Steve Norman On Sports

African Nations Previews.

2012-01-05T11:50:00.001-08:00

Been doing some team previews for the upcoming African Nations for BornOffside.net

Heres an advanced showing the ones written by me. Keep your eye on Born Offside for the rest.

Botswana
1. Intro into team

The 95th best team in the world and 22nd best in Africa (according to the latest FIFA world rankings) Botswana have just qualified for their first major tournament in the 2012 African Nations, however the fans may not be able to watch. The state TV channel has refused to buy the rights to broadcast the tournament.
All their players are based in Botswana, except a handful who ply their trade in South Africa.

2. How did they qualify?

By, if anything, over performing. They topped the only group in qualification that had five teams, losing only one game and finishing ahead of Tunisia, beating them away and Togo. Worryingly they only scored seven goals, less than one a game but they only conceded three in eight.
3. Manager
Stanley Tshosane is the first Botswanan to manage the national team after a number of foreigners have taken charge of the side. He is currently the most successful after qualifying for 2012.

4. Star men
Dipsy Selolwane – 33 – Striker/Midfielder – Supersport United
A journeyman now playing in South Africa Selolwane has played for both Real Salt Lake and Chicago Fire in the MLS scoring a pitiful three goals in four years; on the other hand he does share his name with a teletubby. He has scored nine goals for the national team.

Jerome Ramatlhakwane - 26 – Striker – Vasco Da Gama (South Africa)
Since making his debut for the national team in 2006, Ramatlhakwane has scored an impressive six goals in 14 games. He also briefly played in Cyprus for APOP Kinyras Peyias.

5. How far can they go?
Judging by their record in qualifying, they have a good chance of progressing from the group stage as runners up to Ghana but will likely struggle from the quarter finals onwards. With their solid defence however they could provide an upset.

Gabon

Intro into team

In footballing terms a small nation, never qualified for a World Cup, and only four African Nations prior to this one. They played their first game in 1960 and have won a couple of minor international tournaments.

How did they qualify?

As co-hosts with Equatorial Guinea.

Manager

Gernot Rohr, a German who played his best days of his playing career with Bordeaux in France. He has also managed Bordeaux three times and reached the UEFA Cup final in 1996. Since then he has jobbed around France, Switzerland and Tunisia before taking the Gabon national team job.

Star men

Daniel Cousin – 34 – Striker. Recognizable to fans of both Glasgow Rangers and Hull City, the ageing Cousin is a regular in the Gabon squad and his experience will help if they are to make an impression as hosts.

Bruno Ecuele Manga – 23 – Defender. Laurent Koscielny’s replacement at FC Lorient, the center back is highly rated winning over 20 caps for his country since his debut in 2007.

Didier Ovono – 28 – Goalkeeper. 50+ caps, another player who’s experience will be vital if Gabon can go above expectations in their homeland. Ovono also won the Georgian league with Dinamo Tbilisi before moving to France.

How far can they go?

Tunisia and Morocco will be favorites for their group but with home advantage they may nick a place in the quarter finals. It’s likely though they won’t make it out of their pool.

Ivory Coast

Intro into team

In the last 10 years The Elephants have progressed massively, qualifying for their first World Cup in 2006 and also making it to South Africa 2010. Prior to 2006 their biggest success had been winning the African Nations in 1992 but not much else.

Now they have some of the biggest names in African football and will give any team they play a tricky match.

How did they qualify?

With complete ease. They won all six games in a group containing Benin, Rwanda and Burundi scoring 19 goals and only conceding four. Second placed Rwanda finished 12 points behind them, which gives you an idea of how easy it was for the Ivory Coast.

Manager

François Zahoui replaced Sven Goran Eriksson after the 2010 World Cup and led his team to the 2012 Cup of Nations in style. Zahoui had a decent playing career in France and Italy without setting the game alight.

A former international for the Elephants his coaching experience is limited, but promising results suggest he is more than competent.

Star men

Didier Drogba – 33 – Striker. Despite his age Drogba is still one of the most formidable strikers in the Premier League. He has 150 goals for Chelsea and 50 goals in 76 games for his country. His goals will be vital as Ivory Coast bid to win the tournament for the second time.

Yaya Toure - 28 – Midfielder. A Champions League and La Liga winner with Barcelona and an FA Cup winner with Man City, the younger Toure brother is a solid all round midfielder. He is adept at both attacking and defending and weighs in with the occasional goal. His all-round ability and versatility is crucial.

Cheick Tiote – 25 – Midfielder. Impressive since joining Newcastle from FC Twente last season Tiote has made a reputation as a tough tackling defensive midfielder who is starting to attract the envious eye of some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs. Will protect his defence admirably for the Ivory Coast.

How far can they go?

They could win it. With some big names absent this year, it could be their first tournament victory since 1992. Their group includes Sudan, Burkina Faso and Angola, so they are almost certain to progress to the quarter finals.

Libya

Intro into team

Libya are yet to make an impression on football globally. They have never qualified for a world cup and before 2012 had only taken part in two African Nations, in 1982 where, as hosts, they finished runner up to Ghana on penalties and in Egypt in 2006 where they failed to get out of a tough group including The Ivory Coast, Morocco and the hosts.

In recent times they have been forced to play games behind closed doors and outside of their home land because of the civil war and for security reasons but results have improved, leading to an unbeaten qualification for the 2012 Cup of Nations.
Brazilian coach Marcos Paquetá has claimed his side are playing for a ‘new government and a new country’ as well as success on the pitch.

How did they qualify?

Undefeated on the pitch and through much turmoil off it. The countries football team gave the people some hope during last year’s civil war in which dictator Colonel Gaddafi was removed from power and ultimately killed.

They won all their ‘home’ games (the second two played in Mali and Egypt respectively because of the civil war) by three goals or more against Zambia, Comoros and Mozambique and drew all three away games only conceding one goal in all six games.

Zambia topped the group by a point but Libya went through as one of the two best runners up in the group stage.

Manager

Marcos Paquetá has had reasonable success in his homeland Brazil, winning titles with Fluminese and Flamengo. He also won the Under 17 and Under 20 World Cups with Brazil before having success coaching in the Arab world.

Star men

Samir Aboud – 39 – Goalkeeper. Libya’s captain has represented his country 39 times and is extremely accomplished having won 18 trophies in his career with Al-Ittihad including nine Libyan Premier Leagues. He is also the only player in the squad to have featured in the semi- final of the African Champions League. His experience is invaluable.

Djamal Mahamat – 26 – Midfielder. The only member of Libya’s squad to play in Europe, Mahamat had a rather unspectacular start to his career, failing in trials with Hartlepool and Bradford before finding his feet in Portugal. At Braga he has become an important member of the team that came runners up in last season’s Europa League.

Mohammad Za'abia – 22 – Striker. A recent signing for Kuwaiti side Al Arabi, Za’abia is a decent young prospect with seven goal for his national team to his name already. He was once sent off in the African Champions League for attempting to assault a referee and was subsequently banned for a year.

How far can they go?

With a group including Senegal, Zambia and co-hosts Equatorial Guinea they have a good chance of qualifying for the knockout stages. If they can avoid The Ivory Coast in the quarter finals, they have a decent chance at making the last four.

Sudan

Intro into team

The Sudan national football team were one of the three teams to play in the first ever African Cup of Nations way back in 1957 along with Egypt and Ethiopia and won the tournament for the only time in 1970. They have never qualified for a World Cup but did win the 2009 Harmony Cup.

How did they qualify?

As one of the two best runners up in the qualifying stage, finishing a credible second to Ghana, losing only once, at home to Ghana. Along the way they picked up 13 points but only scored eight goals in six games. However they had a solid defence, averaging 0.5 goals conceded per match.

They find themselves in Group B with the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Angola.

Manager

Mohammed Abdullah Mazda, lead the team to this year’s tournament by finishing runners up to Ghana in qualifying. Trying to build a team on their strong defenc e and blend the experienced players with some promising youngsters.

Star men

Haytham Tambal – The 32 year old striker made his debut in 2000 and has since become Sudan’s all time record goal scorer with 26 goals. In 2008 he averaged over a goal a game in the Sudanese top flight and his stats show he has a keen eye for goal.

Hytham Mostafa Karar – A veteran at the age of 34, Karar is the Sudanese captain who led his country to their first African Nations in 30 years in 2008 and has taken them again this year. Karar plays in his midfield and his Wikipedia entry claims he has magical throw passes, is a UN Goodwill Ambassador and he turned down a move to Everton in 2011.

They’re unlikely to win the group with the Ivory Coast being favourites. However they have an outside chance of finishing second if they can get a result against Angola. I wouldn’t expect them to make much impact if they get out of the group though.

Tunisia

Intro into team

One of the most successful African football nations, qualifying for four World Cups, finishing runner up in two African Nations and winning the tournament in 2004. Most of their players are based in a strong Tunisian league although a few do ply their trade in Europe.

How did they qualify?

As runner up to Botswana in the only group with five teams. They finished two points ahead of Malawi with 14 points. They lost only twice, both times to the group winners. Tunisia were top scorers in their group with an impressive 14 goals.

Manager

Sami Trabelsi, a former international with 52 caps for Tunisia who he represented at the 1998 World Cup in France. He has limited managerial experience but did take did take charge of the Tunisian Olympic side.

Star men

Issam Jemâa – 27 – Striker. An impressive record of a fraction under one goal every two games at international level, Jemaa is their star front man. Having started out at Tunisian side Esperence, he recently moved to Auxerre.

Aymen Abdennour – 22 – Defender. Ten caps and one goal for the youngster already, Abdennour has already made an impression with the national team. He began his career at Étoile Sportive du Sahel in his homeland before playing six games on loan for Werder Bremen in Germany. Bremen didn’t want to sign him permanently but his performances did earn him a move to Ligue 1 in France.

Amine Chermiti – 23 – Striker. A recent signing for FC Zurich in Switzerland, Chermiti has also represented Hertha Berlin and was one of the top scorers and best players in the African Champions League when at Étoile Sportive du Sahel at the start of his career.

How far can they go?

If they can avoid Ghana in the quarter finals then maybe the semis and then after that anything is possible if they play well and get the right breaks.

GB Legends XI for Scotzine

2011-11-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

The Olympic football team has been a hotly debated topic since it was announced that London would help the 2012 games. The British Olympic Committee want Great Britain to be represented in every sport and are keen for a football team comprising of all four home nations to take part.

However the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish FA’s are worried that a joint team will be a risk to their individual status within FIFA and a GB side will be created for all FIFA tournaments and matches.

The likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey have expressed their desire to be involved, while their FA want just the opposite but at the very least GB will be represented by an England side coached by Stuart Pearce.

So for my Legends xi I have decided to go with an all-time British XI comprising of at least two players in the starting line up from each of the four Home Nations (and a revolutionary 3-4-2-1 formation.

GK: Neville Southall – Wales
Footballs greatest former binman, Big Nev was an imposing figure between the sticks at Everton with a moustache that any Movember participant would be proud of.
Despite his large frame he was agile and was an excellent shot stopper. Southall won 92 Wales caps, won the First Division twice and two FA Cups.

CB: Alan Hansen – Scotland
Not many people know that the world’s biggest hater of defending of the diabolical nature is infact half Danish.
He also received his prominent forehead scar by running into a plate glass window at a youth club aged 15.
Pointless trivia aside he was an extremely accomplished defender in the all-conquering Liverpool side of the 1980’s.
His mantel piece is adorned with eight League winners and three European Cup winners medals.

CB: Bobby Moore – England
The Three Lions World Cup winning captain, Moore was referred to by Pele as the greatest ever defender. He made his West Ham debut deputising for the ill Malcolm Allison, on that day a fantastic career had begun and Allison never played for West Ham again.
Moore first captained England as a 22 year old winning just his 12th cap in the same game versus Czechoslovakia in 1963.
Despite winning the 1964 FA Cup with his beloved West Ham, his finest hour came in the summer of ’66 when he led England to their first and so far only World Cup win on home soil. (Some will tell you his finest hour came when a team of Allied WW2 POW’s managed a draw with the German National team in Escape to Victory, especially with the handicap of Sly Stallone as a goal-keeper.)

CB: John Charles – Wales
A giant of a man who was as good upfront as he was in defence, Charles is a legend at virtually every club he turned out for. Including Italy’s Old Lady Juventus, an honour bestowed upon very few Brits.
A strong an formidable opponent he was capable of terrorising attackers at one end and defenders at the other and a testament to his footballing ability he was named Wales best ever player at UEFA’S jubilee in 2003.

RM: George Best – Northern Ireland
Possibly the greatest player to have never featured at the World Cup, The Fifth Beatle was majestic to watch on the pitch and has as much fun off it as he did on it. Best seemed to play for fun, and enjoyed making opponents look stupid.
Scoring in a 4-1 victory over Benfica in the European Cup Final was his finest hour although two league titles, every individual honour you could receive, being the first ‘celebrity footballer’ are certainly worth a mention
Unfortunately his colourful personal life and clashes with managers cut short his career at the very top.

CM: Martin O’Neill – Northern Ireland
A fantastic midfielder who could also stake a claim to manage this side, O’Neill was an accomplished Gaelic football player but turned his attentions to football ending up at Nottingham Forest.
A European Cup winner with Forest under Brian Clough in 1980 he also captained Northern Ireland during the 1982 World Cup where they beat hosts Spain.

CM: Paul Gascoigne – England
A true maverick of a player who should be remembered for his unbelievable ability on the pitch rather than his demons off it.
The amount of winners medals he’s won doesn’t befit a man of his talent. Gazza could pick out a pass from anywhere on the pitch and was capable of moments of absolute football genius (see his goal vs Scotland in Euro ’96) and will always be remembered for his tears at Italia ’90.

LM: Ryan Giggs – Wales
The only one in this team who is still playing, but considering how long he’s been around you wouldn’t be surprised if he’d called it a day years ago.
Two Champions Leagues and a whole host of domestic titles, Giggs has won it all with Manchester United and his exciting, all action displays have him positioned as one of the Premier Leagues greatest ever players.

CF: Matt Le Tissier – The Channel Islands
Team GB should encapsulate all corners of the British Isles including the Channel Islands (and being a Southampton fan I am extremely biased towards this God of a man).
Le Tissier kept Saints in the top flight almost single handed and could have taken the top three spots in Goal of the Season in virtually any season he played.
Only eight caps for his country shows a mind-set on these shores that he would have been seen as a luxury whereas other nations would have built their team around him.

CF: Kenny Dalglish – Scotland
Another would could put in a claim to manage this side, Dalglish was a fantastic striker for both Celtic and Liverpool as well as being Scotland’s most capped player and leading goal scorer.
A clever player who also created many a goal for team mates as well as netting himself who is now idolized on The Kop.
King Kenny won seven league titles and three European Cups while playing for The Reds who he is now managing for a second period.

ST: Jimmy Greaves – England
A goal machine by any standards, modern or otherwise, Greaves averaged over a goal every two games throughout his career and is one of the best strikers England has ever produced.
I could rattle on about his ability for ages, but his stats say it best; Chelsea – 124 goals in 157 games, Milan – 9 goals in 12 games, Tottenham – 220 goals in 321 games, England – 44 goals in 57 games.

Subs:

Gordon Banks – A fine keeper, among the best ever.

Bobby Charlton – England records goal scorer, a legend.

Ian Rush – Fantastic goal scorer, fantastic moustache.

Danny Blanchflower – One of Spurs’ and Northern Ireland’s best ever. May have made
the starting xi if I knew the modern day equivalent of right half.

Alan Ball – A brilliant little midfielder and liked by both Southampton and Portsmouth fans, a rarity.

Dennis Law – Another brilliant Scottish goal scorer, something they’ve missed for years.

Tony Adams – Fantastic defender and captain, Arsenal could do with him now.
Written by Steve Norman

Why Rooney Should Stay at Home for 2012

2011-10-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

Wayne Rooney’s petulance and immaturity struck again last week when a needless and unprovoked strike against the legs of a Montenegrin player led to the England talisman seeing red. Since then, his ban has been increased by UEFA to three matches meaning ‘Wazza’ will miss the whole group stage of Euro 2012.

Many are crying that we have to take him for the latter stages, but is it worth taking someone who, while they can be an amazing talent, is also liable to be a hindrance? The answer is easy. NO. Rooney should stay at home. There are three reasons why.

1. No individual is bigger than, better than, or more important than the team as a whole. I can only think of one player who has almost single headedly dragged a team to success. Diego Maradona at Napoli, and maybe even with Argentina. Wayne Rooney is not, and never will be as good as Maradona.

However as undoubtedly the best English player (note: not England’s best player) everything in attack seems to revolve around him. Get the ball to Rooney, he’ll solve our problems. It seems the pressure is on Rooney to be both a provider and scorer of goals, but he’s been in poor form for the Three Lions for a while now, scoring just three times in 18 games. Two of those coming against a poor Bulgaria side.

England should be looking to build a solid, cohesive team unit that works together. It doesn’t appear that Rooney fits into this. With him in the team, whether under direction of Fabio Capello or subconsciously the attack seems to centre on him. It fails more often than not.

What’s the answer? Who should play in his place and how should the team play? I don’t know, Capello probably doesn’t. However he probably now has four or more friendlies and 8 months of watching the players in the Premier League to decide.

Rooney doesn’t seem to fit in the team; he also won’t be available for the team for the first three games. If whoever plays in the group stages gets us to the quarter finals and one gets dropped to accommodate the now available Rooney, how much will that damage team morale? And what message will it send out to the squad? It doesn’t matter how well you play, once one of the ‘superstars’ becomes available you’re out on your ear.

2. He’s got previous for this kind of thing, and can he be trusted. Stamping on Ricardo Carvahlo’s testes, elbowing James McCarthy in the head needlessly, swearing into a camera, slating England fans directly on live TV at last year’s World Cup as well as other acts of idiocy and petulance. There’s a good chance he’ll do it again, a leopard never changes its spots.

His talent may work in his favour after some if these instances, but then he was never banned for half a tournament until now. What if he missed the whole group phase, came back in for the first knock out round, and then stamped, kicked or elbowed someone again, costing England the match and earning himself another ban.

3. He may learn his lesson. One thing that does seem obvious about Rooney is that he loves playing for his country, and does work his arse off for the team. Having to stay at home because of his own moronic actions will really rile and upset him, and hopefully he’ll take a look at himself and realise he can’t act out and needs to curtail his temper.

He’s still got another three or four tournaments left in him after 2012, so hopefully staying behind this time will mean we get to see a top form, grown up Rooney in a decent England side.

5 Things I learnt About Football This Week

2011-09-22T04:16:00.000-07:00

FORGET NOT PLAYING FOR MONTHS (OR EVEN YEARS) A DECENT HALF AN HOUR AND YOU’RE AND ENGLAND CONTENDER

Michael Owen made his first start for yonks for Manchester United, scores twice against a reasonable second division side, and he’s the answer for England. (If he’s the answer, what’s the bloody question?)

Ok Young Michael has a good goals to game record, and an even better goals to starts record, and England’s striking options seem to end after Wayne Rooney, Darren Bent and Daniel Sturridge. He really needs to play regularly to get back in a Three Lions shirt.

Then came Owen Hargreaves. His contribution to football in the last two years equated to about eight minutes, a flick on header, a run down the wing and another pulled muscle. The man is more worthy of the nickname ‘Sicknote’ than Darren Anderton.

He makes his Manchester City debut, has a reasonable 57 minutes and scores a goal (albeit a lovely finish) and fans, pundits and journalists are clamouring for an England recall.

Almost as odd Der Harg’s Canadian/German/Mancunian hybrid accent.

SODS LAW IS RIFE IN FOOTBALL

More on Hargreaves now. Injured for three years at United while picking up a very decent wage. False hopes of a come back, and the usual guff about him returning being like a new signing. Except it never happens.

Then he joins the noisy neighbours and massive rivals Manchester City on a free transfer. Makes his debut, puts in a decent shift and scores a lovely goal.

But if he had stayed at United he would probably still be crocked.

(Another instance of sods law in football: Your old players always scoring against you. Seems to be more common than a sunset.)

DOES HARRY REDKNAPP TAKE ANY COMPETITON SERIOUSLY?

The self-proclaimed Not a Wheeler Dealer has now rested most of his first team in Tottenham’s last two cup games, giving fringe players and youth a chance.

Two competitions that his side can win, and should look to be winning given the extreme likelihood that they won’t break back into the top four this season, and won’t be a Champions League side again next year.

Spurs have drawn both games, and are out of the League Cup. A long awaited trophy would probably appease the fans more than a fifth or sixth placed finish.

Harry Redknapp is giving the Spurs fans a massive slap in the face. (The writers view on Mr Redknapp in no way influenced this segment.

ARSENAL SHOULD WALK OUT TO THE BENNY HILL THEME TUNE

Going a goal down to Shrewsbury, who bossed the opening exchanges, and regardless of which eleven Arsene Wenger puts out the same mistakes are made.

And the sheer arrogance shown by the Gunner’s fans when they equalised was embarrassing.

You can’t help but laugh…and laugh and laugh and laugh.

TACKLE HOOLIGANISM, ONLY ADMIT WOMEN AND CHILDREN

One of the most bizarre moves in football’s endless bid to curb crowd problems and hooliganism was seen in Turkey.

Instead of making clubs with unruly fans play behind closed doors, the Turkish FA have deemed it ok to just ban adult males. Like the lifeboats on the Titanic,
Tuesday’s Fenerbache game was women and children only.

It attracted 41,00 fans, which puts Premiership clubs who regularly fail to sell out, the likes of Blackburn, Wigan and Bolton, to shame. (As did some of the pictures of the crowd that night, trust me, if a picture of a women only crowd at Wigan was released it would be nowhere near as impressive as the all-woman crowd in Istanbul.)

