ADVERTISEMENT

It’s not going well for the Brits

Fk_Pitt

Lair Hall of Famer
Gold Member
Dec 3, 2007
50,876
38,274
113
Todd Boehly, the new American chelsea owner made a few comments the other day that made the Brits go bonkers. He proposed a couple things to explore that could help grow the game.

what did he propose that made the whole isle go nuts you might ask? Did he suggest doing away with Pro/rel? No. Did he propose adding a player to the playing g surface? No. Did he propose eliminating offside? No. Did he propose the Super League? Of course not. That’s still being led by the Spanish clubs.

what he did say is that there are ideas that the league should consider that could benefit it’s members and the sport. He suggested that maybe the bottom of the table should have a playoff to decide who gets relegated. And then he made a throwaway comment that they should explore an All star game and take the proceeds to help fund the football pyramid in England. He was simply thinking outside the box. He’s a business man.

now, I don’t like all star games. But they do generate money. Would it hurt to at least explore these ideas? Ideas are good. Creativity and forward thinking is good. It doesn’t mean every idea should be adopted. But since the American owner suggested it, the whole country went nuts. If a Brit said it, no one would be talking about it.

And now there’s this. Another soon to be American owner.

 
Last edited:
I believe the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 do relegation playoffs. I think the 3rd from the bottom team plays the 3rd place team from the 2nd tier or something like that setup.

That's not a bad idea.

I would be completely against the bottom 3 and top 3 from a 2nd division battling it out. All you'd need is a completely crap EPL team, finishing #20 with 24 total points with a -45 goal differential get the luck of their lives and beat the #1 Championship in a 2 leg tie.
 
Todd Boehly, the new American chelsea owner made a few comments the other day that made the Brits go bonkers. He proposed a couple things to explore that could help grow the game.

what did he propose that made the whole isle go nuts you might ask? Did he suggest doing away with Pro/rel? No. Did he propose adding a player to the playing g surface? No. Did he propose eliminating offside? No. Did he propose the Super League? Of course not. That’s still being led by the Spanish clubs.

what he did say is that there are ideas that the league should consider that could benefit it’s members and the sport. He suggested that maybe the bottom of the table should have a playoff to decide who gets relegated. And then he made a throwaway comment that they should explore an All star game and take the proceeds to help fund the football pyramid in England. He was simply thinking outside the box. He’s a business man.

now, I don’t like all star games. But they do generate money. Would it hurt to at least explore these ideas? Ideas are good. Creativity and forward thinking is good. It doesn’t mean every idea should be adopted. But since the American owner suggested it, the whole country went nuts. If a Brit said it, no one would be talking about it.

And now there’s this. Another soon to be American owner.

Those are not bad ideas.
A relegation playoff would draw fans and tv eyeballs. Be more important than mid-table end of season matches. And it is extra games thus extra revenue.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fk_Pitt
Those are not bad ideas.
A relegation playoff would draw fans and tv eyeballs. Be more important than mid-table end of season matches. And it is extra games thus extra revenue.
I like the idea of the playoff. They have one for promotion and it’s massive. No reason not to have one for relegation.

I get it though. If a Brit came over here, bought the Washington Redskins, and then proposed changes to the NFL, people, especially the Meathead humanoids, would resist. But anyone who is successful in business knows how important it is to evolve and innovate.
 
I like the idea of the playoff. They have one for promotion and it’s massive. No reason not to have one for relegation.

I get it though. If a Brit came over here, bought the Washington Redskins, and then proposed changes to the NFL, people, especially the Meathead humanoids, would resist. But anyone who is successful in business knows how important it is to evolve and innovate.

Mongoloids
 
How about a change that any player, no matter if Ronaldo, Neymar, or anyone rolls around excessively like they got shot will actually get sent out back to get shot. Just a simple flesh wound to not take them out for the season, but maybe a game or two.

With this rule, Italy would never have a team on the field.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fk_Pitt
How about a change that any player, no matter if Ronaldo, Neymar, or anyone rolls around excessively like they got shot will actually get sent out back to get shot. Just a simple flesh wound to not take them out for the season, but maybe a game or two.

