Here's an interesting idea: Portsmouth goalkeeper David James has this week publicly suggested footballers could give money back to the fans if they put in a bad performance. He reasons that all those fans travelling hither and yon across the country watching their teams playing away from home in all weathers deserve some form of financial reimbursement if their team produce a stinker.

The idea came to mind as he travelled home on the coach with his team-mates after a heavy defeat at Blackburn. When put to them, he found they supported the idea more than he realised. Giving money back to the supporters' club would appear to be the way forward, then... but could it work?

The first thing to consider is how exactly to quantify a bad performance. Could the overall display be considered bad if a team loses due to a couple of poor goalkeeping errors, or through one or two players being sent off? Could it even be calculated with the use of the comprehensive statistical systems currently employed in the Premiership, each player's rating being reduced because of few tackles being made or a low numbers of accurate passes?

One might even consider that a team could under-perform if their coach makes bad tactical decisions or buys a poor player to bolster the squad.

James's idea seems doomed to failure, so is it worth pursuing? Surely if you buy a ticket to a match, you're entering a contract to be entertained but not necessarily to be given a peak performance?

And what if you support a lower-league side? Could you reasonably ask for superlative achievement week in, week out? Some Premiership fans wouldn't, and the only way you could feasibly demand it is to ensure they are first part of a 12-team 'Super Premiership' or some such elitist movement.