Football's Most Mental Owners

2011-09-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

Vladamir Romanov is just one of many people with apparent mental issues or delusions of grandeur to have taken control of a football club. These people may take over with their best interests at heart, but between them they have tried to change their clubs names, insulted their own fans, and in some instances tried to fight them.
Below is a selection of some of the more colourful characters that reside in the boardroom.

Michael Knighton

Let’s start at the top, and with Premier League holders Manchester United. On the cusp of the Premier League and their recent success in 1989, Knighton came in with an offer to buy Manchester United for a bargain £20m (although that would have been a then record).

The offer was accepted, and Mr Knighton announced himself to the Old Trafford faithful with an introduction better associated with a new signing. He stepped out onto the pitch in full kit, and showed off some keepie ups and balls skills.

However his bid for United fell through with his money men pulling out. But Knighton didn’t give up his dream of owning a football club.

From Manchester United he pitched up and Football League basement boys Carlisle United. However their lowly position didn’t stop him claiming he could take them to the Premiership in five years.

Initial success was reached, with two promotions (ok, and one relegation) and a Football League trophy win.

However it started to rapidly go downhill. In 1996 Knighton claimed he had been abducted by aliens and in 1997 he sacked the manager and took over himself, getting relegated in the process. Finally he lead the club into administration.

Quite what possessed him to make some of his decisions is unknown, but…The Truth is Out There.

JESUS GIL

A man so arrogant that he may well have believed he was the prodigal son of god with which he shared a name.

President of Atletico Madrid, he didn’t take long to piss off all their fans, and went through a shed load of managers in a quest to win La Liga (achieved in 1996).

He fought with other owners live on TV, and dubbed Ajax FC Congo due to their number of black players.

A real charmer.

John Batchelor

Mr Batchelor seemed to have a penchant for changing the name of the club he owned. First off he turned York City Football Club into York City Soccer Club. Apparently this would open the club up to America, and the commercial opportunities that it would provide.

Quite what interest he expected in a lower league team to generate in a country where football isn’t even in the top three most popular sports I’ll never know.

After going back on promises, he made a tidy profit out of the club while they sunk into administration, and got a lovely house out of it.

After spending time in hospital for alcoholism (may explain a lot) he pitched up at Mansfield Town. Part of his takeover campaign was to name the club Harchester United after the club in Sky One’s Dream Team. Rumours of signing Luis Amor Rodriquez and Mondae Bandele proved to be little more than that.

And the ‘fun’ didn’t stop there. He tried to buy milks favourite football team Accrington Stanley, and rename them Lancashire United and moving the team to Leigh.
He was then involved in a bid to buy Southampton in 2009 which fell through.

Jerry Block trying to have his striker killed by a sniper at a cup final was nowhere near as bizarre as some of Batchelor’s schemes.

Silvio Burlusconi

Burlusconi takes the triple crown of being one of footballs, politics and Italy’s biggest plonkers. The head honcho at AC Milan and Prime Minister of Italy suffers from a severe case of foot in mouth disease, constantly opening his gob and saying the wrong thing. As well as often being linked with spending his time with ladies of ill repute.

He has also been linked with the mafia, accused of bribery and tax evasion fudging the books for his accounts.

Some of his more comical sound bites include:

"Mr. Schulz, I know a movie producer in Italy who is making a movie about Nazi concentration camps. I will recommend you for the role of a Kapo. You are perfect for the part!”

(To a German MEP)

"we have the most beautiful secretaries in the world".
(Burlusconi on why people should invest in Italy)

Mr Obama is "young, handsome and suntanned".

(On Barack Obama)

"Like a weekend of camping."

(Apparently this is what it was like for the victims of a recent earthquake in Italy)

And a couple of honorable mentions…

Delia Smith

Ok, not completely insane like some of the others, but a good crack when she’s been at the cooking sherry. Trying to rouse the home support during Norwich’s last ill-fated Premier League campaign, Delia staggered on to the pitch to give a passionate speech.

Come on…let’s be ‘avin’ you!

Eddie Mitchell

A late contender for this title, Bournemouth’s chairman has in the last few weeks told fans who don’t like his methods to go and support rivals Southampton and tried to fight fans on the pitch after a recent defeat.

Sam Allardyce could do for England what Otto Rehhagel did for Greece

2011-06-17T04:23:00.000-07:00

I haven't written anything for a while, so heres something that will make more than a few people disagree with me.

Fabio Capello is set to stand down as England manager after next summer’s European Championship and the FA are said to favour an Englishman to take the helm at the end of the Italians reign.

Talk of Capello’s successor has been put on the back burner with all the shenanigans at FIFA in the last few weeks. But the fact is England have a tad over a year to pick their man, and quality English candidates are rarer than a misplaced pass by a Barcelona player.

And unfortunately the man for the job has just taken employment at West Ham United.
Yes, Sam Allardyce is the man to get the best out of the England team, and possibly lead them to glory.

Now this view is bound to be derided, so I had better explain myself before I’m ridiculed by the blogging community, and the football world as a whole.

The gravy loving northerner has done well in many of his management jobs, excelling at Bolton Wanderers, and being sacked too quickly at Blackburn Rovers, and arguably Newcastle United.

Big Sam’s biggest criticism is that his teams play bad football. The fact is they don’t. They play unattractive football yes, but unattractive rather than bad. The football is good, the football is productive.

He overachieved massively with Bolton, and looked set to do the same at Blackburn before being needlessly sacked by some turkey merchants with delusions of grandeur. He could over achieve with England by winning something.

First off people need to realise that England don’t underachieve on the national stage (the last four years aside) and a quarter final berth is about average considering what they have done in tournaments through history.

Also, the fans and the English media need to realise that England aren’t the Manchester United or Barcelona of international football, but more like a Bolton, Stoke or Sunderland. Always hanging around the top, consolidating their place, and occasionally challenging for honours.

England aren’t a world class team, and can’t have claimed to have been one probably since Italia 90. Only Ashley Cole and a back to top form Wayne Rooney can claim to be World Class among our ranks, although Jack Wilshere could also attain that status. John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Steve Gerrard are fading forces, and let’s face it, they never performed that well together consistently did they.

Big Sam knows fitness, tactics and technology, there’s no denying that. Everyone has seen him on the touchline with his earpiece in, and his love of stat gathering service pro zone is well documented. His teams always achieve at least the minimum of what is expected.

His tactics may be unattractive to watch, but more often than not they get results. Newcastle fans should have realised that before they hounded him out, believing that they have some divine right to watch attractive football.

He can also deal with what few big name players we have, and get them playing well for him. He has before. The likes of Fernando Hierro, Jay Jay Okocha, Michel Salgado and Ivan Campo have all performed well for him in the past, and all have massive reputations.

So maybe after Euro 2012, we shouldn’t look for a manager who has won the lot with a top club. England don’t need a Capello, Ferguson or Mourinho, they’re used to dealing with the best. England needs an Allardyce, someone who is used to overachieving with the average.

As the title of this piece says, he could do for England what Capello and Eriksson couldn’t and what Rehhagel did for Greece.

The FA - F Off.

2011-04-16T06:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend sees the FA Cup semi-finals being needlessly, pointlessly and shamelessly being played at Wembley Stadium, with Bolton, Stoke and Manchester City fans travelling down via alternate routes to the closed M1 (and Manchester United fans from Surrey) to see their teams try and make it to the prestigious competitions final.

Prestigious despite the FA’s attempts to ruin what many consider to be the world’s premier cup competition. Games being played all over the place, the final being played before the end of the season and semi-finals at Wembley. Just a few things the people we ‘trust’ to run our game have done to mess up the FA Cup.

Playing the semi-finals at Wembley is ridiculous, this year especially considering where the four finalists come from. Wembley should be reserved for the final, a special venue, a treat for the fans and something to aim for. Not for semi-finals because the FA need to recoup some money for the monumental balls up that is Wembley Stadium.

Secondly, this year you have a Manchester derby as one semi and Bolton versus Stoke as another, to relatively northern teams based a fair trek from the capital. Why drag all the fans that way for anything but the final? There are many good stadiums nearer to those clubs capable of hosting such games. St James’ Park, Anfield, Villa Park, The Millennium, Hillsborough all could do the job and are much closer to home for the fans.

Policing in London will also be a nightmare, and I bet the Old Bill love the FA for this one. Not only do you have the London Marathon taking place, and the two semi’s, but Arsenal playing Liverpool, West Ham taking on Villa, as well as Charlton playing at home. That’s a lot of rival fans in the city on the same day.

Now I’m not saying this has never happened before on a usual league weekend, but the FA could have made this weekend so much easier to police.

Also, it may not be a major thing, but having so many FA cup games scattered over the weekend, from Saturday morning to Monday evening to satisfy TV broadcasters’ is ridiculous, as is having games played after the draw for the next round. (I.e. a fourth round game being played after the fifth round draw has been made, and it’s not even a replay.)

And it might just be me, but having fourth round proper games on fifth round weekend takes something away from the competition. Essentially the FA buggered about with the fixtures so much some people didn’t know what was going on.

The worst thing the FA have done to ‘ruin’ this year’s tournament is pandering to UEFA (who require no-one playing on the pitch the Champions League final will be played on for two weeks prior to the final) so now the FA Cup final will be played on the penultimate week of the Premier League season.

So you add some extra fixture congestion for the teams involved. But most importantly you take away some of the pomp and ceremony away from the final. It should be event the draws the season to a close, in the same way the Charity Shield is the curtain raiser.

We’ve also seen this season some pillock(s) at the FA talking about seeding the FA Cup and playing FA Cup ties midweek. The mind boggles.

Despite all this, the FA Cup is still an exciting competition. Just look at Manchester United’s run this year. A convincing win over massive rivals Liverpool, beating Southampton from League One who put up a spirited display and labouring to a win over non-league Crawley at Old Trafford, and now a semi against their neighbours.

It’s still a great competition, but not because of the FA, but in spite of it. The format isn’t broke, so don’t try and fix it. In fact it’s the FA that’s broke and needs fixing.

Is there any surprise though? The signs have been clear to see since 2000 when they badgered Manchester United to withdraw to play in the World Club Cup in Brazil to aid a failed World Cup bid.

Power Balance - Sports New Performace Enhancing Wristband?

2011-02-17T05:03:00.000-08:00

When it comes to clothing or footwear that say they can improve my sporting performance with some innovative technology which claims it will change the way I play I’m usually dismissive, especially considering the added cost that inevitably comes with it.

The Adidas Predator football boot claimed it could make a person swerve the ball better than a standard boot. What good is that to a lumbering centre half who’s footballing ethos as a defender equates to ‘hoof it away from goal.’

Other manufacturers have created shirts and tops that take perspiration away from the skin to make exercising and playing more comfortable. Basically it didn’t.

So when I heard of the Power Balance wrist band which suggested it could improve my performance via increased energy levels via a hologram and certain Eastern philosophies and energy medicine, which is a form of alternative medicine, I was equally as sceptical.

A small part of my scepticism was removed when I found out the sheer volume of sports people wearing the Power Balance wristband, and without being sponsored.
The likes of David Beckham, Darren Bent, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Poulter and Rubens Barrichello all swear by the band at is claims, as well as the majority of Reading FC and Cardiff City FC.

With its backing from top professionals and international sportsmen who believed in it I was keen to give it a test on someone well below the top level of sport, your average person who plays football a couple of times a week. Could it make someone like me more energetic and a better player?

After wearing it for two weeks, any scepticism I had about the Power Balance wristband was completely removed. Since wearing it I have noticed I feel more energetic and can keep going for longer.

Away from football I have been trying to get fitter and lose a bit of weight, but this time of year with the weather being particularly unpleasant, going for a run has been easy to put off, however since I’ve been wearing the wristband I have been more inclined to get out and go for the run, and have been finding it a bit easier.
When it comes to football, the results have been similar. I have been able to keep playing for longer without taking a breather. An increase in energy, commitment and determination has been noted by my friends and team-mates.

There has also been one notable change since I’ve had the wristband away from sport. I’m waking up earlier and waking up easier than before. However this could be pure coincidence.

However if you have an injury, the wristband won’t cure it, make it go away or be less painful. It isn’t a cure for a sprain or strain.

Also it won’t make you a better player technically. If your passing is wayward or you shots rarely hit the target, wearing the wristband won’t suddenly make you a David Beckham, Steven Gerrard or Lionel Messi, but it will increase your energy levels and increase and improve that area of performance.

Does it work because of the technologies and philosophies spoken about on the website? Possibly, but the information on the website on how it works is rather vague. It could just be a placebo effect, because you want the band to work or think
it will work, it’s more likely to.

It is also worth noting that the Power Balance website states that the wristband may not work for everyone.

After wearing the Power Balance wristband for two weeks now I would say it does what it claims to do, I have felt more energetic and the effects have been noticeable by me and by others.

You can find out about Power Balance and its products at http://www.powerbalanceuk.com

FA Cup Fourth Round Preview

2011-01-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

Everton vs. Chelsea

The Blues take on the Blues in The Blues at Goodison Park in the fourth rounds first game. Chelsea go into the game having picked up a bit of form since their 7-0 win over Ipswich Town in the third round.

Everton however are still on the fringes of a relegation scrap, and are very light upfront with strikers either injured or out on loan, and Tim Cahill still at the Asian Cup with Australia.

Chelsea have no new major injury concerns, and will go into the game as favourites, although Everton shouldn’t be overlooked, especially with home advantage.

Swansea City vs. Leyton Orient

Fourth place in The Championship take on 16th in League One in a tie that looks prime to produce an FA Cup shock.

The Welsh high flyers are looking to reach the Premiership, as well as have a decent cup run, and have won two of the last three games, with Scott Sinclair particularly on good form.

Orient on the other hand are solidly in mid table in League One, and are also unbeaten in their last three, having drawn two and won one.

Aston Villa vs. Blackburn Rovers

Villa have won their last two since Darren Bents (who is cup tied) arrival at the club, beating Man City and Wigan and must surely be favourites playing at home and given recent form.

Blackburn shouldn’t be complete write offs, since the surprise sacking of Sam Allardyce, Steve Kean has taken the Lancashire club into an impressive eight place in the league.

Birmingham City vs. Coventry City

A Midlands derby at St Andrews, Birmingham will be buoyed by making the League Cup final after beating West Ham in the semi-final yesterday.

However they may still be tired after playing a full 120 minutes just three days before the tie, Sebastian Larsson may also be out as a protracted move to Villa is on the cards.

Coventry are disappointingly mid table in The Championship and well go into the game as underdogs, but in the cup…

Bolton Wanderers vs. Wigan Athletic

Another all Premiership encounter and a Lancashire derby at the Reebok, both teams will go into the game out of form and out of sorts.

Bolton only just got past non-league York City in the last round and with league form dipping they will be looking to beat Wigan and have a good cup run, but are still likely to be without Chung Young Lee who is still on International duty, David Wheater is cup tied.

Wigan are without a win in three and lost to Villa midweek, and with Roberto Martinez likely to make changes they will no doubt be second favourites.

Burnley vs. Burton Albion

New boss Eddie Howe will want to maintain his unbeaten start at Burnley with a win over Burton who are two divisions below them.

The playoff chasers don’t have any fresh injury worries and will go into the game boosted by the 2-1 away win over Portsmouth on Tuesday.

Burton on the other hand beat Championship opposition in Middlesbrough last time out but are battling relegation back to the Blue Square Premier, and don’t have home advantage.

Can they knock out bigger opposition again?

Sheffield Wednesday vs. Hereford Town

Two points out of a possible nine for Wednesday has seen them slide down League One and put boss Alan Irvine under pressure and unsure about his future.

If anything though, Hereford are faring worse, trying to avoid relegation from League Two, but have won their last two matches.

This one looks prime for a giant killing with The Owls in a massive dip and Hereford in form.

Stevenage Borough vs. Reading

Giant Killers Stevenage will be looking to repeat the act over playoff chasing Reading. Since their surprise win over Newcastle Graham Westley’s side have climbed to 11th in League One.

On the other hand Reading are eighth in The Championship and looking good and have a full squad to choose from.

Torquay United vs. Crawley Town

Not the most attractive tie of the round, it’ll take something special for it to be anything but last on the highlights programmes.

Torquay are in intermittent form, which their mid table League Two position shows, but will be favourites to be the lowest ranked side left by the fifth round.

Crawley won’t be easy pickings as they proved in the last round beating Derby, and they top the Blue Square Premier, manager Steve Evans has told them to keep focused.

Watford vs. Brighton and Hove Albion

It’s Championship opposition again for Brighton after they knocked out Portsmouth in the third rounds South Coast derby.

But they did lose to Bournemouth last time out in another South Coast derby, but still remain top of League One.

Watford are one of the many second tier side chasing the playoffs, but will be looking to get into the fifth round after beating Hartlepool in the third.

Southampton vs. Manchester United

Saints reward for beating Premiership side Blackpool in the last round is a lucrative but daunting task of facing Premier League leaders who have only lost one game all season.

It will give Alex Ferguson a chance to run the rule over exciting Saints youngster Alex Oxlade Chamberlain.

It’s likely United will make a host of changes and are without Rafael who suffered concussion mid-week, but should have enough to beat the hosts.

Arsenal vs. Huddersfield Town

The Gunners are clear favourites to win over Lee Clark’s side. League cup finalists, in the title race and in good form with Robin Van Persie firing on all cylinders; it’s a daunting task for the League One side.

The best Huddersfield can really hope for is to hold Arsenal to a draw and take them to a replay.

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Stoke City

Another all Premiership tie, and on paper it doesn’t look to exciting, lowly Wolves taking on long ball Stoke.

Wolves could have new signing Leigh Griffiths making his debut if he signs from Dundee, and they will want a win to take their mind of their low league position.

Stoke could be without Ricardo Fuller who is talking to Sunderland about a move, and
new loan signing John Carew is cup tied. Demba Ba could make his debut.

Notts County vs. Manchester City

The battle of Sven’s former clubs here and City are clear favourites.

Notts County are struggling at the wrong end of League One whereas City and their zillionaire owners will be looking to win anything and everything so expect them to play a strong side.

West Ham United vs. Nottingham Forest

The Hammers will be looking to eradicate the misery of losing their League Cup semi-final by trying to get to Wembley in the FA Cup.

Gary O’Neill is cup tied, and Valon Behrami has moved to Fiorentina.

Forest aren’t a side to be shirked at, another one of the chasing pack in The Championship lying fifth in the division.

With the problems rife at West Ham, Billy Davies’ men could be set to take full advantage.

Fulham vs. Tottenham Hotspurs

Despite the midweek loss at Liverpool, Fulham’s form has improved of late and Gael Kakuta could make his debut after joining from Chelsea on loan for the rest of the season.

It’s touch and go whether Gareth Bale will make the match, but Spurs will be favourites, unbeaten in three games and going good in the league.

Football's Priciest Transfer Flops

2011-01-19T07:12:00.000-08:00

Darren Bent's £18m move to Aston Villa, and the money Manchester City are throwing around show there is still plenty of money in football. Spending vast amounts on players can sometimes buy a team out of trouble, or into the title race.

But sometimes you can spend a fortune on a player, and it turns out to be a huge waste of money, as the list below shows.

1.Juan Sebastian Veron (Lazio – Man Utd £28.1m)

Veron arrived from Italy with a big reputation, deservedly, as one of the world’s best midfield players who was a regular in both the Lazio and Argentina sides. A creative midfielder with brilliant vision and an eye for a pass, he was good enough that United deemed him good enough to be worth the best part of £30m.

Unfortunately Veron failed to settle in the English game, finding it too fast and physical for him. Injury also hampered is United career, and despite backing from Alex Ferguson, fans and media alike blasted his performances.

He spent just two seasons in Manchester before being sold to Chelsea for £15m.

2.Juan Sebastian Veron again (Man United – Chelsea £15m)

Despite two poor seasons at United, Claudio Ranieri thought Veron could make an impression in the Premiership, and shelled out over half of what United had paid two years previously.

His Chelsea career couldn’t have started better, scoring the opener in a 2-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield on his debut. After that game his form steadily dropped and he only played 14 times for the Blues before heading back to Italy with Inter Milan.

3.Denilson (Sao Paulo – Real Betis £21.5m)

When Denilson signed for Spanish side Real Betis in 1998 it was a then record transfer. He came with a big reputation, having performed well for Brazil in the Copa America.

After just one season Betis were relegated and he was loaned back to Brazil. Upon his return he was considered a liability by his clubs fans, a luxury player, his trademark step overs signifying style over substance.

Despite winning the 2002 World Cup with Brazil he was largely considered a failure at Betis, and was sold to PSG in 2005.

Since then he has become somewhat of a journeyman, appearing in France, Saudi Arabia, USA, Brazil, Vietnam and Greece.

4.Serhiy Rebrov (Dynamo Kyiv – Tottenham Hotspur £11m)

Another to move into a big league with a big reputation, Rebrov was one half of Kyiv’s brilliant strike partnership with Andrei Shevchenko. Rebrov was also the all-time top goal scorer in Ukrainian football, and still is.

His prolific goal scoring led to him signing for Spurs in a big money move, seen by Geogre Graham as the man to fire Spurs to glory.

Not fancied by new boss Glenn Hoddle he was farmed out on loan a couple of times, and at the end of his time at White Hart Lane had scored only ten goals in 60 games.

5.Hugo Viana (Sporting Lisbon – Newcastle United £12m)

Many foreign imports fail to make the grade in the Premier League. Some site the weather, others the style of play, the pace and physical nature, some blame the lifestyle and the food.

Hugo Viana fits the bill of a failed foreign import. Newcastle United shelled out a hefty fee for the Portuguese youngster in 2002. He only played 39 times for The Magpies, mostly as a sub, and after three years headed back to Sporting.

