Football and Sports News Blog from former Charlton Athletic, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion Professional Footballer Andy Hunt, including Current Football News, blog feeds from Football Fans, Football Videos and Articles
As things stand in the Football transfer market and with just a few days to go to the start of the Premiership season this is where I see the Football title heading next year in 2007/2008.
Manchester United
Liverpool Football Club
Chelsea Football Club
Tottenham Hotspur
Newcastle United Football Club (If they keep Owen Fit)
Tevez signing for United gives them an undoubted attacking edge over all the other teams in an already formidable United line up and I see them going from strength to strength over this coming season. (Manchester United thrash Home Team Football Club 14-0). It will be very close but I think that even with my predicted sensational transfer of the season by Chelsea to lure Beckham back from the MLS (Beckhams Major League Football mistake), the title will be red this year.
Will Signing Carlos Tevez make Manchester United untouchable
When I played professionally I used to have a little wager at the start of the Football season on who would win the various leagues. I would place a £100-£200 yankee bet at the local bookmakers which if it came in would bring a big return. Looking back now I believe that this was probably illegal and against the FA rules, but with all the corruption and scandal that is hitting the Leagues at the moment I doubt they would even bat an eyelid.
If I did win the 4 bet Yankee I would send a "friend" to pick up the winnings in case I was spotted by an observant fan. I have just returned to the UK for a months break so I might re-ignite my pre-season ritual and make it to the bookmakers one last time.
What is going on in the Premier League? Just as the Roman Empire spread itself too thin on the ground and collapsed amid much corruption and double crossing it seems that the English Premier League is awash with dirty deeds and mis-appropriated funds.
After Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool have been snapped up, Arsenal are sure to follow. After that though reports of other teams being bought are appearing all over the news.
With all due respect to all these teams, there can only be one Premiership winner and only a few clubs who will make it into Europe where they can boost their Broadcasting Revenues. Manchester City, Blackburn and Birmingham City are not going to leapfrog Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal in the near future unless the worlds 5th richest man does decide to duke out, head to head with Abramovich. That would be a battle worth watching. Maybe Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft could join the battle also after his reported interest in buying Southampton. He is Americas 5th richest man and between them these 3 could fight a great Premiership Cash match, pushing the salaries of the premier league football gladiators closer to the £200,000/week mark.
A book about the Leeds United fall from grace should be posted to all prospective Football Club purchasers, with West Ham and Newcastle United surely the most vulnerable.
Newcastle United Football Club in constant crisis and flux is destined for a choppy future, with millions wasted on players, and manager after manager coming through the door. Jean Alain Boumsong, signed from Rangers for an incredible fee of £8 Million seems to sum up the ludicrous amounts of money flowing through and out of the game into the pockets of the Premiership Emperors. Quite incredibly this £8 Million player was signed by Rangers for NOTHING and sold to Newcastle for a handsome profit.
United, a club that attracts a massive fan base is caught up to its neck in the corruption scandal, with one of its former managers (Graeme Souness) and its current manager (Sam Allardyce) both implicated deeply in the corruption and the club itself guilty of inconsistencies in its evidence to the report. Mike Ashleys continued purchasing of Newcastles shares must be seen as very risky.
And the agents who have played a pivotal role in this upward spiral of benevolent behaviour are now being pulled up by the independent report from Lord Stevens, targeting numerous mis-handling of transfer by Football Clubs, Managers and Agents alike.
It seems that the foundations for the fall of the Premier League Empire, although not imminent yet are being laid and the "House of Premiership" is on shaky grounds.
When the dust settles on this latest round of inflated cash incentives for the clubs, we will see a lot of losers and I fear business as usual for Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. Many successful businessman will be licking their wounds over bad Premier League investments ruing the day they joined the 2006/2007/2008 Premiership Boom.
Thierry Henry is being linked to AC Milan, which would be a massive blow to Arsenal if they let him go. How do you replace a proven goalscorer like him? I felt they made a big mistake in letting Patrick Vierra leave a few years ago and Henry departing would be another big loss.
