Premier League is just a fashion - Kaka

AC Milan and Brazil star Kaka has claimed the English Premier League is merely the latest fashion, and fashions often change. Perhaps the 26-year-old, who claims he will never ask for a move away from the San Siro, doesn't realise quite how much money there now is in England - and how that amount of money is likely to increase dramatically with more Middle Eastern takeovers.

It should be pointed out that Kaka is currently on a long-term contract with Milan (until the end of the 2012/13 season) and that has helped inflate the claims about how much certain clubs are prepared to pay for him. Though with the billions (or is that trillion?) now available at Manchester City, a bid of £250million or so is no longer pure fantasy.

Kaki told Gazzetta dello Sport: "Before it was Real Madrid, now it's England that is in fashion. The market is like that, just as Milan make offers other clubs make offers to Milan. But I will never ask to leave.

"I have always been treated well by (club) executives and my rapport is excellent. Perhaps one day they (club executives) may change their approach with respect to me but I don't see that happening.

"I will only leave if Milan decide to sell me or perhaps on the day when we no longer have the same objectives and that day has not come. Milan has done a good job in the transfer market, the club still wants to win and be competitive and those are my aims."

But is Kaka right? Is the injection of cash just the current fashion? Probably not. The English Premier League is now so global, so commercial, that is offers an investment opportunity unavailable anywhere else in the world. And, of course, it's no longer about expecting a return on the investment.

For the reason why reports of £500,000-a-week players appearing within the next couple of transfer windows seem believable is because the sort of owners who have just taken over Man City have so much money that making anything back (financially) doesn't matter. It's not their main aim - instead, they want the prestige and the publicity.

That's why the current slide towards death is not a trend in football, but instead a terminal illness. Clubs in Italy and Spain would do well to keep away from the madness until the big explosion, or implosion, when they can pick-up the pieces and be glad they didn't go the way of England.

Croatia boss must say no to West Ham jokers

Watching "new" countries perform well against the more established nations is one of the few enjoyable activities international football has on offer. Even as an England fan (but not a fanatic), it was somewhat heartwarming to see Croatia reach Euro 2008.

One of the key reasons for their recent success has been their coach, Slaven Bilic. The young manager is a breath of fresh air in what can be the grey and drab arena that is international football. For that reason, I hope he doesn't decide to jump ship and replace Alan Curbishley at West Ham.

Although I would love to see Bilic in England one day, as he could surely show some of the other managers how to behave, the circumstances surrounding Curbishley's departure will hopefully rule-out a move to Upton Park. Bilic still has work to do with Croatia, and would be wasted at West Ham.

Bilic was quoted by SkySports.com as saying: "It is great that I'm linked to the club from the best league in the world but it doesn't make my work with the national team harder. In training we always make jokes. Players tease me to take them to England as well. The interest of West Ham is proof that we are doing a great job with the national team."

Of course, Bilic played a season-and-a-half for West Ham in the mid-1990s and may me tempted. My message for him would be this: Slaven, you are far more appreciated where you are and the more you do for Croatia, the more your profile grows in England. West Ham are in a mess and you would do well to steer clear of it until things improve...assuming they do.

Then again, Bilic may realise the English league is not as good as he thinks when his Croatia side play England later in the week. After dispatching England at the qualifying stage for Euro 2008 (well, the fact the team was awful didn't help), would anyone bet against Croatia doing exactly the same again?

Some England fans don't get it...

Following my comments about how some England fans have a superiority complex I received a couple of emails asking what I meant. Allow me to explain. On a basic level, it's that some still think England have a God-given right to qualify for every major tournament.

Now, before I go into full-on rant mode, let me make it clear I am English myself. But that doesn't mean I lock myself in a room and ignore how a worrying large proportion of England fans think and behave.

Following England's drab 2-0 win against Andorra on Saturday (Sep 6) I flicked through a number of football forums, expecting to see the usual whinges about "foreign managers are c**p" or "more players from our team should have played" and, while there was a lot of that, a few other posts jumped out at me.

The most ridiculous was the suggestion teams like Andorra should have to pre-qualify for the qualification stage as they have no chance of actually winning the group or doing enough to get anywhere near qualifying. So why did England only beat Andorra 2-0? Why did Macedonia beat Scotland, who are ranked one place and just a handful of points below England in the world rankings?

