8. Scotland in the sun: How La Liga’s problems are more than just skin deep

And now?

Spanish football is in turmoil. In March 2011 six clubs threatened strike action due to a dispute with the government over free-to-air television matches, in addition to the dissatisfaction with the widespread broadcasting deal dispute. The latest vice-president of the LFP resigned as a result.

The current president, Jose Luis Astiazaran, is under pressure to quit and Javier Tebas, the former vice-president, described him as “lacking leadership”.

Though Tebas says he has enough on his plate, he is not ruling out the possibility of one day taking over from Astiazaran as the head of the LFP: “I have enough problems, this is not on my agenda. (But) It is an option. You cannot throw these options away.”

Tebas believes no other country in world football has as much political in-fighting as Spain and that he sees no end to this. He said: “There will always be conflict between the clubs and the governing body and these problems are unique to Spain.”

The problem lies mainly in that all the power lies with Barcelona and Real Madrid. The rest are nowhere. Not just the other clubs, but the governing bodies too.

Some improvements are on the way as Tebas confirmed: “Right now they (Barcelona and Real Madrid) are getting 49% of the overall money from television.” The other eighteen clubs share the remaining 51%. “But there’s an agreement in place with them (Barca and Real) to reduce that 49% share to 34%. The smaller clubs have signed this with Barcelona and Real Madrid.” Nevertheless, this new arrangement is still three years away from taking hold.

Moreover, Spanish football writer Sid Lowe is not convinced it is a done deal. He said: “It's a proposal at the moment, not yet tied as I understand it.“

The Premier League offer ‘parachute’ payments to relegated clubs as a way of softening the financial blow that comes from not being in the top division. Tebas’ latest work has been arranging a similar proposition in Spain, using the 15% of television money generated from the newly devised deal.

This, Tebas says, is vital for those clubs as without it they could go out of business. “This is important as the money will help prevent them from disappearing.”

But it is not enough. Currently in England the top clubs, like Manchester United and Chelsea, enjoy approximately an 11% share (between them) from the Premier League’s television deal with Sky, ESPN the BBC. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackpool, for example, enjoy the same percentage from that deal.

The Bundesliga operates in a similar way to the Premier League where the governing body deal with the television companies, rather than the clubs on an individual basis.

Tebas is hopeful that this will one day be the case in Spain.

However, if the status quo remains, and clubs such as Barca and Real can negotiate their own deal, then there could be big trouble for the other clubs in Spain, and we are not just talking about your Malagas and Real Sociedads. Valencia, Spain’s third most successful club since the turn of the millennium, are in dire straits due to the financial downturn and an inability to move to a new stadium.

Imagine Arsenal, England’s third most successful club, facing a similar fate and it gives Valencia’s plight some context.

Tebas would not commit to naming Valencia as a club he feared for but clearly they were at the forefront of his mind when asked about the next five years. “I’m not going to identify a particular club but there are certain clubs that could disappear.”

So, not necessarily Valencia, but a team of similar ilk could cease to exist? “Yes, yes, yes,” came the unequivocal response. “That level of team, there is the possibility it could disappear,” Tebas added.

These are harrowing words, not least because they come from someone in such an esteemed position, but also because there are so few who have such a vantage point with which to judge.

There are more clubs in administration in Spain than there are in England. Sid Lowe expanded upon this: “Over the last few years a huge number of clubs have ended up in administration. Real Sociedad, Celta Vigo, Real Vallecano.”

La Liga has to change, and it has to change soon, before it finds itself, and some of its member clubs, staring into the abyss.

7. Scotland in the sun: How La Liga’s problems are more than just skin deep

La Liga is in fine fettle - the arguments against

There is, of course, a strong case to suggest there is no need to be concerned about the health of the Spanish league.

For a start, Javier Tebas stated that he is confident of a resolution to the television deal. Currently, Real and Barca enjoy a 49% share of the money from broadcasting, although Tebas is optimistic that their portion will diminish to 34% by the 2014/15 season.

Tebas said: “We’re working towards a similar situation to that in England.”

In England the governing body, the Premier League, deal with the money from broadcasting rights and then distribute the monies in a more even manner. “In three or four years it will be like that in Spain,” Tebas affirmed.

Mind you, Tebas would say that. No lawyer would admit to having little chance of winning his case. Acknowledging the chances of victory are slim would only hinder his argument.

The former LFP vice-president also claimed that this period of dominance from the big two is nothing new. Historically, they are Spain’s two most successful clubs with 51 La Liga titles between them.

Tebas said: “It’s been 60 years that these two clubs have been at the top in Spain so it is not just because of the television money. Even throughout these years there have been occasions when the competition has been good and that someone else (other than the big two) have been at the top.”

