David Mellor: Ingen kris i Chelsea
David Mellor, Chelseasupporter och tidigare omdiskuterad sportminister i England, skriver i Evening Standard att det är stor skillnad på Leeds och Chelseas ekonomiska problem.
Jag har valt att behålla utdraget i sin engelska version för att nyanserna i krönikan inte ska gå förlorade i en svensk översättning.
"Leeds sing true financial blues
Before Christmas the hacks were chortling with glee at the prospect of fire sales at Chelsea and Leeds. I mean Leeds have debts of more than £70million and Chelsea more than £90m. So it had to happen, didn't it? Er, not quite.
At Leeds, yes. Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Keane, Lee Bowyer and Olivier Dacourt have gone since last season, with Seth Johnson to follow for less than half what Leeds paid for him a year ago. And there's every chance of Jonathan Woodgate going as well.
At Chelsea, nobody. It's true a few squad players would have gone if there had been any interest, as would one big name nearing the end of his career if the bid had been high enough. But that's just normal business.
The hacks overlooked one thing: Leeds' only asset is the squad. They don't even have a modern stadium. Chelsea, on the other hand, have a brand new one, two hotels, a lot of other real estate and a number of ancillary businesses, most of which wash their faces.
As I have acknowledged all season, Chelsea have financial issues to tackle and they are tackling them with vigour, but there's no crisis remotely equivalent to the one at Elland Road because their asset base is so very different. To read some journalists you'd think borrowing was always evidence of business failure.
In which case every property company and hotel group would be going bust.
So the next time you read about Chelsea's chaotic finances, ask yourself what financial expertise the hack who wrote the piece has. The chances are the biggest transaction he's ever been involved in, and the only one he understands inside-out, is buying his pie at half-time."
