Do the Crime, Do the Time

Another European match, another UEFA fine for Celtic seemingly coming up, due to the selfish, self-indulgent student union politicking by the Green Brigade.

Think that's harsh? Check out their website where they say this about themselves:

With a vibrant and somewhat controversial history, the Green Brigade aim to fuse together Ultra culture with politics in the stands of Celtic Park and beyond. This aspect has led to many conflicts with the police, security and the Club itself over the years, yet remain the core foundations of the group which has continued to enjoy support from the wider Celtic family.

This group, which does contribute greatly to the atmosphere inside Celtic Park, is not merely a group of diehard Celtic fans willing to stand, jump up and down and sing for 90 minutes. They have an overtly political agenda and their very purpose is to thrust it upon the rest of us. They know full well their politicising of their support for Celtic will get the club into bother, but apparently (if this statement on their website is anything to go by) they are proud of it.

Now as Celtic fans, with a section all of their own and recently given a shiny new makeover to meet their special requirements, I have no problem with them at all.

I don't even have a problem with their politics, very little of which I share. What I do have a problem with is their imposition of their politics on the rest of us. They present their political opinions, which they take every opportunity to display for all to see in the stadium, as somehow intrinsic to the Celtic identity. This goes further online at least, where any dissent over their politics is met with aggression, abusiveness and bullying, if not by the group itself, but by people who associate themselves with it.

I've taken so much heat on Twitter this past week for saying there should be no pro-Palestinian protest at the Happoel match.

I've been told I can't possibly be a Celtic fan. One Green Brigade affiliate told me on behalf of the entire Celtic support that I am, "not welcome."

I've been told to "Get tae f***," and been called "A right-wing Catholic nut-job," Imagine that - anti-Catholic abuse from a Celtic fan! Here's someone else they would no doubt have thought a "right-wing Catholic nut-job:

That's just a flavour of the abuse I've taken from people associated with the Green Brigade (and I know they don't speak for the organisation, but they seem fairly typical of their type). I'm thick-skinned enough to take it. In moments of weakness I give as good as I get, though I feel awful for descending to the level of the Timtafada political wing of our support.

If you step out of line, you will come under attack. Some of them launch straight into a tirade of abuse, others initially try to reason with you. But when you are not swayed by their arguments, they soon resort to the abuse too.

As a support, we are being bullied into line. We're being told that the Green Brigade's left-wing politics is part and parcel of being a Celtic supporter and what makes you a Celtic supporter is not merely a love of the club, but embracing certain left-wing causes. Deviance from just one is social death.

Anyway, having spent the best part of a week, along with the moderate majority of our support, many of whom are not afraid to speak out, warning that a pro-Palestinian protest would bring us yet another punishment from UEFA, it was with some amusement that I watched the reaction unfold on Twitter last night.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about the fine. Quite the opposite. What makes me laugh is the ridiculous reaction from the Timtafada to a punishment they were well warned of.

Now one of the things that was endlessly repeated over the course of the past week, was that you were a, "Panty-wetter" if you were worried about a UEFA fine. "F*** UEFA," we were endlessly told, "who cares if we get a fine?"

Well, evidently, the Timtafada cares as they whinged incessantly about the unfairness of the UEFA punishment they wilfully and knowingly brought down on the club.

So we've established one thing at least. Like the similarly in denial Sevco fans, they do care. Like all narcissistic, self-indulgent brats, they long to be loved. They basked for almost 24 hours in the love of the pro-Palestinian movement, then reacted with bewilderment when they realised UEFA didn't love them or their display. They simply can't understand why UEFA have a problem with their display.

Here are eight objections that I have seen constantly on Twitter last night and this morning in no particular order:

