Tony's fiver

1: Wenger helps new striker find form

How does Arsène Wenger do it? In his early matches for Arsenal, Eduardo da Silva looked a lightweight little boy lost. Now he is providing a real threat up front and is banging in the goals.

2: Luton have only themselves to blame

Why should Liverpool give Luton Town their share of the gate money from their FA Cup match? Luton’s financial woes and mismanagement is not Liverpool’s fault.

3: Benítez a long way behind title rivals

All that expensive talent on the pitch and Liverpool scored only once against Luton. What is Rafael Benítez doing? Unlike Ferguson and Wenger, he just does not know his best team.

4: Everton loss sends a message to managers

Everton’s defeat by Oldham Athletic shows the importance of first-choice players. Even the best teams can struggle when their key men do not play.

5: Introducing limits can help better the game

Here is a way to make football more competitive. Forget about salary caps, limit appearances. Tell clubs that no one can play more than 40 games a season.

Comments

[Martin Litchfield]

Although I am a lifelong supporter of Luton Town, I agree that Liverpool were fully justified in keeping their share of the gate receipts from Sunday's cup-tie. However, it is the case that the 'big' clubs have undermined the concept of the league as binding all clubs together to their mutual benefit. This started in 1982 when, led by Man.Utd.and Everton, they threatened to break away to form a Super league. The Football League appeased them by agreeing to their demand that clubs should keep all the gate receipts from home fixtures. This meant that smaller clubs like Luton Town derived no financial benefit from playing before much larger crowds in the top division whilst the increase in their home gate was insufficient to finance the higher wages players at that level expected. When the cash bonanza of the Premiership began in 1992, Luton had just managed to get relegated the previous season so saw little of the new TV money which flooded into the game. The road to bankruptcy is littered with such hard-luck stories. In Luton's case, they do not detract from the fact that the club's affairs have been badly managed for many years. I saw my first match at Kenilworth Road in 1951 and although I left the area in the 1970s, my first concern on a Saturday afternoon remained 'How did the Town get on?' If the club does go out of business, it will leave a void in my life which will not be filled by watching Liverpool's exploits in the Champions' League on TV.