Regional League looks to be a reality?

[JureM]

Looks like we are forming a regional soccer league the Hungarians and will at some point include teams from Slovenia and BiH and might even expand into Slovakia and Austria. Seems to be in the forming stages right now...what are your thoughts on this?


REGIONALNA LIGA Prošli tjedan u Budimpešti su se sastali čelnici nogometnih saveza Mađarske i Hrvatske
Hrvati i Mađari osnivaju regionalnu nogometnu ligu!
Autor PREDRAG JURIŠIĆ

ZAGREB - Je li na vidiku osnivanje i nogometne regionalne lige? Iako je ideja o svojevrsnoj regionalnoj ligi (nazvali smo je tada - srednjoeuropskom) u medijima promovirana još prije nekoliko godina, nikad nije bilo prave inicijative nogometnih saveza koji bi trebali biti uključeni u taj projekt. No, sad je situacija drukčija i ekskluzivno smo doznali da su već obavljeni prvi razgovori o tome između predstavnika nogometnih saveza Hrvatske i Mađarske. Štoviše, već se konkretno razgovaralo i o terminima takve regionalne lige, bilo bi to proljeće 2006. godine, liga bi se igrala na proljeće, od veljače do svibnja...

Tajni sastanak u Budimpešti
Prošli tjedan, 11. i 12. studenoga, u Budimpešti je održan sastanak (tajni!) čelnika našeg i Mađarskog nogometnog saveza. HNS je bio zastupljen u najjačem sastavu - predsjednik Vlatko Marković, glavni tajnik Zorislav Srebrić, te predsjednik Udruženja prvoligaša Damir Vrbanović, a Mađare je predstavljalo čak 12 ljudi - deset iz tamošnjega udruženja prvoligaša, te dvojica iz saveza. Nakon što smo doznali da je taj očito važan sastanak održan, o potankostima smo razgovarali s Vrbanovićem...
- Sastali smo se u Budimpešti na prijedlog Mađara. Prije šest mjeseci ugostili smo ih u Zagrebu i tada su počeli razgovori o raznim oblicima suradnje. A u Budimpešti su Mađari iznijeli i konkretan prijedlog o osnivanju regionalne lige! Još je sve, dakako, u povojima, međutim, za mjesec dana opet ćemo sjesti za stol i doraditi postojeće ideje - rekao je Vrbanović.
Ništa još, dakle, nije stavljeno na papir, nema još nikakvih službenih dokumenata. Međutim, pokrenuta inicijativa ima još kakav legitimitet, uostalom sastav sudionika sastanka dostatno govori o težini i ozbiljnosti prijedloga. A Vrbanović nastavlja:

Bez srpskih klubova
- Za sada bi u taj projekt bili uključeni klubovi iz Hrvatske, Mađarske, Slovenije, Bosne i Hercegovine, te možda iz Austrije i Slovačke! Mađari, naime, jamče da su Slovaci zainteresirani, a Austrijanci bi procijenili kakvu financijsku korist mogu od toga imati njihovi klubovi. Dakle, uključene su zemlje srednje i jugoistočne Europe, o srpskim se klubovima nije uopće razgovaralo. Termin igranja lige - od veljače do svibnja - nije slučajno određen. U tom razdoblju, naime, klubovi iz spomenutih zemalja u pravilu igraju samo utakmice nacionalnih prvenstava ili kup-susrete, rijetko se kad dogodi da neki od njih proljeće dočeka u nekom od Uefinih natjecanja (Liga prvaka, Kup Uefe). Dakle, s terminima ne bi smjelo biti teškoća, trebalo bi nam devet termina za igranje, time bi se produžio boravak klubova na međunarodnoj sceni.
Koliko bi klubova sudjelovalo u natjecanju?
- Prema prvoj inačici prijedloga, startalo bi 12 ili 16 klubova, ovisi o tome koliko bi zemalja bilo uključeno u pionirski projekt. Vjerujem da bi 16 klubova bila optimalna brojka. Tada bi se osnovale četiri skupine sa po četiri kluba, u kojima bi se razigravalo po dvostrukome bod-sustavu. Nakon tih šest kola, po dvije najbolje momčadi iz svake skupine izborile bi nastup u četvrtfinalu. Od četvrtfinala nadalje igralo bi se po kup-sustavu, po jedna četvrtfinalna, polufinalna i finalna utakmica, izvlačenjem bi se određivalo domaćinstvo.
Koliko nam se čini, takva regionalna liga imala bi mnogo sličnosti s nedavno pokrenutom Skandinavskom kraljevskom ligom.

