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Gattuso? Was said to be in the frame for the Spurs job (after Mourinho was sacked). Then this:
"Gennaro Gattuso has revealed his regret over missing out on the Tottenham job and his disappointment over the fierce backlash he faced from supporters. Spurs turned to former Italy midfielder Gattuso after missing out on several other candidates in their search for a new manager earlier this summer. However, fans strongly opposed the move due to controversial comments previously made by Gattuso about same-sex marriage and racism." https://www.tntsports.co.uk/football/gennaro-gattuso-reveals-regrets-over-totten
I'm very possibly older than you, SC, as are most of the Bees fans I know. And I've been to Chesterfield etc in the past as well.
But when you consider how many of the (older) Griffin Park crowd have swiched seamlessly to the GTech, including ST Holders; also how many of the old crowd renew their ST's each season (90%+); or have your pre-match drink in the Griffin/Guardsman/New Inn, you'll see that we old geezers are still going, still happy.
Hang on, you said: "I'd prefer we wait until all the 'super clubs' bugger off to the Euro league and the whole playing field is more level."
But even if the ESL did get off the ground, the English 'super clubs' would still be playing in the PL as well. (Ditto the continental 'super clubs' in their respective domestic leagues).
Meaning they wouldn't be buggering off anywhere.
So that if the ESL were to be a success, then the founder clubs would be creaming off even MORE money with which to dominate their domestic leagues back home.
But if that prospect might alarm you, don't worry, the ESL ain't gonna happen, due to a combination of overwhelming fan hostility, and UEFA "heading it off at the pass" with their revamped Champions League.
Obv can't speak for BHA or AFCB fans, but even if Bees are at our peak, trust me, it's very exciting.
For me, the big threat to our position would be if we lost Thomas Frank. But even there, we've managed to replace a succession of decent managers with someone better i.e. Rosler - Warburton - Smith - Frank.
So I'm sure they have a plan for replacing TF, with the Press touting Keiran McKenna as the next appointee should TF move to Spurs. (Both probably only column fillers on a slow news day, tbf)
Sorry to bring this up again, but even if the ESL were to get off the ground*, it has NEVER been intended to replace the PL (or any other domestic league).
Rather it was intended by its 12 founder members to replace UEFA's Champions League - basically so they could siphon off a greater share of the revenue for themselves every season, sheltered as they would be from the possibility of not qualifying.
* - Oh and btw, it won't. For if final proof were needed, Real Madrid are currently exploring options for moving from going from a totally Members-owned club to going private and selling off a stake in the club to outside investors. Considering their history, this would have seemed unthinkable even a few years ago, but they're now in such debt over the new stadium that they have to do something. Which can only mean that the (eminently preferable) alternative of the ESL must now be dead-and-buried.
Reminds me of the story of Wales qualifying for the 1958 World Cup Finals.
In those days, the 27 European teams were organised into 9 groups, with the winner (only) going through to the Finals. Wales avoided a big name, drawing Czechoslovakia and East Germany.
They won their two home games, but lost their two aways, thus finishing second and out.
Or so we thought. For Israel* were in the Asian Confederation in those days, with Asia and Africa combining Qualifying games to produce one Finalist. Anyhow, Israel got a succession of Walkovers in qualifying, as 6 successive opponents (i.e. 12 games) refused to play them for political reasons, and so got the single Finals spot.
FIFA then decided Israel could not be permitted to get to the Finals without playing a single game, so a special play-off was created between Israel and the runner-up of one of the UEFA/CONMEBOL/CCCF/NAFC Groups, where the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying. Two-time champions Uruguay withdrew, while Northern Ireland and Italy had one final match yet to play, so all three were left out. Belgium, Bulgaria, Wales, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Peru, Bolivia and Costa Rica were left to draw. Belgium came out of the hat first, but their FA decided that qualifying through sheer luck was beneath them, and so declined.
Another draw was held and this time Wales defied odds of 8/1 against to get picked out. They then beat a poor, undercooked Israel 2-0, home and away.
So the next time some Taff bore starts droning on about the glories of 1958 etc, just remind them how stuffy they were even to get there!
