Premier League 2011/12 Season

The imposition of international week gets more annoying every time.

 

Sir Alex? Is that you?

 

On this issue Glasgwegians have one mind. Like the Borg.

 

Whats "The Borg"??

 

I've never understood any of this. International play is the most important thing to the vast majority of these players and it's never going away so why not embrace it? is it because Scotland sucks? to be fair - England sucks too despite a lot more hype and just a tad more substance. I love international play

For example Wilshere aggravated an injury playing for England and he is out the whole season this year and it hurts Arsenal which is my club but Wilshere said he will play for England U21, Over 21, both teams no matter what it is that important to him, I can't say i hve faith that Fabregas or Arshavin have the same level of committment for Arsenal that they do for their country.

 

I don't give a fuck about it. Scotland, it's national team, it's stupid short bread tin fans, their pastiche misty eyed defeatist nationalism, songs about deers and Irn Bru, people crying about Loch-fucking-Lomond, the determination to be saccharin sheen friendly abroad these days just to distinguish them from England, shitey cavernous Hampden stadium, drunken teuchters in the city centre on their big day out from Aulddeenfeldydoonachdiededoo, the SFA....

I'd usually sooner see England win, they're frankly less annoying. Celtic, Celtic reserves, Celtic Under 19, Celtic Boys Club....

 

All the players give a fuck

 

The tickets & shitty nylon tops Celtic supporters buy pay for their Bentley GTs and gaited houses. Frankly i couldn't give a shit what they want. They wanna get their arses to a Celtic training ground and get on with doing the job they're paid to do better.issed:

 

i love international play. glad England qualified this time for the Euro, altho i saw that 2-2 draw coming since the halftime whistle in Montenegro. Rooney's red card was a bit infuriating. Some interesting matches tomorrow as well. Not worth taking the day off work tho to watch.

 

Fair enough. Maybe that you're an ex-pat makes the heart grow a bit fonder.

 

The English national team have to win my respect back after that shambles in South Africa. Haven't watched a single qualifying match or friendly since the world cup, I was either having a rather large poo or a nice pleasant nap. Maybe some gardening or something.

 

I hope they lose every time they play. It's just one big massive clique and they can all fuck off.

 

Spoken like a true Scouse bitter.

Seriously, they want Redknapp in so they can, in the words of Kelvin the Cunt, "all have a good laugh".

As soon as they force the Dagoe Wog out, they can have their precious Harry in.

And they we WILL ALL HAVE A GOOD LAUGH as Harry goes 3-3-6 vs Spain and tries to get Gareth Bale to declare for Ingurland.

 

To be honest I think you're spot on with that point.

 

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The Celtic Football Club!

 

:hammert:

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/oct/11/liverpool-breakaway-tv-deal



The deal that shares television's billions equally between Premier League clubs is facing its biggest threat to date after Liverpool announced they would lead a challenge for overseas TV rights to be sold on a club-by-club basis.

Liverpool's managing director, Ian Ayre, has insisted the break-up of the established broadcasting deal, worth £3.2bn in total to all Premier League clubs for 2010‑13, is "a debate that has to happen", with the Anfield club in favour of the Spanish model that allows Barcelona and Real Madrid to negotiate individual contracts that dwarf their domestic and European rivals.

Since the Premier League's foundation in 1992 its success has been largely based on the principle of collective selling, where each club no matter how lowly can expect a fixed share of TV deals with "merit" awards for finishing positions as an add‑on. Changing this model would risk revolt from the smaller clubs who stand to lose most, and thus threatens the league's very structure.

At present, the Premier League sells domestic and overseas broadcasting rights collectively and more than doubled international revenue in its last negotiations, from £625m for 2007‑10 to £1.4bn for 2010‑13. With the Premier League shown in 212 countries and having 98 broadcast partners around the world, it is expected the next deal will show a similar increase, with overseas rights potentially worth more than domestic for the first time.

Ayre believes the Premier League's four biggest global draws – Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal – deserve an increased share from 2013, with overseas broadcasting having a greater influence on the Anfield club's financial future than a new stadium. "Personally I think the game-changer is going out and recognising our brand globally," said the Liverpool managing director. "Maybe the path will be individual TV rights like they do in Spain. There are so many things moving in that particular area.

"What is absolutely certain is that, with the greatest of respect to our colleagues in the Premier League, but if you're a Bolton fan in Bolton, then you subscribe to Sky because you want to watch Bolton. Everyone gets that. Likewise, if you're a Liverpool fan from Liverpool, you subscribe. But if you're in Kuala Lumpur there isn't anyone subscribing to Astro, or ESPN to watch Bolton, or if they are it's a very small number. Whereas the large majority are subscribing because they want to watch Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal.