Zašto je HNS šutio?
- Točno je, zašto ne iskoristiti nešto što je već primijenjeno! Treba dodati da bi ta liga bila pozivna. U organizacijskom odboru natjecanja bili bi predstavnici nacionalnih saveza zemalja sudionica, te predstavnici glavnih sponzora i TV kuće. I taj bi odbor odlučio koje bi klubove trebalo pozvati da sudjeluju u ligi. Dakle, ne bi samo aktualni poredak na ljestvici bio kriterij za sudjelovanje u natjecanju, nego bi na prvome mjestu bila marketinška zanimljivost. Konkretno, ako bi u vrijeme osnivanja lige na prvome mjestu u nacionalnome prvenstvu Mađarske bio, recimo, malo poznati Pecs, a Ferencvaros negdje u sredini ljestvice, siguran sam da bi se Odbor prije odlučio za kudikamo poznatiji i marketinški atraktivniji Ferencvaros - kaže Vrbanović.
Dodajmo na kraju da će se sljedeći sastanak mađarskoga i našega saveza o toj temi održati sredinom prosinca, tada bi neke od spomenutih ideja trebale biti obogaćene i konkretnim prijedlozima. A u cijeloj priči ostaje tek nejasno zašto su čelni ljudi HNS-a zatajili tu važnu informaciju. Pogotovu znamo li da nas glavni tajnik HNS-a nerijetko bombardira vagonima nevažnih vijesti! Zašto je prešućen taj iznimno važan budimpeštanski sastanak? Jesu li možda strahovali od reakcije javnosti pri spomenu regionalne lige? No, Vrbanović je naglasio da ni jednom jedinom riječju nije spomenuto sudjelovanje srpskih klubova u ligi. Barem ne zasad...

[kezele]

that will be awesome if or when it happens. Think of how much more recognition HNL teams will get? That ALSO means EA will start putting them back into the FIFA games :bouncing:

(Nothing beat playing FIFA 2000 as Croatia Zagreb) :D

Good stuff.

[Cevapcici Kid]

Awesome idea. I think all the involved countries/teams will benefit greatly. :crazy:

[Dragan T]

Awesome!

We've already started the first ever Royal League with the 4 four best teams from the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish leagues, over here in Scandinavia, and I really hope that this will help the clubs more then just financially. :cheers:


P.S.: I wonder whether they're gonna call it the "Balkan League" :fire: :hug: :clap: :frog1: :winkg: :rotfl:

[robin]

I always thought it was a good idea, and hopefully something will come out of this. Honestly guys, playing Kamen ingrad and Medjimurje just doesn't cut it and Hajduk, Dinamo and whoever else will be invited will benefit greatly from playing against bigger teams.

[Ante-8-]

Awesome!



P.S.: I wonder whether they're gonna call it the "Balkan League" :fire: :hug: :clap: :frog1: :winkg: :rotfl:


Nah....I think it will be called Prinz Ferdinand....austro-ugarso cup :sheep: ;)

[JureM]

I always thought it was a good idea, and hopefully something will come out of this. Honestly guys, playing Kamen ingrad and Medjimurje just doesn't cut it and Hajduk, Dinamo and whoever else will be invited will benefit greatly from playing against bigger teams.