@KensalT "But the likes of [Jim Gregory] and your old chum Ron Noades loved the game."
Sorry, but Noades loved Football in the same way as Donald Trump "loves America" i.e. solely for how it can enhance his own wealth, standing and prestige. The man was a total shyster, eventually hated and reviled by each of the clubs he snaked his way into.
And he was by no means alone in that in the history of the game, incl off the top of my head, Jack Dunnett MP (Bees, Notts Co and the FL). Or Louis Edwards, owner of Man U and purveyor of condemned meat from his butchers business to NW schools under a contract no doubt obtained by bribery. Right back to the early 20th century and Sir Henry Norris MP (Arsenal, Fulham, Stamford Bridge etc) who, as arguably the worst of the lot, is well worth googling.
So that corruption in football has existed ever since the game went professional, the only difference these days being that the sums involved are many times greater.
@KensalT: "The wealthy elite of English football would happily leave the likes of Fulham and Brentford behind if they could make even more money playing the Real's and the PSG's on a regular basis. "
Sorry, but that misunderstands the whole ESL project. For it wasn't meant to replace the domestic leagues, since they would continue to exist side-by-side with the ESL. Rather the latter was designed to oust the Champions League, run by UEFA, who kept or distributed the profits etc.
On which point I read the other day that Real Madrid, in deep financial difficulty from the need to finance their new stadium etc, are investigating a proposed restructuring of the club which: "... involves converting Real Madrid into a private company, with current members becoming shareholders. This shift would allow for external investment while maintaining member control over the club's direction. One option under consideration is selling up to 49.9% of the club's shares, ensuring that members retain majority ownership etc" https://madridzone.substack.com/p/transforming-real-madrid-florentino (Some are suggesting that it might even be more than 49.9%, assuming that the Members retained some sort of Golden Share.)
Anyhow, the whole point of the above is that if Perez is now pursuing so radical a change at the club, then he is tacitly admitting that his hopes for the ESL to be his financial saviour have been written off.
@KensalT: "And if you think that's complete BS then pause to think about how they typical PL club views the EFL clubs "leeching" off them and all the revenues they bring into the game." I've no doubt that the established PL clubs wouldn't pay anything to the EFL clubs if they could get away with it, but in the end, the necessary 14-club majority votes it through out of their own self-interest i.e. all but a handful could find themselves relegated after one bad season. (And besides, the sums involved are relatively piddling)
@KensalT: "The elite six or seven or whatever it is have as much concern for the rest of the PL as the average PL club has for the EFL." In an ideal world the elite clubs wouldn't ever have to worry about the rest. But the world isn't ideal, and they know all too well that the real source of the PL's enormous wealth comes not from Europe etc, but from the fact that the PL offers the most compelling, competitive, watchable football of any league in the world (for TV viewers, at least). And for that you can't have the same old 6 or 7 teams playing each other half a dozen times a season, you need another 12 or 14.
P.S. I'm not having a pop at you personally, Kensal; on the contrary, I enjoy this sort of discussion, esp when it's close season and there's not a lot else happening.
The final episode of MASH in 1983 pulled in 106 million viewers in the USA alone. And with that being before recording and streaming etc, means that they all basically sat down at the same time to watch it at home.
The entire population of the country was 233m at that time.
Not sure when you were growing up, but back when I was, there were (I think) usually only three games regularly televised each season: the FA Cup Final, The European Cup Final and yes, believe it or not, the England v Scotland Schoolboy Victory Shield International from Wembley or Hampden. (This last was run by the Schools Football Associations, so the FA or FL couldn't stop it).
These days there's so much football on TV that you nearly need a very close family member to be playing to make sure you tune in. And even then you might only bother with the highlights.
When I read this, the name and the brogues, plus the fact I'd never heard of him (I'm a trivia nerd and proud of it!), made me sure that this was a spoof - and a damned good one, at that - somewhere between Billy's Boots and Barnstoneworth United's Golden Gordon.
And reading his wiki page wasn't exactly dispelling me of that belief, except that all the citations etc stood up.
