Doin' the SPLit

You. Out there on the right. Get out.

It has been a tough season to follow the SPL. One year after three Scottish clubs remained in Europe after Christmas (a record), and a half-decent domestic race, this season has been positively painful. Hibs gave an early hint of what Europe would look like for the Scottish clubs, falling 4-0 on aggregate to Elfsborg in the Intertoto Cup (RIP) way back in July. Rangers famously fell to Kaunas in the Champions League's Second Qualifying Round. Motherwell also fell at the first hurdle, losing to AS Nancy in the UEFA Cup (RIP). Celtic were the lone Scottish team to notch a win this European campaign, defeating an already-qualified Villareal squad on the last day of the Champions League group stage.

Domestically, the play has not been any more inspiring. As expected, Rangers and Celtic took early control of the first and second spots while everyone filtered to about where I expected. Currently, I put the breakdown of the SPL as two huge clubs, five medium clubs and five small clubs. The seven "big" clubs occupy the top seven spots in the league. That's the SPL in a nutshell this season. There has just been no spark, nothing to note and nothing to watch. If you liked Ligue 1 a couple of seasons ago (no goals, lots of draws), then this is the league for you.

Thankfully, the split is upon us (so I don't have to type it, an explanation is here). No longer do we really have to pay attention to half of the league. There are five more matchdays and then we get to regroup and pray for a better year next time. First, though, we have to survive those last five rounds. Inside, a quick breakdown of the season so far.

1 & 1A Celtic (74 points) and Rangers (73 points)
Here is how non-competitive the league as a whole has been. Neither one of these teams faces the threat of being pipped for second. Rangers are 19 points clear of third-placed Hearts with five games to play. The showdown for these two will be surprisingly early, May 9, in the second of five rounds. Both clubs traditionally ask to avoid playing each other on the last match day, and the SPL agrees. Rangers will host that last derby of the season, and then both clubs hope to not draw a game the rest of the way. Fun, huh?

Celtic should have salted the league away back around the new year, but seemed to get distracted by their large lead at the time and let points slip away. Rangers, of course, are still feeling the ill-effects of the antics of former captain Barry Ferguson and starting keeper Allan McGregor, but word is that gaffer Walter Smith now feels he was hasty in banning the two and will welcome them back to the fold. For a club that seriously needs money, an automatic spot in the group round of the Champions League is something to lose your morals over.

3 Heart of Midlothian (54 points)
I thought this team was done for. I thought that all of the drama that followed this club around would just do them in. It did last season, and this season was shaping up to be no better. Instead, this is a team that overachieved and paid no attention to the multiple times the players went without pay and didn't even flinch when their captain was sold in January. Hearts just kept, well, beating. The club is on a six game unbeaten run in league and could well have that run until the end of the season. Not bad for a club whose leading card-getter (seven yellows) outpaces its leading scorer (six goals). Almost a lock for a European slot, since they would have to drop at least six points to fall to fifth.

4 Dundee United (49 points)
Now this is a team that did not finish the pre-split slate well. United have only won two of their ten matches since the new year and have effectively ceded third place to Hearts. Of course, they had a pretty phenomenal run early in the year. After five matches, United were at the bottom of the table on two points. They took 20 of the next 24 points available to rocket up to third, a position that has been theirs most of the season. It's not too late to move back up, especially if Hearts lose both of their matches to the Old Firm. But they cannot wait until they face the Jambos on May 16 to do so, for that will be too late.

5 Aberdeen (48 points)
It has been a terribly up and down season for the Dons. Twice the club has occupied last place in the league, the last time coming in October with the culmination of a four game losing streak. Then came the steady climb. By mid-January, when Aberdeen stuffed Celtic 4-2 at home (yes, I'm biased), the club was up to third spot. Since then, fifth spot has been home. A home of incredibly frustrating draws. Aberdeen have drawn six of 11 games since that win over Celtic. The Dons do have the bonus of three home games in this five game sprint, but if they don't make Europe (with a top four finish) expect Jimmy Calderwood to be let go, or pushed under a bus by one of the many disgruntled fans in the north.

6 Hibernian (42 points)
Hibernian were gifted a sixth-place finish when Motherwell lost 2-0 at home on the next to last day. Suddenly, yesterday's match against Rangers no longer had any significance for the Easter Road outfit. Think of that when you look at Hibs' results from here on out. There is no way they are going to move up into Europe and will likely play out the string rather lifelessly.

