'Big 6' v. The Rest of Us

Well aren't you a ray of sunshine this fine Saturday morn.

I don't deal in negatively definitive terms like NEVER or GUARANTEES OF RELEGATION, but hard not to read the tea leaves and feel that way, UNLESS some major reconsideration by one and many.

Good article, if sobering.

 

Interesting reading Don. As a relatively new follower of the Prem, the "tier-system" is frustrating in that if you don't follow the big 4 you don't have a prayer competing for a title. Then throw in that ridulous TV contract that doesn't split the base $ evenly (deserving of an article itself)
and the distance between the guys in the ivory towers and the rest of us cannot be breached. Quick somebody hide the dull spoons from my wrists..

 

Don did hit the nail on the head in talking about relegation for the non-big clubs in the Premiership. Most all will eventually be relegated at some point or another. We just hope it is not anytime soon.

Unfortunately, simply surviving the drop seems to be the goal each and every season for clubs like Fulham, Wigan and others that do NOT have deep pockets.

Let's hope this past season is as close as we come to relegation in the next few seasons. That was too close for comfort.

Great article Don!

 

great article don.

its a sad reality that a recent fan such as myself (going on one year next month!) had to accept when i chose this club. but there are two things i want to point out:

every soccer/football league in europe is like this. yes, england was unique before the adoption of the premier league. but since the 80s only a handful teams have won la liga, seria A, bundesliga, and even the ever-popular danish superliga (which shows how it exists even in small nations).

additionally, i read on another website that Tom Hicks, Gary(?) Gillette and several other owners were motioning to get the EPL to be a closed league similar to how every US sport is. and so the removal of promotion/relegation (and thus half the current EPL table) would create an even more elite and lucrative league. yet it would also remove all fears of relegation that you wrote of. granted, it probably wont happen anytime soon. but with the gradual takeover of epl clubs by foreign owners (including several Americans), it does cause a bit of concern as there is no doubt they are taking a page out of the NFL/NBA book in revenue earnings and will thus try to influence the FA.

 

Good take on it Timmy.
Like I said in the MLB thread, The Prem will do away with relegation before MLB adopts it.

Perhaps THIS will make some of you understand what the significance of the FA talking to NFL is. And that started BEFORE the Glasers bought ManU.

But for every travesty in changes of how sport is run, there's a balancing bright side.

Anybody guess what the bright side{s} might be?

 

Nice one Don. Informative and truthfull (even if the truth hurts a little).

Having seen the league and it's many changes over the past 40 years I was, at first, in favor of the EPL formation, it seemed better in all aspects, but it also become pretty obvious to all, within a couple of years, that this was the start of the end for the ordinary fan, as corporate money through sponsorship deals, etc, came rushing into the game.
Following the money were the international players who now found it lucrative to sign up for a league that had previously been, somewhat., closed to the outside world of players, barring the exceptional few, and was now able to afford the obscene wage demands.

So, what's the answer? "I dunno" doesn't fit any longer. I guess the next logical step, now we have started down the road of corporate sport, is that there will be a pure super-league of europe, whereby the teams like ManUre, Arse, Poo and Chelski will leave the domestic leagues and play that super league instead. This could be both good and bad for the domestic game.
The Bad would be that the superstars of the game will be attracted to that league, as the corporate money will be there, TV deals, etc, and the ordinary fan will have less chance to see such superstars, or even the team they have supported for so long, in the flesh, without the means to be able to travel all over europe each week.
The good? Well, the rest of the tier two and three teams will have the chance to battle it out with a slightly flatter playing field. The paying-domestic support for the super teams will, in the end, dwindle a little, as the ordinary fan will turn to a team he or she can, at least, see play most weeks. We could see a return to the 22-24 team program again, and, hopefully, the reduction of the corporate monies will allow the game to return to some kind of pre-EPL normailty.

I may be seen to live in some kind of dream world when spouting out this idea, but then again, just 20 years ago we would never have imagined that we would have successfully implemented a Premier League, and the effecst it would have on the domestic game either.

Other answers might even include a wages cap on teams, a value cap, a non-british registration cap (either total registered or just the number fielded in the squad each week). Oh, and the pretty obvios one - get rid of the current FA board and put people in charge who are more immune to the corporate pound.

Until that time, Dons vision of the tier system will never go away, and might even become more extreme with the third and fourth tires almost amalgamating, leaving anyone in the lower half likely up and downers while to top half enjoy the spoils.

Good article Don, we need this kind of thoughtful writing to bring us down to reality every now and again and prompt debate.

Tony

 

The only solution that I see to create parody in the league is to enable a salary cap. Unless clubs can compete financially it will just be the big 4 who have any chance at the league. I wouldn't even say the big six, because I dont see Everton or Porstmouth competing much for anything but the FA or Carling Cup.

The TV deal does favor the big 4 again, but they do attract the most fans and viewers on the television or to the matches. Now if there is not going to be a salary cap of some kind put into place then the TV revenue needs to be adjusted to favor those that aren't the big 4. There has to be some way to allow the other clubs to complete or does every club need a billionaire owner in order to do so.

