Big bucks scored

  Aug 12, 2020 7:54 pm Rev Walker 1998

Big bucks scored

Tuesday saw Brentford lose to Fulham in what is without question the most lucrative single fixture each season; forget the Champions League final, forget the World Cup final, forget national cup finals, Superbowl etc, the Championship play-off final is the Daddy of them all. One conservative estimate states that if a promoted club survives just one season in the Premier League before returning to the Championship then their coffers will benefit to the tune of no less than £265 million over five years, now consider how much that figure would have meant to Brentford who are more used to an annual turnover of just £15 million per year. Getting there is just the start; then you have to consider whether or not you want to do a Norwich which means pocket the dosh, (£135-ish million) play out the season, then pop back down to where you came from in rude financial health all the better to launch a new promotion bid, or spend some of that mega-money a la Aston Villa in the hope that you can survive that first season and build on that for the seasons to come. It’s a big call either way though I would hope that Fulham aren’t going up just to make up the numbers, if that should to be the case then there can be no excuse for the Cottagers who were rolling around in the Premier League money pit just one season ago.

Europe; more trouble than it’s worth?

UEFA in their infinite wisdom (Oxymoron time) have decreed that for next seasons Champions League and Europa League the following will apply if Covid 19 rears its ugly head; after the draw is made should the home teams country impose travel restrictions upon the away teams country then the home team will forfeit the game with a 3-0 defeat unless they can negotiate playing the tie in a neutral country. A similar forfeit will apply if the situation was reversed however, should both teams countries apply restrictions and a neutral venue cannot be arranged then both teams will be disqualified from said competition. To put that into context Manchester City despite being 2-1 up after winning in Madrid would have forfeited last night’s second leg 3-0 to send Real through and, if the Germans put restrictions on the Brits then todays second leg between Bayern and Chelsea would see the Londoners ‘win’ the game 3-0 which is clearly a bonkers scenario. I get the feeling we’re going to see a number of European games being played in Dubai next season and while we’re on about it does the same apply to UEFA’s own Europa 2020 which is of course now known as Europa 2020-ish? 

Back to school the lot of you

Another big game another refereeing debacle; after his awful outing in the 2017 FA Cup final when Anthony Taylor helped Arsenal to beat Chelsea what numpty decided to repeat the trick in last week’s cup final between the same two clubs? To no-one’s surprise history repeated itself with the same awful officiating leading to the same result. Somebody up there has a soft spot for the Nomads which I’m sure has nothing to do with the fact that the FA Cup is sponsored by the same airline that is also the Nomad shirt sponsor and has naming rights to the Nomads stadium.

Them’s the breaks

Imagine if Covid 19 had locked down footie a week earlier; this especially for Spurs and Liverpool fans is quite a pertinent notion. If European competition had poised just a week earlier then Spurs would have had Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min back from long term injury and would have fancied their chances of overturning a 1-0 first leg deficit against Red Bull Leipzig last week. Equally plausible is that Liverpool would have almost certainly turned over Atletico Madrid with their first choice keeper available rather than Adrian who was responsible for a couple of goals that night at Anfield. But sadly it wasn’t to be and there’s no use crying over spilt milk, to do otherwise is to invite claims of sour grapes and I certainly don’t want to be accused of that. (Deep down inside I’m furious)

Wrong, end of.

So Sheffield Wednesday start next season in the Championship with a 12 point deduction for financial irregularities; if I’m a Charlton fan facing up to League One footie next season I wouldn’t feel too happy at this news.

This week’s games

Champions League round of 16 second legs today 10pm; Barcelona (1) vs (1) Napoli, Bayern Munich (3) vs (0) Chelsea. Quarter-finals Wednesday 10pm; Atalanta vs Paris Saint Germain. Thursday 10pm; Red Bull Leipzig vs Atletico Madrid. Friday 10pm; Napoli/Barcelona vs Chelsea/Bayern Munich. Europa League quarter finals Monday 10pm; Inter vs Rangers/Leverkusen, Manchester United vs FC Copenhagen. Tuesday 10pm; Olympiakos/Wolves vs Seville/Roma,  Selected Scotland tomorrow 5pm; Rangers vs St Mirren. 6:30: Kilmarnock vs Celtic. Wednesday 8pm; St Mirren vs Celtic. 9:45; Rangers vs St Johnstone.  

F1

Formula One 70th Anniversary Grand Prix Silverstone tomorrow 4:10. Things we can expect to see at Silverstone tomorrow; definite, Lewis Hamilton continuing his crusade to make everyone bow to his self-righteous ego driven insistence that all whites are privileged and racists while he is as pure as the driven snow. Probable; Hamilton taking the chequered flag before again giving the black power salute while insisting that all whites are privileged and racists while he is a pure as the driven snow. If this sounds and looks familiar it’s what I wrote about last week’s Silverstone race and as written it duly came to pass, although our man from Stevenage wasn’t too pleased that seven of the twenty drivers showed admirable independence of mind and refused to take the knee. Here’s hoping that a few more tell him to shove it and then hopefully this odious individual can get back to the only thing he does well and in doing so leaves the anarchist antics to the Marxists and their fellow travelers who are infinitely more suited to the task. 

And finally

Last week’s question asked what was unique about Brentford’s Griffin Road ground? The answer much to the delight of both home and way supporters was that there was a pub at each of the grounds four distinct corners. The pubs were The Griffin, The Princess Royal, The New Inn, and The Royal Oak which in 2019 was renamed The Brook. Sadly there are no pubs to be found at their new ground for next season which is called The Brentford Community Stadium. Congrats to John Grundey, Steve Langbridge, and Roger Bara all of whom aced the question. This week; Toronto Blue Jays find themselves at a massive disadvantage in Major League Baseball this season, why?

After nearly five years of having my neighbor delivering this earnest publication to my door each week I now have to get it myself; so why is it that every Saturday morning I return from the shops sans Cyprus Today? Is my subconscious telling me something? Or is old age fuddling my brain? (Could well be the latter as I keep finding myself whistling Barry Manilow songs)



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