Of all the achievements to which Rupert Murdoch can lay claim, few can surely rank quite as high as managing to successfully rebrand a religious holiday.

Grand Slam Sunday may have started as a catchy slogan to define the meeting of the top four both this season and last. Yet the (not so) coincidental timing of two of the biggest fixtures of the season with the most important Christian religious holiday of 2008 will forever be remembered not for reflections on Jesus’ sacrifices but 44 millionaire footballers doing battle for the benefit of the Sky cameras.

The fact that these games invariably fail to live up to the hype, tend to have a minimal bearing on the outcome of the title race and usually swiftly descend into acrimony hasn’t prevented those at Sky HQ from putting the entire weight of the News International machine behind the matches. 

From billboards to newspaper ads to blanket coverage across their stations Grand Slam Sunday has seen the hype hit overdrive. Last season the GSS (Chelsea v Liverpool; United v Arsenal) had little impact on the Premiership with United losing twice to Arsenal yet triumphing in the league.

Of more importance are the fixtures the top three will play against the relegation battlers and local rivals – Spurs’ well-earned point in midweek a case in point.

Nevertheless it is strange that during the first century or more of English league football, the coincidental meeting of the biggest four clubs (whoever they were) was a rare event whereas since the ‘re-branding’ the GSS has become a fulcrum around which Sky have sought to boost subscriptions in collusion with the randomly selected fixtures.

ThUnderscoring all this is the feeling that Sky’s choice of fixtures has lagged behind their rivals at Setanta all season long. While subscribers to the Irish based service have witnessed shock after shock, Sky have frequently dropped the ball – the latest glaring example being their decision to show a moribund 2-0 United victory over Bolton rather than the game of the season at White Hart Lane the same night. 

As they prepared their latest advertising blitz on the British public and in the process turn a much loved public holiday into yet another sales opportunity, there’s a feeling that Sky’s grip on British football is not quite as tight as it used to be.