S11M28: Master of the Craft

Well, this has been quite the week.

The major talking point early on was about the absolute failure of officiating at Goodison to decide not just on the pitch, but with the benefit of video replays, that Rodri had not handballed in the box in the last few minutes. On the Arsenal train, we've been banging on about officiating for ages - not that it's corrupt, but that it's for sure incompetent.

That said...when you get things like this....it doesn't help prove the conspiracists wrong...

All of that has now been superceded however, and so, permit me to use my soapbox to not recap the events on the pitch, but to give my thoughts on the off-the-pitch story of the week. I've run this past the Impossibilitee lawyers to make sure I don't end up in hot water... 

I of course refer to Roman Abramovich packing his bags and putting Chelsea up for sale. I am of course not a billionaire oligarch, although not for lack of trying so I don't really know the ins & outs of international asset manipulation and sanctions etc, but it would be the coincidence of all coincidences if this surprise news just happened to occur the week that direct sanctions are being discussed in Parliament, and that fellow, er, football club persona, Usmanov, has faced similar issues....

The statement itself is a nonsense. The whole trusteeship to the Chelsea Foundation thing is a nonsense. It's all transparent PR and asking for £3-4bn for a club valued at half of that is not "forgoing loans". Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense.

The wider implications need more reflection though. Abramovich's arrival in 2003 changed football forever really, and led to the "arms race" (dripping with irony that) that saw billionaires of all stripes, and latterly actual nation states buying football clubs and injecting them with money like an Olympic Athlete from a country that's now banned and has to partake under a neutral flag.

Here's the thing though. Even within this, it's complicated. Or at least, stratified. The corinthian ideals are long gone. The local champion model is on it's way out, and also gone from the sharp end of elite sport. So what is "good" ownership now?

Is it the rapacious profit-driven model a la Man Utd?
Is it the play thing of a bored oligarch?
Is it a bad hombre looking to protect himself from other bad hombres by getting a public persona?
Is it a sovereign wealth fund?
Is it a sovereign wealth fund from somewhere we don't like?
Is it a sports fan who can be any of the above?

What does Good look like? 

Abramovich got rich off circumstances but never chopped off a journalist's arms and legs. He seemed to genuinely have an affection for Chelsea. Where does he sit in the hierarchy? 

I'm not sure what the answer is - and having just gone through the Kroenke-Ek saga last year, I've done a fair amount of thinking on this. I think once you exclude the clear villains, beyond that, it's all shades of grey from a cloud that isn't blowing away any time soon.

On that cheerful note...

Let's get statty:

15 people played
8 matches - scores pro-rated
Most popular predicted result: Man City WIN (15/15)
Most disputed prediction: Brentford vs Newcastle (5-4-6 split)

Highest & lowest odds: Steven Daniels (263/1)

Best predictors: David Brickman, Steven Daniels & Aron Kleiman (7.5/10)
Worst predictor: AFM (2.5/10)
Average score: 5.67/10

Best predicted result: Man City WIN (15/15)
Worst predicted result: Watford vs Man Utd DRAW (0/15)

Everyone's results:

To the Leaderboard (>2/3; 18/27)

To this week's predos:

Good luck all!