA and FIFA and thrown to the wolves. Let them have their precious midweek league with no new faces and probably no decent players, no affiliation to the governing bodies via their clubs = no representation for other clubs or countries. Outlaw the whole shooting match. Light blue touch paper and watch the scheme burn.
Sadly this would almost certainly be the end of Arsenal FC but so be it. The owners will be left with a bit of real estate and not much else. Grid iron football anyone?? A few pop concerts? Good luck with that. Hopefully the Kronke bandits will go back to Walmart and hide in the warehouses having turned their would be cash cow into dust.
Would Arsenal rise again like a Phoenix from the dust from this would be ram raid? Possibly. Perhaps Highbury could be repurchased and repurposed or a new ground could be built on Hackney Marshes. Etc etc. We shall have to wait and see, but given the uproar and opprobrium that has hit the fan already if I were one of the owners I’d have already severed my ties with this enterprise and started to seek redemption from my previous friends and playmates before I got in so deep that there could never be any return to the safety of the EPL. It may be too late for that already. We’ll have to wait and see.
One other benefit from ejecting 6 clubs from the EPL is that there will be 6 vacancies for availability, right down to the bottom of the football pyramid. A few small well intentioned clubs from around the shires may become grateful recipients of the disappearance of the 6 so called elite from Europe. How the mighty can fall and how quickly it can happen. It would represent some sort of justice and demonstrate that ‘the greedy shall not inherit the earth’.
Afternoon Rico and all
seems that City and Chavs are re-considering leaving the ESL afterall
maybe it will flounder before it sets sail
Good for Pep making his thoughts totally clear.
I hope Arteta does the same.
Well said Wavy, best thing Kroenke can do is sell up and purchase a new toy to play in the super league. Preferably an American one.
Hi Devil.
Let’s hope so..
Chelsea have withdrawn.
Man City have also withdrawn.
Wake up Arsenal.
WOODWARD RESIGNS FROM MAN UTD
Sky News understands that Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has resigned from his role with the club.
Woodward’s resignation comes as plans for a breakaway Super League appeared to fall through on Tuesday evening as Chelsea and Manchester City withdrew from the competition.
I think that even if we leave now we will suffer the consequences. Which tbh….THE CLUB DESERVES
Expect 50/50 decisions to go against us in the games against Villareal.
And expect us to suffer future sanctions.
Well done DICK Kroenke.
You have hanged us out to dry
I’m hoping this damages Kroenke more than it does Arsenal as a club. If only he could be forced out now.
Rico….deep down I feel that we will suffer as well. The sanctions will be still be administered.
Seems that finally we have pulled out as well
https://dailycannon.com/2021/04/super-league-falls-apart-as-chelsea-and-manchester-city-withdraw-reports/
At least Jose Mourinho has the honour of being the only sacked manager of a European Super League club. 😂😂😂😂😂
Sanctions can’t be handed out to clubs who withdraw Devil. Nothing is concrete yet.
I hope you are right Rico.
But expect us to lose the 50/50 decisions vs Villareal
We usually do anyway Devil. Depends what nationality the ref is I guess. French or German and we’re doomed. Lol
We deserve all reprisals we get!
The silence from the AFC boardroom is deafening!
Time to resign. Try to save what little grace and integrity you have left!
Then, put the club up for sale. We really don’t want your sort running our London club. Get back to trumpland. You know you want to. There’s no Midas pot here for you or your kind.
Sell up and move out. We want our arsenal back, warts and all!
Rant over for now.
It seems we’re all out
And not before time. We should never have been in!
Posted at 22:4622:46
BREAKING
English clubs all out
Simon Stone
BBC Sport
The remaining four English teams have decided to pull out of the Super League.
BBC Sport understands a formal announcement will be made this evening.
The move comes at the end of a seismic day, which had already seen Manchester City pull out, with Chelsea due to follow suit.
MANCHESTER UNITED, LIVERPOOL, ARSENAL, SPURS CONFIRM SUPER LEAGUE WITHDRAWAL
Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham have confirmed they will follow Manchester City and Chelsea in withdrawing from European Super League.
You beat me to it Wavy.
Good, fan power wins.
Night all
So the clubs have deceived to pull out of a competition that never even got off the ground, and was doomed to fail if it did.
What a grand gesture on their behalf’s.
Morons.
The disconnect between owners and fans has never been so evident, as they couldn’t possibly have believed the backlash would be so massive and still tried to join.
Let’s all hope Stan sells up to someone with some integrity, and live for the game.
My final word
They all thought money talks!
They’ve learned, it sure doesn’t!
But now it’s going to cost them billions.
The owners have to take all the responsibility and cough up all the cash, personally.
And then they should be deemed unfit to run a company and forced to sell up.
I shall personally help the Kronke’s pack their bags and help Kev load them into his cab for his final big big payday as he transports them to Heathrow.
He ain’t getting in my cab, he can get the tube…
Are they still running?
The right result has happened.
Fan power can not and should not be underestimated, let along ignored and that is where these people went wrong.
The lack of any consultation was they’re undoing, imo.
Rico is cursing as now he must keep HH going, and keep coming up with ideas for the daily post 😉
Nah, fantastic news all round.
Great news for the fans and the history of our club but the Question is will Kroenke give Arteta less money for the summer transfer market hopefully he sells Arsenal and piss off
Well that’s the European Super League done and dusted, at least for the immediate future, The whole unsavoury episode has shown the contempt that a bunch of money grubbing megalomaniac billionaire owners have for the fans of our great clubs. They have no respect for the history or integrity of the clubs that they own.
I will continue to support the Arsenal team, as I have done for seventy years, but I do not believe the Kroenke family are fit and proper people to run Arsenal Football Club.
Cicero, I think this is the last straw for Kroenke in the eyes of fans.
Some had him written off years ago, some have watched warily but I reckon a he’s done his dash now.
I don’t know what that means regarding him staying or selling up though lol
I’m just glad the club stays in the League, football in England goes on and the owners have shown their true colours.
Kroenke will not sell he and Josh will stay just to upset us fans as I said will he retaliate against us fans by cutting back on the amount of money Arteta can spend and blame the fans for holding the club back
Geoff, it’ll come down to money.
That’s it.
He’s an investor, so sentiment and emotion won’t come into it.
He has always wanted the real estate in London and has worked towards the idea of a risk free environment and with the other American owners a copy of the way tjhings are done over there .
bringing Real Madrid , Barcelona and even Spurs with their crippling debt was never a problem and giving Perez the lead ensured that it had an European base.
However rest assured that this has not gone away , these people don’t want to share the pie with FIFA or EUFA who they can see as corrupt , they want it for themselves and the no relegation idea was perfect ensuring participation , large income and no way of falling out of the trough.
Morning all.
https://highbury-house.com/2021/04/20/__trashed-5/
New post up now