john@staustell wrote:If we rapidly establish ourselves we will become 'the elite', and will make the rules! One meeting between Platini and the Sheik's people should do it. Though Platini 'looks forward to meeting him', I doubt the Sheik will have room in his diary for that Twat himself.
Sorry John but I disagree mate. I really don't think it is as simple as that.
For all their money and their relative success and no matter that they challenged the already established CL G14 group on the pitch, Chelsea were never accepted, nor invited to join that group. They were left isolated and on the outside. In their case money and relative success did not gain them access to the power brokers' table. It is possible they still aren't accepted and that Abramovitch is using the newer threat of City to try and force his way on to it.
Remember that when Chelsea were on the rise, there were only 2 qualifying places and Chelsea threatened the positions of the rags and Arsenal.
I think our problem is double sided and we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. If we are not successful on the pitch, our threat merely dissipates and goes away. It we do succeed on the pitch our threat actually increases, thus increasing the possibility of a backlash against us.
1...We must succeed on the pitch. Qualification to the CL ASAP is crucial to our progress.
2...We must be seen to massively increase our turnover, in order to balance the books and negate the present moves against us.
3...(and this I feel is the most important) We MUST create friends in the right places. We must ensure we have allies in the corridors of power. It is there that the decisions will be made and we need to have a strong lobby to defend our interests. The English clubs must be stopped from using their ex G14 cohorts and UeFA and disabled from shutting the door on us.
I am certain that City are well aware of the situation, the position we are in and what needs to be done. It is possibly the motive behind our recent "flirtation" and "getting to know you" meetings with Barca. Even our recent friendly with Celtic. I can see us cuddling up with other European based G14 clubs in the near future too.