Premier League Wages and Profits

The Premier League is generating more money than ever but only eight clubs are actually turning a profit says a Deloitte study of the 2006-07 season.

In 2006-07 Premier League clubs' salaries rose 13% - slightly ahead of a median 11% rise in revenue - and the situation is worse in the Championship as average wage increases of 14% outstripped median revenue growth of 3%.

There are startling disparities between the important wages-to-turnover ratios at clubs in England's top two divisions.

The average Premier League figure stood at 63% and the Championship level at 79% but there was a lot of variance. Tottenham had the lowest wages/turnover ratio or just 42%, followed by ManYoo (44%), Arsenal (50%) and then the two Sheffield clubs.

Liverpool stood at 58% and Chelsea was a high 70% - but then with a Russian sugar-daddy normal financial metrics mean little to the Blues at present.


There were high figures figures of 80% and 85% at Middlesbrough and Blackburn respectively. Alarmingly, Sunderland's ratio was 90% and Derby's 125%. But the latter two probably reflect the payment of performance-related bonuses to players for winning promotion.

Overall, only eight Premier League clubs showed operating profits, namely Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle, Reading, Sheffield United and Watford.

If your club isn't on this list then they're spending beyond their earnings - and any downturn in fotoball revenues could hit home hard ...

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Chelsea unhappy with TV scheduling

Chelsea are not happy to being asked to play two Premier League games in the space of 72 hours after their trip to Everton was rescheduled for TV.

The Blues will play Wigan on April 14th and then travel to Goodison PArk to face Everton on Thursday 17th (instead of originally scheduled Saturday 19th).

Chelsea say it gives their title rivals an unnecessary competitive advantage with more time both to recover and prepare. Everton have described the fixture change as an "uncomfortable precedent".

The Merseysiders, who like Chelsea also wanted the match played at the weekend, say in a statement that they fully support their broadcast partners, but hope common sense prevails in the future and sensible alternatives can be reached.

The Premier League have defended the switch, saying: "The compilation of the fixture list is a complex procedure.

"It faces enormous pressure from international match and European competition dates, as well as the need to balance the important requirements of the police and our broadcasters.

"We are also required by the European Commission to televise 138 matches per season, which brings its own inevitable pressures."

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UEFA Cup Outright winner bets.

The UEFA Cup resumes this week for the round of 32 with 24 qualifiers plus the eight Champions League dropouts hoping to win Europe's lessor competition.

According to the bookies, these eight teams can generally be regarded as outside shots a long way behind hot favourites Bayern Munich with strong sides like Atletico Madrid, Tottenham, Everton and Villarreal, who all battled through the group stages of this competition, are seen as the other leading contenders at prices ranging from 8.00 to 15.00

Last year's semi-finalists Werder Bremen are the best priced out of those to have fallen from this season's Champions League at a best of 17.00 at BoyleSports.

In regards to the other UK sides, Bolton have been written off at prices as long as 100/1 while Glasgow Rangers have a quote at 50/1 with Paddy Power while Aberdeen, who face Bayern Munich in the next round, are way out at 500/1.

BEST PRICES :
Bayern Munich 4.35 @ VCBet
Athletico Madrid 10.00 @ Interwetten
Tottenham Hotspur 12.00 @ Interwetten
Everton 14.00 @ Interwetten
Fiorentina 17.00 @ Canbet
Villarreal 17.00 @ VCBet
Werder Bremen 17.00 @ BoyleSports

or get the latest UEFA Cup odds at BookieLabRat.com

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Chelsea take first step towards Carling Cup final

Chelsea have the upper hand over Everton after the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final thanks to a 2-1 success.

The Toffees looked to have forced a draw at Stamford Bridge but a late header from Shaun Wright-Phillips went in off Everton defender Joleon Lescott to give Chelsea the advantage.

The bookmakers now make Chelsea 1.33 to progress to the final and 2.10 (Ladbrokes) to lift the trophy while Everton are 9/4 to turn things around and 8.00 (Bet365) to win the competition outright.

Wednesday night sees Arsenal and Tottenham in action in their last-four first leg with the Gunners 3.75 second favourites (BetFred) for the silverware and Spurs 4.50 (Eurobet).

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FA Cup 3rd Round : Upsets galore

Scottish midfielder Gary McDonald's first-half strike gave League One Oldham a famous 1-0 FA Cup third-round triumph against mighty Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.

