Raising a lot of pulses in Scottish Premier League

Back at the start of the season, Heart of Midlothian were 150-1 to win the SPL and become the first non-Old Firm club since Aberdeen in 1985 to take the league championship. After beating Rangers 1-0 on Saturday, those odds shrunk to a remarkable 7-1, the bookies it seems are slowly warming to the idea of a serious title challenge from the Edinburgh club.

However, the club have been here before, and not so long ago. Back in October 2005 a Hearts side managed by former, Ispwich Town manager, George Burley stood six points clear at the top of the division after a scorching start to their league campaign.

Almost inevitably, it could not last. Hearts owner, Vladimir Romanov, already had a reputation for erratic behaviour behind the scenes, and in the months after his takeover in January 2005 it was becoming increasingly clear that he would not take a backseat in team affairs.

Even so, the news coming out of Tynecastle after the Jambos’ 2-0 win over Dunfermline that Burley had been removed from his post was a major shock, one that registered on the back pages across Europe.

It would be naïve to suggest that Burley’s departure cost the club a shot at the title that season, considering the experience contained within both of the biggest clubs in Scotland, there was every chance that with over two thirds of the season to be played that the championship could have gone anywhere.

The dismissal of Burley, followed by a controversial and fractured spell in charge for former Arsenal midfielder, Graham Rix, signalled a slump in the Jambos’ fortunes. A solitary Scottish Cup, the only silverware to show for the last five years.

Looking around the division, Hearts could not have chosen a better time to rise again. Both Old Firm clubs are in some considerable strife, and are in genuine jeopardy of seeing the championship trophy leave Glasgow for the first time since the first Police Academy film was in cinemas.

Rangers, in major financial trouble, have had to kiss goodbye to the league’s top goalscorer, Kenny Miller, no longer able to pay the wages many Championship sides would be able to handle. As a club they did themselves great credit as they pushed Manchester United and Valencia all the way in their Champions League group, however a lack of penetration at the highest level was blindingly obvious, and with the loss of Miller, the second half of the season will be tough.

It is not by any stretch a vintage era for Scottish football. The national team have not appeared at a major tournament for 13 years, and very few players see football north of the border as a viable option, either financially or in terms of career development. The period of UEFA Cup and Champions League glory nights look to be a thing of the past.

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Celtic head the division, and meet their rivals from Edinburgh in a crunch clash on Wednesday night. The Bhoys were well beaten when the two clubs met at Tynecastle earlier on in the year, however, were Hearts to repeat the trick the title race would genuinely be wide open.

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The big question Tottenham fans will be asking…

I’d be interested to know what Tottenham supporters make of their activity during the transfer window. It appears that Spurs were out-priced in their persuasion of a top strikers to come to White Hart Lane and you can see their frustration at that. Aguero, Forlan, Rossi and Carroll were all enquired upon but a deal could not be reached with any of them.

So should this lack of activity be seen as good business or was it a missed opportunity?

My would answer to both would be yes.

Chelsea are desperate, it is the first time since 2001-02 that they might realistically fail to qualify for the Champions League. They have thrown cash at the problem, £70m of cash. For Chelsea, money is not their shortfall, it is players. It would be more stupid not to invest the vast amounts of cash they clearly have, than it is crass to do so. If this is not something that the Tottenham board are willing to do, then I say fair enough.

Rio Ferdinand said on Twitter yesterday:

“David Villa cost £34m… an integral member of successful Spain team and played regular Champions League… UK market is crazy right now!”

Is Torres really worth £16m more than Villa? Is Andy Carroll worth £1m more than him?

The answers are no and no. Ferguson said there was ‘no value in the market’, and there has been some very poor business this window. In fairness to Liverpool, they had the money and absolutely needed the player. Chelsea’s desperation seems to be at the root of this madness.

This window, transfers have come from either within the Premier league, from Germany or Holland. With unsuccessful offers of £40m for Aguero and Forlan and £30m for Rossi, you might ask why Spain was such a hard place to buy from.

I think lesser Spanish clubs have fallen victim to associating the hype and success surrounding Barcelona and Real Madrid and the Spanish national team with themselves. In reality, last year, Barcelona and Madrid finished above third placed Valencia by 28 and 25 points respectively. The gap is vast, and all the Spanish World Cup winners play for Barcelona anyway.