6.Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur – Liverpool £19m)

Rafa Benitez bought and sold a lot of players in his time on Merseyside, and many were big disappointments, none more so than the Irishman who once played for Inter Milan.

Whether he was signed as backup to Fernando Torres or as a strike partner is unclear, but after 19 games and five goals he headed back to Spurs. The same season he was sold.

A massive let down at Anfield, Harry Redknapp resigned him for £12m, making a £7m profit in six months. Since his move to Liverpool and back he has looked a shadow of his former self.

7.Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan – Chelsea £30.8m)

Perhaps the most expensive transfer flop of all time, Shevchenko came to Chelsea with a huge reputation after winning trophy after trophy with a brilliant AC Milan side.

But perhaps it was done above Jose Mourinho’s head, as Sheva was said to have been Chelsea chairman Roman Abramovic’s favourite player.

Either way, he never re-created his Milan form, and scored just nine goals for Chelsea, and three years later was back at Dynamo Kyiv.

8.Francis Jeffers (Everton – Arsenal £8m)

Not the most expensive on this list by a long way, he was one of The Gunners most expensive ever signing when he arrived at Highbury in 2001.

A hot prospect from Everton where he had scored 18 goals in 49 games, he was signed by Arsene Wenger to be a typical English goal scorer.

His time was at Arsenal was marred by injury, and the form of Sylvain Wiltord and Thierry Henry. His goal tally never reached double figures for Arsenal and two of his goals came against Farnborough in the FA Cup.

Despite all this, his goal to games ratio for England comes in at a very impressive one goal every 45 minutes.

UEFA'S New Financial Rules A Step In The Right Direction

2011-01-14T11:32:00.000-08:00

Michel Platini is leading the way in controlling footballs out of control finances with UEFA bringing in a set of new rules and regulations that would see clubs living beyond their means banned from European competition.

After almost a decade of foreign sugar daddies buying clubs and chucking vast amounts at the club in a bid to buy success, we have also seen a record number of clubs dive into administration and flirt with liquidation.

Finally this appears to have worried those at UEFA and shaken them into action. They want clubs to be breaking even on all footballing matters over a three year period, so the clubs have time to get their books in order, and the ban from European
competition is a last resort.

It really is time something was done to curtail out of control spending. You’d have thought big football clubs, apparently being run as businesses, with experienced chairmen, chief execs etc. would be able to keep spending under control, but just looking at the piles of debt at Manchester United and Liverpool show that UEFA might just need to take control, or at least keep a closer eye and a firmer hand on things.

The new rules would let a club lose a set amount over the first three seasons, dropping down gradually and eventually reaching zero.

As mentioned earlier, the ban is a last resort, and if a club can prove that they are moving in the right direction, and losses are being reduced year on year, then no sanctions will be taken.

And UEFA have also said any clubs trying to flaunt the new rules, or hiding bad finances will be cracked down on twice as hard.

The new rules are a positive step, less a set in stone rule and more a massive deterrent. With the money a club can bring in from television revenue from The Champions League, they will be sure to keep their books in order.

It should force the owners to become more responsible.

The problem will come the further down the football pyramid you go. There are by far more clubs who won’t consider getting into Europe a manageable aim, there are many who won’t even factor it into the equation at the start of each season. Not just in the lower leagues, but in the top flight as well.

I can’t see QPR, Carlisle or Torquay being too put off about living beyond their means with the threat of being banned from European competition looming over them, it just doesn’t affect them.

UEFA need to come up with a plan to stop all professional clubs in all European countries from making a loss and coming close to rack and ruin. Or at least work with their member countries FA’s to come up with a plan of action.

The current way of deducting points for a club going into administration doesn’t work. It pretty much condemns a club to relegation, or no chance to compete within their division that season.

It’s hard to say what would be the best way forward. Perhaps a transfer embargo, which would stop a club spending more on players and wages. A wage cap would be another alternative, with only a certain percentage of a clubs turnover being allowed to be spent on wages.

UEFA have taken a big step in the right direction, but they need to look after the whole of football, and not just those dining at the top table.

Premier League a Closed Shop For Managers

2011-01-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

Diego Maradona has said this week that in February he will be winging his way to England to have talks with an un-named top flight club about becoming manager, with Blackburn and Fulham rumoured as his likely destination.

The Premiership appears to be a closed shop to lower league managers. They are constantly over looked in favour of foreign bosses with a nice sounding name who looks good in a suit, the former top flight pro, or one of the managers, that regardless of how well they do are able to pick up a job in the top flight with little scrutiny over recent failures.

Out of the twenty top flight teams, seven are managed by oversees managers, and with caretakers in at Blackburn and Liverpool, they are both likely to have a foreign boss by the summer.

This is a massive slap in the face to those home-grown managers working away in the lower leagues who are often working on tight budgets.

Working on tight budgets means they can’t be accused of buying success like Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini. Without the means to bring in the players they want but still having success is a testament to their coaching and man management abilities.

Clubs have been looking away from these shores for their managers for the best part over a decade now, and rarely do they bring success. Discounting the likes of Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez, who all came to the Premier League with big reputations and fantastic C.V.’s foreign managers have largely been a flop.

Juande Ramos, Gianfranco Zola, Avram Grant, Jean Tigana, Luis Felipe Scolari, Alain Perrin, Gerard Houllier (not at Liverpool) have all been flops, and probably pricey ones at that.

Chairmen still prefer to go for the foreign option, or pick an ex top flight player like Alan Shearer and Paul Ince, or with one of the few English managers that always seemed to be linked with available top flight jobs, like Alan Curbishley.

Worryingly it seems the penchant for a oversees boss is seeping into the lower leagues itself, with Roberto Di Matteo, Paulo Sousa, Sven Goran Eriksson, and Gus Poyet all having taken jobs in The Championship and League One in the last couple of seasons.

It seems that the only way for a British manager from outside the top flight to break into it is via promotion, like Ian Holloway, Steve Coppell and Phil Brown, and they struggle to last more than a couple of years.

Even if they keep their side in the Premiership, almost always against the odds, they rarely seem to be linked with vacant jobs at more established Premiership sides.

The major reason behind this could be tactical. The chairmen may be looking for a more continental style of football, something that will be more attractive to the fans. They probably think that the lower leagues are still all kick and rush, route one hoof ball.

It isn’t quite the case anymore. Plenty of managers in the lower leagues play good football, and have proved themselves adaptable to different situations.

Maybe they think managers coming out of a lower division, without a big reputation won’t be able to handle, or command respect from the super star prima donna’s of the Premiership.

Another plus point for a chairman, especially at a time when money is tight, is that taking a boss from Huddersfield or Norwich will probably be cheaper than taking one from Germany, Italy or Spain.

Take Eddie Howe, the most wanted man in the Football League it seems. Any club without anyone at the helm is after the Bournemouth boss. With less money than an Irish bank he has taken Bournemouth from teetering on the brink of non-league with a points deduction to a top two spot in League One. Playing some good football at the same time.

Nigel Adkins and Leek Clark are British managers doing well in League One, while the likes of Paul Lambert, Simon Grayson, Dave Jones and Malky Mackay are all doing well in The Championship, while Neil Warnock looks likely to bring his QPR side to the Premiership.

Most of the aforementioned sides play decent football, keeping the ball on the deck rather than resorting to booting it to a target man.

Are they being linked with the vacant spot at Blackburn? Will they be on the shortlist to take over at Upton Park or Villa Park if and when these jobs become available? It’s very unlikely.

Should they be? Yes!

If they aren’t, where will the next England boss come from? The FA has stated they want to go English after Capello leaves. After what happened to Roy Hodgson at Liverpool, there are now three candidates from the top flight: Harry Redknapp, Sam Allardyce and Steve Bruce, after that…nothing.

It’s time that Premier League chairmen stopped looking abroad for managers, after all, would Diego Maradona really do better at Ewood Park that Eddie Howe or Paul Lambert?

It's A Funny Old Brain - A Look At Some Of Football's Complete Nutters

2010-12-21T15:39:00.000-08:00

ANDY GORAM

A brilliant keeper for Rangers in the 1990’s, Goram also enjoyed a brief loan spell with Manchester United. He won 43 caps for his country, and represented Scotland at cricket. Goram was also a sufferer of schizophrenia.

The mental illness is nothing to laugh about, but it did lead to one of the more witty football chants ever heard. ‘There’s only two Andy Gorams’.

EDMUNDO

Unfortunately for the man himself, Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto won’t be remembered for his 39 caps and 10 goals for Brazil, but for changing clubs more than Lee Westwood, and getting a chimp pissed.

Back in 1999, on his sons first birthday, Edmundo hired a carnival, that carnival included an impressionable young monkey named Pedrinho. Rumours came out that Edmundo was getting little Pedrinho drunk, and pictures appeared of Edmundo giving him beer.

Amid attempted prosecution by animal welfare groups, the former Fiorentina striker proved the false.

‘The Animal’ has also avoided a prison sentence despite causing a car crash that killed three of his passengers, receiving a seven day suspended sentence.

Edmundo played for an astonishing 15 clubs in his career, putting forward a case to be named ‘Best Journeyman Ever’, despite falling out with pretty much all of them, some invited him back for a second spell.

He also had a long running feud with Romario, all started by Romario scribbling cartoons of Edmundo on a toilet door.

After retiring The Animal chanced his arm at being a policeman in 2008, before sticking to media work.

PAUL GASCOIGNE

Gazza might well have had more second chances than he has had second pints. Clearly a suffer of many demons, including alcoholism, but has provided many hilariously bonkers moments throughout his eventful career.

He caused laughs after having his balls squeezed by Vinnie Jones, wearing a pair of fake plastic tits, and putting on a long flowing wig for training to welcome new team mate David Ginola.

While at Rangers, he booked a ref who had dropped his yellow card. The official failed to see the funny side and in turn booked Gascoigne.

In 2004, he announced he was combining his initial and his favourite team number, and wished to be referred as G8.

One of his more mental moments caused a massive furore while at Rangers. In a Derby that goes beyond football, with two clubs separated by religion. After notching against Celtic, Gascoigne mimicked playing a flute, an action which has historical connotations and enraged Celtic fans. He received a £20,000 fine in what was his second worst PR stunt.

His worst PR stunt came in July 2009. Picture the scene, murderer and fugitive Raoul Moat surrounded by armed police, large areas cordoned off, and a media presence that only a Royal Wedding could rival.

Up turns Gazza, clearly having drunk a fair few Stella’s with a survival kit Ray Mears could only dream of. A bucket of chicken, a couple of tinnies, a fishing rod, and a dressing gown, claiming he could talk one of Britain’s most dangerous men into giving himself up.

Strangely enough, the police didn’t take him up on his offer.

While there are probably other stories that haven’t been mentioned, Paul Gascoigne is a man who the public must be running out of patience with. His antics are becoming less something to laugh about and more of a tragedy.

CARLOS ROA

As Gazza proved, one thing that can make you go mental is booze. Another is religion, demonstrated by former Argentina international goal keeper Carlos Roa.

Roa was his countries hero against England at France ’98, saving the crucial penalty. The following season he was rumoured to be heading to Manchester United or Arsenal, but instead made a completely different move, leaving Real Mallorca for a commune, nursing small rodents back to health and generally waiting for the world at the coming of the new Millennium.

Being a Seven Day Adventist, his belief of the approaching apocalypse meant he didn’t even re-negotiate his contract, he didn’t see the point. Mallorca were unlikely to have a side after the rapture.

Take a look outside, it’s pretty evident that the world didn’t end. Roa was wrong, but somehow managed to play again for Real Mallorca, but was mostly used as back up.

DAVID ICKE

If you think that Roa believing the end of the world was imminent and giving up football was mental, then David Icke’s belief that the Royal Family are shape shifting lizards take insanity to a brand new level.

Icke only managed a five year football career, four with Coventry City and one with Herford United, details of his career are hard to find, but he did have to retire at the age of 21 due to arthritis.

Since leaving the beautiful game Icke has found a new way of entertaining crowds of thousands, and has become one of the world’s most prominent voices in conspiracy theories.

He once claimed in an interview with Terry Wogan that he was the Son of God, that there is a secret government trying to start a New World Order, that among others George Bush, Queen Elizabeth and George Lucas are shape shifting reptiles.

He states that the line in Star Wars ‘That’s no moon, it’s a space station’ is him, and the rest of the lizards, laughing at the general public, because our moon is in fact a space station.

Basically, all the far out, crazy conspiracy theories you have ever heard, Icke believes, and sells out lecture tours spouting his bonkers beliefs to sell out crowds.

2010-12-17T04:58:00.000-08:00

Today’s Champions League draw sees both North London sides face tricky ties, while Manchester United and Chelsea face somewhat easier tasks.

ARSENAL – BARCELONA

The Gunners will take on the side they like to imitate in Spain’s table toppers Barca. Pep Guardiola’s side have been brilliant this season, including a 5-0 embarrassment of their biggest rivals Real Madrid at The Nou Camp.

Lionel Messi has been better than ever before, if that’s even possible, they concede few goals, and winning the ball from their midfield is extremely difficult.

On the other hand, Arsenal have been ok, they are still within touching distance of the top of the Premier League, but after Manchester United beat them at home, it’s obvious they struggle to beat the best sides.

Arsenal’s biggest problem is that they seem to lack a Plan B, if their nice passing football doesn’t work, they lack an alternative.

It’s hard to see past Barcelona for this one, and a bigger worry for them could be Cesc Fabregas becoming over-awed with his suitors and wanting to move away from The Emirates even more.

AC MILAN – TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Spurs did brilliantly to top their group ahead of Inter Milan in their first season in the Champions League, and their reward is another trip to the San Siro, this time to face AC.

Harry Redknapp’s side impressed in Milan, losing narrowly 4-3, largely thanks to Gareth Bale, and beating Inter at home, but Rafa Benitez’ side is a shadow of the one that won last years Champions League under Jose Mourinho.

Spurs are a threat to anyone in front of goal, and Gareth Bale is in phenomenal form, but AC are just as much of an attacking threat, with an attacking quartet of Robinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato.
Tottenham are also dodgy in defence, and concede a fair few goals.

You’d expect Milan to win, but it’s by no means as easy as some might think.

MARSEILLE – MANCHESTER UNITED

Manchester United could have faced harder challenges, especially considering Marseille have disappointed in Ligue 1 this season, finding themselves in fifth place.

On the other hand, United have only lost one game this season, their reserves taking a hammering against West Ham in the league cup. One defeat despite not playing anywhere near their best.

United do have goals in them, especially if Wayne Rooney can find form before the ties are played, and look fairly steady at the back considering the early season frailties.

Marseille shouldn’t be completely written off, with quality players like Loic Remy, Lucho Gonzalez, Andre-Pierre Gignac and former United defender Gabriel Heinze.

FC COPENHAGEN – CHELSEA

The Blue have by far the easiest tie of all the English sides, heading to Denmark for the first leg before the return at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are struggling to find form in the league this season, dropping points in many games they should be winning, a misfiring Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka and a crocked Frank Lampard not helping matters.

However their rivals should be easily swept aside. The first Danish side to reach this stage finished runner up to Barcelona in the group stage, but were in a poor group, the other teams being Rubin Kazan and Panathiaikos.

Even if Chelsea are under performing, they should beat the Danes with relative ease.

Elsewhere Roma take on Ukrainians’ Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan take on Bayern Munich in a replay of last seasons final, Valencia take on German’s Schalke and Lyon face a tricky tie against Real Madrid.

FIFA'S Legacy. Can it Work?

2010-12-15T07:19:00.001-08:00

If you strip away the accusations of corruption and bribery within FIFA, then the idea to of Sepp Blatter’s to spread football around the world and leave a legacy is a good idea in principle. Why should the game be confined to the established footballing nations, mostly in Western Europe and South America?

Football is a global game, with fans in every country, and just because a nation doesn’t have a strong national team, or a high profile league, should they be denied sports biggest event, and have the infrastructure and legacy left behind to develop football massively.

In principle it is a good idea, but many ideas in principle are. In practice it might not be that successful. Look at the last World Cups that have been held outside of footballs ‘top table’, there have been a few recently. South Korea/Japan,

South Africa and USA, all have had varying degrees of success and failure, but you can easily argue none have had the impact, and left the legacy that FIFA both wanted and expected.

USA ’94 opened with Diana Ross, scuffing a penalty wide. ‘Soccer’ in America since has been much the same, all for show, but a laughable end product.

For the 1994 World Cup, USA outbid Brazil and Morocco to host. Without a domestic league, FIFA stipulated that one of the provisos for hosting would the creation of one, and the MLS was born two years later in 1996.

The stature of football has improved since 1994, more Americans play it than ever before, and the national team has improved a bit since.

But for those looking in from abroad, it’s a strange way for the game to function. Like other American sports, the MLS includes draft picks and franchises, teams moving city and changing names.

Stadia are plentiful and facilities are good, but the stadiums don’t often sell out, and most Americans still prefer American Football, Baseball, Basketball and even Ice Hockey to Soccer. Despite David Beckham’s best will to make the sport big in the U.S. it still isn’t. A lot of the public don’t care about or ‘get’ football.

Japan and Korea or ‘Japorea’ in 2002 was slightly more successful for the host nations. Before being awarded the tournament back in 1996, Japan had never qualified for a World Cup, but made it to France 1998.

The tournament also allowed both countries to build many new stadiums and facilities from scratch, intended for ongoing use after the tournament.

Football is massive in that part of Asia, but it seems to focus on the support of European sides, especially the likes of Manchester United, so the new stadia built for 2002, all of which are over 40,000 in capacity, fail to reach capacity and often go unused.

Again, FIFA has not quite left the legacy it would have liked.

Moving to South Africa, this summer they hosted the first World Cup in Africa, and did a brilliant job, fears over safety proved unfounded, and the stadia were built on time despite the concerns of others that some would still be building sites come last June. The only downfall was the incessant noise of the vuvuzela.

But most of the new stadia are being unused or underused, massive stadiums aren’t being filled because of lack of interest, or expensive ticket prices, so some are now racking up debts, the upkeep costing a lot of money.

The infrastructure needed also cost $3.6 billion, way over budget and the recouped less than expected, due in part to around 150,000 less supporters visiting the tournament than expected.

So despite all the best intentions of FIFA, a country with not much interest in football, especially domestic football, poor domestic leagues tend not to leave a legacy or at least a legacy to the extent FIFA and the host nation want.

It’s nothing to do with the state of a country, how rich or poor a nation is, it’s down to having a history of football. A history and a love of the game, the two combined meaning football is ingrained into that nation’s society.
England, France, Germany and Holland/Belgium have hosted brilliant tournaments recently, and ‘poorer countries’ such as Mexico, Chile, and Brazil have all done in the past. Nothing to do with national wealth (although it will help) but all to do with the countries love of football.

The two newest World Cup hosts, Russia and Qatar typify the differences between nations with a love and history of football, and those who don’t.

Removing all the allegations and rumours regarding bribery and corruption surrounding these two countries successful bids, you can see why Russia may be suitable to host a World Cup, but struggle to see why Qatar is suitable.

Both have problems with infrastructure, racism/homophobia and weather, but in Russia football is hugely popular, from the oligarchs who buy clubs, to the strong national league, and huge amount of support from the countries people.

In Qatar, they have a poorly supported national league with a small reputation, they have hardly any stadiums, and most people would struggle to name one Qatari player, let alone a team full.

They may put on a good show for a month, and will throw more money than sense at the tournament, but after the final, when everyone packs up and goes home, will anyone in Qatar care? Will it stay in the memory for long? And will the national team, and the countries club sides start to improve vastly?

Judging by previous tournaments, it doesn’t seem likely.

So while FIFA’s idea of spreading football around the globe and leaving a legacy behind may seem like a noble idea, and a good one, in practice it doesn’t work. Maybe football should be left to the ones who do it best.

Homesick Tevez to walk out on City?

2010-12-13T07:45:00.000-08:00

The Beatles once sang ‘I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love’ and it would seem that Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez shares their sentiments after handing in a transfer request over the weekend.

Tevez has cited a break down in relations between certain individuals at Manchester City as the main reason behind the request, which has been rejected by his club.

He has often stated how homesick he is, in part because his family are back in his native Argentina. He has also on many occasions said how fed up he is with football, that he feels tired and burnt out. Tevez has also gone as far to say ‘there's my family, the desire to return to Boca Juniors, but I think about it. It crosses my mind to hang up my boots if we win the World Cup.’

Retirement, even at the young age of 25, has crossed his mind many times, and it would be a major shock if he gave up everything and returned home. However, when you read more from the same interview, it doesn’t sound impossible

"I'm a bit tired of so much football, so much football. I want to enjoy my family a bit. I'm very keen to stop and get a bit of calm. I've already won a lot. Living for football has saturated me."

Rumours are now abounding that he has threatened to retire if Manchester City don’t let him leave in January, and that he wanted to leave back in the summer.
So does Tevez really want to go home? It sounds like it. He has won everything going while at Manchester United, he is yet to master the English language, and doesn’t seem to have adapted to living in England yet.

It is possible that despite all the money he is earning, and despite being one of the best strikers in the Premiership (33 goals in 50 games) he isn’t happy. It must be hard living so far away from your family, and if you don’t like where you live, and aren’t enjoying your job, it won’t be long before you become fed up.

If he really does want to go back to Argentina, and play there, it won’t be easy. Boca won’t be able to afford a transfer fee to bring him away from City, and if quits City, he will end up paying hefty compensation.

Are personal problems the reason for him wanting to leave, or has Tevez seen what Rooney managed at Manchester United earlier this season, and is forcing the Sheik’s arm for more money. Given that his agent is the notorious Kira Joorabchian, and the amount of money Man City are paying their players, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if in a month, after some quick negotiations, Tevez announced he was staying put.