Problem is, Dinamo isn't good enough to compete in the HNL what makes you think they can compete in a bigger league??? :devilish:

Actually, if you look at it, our league right now on its own is very competitive and any number of teams can take first place. Obviously in a regional league like this one, you will still get a first division, second division, etc and rely on promotion and relegation...but what would happen if say it becomes dominated with teams from one country, people will cry that it isn't fair, etc. etc. The money is in Western Europe with all the better teams and leagues there and that is where the better player will always strive to play..

Personally, I take Stimac's approach...UEFA should let more teams from other parts of Europe into the UEFA Cup and Champions League...this way you will garner more interest. Why should the EPL send what is it? 4 teams to Champions League meanwhile is a country like Croatia the first place team needs to go through qualifying games...if you bring in more team there would be a lot more interest and of course a lot more $$$ coming to the teams and the league. But, unfortunatly its the EPL, Serie A, La Liga, the Bundes Liga etc that control UEFA and want the money.

Then you look at the coutries involved...right now its the Hungarians...now, how good are their club teams and their league compared to ours? I would take our top 4 teams right now over their top 4 teams any time...then you look at the other coutries..Austria? Slovakia? Slovenia? BiH? Take Austria away, how good are their club team really? Do you think there would actually be any interest in seeing Slovakia's best club team playing in Poljud? It'll be simple...at first people may come to watch for the novelty of it,then when they see the quality of the competition sucks, they will keep away from the stadiums.

[robin]

Yeah but Steve, how many people come to see Cro league games now?? About 1000-1500 a match and that's pretty sad if you ask me. At least with a regional league there would be more money from TV rights as the market would be 10 times larger (30-40 million compared to 4.5 mil). I believe RTL has already looked into the possibility of signing on and from what i've read they're HQ for East Europe is in Budapest. I don't know Steve, it just seems worth trying simply because it can't get much worse for our league than it is now.

[robin]

BTW, forget about UEFA ever letting in more teams from smaller nations(especially Eastern Euro country's). If anything they'll take away more spots from the smaller nations, and reduce they're participation to nothing.

[markOH]

let's not forget about the goodyear liga.

just because serbia isn't involved doesn't mean the whole thing is going to magically work all of a sudden.

for us, it sucks about the biggest leagues sending 4 teams into at least the final qualifying round of the champions league every year, but there are plenty of reasons for it, and it's just something we'll have to put up with. these countries have a ton more people than we do, the teams all have more fans that are kept happy, and neutrals are given a better product to watch.

jure is fair in comparing our top teams to the top teams of the other leagues that are allegedly involved in this. for at least the time being, we might be able to really benefit from having the stronger sides and take advantage of better passage into the champions league or uefa cup. a concession would have to be made that we'd end up less teams, but that's not a bad thing if our better teams are seeing more money, more fan support if it does end up peaking interest, and more oppurtunity in european competitions.

on top of it all, it's just pretty european to work on "regional cooperation".

i think i like the idea, we'd still have OUR national team, and at the end of the day the league simply isn't much to write home about.

where are all the canadians at, i'd like to hear the expos/bluejays/raptors/and sorta 5 nhl team perspective on this one.

[JureM]

Yeah but Steve, how many people come to see Cro league games now?? About 1000-1500 a match and that's pretty sad if you ask me.

This is true...but I believe the Goodyear League doesn't draw that well either and that is a regional league as well but of course a different sport. But, don't you think our league could actually be better if say a Hajduk was able to keep a Pletikosa from leaving? Or a Dimano having their players leaving? And its not like these guys leave for stronger leagues..they leave for Ukraine or the Saudi Leagues...

Again, you let more teams into European competition, the more money it will generate for those teams and we will be able to keep our better players longer until the bigger clubs come a calling..then, we can actually get a better transfer fee for those players as well..which means even more money being pumped in...the more money, the more players are able to stay, the better the league gets.

[dinamovac11]

I am against it. It will bring nothing in terms of quality or crowds. It is just HNS and clubs looking for a quick fix for problems they created.

