Moderation - a vulgar term for the instigators of the beautiful game...

As Myles na gCopaleen, Flann O'Brien once wrote that moderation was an alien concept to the Irish. But, spare a thought for the Spanish, eh? They find the term disgusting, insulting and clearly believe the idea should not be entertained for long. In a country where spectacle and performance is lauded and appluaded, perhaps we should've come to expect this. At a club where Puskas, di Stefano and Gento instigated global football communities to believe in the fanciful notion of a sport being something 'beautiful', maybe we shouldn't be too surprised.

It's still incredibly strange to accept that with Florentino Perez as President, every door within the Spanish economy seems to open with astonishing ease and a cavalier wink from those on the inside. As details have emerged in recent days about the monetary agreements put in place by Perez in light of the captures of Kaka, Ronaldo and the likely arrivals of David Villa, Xabi Alonso and Franck Ribery, the most interesting pieces of the jigsaw remain question-marked. The Spanish savings bank 'Caja Madrid' has agreed to give Madrid a 76 million euro loan against two un-named pieces of collateral. This collateral cannot be the club's training ground, having been re-zoned back during Perez's first period as President. Is it the Bernebeu? Surely not. Then again, a similar agreement is in place with Banco Santander and would be led to believe that more collateral is in place with this deal.

All this leads one to question how exactly Spain can be entertained by such daredevil financial antics when the country lies in the midst of a forecasted 20% unemployment level for the end of 2010 - a figure that could rise to over 25% given the right set of circumstances. As much as Madrid are the club of the people and Perez is the returning all-conquering hero, all heroes have a price and the astromonical monies quoted in articles featuring Madrid's current planned expenditure are mouth-watering. It's a balance-sheet of gargantuan proportions but one, I'm sure, Perez has the utmost faith in sticking to. One would imagine he's watching his back carefully and is confident of off-loading as many as seven players to help in his ushering-in of a new Galacticos era. But surely a global meltdown has to have an effect on an elite sports brand like Real Madrid?

Then again, perhaps football has beaten the bust. Or is it headed for a spiralling, out-of-control free-fall? It's been threatened with it for years and has always come out the other side; beaming, brazen and richer than ever. And something that was raised in The Times this week - are we just jealous? Should we applaud Perez and his bravery to remain incredibly confident, upbeat and postive in the face of worldwide financial adversity? He hasn't built up a multi-million pound business empire by being stupid and clearly his self-belief outweighs anything else within his psyche. However, when analysts sneered and gesticulated in disbelief during the first Galactico period, there wasn't an economic downturn to use as a stick to beat Perez with. This time around, there is. Currently, all financial institutions around the globe, particularly those dealing in private equity, are in perilous positions, even if your currency is Real Madrid.

Moderation...