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Top clubs plan Super League?
Friday 14 September, 2007

There are reports that Inter, Juventus, Milan, Roma and Napoli staged a secret meeting to propose a new Super League.

The newspapers in Italy suggest that the clubs came together on Thursday after the Lega Calcio – the union of all Serie A and B sides – voted for Parma’s Tommaso Ghirardi as a representative rather than Juve candidate Giovanni Cobolli Gigli.

This left the giants with no voting representative in the Lega Calcio, so they walked out on the session and Milan general manager Adriano Galliani pledged: “We will not stand by impotently.”

It is now claimed that they are planning to set up a new Super League that will split off from the Lega Calcio.

“These five clubs represent 84 per cent of the sport’s fans in Italy, so they cannot be given the same political weight as the other 15,” added Galliani.

However, the same reports note that it is probably a scare tactic to force the other sides into giving them some leeway within the Lega Calcio.

Above all, there is a battle over pay-per-view television contracts, which from next year will be sold collectively, as they are in the Premier League.

At the moment, each club negotiates its own television deal with the companies, which has led to some contracts massively outweighing the others.

The issue has particularly hit Serie B, as none of the games from 2007-08 are on Italian television due to the failure to secure the rights.

The Serie B sides have threatened to go on strike and halt the campaign if a new deal is not negotiated.

“We are working together to find a solution,” assured FIGC President Giancarlo Abete. “However, we cannot think this will be sorted out overnight.”


::channel4::

(IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) ... They want that place...

[KillerMax]

But Napoli will be back in Europe soon. They'll be buying some big players in the coming years... I just can't see Villa making that kind of progress. Napoli just got promoted from Serie B and they had much better signings than Villa. To me, Villa don't look all to ambitious. Tottenham? Their ambition I can see. Villa? No.

[kurtsimonw]

But Napoli will be back in Europe soon. They'll be buying some big players in the coming years... I just can't see Villa making that kind of progress. Napoli just got promoted from Serie B and they had much better signings than Villa. To me, Villa don't look all to ambitious. Tottenham? Their ambition I can see. Villa? No.

Then, to me, you're like most people, you don't really know much about clubs outside the top 5 in the EPL. Especially since Spurs and Villa have a very similar transfer policy.

I agree that Nopli have a better chance of Europe, does that mean they're better? Not at all. They'll be fighting with the likes of Empoli for a UEFA Cup place, we have to fight Newcastle and Everton, there's a clear difference in class between the mid-table teams in Serie A and the EPL.

As for ambition, the money we've spent, the type of players we've bought, we're going places. Especially with one of the youngest squads in the league.

[KillerMax]

Then, to me, you're like most people, you don't really know much about clubs outside the top 5 in the EPL. Especially since Spurs and Villa have a very similar transfer policy.

I agree that Nopli have a better chance of Europe, does that mean they're better? Not at all. They'll be fighting with the likes of Empoli for a UEFA Cup place, we have to fight Newcastle and Everton, there's a clear difference in class between the mid-table teams in Serie A and the EPL.

As for ambition, the money we've spent, the type of players we've bought, we're going places. Especially with one of the youngest squads in the league.

Empoli? (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

The fact that there is a lot of many being poured into the EPL means nothing in terms of football. At least for now. Maybe the effects are inevitable in good time, but for now, I don't see such a big difference.

Top clubs in Italy:

Milan
Juve
Inter
Roma
Fiorentina
Lazio

Then you have:

Sampdoria
Palermo

How is that going to be easy? (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)