So there are early reports that AIG made be pulling out of their contract as shirt sponsor of Manchester United. Since being bailed out by the US Government Man Utd have in reality been being funded by the US tax payer. Following on from other recent shirt sponsor problems (most notably XL and West Ham) it makes me wonder if these sponsors are getting any sort of value for their sponsorship?

The amount of money being banded around now for these types of sponsorship is freaking huge. AIG signed a new 4 year contract with Manchester United 2 years ago worth around £50 million! Sponsorship like this is supposed to be done on the back of sound financial sense, it’s a type of marketing not charity. What do you reckon, have AIG got any sort of value for money out of that deal, personally I don’t think so?

Do you drink Chang beer? Me neither. I know who they are but I’d never drink the stuff. I’m a huge football fan so by sponsoring Everton’s shirt then I’m just the sort of person they’re targeting. Doesn’t really work though. What I’m trying to say here is that the amounts of money involved are stupid, far too much to make sound financial sense and in the current shit tip of an economic environment. I reckon anybody loosing their sponsor is going to have a problem getting any sort of sponsorship and definitely not for the same money.

Are the current financial problems going to have any impact on the Premier League, I think we’re in for some big changes!

It’s been a nagging voice at the back of my head “watch the rugby..ooooohohohohooho…..watch the rugby”. Nagging voice in my head or SteveO, I don’t know but either way I decided not to watch the football on Saturday night and watch the Rugby League final between St Helens and Leeds instead.

To start of with I really enjoyed it, plenty of “contact” and blood. Yer man splitting his head open and then wrapping a bandage around it and carrying on was right up there, even the wife was impressed with that. A very grumpy wife after having her Strictly Dancing rubbish relegated from the TV pecking order. To make things a bit more interesting, and seeing as how I hate Leeds in any sport I sided with St Helens. They were the strong favourites before the game so I hopeful of winning on the winning bandwagon.

Didn’t quite turn out like that did it? From my “I don’t know what the hell is going on” stand point it looked like the strong favourites who are “capable of breaking the line” in the blink of an eye were actually pretty bad, is crap too strong a word? Maybe it was down to the weather but by 60 minutes in the game seemed to have descended into a competition to see who could drop the ball the most. St Helens won this but unfortunately as a result lost the game by a mile. Maybe not in terms of the final score but in terms of play they were well beaten.

I think that if I watch enough rugby league I’ll probably get into it but as for all this majestic handling of amazingly gifted athletes that SteveO bangs on about, I didn’t see it! More a case of grown men struggling to catch and hold on to a ball. To be fair though next time I’ll try and watch a game where 3 feet of rain hasn’t fallen during the 80 minutes.

We seem to have by-passed Autumn and headed straight on into the depths of Winter. What this means is no getting dragged around the shops for me so I’ve got an afternoon to enjoy whatever there is to watch. The pub would normally be an option but the weather is too bad for that, I’m getting old, I like home comforts!

You’d think then with all the money in football that on a Saturday afternoon there would be something to watch then? No bloody joy. The Premier League sell their rights all around the world too all and sundry and in most countries you can watch a ton of games. That’s half the reason why the pub on a Saturday afternoon is so appealing. Why then can’t I turn on my TV and watch one of the Premier League games that kick off at 3 o’clock today, there’s something wrong with that?! Not only do I now have to spend a bloody fortune on Setanta and Sky Sports to stand a good chance of watching my favourite team but there’s still no bloody chance of watching a Saturday afternoon game live. It was greed to split the live rights to 2 pay only services but even then the fans get screwed over by not showing live football when most of the games are on.

There are options, I could hook up a dodgy satellite dish and watch the games live via Scandinavia or the Middle East like so many of the local pubs do. It’s ironic just how many more games other countries get live access to. Nowadays there is always the option of the internet as well, there are a variety of ways of watching live sports online. None of them are that high quality, they do the job but it’s still no substitute for a proper TV channel that you can watch on your large screen TV. It costs a fortune for your Sky Subscription, your Sky Sports Package and now your Setanta channels and still you’re left without what every other country has.

I’m not buying what they’re try to sell about it affecting football attendance either. Week in and week out most stadiums are full or nearly full, it’s impossible to get tickets to some Premier League games. I could go and watch my local team, but then again they’re crap so why would I spend the money to stand in the cold and watch a team a don’t care about? What I want is simple, the next time Sky go in to negotiate the rights to broadcast the Premier League I want them to go in with some balls and just ask one simple question – “How come broadcasters from every other country get to show Saturday afternoon games and we don’t?”

Just because it’s a Friday and just because I’m still not feeling very well.  If ever there is a sport to pick you up when you’re feeling down it’s got to be women’s beach volleyball.  Enjoy!

Need I say any more?  Well OK then.  British Football was always about mans football, we might not have had the fancy skills of the foreigners but we more than made up for it with passion and “physicality”.  The English game is renowned for being faced paced and all action.  Not any more.

Last night I was watching the Champions League and something strange happened.  I found myself enjoying the game far more than I did the Premier League action I watched over the weekend.  I don’t think it’s as fast, but I do know for sure that it flows a hell of a lot better.  And the difference is?  The referees of course!  Something has got fucked up in the world when a Portuguese referee lets more challenges go than an English ref but that’s about the level we’re at for the moment.   English referees actually believe their own hype, they THINK they are celebrities and that people are coming to watch them.  Even ex referees seem determined to have their say in the papers, more often than not defending some piss poor decision from one of their muppet mates.  Turning professional hasn’t improved the quality of our refs, it’s just made them big headed ego centric twats that more often than not spoil the enjoyment for the players and fans alike.

The champions league has become a breath of fresh air, tackles without a whistle.  It’s like music to my ears.  I don’t know if the foreign referees are paid as professionals or not (that’s the sort of research that the real media is for) but I do know that it’s got to the stage where I’d much rather watch a game being refereed by Mr European ref than Mr “Look, look it’s me, look at my cards, aren’t I great!!!” British ref.  I know what I’d do with them, they are paid a more than good wage to do a good job, if they can’t handle it then sack them.  Treat it as an open job market, I’m sure there are plenty of amateurs who’d fancy their chances.  The current crop of useless wankers are spoiling the British game and something needs to be done about it.

Recent Stuff About Premier League Refs

• Referee apologises for Manchester United penalty error – “He has written to (referees’ chief) Keith Hackett and said that in the video he’s made a mistake and he wants to apologise for it“, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher told Sky Sports News. “He’s held his hand up, …
• Styles apology to Bolton – Match official Rob Styles has retained his status as a Premier League referee despite admitting he mistakenly awarded a penalty to Manchester United on Saturday.Styles made private contact with Bolton on Monday to apologise for giving a …
• Guide To 2008/2009 Premier League Referees – Premier League referee since 1999. Age 47. Bennett was involved in some controversy when he refereed the Manchester United versus Liverpool Premier League encounter on March 23, 2008. He sent off Liverpool’s Argentine Midfielder Javier …
• Watford denied replay after ´phantom´ goal – But Dermot Gallagher, another former Premier League referee, said the that while had made a “massive mistake”, the incident should not mark the end of his career as a football official. “What we need to do is counsel him,” Gallagher …
• Straight Red Card » Blog Archive » English Premier League … – This week in the English Premier League, there were no straight red cards but plenty of cautions.   There were also a couple of missed calls.   The most blatant was at Stamford Bridge where Deco deserved a yellow card for his poor tackle.