7 Motherwell (41 points)
If not for two St Mirren goals in the last 15 minutes on Saturday (and maybe scoring one of their own), Motherwell would have been in the Top Six. Instead they are likely to pull 11 to 15 points at the end of the season and end up with a point total higher than Hibs, even if the Well cannot pass them in the standings. A slight consolation, I'm sure.

8 Kilmarnock
9 St Mirren
10 Hamilton (all 34 points)
Hamilton seem to have done just enough to survive, as all three of these clubs are six points clear of the bottom. However, the Academicals, as well as St Mirren, should be wary as their goal differential does leave them slightly open to danger.

11 Inverness CT (32 points)
12 Falkirk (28 points)
ICT looked to be in great danger at the end of January. Seemingly locked in last place, the club fired Craig Brewster as manager and eventually hired former bloody England star Terry Butcher. Since then the clubs has done just enough to distance themselves from last-placed Falkirk, a 4-0 March loss notwithstanding. Unfortunately for Falkirk, that's the last game the team scored in. It was also only their second win in league since mid-November, a streak of 15 matches. These two teams will meet on the last day of the season, but Inverness should be safe from relegation by then.

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UF Quick Throw: Does This Mean We Can Wake You

It's over. Finally. We think.

But it's being reported all over the place (here, for example) that an agreement has finally been reached and the Beckham loan to Milan will extend to the end of the season, then he'll return to MLS. Yippee! It's win-win. He gets what he wants. And MLS fans will get one last chance to jeer him ruthlessly should they desire.

There is one interesting tidbit here: The value of not playing in MLS for half a season is $3M to Beckham. That's how much he's willing to pay of his own money to make this deal happen.

Think the cost of Becks' soccer academies just went up.

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UF Quick Throw: Some Beckham Deal Close to Being Dzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz [Updated]

MLS seems content to get nothing and like it. Well, they'll get Becks, but for a shorter time and then he'll probably walk.

Milan claims it is currently negotiating an extension of the loan, through June 30. At that point he'll rejoin the Galaxy. Then at the end of the MLS season, Becks will walk for free, as he has the option to opt out of his contract in November. Then he'll rejoin Milan in January when the transfer window opens up.

The Galaxy however are maintaining that Beckham will be back shilling for Herbalife come March 9.

(Oh, and Spectator wants to point out that he called this correctly when nobody else did... Does that mean I have to go dig up the post where we all guessed what would happen?)

[Update after the jump]

Update: As TFA points out below, it is indeed a buy-out clause (although it doesn't seem that there is a figure attached to it in the article). Also, the LA Times is reporting his return date to the Galaxy as July 15. Finally, talk about buying the lead; check out the second-to-last paragraph where it says Becks' next match with Milan is tomorrow in Doha, Qatar. How much more are these friendlies and testimonials worth with Becks in the line-up? Beckham gives Milan even more star power.

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It's..... Your impromptu liveblog of the Red Bulls v. Real Salt Lake MLS match!

Ho-boy! Why not?? *crickets*

Yes, that's right, in a league where the New York Red Bulls are playing in the Western Conference (muh?), it's a liveblog of the Western Conference Final! Will I be able to stay awake? Will I change the channel? Will it actually be a decent match? Let's find out, shall we....

Pregame Welp, the pregame program has started. Apparently it's really cold in Salt Lake City (what a shock). Highlights of the program so far was Landon Donovan accepting his fifth MLS player of the year and basically saying, "yeah I'm off to Bayern," and then an actually pretty funny VW ad (Episode 2 "Juice Boxes"). One of the RSL players is talking about his wife who has a terminal disease.... great, it can only get better from here.

Right, so your starting lineups coming up as soon as I can find them. And, if you want to read a liveblog from someone who actually cares about the game, here's Ives.

Pregame Ugh, I'm bored already.

Pregame Found the lineups!

RSL: Nick Rimando, Robbie Russell, Nat Borchers, Chris Wingert, Jamison Olave, Kyle Beckerman, Dema Kovalenko, Will Johnson, Javier Morales, Clint Mathis, Yura Movsisyan. Bench: Chris Seitz, Ian Joy, Andrew Williams, Tony Beltran, Kenny Deuchar, Robbie Findley, Fabian Espindola

NYRB: Danny Cepero, Chris Leitch, Carlos Mendes, Kevin Goldthwaite, Diego Jimenez , Dave Van den Bergh, Dane Richards, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Luke Sassano, Juan Pablo Angel, John Wolyniec. Bench: Caleb Patterson-Sewell, Gabriel Cichero, Andrew Boyens, Juan Pietravallo, Jorge Rojas, Mike Magee, Macoumba Kandji

1: And they're off. Salt Lake City crowd seem happy. Bless those Mormons.

