IT'S POSSIBLE that every meaningful
Once again, the Prem has delivered. And once again the majority of teams will feel they have fallen short.
It's not always these specific teams, but the narrative of early closure in
Of the top five leagues in Uefa's rankings, only
Football ownership and fandom is an enduring exercise of hope and ambition trumping realism. Hence the widespread, gnawing sense of frustration at season's end.
Who to pick as the greatest underachievers and/or most disappointing though?
Chelsea after spending £1bn on players;
Last year's three promoted clubs are now clear favourites to return straight back to the Championship.
They began the season given the same tag by most pundits. The docking of points from Everton and Nottingham Forest has tightened the equation but not, it seems, changed its answer.
With six matches left between them, the three bottom clubs currently have just 66 points collectively. Over the past 10 years, the final points outcome for the three relegated teams has ranged from 77 to 98.
The flip side of the top teams racking up more and more points is fewer garnered by those in the lower reaches of the table.
Little wonder that most
The Prem's commercial value lies in its sporting uncertainty.
Increase the spacing of the rungs in its financial ladder and you would likely in time reduce surprises and with it casual fandom.
Clubs need only look outside football to Formula 1 to see the dangers of a single dominant team - and this in spite of tightened financial controls designed to improve competitiveness up and down the grid.
Can we cut through irrational optimism to say just who are the greatest underachievers (and conversely best outperformers)? Assume for a moment that money is a (the?) critical determinant, and that there is a material degree of rationality to its application in football.
Then ground size, catchment area, performances in recent seasons (so driving prize money and other revenue) and heritage (generating a wide following capable of monetisation) should all in time determine a club's place in the pecking order.
The assumption about rational money is, of course, a heroic one.
One Sheffield United fan recently repeated the well-worn claim to me that his team is owned by the only Saudi
But even the billionaires behave in very different ways.
Time will tell whether a few more cable ties can tighten a risibly porous defence.
The biggest club ground is United's Old Trafford, seven times larger than
The six biggest stadia in the
The teams with the biggest homes generate matchday revenues around 10 times those with the smallest, testament to more extensive hospitality spaces and location in bigger cities — plus the ability to build on more on-field success and the cachet of corporate fan attendance that follows.
Put all of this in the blender and the greatest outperformers are plain to see.
This column's prize for falling short of potential is a tougher one to decide. It would be easy to plump for Man United, but they may yet win a trophy this season and I need to filter out the joy of their 4-0 drubbing at
Add back the eight points deducted for breaching financial rules and Everton would still sit 13th in the league, below the scale of the opportunity afforded by their location and infrastructure, even before the club's impending move to a new 52,866-seater stadium.
Ownership uncertainty has hung like a cloud over the past two seasons. Quite how Everton's current owners have botched selling into an apparently buoyant market for trophy clubs is beyond me - and all other observers, it seems.
Only 40 days until the 2024-25 fixtures are announced. Prepare to dream once more.
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There are 40 days until the 2024-25 fixtures are announced. Prepare to dream once more...
(c) 2024 City A.M., source