Morning:
8°c
Will the Premier League be exempt from the mayhem in the financial markets? I doubt it. London clubs like Tottenham, West Ham and Fulham, all of whom want bigger stadium capacities, will have to whistle for it while the banks are in disarray. The Hammers, too, have lost their sponsor, with XL going under.
Probably the worst casualty could be Manchester United. Their sponsor, the American insurance group AIG, is in terrible trouble and has just been thrown a £43billion lifeline by the American government to keep it going. AIG is midway through a £56million sponsorship, with £28m of it unpaid, and there must still be question marks over the partnership continuing.
United are massively in the red, a debt that grows each year because of the PIK (payment-in-kind) notes used in part by the Glazers to buy the club.
The advantage of these devices is that interest can be rolled up; the disadvantage is that the interest rate charged on them is often eye watering, i.e. in excess of 20 per cent.
United's business model is based on future expansion in line with what has happened in the past. But that may be way too optimistic for present circumstances.
A lot of United's fans travel long distances to get to Old Trafford and that, plus the cost of tickets, is quite a financial burden. As times get tougher, United and others will surely find bums on seats reducing sharply, especially for those cup games for which even season-ticket holders have to pay extra.
Club merchandise is another optional extra on the budgets of most families that can be easily forgone.
Even TV subscriptions will be put under pressure if the downturn impacts on the economy as a whole, as it is beginning to do. Another club in big trouble are Liverpool, who are kept afloat by bank debt. This debt has to be formally renegotiated in January. The club's American owners may have cause to regret treating their Dubai suitors in such a cavalier fashion.
As for Newcastle owner Mike Ashley trying to get more for the club than he paid after his Rake's Progress on Tyneside, in the immortal words of John McEnroe: "You cannot be serious!" Ashley is now in the Gulf looking to offload the club but I suspect he will be as popular out there as a pork sausage during Ramadan.
The clubs that will feel the impact less are those that are just a rich man's plaything, notably Chelsea and now Manchester City. That may be unjust but that's how it will be. And the danger, of course, is that even more foreign billionaires will move in to the vacuum created by intolerable financial pressures on other owners.
If the Football Association and the Premier League aren't already thinking seriously of tightening up their financial regulations, they should because some of those attracted in will put the integrity of the competition under even greater strain. Increased financial transparency will be essential, Toughie Triesman please note.
Poor Owen could use a dose of fatherly Fabio's Theo medicine
I said I wouldn't pass judgement on Fabio Capello until after some proper competitive matches and maybe others should have shown similar restraint.
Of course the Italian coach is overpaid but, on the evidence of the Croatia match, undeniably effective.
England looked much better organised and, when asked why, Capello just smiled and said: "I've had them for 10 days!" Just so, Fabio! His handling of Theo Walcott was also exemplary. Walcott is lucky to have him and Arsene Wenger nurturing his exceptional talent so carefully at Arsenal.
Michael Owen wasn't so lucky. Over-played as a teenager, he is now paying the price with a succession of injuries that have reduced him to a shadow of his former self when he ought to be in his prime for both club and country.
FA must get tough on Fagan
After flunking imposing a proper penalty on Joey Barton for serial violence, Toughie Triesman's new model Football Association, who so far bear a sad resemblance to the old useless one, face another challenge from Newcastle: what to do about Danny Guthrie's leg-breaking tackle on Hull's Craig Fagan.
If Guthrie isn't hit with an additional ban far longer than the three-match norm, the FA might as well pack up altogether.
Pardew in need of lessons on reality
After last weekend's defeat by Wolves, Charlton manager Alan Pardew said his team had "a bit of learning to do".
But what about you, Alan? Shouldn't you learn a few lessons, too?
Having failed so miserably last season when you guided the club, one of the best resourced in the Championship, to a mid-table finish, are you capable of doing any better this time?
My bit of learning is that you shouldn't be there.
Outrage at Chin's sucker punch
Spare a thought today for 16-year-old Rebecca Chin, who won and lost a silver medal in a day. She has a lower leg impairment, which, she was told, qualified her to compete for Britain in the discus event at the Paralympics. Then, after the competition, she was told her impairment was insufficient and she was stripped of her medal. How shocking is that?
I admire the Paralympics and I am glad competitors are getting so much more attention than they used to. But if the Paralympics expect to be respected, any necessary medical checks should be done before the event, and once a competitor has been accepted, that should be that.
To tell a kid she isn't disabled enough is so insulting, it's a disgrace to all concerned.
All this, and some other avoidable controversies, have cast an unnecessary shadow over an exceptional Paralympics.
Not much climax in cricket's finale
The new two-tier cricket County Championship was supposed to stimulate more interest in the game but it hasn't. The good news is that this season's Division One is quite exciting, with four counties within four points of the top. The bad news is that this blanket finish is mainly due to the mediocrity of all concerned, not assisted by this summer's awful weather. Only Durham have managed to win five out of 14 matches. Somerset are second despite having won only three, the same as Lancashire, who may well be relegated.
Reader views (3)
David Mellor is no fool.What he says is true-I think this man is clever enough to get more controversial,time to start getting critical,like Richard Littlejohn. People love it when the odds are higher!
- Andy Kidd, Newbury,U.k, 20/09/2008 19:17
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Get tough on Fagan? What do you suggest - breaking his other leg?
- Ollie, London, UK, 19/09/2008 13:09
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Whats the matter with mellor then? Are we supposed to believe there were no comments about United's meltdown? or does he thin he is above all that? Perhaps its because he has made such a fool of himsef on this subject before.
- James Hennessy, london england, 18/09/2008 16:50
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