Richard Scudamore took time off from coming up with bad ideas such as Game 39 this week to reject Kevin Keegan's criticism of the Premier League, in the build-up to the final day of the season. Oddly, Scudamore's last, desperate defence of Game 39 was to claim that it would open up overseas markets to smaller clubs, improving their chances of competing with the Champions League elite. Somehow that problem, in need of such a radical solution, slipped the chief executive's mind.
Even sceptics such as myself would have to concede that Sunday has the potential to be exciting and, as Scudamore says: "There are a lot of different tussles that go on in the Premier League depending on whether you're at the top, in the middle or at the bottom that make it interesting."
A couple of months ago, before Arsenal self-destructed, I suggested this could be the most exciting finish to a season in years and, even if we haven't had a three-way title race, it has still been better than we have had in recent seasons. The individual battles at every level can be exciting; the problem is the disconnection between the very top and the rest.
Some of the people can ignore it most of the time. All of the people can ignore it some of the time. But not even Scudamore can ignore it all of the time.
The gap is growing larger, as the retrenchment at West Ham is showing. Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson wants a return on his investment and so do most of the investors who have come into football hoping to crack the elite. The biggest threats to the superiority of the Big Four are the prospect of Liverpool committing suicide by rowing owners, or of another Roman Abramovich coming into the league and squandering absurd sums without having to worry about the consequences. Nothing that happens on Sunday will alter that.
Still, Scudamore may be able to paper over the crack come Monday morning if the ebb and flow of Sunday's matches delivers climax, not anti-climax. All down to you, Steve Bruce.
The Wigan manager has promised his team will give 100 per cent in
their efforts to stop Manchester United. He should be thanked, certainly, for ignoring the advice of candidates on The Apprentice and promising 110 per cent, 120 per cent, 150 per cent. The problem is that even Wigan's best may not be good enough.
Should United score early, as they did against West Ham, then the title race could be effectively decided in the time it takes them to double their lead. Alex Ferguson's team have stumbled of late, it's true, and Wigan had the strength to recover from a 1-0 battering to take a point at Stamford Bridge with Emile Heskey's late equaliser.
So this is not hoping for Andorra to take points off Russia to rescue England. It is, however, thoroughly unlikely that a struggling team with nothing to play for will hold or beat a very good one from the other side of the gulf.
Probability is no guarantee of outcome, of course. But the unexpected is much more likely to happen when you improve the odds. Sky, naturally, will focus on the top of the table. But by half-past three they may wish that Richard Keys and Co had gone elsewhere. The best pictures could be of the old lags with Jeff Stelling watching TV for you, the best words on Radio Five as they flit from match to match, taking you wherever the action is, just like the good old days, before anyone had heard of Richard Scudamore.
SUNDAY'S FIXTURES - 3pm kick-off
Birmingham v Blackburn
Chelsea v Bolton
Derby v Reading
Everton v Newcastle
Middlesbrough v Man City
Portsmouth v Fulham
Sunderland v Arsenal
Tottenham v Liverpool
West Ham v Aston Villa
Wigan v Man Utd
Philip Cornwall
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Growing Gap Is Hard To Ignore
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Your Comments
highburyJD
"easily solved - just split all money evenly I suppose there's an argument for clubs to keep slightly more than 50% of gate receipts (maybe 65-35) but all CL money should go into the pot and be divvied up 20 ways. "
OLI1879
"How is the gap getting bigger? the gap between 5th and 1st is 22, last season it was 29, the season before it was 26 and before that 37. Its so boring hearing people moaning about the "top four" and the "growing gap" constantly. In any successfull league in any sport there will be breakeaway clubs that are better than the others. Just be glad we have 4 teams that could possibly win it rather than 1. Now it's up to the other clubs to catch up.I would also like to remind people that things do and will change at the top of the league, it just takes a long time. Most football fans have such short memories they think Chelsea have been in the top 2 for the last 50 years. "
frankfasi
"I think if the billionaires of this world wants to break into the Barclay's Premier League Top Four, they're only wasting their money thinking they could achieve that in their lifetime. THey'd probably have a better chance at Champions LEague by investing in a club like Aberdeen or Fiorentina or Villareal - leagues where the top four are not as strong and deeply entrenched as in the English league."
Mutid
"Arab owners: Notts County. Like a great racehorse it has proper pedigree: the oldest professional club in the world and the team that lent Juve their famous black-and-white. Chinese owners: Nottingham Forest. Play in lucky red, and Wood is also one of the 5 Chinese elements signifying Spring, strength and flexibility. Great history and still have a big ground. Indian buyers: QPR. The Mittal's already have a stake. Just down the road from Southall and Hounslow, great pedigree, and a proper West London - W12 - postcode. Done deals, thankyouverymuch..."
Mutid
"I think if one or two of the clubs like Man City, Aston Villa, Spurs, Everton, West Ham, Blackburn, Newcastle or Pompey can just get their houses in a bit better shape, then they can break into the Top 4. Some have flirted with it, but just not made it stick. The problem is that they're not just competing in the transfer market for the best players against the Top 4 in England, they are competing against EVERY team regularly in the CL - be it Lyon or Fenerbahce or Schalke 04. If the truth be told, too many of them are being run for the benefit of the chairman and the rest is smoke and mirrors. I expect some more big owners to come in from overseas - maybe from India and China, or the likes of Dubai, where the oil money people are looking for investments for a future after oil. It would be hilarious for someone to come in and buy Nottingham Forest - one of the most famous teams in the world - and take them all the way again! You could probably buy them for £1 and invest the rest in new players and global marketing..."
Mad_iguana
""All down to you, Steve Bruce." And Gary Megson, of course. We all seem to be assuming - and no-one is questioning - that Chelsea will beat Bolton. As someone pointed out recently, a 1-0 home win would suit Bolton much better than going for it and possibly losing by a few goals; not that I would suggest that they would purposely allow this to happen. But people are happy to suggest that Wigan will "lie down" for Man Utd, or at least imply it by making headline news out of the bizarre concept that Wigan might possibly - gasp!! - attempt to win (or not lose). So let's be even-handedly cynical and spend as much time hoping that Bolton will protect the integrity of the Premier League as we are spending hoping that Wigan will."
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