A CURIOUS AMBITION..

Over the weekend, the national treasure that is Delia Smith had some interesting things to say about football in this country. Interviewed on BBC Radio 4, she declared, "There`s something radically wrong with football in this country and it needs a major sort out." Asked what her `sort out` might be, she said, "I`d go back to the days before we had the Premiership, when it was about the best team winning. Nowadays it`s the Premier League and it`s all about money."

Now, Delia speaks as a longstanding fanatical supporter of Norwich City who themselves had a mild flirtation with the Premier League some seasons ago, so she`s been there and done it. And if any confirmation was needed of her assertions, then look no further than the newspapers who are vyeing with each other as to who can print the most about the Premier League`s new season which doesn`t start until next weekend. Pages and pages of it, pull-out supplements, careful analysis of each club`s prospects, article upon article about the new foreign imports , league tables on how much money each club has spent over the summer and the inevitable forecasts of which club will finish where at the end of the season. In short, the Premier League is nothing more than a product and far from being the self-styled `best league in the world,` it has simply become the `best football product in the world.`

I find it hard to see the attraction in the combination of a collection of foreign managers running teams of foreign players playing for clubs with foreign owners all in the name of the English Premier League. There is something deeply unattractive too about the antics of those few English players left in the Premier League. If it`s not their off-field peccadilloes, it`s their woeful inadequacy when it comes to representing the country on the world stage. Delusions of adequacy have seldom been more evident.

Which brings me to suggest that it might, after all, be better, more rewarding and certainly more identifiably entertaining to support a club in the lower reaches of the game without the constant anguish about losing a game or nine. It seems a curious ambition to want promotion out of a league where there is a degree of honest endeavour and an acceptance of a club`s limitations to one where money, hype, excess and false hope are the prime currencies.

My own club is not having a shirt sponsor this season. Instead, the team strip is a replica of the first ever strip worn when the club was formed 125 years ago. Blackpool, on the other hand, just promoted to the Premier League for the first time, are to be sponsored by Wonga.com. Seems entirely appropriate.