The other option is that he simply wants out of City, maybe because he doesn’t think they are good enough to challenge for major honours, maybe because he’s fallen out with people at the club, or maybe because he thinks he would be happier playing in a different country where he could settle better.

Of course, all of the above is just speculation, and we won’t know what Tevez and Joorabchian’s motives are until a decision is made one way or another.

But news of Tevez’s transfer request has sparked the interest of Europe’s top clubs and Tottenham, so he will have no shortage of suitors if he did decide to leave.

Unfortunately if Tevez does leave these shores, we will never see these scenes again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ge7pJW2t3E

Sporting Comebacks - The Best and Worst

2010-12-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

After being out batted and out bowled for the best part of two tests, Australia look like they could be on to a humiliating Ashes defeat on their own soil, the first since 1987. After changing their squad already after the first test, Aussie captain Ricky Ponting must be open to any suggestions to get his side back into the series.

One rumoured solution is Australia legend Shane Warne coming out of retirement in a bid to help his country. If the unlikely happens, and Warne does appear in this series, it could either be one of the greatest sporting comebacks ever, or with any luck one of the more hilariously embarrassing ones.

So let’s take a look at some others who have come out of sporting retirement, those who fancied one more chance at glory, the ones that did well, and the ones that failed spectacularly.

THE GOOD

STEVEN CARR

The Irish defender had a decent, if unremarkable Premiership career, playing first for Tottenham, and then Newcastle, impressing many with performances from right back, earning 39 caps for the Republic of Ireland and only missing out on the 2002 World Cup through injury.

However at the end of the 2007/08 season, Carr was released by Newcastle, after failing to find fitness, and Habib Beye performing well in his position. Despite a number of rumoured offers from top flight clubs and a trial with then League One Leicester City Carr announced his retirement on the first of December 2008.

However in February of last year, Carr began training with Birmingham City, and after being awarded an initial one month deal, he made the right back position his own. After helping his side to promotion he signed a new two year deal, and has occasionally stood in as captain, continuing to perform well in the Premier League.

MICHAEL VICK

There are a few things that can attempt to force a sportsman into retirement, serious injury is one, and being sent to prison is another.

Which is exactly what happened to former Atlanta Falcon’s quarter back Michael Vick. In 2007 he pleaded guilty to his involvement in an illegal dog fighting ring, was banned by the NFL, imprisoned for 21 months, and with the loss of his salary and endorsements declared bankrupt in July 2008.

Once he was released from prison, and his NFL suspension had expired, he was signed up by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009. Since then he has become their starting quarter backs, thanks to good form, and a trade of the first choice quarter back Donovan McNabb. After having everything, then having it all taken away, it would have been easy to give up, but Vick has made a success out of a career that looked to be in ruin.

MICHAEL JORDAN

The greatest basketball player of all time, one of the worlds most recognizable
sportsmen and co-star of Space Jam, Jordan has retired twice, and come back twice, both to relative success.

His first retirement from the Chicago Bulls came in October 1993, when he went to try is hand at baseball, which didn’t really go very well. But in 1995, with the Bulls struggling, Jordan announced his comeback with a simple press release ‘I’m back.’

Over the next four years he lead his team to vast improvements, and eventually their sixth NBA championship, as well as winning numerous MVP awards, breaking records and often winning games virtually on his own.

Retiring again in 1999, everyone assumed Jordan’s career was finished as a player, but in September 2001 he made a second return to basketball with the Washington Wizards. This comeback was somewhat less successful. Despite turning 40 in his time with the Wizards, he continued to perform reasonably well, but no-where near his best, hindered by poor team-mates and injuries, his side failed to reach the playoffs.

He retired for the third and final time in April 2003, leaving behind a legacy that is near impossible to surpass.

LANCE ARMSTRONG

At the age of 25 Armstrong was already a successful cyclist, winning two Tour De France stages and had won the US National Cycling Championship and World Cycling Championship. At the age of 25 Armstrong also suffered the personal tragedy of being diagnosed with testicular cancer.

The cancer spread to his lungs, brain and abdomen, and he was given a 40% chance of survival. Eventually the cancer went into remission and he made a brave and remarkable recovery.

But this didn’t seem to be enough. Less than two years after his diagnosis he began training for competitive cycling again. Lance Armstrong went on to win an astonishing seven Tour De France titles between 1999 and 2005.

THE BAD

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

There seems to be something about the name Michael and comebacks. Michael Schumacher is arguably the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time, winning eight championships between 1994 and 2004 with Bennaton and then Ferrai.

After a glittering career, he retired in 2006. There was talk of him replacing an injured Felipe Massa in 2009, although this never came to fruition.

But in 2010 he did make a comeback with Mercedes GP, who had taken over Brawn GP.
The returning Schumacher was a shadow of his former self, and for the first time since 1991 didn’t secure a pole position, a win, or a fastest lap. After such a poor showing, maybe he just should have stayed retired.

BJORN BORG

One of the all time tennis greats, the Swede is a former world number one and won 11 Grand Slams, and Wimbledon five times in a row, a record shared with Roger Federer., and four consecutive French Opens, a record recently equalled by Rafael Nadal.
Despite being 26, and a fantastic player, Borg retired in 1983, which came as a massive shock to the sport.

But in the early 90’s he mounted an attempted comeback, and flopped spectacularly. Imagine how badly someone could flop and multiply it by 20.
Attempting to play with old fashioned wooden rackets didn’t help; it’d be like David Beckham trying to score from a free kick with one of the old heavy footballs used in the 1930’s.

Between 1991 and 1993 Borg lost twelve consecutive first round matches in ATP tour events, a record Federer and Nadal are unlikely to equal. In 1993 he retired for good, sticking to the senior tour and his own clothing label.

GEORGE BEST

George Best is one of the best footballers ever to have graced a pitch, his performances excited many, and he one everything going in his time at Manchester United.

To his detriment, Besty was as good at drinking as he was at football, and in part, this lead to him leaving Manchester United in 1974, aged just 27.

He then began to mount a number of comebacks, some successful some less so. He recovered some form with Fulham between 1976 and 1977, but also turned out for The Jewish Guild (South Africa), Cork Celtic, LA Aztecs, San Jose Earthquakes, Detroit Express, Hibernian, Bournemouth, and Brisbane Lions, rarely reaching the heights of his United career and often only a managing a handful of games for the aforementioned teams.

While his United career will be remembered for his fantastic performances, the latter stages will have Best remembered as a shadow of his former self, troubled by personal problems.

While Best will be remembered among the best players of all time, he is undoubtedly the best journeyman football ever.

ZINEDINE ZIDANE

Zidane will be remembered for two things, being the best footballer of a generation, and the 2006 World Cup Final.

Everyone knows how good Zidane was, the most influential player at Juventus and Real Madrid, as well as France during his illustrious career.

After France lost to Greece in the Euro 2004 quarter final, the mercurial Frenchman announced his international retirement, along with veterans Bixente Lizarazu, Marcel Desially, Claude Makalele and Lilian Thuram.
But with France struggling to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Zidane answered his countries call and made an international comeback, and was given the captains armband instantly.

Zizou, and fellow comeback ‘kids’ Thuram and Makalele turned France around and the qualified top of their group.

On the run to the 2006 final, Zidane scored crucial goals against Spain and Portugal, and set up the winner for Thierry Henry against Brazil, before being named player of the tournament, before the final.

H had announced his retirement from football after his Real Madrid contract ended that summer, so the final was set to be the legends final game. Ever.

So you’d assume that he would shine in the final, lead France to victory and complete an amazing return to international football. This probably would have happened if it wasn’t for Italy’s sometime defender and full time wind up merchant Marco Materazzi.

What Materazzi said to Zidane will remain a mystery, but rumour has it, it was about his mother or sister. Anyway, in the 110th minute the comment lead to Zidane head butting Materazzi in the chest, and receiving his marching orders.
France went on to lose to Italy on penalties and what could have been the perfect end his career, ended up being the complete opposite.

Disagree with any? Missed anyone out? Let me know, post a comment, or tweet @StevePN86

Beckham's knighthood on hold, Russia to host 2018

2010-12-02T10:14:00.000-08:00

Russia will host the World Cup for the first time in 2018 after beating bids from England, Spain/Portugal and Holland/Belgium at today’s announcement in Zurich.

It will come as a big shock to many in England, as well as many in the other losing countries, but is the award of football, maybe even sports greatest spectacle to Russia justified, and where, if anywhere, did England’s bid fail?

The strongest points of Russia’s bid seemed to be Russia becoming a world power again, they represent Eastern Europe, they have a huge population, and are a football loving country, and it will help improve Russian footballs infrastructure, as well as the fact they have never hosted it before.

All are valid points, and are had to argue against. For a country of their size, and undoubted love of football, they should host it, and you can’t doubt that the money pumped into Russia because of the tournament will make improvements.

It seems with Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 FIFA are looking to spread the game around the globe, giving tournaments to nations that haven’t previously held it, and making the game more global.

The biggest issue with Russia hosting the World Cup is that racism is a big problem in their football. Just ask West Brom striker Peter Odemwinge. Suffering abuse throughout his time in the country, his own clubs fans unveiled a banner saying ‘Thank You West Brom’ accompanied by a picture of a banana.

With people from all races, religions and backgrounds converging on the country for a month or so, and the eyes of the world upon them, this could well cause problems.
Ok, they have eight years to overcome the issue, but will they be able to solve something that is so deeply routed into their society.

If there are problems like that within your country and within your countries football, you should be eliminated from the bidding process.

Of course, with two oil rich countries hosting the next two World Cups, talk of bribes, backhanders and corruption will be rife, especially with the scrutiny FIFA are coming under, and while Russia seems justifiable, Qatar doesn’t.

No love of the game, no history in it, no recognizable players, and no previous appearances in the World Cup. Many bidding nations talk about improving their infrastructure, stadiums and so on. Qatar doesn’t have anything to improve. It tells you something doesn’t it?

Plus alcohol is banned in Qatar. What kind of lunatic sanctions a tournament in 100+ degrees heat and a fan can’t have a cold beer to cool down. Madness.

So what went wrong with England’s bid? The answer, with the bid at least, could well be nothing. England have the stadiums, the transport networks, the history, the accommodation, the facilities, the love of the game, the desire to host it, and a plan of how to use any monies earned to improve football within England.

In the run up to the announcement, in the days and weeks leading up to it, it did seem there was too much focus on The Politician, The Prince and The Player. At times, the media appeared to overstate the importance of David Beckham, David Cameron, and Prince William being in Zurich, rather than concentrating and promoting our solid bid as well as, pointlessly lambasting Russian president Vladimir Putin for not attending the vote. The attendance of celebrities and high profile politicians win you votes.

Rumours are rife that FIFA president Sepp Blatter warned committee members about the media before today’s vote. Could it be that the English media’s stories about corruption within footballs governing body cost England votes?

You would think so wouldn’t you, whether guilty or innocent of the alleged crimes and indiscretion, you aren’t going to take lightly about being accused of it. If you were accused of something of that nature by somebody associated with someone you are voting for or against, you would probably vote against them.

So the BBC and Panorama, The Times (although they found evidence of corruption which led to the firing of two committee members, maybe this upset and annoyed their former colleagues.) and The Daily Mail, could all have contributed to England only gaining two votes out of twenty two.

Of course, after these stories and documentaries, rumours of corruption will hang in the air, particularly in the English press, and while you can see where they are coming from, with no evidence you have to accept the decisions made by FIFA.

El Classico preview

2010-11-23T09:23:00.000-08:00

Barcelona and Real Madrid, two giants of both the Spanish and the world game come face to face on Monday night at The Nou Camp.

The rivalry may be just about the biggest between two teams from different cities. Both sides have between them dominated the Spanish game, the majority of league titles being shared between the two.

And as usual Real Madrid and Barcelona occupy the two top spots in La Liga, this time Madrid top the table going into the game a point clear of their Catalan rivals in first place.

But Barcelona warmed up for their biggest game of the season in style, hammering lowly Almeria 8-0 away in their last match. Lionel Messi struck a fine hat trick which will be giving the Real defenders sleepless nights, while Bojan bagged a brace.

Cristiano Ronaldo, not wanting to be outdone by the mercurial Argentine attacker scored a hat trick of his own as his side swept aside Athletic Bilbao at the Bernabeu. Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Ramos scored the other goals as they ended up 5-1 winners.

So with both sides in such good form, and just a point separating them, it’s hard to pick a winner from the two. Barcelona have the majority of Spain’s World Cup winning side, and under Pep Guardiola have won everything in recent years and are current Spanish champions.

But Real the vast amount of the rest of the Spain’s winning side, and have come on leaps and bounds under Jose Mourinho, often winning with flair and by many goals, but solving defensive problems that have blighted them for the last few seasons.

Barca have the home advantage, which could be all that separates the two sides, and who ever wins will have the metal edge, top spot in the league and bragging rights, quite possibly until the return fixture later on in the season.

Barca have also won the last four encounters between the two sides in the league, Real last beating them in May 2008, so are the form team between the two.

Woe for Capello. Shearer is not a fan

2010-11-23T06:32:00.000-08:00

Lets start by saying sorry this is about a week late, but being asked to write it for a website, I thought I'd stick it on my blog as well.

It’s been almost a week since France passed and played England off the park at Wembley. Despite a late Peter Crouch goal, sparking a minor upturn in performance, the Three Lions were largely woeful and shown up by a technically and tactically better side.

This was by no means a brilliant France side either. 3 months ago they were in more turmoil than England, after failing to get out of their World Cup group, a player strike, a change of manager and bans for every player that were at the World Cup due to the aforementioned strike.

Many of the squad weren’t first team regulars at the World Cup; some didn’t even go to South Africa at all.

Much of the criticism is being aimed at Fabio Capello, considerably more than what is being aimed at the players, who were underperforming long since Capello turned up.

Alan Shearer has been open and frank with his views on the Italian, saying

"Fabio's been here for two-and-a-half-years and I'm not sure we've actually gone
forward in that time,"

"If every England player was fit, I'm not sure that he'd know what system he wanted or what team he wanted to play."

Now, in those two and a half years, England qualified for a tournament with ease, more than can be said about the Euro 2008 campaign under Steve McClaren. That has to be a step forward of sorts. However the side not just went out to a good Germany side, but played woefully in all four games they took part in, scoring just three goals in the process.

England haven’t really gone forward under the Italian, but neither have they gone backwards. If you look at how our national side performs at tournaments, they have one win, a couple of semis, and the rest ranges between failure to qualify and quarter finals.

So it seems harsh to lay the blame for not moving forward at Capello’s door. Many others have tried, Graham Taylor, Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan, Sven Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren, none of those could take the team forward, Bobby Robson and Terry Venables could reach credible semi finals at best.

The most annoying thing about 2010 was the abject performances out in by the side, and the apparent lack of ideas in the side. They looked poor, unmotivated, demoralised and clueless. At least with the majority of the previously mentioned managers the England side were knocked out by misfortune, on penalties, or by putting up a good fight to what proved to be a better team.

Which leads into Shearer’s second point, it does seem that MR Capello doesn’t know his best team, or doesn’t trust certain players. Recalling Jamie Carragher and trying to bring back Paul Scholes shows what little faith he had in the players available to him. Not playing Peter Crouch when he has a brilliant scoring record at international record, at times preferring the likes of Jay Bothroyd, Carlton Cole and Bobby Zamora to the lanky Spurs striker.

One of the first things the former AC Milan and Real Madrid said was that he would pick players on form. This begs the question why he continues to pick Gareth Barry, Glen Johnson, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, among others.
They have been out of form for a fair portion of the time he’s been in charge, yet still get games, when there are a lot of players who are performing very well at club level.

Shearer then tries to blame Capello for players not being technically good enough, which surely lies far away from his jurisdiction. Capello just gets the best of what the nation has; technical ability and nous should be being taught much before they are reaching the national team.

(For the record, although it’s a different topic altogether, I don’t think the England players are technically bad. I doubt there are any players who play for England who can’t shoot, pass short or long, tackle etc, but they are more tactically unaware. They don’t know when to pass or shoot, or when to make a run, where the space is, and so on.)

Another criticism aimed at Capello is his failure to learn and grasp the English language. Emphasised by getting his assistant, Franco Baldini, to make two important phone calls, one to Paul Scholes, and the other to David Beckham.

Surely not being fluent in a language is going to hamper communication with your players, and mean you can’t get your message across properly, if the players can’t understand you, how can they carry out your instructions to the letter?

Capello has won the lot at club level, and has a very impressive CV, he doesn’t become a bad manager overnight, but something isn’t right. Despite qualifying at a canter for the World Cup, his tenure has been wrought with poor performances and defeats against the best sides around. He has gone back on his word and contradicted himself a fair few times.

He hasn’t removed some of the dead wood from the World Cup, still picking those who consistently flop, and still overlooking some of the promising youngsters and fringe players.

Not all the blame can be put on him, ultimately the players, who are paid a lot and regarded highly when plying their trade for their clubs, are playing woefully at times in the white shirts of England, and the media still build the team up, and knock them back down, and put to much pressure on them.

But with Capello saying he will leave after Euro 2012, maybe it’s time to get rid now, and give the new man four years to prepare for the next world cup, and plan for the future.

Reffing Hell - Scotland's refs to strike

2010-11-22T08:19:00.000-08:00

Finally, after about a couple of decades, something interesting and newsworthy has happened in the terminal bore fest that is Scottish football. No, Celtic or Rangers haven’t won the league before Christmas, and a team outside of the Old Firm haven’t taken the title. The Scottish Referees Association members have voted on strike.

Next weekends games could be postponed if things aren’t resolved soon. The problems started in the game between Celtic and Dundee United, where Celtic were awarded a penalty, then had the decision over turned. The referee in question admitted to lying over why he changed his mind, and the linesman involved quit officiating altogether.

Since then Celtic’s Gary Hooper has claimed referees are looking to give decisions against his side, Scottish politicians, SNP sports minister Peter Wishart included, have had nothing better to do than comment on the matter, some stating that the officials should openly declare who they support.

The problem appears to be two fold. The officials think they are coming in for too
much criticism from fans, managers and players. The other problem is that the referees say that on top of the criticism, they themselves, and their families have received unwanted abuse and even death threats.

The problem has got completely out of hand, and it needs the SFA, the officials and the clubs to pull together and resolve the situation as soon as possible.
With regards to the criticism the referees are getting, maybe they are being a bit precious. Referees will always get stick for the decisions they make. They will often make wrong decisions, they are only human. Managers, players and fans need to accept that refs won’t get everything right, and refs need to accept that if they balls up, they will get stick for it, it comes with the territory.

However, maybe the players and managers need to think before they open their mouths. Celtic have been particularly guilty in this case of accusing referees of being biased and unfair. That’s a pretty big accusation to make.

It’s one thing being angry with a referee and publically saying you think he got a decision wrong, it’s another thing entirely to accuse them of deliberately giving decisions against you, and intentionally awarding free kicks, penalties and so on to your opponents.

It may also help if referees and this doesn’t just apply to Scotland, were allowed or encouraged to conduct post match interviews to explain any decisions they have given. Even if their explanations aren’t satisfactory, it would at least let people see the referee’s point of view.

You can’t absolve the referees of criticism completely though. Dougie McDonald, the ref who ignited this spark by lying about his decision to over turn a penalty he had given in the Celtic v Dundee United game, has only been warned about the accuracy of his match reports after an SFA investigation.

Now if a referee has openly admitted to lying about something as important as a penalty decision, shouldn’t he be punished more severely? It’s no wonder people are annoyed, players get booked for celebrating with their fans, managers pick up a fine for criticising a ref, but officials get a minor slap across the wrist for lying to football as a whole.

Double standards?

If however the refs and their families are getting death threats and personal abuse, as is being claimed, then those doing it have gone too far, it’s completely unnecessary, pathetic and unjustified, after all, it is just a game. If the threats have happened, I can see the official’s point of view, and don’t blame them for the action they are taking.

If referees are getting this kind of abuse, it will only deter people from becoming match officials in the future, which will harm the game as a whole. Good or bad, the game can’t happen without them.

And if the problems continue, how long will it be before UEFA or FIFA stick their oar in? Neither appears to have commented on the subject yet, but could any strike have ramifications for the Scottish game or Scottish national team?

Third Of The Way Through Review

2010-11-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

With a third of the Premiership campaign gone already, the season is already starting to take shape. It’s already apparent who will be fighting for the title, and who will be fighting for survival, and which teams will be left in the boring mire of mid table anonymity.

Two of the most surprising things so far this season have been how well the three promoted teams have taken to the top flight, and how the two favourites, Chelsea and Manchester United seem insistant on not winning the league this season.

Blackpool, West Brom and Newcastle have all settled into the league well, and find themselves in various places in the middle of the table. The best thing about the three sides is the way they have been playing. None have tried to be ultra defensive, park the bus and resort to boring and robust route one tactics.

Newcastle find themselves eighth after some good results, and good performances, largely from defender Mike Williamson, Kevin Nolan and his lodger Andy Carroll. Big wins against Aston Villa and rivals Sunderland have caught they eye, as did a win against Arsenal at the Emirates.

West Brom look set to end their tag as a perennial yo-yo club this year, manager Roberto Di Matteo seems to have got right what Tony Mowbray got wrong, not completely sacrificing passing, attacking football, but sacrificing it enough to mean they don’t get beaten to often.

Blackpool stunned everyone with an opening day hammering of Wigan, and have been a mixed bag since. Results have gotten worse, and more inconsistent since, and they find themselves 15th, two points above the drop. Their performances have largely been good despite results, and Ian Holloway has been just as entertaining with his rants, interviews and quotes.

It would be a shame if they went down, but looking at the teams below them, and their inconsistent results, it’s not unlikely.

At the top Chelsea aren’t playing with the same style and verve they did last season, with Didier Drogba off form they have laboured to a few of their wins, while losing three games already, including twice in the last week to Liverpool and Sunderland.

