300 ENGLAND: Don't go Sven, we sti

“However the players have responded to the pair in the right way and good noises appear to be coming from the training ground about the new way things are done. I for one think it’s refreshing to have someone in charge that doesn’t go running to the press all the time and feel the need to dwell on past performances. You’re only as good as your last result after all. As for Joe Jordan, what can you say he’s been a real legend. Despite the fact that he was bought to the club by Redknapp, he’s shown a massive amount of loyalty and honour. He is also very good at concentrating on how good Pompey is and making the most of what we have got rather than standing in admiration at the opposition and whining about the lack of facilities.”

The January transfer window is still open and there has been intense speculation linking Amdy Faye and Yakubu with a move away from the South coast but Dan wouldn’t be too bothered if Faye was shipped out.

“Amdy Faye flatters to deceive. For someone who was billed as the next Patrick Vieira he certainly gives the ball away a lot and only ever gets stuck in when he really wants to. When you look at the stats he gives the ball away just as much as Quashie, but he doesn’t get half the criticism. Faye has an amazing game every now and again, when you think ‘wow, he really is something special’. But it’s the ability of players such as Gerrard to keep putting in such performances week in week out that sets them aside from the rest. If he goes then I don’t think any of us would be too bothered, as deep down we know there are other players out there who could do just as good a job.”

However Dan would miss the goal threat of Yakubu who is the club’s top scorer this season with eight and would be looking for an eight figure fee for the hitman.
“The Yak is a different prospect, as he really is something special and could do it at the highest level. Yes he might be a bit lazy and lack commitment at times but he does what he is paid to do, score goals. Without doubt the Yak is set to join a bigger club at some point, and no one would deny him the opportunity of joining a top five team. If Beattie is worth £6 million then the Yak should go for at least £10 million.”
Portsmouth have an aging squad and Dan would like to see them strengthening the midfield by signing a few young players with Basinas, Pennant and a Croatian dubbed as the new Prosinecki on his wish list.

“I’d like to see a couple of fresh faces in but realistically until the club sorts out its manager on a permanent basis I can’t see there being too much activity. If Faye goes I’d like to see the Greek player Basinas come in to strengthen the midfield, and someone to cover Steve Stone in right midfield. Ideally this should be someone young such as Jermaine Pennant. There’s also mention of a young Croatian guy, Kranjcar, who has been likened to Prosinecki. If he has two thirds of Prosinecki’s talent then I say give him a go.”

Harry Redknapp was a hero to the Pompey fans after guiding them to promotion and defying the critics by keeping them in the top flight last season but it wasn’t as much the fact he left them for Southampton but the way he did it which angered the Pompey fans according to Dan, who believes the youngsters like Ashdown, Taylor and O’Neil have been superb under Zajec, who favours youth.

“I was gutted when [Redknapp] joined the team down the road, as he had done so much for Pompey and I really thought that when he said Pompey was going to be his last managerial job, he meant it. I wouldn’t say managing both teams is the ultimate sin, or even going from one to the other. Alan Ball did it and many of our fans have a great deal of respect for him. It’s more to do with the fact that Harry said he needed a break from the game, and having only taken two weeks off decided to go and manage our most bitter rivals. It’s also about the manner in which he left. He’s the media’s answer to ‘rent a quote’. I don’t think anyone doubts that the appointment of Zajec played a part in Harry’s departure, but when one of the club’s Directors comes out and states that the club offered to cancel their job offer to Zajec if it meant that Harry stayed, you can’t help but wonder if Harry had some alternate reason.”
Redknapp is always keen to state the job he did at Pompey and Dan is free to admit that without the former West Ham and Bournemouth manager they wouldn’t be where they are today but would like to remind Harry and Jim Smith that they would have avoided relegation even if they had joined the club or not back in 2002.
“When Harry took over the reigns from Rix Pompey were 15th, a massive 9 points away from the third from bottom team, still technically able to be relegated but having played 41 games and on 51 points, you would say we were pretty safe!! He was then in charge for 5 games and his remarkable record was: Played 5 won 0 - Drew 2 - Lost 3 ...Total 2 points out of 15. And as it transpired we already had enough points when Rix was sacked (51) to be safe, as the third from bottom team, Crewe only got to 49.”

”No-one doubts what Harry has done for PFC and credit where credit is due, but when you are constantly told by someone how great they are the novelty soon wears off. Something the media don’t seem to appreciate. [Redknapp] and the media have seriously underestimated the level of rivalry between the two cities [and its not just football]. How he can say he thinks most Portsmouth fans would understand his decision to manage Southampton I’ll never know. Since his departure I’ve talked to a great number of people and only one has tried defending his actions.”
Sven seems to be considering a move to Chelsea, but Warren Turner thinks the FA should convince him to stay or at least consider some interesting alternatives.

