I will be championing the cause of the underdogs. Why? Well
simply because I can.
There were so many Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal jersey
wearers over this weekend but not a single Burnley, Bolton Wanderers or
Portsmouth (the last 3 teams on the English premiership league table) jersey
wearer in sight, at least for me!
So please forgive me if I don’t analyse the loss of Manchester
United to Everton (leaving the premiership title race wide open to many
possibilities) or Chelsea’s win against Wolverhampton wolves… I mean, these
guys get all the attention all the time… its time someone gave the bottom 3
some time of day.
Ask any football loving Nigerian fan to name one player in the
Burnley team and they would be hard pressed to but he/she can rattle off the
names of the 11 players and reserve team for Chelsea, Man U or any of the other
top four to six teams in the league. The only reason why some people may have
some interest in Portsmouth and perhaps Bolton is the fact that we had (and in
Portsmouth’s case still have) some Nigerian players in those teams.
In the 2009/10 season, Bolton has conceded 46 goals, Portsmouth
44 goals (and lost 18 games) whilst Burnley has conceded 50 goals. Being last
in any competitive situation is not pleasant as we all know… Well for those
of us who will be very honest and admit to having that status at some point in
our academic life – ‘Arupo’ as was the slang then for the last few. What makes
you an ‘Arupo’?
You were playing/sleeping when others were reading, you just did
not understand the teacher, you are dumb or all of the above! For a football
team, the equivalent of sleeping when others are reading is having players who
are not disciplined and who are just interested in collecting their money.
I doubt very much that this is the case for most of the players
in the last three teams as one hardly gets to hear of the shenanigans of the
players in these teams unlike those in the top four teams on the league table.
Understandably, the top guys face more media scrutiny but still
the players in the bottom three teams must have lives outside the pitch as
well. If anything, I believe these are the guys that work their hearts/legs out
to earn their ‘measly’ pay when compared with that paid to those in the top four.
Match in match out, they come on to the pitch knowing nobody really gives them
much of a chance – the football analysts, their fans and perhaps even their coaches/managers. It must be
pure torture! Poor Portsmouth is facing a double whammy – £60Million plus in
debt and on the brink of bankruptcy and relegation from the premiership league.
There is the livelihood of the players and staff to be considered. Kudos’ to
them for even showing up for matches, though how anyone is supposed to play and
win in their tough situation beats me.
Losing 2-1 over the
weekend to a 10-man Stoke City team is not completely unexpected. It really is
a chicken and egg situation for these teams- how will they ever hope to stay in
the top flight if they don’t have money to acquire experienced and quality
players who can take them to the top 10 of the league and in turn ensure that
they participate in some of the games where the club can earn some more money.
Will Wayne Rooney ever wish to play for Portsmouth? Or Lionel Messi transfer to
Burnley? Only if these teams can pay for their services and rightly so.
The statistics of these teams speak for them. Bolton has never
won the premiership but has won the Coca-cola Football league Championship
three times; Burnley in its 128 years of existence has actually won the
premiership title twice in 1921 and 1960 and Portsmouth has also won the
premiership title twice -1949 and 1950.
Perhaps it is time there is a re-think of what qualifies a team
to remain in the premiership because it is obvious that without any money,
these teams are being set up to fail.
Cash apparently is king in football.
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