[baraba]

It seems like something needs to be done about the hnl but I don't know if this is the solution. Really, do you think that dinamo or Hajduk playing any Hungarian or Slovenian or Slovakian team will increase attendance? It was agood point about the TV revenue and larger market but when you put traveling expenses and other such expenses I don't know if we'd benefit too much. Plus all those lopovi would steal any extra funds anyway.
I think it would be good if there was maybe a CUP tournament for central and eastern europe which excluded the big leagues so that we and other smaller countries may have a chance to play in Europe longer than just in July & August. I know the schedule is already stacked but who's to say those leagues couldn't shave off some league games to make room for this. Just an idea.
:hide:

[CroatTommy7]

I like Baraba's idea the best. A Cup for central European teams would work best because our best teams and the best teams from the other leagues would have a good test but at the same time it wouldn't take up as much time as a league season would. Also I think this regional league would just be the biggest names from thier respective countries and not neccesarily the best(ie Hajduk Dinamo etc...) Our league does suck and co-operation with like minded federations is good but its not the answer to all of our problems(poor attendance-players leaving early etc....)

[BOban_2]

love baraba's idea of regional cup. It would be especially nice if UEFA agreed to let the first placed team directly into the CL (guaranteeing at least 1 spot to a team from a smaller league).

[JureM]

It would be especially nice if UEFA agreed to let the first placed team directly into the CL (guaranteeing at least 1 spot to a team from a smaller league).


Exactly...no one is asking for say 2 teams from a small country like ours. But, if you finish in first you deserve to get direct passage to the CL. Even though, for example, the EPL is a much better league than ours, what did that 4th place team do to deserve to get into the CL? Would it really kill the EPL to have only 3 teams go in? Same with the Bundesliga, Serie A, etc. But, unfortunatly these leagues have to much influence with UEFA where it will never happen.

Here's an idea about the regional tournament...if you are going to use say a playoff format...the 4 teams that make it to the semi-finals get direct passage to the CL while the 4 losers from the quarterfinals get automatic bids to UEFA Cup. It would give those teams more insentive to play because if there is no real goal to strive for, the idea of a regional tournament will get boring quickly.

[markOH]

4 teams from the regional league getting DIRECT passage into champions league?

that's a bit much without significantly expanding the field of the champions league to the point where the early rounds would be no different than the giant qualifying rounds anyways.

[JureM]

4 teams from the regional league getting DIRECT passage into champions league?

that's a bit much without significantly expanding the field of the champions league to the point where the early rounds would be no different than the giant qualifying rounds anyways.

I know..but, you need to give these teams some kind of insentive to play and as I said, you can do that if you take away a 4th team from the CL from one of the big leagues. For me, what did that 4th place team from the EPL do to deserve the CL anyway? They couldn't win their league or even challenge for it why then should they have the right to play in the CL? (Obviously we know...its all about the Euros but other than that).

In a way, you're right, that this tournament would be nothing more than say a qualifying round anyway.

[robin]

Guys from what I read this league or whatever you want to call it would be more of a cup system than a conventional league. Steve, I'm sorry to be so pessimistic but I just can't see our clubs (ever) generating enough money to retain the good players. It's simply impossible to do with such a small market and no interest in the league. I mean look at France, they have 50 million people and they can't even keep their players from leaving to play in Eng, Ita, and Spa.. Let's face it, we have 2 teams in Cro (maybe 3 with Rijeka) who have the majority of the fans, and I believe it is in their best interest to move onto a bigger stage where they can at least make some money from TV and marketing rights. Just my opinion gentlemen.

[Ljubuski]

I am against it. It will bring nothing in terms of quality or crowds. It is just HNS and clubs looking for a quick fix for problems they created.

Bingo!!!

I don't see how we could be for joining a regional league from central Europe which is traditionally very weak in footballing terms and at the same time NOT join the more powerful and stronger footballing countries to the south and east.