2: On the plus side the pitch doesn't have American football hash marks, so my eyes are bleeding like the normal MLS match. I'm waiting to see if either team can string together more than 10 passes in a row. Anyone want to give me odds? I'd say 3:1 that it doesn't happen.

4: RSL is attacking. Oh, feel the excitement!

7: Yup, not much happening.

9: Wolyniec had a nice breakaway for the Red Bulls but it was well-saved low and left. Red Bulls get a decent header on the resulting cross. Slightly promising.

11: Red Bulls play kind of a controlling style, a la Arsenal, and RSL play more of a counter-attacking style down the wings, a la Aston Villa. So, it's basically like this morning's match except the players seem to be running in molasses and can't complete a pass. Oh that's right, it's exactly like Arsenal this morning.

13: Color me shocked, but there are honest to god traveling Red Bulls supporters in the crowd.

15: Just when I was starting to wonder what was on another channel, there's some action. Red Bulls make an inch perfect sliding tackle in the box, then turn the ball over on the next play, almost creating an open shot for RSL that predictably fizzles.

17: Clint Mathis is officially a cock. He receives a threaded pass between the defenders that's just a little bit beyond his reach, and so Mathis proceeds to yell at the other player. Okay dude. Just keep yelling I'm sure he'll get it perfect next time.

20: Comical play with players flopping all over each other in a man pile that ends in a wasted free kick for RSL. Pretty much the entire game has been in the Red Bulls half. Sideline commentator says that Red Bulls having trouble deciding who to pick up on the backline. Isn't that what the manager is supposed to tell them before the game?

23: Rojas on for Ubiparipovic who I guess has a hamstring knock

25: Movsisyan has a break on the left and makes a driving shot on goal that's well saved. RSL still attacking down the wings.

28: GOAL 1-0 Red Bulls! Van der Bergh scores off a Wolnyac pass squared into the box. Angel set up the play with a very nice pass down the left. Quite professional! Can RSL equalize?

32: RSL defense looks pretty shaken. Meanwhile, Dane Richards appears to be a pretty good player for the Red Bulls.... Good pace and control down the wing.

35: A lot of flopping around in the box by RSL. The Italians would be proud.

37: And just like that Dane Richards is down and it doesn't look too good. He got taken down on a late tackle, yet somehow play keeps going and RSL gets a free kick going the other way. Richards is up now.

39: RSL off the post on the free kick! Okay, I will admit that this is actually a pretty decent game. I watched the Crew Fire match the other day and it was horrid, but this is, you know, kind of exciting. Lots of open play and lots of plays in the box. MLS, you are not utter shit afterall.

42: RSL's Russell bumped into a Red Bulls player and is now down on the ground holding his shoulder. The dude looks pretty solid so that was a comical "injury." RSL would do well to grow a pair.

44 Goldwaite picks up a yellow for a late tackle against Morales, who is by far the best player for RSL. Free kick is swung into the box but nothing comes of it. Game is petering out a bit. 2 minutes extra time.

Halftime NY Red Bulls up 1-0. Not the worst half of football I've ever watched. Somewhere around Bolton v. Hull quality-wise.

I think the quality of commercials on Fox Soccer Channel pretty much speak volumes... Gotta love those international calling card ads. And now FSC replayed the interview with Lando, who again intimated that he's likely to play for Bayern Munich.

Salt Lake City have a marching band on the field for halftime. During the Columbus Crew match I spied cheerleaders. I'm not a purest at all, but those things really seem out of place. Meanwhile, there's been tons of streamers thrown onto the pitch. Why did MLS have to pick that tradition to copy? Annoying.

Oh, and they also show lots of Proactiv ads. Does this mean that FSC's largest demographic are pimply foreigners?

46: Second half starts with (Will) Leitch with a nasty bodycheck on a RSL player. I like the fact that these two teams are playing pretty physical.

48: Another bodycheck by the Red Bulls. Decent shot by Angel that's saved. And now there's a flare on the pitch. Am I starting to fall in love with the Red Bulls and MLS?

51: Johnson clears the ball for RSL with a totally unnecessary bicycle kick. Why not?

53: And now it's just kicking about, turnovers, and Clint Mathis yelling at people.