The League One side, over 50 places below the Merseysiders, fully deserved their victory after a battling performance.

Everton fielded a much-changed side, and McDonald's 25-yard cracker on the stroke of half-time was enough to beat them.

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Michael Mifsud scored twice as Coca-Cola Championship club Coventry booked their place in the fourth round with a memorable 4-1 win over Blackburn at Ewood Park.

The Sky Blues, who dumped Manchester United out of the Carling Cup earlier this season with a 2-0 win at Old Trafford, were in good form against Premier League opposition and never looked in danger of losing the lead given to them through Mifsud's crisp volley after 34 minutes.

They doubled their advantage after 64 minutes when Zurab Khizanishvili was adjudged to have fouled Leon Best in the penalty area and defender Elliott Ward coolly stepped up to fire past Brad Friedel.

Dele Adebola added a third from 18 yards before David Bentley scored a consolation five minutes from time for Mark Hughes' beleaguered side.

Mifsud added a fourth in the dying stages as Iain Dowie's side celebrated a memorable day.

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Chris Brandon scored nine minutes from time to secure another cup shock as League One Huddersfield beat Premier League Birmingham 2-1.

Luke Beckett handed the Terriers a dream start as he poked home from close range after just four minutes but Garry O'Connor levelled for Blues 15 minutes later.

Huddersfield never looked out of place against their more illustrious opponents and Brandon slotted home from close range late on to book their place in the next round.

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Holders Chelsea were made to work hard for their 1-0 victory over neighbours QPR at Stamford Bridge.

They scored the only goal of the game after 39 minutes in fortuitous circumstances as Claudio Pizarro's shot cannoned off the post before rebounding into the net off the back of Rangers goalkeeper Lee Camp.

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In other games :

Manchester United progressed as goals in the last 10 minutes from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney saw off Aston Villa 2-0 in the evening kick-off.

Bolton left out a string of first-team players, including Chelsea target Nicolas Anelka, and were made to pay as David Carney's solitary strike put Sheffield United through.

Dave Nugent's third goal for Portsmouth secured a 1-0 win over Ipswich, who had Liam Trotter dismissed in the first half.

Paul Scharner's first-half header, Paul McShane's own goal and a neat strike from David Cotterill helped Wigan cruise past Sunderland 3-0 at the Stadium of Light.

David Wheater's second-half goal ensured there was no upset at Ashton Gate as Middlesbrough came from behind to see off Bristol City 2-1.

Two replays required :

Stephen Hunt matched Dimitar Berbatov's brace as Reading secured a 2-2 draw with Tottenham, who had Tom Huddlestone dismissed for violent conduct.

Manchester City and West Ham will meet again after a dour goalless draw at Upton Park.

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Moyes needs convincing Arsenal were better?

Arsenal surprised as lot of people yesterday by battling back from a goal down to beat Everton 4-1 at Goodision Park.

The win moved Arsenal to the top of the Premier League - 2 points clear of Manchester United - to see in the New Year.

However, Everton manager David Moyes says that he thinks that Everton were the better footballing side during the game.

He said: "For all the stuff talked about the way they play, it was not their usual type of goals that beat us. We cannot hide that we made mistakes for the goals, but I will take some convincing that Arsenal were better than us.

Moyes continued "It was us who played the football and Arsenal who went direct. I'd find it hard to view it differently."

Of course what Mr Moyes is ignoring is the fact that on a cold, wet Merseyside night Arsenal scored four goals away from home to win by some margin.

Both sides had 10 shots, although Arsenal were more accurate with a 7-3 advantage on target - however the biggest difference was in the accurate finishing and quality defending.

For all the talk that Mr Moyes offers about the Everton style of play - the passing movements only really happened after Everton were 1-2 and then 1-3 behind, and Arsenal allowed the Toffees to play in the middle 3rd of the pitch.

Yes - Everton did make more passes - when they were losing on the scoreboard and Mr Moyes ignores the key areas of the game in his assessment.

The league table is NOT ranked according to possession stats - if it was then Arsenal would be runaway champions - instead it's ranked according to match results and goals scored and conceded.

Arsenal made one defensive mistake (and were punished) while Everton made half a dozen - and at the top level that's far too many to expect to win.

Quite simply Arsenal were better because they scored four times while playing away from home - and that's usually enough to win any game ...

(unless of course you are Reading)

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