1848: G-14 a bigger threat than Mour

by : Hugh Larkin

While Jose Mourinho is being pilloried (partly his own fault) as an ‘enemy of football’ by certain individuals in UEFA the furore has masked the comments of Arsene Wenger after his Arsenal side were removed from the Champions League by Bayern Munich.

In the manner of a Mafia boss musing on what might happen to a property if someone was careless with petrol, Wenger took to discussing a possible revolt among the G-14 clubs if seeding wasn’t looked at within the Champion’s League. In this context, ‘seeding’ means finding ways to ensure that irritating clubs like Monaco don’t get in the way of the super elite fighting out the later stages and splitting the huge revenues accrued.

In case you are not aware, the G-14 is a grouping of Europe’s richest – “the voice of the clubs” as it calls itself. They believe their voice should be listened to because of “their collective experience, achievements and financial weight.” , and the G-14 website talks of the necessary changes football “must” go through.

More seeding (which exists already at the group stages) will be the next target in the relentless drive to ensure that football may as well be played as a computer simulation on a Playstation where weight of bank balance will determine the right outcome every time. First the G-14 ‘persuaded’ UEFA that a knockout system should be dropped for the early stages as it offered the terrifying prospect of an early exit while the giants were busy bedding in the new signings from the previous summer.

Then they persuaded the men in Nyon to bloat up the competition so that they played more games, garnering in more cash and then- the real pay off- the big boys won the right to enter even if they couldn’t win their own League title. By winning entry for mediocre domestic achievement the elite put in place an oligarchy where they enjoy perpetual entry because their European-won spending power allows them to keep their domestic challengers in check.

However, the G-14 crew have found another irritant to their schemes. They can have more entries and more matches and dilute the knockout element but they just can’t control the way those pesky balls come out of the glass bowl. This leads to the effrontery of having to face legitimate contests in the knockout stages and the prospect of losing too early in the piece. Arsene Wenger pointed out that this causes a loss of revenue which is very disquieting.

Ironically given Wenger’s moan, the last 16 of this year’s competition had 11 G-14 clubs so how UEFA were supposed to keep them apart is a mystery. Except that within an organisation like G-14 the concept of equality is anathema; like most oligarchies this group have acquired new members to ensure that no alternative grouping can form- hence the presence of Dortmund, Lyon and Leverkusen in the gathering. But what the group really exits for is the promotion of its first tier members from England, Spain , Italy and Germany- when these sides are drawn together (Milan-Man U, Bayern-Arsenal, Real-Juve) the squeals of horror go up.

Last season the G-14 crew were disgruntled to see a non-member in the Final (Monaco) This year Chelsea are the only non-G-14 runner left but they show every sign of going all the way and the oligarchy have apparently refused Roman Abramovich membership. Thus we have the spectacle of a billionaire as the standard bearer for democracy- or what passes for it- in European football.

Even UEFA realised that the Champions League had become a bloated competition when they removed the second group stage. The sight of empty seats for games in Turin and Milan finally concentrated administrative minds who had caved in to the unholy alliance of elite clubs and broadcasters at every turn. Now let’s hope they can muster at least part of the energy they put in to chasing Jose Mourinho to defend what’s left of sporting honour in their tattered flagship competition and reject demands to make the tournament even more of a G-14 sinecure than it already is.

1847: Wembley Stadium: Supporters? W

by : Bill Urban

Every time I think that football has finally reached the summit, or nadir, in its disregard for the interests of supporters, someone, any of a number of Premier League executives, Luis Aragones and his enlightened perspectives on race relations, Malcolm Glazer, or in this case, the ever-dependable FA, steps up to plunge my faith further into the abyss. The latest gem from the slough of administrative despond at Soho Square, revealed in an interview with one Leo Spall of the Evening Standard, is that the FA stands to be able to pay off the tremendous debt incurred in the construction of the new Wembley Stadium without relying on the income from supporters coming through the turnstiles.

A neat trick, sort of a Paul Daniels financial solution to the Great White Elephant of the new Wembley. No supporters, no money, no problem...

The secret to the FA’s ostensible magic trick of making money sans supporters, of course, is that the stadium’s break-even point is reached when 70-75 percent of the executive boxes and club seats are sold.

Of course.

Never mind the supporters, actual fans who care about the national team and its results; the secret to paying off a successful new stadium is to fill it with pre-paid, luxury seating for patrons who may or may not show up, depending on a) the weather b) availability of cuisine other than nose pad pies c) remembering that in fact England have a match on a given evening.

On the surface, it does seem a little strange to castigate the FA for apparently coming up with a fool-proof method for paying off the new stadium, the possible failure to do so being a very real fear voiced repeatedly during its construction. And one must suppose that if there are those inclined to pay ridiculous prices for some sort of special, prestige-enhancing seating within the new stadium’s confines, they should be free to do so and good luck to them.

But yet again, in the interest of snapping up every last pence immediately available, the FA have followed the trend in modern football that, as Gordon Gecko so memorably intoned in the movie Wall Street, “Greed is good.”

The arguments have been made repeatedly ever since Sky Sports saw fit to flood British football with money, and the same arguments have been just as consistently ignored by the clubs and the FA. They do bear repeating in the wake of this latest bit of FA money-chasing.

Leaving aside the results on the pitch, one of the crucial elements in any sporting occasion, and in British sport in particular, is the atmosphere. Premier League clubs have rightly been criticized in recent years for actions which have the effect of damaging the atmosphere at matches played in Premiership stadiums: spiraling ticket costs designed to price out the bedrock community support, the insistence on remaining seated at all times, kick-off times guaranteed to make attendance a difficult or impossible exercise for many supporters, the list is a long one indeed.

Now we have a stadium where the emphasis has clearly been placed on those who can afford to stump up stratospheric ticket prices in an effort at assuring themselves some strange sort of non-existent status.

A quote from the Standard: “Wembley will make money regardless of the number of people going through the general admissions turnstiles.” Ah, the great unwashed who pass through the sullied general admissions turnstiles, who needs them?

If you want any sort of atmosphere at national team matches, you need them. What you don’t need is a few people scattered throughout the executive boxes sipping wine, nibbling Roy Keane’s least-favourite sandwiches, and paying no attention at all to the match.

The comments that the FA are “keen to create a good atmosphere” and plan designated singing areas in the new stadium come across as mere after the fact pacification; once the important matters of squeezing as much money as possible out of the luxury seating has been taken care of, the FA might deign to look down their noses in regard to the “other” supporters and their interests. As long as they sing only in the designated areas.

The FA run a very real risk with this rich-first supporter emphasis for the new Wembley. England enjoy good support, at home and away, but the general run of things in British football is very much club-first, country-second. A greater emphasis on luxury seating for national team matches, with the bed-rock support coming a poor second, raises the very real possibility that the “general admissions” turnstiles will click over at a very reduced rate.

Which raises an interesting idea; a stadium for England matches composed of entirely luxury seating. What kind of atmosphere would that stadium have?

At the very least, the “supporters” in the exclusively-luxury seats would have no trouble understanding Wayne Rooney’s helpful comments to match officials on their in-game performance.

1845: Premiership: How to give the

by : Alex Kay

Hate something. Change something. Hate something, change something, make something better. Wise words from a Japanese car manufacturer that the world of football might want to take note of. With just eight games to go this season the three clubs who were promoted to the Premiership at the end of the 2003/04 season occupy the relegation places. Yes, it may be tight down, there, but at least two of the three seem certain to go back to the Coca Cola Championship, even if it was the Nationwide League that they left.

Year after year promoted teams struggle to retain their Premiership status – often one escapes, but the gap in quality is usually too much for teams coming up (just ask Barnsley, Watford, and Wolves to name but a few). In the Premiership’s eleven seasons, 14 out of the 32 promoted clubs have returned immediately to Division 1; six of the eleven promoted through the playoffs have suffered that fate.

This season all three clubs will probably go down, for only the second time in Premiership history, the other time being 1998 when Bolton, Barnsley and Crystal Palace all made a premature return to the first division.

What is more, unless a club qualifies for Europe, significant progress can easily be ignored; if Middlesbrough miss out in a UEFA Cup place, who will remember that they finished 11th last year, and have come on leaps and bounds this season (before injuries took their toll)? Similarly, Newcastle have been a huge disappointment this season, after nearly qualifying for the Champions League last time out. Maybe we should implement a system that takes the season before into account, a system that gives appropriate recognition to the real achievers.

For example, what if clubs were awarded extra points depending on where they finished the season before. The champions (Arsenal for last year) would get a bonus one point, whilst the team who came up through the playoffs (Palace) would get 20. This system, like every other has its flaws, but so does the one we have now, but it would allow smaller teams a greater chance to establish themselves in the top flight, and hopefully give the great achievers of the season European football. This will never happen, but it is nevertheless an interesting outlook on who really has made progress this season.

This is what the table would have looked like before the international break under this system. Their current real position is in brackets. Whilst the big guns’ grip on power rightly remains (Chelsea have been awesome this year), Everton would stand a great chance of finishing runners-up, and under-achieving Liverpool and Newcastle suffer. Most notably though is the escape for WBA and Crystal Palace, with Southampton and Fulham taking their places. Norwich are still the worst team in the league despite the handicap.

1) Chelsea 79 (1)
2) Man Utd 69 (2)
3) Everton 68 (4)
4) Arsenal 65 (3)
5) Spurs 56 (8)
6) Bolton 54 (6)
7) M’boro 53 (9)
8) M City 52 (12)
9) Liverpool 51 (5)
10) Charlton 50 (7)
11) B’burn 47 (14)
12) Palace 46 (18)
13) B’ham 45 (13)
14) Pompey 44 (15)
15) Villa 44 (11)
16) WBA 43(19)
17) N’castle 43 (10)
18) Fulham 39 (16)
19) Soton 39 (17)
20) Norwich 38 (20)

1844: Man Utd: Can the fans win even

by : Antony Melvin

The difficulty for any Manchester United fan is that if the Malcolm Glazer family can re-jig it’s business plan so that the banks will support him in a hostile bid, there is very little to be done to stop them. The board can reject the deal; Manchester United fans may own as much as 10% of the club; but money talks and with the appropriate financial backing corporate raiders can do just about anything.

