Despite claiming that they are working under a policy of making the club profitable within five years, Chelsea have posted year end financial figures for their first title winning season in fifty years which show a massive ?140 million deficit.

The club have pointed to the fact that pre-tax figures for 2004-05 show a six-per-cent reduction in player wages and four-per-cent increase in football revenues as well as absorbing large one off payments such as the ?25 million buy out of their sponsorship deal with Umbro and the cancellation of ?14 million purchase Adrian Mutu’s contract as positive points to take from the announcement.

While Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck points to a ?100million adidas 10-year kit sponsorship deal and a ?50million shirt sponsorship contract with Samsung being signed during the year in question, neither the adidas nor Samsung deals figure in the accounts for the year ending June 30 2005. Whether the phenomenal transfer spending of the past two seasons will continue is another question but with Russian sugar daddy Roman Abramovich’s fortune still growing at an astounding rate it is difficult to see how Chelsea will ever be able to run itself on a level footing with the other English Premiership clubs, never mind balance the books.

In the biggest surprise move of the January 2006 transfer window, Liverpool have swooped to re-sign former goalscoring hero Robbie Fowler on a six month contract from Manchester City.

The Toxteth born striker had graduated through the ranks at Anfield, winning the 1995 and 1996 Young Player of the Year awards in the process, before moving to Leeds United in an ?11 million transfer in 2001 following disagreements with then Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier.

Despite his frequent injury problems and alledged off-field antics, Fowler remains one of England’s best natural goalscorers of the past fifty years and with a resurgence in form this season bringing a hat-trick against Scunthorpe and a late winner for Manchester City against old enemy Manchester United in the Manchester derby, Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez hopes that Fowler’s passion for Liverpool Football Club can rub off on some of his new teammates.

Benitez said “We have signed a player with so much passion for this football club and I think he will act as an example to every player here in how much he loves Liverpool.

“It is a boost for the team, a boost for the supporters and a boost for Robbie himself. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a player quite so happy to be joining a club before.”

Arsenal fans who are still smarting following Tuesday night’s Carling Cup semi-final exit at the hands of Wigan Athletic have some potentially positive news to help cheer them up as, according to Arsenal chairman Peter Hill Wood, they have made French star Thierry Henry “an absolutely fantastic offer”.

With a bumper five deal on the table including terms which Hill Wood described as “an offer which is probably as good an offer as anybody in this country - maybe other than Chelsea - would make”, the pressure will be back on Henry to make his intentions known and finally put to rest the rumours of his summer departure to Spanish giants Barcelona.

Whether Thierry Henry feels that Arsenal still have something to offer him in terms of success is another question as they risk finishing outside the top four and Champion’s League qualification this season.

Hill Wood also made it clear that he understands that the Gunners have some strengthening to do with too many players approaching the twilight of their careers at the same time.

As quoted by the Daily Star, “What we’ve got is two or three players who are probably a year from not being good enough in the Champions League. And to replace them immediately is incredibly difficult.

“Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg, Sol Campbell….whether they have lost a yard of pace I don’t know, but Arsene does know.

“You could certainly spend ?30million and not replace them. And Arsene is very good at not doing that. He’d rather buy young talent. He thinks the boys he’s just brought in are going to be pretty good.”

With the financial burden of Ashburton Grove starting to rise before them and the very real chance that they won’t qualify for the Champion’s League through the Premiership next season, it would be a brave Thierry Henry who put pen to paper on a new five year deal now before considering his options in the summer after the World Cup.

Following the mutual decision between the English Football Association and Sven Goran Eriksson to prematurely end his contract after the 2006 World Cup, Sven has been putting feelers out about finding himself some alternative employment for after the summer.

He has made it clear that he wants either a club or country management role but only with sides that are capable of actually achieving some glory (which surely rules out Aston Villa and the News of the World’s fake sheikh). While he has in the past made it very clear that he would fancy the Real Madrid job, Eriksson has seemingly become very coy when talking about jobs which other managers currently occupy and has said that his agent has to wait on offers from clubs or national associations rather than touting himself about first. David O’Leary may say it’s a bit late for that but better late than never.

