By dixon9
June 4 2007

For those of us that aren’t that interested in cricket, the close season can be frustrating. We’ve got the odd England game to look forward to of course but they’re very few and far between and let’s be honest, the players deserve a holiday don’t they?

We manage to get ourselves through it though; conversations in most watering holes usually consist of questions, theories and "I've heard that blah blah blah - I've got it on good authority you know!  Seriously!  My sister´s friend 2nd cousin removed works as a cleaning lady for the club and she gets on well with the kit man and he apparently said........"  type  statements.  Then you've got your usual "When does the fixture list come out?", "Who are your lot going to sign then?", "Have you ever seen that south American youngster they've signed play?",  "Is the Charity Shield (I still call it that) on the 4th or 11th?", "So you've got 40M to spend then?" - All good harmless fun and in the words of Basil Fawlty, we get a few "aimless thrills" out of it don't we? 

Looking back over the end of the season and reviewing this summer's activity reveals interesting and contrasting events for a lot of the Premier League clubs: 

Liverpool ended the season on a low ending up trophy less losing perhaps almost unluckily to AC Milan.  The scousers admirably took the game to the Italian side and conceded a questionably legal first goal but then ended up losing probably due to a combination of the tactics of Benitez and the old school Italian way of the Milan side:

"They didn´t deserve that!"  fumed my (slightly inebriated) scouse friend.  "We wanted it more!  Well...they're a class side but they hardly got the ball in our half!....and as for that c**t Inzaghi!"  I proffered that the Italian sides love that type of game and have been winning like that for half a century now....and why didn´t they start with Crouch? (They don't like it "up em" after all do they?).  I didn´t help much at the time and I don't want to be a hypocrite and say that I was saddened by the result! 

On to much more serious matters, it then got worse for the Merseyside faithful when reports and also accounts of Liverpool fans in Athens provided sickening reading.  Liverpool fans attacking their own - forming "snatch squads" to beat up and rob tickets and wallets  - not even sparing children and old men. 

Forged tickets were in abundance being sold at extortionate amounts to fellow supporters and despite the memory of Hillsborough and the current "Justice" campaign, crashing and storming gates and jibbing en masse (something they attempted to do at Stamford Bridge only weeks earlier) was the order of the day for many.  Those that had saved for their trip with genuine tickets were unable to enter as the ground was full and those that had forced their way in, were, as one Liverpool fan put it, "dancing on the graves of the 96." 

The modestly self-proclaimed "best fans in the world" have now been labelled the worst fans in Europe: UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said:

"We have an independent police report mentioning 25 incidents since 2003 caused by Liverpool fans away from home. That's the most of any team in Europe. We should all be very pleased that no one was hurt."  

I've known quite a few, decent Pool fans over the years and have had many a happy pint chatting about football with them - I don't believe that any of them would have been involved in the atrocities in Athens but, in my view, it should be recognised that there is and has been for some time a large element of undesirables in their support - not a majority by any means but nevertheless a significant number that need to be dealt with before we have another Hillsborough or even a Heysel on our hands and the inevitable banning of English clubs from Europe again.    

There's no doubt that Liverpool football fans will have suffered a sizable dent in their credibility on past events BUT how do you get rid of this vicious element?  Some scousers are considering a form of self-policing but there is a strong "anti-grass" culture which could make things difficult - good luck to them although they might advise Parry not to make such bewilderingly stupid pre-match statements such as "...our fans will get in - one way or another..." which some will only take as encouragement. 

Happily getting back to footballing matters, Benitez has spat his dummy out and thrown down the gauntlet to the new owners by asking them to literally put their money where their mouth is as he's sick of procrastination and the inability to sign the really big players. Fair play to him I suppose but if they've got a budget of 40-50M (depending on which paper you read) surely signing Etoó or Villa will swallow nearly all of that up in one go?  A 10M deal for Florent Malouda, a pacey Lyon winger who can make a decent cross looks likely and this may signal the departure of Zenden or Mark Gonzalez.

And talking of owners mouths I'm sure Liverpool fans would prefer that their two happy yanks keep theirs firmly shut.  Gillette has made some "unfortunate" comments recently comparing the buy out of the Anfield club to an earlier acquisition of Weetabix cereal whilst drawing upon numerous parallels alarmingly close to the Glazer buy out of the Manchester United "exciting franchise."  Surely Liverpool fans will now be beginning to ponder and question exactly how the new owners are respecting their "tradition and history"? (Something which I've always wondered how this can be demonstrated!).  To make matters worse, Hicks then went on to say that winning the league would be a slower process than I'm sure the Anfield faithful demand and then compounded that by describing Chelsea as "the greatest club in the world!"  Who am I to argue?!!!

