Jim White and Simon Jordan clash after fan protests ahead of Leeds draw v Liverpool
Jim White and Simon Jordan found themselves in a heated debate on talkSPORT on Tuesday morning after Leeds United fans protested against the European Super League.
Leeds fans descended upon Elland Road on Monday night to show their anger towards the formation of the ESL, which has since collapsed with all six Premier League clubs backing out of the controversial project.
TalkSPORT host White and ex-Crystal Palace chief Jordan found themselves at odds with one another after the protests, with Jordan confused as to why Leeds United fans were actually trying to make a point about.
“Fans protested outside Elland Road [on Monday]. Leeds players warmed up pre-match against Liverpool with t-shirts that carried the message ‘earn it on the pitch’ and ‘football is for the fans’,” said White on talkSPORT [Tuesday, 10:08am]
Jordan responded by saying: “So what are they protesting about? Are they protesting about the current format?
“If you put a deal together with somebody and it’s a really big deal – it’s an egg-breaking, omelette-making deal – what do you do? You put a deal that people really don’t like and you pair it back, you start to dilute it and get it across the line.
“You start with a deal that’s really hard for people to digest and then you start giving concessions to get it across the line and people think, ‘oh actually this is being diluted, it’s being paired down, there is qualification, there is relegation involved in it. Ok, what’s the issue?’. And that’s where this goes.”
But White fired back. He said: “Hang on a second though Simon because I’m surprised at this. The structure of the Champions League at the moment is not broken, so why fix it?”
Jordan implored that clubs need to find money from somewhere by saying: “Sorry, hang on a second. We might see that (Man City and Chelsea being kicked out of the Champions League) but let me ask you a question. If Premier League clubs are losing £600million a year in a normal year, losing £1.5billion every year in COVID, where’s this money coming from, Jim?”
Sky Sports News presenter White suggested that cuts in spending will help them find money as he said: “You’ve been banging on long enough it should come in players wages – slash the players’ wages.
“Where’s the solution? This has caused mass revolt.”
Brian Clough lasted longer at Leeds
The ESL has had a short yet massive impact on English football.
It has shown that if fans, players, managers, journalists and pundits stick together then huge things can be done to shift the landscape of the sport.
The ESL was dreamt up by rich businessman in their ivory towers with total disregard about the actual value that football holds in this part of the world.
American owners cannot come over here and turn European sport into something they’re used to. We just won’t stand for it.
But the big thing here is that the ESL isn’t the only issue football has faced.
What about soaring ticket prices, the ridiculous cost of television packages, the sickening wage increases, agents, gambling, the Qatar World Cup, racism, sexism, homophobia and child sex abuse? These are all issues that football has and has had massive problems with over the years.
We’ve shown that if we come together, we can stop the elite from damaging the sport we love.
Let’s use this power to make football better for everyone included.
In other Leeds United news, a pundit has shared what Marcelo Bielsa’s stance on the Tottenham vacancy is likely to be.