Why have so many spots at all? There's a humungous 12-group stage and then the first two from each group plus the third-placed team from each one of the CL's 8 groups go on to have at each other… unclutter the calendar!
football thread No11
- Thread starter Carras Dad
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warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Yeah, the first time I really got intimately acquainted with the Europa league was this season, when both Chelsea and my FM team made it in and I had to follow it and figure out all the ins and outs. Before this I didn't really give a crap, except for a couple finals. It seems a bit much, but I wonder if it helps obscure teams from obscure countries with so many spots open..
mitsho
Deity
The 3rd placed teams need to go somewhere otherwise the 5th and 6th matchdays become irrelevant. Also, the clubs want these 6 games confirmed. The thing is, the calendar is even more crazily cluttered if you take into the summer qualifiying games in which we clubs from the lower parts of the ranking have to compete in. FC Basel had 20 (!) European games, Chelsea and Benfica will have had less..
My preferable way to include the 3rd placed teams would be to introduce a half round of "16th Finale" where the 2nd placed ones of the CL face off against the 3rd ones. Now there are interesting games, but they stay in CL and the first placed rank is worth something (home advantage, 2 games less). As for Europa League, the problems the group stages faces (only 2 teams advance = many irrelevant games with clubs that know early on that they are out of Europe; few public interest as seen in many empty stadiums due to unfamilarity and no big names) to me means that the Group stage is not a good idea for Europa League. And the other proposals we had over the last ten years (i.e. 5 team groups) didn't work either. I would like to scratch the summer qualifiying round and go back to a 'cup format' where you play home and away games. There are enough teams in all these qualifiying stages that it would work out well. Now of course, clubs prefer to have the 6 games guarenteed (but I really don't know why, it seems that these games are financially speaking more of a loss*).
*Now again, there should be money and UEFA-coefficient points moved from the Champions League to the Europea League...
My preferable way to include the 3rd placed teams would be to introduce a half round of "16th Finale" where the 2nd placed ones of the CL face off against the 3rd ones. Now there are interesting games, but they stay in CL and the first placed rank is worth something (home advantage, 2 games less). As for Europa League, the problems the group stages faces (only 2 teams advance = many irrelevant games with clubs that know early on that they are out of Europe; few public interest as seen in many empty stadiums due to unfamilarity and no big names) to me means that the Group stage is not a good idea for Europa League. And the other proposals we had over the last ten years (i.e. 5 team groups) didn't work either. I would like to scratch the summer qualifiying round and go back to a 'cup format' where you play home and away games. There are enough teams in all these qualifiying stages that it would work out well. Now of course, clubs prefer to have the 6 games guarenteed (but I really don't know why, it seems that these games are financially speaking more of a loss*).
*Now again, there should be money and UEFA-coefficient points moved from the Champions League to the Europea League...
The problem also seems to be that if you have to play against Novosibirsk, the airplane tickets will be more expensive than the amount of money you make on the home game (happened to PSV IIRC). Or, in the case of Feyenoord, the fines you have to pay for fan misconduct are probably more than the money you make 
Well, clubs losing money for their fans' misconduct would be the aim of sanctions, not as in some cases, imagine fining Chelsea or Manchester United £10,000.
I've long thought that some competitions should be regionalised like the Asian Cup is. Why would anyone want to play a European title against, say, FC Luch-Energiya from Vladivostok, assuming they got to the Russian Premier League again?
I've long thought that some competitions should be regionalised like the Asian Cup is. Why would anyone want to play a European title against, say, FC Luch-Energiya from Vladivostok, assuming they got to the Russian Premier League again?
The Russian League itself should be regionalised, but the same would almost apply to teams playing in Kazakhstan and maybe even the Caucasus.
Quackers
The Frog
Southampton are four points off relegation, three teams are worse off by one point, a fourth team is four points behind but has an extra game to make some points on us.
We are back in an extremely precarious situation. Fortunately we have our destiny in our own hands. We travel to Sunderland on the weekend (the team immediately below us) and a win would ensure our survival, a loss would make things a lot worse.
That 90% confidance of staying up a few weeks ago is now gone. I didn't expect us to do so badly in those fixtures. Lets just hope our fate isn't decided on the final day of the season.
We are back in an extremely precarious situation. Fortunately we have our destiny in our own hands. We travel to Sunderland on the weekend (the team immediately below us) and a win would ensure our survival, a loss would make things a lot worse.
That 90% confidance of staying up a few weeks ago is now gone. I didn't expect us to do so badly in those fixtures. Lets just hope our fate isn't decided on the final day of the season.
Quackers
The Frog
Woooof!
Any chance of a reprieve at Madrid has vanished. He is burning bridges and will be definitely be gone in this summer. I predicted he would leave for months now but this is surely it.