Furthermore, why is the United Kingdom - the legal country - allowed to enter four different football teams (I know the historic reasons, I'm saying it's daft)? If France tried to enter a four teams for every tournament, there would be outrage among the so-called England die-hards.

Perhaps the problem is that those who follow England so closely, those who put flags on their uninsured cars and one bedroom, crumbling flats think that the only way to be "patriotic" is to support the England football team, no matter what. If so, it's an issue with wider society rather than football - and there are clearly many issues there.

But as long as this section of support believe the hype about how wonderful the English players are, instead of realising the national team has been distinctly average since Italia '90, more ridiculous excuses will be pulled out with every result...

On a final note, I also find it ironic how those who bang on with the line "don't believe the media, they are anti-our club" happily accept the Great Lie about how wonderful the so-called Golden Generation of English players really was. And it's painful to observe.

Juve chief puts Europe before league

Any remaining doubts that clubs cared more about their domestic league than winning the Champions League have probably been dispelled following comments from Juventus chairman Giovanni Cobolli Gigli.

The Italian side's supremo admitted the "league is important but we want a good run in Europe more this year and my players have told me that they think the same". More interesting, perhaps, were his comments about the club being a "worldwide brand" - something the clubs at the very top seem to worry about more than anything else.

Gigli told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “I want to see Juventus in Japan for the Club World Cup because the Champions League is my main priority. The League is important but we want a good run in Europe more this year and my players have told me that they think the same.

“I want us to be the masters of Europe because we are a worldwide brand and I want us to succeed with a more Italian Juve. Alessio Secco and Claudio Ranieri are good at identifying young talent and developing gifted starlets like Iago and Albin Ekdal for example.

“Then we have the Italian youngsters, like Giovinco who will soon sign a new contract. Along with Mario Balotelli, who has talent and character, I think Giovinco will be the future of the Italian national side."

Fortunately, the second-half of his comments are more promising. If a club can be turned into a worldwide brand without having to sign ridiculous numbers of worldwide players, then the tradition and connection with the fans can be maintained. In reality, though, that's not an easy thing to do, as many clubs have shown before.

It is possible - how possible is questionable - that when top-flight football either implodes or explodes, some form of Champions League structure will be all that remains. A few teams across Europe pooling their resources to create a continent-wide tournament. Perhaps we are already going that way?

For the comment made by the Juve chief hardly express an unusual sentiment, as clubs are increasingly determined to win the Champions League rather than anything else. What is a worry, though, is that Juventus are playing in one of the world's top-three leagues and don't put the pursuit of that title as their number one priority.

Then again, a certain club have been doing that in England for some time, and have reached two finals and lifted the cup once in the past few years...

Rangers star snubs Scotland - report

Following my recent comments about the state of international football, I was not too surprised to read a report in this morning's Daily Record claiming Rangers player Lee McCulloch has told the Scottish FA he does not want to be considered for selection as long as George Burley is in charge.

If McCulloch has actually told the SFA this, he should be given a clear-cut answer: If you don't want to play under Burley, you'll never play again. Because why should a player be able to walk away from the international stage, only to walk back in a year or so?

Without wishing to go over old ground, footballers used to be proud to play for their country, whether it be England, Scotland, Australia or Senegal. A player would always try his best for his club in an attempt to be spotted by his national manager, hoping to one day pull on his country's jersey alongside other players.

According to the Record, McCulloch "will refuse to play for Scotland again while George Burley is in charge". The newspaper also claims they have reason to believe "the Rangers star is one of a number of leading internationals who have lost faith in the new manager just four games into his tenure."

I watched the game between Macedonia and Scotland - if only because I wanted Scotland to win to increase their chances of moving above England in the world rankings next month. Even though I'm English myself, the unjustified superiority complex shown by some rabid sections of the support disgusts me. One of the reasons I'm not too sad football is dying, perhaps...

But back to the Macedonia game. For those who didn't see it and haven't seen the result, Macedonia won 1-0, though Scotland should have been awarded two penalties in the space of about five seconds and did, at times, dominate. The main problem appeared to be the surprisingly high temperature Macedonia and Scotland's lack of end-product.

