Wigan Athletic: The Unfashionables

Whilst the vast majority of the football world watched transfixed last Sunday as Manchester City produced the single most dramatic moment in Premier League history, Wigan had wrapped up victory against already relegated Wolves to secure their 7th win in 9 games to finish 15th and 7 points clear of the relegation zone. This scenario seemed scarcely believable even a few months ago as Wigan approached the critical run in with trips to Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and home games against Manchester United and Newcastle. Yet unlike some of the great escapes of previous seasons, where teams have scraped and fought there way to safety, Wigan have sauntered there playing an attractive and progressive style of football that was as good to watch as it was unexpected. Only one other team has managed to beat all the teams listed above, Manchester City, not bad company for Roberto Martinez's men.

What should we make of Martinez's achievement in maintaining Wigan's top flight status for an 8th straight season and ensuring that they remain the only team in the top division to never be relegated from it. Unlike teams such as QPR and Wolves, the club and the owner Dave Whelan, chose to stick by Martinez when the club endured 8 successive defeats and have been handsomely rewarded for their faith. It is difficult to pin point exactly where everything started to go right for the men from the DW, prior to their trip to Liverpool they were still bottom of the table and had only won twice in their previous 15 games.

The main reason feted for Wigan's change in fortunes was Martinez's decision to move to a 3-4-3 and this has unquestionably impacted upon both results and their style of play. Before they switched to the 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 that they ended the season with, Wigan had still enjoyed a healthy average possession in the majority of their games however they had looked fairly toothless and this combined with a leaky defence was only going to end one way.

However a few important events happened that changed the course of the clubs season and one of the most important moments was the result of Senegal qualifying for the African cup of nations over a year ago. Mohammed Diame is decent footballer and a tremendous athlete and has been a mainstay in Wigan's team over the past two seasons. However when Diame departed for the Gabon and the African Nations Cup in January, it forced Roberto Martinez to turn to James McArthur (not to be confused with James McCarthy) and this was a critical point in Wigan's season. With the addition of McArthur it added a "passer" to the side and as such not only improved their ability to retain possession but also provided a greater attacking threat as they now had two midfielders with the ability to create goal scoring opportunities.

The move to a three man defence was made on the 11th of February for the home match vs Bolton Wanderers, the statistics connected with this game are quite remarkable. Before this match Wigan had collected 16 points from 24 home games. From then on they won 27 points from 14 games, an outstanding turnaround for sure. Some have been arguing that too much is being made of Martinez's achievements and that he "plays" on being Spanish and this masks his failings. Equally some argue that the fact that Wigan enjoyed such a fantastic last third of the season is merely hiding how poor they were for the previous two thirds. One of these arguments has a certain grounding to it, the other is little more than what could politely be termed "a little Englander attitude".

There is no question that Wigan endured a poor campaign up to February and looked certain to be relegated after successive thrashings by Arsenal and Manchester United. However those who wish to use this period against Martinez and Wigan should actually take note of how impressive it is that Martinez, his coaches and the players were able to radically transform their season even after such a torrid run of form. Mick McCarthy was unable to change Wolves' fortunes, Alex McLeish struggled throughout the season, Owen Coyle and Steve Kean were never able to sustain more than fleeting runs of good form whilst Martinez, who works on a significantly lower budget than the clubs and managers mentioned above(we will deal with finances in the second part of this piece), was able to not only to bring about a change of form but far more importantly to sustain and build on it.

The idea that Martinez has in some way benefited due to the fact that he is originally from Spain and is well spoke, well dressed and well educated (he holds a degree in physiotherapy and a post graduate degree in business management) holds no sway with me. It is a well trotted argument that overseas managers are given more respect and time than British managers with examples such as Mark Hughes' time at Manchester City being one such example. However for every British manager who has been released you can find a foreign manager who has been treated just as poorly and ridiculed, Andre Villas Boas springs to mind straight away.