Thierry Henrys Football Skills
"So the only thing I can tell you is right now I am an Arsenal player but I cannot deny it's nice to hear about Milan." said Henry, leaving the door slightly open. I hope he stays at Arsenal as Wenger has been slowly rebuilding his squad and a fully fit Henry could spearhead a great season for the gunners.
Thierry Henry Talking about being a Professional Footballer
Xabi Alonso has signed a long term contract at Liverpool joining Gerrard, Carragher and Reina. Liverpool seem to have been a bit slower at making new summer signings but keeping their current players is equally important
Chelsea have not done much in the Transfer market yet and even look close to losing Arjen Robben to Real Madrid. I always thought Robben provided great variety to Chelseas game and I hope he stays.
You tube continues to be sued by everyman and his dog. The English Premier League have now been joined by Cherry Lane Music Publishing (owners of Elvis Presley copyrights), French Football and the Tennis Federations. Viacom, owners of MTV started the legal free for all and the German football Bundesliga seem set to follow also. Google, owners of You tube don't seem to be too bothered with CEO Eric Schmidt claiming these are just Business Negotiations. Google will probably cut deals with all these associations to share advertising revenues from all of the unlicensed sports videos now showing up on You Tube.
Scott Parker joined West Ham and I am very surprised that Sam Allardyce let him go. Curbishley must be delighted to get Parker for £7 million, good value in the current market and with Dean Ashton returning to fitness I doubt West Ham will be Premier League struggles this season.
David Beckham must be regretting his move to LA Galaxy (Of course he is earning a fortune but then he is already a multi-millionaire), even though Alexi Lalas said they will drive him to the airport for his International flights back to the UK. After returning to the England team in fine form a career in the MLS is hardly great preparation for top class football. It wouldn't surprise me if he returns to the Premier League next year.
The top clubs and managers must have looked at Beckhams performances and wonder if he could be lured back to the Premier League. Chelsea would suit him as his superstar appeal would do wonders for Chelsea Football Clubs Global branding. And if anyone can afford him it's Abramovich. I wonder what the get out clause is on Beckhams LA Galaxy contract?
It sounds astonishing to think that a Premier League player can command £200,000 a WEEK, yet this is the figure that is being talked about by the Deloitte Report on the Financial state of the Football.
Television Rights Deals are spiralling upwards, inevitably pushing Players wages upwards and the author of Deloittes report suggests that it will not be long before a player commands a £200,000/week Salary. The mind boggles that an average Premiership player and Journeymen (players who move from Club to Club) could then earn £50,000/week. Far fetched I hear you cry. Yet the money continues to pour into the game at a breakneck speed as the Premier League Football appeal spread across the world.
The English league is dwarfing its Italian, German and Spanish peers, with Match day, Sponsorship and Broadcast revenues reaching £1.4 Billion in the 2005/2006 season. The Serie A Italian League generated £1 Billion, falling well short of the English games financial windfall.
European Success
Perhaps these numbers explain the success of English clubs in the Champions league with Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United all reaching the final 4 this season.
Chelsea have spent big over the last few years backed by their owners generosity, yet Manchester United are not falling behind, having already spent £35 Million this week on Anderson and Nani, plus quite probably another £17 Million on Owen Hargreaves and the 2006/2007 season has only just ended.
With the newly negotiated TV deal kicking in this season the premier league clubs will be receiving £2.7 Billion over the next 3 years and the spending will not be stopping yet. The highly lucrative Television Rights from abroad will boost even further the amount of money the clubs have at their disposal, pushing towards the first predicted £10,000,000 a year salary.
More Figures of Note
In 2005/2006 Football Agents scooped a noteworthy £50 Million for brokering all these deals.
The general opinion is that Derby Countys victory against West Bromwich Albion is worth an extra £60 Million to them.
