Sparky’s Column

Don't Believe the Hype

If you believe the hype then we should shut down the season now, give Al Ain the trophy and all disappear on a nice early holiday. The Boss are in charge and just have to tick over in the final games of the season. I am saying  "Remember the Alamo", a famous quote attributed to General Sam Houston to rally his troops. The Alamo was a painful defeat, and the constant reminder to his soldiers would serve the purpose of making sure it could never happen again.  In Coach Cosmin's case it should be "Remember Dibba" if they are to claim the title without any more slip-ups. That defeat to the bottom side could be Al Ain's most important game of the season as it will remind them they are not invincible and must remain on top of their game for the remainder of the campaign. 

I am currently back in the UK and comparing it to UAE football, the biggest difference is media coverage.  England is at saturation point with an overload of information. Every detail of every match is analysed by the "experts", some good and some bad, but the coverage stretches to the minutest detail. The UAE has nowhere near the same level of coverage, the Emirates reminds me of football when I was a kid, clubs and players are shrouded in mystery. You may see them before the game or in the supermarket but you don't now every detail of their lives. The blanket media coverage comes at a cost and a balance is difficult to strike. The profile of the game still needs to be raised sfurther here in the quest to popularise the game amongst the growing UAE population, but it can't be done to the point of overkill.

Merchandising is a huge part of generating revenue in football and shirt sales in particular produce vast profits for clubs. I was lucky enough a few weeks ago to visit the showroom of one of the manufacturers. Imagine, if you will, the warehouse featured at the end of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, but full of football shirts. It is something any fan would love to see and I am convinced they would sell by the container load if widely available in the UAE. I think a little push to the various sports retailers in the UAE could be beneficial and it would serve their profits and raise that profile we talked about earlier.