Manchester United find themselves three points of Chelsea in third, still unbeaten in the league, but having drawn seven, over half of their games. The fact they have dropped so many points could well prove decisive come May. They badly need Wayne Rooney back and on form, as they seem to lack a prolific striker as well as both creativity and a solid defensive player in midfield. With Rooney’s misgivings over the squad being put to rest, they will likely be bringing in players in January.

Arsenal in second look to have their best chance of winning the title in years. Two points behind the leaders they have been playing well most of the time, and aren’t dropping as many points against smaller teams, which has been their problem in recent years.

Manchester City are in the last Champions League spot but have been largely boring, and disappointing, especially considering the money they have spent, and they talent they obviously have. Often playing with three quite defence minded midfielders in Nigel De Jong, Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure they can be incredibly dire to watch, and in their last two games, which the drew 0-0, look completely void of attacking ideas.

Tottenham, despite putting in credible performances in Europe, have been patchy in the league, and find themselves in seventh place, outside even the Europa League spots. Gareth Bale has been brilliant, scoring an creating goals left, right and centre and new boys Rafael Van Der Vaart has been a great addition, but they look suspect at the back, and concede to many. If that isn’t addressed they won’t be playing Champions League football next year.

West Ham and Wolves find themselves joint bottom with just nine points. West Ham have only won once this season, and Avram Grant seems to be getting the dreaded vote of no confidence every week. Carlton Cole has scored just one in 25 games, and Scott Parker often looks like the only player trying. It does seem the Hammers are buggered.

Wolves on the other hand have been playing a combination of good football and dirty football, with Karl Henry determined to get more red cards than Lee Cattermole this season. Their position can be put down to, in part, a run of games recently that included Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal, but if results don’t pick up soon, they will find themselves back in the Championship.

Surprisingly, especially after last season, Birmingham find themselves occupying the final relegation slot in eighteenth place. Drawing seven games has largely been the problem. They don’t seem to pose much of a goal threat, with summer signings Nicola Zigic and Matt Derbyshire rarely finding the net.

Also struggling are the constantly inconsistent Wigan, who can be brilliant one week, and woeful the next, and Fulham, who seem to be suffering a hangover from last season, and an injury crisis plaguing their strikers meaning they are often left with midfielders playing in attack.

Raising a few eyebrows have been Bolton and Sunderland who are fifth and sixth respectively. Bolton have been playing some attractive football, while still being able to hit it long to Kevin Davies on occasion. Owen Coyle has bought well, Martin Petrov being a prime example. Chairman Phil Gartside has said they may need to sell star players Gary Cahill and Johan Elmander to service debts and reduce the wage bill. If they do, will they start top slip down the league rapidly?

Sunderland also look good, and despite Darren Bent’s recent injury that left many fans wondering where the goals would come from. Asamoah Gyan has stepped and when Bent comes back they could make one of the most prolific strike partnerships in the Premiership. Jordan Henderson has been a revelation ion midfield, more often that not in Lee Cattermole’s absence.

Liverpool, Aston Villa and Everton are currently underachieving, Liverpool not so surprisingly, and none of them look like reaching even the Europa League spots this season, down to inconsistency more than anything. Villa and Everton show signs of slow improvement, while Liverpool are failing massively.

Mid table obscurity looks likely for Blackburn and Stoke, who neither look like improving, or getting any worse.

Antonio Cassano. Worth the Risk?

2010-11-01T06:09:00.001-07:00

Antonio Cassano has added a new chapter to his exciting and volatile career this week, when his club Sampdoria revealed they were in the process of terminating his contract.

The reason behind the fall out is his refusal to attend an awards dinner, despite the clubs president, Richardo Garrone, who asked him to turn up as a personal favour. He said he was going to be looking after his pregnant wife, which would be a legitimate reason, however it doesn’t help if, in front of your team mates, you say to the president ‘Go f**k yourself, old piece of sh*t, c**ksucker’. (Allegedly)

Such a good player and exciting talent being made available for free has alerted some top clubs, like Inter Milan, Juventus and Manchester City, as well as Liverpool. But is a player that has fallen out with nearly every manager he’s had, and could probably start a fight in an empty room worth the risk?

There is no doubting his talent. A creative player who likes to show flair, his footballing reputation has seen him make big money moves to Roma and Real Madrid, but as his football has errant him some big moves, his temper and attitude has hindered him.

For example, you may have wondered this summer where he was during Italy’s World Cup campaign that failed to see them reach the knock out stages. Despite calls from the Italian fans and media for Cassano’s inclusion, Lippi left him out for two years.
When recalled by new manager Cesare Prandelli in the games since the World Cup, he impressed, scoring twice, and setting up one in the first two qualifiers.
At Real Madrid he first started gaining weight due and was fined for every pound he was overweight, and then fell out with Fabio Capello before being shipped back to Italy with Sampdoria.

In his time at Sampdoria, until the events of last week, had been relatively calm and very productive, forming a good strike partnership with Giampolo Pazzini, and helping his side improve both performances and league position.

So the question is, even though available on a free, is Cassano worth the hassle? He undoubtedly has quality, and bags of it. As a player he would be ideal for a team lacking in creativity, looking for that spark in attack.

But can any manager control him? If he went to Manchester City, could Roberto Mancini cope with him, and reputed trouble maker Mario Balotelli in the same dressing room? If he chose Liverpool, has Roy Hodgson ever dealt with someone so volatile? Would Cassano remain happy at a club struggling as much as Liverpool?

Undoubtedly he won’t remain a free agent for long. No matter what baggage he has, someone will sign him because of his ability. It’s happened before, how many clubs and managers took chances on troubled and problematic George Best and Paul Gascoigne?

Obviously Cassano doesn’t share the same problems as those two, but he could be as much of a problem as the pair of them.

So is he worth the risk? It’s hard to tell. If he has the right club, the right manager, is playing well, and is happy, it may just work. For a while at least.

Scout Report - Alex Smithies, Huddersfield Town

2010-10-28T03:32:00.001-07:00

With quality English goal keepers being a rare commodity at the moment (Joe Hart being by far and away the best, the rest are a pretty average bunch) fans of the national team will be looking for a couple of other young keepers to step up and challenge the Man City stopper.

They won’t be looking much further than Huddersfield Town, and their 20 year old keeper Alex Smithies, who has been a regular in the Terriers net since late 2008, after ousting first choice goalie Matt Glennon.

In February 2010 he won League One’s player of the month after keeping an astonishing three clean sheets in a seven match unbeaten run.

And his talents haven’t gone unnoticed by both the national team and the Premier League, Smithies has represented England at every level from under 16’s to under 19’s and has recently had his first call up to Stuart Pearce’s under 21 squad.

As well as this he has attracted interest from the likes of Stoke City, Everton and Tottenham.

Being 6 foot 3 tall, he has no problem claiming crosses that come into his area, and his quick thinking distribution helps his side launch fast counter attacks. On top of this he is a solid shot stopper who doesn’t concede many goals in a Huddersfield side that has been in and around the League One play off places in the last few years.

His performances are getting him noticed, and the call up to the under 21’s will help this, so it won’t be long until the young keeper rises to the challenge of the top flight.

Rooney has done Manchester United a Massive Favour

2010-10-25T03:11:00.000-07:00

There was a time not so long ago when going to Old Trafford was feared, even the best teams would go there expecting a defeat, but in the last season, and now this, opponents will now feel they can go there and get a point at least.

Is United’s star on the wane? Many would have you believe so, and despite being unbeaten this season, they have yet to face a big test, and have already dropped points against Fulham, Everton, Sunderland, Bolton and West Brom, games title challengers should really be winning.

So how has the briefly wanting away Wayne Rooney done them a favour? Obviously be back tracking on his decision to leave and signing a new five year deal, but there is another major positive to come from the whole situation.
Rooney stated that his decision to leave was based on him not getting assurances from David Gill and the owners about the future of the squad. In recent years United haven’t bought many big names or established players into the squad, while letting the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez leave.

To be fair Rooney has a point. Since those two players left, they haven’t been adequately replaced. Michael Owen defiantly looks past it, and Federico Macheda has stuttered since his goal scoring start. Although Javier Hernandez looks an exciting prospect, he’s still not the finished article. Antonio Valencia, now crocked, is decent enough, but will never be a world beater, and Gabriel Obertan hasn’t progressed at all.

On top of this Rio Ferdinand struggles with injury, and Owen Hargreaves’ return doesn’t look likely. Michael Carrick, Anderson and Johnny Evans are unimpressive at best, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville won’t be around much longer and they have no established right back.

Is the lack of money in the red half of Manchester the reason? Possibly, everyone knows how much debt United are in, and how much of the £80m received for Ronaldo went to servicing that debt, but there is still a bit of money around.

This summer, excluding the money spent on Hernandez, who has potential, they spent around £12m on Chris Smalling, who is yet to show anything too good, and £7m on a street urchin named Bebe who Alex Ferguson had never even seen a video of.

If there was no value in the transfer market, maybe those purchases could have been more reasonable, but considering Ferguson could have bought Rafael Van Der Vaart and Mesut Ozil for a tad over £1m more than what he spent on Smalling and Bebe. Which duo would have improved United’s squad more?

Although you do have to still spend big money to buy the very, very best.
So Rooney’s doubt over the squad would have appeared to jolt those in the upper echelons of the club into realising this, and since the new contract was signed, United have been linked with any World Class player going, from Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery to Wesley Sneijder and even Fernando Torres.

Ferguson has also been given the proverbial ‘war chest’ that could reach £100m + depending which paper it is you read, so it sounds like you can expect him to make some impressive signings either in January or in the summer.
The manager probably realised the situation, but if the Glaziers didn’t, and restricted his budget because they didn’t consider there a need to spend, then what can Ferguson do?

So now Rooney is a pretty unpopular man in Manchester, but he shouldn’t be hated or abused, but thanked, not just for the small favour of staying with the club, but for the bigger one of making them realise they need to spend big and improve the squad.

If they don’t he may go back on his decision to stay.

Where's Wazza Going?

2010-10-18T03:04:00.000-07:00

Wayne Rooney is just the latest big name player to have fallen out with Alex Ferguson and will leave Manchester United because of it. Other like Jaap Stam, and Ruud Van Nistelrooy have been shown the door by Ferguson, but Rooney looks set to leave of his own accord, rather than the Scots.

Stories of a strained relationship between the out of sort’s striker and the Scot after allegations that have surrounded Rooney’s personal life have permeated the press since the World Cup.

The biggest question is where will he go? Will he stay in England, or move to a sunnier climate?

The only Premier League clubs that can rival United in terms of stature, finances and the opportunity to win trophies are Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. The thrifty Arsene Wenger is unlikely to splash out big money on Rooney, but the other two could well be destinations for the Scouser.

Chelsea don’t throw the cash around as much as what they used to, but Roman Abramovic has shown he is willing to spend big if the price is right. With Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka both being in their 30’s, it won’t be long before a new prolific striker is needed at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester City have the money to pay the transfer fee and wages, and would love to make a statement by signing Manchester United’s talisman, but would United sell to their inter-city rivals? If City themselves wouldn’t let Craig Bellamy and Shay Given go to Premier League rivals, then why should anyone sell their best players to them? Obviously City could navigate this issue by paying well over the odds for Rooney.

In Spain, while Barcelona would be more than happy to welcome Rooney to the Nou Camp, do they need him, and would he displace their current attacking options? With David Villa, Lionel Messi, Pedro, and Bojan, would he get a game?

Real Madrid is the most likely destination in Spain, with Jose Mourinho and Florentino Perez a long time admirer, and Real Madrid having plenty of money. They also have the advantage of having a player who Alex Ferguson is an admirer of, but can barely get a game for Madrid, in Karim Benzema, and if you believe the press, any deal with Madrid will involve the Frenchman as a make-weight.

Would Rooney move abroad? The continental approach to the game may suit him, his dynamic and all action approach could work well in a league where players typically have more time and space on the ball.

But is he the kind of person who could adapt to a foreign culture? Is he willing and able to learn a new language and slot into a different way of life with ease?
Of course, he could resolve his issues, and stay put at United, at the moment, this doesn’t look likely, and with his current form, a change could be as a good as, or even better than, a rest.

4--6-0. Wrong Way To Go for Levin and the Scots

2010-10-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

‘Kenny, can I have a word?’
‘Sure Mr Levin, what about?’
‘I’m not playing you against the Czechs.’
‘Ok, you’ve called up Kris Boyd?’
‘No.’
‘Stevie Fletcher as a lone striker?’
‘No.’
‘You can’t have dropped me for Chris Iwelumo?’
‘Erm, No...’
‘You’re trying Dorrans as a striker?’
‘Not quite, I’m trying something new; I’m not playing any strikers at all.’
‘It’s not late for me to find a Welsh grandparent yet is it?

This could very well have been the conversation heard at the Scotland training ground last week as Craig Levin picked a revolutionary new formation. A 4-6-0 that not only intended to park the bus, but to build a whole bus station in front of the Scotland goal.

And not only did it fail, it failed spectacularly, with the Scots losing 1-0 to a Czech Republic side who couldn’t even beat Lithuania at home recently.

It’s not like Scotland don’t have some decent strikers, Kenny Miller has already scored ten goals this year, while Stevie Fletcher has looked good in the Premiership, for both Burnley and now Wolves.

So why would Levin play such a negative formation with a) a couple good strikers, and b) a team in decline in front of him and his team?
You could argue that a point away from home is a good result, so playing for that draw could be a masterstroke, especially with World Champions Spain next on the fixture list, almost a dead cert to be a defeat.

But realistically that’s no excuse. Even perennial no-hoper like Andorra when they came to Wembley recently, at least showed a modicum of ambition by playing a lone striker.

Unfortunately (well not from my point of view, as an England fan) this is a sad indication of the way Scottish football has gone in recent years. There was a time, not so long ago when their best players walked into the top English sides, those like Gordon Strachan, Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen and Graeme Souness. Now their only player at a top English club is Darren Fletcher, and not many others look close to reaching that standard.

The national team haven’t been to a major tournament since France ’98, and their club sides continue to flop in Europe.

Arguably Scotland suffer more from the influx of foreign players into the SPL, Premiership and Championship that even the England team do, meaning their best have less opportunity to ply their trade at a high level.

And with little quality in their ranks, they haven’t looked like reaching a tournament since Euro 2008, flopped in the last set of qualifiers, and look set to do the same this time around.

Maybe they don’t have the players, or the resources to succeed, but the likes of Montenegro this time around, and Slovenia in qualifying for the last World Cup, proved that you don’t need a large population, or a deep pool of good players to reach a tournament.

Levin and his coaching staff have been giving mixed messages about the tactic, Levin claiming it was a partial success, although saying he’ll be making changes, while others, to the Tartan Army’s dismay have said that if they think it will work, it’ll be used again.

Scotland do have a handful of decent players, goals win games, and goals often get you a draw as well. Not playing a striker won’t get you goals; in fact, not playing a striker is down right pathetic.

The only way they could have been more defensive is by playing two goalkeepers.

Capello reverts to type by picking Davies

2010-10-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

It should have been over upon Emile Heskey's retirement, it should have ended when Bobby Zamora was injured, and it should have come to a juddering halt when Carlton Cole was benched in place of Frederic Piquionne. It defiantly should have been put to rest when Heskey rejected a plea to come out of retirement.

But with all of these factors rendering these three out, Fabio Capello deems that England still need an archetypal target man, a battering ram, a big lump of a human, a forward not in the team primarily to score goals, but to help the other players score above all else.

Granted, Peter Crouch is also in the squad, but he has more to his game than Davies, Heskey and Cole, and even Zamora, he can score, and has a good touch and decent eye for a pass.

First of all, is Kevin Davies really good enough for England? No, he isn’t. The Bolton Battering Ram hasn’t scored more than 12 league goals in a season, and necessitates playing an unattractive long ball game to get the best out of him. On top of this, Davies regularly features at the top of the ‘player who commits the most fouls’ table, and no doubt would give away a higher rate of free-kicks at international level where referees are harsher than the Premier League.

Secondly, do England need a target man? A player that is just a physical hindrance to the defence, rather than a hindrances with the ball at their feet.

Capello seems to think so, with his constant use of one or more in his squad and starting line up, and despite when he dropped Heskey at the World Cup, he still had the team pump long balls into the diminutive Jermaine Defoe.

And the style of football played in the Premiership, fast, frantic and either getting the ball forward, or into the box as quick as possible would suggest you may need a ball winner up top, and someone who can hold the ball up until others catch up with play.

But England don’t play like that at international level, it is a more continental approach, which is slower and more patient. Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, none of these plays with someone like Davies up front. Maybe if England played at the tempo of a Premier League side, there would be an argument to include Davies and his ilk.

And look how well England played without a target man against Bulgaria and Switzerland in recent qualifiers, good, attacking performances with Defoe and Darren Bent not barrelling into players, not trying to score etc.

Ok, with Zamora and Defoe injured, Gabby Agbonlahor only just returning, Heskey retired and Cole and Michael Owen not getting game time, the Three Lions are lacking options in attack, but if Capello must pick a target man, should Andy Carroll have got the nod? At least he has a long term future in the game, unlike the almost 34 Davies.

On recent performances England have played well without a target man, and none of the ones we have, bar Crouch who offers a bit more, are really good enough, as well as not really being suited to England’s way of football. Maybe Capello should be looking somewhere else for his attacking options rather than a 33 year old foul machine that rarely scores.

The Day Football Died

2010-09-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Major League Soccer wants to improve its stature, standard and reputation within the football world. The signing of David Beckham by L.A. Galaxy signalled the beginning of it, and New York Red Bulls capture of Thierry Henry this summer showed a continuation of it.

But the experience of a match in the U.S.A doesn’t feel like real football. It feels hollow and corporate, a couple of hours for a team and their sponsors to advertise and sell their products.

My experience of the MLS came last Saturday when I watched L.A. Galaxy take on Columbus Crew at the Home Depot Centre. I’m not going to take up this blog talking about the quality of the football. The league is young, and of course it can’t compete with the top European leagues like the Premiership, in fact on the pitch it would struggle to compete with League One, but with the introduction of better players like Beckham and Henry, and increased popularity it will most likely slowly improve.

What felt strange was the match experience, from the outside the Home Depot Centre looked like a supermarket not a stadium, and on the inside it was more akin to the National Hockey Stadium that first hosted MK Dons rather than a football stadium.
There were barely 10,000 people in the stadium, and although the core support did remain vocal for the whole match, their chants lacked any wit or originality, the most popular being to the tune of ‘Karma Chameleon’.

There was a little box built at the front of the stand for some guy to ‘conduct’ the fans in all their songs and jumping up and down in unison something that the Emirates may benefit from, but if they tried it anywhere else in England, he would have abuse and all kinds of objects hurled at him.

By far and away the worst thing was the sheer volume of adverts before the match, at half time, and during play. A free bottle of water for every spectator, a free Home Depot voucher for the first 5,000 fans through the gate at the next match. The McDonalds fan of the match, Subway fan of the match, Home Depot row of the game, sponsored man of the match. The crowd we’re asked to look at the big screen four times during play in the first half.

If you really must do such bland and pointless promotions, please do it at half time so people can watch the game.

Maybe, because football is the fourth sport in America, behind American football, basketball and baseball, maybe even fifth behind ice hockey as well, they need to have these incentives, freebies, and opportunities to win free stuff to get people through the door, but it kind of ruins the atmosphere.

It seemed the fans were there, maybe because they liked soccer, but not to support a team, but to see a good quality match, kind of like going to the cinema to see a film. There was little association with the team, little actual support other than cheering a goal or the 500 at most being orchestrated by the one guy at the front.

It appeared that most people their didn’t care about the result, as long as they got to see a bit of Beckham and a good game, which takes something away from the spectacle, and kind of ruins the experience.
Hopefully the American soccer experience will stay in America, because to me it felt like football died a little bit.

Arteta For England?

2010-08-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

The debate about a potential England call-up for Mikel Arteta will not go away after the Spaniard declared over the weekend that he is open to a call up should the England manager Fabio Capello come calling.

The issue isn’t whether he is good enough. Arteta clearly is, as his form for Everton over the last few seasons has proved. An attacking midfielder, he keeps possession well, has an eye for a pass and weighs in with his fair share of goals, and has often been the catalyst for many Everton wins.

Arteta would walk into virtually any national team in the world, and the main reason he can’t get into his own countries is that Spain’s midfield is so good, the likes of Cesc Fabregas can usually only muster a place on the subs bench.

Of course Arteta isn’t the first player this has been suggested for. Without goalkeeper being a problem area for England in recent years, Manuel Almunia and Carlo Cudicini have both been suggested, as well as mercurial Italian Paolo Di Canio.

The issue is more a case of A) is it allowed, and B) is it right to have someone who is undoubtedly foreign representing the England national team.

Arteta is both allowed and not allowed to represent England. FIFA would allow it providing he applies for, and therefore holds a UK passport, as has been the case for players like Cacau with Germany, Marcos Senna with Spain and Deco with Portugal.

However the Home Nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) have an agreement that they can all only pick players on bloodline alone. Notably Nacho Novo was sought after by then Scotland boss George Burley in 2008, but was unable to be called up due to this agreement.

So if England did want to call up Arteta, there would be no punishment from those that run the game, but it could set a precedent between the Home Nations.

But is it right? Would you be happy for someone who isn’t English to represent England’s football team?

Other countries haven’t had an issue with it in the past, including the players mentioned above. If they are doing it, why shouldn’t England to help level the playing field? Germany had many in the World Cup who weren’t born in Germany, or were from non-German origins; however the likes of Ozil, Podolski, and Jerome Boateng have all grown up in Germany and can feel partly German. Can the same be said for Arteta feeling English?