And that is the reality here. Malcolm Glazer has made his money in a variety of ways from trailer parks to Tampa Bay – but he has always looked to leverage his way into bigger and bigger deals. Leveraging is buying something you can’t afford and puts me in mind of one of those reality shows last week where a couple were spending money like water – money they didn’t have. As the debts mounted they made the comment that epitomises the world since 1980; they were millionaires, possibly even billionaires – they just didn’t have the money yet.

This is a 1980’s style leveraged bid. But the two instruments usually used to pay for these types of bid – breaking up the company to release anti-synergistic benefits and junk bonds – are not available. So Glazer has to find a way to make £60-70m per year extra profit from the club so that the £500m borrowed (in various guises) plus interest can be repaid in around 10 years.

There is another option, that Glazer shoulders the debt burden and only looks to pay off the interest – but the banks are unlikely to fund that kind of risky deal.

Now raising ticket prices too high may seem like a soft option. But the invigorated Manchester United supporters groups could yet alert the office of fair trading (OFT) who try to stop monopolies and oligopolies from exploiting their position. And the top five or six English clubs pass most definitions of oligopolies. This could stop or at least delay excessive match ticket increases.

Raising catering prices and improving the frankly, shambolic Old Trafford match day service would be a major priority for anyone used to American sports catering. Manchester United could very quickly yield millions in extra revenue if only they could serve the public who want serving. This would be a key revenue target.

But it is easy to envisage a situation in the Autumn where a Glazer owned club is struggling to work out why match day receipts were down. There is better food, more staff, better procedures in place – so why are receipts down. The management team is then sent out into the stands only to find the food counters and beer kiosks deserted. And when the occasional fan steps forward to be served several large men suggesting that they ‘Stop putting money in Glazer’s pocket’. There is nothing particularly illegal there – although intimidation can be deemed as such.

Then there are beer sales – along with match programmes the big match day money spinner. But if every match morphed into a Category A risk match the police would have to enforce an alcohol ban. A series of mysterious phone calls could easily encourage the police – who have their own reasons for implementing drink bans – to start stopping the beer flowing.

Then there is merchandising. In the UK it is getting more and more difficult to increase sales so perhaps using the international power of the brand will improve things. More sales in America, in the Far East – at top dollar prices. Unfortunately the reality of replica merchandise is the fact that there are machine shops across the world capable of creating the merchandise and selling it for a fraction of the retail price. The more prices rise the more ‘snide gear’ gets into circulation. Besides fans are picky; if a certain brand gets tainted – it can quickly fall out of favour.

So if match day revenue fails to rise, and merchandising doesn’t take off there is always selling the ground and leasing it back, renting the stadium name and trying to bleed more cash out of the ‘Platinum Sponsors’. There is not a million pounds a week to be made there.

It is also easy to envisage a significant number of fans that wouldn’t give two hoots as to who the club owner was. And as the years tick by this group would grow. Many fans groups were dead against the stock exchange listing – now seen as a good move. So perhaps fans will be apathetic.

There is a possibility that the Glazers see something that the current board don’t – some financial golden bullet that will raise the revenues at the club to levels previously unheralded in world sport. It just doesn’t seem likely.

If Malcolm Glazer takes over then any ‘victory’ United fans can achieve can only be pyrrhic. By denying revenue streams to Glazer the fans may force him to sell players to fund his loans, or run for several years with a negative nett transfer policy at the least.

It is therefore difficult to see how any kind of leveraged takeover can be anything but detrimental to the team that can be put out. And once the team deteriorates the whole financial house of cards that is based on the team – sponsorships, prize money, match day revenue etc. – collapses with it.

The most likely result of a Glazer takeover is the hobbling of the team for a generation and a debt burden that will also damage the Glazers. This is potentially a real lose-lose situation.

1846: England vs Azerbaijan: England

by : Antony Melvin

As expected England beat the worst team in Group Six, but it was a laboured win. Rooney, Lampard and Beckham hit the post in the first half - with Owen more culpable than most. Owen missed a free header clean in front of goal in the first half and a one-on-one on his right foot in the second.

David Beckham responded to all the press bashings, that he never reads, with the kind of performance that would avoid the press bashings. Confused?

Paul Robinson 7/10

Alert. Almost beaten in the first half Robinson redeemed himself in the second. A good save was followed by moving off his line quickly to smother the threat from the Azerbaijan substitute, Nadir Nabiyev.

Gary Neville 7/10

Untroubled. Neville ran up and down the wing like a teenager, always giving an option and ready to break past the full-back. A couple of good crosses were ignored by the profligate attack. Neville ended the match taking an England corner.

Ashley Cole 6/10

OK. Showed good touches but gave the ball away too often, avoided crossing and taking players on - which was a shame given his pace. Not a night to remember.

Rio Ferdinand 5/10

Average. Ended the match being subbed but the English defence went missing a couple of times against a team with almost no will to attack. Didn't do much right or wrong.

John Terry 4/10

Disappointing. In his bid to replace Sol Campbell this will not be Terry's favourite audition. Poor control let in Gurban Gurbanov in the first half and he regularly mis-placed passes. Offered nothing in attack from the 20 set-pieces England had in dangerous positions.

David Beckham 7/10

Back. His best night for the best part of a week. His place was never in doubt but he confounded the doubters by simply doing what he is good at, pacy early crosses and neat passing. If only he did it every match. Had a hand in the opener and finished the second beautifully.

Joe Cole 7/10

Hot. Easily his best match in an England shirt. He passed better than against Northern Ireland, was more disciplined and allowed a base for many of England's better moves. A goal would have made him man of the match.

Steven Gerrard 7/10

Better. Broke the play up in midfield before surging onto the clipped pass from Gerrard, he may have mis-hit it but they all count. Less withdrawn than against Northern Ireland, Gerrard was more involved and looked happier for it.

Frank Lampard 6/10

Average. Not a great night for Lampard. Hit the post and forced a series of routine saves from the not unimpressive Kramerenko. He never really got going and looked frustrated long before the end.

Wayne Rooney 7/10

Catalyst. Hit a post, forced a series of saves from Kramerenko and generally twisted and turned the defence into knots. When the English midfield dropped off him in the second half he was more effective; a clean pass to Gerrard for the goal (it looked deflected initially) after beating two men the highlight.

Michael Owen 4/10

Lame. Wandered about carrying a banjo with which he repeatedly failed to hit a cow from behind. Then he missed a barn door before an abject booking for half-heartedly trying to cheat a goal. Misses the Wales match - which will hurt him more than most.

1843: England would do well not to u

by : Stephen Orford

Forget about Poland’s 8-0 trouncing of Azerbaijan on Saturday night (March 26). All you need is a copy of the Big Book of Football Truisms to know that there are no easy games in international football any more, and that the Poles heavy win was a bizarre one-off result.

England coach Sven Goran Eriksson is at pains to explain this ahead of his side's World Cup qualifier with the same opponents this Wednesday evening (March 30). However, having covered his back by chortling loudly at suggestions that England should score 10, 15 or maybe 2000 goals against this not so powerful footballing force, he is confident enough to announce his starting line-up more than 24 hours before kick-off.

This move may even be unprecedented, but no more so than the fact that England have no injury worries to report ahead of the game, and that the line-up will be unchanged from Saturday‘s 4-0 win over Northern Ireland (March 26). The mandatory plethora of withdrawals from the squad has not been forthcoming, as England players fall over each other to play against the might of Azerbaijan. Even captain David Beckham will be present, having found a new and interesting way to miss the reverse fixture in Baku in October. Then, having picked up a dig in the ribs from Welsh burglary victim Ben Thatcher, Beckham proceeded to lunge at the Manchester City man, picking up a booking and thus sparing himself the trip East. He later claimed that his actions had been deliberate, and that his rib-tickle would have kept him out of the match anyway.

Without Beckham in the ranks, England toiled away in the driving wind and torrential rain of Baku and escaped with all three points thanks to a Michael Owen goal. Five months on and Beckham and his England colleagues are raring to go. No doubt buoyed by Poland’s exploits against Azerbaijan, aswell as their own against the Northern Irish, Sven’s men have a renewed confidence about them. With Joe Cole suddenly now spoken about as the answer to everything barring world poverty and global warming, a nation expects the proverbial hatful. The playing surface at Newcastle’s St.James’ Park should also offer England a better opportunity to demonstrate their footballing superiority then the one in Baku, even if the Tyneside weather may not be much better.

Though Sven is playing down the chances of ‘doing a Poland’, the players themselves are suddenly very eager to be unleashed on what could understandably turn out to be a terrified opponent. Azerbaijan coach Carlos Alberto isn’t helping his team’s cause either. The Brazilian claims that Poland are a better side than England, and that it is they, rather than Eriksson’s team, who are the genuine contenders for glory in Germany in 2006. Perhaps Alberto has picked up this propensity for appalling predictions from his old mate Pele, but it seems unlikely that any team featuring Jerzy Dudek will be picking up the glittering golden trophy come next summer. However, his words, as misguided as they are, may just serve to motivate England to another comfortable win.

Should they do so, they will remain at the top of Group Six, regardless of what that new world footballing power Poland can achieve against Lawrie Sanchez’s battling Irish. With all the talk of whether England can match Poland’s eight goal gorge against Azerbaijan, nobody, perhaps not even Carlos Alberto, has considered whether the Poles can match England’s result against Northern Ireland. It is just possible that they may not, and indeed a win is far from guaranteed against what will be a determined if unspectacular oufit.

For England, three points seems as close to a certainty as there is in football. Just don’t placing any German-referee sized bets on a big score-line.

1840: Charlton: Still defying Gravit

by : Hugh Larkin

The 2004-5 season has entered that time of the campaign when Charlton fans begin to worry about their team’s form. Relegation worries have long since been banished but the club do have a distinct tendency to suffer a marked dip in form in the final quarter, which has cost the team a place in Europe that their form has probably deserved. The home defeat to bottom club West Bromwich Albion set the alarm bells ringing again.

