MICHAEL PEARLMAN SAYS: Forget this circus, the Ashes are here (From South Wales Argus)

MICHAEL PEARLMAN SAYS: Forget this circus, the Ashes are here

12:10pm Thursday 2nd July 2009

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IT has never been easier to forget all about the beautiful game than it is currently.

After the painful performance of England in the European U21 Championships final, with the transfer speculation reaching new and ever more absurd levels, surely I am not alone in almost turning a blind eye to the ever more crazy world of top level football in the UK.

As a fan of a Premier League team, it is increasingly hard to find the motivation to try to decipher what is true with regard to transfer stories, what is made up and what is even moderately realistic.

I swear my own club are currently getting linked with half a dozen new players a day, throwaway lines in national newspapers utterly devoured by other football starved idiots such as myself.

But no more. I am giving up on the speculation game; each transfer window is doing nothing more than to further disenfranchise the average Premier League football fan.

Yesterday marked the official start of the transfer window and the first thing one sees is confirmation that Cristiano Ronaldo has completed his £80million move to Madrid.

Just the £80million? (Paid in an upfront fee as well, one lump sum). It’s an offensive price for a supremely talented but irksome individual.

However, at least Ronnie is moving for love, he has always dreamed of being a Galactico. He wanted out a year ago.

At least he isn’t contradicting himself and proving his love of money is greater than his love of football like Carlos Tevez and Samuel Eto’o.

If these two pitch up at Manchester City then in my eyes they don’t deserve to win a trophy ever again.

One leaves Manchester United because he isn’t automatic first choice any longer, one might leave the very best club side in world football, not to mention Champions League champions.

And why? For money, purely for the astronomical wages on offer at the freak show of Manchester City.

Wales’ own Mark Hughes has gone from being a bright young manager to the ringmaster at some kind of repugnant circus.

He continues in his relentless pursuit of signing multi-million pound midfielders and strikers on seemingly a daily basis (without addressing his defence, which is just brilliant strategy from the big wigs, who might as well be controlling him like a Jim Henson creation).

Of course it is a mighty job to break the monopoly of the top four and City’s long-suffering supporters are as deserving as any in finally seeing success, but the blue side of Manchester are risking significant embarrassment if they don’t start the new season brilliantly.

When you are spending the best part of £20million on players such as Craig Bellamy and Roque Santa Cruz, seemingly for no reason other than to prevent others from doing so (neither will feature much if Eto’o and Tevez join Robinho) then something is seriously, seriously wrong.

It is all the more disgusting when we see what is happening at Southampton.

The excesses of modern day football in the UK are such that the south coast outfit aren’t a tragically isolated case, they are just one of many in an increasingly long-line of clubs who have ‘lived the dream’ (copyright, Peter Ridsdale) and are now paying the consequences.

It would be a blow to all football fans if Southamp-ton go to the wall, yet Rupert Lowe (a genuine contender along with Ridsdale to the crown of worst ever chairman) walks away as if nothing has happened.

Do we have no criteria for running a football club in the UK? Lowe got Southampton into a mess TWICE for goodness sake!

Look at Newport County now and compare them to last season.

If you aren’t right off the field, if a football club is not run as a business, catastrophe awaits.

Southampton have a passionate and loyal fanbase, yet they may go out of existence when the market value for a quarter of a Jo or a David Bentley could save them. Something is very wrong there.

However, thankfully, set against this seedy backdrop of money, rumour and made up stories, we have genuine sporting intrigue and drama to keep us occupied.

Namely Andy Murray’s phenomenal pursuit of the Wimbledon crown and certain cricket event that starts next week.

Dastardly deadlines mean this column was written prior to Murray’s quarter-final clash with Juan Carlos Ferrero yesterday, but either way, we’ve already got tremendous value and entertainment from Britain’s big hope.

It seems amazing that even a year ago the public hadn’t taken to Murray, a variety of personality issues used to justify the fact that a lot of English people didn’t like him because he was Scottish.

He is surly, etc etc. Except, as I argued at the time, his personality is ideally suited to a sport that rewards those who go the extra mile, who train the hardest and who have a never-say-die mentality.

Murray has proved unequivocally in 2009 that he is the real deal and as such, Grand Slams are coming his way, even if it doesn’t prove to be this week.

However, not even my enthusiasm for Murray Mania (I didn’t say I was immune from cheap journalism) can rival my excitement about the Ashes.

Sport doesn’t get much more thrilling or compelling and if we even come close to matching the drama of 2005, surely Britain will forget about swine flu and be gripped by Test cricket fever once more.

Forget the Twenty20 or one day stuff, this is the real deal, the proper cricket event of the year and luckily for us, the first Test is on our doorstep.

The Swalec Stadium (or Sophia Gardens to you and I) will be absolutely rocking as two extremely well-matched sides battle it out.

It’s almost too close to call over the five Tests with so many factors (question marks over Andrew Strauss’ captaincy credentials, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff’s fitness issues, Australia’s relative inexperience) all contributing to what should be a phenomenal spectacle.

I will avoid predictions except for one; Steve Harmison will be involved in the series after all and will come into his element on home soil.

Either way, I am just thrilled to have something to look forward to that isn’t another made up transfer rumour or a multi-million Man City signing.

Just six days to go until Wales kicks off the Ashes, I for one can’t wait.

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