The Week Ahead: Part 1

The Best Interests of the Game.

For all of the imperfections that have existed in the past and continue to exist in Major League Baseball, the governance of the game has embedded within it a clause that the commissioner can use to fill in when the rules as written just don't apply properly to the situation at hand.

There are two reasons I mention this in a column about the Premier League.  First, baseball sensibly has an "out" clause that the Premier League clearly lacks to help facilitate the right thing being done.  Second, baseball (and all American sports) rightly have appointed individuals (Commissioners) who are charged with overseeing their leagues, acting as figureheads/PR talking heads, and acting as the lightning rod for controversy when things go wrong.  The controversy at St. James Park on the opening Saturday of the season underscored the lack of an individual in the driver's seat with sufficient latitude to ensure that the right thing happens.

If the Premier League had a single Commissioner who the public generally held accountable (and feared in any way for the ability to hold down what is generally a high-paying, high-profile job) then the end result of this past weekend's melee would have been entirely different.  I could be talked into red cards for everyone involved (Song, Barton, and Gervinho).  I could be talked into yellow cards for all involved.  I could be talked into reds for Song and Barton and a yellow for Gervinho.  What I and any public-facing Commissioner would never be talked into under the confines of American sports is letting a technicality like "we already awarded Barton a yellow card so we can't even review it and get it right" because that's the way our screwed up system works.

A Commissioner that is forced to meet regularly with reporters, go on sports talk radio, and watch his name crushed on social media would find a way to get it right, and fast.  Apologies would be issued for the way things turned out.  Slowly but surely, the tide of public opinion would force even the most traditional of traditionalists (you listening Mr. Selig) to do things like enlist video replay to get more things right.

Instead, the Premier League continues on with a Chairman, a Chief Executive, and a Board of Directors to oversee day-to-day operations.  If ever there was a way to diffuse responsibility for things going wrong, this would be the way.  A Google search for "Barton" and "Scudamore" (the Chief Executive of the Prem) yielded exactly 13 hits under the "news" tab.  You have to try hard to find a search that yields only 13 hits.  A similar search for "Artest" and "Stern" yielded 30x more hits associated with a particularly ugly incident in the National Basketball Association.  Another similar search on "Selig" (MLB commissioner) and Dodgers (a financially troubled team where he had to step in) yielded even more than that.

My point is that with a diffused management structure at the league and even more ability to avoid responsibility by hiding behind the FA, UEFA, and FIFA there's almost no chance that the Premier League as currently constituted will ever be serious about making things better.  It would be like expecting FIFA to not be corrupt or the NCAA to make decisions that are in the best interests of the fans or the players.

Sadly, unlike most of my rants, I don't really have a proposed solution here.  The league has to WANT to change and make things better.  The clubs have to decide that there's some risk to their financial health to not making the change.  The way things are going with TV revenues, etc. that seems highly unlikely.  We'll just have to suffer through poor decisions left un-reviewed, no video replays, and an absence of even modest improvements like referees using spray paint to keep walls from encroaching like they do in the US and Argentina.

Second Thoughts

Great post by Neal, exploding some of the easy myths around Arsenal.  And great comments everyone.  I think you've hit on some interesting points.  Let me add my $0.02:

Song could return for Manchester City game

...or, The Song Remains the Same for Arsenal.

Alex Song may return for the visit of Manchester City on Saturday evening.

The midfielder, who has missed the last three games with an inflamed cartilage, faces a fitness test on Friday.

The inclusion of the Cameroon international is the only major change possible from the squad that lost at Wigan last Sunday. That is because Andrey Arshavin (calf), Manuel Almunia (wrist) and Denilson (groin) are still out.

“Maybe Song [could be off the injury list],” Wenger told TV Online on Thursday. “He has a test tomorrow and we’ll see. He is a question mark.

“Apart from that, nobody is back. Andrey Arshavin is out. Everyone else - Gallas, Almunia, Denilson - is still out too.”

I'm beginning to think that I took the wrong lesson from Burnley 0 - Manchester City 5. I thought Burnley were done and it was another "Who is playing Derby?" type situation where the bet was to pile in against them. But that really hasn't paid dividends for me. Granted, it hasn't been a bad play. But the better play would have been staying with Citeh. Neal had a bumper return from K2 and Onuoha in their 5-1 thrashing of Birmingham and I didn't do badly with AJ. Now those players are a little more affordable on the back of the 0-1 defeat to local rivals Manchester United. What can Citeh's front four of Tevez, K2, Bellamy and AJ do against the likes of Campbell, Silvestre and Fabianski? They scored four on Arsenal's first team at Eastlands earlier in the season, which gets lost when all we remember is K2 stamp on RvP. (Which reminds me, that should be added to the memorable images of the season, shouldn't it?)

So do I ditch Liverpool (@Burnley) and Sunderland (@Hull) and go for the likes of Tevez and K2 (@Arsenal)?  They have a double game week next week, but I don't want to get too caught up in that and miss out on points this week.  But maybe I won't.