The new normal?

Whilst we were in Ireland, on the first day on the Emerald Isle in fact, the final day of the Premier League season played, round 38 of games. And to no one's surprise, Manchester City won the title for the 6th time in 7 years.

Only LIverpool winning it in the Pandemic year of 2020 stopped a clean sweep.

Once again Arsenal kept going until the last game, but needed Citeh to lose and they win. City did not lose, they put I think West Ham to the sword, and Arse needed a goal in the last 5 minutes to beat Burnely?

Something like that.

While at the other end, Luton were thrashed and so went down with the other two promoted clubs from the previous season.

What if I told you this was the first time in 26 years that all three of the promoted clubs went straight back down? Surprised?

And they went down despite both Everton and Nottingham Forest being deducted 8 and four points respectively.

The Premier League and its main broadcast partner, Sky, like to brand the Premier League as the best and most exciting League in the world. Truth is, its not even the best league in England: that's probably the Championship, but go down the pyramid and most leagues are for more competitive than the Prem.

Football is entertainment, but at its heart to be engaging there has to be an element of sporting chance to it, that either team playing, or more than three or four teams can win the league. Reality is that no one outside the usual suspects: Citeh, Arse, Liverpool and maybe one or two others really stand a chance of winning the league, even if it goes to the last game.

To get the same amount of TV revenue from domestic broadcasters, half the Premier League games will be on TV, and more than half for the Championship going forward. It will have surprised no one that we have reached saturation point. And with the Prem not really exciting at the top, and for most of the rest its pretty much a battle against relegation most seasons, withlittle forward movement.

If it becomes the nom that the three promoted teams go straight back down, even if like Burnley last season ammassed 101 points and played open expansive football, and still went down. What chance does any team being promoted have in the Prem? And is promotion worth it if all there is to look forward to is being thrashed in over half your games. Sheffield Utd conceded 104 goals this season: three a game. Possibly the worst team to grace the top division, the got over 90 points in the Championship and finished second to earn their right to play Citeh, Liverpool and Arse. And be thrashed.

The Football League wants "parachute payments" scrapped for relegated teams to make the Championship more equal, but what then of promoted teams, who will risk less in their only season in the Prem, and come down having conceded even more than 104.

And howlong before we, the fans, at home and in TVland, get bored with it?

If fans get bored, TV revenues will drop, and maybe with less money swilling about, might get interesting again.

Or not.

Football can only fix the problem if they see the current situation as an actual problem, and for one, the Premier League doesn't.