Part of the reason why Martinez has received the plaudits he has so much so that he is now a strong contender for the Liverpool job, is that he has quite a unique style and is very open and tactically astute and does not just trot out the usual platitude of cliches and generalisations that many managers in relegation battles do. For instance, during the period in which Wigan were consistently losing Martinez would pick a 10-15 minute spell and extol the virtues of his side and how well they had done in that period. Many of us, myself included, thought this was simply his way of deflecting blame and that Wigan would never be able to put together such form over a whole game never mind successive games but lo and behold that's precisely what they did.

From a personal view one of the reasons why Roberto Martinez is deserving of the praise he has received is that tactically Martinez has tried a system which is rarely employed in this country and has excelled with it. Few sides in the premier league attempt to be innovative and experiment with formations with practically ever side playing some variant of 4-5-1/4-3-3 and as such it is not surprising when English clubs do encounter sides who do utilise different systems, such as with Manchester City when they met Napoli back in September, they often struggle.

The final point on Martinez is almost certainly a key factor in why he is seemingly a candidate to take over at Anfield is his ability to buy astutely in the transfer window. As will be covered in the financial component of this piece, Wigan have precious little transfer and wage funds to utilise and as such this raises the achievements of Martinez still further. If you had said at the end of last season that Charles N'Zogbia and Hugo Rodallega would not contribute to Wigan Athletic next season and yet the club would actually finish higher in the league and score more goals, not many people would have believed you, yet this is precisely what happened. Despite N'Zogbia departing for Aston Villa and Rodallega not finding any sort of form this season, Wigan have coped without two of their most talented players in recent years. A major component in this was Martinez's shrewdness in the transfer market and for all the talk recently of Moneyball and everything that it entails, Martinez is certainly an exponent of some of its core principles.

By acquiring individuals like Shaun Maloney and Jean Beausejour Wigan were bringing in individuals who had been undervalued by their clubs and often used out of position. Maloney has consistently been used as a wide sided midfielder in his career despite having a skill set more suited to playing as a number 10. Equally Beausejour was used as an orthodox left winger by Birmingham last season when actually he is ideally suited to playing as wing-back as demonstrated in Marcelo Bielsa's exciting Chile side at the 2010 World Cup. Martinez identified these two as players whom could fit well into the way he wanted to shape his team and picked them up for nominal fees. The same could be applied with the purchases of Ali Al-Habsi, Gary Caldwell and even someone such as Franco Di Santo, who although much derided is actually a far better player than he is often given credit for.

If Roberto Martinez is appointed Liverpool manager which seems to grow increasingly likely day by day it will certainly be an intriguing appointment. Whether Martinez will consider using three at the back at Anfield and how he copes managing far bigger names than he will ever have worked with will be a fascinating sub plot of next season. Regardless of this, people should be under no illusions, Martinez is a good manager who has done a pretty extraordinary thing at Wigan and is deserving of all the credit that has come his way recently.


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The Unfashionables: Part Two-Whelan of Fortune

While the first part of this two part piece was focused on the role of Roberto Martinez and how Wigan have survived in the Premier League, this section will focus on the off-field problems facing Wigan and whether they will ever truly be profitable or whether they are destined to rely on philanthropist chairman and owner Dave Whelan for the considerable future.

First things first, whilst Wigan have consistently avoided the trap door into the Championship they have regularly finish bottom of the revenue table. Wigan's revenue is the lowest in the top tier, in 2011 their turnover was £43m and they are more reliant on television money than any other top flight club and also have one of the lowest wage bills. Yet in spite of all this they have remained a top flight team for eight successive seasons. How they have managed this feat is a combination of astute management from a succession of good managers, a relatively prudent fiscal policy (in comparison to the mad world of premier league finances) and the generosity of Dave Whelan.

One of the frequent accusations leveled at Wigan being undeserving of their premier league status is that they have consistently low crowds at the DW and recently only took 200 odd fans down to the Emirates for their victory over Arsenal. There are a few myths that need to be dispelled in this area, the first one being that Wigan is a "rugby league town" and that this is a major factor in Wigan's low attendances.

