Penultimate Pride of Money Matters

Since 2003 Chelsea Football Club has had the pocket money of a man worth 13.4 billion to fund its frolicking at footballs top table. Mike Ashley with a piggy bank of 700 million pounds has 1/19th of Abramovich’s wealth. The Russian mogul has spent give or take 600 million pounds on players in 8 years, working out at approximately 75 million pounds a year for transfers. By sticking with ratios Ashley should have spent 1/19th of this per year on players which works out at 3.9 million pounds per year (which is the cost of Cheik Tiote), directly contrasting and in proportion to the cost of Torres at 50million and David Luiz at 22million. This weekend we will be eleven verses eleven for ninety minutes with similar aims, that of redeeming ourselves as we plan for the next season ahead.

Yet money does buy success as Man City, Chelsea and now QPR have proven, their is still hope with Newcastle boasting one of the most homegrown squads in the FA Premier League and UEFA’s Fair Play wage cap coming in during a time when the gulf between the top five teams and the rest of England widens and widens. Stoke’s success this year has been built on a tight unit of players that are hard to beat and that does offer hope for a team like Newcastle United who have the resources and the capabilities to make a good attempt at re-establishing themselves where they truly belong.

In response to recent comments stating Newcastle’s relegation did them good, I would say the jury is still without a verdict, in many respects the relegation did allow the team and club to reassess reality and where they stood in the footballing hierarchy. Steven Taylor’s return is a welcome one and Chelsea will not walk over a Magpies team with a bit of grit at the back and bite in the middle and what remains of a blunted attack.

A point against Chelsea and three from our final fixture with West Brom (h) would sure boost morale and jersey sales around St James’ Park, while time will tell if the ageing engines of Lampard, Terry and Drogba have enough kick left in them to go Magpie shooting in London this weekend or hopefully to shoot blanks and falter.