I couldn't see any reason why a player would blame Burley for the result - with the possible exception of not playing Shaun Maloney from the start (although his time on the bench at Aston Villa may have left him with some rust). What Scotland need now is to put this setback behind them and try and pick up points elsewhere.

They showed in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign they can beat the likes of France and Italy, so for the likes of McCulloch to turn his back on his country, if that is what he has done, disgusts me, is worthy of a ban from all future Scotland matches, and shows, yet again, the mess this once-great game is in.

Man City after Essien and Gerrard?

I've always believed Sunday tabloids exist more for entertainment than news reporting, but today's News of the World really does take the biscuit. In black and white, on their back page, is an article claiming Manchester City boss Mark Hughes has "targeted an incredible double swoop for Steven Gerrard and Michael Essien in January".

Oh, and their billionaire owners are "set to splash the cash to make the world's first £500,000-a-week player". Now, I'm not one to make predictions (okay, that's not true, as I clearly predict top-flight football is terminally ill), but I can't see either transfer happening for so many reasons.

The first is that Chelsea are unlikely to do any business with Man City. Even though Roman Abramovich doesn't have the money of City's billionaire Arabs, he has enough to keep players at Stamford Bridge if he so desires. Robinho leaving Real Madrid for Man City - instead of Chelsea - also ruffled a lot of feathers.

Secondly, there is a good chance Liverpool will be taken over sooner than later. If they are taken over by Dubai International Capital (DIC), there are also unlikely to do any business with Manchester City. Even if a takeover doesn't occur, it's hard to imagine Gerrard leaving Liverpool. Money can buy you a lot of things but, with some players at least, there are limits.

Tabloids, like a good piece of cod, need their "sources" and the News of the World article includes one. A "City source" said: "Mark knows money is no object but he also wants to bring in the kind of players who will fit in with his plans, not just spend massive money for the sake of it. Gerrard and Essien in the same midfield would be incredible. They would fit together perfectly and wouldn't have to take time adapting to the English game in the same way as any big foreign name."

Perhaps the scariest thing about this is that, even though it's hard to imagine either player moving to Man City, everybody is already assuming the January transfer window will see an obscene amount of money being thrown around at any player with a half-recognisable name. And the law of averages suggests that if enough offers are made, enough players will eventually sign.

Berbatov - it gets stranger!

It should be safe to assume Dimitar Berbatov would be drafted into the Manchester United squad as soon as possible, shouldn't it? Given Sir Alex Ferguson's side paid Spurs £30.75million for the striker, surely they would want to use him as quickly as possible?

Surprisingly, it would seem the 27-year-old Bulgaria international will not be fast-tracked into the squad. According to today's News of the World, Berbatov hasn't even joined up with his new team-mates since leaving Spurs.

Even more surprising is the claim Sir Alex had doubts about signing the player because of his less-than-stellar work-rate. Whether it's possible to to believe that while remembering the United boss collected Berbatov from the airport in his own car on deadline day is a matter for debate.

Berbatov will now be placed on an extensive fitness program in order to get his physical condition up to "United standard" - and will certainly have to quit smoking, unless he is prepared to face the wrath of Sir Alex, who is known for being strict about such things.

But, if nothing else, the claims sum-up the impending collapse of top-flight football. Spending £30.75million on a player (an amount which would be the British record if it wasn't for Man City's silly-money move for Robinho) is not really justifiable at the best of times, least of all if a manager with the experience and track-record of Ferguson was not 100 per cent convinced it was the right thing to do.

How much would John Barnes earn now?

While enjoying a pie and a pint at lunch with a colleague, our conversation turned to former Liverpool star John Barnes. Not his international career (which, incidentally, was nowhere near as bad as some remember), but his consistently inspiring performances for Liverpool.

Given the current discussions about the obscene amount of money in the game, including Manchester City's Robinho's assumed wage of £160,000-a-week), the topic soon turned to wondering how much Barnes would earn if he was playing, at his peak, in the Premier League today? We both agreed the highly unscientific amount of "a lot." but couldn't decide exactly how much!