And it’s not like England haven’t done it in other sports. In cricket England are happy to include South Africans Johnathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen and Irishman Eoin Morgan representing them, and the fans aren’t up in arms about their participation.

So should England call up Arteta? No doubt he would improve the side and bring some quality to it, and everyone else does it, so why shouldn’t England? Sure, it might upset the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish, but I’m sure they’d be at it quick enough if England broke the agreement.

Foreign Imports? No need, Theres Plenty of Talent in the Football League

2010-08-21T06:23:00.000-07:00

You could probably name the footballers from the Channel Islands to have played in the Premier League on one hand and have fingers left over, but if Brett Pitman can agree terms with Blackpool, he could join Matt Le Tissier and Graeme Le Saux as players from the small group of islands to make it to the top.

And it makes you wonder why more Premier League clubs aren’t looking to the Football League for talent. Pitman is a proven goal scorer at the lower level, and still young. At less than £1m he is surely a punt worth taking.

It’s a wonder more top flight bosses don’t look to the second, third and fourth division, or even lower, for their new players, especially when they have a proven track record of making the grade, or at least a better track record than some of the mediocre foreign players that come into our game.

David Moyes has successfully brought in Joleon Lescott, Phil Jagielka and Tim Cahill from the Championship, and has turned them all into top class players and internationals. He is trying to do the same this year after taking Jermaine Beckford on a free transfer from Leeds.

And it’s not beyond the ‘Big Four’ to do the same, Arsenal in recent years have made a success out of Championship young stars Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey, while Liverpool will look to make a first teamer out of former Charlton player Jonjo Shelvey.

With the new home grown rule, we could well see an influx of players into the top flight, not from France, Spain, South America and Scandinavia, but from the lower divisions of our league.

Would a Premier League club be better off signing the likes of Keiren Westwood, Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Robert Snodgrass or Adam Matthews rather than the poor foreign imports such as Didier Digard, Emmanuel Pogatetz, Charles Itandje and alike? They defiantly wouldn’t be any worse off.

So with just over a week left of the transfer window, and the new rule that states there must be at least eight home grown players in a squad of 25, managers may stop looking to the continent for players, and look closer to home, which will hopefully benefit the national team aswell.

A Tale of What Might Have Been: Curtis, Samba, Johnson, Pike, Adu and Jansen

2010-08-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

Every generation has a player or two that are considered World Class, the last few have seen England produce Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Paul Gascoigne. A few players that have a bit of flair and the ability to win games on their own if needs be.
Every generation also has it’s nearly men. Those who look destined to make it, but fall spectacularly by the way side, begging the question ‘What ever happened to...?’ The likes of Francis Jeffers and Richard Wright who both flopped at Arsenal, and Dean Richards and Carl Cort who both cost £7m at one point in their respective careers, yet never lived up to expectations.
However these all managed to forge some kind of career outside the higher echelons of the Premier League, but the player listed in this edition of the blog have had a much bigger fall from grace.

JOHN CURTIS

Another product of the Manchester United youth set up, he won the FA Youth Cup in 1995 while still at school. Full of promise, the versatile defender left Old Trafford in 2000 after 13 games seeking more football elsewhere.

Blackburn Rovers stumped up the £1.5m needed, and he was ever present in their promotion winning side, and touted as a future England skipper by some. Injury curtailed his progress at Rovers upon their return to the Premier League and he began his slow filter down he leagues, ending up with a list of clubs longer than a shopping list.

Curtis has somehow turned up in Australia’s A League with Gold Coast United, his last club being in the English non-league.

Cherno Samba

If you believe Football Manager, this kid was some kind of footballing demi-god who could score 40 Premiership goals a season at the age of 15. In reality however this never materialized. He started his career at Millwall, where he was so prolific in the youth teams and reserves, Liverpool bid £2m for him, which was turned down.

Without playing a single game for Millwall, he inexplicably ended up at Cadiz in Spain, but was quickly loaned to Malaga C.F. for who he enjoyed some success for the B team. Arriving back in England with Plymouth, both they and Wrexham saw very little from Samba, and a move to Portsmouth never came through.

The fact he represented England at every youth level up to Under 20’s (Before switching his allegiances to Gambia, the country of his birth) suggests he had something, if you believed the hype, he should have been firing England to glory at this years World Cup, but the fact is he will be best remembered for his virtual abilities rather than his real life ones.

Sonny Pike

As a youngster, he was compared to the likes of George Best and Diego Maradona, but unless your a huge anorak of England’s non league set up, you probably wouldn’t have heard of him.

At the age of just seven Pike signed for Dutch giants Ajax. An amazing achievement for a seven year old, especially one who isn’t from Holland. The signs were all there for a bright future.

An alleged mental breakdown in 2000 due to the pressure being placed on him, as well as family problems started his downturn in luck.

Since his return to England he has featured for giants of football Waltham Forest and Dryburgh Saints, although any statistics are hard to come by. In his mid twenties, he is someone else who, if he had fulfilled his potential, probably would have been at the World Cup.

Freddy Adu

Another player who had much of his reputation outside of the U.S.A born out of Football Manager, Adu made his debut in the MLS at the before he was 16, and also scored his first goal before that landmark birthday.

What happened after that is a slow but steady decline, that could still be halted, but looks set to leave the young American to be another ‘Could Have Been.’

A much expected move to Europe took longer than expected, and after a two week trial at Manchester United, he ended up at Benfica in 2006.

Initially impressing with his quick feet and tricks, the last four years have seen Adu loaned out many times, to Monaco in France, and most recently an 18 month loan to Aris Thessaloniki FC, where he only played nine games last season, scoring once.

He has 15 caps for the U.S.A but did not make the World Cup squad, at the age of 20, his career could still go either way, but the way it’s going, he looks resigned to being an average player at best.

Matt Jansen

If only Matt Jansen hadn’t been ill and missed his chance to play against Paraguay in a pre World Cup 2002 friendly...If only.

The illness led to him not being able to stake a claim to play in Japan and Korea, and rather than show his skills on the world stage, he took a holiday to Italy, where he crashed his motorbike, almost died, and the resulting physical and metal injuries went on to effectively end his career.

Jansen was a creative player who showed his potential early in his career with Carlisle, Crystal Palace and Blackburn Rovers, his good form led to his England call up, and signs were he could well have been an England great.

But after the crash he was never the same, Blackburn released him, and Jansen had failed spells and trials with Bolton, Carlisle, Wrexham and Huddersfield.

He has now teamed up in non-league with former Rovers team mate Gary Flitcroft, first at the brilliantly named Leigh Genisis, and now with Chorley F.C.

Seth Johnson

One of English Football’s favourite stories involves Johnson and his agent meeting Peter Ridsdale before Johnson’s move to Leeds. Apparently Ridsdale said along the line of ‘I can only offer £30k a week.’ What was a look of shock at how high the offer was by Johnson and his agent was mistook by one of how low the offer was by Ridsdale, who promptly upped the offer to £40k+.

Since then the former Crewe and Derby player retired before he was even 30 after injury after injury ruined his career.
Johnson gained one England cap, against Italy, and certainly had the potential to earn more, but his injuries led to just 54 games in four years at Leeds.

He is currently said to be enjoying his retirement.

The rule of 25. Good or Bad?

2010-08-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

Will the new ruling that a team has to submit a squad of 25, including eight home grown players, really help the development of young English talent?

Let’s start by clarifying this rule. A team must now submit a squad of 25 players by the first of September, with a chance to re-hash the list after the January transfer window. Of the 25, eight have to be home-grown. Home-grown is considered a player that has been registered with an English or Welsh club for a minimum of three seasons prior to the season that they turned 21.

Now of course, this isn’t fool proof, foreign players can be considered home-grown, Cesc Fabregas being the most high profile of these, having joined Arsenal at the age of 16.

And a manager can, outside of the 25, use as many players under 21 in a season as they like. The idea being if an injury crisis hits a club, they will look to the academies to fill the void left by an injured/suspended first team member.

Some clubs, like Manchester City, will have to trim their squad, or some big names may face the possibility of not playing football at all, whereas some will need to add some English talent to their largely foreign squads, Chelsea the biggest culprit of this problem.

It seems this action has come after England’s poor showing at the World Cup, and the resurfacing of the common theory that the amount of foreign players in the English game have, in part set us back at International level, despite England having not won anything for many years before foreign players became prevalent on these shores.

And England aren't the only country to have taken action after a poor World Cup, France dropped every player involved for the next friendly, Italy have introduced a rule stating that clubs can only sign one non EU player per season, and North Korea have probably shot everyone involved. England's change seems the most revolutionary.

In theory this new rule will work. It will lead to the filtering out of the ‘average’ oversees players coming into the game, and only the best coming in, hopefully giving those of English origin more of a chance and more game time.

However it could cause a few problems. One could be that English players will become such a commodity that their price will be driven up. The likes of James Milner is being touted for £25m+, this exuberant fee could be more common with the new squad of 25 rule.

Another issue is that clubs, especially those with money, could stockpile the best young talent, leading to it not being spread evenly, creating an unbalanced playing field.

It could also stifle the loan market. Teams who rely in part on loaning players from the top clubs may not get them any more as the Premiership sides will want to reatin their young talent incase of injuries etc.

A more pragmatic manager could also stockpile the worlds best under 21’s, knowing that they are outside of the ruling so to speak, although no-one has tried this yet,

So we wait to see what affect the rule will have, will more English players get game time? Will some big players like the ever injured Owen Hargreaves and Jonathon Woodgate miss the cut? And will the England team become more successful? Chances are the answer to all three questions will be yes, but to what extent?

WORLD CUP:THE GOOD AND THE BAD

2010-07-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

It’s all over, after a month the biggest sports tournament in the world came to an end with Spain deservedly beating Holland 1-0 in the final. Before focus moves away from the World Cup completely and onto the new domestic season that is rapidly approaching, I’d like to take a look at some of best bits, and worst bits of South Africa 2010.

THE GOOD

South Africa

Despite the rumours and horror stories that stadia wouldn’t be built on time, the hosts were over budget and behind schedule and the country as a whole was unsafe, South Africa put on a hell of a show, and the home fans were vibrant and exciting, taking travelling teams to their hearts, no outbreaks of violence and hooliganism occurred and it has paved the way for FIFA to have confidence in the continent to hold future World Cups. A win against France was just rewards for the host nation.

Spain

The pre-tournament favourites and European Champions came to South Africa with a weight of expectation upon them, and after a defeat in the first game against Switzerland it could have easily all gone wrong, but Del Bosque rallied his troops and the likes of Villa, Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol, Navas, Casillas, Busquets, Ramos and Fabregas all came to the furore and won the whole thing, becoming the first team to do so after suffering a defeat in the opening game. Their football at times was sublime, and the best team won.

South America

Ok, maybe Argentina and Brazil should have done better than their eventual quarter final demise, but Paraguay, Chile and especially semi finalists Uruguay exceeded expectations in doing as well as they did. All five teams from the continent played with a will to win and desire to attack, which was a breath of fresh air, especially in the tournaments early days when so many teams were content to sit back and play safe. Strange to think that FIFA have just given a South American qualifying spot to North America.

Germany

A team full of exciting young players, Muller, Ozil and Boateng the most prominent added to some of the more experienced Germans helped add an attacking style and verve that added to the stereotypical efficiency of a German side. Three four goal hauls really made the world sit up and take note of a Germany that was written off pre-tournament. Now they will be among the favourites for Brazil 2014.

THE BAD

Holland

Ok, they reached the final, and played some nice football en route, Sneijder and Robben looking particularly good, but their performance in the final seemed to not concentrate on their style of play that had served them so well, but to stifle Spain by kicking them to pieces, and their subsequent reaction to losing has been a bit petty.

England, France and Italy.

Three teams expected to perform well, maybe not win, but do better than what they did. England ‘s problems have been well documented and widely discussed, but at least they can look at their French and Italia counterparts and say ‘at least we made it out of the group’. France weren’t the sum of their parts, a plethora of talented players that couldn’t play as a team that went on strike and a manager that was clearly disliked by his own players. Italy on the other hand, champions four years ago, and largely the same players, there was no creativity, little ability and there seems to be a severe lack of Italian talent coming through the ranks.

FIFA

Sepp Blatter’s constant refusal to consider technology of any kind to help officiate the game came into question on just one day, when Frank Lampard shot that was clearly over the line was not given, and Carlos Tevez scored a goal where he was obviously offside against Mexico. It works so well in other sports; hopefully FIFA will sit up and pay attention.

Vuvuzelas

Apparently part of South African culture, these plastic air horns were so annoying it made people actually want to here the ITV commentary team. Hopefully anyone bringing one into an English ground will have it angrily inserted somewhere painful.

Emmanuel Adebayor

Congratulations on the birth of your child, and thank god it happened during the tournament so you got off the T.V. I’m sure what you said was perfectly valid and very informative, just a shame no-one could understand a word of it.

Spain 1-0 Holland

2010-07-12T05:45:00.000-07:00

Andres Iniesta won Spain their first World Cup ever with a neat finish deep into the second half of extra time. The game itself was a dull affair and until the genius midfielders strike it looked set to be the second consecutive final to be decided by penalties.

Holland will feel aggrieved by the goal, the player’s claim the Eljero Elia was fouled on the edge on the Spanish area at the start of the move that lead to the goal, the decision itself was 50/50, sometimes they get given, and sometimes they don’t.

Other than that, there was little opportunity, Sergio Ramos had a good header saved in the first half, and Arjen Robben missed two glorious chances when one on one with Iker Casillas which would have put the Dutch in the lead. The second of these could have resulted with a penalty and red card for Carlos Puyol whose pressure on Robben could have seen the winger go down, but to his credit he stayed on his feet to try for goal. Unfortunately his petulant reaction to not being awarded anything after he blew his chance resulted in him being booked.

A major talking point was Holland’s ill discipline. Before the match word from the Dutch camp was that they aimed to stifle the Spanish’s tiki-taka football like no other team had in the tournament. To some extent the achieved this, but through brute force and a number of fouls that amounted to nearly every Dutchman that took the field to be booked, and a Johnny Hetinga red card. It could have been more than one red after Nigel De Jong used a move on Xabi Alonso that was more suited to a game of Tekken than one of Pro Evo.

On the night, and over all the best team won. Even losing their first game, Spain’s football was a different class, their passing and moving was as good as any team before them, and Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets looked like the best midfield of all time. They were short of goals, winning all their knockout matches by just the one goal, but keeping the ball as well as Spain did, the other team would struggle to score without the ball.

Holland played good football until the final, but other than Robben they offered little, Wesley Sneijder had his worst game of the tournament, just when he needed to shine to win the cup and the personal accolade of Player of the Tournament. The Dutch seemed to concentrate more on stopping Spain more than playing their own game.

So Spain now has both the European Championships and World Cup in their trophy cabinet, where do they go from here? The only players that will conceivably not be at the next World Cup, due to age, are Carles Puyol, Xavi Carlos Marchena and Joan Capdevila, but with talent like Jesus Navas, Javi Martinez, and Pedro, as well as many more coming through, Spain have the players and the ability to dominate international football for the foreseeable future.

Rooney's gone on holiday, What a Bastard.

2010-07-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

Bloody hell it’s got to stop, or we’re going to hell in a handcart. No, not the lifestyles of the footballers that were so dismally knocked out of the World Cup, not them having a beer, smoking a cigar and going on holiday, but the areas of the media and the members of the public that have lambasted them for doing so.

I mean for Christ’s sake, the Sun, among others, vilified Wayne Rooney for taking his family on holiday. Vilified for ‘not being as good as what we thought he was at football’. Should he really be denied the chance to take his wife and child away for a few weeks before pre-season?

Some of the press even had a pop at Frank Lampard for taking his girlfriend for Sardinia. Why? It makes no-sense.

The ones getting torn into for going on holiday aren’t exactly going for a week on the lash to Magaluf, they’re taking their loved ones away for a bit. Probably in part to get away from the vitriol being spouted in their direction.

The worst thing of all was the big deal made of the photo of a few of the players having a beer, and Aaron Lennon smoking one of Fidel Castro’s finest. The stupidest thing was the picture being taken, but was what they were doing really that bad?

No not really. First of all two of the players in the photo can’t be blamed for how woeful England were. Steven Warnock was always going to be second choice left back to Ashley Cole; it would have taken injury or suspension for Warnock to get a game. And Michael Dawson, well he should have been starting centre back as soon as Ferdinand was rule out, maybe even before, and defiantly after Ledley King was injured. Why should he shoulder any blame?

And why wasn’t them having a beer and a laugh as big a deal as what the papers and various radio ‘pundits’ (Adrian ‘shouty’ Durham) would have you believe? Because we’ve all had bad days before, things have gone wrong and yes they need to be addressed, but if you think about it too much, you’ll end up driving yourself mad. How many of us, after a bad day at work have just had a few beers with some mates, chilled out and had a laugh, and tried to put the problems to the back of your mind for a bit.

Regarding Ashley Coles comments about hating England, made before the World Cup, yes they were stupid, and yes it was unfortunate that they came out, but can you blame him? O.K. he cheated on the nation’s sweetheart, and was thusly abused and slated, not just by football fans, but by gossip magazines, TV chat show hosts, comedians, you name it. If it happened to you, you’d be a bit pissed off with those doing it, which in Ashley’s case, seems to be everyone.

I’m not trying to defend the players, they need to be criticised, they let the fans down big time, they underperformed, and things need to be looked at, some of these players may well never pull on an England shirt again.

But to lambast them the way some of the papers have for going on holiday or having a beer? It just reeks of being desperate for a story, and comes across as petty and vindictive.

Germany 4 England poor. What went wrong and where do we go from here.

2010-06-28T03:11:00.000-07:00

Stevie Wonder could have seen that the ball had crossed the line. Although England played terribly and thoroughly deserved to lose yesterday, if the game had gotten to 2-2 England would have been right back in the match and anything could have happened. I’ve seen many a team drawing a match but playing badly and go on to sneak a win. This is further evidence to suggest goal-line technology should be introduced quickly.

But the incident merely glosses over what was an abject performance and an awful World Cup. The only thing that got the country excited in the brief time the side were in South Africa was a 1-0 win over Slovenia.

So what went wrong? Most things really, tactically England were inept, no plan B and a few square pegs in round holes, also the players didn’t look good enough or motivated enough.

Capello got a few things wrong with his tactics, it’s been pretty apparent for a few years that Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard can’t play together in a 4-4-2. It either involves no defensive minded central midfielder, or playing one out of position.

Also Peter Crouch was underused, and should have started all four games. Firstly, not only does he have an impressive goal scoring record at international level, statistically Rooney, and the team as a whole score more often when he is playing compared to Defoe and Heskey. He would have also suited our style of play. A lot of balls were getting hit forward for Rooney’s partner to hold up.

Now with Heskey this made sense, it was utilizing his strengths, and would have been the same with Crouch. Defoe’s introduction for the Slovenia game seemed a positive step, and play should have changed to suit a small striker like him, but it still seemed at times the team were trying to use him as a target man.

The 4-4-2 was to rigid as well, in fact the only major change Capello made was bringing in James Milner for Aaron Lennon, improving the delivery from the right, well for most of the Slovenia game anyway, Milner came inside to much against Germany, negating the great effect his crosses had in the Slovenia game.

It seems ridiculous that after Rio Ferdinand was ruled the Italian didn’t opt for Michael Dawson at centre back. He may have been uncapped, but he had a better season than Upson, Carragher and King, is more mobile than the former two, and less injury prone than the latter.

Why was play so slow paced? This is a criticism of Capello, but of the last few England managers as well. The Premier League is renowned for being faced paced and high tempo, all our players play in the Premiership, so why when playing for the national team does play get slowed down so much?

On from the tactics and onto the players. Are there any can say they had a good tournament? Probably not, and are there any that can say they didn’t have a bad one? Ashley Cole did little wrong throughout the tournament, that’s about it, possibly David James, but he should have done much better with a couple of yesterday’s goals. Jermaine Defoe scored one in two games and looked sharp despite being used as the tournaments smallest target man.

Wayne Rooney was anonymous throughout the tournament, as was Lampard. Lennon and Wright Phillips did little to impress. Being quick and being able to go past a man isn’t much good if you can’t cross the ball. Gerrard did the best he could being played out of position, but was largely poor. Milner should brief glimpses of how could he could be. Heskey was cumbersome and largely useless, his major plus point was that he won a few free-kicks. Gareth Barry gave a way far to much possession, stupid from the player in England’s midfield who was meant to win possession and retain it.

Despite only conceding one freak goal before the Germany debacle, the defence looked very iffy. John Terry looked below par in all but the Slovenia game, but you cannot doubt his commitment, playing with three different centre backs probably didn’t help the teams cohesion. Upson looked poor throughout, shaky and was caught out of position a lot. Jamie Carragher was booked twice in less than two games, for being slow and off the pace. Glen Johnson is an awful right back. He offered little going forward other than ‘being in the oppositions half’ and his answer to anyone going past him seemed to be to foul them. He was also out of position a lot.
Why did they play so badly? The overpaid thing will be trotted out, but this probably isn’t an excuse/reason. Yes they are overpaid considering the job they do, but I doubt this means they are less motivated to perform.

Another will be that they don’t play with heart/passion/desire/pride/whatever you want to call it. Again, this is another nonsense excuse, lack of motivation or morale maybe. Think about it, these players are being lambasted now for playing with no pride and passion, and they probably were, imagine how bad it would be if they didn’t.

The reason England played so badly was because they just weren’t good enough. On their day England have five World Class players in that Squad. Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and John Terry. (Rio Ferdinand was a possible sixth, but while he was, I don’t think he’ll ever be world class again after last season’s poor form and injury). Ok, no squad in the world is filled with eleven, fifteen or 23 world class players, but the best teams ‘other’ players are better than England’s.

