Newcastle fans rage against ‘absurd’ rules that protect Premier League ‘cartel’ | OneFootball

What chance do Newcastle and Aston Villa have when the Big Six is given so much protection? It’s the theme of the week.

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Aston Villa optimism after that Super Cup defeat

What, nothing in the Mailbox on the Super Cup final? Well, fair enough, it’s a meaningless curtain-raiser to the season and not something any serious grown up should be watching if they still haven’t read War & Peace or listened to every Smiths album all the way through. Unless you happen to support one of the teams, in which case, fair enough. Like me, for example.

In short, I thought Villa were really impressive and probably deserved to win on the balance of play. Much has been made of young Madjo’s performance but I thought he was pretty clumsy and unimpressive apart from his goal. The other youngster, George Hemmings, was player of the match. Maatsen and Buendia were also outstanding and McGinn put in his usual excellent shift. Pub player, my ass. Or his ass, which is very big.

I have high hopes for the coming season. With all the other big teams bar Arsenal in some sort of transition, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re right up there come May.

So that’ll be seventeenth then. Matt Pitt

Villa should hate Man City and Chelsea, not Spurs

Villa fans (in general) don’t have anything against Spurs for organically growing their club. Fair play to Spurs for innovating and making the most of their lot.

City and Chelsea are where the real ire lies.

I’m predicting that the genius Emery gets Villa CL football with a top 4/5 finish again.

That was very promising last night.

Paulinha, Ruggeri and RB cover will do nicely for the rest of the window. Maybe a wide forward too?

Madjo, Hemmings, and Alysson can play big roles this season. Gary AVFC, Oxford (Have Chelsea bid £200m for Madjo yet?)

Newcastle fans are still mad…

It really is ridiculous what fans will defend and even suggest is an example of their club being a model of all things that are good. Spurs have been at the forefront of the hypercommercialisation of football from day one. I don’t know why people bristle at them being included in a cartel of clubs who have been working together to funnel the money in football towards the top end. They literally tried to form their own competition to make sure that was cemented, and what was their punishment when it failed – getting most of what they wanted anyway.

Doing things the right way that people – Spurs and Arsenal fans mostly – bang on about so much tends to be whatever is happening at the moment that works in their favour. The fact that the entire game has slowly morphed to the benefit of those select few clubs is handily ignored, anything they do happens to be correct. They were merely innocent bystanders as rules developed, rather than being in the vanguard of lobbying to make the game what it looks like today.

Now we are at the point where on the pitch success is likely entirely dependent on commercial success, not the other way round. This is now the right way. You want in the club you basically need to do all you can to squeeze every penny out of fans, while developing a long-term strategy to alienate them in favour of wealthy glory supporters across the globe. If you can’t get a Bruno Mars residency should you really even be allowed to play European football?

I don’t have an issue with linking spending to revenue in isolation, but when the wider game is so warped it is a nonsense. You can’t have UEFA setting strict spending limits then giving preferential prize money to Champions League regulars. It makes the whole thing absurd.

And let’s not pretend this is the end of it. We’re only going to see the gap widen as the powerful clubs push for more and American ownership of the Premier League really kicks in. Thankfully, there are the oil clubs there so all the ills of the modern game can be laid at their door.

But hey, as long as your club is at the top who gives a f***? GP

…As an NUFC fan and resident PSR/SCR complainant I feel I have to reply to some of the fair responses and some of the nonsense I’ve just read in the mailbox.

Firstly to Spurs fans – if anyone has done it the ‘right’ way it’s you. A geographical advantage perhaps, but fully taking advantage of it. Playing good football along the way, with Poch’s Spurs the first team I thought could legitimately challenge King Kev’s unwanted crown as ‘The greatest Prem team to have never won anything’. Not throwing shade, great squad, manager and football.

However Stephen’s comment that ‘In 2008 and 2009, Spurs had very comparable revenues to Villa and Newcastle’ sums up the issue. Villa and Newcastle had around 15-20 years of poor owners during a key, short period for Premier League revenue and as a result are decades and decades behind (More than 15-20 years). Under the current rule this will likely not be bridged in the next two-three decades, if ever (thanks ChatGPT), even if we get the occasional FA Cup, Carabao, Europa and Champs league qualification.

And for Gaptoothfreak’s ideas of ‘winning games and keep producing good players’. We tried that. A trophy, two Champions Leagues and then one poor season (albeit it a lot better than Man U and Spurs’ recent lowest points) and boom – key players all gone, with more likely to go and back to square one. I understand the footballing food-chain, but it’s an artificial and yes…rigged food chain based off the growth in revenue in a very specific 15-20 year period.

I still hear people talking about revenue as if clubs should only be able to spend based off it. Why? What link should that have. It never used to be the rules, nor is it the rules in a tonne of other sports or businesses. It’s quite something when the American sports have a fairer playing field than England. There should be a cap on expenditure not linked to revenues, that way the oil money can’t buy and the cartel (yes….excluding Spurs if that helps everyone) can’t rig the system as it is now.

