Big Spenders Make It Pay To Be Cheap

You would think, standing a strong sixth more than two-thirds of the way through the season, that Newcastle United would have shaken any question about deserving to be in European contention alongside the so-called big clubs. But I've been having trouble convincing myself about a club that struggled at home against Norwich, that was pushed around the pitch (despite valiant effort) at Arsenal, that came within seconds of a devastating home loss against Sunderland, that could scrape only a 2-2 draw at SJP against relegation-fodder Wolves, that caved for five goals at Tottenham...etc. Somehow the form has been worse since the end of the African Cup of Nations, the addition of Papiss Cisse and the return to something resembling a full-strength roster. There are rationalizations, such as the loss of Steven Taylor, which has exposed a wafer-thin back line. Still, as kickoff at West Brom approaches, it would make me feel better if Newcastle was capable of dominating anyone - anyone - to the point of letting me sit back at the pub on a weekend morning and have a cocktail instead of breath shortness and chest pains.

It has occurred to me that perhaps a club simply doesn't have to be very good anymore to stand sixth in the Premier League. Maybe the big spenders have spent to the point where there's simply not that much difference among the clubs that spend less. Yesterday I began morbidly leafing through old Premier League tables to validate the theory. What I found, encouragingly, was the opposite. Newcastle stands exactly where history would put a club with 47 points after 29 matches: sixth place. Despite continual record-breaking spending by the top clubs, the table isn't significantly more skewed than in the early days of the league. In fact the rest of the league appears to have caught up a bit with the top since mid-decade.

Beyond the point of what smaller clubs can afford, it's not easy to see exactly what the rich clubs are buying with their ever-larger heaps of money. As wary as I still am about Mike Ashley, the time is obviously ripe for his brand of frugality. While some clubs' budgets may have no limit, there are only so many spots on the field, leaving plenty of value at the sub-Andy Carroll level for the not-quite-so-big clubs. That's why Papiss Cisse is in black and white. Similarly, I'm only mildly worried about Demba Ba being cherry-picked this summer. At the level of spending above Newcastle's line, clubs can afford big names without "degenerative knee condition" on their medical charts.

Recently it was discovered that Robert Kraft, the well-heeled owner of the NFL New England Patriots and the MLS New England Revolution, had been investigating the purchase of an unnamed Premier League club but ruled it out due to the lack of American-style salary caps in English football. If Newcastle United continues toward Europe - and it's not hard to envision Newcastle, on its modest budget, putting an even better team on the field next season - perhaps Kraft and other prospective owners will have second thoughts. Escalating wages haven't enabled rich clubs to expand the distance between themselves and the middle class of the league. Perhaps the free market, as Adam Smith would've predicted, is due to slap its own spending controls on the Premier League.

Comments

[M]

Think you might have enjoyed yesterday's game Bob, haha

Great to see us setting up 4-3-3/4-2-1-3 and we put in a really fluent attacking performance. Hats off to Pardew for starting Jonas in a holding midfield role(!) where he excelled and allowed/encouraged/forced Cabaye to take up more advanced positions.

Worried about the /Willo/Perch/Santon/out of form Simpson/ back line though......

[Bob]

Haha, yeah, you could say I enjoyed that. We've been calling for a formation change since what, November? Though to be fair, Pardew didn't have Cisse at his disposal in November. I'm just hoping the added firepower at the front can make up for the issues at the back.