1. "There's nothing political about waving a national flag." This the equivalent of the defender caught in the act of raking his studs down the back of the forward's calf then pulling an innocent face, arms outstretched as the referee races towards him with his hand in his back pocket to pull out the yellow card. "What did I do wrong?" he pleads? "I only waved a Palestinian flag," as if this was not clear as day a political demonstration to publicise the Palestinian cause. Celtic, thanks to the Green Brigade, have been caught bang to rights. You weren't just waving a flag.
2. "It's an absurd rule, so it's absurd to punish Celtic." This may well be true. Maybe it is an absurd rule, but that is to spectacularly miss the point. It is the rule and if you break it, you will be punished for it. They were told beforehand. They were well-warned and they said they didn't care. So don't now complain about being punished for something you did in the full knowledge we would be punished for it! Here you may be told "rules are made to be broken." A mindless soundbite. You break the rules, you get punished for it.
3. "Ajax fans fly the Israeli flag." This is classic whataboutery. Some history re Ajax, which I'm positive can't be news to many people - Ajax have a strong affiliation with Amsterdam's Jewish population. Just like Celtic fans can fly Irish tricolours and it is not a political statement but a celebration of our identity, so too can Ajax supporters fly Israeli flags. It's not a political statement.
4. "It's an attack on our freedom of expression." This is kind of the trump card. "I've got a right to express my support for Palestine and UEFA can't take it away from me." Well, the good news is, they don't. UEFA are not stopping you from waving a Palestinian flag to your heart's content outside the ground. But inside the ground, it is their competition, their rules. When you buy a ticket for any football match, you are in effect agreeing a contract between yourself and the organisers. Check any ticket stub next time you buy one. You accept their rules as a condition of entry. So if you don't like UEFA's rules because you feel they are taking away your right to freedom of expression, there's a very simple solution to your problem - don't attend. No one is forcing you to buy a ticket. If you feel the rule is unfair, lobby UEFA to get it changed. Don't go in and deliberately break the rule, then complain when the rules are enforced.
5. "Barcelona fans fly the Catalan flag." More whataboutery. Yes they do. And Barcelona has been punished for it. Next!
6. "UEFA held a minute's silence for Nelson Mandela and that was a political statement." Arguably it is, although I think you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who did not take a broadly positive view of the achievements of Nelson Mandela. But the rules do not prohibit UEFA from making political points. They decide what is, and is not, appropriate in their competitions. As a former Head of State of South Africa, and an almost universally-respected figure of monumental historical importance, it was hardly unexpected that UEFA would ask for silences on his death at their matches.
7. "It wasn't political, it's standing up for the oppressed." That's not how UEFA see it. The problem for the Green Brigade here is that like all leftists, they seek to portray politics in moralistic terms. Then they can vilify anyone who doesn't agree with them as nasty, evil bigots. There are two sides to the Palestinian conflict and this was a demonstration in support of one side, which seeks the destruction of the other. What makes it overtly political for me is, that there are many oppressed peoples around the world. To give just three current examples, the Tibetans, Yemenis and Kurds. Last season, Celtic played Fenerbahce, surely an ideal opportunity for the Green Brigade to show their support for the Kurdish people, treated as third class citizens in Turkey, denied statehood and subject to unfair imprisonment and aerial bombing. Did the Green Brigade wave Kurdish flags en masse to highlight their plight? Muslim-on-Muslim oppression I suspect, may just not be sexy enough for them.
8. "Israel is an apartheid state like South Africa was. The world of sport united in standing against them." This one is just hysterical nonsense. Roughly 20% of the population of Israel is Arab Muslim (Palestinian). They enjoy equal rights in Israel. They have their own political parties, they can vote freely, they have access to exactly the same educational and health institutions as Jewish and Christian citizens. There are high-ranking Arab-Israeli army generals, Arab supreme court judges (one of whom handed a former Israeli PM a custodial sentence), university professors etc. There are no laws in the state of Israel which treat Arab citizens differently from Jewish Actually, there is one - unlike Jewish citizens, Arab Muslim citizens of Israel are not subject to conscription into the armed forces, although they are free to serve if they so desire. Arab-Israelis enjoy far greater rights in Israel than Jews enjoy anywhere else in the Middle East. In fact, Palestinian citizens of Israel enjoy far greater rights than Palestinian residents in any other Middle Eastern country. Israel is not an apartheid state. It is in fact the only functioning liberal democracy in the region. It is not perfect, but certainly preferable to the surrounding Islamist dictatorships which want to wipe it from the map.

Just as an aside, another thing that made me laugh out loud in midweek was the people complaining about the Daily Record reporting on their protest. Honestly, they hold a demo to publicise the Palestinian cause, then complain when a paper... well... publicises it!

And of course to top it off, they insisted they didn't care if UEFA fined the club, then when UEFA charge the club, they have a tantrum about how corrupt and despicable UEFA are for... er... charging the club.

So when you hear Green Brigade sympathisers complaining about the club being fined by UEFA because they insisted on doing what they wanted to do and put their desires above the interests of the club, remind them of the old adage - if you do the crime, you do the time. Just stop crying about it.