If last Sunday’s News of the World is to be believed, it is only a matter of time before Sven Goran Eriksson departs Lancaster Gate for nouveau riche Chelsea. Bad news. Notwithstanding the fact that England’s Euro 2004 fate has yet to be sealed, this country needs Sven more than many people realise.

Some barbarous criticisms have been levelled at Sven in the light of his clandestine meeting with Roman Abramovich – that he is a traitor, that he is a grab-the-money-and-run mercenary – but all of these comments seem unfair. If it’s true that Sven is unhappy in his work, then who can blame him for casting an eye towards pastures new? And let’s face it, Eriksson faces many difficulties in his job, at least in comparison with that of a club manager. Aside from the cavalcade of photographers and journalists who chronicle his every move, Eriksson must be alarmed by the brevity of real talent at his disposal while several of his supposed ‘stars’ – hiya Scholesy – have let him down a little too often. The attendant stresses and strains of managing a national team that attracts such unfounded optimism and expectation must also have made themselves known.

Now I’m not Sven’s biggest fan by any means, never have been. I didn’t buy that horrendously naff single released in his honour, nor tuck into his range of pasta sauces (have they been taken off the shelves now or something?). When England needed a torchbearer for the Beautiful Game after the sloppy, workmanlike performances that marked the Keegan era, the FA gave us a pragmatist; one who brings to the party our own long-standing beliefs about physical presence (hence his loyalty to Emile Heskey) and getting the ball forward quickly.

But if Sven leaves we are presented with a rather obvious problem: who will take his place? We can assume that the FA will be wary of appointing another high-profile foreign coach la Cappello, but the well of English managerial talent is remarkably shallow. Our headline options are Steve McClaren and Alan Curbishley – both worthy candidates for the future, but not now. We know that David Platt is being ‘fast-tracked’ into the top job, but to reel him in now would be a folly of the highest order. No disrespect to Platty, England hero and all that, but there are very few Forest supporters who remember his reign at the City Ground with any real fondness.

Ideally, the FA would take the radical option of appointing Dario Gradi. Yes, Dario Gradi, and why not? His knowledge of English football from grassroots upwards is without parallel; ditto his track record of nurturing talent and producing consistently watchable teams. But 25 Soho Square is a place where good ideas are left behind at the security desk; instead the governors of English football will look towards “a manager with international experience (‘come back Glenn, all is forgiven!’)”

So let’s hope Sven can be persuaded to remain in his job for the foreseeable future. He has some laudable qualities, most notably his willingness to bring forward young players and experiment with tactics. He has an innate knowledge of when to praise, defend or criticise his team. The England team could progress under his tutelage; it certainly won’t under the reluctant and uninspiring group of candidates dredged up whenever the manager’s job is up for discussion.

299 Which is the true beautiful ga

Beauty may only be skin deep but Chris Sheppard argues that in football beauty is something completely different.

It's impossible to move anywhere around the world these days without being confronted by David Beckham or his famous wife encouraging you to buy something or take notice of them.

In these times of football as possibly the biggest entertainment industry of all it is more often beauty off the field of play which is most discernable to the decision makers of professional football teams.

Pele's assertion that football is 'the beautiful game' has been underlined by models like Beckham, but not in the way the Brazilian had meant. David Beckham is the biggest name in world football, not for his ability on the pitch which is high but not the highest, but because he is photogenic, embracing of the media and, above all, socially popular.

The definition of a beautiful footballer has certainly changed since the coining of the phrase. Back then, such a term was reserved for a Jairzinho, Rivelino, Eusebio, Bobby Charlton or Franz Beckenbaur.

These men could not, in fairness, be described as 'for the ladies enjoyment' but their beauty was felt as wide for the skills and ability which was abundant when they took to the field. They could play the game as it was intended. They could dribble like babies and pass with such delicacy and verve that it would seem the ball was being moved by a skilful puppeteer. Not only that, but they had the ability to shoot and score from almost anywhere within sight and raise the most stagnant of supporters from his seat, enveloping them in the match, the arena and, above all, the beauty of football.

They had conspicuously few pre-occupations outside of the stadium. No photo-shoots for adidas or GQ, no commercials to film for pepsi or nike and certainly no round-the-world trips promoting themselves.

It is hardly a coincidence that the simpler off-field times for footballers was also the most glorious on-field era.

As the years have passed, the number of true classic footballers, who could easily have played in any era, has ebbed away. While the sixties had the aforementioned legendary names and the seventies could call on cruyff, platini and muller for footballing beauty, it is, for many, the pre vast-commercialisation-eighties which had the last selection of focused and excellent players. Players like Argentina's Diego Maradona, the Dutch pair of van Basten and Ruud Gullit and Brazilian Zico truly made the world take notice of them.

