What do you look forward to at the start of each season?
There’s always just a great buzz about the first game, even when I used to play in my own little league. I always used to try and get a team that played in all white, so my sun tan would look good.
Is the Premier League now indisputably the best league in the world?
Yes, without question. Big names, big personalities, glamour – Phil Scolari’s come and he’s another personality. Money talks and the Premier League’s the richest in the world and unquestionably you can now say that the best players are playing here.
Who is your tip for the title this season?
Man Utd or Chelsea. I can’t split them, honestly, and I can’t see anyone else breaking their stranglehold.
With the financial rewards for club success so great, will anyone ever break the top four’s monopoly?
I hope they do. It needs to change. I wish it would change. I’d like to see the money filtered down to other clubs and not just the top four. It’d make it a more level playing field.
Who do you think is best equipped to break to do it this season?
I think Spurs look really top class under Juande Ramos. Getting £20 million for Robbie Keane – I know he’s a great player, but… You can do a bit of damage with that kind of money. What I like about Ramos is that he plays really attacking football. If Spurs are a couple of goals down he just takes his defenders off.
How do you rate the chances of the promoted teams?
They’ll struggle. A big pal is [Hull manager] Phil Brown, but they’ll struggle like Derby did last year. Stoke will too; but I think West Brom have a squeak because they play really good football, and you’ve got to keep hold of the ball, otherwise you just spend 90 minutes chasing round.
Without a huge investor, do you think newly promoted teams can survive in the Premier League?
No, I don’t, unfortunately.
Are wealthy foreign investors good or bad for the league?
They’re not football fans. They buy a club for £200 million and sell it for £400 million; it’s good business, but I’m not having that they’re all die hard football fans because it’s blatantly not true.
With fees and wages higher than ever, and fans having to pay more to compensate, do you think that there is a danger that the Premier League will lose its appeal?
I do. They’ve got to be very careful with it. I think it is shortsighted at times to try and squeeze every penny out of every situation. The credit crunch in England has really hit this summer, and I don’t think people will be able to afford to go to football. I mean, I’ve got five kids, I can’t afford to take all my kids to football. It costs a lot of money. They’ve got to be careful. They’re spending more and more on transfers and wages, but it’s the same sized pot. I don’t know where it stops.
Is the Premier League’s future abroad?
They’ve stopped talking about the 39th game, but now they’re talking about a mid season break after Christmas where the teams go all over the world and compete in mini tournaments. The players will be absolutely shattered. As Shane Warne said about 20Twenty Cricket: ‘Less is more at the moment.’
Abu Dhabi recently won the rights to host the FIFA World Club Cup in 2009/10 – is football on the rise in the UAE?
Everyone’s been slaughtering this 39th game thing in England, but abroad they’ve been saying this would be fantastic. People love their Premier League football in the UAE and want to see the world’s top teams play. There’s got to be so much talent here, and because of this interest we’re seeing more and more Middle East players going over to the Premier League.
Man Utd have a football academy in Dubai; Inter Milan are building one in Abu Dhabi, Chelsea have also shown interest – is this good for the future of UAE’s football or just cherrypicking the best talent?
It’s a worldwide game. What it does is give young kids something to aim for: the thought that one day they might go play for Man Utd or Liverpool, as opposed to what? To go and play for who? If you go and play abroad in a big league, you’re a trailblazer, aren’t you? And that will only create more interest.
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