Leasing.com Trophy - Is there any point boycotting ?

[texaspete]

Sept 22, 2021 8:57:32 GMT pj said:

This competition is not a precursor to B teams in the EFL. There would be such an outcry it would never happen, just like the European Super League. The football league is the main event. The EFL trophy however is a subsidiary competition that people are free to attend or not attend.

It’s still being pushed a lot and is a huge risk if the big clubs thought they’d get away with it bar a couple of years of moaning see e.g.

[Zinedine]

Hah, I just came on here to post that Guardiola clip. I think it's extremely complacent to think that the B-team idea has gone away and does not merit continued opposition, but each to their own I guess.

I also think we shouldn't get too hung up on the idea that the size of last night's attendance suggests there is somehow a massive appetite for this competition amongst our fanbase - the amount of Spurs 2CW's in the area will surely have swelled the crowd way beyond what it would have been for a fixture against Southampton U21 or whoever.

[fatherjhackett]

Sept 22, 2021 11:12:45 GMT El Goodo said:

Sept 22, 2021 11:04:38 GMT fatherjhackett said:

There are more dignified ways of peddling one's arse.

Just an interesting thing to note.

Imagine if he scored the goal that got us promoted to the Championship.

No, no, no. I alluded to the way of meeting his fee.

Tut.

[nickpom]

I hadn't really thought about it before, but Pepe Guardiola (or whatever he is called) really is a bit of an entitled tosser, isn't he?

So Man City U21 beat Wycombe's 'B' team - so fecking what?

[barry]

Sept 22, 2021 9:31:47 GMT pj said:

The fact that in this country we get such levels of support even so far down means that this structure is unique to England, and B teams in the EFL will never be accepted, and will never happen.

If it was such a threat surely CFU and CUSP would be extremely vocal on this subject

CFU and CUSP ha ha ha. Seen Pep’s interview if you are naive enough to think this has gone away?

[Tom Shaw's Fist of Rage]

To be honest I'd happily watch Harrison Dunk engaging in a vintage lung bursting run forward & cross leading to a goal in any old competition, even those containing B teams, U14s, women's teams, or sponsored by military despots.

[lionel]

Sept 22, 2021 16:54:48 GMT nickpom said:

I hadn't really thought about it before, but Pepe Guardiola (or whatever he is called) really is a bit of an entitled tosser, isn't he?

So Man City U21 beat Wycombe's 'B' team - so fecking what?

Man City were essentially playing twice last night. The first X1 were playing Wycombe which had a mixture of academy players and first teamers ( Mayrez, Sterling De Bruyne and Foden all played.)
The U21 team got beat by Doncaster.

Peps' perspective is always going to be slightly different as he has grown up with B teams and played for Barcelona B.
If he believes B teams are a good idea when he managed in spain he will think the same when managing in England.

Pep will also want to be getting out maximum output from his squad and academy. Logically, a team of young players will get better experience by playing seasoned pro's than fellow teenagers. Pep's argument is based on logic but it does show entitlement.

The knowledge in which Pep is either lacking or naive too is the level of passion fans have for their club. He is also underestimating the level of support a club provides to their local community. A previous poster has already stipulated the high level of support for teams in all divisions. That is why I don't think it will happen. The football league would stand as one if it were to happen.

However, cups can be quirky. I am very comfortable to say I am fully behind the trophy, I will supports the lads and don't feel in the slightest that makes me a lesser fan. I actually quite like the introduction of U21 teams.

[nickpom]

Sept 22, 2021 17:34:24 GMT lionel said:

Sept 22, 2021 16:54:48 GMT nickpom said:

I hadn't really thought about it before, but Pepe Guardiola (or whatever he is called) really is a bit of an entitled tosser, isn't he?

So Man City U21 beat Wycombe's 'B' team - so fecking what?

Man City were essentially playing twice last night. The first X1 were playing Wycombe which had a mixture of academy players and first teamers ( Mayrez, Sterling De Bruyne and Foden all played.)
The U21 team got beat by Doncaster.

Peps' perspective is always going to be slightly different as he has grown up with B teams and played for Barcelona B.
If he believes B teams are a good idea when he managed in spain he will think the same when managing in England.

Pep will also want to be getting out maximum output from his squad and academy. Logically, a team of young players will get better experience by playing seasoned pro's than fellow teenagers. Pep's argument is based on logic but it does show entitlement.

The knowledge in which Pep is either lacking or naive too is the level of passion fans have for their club. He is also underestimating the level of support a club provides to their local community. A previous poster has already stipulated the high level of support for teams in all divisions. That is why I don't think it will happen. The football league would stand as one if it were to happen.

However, cups can be quirky. I am very comfortable to say I am fully behind the trophy, I will supports the lads and don't feel in the slightest that makes me a lesser fan. I actually quite like the introduction of U21 teams.

Ah - I wasn't paying enough attention to Man City matches - which is probably because I don't actually give a sh1t about them :-)
I agree with what you say - but I would point out that the fact Pepe thinks losing to Doncaster, bottom of League One, is a good justification for being able to put the same team into the Championship shows how ridiculous and ill-thought-out his view is. He is the modern man's Arsene 'Biennial World Cup' Wenger...

[Deleted]

A bit of a left field idea this and I'm ready to be shot down and derided over this mad illogical thinking, but if they want their young players to play in competitive games why don't they loan them out?

[joeaustin]

Watched this thread develop with interest and it’s exactly what I feared would happen, a lot of noise at the start, everyone behind the boycott and for the greater good, but over time people slowly forget and the temptation to attend is too much for most to miss out on.

This will be used against us in future arguments and the club will like always have a price on it to be viable for them to agree.

It’s a huge huge shame but these ‘B’ teams will be league opposition in the not too distant future, with many using the hype to attend the big stadiums and ‘better’ away days in bigger cities.

For me- I’ll stay at home.

[paulb]

www.football365.com/news/opinion-pep-guardiola-championship

Interesting Article worth a read.

[eenyc]

That's an article that hits the nail squarely on the head. Thanks for the link.

It seems like Pep has only ever known football as a monetizable commodity (which it obviously is) and never as the beating heart of a community (which it also is). In fact, he has a limited view of the football world which does not encompass the history and significance of small-town clubs or understand the insult and hurt that his suggestions would cause if they were ever enacted.

I sometimes feel it ought to be an entry qualification for Premier League managers to spend at least one season managing a lower league club with whatever limited means it has, so they could experience first-hand what is at stake. Just because he has won some of football's big prizes - with, as the article says, every resource he could possibly desire - it is still not clear to me that he (and the rest) is actually a particularly talented football manager.

[Dylan]

The man should appreciate that if we wound the clock back 23 years and also transported the Papa John's, it would be Manchester City's first team playing against Premier League U21's.

[artvandelay]

Sept 23, 2021 18:02:32 GMT Dylan said:

The man should appreciate that if we wound the clock back 23 years and also transported the Papa John's, it would be Manchester City's first team playing against Premier League U21's.

Two completely different entities: one were a football club from Manchester, the other an Abu Dhabi franchise currently based in Manchester.

[Fred Colon]

No Premier League B teams in EFL - Rick Parry

www.bbc.com/sport/football/58864123

"The strength of the EFL is that every one of our clubs sits at the heart of the community. Our clubs put almost as much emphasis on the community as they do on the first team and what happens on the pitch."

"It's been tried. Greg Dyke tried it, [Another former FA chair] Greg Clarke introduced it at the very start of [Project] Big Picture and I said, 'that's non-negotiable, it's not happening'."