Not only do they have an over-inflated opinion of their own club, but also of the standard of the league they play in. The results are that players are more inclined to want to stay in Spain (Aguero and Forlan), and that Spanish clubs value their own players too highly (Rossi). This is why, unfortunately, Tottenham could not buy from Spain.

Yet the question remains, should Tottenham have bitten the bullet and brought in additional players anyway?

Their aim has to be to finish in the top four again. This is harder this season with the amount of investment from City. Spurs need to start scoring some goals and their strikers are not providing them. Spurs’ front men will struggle this half of the season, especially when compared to those of the teams above them in the table.

Given the choice, would you prefer Rooney-Berbatov, Chamakh-Van Persie, Tevez-Dzeko, Torres-Drogba-Anelka or Defoe-Crouch-Pavlyuchenko?

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There is no contest.

After an appalling performance at Fulham Harry commented that his lads were running on empty. This should not be the case given that players like Kranjcar have hardly played all season. Additionally, this January has seen Tottenham ship out Bentley, Keane, O’Hara and Giovanni and replace them with Pienaar. Before January the squad had good depth, now it is looking thin. So while they may have been only fringe players, their departures have turned a strength into a weakness. Unlike the other top 5 clubs, Tottenham actually needed to strengthen this window.

What makes this even worse is that Tottenham have only kept 5 clean sheets this year and in the recent cup game the defence looked especially thin. It seems without Bale, Tottenham have very few positives to speak of.

Ferguson’s comments on value are true to his side, who sit at the top of the league, look gelled and are yet to lose. The same cannot be said for Harry Redknapp’s. So while it might have been poor business for Man United to buy this transfer window, it may prove to be even poorer business for Tottenham to not invest at all.

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Ligue 1 wrap: Marseille go second, Sochaux break drought

Marseille moved to second in Ligue 1 with a 2-1 triumph over Saint-Etienne at the Stade Velodrome on Saturday.The match was poised as a battle between fourth and sixth prior to kick-off, with Marseille leading Saint-Etienne by four points as both sides search for a Champions League berth for next season.After a goalless opening hour, Marseille broke the deadlock in the 68th minute through Lucho Gonzalez, who found the back of the net after Andre-Pierre Gignac had cut the ball back into his path.Striker Loic Remy doubled the hosts’ advantage 11 minutes later when he tapped in a partially-blocked shot, before Christophe Landrin pulled a goal back late for the visitors.Valenciennes produced a late fightback to secure a 2-2 draw away to Caen.Benjamin Nivet and Sambou Yatabare put Caen two up at the Stade Michel d’Ornano, and they were on track for a vital victory to lift them above Valenciennes on the table.But Gregory Pujol set up a dramatic finish with an 80th-minute goal, before Steven Langil broke Caen hearts when he equalised in the 88th minute for the visitors.Brest ensured Monaco would remain in the relegation zone with a 2-0 win at the Stade Francis-Le Ble.The home side went ahead in the 14th minute through Jonathan Ayite, and the striker netted his second late on after Monaco’s Adriano Pereira was dismissed in the 89th minute.Sochaux shot back to form with a 3-2 away win over Lens, turning around a run of one win in seven league games.Both sides played more than half the match with 10 men, but it was all Sochaux early as Nicolas Maurice-Belay and Modibo Maiga netted in the opening half-hour.Lens pulled a goal back in the 36th minute via Issam Jemaa, before Sochaux’s Kevin Anin and Lens’ Toifilou Maoulida were sent off in the 42nd minute.Alaeddine Yahia put Lens back on level terms in the 59th minute, as they looked for a point that would have moved them above 18th-placed Monaco.But Ryad Boudebouz produced the winner for Sochaux in the 66th minute.Auxerre and Arles drew 1-1, a result that helps neither side in their respective relegation battles, with Arles still rooted to the bottom of the table 14 points behind 19th-placed Lens.In the later game, Lorient bounced Bordeaux 5-1 in an incident-packed encounter – headlined by a Kevin Gameiro hat-rick – that sends the winners to seventh on the table.Midfielder Morgan Amalfitano put Lorient ahead in the 14th minute, with fringe France striker Gameiro putting his side 3-0 up with a three-minute salvo not long after.Brazilian Fernando Menegazzo pulled a goal back five minutes later, and Bordeaux were offered further momentum to draw back into the game when Lorient defender Franco Sosa was shown a second yellow card.The dismissal only seemed to galvanise Lorient, who extended their lead once more through a penalty from former Portsmouth midfielder Arnold Mvuemba on 61 minutes before Gameiro’s hat-trick-sealing goal in the shadows of full time wrapped up the 5-1 win.More salt was rubbed into Bordeaux’s wounds when goalkeeper Cedric Carasso was sent off in the 90th minute.

