Tainted victory? You decide…

Inspired by the David N’Gog/diving debate. Hypocritical bandwagoning or much-deserved attack on cheating w*nkers? Rock t’vote.

Latics fans get their money’s worth

Dave Whelan might be a bit of an egomaniac and have an unhealthy obsession with Sir Alex, but he definitely knows how to give supporters value for money. Attention-seeking research by ING Direct has revealed Wigan fans have most reason to smile ‘in the current climate’ after paying out a relative pittance on season tickets to see their team triumph (well, they were fighting for 7th until a few weeks ago) in the Premiership.

Second in the value league are Blackburn, who charge just £200 for their cheaper annual passes. In contrast, some Spurs fans will have shelled out near to £2k for the privilege of watching their beloved team being given a shoeing by Hull, Stoke and West Brom at various points in the season.

Has your team’s performance been worth your hard earned coin this season? Thoughts below and see the list after the jump…

Rooney and Berbatov make life difficult for Argentine striker

After grabbing all the goals in the 3-0 win over Celtic, Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney have now scored nine goals in Manchester United’s last four games. And the longer that run continues, the worse things get for Carlos Tevez, who has played just 85 minutes in those games.

When Berbatov signed on deadline day it looked like Rooney would be the man forced to engage in conversation with Tomasz Kuszczak in the dugout but his latest purple patch has left Tevez stewing on the sidelines wondering how it all turned sour so quickly.

Last season he scored fourteen goals, two more than Rooney, including a winner at Anfield and vital last minute equalisers at Tottenham and Blackburn. Tevez’s impact was so great that one Spoiler correspondent saw almost as many Tevez 32 shirts as he did Ronaldo 7 ones when he visited Old Trafford last season.

Is Rooney’s recent form just a flash in the pan or should Rooney and Berbatov lead the line for the rest of the season? Vote and comment below on which United striker should be left on the bench when they play 4-4-2.

The Tigers top local supporter base list

In what might rate as the the least shocking poll ever conducted, the folks at Top Up TV have discovered that Manchester Utd have the lowest level of local support, with just one on five of their fans coming from Manchester.

While the majority of Red Devils in this country would get a nosebleed if they travelled further north than the Watford Gap, it appears that the club with the strongest local following are the Arsenal-bashers from Hull, with 88 per cent of fans coming from the region.

Here’s the survey results in full, where you’ll notice the big four languishing at the bottom of the table, or the ‘Spurs end’ as it is commonly known:

Hull City 88%
Stoke City 85%
Wigan Athletic 80%
Newcastle United 77%
Middlesbrough 76%
Aston Villa 73%
Fulham 73%
Sunderland 67%
West Bromwich Albion 67%
West Ham United 66%

Top flight grounds will soon be emptier than Kerry Katona’s head

According to a poll in this morning’s Sun newspaper, an incredible 43 per cent of West Ham fans are planning to boycott their beloved club in 2008/09, with many arguing that they didn’t receive very good value for money last year. Upton Park has yet to sell out any of its three home games this season, and away tickets for this weekend are still available, something that would have been unheard of last season.

The reason for this lack of support isn’t so much a protest at the club (although in some cases it is), but a reflection of the hard times brought on by the credit crunch. According to a Virgin Money poll, the average cost of watching a game is now £106.21 when tickets, transport and food are taken into account. To put that in perspective for our American readers, that’s about $63,000, and for those in Middlesbrough, that’s a four bed semi.

On average, Premier League clubs have increased their prices by fourteen per cent this season, a necessary move when you consider Frank Lampard is paid approximately £1.04 per second (based on a 40 hour week). Such an increase

Sports Direct staff getting a slightly better Christmas party this year

After they tolerated a season that consisted of poor results, the feint threat of relegation and Kevin Keegan, Mike Ashley has decided to punish Newcastle fans with a ten per cent increase in season ticket prices. Considering the fact that the average season ticket rise is 10 per cent and the economy in this country is completely fudged, this news could be a rather bitter pill for Geordies to swallow:

Supporter Jim Hannah, 47, of Whitley Bay, said: “Fair enough if you want to commit to three years - last season’s price is frozen.

“But the way things are economically, who can afford that? It’s a strange time to do it after the season we had.”

Despite Mike Ashley’s cash-draining surprise, the Newcastle website claims season tickets are now sold out for next season, and just ten per cent of Magpies claimed they would be giving up their pass in a poll published on The Spoiler last week (the average for the league is around 14 per cent).

My Premier League season ticket cost £250 nine years ago, and now the average price is around £780 - that’s the kind of inflation that makes petrol prices look reasonable. So are top flight clubs abusing their fans’ loyalty with extortionate prices? Let us know with a vote and comment below.