Celtic's Hampden Problem

Sunday was hard to take. There's no getting away from that and I'm not here to defend Ronny Deila, or say he should be given a second chance. Unfortunately, I think this was a defeat too far for Ronny, mainly down to the identity of the club we lost to and he has now lost the fans. Short of winning the European Cup, I don't see how he can win us over again.

But Sunday needs to be looked at not simply as a defeat to a very mediocre side representing the re-animated body-parts of our dead, deadliest rivals. It needs to be seen in the context of our Hampden record going back to pre-Ronny times.

In April 2010, as the car crash Tony Mowbray Season of the Honest Mistake petered out, we faced then First Division Ross County in the Scottish Cup semi-final. It was a wretched performance under caretaker manager Neil Lennon as we crashed to a 0-2 defeat and an angry crowd awaited the team bus when it arrived back at Celtic Park later that day.

Let's look back to March and April of 2012, as we raced away from dead Rangers in the League race and appeared to be on the cusp of at least a double.

March 2012 we played Kilmarnock in the League Cup Final and suffered an unexpected 0-1 loss. The match was not without controversy, with Willie Collum refusing to give Celtic a penalty in stoppage time after Anthony Stokes was barged from behind in the box, but it was a poor performance, with plenty of chances missed.

The following month, we faced Hearts in the Scottish Cup semi-final and again lost out after a lacklustre performance. Again there was controversy with Euan Norris awarding Hearts a penalty in the closing minutes after a shot was smashed against Joe Ledley's arm, then turning down Celtic claims for a penalty moments later when the ball hit Webster's hand in similar circumstances.

On 27th January 2013, we took on St Mirren in the League Cup semi-final and contrived to lose 2-3, with Charlie Mulgrew both conceding and missing penalties. We were actually 1-3 down before Mulgrew scored in the 90th minute.

In April 2013, we faced Dundee Utd in the Scottish Cup semi-final and although we progressed to the final, it was a fraught affair, with the advantage swinging back and forth before we eventually triumphed 4-3 after extra time.

Season 2013-14 was mercifully free of any Hampden heartache, but only because we contrived to get knocked out of the League Cup in the early rounds at home to Morton, and in the Scottish Cup at home to Aberdeen. So that was nice.

Normal service was resumed last year, with that infamous 2-3 defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup semi-final in April 2015. Once again there was controversy, with ICT defender Josh Meekings keeping out Leigh Griffiths' header with a blatant handball seen by everyone inside Hampden except the referee and his five assistants. Worse was to follow in the second half when Craig Gordon was sent off after the officials decided to implement the rules for a change. Ten man Celtic then lost in extra time.

No one needs reminding that this season we have crashed in the semi-finals of both cup competitions to Ross County (again) and the Tribute Act.

Here is our Hampden record since Season 2009-10 (defeats in red):

2010 Scottish Cup semi-final, Celtic 0-2 Ross County*

2011 League Cup semi-final, Celtic 4-1 Aberdeen*

2011 League Cup Final, Celtic 1-2 Rangers

2011 Scottish Cup semi-final, Celtic 4-0 Aberdeen*

2011 Scottish Cup Final, Celtic 3-0 Motherwell

2012 League Cup semi-final, Celtic 3-1 Falkirk*

2012 League Cup Final, Celtic 0-1 Kilmarnock

2012 Scottish Cup semi-final, Celtic 1-2 Hearts*

2013 League Cup semi-final, Celtic 2-3 St Mirren*

2013 Scottish Cup semi-final, Celtic 4-3 Dundee United*

2013 Scottish Cup Final, Celtic 3-0 Hibernian

2015 League Cup semi-final, Celtic 2-0 “Rangers” *

2015 League Cup Final, Celtic 2-0 Dundee United

2015 Scottish Cup semi-final, Celtic 2-3 Inverness Caledonian Thistle*

2016 League Cup semi-final, Ross County 3-1 Celtic*

2016 Scottish Cup semi-final, Celtic 2-2 The Rangers (4-5 penalties)*

 

 

 

That's 16 matches at Hampden in seven seasons and we have lost half of them.

There have been more than a few where refereeing has played a huge part in those 8 defeats, but all 8 defeats have also been accompanied by poor performances.

These performances have spanned two managerial reigns and a huge turnover in playing staff. There is no one individual or group of individuals who can be singled out to blame.

I'm not one of those Celtic fans who think we should win the treble every season. It's an extremely difficult task and one we've achieved just 3 times since it became available 70 years ago.