Manchester United sell Match day suites for up to £150,000/season
Match day attendance in the Premier League is 92%
Manchester United have an estimated 75 Million fans worldwide with 41 Million residing in Asia
650,000 South Korean Football Fans have signed up for a branded Manchester United Credit Card
It's not a fair game anymore
It's very hard to get an understanding of all these numbers and what they mean in real terms. My dad has been telling me all his life how it's not a fair game and that it cannot continue (referring to wages of players) and that ticket prices are too expensive. Yet is does continue and in fact Match day income is not the biggest earner for the Premiership Clubs anymore with Broadcasting rights providing the bulk of their income. Football has come a long way since the cloth cap days and there is certainly no turning back to these bygone eras, ridiculed in the Harry Enfield Video below :
My Dads stand against £200,000/week footballers
He has made his decision to stand up for the small club, not because he doesn't want to watch the big games but because he believes it is just plain wrong that people earn this kind of money. He quit watching Premier League Football, cancelled his Skysports subscription and now follows Kings Lynn Football Club week in and week out. The football isn't so good but it is still exciting and it doesn't cost him a large chunk of his weekly pension to see the games.
Maybe though nothing has really changed. The big clubs still have to get their players. Of course their net is cast ever further looking for the best young recruits and this is not so good for the small English clubs as the money leaves the country. However money still pours down to the lower leagues through Transfers. This is where the smaller clubs have to be run well and managed efficiently.
This is also the lifeblood of football. Without the small clubs, managers do not learn their art, players do not build their skills and perfect their trade, coaches do not gain experience. After all Alex Ferguson, Sam Allardyce, Michael Owen, Frank Lampard et al, did not just appear from thin air. My Father may have lost faith in Football but it may be just that the structure of the game has changed. The smaller clubs will be feeder clubs to the big clubs, and in effect this is what has always happened, as the best move up the Footballing ladder and the worse slide back down, whether you be a club, manager, player or coach.
It's not just the smaller English clubs that can cry foul. The massive buying power of the Premier Leagues elite is also giving them a huge advantage over the rest of the European clubs. It looks like Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have very healthy futures ahead of them. So long as they keep one eye out for the less fortunate teams all should continue to bode well in the English game or Football will simply cease to exist without the whole Footballing structure in place.
And is it worth it? Well you be the judge.
Champions League Football Video Highlights 2006/2007
Free Ticket to Home Games and go where you like in the stadium
Entrance to away team Boardrooms
Get to meet the players
Get to buy the players
Bragging Rights
Sit in on Premier League meetings with the high flying big wigs of football
Great Pre-season Holidays with the team
If you have any suggestions leave them in the comments below...
and the Top 7 reasons not to buy the club?
As for the Champions League final. Liverpool got hit with the classic sucker punch. After playing the better football and wasting numerous great attacking positions (how they missed someone like Robbie Fowler), Pippo Inzaghi popped up to show them how to do it with 2 predatory goals, although the first does nothing to prove his goalscoring skills other than his willingness to follow up the free kick and get into dangerous goalscoring areas. Something Liverpool obviously missed.
I rate Dirk Kuyt but so much of his work is done in front of the opposition back 4, contributing much to the teams build up, whereas Inzaghi is constantly looking to get in behind defences, contributing less to the team over 90 minutes, but how much value do you place on 2 Champions League final goals?
Ferguson, Mourinho, Wenger, Ronaldo, Drogba and the rest of the premier league circus that inspires us week after week are revving up for the showdown of the century. A finale to the Premier League football season whipped into a tantalizing display of the best footballers and teams in Europe, and showcased by the best new technology of high definition TV, a million different camera angles and a host of media bustling to give us every little titbit we can devour.
I am heading back to England for a few weeks break from Belize, full of excitement to see the Premier League finale and the culmination of the Coca Cola Championship. I have a special interest in the Championship as I lived in Birmingham for 5 years playing for West Bromwich Albion Football Club for that duration. I know the passion and rivalry between Birmingham, Wolves and West Brom, and the tension must be at breaking point. The possibility of West Brom and Wolves playing each other in the Play-offs is incredible for the people of the midlands, especially as Birmingham may be joining them if they cannot secure one of the top spots.
