There are many problems in the modern game, both perceptual and blatantly obvious to all and sundry. There’s a myriad of opinions about the negative aspects of football and as many suggested solutions. Most would argue that football is too focused on money so we talk about salary caps and limits on buying players, generally all based on percentages of turnover.

Another commonly voiced complaint is the amount of foreign players in domestic leagues, so again we talk about limits being imposed on number of foreigners that can be fielded in a team. Similarly, we hear the woes of youngsters not being developed through the academies, so we ask the governing bodies to intervene by imposing sanctions and restrictions. Again, there’s a complete spectrum of opinion in these areas, as you should expect.

Two issues that have made the news recently are of the on-the-field variety – diving and tapping up. Arsenal are incredulous at UEFA’s decision to retrospectively punish Eduardo for a clear dive. I understand their position, but something needs to be done and since no manager ever admits to seeing these things when asked, it’s going to be left to the governing bodies to do something. What do you expect?

It may not be a new problem, but it is a problem and it needs addressing. Yes, I say that as an Aston Villa fan fully aware that Ashley Young in particular is no angel in this area. Still I say it needs addressing and whoever are among the first to be punished will be made an example of and cry foul. Nevertheless, I repeat, it needs addressing, it’s cheating.

Personally, my view is that when a referee sees an incident as diving it should be a straight red card, not a yellow. Sure, he will get it wrong sometimes and there will be a period of hysteria and over-analysis of every decision, but it will work itself out in the end. We went through a similar period when the tackle from behind was outlawed, but surely we can all agree that football is improved as a result now? Not perfect, just better.

By the way, the Eduardo incident is not the first time that a governing body has intervened retrospectively into a case of simulation. They announced the introduction of the rule 3 years ago and they used it against Lithuanian Saulius Mikoliunas for diving in an international match against Scotland. I doubt Arsenal fans complaining of a witch hunt recall that incident, nor the vast majority of football fans for that matter. Guess what, the game didn’t go to hell in a handcart because of the ruling.

More recently, the SFA punished Rangers’ Kyle Lafferty after video evidence showed that he feigned being headbutted by Aberdeen’s Charlie Mulgrew, who was sent off. We’ve all seen these theatrics before and surely would like such behaviour removed from the game. Well, how else do you go about it?

Chelsea are making the news today after being banned from buying players during the next two transfer windows due to being found guilty of tapping up Gaël Kakuta. Again, this is no precedent, it’s been done before for the same reasons. I don’t want to dwell on the details too much, but I’d recommend reading the perspective at Avoiding The Drop.

Not so long ago I was reading a Spurs blog and one of the posters was bemoaning the big four stealing their players after they finished 5th in the Premiership in 2006. This may well just be their perception, I didn’t bother to check the facts, but I’m sure we’ve all felt at times like the bigger clubs can protect their position by swooping in for your better players. I’d accept that argument could be extended down throughout the league hierarchy though.

However, when the top four places in the Premiership are so coveted because of the financial rewards they proffer, it’s easy to imagine that the currently establish top four would collectively cherry pick at the assets of the teams chasing behind them in order to hamstring their progress.

I’ve never been a fan of Liverpool, obviously, but until the Gareth Barry saga I at least respected them. Their behaviour during the incident was a blatant attempt to unsettle the player and the club and Liverpool would directly benefit in most probable outcomes. (Or so it seemed until Alonso admitted that was why he chose to leave this summer, Barry revealed his true motivations and Liverpool are currently struggling – yes, there’s a certain degree of schadenfreude on my part there, I admit it!).

I can recall complaining to a good friend of mine who happens to be a Liverpool fan and expected him to be a little ashamed of how his club was approaching things and possibly show a little sympathy. Not so, he just laughed and explained to me that this was how things worked, as if I was simply naive. I don’t think he was particularly bothered whether Liverpool acquired Barry’s services, but he would certainly have been happy had Villa been deprived.

Barrygate was a high profile example of how the top four can operate, but in Chelsea’s case it’s actually a youth player they poached from overseas. Man Utd have developed a reputation for similar tactics. I suspect they are actually looking to fulfill future quotas for “club-trained” and “association trained” players and cases such as this are actually examples of what is known in the intelligence community as “blowback”.

Now, there may be some substance to Arsenal’s complaint that they’re the victims of a “witch hunt” and Chelsea might be correct when they call their punishment arbitrary, and I would agree that we should see greater consistency from the governing bodies if they seriously want to tackle the problems.

But in many ways their complaints remind me of those awful C-list celebrities who want their faces splashed all over the tabloid papers and magazines to boost their profiles, but then complain about the paparazzi when being followed around no longer suits them. They fail to see the symbiotic nature of their relationship with the media and I think the top four clubs in England right now are the same.

As a fan of a non-top four club I’m constantly frustrated by the apparent media favoritism the big four clubs receive, there’s a reason they’re often referred to as “the Sky four” and it’s not out of bitterness. There’s a fair amount of cyclical perpetual motion to this relationship too. I understand the media outlets publicizing their coverage however they think will allow them to best leverage the income, which generally will be by focusing on the most popular teams.

The most popular teams, speaking on a global scale, will generally be the most successful. The most successful will get the greater financial rewards which will in turn allow them to bring in the better players. That should lead to more success, which leads to more media coverage, which leads to more fans, which leads to more income and round and round we go.

Everton were closest in recent time to breaking the cycle that the Champions League provides, but Liverpool were handed a lifeline from UEFA that will never happen again. Under great pressure, UEFA decided that the reigning champions should be given an automatic right to defend their title at the same time that FIFA were deciding the opposite for the World Cup. As it would have been grossly unfair to deny Everton entry after the fact, England were given five CL spots that year. In future, if the reigning champion fails to qualify by right, they will take the place of the lowest qualified team – in England’s case, fourth place.

I think I speak for all fans of clubs outside of the established top four that we can’t wait to see one of them usurped. Obviously I favour Aston Villa achieving that feat, but I would be reasonably happy to see Everton or, to a lesser extent, Tottenham knock one of them down a peg or two. Man Citeh, er, not so much.

What we’ve witnessed recently may be a little bit of power play between the big clubs and the governing bodies. As I watched the petulance of the Liverpool players and manager at Anfield as they were beaten by Aston Villa I personally believe I was seeing their entitlement attitude frothing to the surface. It’s just my opinion and I’m certainly biased, but they seemed genuinely irritated at not being afforded preferential treatment from the referee.

As far as I’m concerned, if UEFA and FIFA are knocking the big clubs down a peg or two and reminding them that they can’t operate with impunity then it’s too bad if it seems too harsh a lesson to them. They’ve enjoyed the financial benefits of occupying the media spotlight for many years to the orders of magnitude more than the clubs below them. It’s about time they realized that it also comes with some downsides, just like when the paps are taking pictures of your tits as you sunbathe topless on the beach.