although, it does still appears that celtic are winning the war in the press - and are playing hardball by going to the respective national FA's and getting a judgment in order to get around the compensation clause in tony mowbray's contract. it's very ugly stuff indeed - i think he will stay at west brom simply because celtic have not handled this the right way, and i can't see TM's principles allowing himself to be associated with something that was approached so aggressively and done so poorly. if, for example, he had spoken privately and off the record (so to speak) and expressed interest in the job to someone at the celtic organization, then i'm sure he must feel somewhat betrayed and the whole thing terribly compromised at this point due to the mess this has become in the news-media; and where most people would feel that they'd now been forced into a position to accept a high-profile gig like managing celtic; TM will feel, quite conversely, and because of the sensational and public nature of celtic's "negotiating" practices in this case, that he is now being forced to stay at west brom, whether he originally intended to take the celtic job or not.
so he will now stay and yet see through the project of taking west brom back to the premiership and having yet another kick at surviving more than one top-flight campaign. while it certainly doesn't look like it in the press - much of which is still treating mowbray's departure from the hawthorns a foregone conclusion - and while his "silence is deafening" is a phrase quickly becoming hackneyed and overworked in the press to characterize the gaffer's lack of input so far - no one is re-iterating his message.
the fact is, that TM has now been put on the spot, so far as i can tell, in that if he wants the job, he will have to formally resign his post with the baggies and simply sign with celtic. beyond that, it's a matter of the club paying off what mowbray will owe - not what celtic will owe (which legally is nothing) - in buying his way out of contract with west brom. at least, that's as much of the story as i am currently able to understand from today's news reports. and i think that that would be asking mowbray to do something that he wouldn't want to do.
so when i look at the scenario, i just can't see it. TM's too much of a straight shooter, and whatever his feelings about his old club - i can't imagine him being too happy with the press "leaks" and public bullying in the british and international news media.
and now this nonsense about alan shearer!?! unbelievable...
Mozza and Robbo
after weeks of speculation about how a few of the players - and especially morrison - would be looking for transfers in order to keep playing in the premier league, it looks like he might be going to bolton - and fan favourite paul robinson with him too - while the most recent albion hero, chris brunt, is set for a transfer to rangers. i think it's just amazing that these guys get one or two years under their belt in the premier league, and then knowing that there are other premiership clubs that would take them, they are thenceforth self-declared "premier league" players and can no longer entertain notions of staying with a team that has been relegated, and are transfered for what is nowadays considered a prudent £2-3 million each.
"I can't face playing in the Championship again. I feel I've proved myself in the Premier League," said robinson in the mirror recently. robbo has been at the hawthorns for 6 years - so that's what? 3 years in the championship and 3 years in the premier league?
when i look at football from years past, and think how the greats like dixie dean, stanley mattews, tommy glidden, w.g. richardson, bobby robson, bobby moore, gordon banks, peter osgoode, johnny giles, tony brown, clive allen and many others all routinely played in the 2nd division, following the fortunes of their clubs as they struggled with football's up and downs, seeing through both the good times and the bad - i can't help but wonder what are the differences between the players of yesteryear and the relative prestige (or lack thereof) of the old 1st and 2nd divisions when compared to that of the modern premier and championships?
the differences - while being symbolically representative of the same two tiers of football - are immense, not least in the area of prestige, and in the public perception. the premiership, through its visionary use of live television broadcasts of its matches, has created a cosmopolitan international football league dominated by the four most popular clubs. before the advent of the premier league, english football was much more competitive at the top-flight.
while other countries like italy, spain and portugal have long had familiar teams that would dominate their domestic competitions year in year out; the english 1st division had a different complexion every year, and it was only possible to really be competitive and win titles for two or three years at a time before another set of teams would, in turn, follow and dominate for the next few years after that. while inter-milan or juventas, real madrid and barcelona - not to mention the stranglehold dominance of celtic and rangers on scottish football - have long been perennial sure-bets to be contesting league titles and domestic cup competitions; the english 1st division was being won by the likes of derby county, nottingham forrest, leeds united, ipswich town - as well as, arsenal and liverpool; with heavy contention coming from clubs like: west bromwich albion, norwich city, QPR, bristol city and manchester city, amongst others.
three years out of five in england saw 2nd division teams in the FA Cup finals, with sunderland and southampton taking the trophy from leeds and manchester united respectively in '72 and '76; while west ham narrowly beat fulham in the 1975 final, to become the only 1st division team to win a cup final against 2nd division opposition during the 1970s.
the premier league - barring the fact that blackburn rovers were the competitions' first champions - is not in this same spirit at all - and is less a "domestic" football competition and more like a first cousin of the champions league than anything else. which means, really, that the championship is a kind of "downgraded" descendant of the old 1st division, and although it has taken a while for some of the really big clubs to devolve and get there, it is beginning to happen. newcastle united being relegated to the championship, for example, really brings a whole level of top-flight glamour to the division, that can't be seen as anything but positive as far as creating added interest in the championship goes - and, as this is going to start to happen with increasing frequency - they are going to have to find a way to increase the value of the whole division. the only way to do this will be with TV - and they are going to have to do something, because, as we have already seen in the recent past with derby county, nottingham forest, southampton and charlton athletic - is that really big clubs who have made the commitment to premier league football, cannot afford to play in the championship for more than a couple of years. so if they are relegated and then unsuccessful in gaining promotion back to the premiership, they then get in trouble financially and often cannot avoid eventual relegation to league 1.
so as the tottenham hotspur, blackburn rovers, bolton wanderers and manchester citys' etc. devolve into fodder for relegation, the nature of the championship will have to change - in order to save the bigger clubs - and as it does, maybe it will develop sufficiently that players like morrison, robinson and brunt - along with their contemporaries and their predecessors of ancient relegations - will be able to stay on and display the loyalty that used to make it possible for a more competitive football environment to flourish.
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