54: Gotta say that one of the reasons that this game has been tolerable is that the ref -- who I'm told by the commentators was voted the best ref in MLS -- has done a nice job of letting the players play yet still maintaining control. The EPL could actually learn something there.

56: I might have lost my bet. RSL string together close to 10 passes, then Russell takes a wicked shot from 25 yards out that Cepero saves with an excellent dive to the right. Game is still pretty open and fairly compelling.

59: Findley on, Kovalenko off. Mathis, it should've been you.

61: Kobi Jones, who's the color commentator, says that Mathis can defend when he wants to. Er, okay. So far all he's done is push people and yell.

64: Nice to have you fellas join me. To answer your questions, Deuchar still on the bench. And those lines are the American footy lines that they've actually painted over. Free kick for RSL about 15 yards outside the box, Mathis volleys right at Cepero who pushes the ball away.

66: How did he miss it? Olave has an open goal and sends it over! Granted he's a defender, but still that was the equalizer right there.

68: Richards with a breakaway but he sends it right. Oof, should've done better. There's definitely another goal coming in this game, even with the Red Bulls playing very defensively now.

71: RSL had about three crosses in a row into the box, but no one there on the end to put it away. Wow, and just like that Movsisyan has a breakaway and his shot from just inside the box is saved by Cepero who had come out of goal. RSL with their fifth corner that Mathis sends in low. He's still yelling at people.

75: Sassano is down on the pitch and the clock keeps on a tickin'.

76: Sassano is replaced, RSL with a half-hearted pass into the box that drifts out of play... the ball comes back and RSL earn another corner. Ball pings around for a while until the Red Bulls finally clear. Whew!

79: Wow, Movsisyan receives an unmarked pass in the box and sends the ball into orbit. RSL have had their chances, but no one seems to have any composure to put it away.

81: Again how did RSL not score??? Open play, goalkeeper beat and they hit the post! And now RSL earns another free kick just outside the box!

83: The free kick comes into the box and Russell sends his free header wide of the goal, despite the blue smoke bomb. Lamers.

84: Another free header goes wide of the goal for RSL.

86: Red Bulls are playing 11 men deep. Meanwhile, RSL earn another free kick just outside the box. Yes, broken record here. Where will RSL send this one?

88: Into the wall (actually Angel's face) and out of bounds. The quick corner is cleared, and now Leitch is rolling around on the ground. And now here come the smoke bombs.

90 Movsisyan's dive in the box comes to naught. Now another corner for RSL and 4 additional minutes. Again right in front of goal and it doesn't go in. Here comes Deuchar for Mathis (should've done it a long time ago)

92: Richards takes the ball into the corner for the Red Bulls to kill some time.

93: The ball bounces high just inside the box but Deuchar merely clips Leitch, who's now down on the ground again. He is up again but earns a yellow for his troubles.

94: Morales hits the post again, Deutchar sends the ball over and that's it!

FULL TIME 1-0 Red Bulls. Peep peep peep Red Bulls into the MLS Cup. Wow, I'm breathless. What a great match. Three shots hit the post for RSL, the Red Bulls hang on to win, open exciting action up until the end.

Stick around for my liveblog of SNL...

11:30It's a crappy Joe Biden impression. I miss MLS already.

Goodnight all!

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It's one of those days

There ain't a damn bit of news coming out today. Either that or we are just too lazy to write up what we have. So it goes. Stay tuned for possible, maybe, just-might-happen updates later. Or just come back tomorrow for the open thread.

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Fixing the Champions League

Today we are here to fix the Champions League. And, no, this isn't Abramovich type fixing.

Okay, it might not even be broken, but doing some really bad mental accounting, it seems that the number of lackluster semi-final matches over the past couplathree years is high. Well, there are only a handful of matches, so maybe I should say the percentage is high.

It might just be due to the fact that Liverpool and Chelsea keep running into each other, but both semi-final tilts from the 2005-2006 run also come to mind. The return leg of the Arsenal v. Villareal match might have been the least attractive futbol match ever played at that level. In total six hours of semi-final soccer produced two goals. Even that overstates how exciting the four matches were. And that's with only one Italian team present.

This week's first round matches were no prizes either. A dull affair at Anfield highlighted by a comic own goal with the ref probably lifting the whistle to his mouth. And a Barca v. United match where the Red Devils' offense consisted of Ronaldo hitting the ground anytime a Barca player came near him in the attacking third.