Some perspective is needed here. Obviously Charlton supporters would love to see their club in the UEFA Cup and most neutrals would enjoy seeing Charlton mix it on the Continent but the possible disappointment shouldn’t blind the game to Alan Curbishley’s extraordinary record at the Valley.

Consider first the club’s long-term history; since joining the League as founder members of the Third Division in 1920, the South Londoners enjoyed only 18 seasons in the top flight before the beginning of the Curbishley era in 1991, 14 of these in one spell either side of the war. Even in the relatively democratic pre-Premiership conditions, Charlton were never a natural top division club.

Looking at the short-term, Alan Curbishley and his then colleague Steve Gritt, took over a club that had lost its place in Division One just at the moment the Premiership and its riches came into being. Charlton didn’t even have their own ground- the club had been forced to leave the historic, but crumbling Valley and were playing their home games at Upton Park.

Charlton, through tremendous efforts by many people, moved back to The Valley in December 1992* and Curbishley was appointed as sole manager in the summer of 1995. But talented players like Rob Lee had had to be sold to keep the club afloat and the manager had to concentrate on producing home-grown talent and shrewd buys to compile a team able to keep the club in Division One.

The Valley only had a capacity that delivered limited spending power to the manager. Yet he was able to take the club to the Premiership via a dramatic play off in 1998 and though the club came straight down, the lessons learned allowed the club to return immediately and they haven’t left since.

After yearsrsf operating within a tight budget Curbishley finally received money to spend in the summer, although only after losing his best player- Scott Parker- to Chelsea. Acquiring Danny Murphy, Francis Jeffers and Dennis Rommedahl naturally raised expectations and at the moment the jury is out on whether the campaign will be a success. A measure of the job done at the Valley is that fans will now be disappointed if the club can’t secure a place in the UEFA Cup.

Like every other manager outside the elite, Alan Curbishley has to make purchases that can’t guarantee success- in this case a striker who left Arsenal low on confidence, a flying winger who had never played in the Premiership and a midfielder who Liverpool felt was surplus to their needs. To buy players at the height of their powers would be beyond a club with the resources of Charlton.

If the campaign ends without a European prize the manager himself will regard it as a let down, but that will just demonstrate the standards he has set at the club. In any measure of Premiership position in relation to spending power, Alan Curbishley has been the top manager in the Premiership for the last five years.

* Thanks to Nigel Williamson for pointing the correct date out.

1841: England: Was Joe Cole really t

by : Antony Melvin

Watching England vs Northern Ireland was interesting if hardly thrilling stuff. England huffed and puffed but Maik Taylor kept his shoulder to the door. Clearly at half-time he left that responsibility to someone else, and Tony Capaldi committed a schoolboy error (#13 Don’t pass the ball across your box – especially when the opposition is in attendance) and 15 minutes later it was 4-0.

Whilst marvelling at the Frank Lampard / Wayne Rooney combination that was linking midfield and attack so sublimely I was clearly the one person in the world to miss the fact that Joe Cole turned in a World Class Performance. Was I the only one? Apart from that opener when Cole adroitly pounced on a defensive error he played no further part until the match was over. As soon as the door was opened a touch Lampard and Rooney barged through it and finished the match off.

But Cole got the plaudits – and it’s a struggle to see why.

Firstly Joe Cole was a world-beater. The facts appear to be that England were playing a team that would struggle to win the Intertoto Cup, or perhaps more realistically would struggle to win The Championship. In simple terms a top Premiership team was playing an average Championship team – and nine times out of ten you know what the result would have been. John Motson could have stripped off his sheepskin and gone wide for all the blind bit of difference it would have made to the result.

Secondly the new disciplined Joe Cole was lauded. This boat is launched on the basis that only half the time he tried speculative shots or Hollywood passes – rather than all the time. How much tracking back was expected of him? How many shots did he throw his body in front of? Let’s see his discipline against, say, Italy when the going gets niggly before passing any kind of judgement on discipline.

Thirdly he ‘solved’ the problem left midfield/wing problem. Now call me old-fashioned but surely making the occasional cross with his standing leg would have been nice. He tried it once and a couple of minutes later it arrived in the box after shredding some daisies. After that every run in the final third was followed by either a check back and an over-hit cross or a check-back and a blocked shot.

Eventually a shot went in – one had to eventually. But Gary Neville put in more telling crosses, one of which was headed onto a post by Rooney, than Cole. Now when Cole had the ball in and around the centre circle he looked good, he passed, he moved and he pulled strings – that was impressive. But he ran no-one ragged out wide and made few inroads in the first half. Once the Irish heads went down and the going got easier even Kieron Dyer was made to look world-class.

Joe Cole played well. After the fabulous Rooney/Lampard combination he was probably the best player on the pitch – but as all the best performances could only have come from the front six for England this isn’t that big a deal. His performance was disciplined in a problem position for England, but only when he has done it repeatedly against better opposition will he be a world-beater.

1838: England will never win anythin

by : Slav Sikorski

Playing against an admirable though, ultimately, embarrassingly inept Northern Irish side poses problems for the sceptical England viewer. The pathway to forming objective conclusions regarding team and player performance becomes hazardous and thus tricky to negotiate.

The performance of Joe Cole has had England fans singing Halleluja! in joined chorus. Perhaps a tad over-zealous, but the midfielder richly deserves the praise lavished on him for an effervescent performance. Kieron Dyer’s energetic efforts during a penetrative 20 minute spell at the back end of the match also proved good cause for optimism.

But overall, such a downright merciless spanking has taught us little about what onlookers all want to know – are we as good as WE think we are?

One issue did rear its ugly head again, and brought moans of despair through our household. It wasn’t Rooney’s ample girth, nor the fact that Owen Hardgreaves was given yet another opportunity to dip deeper into mediocrity, safely protected by the faade that because he plays in Europe, its his right to be in the squad, regardless of performance.

The incident that resonated more that Rooney’s bullish attacks or Colin Murdock’s Dowie-esque own goal was the exchange of a symbolic emblem midway through the second half. Beckham to Owen. No, not the unspoken title of ‘only half-decent (fit) English player in Madrid’. The captaincy of England.

Sven sends me spare for a catalogue of reasons, but none more so than this. It has suited his ‘Hollywood’ style to keep Beckham in this role through one suspects a distinct lack of guts plays no small role. Eriksson sways away from tough decisions like a pre-marital catholic would an old-fashioned ho-down. It is distressing that you would find few England fans lamenting were the incumbent relieved of his duties.

In order to preserve the high respect this position should command, someone in authority should politely tell Owen to back off. Why do all decisions of the England management smack of being influenced by habit?

There is such a happy-clappy-cliquey atmosphere in the camp that no player would dare challenge the authority of the old guard. This includes Gerrard, Terry or Ferdinand, whose personalities would mark them out as far superior leaders of men.

I completely refute the notion that players are fine-tuned to such a level that they no longer need a figurehead on the pitch. This is a smelly by-product of the soulless persona that Eriksson has purveyed on the squad. It is precisely due to this emotive apathy that our need has never been greater for a Gerrard or a Terry to lead our players into war like they mean it, not into photo shoots.

The identity of a national team’s captain says a lot about the attitude of that side. However, Sven should be under no illusions that is somehow represents the attitude of an expectant nation demanding better things.

1837: England: Joe Cole has all the

by : Henry Knight

The new found form of the intensely gifted Joe Cole has allowed for a new, free moving and potentially more potent, England attack. England have traditionally had a predictable system, easily analysed for weak spots and nullified by opposition managers, especially when it really matters, in knockout competition.

442 is that traditional system and that is how Eriksson has lined his team up again, but with the long overdue appearance of two mercurial talents, Wayne Rooney and Joe Cole, that line-up is no longer rigid and predictable. When England defend they have the security of two banks of four, but when they attack these two banks of four no longer just surge forward aimlessly maintaining rank and order, they disperse and morph opening more options and creating more chances. Beckham, no longer the same stamina and pace driven character, can drift inside knowing that Rooney and Cole can take up wide positions, or Cole can drift inside as-well, knowing that Ashley Cole and Gary Neville can push up safe in the knowledge that the indefatigable Gerrard and Lampard can work back and cover them.

Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan, for all their valiant hard work, are paltry opposition, so results against these teams cannot be regarded as a proper marker for England progress. The impressive comfort and intelligence shown by England against these opponents, however, is something most fans will not have seen from their country since the days of Terry Venables.

Commentators have also suggested that Joe Cole’s performance is one that is taken out of context due to the weak nature of the competition, however people forget several things; the first being that it is hard to break down an 11 man defence, the second was Joe Cole’s performance against Barcelona (the Brazil of Club football) where his fabulous individual performance, defending well, creating space and getting two assists, drew Sven’s attentions in the first place.

Joe Cole may still look and sound childish, but he is not the ignorant fool that so many other footballers seem to be these days. It spoke volumes that Jose Mourinho, the Machiavelli of World Football, gave him the responsibility of speaking on behalf of the players before the vital match against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge. During his press conference the platitudes were kept to a minimum and the one clich he did use was very effective; “lets do our talking on the pitch” and talk they did.

One goal against Northern Ireland meant Joe Cole, this once supposedly square peg, has officially shattered the left sided hole and its previous tag of “problem”. Not only has Joe proved his potential at International level, but it seems that he has overtaken Damien Duff in the “first name on the team sheet stakes” at Chelsea.

Glenn Hoddle was almost forgotten by England despite being arguably the best English player of his generation, we should hope and expect that Joe Cole will not suffer the same fate.

1836: World Cup 2006: Ireland now ho

by : Antony Melvin

In the opening to every World Cup qualification campaign there is a role played by administrators that can be critical in deciding the fates of nations. The Texas-Hold-Em style negotiation to decide when fixtures are played in the forthcoming campaign is so very crucial. Uniquely, possibly, at this level of world sport, venues and dates are not imposed on teams unless there is no agreement – but are simply negotiated.

