I am really looking forward to Sky’s Super Sunday this weekend. It really will be electric, especially given there is SO much still to be decided in the Premier League. Which of the Manchester sides will finish fourth, assuming Arsenal defeat Aston Villa to finish in a commanding…er…third? But hang on: what if Newcastle United turn over Spurs, which could mean the Arsenal finishing second? And what if, what if…oh, who cares?
Someone wrote recently that this had been a terrible, even embarrassing, season for The Big Clubs. Granted, Leicester have done a footballing Cassius Clay, shaken up the world and knocked out the Premier League Sonny Liston and Tottenham Hotspur have risen through the ranks playing joyous, winning football, played largely by Englishmen. But then what? In their terrible season, Manchester United are still in the frame, so are Manchester City, so are Arsenal. Only Chelsea among the big boys have tanked and historically and I find it hard to put them in the really big boys bracket anyway, somewhere alongside Everton and Aston Villa rather than Manchester United and the Arsenal. I’d say Leeds and Newcastle are bigger clubs than Chelsea, it’s just that they have crap teams and owners.
Since Sky got shot of Richard Keys and Andy Gray – and not before time – they have been replaced by a series of younger generic presenters whose names I don’t know and do not care if I don’t know. This weekend, they will certainly have their work cut out pretending that the games all matter. They don’t. It’s all about one ‘Champions League’ place.
Sky will certainly go through the motions, trying desperately to pretend something desperately exciting is going on and of course Martin Tyler, once the finest commentator of them all, but sadly now back among the dead men, like Jonathan Pearce – shame – will at some point reach of point of near orgasm as someone scores an unimportant goal somewhere.
They will not be able to brand Sunday as ‘Judgement Day’ because the winners and losers are already known. Perhaps they could rename the show ‘Not very interesting Sunday’? Super it certainly will not be.
Someone, somewhere will win 7-0 – my guess is Chelsea will stuff a desperately hungover Leicester (Hazard will score them all) – and Sky will train its cameras there. This means that Chelsea stay a mere 10 points behind Liverpool – big news indeed for Jim White on Sky Sports News, always the man for the overrated occasion.
But just get ready for the action. Only the minor places are up for grabs but don’t worry; something big will happen to get Jamie Redknapp jabbering into inaction. For everyone else, it could be time for a sharp exit.