Eriksson has also said that if he finds another job before the World Cup then the FA will not have to pay him a compensation package. Whether this means he will be in a hurry to find another job is another matter as any payoff he would receive from his reported ?5m a year FA contract would be expected to be substantial.

So Sven has been persuaded by the suits the Football Association to throw in the towel after the 2006 World Cup in Germany, a full two years before the end of his contract. Following the News of the World’s recent sting operation on him and the fallout from his comments about certain senior England players, amongst other things, it was the inevitable conclusion although the timing will surely only further destabilise England’s preparations for the summer showpiece.

With the bookies making English managers such as Sam Allardyce, Alan Curbishley and Steve McLaren favourites to replace the Swede it is hardly a mouth watering prospect for fans as they have to see a successor chosen from the only available Englishmen occupying mid-to-lower Premiership sides.

It’s easy to speculate about the possible effect on the desire of the players to find that extra gear they will need to make serious progress in the World Cup with a departing Eriksson as manager but even on a short term contract there are a shortage of viable options if Sven was to find his position completely untenable and leave the job right away. Jose Mourinho is football’s hottest managerial prospect but he could hardly be looking at the England job as a step up (even part time) from his Fantasy Football manager’s job at Chelsea. Likewise Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson at Arsenal or Manchester United who have more than enough to concern them at their clubs without thinking about steering their adopted countries World Cup hopes as well.

From abroad the famous names of “Big Phil” Scolari and Guus Hiddink would be the main contenders while former England U21 boss Peter Taylor, now manager at Championship side Hull City, could also come into the frame alongside a more experienced number two such as Terry Venables.

Chances are that Sven will stick it out (so to speak) until the World Cup is over and England’s dreams lie in tatters around him as he picks up a golden handshake and packs his overloaded bags with riches before travelling onto his next destination with assistant Steve McLaren stepping into his shoes. Clean cut, English, cheaper wages and the possibility that Middlesbrough won’t be too sad to see him go if they continue their recent form and fall through the Premiership trapdoor this season.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

David O?Leary has said that he has never encountered it in his career. Arsene Wenger has also, rather predictably, seen nothing of the phenomenon during his time in English football and had little to say regarding the matter. Two high profile managers at two of the biggest clubs in one of the richest football leagues in the world and they have seemingly had no experience whatsoever of a bung culture permeating throughout English football. Forgive my sceptism but in the wake of Luton Town manager Mike Newell?s revelations last week of the depth of the bung problem in the game I find it highly suspicious that no senior club manager in England seems to have come across this problem or have any idea in which direction to point the finger of blame for allowing it to continue.

Of course there is no implication that the current managers of Arsenal and Aston Villa would have any first hand knowledge of such goings on but their categorical denials of ever having encountered anyone involved in either giving or taking bungs seems to set the standard for all other top chairmen, managers and players to plead the 5th and not be the first to step away from the football version of the mafia?s omerta ? the unspoken code of silence that stops the problem being outed and the perpetrators sufficiently dealt with by the courts.

Since George Graham was sacked by Arsenal and banned from football for twelve months back in 1995 for taking a ?425,000 bung from rogue agent Rune Hauge for the transfers of Pal Lydersen and John Jensen, there has a deafening silence from within football to out further recipients and payers of bungs to help sweeten transfers at all levels of the game. While the charges against the late Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough, who according to Sir Alan Sugar allegedly ?liked a bung?, were dropped due to his ill health, his assistant Ronnie Fenton was given a slap on the wrist and suspended. A seemingly better planned investigation by the FA into 20 of John Gregory?s transfer dealings during his time as manager of Aston Villa was recently dropped, the reasons unknown.

The FA and Premier League have been quick to pay lip service to clearing out the rogue agents who Sir Alan Sugar has said he believes are orchestrating the whole sordid scheme but there are few within the game or influential onlookers who actually believe there will be significant action taken as a result of any investigation and practically zero chance of any custodial sentences being handed out as a result.

The fact that the latest investigation will need a more high profile informant than the courageous Mike Newell is obvious if it is to have any likelihood of succeeding in it?s proposed mission but the odds of finding anyone in a high enough position who would consider putting their own head on the block is slim. There are far too many men in the upper echelons of English football with far too much to lose if the truth is to actually come out and in such circumstances the proverbial drawbridge is usually brought up.