And England severely lacked a player or two who were not just technically gifted, but comfortable on the ball and had some creativity and flair. Joe Cole was said to be England’s solution to this problem, but was largely anonymous is his to brief appearances.
So where do England go now? Maybe Capello will leave, and a new manager will come in. They have a lot of work to do to take this team forward.

Whoever is in charge should try playing to our players strengths, rather than trying to get them to play in a way they can't.

But how? Firstly the likes of James, Green, Carragher, Upson, King, Carrick, Wright Phillips, Heskey should be out of the squad. They’ve been around for a few years, and have done little to impress or justify their place, barring world class form for their clubs; other players should be given a try.

Joe Hart should start the qualifiers in goal; he’s our best young keeper, and probably our best keeper full stop. Michael Dawson should be first choice centre back and Adam Johnson should be involved, along with Jack Rodwell.

But what of the ‘golden generation’ the core of the squad since Euro 2004? While all good players, Terry, Ferdinand, Gerrard, Lampard, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole and Gareth Barry will all be between 33 and 36 when the 2014 World Cup comes around. They may not be playing still, but if they are, will they be good enough to play for their country?

Possibly not, so maybe England should, in a way, sacrifice Euro 2012 and blood some youngsters/players who will be around in 2014, and use Euro 2012 as a testing ground/proving ground and start building a squad now for four years time. Yes it may be harsh on some of those players who would still be around in two years time, but they have largely underachieved for their country, not just this year, but in previous tournaments.

Ok, that’s the negatives over; it’s time to look at the positives. At least the all red kit looked nice.

Whatever happened to the central midfielder?

2010-06-25T06:38:00.000-07:00

Football is forever changing, tactics and the roles of different players included. In the days of Stanley Matthew formations that included five strikers prevailed, now any manager fielding that many forwards from the kick off would be considered a bit mental.

Since I've been watching football one of the biggest changes I have noticed is the changing role of the central midfielder, Roy Keane, Patrick Viera, Paul Scholes, and even a young Steven Gerrard were all just that, central. It didn't matter if they got forward or stayed back, they were central, and box to box. Many dynmaic partnerships were made, and it was a generally accepted rule that if one got forward, the other would stay back.

The players were arguably more complete players than what they are now, they seemed to have a complete range of abilities that any midfielder needed. An eye for a pass, solid in the tackle, good amounts of energy and the ability to chip in with a goal or two. They could defend or attack.

Around the turn of the century this started to change, and the man to blame is Claude Makalele. His brilliant performances for Real Madrid, and latterely Chelsea, where he stayed infront of his defence and as rarely found in an advanced position. Although he was very good in the position, and the results proved this, it lead to every central midfielder being 'pidgeon holed' into a specific role. Holding midfielder, Defensive Midfielder, Ball Winner, Water Carrier, Attacking Midfielder, Creative Midfielder, Plays in the Hole, Playmaker.

Ok, there was the odd isnatnce of a player taking up these roles before Makalele, especially outside of England, but it is more prevailant now.

And could this have had an adverse effect on the English national team. The young Steven Gerrard was very box to box at Liverpool, his energetic and dynamic displays getting him noticed, now he is considered an attacking midfielder or even a second striker.

Just think, if football hadn't of changed, and he had remained box to box, as had Frank Lampard, there probably woudln't be so much debate as to whether they could play together.

Some will argue that football has got faster and is more high tempo, requiring these designated roles in midfield, but if this World Cup has proved anything it is that the game has got slower.

Massive improvement for land of hope (and maybe) glory

2010-06-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

What a difference five days can make. Five days ago Capello was a worse manager than Steve McLaren and Graham Taylor combined. England were woeful no-hopers after a disgraceful and abject performance against a very average Algeria side. The tactics were wrong, the selection was wrong; players didn’t care, didn’t try and were carrying injuries.

We then had a few days of media speculation, rumours of dressing room unrest. John Terry speaking out, and then looking like he shouldn’t have. Players, fans and press asking, in fact demanding a of change of tactics and personnel. Gerrard should be in the middle, Joe Cole should start.

It had the makings of the second worst team at the World Cup, slightly better than France.

What did we end up with against Slovenia? A much improved performance and a confident win, albeit with a fair few negatives to take into account for the round of 16 game against Germany.

Let’s start by looking at the defence. Overall another solid display, David James had few saves to make, but did so well, commanded his area and dealt with crosses with minimum fuss. The defence largely held firm, letting Slovenia have few chances. The rare occasion they did break through the commitment to make a goal saving block was there, as long as the execution of a few brilliant last ditch tackles.

The one defensive frailty was Glen Johnson. His answer to any player trying to go past him seemed to be to foul his opponent, leading to a booking for the Liverpool man. This could be a problem against decent opposition.

Midfield looked a lot better than previously, the use of James Milner on the right wing proved to be somewhat of a masterstroke, his crossing being superb. One lead to Jermaine Defoe’s goal and he could have had more assists if the finishing was a bit better.

Gerrard played on the left like he did in qualifying and linked up with Rooney well; Lampard made some good runs and Barry looked solid if unspectacular.

Again though, the worrying thing is the lack of goals. England created many a chance and spurned them. Rooney looked better, spending most of this game within 20 yards of the Slovenia goal, however could still not find the net.

Defoe replaced Heskey in the starting line up, and the tactics should have changed to suit this, but they didn’t seem to. Long balls were still being pumped up in his direction, to his feet or in the air. Defoe can barely win a header, and isn’t the kind of player to hold the ball up. At times it seemed England were playing balls designed for Heskey/Crouch into Defoe.

Also, earlier in the week, Joe Cole was dubbed by many England’s saviour, the key to unlock a defence and create a goal. He did him self no favours, and in his fleeting 20 minute cameo he did little but hold the ball near the corner flag.

Ultimately it was a vast improvement on the Algeria game, and a better performance that against the USA, confidence amongst everyone will have shot up, but there are still problems, mainly the lack of goals.

Next up are the Germans, no easy opposition, but one that can be beaten never the less. They are hardly the force they were in year past.

One Group Game Left, and its Largely All to Play For

2010-06-22T04:33:00.000-07:00

Today see’s the start of the final round of group matches, and while the games themselves, bar a few, may not have been all that exciting, they have produced some interesting results and a few upsets. Italy, France and England have massively underachieved and are just one more slip up from falling embarrassingly at the first hurdle, while Holland, Brazil and Argentina have all made solid starts.

GROUP A
France’s group and they need a win against hosts South Africa, who are almost certainly out. On paper this should be easy, but games aren’t played on paper, they are played on grass, and Frances internal problems make England’s look like a playground slanging match. The French have also faltered in this tournament, rarely looking capable of playing well together. It is also worth noting that Mexico and Uruguay sit atop the group with four points each, a draw being enough to take both through. Despite Mexico coach Javier Aguirre’s insistence his side won’t play for a point, it wouldn’t be a great surprise if that was the final outcome.

Qualifying: Uruguay and Mexico

Group B
Argentina are almost certainly through barring a spectacular turn around of results, but a result against Greece will put them through, and they deserve it after two very good performances against Nigeria and South Korea. Despite a difficult qualifying campaign full of controversy they have shone in their opening two games. Second spot in the group up for grabs, South Korea occupy it at the moment, and have shown they should have enough to beat Nigeria, while Greece will struggle to get anything against Maradona’s men.

Qualifying: Argentina and South Korea

Group C
England’s group, and again anything could happen. Capello’s men, after a trying week full of rumours of problems within the squad and public and press outcry over bad performances and a lack of desire. They face Slovenia, who tops the group with four points. A win would see England through, and ultimately it should all come together, at least for this one game. The USA face Algeria, bottom of the group, and team USA should triumph, putting them through as well as England, top spot being decided on goal difference.
It’s worth noting that if the unlikely scenario occurs where England draw 2-2 and USA draw 0-0, Slovenia top the group and second place between England and USA is decided by the drawing of lots.

Qualifying: England and USA

Group D
Like Group C, this is wide open. Ghana top the group with four points, but have to face Germany who lie second with three, only ahead of Serbia on goal difference. Then come Australia lagging behind, but still in with a chance on one point. The mathematics involved in deciding this group could leave even Stephen Hawking puzzled. A win for Ghana/Germany and Serbia would see both of those sides through; while an Australia win and Germany defeat would see the Socceroo’s make the last 16.

Qualifying: Germany and Serbia

Group E
It’s Holland’s turn to face the group’s bottom boys Cameroon, who are still to pick up a point, and will be going home this week regardless. Holland should win comfortably, picking up nine points from 9 and qualifying top of group E. Second place will be fiercely contested as Japan face Denmark, both teams having 3 points, the winner taking the spoils, and a draw putting Japan through on goal difference. It’s a tricky one to call, but Denmark should have enough to edge the match.

Qualifying: Holland and Denmark

Group F
Another group with it all to play for, and yet another group where a big team, this time holders Italy, have played well below par. Paraguay tops the group with four points, and at the start of the tournament you would have said their final game against New Zealand would have been a comfortable win. But with the All Whites grinding out two draws, one against Italy, it might not be as easy as they first thought. Providing New Zealand don’t win, a victory for either Italy or Slovakia in their final match will take them through.

Qualifying: Paraguay and Italy

Group G
The group of death, maybe because that’s what the North Koreans can expect after that 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Portugal. Brazil are through after two victories and second place will likely result in two things: How many goals Ivory Coast can beat North Korea by, and how few goals Portugal lose to Brazil by. A point against Brazil however would be enough to take Portugal through.

Qualifying: Brazil and Portugal

Group H
Chile tops the group, and a dark horse hasn’t looked this good since Black Beauty. However they face Spain in the final game, who looked resurgent against Honduras and every bit capable of beating the Chileans, although it’s not a dead cert. A Swiss win against Honduras would likely take them through on goal difference if Chile loses to Spain, proving that for all Chiles nice football and two wins, they really should have taken a few more of their chances.

Qualifying: Spain and Chile

Lacking Pride and Passion? Englands Problems Run Far Deeper

2010-06-19T03:37:00.000-07:00

While many England fans this morning will be trotting out the usual excuse and criticism that the players are overpaid, out of touch, un-patriotic and play with no pride or passion, they don’t seem to realise that, whether this is true or not ( I doubt it actually is, except the overpaid part), that is not the biggest problem we have.

I’ve also seen that Fabio Capello is baring the brunt of the fans frustration. Anytime that starts under performing or playing badly it is easy to blame the manager. How much can really be put on the shoulders of the Italian? He is playing mostly the same team, formation and tactics that had England qualify at a canter. It’s quite understandable that he would stick with it for the tournament.

He has made some bad choices since the start of the tournament. Not using Joe Cole at all, a player that can open a defence with a bit of imagination and creativity, and playing Steven Gerrard out of position.

Many are hoping Capello changes to a 4-5-1 against Slovenia, with Rooney a lone striker, a role he played so well for his club this season. While this may help us retain possession better, and enable us to play an extra midfielder, the part of the squad England should, in theory, strongest, it still wouldn’t improve the Three Lions goal threat by much.

The problems on the pitch seem to lie in attack. Ok, the defence has looked shaky at times, but in two games England have conceded just once, and that was a freak howler by Rob Green, so the problem doesn’t seem to be there.

Going forward they have scored just once, and not looked like doing so much more than that. Rooney is horribly out of form, and needs a goal to give him confidence and avoid him getting frustrated. When this happens, you start seeing him at left back, centre mid and right wing, chasing the ball and anyone with it with little regard for tactics and it looks like he’ll get booked or worse. This doesn’t help the team at all.

England’s attacking mentality is also to blame. It seems to be the goal-keepers, defenders or midfielders first thought to play the ball up to the strikers, regardless of what options they have, or what little options and space the strikers have. Essentially, if you watch the best teams, and the best players, they will hold on to the ball, and possession, until the best pass possible is available. Basically England should realise that keeping hold of the ball in midfield and being patient is better than hitting it forward and losing possession near the opponent’s goal.

The lack of creativity is quite disturbing also. But it isn’t surprising looking at England’s players. They have many technically gifted players, Gerrard and Lampard included, but how many are comfortable on the ball, can dribble well, and beat a man with a bit of flair and artistry? Probably only Rooney and Joe Cole. This is a sad state of English football when we produce players of this ilk so vary rarely.

That said, England will probably put in a performance against Slovenia and end up going through to achieve the usual quarter final finish, and utterly disappointing again.

Whatever happens, after this tournament, the squad needs freshening up, and a lot of the dead wood removing. To many players have been in and around the squad for to long without actually making an impression. It’s time to turf out the likes of Crouch, Defoe, Carrick, Shuan Wright Philips, Heskey, King, Upson, James, and so on, and bring in younger players who have proven themselves already, like Ryan Shawcross, Gary Cahill, Jack Rodwell, Adam Johnson, Jack Wilshere (if he starts regularly, at Arsenal or on loan) as well as players like Darren Bent and Tom Huddlestone.

2010-06-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

Every tournament has its underdogs and over-achievers, those teams that perform above all expectations and go further than they should, or a side that surprises many because they are somewhat of an unknown quantity. Euro 2004 had Greece, Japan/Korea in 2002 had joint hosts South Korea making the semi finals, and as far back as Euro 1992, Denmark, the wildcard entry due to Yugoslavia’s exclusion, went and won the whole tournament.

South Africa 2010 will most likely be no different, so here’s an insight into a few of the teams who might fit the clichés of ‘potential banana skins’ or ‘giant killers’.

IVORY COAST

Arguably the best African team in this year’s tournament, and therefore the continents biggest hope for their first World Cup, qualified top of their group without losing a single game in both group stages.

Drawn in the group of death against Brazil, Portugal and North Korea, The Elephants will fancy their chances of making it through the group despite the calibre of their opponents.

In attack they have Premier League golden boot winner Didier Drogba, who will almost certainly find the net, and his Chelsea team mate Salomon Kalou who also poses a significant threat. Their midfield is bolstered Yaya Toure, and Sevilla duo Didier Zakora and Romaric while at the back Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Guy Demel will be staunch opposition.

Their biggest problem may be that new coach, former England boss Sven Goran Eriksson has only recently met the majority of squad in the last month, which may lead to a lack of cohesion in the squad, with Eriksson not having enough time to get to know his team, and out his ideas and tactics across.

However the a lot of the team have top European experience, and the team are strong and physical, and difficult to break down, while at the same time having the odd player, like Drogba, who can produce the spectacular and win a match from nothing.

CHILE

The South Americans first World Cup since 1998 and after two disappointing qualifying campaigns, they managed to finish second, just one point behind Brazil for South Africa.

The most exciting thing about Chile is their style and formation. They employ a genuinely exciting 3-1-3-3 formation, with the main focus being winning and retaining the ball high up the pitch and out passing their opponents, very much under the ethos ‘attack is the best form of defence’.

Coach Marcelo Bielsa has put together a squad with belief and ability, and will be looking to exorcise his own personal ghost after failing to get his Argentina team past the 2002 group stage.

Many of the team come from the side that came third place at the 2007 under 20 World Cup, and have undoubted quality in South Americans qualifying top scorer Humberto Suazo, Exciting prospects Matias Fernandez and Alexis Sanchez, and Boca Juniors midfielder Gary ‘the Pitbull’ Medel.

In a group with Spain, Honduras and Switzerland, the former two provide winnable matches, while a 2-2 friendly draw with Spain recently will give them confidence against the best.

SERBIA

Serbia are probably in just an equal group of death as the Ivory Coast, with an under-performing Germany with no Ballack, and improving Ghana and Australia sides, but themselves are a team not to be underestimated.

The Serbians topped a group that was by no means easy, coming ahead of France and Romania, scoring 22 goals in the process.

English crowds will be keeping an eye on Nikola Zigic and Milan Jovanavic who have recently signed for Birmingham City and Liverpool respectively, while Marko Pantelic, Miros Krasic, and Dejan Stankovic add quality to the squad.

At the back they have a duo of formidable Premier League defenders in Nemanja Vidic and Branislav Ivanovic who will be a stern test for the best attackers in the World Cup.

ENGLAND - THE BEST OF A BAD BUNCH?

2010-05-24T06:31:00.000-07:00

The World Cup is just a matter of weeks away, and already the media, the fans and Carlsberg are boldly claiming this could be England’s year, putting to bed 44 years of hurt and exorcising the ghost of ‘The Boys of ‘66’. This despite England not having a particularly outstanding team. Wayne Rooney of course, is on fire and could turn a game in a second, and Frank Lampard has had a fantastic season at Chelsea, as had Ashley Cole, bar his spell on the sidelines.

But what else do we have? Usually at the pinnacle of defending, injuries and off field problems have respectively seen Rio Ferdinand’s and John Terry’s on pitch performances suffer, while right back and goalkeeper are still problem areas, and we don’t have any striker prolific at international level other than Rooney.

However England do have their best chance of winning in a long time because the usual contenders for the World Cup, bar Spain, just don’t seem that good this time around.

Since I can remember the Brazil squad for a World Cup has always made me think ‘bloody hell, wouldn’t want to face them’ with the likes of Adriano, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Romario and Bebeto in their teams, they were a side everybody wanted to avoid. Although they qualified at a canter, and have Kaka, Dani Alves and Luis Fabiano, they also have Premier League flops Gilberto (the former ‘Spurs full back) Elano, Robinho, Kleberson and Julio Baptista. Hardly awe inspiring.

Argentina are probably in the shakiest spell they’ve had in years, qualifying by the skin of their teeth, and just avoiding a playoff. Of course, like all the best teams, they have their world beaters, Lionel Messi is incomparable to anyone else, and Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain have had fantastic seasons, but a lot of their squad is suspect, especially their goalkeepers and defence which share few caps between them and look decidedly iffy, and their manager is frankly a bit nuts. Yes Diego Maradona, arguably the best ever player is shaping up to be arguably the craziest ever manager. When he’s not punching journalists, running over journalists or telling journalists to f*** off, he’s leaving to established players, Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti, who have just won a treble with Inter Milan, on the beach this summer. Some of his tactical decisions have been bizarre to say the least.

France’s manager Raymond Domenech could rival Maradona for the title of craziest manager with a penchant for calling up players who had declared themselves retired, proposing to his girlfriend live on television after a match and allegedly picking teams based on star signs, he steered the French team to the World Cup through a poor qualifying campaign, and a playoff with Ireland where they won through *cough* a perfectly legitimate goal with no sign of handball in the build up what so ever. The French side obviously has class, the likes of Gourcuff, Toulalan, and Ribery attest to that, but they are week upfront, with Henry not playing regularly and the need to recall Djibril Cisse. The fact is, as individuals, France should be up there with the best, but the reality is this lot struggle to play well as a team and is simply not the sum of all its parts.

The Germans have replaced France for the unwanted title of ‘Nation which has selected the most players that aren’t actually from that nation’ with Lukas Podolski, Cacau, Mesuit Ozil and Piotr Trochowski all of non German lineage. (Ok, this isn’t a reason they won’t do well, I just fancied a pop at the Germans). Usually a reliable goal scorer, Miroslav Klose has only managed one goal in 18 games for Bayern this season, while Mario Gomez only ten. Talismanic skipper Michael Ballack will miss out through injury which will be a huge blow to the squad. Many of the 27 man provisional squad lack experience, and none of the defenders or midfielders seem to have the gravitas that previous wearers of the shirt have had. That said they will probably be ruthlessly efficient and win on penalties.

Italy have an ageing squad, and the class of 2006 flopped massively at Euro 2008. They may have qualified with ease from a group containing the Republic of Ireland, but Fabio Cannavaro is past his best, and Milan duo Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo, while still good, are nowhere near the impressive force they used to be, and the strikers named in their provisional squad are far from prolific at international level.

Amongst the other teams being touted as potential winners, you have perennial underachievers Holland and Portugal. Both have undoubted quality, but both have weaknesses as well, and as history shows, both teams often lack the mentality to win a tournament.

So if you see Rio Ferdinand lifting the World Cup in South Africa this summer, England will have played well, and will have deserved it, but remember, the other teams out there are by no means at their best, making who-ever wins this year’s tournament merely the best of a bad lot.

Woods, Cole and Terry, more than a sporting affair?

2010-03-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

Fans need to stop obsessing over what sportsmen get up to off the pitch and enjoy what they can do on it.

In the last few months alone the press has been rife with talk over the antics of the likes of Tiger Woods, John Terry and Ashley Cole, none have achieved much in the sporting arena of late, but the coverage they have been getting suggests they have won their sports top accolades, when all they have been doing is cheating on their wives and girlfriends.
I say all, because to me, in most of these cases, it is irrelevant what these people do in their personal lives, and it should be to all other sports fans as well.

Ashley Cole has done many stupid things in his time, cheating on the stunning Cheryl Cole/Tweedy being right at the top of the list, but has it affected his performances? (Well he’s injured, but when allegations of a similar nature came out a few years ago, he maintained his form), is this personal misdemeanour really something that should lead to calls for him to be dropped? Or should it bring the name of his club Chelsea into disrepute?
No. Chelsea and Cole aren’t marriage guidance councillors, and have done nothing wrong within the world of sport.

Tiger Woods’ story seems to be more complex and exciting, but should people really be calling for him to be banned from golf? And should he be booed by spectators? Defiantly not. Not just because that kind of behaviour is unbecoming of those with membership at a top golf course, but because he has done the sport no wrong.

The same could be said of his sponsors, many of whom have withdrawn their deals with Woods after last year’s revelations. Fair enough if he was endorsing Toyota’s new family car, an adulterer isn’t the best bet to sell the product, but I doubt those who buy Gillette products will be put off buying that brand of razor because Tiger has been shagging porn stars.
With regards to sport, all Woods has done wrong is timing a press conference to coincide with the exiting finale of a US Tour competition, showing disrespect for his colleagues.
John Terry is different because his affair involved the partner of a team mate, and to a degree the media should be involved, but with regards to Fabio Capello’s decision over Terry’s captaincy for England, and not him flying to Dubai to try and save his relationship with the mother of his children, that is no ones business.