Neither am I one of those Celtic fans who thinks we should always beat the "diddy teams." On any given match, we can lose to anyone. Losing a cup match is not, and never should be seen as, the end of the world.

But I do think that our win percentage at Hampden should be considerably better than 50%. Yes, we can always lose a one-off match, but over a series of one-off matches, we should not be losing anywhere near 50% given the financial advantage we have over our opponents.

We have a Hampden problem and it is not a problem simply of Ronny's making. I feared the worst before Sunday, because given our Hampden record since 2010, we can't be confident of beating anyone there. Too often, we freeze when it really matters.

 

Supporting Celtic: It's Not About You

Seems the knives are still out for Ronny Deila following what was in the end a successful trip to Rugby Park on Saturday.

It was actually a very good weekend for Celtic, with Aberdeen dropping three points at Fir Park to leave us four points ahead with a game in hand and just eight games to go.

That hasn't stopped the SMSM and their carping though. Just as examples, the Scottish Daily Mail give a platform for Kilmarnock's "former Real Madrid midfielder" Julian Faubert to say how unimpressed he is by Celtic.

We're supposed to respect his opinion you see, because he used to play for Real Madrid.

Yes, that's right, he used to play for Real Madrid. He had a loan spell there in 2009, during which time he played a grand total of TWO matches, both as a substitute. His spell in Madrid included being disciplined for missing training one Sunday because he thought it was a day off, and being photographed asleep on the bench during a match against Villareal. At the end of his loan spell Real wisely decided not to take up their option of making the loan permanent.

But hey, Julian Faubert isn't impressed by Celtic! And he used to play for Real Madrid!

Over at The Herald, Faubert is allowed more space to express his disbelief over how Kilmarnock didn't win as Matthew Lindsay cries over his keyboard while telling us all that Celtic were dead jammy at the weekend and they're nowhere near good enough.

This remember, is a team sitting four points ahead with a game in hand and a vastly superior goal difference which is effectively as good as another point.

But you know what? I don't care about the SMSM. We expect no different from them and I don't buy papers anyway. I can ignore them and if more of us did the same, maybe they'd go away or at least re-examine their business model.

Far worse are the usual suspects on the Timternet, who while Celtic are involved in a serious title race are whinging and whining from the sidelines about how poor we are.

Not for them a circling of the wagons. Not for them a public show of solidarity with the manager and the team. Not for them a keep it inhouse attitude.

You see for them, it's all about them.

They want to be entertained. They want Celtic to be 30 points ahead of Aberdeen so they can relax and enjoy the title procession.

They want to see the mythical open, entertaining, attacking football that it is (apparently) the birthright of every Celtic supporter to see.

Well, so would I. I'd love it if we were sweeping all before us. I'd love it if we were even 15 points ahead and I didn't need to check the Aberdeen score every week to see how far ahead we are. My blood pressure would certainly benefit from that if nothing else.

But if I found one thing out early in life, it is that you can't always get what you want.

We're not sweeping all before us and we are in a title dogfight. So what can I do about it? I can sit on my keyboard whinging about how that's not good enough for Celtic. I can create an air of relentless negativity everywhere I go and achieve nothing other than venting my frustration and enable the SMSM to put pressure on the manager and the club by pointing at how Celtic fans like me are saying just the same things.

Or, I can grow up and realise it's not all about me. Supporting Celtic does not come with a guarantee you're going to be entertained every week, regardless of what the song says. It doesn't come with a guarantee we are going to win every week or watch world class players in the Hoops and for the majority of our history that is not what Celtic supporters were treated to.

And no, I'm not happy with performances this season. I'm not happy to see us struggle to the finishing line against opponents with a fraction of our resources. But so what if I'm not happy? What do I matter here?

This is about Celtic. Generations of Celtic fans lived and died watching Celtic stumble and stutter from one on-field disaster to another with silverware few and far between.

My grandfather was born in 1922. By the time Jock Stein became manager, we'd won the league just SIX times in his 44 years. He wouldn't even have been able to remember the first of those, as he was only a few months old at the time.

By the time Stein's Celtic won the first of Nine in a Row in 1966, to be old enough to remember Celtic's previous ten league title wins, you would have to have been born around 1910.

Now that doesn't mean you have to be happy with the current situation and it doesn't mean I am either but it does mean that supporting Celtic is no rose garden.

