Sheffield Wednesday fans don't need to be told that relegation is a painful blow, almost like a death in the family.

It is so traumatic that the major South American leagues have a history of trying to ensure that it never happens to their big clubs. There were years in Brazil when it was decreed that no former First Division champion could go down.

Even when this clause was not in effect, there were times when big clubs finished bottom of the table, and still stayed up. All kinds of strange justifications were employed to keep them in the top flight - such as scrapping relegation altogether to save Fluminense from the drop.

People in Brazilian football would argue, in all seriousness and with a totally straight face, that it was absurd for big clubs to be in the Second Division, no matter how bad their results. It was feudalism in action, the exact opposite of meritocracy of the game.

It is an indicator of how much progress the country has made in the last few years that this way of thinking is now obsolete. Even Corinthians have been relegated to the Second Division - and with over 20m supporters, this is a giant club indeed - and other big names have also fallen, including Palmeiras, Vasco da Gama, Botafogo, Gremio and Atletico Mineiro.

The Second Division has benefited enormously as a result from TV deals and greater publicity and there is no doubt that Brazil is more than big enough to support a good standard second tier.

The clubs have benefited as well and with the exception of Bahia, all have bounced back at the first attempt, stronger for the experience.

Argentina has a different system. Since the early 90s, in a bid to keep the interest level high, the season is split into two short and separate championships. The Apertura (Opening) runs from August to December, and the Clausura (Closing) from February to May, each with the 20 teams playing each other once.

It would clearly be unfair to relegate clubs after one campaign of 19 games, but using a combined total of points from the two championships (38 games) would surely be a fair solution. That's not the way it works, however.

The threat of possible relegation next year is hanging over River Plate

The perceived problem is that even the biggest clubs are forever selling their best players and are thus frequently caught in a spell of transition, when results can suffer as one team is deconstructed and another built. So, to protect the giants from the consequences of such a situation, relegation is worked out on an average of points accumulated over three years, or six championships.

This system helps the big clubs, but it's not foolproof, not if a transitional phase becomes an institutional crisis, as has happened with River Plate.

The Buenos Aires giants enjoyed their last taste of success when they won the 2007/8 Clausura, but since then the wheels have come off. Over the two championships in that season they accumulated 66 points, but in in 2008/9 they managed just 41 and with two games to go in the current campaign, they only have 40.

What has gone wrong? Coaches have come and gone, with no improvement in results. Traditionally a great producer of players, the club's talented youngsters have not been making the progress expected. Both are signs of something fundamentally wrong in the set up.

Supporters groups, meanwhile, have been battling for control, prompting suspicions that they may have been receiving a cut of transfer fees.

River's former great Daniel Passarella took over as president at the turn of the year and announced that he found the club in a financial coma. He recently appointed Angel Cappa as the new coach, an old style footballing romantic, whose preference for a pass-and-move game puts him right in line with the tradition of the club. It should be a perfect fit - and it needs to be.

River are not in immediate relegation danger. The two teams with the worst points average go down, the next two go into play-offs. Of the 20 clubs, River currently lie 12th in the relegation standings - saved by those 66 points accumulated in 2007/8.

But next August, when the new season kicks off, they lose those points. Only their disastrous results from the next two seasons will count, along, of course, with the points they pick up in 2010/11.

They will therefore go into the next campaign under pressure and if they do badly in the Apertura they could find themselves in a strange situation - needing to win the Clausura to stay up, simultaneously fighting for the championship and to avoid relegation.



Comments on the piece in the space provided. Other questions on South American football to vickerycolumn@hotmail.com, and I'll pick out a couple for next week.

From last week's postbag:



Q) I've been very impressed by Maxwell of Barcelona in this current campaign. He looks very good going forward and a pretty decent defender. Can you tell us a bit more about him, and why he's never been called up for Brazil despite their left-back problems?

Shayak Banerjee



A) Interesting, though, that Barcelona didn't trust him to start the home game against Inter Milan. It probably counts against his international chances that he moved abroad so early, and has played almost all of his career outside Brazil. Dunga has said that the World Cup squad will not have any surprises, which would seem to rule him out, because he hasn't been called up to the senior ranks.

Dunga is also keen on people who've done well for Brazil at junior level, and here again Maxwell loses out. He played for the Under-23s in the Olympic qualifiers at the start of 2004 - taken very seriously over here. He was awful - had to be dropped though he was the only left back in the squad.



Q) There seems to be a lot of hype around Velez Sarsfield defender Nicolas Otamendi. This week Liverpool have been linked with a £9m bid for him and in the past he has been linked with Real Madrid. At 5'10 he seems a little on the small side to cope with the likes of Peter Crouch or Nicolas Bendtner in particular. I can only think of Carlos Puyol in recent years who has had an impact despite being so small. If he was to come to the Premier League how would he fare? And should we expect to see him at the World Cup?

Michael Hocking



A) He had a fabulous 2009 - from Velez reserve to Argentina's first team. Looks like being first choice right-back in the World Cup, though it's not his position. He's a centre-back by trade, well built with excellent anticipation and good timing in the tackle. I would be a bit worried about him with a big Premiership club at this stage, though I think he does have real potential.

I worry that he goes to ground too much, and I think he might have problems in the air. He certainly had problems in a game against Catalonia at the end of the year - Argentina lost 4-2, and after the game one of the Velez directors was hoping that none of the clubs interested in him was watching the game. "if they saw it they'll withdraw their offer," he said. So he's a work in progress. Not there yet, but one to watch.

