Cesc: “I was lucky enough to be at the training ground recently and it was like I had never been there before. Everything had changed so much. The manager of the training ground said it was 95% Mikel who had changed the whole thing. He’s changed everything…” 🔴⚪️ “The perception of the club in the last few years, a lot of positive messages around the training ground, much bigger facilities, better equipment, the pitches. Everything. You name it. At the entrance they have a symbol of an empty Premier League [trophy cabinet]…” 🔴⚪️

OK, so still hearing it doesn’t matter that 60% of all referees hail from the NW of England - there’s no bias. So I thought I’d take a look at penalties stats. I went back across the past five seasons including this one - 1,580 matches. Guess who comes out top… To smooth anomalies I only included clubs with a minimum of 100 games played (three full seasons). And here is what we find: the club with the most penalties is… Manchester United.

Now who’ll buy Chelsea? Someone with deep pockets, obvs. Last year they won the Champions League, boosting revenues relative to everyone else’s when costs were reduced by lockdowns. Chelsea made £76.3m in operating cash flow. Tidy. Operating CF is the money a club generates after it’s fixed costs like wages, utility bills, insurance etc. If a club is run without subsidy, it’s what transfers, sacking managers. debt service and repayments and and stadium/training ground improvements must come out of.

Well that was certainly the strangest time of my life: uncovering the truth about the fraudster who took Sven and Sol to Notts County. Do have a listen; Ben and Alice have done a great job. #notts bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0… There was plenty more than the podcast covers, mind. Like the attempt to take over a formula-one team (Sauber), which was blocked after I had Bernie Ecclestone on the phone to tell him all about King’s intentions.