It’s one thing being rubbish, making mistakes or even just not having the money of a bigger club. It’s another when you do have that money but are being told you can’t spend it or offer the same salaries as teams who have multiple terrible seasons and they take our players. Ultimately Newcastle, Everton, Villa etc can’t make mistakes and the big 5 – they’re largely mistake proof. Bad season? It’s ok keep raiding everyone below you and eventually you’ll crush them and be back in your place.

If everyone is happy with there being a rigid top 6 with yes, occasional Villas or Newcastles crashing the top 4 or minor trophy party before being raided and reset, forever. Then be happy. It’s what we have. Tarqs, Walthamstow

Is there a tiered solution?

The point of the FFP rules was two-fold, to stop clubs owned by oligarchs and petro-states spending vast sums of money thereby either killing competition (PSG) or encouraging other clubs to go beyond their means to keep up and increasing debts, e.g Liverpool, Utd, Arsenal all trying to keep up with Abramovich at Chelsea.

Secondly, it was to stop clubs who were promoted from overspending and then going mad, getting relegated and ruining themselves. Think Bolton, West Brom, Bradford giving Benito Carbone a 40k a week contract etc.

So I would argue that what is happening to Villa and Newcastle is EXACTLY the point. It’s working as it was intended. Unlimited funds can be invested in the stadium and the academy as the point is to grow a sustainable football club which, if the owner ups and leaves or stops funding (Cardiff, Wolves, Sheffield Wednesday) is still able to operate.

I understand the frustration so maybe there is a suggested solution. How about a tiering system whereby:-

1-8 have to abide by FFP & UEFA rules – which they would have to anyway to take part in European qualifications.

For those 8-15 you are allowed to ‘overspend’ for a single season as long as those funds are not classed as debt. 100m is ‘invested’ but the owners simply issue more shares. This way the P&L is not adversely affected as this amount is written off in the same year as an ‘allowable overspend’ rather than the depreciation rate over multiple years (sorry if I have lost / bored / lost & bored anyone) which is the standard process.

Additional rule – you can only do this once every 5 years to stop constant overspending.

16-20 abide by the league rules as it includes the promoted clubs. Hong Kong Ian (just seen Villa lost to the team allowed unlimited spending…..) LFC

On Madjo, Bezos and more

Fair f***s to young Brian Madjo, great performance at such a young age, but am I the only one who would have a fiver on the field if he was in a race against actual snails? He looks as fast as current Lumberkaku. At 17. Not necessarily an issue given his stature, strength, and ability, but Christ he is slooow.

Either way, for me the standout was young George Hemmings. He looks a proper player in the making IMO. Villa look set fair for another Unai-inspired successful season on the basis of that performance. Loving Mr Emery dressing like an extra from a Run DMC video for the occasion too.

Fair points all from the folk who replied to me on Bezos, and actually the real jeopardy is a critical mass of yank owners ruining English football with their greed and importation of ideas from their “sports”, no promotion or relegation being the most heinous. Obviously this particular investment doesn’t tip the PL voting balance, but we’ve now got the capitalist’s capitalist with a seat at the top table from which he can start helping to wreck English football having decimated local retail and ridden roughshod over employment rights into the bargain. RHT/TS x

(Not sure what’s more mental, Arsenal touting MLS or Man U not having their arm off at the shoulder given his position[s] and the £45m price tag)

Jeff Bezos has not bought Liverpool!

Jesus in the bloody morning!

Jeff Bezos has not bought Liverpool.

He has a tiny part of investment in a group let by Amit Bhatia .. Amit Bhatia is worth tens or maybe hundreds of billions..

I know Bezos is the name, but how do Liverpool fans feel about Jeff being involved (I cannot imagine for a second he will be ‘involved’ in anything at all other than taking some value for his shares..)

So I don’t really care. I do want to know more about the guy actually funding this purchase.. the 30 odd %

Seems he has some investments in Sports clubs and has half a clue from what I gather

QPR fans would be interesting to hear from you about how good he was to your club?

I guess he figured he couldnt get the where he wanted though, so it’s cheaper to buy a stake in Liverpool than try and get QPR into the prem?

But Jeff fkin Bezos will not be in the boardroom or dressing room or probably even at Anfield (further than the manutd or mancity games which the Americans think is bigger to make sure he is seen..) and I can’t imagine he wil be demanding players he has never heard of in a sport he knows sod all about..

Can we please have a right winger (surely Barcola is just a smokescreen) and a right back at the very least

Wuda had Djed Spence for 30mil all day every day!! Stunned we didn’t even seem to ask. Al – old and frustrated with the off-season bullsh*t rumour mill – LFC

His evaluation of LFC current state included talking about ‘takeover talks (again)’ and ‘over the intentions of owners to cash out and turn the club over to potential owners with questionable experience if not intentions’.

Unless I am misreading the situation, or have missed something entirety, there doesn’t seem to be an intention on the part of FSG to sell the club outright, they are seeking investment. Whether you like the individuals involved is, I guess, your personal call, but seeking investment is sound business practice.

And I am not sure why he would say ‘takeover talks (again)’ as the last one was 16 years ago which is quite a long time ago, and given that it rescued the club from the grasp of Hicks & Gillet, and clear impending doom It wasn’t such a bad thing, no?

