Super League rears it’s ugly head again

I was just perusing the BBC website to see who we’d have been up against in the FA Cup final had we not pissed the chance away, and I noticed an article on the Super League, which seems to have become a topic of discussion once again. It looks like UEFA would ban players from European competitions, the FA would bar clubs from domestic cups and FIFA would block players taking part in the World Cup if this utter travesty took place. And rightly so.

My main beef with this when it was originally proposed was that it would make a closed shop for the elites, something which I’ve always despised UEFA trying to do with the CL. But my issue now is that the club I love is an active participant in this nonsense. To think, after a decade of trying to bludgeon our way into the walled garden that is the CL, we’re going to simply take part in building another one and do to other clubs what we’ve had done to us. And that doesn’t sit right with me. After a decade or so of defending my club’s right to spend money to break into the upper echelons of football, I now find myself in a rather uncomfortable position; I would be left with no choice but to break ties with the club, because I can’t even begin to defend this.

I’m hoping this gets stamped out before it gains any momentum. But I’m keen to see if anyone else agrees with me.

I  completely agree Leo.
I’ve spent years banging on to uneducated morons that, despite all our wealth and success, we are still a genuine football club that have true principles and values at our core.
And now this!
I can’t defend it because it smacks of ‘I’m alright Jack, fuck the rest of you.’
We have become bed fellows with the rags, scousers and under achievers from London. What’s the saying? ‘lay down with dogs and wake up with fleas.’  Well this debacle is already making me itch.
Our owners have shown just how detached they are from us, the fans. Most City fans don’t give a toss about the CL, it’s the league title we want at the start of each season.
If this goes ahead, I want nothing to do with it or the clubs involved, and if it doesn’t go ahead we will still smell of shit for being involved.
All the slick PR, immaculate suits and fancy presentations won’t be able to hide the greed and immorality  behind this proposal.
Any European elite that involves Arsenal is a laughing stock before it even starts.
Sadly, City are threatening to become one of those clubs we’ve despised for so many years.

i too totally disagree with the idea of a european super league. it smacks of greed and goes totally against the core of the principle that football is the fans game. No consultation, no dialogue it just stinks from start to finish.. 

My only beef here though is to the hypocrisy of uefa, who says they are sick and tired of the greed of clubs yet they are to extend the champions league and offer wild cards to has beens on a 10 match league system. surely, that appears to me, to be the same thing in a different guise. They are only kicking off because it effects their so called elite competition. They in turn do not care about premier league or other domestic leagues or fans adding their other international knock out cup to an already heavily congested domestic and international schedule and as i said trying to extend the champions league.

It was all over the news here too.  The news media here say its greedy American owners who are trying to do this.  Once again its greed period.  I hope that FIFA and UEFA crack down on it - or it will ruin English football for good.

Oz, I'm with you that UEFA are hypocrites, I doubt anyone argue otherwise. I'd guess the proposed changes are purely down to certain clubs being miffed at losing out on CL money (which is on them for not being good enough, frankly) and protecting their own revenue stream by offering matches with these big name has-beens to a global audience that doesn't care about local leagues. As this extension waters down CL revenue for the clubs, I can see why they're a bit miffed, especially if their continued presence at the top depends on it. But a super league isn't the answer. The loudmouth owners of the likes of Milan just need to wind their necks in and accept that they are no different to Forest, a footnote in CL history.

It’s disgusting and I’m appalled and ashamed that my club are part of this. I thought we were better than this.
Given that this is worldwide headline news it’s remarkable that the City website does not even deem it worth mentioning or are we the fans not even worth engaging with? I’m shocked at my club

I can't believe City put their name to this shambles, why do our owners need or want more money. 
From reports I've just read Pep wasn't aware of any of this until just a few hours before it was announced and he seems to be against it as much as the rest of us are. I wonder if he will stay at the club if we don't withdraw.

Reports are also saying we could be kicked out of this seasons champions league before the end of this week.

The club have finally issued a statement. It’s a statement of withdrawal from the ESL stretching to 4 lines. No apology, no regret! Compare this to the extended statements issued by Arsenal and Liverpool to their fans! Seriously pissed off with City right now.

No apology? That isn’t good at all. And to think the American owners have been more contrite than ours have, even though they were the ones pushing for an NFL style league.

To be honest, I’d rather the owners didn’t release a video like the Liverpool cowboy did. It was complete and utter bollocks: as we all know the first opportunity to get this ‘super’ league going again will see him at the front of the queue.
The bottom line is that the clubs aren’t sorry about organising the breakaway, they’re just sorry that they’ve not been able to do it (yet) without a fight.
I, for one second don't imagine any of the owners are sitting in a dark room, wringing their hands with remorse over the upset that they’ve caused ‘our wonderful fans’, ‘the stake holders’, the life-blood of the club’ etc etc. In fact I’m pretty sure that in private conversations there have been more than a few insults thrown at the fans for not being compliant with a scheme to make them more money.
Any apology is worthless if it’s not meant.

True, but an absence of any kind of contrition when other clubs are apologising and admitting they were wrong doesn't look good. I see they have now communicated with the fans on the web site.