The Top 20 MVP’s in the Premier League – PART 1

How do you define value? It’s a difficult thing to quantify. In football terms at least, it’s the players who are of the most use and importance to their respective clubs. This won’t be a list of the 20 best players in the Premier League for example, as bigger clubs obviously have more money, pulling-power and a greater number talented players at their disposal than those that battle it out for relegation.

No, here I’ll go through each Premier League club and try to pick out just the one player from each side and explain why I view them as the club’s most valuable player – a player of quality so important to their style of play that it would be to the whole team‘s detriment if they weren‘t in the side. For some clubs it’ll be easier and for other more contentious. If I have made any heinous errors of judgement on your respective clubs’ most valued players let me know in the comments section below…

Click on Fabregas below to launch Part 1 of the most valuable players in the Premier League

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The MEN to make Leeds and Nottingham Forest great again?

This Saturday Leeds United play Nottingham Forest in the Championship as the race for the Premier League intensifies. There is just one point separating Leeds in 5th and Forest in 6th, so there couldn’t be more resting on the result. We spoke to Leeds manager Simon Grayson ahead of going head-to-head with Billy Davies at Elland Road…

How do you assess your season so far?

We have had a good season so far, we have probably over achieved slightly as it’s our first season in the championship after getting promotion from League One. But like ourselves, Norwich and Millwall have also acquitted themselves really well. We have given ourselves an opportunity to try and get into the playoffs at the very least. It’s been a good season we are very pleased with how we have played. We have had some ups and downs but that can be said for every club throughout the country.

Is promotion now a realistic target?

It is but there are another 12 teams who could say the same thing. There are teams who were favourites for the division who are around the play offs and then there are teams who are surprising people like ourselves and Norwich. We have got a great opportunity just like the other 10 or 12 teams to achieve an unbelievable target of getting to the premiership and hopefully we can do that.

What is it like to manage in a division that is as tight as the Championship?

It’s great there is never a dull moment; you can never think that you have cracked it because results have proven that over the last few weeks. With us getting beaten 3 nil at Swansea and then they go to Scunthorpe and get beat, that is the nature of it. It’s exciting and is going to be really close at the end of the season for a number of teams.

How much will gaining promotion last year help you with this season’s run in?

I think it will help us immensely but obviously we have got a few different players here now, but there is still a nucleus of the team that sampled that. I think last year we were under more pressure to get out of the division because we had to do it as a third attempt. This year there is not as much pressure but you have the pressure you put on yourselves to achieve that ultimate dream of getting into the Premiership and we enjoy it. If we don’t manage to achieve it this year hopefully somewhere down the line Leeds United will get to the premiership. The facilities, the fan base and the size of the club mean we deserve to be.

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You play Forest at the weekend, how similar are Leeds and Forest in terms of their history?

Well they have fantastic history and are big clubs who played in Europe for many years. Both have had some fantastic individuals, we had Don Revie here and Brian Clough at Forest so you can go back and draw from the experience of what has happened in the past, but its all about the present. My players here and Billy’s players at Forest are trying to achieve that target of promotion. They have had a good season and we know it is going to be a tough game for us but history and tradition won’t count for anything at the weekend it will all be about who gets the three points that matters.

What do you think about the job Billy Davies has done at the City Ground?

He has done a great job, he has proven over the years that he is capable of doing it. When he was at Preston he got the play off final and with Forest last year missed out to Blackpool in semi-finals. This year they have got some good payers and obviously striving to get into the Premiership like a number of other clubs are.

What is it like to follow in the footsteps of managers like Don Revie and Howard Wilkinson?

I am very proud. I am a Leeds United fan anyway from when I was growing up so to be the manager here is quiet surreal really. I started here as a young kid and worked under Howard Wilkinson, but the legacy that Don Revie left in the first place and then Howard with the academy and the group of players that came through speaks volumes for the football club. If you can be compared to them in the future then you know you will have done a decent job, but I have a lot of work to do in order to achieve that.

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Does the history and size of the club increase the expectation from supporters?