With this rule, Italy would never have a team on the field.
I've been barking about this for years. Well not the actual shooting, but you roll around like that, VAR looks at it and says Red card. And if you actually dive without being touched, 3 game ban.

They start giving these guys Red's, this crap will stop yesterday.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fk_Pitt
I believe the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 do relegation playoffs. I think the 3rd from the bottom team plays the 3rd place team from the 2nd tier or something like that setup.

That's not a bad idea.

I would be completely against the bottom 3 and top 3 from a 2nd division battling it out. All you'd need is a completely crap EPL team, finishing #20 with 24 total points with a -45 goal differential get the luck of their lives and beat the #1 Championship in a 2 leg tie.
Not sure about Ligue 1. But in the 18 team Bundesliga, teams 17 and 18 are relegated. Teams 1 and 2 in Bundesliga 2 are promoted. Bundesliga Team 16 plays Bundesliga 2 Team 3 in a 2 leg playoff and I think that's a great idea.

The All-Star game is also a great idea. An EPL vs La Liga or Bundesliga game would be awesome.

Another crazy idea would be to add back second for second in stoppage time. Have an official stop the clock for every excessive stoppage and whatever that clock says at 45 minutes, add it back
 
Not sure about Ligue 1. But in the 18 team Bundesliga, teams 17 and 18 are relegated. Teams 1 and 2 in Bundesliga 2 are promoted. Bundesliga Team 16 plays Bundesliga 2 Team 3 in a 2 leg playoff and I think that's a great idea.

The All-Star game is also a great idea. An EPL vs La Liga or Bundesliga game would be awesome.

Another crazy idea would be to add back second for second in stoppage time. Have an official stop the clock for every excessive stoppage and whatever that clock says at 45 minutes, add it back
Yes, I knew one of the bigger league's did that format, I thought it was more than just the Bundesliga.

The big hurdle in that would be the FA. The FA will never be overridden by owner's. They are the final and absolute in English soccer.
 
@Fk_Pitt

What say you about the appointment of Graham Potter? I was somewhat surprised he took the appointment. He really appeared to be enjoying what he was doing down on the south coast.

My Mighty Whites picked up 3 crucial points with the roadie win @ fellow promoted side Notty Forest this afternoon. I think Forest may have made the mistake we made in 18-19 when we spent well over $100 million on transfers and went down. Villa did the same thing the following season and without a fluke goal against Sheffield United, they woulda went down as well.

Dumb move by Steve Cooper in my opinion, sure buy, but be wise. Finally after the 3rd promotion, I think our front office has got it right this season.
 
@Fk_Pitt

What say you about the appointment of Graham Potter? I was somewhat surprised he took the appointment. He really appeared to be enjoying what he was doing down on the south coast.

My Mighty Whites picked up 3 crucial points with the roadie win @ fellow promoted side Notty Forest this afternoon. I think Forest may have made the mistake we made in 18-19 when we spent well over $100 million on transfers and went down. Villa did the same thing the following season and without a fluke goal against Sheffield United, they woulda went down as well.

Dumb move by Steve Cooper in my opinion, sure buy, but be wise. Finally after the 3rd promotion, I think our front office has got it right this season.
The Potter experiment remains to be seen. It could be brilliant or it could fail. I don’t think anyone knows. The owner certainly as ambitious and if the LA Dodgers are an indication, then Chelsea will be better than fine.

I’m also excited to see Fulham doing well. I think a relevant Fulham makes for a really good rivalry with Chelsea. Screw those a-holes in North London.
 
I like the idea of a playoff for promotion, which they already have in Britain. There has been some talk of increasing the number of teams participating in the playoffs, but I’m not crazy about that. I don’t like the idea of a playoff to avoid relegation.

With all of the international breaks and the top teams already playing twice a week in the European cup competitions, I’m not sure when you could fit in an All Star game. And, who would it be between? Northern England vs Southern England? There is no natural competition between divisions like there is in other sports. As for the money, there are so many teams playing outside of the top 4 divisions that it would be a drop in the bucket for them.

