Another Sky Sports circus has come and gone. Counting down from the beginning of July to the end of August and then spewing like banshees with norovirus as every minute passes towards 11pm and the ‘door slamming shut’. Some poor sod finds himself sat in front of a camera trying to look excited as one multi millionaire swaps clubs with another. Only a small pool can win the league; mostly determined by their owners wad and much less the skill of the manager, coaches…. Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are, for me, the only ones that can win the league now or in the medium term future. Those who do not win have to aim for a lucrative Champions (champions of what?) League position. For teams like Liverpool and Arsenal this has become the golden fleece as winning the league is too often out of their reach.
My sympathies are with the fans. Another round of sitting. At the ground; in the home or in the bar. None of it cheap. Win, lose or draw: same job (or not); same debt; same tyranny. Anger displaced on to rival fans or opposition players for a brief moment in time. Until the next time. The camaraderie of the Kop is not though to be underestimated. Fighting government, police and the media has seen some successes in the face of adversity. For some football is life and death. The escape.
For those who are unlikely to get close to champions of what football there is the booby prize. Worse than relegation. Europa League football. Whoever came up with this must have been bribed whilst scoffing ketamine. Tedious and superfluous to anything spherical. Then comes those who are experiencing mid table mediocrity. No excitement at either end of the table. No helium or concrete boots just stagnant air. Finally the fodder. Those who are reminded from Christmas how much it will cost them if they fall or leap through the trap door. Parachute payments and the like suddenly become the language of the desperate fan. ‘Survival is not as important as it was as long as we come straight back up’ they are told and then say.
Thus we have another spin of the wheel. I will play this game and predict how the league will turn out. Who will ‘win’; who will lie in a coma for months and who will flap helplessly away avoiding the Championship and, as Manchester United did last season, the Europa League.
1.Chelsea
2.Manchester City
3.Manchester United
4.Arsenal
5.Liverpool
6.Tottenham
7.Everton
8.Southamption
9.Aston Villa
10.Swansea
11.Hull City
12.Stoke City
13.Newcasle
14.Sunderland
15.Leicester City
16.West Ham Utd
17.Crystal Palace
18.Queens Park Rangers
19. Burnley
20. West Bromwich Albion
Listening to Harry Rednapp on Friday he talked about ‘Fair Play’. He stated that if every club in the ‘Premiership’ had just £30 million to spend annually on players then that would be closer to fair play. Although I would make it £30 he should be listened to. Then we can judge everything apart from the unscrupulous owners and their opaque histories.
Next season perhaps?
Douglas James