As obviously sickened by the questionable morality at the heart of English football as Mike Newell is, one has to wonder as to how much his managerial career will now suffer as his colleagues at clubs around the country find that their lucrative counter-culture is put under threat by his allegations and whether the FA and the Premier League actually have the bottle and the will to do anything about the scourge at all levels of the game.

Will Mike Newell?s intervention lead to a root and branch clean up as most not directly involved would call for or will we just see another expensive round of sweeping it under the carpet much like the failed Premier League bung inquiry in the mid to late ?90s? For a successful outcome maybe some of those top managers and agents should look to their hearts before they think of their own back pockets.

It?s been a little over a year since London based businessman Kia Joorabchian astounded Brazilian football by paying a record $22m to prise Argentine superstar Carlos Tevez away from Boca Juniors and into the waiting clutches of Sao Paulo?s best supported football club, Corinthians. Having bought the club and pumped in $35m (not including the ?present? of Tevez) through Media Sports Investment, the investment group he headed, Joorabchian had made an instant name for himself in a country which was more used to bankrupt clubs and selling it?s biggest stars to Europe than signing the most exciting young prospect from their deadly South American neighbour?s own top club side.

It didn?t take long for the comparisons to Roman Abramovich to spring up in the media, both being 30 something year olds with no previous football experience who had bought up big clubs in foreign countries and immediately splashed the cash on record transfers amid promises of making their teams the best on their respective continents. For some however the comparisons aren?t enough and the rumours that Joorabchian?s investors are headed by Abramovich himself just won?t go away. Spanish newspaper As in fact claimed at the time of the Tevez purchase that Abramovich holds a 15% share of Media Sports Investment and is using the front of Joorabchian to make his move into the virtually untapped Latin American football market.

Roman Abramovich?s old friend and exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky is another Russian billionaire with reputed links to the shadowy MSI group which is based in an accountancy firm?s offices in London and whose membership Kia Joorabchian is going to great lengths to keep secret. He has denied any links with Chelsea FC and also said that his only dealings with Berezovsky in the past have been the sale of an 85% stake in the Moscow newspaper Kommersant to a group in which Berezovsky had a financial interest although he has lately admitted that he and Boris Berezovsky were in fact good friends. The alleged involvement of the two Russians has led to many rumours of potential money laundering and with MSI having pumped $50m into Corinthians to buy overseas players in the first six months they were in charge, it is certainly a cause for concern.

Brazilian football with it?s much vaunted financial problems has long been prone to corruption and a ?bung? culture amongst it?s clubs and federations and with the history Mssrs Abramovich and Berezovsky bring from their days acquiring privatized Russian state companies with the help of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin it is understandable that long term supporters of Corinthians and Brazilian football watchers alike would be getting nervous.

In January 2005, the Brazilian government told Joorbachian that he didn?t actually have the necessary paper work to do business in Brazil. MSI quickly reacted by putting Corinthians vice president Paulo Angioni on their board giving him the title ?Director of MSI Brazil?.

Given the allegations flying around, Brazil?s anti?organised crime task force summoned a confused Angioni to answer the allegations and to prove once and for all where the money was coming from. In a bizarre 4 hour testimony Angioni disclosed little in the way of information. ?He didn?t help in any way, shape or form? said District Attorney Jose Carneiro. ?He displayed a complete ignorance of both his precise role in the company and the workings of an investments fund?. ?There are certain indications of money-laundering, but also a lot is still to be investigated?I can?t give a deadline for closing this case?.

The question of where the money is coming from is obviously beyond even the Corinthians vice president who has been stood up as a puppet for Kia Joorabchian. With more questions than answers and a continued denial of collusion with the Russians from Joorabchian we appear to be no closer to finding out the real truth behind the Corinthians windfall and the identity of their backers.

If the Russian pair are involved it may be more likely that they are more interested in putting some geographic distance between their multi-billion dollar fortunes and Russia before the winds of political change lead to them becoming the next Mikhail Khodorkovsky and political pawn of the Kremlin. Maybe Joorabchian is completely free of any such skeletons in his investment closet and is merely trying to turn a well supported but financially poor Brazilian team into the next Real Madrid with a large influx of transfer capital in the hope of financially exploiting the fanatical Brazilian fanbase? Maybe?