As for the name, the only match for the magnificent Tinsley Lindley that comes to mind is that of Ireland's Olphert Stanfield, from the same era. Olphert played 30 times between 1887 and 1897, which made him the most capped international footballer of the Victorian era/19th century. Scored 11 times too, pretty impressive considering Ireland regularly got humped by scores incl 0-11, 2-10, 1-9 etc.
"I didn't say every PL club would be rushing to leave the country."
So if, say, half a dozen decided to move outside England, the other 14 would be delighted to see off some of the competiton and just replace them with half a dozen Championship clubs.
Then who would the exiled clubs play?
While US sports franchises who moved eg from Brooklyn to LA, knew all the other clubs were going to continue to play them.
And as for: "It's not like the good old days when football nuts like Jim Gregory and Ron Noades invested in their local clubs"
Dunno about Gregory, but if you imagine "football nut" Noades ever "invested" his own money in any football club (Southall, Millwall, Palace, Brentford) from a love of the game, then I've got a bridge to sell you. The man was a property investor who amongst other schemes, screwed Palace over the Sainsbury deal and also wanted to move Brentford to Woking(!), so as to sell Griffin Park for housing.
"Good old days"? The man was a complete C U Next Tuesday.
Taylor was a thoroughly decen man, and a decent enough manager, but he was out of his depth managing England (imo).
And he had better players than he knew eg in a crucial Euro Finals game vs Sweden in 1992, where he desperately needed a goal to progress, he took off Gary Lineker (48 goals in 80 caps) and replaced him with Alan Smith (2 goals in 13 caps), still with 30 mins to go.
Spurs would indeed like to host an NFL Franchise. But how does that indicate they also foresee moving their football team to the USA? Simple fact is, they've spent a billion quid on a football stadium, with NFL being a mere side hustle (NFL sides typically play just 8 or 9 regular season games at home).
There is not a hope in hell that Levy foresees even the slightest chance of moving away from England before the stadium is paid off. Same for all the other PL teams who've spent/are spending serious money on their stadia.
As for NFL teams playing outside USA, so what? Doesn't mean they're going to swaphomes with the PL.
As for the French Community Shield, no-one gives a sh1t about that, they could play it in Milton Keynes for all anyone cares. Either way, it has ZERO relevance to the staging of a PL season comprising 380 games, in sold-out stadia at sky-high prices, and televised all round the world.
As for Game 39, that has been mooted for years now, with no sign of it happening. Indeed PL boss Richard Scudamore ruled it out as far back as 2011, after his initial championing of it ruined his reputation: https://talksport.com/football/premier-league/20472/exclusive-scudamore-says-39t While FIFA, the FA and the new Government regulator are all/will be firmly against it.
As for NFL and NBA revenues dwarfing football's, why are so many of those self-same sports' owners falling over themselves to buy English football clubs which play in England, and investing huge sums over the long term on infrastructure in England? Why aren't they buying MLS franchises instead and building up the game locally?
If they were somehow to get the 14 PL votes needed to move to the USA - and they won't - they'd never get back the billions they've already sunk into bricks and mortar in this country.
Er, the domestic market has plateaued (for now), but overseas markets are worth more than ever, with no sign of abating.
And if USA is such a desirable location than England for PL clubs to move to, why are US broadcasters paying unprecedented sums to broadcast English clubs, from England, often at highly unsocial hours?
While there is another factor. Almost all the PL clubs, incl those owned by Yanks*, are spending gazillions expanding/redeveloping/moving their stadia. A new stadium, with a likely shelf-life of 50(?) years, will typically be financed over 25 years or more.
So why would they spend all that money on infrastructure (training grounds, too), if they were hoping to relocate to another country in the foreseeable future?
Simply doesn't make sense.
* - Incl even Khan at little 'ol Fulham. He already owns the Jacksonville Jaguars, tried to buy Wembley, but has still just spent over £100m on a single stand at the Cottage. How long d'ya think he's calculated it will take him to get that money back?
Don't get me wrong, most of the PL owners, from USA at least, would move to Venus, if they thought that would bring in more money. But why leave England, where all the money already is?
While the PL continues to pull ever further away from the other big leagues, with no sign of that changing - see eg Chelsea (4th in the PL) hammering Betis (6th in La Liga) again tonight.
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