When you sign up to supporting Celtic, you don't do it because you like watching your team win things all the time. It means you sign up to going through all the trials and tribulations that are never far away with the manager and the team, whoever they may be. That's the way it has been for huge chunks of Celtic's history.

What we have at the moment are generations of fans who have been utterly spoiled by success.

We've got older guys who don't remember the 40's and 50's, but grew up watching the Lisbon Lions and think it should always be that way.

We've got younger guys who grew up watching O'Neill's Celtic and Seville and thinking it should always be that way.

I was born in the early 70's so I missed Lisbon and I'm too young to remember our Nine in a Row years. I do remember Celtic having to scrap with Aberdeen and Dundee United for the league in the early 80's. I remember when winning the league two years in a row was a great achievement and going without league titles for the same amount of time was to be expected.

I remember nine long seasons when we were lucky to finish as high as third from 1988-97.

We are currently enjoying the third Golden Age in our history. They have been 1888-1926 (17 titles in 34 years, 1965-88 (15 titles in 22 years) and 2000-present (10 titles in 15 years).

So you're not happy with performances under Ronny Deila? Neither am I, but you know what? POOR US!

A short period of time from 1966-74 apart, we've never had it so good.

If you think supporting Celtic is hard right now, you've no idea what it means to be a Celtic supporter.

You can go to every single game and spend as much money as you like on following Celtic. You still have no idea what it means to be a Celtic supporter if you think whinging about Ronny Deila on social media is more important than getting behind him and his team as they try to win our fifth title in a row.

If they do manage it, it'll be five in a row for just the third time in our 129 year history. And you're crying because you haven't been entertained along the way!

What happened on Saturday should, and I think will, become a moment of Celtic folklore. Game petering out to a 0-0 draw, giving Aberdeen the opportunity to leapfrog us at the top of the league later that day, until Tom Rogic produces a moment of absolute magic to score a last minute winner and send the travelling support into raptures.

Imagine the scene 20 years from now: "What was it like that day, Daddy?"

Will you say, "Oh I went absolutely mental! Brilliant day!"

Or will you be saying, "I took to social media to have a rant about Ronny Deila for playing Colin Kazim-Richards up front instead of Leigh Griffiths?"

If your answer is more like the second, you've no idea what supporting Celtic is all about.

It's not all about you. It's about Celtic. It's about playing your part, no matter how small it may be, in carrying this team over the finishing line.

It's about SUPPORTING the team through thick and thin. Yes, being utterly crushed by every defeat, but picking yourself up again and being there to cheer them on the very next game. It's about loving every minute of their success and celebrating like there's no tomorrow on those frequent occasions when we snatch that all-important goal just when it's needed most.

It's about being the 12th man. Not the greeting faced old sod at the back sucking the life out of the club with your constant negativity and self-indulgent moaning.

United we stand, divided we fall. Which is it to be?

Champions League: It should be clubs from the smaller associations breaking away

There seems to be something in the air recently regarding the future of European football, with big clubs making noises about their dissatisfaction with the Champions League, specifically the fact they (poor things) could theoretically be eliminated before the business end of the competition. Which would be just awful, wouldn't it?

There is talk of further seeding in the knock-out rounds, or even a closed-shop breakaway, invite-only Super League where "the big clubs" can play against each other to their hearts' content, without having to worry about any wee diddy clubs interrupting them.

I'm sure like me, the prospect of Real Madrid or Bayern Munich not making the quarter-finals of the Champions League would ruin the whole competition for you. In fact, you'd refuse to watch any of the remaining games on principle just because they were knocked out. Same goes for Barcelona, Manchester United,  AC Milan, Juventus. You just couldn't live without them in the Champions League, right?

Same goes for probably 80% of the most important people in the Champions League - the TV viewers. Right?

What do you mean, you'd rather see YOUR team in the last 8 than Real Madrid? Are you crazy? Where's the excitement if YOUR team gets to the last 8, or even the semi-final? Who wants to watch that?

The threat of breakaway leagues and greater seeding has always been perceived as a massive threat by clubs in smaller countries, or even by supporters of smaller clubs in the big countries. But I would say to UEFA, "let them go."

How many of these "big clubs," are there really? I'd hazard a guess we're talking about a select group of clubs from the English, Spanish, French, German and Italian leagues. I'd go with:

Arsenal
Chelsea
Liverpool
Manchester United
Paris St Germain
Barcelona
Real Madrid
Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund
Juventus
AC Milan
Inter Milan

Apart from nouveau riche PSG, at least one of these clubs has appeared in every final (except 2004) since the inception of the Champions League format in 1992.