For many years I too accepted this argument, not being too acquainted with Wigan or rugby league. However on closer inspection there is little substantive evidence to support such a statement. It may surprise you to learn that since Wigan Athletic first entered the premier league in 2005 the average attendances have been larger than those achieved by Wigan Warriors who have regularly been one of the top teams in the Sky funded Super League. In the 2005/2006 season Athletic's average attendance was 20,610 whilst Warriors' was 14,464. In 2009/2010 Athletic's average attendance was 18,006 whilst those turning out for Super League matches was just 15,181.

These statistics seem to find serious fault in the argument that Wigan is only able to support one top flight sports team. Whilst Wigan Athletic rarely achieve their capacity in the DW stadium, only the visits of top teams such as Manchester United and Liverpool see the stadium full, it seems more prudent to attribute the clubs low attendances to Wigan's low population (about 800,000) and the fact that Wigan is an area of the North West that has fallen on relatively tough economic times and therefore top flight sport is considered a luxury that many choose not to have. Not to mention the fact that the North West of England is the most condensed areas for Premier League football, Wigan compete against both Manchester and Merseyside clubs as well as Blackburn, Bolton and Blackpool in recent seasons.

With all this in mind it seems the fact that Wigan have maintained their attendances at such a level is a testament to both the fans and the club itself who have consistently maintained a very reasonable ticket pricing policy. Indeed a recent study by Four Four Two magazine found that only 5 of the 92 football league clubs have cheaper tickets than Wigan. This is done in spite of the club consistently struggling financially and is covered almost exclusively out of Whelan's own pocket in the form of several interest free loans to the club through a variety of vehicle companies. This is hugely generous from Whelan even in the face of notable financial loss.

When you compare Wigan's ticketing policy to some clubs in the championship it makes for interesting reading. Whilst Wigan offer some of the lowest priced tickets in league football, a team such as Leeds United have the fifth highest entry level season ticket prices in the country behind only Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham.

What is undeniable about Wigan is that they are hugely dependent on Whelan's millions and his unwavering loyalty and generosity. The clubs net debt stood at £73m in 2011 which was the ninth highest in the league, although £52m of this is what has been termed "soft" debt in that most of it is owed to Whelan himself and he has set very reasonable deadlines for repayment mostly at 0% interest.

Another financial statistic that demonstrates how Wigan punch well above their weight is when you look at the revenue of some of Wigan's rival clubs and how Wigan have consistently finished above them. Wolves (£61m), Aston Villa (£91m), Sunderland (£62m), Birmingham (£56m) and Blackburn (£55m) all enjoyed significantly higher revenues yet Wigan have finished above all of them in the past two seasons (with the exception of Sunderland who finished two points ahead of Wigan despite having almost double their earnings). In an era when wage bills are king and what you spend almost always equates to where you finish, Wigan's achievements are not far short of a modern miracle.

In summation Wigan's financial future is far from rosy as there is no denying that without Dave Whelan's financial clout the club would be in serious financial difficulties. The club simply doesn't generate the revenue required to bring about self-sufficiency although if the club was to maintain its Premier League status, continue to cut its wage bill and improve their commercial revenue they are not as far from independence from Whelan as many would think. However they cannot rely upon their income from match days as attendances have dipped slightly in recent years and even a full capacity DW every other week would not actually add significantly to the clubs revenue.


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Champions League Final Preview

Saturday night sees the culmination of a memorable Champions League season with Chelsea traveling to Bavaria to take on Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena. The Bavarians are looking to win their fifth European Cup and join Liverpool in third place on the all time list whilst Chelsea are looking to erase the painful memories of Moscow four years ago and bring the “Cup with the big ears” to London for the first time.

Here we take a look at the key factors, individuals, tactical match ups and strengths of weaknesses of both sides and attempt to form some kind of prediction which will no doubt go out the window within the first 15 minutes.

If we look at Bayern first, bookmakers and commentators have placed them as slight favorites although this is mainly conditioned by the simple fact of Bayern playing in their home stadium.

