Premier League 2??

[Tempest]

Gap between top and bottom of the PL is growing wider, for teams like us its either fighting relegation, admittedly quite exciting, or mid table obscurity. I have yet to celebrate £3m windfall for climbing two places on the final day of the season.

Think its time for a PL 2. Big boys have their own league or euro league and the rest of us left to fight it out and potentially, if managed and structured right, could have a different winner each year, no relegation or at least limited possibility of relegation, bottom 3 years running for example, that would take out the fear factor of losing.

For me, PL as it stands is a terrible product, teams are setting out not to lose, we are so scared of losing that it affects the ability to produce proper, free flowing attacking football.

Football is a form of entertainment as far as I'm concerned, if it's not entertaining I don't watch, missed a lot of football over the last few years as the need to avoid defeat grows by a lot of teams not just Fulham.

It needs a huge shake up. Football clubs outside the big boys is strong and something if set up would survive.

However, all clubs are financially screwed, to remove the current level of income and replace it with a lower one, which is what would happen would mean clubs struggling massively  and could go out of business. So its never going to happen. So probably the most pointless post ever.

Bit something needs to change. Bring back the entertainment.

Switching brain off. No more posts. Going to sit in a darkened room in silence.

[K33NY]

The biggest problem with PL appeared late 90's early 20's when huge million pound buying and selling hit the top, oil sheikds, and russian mafia started investing billions in the clubs only to get to the top. I got redicilous.

I am not 100% sure about the new rules coming in about transfer budget,  but surely this must affect the big spending teams at some sort, but what about smaller clubs like us. Isnt the new rules something about that the club can only get a transfer budget, made by income of revenue and player sales season before? And this start 100% in 2015?

[bmasar]

We need a wage cap system. Can't see this happening, however, because the people in charge are profiting highly from the current set up.

[alfie]

We need a wage cap system. Can't see this happening, however, because the people in charge are profiting highly from the current set up.

the trouble is it is us the fans who demand these big money signings.

[K33NY]

We need a wage cap system. Can't see this happening, however, because the people in charge are profiting highly from the current set up.

the trouble is it is us the fans who demand these big money signings.

And the reason we demand the big money signings is mostly because of how football has developed the last 2-3 decades. Unfortunately, I dont think anyone demanded 20m £ transfers in the 70's 80's even early 90's

[jarv]

Wage cap is best answer but I believe European labour laws prevent it. American sports don't have that problem because nobody else plays their silly sports. :008:

[Logicalman]

Gap between top and bottom of the PL is growing wider, for teams like us its either fighting relegation, admittedly quite exciting, or mid table obscurity. I have yet to celebrate £3m windfall for climbing two places on the final day of the season.

Totally agree

Think its time for a PL 2. Big boys have their own league or euro league and the rest of us left to fight it out and potentially, if managed and structured right, could have a different winner each year, no relegation or at least limited possibility of relegation, bottom 3 years running for example, that would take out the fear factor of losing.

Sorry, cannot agree at all. The system has worked for almost 100 years or so, why cut off the leg when its the (financial) infection that needs dealing with?

For me, PL as it stands is a terrible product, teams are setting out not to lose, we are so scared of losing that it affects the ability to produce proper, free flowing attacking football.

Football is a form of entertainment as far as I'm concerned, if it's not entertaining I don't watch, missed a lot of football over the last few years as the need to avoid defeat grows by a lot of teams not just Fulham.

So what has changed? We've always had teams that fight for the away draw and others that just fight. I saw a great match yesterday of Palace vs Stoke, neither team wanted to lose, and both fought for the win. Great game for two teams that are both too close to the relegation zone.

It needs a huge shake up. Football clubs outside the big boys is strong and something if set up would survive.

However, all clubs are financially screwed, to remove the current level of income and replace it with a lower one, which is what would happen would mean clubs struggling massively and could go out of business. So its never going to happen. So probably the most pointless post ever.

Bit something needs to change. Bring back the entertainment.

Switching brain off. No more posts. Going to sit in a darkened room in silence.

I agree. You answered your own question, but the shake up needs to be on the financial side.

Some people believe a salary cap would suffice, I'd like to see what happens once the FFP rules kick in fully after the 3 year calculation period, and also stop this absolute reliance on the TV companies. We all know this is the most popular game in the world, and is televised in more countries than any other sport (I believe) so the FA and PL are simply adding to the problem by demanding a greater income so they can pay our greater rewards. 

[Logicalman]

We need a wage cap system. Can't see this happening, however, because the people in charge are profiting highly from the current set up.

the trouble is it is us the fans who demand these big money signings.

Sorry Alfie, I think the fans demand quality signings, not big money ones, the cost is secondary and only a symptom of what the clubs are willing to spend on demands.