I have often said that I do not believe Footballers deserve the money they earn. Yet when the teams serve up a season of endless possibilities: First All English Champions League final; 2 teams in search of the treble; Premier league and Championship all going to the wire, I can only congratulate everyone involved. The Gladiators on the field, the Generals directing from the sidelines all have played a huge role in creating the end of season spectacle we are now witnessing.
Whether you are a Barnsley, Kings Lynn (my first team), Wigan or Kettering Town (my second team) Fan you will all be picking your favourites for the end of season run in regardless of whom your first football love is. The stars of the show will have the world talking about them in a never-ending barrage of compliments, abuse, admiration, despair, frustration and disappointment. They will be the talk of the town up and down the country and although their salaries resemble telephone numbers, Ferguson, Mourinho and the rest of the premier league crew deserve enormous credit for bringing English Football a season’s finale to be proud of.
The only problem I have is finding a good spot to soak up the last few weeks of football as my family don’t have Skysports…..
Arsenal 3 Liverpool 0 - This morning I watched todays game at the Emirates Stadium between Arsenal and Liverpool and can only surmise that Liverpool Football Club seem to be in a state of turmoil. Todays performance against Arsenal was woefully below what is expected of a high quality premiership side such as Liverpool.
Steven Gerrards continued role as a right midfielder is becoming more of an issue for all football commentators (BBC Sport - Benitez shrugs off Gerrard debate) and plenty have noted the folly of playing one of the best central midfielders in the country in a position that is not natural for him.
As a guide to disseminating the choice of playing Gerrard on the right hand side I would suggest putting yourself in Arsene Wengers shoes. What would Wenger be thinking (and most Arsenal fans) when they saw how Liverpool shaped up before the game today? Gerrard playing out on the right side of the field ; Wenger must have been delighted with that.
There were many strange looks from Gerrard to his bench throughout the game, showing his confusion. Rafael Benitez has a constant rotation policy for his team, but playing your best players out of position definitely is not going to win him any admirers. Especially amongst the Liverpool fans.
After the game Benitez said
"Steven was playing in the middle for part of the second half and we didn't create many chances.
"We need to improve as a team and not think about one or two players."
That’s not a great way to motivate your players and Gerrard will surely feel these remarks as criticism from his manager. Justifying his decision to play Gerrard in right midfield by questioning Gerrards lack of influence when he did play him in the Centre of Midfield does not bode well. It is as if Benitez is saying that he wasn't effective in the Centre of Midfield even when he moved him to the centre and therefore his decision to play him on the right was correct.
Well Gerrard certainly did not influence the game on the right. Troubled times indeed for Liverpool.
Arsenal on the other hand are doing their up most to keep up with the phenomenal win rate of Manchester United and Chelsea. Today they looked like a great team, playing with lots of movement, fluidity and able to break down Liverpool on numerous occasions. I hope they can hang on to the coattails of the leading 2 to make this a Premiership season to remember. I am sure we will see some great press conferences and touchline dramas courtesy of Jose Mourinho, Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger if the 3 teams can stay neck and neck through the season. Those battles/mindgames could be as exciting as the Football matches themselves and reminiscent of Kevin Keegans emotional outpouring below :
Funny Video
Totally off the topic of Football is this brilliant video in a similar vein to Trigger Happy TV. It's amazing the things people will put up with and do when you point a camera and microphone at them...enjoy
When I played professionally I used to have a little wager at the start of the Football season on who would win the various leagues. I would place a £100-£200 yankee bet at the local bookmakers which if it came in would bring a big return. Looking back now I believe that this was probably illegal and against the FA rules, but with all the corruption and scandal that is hitting the Leagues at the moment I doubt they would even bat an eyelid.