Bayern’s season has been a rather curious one; it began in record-breaking style with a new look back-line setting a German record by going over 1000 minutes without conceding. They waltzed through the toughest Champions League group which included Napoli and a Manchester City team who were at their most rampant as well as Villarreal. In the league they were setting the pace but since Christmas time the season has rather gone in peaks and troughs.

A period of crisis and infighting was then followed by a run of successive thrashings with Bayern hitting seven goals in consecutive league and European games. They then lost the title decider with Dortmund (although even had they won the match they may well have lost the league) but followed this by triumphing over Real Madrid before losing again to Dortmund 5-2 in the German cup final. This big game inconsistency can be seen as a reflection of two of the clubs most gifted but volatile players. Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben are two of the most exciting players in Europe on their day but the story of Ribery punching Robben in the dressing room at half time in the Bernabeu is hardly indicative of a harmonious team spirit.

When the pair are in full flow they have the ability to overrun teams and stretch them to breaking point; however when one or both are off form they can be terribly detrimental to the team as such is their belief in themselves and arguably their arrogance, they can tend to hold on to the ball for to long and stifle the flow of the team.

There are no major selection dilemmas for head coach Jupp Heynckes as the suspensions that have hit both sides have pretty much made his decisions for him. With David Alaba (LB), Luis Gustavo (CM) and Holger Badstuber (CB) suspended Diego Contento, Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Thomas Muller will come in.

The major impact of this will be that Toni Kroos who usually plays more advanced will be paired with Bastian Schweinsteiger in midfield in Bayern’s 4-2-3-1 which has two subsequent effects upon Bayern. The positive of this is that it gives them even more potential to dominate possession with two excellent passers in midfield however it also removes the defensive qualities of Luis Gustavo or Tymoschuk, who will have to fill in at centre half for Badstuber. This increases the chances of Juan Mata, who will play centrally behind Didier Drogba, being able to influence the game. Kroos and Schweinsteiger are both positionally excellent and more disciplined than one would imagine but there is little doubt that Heynckes would certainly prefer to have a “destroyer” in midfield.

If we move now to Chelsea before considering the way the two sides will match up, it is fair to say that Chelsea have been dealt a far greater blow in regards to suspensions. Branislav Ivanovic, Raul Meireles and John Terry are all clearly huge misses however the biggest blow is the absence of Ramires who has been so important to the way in which Chelsea have played under Roberto Di Matteo. Breaking from the right flank behind opposition full backs has been crucial to the two biggest wins of Di Matteo’s reign, the FA cup final and the second leg in Barcelona. Ivanovic and Terry will certainly be blows although reports coming out of Cobham would indicate that they are quietly confident both Gary Cahill and David Luiz will be fit.

It what seems likely to be his last game for Chelsea it is all set for Drogba to write yet another chapter to his Chelsea legend. With Holger Badstuber suspended he will surely fancy himself against both Tymoschuk and Jerome Boateng who is the less secure of the two regular Bayern centre backs. If Drogba can impose himself on the centre backs then Chelsea have a real chance. However a word of caution, three years ago Barcelona went into the final against Manchester United with 35 year old Sylvinho at left back and Yaya Toure employed as an emergency centre back against Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo and the two deputies were exceptional that night as Barcelona waltzed to victory.

For Chelsea the key to keeping Bayern out will be similar to their approach against Barcelona in that they will aim to narrow the pitch as much as possible. With the use of both Ribery and Robben as inverted wingers Bayern can sometimes become to narrow, especially with Alaba, who is a fantastic overlapping force on the left, suspended. If Chelsea can restrict the space on the flanks for “Robbery” and force them to come inside into the congestion this will most likely be their best chance of neutralising the four time champions.

For Bayern, Chelsea’s most fruitful root to goal has already been dented by the suspension of Ramires however his likely replacement Solomon Kalou is more than capable of filling in for the Brazilian. There has been nothing particularly complex about Chelsea’s tactics on the flanks recently, all that has been required is the ability to run beyond the opposition full backs and as such the major attributes needed for this role is simply decent pace and good energy levels both of which Kalou possesses, as does Ryan Bertrand who looks set to come in on the left, whilst Kalou deputises on the right.

