The corrupted game

The beautiful game as we know it, is no longer as pure as it used to be, and it's not something we can help either. The constant takeovers of Premier League clubs by Middle Eastern, and American businessman has made the football side of the game a growing irrelevance.

The perfect example of this is Manchester City, who were taken over by a UAE consortium before the start of the last season. The ridiculous sums of money that they are continuously offering up to clubs for their star players undermines the less well-off clubs and the final standings of each League season are becoming more and more predictable. Manchester City finished in the bottom half of the table last season, and below Stoke City, so there is an argument to say that it doesn't make a difference. However, with the Blues bringing in players such as Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor for outrageous amounts of money, it's surely only a matter of time before the changes are noticeable. It takes time for any team that makes wholesale changes to their squad to gel, and become a unit, so once City do just that, I am sure they will make the break into the top 4.

Whilst it is part of the game, unfortunately or fortunately, it doesn't seem right that a club fighting for survival just a few years ago can make such dramatic steps to become a successful football club. Surely there has to be some kind of barrier to prevent these sorts of takeovers and make the Premier League a division every team can compete in, and start on a level playing field. Of course some clubs are going to be richer than others, due to season ticket sales, sponsorship and what have you, but why not leave it at that? There is no need for such greed in our beautiful game, and football's governing bodies should be putting restrictions and barriers in place to prevent such happenings.

Chelsea set the precedent back in 2004, when Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the club in a 7-figure deal. That takeover brought instant success, firstly by capturing the signing of Jose Mourinho as manager, followed by several big-name, big-money signings that lifted Chelsea to the top of the Premier League, and ultimately gave them champion status. Now with Aston Villa, Liverpool, Portsmouth and Newcastle all receiving high-calibre takeovers in the last 4 years, it is just a matter of time before every single club in the Premier League, and some in lower divisions, become victims of billionaire takeovers. Such a thing would have an affect on the level of football, of course. The world's best players will be playing in our league, but do we really want that happening, knowing they're only there because they're being paid £180.000 a week? Surely it'd be far more enjoyable, and beneficial to watch home-grown, young, quality players ply their trade in the world's greatest League, in the knowledge that they are there purely to play football because they love it.

The recent news of Sven-Goran Eriksson becoming Notts County's Director of football further underlines the economic power of football. Notts County have recently received backing from a Middle Eastern company, and there is no doubt in my mind that had that not happened, Sven would still be the manager of Mexico to this day, and not fishing around in the lower league's of English football. Recent speculation has claimed that Christian Vieri will be the Nottingham club's first big signing, a move that would bring joy and jubilation to the fans of the club. It's great for a small club like Notts County to receive such press, and have a big name like Sven working for them. But my concern is that in 10, 15, 20 years, this will be the norm, and football won't be the same again.

I'm sure that 90% of football fans, if not more, are willing the FA to do something about this, but the question is, how can they stop it happening? Football, after all, is a business, and businessmen see the profit in investing in such a business. You can't stop a company purchasing what they want, as they have rights. That would leave it in the football club's hands, but that's not going to happen - if a billionaire comes along and says he wants to buy the shares in a football club, the owners are seldom going to reject, especially if the offer out-values the club itself. Therefore, it seems a lost cause to try and prevent the constant takeovers of English clubs, and football as we know it, seems to be losing it's identity in the midst of such ruthless business.

Sven takes the ultimate plunge

The name Sven-Goran Eriksson is a name you would associate with Lazio, England, Manchester City, and to a lesser extent Mexico. Therefore one would be forgiven for thinking they had misheard the latest chapter in Sven's illustrious career. But no, it is true - he will be taking the role of Director of Football at League 2 side Notts County. Take a moment to digest that.

After less than a year in charge of the Mexico National side, Eriksson has returned to England for what he describes as the biggest challenge of his career. "I am not here because of money. If I wanted lots of money I could have gone to anywhere in Europe, like Italy, where the weather is nice". The temptation of joining a club that finished 19th in League 2 last year was clearly too much for Eriksson to resist, and he believes that the club's target of reaching the Championship within 5 years is a realistic one. However, from a neutrals perspective it seems hard to comprehend just how that can be done.

Eriksson signed the contract without even viewing the team's training ground, underlining how passionate and decisive he was in taking on such a task. Notts County don't have a scouting system, but Eriksson states that installing a decent scouting system is high on his list of priorities, along with bringing in 'big-name' players, and reviewing the club's training ground standards. With Notts County having already brought in 4 players, described by manager Ian McParland as "high quality", including striker Lee Hughes, perhaps those changes are occurring quicker than you may expect.

County fans are understandably delighted with the installment of Eriksson. "It's not every day that a club like Notts County get involved with such high-calibre names. Who next, David Beckham?" one fan remarked. The cynics out there will be questioning exactly why Eriksson has joined such a club, as surely he has high-class European clubs queueing up for his signature. Notts County have recently received backing from a Middle Eastern consortium but Eriksson remains in denial over joining on a purely financial basis. Time will tell as to whether it was a wise decision from the former England boss, who will be based in Nottingham throughout his involvement in the club.

In my opinion, it's a disaster waiting to happen. Eriksson's hunger for the game is evident, but it's just a matter of time before a big club comes on the hunt for his managerial expertise and prizes him away from the grime and dirt of lower league football.