Their supremacy is nothing new, but the distance between them and the rest has reached an unprecedented level. Never has the gap been so wide and it is showing no signs of abating. In the 2009/10 season they both recorded a record points haul and last season was more of the same.

In addition, they both reached the last four of the Champions League and, arguably, would have met in the final had they been kept apart in the draw. Of the three major trophies on offer to the top Spanish clubs (the Champions League, the Copa del Rey and La Liga), all ended up in the hands of Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Phil Ball, author of Morbo: the story of Spanish football, argues that Tebas will succeed as the rest of Spanish football demands it and, therefore, Barca and Real will have to respond to that demand. In turn, the fans will demand it too.

He said: “I think Tebas is right. In three or four years from now the money from television will be more evenly spread.

“Barca and Madrid can argue that, given that they generate all this (TV) money anyway, that they should have that amount (49%) of the pie. (But) I don’t see how you can sustain that argument over a long period because if the league continues, if the bridge continues (to widen), then by the nature of logic the league becomes less competitive and it messes up those who are at the top of it – Barca and Madrid. In the end they have a vested interest in the league being competitive.”

This would ring true in most other countries but in Spain things are a little different. Not least because the fans tolerate the dominance of the big two far more than in any other country due to what has been termed ‘second club syndrome’. This is where many Spaniards support one of Real or Barca in addition to their local club. And this devotion is evenly split which enables them to tolerate the lack of competitiveness within La Liga.

When asked to confirm the theory of ‘second club syndrome’, Grimsby fan Ball concedes: “That’s an interesting point. I had not thought of it like that because that’s definitely true. You can go to any pueblo (small town) in Spain and knock on the door and say: ‘who do you support – Barca or Real?’ and they’ll give you an answer. And the answer they give you is not always football based. It is a political, cultural answer. A lot of Spanish people won’t accept this argument but a lot of them do.”

Ball recognises that things have changed in recent years. He added: “Since the whole ‘galactico’ thing at the beginning of the century the face of Spanish football has changed. It was never like this (the gap between the big two and the rest) before. There was a feeling of democracy before but not now. You’ve got a three-tier league. There’s Barca, Real. Then there are those teams who aspire to reach the Champions League placings. Then there’s the rest.”

There is an equally strong argument that suggests it is just two tiers – Barca/Real and the rest. It is more conceivable that any of the other eighteen Primera Liga clubs reach a Champions League spot (finish in the top four) than it is that Real or Barca fail to finish in the top two. This is quite a statement. Could you imagine Norwich City or Wigan Athletic qualifying for the world’s most prestigious club competition? No? Well this illustrates just how unlikely it is that Barca or Real will finish outside the top two this coming season and for the foreseeable future.

Tebas argues that it is only the last two years. More importantly, he adds, Barcelona are dominating with an exceptional team that has been made largely through an astonishingly successful youth scheme and good management, not through spending huge amounts of money on transfer fees.

He said: “Looking at Barca, their big stars were not bought, they were made in Barcelona.”

However, this is ignoring the massive signing on fees Barca pay and a world record in the history of sport on wages.

For the first time in history a football team, or make that two football teams, have topped such a list. The average wage for a first team player at the Nou Camp is £4.94m annually, and at Madrid £4.6m. The average Yankee earns £4.2m a year. So it is not just impeccable grooming that keeps Barcelona on top.

Finally, Barcelona crushed Manchester United at Wembley this year to be crowned Kings of Europe. Surely this augments the belief that Spanish football is in rude health.

However, Pep Guardiola is constantly linked with a move to English football due to a craving for the competitive nature of the football and Mourinho regularly refers to the Premier League in wistful tones. In addition, Arsene Wenger urged Cesc Fabregas to ignore the overtures of the Spanish giants if he is a competitive footballer.

From the index to his captain having sex: the stumble and fall of Fabio Capello

It is almost two years to the day since the now ex-England boss Fabio Capello's decline began with the ill-fated 'Capello index'. This was a weird notion where points would be awarded for the overall performance of each player, then even more bizarrely making that information public.

It is as if ever since that day things just seemed to have gone from bad to worse for the former Real Madrid boss.

He was a hugely successful manager with a CV as glowing as you could possibly want, titles in Spain and Italy, not to mention a Champions League winner. He had spells with something not too dissimilar to a who's who of European football (Roma, AC Milan, Juventus and Madrid).

For the first two years it looked like the English Football Association had finally found their man. A proven winner who was continuing that rich vein of form for his new employers.

England qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with consummate ease and Don Fabio could do no wrong. Then came the index and it all began to unravel just prior to FIFA's showpiece event.

Bad preparation

After the index, there was the decision to play England at altitude in their friendlies prior to the last World Cup, as well as base them at a training camp in Rustenburg 1500 metres above sea level in South Africa and not giving the players sufficient rest from the rigours of a Premier League season.