Expect Bayern to enjoy the lions share of possession though this will not unduly bother Chelsea having come through the semi final against Barcelona, and expect the blues to try and bypass Bayern’s midfield and use direct passes into Drogba, whose record in cup finals is extraordinary.

The match may well be decided by which teams striker is able to unsettle his opposing centre backs. Neither Tymoschuk nor Boateng will relish facing Drogba expect the Ivorian to target the Ukrainian and attempt to isolate him from Boateng. For Bayern, they will look for Mario Gomez to sniff out half chances and expect his expert finishing to do the rest. Despite his size Gomez is not a particularly physical player and relies mainly on his movement and instincts to create chances. One danger for both sides will be that their defences include players who have the propensity to make rash decisions and as a result do not be surprised to see a penalty given and the match could even recreate Bayern’s last successful final when three penalties were awarded in the match.

It has been a fairly unpredictable and surprising Champions League campaign and I expect this to continue on Saturday night in Munich. Despite Bayern being slight favourites and probably possessing better individuals all over the pitch, an enduring feeling that Chelsea will somehow find a way to win prevails and as such I’m tipping Frank Lampard (and probably John Terry) to lift the European Cup, one way or the other.

Prediction 1-1 after extra time and Chelsea to win on penalties. 


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The Great Narrative

Everybody loves a good story and sports fans are no different. Whether its Tiger Woods winning the US Open in 2004 on one leg, Boris Becker exploding onto the scene and winning Wimbledon as wide eyed seventeen year old or Floyd Mayweather JR taking on Miguel Cotto and then heading to prison, guilty of domestic abuse. The media cannot wait to write it and the public cannot wait to read it. The issue here is the extent to which people let themselves be guided by a certain narrative that gets attached to a particular issue. Whether it is an individual, an entire event or even one particular incident, it seems to me that more and more the story attached to it takes complete precedence over the action itself.

A typical example of this issue is the manner in which Manchester United have been covered by the media over the past 2 or 3 years. Whenever they have met with success either in the short term (i.e. victory in a "big"game) or the long term (wining a premier league championship) the same lines are trotted out time after time. "Their experience got them through", "they've been here before and know what do" and the Match of the Day motto "They manage to win when they're not playing well". The aim here is not to decry the importance of such attributes but merely to argue that they are nauseatingly overstated and often utilised out of little more than professional laziness on the part of certain reporters and pundits.

Take Manchester United’s victory over Blackburn Rovers a month or so ago. Struggling to find the breakthrough in a must win game, United eventually won via two late goals from Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young. Yet the classic narrative of "United leave it late" and such like overshadowed the events of the actual game. Little mention was given to the manner in which United realised that Blackburn were aiming to funnel everything United did into the middle of the pitch which they had deliberately congested. Equally little was made of how it was United's strategy of maintaining as much width as possible on both sides of the pitch that ultimately did for Blackburn, aside from the fact that most commentators were quick to highlight that Valencia had a good game.

Equally take United’s defeat to Manchester City, in the last past few weeks we have been told nonstop that Paul Scholes has been the single most important reason behind Manchester United's run to the title and that the experience that he and Ryan Giggs have brought to the team has been invaluable. Indeed such has been the widespread praise for Scholes that he managed to finished third in the Football Writers' Player of the season voting despite only returning to action half way through January. What should be embarrassing for the Football Writers is that this is as close to Scholes has ever come to winning the award despite at the height of his career being one of the best central midfielders in Europe for over a decade.

Yet despite this almost universal praise of Scholes in the media, after City's narrow victory, achieved as a result of a set piece, observers were arguing that it was Manchester United's midfield that was the weakest part oftheir side and that Scholes and Giggs were too old to carry on. On a radio station which shall remain anonymous an former premier league player was saying how much United needed Bastian Schweinstiger and that Scholes and Giggs had passed their sell by date.  It seems ludicrous that two of the experienced players who people had been championing in recent months were now the single biggest reason for their failings. This cannot be apportioned to the fact that people enjoy blaming Scholes, Carrick and Giggs etc. For me it stems from the fact that a simple formula exists and that whatever Manchester United result occurs this formula is applied. Manchester United win=experience, getting the result even when not playing well. Manchester United defeat=midfield poor and too old.

