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It would seem that while some football clubs in the premier league are going from strength to strength others aren’t fairing so well.  A case in point at the moment is Newcastle United Football Club which seems to be having difficulties with top management.  Sales of football kits (both home and away), football boots, season tickets and the likes may be on the up but player and supporter morale seem to be on the way down.

As the black and white adorned fans loitered outside St James Park this week sporting both new and old home and away kits, behind closed doors the emphasis didn’t seem to be on the sales of merchandise but the sales of players and more importantly what was going to happen to Kevin Keegan.

flickr © scartinho

Was he going to stay or was he going to go?  Did anyone know if he was going to stay or going to go?  The sports commentators and media circle joined in the scrum, surrounding themselves with a black and white throng of unhappy and distinctly enraged fans; whilst behind the scenes the once curly-haired Keegan remained tight-lipped.

Was it a clever marketing ploy though because sales of Newcastle United Football kits and shirts rose considerably as fans on the outside rallied to show their support.

Keegan, who has only been back at Newcastle Football Club for seven months, has been no stranger to controversy and indeed no stranger to venting his spleen towards club owner Mike Ashley. As the season kicks off and the fans adorn themselves with their new Newcastle United strips one can’t help but wonder just where the army is going to go next?  And, more importantly, who will lead them there?

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But is money the way to win a place at the top of the Premiership?

flickr © edwin11

Every footballer and every football club manager wants his team to be the best they can be and as well as that they want them to have the best players, the best kits, the best grounds and the best supporters.  But where some of these can be left to the owner with the large chequebook other aspects of a club’s success can only be measured by how they perform on the pitch.

Sunderland Football Club with its Stadium of Light, its black cat image and unmistakable red and black kit, have been making good strides this year to climb back up the premiership table and to take their loyal fans with them.

Manager Roy Keane has been scouring the length and breadth of the football world for that one player with the golden boots; the superstar striker who will do what Sunderland fans have been praying for all these years – a chance to get back to the top of the premiership and tower above their peers.

flickr © free-ers

With huge salaries to pay and expectations at fever pitch Keane and his army of black cats will have a lot to do this season and what happens off the pitch will be as important as what happens for those electric 90-minute games each week.  The fans need to fill the stadiums and occupy their seats as well as chant and wave their scarves and wear their red and black kits with pride; but off the pitch the people who make the decisions need to ensure that the decisions they make are the right ones.

If for no other reason than to ensure that Sunderland don’t find themselves mired in the same kind of power struggle as their magpie counterparts on the other side of the Tyne.

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Now Manchester City have been bought by a mega-rich Middle Eastern consortium, the lines between fantasy football and the real-life game seem set to vanish altogether. When even Chelsea, with Russian oil-garch Roman Abramovich at the helm, find themselves outbid for a player, you can be sure the beautiful game in the UK is about to enter a whole new realm.

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Of course all football fans have done it at one time or another. Putting together in your mind your dream team is the perfect way to spend Saturday afternoons – especially when the flesh-and-blood idols before you can hardly hit a barn door. Taking their lead from this most universal of pitch-side pipedreams, thousands of Fantasy Football leagues have been established in recent years. National newspapers, offering huge prizes, led the way. But they’ve also flourished on a smaller scale in offices, factories, pubs and elsewhere. OK, so you have to supply the de rigueur sheepskin coat and ‘sick as a parrot’ clichés yourself. All the same, these schemes offer everyone the chance of becoming a virtual football manager, of tasting ecstasy when your selections do the biz, and agony when it all ‘goes pear’.

Until just a few years ago, the ‘all star’ approach to the real-life game was largely restricted to Real Madrid and their squad of ‘Galácticos’. But first Chelsea and now Manchester City, long the ugly sisters to Old Trafford’s all-conquering heroes, seem set to bring their fans’ fondest fantasies to life.

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Even if you don’t have a Stamford Bridge season ticket and live miles from London’s Kings Road, you’ll have struggled to avoid Chelsea’s blue and white kit recently.

First came the news that the club’s number-one transfer target, Robinho, had been photographed in his suitors’ colours. Allegedly, this jumping of the gun so enraged Real Madrid, to whom the player was signed at the time, that they increased the price for the forward’s signature. And while Chelsea were licking their wounds, moneybags Manchester City snuck in and bought Robinho instead.

flickr © free-ers

In Swindon, too, the ‘Samsung’ emblazoned outfits have been causing a stir. For his wedding day, groom Dennis Collins – “I don’t like wearing trousers, I prefer to wear shorts all year round – even if it is snowing” – decked himself out in the full ensemble of last year’s Champions’ League finalists. Dazzling Den’s sons Shane, 20, and Jay, five, along with grandsons four-month-old Jordan and one-year-old Louis were all similarly done up. “I believe he should wear what makes him feel comfortable. It is a different day all around,” said Den’s more-than-understanding wife, Trish.

Chelsea women’s new signing Lianne Sanderson is also a fan of her new uniform. “We have a fitted kit,” she smiles. “Women players used to have to wear men’s kit but now the kits are cut to fit women. I prefer to wear my kit tighter. I don’t want to be running around wearing really baggy clothes.”

However, not all pundits feel Chelsea’s outfit hits the mark. One rated it only the ninth best in the Premiership, reckoning that the “adidas logo centered under the V of the collar looks like it was placed there in the design version of stick the tail on the donkey.” So not everybody will be getting the blues…

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