WHAT MAD PURSUIT..
Don`t worry - I`m not going to lapse into the poetry of Keats. But these three words from his Ode on a Grecian Urn somehow seem entirely appropriate. Of course, there is the mad pursuit of keeping Greece in the Euro zone which is really about keeping the European Project alive and kicking, politically if not financially. (Whatever happened to democracy?) But there are other pursuits which are equally bonkers.
Now, here we are in the middle of summer - England have just gone 1-0 up in the Ashes series, Wimbledon has happily just drawn to a close for another year, Chris Froome is powering his way around France, the weather is benign yet still the impudent Premier League refuses to let summer take its course, this time with the `news` that Manchester City have paid Liverpool £49 million for the services of Raheem Sterling, who is alleged to have agreed a weekly wage of £200,000.
Not his fault, of course - if people are willing to offer you that kind of deal, you aren`t going to turn it down (unless you`re Matthew Le Tissier) and so the real culprits in the mad pursuit of Premier League success must be the owners of `big` clubs like Manchester City, United, Arsenal and Chelsea and the Premier League itself, whose `product` has overshadowed what used to be merely a game.
A couple of years ago, almost to the day, I had a similar concern about the way the Premier League was heading and if anything it`s got worse. The `top 6` seem not only to have a bottomless pit of money (whatever happened to financial fair play?) but also the idea that whatever and whoever they want, they get. It`s all about money, of course, but all the while those at the top of the food chain are allowed to behave with impunity, then there is little hope for the rest. I`ve long hankered for the day when the top 6 go off and join a European Super League and leave the rest of us to enjoy a more competitive and enjoyable `match day experience.`
I think what brought it all home to me was the last time I bought some razor blades. I was surprised how expensive they have become; but then I remembered that the price must be going to pay for all those Gillette Super Saturdays which I might watch on Sky, who in turn pump £billions into the Barclays Premier League, resulting in the £200,000 which Mr. Sterling and his chums get each week. I just wonder how long this particular mad pursuit can be sustained before we all get tired of it all and turn instead to the more civilised reaches of the game.
The fixtures for the next season in the National League South have just been published and I see that, next April, my local team, Maidstone United, are away at Truro City. Now that`s more like it. I could well be tempted. And I might grow a beard as well.
Now, here we are in the middle of summer - England have just gone 1-0 up in the Ashes series, Wimbledon has happily just drawn to a close for another year, Chris Froome is powering his way around France, the weather is benign yet still the impudent Premier League refuses to let summer take its course, this time with the `news` that Manchester City have paid Liverpool £49 million for the services of Raheem Sterling, who is alleged to have agreed a weekly wage of £200,000.
Not his fault, of course - if people are willing to offer you that kind of deal, you aren`t going to turn it down (unless you`re Matthew Le Tissier) and so the real culprits in the mad pursuit of Premier League success must be the owners of `big` clubs like Manchester City, United, Arsenal and Chelsea and the Premier League itself, whose `product` has overshadowed what used to be merely a game.
A couple of years ago, almost to the day, I had a similar concern about the way the Premier League was heading and if anything it`s got worse. The `top 6` seem not only to have a bottomless pit of money (whatever happened to financial fair play?) but also the idea that whatever and whoever they want, they get. It`s all about money, of course, but all the while those at the top of the food chain are allowed to behave with impunity, then there is little hope for the rest. I`ve long hankered for the day when the top 6 go off and join a European Super League and leave the rest of us to enjoy a more competitive and enjoyable `match day experience.`
I think what brought it all home to me was the last time I bought some razor blades. I was surprised how expensive they have become; but then I remembered that the price must be going to pay for all those Gillette Super Saturdays which I might watch on Sky, who in turn pump £billions into the Barclays Premier League, resulting in the £200,000 which Mr. Sterling and his chums get each week. I just wonder how long this particular mad pursuit can be sustained before we all get tired of it all and turn instead to the more civilised reaches of the game.
The fixtures for the next season in the National League South have just been published and I see that, next April, my local team, Maidstone United, are away at Truro City. Now that`s more like it. I could well be tempted. And I might grow a beard as well.
1 comment:
Thanks, Ray. I lol`d !!
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