The speculation is that he's doing it to force the sack, if he just leaves on his own because of the players forcing him to do so then he has to pay the club a bunch of money (originally instituted to keep Inter or another big club from getting him, but it's now backfiring 
).
).
Lambert Simnel
One across
Strong speculation at the Telegraph about Fergie retiring. Sounds plausible, and though I'm sure that Mourinho wouldn't be an automatic replacement, it's too fun a possibility not to consider. (Yeah, I know it will probably be Moyes, but...)
Quackers
The Frog
The speculation is that he's doing it to force the sack, if he just leaves on his own because of the players forcing him to do so then he has to pay the club a bunch of money (originally instituted to keep Inter or another big club from getting him, but it's now backfiring
The agreement is, if he wants to quit he has to pay RM 16 million Euros, if he is sacked he is to be paid 16m Euros. Sure, RM have more financial clout but 16m Euro is still a helluva lot of money to them. So I wouldn't call it a backfire.
Anyway, I can easily see both sides waiving any payment and Mourinho escaping.
Hmmm Benítez says he's certain that Mou will return to Chelski, why not get Mou to Manchester?
No, wait. I've already heard that Fergie'd retire too many times. He's like Shankly, but not as great.
Ah, I didn't know the exact terms. 16m isn't that much, they paid a gazillion for Kaká and he's a regular substitute.
You don't say. Mourinho's special enough to do it.Quackers said:
Quackers
The Frog
Here is the exact quote:
From here.
So a bit different figure and its not Mourinho but the new club. Either way I think both parties will strive to avoid any enormous payout. It really is the nuclear option for both sides.
Very, very intersting that Fergusion is due to release a statement about his future intentions. Could we see Fergusion move away and Mourinho take his place? That would be incredible..
From here.
So a bit different figure and its not Mourinho but the new club. Either way I think both parties will strive to avoid any enormous payout. It really is the nuclear option for both sides.
Very, very intersting that Fergusion is due to release a statement about his future intentions. Could we see Fergusion move away and Mourinho take his place? That would be incredible..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...er-United-manager-before-end-of-the-week.html
I think you mean that.
I think you mean that.
classical_hero
In whom I trust
Fergusson to retire
He finally decided to quit managing players. He will go down as one of the greatest football managers ever.
He finally decided to quit managing players. He will go down as one of the greatest football managers ever.
I hope Moyes does get the Utd job; he seems a cool guy, and he deserves a shot at a big club for the way he's brought Everton on. I guess the main question there is whether the bosses are prepared to risk giving it to a guy who's been working under virtually no pressure for so long now. I don't think there have ever been a bigger pair of shoes for a manager to step into, and whoever gets the nod won't get much leeway from fans or the media - he's going to get hammered for the kinds of mistakes that Fergie could simply brush off, and for which Moyes barely even gets challenged on at Everton.
There are also going to be questions about transfer policy, whoever the new man is. The Glazers knew they had a guaranteed winner in Fergie, and so they backed him fairly generously and seemed to give him more-or-less a free rein with regards to signings and contracts. With a new man coming in, I imagine they'll be tempted to hedge their bets a lot more. They know the club's value isn't going to fall if they miss out on the title for a year or three, and until they've seen how the new man fares, they might well feel that a more cautious approach serves their interests better. I wouldn't be surprised to see a new 'director of football' position being established to oversee transfers and contracts with a view to the long term benefit of the club and, more importantly, its owners. (Of course, Fergie himself would be perfect for the role, if not for the fact that his being there would make it utterly impossible for the new manager.)
There are also going to be questions about transfer policy, whoever the new man is. The Glazers knew they had a guaranteed winner in Fergie, and so they backed him fairly generously and seemed to give him more-or-less a free rein with regards to signings and contracts. With a new man coming in, I imagine they'll be tempted to hedge their bets a lot more. They know the club's value isn't going to fall if they miss out on the title for a year or three, and until they've seen how the new man fares, they might well feel that a more cautious approach serves their interests better. I wouldn't be surprised to see a new 'director of football' position being established to oversee transfers and contracts with a view to the long term benefit of the club and, more importantly, its owners. (Of course, Fergie himself would be perfect for the role, if not for the fact that his being there would make it utterly impossible for the new manager.)
Mise
isle of lucy
All I know is Harry Redknapp hasn't ruled himself out yet.
Mise
isle of lucy
He's just saying that cos he wants to be Man Utd's new Interim Manager.
Has 'king 'Arry ever ruled himself out of anything? If you asked the guy if he was in the running for President of the USA, he'd shrug, smile, and say "I'm just concentrating on doing my best for QPR right now".
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