If we move to Arsenal now and the same logic of narrative is applied in that by and large any Arsenal defeat or poor result is linked back to the two fundamental pillars of Arsenal criticism. Defensive vulnerability and lacking experience. Again I would agree that they are two areas where Arsenal have struggled in recent years but there have been plenty of games where it has simply not applied and in particular many Arsenal fans would agree that it was some of the clubs more experienced players who have let them down at crucial moments over the past few seasons.

William Gallas' tantrum at Birmingham for instance, Gael Clichy (who actually has a league winners medal to his name, and may have one more come the end of the season) deciding that 4-2 in a North London derby was a good time to tread on the ball, Cesc Fabregas deciding that the area of the pitch you want to try a back-heel against Barcelona in a Champions League knockout tie is the edge of your own penalty area. These are just some examples. It should also be noted that two of the biggest victims of both outside observers and Arsenal's fickle fans over recent seasons have been Andrei Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky even though both captain their national team and have won major honours over the course of their careers.

The major point is that for every time Arsenal have lost a game for not possessing the required "experience" to see it out, they have lost games for a number of alternative reasons and yet it usually gets linked back to these familiar strands.

Every club has their own narrative attached to it and sometimes you do wonder whether there is little more to it than purely laziness on the part of pundits. It seems to me that for all Liverpool's failings this season the blame seems to have landed almost exclusively on the players who were signed under the Dalglish/FSG regime, whilst it has gone almost unnoticed how players such as Carragher, Gerrard, Pepe Reina, Dirk Kuyt etc have performed just as inconsistently if not worse than some of the recent aquisitions.

The term for such a phenomena, when certain ideas get expounded and repeated so much that they become the standard narrative for individuals, is known as "group think" and is often connected with the United State's tragic misadventure into Vietnam. This rationale can be applied in all walks of life and football is certainly no exception.

Take Italian football for instance. Despite the height of catenaccio occurring over 40 years ago the same old clichés and adages are trotted out every time an Italian team or Italian manager is discussed. Despite some Italian teams being some of the most attacking and innovative teams on the continent in the past few seasons, Carlo Ancelotti's Milan and Walter Mazzari's Napoli being just two examples, pundits can't help but think that they will set out to be defensive and "nick" a goal. Worse still is when pundits discuss catenaccio without actually having any grasp on its actual meaning. Instead it has simply become a byword for deep defensive play and looking to play on the counter.

In their book, The Italian Job, Gabrielle Marcotti and Gianluca Vialli discuss this issue at some length and ultimately they draw the conclusion that a major factor in the way in which certain stories and narratives continually appear can be traced back to the British football fans psyche as a whole. Throughout their book Marcotti and Vialli look to draw comparisons between English and Italian football. One of their key findings is that in Britain football is still viewed and played very much for a sense of enjoyment and out of love of the game whilst in Italy football is still viewed far more seriously by fans and players alike. This translates to a far more serious coverage of the game from the media which can often result in page after page of tactical analysis in one of the country's many sports papers. Player ratings in particular are agonised over with every decimal point debated and discussed. Whilst in England player ratings are a bit of a joke with players often receiving 2 and 3 out of 10 in the tabloids.

Marcotti and Vialli concluded that the need for an "angle" and compelling story in England normally outweighs the actual course of a match or a season. The British are far more concerned for the story as it adds an element of fun and drama to the game whilst in Italy the fact that the result takes priority and this is reflected in the manner in which football is reported in the respective nations.

