Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WE CAN NEVER TRUST THE BIG SIX AGAIN OF THE ‘DIRTY DOZEN’S’ COLLAPSE
Relationships built up over years were destroyed in 72 hours and for the other 14 Premier League clubs wounds are raw... there is no forgiveness
RELATIONSHIPS built up over years... trashed in the space of a few hours.
Trust, among a tight-knit group, utterly betrayed by a small cadre, working behind closed doors on an agenda of their own.
An agenda solely concerned with making them more money.
How the other 14 Premier League clubs now carry on working with the so-called ‘Big Six’ remains to be seen.
Last night the wounds were still open, still raw.
Sanctions are expected from the Premier League, FA and possibly UEFA against those six clubs who cravenly attempted their farcical, illthought out coup.
What form they will take will be revealed soon.
But those clubs now have to work together again – in what is now a corrosive atmosphere. Crystal Palace chairman Steve
Parish (below, right) labelled the plot a “coup to try and steal football”.
Brighton chief executive Paul Barber (below, left) was even more brutal in his summing up of a 72 hours that exposed the selfishness at the heart of football, on the morning after the night before which saw Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham all pull out of the ESL.
“Trust takes a long time to build – and it has taken 72 hours to destroy,” said Barber.
“It is going to be a long way back for some of the clubs involved to be trusted again by the rest of football. Many of the people involved we count as colleagues, we have worked with for years. There’s a lot of bridges that need to be rebuilt.
“The Premier League and the FA need to make sure rules are tightened to see this never happens again.
“A points deduction probably punishes the wrong people – players, coaches and fans. But as one of the 14 clubs that were not part of this, we are disappointed, frustrated, angry.
“We feel betrayed by decisions made behind closed doors. This is not something that has happened over 72 hours. This has been going on for weeks, probably months, longer. That’s a lot of plotting behind the scenes, shutting everybody else out, leaving us in the dark. That is going to take time to heal.
“We need to separate out individuals within clubs that were just going about their daily jobs – good people that did not deserve to be brought into this PR disaster.
“The last 72 hours has proved this was as ill-timed and ill-judged a move as you can get. A kick in the teeth for supporters that have stuck with us through a very difficult period. That is shocking.”
Parish believes UEFA now have to take a stand against the giant clubs that have run European football for too long.
He said: “This was a coup to try and steal football. We have been living with this threat that if we all don’t toe the line, don’t accept their gilded position, they would go off and do this.
“But the miscalculation is spectacular. And some of them have still not stood down, which is extraordinary.
“The reason is they still want to exert pressure on UEFA. They have already banked incredible gains in the Champions League.
“This has to be the end of voting rights, the privileges, the coefficients that award them extra money based on an arbitrary period of history. UEFA needs to stop pandering to these people.”
An agenda solely concerned with making them even more money
There’s been a lot of plotting behind the scenes, shutting everyone else out
of a closed league. It was a position that, by design, could have divided our game, but instead, it has unified us all.”
MANCHESTER CITY DEFENDER BENJAMIN MENDY
“What a beautiful day for football. Let’s keep playing, let’s keep fighting, let’s keep dreaming.”
FORMER ARSENAL MANAGER ARSENE WENGER
“I’m not surprised it didn’t last long. I never believed from the start it would happen. It ignored the basic principles of sporting merit. If you ignore that, you kill the domestic leagues – fans would never accept that. Rightly so.”
FORMER MANCHESTER CITY DEFENDER MICAH RICHARDS
“Better late than never.”
FORMER LIVERPOOL DEFENDER STEPHEN WARNOCK
“The owners need to come out and say, ‘We got this competition wrong. We apologise – we’re begging you for forgiveness’. It won’t surprise me if certain clubs went up for sale now because of the pressure they’ll come under.”
BRIGHTON’S ADAM LALLANA “What has been shown is that together we are stronger than anything. It is great to see everyone coming together as one.”
ARSENAL LEGEND IAN WRIGHT (right) “Remember who you are, what you are and who you represent.”