One thing is for certain and it?s an undeniable fact shared by both Roman Abramovich?s Chelsea and Kia Joorabchian?s Corinthians. Money can buy you any trinket you desire as last season both clubs won their respective leagues. What is not clear however is how much of a pawn, in a much shadier game than football, both famous old clubs have become by selling their souls to foreign investors.

Photo From ITV Football

In a complete reversal of their previous foreign-based transfer policy, Arsenal have announced the signing of 16 year old Southampton whizkid Theo Walcott for an initial fee of ?5m. The Gunners beat off supposed competition from Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool for the signature of the young player who has set the Championship alight this season, exciting fans with his pace and skill and encouraging the Arsenal board to pay out a fee that could in time rise to over ?12.5m.

While Walcott’s rise to prominence has been meteroic, it’s hard to understand the rationale behind Arsenal’s sudden and quick interest and expenditure. Every season another young talent is unearthed and labelled the great young hope of English football only for many to burn out long before their 20th birthday and fade into obscurity.

While Wayne Rooney had a season or two of solid Premiership experience and an impressive World Cup European Championships behind him before Manchester United were tempted to take the plunge on buying him, it seems like Arsenal, under the constant pressure of West London rivals Chelsea and the resurgent force of North London neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, have taken a rather larger gamble on the future progression of a teenage player with less than a season of Championship football under his belt.

Arsene Wenger should be aware that for every Wayne Rooney there is a Danny Cadamarteri lurking and only the passage of time will tell whether his big money gamble on Theo Walcott will pay off. For the cash strapped Gunners, it may be a testing time as Wenger’s high risk policy of Win or Bust ushers them into their new home at Ashburton Grove.

Image from BBC Sport

With news coming out of Parkhead today of former Rangers striker Kenny Miller’s pre-contract agreement being signed with Celtic, it brings back some memories of that most infamous of Old Firm signings in 1989 when Maurice Johnston signed for Rangers from Nantes after publicly having claimed to be going back to Celtic. While the Kenny Miller case isn’t quite as high profile as that of Johnston, it does open up some of the old wounds especially with the blue half of Glasgow having expressed an interest in making a move for the striker they sold on to Wolves only 18 disappointing months after signing him from Hibernian in 2000.

Celtic’s coup in signing the 26 year old Scottish international, coupled with Roy Keane’s recent signing, heaps further pressure on Rangers boss Alex McLeish as he battles to bridge the gap between Rangers and Celtic that has grown over a disappointing season in the Scottish Premier League for last year’s champions. Now, with their old rivals hoovering up one of the best young British strikers outside of the English Premiership on a Bosman free transfer, and added to the fact that he has a history in the blue shirt, fans will surely be asking how Rangers can be expected to compete not only on the pitch with Celtic but also in the transfer market as the Celtic Park pursestrings are loosened to help strengthen their position.

Times may have changed a little from Mo Johnston’s time when Miller does eventually pull on the green and white hooped jersey but he is guaranteed a hostile reception at Ibrox and it may take a few goals to win over some of the diehards within the Celtic support as well.

In Glasgow, there is no such thing as friendly football rivalry nor short memories.

While Republic of Ireland fans are left scratching their heads over the appointment of the untried Steve Staunton as their new national team manager, ably assisted by Sir Bobby Robson I should mention, it’s good to see some of them have still maintained their sense of humour. I’m sure Eminem would approve!

On a serious note, while Staunton has a lack of top flight managerial experience (or virtually any managerial experience truth be told) it certainly didn’t hamper Mark Hughes in his first couple of years as Wales boss and with Staunton’s huge haul of international caps as a player it isn’t completely beyond the bounds of possibility that he can inspire the Republic of Ireland to pick themselves up from their World Cup qualifying failure and put on a decent showing in the upcoming European Championship qualifiers.