If, as many are saying, joining will help Hrvatska because of increased quality and interest/$$$ then we should be advocating forming a Balkan-type of cup competition or league. Poljud would sell-out everytime Partizan, Zvijezda, CSKA, Steau came to play as would Maksimir.

I'm not for it but if we were to do it, going the stronger route would make more sense than going the route with countries who can't play football which is the most important thing.

Cheers

[JureM]

What I don't understand is that all this talk about a "regional" league is coming at a time when the HNL has been as competitive as it ever has been. Just look at the fight for first place, Inter leads with 30 points and you have the next 3 teams within 2 points of Inter and 3 teams after that within 6 points of Inter. I don't think you can ask for much more.

I also feel that a "League" with Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, BiH and Austria will not increase interest at all and even with any kind of regional league with any country in our region (with the exception of Italy but they aren't going to join up with anyone) will make the teams any better than they already are. No matter how you slice it, it will still be second rate because it could never compete with the bigger leagues for players anyway. Does anyone believe that a Zidane type player would ever sign with Dinamo or Hajduk just because they are in a slightly better league? Does anyone actually believe Dinamo or Hajduk for example could actually afford to sign a top player in a slightly better league?

People in Croatia aren't coming out to games because I would bet ticket prices are a bit expensive...and considering some of our fan groups people might be afraid to go to a game thinking they can get hurt by the likes of Torcida or BBB.

[Ljubuski]

Good point about the competition in the current league but if I may all this talk is proof we need some sort of Transfer cap, where no player can leave until the age of 24 or so.

In retrospect, if one were to look at the old league and view it as a regional league, it is proof enough that it still wouldn't be able to compete as it couldn't back then when football was organized into clubs rather than corportations.

We had to put restrictions on players otherwise they'd high tail it to richer clubs. I think the only option is to stay separate and harness and refine our talent the best we can within Croatia using some sort of transfer restriction.

Any regional league that we'd enter, either the central one or the southerlyl one or both even combined could not match with the purchasing power of the western clubs.

Cheers

[JureM]

Ljubo...that's my point exactly! Just look at Man U for example...these guys have more money than all the teams in our league or the proposed regional league combined. I believe that team is worth billion dollars...if you bring it down to simply dollars and cents, you look at how many jersey's a ManU, Juventus, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, etc sell around the world its just incredible, all that merchandising brings them in more money than you can believe. Meanwhile, I don't think there would be a huge market for Dinamo, Hajduk, some Hungarian, Slovak, Austrian, Slovene, etc jersey's around the world even in some sort of regional league. It's just not going to happen. For the big clubs, ticket sales are chump change, their revenues come from the world wide TV deals they have set up, the Pay Per View games you get every week from the EPL for example, their merchandising, their CL appearances, etc. That is where the big money is at...any kind of regional type league around Croatia (again the only exception is joing with the Italians but that ain't happening) is not going to bring in anything.

[robin]

So Steve, we'll just stay in our lowly league and wither away into nothingness??? I say we at least give it a shot and see what happens. If it fails, it fails, not the end of the world.

[JureM]

So Steve, we'll just stay in our lowly league and wither away into nothingness??? I say we at least give it a shot and see what happens. If it fails, it fails, not the end of the world.


So...lets look at it like this...if that league is made (Hugaraian,Slovene, Austrian, etc) why do Hajduk and Dinamo deserve to be in it instead of Inter and Rijeka? Granted Hajduk is tied with Rijeka for 2nd place? Why should they deserve that league over the other HNL teams?

Also, again, what's wrong with our league? Look at the standings and you will see everything that is right with the league. Just because Hajduk or Dinamo aren't in first place it doesn't mean the league stinks.

Then you look at the countries involved...tell me what makes those teams in those countries so good that instantly this regional league will be something special? Or any other team in our region?

I think its the Croatian mentality and that is we always think that we're better off with someone or something else yet, our history and our people have shown that we can do things quite well on our own. Look at Dinamo in the 1990's didn't they make a quarterfinal run in the CL when the league was probably at its worst? No one complained...Hajduk I believe made a good run a few years back in Europe...

