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Fans switching off Champions League
The Champions League is becoming a bore after TEAMtalk's Scottish expert Gareth Friel admitted Manchester United were too good for Celtic.
Berbatov: Scores against Celtic
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It may have been billed as an "eagerly-anticipated" 'Battle of Britain' and a "must-see" game by many sections of the press but Manchester United's Champions League clash with Celtic turned into the procession many neutral observers felt it would be and merely highlighted how much of a non-event the tournament is at this stage.
United simply had far too much for the SPL champions in every department and in the end could have scored a couple more, even though both of Dimitar Berbatov's goals should have been ruled out for offside.
Celtic are not the only ones who have suffered at the hands of English power. The second best France had to offer were crushed by Chelsea while Arsenal have hit nine goals in two games against two of the 'best of the rest' (those outside the top European leagues), in Porto and Fenerbahce.
Last season, from 24 group games, English teams lost just three and that just about sums up their dominance at the moment.
And who can stop them making it another all-English final this season? For me, only Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid and even then I'd be majorly surprised if any of those emerged triumphant in Rome next May.
Of course, the European Cup had it's superpowers like Real Madrid from 1956-60 and Bayern Munich from1974-76 while English clubs won the trophy seven years out of eight between 1977 and 1984 but at least back then the likes of Panathinaikos, St Etienne, Club Brugge, Malmo, Hamburg, Steaua Bucharest and Red Star Belgrade all made it to the final.
Only twice out of the last 18 years has the final not involved a club from England, Italy or Spain and in that time only Porto and Red Star have come from outwith the 'big six' (the aformentioned three plus Germany, France and Holland).
And it's only going to get worse when you have a scenario where Manchester United have approximately £660million of debt yet can splash out £30.75million for Berbatov.
The financial muscle of the English Premier League has been debated a hundred times and although it is clearly getting out of hand - sanctions must be introduced to prevent teams amassing such enormous amounts of debt - it has always been the case that the bigger clubs have more financial clout.
But in the old knockout format, there was always the chance of an upset. How many times since the Champions League began have their been genuine shocks at the group stage? Manchester United failing to progress in 2004 is the only one that comes to mind.
United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool could all qualify if they win their next game, making the last two games in the group redundant. How much longer will punters continue to watch in big numbers?
Part of the allure of the competition in days gone by for the likes of Celtic and Rangers was the chance to see the top players in the world in action. But United's visit to Celtic Park in matchday four will be their third visit to Glasgow in five years. Barcelona and Stuttgart have also faced the Old Firm on three separate occasions and the novelty is beginning to wear off.
When Celtic chairman John Reid says: "We're quite happy taking the (television) money that we got and doing what we have", you have to wonder why fans bother. And although most people would agree with him, it is depressing to hear AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani say: "Football today is not just about tactics and technical abilities. It's about full stadiums and sponsors."
Galliani should know after all as his side have needed a major overhaul of their squad for the last two summers at least but even they, one of the biggest names in world football, can't compete with the money on offer at the Premier League's top four.
For fans outside the very top clubs, the competition has become a bore and only really gets interesting from the last eight onwards. Even then, how long will the average neutral supporter tune in to watch games between the same teams year in, year out?
I don't know what can be done to freshen up the tournament given there is no chance of it returning to a straight knockout. UEFA president Michel Platini couldn't move for telling people how much of a football man he is and how he was going to sort out the monopoly of the rich in the build-up to his election. Now is the time for him to turn those words into action.
The Champions League is becoming a bore after TEAMtalk's Scottish expert Gareth Friel admitted Manchester United were too good for Celtic.
Berbatov: Scores against Celtic<A href="http://www.skysports.com/competitions/entry/0,20504,11061_1277,00.html" target=_blank>
</A itxtvisited="1">
It may have been billed as an "eagerly-anticipated" 'Battle of Britain' and a "must-see" game by many sections of the press but Manchester United's Champions League clash with Celtic turned into the procession many neutral observers felt it would be and merely highlighted how much of a non-event the tournament is at this stage.
United simply had far too much for the SPL champions in every department and in the end could have scored a couple more, even though both of Dimitar Berbatov's goals should have been ruled out for offside.
Celtic are not the only ones who have suffered at the hands of English power. The second best France had to offer were crushed by Chelsea while Arsenal have hit nine goals in two games against two of the 'best of the rest' (those outside the top European leagues), in Porto and Fenerbahce.
Last season, from 24 group games, English teams lost just three and that just about sums up their dominance at the moment.
And who can stop them making it another all-English final this season? For me, only Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid and even then I'd be majorly surprised if any of those emerged triumphant in Rome next May.
Of course, the European Cup had it's superpowers like Real Madrid from 1956-60 and Bayern Munich from1974-76 while English clubs won the trophy seven years out of eight between 1977 and 1984 but at least back then the likes of Panathinaikos, St Etienne, Club Brugge, Malmo, Hamburg, Steaua Bucharest and Red Star Belgrade all made it to the final.
Only twice out of the last 18 years has the final not involved a club from England, Italy or Spain and in that time only Porto and Red Star have come from outwith the 'big six' (the aformentioned three plus Germany, France and Holland).
And it's only going to get worse when you have a scenario where Manchester United have approximately £660million of debt yet can splash out £30.75million for Berbatov.
The financial muscle of the English Premier League has been debated a hundred times and although it is clearly getting out of hand - sanctions must be introduced to prevent teams amassing such enormous amounts of debt - it has always been the case that the bigger clubs have more financial clout.
But in the old knockout format, there was always the chance of an upset. How many times since the Champions League began have their been genuine shocks at the group stage? Manchester United failing to progress in 2004 is the only one that comes to mind.
United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool could all qualify if they win their next game, making the last two games in the group redundant. How much longer will punters continue to watch in big numbers?
Part of the allure of the competition in days gone by for the likes of Celtic and Rangers was the chance to see the top players in the world in action. But United's visit to Celtic Park in matchday four will be their third visit to Glasgow in five years. Barcelona and Stuttgart have also faced the Old Firm on three separate occasions and the novelty is beginning to wear off.
When Celtic chairman John Reid says: "We're quite happy taking the (television) money that we got and doing what we have", you have to wonder why fans bother. And although most people would agree with him, it is depressing to hear AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani say: "Football today is not just about tactics and technical abilities. It's about full stadiums and sponsors."
Galliani should know after all as his side have needed a major overhaul of their squad for the last two summers at least but even they, one of the biggest names in world football, can't compete with the money on offer at the Premier League's top four.
For fans outside the very top clubs, the competition has become a bore and only really gets interesting from the last eight onwards. Even then, how long will the average neutral supporter tune in to watch games between the same teams year in, year out?
I don't know what can be done to freshen up the tournament given there is no chance of it returning to a straight knockout. UEFA president Michel Platini couldn't move for telling people how much of a football man he is and how he was going to sort out the monopoly of the rich in the build-up to his election. Now is the time for him to turn those words into action.
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