SKY SPORTS hacks, former professionals-cum-pundits and the intimidating bloke at the bar with the British Bulldog tattoo and Argos bling all vehemently maintain that England has the best football league in the world.
While we can be certain that their assurances are absolutely genuine, and have nothing whatsoever to do with viewing figures, xenophobia or a grim, single-parent upbringing in a region of high unemployment, the more subversive among us sometimes harbour dark thoughts that not everyone competing in the Premier League is of a world-beating standard.
As the David Silvas, Wayne Rooneys and John Terrys of the land set them up, bang them in and save the handshaking for the faces of their teammates’ wives, a small contingent of those plying their trade on Super Sunday are more folly prone than Hollywood.
Even Signet Rings in the pub, at least until he’s charged up on a couple of rounds of wife beater, could be persuaded that some the players in the Premier League are what’s colloquially known as ‘a bit shit’.
For denizens of the Kenna this spirit of mediocrity has found earthly embodiment in the form of Titus Bramble. The journeyman defender continues to make regular starts in the Premier League despite his flaws at Newcastle once forming the contents of an official Chelsea dossier and nightclub indiscretions leading to unsavoury tangles with the law.
Ahead of the new season, the Kenna is searching for more specimens like Titus who are likely to spend the next few months showcasing just how average English football can be.
Make your suggestion by adding a comment below or join the debate on Twitter @jeffkennaleague.
The best suggestions will be assembled into a ‘Titus Bramble Invitational Squad’ and employed as forfeit players for the upcoming Kenna auction, to be held next month in another not-so-exclusive central London pub.
Managers breaking auction rules will have the cream of their side whipped out and replaced by one of ‘the Brambles’.
Here’s a smattering of last summer’s Bramble players, some of whom could be eligible for selection again:
Shaun Wright-Phillips (good at running, not so at kicking)
Michael Owen (in his Indian summer, bench-warming role at Old Trafford)
Hendry Thomas (can circumstances become any more unglamorous than holding midfielder at Wigan?)
Danny Shittu (yes, yes, name and nature. An obvious choice)
Mamady Sidibie (has failed to live up to the ‘Big Mama’ sobriquet for the last couple of seasons)