First though, a little light relief (as posted by Harpsman on the Our Wee Country messageboard):

Stan

My tea’s gone cold I’m wondering why I,
Left Walsall at all,
They couldn’t get Martin O’Neill,
And prob’ly not even Alan Ball.
Don’t know what to do with these bibs and cones,
but your picture on my wall
It reminds me, that it’s not so bad,it’s not so bad…

Dear Sir Bobby, I wrote you but you ain’t callin,
I left me mobile number and even me Da’s number in Dundalk at the bottom,
You see I need new cones for the training and the FAI say I can’t have ‘em,
Say I spent too much on sun cream for a training trip to Navan,
Its just that in Orlando against them Mexicans it was scorchin’,
But anyways, feck it, what’s been up? Man how’s Elsie?
I need your help though, this managerial lark ain’t healthy,
See my best player’s Duffer and he ain’t playin’ well for Chelsea
And I don’t have Keano,
Well I have one but can’t keep him outta Lillie’s Bordello,
And John O’Shea ain’t been the same since Roy dissed him,
I know you probably hear this every day, but I’m your greatest fan,
I even read about you as a dashing forward at Fulham,
I got pictures of you with Brylcreem on from an old pack of Capstan,
You managed PSV, Barca and England too - you da man!
Anyways, I hope you get this man, hit me back,
just to chat tactics, truly yours, your biggest fan
This is Stan.

My tea’s gone cold I’m wondering why I
Left Walsall at all,
They couldn’t get Martin O’Neill,
And prob’ly not even Alan Ball.
Don’t know what to do with these bibs and cones,
but your picture on my wall
It reminds me, that it’s not so bad,
it’s not so bad…

Dear Sir Bobby, you ain’t called or wrote, I hope you have a chance
That’s right I forgot - its Snowball night at the Bingo and then
there’s the pensioners dance,
But I really need your help man, I’ll owe ya,
Last week we lost at home to Macedonia,
Thats the pits, man, the FAI are ragin’ - those cones I wanted, they
said had to come outta my wages!
You’re supposed to be helping me out but you must be too busy,
Probably having tea and cakes with the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Or whatever you old guys do - please just answer me -
I don’t wanna end up like my homie McCarthy!
See you’re just like me as such
You were only thirty-six when you took over at Ipswich
And you nearly won the league and won the FA and Uefa Cup,
Think the way you ain’t answerin’ me is fecked up.
All I wanted was a lousy letter or a call,
Keep turning up for training and don’t know what to do with the ball,
I make them run laps round the field until they can’t hack it,
I thought being a manager was just standing round looking grumpy in a
padded jacket!
Least that’s what big Jack used to do and look where it got him,
A national hero and the freedom of Dublin!
But its all tactics and set-pieces and media backlash,
Its all your fault that our defence is so slapdash!
So thanks for nothing old man, they’re gonna eat me alive -
Too late - here comes Delaney with the P45.

My tea’s gone cold I’m wondering why I
Left Walsall at all,
They couldn’t get Martin O’Neill,
And prob’ly not even Alan Ball.
Don’t know what to do with these bibs and cones,
but your picture on my wall
It reminds me, that it’s not so bad,
it’s not so bad…

Dear Stan, I meant to write you sooner, I apologise for my tardiness,
But try getting the top off a Bic biro with my arthritis,
Anyway you say you’ve had some problems with your team’s marking and passes,
Hold on a minute - Elsie, bring me my glasses!
Can’t read anything anymore without my specs,
Not that I’d want to read the paper these days- its all violence and sex,
Now where we, ah yes cones and training gear…
Cones? Reminds me of 99s and summers at Blackpool pier!
Me and Elsie courting, now what was the year?
‘53 wasn’t it? Ah the Matthews Cup Final!
We danced to Bing Crosby, only 2 shillings on vinyl.
These days its compact thingmayjigs and digital whatsits,
My grandson talks like Em and Em or what ever you call it..
You got some issues Stan, I think you need some counseling
I never managed Ipswich did I? Oh wait I’m remembering!
Arnold Muhren what a player! From Amsterdam I reckon
Like those tulips I planted at the end of the decking.
Do you have a garden Stan? You’d find it rewarding.
What was it you wanted? Ah yes some advice,
Well the secret of my success was not to worry, be nice!
I was listening to the sports news on my old wireless - made me sick,
What was it? Some chap just like you got sacked, that was it!
Was tactically inept, didn’t know what to do,
Come to think about, his name was.. it was you
Damn!