Another issue to consider is the need for broadcasters and media outlets to be open and approachable to new audience members. Surely part of the reason why programs such as Match of the Day continue to persevere with Gary Linekar's inane puns and the constant attempts to convey some form of "banter" is in the desire to continue to attract an audience who are not that concerned with premier league football but merely wishing to be entertained. A TV show or national newspaper that devotes significant air time or column inches to the finer points of the game are unlikely to see anything but a decrease in viewing and circulation figures.

 This problem has certainly been compounded by the growing influence of the internet and 24 hour news channels which can provide constant information and highlights and as such the more mainstream institutions must attempt to win over as much broad support as possible, thus a plausible explanation why Mark Lawrenson thinks he is a television personality rather than a football pundit emerges.

As stated at the outset, these ideas and points are a million miles from being perfect and I am sure that many would totally disagree with them. Regardless, there does seem to be an almost obsessive desire to portray the story in Britain often at the expense of any real analysis based on actual events. I am not calling for all television broadcasts, newspapers and reports to become a matrix of unreadable stats and tactics boards. For those who desire such things there are numerous websites and publications who deal with such things. I do feel however some have gone too far in the need to constantly present clear definitive reasoning for an individual or a clubs successes or failings. But then again aren't we always told that everybody loves a good story.


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Quick Hits

 Can't blame it all on Hicks and Gillett

Liverpool's financial results were released this week and the mixed bag the club has served up on the pitch is reflected in the results off it. A loss of £49.4m is neither catastrophic nor ideal. The club still retains huge commercial strength and profitable sponsorship deals with both Warrior Sports and Standard Chartered are some of the strongest in the league. On the other hand, a growing wage bill, another season out of the Champions League and close to £10m on dismissing Roy Hodgson and Christian Purslow doesn't make for great reading. The club's managing director Ian Ayre has emphasised the damaging role of the club's previous owners, which is undeniable. However don't forget that the current regime were the ones who sacked Hodgson, Purslow, director of football Damien Comolli and club doctor Peter Brukner as well as sanctioning an enormous spending spree.

Chelsea's Battersea plans another example of the increasing significance of Financial Fair Play

Chelsea today announced their official bid for the 39 acre site at Battersea Power Station which they hope to turn into a 60,000 seater stadium. Whilst at an incredibly early stage of the process, what the club's move does indicate is the increasingly large shadow of UEFA Financial Fair Play looming over top clubs. The run up to FFP has well and truly begun and financial results will start being used in FFP from next season onwards. The cost of building a new stadium however is exempt from FFP and for teams like Chelsea the need to increase revenue is growing ever more important.

The start of a beautiful friendship... Unlikely

This week saw Real Madrid deservedly crowned kings of La Liga. In truth their fate was sealed the moment the whistle went at the Camp Nou two weeks ago when they triumphed over Barcelona. The rivalry between Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho has been akin to the special one's relationship with Rafael Benitez, absorbing but tiresome, although I've yet to hear anyone describe the Classico's as "shit on a stick".

Guardiola will walk away from his post this summer to be replaced by is assistant Tito Vilanova. Expect the rivalry between the two clubs and managers to continue. The old adage of "Don't strike untill you see the whites of their eyes" was very literally followed by Mourinho at the start of the season, whilst Barca's new boss has had some less than flatering words to say about Mourinho and his sides.

Youtube and FIFA are not adequate scouting methods

Eden Hazard, Jan Vertonghen, Shinji Kagawa, Nicolas Gaitan, Neymar. I'm sure you've seen all these names in an abundance of places recently. Gossip colums, back page headlines and fans forums are full of those wishing to link these players to literally any club they can think of. Fair enough, it is an inevitable part of the transfer market. However a pet peeve of mine is those people who cannot wait to tell you how good these players are and how much they are going to improve their team.

Except there is often one minor problem. They've never actually seen them play. I have probably seen the five players above play live on probably no more than 20 occasions all together and therefore would never presume to tell someone exactly how good, bad, fast or slow any of these players are. As it is the football world is littered by those who watch a few youtube videos of a player and suddenly believe that they have discovered a future superstar. A word of caution, the internet and video games can make anyone look good, well almost anyone.


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