Sorry, these are the supposed to be the best clubs in the world, playing top flight soccer. I don't want to say it needs to be a goalfest lest I look like a fucking hypocrite, but I'd like to see some tactics that are based on something more than, "Well, if we get a 0-0 draw, we get the return leg at home and, when I bully the refs, Ronaldo might get one of those calls."

So, with that in mind, maybe it's time to tinker with the Champions League. And it's a pretty simple tinker. Basically, make it look more like the World Cup.

1) Make the Knock-Out Stages a Single Match: That's right. No home-and-away. One match. Winner goes on. Loser goes home.

The spillover benefit of this is that it does away with the silly away-goals rule.

Every match has it's own character. The pitch, the weather, the refs, all impact that game. Even from one week to the next there can be a change in match-fit players that will impact the offensive (or defensive) make-up of the tilt. Should you really go home because you drew 2-2 at home but only 1-1 on the road? It's kind of stupid. What if the return leg goes to extra time?

It just happened to Getafe against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup. More time on the clock gave both teams the chance to score, but because it was at Getafe, Bayern's goals moved them on.

Additionally this will take a few fixtrues off the already overcrowded schedule. I'm sure United would like a couple of fewer miles on their legs as they head into this weekend's match with Chelsea.

But won't someone have a home advantage? No, just make it a neutral site game. Moreover, that might take the refs out of the match a little bit. Was the penalty given to Babel in the semi legit? Was either card given to Mazzerati in the quarters warranted? Nobody but Lingering Bursitis thinks so (okay, maybe the second, but definitely not the first). Were the calls influenced by the Anfield crowd? Probably.

Pity for such huge matches to turn on something so capricious instead of the play on the pitch. This isn't to suggest that the officiating will magically become better, it just might be less susceptible to crowd influence.

Of course single-elimination will never happen because, among other things, it means leaving money on the table. Two matches bring in more gate than one. Okay, fine. Just double the ticket prices. You're telling me these matches won't still sell-out?

2) Seed the Knock-Out stages: Chelsea draws Olympiacos and Fenerbahce. Seriously? Must be nice having a thug Russian billionaire running your club. Just seed the thing. I'm not going to quiblle over criteria. This year's first round: United v. Schalke. Inter v. Olympiacos. Madrid v. Fenerbahce. There will still be upsets.

3) There is no three.

In fact, number two is just me bitching that Chelsea had an easy path quite literally due to "the luck of the draw."

I just want to see teams at this level playing to win, playing attacking football. Right now, that seems to be more of an exception. Yesterday, United had little interest in doing much more than sitting back and absorbing Barca's onslaught. Seriously, the top team in Europe's top league ceded 65% of the possession? Please.

And it's not like they are going to come out firing at home. They know as long as they win at home, they are on to the final, but more importantly they have to guard against the away goal. So they are going to play a tentative first 45. Guarantee it. The only way that match turns exciting is if Barca does score early and United now need 2 goals.

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This week in Everton news

Even though I hate this team with the fire of a thousand suns, they're worth a post every once in a while simply because UF is a blog that believes in equal-opportunity piss-taking.

In Tim Cahill, they have their own version of Joey Barton, and David Moyes has already begun the limp mindgames that will surely plague the final 10 games of the season.

After the jump, a few paragraphs of stuff about a team that I wish didn't exist.

Tim Cahill scored a goal this weekend, and a decent one at that. In amongst his usual goal celebrations of punching out a corner flag, perhaps the best, even match for his pugilism, he showed off a neat bit of mime and crossed his arms in front of his waist, as if he were wearing handcuffs [we can all dream, can't we?]. It was a heartfelt, although perhaps ill-conceived, show of support for his brother Sean, who was jailed in January for Grievous Bodily Harm and sentences to 6 years behind bars.

According to the BBC, Cahill's brother attacked a man leaving him partially blinded, as CCTV controllers spotted him kicking the victim twice in the head as he lay on the floor in a semi-conscious state.

Tim's struggled for form since the new year and his goal on Sunday was his first since the end of December, thus giving him the opportunity to break out his show of solidarity.

The referee saw nothing wrong with it, and the FA generally only step in if it's deemed that an abusive gesture was used.

Everton defended him, and rightly so, stating that his celebration is a personal matter.

I can't blame Cahill for showing his support, a la Nelly and his magic bandage under the eye. Heck, it's not even the worst goal celebration on Merseyside after Robbie Fowler's attempt to snort the goalline a couple of years ago, and Bellamy's golf swing last season that referenced the time just the previous week that he'd attacked teammate John Arne Riise with a golf club.