I don’t think there is as much this year. Every club should have a huge amount of pressure on them because fans pay the money and expect their clubs to do well. There has to be a realistic ambition from the club and its supporters. This year we have had a realistic ambition of surviving in the Championship first and foremost. Finishing halfway would be nice but obviously now we are where we are there is a great opportunity to get promoted. Now the players should thrive on the pressure and enjoy it. Real pressure is at the other end of the scale where you don’t get paid very much. You’re playing in front of one or two thousand people and before you know it you might be out of the game. My players have a great opportunity playing for this football club.

How proud are you of being able to help the club regain its financial stability after their relegation to League 1?

Immensely proud, but first and foremost it’s about my professional job that I do and I want to be a successful manager. I did ok at Blackpool and got promotion under my belt and then got the job here and got promotion. I just want to do the best job I can no matter what club I am at but while I am at Leeds United, for what I hope will be many more years to come I want to try and achieve something. It will be extra special if I can get this club back into the Premiership.

Visit the Dugout www.yahoo.co.uk/dugout for new interviews every week with England’s top football managers

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Hodgson: Competing with Dalglish ‘wasn’t easy’

West Bromwich Albion manager Roy Hodgson bares no grudge against former employers Liverpool ahead of their clash on Saturday.Hodgson had a disappointing few months in charge of Liverpool before vacating the Anfield hot seat in January.

“There is no vindication factor with Liverpool at all. I enjoyed my time at Liverpool, well to say I enjoyed the time would not be strictly true. I respected my time there,” he said on Friday.

“I was treated correctly in every respect by the club. I had a very good relationship with the players, who I thought did their very best for me.”

“It did not work out either for them or for me during that period of time and I’m very pleased to see it is working out for them now.”

Kenny Dalglish has since taken over the reins at Anfield – a popular choice as he won three league championships in his previous stint in charge of the club.

Dalglish expressed an interest in taking over and Hodgson admitted it was tough having someone so well thought of waiting to jump in the lead role.

“It’s difficult to compete with an icon. I came into the right club but perhaps I didn’t come at the right time because Kenny did make it clear at the time that he wanted the job. When things didn’t go well, having him in the background wasn’t easy,” Hodgson admitted.

“It wouldn’t have been easy for any manager. There’s always someone in the wings who is a little bit of an icon ready to take over if the results don’t go their way.”

With West Brom just one point clear of the relegation zone, Hodgson stressed the importance of the fixture.

“It’s another game – but it means a lot because we only have eight games left and each one means a lot. Of course I desperately hope it is not going to work out for Liverpool tomorrow afternoon,” he said.

“After those 90 minutes I can go back to wishing them well and hoping they finish as high in the league as possible.”

“My time at Liverpool is over and I’m very happy in my job here. I’m disappointed of course that I did not get the full three years I was hoping for but I have been in football long enough to know sometimes that’s what happens – especially when there is a change of ownership during your time at the club.”

“I was realistic, I knew the risk and I am still disappointed it did not work out but I have no bad feelings about Liverpool as a city. Certainly I don’t have any bad feelings about the football club and the people I worked with.”

Midfielder Graham Dorrans (ankle) will definitely miss the game.

Top TEN Premier League ‘scallywags’ who forced their move

Premier League footballers are not always the most reasonable bunch and it often seems like their money goes to their head. There have been a whole host of players who have taken action when they have sought a move in order to ensure that they can go to a bigger club and earn a bit more money. One of the first players to do this in the modern game was Pierre Van Hooijdonk who was after a move to Nottingham Forest and said of his contract dispute with Celtic that “£7,000 a week may be good for the homeless, but not for an international striker.” The Dutch international has set the trend, are here are 10 more Premier League ‘Scallywags’ who forced their transfer moves…

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Click on the image below to see the TOP 10 PL ‘Scallywags’:

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Nicklas Bendtner, an egotistical headache?

Nicklas Bendtner, all footballers need an air of arrogance about them to succeed but the big Dane oversteps the mark more than John Terry on Chelsea’s version of ‘Wife Swap’. The striker has become a ridiculed figure after numerous, well lets not beat around the bush, remarkably egotistical comments about his ability and ambitions. ‘I’m very sorry to see Adebayor injured as we need him fit and to be playing in the league. But it does not really matter to me who is fit and available I should start every game, I should be playing every minute of every match and always be in the team.’ (four four two)

It is one thing talking the talk but walking the walk is a totally different matter and as of yet Bendtner’s progress at Arsenal has been more of a slow burn rather than a red hot inferno lighting up the Emirates and despite this the Arsenal man continues spouting absolute gems, such as “I want to be top scorer in the Premier League, top scorer at the World Cup and, within five years, I want to be among the best strikers in the world.” (mirror football) Ok so not the most ludicrous thing for an up and coming forward to say, however this was Bendtner bragging after winning Danish Player of the Year, with all due respect, what was his closest rival? A pastry.