When Barnes was at his true peak, in the late 80s (and before Sky money destroyed top-flight football), he regularly performed above and beyond the level of any other player, at club level, in the country. If English clubs were not barred from Europe at that point, he surely would have dazzled audiences across the continent.

Has any player impressed as much as Barnes at club level since? The only player worthy of mentioning is Cristiano Ronaldo, and specifically during last season. Apart from Ronaldo, many have shone at times - for example, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Steve McManaman, Ryan Giggs - but no others have consistently performed so far ahead of the rest of the field.

So to those who think football is in a good condition and there are no problems with the English Premier League, take a look again at John Barnes in action. Is it right that mediocre, teenage bench-warmers can earn so much more than he did at his peak? I think not.

International football was good once!

Before top-flight football began its inevitable slide towards death, international football used to be a real attraction. The best players would put aside their club rivalries and the sheer pride on their faces when they pulled on their national jersey was a joy to behold.

The last time I remember English players acting as though representing their country was the absolute pinnacle of their career was at World Cup '90 in Italy, when Bobby Robson's side were just a few spot-kicks away from the final, and a likely win against a ghastly Argentina slide.

Since then, apart from a brief glimmer in 1996 when the European Championships were held in England (which may explain the glimmer!), international football has become something of a turn off. Perhaps it's just an English thing, but the problem does seem deeper than that.

England, by rights, should be reaching the semi-finals of the two major tournaments - at the very least. How many other top-20 countries have all but one of their players (the increasingly immobile Beckham) playing in their domestic league? Surely it's none!

But club football has become more important - I now honestly believe a player would rather play in the Champions League knock-out stages than represent his country. A player's wage demands also seem to increase far more if they play in Europe than if they are an international.

Another issue is the transition of football from a sport to sports entertainment. It used to be nearly 100 per cent about what happened on the pitch. Now it's nowhere near that. It's a multi-billion pound industry where fans are just as interested in who is sleeping with who as who is putting the ball in the net.

The problem with football as sports entertainment is the hype that goes with it. Managers and players create "characters" in order to get the headlines. They exaggerate their own personality and have fun with it. When they start taking pot-shots at each other, the individual and character get so muddled it must make for some awkward moments come England duty.

And, without wishing to get too political, it's about a decline in standards. When England won the World Cup in 1966, one of the enduring images is of Bobby Moore wiping his muddied hands before shaking hands with the Queen. The players could hold their own in interviews and came across as thoroughly decent human beings. Now look at the current England squad...

So when England line-up against Andorra tomorrow, what will the players be thinking? Will all of them give 100 per cent, at the risk of picking-up an injury? By rights, England should score at least five, but will that happen? Or will they do enough and then take their feet off the gas, in order to keep as fresh as possible for their clubs?

And they wonder why fans are turning away from the games in their droves!

Keegan's brilliant, too early for Shearer - Shepherd

Alan Shearer may not have been the best footballer (good goalscorer, yes) but he clearly has his head screwed on correctly - if reports claiming he will turn down any offers to become the next Magpies boss.

Following Kevin Keegan's resignation yesterday, the earlier favourites for the job are Gus Poyet, Dennis Wise and Alan Shearer. But former Toon chairman Freddy Shepherd has said he would be "very surprised" if Shearer opted to take the job.

He told the Daily Mail: "I’d be very surprised if Alan Shearer took the job. I just think he wants to give it a bit longer before he goes into management."

Shepherd also pointed out when he worked with Keegan, the boss identified the players and attempts were then made to raise the funds - seemingly in stark contrast to the situation under Mike Ashley, who Keegan claimed had a structure which forced players upon him.

Shepherd said: "When I was there with Kevin we had a simple strategy. Kevin identified the players and we tried to get the money to buy them. I don’t know what’s happening with Mike’s structure, whether it’s fallen apart, but I worked with Kevin for five years and he was fantastic."

The whole situation is clearly idiotic and farcical, but a perfect example of what is wrong with modern football. The game isn't run by fans, players and managers, but by the few money-men at the top. They have earned their money in life and are enjoying spending it. But do they really know the feeling of anticipation real fans have when Saturday comes?