There's absolutely nothing to see on ESPN Star till then - As mentioned in a previous post (
My season of misery begins), the sporting action this summer is the perfect recipe for a round of forty winks. The return of the premiership in August will resuscitate all the bored to death sports fans. These summer days seem to go on forever.
For the blossoming of the Chelsea - Man United rivalry - Man United have successfully broken Chelsea’s stranglehold on the premiership and shaken them out their belief that the premiership was a one horse race. Expect a full fledged rivalry next season, with Chelsea more determined than ever to impose their authority and Man United confident in their belief that they have in terms of heart and passion, what they lack in finances, to match their London rivals. While Chelsea are going to war with wholesale changes in the squad, Man United are looking to make a few strategic additions (One in the form of Owen Hergreaves is already on the way). This could well become the British version of Real Madrid- Barcelona.
For Liverpool and Arsenal to finally come to the party – I will call this the ‘Cold War’ of Britain. Nothing stimulates a Yankee, like the sight of a Russian. Just ask Malcolm Glazer of Man United about it. The new American owners of Liverpool and Arsenal (as I write this, the Arsenal chairman has finally agreed to discuss a take over. Trust me, Stan Kroenke will be in charge by the start of the new season) will go all out to win the title and hold no dollars back. Just to give you an idea of their financial muscle; Tom Hicks of Liverpool gave baseballer Alex Rodriguez the most expensive professional contract of 252 million dollars and Arsenal hopeful Kroenke recently broke the bank to sign Allen Iverson in the NBA.
For the second coming of Michael Chopra - Step aside Baichung Bhutia. Michael Chopra is by far the best known footballer of Indian origin. Groomed as the successor to Alan Shearer at Newcastle, his first stint in the premiership was a major disappointment. He went down a division with Cardiff City, where he has scored goals galore. A lot of premiership clubs are interested in him and I can’t wait for him to become the first Indian to score in the premiership.
For the return of Roy Keane – For all their success this season, Man United still miss the leadership and combative spirit of Roy Keane (as was evident in their shambolic display against Milan). He returns this season, albeit not as a player but as a manager, having earned his managerial spurs with Sunderland (he took the club from bottom after six games, to league 1 champions at the end). The fortunes of Sunderland will be closely followed in the coming season; a successful one firmly establishing ‘Keano’ as the likely successor to ‘Fergie’ at Old Trafford.
For the ‘Carlos Tevez’ movie to begin (having seen the trailer last season) – The Argentinean arrived after the mid term break, took a while to settle down and then exploded towards the end; single-handedly leading West Ham to 8 wins in their last 10 games. All the top clubs are chasing him, and if he can carry on in 2007-08 from where left off in 2006-07, the likes of Ronaldo and Gerrard can kiss the ‘PFA best player’ award goodbye.
To raise a toast to the new 'Asian' invasion of England - While the Yanks are running riot, an Asian is making a conquest of his own. Former Thai premier, Thaksin Shinawatra is close to taking over Manchester City. Our very own Lakshmi Mittal already owns the CSKA Sofia team in Bulgaria. I pray that he does an 'Arcelor' on one of the English clubs as well. And if he can close the deal on 15th August, I suggest we give him the Bharat Ratna this year.
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