Moving 35 miles odd to the east, "old red nose" has been very sharply out the blocks for a pensioner, leaving a wake which has made many opposition fans anxious with regard to their own clubs signings.  Nani and Anderson at 20 and 19 respectively are the latest red devils and Anderson certainly has received recent praise from the plaudits. 

Fergie´s obviously learned lessons form the past or has he?;  after the 2002-03 season, Ronaldinho and Duff were his targets but lost out to Barcelona and Chelsea and he ended up with a 6M Brazilian in Kleberson who did...erm....not very much.  The purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo however, costing nearly 13M in August 2003 has proved to be a success as has that of Rooney, Vidic and Evra although the signing of two youngsters for 34M has raised a lot of eyebrows.

Anderson does seem to be remarkably mature for his age and Antonio Pereira, a Portuguese journalist said "Anderson is a massive talent and the kind of player who won't need many more games to confirm he has the ability of Ronaldo or Kaka. That is his level. He has come from a poor background and overcome a lot of difficulties to become a brilliant player. He is a typical No 10, a playmaker not a striker, and he is a true joy, a player you pay to watch."

The effect of these signings may well disadvantage other buying clubs - if two youngsters with a handful of internationals are worth 34M then how much should a 26 year old with 35 internationals cost? Still, the media describe Fergie as a shrewd, wily old fox whereas Chelsea get described as ruining and distorting the transfer market!  Ho hum!

The Owen Hargreves signing has been dragging out for a while now and at 17M + extras (?) this now brings their summer spending up to 50M - you'd think they're trying to buy the league! But again...hold on! that's only said when Chelsea spend money - when Man Utd do it they are "planning for the future" according to our lovable media!   

Klass Jan Huntelaar (Ajax), Michael Owen and Nicolas Anelka are apparent targets for what should be their last summer signing whilst Heinze could be off to Real Madrid, Richardson to Middlesbrough and Solskjaer to Sunderland.

What about our old friends from north London? (Or should that be SE London if history is really as important as they claim it is?).   Well, for those that play in red and white, their philosophical manager in Arsne Wegner has been very quiet since the acrimonious departure of David Dein and 50 tubes of Alberto Balsam hair gel.  The Frenchman was surprisingly supportive of Chelsea since our penalty disaster exit at Anfield and has been largely absent from media coverage since.  In fact, he has said that he will see this 2007/8 season out - could it be his last though? 

He did however recently make a "guest appearance" in some reports claiming that they would make two "super" signings.  There is certain disquiet re the continuance of Henry and some Gunners are already suspecting that this could be the source for some of the funds for these anxiously awaited signings - most notably Franck Ribery. Henry has made comments about his frustration and ambition but I couldn't see the club letting him go without a decent pound of flesh in an Etoó swap plus cash type deal.

Arsenal do have a problem with Reyes who neither they nor Real Madrid want although they will off-load one salary with the return of Baptista to Real Madrid.  Gallas....not a happy man it appears (too many youngsters) and his favourite record at the moment could be the Clash classic "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"  Lughnberg looks set to depart and Barcelona youth product Fábregas is a target for Madrid.  Bretner has been given a 5 year contract after his successful loan spell at Birmingham.

Spurs?  Hmmm...well here's a club that's had it's ship steadied since the arrival of Jol and have more or less progressively advanced and knocked on the door of CL football - they will need to hang on to Berbatov though if they to avoid 1 step forward, 2 steps backwards.  They are in a bit of a tussle to sign Reo Cocker at the moment.

Newcastle have Big Sam at the helm now although I can't help thinking that the possible signing of Barton is continuing the tradition of signing disruptive influences.  Still, if anyone can get anything out of the Geordie club than Big Sam can.

And what about us?  Well Chelsea have responded to Fergie´s Lindford Christie style transfer activity by hardly spending a penny in football terms (Well!  Ok!  Alex will cost $1! - although we did spend 3-5M on him 3 years ago for "first option" - officially speaking of course!). 

The most expensive signing so far is a young 16 year old forward Danny Philliskirk for £200,000 who´ll not figure in the first team squad in the new season.