The Ireland administrators (I’d be delighted to give them credit if I knew who they were) can sit back with a smile and a small drink once people realise how they have smoothed Ireland’s passage through the second half of qualifying.

At the half-way stage Ireland head the group, in what is becoming the closest group in Europe. The group is so tight that by Wednesday night Ireland will probably be fourth.

All of the four contenders must play the other three once more – but crucially, and uniquely, Ireland play all these big matches at home. Compare this to France who have only the Faroe Islands and Cyprus to play in France. England’s manager, Sven Goran Eriksson, was inordinately pleased to avoid June fixtures – but then England’s group is significantly weaker.

If Cyprus and the Faroe Islands are discounted then each of the four main teams have three games left – and all have the same points. Any wins at all from these fixtures will mean probable qualification, so Ireland’s home advantage should see them home.

On Wednesday Israel play France and neither side is impressive up front – suggestive of a fourth goal-less draw for France.

On 4 June Ireland have the return fixture against Israel and have surely got the ability, even without Roy Keane, to win this tie – this is the key to qualification.

On 3 September Switzerland may well be held by Israel, but this would end Israel’s hopes. Four days later France travel to Ireland and both sides will be happy with a point.

The group stage ends in October. On the eighth France will go to Switzerland with both sides knowing that defeat means elimination – probably resulting in a draw.

If all this pans out as predicted Ireland will go into their final match on 12 October against Switzerland a point clear of the Swiss and the Israelis, and three clear of France who should beat Cyprus. A heart-rending draw with Switzerland will then see Ireland top the group; and France will probably be eliminated on goal difference.

Final Table prediction

Ireland	19
Switzerland	18
France	18
Israel	17
Cyprus	2
Faroe Islands	2

1835: Davie Cooper

by : Sean Graham

On Sunday 20th March at Hampden Park people saw the first Cup Final of the season in Scotland when Rangers beat Motherwell 5-1 in the CIS Cup. However, for many the match was a tribute to a man who played for both clubs and graced the Hampden turf for his country on many occasions. This man had magic in his boots and gave his fans many, many magic moments. His name was Davie Cooper.

Cooper died on the 23rd March 1995 from a brain haemorrhage and left those behind him, family, friends and fans in a state of shock at the loss of such a great player. Indeed former Rangers legend Ally McCoist said that the players had "lost a brother" and Old Firm rival Tommy Burns declared that Scotland had lost "a national treasure".

It is perhaps fitting that the match was renamed the "Davie Cooper final".

Davie Cooper played in 7 League Cup finals for Rangers and 1 outstanding Scottish Cup final for Motherwell in an epic 4-3 win over Dundee United. There is no doubt that Cooper has left each and every fan who saw him play for any of his clubs or his country with special memories of this special player.

He scored in 4 of the Cup Finals and was Man of the Match in the 1984 Scottish Cup Final against Dundee United as his dazzling wing play deserved. His dribbling and wing play left players and fans looking on in awe of 'Super Cooper', and if you where lucky enough to see him then you will know what I am talking about.

He scored stunning free-kicks,penalties and simple tap ins, aswell as important goals for Scotland including a penalty against Wales that took the Scots to the 1986 World Cup. Cooper was the man for the big occasion, super cool in even the most tense atmosphere. Even the opposition fans would want Cooper in their team. He was respected as a man and a player by so many, and when he died fans from every club left their colours at Ibrox and Fir Park in respect.

1832: Fulham: Testing times ahead fo

by : Alex Wolstenholme

Although the news angle of last week’s financial results was a first profit for Fulham since Mohammed Al Fayed took over the club, staying in the Premiership and continuing their progression of the last few years is set to prove increasingly difficult for manager Chris Coleman.

The actual profit figure was in the region of £500,000 and that mainly came about from the sale of Louis Saha to Manchester United and the prize money Fulham received for finishing 9th in the top flight.

The top-half looks a long way off this season and ultimately the sale of Saha, although unavoidable has been a major factor in that.

Coleman’s summer buys confirmed that the days of big money signings are all over at Craven Cottage and his gamble on getting a revitalised Andy Cole hasn’t really paid off although injuries to Claus Jensen and Steed Malbranque especially haven’t helped.

Fulham’s options for growth are limited in comparison to either Crystal Palace or Charlton, the other two of the ‘smaller’ London sides in the Premiership who both have a bigger catchment area and larger fan base than the Cottagers.

The return to Craven Cottage was great news for the club’s loyal fans but hasn’t delivered the kind of increase in crowds that would justify a further upgrading of the ground or a move to a new stadium. Fulham must be the only team in the country that have a section of the ground reserved for neutral fans and that indicates that crowds are at their optimum level, boosted only when one of the big three are playing at the Cottage.

To remain in the black, survival in the Premiership is vital but further player sales cannot be ruled out with Malbranque, Zat Knight, Luis BoaMorte and perhaps Collins John attracting interest from other sides.

That could continue the downward spiral from this season and make it very difficult for Fulham to hang on to their Premiership place. Although the chairman has promised to stay at the club there will be no more signings like the £11 million spent on Steve Marlet a few years back.

Fulham though do have a couple of major things going for them. The emergence of some very good young talent from within the club and a manager who has impressed me massively with his honesty and determination.

Coleman has refused to be overawed by his young age and has fought his team’s corner well in addition to blooding young players and continuing to send out a team that is attractive to watch.

As long as he remains at Craven Cottage, Fulham may be able to defy what are becoming longer odds on their continuing stay in the Premiership.

1829: Leeds: Striking changes signal

by : David Hulott

He is as quick across the park as a brick - laden cart,.....every game he makes at least one catastrophic error......usually resulting in a goal for the opposition.......he has TWO left feet and personally I have never seen him SHOOT ........he has scored with his head......but usually from corners and I don’t think he realized what he had done........He likes to dribble out of defence but always gets robbed of the ball and is totally out of position leaving gaping holes in defence......his fellow defenders make him look good with the most glowing admiration going to TONY WARNER our fantastic keeper recently signed from Millwall......£8000 a week wages make him an absolute steal and any feature really SHOULD be done on him.....Paul.....If you were to ask any bluebird fan who they would be most upset at seeing go.....nearly every one would say our TONY............the next player to be sacrificed if any for our financial cause should be TONY......our martyr.......
A sarcastic reply by Premier Bluebird

He is a quality centre back whose pace is matched only by his reading of the game. He has a great leap and beat Teddy Sherringham every time in the air at Upton Park. He is great on the deck, the Rio Ferdinand of the Championship. I'd love him to stay but he'll be off to the Premiership soon.

Definitely the best centre back in the division.
Bluebird Till I Die.

I get your ploy PB slag your best players off and praise your cr*p. I think it’s called putting your sh*t in the window.
Koppy (in reply to Premier Bluebird)

If Gabbidon knew that it was ok from time to time to find row Z when under pressure, he would be a far better player.

He is certainly of Premiership ability and will be a steal when he moves on.
The Uruguayan

Gabbidon is an ace player. It would be sad to see him go like Collins is ace too but Gabbidon has got the power and the strength
Kav Fan, sad he's gone

I take it you wont be doing a feature on TONY WARNER then Paul...............you've seen right through me......as did my mate Koppy........I guess I'd never make a good poker player then.............how about helping us troubled bluebirds out in our time of need and do a FEATURE on ANDY CAMPBELL.......if rumours are to be beleived....soon he will be our first choice striker.................thanks Paul
Premier Bluebird again

Picking up on the Uruguayan's point DG used to be content to "find row z" a a looked a lot more solid in defence. Some time in the last 12-18 months someone (his agent ?) has clearly said to him that he needs to look more assured on the ball if he is to attract attention.

Result, he pi***s about on the ball and can be made to look stupid when challenged or even robbed of possession.
stevec2

The Uruguayan's comments are valid but the other critics are unjust. Having witnessed the dross at centre half over more than 30 years of hurt - I'm thinking Keith Pontin and Jason Perrry among dozens of others - you should enjoy a class act in the short time we have left to do so.

Apart from Mike England and with an honourable mention for Gary Bennett it is hard to think of a City centre half who was a footballer as well as an out and out stopper. With the likes of Phil Dwyer and Don Murray it was raw strength and intimidation that made them colossal centre halves but Gabbidon has mobility, good feet and good timing. If he gets to choose the right club (and Blackburn ain't it) then he will be a fixture in the Premier League for a long time. He has benefited hugely this season by playing along side a good stopper in James Collins. If I were a Premier League manager I'd seriously look at the pair of them as a job lot.
Llanishen Wanderer

As this season got underway, it really didn’t look terribly encouraging for Leeds United. The club, still deep in debt, had off-loaded just about every player capable of either bringing in a few quid or to ease the wage bill and there consequently seemed precious little hope of a swift return to the Premiership.

One needed only to look at the strikers on the books at Elland Road when the campaign got underway to see just how bad things were – Brian Deane, Michael Ricketts, Julian Joachim and Danny Cadamarteri – four forwards whose careers have long been in terminal decline and who were never going to be capable of firing the requisite goals for a promotion campaign.

In defence of Kevin Blackwell, the financial predicament meant that he didn’t really have a great deal of leverage in terms of attracting quality strikers to the club. With goal-scoring forwards being such a precious commodity, Leeds were never going to find it easy to compete with Premiership clubs or their less cash-strapped peers in the Coca-Cola Championship, even when it came to those players available on Bosman deals – long gone are the days when Leeds would seemingly bid against themselves when it came to players’ wages.

To Blackwell’s credit, he has quickly looked to rectify the problem, with all the aforementioned strikers having now been moved on. Cadamarteri has long since departed for Sheffield United, while Ricketts recently extended his loan deal with Stoke City until the end of the season. Transfer deadline day saw Deane secure a free transfer to Sunderland and Joachim moved back to the Midlands to join Walsall on loan for the remainder of the campaign. There won’t be many who regularly attend Elland Road who will be longing for Ricketts and Joachim to return to the fold.

In their place, Leeds now has a quartet of strikers who do look the part. True, Rob Hulse and Marlon King are only currently on loan, but it does seem likely that Hulse could make his move a permanent one in the summer. In addition, David Healy and transfer deadline day recruit Ian Moore are both now on the payroll, with Healy being one of the best strikers outside the top-flight.

