Now that the Uefa president's disastrous financial fair play regulations are almost upon us, it is interesting to note others are waking up to the reality.
The Times devoted two detailed pages to the proposals last week, including a commentary from the respected industrial editor that called Michel Platini's proposals a regulatory minefield and pointed out that debt is invariably necessary to fund growth (you would never own a home were you not allowed to be in debt).
It is nice of everybody to join the opposition, but it may be too late. Certain individuals (well, OK then, me) have been ploughing a pretty lonely furrow on this subject for several years. We have lost. Those who see football as an accountancy problem have won.
When Platini gets his way the dream that a wealthy man might buy your club and propel it to the stars is over.
A rich man may buy your club, but he will only be able to spend the income the club generates and as that will never be enough to compete with Manchester United or be consistently successful, a very rich man will not bother.
What has happened at Chelsea under Roman Abramovich and Manchester City now Sheikh Mansour is in charge will be distant memories. And heaven help us if Manchester United ever get wise and break away from the rest of the league to negotiate an individual television deal.
According to Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, the money the club would generate in relation to the rest would be so great that the competition would be as good as over.
Liverpool could also be better off going it alone, Arsenal would break even, while Chelsea and the remainder would suffer a debilitating drop in television revenue. Yet once Platini links spending to turnover, United's owners are mad not to demand every man for himself.
Platini's ideas are popular among a number of senior football writers, too, which is ironic as hated debt keeps many national newspapers alive.
It would be interesting to hear a journalist from the Times, for instance, explain why a club should not be allowed to borrow to embark on a project, when his own paper leaks £240,000 a day. The Guardian is another stronghold for the advocacy of financial fair play, while making a daily loss of £100,000. Most successful firms go into debt at some point, as a way of reaching the next stage of development.
Ultimately, sustained achievement at Manchester City and Chelsea will make them self-financing, but the investment required necessitates debt.
As long as the debt is guaranteed by the owner, not the club – this being the issue at Portsmouth – what is the problem? In the modern climate, with the corrupting financial influence of the Champions League, it is no longer possible for a much smaller rival to grow organically to match United.
There has to be an injection of funds. And if that money comes from outside the game, and is then spread around in the form of transfer fees, surely that is a positive influence, too? If only Platini rationalised with as much wit as he played.