The article wrote by HD was a bit of doom and gloom for me, but valid points were made. It is a sad realization, but I reserve the right to be relentingly optomistic. Hope further investment will be made into Fulham sooner and the powers that be in the FA sober up quickly or the G14 will form a super league and all other clubs slip into mediocrity. The sad fact is that as long as the EPL is one of the most profitable leagues in the world, then why change it. I am sure their view of the topic is, "if it's not broken, don't fix it".

 

Hatter Don,

Totally agree with you. Fulham will be relegated in short time. As will a lot of other teams.

Fulham needs to re-structure itself if it wants to stay up long term. 24,000 fans a game isn't going to cut it probably. Being in London is a good thing though.

I hope the FA and EPL doesn't go to a static league format. I don't really see how they could. It would start another English Civil War.

 

Sorry I mispelled parity. You're having a right fun time picking apart my posts as of late HD. Fair play though.

I read your article and yes I realize that ever club beyond the big 4 will be relegated at some point and in Fulham's case it may be sooner rather than later.

What I was just proposing was that a salary cap would creat parity and allow other clubs to compete amongst the big 4. How exciting would it be going into a season and 5-8 clubs have a legitimate chance of winning the league or any number of clubs could win the League or FA Cup?

Fulham will hopefully stay clear of relegation with the inclusion of some sound transfers and stay clear of the drop zone for a few years to come.

Anything you would like to disagree or point out again HD.

 

I agree with this as well... but conversely if Fulham fields a full team in Cup matches there might be a drop off during league matches. Tricky problem.

 

Now what if UEFA considered a joint salary cap for every division within their federation...I realize this would be monumental move and change the scope of football completely. I dont believe it will ever happen, but if it did my how the world of football would change.

My main concern is that Fulham have the ability to compete when it comes to transfers also, if Fayed can't front enough money for transfers that he seeks out further investment. Not sure if that is possible at this point in time, but it is food for thought.

 

Keeping above the drop zone is by far the number one priority for Fulham. The league always seems to take presidence over cups, but if the league is looking favorable it wouldn't hurt to throw all you've got at a cup.

The League Cup seems to be the one that Fulham could obtain easier than the FA. Clubs put so much more emphasis into the FA Cup, because of its' history and prestige. Not to say Fulham is in on par to win a cup, but if they are going to put everything forward for one wouldn't the League Cup seem more logical.

I know Rafa attempted to shuffle his squad for Cups and league matches and he didn't seem to get it right except in the CL. Which isn't a bad one to get right. Just goes to show how difficult it is to keep players fresh and at top form for both cups and league matches.

 

One obvious problem is that if the EPL adopted a salary cap, all the stars would leave to the spanish / italian leagues that didn't have a salary cap.

 

The only way a salary cap would work is if UEFA made it mandatory, but the various leagues would never agree to it.

 

The League Cup probably would be the "easier" Cup to win, but the reason for that is that nobody wants to play their best side in the first half of the season because that is when you want to set yourself up for a top 10 finish. If Fulham played the first half of the season like it did the last half, they would been in big trouble.

Wigan, though, 2 years ago made a nice run to the semi-finals though because they did play their best 11, and still did well in the standings.

 

Depending on the signings Lawrie brings in this summer will go a long way in how much effort the club can put into the FA and League Cups. Fulham has yet to win either piece of silverware and it would go a long way to improving the level of signings and competition at the club. It is unlinkely they will progress very far in either cup, but it is worth a shot.

And the level of effort placed more so on the end of the season rather than the beginning is a poor choice IMO. The league is a marathon and the fixtures at the beginning of the season are just as important as teh ones at the end.

 

poor poor L'pool supporters

A salary cap would only be instituted in a time of desperation. The gap continues to widen between the have and the havenots.

I've only really been a Fulham fan for 2 seasons plus a bit more and I'm already really really sick of this constant losing stuff with no end in sight. Of course I'm Fulham til the end because I love the club for so many reason, none of them what we do on the field. But gawd this losing stuff is really really tiring.

Its clear I guess why so many choose a big four club. They don't want to go through the misery we put up with! Its just so disheartening to force yourself out of bed early on a Saturday, sleepwalk to the pub and almost come up with a result against Man U only to have them do you in the 88th and have there plastic fans erupt around you. And to think they do that every week. Life must be so easy for them.

BUT at the end of the day would any of us want to trade spots with them? Not I, not for a second. If anything I feel sorry for T of C and his L'pool fandom(sorry TofC had to get the shot in, and its true I really do!)They can keep the trophies, we've got something else even if I can't always identify it :shock:

I often think of what if scenarios involving Fulham, what if we became a big club. The conclusion I come up with is that it would cause more harm then good. In fact if one thing could cause me to abandon my Fulham I think it would be just that, becoming a big, soulless, fraudulent club, like the rest of em. I don't think I could take it. I'd go support Watford or something :3d nervous: