Twitchy's presser today.

[gillie]

He said us and the rags should'nt be in the Europa league as we have been knocked out of the CL.He said it's like being knocked out of the FA Cup and going back in the Carling Cup in the semi's.I think he should be grateful we are in the Europa as that's extra games for us to have to play and being as he states Spuds are title challengers it must help them.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

He said us and the rags should'nt be in the Europa league as we have been knocked out of the CL.He said it's like being knocked out of the FA Cup and going back in the Carling Cup in the semi's.I think he should be grateful we are in the Europa as that's extra games for us to have to play and being as he states Spuds are title challengers it must help them.

To be fair, he is right.
It is merely a television money safety net in case a big club fucks up in the main tourney.
It is one of the main reasons that the Europa/Uefa Cup has been devalued.

[Ted Hughes]

He said us and the rags should'nt be in the Europa league as we have been knocked out of the CL.He said it's like being knocked out of the FA Cup and going back in the Carling Cup in the semi's.I think he should be grateful we are in the Europa as that's extra games for us to have to play and being as he states Spuds are title challengers it must help them.

To be fair, he is right.
It is merely a television money safety net in case a big club fucks up in the main tourney.
It is one of the main reasons that the Europa/Uefa Cup has been devalued.

I agree but I also don't think he should ever have been in the Champion's Lg, nor us. It should be for Champions. It is also a money making creation, designed to help fuckers like Bayern Munich create an artificial gap between clubs like them & clubs who couldn't play at that level; like us. To hear them bleating about us now having money makes me sick.

I would prefer the Champions Lg to be for Champions & the rest playing in the UEFA, on the same nights, like it used to be.

[Chinners]

He said us and the rags should'nt be in the Europa league as we have been knocked out of the CL.He said it's like being knocked out of the FA Cup and going back in the Carling Cup in the semi's.I think he should be grateful we are in the Europa as that's extra games for us to have to play and being as he states Spuds are title challengers it must help them.

To be fair, he is right.
It is merely a television money safety net in case a big club fucks up in the main tourney.
It is one of the main reasons that the Europa/Uefa Cup has been devalued.

I agree but I also don't think he should ever have been in the Champion's Lg, nor us. It should be for Champions. It is also a money making creation, designed to help fuckers like Bayern Munich create an artificial gap between clubs like them & clubs who couldn't play at that level; like us. To hear them bleating about us now having money makes me sick.

I would prefer the Champions Lg to be for Champions & the rest playing in the UEFA, on the same nights, like it used to be.

Amen to that Ted ...

[brite blu sky]

I'd agree in general with twitch, and wot Ted sed. Although just champions would create a cut off that would cut out a lot of good teams that got very close... maybe top 2.

Europa for the rest and fair play teams, but maybe another comp just for the Cup winners as it used to be. And definitely all played on the same night.

What is good for the fans and football in general is not necessarily good for the TV, the money men or the cartels. That is where this whole mess as it is now comes from.

[Ted Hughes]

I'd agree in general with twitch, and wot Ted sed. Although just champions would create a cut off that would cut out a lot of good teams that got very close... maybe top 2.

Europa for the rest and fair play teams, but maybe another comp just for the Cup winners as it used to be. And definitely all played on the same night.

What is good for the fans and football in general is not necessarily good for the TV, the money men or the cartels. That is where this whole mess as it is now comes from.

The idea would be that they were all playing in the UEFA. So instead of just having one elite competition there would be two, with the Champion's Lg being the highest rated but the UEFA being something that everyone, even Barca, was desperate to win if they were in it.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

I agree with Ted on this one. I would much rather see a return to the old format of European Cup, UEFA Cup and Cup winners Cup.

If they're going to have a Champions League it should indeed just be for champions. I'd even stretch so far as to say the cup winners from each country should qualify. At least that way some of the glory that used to be associated with the FA Cup could be restored and we certainly wouldn't have the ridiculous situation of the Rags refusing to play in it a few years back.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

Hey, I've got a revolutionary idea.
Just the champions of each nation, with a completely unseeded draw, with clubs playing each other on a home and away basis.
It might catch on!

[Avalon]

It would also make it a lot more interesting and restore some of the glory for the Europa League. Way too many teams are used for both competitions.

[aaron bond]

I don't disagree with Redknapp's comments, and agree with pretty much everything written in this thread.

A competition for just the champion of each nation should exist. It should be a reward given at the end of a successful season.

It'll never happen though. It would mean no chance of Barca-Real or AC-Inter game, and would just in general reduce the number of 'big' games, meaning less TV money.

[1950]

We all now what's better. Champions only, no group stages, no seeding. It would be harder to win & big up the other European Cup(s).

We wouldn't have the same quarter-finalists every year though, so it's not gonna happen.

[zuricity]

He said us and the rags should'nt be in the Europa league as we have been knocked out of the CL.He said it's like being knocked out of the FA Cup and going back in the Carling Cup in the semi's.I think he should be grateful we are in the Europa as that's extra games for us to have to play and being as he states Spuds are title challengers it must help them.

To be fair, he is right.
It is merely a television money safety net in case a big club fucks up in the main tourney.
It is one of the main reasons that the Europa/Uefa Cup has been devalued.

I agree but I also don't think he should ever have been in the Champion's Lg, nor us. It should be for Champions. It is also a money making creation, designed to help fuckers like Bayern Munich create an artificial gap between clubs like them & clubs who couldn't play at that level; like us. To hear them bleating about us now having money makes me sick.

I would prefer the Champions Lg to be for Champions & the rest playing in the UEFA, on the same nights, like it used to be.

The 'rich - poor' gap will be noticed here in Switzerland as Basel now expect a 25 mill Euro push for their efforts. ( NZZ today). So the smaller clubs like Luzern won't be able to compete with Basel either.

The money from the CL / Europa league, should be distributed among all teams in the league from the previous season. Distributed evenly.

[Goaters 103]

Am not a fan of Arry's at all, but he's totally right on this one. CL drop-outs getting another shot are one of the factors that both elongate and devalue the Europa League.

[brite blu sky]

I'd agree in general with twitch, and wot Ted sed. Although just champions would create a cut off that would cut out a lot of good teams that got very close... maybe top 2.

Europa for the rest and fair play teams, but maybe another comp just for the Cup winners as it used to be. And definitely all played on the same night.

What is good for the fans and football in general is not necessarily good for the TV, the money men or the cartels. That is where this whole mess as it is now comes from.

The idea would be that they were all playing in the UEFA. So instead of just having one elite competition there would be two, with the Champion's Lg being the highest rated but the UEFA being something that everyone, even Barca, was desperate to win if they were in it.

That would lump 'everyone else' in the uefa/europa. imo that would still mean it was the other comp of nearly teams. Realistically nearly teams have to go somewhere so..

What I do think is that Cup winners should have their own high profile comp. At the end of that and the CL the Supercup would have some significance to be the outright Champions of Europe.

[Florida Blue]

While I don't disagree with Twitchy, can't he just shut up for once. The real reason is it is the ONLY chance he has of winning a trophy, so of course he doesn't want the competition to get better. Why is this coming up now? Just whinging as usual.

[Blue2]

He said us and the rags should'nt be in the Europa league as we have been knocked out of the CL.He said it's like being knocked out of the FA Cup and going back in the Carling Cup in the semi's.I think he should be grateful we are in the Europa as that's extra games for us to have to play and being as he states Spuds are title challengers it must help them.

To be fair, he is right.
It is merely a television money safety net in case a big club fucks up in the main tourney.
It is one of the main reasons that the Europa/Uefa Cup has been devalued.

Yep, cant say I disagree with him.

[Ted Hughes]

I'd agree in general with twitch, and wot Ted sed. Although just champions would create a cut off that would cut out a lot of good teams that got very close... maybe top 2.

Europa for the rest and fair play teams, but maybe another comp just for the Cup winners as it used to be. And definitely all played on the same night.

What is good for the fans and football in general is not necessarily good for the TV, the money men or the cartels. That is where this whole mess as it is now comes from.

The idea would be that they were all playing in the UEFA. So instead of just having one elite competition there would be two, with the Champion's Lg being the highest rated but the UEFA being something that everyone, even Barca, was desperate to win if they were in it.

That would lump 'everyone else' in the uefa/europa. imo that would still mean it was the other comp of nearly teams. Realistically nearly teams have to go somewhere so..

What I do think is that Cup winners should have their own high profile comp. At the end of that and the CL the Supercup would have some significance to be the outright Champions of Europe.

Just have the uefa teams enter a playoff system whereby only a few go through, & the nearly teams at the top of the leagues who would have got CL football go straight through to a uefa cup group stage.

The 'nearly teams' this year would have included City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Valencia, Villareal, Inter Milan, Napoli, Udinese, Lazio, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Hannover 96, Mainz, Marseille, Lyon, PSG, Twente, PSV, AZ, Benfica, Sporting, Dynamo Moscow, Spartak, CSKA, Trabzonspor & no doubt been joined by the likes of Spurs, Celtic etc. If they made a tough playoff system for the lesser teams to join that lot, a selection of really tough groups would ensue, with quality football & decent crowds.

Meanwhile, instead of being knoked out by Baselona, the rags would have been knocked out by a much higher standard of team as the CL groups would all be stronger with less chaff to fill it up.

[Michigan Blue]

Farcical that Droopy would consider our participation devaluing the competition when he's gone out of his way to repeatedly rubbish it and treat it as a nuisance. With all due respect to PAOK and Shamrock Rovers, this year's Europa got a pretty big injection of prestige this week.

I suppose the argument for teams parachuting from the CL is that it extends the European forays for some of the champions of the smaller associations, and adds another carrot to the much-maligned CL group stage. Despite its bloated format, I personally wouldn't change much about the Europa League. It eliminated the truly pointless Intertoto, provides lots of free televised weekday football over here, and has generally been a lot of fun to follow (Alan, the Poznan, Fulham's run, Stoke, etc.). Admittedly last year's all-Iberian semifinal was a bit shit.

At any rate I'm grateful to still be in Europe and I hope we make a better fist of the knockout rounds than we did last season.

[TheGOAT]

Am I the only one who thinks the champions league is brilliant how it is?

[patrickblue]

Am I the only one who thinks the champions league is brilliant how it is?

Looks that way. I'm in complete agreement with brown envelope man and C/L for champions.