The fact is that these people aren’t sportsmen any more; they are sports stars and celebrities, not just sports fans and supporters pay attention to the likes of Terry, Cole and Woods anymore, but those people obsessed with celebrity culture and mindless gossip about who’s stumbling out of what night club pissed at 4 am.

These people have meant that our top sports stars now get as much coverage in the front of the newspapers as they do in the back.
And in turn, the negative press can, and has lead to booing, and criticism, which has lead to downturn in performances in some cases, which, in my opinion, shouldn’t happen because of non sports related reasons.

If mentally they have problems in their private lives that affect their game, that’s one thing, but to have it affected by public and press talking about their antics away from the field is another thing all together.

Can England win the World Cup? Even with Rooney, i doubt it.

2010-03-20T05:20:00.000-07:00

It's that time of a pre-World Cup Season, where the tabloids start making out that England can win for the first time since 1966 (only a few months before they are looking for a scapegoat and asking for the managers sacking), but can we win? Foregtting the qualities and failings of our prospective opponents, lets evaluate our own squad and see if we have what it takes.

Goal-Keepers.

There was a time where England produced top class keepers regularly, look at the likes of Banks, Shilton, Clemence and Seaman. Now we have a selection of average, not brilliant, not bad, and all prone to the odd error. Those in contention, Green, Foster, James, Hart, Robinson and Kirkland, can you really say that any are stand out contenders to take the number 1 shirt? Hart is promising and in great form, but is more one for the future, whilst the rest are all much of the same. Robinson seems to be playing the best, and James has the experience. Can we win the World Cup without a top notch keeper? How many past winners have? Italy in 2006 had Buffon, France in 1998 had Barthez, in 2010 we could easily have Rob Green.

Defence

Centre back is an area England are very steady in. Rio Ferdinand and John Terry are a very experienced partnership with alot of quality, and back up is solid with the likes of Dawson, Upson, Lescott, Rodwell, Brown and Shawcross, but it's at full-back the weaknesses may lie.

In Ashley Cole makes it, we have a world class left back, if he doesn't the options are Bridge, who may opt out for well publicised personal reasons, although he hasn't had a great season, and the promising Leighton Baines and Steven Warnock. Both have shown potential in the Premier League, but are mostly untried against the best.

Right back is more of a problem, because, even if all are fully fit, none are top class. Glen Johnson is very exciting going forward, offers support and has a good shot, but is suspect in defence, getting turned inside out by low standard wingers is not indicitive a a good defender. Wes Brown, currently injured, is a safer defensive option, but offers little going forward. An on form Micah Richards is largely unfavoured by Mr Capello, and calls for Gary Neville to come into the fold are, at the least, soul destroying.

Midfield

David Beckham's injury isn't as bad for England as some people would beleive. Obviously it's horrible for Beckham, who has worked so hard to get back into contention, and is by all accounts very popular among the England squad, but on the pitch? Recently under Capello he has offered nothing more than the odd 10 minute cameo. Obviously his delivery is still second to none, and you would rather him him taking a free-kick above anyone else, but would it have been worth taking someone who was only going to be playing the last 1o minutes?

His injury may also be a blessing in disguise for whoever is playing on the right wing. In so much that when they were to see Beckham warming up, they would instantly think they would be subbed off soon, which could affect their peformance.

How time can change things in football, not long ago England fans would be up in arms about Owen Hargreaves playing for England, now they are clamouring for it. The two fighting for his position, Gareth Barry and Michael Carrick, are both good, but aren't as dynamic or as tough tackling, and both offer little more than a sideways or backwards 10 yard pass. Neither are terrible, and Carrick has shown in this the Champions League over the last few years he is capabale of competing in the middle with the best.

In the more attacking positions if midfield, the biggest problem is, while Gerrard and Lampard are undoubtedly among the best in the world, Gerrard is having a poor season, and Lampard rarely in recent years has transferred his club form to the international stage. And some of the other attacking options, such as James Milner Ashley Young and Adam Johnson, are playing well domestically, but are untried in continental or international football.

Joe Cole looks like he won't get the games in time for the tournament and will be left out, while on the right hand side, England will hope Aaron Lennon will get fit, because Walcott's fitness is as suspect as his first touch.

Forwards

Wayne Rooney, brilliant, no problems, no questions, except who to play upfront with him. Crouch and Defoe are both proven goal scorers, but neither really seem to bring the best out in Rooney, more so Defoe. Heskey, can't score for love nor money, but helps Rooneys game, as well as the rest of the team with his strength and hold up play. Does Capello opt for someone who isn't prolific but helps those that are, or play someone, who doesn't hinder Rooney, doesn't help them as much as Heskey?

The other options upfront, Bobby Zamora, Carlton Cole, Gabby Agbonlahor and Darren Bent all have goals in them, but as with some of the midfield, untried against the best.

So to summarise, can England win the World Cup? Of course they can, if everyone plays to their best and they have a bit of luck. Will they win the World Cup? With an average keeper, problems at full back, out of form/inexperienced midfielders and only one striker prolific at the top level, all signs point to an quarter final exit....again.

English Sides Face Tough European Quarter Finals

2010-03-20T04:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the draws were made for the Champions League and Europa League Quarter Finals, and those remaining from England face difficult challenges to progress to the next round.

In the Champions League, Arsenal face the sternest test, against last years winners, Barcelona. While Arsenal have picked up some form, coupled with some fantastic performances in recent months, getting themselves back into the title race in the process, the Catalonians will surely prove to strong for Arsene Wenger's men. The Gunner's defence is somewhat suspect at times, especially if William Gallas or Thomas Vermaelen get injured. Sol Campbell looked iffy against Stoke, let alone against Messi, Ibrahimovic and Henry. The Catalonians midfiled of Xavi and Iniesta have the quality to domiate the tie. But with the the first leg at The Emirates, if Arsenal can make the most of their home advantage, they will go to the Nou Camp with every chance of a result.

Elsewhere Manchester United face their 1999 victims, and perrenial German champions Bayern Munich. While Bayern aren't to be underestimated, United will go into this tie as favourites, as their form in the Premiership, and two world class performances against AC Milan have proved. Rooney is on fire at the moment, and any defence would be fearful of facing him, along with a solid team behind him, but Bayern have a solid defence and midfield, and attacking prowess of their own, with Arjen Robben, Frank Ribery, Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez along others. Many will be predicted a United win, and i agree, but Munich are top of the Bundesliga, and in the quarter finals on merit, so it won't be as easy as some may think.

In the Europa League, UEFA's answer to the Johnstones Paint Trophy, Liverpool have drawn a tough test against Portugese side Benfica. This is anything but straightforward and prime for a shock. Liverpool have internal problems, intensified by Albert Riera's recent outburts, as well as an over reliance on a out of sorts Gerrard and a back to fitness and form Fernando Torres, while Benfica boast a range of talent including Angel Di Maria, Javier Saviola, Pablo Aimar, Oscar Cardozo and Luisao, and have scored 22 goals already in this years competition. This will be an exciting and unpredictable tie.

How long can Fulham keep defying the odds? After Thursdays amazing result against Italy's Old Lady Juventus, being 3-1 down after the first leg, and 1-0 down on the night after just two minutes, coming back to win 4-1 on the night, and win the tie outright. Their reward has been a tie against the German side Wolfsburg, who dropped out of Manchester United's Champions League group. The Germans have firepower from the 'next big thing' Edin Dzeko, familiar face Obafemi Martins and the Brazilian Grafite, but Fulham have quality of their own, and if Roy Hodgson can get his side firing like he did in mid-week, we could see Fulham in the last four.

8 Ways to Improve Football

2009-12-16T03:12:00.000-08:00

In many ways football doesn't need improving, it has stood relatively untouched for years, and to change it could even be to detriment of the game itself. But in other ways, the game does need improving, both on and off the pitch to ensure football has a future.

1. CLARIFY THE RULE ON DIVING

When referees don't seem to know the rule properly, there is definatly a problem. In some cases a player goes down, maybe a bit easily, looks for a free kick or penalty, and the referee waves play on. Now surely if it isn't a foul, the player should be pulled up for diving. Of course sometimes a player goes down because he wasn't fouled, didn't dive, but was genuinely off balance/fell over/ tripped over his own feet.

If there is a possibilty gamesmanship like diving can affect the outcome of a game, it needs to be sorted out as soon as possible.

2. INTRODUCE GOAL-LINE TECHNOLOGY

Although FIFA have put talks on hold about introducing it for the next few years at least, the technology is there (Adidas have done some impressive work involving a microchip in the ball).

Like diving, something like the ball crossing the line can affect the result of a game, and if we can remove human error, we should. UEFA have tried having extra officials behind the goals in the Europa League, but even they have made cock ups.

Obviously anything put in place would have to be 100% fool proof, and there is the precedent that it could lead to the introduction of video evidence during a match, which I am against.

3. STOP BOOKINGS FOR 'OVER EXUBERANT' GOAL CELEBRATIONS

Recently we have seen Cristiano Ronaldo, and Younnes Kaboul booked, and consequently sent off for taking their shirts off after scoring. (This point is not about me enjoying the sight of topless men) Booking them for this is frankly ridiculous, it doesnt cause any harm, or offend anyone.

A booking should only be given for a goal celebration if it causes harm or incites fans/opposition players/coaches etc.

The biggest contradiction seems to be that Sepp Blatter is all for female footballers to play in more revealing kits, but is against the guys wipping their shirts off.

4. MAKE THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AND EUROPA LEAGUE A STRAIGHT KNOCK-OUT

There are so many needless group games in European competitions. Often the groups, top place at least, is settled with two, maybe three games left. It leads to lower attenances and less interest from T.V. audiences. Making it a straight knock-out will keep it interesting by making every game relevant and important.

5. SMALLER COUNTRIES PRE QUALIFY

This often proposed idea is a very good one.

It can't be any good for countries such as Andorra, San Marino and the Faroe Islands to be the wipping boys of qualifying rounds. What do they gain from it? What do they learn?

Wouldn't it be better for them to compete against their equals, with the best amongst them progressing to the final round of qualifying?

Less qualifying matches for international teams, appeasing club managers, and less humiliation for the smaller countries.

6. STOP SEEDING TEAMS

The biggest example of this is the recent European play-offs to qualify for the World Cup. France, Portugal and Russia all faced play-offs, and the powers that be, worried that some of the big names wouldn't qualify, they seeded the draw to give those teams a helping hand.

Of course FIFA/UEFA, sponsors and some fans would like to see the best teams progress to the latter stages of competitions with a relatively easy path, but my argument is, if a team has earnt the right to be at a tournament, they should start on a level playing field with everyone else.

And if a team is good enough, they will progress regardless of opposition.

7. INTRODUCE A SALARY CAP

Teams need to stop overspending on wages to reduce the risk of going into debt and administration, and out of buisness.

How it would work would need some thought, possibly only a set percentage of a clubs turnover could be spent on wages.

But in this day and age, clubs overspend on wages far too much. Leeds United being the best example, but recently it seems the likes of Southampton, West Ham, and any club that has gone into admin have taken the same risks.

How long will it be until a club goes out of buisness because a careless chairman offers the next Seth Johnson £35k a week.

8. Give Football Back to the Fans

Ticket prices have gone through the roof, especially the higher up the leagues you go, which leads to falling attendances. (In some cases it could cost a family of four £200+ to see a top flight game) Surely chairmen must realise that dropping the ticket price and filling the stadium is just as good as keeping the price up and having it half full.

Transfer Window round up

2009-09-04T06:54:00.000-07:00

A look at how each Premiership team has faired in the summer transfer window with their ins and outs.

ARSENAL

Let two of their best players go in Adebayor and Toure, but as Adebayor clearly wanted to leave, and on last seasons viewing Toure was past his best, the loss isn't as bad as it first seems. Wenger has plenty of good attacking talent in Van Persie, Eduardo, Walcott, Arshavin and Vela, as well as a player who should be able to score against Burnley and Hull in Bendtner. Vermahlen, the Gunners only major summer signing has started well, and looks at least as good as Toure, if not better.

Aston Villa

A late flurry of activity signing three defenders just before the window slammed shut. Warnock will replace Shorey at left back, and will be good, and Collins and Dunne at Centre Back will be steady at the least as replacements for the retired Martin Laursen. Fabien Delph from Leeds certainly has potential, but don't expect him to pull up too many trees this season. And while Downing is a decent Premier League Winger, Villa will probably only get half a season out of him this year. O'Neill has spent a fair wedge of money on average players, and could find his team struggling to finish above Everton, Man City, Fulham and Spurs.

Birmingham City

Joe Hart, Barry Ferguson and Lee Bowyer are three good signings, that cost little (or in some cases nothing) by McLeish, and will all play a big part in the Blues staying up. Whilst Roger Johnson is a good centre back, and has impressed in the Championship, but at £5m, could be a tad over priced. Christian Benitez, a South American stiker with no experience of the English game is a huge gamble (as anyone who can remember Augustin Delgado will testify.) A few others have come in to bolster his squad such as Stephen Kelly and Gregory Vignal, and he hasn't lost any of his first teamers. Should have enough to stay up.

Blackburn Rovers

Lost to decent strikers in Santa Cruz, and inexplicably Matt Derbyshire, and replaced them with Franco Di Santo on loan from Chelsea leaves Rovers a bit light on the goal scoring front. Givet has come in permantly, Pascal Chimbonda and a 'typical big Sam signing' in Salgado from Real Madrid, but Warnock and Ooijer leaving leaves the defence in the same state it was in more or less. A few cheapish players that many no very little about have come in, such as N'Zonzi. Looks like an ultimatly dissapointing season, full of struggle for Blackburn.

Bolton Wanderers

Average, or even below average are the names of the game with Boltons summer signings, with Sam Ricketts, Zat Knight, Paul Robinson, and Sean Davis coming in. Few big names have left, and Megson has also brought in promising young Croat Ivan Klasnic on loan. Again, another struggle for the Trotters, with a fairly average squad.

Burnley

Premier League new boys Burnley have spent well considering their new boy status and limited budget during the summer. Stevie Fletcher was a good goalscorer in Scotland and has potential, whereas David Nugent will hope a move will rekindle the form that saw him make the England squad. Elsewhere, no-one of importance has left, but Tyrone Mears, David Edgar and Andre Bikey all have vital Premier League experience, Eckersley from Man Utd has promise and Guerrero, like Benitez at Birmingham, is an unknown quantity, and could go either way.

Early wins against Man Utd and Everton show they are no push-overs, but i think it could be a false dawn, and Burnley will go down, despite a spirited fight.

Chelsea

A quiet window for Chelsea, which is something their going to have to get used to. Sturridge and Turnball are something for the future, although both look set to be very good. Zhirkov will provide an extra attacking option on the left flank. Arguably the most solid squad in the division have trimmed down on its excess fat ridding themselves of Shevchenko and Pizarro, and loaning out some of its youngsters. I'd be suprised if they aren't in the top two come May.

Everton

Lescott was possiblly a more boring transfer story than Ronaldo has been over the last two seasons, but £22m for him was a very good price for someone who ended up sulking like a three year old when Moyes wouldn't let him go. Distin and Hetinga, added to Rodwell, Yobo and Jagielka should be able to plug the gap. Jo has come in on loan again, and Russian midfielder Bilyaletdinov looks a solid investment. Same again, and a top 6 finish from Everton again.

Fulham

Hodgson has kept most of the side that fired him into the Europa League this summer, whilst adding some reasonable quality, and shock horror, not all of it Scandanavian. Damien Duff will provide a good outlet on the left wing, whislt John Greening is a solid centre mid. John Arne Riise younger brother Bjorn is an exciting prospect, as is Dikagoci. Top half finish again.

Hull City

At the beginning of the summer, perma tanned Phil Brown couldn't attaract a striker for love nor money, but towards the end has bought in Jozy Altidore, the promising American, former Holland and Celtic frontman Venegoor of Hesselink, as well as Greek striker Ghilas, who all appear capable of a goal or two, something the Tigers lacked last season. Olyfinjana will hopefully add some bite to the midfiled, but for a man who has now had two £3m transfers, and produced the grand sum of not a great deal, that remains to be seen. At the back, Ricketts and Michael Turner have gone, and only McShane has come in. Relegation beckons (So at least we won't have to hear Brown singing on the final day again!)

Liverpool

'I've got no money to spend' cried Rafa, yet managed to spend about £40m. Lost his third best player in Alonso, and replaced him with someone who's spent the best part of two years injured, and can't play until November . Spent the best part of his transfer kitty on Glen Johnson. No matter how good a right back he is, a full back won't turn your team into a title winning one, so don't spend £18m on one, especially when Arbeloa wasn't all that bad.. And some Greek fella who's name i can't spell who couldn't cut it at Rangers? If any of the big four drop out the top four, i feel it'll be Liverpool

Manchester City

Their 'outs' don't really matter, Santa Cruz, Tevez, Lescott, Adebayor, Toure, Sylvinho, and Barry. If this lot don't finish top six, all of them should be lined up and shot. Top four is a real possibility. Unbeaten so far, but yet to face a big side.

Manchester United

How do you replace Ronaldo? You buy Messi, but as there's more chance of Alex Ferguson walking on Mars than that happening, you buy Valencia from Wigan and hope he turns out good. Doesn't look to bad so far.

How do you replace Tevez? Not as hard as it sounds, didn't score all that many last season, despite making the third most appearances of any UTD player last season. Michael Owen for free or Tevez for £25m? I know which i prefer, and Frergie agrees

And if Football Manager is anything to go on, Obertan is one for the future.

Expect them to challenge again.

Portsmouth

Oh dear, oh dear. Out goes Distin, Campbell, Nugent, Crouch, Davis, Krankjar, Johnson, Traore, and nealry David James. In comes Michael Brown, Moekena, Mike Williamson, Tommy Smith, Ben-Haim, Prince Boateng, Dindane, Vanden Borre, Niemi, and Piquionne. Alot of bad players, amongst the signings of Vanden Borre and Ben-Haim, a loan move for Nickey Shorey fell through and the team whiffs of relegation.

Stoke City

A masterstroke double signing of Robert Huth and Tuncay from Middlesbrough could be a move that takes Stoke from relegation battlers to safe mid-table this season. Also brought in Dean Whitehead, and only lost Olyfinjana from last year. An improvement on last year.

Sunderland

Steve Bruce has been busy at his new club. Big money signings in Darren Bent and Michael Turner could prove to be what makes or breaks their season. Bent is looking prolific and Turner could well have gone to Liverpool if they had some money. Lorik Cana is a solid and very good centre midfilder from Marsielle, and will break up attacks, as will Cattermole, and Mensah is another good midfielder. Frazier Campbell looked very good at the u21's this summer. The team looks strong all round, and will be able to withstand the losses of Halford, Whitehead, Leadbitter and Edwards.

Tottenham Hotspurs

Done fantastically, and started well. Added Crouch to their striking options, Kyke Naughton is very promising on the right, and Bassong was about the only good thing about Newcastle last season. Jimmy Walker will provide cover while Gomes is out, and Krankjar will do the same for Modric, and provide another option when he comes back. Bent was the major outgoing, but with Crouch, Defoe, Keane and Pavlyechenko, he was somewhat surplus to requirements.

Top six at least.

West Ham United

Zola had little money to spend but managed to hold on to Upson and Cole. Swapped Savio for defender Da Costa, and also bought in another striker, Diamanti, which was sorely needed. Both are proven in Italy, but unknown quantities here. Luiz Jiminez, the exciting Chilean, comes in from Inter Milan, and Kovac signs permantly. The rest of the squad stays much the same, and i think mid-table again for Zola's team.

Wigan Athletic

The losses of Cattermole and Valencia are huges losses for Wigan, and Scotland and Gomez are ultimatly championship players. Scott Sinclair looks promising and will want to prove himself, otherwise a few no-marks from Spain have come in, as well as James McCarthy from Hamilton. Martinez's side may play nice football, but ultimaltley must gear themselves for a year of struggle.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Andrew Surman's form at Southampton got him into England's U21 side, but will he be any good on the top flight? Kevin Doyle will get them goals, and Serbian Milijas looks an inspired signing. Mancienne is back on loan, and is an exciting prospect, but Greg Halford seems a waste of money, as he has rarely performed at the top level, and is amassing more clubs than Tiger Woods. Zubar will hopefully come good at the back, but i don't think this squad is good enough for the top flight.

2009-07-23T07:24:00.001-07:00

Manchester City's Groundhog Day.

2009-07-23T06:59:00.000-07:00

The new football season is just weeks away, and Manchester City's spending spree doesn't seem like letting up, with more potential signings on the horizon. Whether they bring in John Terry or Joleon Lescott or not, there is bound to be more arrivals.

But the more players added to the squad, the more likely the Eastlands club could end up living their own version of the Bill Murray film 'Groundhog Day' where the main character lives the same day over and over again.

Constantly managers and coaches harp on about the need for a team or new players to gel, and with Tevez, Santa Cruz et al all joining this summer, it will take time for them to start playing as a cohesive team.

Will the billionaire bankrollers accept this as an excuse from Mark Hughes if his team end up trophyless and mid-table like last season? Or will they more likely be unsatisfied with the percieved lack of success and progress, and sack Sparky, bring in another manager, who makes wholesale changes to the squad, which needs time to gel, and the cycle begins again.

Champions league football is the main aim, but can City breach the dominance of the top four? Can they even finish above the likes of Everton, Villa, Fulham, West Ham and Tottenham in the fight for 5th place? It's a tall order. Can Hughes get the team to gel quickly, can he keep all his big name stars (and Craig Bellamy) happy?