[grandad]

Us fans have the answer in our hands. Do not subscribe to Sky, Do not watch Live matches on the BBC or any other channel.Go back to the 50´s where if you wanted to see a match you bought a ticket or a season ticket. If you cut off the millions clubs receive in TV rights they will have to cut their wage bill & transfer fees. Armchair supporters are fueling these obscene sums floating around. Yes it would be drastic & hard on those who can´t attend live matches for whatever reason.
I may have opened a can of worms but something must be done to bring the game back to normality.

Gulp.

[Logicalman]

Us fans have the answer in our hands. Do not subscribe to Sky, Do not watch Live matches on the BBC or any other channel.Go back to the 50´s where if you wanted to see a match you bought a ticket or a season ticket. If you cut off the millions clubs receive in TV rights they will have to cut their wage bill & transfer fees. Armchair supporters are fueling these obscene sums floating around. Yes it would be drastic & hard on those who can´t attend live matches for whatever reason.
I may have opened a can of worms but something must be done to bring the game back to normality.

Gulp.

Great idea Grandad, unfortunately we are living in the wired-up world, internet-ready everything, and micro-wave meals.

That's not to pee on your cornflakes at all, it's just you know, as I do, it will spell the death knell for many clubs, including our own little outfit (by comparison) because we will never be able to expand our current premises to provide the income to survive against the likes of Spam, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spuds, and the rest of those that can provide larger stadiums, and without bums on seats the in-ground advertising will dry up, and so either the seat prices go up so the likes of you and me will never be able to afford to attend a match again, or clubs move or fold.

When broadcasters spend Billions of dollars a year just to get the rights to get their cameras in the grounds, then that money is going somewhere, and that is where we need to stem the flow.

[YankeeJim]

A salary cap would turn the Prem into a second rate league unless it was enacted all over the world. You limit how much Rooney can make and he's off to Italy or Spain or Russia. Squad size would help. If United or Chelsea couldn't stockpile players than injuries and poor form would affect than  just as it does Fulham. Now, if someone has a bad match & someone else is injured they reached back and pick their 3rd or 4th player for that position. If the squad was limited, than that 3rd guy would likely be playing for us instead of collecting splinters at a top 6 club.

[Sniffer]

Gap between top and bottom of the PL is growing wider, for teams like us its either fighting relegation, admittedly quite exciting, or mid table obscurity. I have yet to celebrate £3m windfall for climbing two places on the final day of the season.

Think its time for a PL 2. Big boys have their own league or euro league and the rest of us left to fight it out and potentially, if managed and structured right, could have a different winner each year, no relegation or at least limited possibility of relegation, bottom 3 years running for example, that would take out the fear factor of losing.

For me, PL as it stands is a terrible product, teams are setting out not to lose, we are so scared of losing that it affects the ability to produce proper, free flowing attacking football.

Football is a form of entertainment as far as I'm concerned, if it's not entertaining I don't watch, missed a lot of football over the last few years as the need to avoid defeat grows by a lot of teams not just Fulham.

It needs a huge shake up. Football clubs outside the big boys is strong and something if set up would survive.

However, all clubs are financially screwed, to remove the current level of income and replace it with a lower one, which is what would happen would mean clubs struggling massively  and could go out of business. So its never going to happen. So probably the most pointless post ever.

Bit something needs to change. Bring back the entertainment.

Switching brain off. No more posts. Going to sit in a darkened room in silence.

My 83 year old father says exactly the same and is true with so many sports unfortunately.

I just love the fact that Jamaica has managed to get a bobsleigh team into the winter Olympics      :021:

[ToodlesMcToot]

Wage cap is best answer but I believe European labour laws prevent it. American sports don't have that problem because nobody else plays their silly sports. :008:

True.....except for soccer (for clarity's sake and because that's what I tend to call it), baseball, hockey, and basketball. MLS, NFL, and NHL all impose some sort of a salary cap. MLB and NBA, I believe, have luxury taxes imposed upon wages that exceed a set limit, but there is no set cap to the amount they can spend.

A tidbit about MLB, since the imposition of the luxury tax in that league, the NY Yankees have paid somewhere around 90% of all taxes collected.

[Logicalman]

How about this idea?

If we limit the spending by any one club to be just 1.25 times the average spent by all clubs in that same league the previous window (or equivilent previous Summer/Winter window)?
This would limit the bigger teams from signing top-dollar players alone, and harness them a little back to rest of the league. This would be by league, obviously, as Prem is far and away more expensive than the second Div.

As for penalties for going over. Up to the first 10 million over cuts the payments from the PL pot by 50% for that team, and the extra monies are shared equally amongst the other teams. Where there is a payment plan in place, the whole amount is counted in the first year, to avoid those plans to circumvent the rules.