Sports: Back to the future with the European Cup - Dan Carrier talks about the Champions league

Published: 8 April, 2010

The Crow by Dan Carrier

IT was “neat and tidy, tidy and neat”, to borrow a phrase from my favourite Roger Hargreaves character, Mr Messy.
And while the Gooners can say “we only had half a team out”, it does make me wonder whether it’s worth qualifying for the Champions League in the first place.
Judging by the nasty text messages I received on Saturday from Arsenal-supporting friends, I can only surmise that Gooners are getting worried about us joining their snouts in the “Champions” telly trough, where the biggest piggies shnaffle and belch year in, year out. Ruining football for every one else by making the dream of an underdog club rising through the divisions to scoop the top pot a historical blip, like Brian Clough’s Derby in the 1970s.
Yes, I want Spurs to qualify, but only because the rules are made that way. Wouldn’t it be much better if the Champions League reverted back to the European Cup, with simple, two-legged knockouts, featuring the, erm, Champions?
That way the Gooners would not have to live with the annual disappointment they feel when they get dumped out of the cup, and we could get back to the good old days when the Champions League cash cow was not the be all and end all and the domestic cups mattered to everyone.
So forget Messi’s neat and tidy performance (although that may be hard), finishing anywhere but number one should disqualify you from playing in the cup anyway.
After all, it’s not as if Arsenal are the champions.

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