Maybe his ‘minor pessimistic spell’ will lift when the actual football starts? A, LFC, Montreal

…Jeff Bezos invested for a return, nothing else. Someone says he’ll get 10% on Starbucks, he throws down a billion dollars. He doesn’t care about Ian Rush or Istanbul, he wants his return. Don’t forget this is the guy who bought a boat (Koru), but because it’s too big to moor in a harbour, he wants to sell it. Someone said he’ll get a return on Liverpool.

Also, people who disparage American sports probably ought to try to understand that sport. “Gab YNWA” talks about linebackers blocking for a running back. But a linebacker literally only plays defence. It makes as much sense to say “silly mid-off” scored a run. Brian

…A few facts amongst all of the Amazon Liverpool takeover nonsense. Bezos hasn’t been CEO for over five years. He currently owns about 9% of Amazon stock.

His current plaything is Blue Origin. You know, the NASA wannabe with spacecraft resembling the one from Flesh Gordon. If the investment in Liverpool puts a much needed rocket up the likes of van Dijk and Mac Allister, then I’m all for it. DF (to those in the comments, with names taken from TV shows that stopped being relevant before Covid, shame on you for using the Gaza situation as a point-scoring exercise)

Is Brennan Johnson a statement signing for Everton?

Regarding this note that you added after publishing my last email (thanks for that btw):

(Does Brennan Johnson count as a statement signing? – Ed)

…that’s a very good question. A year ago, I’d have said yes, as he seemed to be banging them in for Spurs on the reg. Now it’s a little harder to assess. He hasn’t done as well at Palace and they seem surprisingly happy to let him go, considering how recently they bought him and what they paid for the privilege. Does that mean there’s a whiff of Dele Ali about him? Might be unfair but only time will tell.

Perhaps that means he isn’t a statement signing, as there’s a question mark over the true level of his ability, but it’s a potentially exciting one for sure. I’m all for having some sort of maverick loon in the squad in any event, though, if only to provide some fun at a time when football is becoming more and more about athletes who are drilled to the nth degree rather individual skill. (Shout out to Royston Drenthe at this point. Who could forget the time he turned up at Finch Farm with 3 sex workers in tow and asked them to wait in his car until training finished? Oh how we all – with the possible exception of David Moyes – laughed at that one!)

On a less silly note, though, farewell to Dwight McNeil. He’s been a great servant for the club and chipped in with some important goals and assists. It sounds as though he and his partner have had a rough time, personally, so I hope the move gives them the fresh start they need – from gameweek 2.

Kind regards PhilT (Everton and England)

More optimistic about Everton

I really don’t know why PhilT is so gloomy… Cheer up mate, it’s a new season so how about some optimism.

Our midfield is stronger than it’s ever been, Garner and Dewsbury-Hall has already proven to be a lovely pairing and Garner was unlucky not to be on the plane. But the signing of Norgaard will take this midfield to a whole new level, a player who only 12 months ago was totally out of our reach. He arrives fresh, hungry for minutes and with a Premier League winner’s medal tucked in his back pocket. Hackney is a lovely bit of cover and future proofing, and Norgaard should give him time to adjust the Premier League, it’s genius!

He moans about fullback but Adam Aznou is taking preseason by storm and will make left back his own. We already know our centre backs are up there with the best.

And if it’s statement signings you want then keep an eye out for deadline day… I can see Liam Delap rolling into town. Who supported by Brennan, Tyler, Tyrick and Iliman, might just find the home he craves.

So how about some positivity mate, Moyesy is working his magic! Play your cards right and Thierry might even sort you a ticket out for the Emirates this season. J. Hibbert (In Moyes we trust)

Let’s not even pretend we care about player welfare

Every season we seem to hear a lot about player welfare. How certain cup tournaments should be binned to lessen the load, how there should be a winter break for the players to recover and how the congested football calendar is adversely affecting England players performances at major tournaments.

Can we please put all this faux “concern” for player welfare to bed? Not that I don’t believe that they’re overworked, far from it, I think the expectations put on them are borderline breaching their rights. Just look at the state of some of the players once they stop playing. Ashley young needing a hip replacement at 41 being exhibit A.

The reason I say can we put it to bed is because this is greed masquerading as concern. You only need to look at this years pre-season for evidence that it’s nothing to do with player welfare. We’ve seen Chelsea in Australia, Spurs in New Zealand and Liverpool swanning round the US. Add to this we’ve seen the modern phenomenon of penalty shootouts just for the sake of it. If the clubs were so concerned about reducing the calendar or improving player welfare they wouldn’t be chucking them on long haul flights and extending games out unnecessarily. It’s all done for the coin, coin, coin, coin, coin.

The reality is that the powers that be see things like the FA cup or Carabao Cup as missed opportunities to send their players on more money spinning tours around the world. If the players get a winter break do we expect that they’ll be given time to spend it with their family or is it more likely that they’ll be told to dance for their master in yet more far flung nonsense tournaments? I’m pretty sure we know the answer. Anthony, Kilburn