=====

Meanwhile, David Moyes has decided to kick-off the turgid shit-talking campaign with an interview on Monday with the BBC, and his remarks that local rivals Liverpool should finish fourth in the league.

Quoth the psychological one:

"We are doing everything we can to make a fight of it but Liverpool have to be favourites, still. We have been consistent but for them fourth would be expected. The bookies are right to make them favourites."

It's simple, it's to the point, and it's quite tame.

The underdog tag is thrown around by everyone in sports, providing great drama for the media and great annoyance to the rest of us. These days, teams are dying to be at the short end of the stick in order to exceed the low expectations they deliberately set themselves. It happens all the time in the NBA and NFL, and it's generally irritating, so the fact that it's Everton doing it just amplifies the irritation factor.

I begrudgingly respect Moyes as a manager, considering the superb job he's done in bringing in a host of castoffs and rejects from far afield and molded them into a tight, efficient team. I'm not buying his underdog bollocks though. They're fourth, they're three points ahead of us, and they're not fooling anyone.

However, I will give him credit for stoking the fires early for the big derby on March 30 at Anfield, when I will surely be three sheets to the wind and cursing everything in sight whether we win, lose or draw.

=====

See? I can even write about Everton. It's not exciting [much like their style of play], it's not particularly fun, but it's good to know that I'm capable of doing so if it has to be done.

Now to go wash my hands.

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Point: Accept your new American overlords

These two aren't the problem at Anfield
(photo credit: The Sun)

Discontent with the ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett has reached a new high, with word that a group called Share Liverpool FC plans to raise 500 million pounds to buy the club. The scheme, in which 100,000 fans would plonk down 5,000 pounds each, is modeled after the ownership structures of Real Madrid and Barcelona, the supporter-owned Spanish giants. If the supporters' takeover went through, it would be a bad thing for Liverpool FC.

A bit of digging, though, reveals the comparison to be facile. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona enjoy certain structural advantages, notably their duopoly at the top of La Liga and the ability to negotiate separate TV deals. The clubs are also figureheads for the big rift in Spanish politics, which means they enjoy heavy political support and have at various times received subsidized loans from friendly banks.

Liverpool, on the other hand, play in the most unabashedly competitive and capitalist league in Europe, and must compete with the financial resources of Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United. What happens to the supporter owned team if they miss the Champions League and the fans are forced to make a further capital contribution to pay wages and buy players absent the extra TV and gate revenue? Would a fan owned team be able to make unpopular business decisions, like raise ticket prices, so that Liverpool could keep up with the Big Three?

The real issue here is not foreign ownership, and it’s not the fact that Hicks and Gillett have used debt to finance their takeover. You don’t see many Chelsea fans complain that their club is owned by a shady Russian billionaire. Up north, the Glazers are far more guilty on both counts, especially since the original 374 million pound loan to fund the takeover of Man U in 2005 was refinanced the following year into a 575 million pound loan. Where the newly borrowed 200 million pounds went is anyone’s guess, although I would bet a fair bit found its way into Malcolm’s trousers.

Plus, the debt is manageable, given that they don’t cancel the Premiership due to a recession, which means revenue is pretty stable. With the new TV deals and increased worldwide exposure, now is a critical moment for a big club to make savvy business decisions and build its global fanbase. Whether it’s good for the long term health of the EPL or not, the actions taken this decade by the big clubs have served to cement their places at the top, and put a widening gulf to the rest of the league. If you are a fan of a big club, now is not the time for provincial thinking.

Chelsea and Man U fans don’t complain because their teams have won the league the last three years. The real issue with Liverpool is not foreign ownership, no matter how tone-deaf and bumbling Hicks and Gillett have been. The problem is that the club isn’t winning. And the blame for that rests on the shoulders of Mr. Benitez, not the Yanks. Chelsea fans also backed Jose over their foreign owner, but once the switch was made and winning resumed at Stamford Bridge, they forgot all about their tiff with Roman.

Hicks and Gillett have been generous with the transfer funds; Torres and Babel did not come cheap. It’s not their fault that Rafa either a) can’t buy the right players or b) won’t put his best players on the pitch every time out. A managerial change and a few wins would do wonders to soothe the vitriol directed at the Americans.

A counterpoint from Lingering Bursitis to follow in the morning. He's lazy and unreliable, much like Harry Kewell.

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