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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