SENTINELCELTS

If I were King I like to think I wouldn’t behead my ex ala Henry the 8th, but I would certainly make changes to the beautiful game, even the Roman’s decided to change the game when throwing Christians and other poor souls to the lions for a simple mauling. On Tuesday that Christian was us, the Germans were the lions, and like the Coliseum it got boring.

To be honest it already is boring, the Champions League revamp was a response to Superleague and the staleness of the old 4 teams, one from every pot, virtually guaranteeing the two big guns go through, but results like that show anyone displaying rational thought the futility of dreaming unless you support a club that plays in one of the Top4 leagues. It tried to become a Top5, but the PSG experiment simply highlights that even incredible player investment isn’t enough. If those players they bought alongside a top manager couldn’t win the Big Cup, then investment alone is not the answer to footballs biggest problem,,,the big guns are pulling away from the others and sewing up football.
It’s a worldwide problem, inherent in Scotland, England, Spain, almost everywhere, not just a Champions League thing. Dortmund did to us what we do to the St Johnstones of this world, on the biggest stage such scorelines should spark concern AND ACTION.

I’ve read or listened to the fallout here and elsewhere, watched the blame-game since we shipped seven, and while I do not claim to be the wisest nor a sage, I continually return to the main reason that’s it’s overwhelmingly likely one of the clubs from the Big4 will be crowned the best in Europe year after year.
The level of competition they face forces a high level in each and every league game and usually in the Cups.
That’s hardly rocket science, it’s generally acknowledged, but what never happens is addressing the issue that slowly saps the beautiful from the beautiful game. It’s not healthy to be treble favourites, for a League to be wrapped up automatically upon kickoff, for a team to be invincible throughout an entire season.
FSR has helped keep clubs alive, but it also cements the status quo.
It alone shall not resolves footballs ails.

Only a once in a generational talent shall even have a chance at lifting that trophy outwith the Big 4 clubs, and as much as we loathe Jose (with good reason) he stuck it up to the rest by bringing it back to Portugal. And in retrospect I’m glad Greece stuck it up to the rest of Europe that time, but that’s only two examples in a generation, the game itself needs to offer more when the vast majority of supporters are offered ‘merely’ the event instead of a genuine shot at glory.

Football as a whole is shortsighted, but individually that’s not fully true. Bayern gave Dortmund a loan, Ajax helped pay for other clubs plastic pitches to be replaced by the real thing, Celtic helped save R2ngers (ahem), and recently we witnessed the questionable but legal practice of EPL clubs paying almost the exact purchasing figures needed for the selling club to comply with FSR.
The interdependence Audheid often writes of is not lost on others, nor our board but that’s raking over old coals. We do need each other, every club needs each other to an extent. We need a Dortmund as much as they need a Celtic, without such affairs there would be no European Cup, nor star on the jersey via the miracle of Lisbon. What we dont need is the modern day gulf in class from the best of the Big 4 to the chasing pack, and I’ve yet to hear any expert put forth any common sense proposal to halt this crazy slide that just would not be allowed to happen in US sports. I’m not saying they are perfect, but they sure are unpredictable and dynasties are rare. There’s no Man City’s here if that makes any sense, and I’m talking over multiple sports, NFL, NHL, Basketball, Baseball, even the ‘soccer’ here is unpredictable.

I’m no expert as you all know by now but I can put forward one pathway towards the equality football needs, and whether you agree or disagree I assure you I will not take it personally, it’s only an opinion as valid as yours. And I realize it won’t happen BUT I have witnessed clubs acting for the bigger picture as I stated above.

Okay, so if one considers football, specifically European football, as a broad block but a block nonetheless, interdependent as mentioned previously, there’s the leader/shotcaller overseeing us all,,UEFA.
The DaddyManager/Boss, ruler of the household, the man in charge, the hand that feeds in many cases (we wouldn’t have signed Engels/Idah without that income).
They say a dog doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it, but it’s clearly UEFA’s duty to protect all that falls under their umbrella,,clubs, supporters, and perhaps most importantly the competitiveness of its competitions. It may opt to go down to coefficient route, it may opt for more Top4 competitors to help avoid ‘embarrassments’ such as a 7-1 mismatch, but in the long run becoming more insular is self harm.
Common sense dictates that widening the potential winners pool widens interest, it also dictates widening interest in the game in general, and at this stage of the game (pardon the pun) there is one solution that’s a lawyers dream but the football fans utopia.
UEFA sell the television/internet rights to European football competitions and leagues as an all encompassing block, and divide said income equally between members.

I ask you, what would the Aberdeens of this world become if they had an equal slice of the TV pie and a good board/great manager? They already answered that question two generations ago when things were equal enough. The giants of every league would have their history, bigger fanbase/stadia hence bigger matchday income plus more commercial revenue,,,Celtic would still earn more than Aberdeen but would face much stiffer competition every week should the extra income be used well by the recipients.
Competition is healthy as the old saying goes, hence those competitively healthy Top4 league clubs dominating the big one for 2 generations now.
However variety is the spice of life, and variety would spice up football with its stale big guns dominating and the rest eating crumbs recipe.

If I were King I would hand nations the exact same amount, the union in UEFA meaning equal spoils, and then enjoy watching the ‘fresh faces’ compete whilst watching others level up.
Aye, I know, I’ll keep dreaming.
But where there’s a will there’s a way.

By Mahe sentinelcelts@gmail.com