On a football pitch these men were the last group to find themselves worthy of the title 'beautiful footballers'. Since the turn to the 1990s and beyond there have been players, without doubt, who have been beautiful but they have been taken over by the agents and TV men, who run football, to such an extent that it is only on the football pitch that we see their true beauty.

This generation does not have a group of names it can reel off as being beautiful. It has Zidane and Romario and Robberto Baggio. It also has over-exposed players who are punching above their weight because they are beautiful in the aesthetical sense more than with a ball at their feet.

When history comes to remember 'the beautiful game', lets hope it is the truly beautiful players who receive most attention. Lets hope it is images of them beating their opponent and scoring from 30 yards which are shown, rather than modelling 'shoots'. And lets hope we have some more players genuinely worthy of the illustrious title of 'beautiful'.

298 Where is Harry heading?

Harry Kewell's future is still not clear cut after weeks of speculation, where he going is the question for Simon Hanna.

Harry Kewell's future is still very much undecided after an admission from his agent that six clubs are in the race to seal his signature. Bernie Mandic, his agent, has revealed that Liverpool, Manchester United, and Arsenal from England, as well as Barcelona, European champions AC Milan and an unnamed club are all battling it out to sign the Leeds ace.

The Yorkshire club will be doing everything in their power to hang on to one of their star players, especially following the mass exodus of talent that occurred under former coach Terry Venables, and former Director Peter Ridsdale. After seeing quality of the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Jonathan Woodgate, Olivier Dacourt and fans favourite Lee Bowyer depart Leeds United, their supporters would be loathe to see Kewell and Viduka, also linked with a move out of the club, leave.

New coach Peter Reid, having successfully steered his club to premiership safety, needs players of the calibre of Kewell and Viduka around which to build a new team. Last season Kewell netted 14 times in the league, proving to be the only high point and source of excitement in a season which fell far short of expectations for Leeds. But it appears as though Leeds are now resigned to losing the player, with the fear of losing him for free at the end of next season in a bosman transfer clearly playing on the mind of Leeds chairman Professor John McKenzie. Furthermore, transfer target Hidetoshi Nakata could be seen as the creative attacking force that Leeds are preparing to bring in to replace the Australian forward. With this in mind it seems inevitable that Leeds will have to wave goodbye to the talent that has lit up Elland Road for years.

While it is clear that it would be detrimental to the Leeds outfit to lose such a star player, especially for free, it is also apparent that he would be a great acquisition for any club.

Arsenal emerged as early frontrunners for his signature and seem to be the only club who have made an official offer. The skill and pace Kewell offers whether up front or on the left wing would surely compliment Arsenal's quick pace football, and would help in their quest to topple Manchester united from the number one spot next season.

United, with their own left winger Ryan Giggs being linked with a move away from Old Trafford may need a replacement, and there would be none so able to fit into the boots of the Welshman than Harry Kewell.

Recent reports indicate that Liverpool have stepped in as favourites to secure Kewell's services, but whether he would sacrifice the champions League football offered by United, Arsenal and Milan remains to be seen. It certainly isn't surprising that Gerard Houllier would swoop for the player. Looking to make one or two shrewd investments to improve the squad, the purchase of Finnan proves he is finally looking to buy players who are proven in the premiership. Liverpool fans would certainly appreciate an attacking player who is used to playing out on the wing, after players such as Smicer and Murphy have been utilised as makeshift left wingers.

So while Harry Kewell is certainly in high demand it remains to be seen where he will end up, or whether he will stay at Leeds until he can leave for free and truly weigh up his options. And as for the 6 clubs interested in him, we are yet to find out how much of it is genuine, and how much of it is underhand tactics on behalf of Leeds and Kewell's agent to bump up the price. We await developments.

297 Wales need to hang onto Hughes

Will Mark Hughes leave Wales to become No. 2 at Manchester United - Ashley MIchael doesn't think so.

Following the recent (and somewhat surprising) move of Carlos Queiroz to become coach at Real Madrid there has been the usual bout of speculation about his possible replacement at Old Trafford. The names of former Japan coach Philippe Troussier and former Old Trafford number two Brian Kidd have both been mentioned but the most likely candidate appears to be Wales manager Mark Hughes.

Hughes remains an Old Trafford legend after his two successful playing spells and is on record as saying it would be a dream to coach there. The Welsh FA have also said that they would not stand in his way, an attitude which seems odd given the position Wales currently find themselves in. After years of underachievement they finally appear to have fashioned a side capable of making an impact at international level. They currently top group nine, two points ahead of Italy with a game in hand. The side is relatively young, genuinely exciting and playing good football with a balanced, settled system (Sven Goran Eriksson take note). Hughes has brought the best out of the temperamental pair of Craig Bellamy and John Hartson, as well as bringing through some talented youngsters such as Simon Davies and the Cardiff duo of Rob Earnshaw and Danny Gabbidon.