If you want to blame anyone or anything for the so-called problems the HNL is having you have to blame the teams. They sell their talent to the bigger clubs for nothing..rather than put any kind of money they made back into the club to keep the players the lopovi that run the teams keep it for themselves...we have some violent fans who think because they are in a "fan group" it gives them the right to attack other fans and their own teams players that they allegedly "cheer" for and people wonder why no one goes to the games.

[robin]

Fair enough Steve, you have your opinion, I have mine. BTW, Dinamo didn't make it into the CL quarters, Hajduk did it in 1995 against Ajax. Actually, Dinamo hasn't qualified into the Spring season of the Euro Cups for 30 something years.

[JureM]

Fair enough Steve, you have your opinion, I have mine. BTW, Dinamo didn't make it into the CL quarters, Hajduk did it in 1995 against Ajax. Actually, Dinamo hasn't qualified into the Spring season of the Euro Cups for 30 something years.

I have no idea why I wrote Dinamo...maybe its because of that bum Dinamottovac. :thumbdown

[CroatTommy7]

You are correct Jure we can do things properly on our own, but the reason for all of that European club team success in the 90's for Croatian teams was because of dare I say it TUDJMAN! I know most people don't like him from all sides because he got way too involved in sports and let people that were corrupt stay on in important positions in his party but despite all that since he passed away niether Dinamo nor Hajduk have done anything in Europe and Croatia seems to be more and more a pawn of the EU.

[markOH]

jure,

you mention quite often how great you think the league is this year because so many teams are in it.

to me, it's not that we have all of these teams playing so great all of a sudden, it's the opposite, that hajduk and dinamo are playing down to teh rest of the league (at least relative to their historical standards) and to me, that's not a good thing at all really, esp. since it's just highly impractical for me to train it in to new york every weekend to watch some of these great "competitive" games.

certainly the worse than normal form of our clubs in europe this season supports dinamo and hajduk not being up to par, whereas what have any of the "new kids on the block" really done other than win a few games with players on loan from dinamo?

just a thought.

[robin]

MarkOH I believe that to be true as well.

[markOH]

also, criticizing this idea is all fine and dandy to me, but to call it a "quick fix" i'm not sure is fair.

there's nothing "quick fix" about disbanding leagues and forming new ones, on the contrary, it's quite the long term commitment.

again, just a thought.

[DerbyCounty]

I am 50/50 about this topic. I believe these games might get good attendances early in the season but as the season goes on we’ll be seeing the same numbers and the supporters would rather sit home and watch the Premiership or Serie A rather than our regional league.
I would prefer a 10 team league rather than a regional league though but that’s a totally different argument.
About both Hajduk and Dinamo getting that is not completely true. A lot of the teams in the HNL have strong squads, Rijeka have an great bunch of players, Varteks have excellent youth players, they are smart with their money and I think their squad is good. Realistically I believe only three clubs have poor squads: Medjimurje, Zadar and Pula 1856.

[Ljubuski]

MarkOH's point is very good in that the two powerhouses of the HNL are simply not playing up to standards.

If we're to go that route Grba makes a good point too. It wouldn't be the end of the world and we could always go back, but I'd rather go with the stronger footballing countries and yes that includes our former neighbours, that would ensure sold out crowds on a weekly basis.

Cheers

ps. I remember reading a mag a while ago stating the economic numbers of Man Utd and the greatest gross of their income comes from ticket sales. I believe it was 36% or so. Putting guzice in the seats (or better yet stands/terraces) is the single most important thing for the survival of a club. It also makes for better TV viewing.

