Football paying the price

Carlos Tevez' move to Manchester City for £25 million is the latest in a long line of big money moves in football.

Back in 1994 Chris Sutton's £5 million move from Norwich to Blackburn broke records, but fifteen years on and Christiano Ronaldo has been sold for £80 million.

Sir Bobby Charlton called this figure 'vulgar' and it seems crazy that such an enormous amount of money should be spent on a footballer; particularly in a time of global recession.

Setting a precedent

Transfers on this scale are not of course the norm, but the reason why they matter is because of the precedent they set. Premiership teams pay astronomical wages to their star players and this puts pressure on the teams below them.

There have been exceptions such as Stoke City who have managed to stay in the top league without breaking the bank, but their stay may yet prove to be short-lived.

One just has to glance at the teams that were relegated from the Championship last season to see how times have changed. Norwich, Southampton and Charlton are all Premiership teams from the last four years, but ones who overstretched themsleves financially and paid the price.

The problem is that the more the top teams pay, the more the teams below them have to pay in order to keep up. Leeds United is an obvious example, where they went from Champions League football to League One in six years.

Reliance on one owner

The question must be asked; just how long can all of this go on? There have already been rumours of Premiership clubs struggling with finances and it is not particularly healthy for a team to rely on one single owner, as many Premiership clubs now do.

Chelsea have been running at a loss for several seasons and if Roman Abramovich decided to withdraw his investment, their business model would look decidedly shaky.

Manchester City are now the richest club in the world thanks to their owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyans, but again they are totally reliant on his investment.

Fans important

The fans at Manchester City will be happy about their new signings but should football clubs really be allowed to turn into play-things for their wealthy owners? The owners should remember that a club is nothing without its fans and right now the Premiership is in danger of losing its soul.

Much like the banking crisis that no-one appeared to see coming, football may too have to face a financial crash. Anyone who loves football will not want to see this happen, but unless financial caps are put in place for transfers and wages, this is a very real possiblity.

The governing bodies need to be aware of this and act fast, otherwise the hearts of many communities who love football are in danger of being ripped out by greed.

Norwich's relegation is confirmed following tame 4-2 loss at Charlton

Norwich have not been in the third tier of English football since 1960, but no fan of the team could argue that on this season's evidence, they do not deserve it. Norwich have been very poor indeed and relegation in the end looked inevitable.

A lot of people have great affection for Norwich; they have always been a team that played nice passing football, but for a team that were last playing Premiership football in 2005, relegation to League One has come quickly.

The Canaries are not alone though, with the two other relegated teams, Southampton and Charlton, both recent Premiership teams. It is ironic that Charlton were always seen as the example of a stable club, but since their relegation their fall from grace has been spectacular.

Lack of investment

One could argue that Norwich's decline is simple. They have run out of money and as a result have not been able to buy good enough players. Over the last two seasons Norwich have had far too many loan players, and the consistency in selection has simply not been there.

When Norwich claimed the Division One Championship back in 2004, they had the same back four all season, but the defence has barely stayed the same for two games in a row this campaign.

It is true also, that the Canaries have been unlucky with injuries. Dejan Stefanovic looked to be a good player, but picked up a cruciate ligament injury, therfore ending his season. John Kennedy too, looked a class act but once again a knee injury ended his season in a yellow shirt.

Norwich have been unlucky, but often you make your own luck and Norwich have simply not done that. Some fans will blame the board for a lack of investment, but sadly there is no money there to invest.

Delia to blame?

Delia Smith has poured millions into Norwich, along with her husband Michael Wynn-Jones and no one will be more upset about today's relegation than her. It would be unfair to blame Norwich's demise on Delia, but sadly some fans may well do that.

Leicester have shown that relegation can be overcome, and they have won League One easily to achieve promotion at their first attempt. Some fans will assume that Norwich will do the same, but this is far from certain and it will not be easy.

One of the biggest problems for Norwich is the size of their sqaud. They have 23 players under contract, and many of these are either youth team players or out of contract in the summer. So next season's team could well be unrecognisbale from this year's, and where will the new players come from?

Norwich do not have the money that Leicester do, and without these funds it will be exceptionally hard to attract good players to the club, making promotion back to the Championship even harder.

On the other hand, the young players could well be given a chance and this may be no bad thing. Norwich have an excellent Academy system in place, and relegation may just give some of these players their chance to impress.

Roeder's reign

In terms of Glenn Roeder's legacy at Norwich, many will say relegation. Roeder implemented the loan system to its full at Norwich and upset a lot of people, but he did keep the club up last season, and he should be thanked for that.

The problem with Roeder though, was that he did not understand Norwich people. He often appeared arrogant and when he let Darren Huckerby go without letting him say goodbye to the fans, Roeder's fate seemed sealed.

So when Bryan Gunn was installed as manager until the end of the season, he was a popular choice. Relegation will hit Gunn very hard, but it should not do his reputation too much damage, and it is unlikey that the fans will turn against him.

Gunn committed

Gunn has already stated his desire to stay as manager next season, but many fans will be hoping that the club decide to offer the job to someone else. It would be sad to see a Canary legend's reputation tarnished by a poor season in League One.

If Norwich had stayed up then the result would probably have been yet another scrap for survival next season, but that will not make today any easier to take for Norwich's army of extremely loyal fans.

This is a sad day for Norwich and anyone connected to the club, but the Canaries should not be written off. Relegation could signal a fresh start for Norwich, and maybe, just maybe, the club could come back with greater stabilty and rise again to the Premiership once more. Well...anyone can dream.