It has been getting me down recently at just how many Premier League teams are being bought out by foreign investors with money to waste, and no sense of the history built up over countless years prior to their arrival. I suppose it all started with Chelsea, who went from perennial upper-mid table challengers to consistent league challengers in the space of a year due to the bottomless pit that is Roman Abramovich's wallet.
That seemed to spark a number of takeovers from the American owned Man Utd, Liverpool and Aston Villa to the Icelandic contingent that controls West Ham United. Man City now find themselves under their second set of foreign owners, after Abu Dhabi United Group bought the club from the disaster zone that was Thanksin Shinawatra. And their first action... table a bid of £35 million for Tottenham's Dimitar Berbatov.
And this is what gets to me, British Football (to a lesser extent all European Football) is merely a playground for the rich. The quality of a club's scouts, youth academy and coaches don't really matter anymore as many clubs seem to be able to pay whatever it costs to get the best players.
No need to give our future England star a game because we've just bought our new £35 million striker, might as well sell our academy players to Barnsley where they'll never have a chance to improve enough to play for their country. Scouse accent was annoying anyway, much better to have someone who can't speak English.
NBA/NFL-style salary caps should be introduced to the league to deter richer clubs merely paying over the odds, in terms of wages, to attract players who will be used as a backup at best. Steve Sidwell at Chelsea was a clear example, the guy barely played but still signed because of the money (not a bash on Sidwell, he does have a family to look after). A salary cap would force clubs to think about their signings a little more and would help make the league more exciting, as it would most likely put a stop to the dominance of the top four clubs and add a touch of much needed variety to the oh so monotonous parade that is the Premier League season.
Also, have you noticed the amount of managers that've been fired since foreign ownership has become so regular? The owners are pumping so much money into the clubs that if success isn't instant then you can pack your bags and leave. Eriksson, for example, managed a top ten finish with Man City last year (a more than respectable effort considering their form before him) only to find himself let go in the most unceremonious manner.
Do these owners not understand that it takes time for even the best players to settle in? Do they not understand the gulf in talent between a Man City and a Man Utd? Do they not know a it takes at least a season for a new manager to implement their way of doing things, both on and off the pitch?
Not all foreign money in the British game is bad. Randy Lerner at Aston Villa seems to 'get it', and has given Martin O'Niell a lot of time to build the club from the foundations up. This has put Villa in a stable financial position that means they'll be able to survive if he decides to leave the club. Chelsea on the other hand would be stuck down the river without a paddle' if Roman left and wasn't replaced by an equally wealthy figure. Roman seems to be thinking along the lines of 'stuff the stadium, stuff the academy, stuff the fans, just get me the best player in the world now - even if it is going to cost £30 million for a player the wrong side of thirty, and while we're at it... raise the ticket prices, a lot'. Roman will get bored eventually, he'll take his money and leave Chelsea to pay the bill without the facilities to generate the cash.
Anyway, that's my two cents.
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