[JureM]

I am 50/50 about this topic. I believe these games might get good attendances early in the season but as the season goes on we’ll be seeing the same numbers and the supporters would rather sit home and watch the Premiership or Serie A rather than our regional league.
I would prefer a 10 team league rather than a regional league though but that’s a totally different argument.
About both Hajduk and Dinamo getting that is not completely true. A lot of the teams in the HNL have strong squads, Rijeka have an great bunch of players, Varteks have excellent youth players, they are smart with their money and I think their squad is good. Realistically I believe only three clubs have poor squads: Medjimurje, Zadar and Pula 1856.


Derby made some great points in this post and he is spot on:

1. Once the novelty of a "regional" league wears off and the fans see that its nothing special fans will stop going. Its like here in the States or Canada..a new Stadium is built and what happens? Fans come in droves to see the stadium..then what happens? If the team is winning, they return..if the product on the field stinks, the fans don't come. It's the same with this "regional league." Unfortunatly I think we Croatians always have the "grass is always greener on the other side" mentality when it comes to this only to find out they paint their grass on the other side and thats why it looks greener. Then, say it is with our "former neighbors," do you think the stadium will sell out because those fans want to watch a good soccer game? Doubtful..the stadium would sell out because fans want to fight and make trouble. Thanks but no thanks...the damage they could cause would negate any money the team just made at the gate.

Also, now with the Satalite dishes that everyone seems to have, people now have greater access to watching the Bundesliga, Serie A, EPL, etc.

2. A 10 team league is perfect because it will allow for more games with rival teams. How about Hajduk-Dinamo playing each other 4 times per year? Think Maksimir and Poljud will get some nice crowds?

3. Derby is also right...Dinamo and Hajduk have some talented players but maybe they aren't playing "down to the their competion" rather, maybe the competition is catching up to them....as he said, teams like Varteks are smart with their money (what a novel idea!) their young players seem to stay and what happens? The team becomes competitive and strong...people first complained that Dinamo and Hajduk were to strong for the rest of the league so whats the point in watching games...then when the other teams get better suddenly the league sucks because Dinamo and Hajduk aren't in first place. You can't have it both ways...

As for a regional league...like MarkOh said...you can't just form the league and walk away from it just like that. It's not that easy...you form one of these leagues you're talking about a committment of 5 years at the very least...

[robin]

I think the point many of us are missing here is the fact that there would still be a HNL, and that the Regional tourney would take place in the Springtime. I too would love for our league to be reduced to 8 or 10 teams(it should have been this way from the beginning considering the size of the country), but unfortunately there are sick people in the Savez (Markovic and Cronies) who seem to believe that a bigger league is the solution. Man, when will this tyrant Markovic leave or be ousted, he is detrimental to Cro soccer, period!!!

Steve, on a side note, if our league is so interesting this year, why are less people watching it??

[JureM]

I think the point many of us are missing here is the fact that there would still be a HNL, and that the Regional tourney would take place in the Springtime. I too would love for our league to be reduced to 8 or 10 teams(it should have been this way from the beginning considering the size of the country), but unfortunately there are sick people in the Savez (Markovic and Cronies) who seem to believe that a bigger league is the solution. Man, when will this tyrant Markovic leave or be ousted, he is detrimental to Cro soccer, period!!!

Steve, on a side note, if our league is so interesting this year, why are less people watching it??

First off Happy Thanksgiving..

Thats different if its a regional tournament..but, I think the talk is a Regional League. There is a huge difference between a league and a tournament.

The less teams in the HNL the better especially in a small country like ours. An 8-10 team league will make for a lot of great rivals and much more competition...you can see that the bottom 2 or 3 teams really don't belong right now and that talk of 16 teams is stupidity.

I mentioned it in another post about why there are less fans...ticket prices, regular people afraid of the "Fan groups," unemployment rate is high so people might have other worries like paying their bills than going to a game, things like that..

