“Much like his ventriloquist namesake, Keith Harris™s time in the sun may be over,” writes an uncredited When Saturday Comes Daily scribe, considering the merchant banker’s past accomplishments as middleman between Premiership clubs and assorted zillionaires. In the midst of global economic woes, Harris himself predicts dark days ahead (œWe’re in the toughest economic situation anybody has endured in our lifetime and that means we are unlikely to see much activity on the football takeover scene.), to which WSC replies, “Is it me or is the football takeover scene the most unappealing scene since grebo?”
Mike Ashley recently removed Newcastle from the market after failing to find a buyer while Harris remains in charge of finding a buyer for Everton, a situation that can be best described as œquiet. For those looking for slightly more whimsical evidence of belt-tightening, on Sunday the Observer reported that times are so bad at Chelsea that players have had their complimentary ticket allocation cut from eight to four, poor blighters. Times are hard, as Harris points out: œClubs have been overspending, with ordinary players commanding huge transfer fees and wages. The climate has changed, and takeovers are not going to be the solution to the woes that they may have been two years ago. Fans of West Ham and Manchester City may question if this was ever the case.