Sure, they don’t come close in terms of ability to those at the club a couple of years ago, when Terry Venables inherited the striking talents of Mark Viduka, Alan Smith, Robbie Keane, Robbie Fowler, Harry Kewell and Michael Bridges, but Leeds certainly now have the attacking talent capable of getting results in the Championship.

The late bid for this season’s play-offs appears to have stalled on the back of three consecutive draws, but the club, thanks largely to Ken Bates, now appear to have stabilised to the point where they will be one of the favourites to secure automatic promotion next term. Having a strike-force worthy of the name will certainly help their cause.

1831: Championship: The transfer dea

by : Alex Wolstenholme

Last Thursday saw what is set to be the last March transfer deadline day in the UK with Football League clubs taking the opportunity to strengthen their squads for the run-in to the end of the season.

Premiership clubs have been adapting to the new system for two seasons now and there seems to be conflicting views on whether it is beneficial or not.

There have been examples of clubs being forced to accept less than their valuations for players because they needed the money and could not wait six months for the next window but there are also examples of the opposite being true.

Dean Ashton and Louis Saha are cases in point. Norwich and Manchester United both needed a striker and with the deadline coming up were forced to pay very competitive fees for the two players.

It may (although given the nature of football clubs it is unlikely) also see an end to the constant managerial chopping and changing of more recent years.

If clubs can see that a new manager is not going to be able to go to the transfer market straight away they may hang fire on getting rid of the old boss.

At first glance that seems to be what is happening in the Premiership. This season it is only Newcastle who have sacked a manager for the sole reason of poor results. The departures of Gary Megson and Steve Wigley were due wholly or partly to other factors while Jacques Santini and Harry Redknapp resigned.

In seasons gone by it would not have been unusual for Chris Coleman or even Nigel Worthington to have departed towards the March transfer deadline with a new man given a few games and a few quid to try and turn things around.

That still seems to the case in the Championship where Watford are the latest club to get rid of a manager who from the outside looked to be doing a decent job.

Clubs outside the Premiership have survived the turmoil of the last few years including the virtual destruction of the transfer market although it has been close in some cases.

The advent of a transfer window has been one of the factors in the new financial reality among clubs and this will just be a step further in that process with the number of loan deals almost certain to decrease and maybe more chances being given to reserve and youth-team players.

If the consequence of a uniform window is that a number of footballers find themselves out of a job then so be it. Although the PFA would disagree, football is a profession like any other and cannot be insulated from the kind of market forces that affect all of us in our everyday lives.

1834: England vs Northern Ireland: N

by : Antony Melvin

Northern Ireland went to Manchester hoping to stifle England and get a goal on the break. The first half went to plan – but the opening third of the second half saw 4 goals and utter heartbreak.

Maik Taylor 9/10

Kept the team in the game until the second half, with a series of saves from Rooney, Owen and Lampard. Kept going but the four goals in 16 minutes were beyond him. Saves from Owen, Rooney and Lampard justified his selection ahead of Carroll.

Chris Baird 5/10

The own goal aside Baird did well to subdue the threat down his flank. Baird may be young but he is clearly the Southampton player has a good future.

Aaron Hughes 6/10

Tried to keep the defence together, and his organisation kept the Northern Ireland defence from crumbling. In the second half his plans fell apart – but it was hardly his fault.

Colin Murdock 5/10

Very aggressive and perhaps lucky to avoid a booking. Murdock diverted the ball passed Taylor for Lampard’s goal – but apart from that he fought to the end. Wasn’t out of his depth.

Tony Capaldi 4/10

His mistake opened the floodgates and when he got his head up again the game was over. A tough break on a combative player.

Doherty 5/10

Replaced by Davis on the hour, but proved pretty obdurate before then. Over-run at times – but who wasn’t?

Keith Gillespie 6/10

Worked his socks off to cover the right back, whilst trying to offer an offensive outlet. Struggled after the opener which wasn’t really his fault.

Damien Johnson 4/10

As one of the three Premiership players in the team more was expected from Johnson. But his petulant booking probably summed up his frustrating afternoon.

Jeff Whitley 4/10

Offered little in defence or attack and was literally shrugged off by Lampard and Gerrard. Replaced late on when the game was lost.

Stuart Elliot 4/10

Playing off Healey he could not fill the gap between attack and midfield. Cannot have had a more frustrating afternoon.

David Healey 5/10

Struggled manfully with little support until replaces in the dying stages. Northern Ireland’s record scorer was given no hope.

1833: England vs Northern Ireland: E

by : Antony Melvin

England dominated the match, as expected, and won pretty much as they pleased. There may have been 10,000 Northern Ireland fans in Manchester today – but few can have been satisfied with the game.

Paul Robinson 6/10

Could have lit up a pipe.

Gary Neville 6/10

Misplaced a few passes, and crossed for the chance when Rooney hit the post. Hardly the toughest afternoon of his career.

Ashley Cole 7/10

Northern Ireland looked to undermine Cole by exploiting the space behind him throughout the game. That they tried in vain is partly down to his superb athleticism and partly down to his improvement as a defender.

John Terry 7/10

Strove in vain for a first England goal. But Terry was a threat in front of goal and looked good in whatever little Northern Ireland pushed him into. Did enough to suggest that he has ousted Sol Campbell from the England team.

Rio Ferdinand 6/10

Now the undisputed best centre-half in England, Ferdinand enjoyed a game in cruise control. Little was asked of him – and he offered little more.

Joe Cole 7/10

His touch is superb but his tendency to shoot on sight and cut back onto his right foot suggest that he is not yet the answer to the left wing problem. Good goal – but too often he left Ashley Cole exposed.

Frank Lampard 8/10

Lampard is developing into the best midfielder in world football. His passing is excellent and his ability in the box is at times breathtaking. Could have had a hat-trick – Lampard just keeps improving.

Steven Gerrard 6/10

Looked average next to Lampard, Gerrard was the metronome doing little wrong in midfield – but hardly adding to the spectacle. Seemingly committed to Liverpool Gerrard must consider how he can become the complete midfielder that he isn’t yet.

David Beckham 6/10

Bad backs are no excuse at international level, and Beckham is increasingly looking like a passenger at international level. Great free-kick but little else to commend his afternoon’s work

Wayne Rooney 8/10

Contends with Frank Lampard for man of the match. Involved in each goal, his strength for the third goal was reminiscent of Maradona – and there can be little greater tribute. A goal would have made him man of the match – without it he was close anyway.

Michael Owen 7/10

Johnny on the spot for the second goal, Owen looks like he needs a change of scenery. Missed a sitter in the first half and did little else.

1830: Man Utd: Are Shareholders Unit

by : Antony Melvin

As the days tick by, without a formal bid from the Malcolm Glazer camp, the hope must be growing in the array of supporter groups that oppose the deal that there are difficulties with the bid. Shareholders United spokesman Sean Bones was expecting a formal bid on Wednesday after the half-year results. But there was simply a deafening silence.

In a bid to ratchet up the pressure this week Shareholders United offered £100 worth of shares for information as to the Glazer family whereabouts as rumours went round that they were in England to start negotiations. But the Glazers weren’t found – if they were in England at all.

Manchester United allowed ‘limited due diligence’ to the Glazer family on 11 February. At that point the informed speculation suggested that a bid within a fortnight was likely. But various excuses have been leaked to a press starved of real information. First there was appendicitis, then there were holidays, then Cubic Expression wanted Cheltenham out of the way before selling and finally the half year results needed to be published. Each landmark passed without incident.

Listening to Sean Bones on the Inside Soccer radio show, by last Saturday Shareholders United had 28,000 members – up significantly on the 3,000 members of a year ago. Independent estimates of the value of this bloc suggest that it represents 3-9% of the total share capital – or about £50m.

Shareholders United membership is growing by several hundred per day as they get ever more aggressive and confident in their defiance of a take-over.

Whilst Shareholders United have been trying to build a fan share base, the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association (IMUSA) has been organising protests against club sponsors. Five weeks ago in the aftermath of due diligence a series of protests designed to disrupt Nike, Ladbrokes, Vodafone and NM Rothschild (Glazer’s investment banking advisers) were launched.

Individual fans have also launched spam attacks on the 400 partners working at Allen & Overy (Glazer’s UK solicitors). And various fringe groups like the Manchester Education Committee (MEC) have been even more personally threatening.

The established supporters groups have also retained Shandwick (PR firm) and Weil Gotshal and Manges (law firm) to aid with beating the bid before it can be made. And subtle pressure from these organisations has seen a series of friendly articles appear in the financial press.

The only realistic conclusion from all this is that there are now problems with the bid; it seems unlikely that the Glazers would go this far to simply sell up at a profit. And therefore the pressure from the supporters’ groups is actually making a difference.

In modern shareholder rules there are four important bite points for major investors in football clubs. Firstly no-one can own more than 10% of more than one club; secondly if any investor takes on more than 30% of the shares then they have to make a formal bid for the rest of the shares at or above the current share price; thirdly if an investor takes 75% of the share they can then take the club off the stock exchange, more or less eliminating easy share dealing; finally if 90% of the shares are taken then a compulsory purchase of the remaining shares can be undertaken.

The difficulty with the Shareholders United position is that if the Glazer family takes 75% of the shares then there is nothing that can be done to formally pressure the Glazers unless they choose to sell up. Indeed the Glazers could take the company private – removing much of the stock exchange monitoring.

With this in mind Shareholders United have canvassed fans and concluded that 98% of Manchester United fans oppose the takeover and 78% of fans would boycott official merchandise if a takeover were to take place. If the boycott extended to key sponsors like Vodafone and Nike then real pressure can be brought onto the PLC. So in threatening the revenue streams Shareholders United may have hit upon a weak spot.

If Shareholders United achieve their 100,000 member target they would probably have around 20% of club shares – very close to the real target of 25% in friendly hands, which would stop an owner taking effective control.

