While you may argue it’s difficult to have an ounce of sympathy towards any premier outfit where spending is concerned – and you may well have a point – let me run this question by you. Which London club have spent most of the close season (A) not buying players and (B) whinging about how they have no money to spend on buying players. Until recently, many, myself included, would probably have gone for Chelsea! That would have been a decent attempt at the answer, but the West London side now tops the Division where spending is concerned. And the new Russian owner insists he's not satisfied with the team yet. despite the fact that the Blues subs bench will have a better midfield sat on it than most teams in the country! It's bloody madness really. Anyway beer may not be far off the £3 a pint mark in the capital but no worries on that score for Damien Daff who should be okay to get his round in! The former Blackburn man may have the potential to be one of the best players in the Premiership but up to now I’d rate him as one of the better players in an average Rovers team. Somebody at Stamford Bridge obviously thinks young Damien has it in him – they must do. All those Millions to take him to Chelsea , and then when Mr Duff arrives, wages of around £30,000 per week. A ‘week’ folks. Not including win bonuses of course. Make mine a Fosters Damien! So no it’s not Chelsea. Who else? West Ham, well the Hammers were not happy with relegation but the thankfully well again Glenn Roeder has been quietly going about his job despite the fact that the board have allowed the sale of several leading players. Trevor Sinclair (anyone else remember him diving and getting a penalty against us in the cup at Loftus Road when he played for QPR - winking at the United fans after doing so) went on record as saying that relegation would not affect his loyalty to Upton Park and would play his part in attempting to get the club back into the top flight - and then promptly took off at the first available opportunity. Some loyalty. Spurs are not a happy ship, but its now hard to remember it being any different at the lane. In Premier terms Tottenham have not spent an awful lot on players over the past few seasons. It hasn’t helped that when they have splashed out it’s been a disaster in most cases. Step forward Mr Rebrov! And of course it winds the Spurs faithful up, and how, when their fierce rivals at Highbury have had so much success on the field after bringing the quality of players like Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira to North London. Yep, its been a good couple of years to be a gooner. Which makes it all the more incredible that the answer to my above question concerning a lack of spending and much whinging is , err... Arsenal! It 's hard to believe ain't it but its truly been the case. The Evening Standard in London (The best newspaper in the world apart from the Cumberland News of course!) has been full of stories on the Gunners . With manager Arsene Wenger in particular, venting his fury, misery and frustration, at the lack of money available to spend in the Arsenal kitty. It really is enough to put a wry smile on the lips of most Cumbrians to hear of such ‘hard times’ at Highbury. But if you can be bothered to look closely then its clear to see that the FA cup winners really do have financial friction when it comes to strengthening their squad. It all started to go a bit pear shaped for Arsenal when the Highbury board announced plans for a brand new stadium . It needs building due to the fact that the club know they’d have thousands more paying customers at every game and because the current ground is served by wholly inadequate transport facilities resulting in total gridlock whenever Arsenal are at home. Trouble is the stadium’s cost has already shot up in price, and that’s before one brick has been laid at the new site. Wenger has been forced to confront the harsh reality of the balance sheet this summer as the financial problems of the £400m Ashburton Grove development have seriously restricted his transfer activity. But other than that you’d have to blame either poor housekeeping or ridiculous sky-high wages for the lack of dosh to spend among the famous marble halls. Mind you if anyone was in any doubt that our national sport is facing financial fiasco on a massive scale then this surely proves the point. Because if a world famous club like Arsenal, with all the success they’ve enjoyed in recent times, are in difficulty, then it should be sending out serious shockwaves to the rest. You don’t have to be a Gunners fan to know that their team is crying out for, at the very least, for two much needed replacements. To have a chance of challenging for the title then a top class keeper was needed after David Seaman’s departure, and they also need at least one new (I’d argue 2) world class defender. Mr Wenger insists he needs a new player in every position for his team, and while he probably would say that, he may have a valid point. The current side have peaked and at present will struggle to compete with Man United and now Chelsea of course, for the major honours. While they have now obtained a keeper the fee (£1.5m) for Jens Lehmann had a lot to do with the signing of a player, who, at best, has a rather suspect temperament. The worrying thing about all of this of course is that if the elite in the league are feeling the pinch then you can be sure that the knock on effect will somehow make it harder, yep even harder than it is now, for the clubs at the other end of the scale, clubs like CUFC of course, to thrive, prosper and succeed. But football is responsible for so many of its own failings, none more so than in financial terms. The latest official report into English football's finances showed that Arsenal's wage bill rose by a staggering 51% in just one season. Another reason why they need that new stadium of course as every match at Old Trafford generates around £1.75m more than at Highbury. Maybe the constant Wenger whinging was starting to wear me down. I could feel a tad of sympathy forming so thank goodness Dennis Berghamp in the shape of that lovely agent of his opened their mouths to burst that bubble. The Dutchman, looked upon as a squad player by Arsene Wenger this season (ie, the manager thinks he’s past his best and ain’t good enough to be in the team every week) has spent most of the summer moaning about the ‘derisory offer’ he’s been made to sign a new Highbury contract . I’ll leave it up to your judgement to decide if £20,000 a week for playing football could be described as ‘derisory'.! Premiership footballers (and their agents) – don’t you just love em! At least the Carlisle United players still live in the real world. Though if anyone is in doubt about just how much these agents are involved in the game, you might be a little surprised to know (as I was) that when Rod Thomas played for the Blues a few years ago now, the little fella was represented by the same agent Paul Gascoigne had. No wonder there is such a “get mine, never mind the rest” attitude among these gentlemen. So I won’t be shedding any tears for Mr Wenger and co. How about you? CUFC could cease to exist and they wouldn’t bat an eyelid or barely notice. They wouldn’t like to be drawn against us up here in the cup again, but that’s only because of the distance involved. Indeed which Arsenal player was heard to bemoan “how far the airport was from Brunton Park” when they played here in the FA cup a few seasons back, (answer next article, if anyone cares) Like so many in the top flight, the Gunners have been more than instrumental in making their own financial bed. If things get worse they could always employ our Cheryl who looks after (and what a job that is) the BP coffers. Though I hope she was joking when I turned up to see John Courtenay for a recent meeting, and had to wait for the Chief while he sorted out (another) financial problem. “I’ve tied him to the chair and I’m not letting him go free until this is all sorted.” Declared the good lady. Cheryl’s methods proving nothing, if not effective. Wonder if they would work among marble halls. Closer to home and another new season is kicking-off for Carlisle United. After the last few years it would almost be tempting to settle for mid-table safety. But then if your a Cumbrian then your nothing if not optimistic and I don't see too many teams in Division Three that we should fear. The experience of the new signings will make a big difference and isn't it great to see a Carlisle charver in the team. Good luck to Paul Simpson and I think he'll do a valuable job for the side. If United can stay clear of too many injuries and have even a bit of the bleeding rub of the green (must be about time) then a place in the play-offs at the very least may well be possible for The Blues. Call me biased but I reckon there is no set of supporters anywhere that deserve to have something to celebrate than those of you who are now reading this. Because if you are reading then it means you have stuck with CUFC and continue to follow your home town team. Your loyalty does you credit. So good luck to John Courtenay, the coaching staff and players of Carlisle United. I hope they have a great season - but I hope the CUFC fans have an even better one! Respect to you Blues wherever you are in the world Mick |
