Football economics defy the laws of gravity!!

The economics surrounding football clubs here in England & Wales and in Europe are perhaps a contradiction in terms. I think the word "economy" is derived from a Greek word for housekeeping. I don't believe Real Madrid was thinking of its profit & loss account when it shelled out a tonne of cash for Kaka and Ronaldo (let's call it £130m for the two players). I hope Man Utd took straight cash rather than the instalment deal it got for Beckham)
I suppose their market values went down following their lacklustre World Cup
performances. Let's hope the Spanish team wins the European Cup so that it can make some return on its investment.

However, in their way stand the mortal enemy FC Barcelona as well as clubs such as Inter Milan and Manchester United. The draw for the next stage of the European Cup is being held in Monaco tonight. The lure of a Wembley final would be pretty big for the four English clubs in the draw. It would be virtually a home fixture for Man Utd and Chelsea. Hopefully the pitch would be sorted out by then.

Apparently, when Tottenham Hotspurbooked their passage last night, the north London team hit a £20m jackpot. For the first time the capital is putting up three contenders for this competition. I have a shameful admission to make. Although a Cockney Red, I am a bit schizophrenic in supporting Spurs about 49 pct of the time. It was good to see Crouch bagging a hat trick but I suppose a tougher European defence would have countered two of those goals. Although we did not get the robot dance, which celebrated those English goals.

The free milk controversy - back to Thatcher!!

It just proves that there is nothing new under the sun with the proposal (personally squashed
by UK Prime Minister David Cameron) that free milk should be withdrawn from under five year old children at educational establishments. It just shows my age that I can remember this type of controversy dogged the old battle axe Margaret Thatcher herself. I know I should not poke fun at the victor of the Falklands War but her economic policies were pretty responsible for the reduced industrial capability of the UK.

It was sad watching a programme of "Top Gear" when Jeremy Clarkson visited the old empty factory, which manufactured the Jensen sports car in West Bromwich and said that we don't manufacture anything anymore in the UK.

I suppose we don't go in for suporting industrial champions but we did rescue Rolls Royce in the 1970s and that was a pretty good move for both the aero-engine maker and for us as a nation. Currently, it is open season for the world class manufacturers we still have in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Who would have thought a bidding war would have broken out for Chloride!