The longer that the Glazer family delays making a formal bid for United, the stronger the inference that they cannot fund the bid and the more shares are placed in fans’ hands.

In an increasingly bitter tussle supporters groups may yet fight off Glazer. But if this bid fails another will come sooner or later. Perhaps the real answer is a takeover by the fans – although it will need several years of campaigning and the mobilisation of around 500,000 shareholder fans.

Shareholders United may be winning this battle – but the war has barely started.

http://www.shareholdersunited.org
http://www.imusa.org

1828: He Should Do Well: Daniel Gabb

by : Paul Grech

The hype that followed Spurs’ signing of young defender Michael Dawson at the tail end of January’s transfer window was such that it left the impression that they had just bought a player capable of forming an immediate partnership with Ledley King at the heart of their defence.

And, whilst there’s no doubting Dawson’s potential, the fact that so far his first team appearances at White Hart Lane have been limited clearly indicates that in fact he is far from the finished product.

All of which will have been of little surprise to regular observers of the Championship who were well aware of this. Even more, most will tell you that when Spurs signed him, Dawson wasn’t even the best central defender outside the Premiership.

That honour belongs to Cardiff’s Daniel Gabbidon. Despite the Welsh club’s current struggle against relegation, the lanky defender has continued to excel and build on the impressive showing of previous years.

Naturally, the sceptics will point to the difficulties faced by Gabbidon’s former team-mate Rob Earnshaw at West Bromwich Albion as an indicator that players who look great outside the Premiership don’t necessarily carry their form in it.

Yet at the same time there is also the example of Tim Cahill, a player who was repeatedly overlooked until David Moyes decided to take the plunge. Now the £2 million he spent on him looks like the wisest investment he’s ever made in his managerial career.

And there’s no doubting that Gabbidon falls into Cahill’s category. This for the simple reason that he’s already shown what he can do against some of the leading strikers in the world.

A regular Welsh international, he has never looked out of his depth even when faced by much more experienced and vaunted players. Gabbidon matches the speed that is so vital for modern defenders with a good footballing brain that allows him to anticipate passes rather than being forced into making last ditch tackles.

His form must leave WBA fans wondering what possessed their club to sell Gabbidon for a mere £800,000 especially as he had shown early signs of promise in their first team.

Whilst it has been evident for quite some time that Cardiff were living beyond their means, it is only in recent weeks that the extent of their troubles has come to light. Indeed, the sale of key midfielder Graham Kavanagh was reportedly forced on the club so they could cover their short term expenses.

In the past, owner Sam Hamman declared that Gabbidon wouldn’t be sold. Now, however, that appears unlikely so much that in all probability he will be one of the first to go. Cardiff fans have already braced themselves for this move, although the probable cut-price transfer fee that can only be expected for a club in such a perilous situation – it is unlikely that they would get anything like the £4 million Spurs spent on Dawson – still makes it more of a galling proposition.

Already, Blackburn Rovers have expressed an interest in Gabbidon and former Wales boss Mark Hughes certainly doesn’t need any convincing about the defender’s potential.

Other suitors should eventually come to the fore. So far, however, only other mid-ranking Premiership sides seem interested. But rather than this being a negative assessment of Gabbidon’s potential, it is yet another damning verdict of the current trend at top clubs that look abroad in the search for potential recruits.

What The Fans Think
No one knows the potential of Daniel Gabbidon more than the fans who see him play every week. We’ve been on the forum of the site Bluebird to the Bone asking the fans what they think of their star defender. Here’s what they had to say.

It is little surprise that a recent FourFourTwo article voted Daniel Gabbidon as the 6th best player outside of the Premiership in domestic football. Since moving to Ninian Park from West Bromwich Albion for an eventual fee of £800,000 in 2000 following brief loan spell, Gabbidon's profile has rose and rose and his superb defensive process has been a nucleus to Cardiff City's progression through the Football League.

With over 200 Bluebirds appearances to his name, Gabbidon has established himself as one of the best defender's in the clubs illustrious 106-year history. He is composed and confident at the back and has taken the challenge of Third, Second, and First Division football in his stride. Mark Hughes handed him his Wales debut against the Czech Republic in 2002, and he now one of the first names on John Toshack's international team-sheet.

Gabbidon possesses great pace, and though he has been accused of being to casual in his approach, is evidently improving as each season goes by. His versatility is a huge asset having covered every defensive position in his short career, though he shines at centre-half. The Cwmbran-born 25-year-old is also being touted as a future captain with his leadership abilities clear to see as he helps develop centre-half partner James Collins to be an equally excellent defender.

Sam Hammam's foolish antics with the chequebook have seen the club enter a financial recession, and Gabbidon looks set to leave at the end of the season to ease crippling debts of £30million. A host of clubs including Celtic, Rangers, Fulham, Everton, Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town and Wigan have all be linked with the services of the Welsh international and it is no surprise after a very successful career in South Wales thus far.

Chris O’Brien, editor of Bluebird to the Bone website (http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s120)

1825: Northern Ireland: The tricky s

by : Chris Sherrard

Northern Ireland’s chances of beating England at Old Trafford on Saturday are about as slim as your average supermodel. But the fact remains: they have still got a chance.

And if they are to spring a surprise it is in their forward players that the Irish will be pinning their hopes. Because there you will find some of the highest scoring players in English club football this season. I know those players are performing at a lower level than nearly all of the men who will face them in Manchester but a goal is a goal. And those goals can only improve the confidence of the men who scored them.

For a start, Stuart Elliott is the top scorer in England this season – above the likes of Thierry Henry, Ruud van Nistelrooy and England’s own Wayne Rooney. 25 goals at any level is an excellent return and the Hull City man even had a month or so out through injury towards the turn of this year. Anyone who has seen Elliott play of late will know that he is a constant threat drifting in from the wing. It is he who England should probably fear most because give him the slightest of chances and, in his current form, he will punish you.

But Elliott is ably supported by Northern Ireland’s all-time record scorer – David Healy. He has scored more goals for his country than George Best could manage. Or Derek Dougan. Or Gerry Armstrong. And for that reason alone Healy deserves respect from Eriksson’s players. The Leeds man has continued to score regularly for his new club since moving from Preston earlier in the season and even though he is not close to matching the scoring ratio of international team-mate Elliott this season, he does contribute masses of creative work. Ask any fan at Elland Road and they will tell you that Healy sets up more of Leeds’ goals than anyone else.

And if those two starting for Northern Ireland this week is a must, the reserve forwards would not let their country down if called upon at any stage on Saturday. Andy Kirk recently completed his switch from Boston to Northampton Town and has immediately picked up where he left off in front of goal. His 19 goals this season have marked the former Hearts hitman out as one of the Football League’s hottest strikers. Given a sniff in front of Paul Robinson’s goal at the weekend he would have little trouble, or lack of confidence, in sticking the ball away.

And the same applies to Stockport County’s Warren Feeney – recalled by Lawrie Sanchez to the international fold after two years absence. He has been playing in a struggling side all season but has still been able to seriously trouble the scorers – his 18 goals in all competitions mark him out as one of League One’s top scorers behind, of course, Stuart Elliott.

At the inevitable risk of opening myself up to intense ridicule, a glance at the scoring records of the four strikers at Sven Goran Eriksson’s disposal doesn’t need quite the same volume of multiplication. Michael Owen has got nine goals in La Liga – most of which have come as a fresh substitute. While Rooney has hit the same number of goals in this season’s Premiership, Jermain Defoe has 13 to his name and Emile Heskey, well, his scoring record continues to strike fear into any defence with the goal handed to him by Villa keeper Sorenson at the weekend his sixth of the season. That’s a whole 19 behind Elliott’s seasonal tally.

I am well aware that Northern Ireland’s forwards are sure to come up against defenders of an infinitely higher standard than they are used to at Old Trafford this weekend. But what they lack in standing and experience at the top level, Elliott, Healy and the others more than make up for in scoring record this season and blooming confidence as a result. What you can be sure of is they will be brave, lively and raring to prove their worth when they take to the pitch to face Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and the rest. Being full of spirit may not be enough but it is more than a start, in my opinion. If they can strike early and stun Eriksson’s England then there is no reason why a repeat of the character and determination which brought their nine-men a 2-2 draw in Cardiff earlier in the qualifying campaign can salvage a similar result.

Strike while the iron is hot is an oft-used motto.And Northern Ireland’s strikers are red hot this season. They couldn’t wish for better form going into the biggest game of their lives.

1820: Real Madrid: Will Benitez and

by : Kevin Buckland

The lessons of recent history show that when Real Madrid performs poorly, it is the coach who must shoulder the blame.

It is a fact that must be making current coach Wanderley Luxemburgo a bit anxious as he watches the club’s last chance for silverware, the Liga title, slip further and further out of reach. He is surely aware that the last coach to end a season without a major trophy, Carlos Queiroz, was given an ungracious sendoff.

It was an inglorious end for the man who at the beginning of March last year had looked like guiding the team to a historic league, domestic cup and European cup triple. But when Real Madrid lost in extra time in the final of the King’s Cup, it began a downward spiral that saw them subsequently crash out of the Champions League before plummeting to a club record five consecutive losses in the last five league games of the season.

Club President Florentino Perez was seeking a second term in elections that summer, and someone had to take the blame for the dismal results. Not surprisingly it was Coach Queiroz. Taking the blame himself would have hurt his chances for reelection. And blaming the players would call into question his policy of signing a new world class attacking player every season, the famous “Galacticos” policy or “Zidanes and Pavons”.

So the coach was made the scapegoat. Perez declared flatly that he had made a mistake bringing Queiroz to the club in the first place. And he named Real Madrid legend Jose Camacho as Queiroz’s replacement, saying the no-nonsense former defender had “the attitude and authority” to get the club back to winning ways. Perez went on to win reelection taking a landslide 94-percent of the vote.

But the change of coach also called into question the reasons for Queiroz’s surprise appointment only one year earlier. Despite coaching Sporting Lisbon and the Portuguese national team, did he really have a high enough profile to manage Real Madrid’s star-studded dressing room?

