Scud Attack

Can't stop till you get enough. Just when Real Fans thought we were back on Defcon 3 after Sepp Blatter described Richard Scudamore's plan for an international 39th fixture as a declaration of war on European and World Football's governing bodies, along comes a Dick-sized Scud missle to send us scurrying back into our globalization-proof bunkers. "It's certainly not a dead duck - it has only just started and we have only had 10 days of a year-long consultation process," Scudamore declared today. It reminds me of the scene in WarGames when the US defense computer, dissatisfied with a unauthorized training simulation of Global Thermonuclear War, attempts to kick-off the real deal. It wasn't enough for Scudamore to test the waters and find they were colder than Capello's glare, he has to cannonball into them and risk hypothermia for the whole of English football.

So? Any reasoned voices refusing to turn the key? "The end of G-14 is the death of a European super league under the banner of the club. But it will still go ahead," Wenger boldly punted. Another mysterious broadside to those of us in the 'Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It' camp. The ludicrous notion of the wealthiest eighteen clubs calling the shots in Europe (remember, this includes Liverpool) is apparently not dead after all, despite being disbanded this past weekend. They'll just return as a UEFA-endorsed zombie.

Wenger must know something that we don't, considering it is extremely unlikely this will happen with Michel Platini at the helm. And just what is it? My suspicions are that the G-14 are considering a Jiao Havelange-like coup against Platini in light of recent leftish resistance to both the Super League and now the international league fixtures. They have the money and power, it's amazing they haven't made a run for UEFA before. It's just a matter of when. There's a storm coming...