[robin]

Happy Thanksgiving bro!!! Right, people have more important things to worry about then soccer. On the other hand though, there are still many people who love the sport, but are just not interested in the HNL (except the Hajduk Dinamo rivalry). I am amazed when I go back home every other summer and I see how disinterested the peeople are, I mean we in the diaspora know more about the HNL then they do over there!! It's crazy, but true!! I've been reading alot of the Torcida forums the past couple of weeks and it seems to me that many fans over there would welcome this Regional League or Cup as they would have opportunities to travel to some great city's (Budapest, Vienna,Bratislava, Prague, etc.) and also meet fans from these other teams. I still support this idea and I have so from the beginning, as I think it might raise interest in soccer in our country as well as the entire Central European region. At the same time I will say that I respect everybody's opinion on this issue. :)

[CroatTommy7]

Robin good points on the fans needing more competition with other fan groups. Man I can just picture the Czech or Austrian fans when they see Torcida or BBB :thumbup2: . I don't mind this expirament as long as its only a cup tournament for a month or two and stays that way and that we get to keep our own independant league.

Happy Thanksgiving to the Americans on here. I went nuts with the Turkey :lfc: lol on the Canadian TG a month ago

[Ljubuski]

Guys, for me I see a 10-team Croatian league as a huge step in ensuring our league is strong.

It's a perfect idea which is why it won't happen. Furthermore I see a regional tournament working well with a 10 team league. We could have our season finished by March and that would leave teams to be able to concentrate better on late UEFA rounds, trust me it will happen one day, or on a regional tournament.

Guys, I don't understand this morbid desire to join a 'central' European league. The only reason why some wouldn't want to go that way is because we'd lose a small notion of independence, but if we were to lose any notion of it why not join what would be a better league/tournament south of us.

I don't understand.

And another thing I don't understand is why Grba, CroatTommy, and Oljua don't bring their old names back.

Cheers

[markOH]

fan groups...

i was in prague once, i was backpacking at the time and made a point to at least try and check out stadiums at all the cities i stopped at.

long story made short, about 25 dudes with every kind of blatant nazi tattoo you could imagine and a bunch of BIG CRAZY looking dogs hanging out with sparta scarves.

enoguh to just make me turn away and forget the whole thing.

never saw anything that blatant at the poljud, thats for sure.

[JureM]

Ljubo...I agree...a 10 team league would be perfect for us and you can mix that in with a regional tournament right after the season ends. Nothing wrong with having a regional tournament with maybe the top 2 teams in each league playing one another in a knockout type tournament.

[Zvonimir]

And another thing I don't understand is why Grba, CroatTommy, and Oljua don't bring their old names back.

Cheers


:dontkn: well, actually because "they" will start crying to the admin... :noevil:

[CroatTommy7]

Ha sorry Ljubuski I would change my nick back to my original from xtratime.com but for some reason I can't change it now(I tried) if anyone knows let me know. :beer:

[Ljubuski]

Ask the Admin. they'll do it no prob. I had a hyphenated name when this first started but that didn't work out too well.

Cheers

[JureM]

Private Message OSF or Rezag and they can tell you how to change your name.

[robin]

Ljubuski, look under my signature. Best I could do bro. :cool1:

[Ero]

Ljubuski, look under my signature. Best I could do bro. :cool1:

zajebo si signature, nije tko nego "ko". ;)

[JureM]

Ero correcting others spelling mistakes...ma boga ti. :laugh2: :laugh2:

[CroatTommy7]

^^^ Done and Done, got the name changed back ;)

[Ero]

Ero correcting others spelling mistakes...ma boga ti. :laugh2: :laugh2:

Bog se pise s velikim slovom...e moji imocani.. :)

[JureM]

Bog se pise s velikim slovom...e moji imocani.. :)


:coffee: :grin: :grin:

[robin]

Ero, is that better!?

BTW, Croat Tommy how did you change your name??

[Ero]

that's better robine lehendo !!

(ljubo are ya watching? :) )

[robin]

Thank you my man!!

[robin]

I think everybody will know my real name now!! :howler:

[CroatTommy7]

Grba i asked Rezag the chief moderator of all these forums to change my name and I told him exactly what I wanted it to be and he did it automatically for me :thumbup2:

[robin]

Thanx, I'll try it.