But in life it’s not just what you know but who you know that counts. The same time that Queiroz’s name began to circulate as a replacement for long-serving Real Madrid coach Vicente Del Bosque, the club had just signed midfielder David Beckham from Manchester United, the very same club where Queiroz was working as assistant to manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Although it was clear that Beckham was keen on his upcoming move to the Spanish giants, there were a lot of factors that must have made it a nervous time for the England captain. Of course Beckham didn’t speak any Spanish. (some remain unconvinced of his ability in his native English.) But beyond the obvious difficulties of moving to a new country, he faced several other obstacles in moving to his new team.

The position on the right wing where he had played all his life, and where he excelled, was already occupied by former world player of the year Luis Figo. The shirt number that he had worn all his professional life, the number “7” that was so much a part of his identity on the pitch, was the property of team captain Raul Gonzalez. Despite being a big star, Beckham was entering to the land of “los Galacticos”, and neither Figo nor Raul looked ready to give up what was theirs.

The announcement that Queiroz would follow Beckham to Madrid must have heartened the English winger. The multilingual coach could facilitate communication among the team’s players. And he already knew what Beckham could do on the pitch. Queiroz was already a close friend of Figo, the player who was reputed to have had the unenviable task of keeping peace between the team’s many egos.

There could have been no better coaching appointment to smooth the Beckham’s transition – the man so central to the club’s push into the lucrative football merchandise market in the Far East.

Queiroz’s replacement, Jose Camacho lasted only three games in charge before he stepped down. Rumour had it that he was forced out by the team’s superstar players.

Camacho’s assistant, Mariano Garcia Remon, was handed the reins. But despite Perez’s assurances the “Garcia Remon will be here for the whole season and we hope many more”, the smart money said he was just a stopgap. And the punters proved right when, shortly after Christmas, in came Brazilian coach Wanderley Luxemburgo.

But why Wanderley? Certainly he had a high profile – at least in Brazil – and a winning record to match. But again, who he knew might have made the difference.

In December, transfer rumors were again swirling around Madrid, and the name at the top of the list of coveted players was Brazilian wonder boy Robinho, touted as the “new Pele” by none other than the original Pele. What better way to secure the youngster’s signature than recruiting his coach and mentor from his club, Santos?

1826: Man Utd: It’s the midfield whe

by : Chris Sherrard

Manchester United’s failure to make a dent in either Chelsea’s title bid or Milan’s Champions League run must rank as a deeply disturbing scenario for all concerned at the club.

Many claim them to be the biggest football club in the world. But they are not the best. Not even close. And it will take plenty of surgery to turn them into world beaters this summer. For a start, the most impending – and likely – arrival will be that of a goalkeeper. Roy Carroll foolishly turned down the club’s offer of a new contract and will pay for that poor advice at the end of the season when he is forced to plough his furrow far from the greenery of Old Trafford.

United should always be going for the best in any position they attempt to strengthen but I can not see either Iker Cassilas or Gigi Buffon arriving in Manchester anytime soon. So it will probably be left to another untried face to pervade the seemingly unfillable shadow of Peter Schmeichel. Big money would be needed in any other circumstance and with United apparently not as rich as once they were, funds might be at a premium.

And Sir Alex Ferguson would prefer to splash the serious cash, if any comes his way in the summer, on a hard-hitting, combative central midfielder. Everyone knows that Roy Keane’s playing days are numbered. Not that he is particularly showing his age of late but the time will come soon when he must be replaced. It was with that in mind that Fergie brought in the likes of Kleberson, Djemba-Djemba and Liam Miller but anyone who thinks they are, or were, up to the job needs their head checked sharpish.

The first two won’t even be at the club by the start of next season – Djemba has already moved on to Aston Villa while a return to his Brazilian homeland appears imminent for Kleberson. Miller has got plenty of time on his side but there has been little evidence to date that he is a big enough player or character to fill his fellow Cork man’s void.

United need a warrior, a fighter. They need Milan’s Gennaro Gattuso. But they probably won’t get him. That is not to say they shouldn’t hammer at the doors of the San Siro bursting every sinue to bring the Italian international on board. He, too, is young but has crammed in plenty of experience in his career so far – including an insightful spell north of the border with Glasgow Rangers.

So if that is three signings so far – at least one keeper and two central midfielders – then another creative player would not go a miss in midfield, either. How different things could be now if Ferguson was able to tie up the likely transfers of Ronaldinho a handful of summers ago, or even Arjen Robben for this season. Either of those could well have secured the club a second European Cup triumph under their current boss. Instead Ferguson has been left to look on as Chelsea steal his domestic thunder and the Italians regain respect on the continental field.

There are plenty of strong talents still at Manchester United. But perhaps some of the hunger and ability has now gone. Sacrilege as it may be to say it, Paul Scholes has too often been a passenger where once he dictated the flow of a game. Ryan Giggs is struggling to maintain consistency, too. Those are the areas Ferguson should be targeting as his current weak spots. Because the defence is strong and their four strikers are as good a panel as many others posess. With the expception of Louis Saha who should be replaced with a more reliable goalscoring striker – Jermain Defoe cost four million less than the former Fulham man.

Whether Ferguson is the man to lead United’s charge is an issue for another day – albeit not too far off. The question he must be asking himself is: where do we need to improve to get back on terms with the best? He has done just that every other time United have fallen away. The challenge with Roman’s millions around now is an altogether toughter one, however. United supporters pray their boss is up to it still. And that he can bring in the players desperately needed.

1827: Serie A: Palermo – the rising

by : David Hulott

Back in the top-flight after an absence of 31-years, Palermo have wasted little time in adjusting to their new surroundings. With nine league games remaining, the Sicilians have not only established themselves back in Serie A, but are mounting a concerted bid for European football next term.

Further evidence of their rapid progress comes from the current Italian squad, in which no fewer than five Palermo players – Andrea Barzagli; Christian Zaccardo; Fabio Grosso; Simone Barone and Luca Toni - were included for this weekend’s World Cup qualifier against Scotland.

There are several factors behind the strong showing of last season’s Serie B champions. They have certainly been helped by the millions pumped into the club by President Maurizio Zamparini during his two years with the club and they can also count on a top quality coach in Francesco Guidolin, whose previous Serie A experience with Bologna and Udinese has proved invaluable. Then there is the fanatical support that sees Palermo playing to close to capacity crowds in every game at the Stadio Renzo Barbera. With 33,000 passionate Sicilian season ticket holders in a stadium that holds 37,000, any hopes for the casual supporter getting a ticket are obviously fairly remote.

Their lofty league position has also certainly been aided by problems at some of the more traditional giants of the Italian game, with the dire financial situation at Lazio and Parma seeing both clubs tumble down the table. Elsewhere, Roma not only have financial concerns of their own, but have been going through coaches at such a rate that you start to wonder if they are inadvertently involved in a Silvio Berlusconi-inspired TV reality show, in which they must have a new coach for every month of the campaign.

Not surprisingly, Palermo’s success has been largely built around decent home form, but they have also proven to be very resolute on their travels, with just four defeats in 15-games away from home, none in their last six. The other great strength of this Palermo team has been in defence, although a perfectly respectable tally of 29-goals conceded in 29-games would have been even more impressive but for a recent blip that has seen them leak 10-goals in their last three matches. Just two points from those three games could yet damage their UEFA Cup ambitions (they are currently only four points shy of a Champions League place), with the last two results – a 5:1 home defeat to Udinese and a 3:3 draw at a Parma side who equalised in the last-minute when down to nine-men – having done little for self-belief.

The rise of Palermo mirrors that of an upturn in fortunes of teams in the south of Italy generally, with Cagliari, Lecce, Reggina and fellow Sicilians, Messina, all likely to retain their Serie A status this term, while there are even signs of a revival from Napoli down in Serie C1B. It is unquestionably Palermo that are leading the charge though, with the Rosanero rumoured to be lining up a major star signing over the summer if they achieve European qualification. If the speculation is to be believed, we could even see Alessandro Del Piero in the distinctive pink shirt of Palermo next season.

1824: Man Utd: Financial results har

by : Alex Wolstenholme

The inevitable angle of the drop in half-year profits announced by Manchester United this week has been that the Sir Alex Ferguson era is drawing to a close and that the Old Trafford club have some work to do to regain their position at the very top of English football.

United though haven’t announced losses, merely a drop in profits. They still made over ₤12 million pounds in the six months to January 2005, a period which saw them sign Wayne Rooney and tie up a contract with Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The combination of Roman Abramovich’s money and Jose Mourinho’s top-notch coaching credentials have combined to give Chelsea an edge this season but their 11-point gap in the Premiership came about mainly from a better start to the campaign.

Since Christmas there has been virtually nothing between the two sides and Ferguson, whether he stays or goes has built yet another side capable of challenging for the title in years to come, with players like Rooney, Ronaldo and Ferdinand whose best form should still be ahead of them.

Off the pitch United’s growth may be slowing down but only in comparison to some record years. The work that has been done in markets all around the world will ensure that the money keeps rolling in and that it will be money that most other sides can only dream about.

In just a couple of season’s time, home games at Old Trafford will be played out in front of 75,000 full houses, a move that is set to pay for itself in six years and then produce more profits in the years to come.

Just as United have recovered from the temporary blows inflicted on them in the past by Blackburn and Arsenal, they will do so again even if Chelsea’s assault lasts slightly longer this time.

While the foundations are being laid for a sustainable long-term future at Stamford Bridge, it has taken a massive effort this season to keep United at bay and that cannot be sustained forever.

Alex Ferguson’s comments recently about Chelsea never being as ‘big’ a side as United are to a large extent true meaning that all things being equal players and managers would choose to go to Old Trafford rather than West London.

Things aren’t equal of course but when the Chelsea revolution starts to slow down, United will still be well placed to regain their position at the head of affairs.

Malcolm Glazer remains in the frame for a possible takeover of course but the combined opposition of the fans and the current board may be enough to put that off.

Whatever the outcome of that saga, market forces by and large dictate success in the Premiership and United’s position at the head of the market, if not the table remains unassailable.