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Even among Arsenal fans, Nicklas Bendtner will never top the popularity charts at the Emirates. I mean even Robbie ‘Everyone hates me but I don’t care’ Savage is embraced and loved by his own fans. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Bendtner is the same man who missed a sitter in the final moments of Arsenal’s second leg clash against Barcelona costing them a place in Quarter Finals of the Champions League but goes on to justify his enormous weekly salary by saying “There is a price to pay as well for us players…the biggest thing I miss because of football is that I really, really love to go on a skiing holiday but as long as I have my career, I can’t do that because of the risk of being injured.” (The Hardly Normal Best eleven) Comedy gold right there; I’m sure in his retirement there will be enough in the bank to enjoy the odd ski trip but one thing is for sure Bendtner will no doubt be a pro on the slopes, well at least he will think he is.

This next bit is just so brilliant it sounds like it should be made up, in a recent psychological ‘self-percieved competence’ test at Arsenal, the Danish international scored 10, on a scale that only went up to 9, Bendtner is so assured of his ability, he scored off the charts, quite remarkable but probably oh so accurate, especially when you read in an interview from the end of last season with regards to Bendtner’s goal drought a journalist asked Arsene Wenger how would he boost the player’s confidence. The journalist added at the end: “Not that he needs a boost, of course.” The thing is with Arsenal’s ‘homegrown’ forward is that he is not a bad striker, he is just not nearly as good as he says he is. “If you ask me if I am one of the best strikers in the world, I say yes.” (Daily Mail)

Rant Over…kind of, despite his obvious arrogance in abundance, does the self proclaimed Great Dane really warrant the ‘abuse’ I have directed his way in the previous paragraphs? Well yes. The Danish international has been at the North London since 2004 and the signs were promising; with prolific performances in the reserves and impressive showings on loan at Birmingham, which subsequently forced his emergence into the first team squad in the season of 2007/08, Bendtner appeared to really have ‘the bit between his teeth’. But as Arsenal’s team have evolved, it has become apparent that their players need to be versatile, something which Bendtner is not. He is very much a specialist player, who can only offer one thing to the Arsenal side and that, coupled with squandered chances, an innate inability to beat players one-on-one and his lack of aerial prowess considering his height, really means that Arsenal should cash in on any move Bendtner creates for himself with his own media hyperbole.

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Listen to the third episode of our brand new podcast – The Football FanCast. – Featuring Razor Ruddock, Gary O’Reilly and singer/songwriter Alistair Griffin, who performs a live version of his cult tribute to Mark Viduka, with Razor on backing vocals!

McLeish: Gardner deserved red card

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish admitted Craig Gardner dived after the midfielder was sent off in a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.Gardner was booked for reacting aggressively to a Jamie O’Hara tackle in the English Premier League match at St Andrews, before receiving a second yellow and his marching orders for going to ground easily under pressure from Jody Craddock just 29 minutes into the game.

And McLeish said he was disappointed to lose Gardner to suspension as Birmingham look to ensure their Premier League survival.

“Craig dived,” McLeish said. “But I was thinking he was diving to get out of the way because he had been booted about three or four times just before that.”

“A Richard Stearman tackle on him on the edge of the box never got a booking and then O’Hara caught him.”

“I think he was diving to get out of the way but we don’t condone the diving element, and especially when you are on a yellow card.”

“I was more annoyed at the first yellow card Craig got. It put him under pressure by reacting to a tackle.”

“Craig is devastated in the dressing room and at half-time he has apologised to his team-mates and we now miss him for a couple of games.”

After trailing to Steven Fletcher’s early penalty, Birmingham were fortunate to equalise through Sebastian Larsson in the 27th minute, before holding on for a valuable point.

The draw leaves Wolves second bottom, one point from safety with three matches remaining.

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy paid tribute to Birmingham after they managed to shut out his team, despite being a player short.

“It is a missed opportunity against 10 men but they have stuck at it and not given us too many chances,” McCarthy said.

“If we had had loads of chances after they went down to 10 men, I might have said it was more of an opportunity squandered but we didn’t.”

“We didn’t have what was necessary to break the 10 men down unfortunately.”

