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Tom's a Sage who doesn't know his Onions

Prof Tom Cannon: Rock on, Tommy

CAN I alert you to a strange little man with a strange-coloured 1980s wedge haircut who keeps getting wheeled out before Sky's cameras whenever the words football and money appear in the same sentence.

His name is Professor Tom Cannon, attached to either the Kingston Business School or the University of Buckingham, depending on which ancient seat of learning he's bragging about that day. And what a sage he is.

A year ago he told us that Manchester United's defeat at Benfica "could be disastrous" because they would struggle to attract a new sponsor which could "ultimately cost them between £50 million and £100m." Hmm. Didn't happen.

Prior to that he'd said the Glazers would never take over at Old Trafford: "It is one thing for Roman Abramovich to buy Chelsea, it is quite another to try and get hold of Manchester United," he scoffed. Hmm. Happened.

His plum-tinged head was back on our screens this week warning Liverpool fans that if their club is taken over by the Dubai investors, there might be a few "fallow years" on the transfer fund front. Wishful, if completely uninformed, thinking from the diehard Evertonian.

Mind you, he's really got the inside track on this story, claiming as he did in May 2004 that there would be "a long-term fight" between Steve Morgan and the Thai Prime Minister", it might get dirty" and "Granada, with their 9.9 per cent stake in the club, could end up being the powerbrokers in this deal." Hmm. None of it happened.

MEMO to Sky: The next time you need a Tom Cannon to shed light on football finance maybe you should ask Bobby Ball if his sidekick is free. Rock on Tommy.