Keegan's Got It Right
You remember the old story of the Emperor's New Clothes, right? The one where the emperor is walking around butt naked, thinking he's wearing the best suit money can buy, and no-one has the guts to tell him the obvious truth?
Well, I might have rambled a bit off course somewhat, but that's what sprung to mind as soon as I heard Kevin Keegan's thoughts on the state of the Premier League earlier today. It may send 'shockwaves' around the world of football, but what the Newcastle gaffer said is totally spot-on. It's the great unspoken truth, but it's what we've all been thinking for the past few years.
"This league is in danger of becoming one of the most boring but great leagues in the world," he said. "The top four next year will be the same top four as this year."
He's dead right 'an all. The Premier League has lost its capacity for surprise, for romance. You might get the odd shock result – Man United drawing to Middlesbrough qualifies as that, these days – but in the long run, the top four remain unchallenged, serenely strolling on to Champions League football year in, year out. Everyone else is on the outside looking in. It's a sorry situation.
That's why Sky's much-vaunted 'Grand Slam Whizz Bang Whupty-Do-Dah Sunday', when the 'big four' 'face-off' against each other in back-to-back matches ('first it's Arsenal v Chelsea, followed by Man Utd v Liverpool!') is such a turn-off for everyone else. Who cares, really? Whatever happens in these matches, it doesn't change a great deal, because the very worst that, say, Liverpool will be left with is another shot at the Champions League in a few months' time.
Anyway, back to King Kev. Once upon a time, he was in charge of a Newcastle side that nearly, but not quite, went all the way to the title. Now back at Newcastle, he'll prepare, over the summer, to sign new players in a bid to mount a serious challenge on… fifth place. That's his aim, because even an eternal optimist like Keegan knows places 1-4 are booked and reserved, year after year. And who, let's be honest, can be happy about that?
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