“But if I had looked at the four games left and thought we could get a point away from home, I’d not be unhappy and then we’ve got to do the job at home in the remaining games.”

“I still think it’s going to go to the last day of the season.”

Good value or the exploitation of Premier League supporters?

There is little doubt that watching Premier League football is proving to be very expensive – which means I have to consider how much value fans are really getting. Is this just simply the price of top level football? Or are fans being exploited?

Well you wouldn’t expect Premier League football to be cheap especially as it is rated by many as the best league in the world – but it needs to be affordable so people can enjoy it. Arguably the most notable prices have occurred at QPR – where the owners seem to be taking full advantage of the club’s promotion to the Premier League. Match tickets next season will range from £47 to an incredible £72 and season ticket prices have been increased by nearly 40% – these price increases are even more significant when you consider that there are less games in the Premier League than in the Championship – so the per game increase is significant.

The top level season tickets will increase from £699 to £999 and the standard season tickets will be £549. There will be 19 Premier League games at Loftus Road next season that means that the standard season ticket price will work out at £29 a game – which to be fair is value for money. Few standard Championship games this season will have prices lower than £29. However, the top level season ticket is a different story and will work out at £52 per game.

Fellow promoted club Norwich City have allowed fans to buy season tickets since the start of this year – although they are currently full and at this time will not be releasing any more. However a large number of fans renewed their season ticket months ago and were able to take advantage of great value for the Premier League. Fans were able to purchase a season ticket for £430 – which means they will be able to enjoy Premier League football for a price of around £23 per game. Norwich City set a new season ticket record by selling 21,883 which is 820 higher than the record that was set last year of 21,063.

However, it seems that this level of loyalty is not consistent across the Premier League as a whole. 28% of Manchester United season ticket holders will not renew and 22% of Arsenal season ticket holders will not renew. However, watching Premier League football with Arsenal proves to be an expensive business with the cheapest tickets costing £951 working out at around £50 per game. In the past year it appears that the cost of Premier League football has increased from £84 to £101 over the past year due to increases in ticket prices, petrol, food costs and rises in prices for programmes and merchandise. (Virgin Money)

So I have looked at the prices at the top end of the Premier League and the newly promoted teams, but what about some of the other teams in the top flight – what sort of prices do they charge? Well one team that seems to be offering a fair deal for fans is Fulham, as hard as it is to believe they have adult season tickets that will be as cheap as £379 for the new season; that works out at around £20 per Premier League game – which really is incredible value for money. I think really this put the QPR price increases totally in perspective and just shows that you can be a London club and still offer a fair deal to fans.

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However, the cheapest place to watch Premier League football for the new season appears to be Blackburn Rovers where the cheapest Premier League season ticket will go for just £225 – now that really is incredible value and works out at just under £12 a game.

In the interest of balance I think we need to look at how much the biggest brand in English football charges – Manchester United. Well the cheapest season tickets at Manchester United offer surprising good value for money of £513, which works out at £27 per Premier League game.

So what we can conclude with this relatively brief look at Premier League season tickets is that there is value out there and Premier League clubs offer top level football at reasonable prices. However, there are other clubs that seem to be taking advantage of the support. But whoever you support there is no doubt that Premier League tickets are going be expensive but also hard to come by – so for supporters who plan to attend most home games the season ticket offers the best value.

We know that there is currently a huge amount money in the Premier League – but there is also high levels of debt and we also have financial fair play rules coming being introduced in the near future. So it will be interesting to see what happens to season ticket prices over the coming years. But football clubs also need to keep in mind that it has been and will continue to be tough economic times for all of us and it’s important that we are able to enjoy live football at sensible rates. Now, it’s clear that some Premier League clubs are doing that but others aren’t.

At the top level of the Premier League Arsenal seem to be the club that is taking advantage the most – as they have the most expensive season ticket in the country and their cheapest tickets aren’t what you would consider to be cheap. In some ways this is curious for a club that isn’t usually big spenders in the transfer market and are funded by two billionaires anyway.

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However, it’s also important to keep in mind that football is just like any other business and is concerned with making large profits. I suppose there is the sense that if you can fill the stadium every week and make a large amount of money at the same time then why not do it?

In conclusion I just hope that rich owners keep the fans in mind and ensure that this game we love can be afforded. But the pleasing thing that this analysis has concluded is that is possible to see top quality Premier League at very reasonable rates and after some of the news in the media recently – this was a surprising conclusion to me.

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