I am always amazed at the eloquence of how British football pundits write about the beautiful game. I suppose other European football writers write in equal eloquence but since the only European language I know is the Queen’s English, I follow the musings, ranting and analyses of English football writers who often times not only rant and analyse the EPL but also other European and international competitions. So, I rarely miss the Saturday edition of the NST as it has a special section dedicated to EPL news.

Last Saturday was no different and I was not disappointed. The centre piece was about the plight of Newcastle United. This once proud club with its imposing St James stadium where some of the EPL’s biggest stars earned their stripes is now languishing both in league ranking and also popularity. In fact, the events unfolding at this club is akin to a seriously mis-managed corporate organization. The cast is headed by its billionaire owner, Mike Ashley. Another example is Tottenham Hotspur owned by another billionaire in the form of Joe Lewis. The highlight of his and his gang of businessmen-managers of the club is that Dimitar Berbatov headed to Manchester United while Robbie Keane packed his bags and left for Liverpool.

The common threat running in both clubs (and also a few other EPL clubs) is that their owners don't seem to trust their managers enough to allow them to do what they need to do. So, they appoint a ‘director of football’ who is nothing more than a changing-room spy who reports back to club owners who are probably golfing their days away somewhere else. This reminds me of the laments of many a manager in today's corporate settings who don't feel trusted enough by their leaders. Well, I have blogged before on the Economics of Trust so lets not get into that again here.

Back to the EPL, the irony is that the EPL seems to slowly prove that in the future, football clubs can become a profitable business even if the club is languishing at the bottom of the table. Ask Levy, if you can find him on his yatch somewhere in the Mediterranean, as Spurs, despite languishing at the bottom of the table will announce a huge profit this year which is expected to be far higher than even last years’s profit of 27.7 million pounds. It seems that the business of football will soon become business in football.

Finally, I also learnt a gem of a thought from Mohamed Hammam, the chief honcho of the AFC who in his call for Sepp Blatter not to overstay his welcome in FIFA said that “ The more you stay, the longer you are in power, whether you like it or not and no matter who you are, the less evolution there can be. You create statutes to save you”.

Pele said that football is the beautiful game. I think he meant that in more ways than one.

Oh by the way, my club, Aston Villa is finally showing some of its latent quality. The loss to Chelsea last week was not something to be embarrassed about. The Villains will prove a point or two this season. In Martin O'Neil Villa has an astute manager who has an uncanny ability to bring out the best from any player. Though, I still feel they need to get at least one high profile striker....maybe Henry! One would dare to dream.

In the meantime, the Merdeka Tournament is up next. For those of you of a certain age and generation, you remember the good old days when the Merdeka Tournament was a big thing. Well, the good times are not back yet, looking at the invited teams but at least its still alive. So, get excited and be prepared to be disappointed. I find that's the best strategy to wake up for work the next day when it comes to the national team.

As for Villa fans (all 5 of you out there!)....Viva Villa!