9:00am Thursday 15th May 2008
By Paul Fraser
THE curtain has fallen on another Premier League season.
Manchester United have won another title, two of the three clubs which clinched promotion last year have gone down and the top four are, well, you don't need to be told.
But what about in 12 months time? Is it likely to be a similar outcome? Most certainly. Hardly a scenario to dampen the theory that the top tier of the English game has become boring.
Yet the man who instigated that national debate last week, Kevin Keegan, has suddenly started to backtrack. Having had a brief chat with David Moyes in the aftermath of Newcastle's defeat to Everton on Sunday, Keegan felt it was right to offer his apologies.
Whether it was the ticking off he endured during a productive and constructive' meeting with owner Mike Ashley on Friday, or the performance from fifth-placed Everton that convinced him otherwise, the Newcastle manager has started to wane.
"I'm now convinced after listening to so many people who know the game that I was wrong - that the same top four teams haven't been there for the last six years, apart from one," said Keegan. Let's hope his comments were of a sarcastic nature, otherwise he's gone mad.
Having failed to prevent Everton from claiming three points at Goodison Park on Saturday, he ensured that Liverpool failed to extend the 11-point gap over their city rivals.
Nevertheless, the fact is, there has never been such a deficit to fifth place in Premier League history. In fact there has never been such a gulf between fourth and fifth in the top tier since the Football League was formed in 1888.
And while Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool made up the four Champions League places for the fifth time in six seasons, the points column highlights that the gap between that particular quartet and the rest is widening.
Last season Arsenal held an eight-point advantage over Tottenham between fourth and fifth, while it is 11 years since the gap was more than five points. It is difficult to imagine a time when that will change.
This week it was revealed that Manchester United earned £78m in television cash and prize money for this season alone, while Liverpool claimed £63.4m, £21.3m more than Everton.
Compare that with clubs without European football, like Newcastle (£38.8m), Middlesbrough (£33.9m) and Sunderland (£33.1m), and it is easy to sympathise with the view that the top four are out of sight.
In the Premier League an evident divide of us and them' has built up in recent times, with the 16 teams outside the top four seemingly having to beg for crumbs from the table of their betters.
Fortunately, with this Saturday's FA Cup final between Cardiff City and Portsmouth in mind, there has at least been a break from the norm in terms of winning trophies, with Tottenham claiming the Carling Cup in February.
Prior to this season, the big four had won 28 major trophies. With Manchester United and Chelsea meeting in Moscow later this month for the right to win the Champions League, that figure will rise to 30.
But while there has undoubtedly been progress made by a number of clubs, it is hard to stomach that Mike Ashley has had to spend £234m just to get Newcastle up to 12th in the table. No wonder he is starting to think twice about funding moves to try to bring the world's top players to Tyneside.
Ashley is not the only one.
West Ham have Icelandic owners and Aston Villa are governed by an American, a trend that is likely to continue.
While that may all sound exciting for the fans concerned at the respective clubs, the big four are the big four. Not even Tottenham, Villa, Newcastle or even Everton can do anything about it.
IF ANYONE other than those who have already qualified deserves to be in Europe next season, forget Manchester City, Aston Villa or Portsmouth, Fulham have my vote.
With an extra UEFA Cup place up for grabs because the Premier League topped the continent's fair play competition, it would be an incredible ending to an exciting season if Fulham clinched the place at the very last moment.
Roy Hodgson deserves unprecedented credit for the way he steered Fulham away from relegation danger, despite taking over when the Cottagers looked destined for the Championship.
Eyebrows and question marks were raised about Hodgson's installation after Lawrie Sanchez' departure in December, almost on the scale to that which met Howard Wilkinson's appointment at Sunderland in October 2002.
But where Wilkinson failed, Hodgson succeeded. Now, after Richard Dunne's dismissal at Middlesbrough on Sunday, his rewards could be even greater. A UEFA Cup place would be a worthy finish for a man whose career had never been the same since failing to revive Blackburn during 17 months at Ewood Park between 1997-98.
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