How can anyone take seriously a competition that gets "added to" the further it progresses, as Champions League failures claim a place in the closing fixtures.
It is obviously a ploy for the 'rich to get richer', as major clubs lose out on further Champions League big bucks when they fall by the wayside ... but it devalues the competition.
Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry hailed what he described as a vital step forward after being named on the board of the newly-formed European Club Association.
Parry joined his Chelsea counterpart Peter Kenyon on a 15-man board which replaced the now defunct G14 body and will have a crucial voice in running the European game over the next two years.
Parry: "We wanted a proper say in the issues that affect us most and it is vitally important that there is an English voice.
"This body has far greater credibility than G14, both with fellow clubs and UEFA, because it was always seen as an elite group. Now we have clubs with widely diverging interests."
Five English clubs were among the 103 ECA members invited to the inaugural ECA general assembly, but Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle all have no representation.