"So is it right that the international rights are shared equally between all the clubs? Some people will say: 'Well you've got to all be in it to make it happen.' But isn't it really about where the revenue is coming from, which is the broadcaster, and isn't it really about who people want to watch on that channel? We know it is us. And others. At some point we definitely feel there has to be some rebalance on that, because what we are actually doing is disadvantaging ourselves against other big European clubs."

It would require 14 of the Premier League's 20 members to vote in favour of a new commercial arrangement. Though Sir Alex Ferguson recently described the collective deal as "fair", albeit while insisting clubs deserved more from overseas rights, and La Liga's system has attracted widespread criticism, Ayre believes the status quo jeopardises the financial might of the Premier League.

"If Real Madrid or Barcelona or other big European clubs have the opportunity to truly realise their international media value potential, where does that leave Liverpool and Manchester United? We'll just share ours because we'll all be nice to each other? The whole phenomenon of the Premier League could be threatened. If they just get bigger and bigger and they generate more and more, then all the players will start drifting that way and will the Premier League bubble burst because we are sticking to this equal-sharing model? It's a real debate that has to happen."

Liverpool insist their radical proposals are limited to overseas broadcasting, although success on that front could set a precedent domestically in the long term, and the club plans to raise the issue at the next Premier League meeting. Ayre's frank admission comes almost one year on from Fenway Sports Group acquiring the club from Tom Hicks and George Gillett in the high court and, along with broadcasting revenue, another major financial decision to be resolved by the American owners remains whether to construct a new stadium or redevelop their current home, Anfield.

Liverpool's managing director insists the club are pursuing "a parallel course" on both options, with planning regulations complicating the redevelopment of Anfield and the financial benefits of a new-build uncertain, although Ayre admits the latter option is only viable with a naming rights deal. "We have been in discussions here and in other parts of the world with a small group of people that we have narrowed down that we are targeting for naming rights. That is an absolute catalyst to building a new stadium. The economics just don't stack up without it.

"When will the decision be made? It'll only be when we reach an answer with both. It's hard to put a time on it. If you put a deadline on the naming rights, then you start to marginalise the deal. We aren't desperate. We think we have an amazing proposition as one of the biggest clubs in the world. I don't recall any football club of this size with this international reach that's ever done a naming rights deal. It is quite unique in that sense. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United haven't. Nobody in football has done this at this level. It's new ground and it will take what it takes."

Ayre, along with the former Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton, ex-chief executive Christian Purslow and Fenway Sports Group, remains the subject of a £1bn lawsuit filed by Hicks and Gillett over the events surrounding their departure last October. "It's an unwanted and unwelcome distraction. That's their prerogative but we remain extremely confident that we did the right thing," he said. The Liverpool MD offered his resignation to John W Henry following FSG's victory in the high court, and admits the five-times European champions could have entered administration had Hicks and Gillett retained control.

"Certainly the bank had the power to call in the debt and at the time there wasn't anyone ready to take on that debt. So I guess the answer to that [would Liverpool have gone into administration] is yes. It's hypothetical but based on where we were and based on the circumstances at the time that was a very real threat. That was the case in the final hours. That was one of the other routes we could have gone down."

 

The game's already on it's arse, domestically, as a valid competition, this will only exaggerate that further. Spain, despite having two great teams, is not really a league any more, teams sometimes rest players when they play Barca/Real. It's basically the Scottish perm, but on a much higher technical level.

 

Yep. But the "Perm" as you put it has a choice, it can stand up to these clubs or it can become a victim of what itself once did to the old structure, and face a break-away. People like Ferguson will make noises about "Being Fair" but he's full of shit. As long as he gets what he wants, he doesn't give a fuck about Bolton or Watford. The game was in trouble the minute the reliance on the sale of replica kits to Asian youths became an issue.

 

Eire could play Estonia, Bosnia, Turkey or Montenegro in playoffs

 

Be fantastic if they got through. Gives me somebody to support without all the shear annoyance of drunk fannies in kilts stoating about Glasgow city centre singing about coming down a road 1500 times a night.

 

::

We will get Turkey, I am sure of it.

I might go to the away leg and take a shit on Ataturks bronze shoes.

 

That's be great, I'd really like to watch them and cheer them on

 

We can do Estonia. Bring on the Baltic Giants!!!

 

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Sweden did great to beat the Netherlands, 3-2. Into the playoffs now and ended the Netherlands winning run of 15 games or so.

 

:cheer:

 

Bet you'd get cheap flights there. Be a good weekend that.

 

Here before I forget, what the fucks a 'bearna baoil' btw? :: Always wondered.

 

A window of danger.