I hate the idea of more American owners in the Premier League. The only thing worse would be more Arab owners. I think Britain needs to implement the German system where the citizens of the city have final say on things like moving the team, ticket prices, etc. I think one of the reasons German clubs have been successful is they can’t be profligate in their spending. Can you imagine a Premier League team letting talents like Lewandowski or Haaland go for the transfer fees they did? And, it wasn’t like they were playing for Eintracht Frankfurt or Werder Bremen. They were playing for Bayern and Dortmund, the two biggest clubs in the Bundesliga.

Speaking of Bayern, I thought Alphonso Davies was the most impressive player in the Champions League this week. Totally shutdown Rafinha on the right side for Barcelona and basically made them play on half the pitch on offense. Made a lot of excellent runs down his left. Made Busquet look like his feet were in cement and really did a number on Kounde.
Of course, Xavi has Kounde, his best CB, playing RB, which makes zero sense.

To try to contain Davies, Xavi switched Dembele to the right and had him dropping way back into his own area to double Davies. That is a testament to how he was influencing the match.

In the meantime, it took less than two games for Marcus Alonso to illustrate how much I didn’t want him joining Barcelona. His defense not only on that corner kick but for the entire match was dreadful.
 
I think one of the reasons German clubs have been successful is they can’t be profligate in their spending.


Except other than Bayern, the German clubs really aren't that successful in the world game. Dortmund has been pretty good the last few years as well, but which other German teams are regularly doing well in Europe?

They put all these rules in place that basically hamstrings any club that has higher ambitions, and yet year after year, none of them can beat Bayern and in most years no one is even close. It is, by far, the most lopsided of the big European leagues.
 
The Potter experiment remains to be seen. It could be brilliant or it could fail. I don’t think anyone knows. The owner certainly as ambitious and if the LA Dodgers are an indication, then Chelsea will be better than fine.

I’m also excited to see Fulham doing well. I think a relevant Fulham makes for a really good rivalry with Chelsea. Screw those a-holes in North London.
Chelsea paid for the whole staff to make the move, Boehly sure is ambitious but it is a risk. Can Potter handle the big names, the week in, week out pressure. It'll be interesting to watch.

I think we stay up, much like Brentford did last year and Leeds the year before. The ownership has finally taken a smart approach with their recruitment of players coming in. Didn't spend huge all over the place, spent well in each place. Joao Palhinha could turn into a guy that fetches the club a big transfer sum in the future.

Yes the Northern's of London. I actually don't mind Spurs too much, I really like Son and Kane...when is the last time you saw 2 superstars coexist like they do?

Arsenal can eat a dick, West Ham as well.
 
I think North Londoners would be very offended by West Ham being referred to as a North London team. It may play its home matches north of the Thames, but it is about as far East in London as it possibly could be. Except, I guess, for East Ham next door.

Besides, it’s historic rival is now-relegated Millwall, another East London team, most famous for first playing it’s home matches first on the Isle of Dogs grounds and then at The Den, which is south of the Thames.

When I was in London for the first time in 1976, I was staying in a college dorm not far from Chelsea and Fulham. Fulham was playing at West Ham and I thought I might go to a match. However, locals at the pub where I hung out (even though I don’t drink) persuaded me from going, which probably was a wise decision. Apparently, the hooliganism at West Ham and Millwall was unmatched.
 
Last edited:
I think North Londoners would be very offended by West Ham being referred to as a North London team. It may play its home matches north of the Thames, but it is about as far East in London as it possibly could be. Except, I guess, for East Ham next door.

Besides, it’s historic rival is now-relegated Millwall, another East London team, most famous for first playing it’s home matches first on the Isle of Dogs grounds and then at The Den, which is south of the Thames.

When I was in London for the first time in 1976, I was staying in a college dorm not far from Chelsea and Fulham. Fulham was playing at West Ham and I thought I might go to a match. However, locals at the pub where I hung out (even though I don’t drink) persuaded me from going, which probably was a wise decision. Apparently, the hooliganism at West Ham and Millwall was unmatched.
Per Green St. and Among the Thugs, it was indeed, unmatched.
 
ADVERTISEMENT