Alex is one hell of a player and will provide excellent shoring up for our defence and a dangerous Terry style attacking option for corners.  The young Brazilian is the first appearance of an investment program in youngsters around the world started in earnest 3-4 years ago - he´s the type of player that could have cost 15-20M.  I´m not so sure that Alex´s arrival will lead to the departure of Boularouz to Bayern Munich as this would then again mean we´ll be back to 3 natural centre-backs.  Mourinho has said that with three we were short and that Essien should no longer be wasted there.  Micah Richards anyone?  Like Alex, Richards can also play at right-back although he´s likely to cost at least 16M - still, as we´ve spent nothing so far there could be more than enough room in the budget for him.  A cheaper option could be Tal Ben Haim. 

Sidwell also arrived on a free and the ex-Arsenal and now ex-Reading midfielder had shone fairly brightly last season and seems determined to break in as a regular next season - he´ll have his work cut out though and in any case the majority of the squad will have to accept rotation if we want to compete on all four fronts.  Youngsters forward Ben Sahar and winger Scott Sinclair look certain to upgrade to the first team squad.

The most recent acquisition also cost sweet FA in 6'2" Peruvian striker Pizarro known as the "The Bomber of the Andes" (or should that be "The Andes Bomber"?) ,and has scored 71 goals in 174 games for Bayern with 9 goals in 22 CL games.  At 28 years of age and a good pedigree this is a more than adequate back-up signing and will hopefully prove to be invaluable when we lose Drogba and Kalou from our forward line to the African Nations Cup competition in January.

Pizarro had fallen down the pecking order under Ottmar Hitzfeld behind Roy Makaay and Lukas Podolski - in fact, he was used sparsely last season and I´ve heard contrasting reports that he likes the night-life, has a big ego but is also capable of asking for extra training!  With Shevchenko likely to almost be a new signing next season anyway, Pizarro will have to accept tactical rotation and think "team" and not "me". 

The Peruvian does have shades of Berbatov in his style and if he´s only half as dangerous, for free, I´d be very happy.

"I think it's very important for me to win some titles and I have the chance here to win them.  The most important thing is the Champions League, which I was looking to win with Bayern but we didn't have the chance."

"I think now we have a good team, a good trainer and the chance to win it. I very quickly get used to playing with different kinds of players."

With regard to rumours Chelsea we are said to be interested in Pedersen but with Robben about to sign a new 5 year contract (so also no Quaresema then) I can´t see it.  Jagielka is supposedly having a medical on Monday in a 4 million deal, Geremi is off to Middlesbrough which could be possible although the exit of Ferreira to Lyon or Valencia seems doubtful.

So so far so good - the plan to break even seems more likely every season and this season´s almost frugal activity isn´t seen as a problem to Mourinho:

"The change is not because Mr Abramovich turned off the tap.  The philosophy is we spent money before, built the squad for a long time and don't need to make big investments season after season." "

The squad is still young; still have a lot to give. The squad can be together for a few more years, so we don't have big needs. If you don't have big needs, why spend big money?  If we can do it in a good way - calm, not noisy, not expensive, keeping a good balance in the team, then we don't need big transfers."

Then the most telling of all which illustrates how unfortunate we were last season with injuries:

"If you tell me we have exactly the same squad as last season without injuries, I accept immediately - I don't (wouldn´t) need one single more player or one single more pound."

So all in all, I believe we should be more than happy with our lot at the moment.  We came through a diifficult season with two trophies when we had a terrible injury situation and an owner side tracked by divorce with the press determined to destabilise the club with storys of Mourinho´s precarious future at Stamford Bridge.  Now of course, we have the future of Mourinho in no doubt and the mouth watering prospect of a team that has been strengthened with balance in mind and surely no possibility of an equally bad run of injuries as last season?

Compared to our rivals whilst Man Utd have made their signings they are £650m + in debt and looking to sell and a team of aging players - spend big if they wish but the bills still have to be paid.  Loans on future ticket sales are going to be made and rumours are abound that the Glazers are looking to cut and run.

Arsenal... £365m in debt and growing and with success admittedly tied to a secure financial future Wenger will be under huge strain to pull rabbits out of his hat.

Liverpool would probably have to spend £100m + and have a new ground to fund with an old debt of £60m being replaced with one of £300m+ and two owners who have haven´t got a clue about English football.

As one Chelsea fan put it;

"Fantastic isn't it! After a season of turmoil here - we almost seem calm and settled in comparison - I think I will settle for our problems!"