Graeme Souness was highly critical of such preparation. He told  The Sun: "Your body is demanding oxygen.

Your brain is telling your kidneys 'I need more EPO' which is a growth hormone which helps you produce more red blood cells, which enables you to push more oxygen through your body.

"So, for three or four weeks that's happening, so you're going down and down and down. After that, you start to recover."

The players looked laboured throughout the debacle in South Africa and Capello has to take some repsonsibility for that.

The wrong squad in South Africa

There was immense surprise and disappointment at the decision to omit Theo Walcott from his squad for the 2010 World Cup. Then news filtered through that he wanted to take Owen Hargreaves who had not started a game for nearly two years. Sir Alex Ferguson ridiculed the idea of taking his non-playing crippled midfieler. Capello eventually plumped for Gareth Barry, who also looked well short of fitness having not played for the last two months of the season.

The wrong goalkeeper

Then we had the lamentable situation regarding the number one jersey in South Africa. It was clear to all and sundry that the most talented goalkeeper in the squad was Joe Hart. Capello claimed he lacked experience, but it was the manager's fault for that lack of game time for not picking him prior to the tournament, particularly in the friendly against Ghana three months before the World Cup began.

The wrong formation

We had one decent striker going into that World Cup - Wayne Rooney (albeit his performances never lived up to expectations). The best thing to have done would be to have played Rooney up front with Steven Gerrard in support. From Gary Lineker to Michael Owen, it was clear to all the experts the way to go but our £6 million a year head coach could not spot it.

Capello claimed that English players only new how to play 4-4-2. The 65 year-old clearly hadn't watched much football in recent years as he would have seen English clubs dominate the Champions League with just one up top in something that could be described as anything but 4-4-2. Furthermore, Rooney had performed remarkable feats as the lone frontman, and Gerrard had had a similarly successful season playing as an attacking midfielder (behind Torres).

Captain not so fantastic

What I just do not get with this whole John Terry business is it was Capello who was angry with JT after his now infamous press conference in South Africa, undermining the Italian with his comments about standing up to the coaching staff.

It was also Capello who stripped Terry of the captaincy for a far less serious issue (sleeping with the ex-girlfriend of a former team-mate) than we are currently dealing with.

Then we see the Italian gifting him back the armband soon after the World Cup, and now apparently resigning as he did not want to see the Chelsea centre-half lose the captaincy once more.

Just to add to the confusion, Capello has always stated his amusement at the English fascination with the whole importance of who the captain is.

Finally on this whole JT story: why on earth has the trial been postponed until July anyway? Ron Gourlay, Chelsea's chief executive, informed the judge it would be impossible for all the necessary witnesses to appear in court due to work commitments. First of all that's rubbish. And even if it were true, completely irrelevant. You cannot skip a court appearance due to such frivolous reasons.

Anyway, I digress, Fabio's reputation, at least in England, is in tatters and the guy who accused him of 'killing' Gerrard a couple of years ago for playing the Liverpool man out of position has a stock that could not be any higher. Maybe Paul Gascoigne calling him 'Sir' Harry earlier this evening on Sky Sports was not so ill-placed afterall.

Premier League Preview

The most controversial scribings since the Satanic Verses sees the return of my Premier League predictions for the season. Heavily criticised this time last year for predicting Manchester United would win the title with a little help from Javier Hernandez, my crystal ball still seems to be in fine working order...

The bottom half of the table is certainly much tougher to predict than the top half with 8 or 9 clubs what I would describe as relegation candidates.

20th Swansea

A swift return from whence they came for the Swans but not without some entertainment en route. Brendan Rogers will win many friends but not enough points.

19th Queens Park Rangers

A lack of summer investment and continued uncertainty surrounding Neil Warnock will mean it is going to be a long, and tough, season ahead for last season's Championship winners.


18th Blackburn Rovers

Rondaldinho and Kaka have yet to appear at Ewood Park, and even if they do show up they won't be able to prevent Rovers' exit from the Premier League as the Venky's will end up looking like turkeys for employing Steve Kean, who might well be the first managerial casualty of the new season. Come back Big Sam, all is forgiven?

17th Norwich City


Tempting to add the Canaries to a triumvirite of promoted teams returning to the Championship but I believe in the star quality of the manager. He has resisted the temptation to bring in players with Premier League experience and gone with the policy that has seen him gain promotion in two consecutive seasons - acquiring young, hungry players.


16th Newcastle United


A club that continues to be undermined by off the field troubles will just avoid the drop, mainly due to the astute acquisition of Demba Ba from West Ham United. He should be able to provide the goals to stave of the threat of relegation but whether he will keep his manager in a job is another question, though the strange decision to award a five year contract may mean Alan Pardew remains.


