City need to remember where they came from
THE Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ — Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea — continue to demand a bigger cut of the television share. They argue that as overseas packages are sold on the allure of the elite, they should get more of the £3billion raised.
One hopes that whoever is in the room representing City at least has the humility to look a little sheepish around the other 14 clubs. Less than a decade ago, City were one of them.
As much as the Premier League is now sold on elite competition, it was built on the challenges of those on the outside: Newcastle, Leeds and Blackburn were once title contenders, Charlton and Bolton nearly made it to the Champions League.
As Leicester proved spectacularly last season, the league thrives on the possibility of upsets — Bournemouth’s fightback against Liverpool this season, Crystal Palace’s defeat of Chelsea. When Ian Ayre, the former chief executive of Liverpool, said ‘there isn’t anyone subscribing in Kuala Lumpur to watch Bolton’, he was wrong.
Maybe Malaysian Trotters fans are not plentiful; but fans of what a team like Bolton can achieve on their day most certainly are.
And while we might not expect the privileged elite of Manchester United or Arsenal to get that, we did rather think Manchester City might understand: because not so long ago, they were just the sort of club a big five were looking to exclude. ENGLAND and Scotland’s colours do not clash. White-blue-white, blue-white-blue. In 112 meetings prior to last November, there had been no requirement to change. On Saturday, England played in red, just as Scotland wore pink at Wembley last year. These days, England’s white shirt has too much blue, Scotland’s blue too much white. They are no longer themselves. England look like Nike, Scotland like adidas. The colours represent the designers, not the nations. AS WE move closer to the first British and Irish Lions Test, the All Blacks have launched a new strip. You’ll never guess what colour it is. ANYONE in Antonio Conte’s company immediately after the FA Cup final would not be in the least surprised at his decision over Diego Costa. Asked whether Costa’s wild goal celebration suggested he might be committed to Chelsea after all, Conte was evasive. He talked about needing a rest, going on holiday, having time to think. He sounded about as interested in another year of Costa as he would be in playing Pedro at centre half. Interestingly, it was very similar in style to the answer Zinedine Zidane gave when asked about Gareth Bale’s Real Madrid future after the Champions League final. Holiday, time to think, decisions would come later. The question had very specifically named a pair of English suitors. Zidane had the opportunity, right there, to crush the speculation, to say Bale was part of his plans and going nowhere. He did not take it. Maybe he sees Bale as a bargaining chip in other negotiations with English clubs; maybe even back-to-back European titles do not give a Real Madrid coach the right to conduct his business. Maybe he still has to wait for the view from on high. Either way, as for Costa, it sounded ominous. Bale insists he wants to stay in Madrid. So did Mesut Ozil. It could be the club has other ideas.