Think about that. In a quarter of a century, there have been two blips. In 1995 one of the teams in this list lost the final to a team not on the list, and in 2004 neither finalist came from that list.

Indeed, since 2004, only once (2014) has a team from outside that list even reached the final.

And these teams think the Champions League is not already slanted in their favour enough?

Let's compare that to the 25 years before the Champions League format. Winners included Celtic, Feyenoord, Ajax, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Hamburg, Steaua Bucharest, Porto, PSV Eindhoven and Red Star Belgrade. That's winners from Scotland, Netherlands, Romania, Portugal and the old Yugoslavia (now Serbia).

Beaten finalists included Benfica, Panathinaikos, Atletico Madrid, Leeds United, Saint-Etienne, Borussia Monchengladbach, Brugge, Malmo, Roma, Marseille and Sampdoria. That's runners-up from Portugal, France, Belgium, Sweden and France.

You can see then, that the Champions League is doing exactly what it was set up to do - ensure it is dominated by the big teams from the big five (or even four) leagues.

So what if the Big 12 did break away? Would the Champions League be devalued without them? Initially, yes. Undoubtedly.

Would the breakaway league be the glamour tournament that attracts mega-money TV deals? Initially, yes. Undoubtedly.

But what about the longer term? Would those twelve clubs and only those 12 clubs be able to sustain the interest of the maybe 80% of football fans who don't support one of those clubs? That figure is probably not accurate, but I'd imagine the great majority of European football fans are not supporters of one of those clubs.

Without promotion or relegation from that select group, why would it be of interest to most football fans? I know it wouldn't appeal to me. I would not give two hours of my life to watching Manchester United v Barcelona in those circumstances, no matter who was playing for them. Even in the Champions League, the fixture holds no more than limited interest for me as it occurs so frequently. Even Celtic have played Barcelona on a seemingly annual basis in the last few seasons. We were even calling it the Nou Firm match.

Let them go and refuse to have anything more to do with them. Make it clear they can go, but don't on any account think they can have their cake and eat it.

Ban them from national leagues. Ban their players from international matches. Let them play with each other and only with each other for the rest of time and let's see how they end up.

The thing about winning the Champions League is that it is the Champions League. It is open to teams from every association in Europe, albeit on an uneven basis and slanted firmly in favour of teams from the big leagues.

Realistically, how much value would there be in winning an invite-only, closed shop league of 12, no matter how big the names are?

The likelihood is that in such a competition, even with 12 massive clubs, two or three of them would come to dominate in the longer term, with the rest becoming also-rans, like the BPL on steroids.

I would argue that in the longer term, a meritocratic Champions League minus those so-called "big clubs" would be a more attractive, more valued competition than a breakaway league of 12. Eventually, I could see them clamouring to get back in.

Whether they would like to admit it or not, the "big 12" need the rest of us. They need us to give the Champions League any value. Without the rest of us, they don't have even a semblance of competition. They need the supporters of the rest of us to generate the TV deals. They need the involvement of the rest of us to make their meetings the big deal that they used to be, but no longer are.

The big clubs are like a child who wants his favourite meal every day. After a week or two, it's not so good any more. It has become boring.

Barcelona v Chelsea needs to be a fixture that happens rarely, otherwise it becomes run of the mill. The "big clubs" don't need more games against each other, they need less.

What needs to happen in the Champions League is that it should only be open to Champions and it should be unseeded in every round.

Big clubs want more games against each other? Why not in the group stages then? The best team will still win.

The idea that a tournament is rigged to ensure bigger clubs always win is an affront to sport. It shouldn't be the bigger clubs threatening to break away if the rules aren't changed to suit them even more, it should be the rest of us threatening to pull out if a level playing field is not restored to the competition.

We're expected to provide the cannon fodder to enable the "big clubs" to automatically enter and safely negotiate the group stages while pocketing millions of pounds every single year. Our role is to be ritually slaughtered before the last 8, before the "big clubs" get down to the serious  business of playing each other at the business end of the competition. If we ever do by some fluke beat one of those "big clubs" at any stage of the competition, it's guaranteed another one will stand in our way after that. And another after that too.

As long as we compete in this corrupt "competition" we validate it.

Every association outside the cash-laden "elite" should withdraw from UEFA competition until it is restored to a format that gives their teams a sporting chance to win it.