15th Wigan Athletic


Two reasons for thinking Wigan will avoid the troubles of last season: Hugo Rodallega and Roberto Martinez. The Spanish manager and his side really seemed to turn a corner towards the end of last season and I anticipate that form continuing into this season, though an opening day defeat to relegation rivals Norwich could alter things somewhat. Mind you, they lost 4-0 at home to Blackpool on the opening day last season and still survived.



14th Wolverhampton Wanderers


Roger Johnson's arrival should help cure their main problem last season of conceding soft goals. If they could add better form against the teams around them to their fine displays against the top six, they might just end up in the top half. It is more likely they will be embroiled in a relegation fight once more, but this time they might just secure their top flight status with a week or two to spare.


13th Bolton Wanderers

A couple of weeks ago they would have been top half certainties but an injury to the South Korean Lee Chung-Yong ruling him out for the season, aligned with Stuart Holden's prolonged absence, means Owen Coyle's side might just find it tough going this season. Keeping Gary Cahill should mean they'll be fine, though.


12th Fulham


May find their Europa League exploits prove to be a hinderance but Martin Jol will still continue the tradition of Fulham being a mid-table Premier League side. No signings but no sales either is not such a bad a summer for the Cottagers.


11th West Bromwich Albion


Since taking over at the beginning of the year, the job Roy Hodgson's done has been nothing short of miraculous. Ben Foster will be an improvement on Scott Carson between the sticks and with Shane Long and Peter Odemwingie up front goals will not be hard to come by.



10th Stoke City


The Potters continue to impress with their activity in the transfer market, with mooted moves for Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios a sign of their intentions. If they can keep Jonathan Woodgate fit, and their wingers Jermaine Pennant and Matthew Etherington, they might just pick up a trophy.


9th Aston Villa


Severely under-performed last season with Gerard Houllier at the helm when they were relegation contenders for long periods, the Villains should be pushing for a European spot this season with the talent at their disposal. Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Brad Friedel will be missed but Charles N'Zogbia and Shay Given aren't bad replacements. New boss Alex McLeish desperately needs to get off to a good start, though, to dispell the doubters who will no doubt be on his back at the first available opportunity.


8th Sunderland


No less than ten arrivals this summer should mean an improvement on last season's tenths place, despite the loss of Jordan Henderson. Lee Dixon has tipped them as his dark horses for the season. Will also be on the hunt for a trophy to rub salt into the wounds of their bitter rivals Newcastle.


7th Everton


Coleman, Cahill, Jagielka, Fellaini, Arteta, Rodwell, Distin, Phil Neville, Baines. These are players that would get into most Premier League teams. Sadly it all goes wrong once you get to the top end of the pitch - Beckford, Yakubu, Anichebe would struggle to get into Championship teams. Louis Saha is the exception but he is rarely fit. Last year's top score was midfielder Tim Cahill with nine goals. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out where they need to improve.


6th Tottenham Hotspur


If Luka Modric stays Spurs might just be pushing for a Champions League spot come next May but you suspect a striker will need to be added to the ranks for that to happen. However, given Harry's penchant for whealing and dealing you wouldn't rule out a deadline day capture in this area.


5th Liverpool


Many are predicting a return to the top four for Liverpool but it might just take a time for the new guys to settle in. In addition, the continued absence of Steven Gerrard and the decline of Jamie Carragher look set to undermine the brilliance of Luis Suarez.


4th Arsenal


Despite the doom mongers saying this is the end for Arsene Wenger and his team I still expect a top four finish, as well as a good run in the Champions League this season. A midfielder and a centre half are still required but there are still three weeks left of the transfer window. They need to keep Gibbs, Vermaalen and Van Persie fit but if they do things might be even better than I'm predicting and that elusive wait for a trophy just might come to an end.


3rd Chelsea


Really difficult one to call. They could be as high as first, or as low as fifth. So I went for in the middle. They might just pip Man City for second if they can secure Luka Modric's signature. A Champions League Final appearance cannot be ruled out either but they need an answer to the Fernando Torres conundrum and they need it fast.



2nd Manchester City


Despite an underwhelming performance in last weekend's Community Shield they should finish in the top two and make the last eight of the Champions League. Aguero will turn out to be one of the League's star performers but it might take him a few weeks to find his feet. By which time Manchester United might just be beyond reach.


1st Manchester United

Phil Jones and Ashley Young will no doubt improve an already impressive squad but doubts remain around the new goalkeeper, David De Gea, and a failure to replace Paul Scholes. A 20th title still looks likely, though, as their rivals have shown few signs they are capable of bridging the gap. Further disappointment in the Champions League is likely where they can expect a semi-final appearance at best.