Wales have not been short of talented players in the past. Indeed, Hughes himself played many times in midfield to accommodate the top class front pair of Dean Saunders and Ian Rush and yet the Welsh have not qualified for a major tournament since losing to a goal from Pele in the 1958 world cup quarter finals. To allow Hughes to leave now, totally jeopardizing their Euro 2004 qualification, seems crazy so why have the FAW apparently given their blessing?

It may well be a case of the Welsh FA feeling that if they treat Hughes like an adult he will act like one. By not trying to publicly bind him too tightly to his contract they clearly hope he will appreciate how well he has been treated after a fairly poor start to his reign and see through the job he has started. There is also the distinct possibility that Hughes wants to do both jobs at once, although whether this will please Sir Alex is another matter, after his apparent displeasure at Steve McClaren's role in the England setup.

At a time when the Welsh rugby team is embarrassingly propping up the six nations table it will bring pleasure to Hughes to see a packed Millennium Stadium roaring his side on, actually expecting success for the first time in years. The prospect of taking Wales to Portugal next year may be too strong for Hughes to resist and for once Sir Alex may not get his man.

Still, it may not be too wise to bet against Hughes ever returning to Old Trafford as he is clearly a man in demand. Perhaps rather than being Sir Alex's assistant he sees himself as his successor, surely a job offer he could not refuse.

296 Premiership: Still heading in

Are the Spurs doom-mongers just wrong? Duncan Collingwood thinks so.

Why are Tottenham Hotspur fans so depressed? Here are the bitter facts. An average league position over the past five years of 10th, with an average points total of 50pts. Also imagine your top goal scorer averaging just 11 goals a season.

Yet strangely in statistics supplied by World Soccer this month, Spurs where ranked the 16th richest club in the world. With an annual revenue form last season of 91 million pounds. This just doesn't seem to add up. Where does this money go? Well 44 million goes on player's wages each year. How do the Tottenham players justify themselves earning that much money each year? That's 6 million more a year than Bayern Munich, one of Germany's and Europe's most successful teams. There is no comparison between the records of the two clubs over the years. In the last five seasons alone, Bayern has won 11 trophies. Both domestic, and European. These include 4 league titles, 4 domestic cups, an Inter-continental cup, the European Super Cup and one Champions League title. Their players get paid less, yet they are so much successful than Spurs.

You would then assume that with the left over money, new players would be signed each year. But no, only 15 million over the past two seasons. So what's going on? Does the Tottenham board not feel that Glenn Hoddle is the man for the job, and so are not allowing him to spend the money fully? Or is it a case of the board using this money to keep the club afloat, while other clubs have fallen into financial problems due to the current financial climate in football.

Both these situations make Glenn's job a very difficult one. With this in mind it isn't at all surprising that there is an increasing amount of pressure on the shoulders of Mr.Hoddle. Especially after another mediocre season for Spurs. It was meant to be fairy tale, the legend came home. Well, legendary player anyway. But despite the mounting criticism, one Spurs fan believes he is still taking the club in the right direction.

To the outsider, it would appear that its still a case of same old Spurs, mid-table mediocrity. Unable to attract big name players and never possessing the ability or desire to achieve anything higher than a top ten finish. But taking in mind the financial situation in the world presently, it seems that Glenn is doing the best for the club. Two things have happened over his time, one, off-loading unwanted players to reduce the wage bill. Two, with the sales of these players generating a pot of future transfer money. The names to go include Armstrong, Therwell, Clemence, Sheringham, Ferdinand, Sherwood, Freund etc. With maybe more to go Thatcher? And Iverson?

The only problem with this is that these players need to be replaced, but not with the same standard. Is this shooting your self in the foot? Or is it a brave decision to offload them by Hoddle? It should allow Spurs to spend money on wages. It would also allow them to snap up out of contract players. Or buy new players. But he won't be able to buy many, especially as better quality players generally cost more money, and are paid more. So the next problem may be that the better quality players won't want to come to unsuccessful team like Tottenham. Who have only one trophy in five years. The money may be there, but the players do not want to come. They should do though; the club has a lot going for it. Its well supported, it has a long successful history, it's based in London, has a great stadium and wants to be a successful club.

So what to do, some summer spending is essential. Otherwise Spurs will not have a team to field next season. Especially in the striking department, with only two first team strikers. The recent signing of Portuguese wonder boy Helder Postiga from FC Porto could be a sign of things to come. Some more talented, young players like Postiga is much needed.

What's next for Tottenham and Hoddle? Is there a master plan? If it turns out to be a large domed shaped building on the banks of the Thames'

It will be bye, bye Glenn.