1823: Southampton: Harry’s games wil

by : Russ Johnson

As the Premiership season approaches it's anti-climax at the top end of proceedings, down at the bottom things are simmering nicely for a grand finale. It comes as no surprise to many a neutral spectator when the three promoted teams occupy the dreaded drop positions at this precarious, if not predictable stage of the season. But predictable it is not this time around.

Southampton recorded only their second away Premiership win in eleven months to leap-frog Crystal Palace as the race for Premiership survival continues. Iain Dowie's men haven't had a bad season by their standards and must be pretty down hearted that the Saints have now over took them to gain the points, goals and psychological advantage. And with Palace hosting their relegation rivals on the penultimate day of the season - the stakes couldn't be any higher.

Of course, it's not the first time that Southampton and indeed Harry Redknapp have had to fend off the Football League drop zone. Crystal Palace on the other hand were the bookies favourites to return to the Championship at the first time of asking pre-season, and with West Brom only two points behind The Eagles it's safe to say that the end of season run in will be most exciting at the wrong end. Portsmouth and Fulham could also be dragged from their thrones if any lapse on concentration is applied.

Redknapp's fixture run in features some eyebrow raising fixtures as they face arch rivals in three of their last four games. Arch rivals being in more ways than one. South coast neighbours Pompey are dangerously close and have to face the Saints at Fratton Park before the season is out.

The welcome relief of international football will take minds off the current battle, but could also potentially throw any form books and confidence up in the air - resulting in an array of errors on the pitch that will terrorise the fans of the clubs involved, but will delight the neutral.

1821: Spurs: An international break

by : Adam Graham

Now the rumour mongers say the deal for Robinho has already been done, and the official announcement of the move, expected his summer, will be a mere formality. That would leave Luxemburgo standing on shaky ground if, as seems likely, Real Madrid will be needing a scapegoat for another unsuccessful season. And reassurances from the club president that the coach’s job is not in jeopardy have never proven terribly meaningful.

So this summer the coaching position could again be used, as it seems to have been in the past, to bring big name players to the club. The names of two coaches appear to be topping the list according to the Spanish press: Liverpool’s Rafael Benitez and Juventus’s Fabio Capello.

The professional records of both coaches cannot be disputed, and both, if appointed, would be making a return to the Madrid club. But, for betting types, it may also be wise to consider who these men might bring with them.

Liverpool midfielder Stephen Gerrard is one of the hottest commodities in football at the moment. But whether or not he will leave the club in the summer depends on its results at the end of the season. Gerrard is hungry for European success, and may seek to fulfill his ambitions elsewhere if Liverpool cannot deliver.

The club is still in the running in this year’s Champions League, and may yet end the season in the top four of the Premiership, giving them a chance in next year’s Champions League too. But whatever the club’s fortunes, one thing that Gerrard is sure of is that new coach Benitez has a promising vision for the future. “I am desperate for things to get better and I know this will eventually happen under Benitez,” Gerrard declared recently, “He is a very good coach. He needs time, but I think he will get it right in the end.”

Although Gerrard has been linked persistently with a move to Chelsea should he leave Liverpool, he may prefer to head overseas rather than facing the club he loves in domestic competition. If Benitez defects to Real Madrid, the midfielder may be tempted to follow. Add to that the presence of good friends David Beckham and Michael Owen in the Spanish capital and the move seems almost assured.

The edge that Juventus coach Capello brings in the transfer market may not center on a player that he coaches now, but one that he coached in the past. The future of Roma’s rising star Antonio Cassano seems almost certain to lie away from the Italian capital. But whether he will be headed to Juventus or Real Madrid is anyone’s guess.

He recently called Real Madrid a “grandisimo” club that every player dreams of joining. But he has also been heaping praise on his former coach: “Capello has been the biggest influence on me. He always will. He knows how to manage me.” So bringing Capello to Madrid will all but settle the matter.

Real Madrid has come under fire both from inside and outside the team for frequently changing coaches. Former coach Del Bosque recently quipped, “In no other team are there three changes of coach in one season. That drives the players crazy. They do not know who to listen to.” And Real Madrid captain Raul joined in, griping, “Winning trophies is very difficult when you have three coaches in one season.”

Perhaps club president Perez should take at look at arch-rivals Barcelona, where Coach Frank Rijkaard has been given the time and freedom to build his own team, and has done so to devastating effect. If, by some strange twist of fate, Real Madrid manages to overtake Barcelona and lift the league trophy this season, it will be a horrible injustice in sporting terms. The Catalan club competes with more energy, verve and desire than any Madrid team of the Perez reign.

But old habits die hard, and there remains a distinct possibility that Coach Luxemburgo will be forced to take the fall for another poor season at Real Madrid. Should that time come, all eyes in the footballing world will turn to see who will replace him.

But whether Benitez, Capello or someone else gets the job may not depend solely on what he can do for the club. It may also depend on who he can bring.
This article has been removed at the writer's request.

1818: Newcastle: Bad boy Dyer has ea

by : Chris Sherrard

Josemi, Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia are known to Raul from the Spanish National Team, although Garcia is still at this date awaiting his first full appearance. But Antonio Nunez came to Liverpool from Real, in the deal for Michael Owen, a reassuring element of the culture of the Bernabeu at Liverpool.

And there is a certain Fernando Morientes...

Football supporters who can remember the time when the two played together at Real have probably just sat up a little straighter in their chair...

There is more than an ex-teammate relationship between the two; indeed, Raul has made plenty of comments in the past testifying both to his friendship with Morientes, and to his regard for Morientes’s abilities, and how effective their partnership is when playing together.

Oh, and lest we forget, the man running the show at Anfield is also an ex-Madrid player, Rafael Benitez. And Benitez has demonstrated both a willingness to bring Spanish players to the Premier League, and also shown signs of disapproval with one of his main strikers, Milan Baros.

Replacing Baros with Raul? I’m confident enough in the range of Rafa’s linguistic skills to assert that his reply would be something along the lines of, "Yes, please..." followed by an eloquent discourse on the merits of Raul and his winning mentality.

A player, the very symbol of a club, either is forced to move on, or feels it is the right thing for him to do, for the club’s benefit. If the club is still so dear to Raul, and on the surface at least it would appear to be the case, then he would have a harder time finding a better home away from Real than at Liverpool. The two clubs themselves have done recent business with the Michael Owen transfer, which carried some lesser strains of the same soap opera of a club symbol moving on.

If the unthinkable does occur, and the prospect has been raised by Raul himself, then it must also be considered a possibility, and a very real, or dare I say Raul, one at that, that Raul’s hypothetical destination away from his sole stomping ground to date, the Santiago Bernabeu, will be Liverpool, playing alongside his friend and strike partner Morientes, another new face in the Spanish emigre contingent at Anfield...
I'm not a fan of Kieron Dyer. I've never met the Newcastle midfielder but from what I’ve read, heard and seen, I don't particularly want to, either.

But I’m all for giving credit where credit is due. If someone is playing well, doing a good job for their club and keeping their head down and concentrating on the job at hand then I’ll happily remove my hat and salute them.

So fair play to Dyer who has had a litany of bad press in recent years - all quite deserving I should add - but is now showing something of the form which earned him his reputation on joining United as an exciting, bright young hope of English football. In the last handful of games, Dyer has been in blistering form, displaying searing pace as usual but combining it with an end product and, most significantly, a hunger and desire to bring a trophy to St James Park this season.

If he continues to play in this form, supplying Alan Shearer with adequate ammunition whilst also getting into the final third in support of his strikers, Newcastle's hopes will be seriously strengthened. No doubt about it, a thriving, interested Kieron Dyer would be a regular in most Premiership teams and this current strand of form looks like it will be one of the key factors in whether the Toon's long wait for silverware is to come to an end between now and the end of May.

England boss Sven Goran Eriksson has always kept faith with Dyer and the Newcastle man could even be pushing for a starting place for his national team in the upcoming qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan. Certainly, David Beckham's return to mediocrity at Real Madrid will be doing Dyer's hopes no end of good.

I think the major turning point in Dyer's fortunes on Tyneside was the departure of his close partner-in-crime Craig Bellamy to Celtic. The pair were said to be as thick as thieves and it can surely be no coincidence that with one absent the other is flourishing. Graeme Souness presumably decided quite early on in his tenure that they couldn't both stay at the club in the long term. Bellamy was the one he fancied less and subsequently, in perfect keeping with the former Blackburn manager's personality, one was on a fast bus through the exit door.

Even though Bellamy is knocking the goals in for fun at Celtic, Souness has kept the right man in Dyer. The Welshman was never as prolific as he should have been in Newcastle’s attack. Without him the club can still call upon the services of top notch strikers like Shearer, Kluivert and Ameobi. On the other hand, they don’t have a great supply of players in a similar vein to Kieron Dyer. His game is quite unique among the St James Park squad in that he has pace to burn and a great engine which sustains him for the whole 90 minutes. Souness will be a relieved man that he kicked out the right man.

There's little doubt in Newcastle, that Dyer in this form is the one they are pleased to have kept. All he needs to do now is prove this upturn in performance levels isn't just a passing phase.

1822: Man Utd: Champions League is n

by : Bill Urban

"You may say it is a selfish attitude but it cannot be good for Spanish television that no team from Spain reached the last eight and you also have to look at the sponsorship deals going forward..." Manchester United chief executive David Gill

Selfish? Perhaps not. In fact, the rest of the misguided, out-of-date, overly traditional miscreant football supporting population might prove to be thankful to you for pointing out that the Champions League is in fact played for the benefit of Spanish television and various sponsors.

Obviously, supporters of "lesser" clubs had all been labouring under the clear misapprehension that football matches were meant to be played on pitches, between football teams, in front of loyal supporters.

That’s such an eighties attitude. An obsession with the past, when the European Cup was contested between solely the champions European clubs, with a random draw for every round of the competition.

Barbarism.

Clearly, modern football is played in the boardroom, and clear and present advantage should be given to football teams, or public limited companies, that swing the heaviest pocketbooks.

Never mind that the Champions League matches against Milan were both full of good football, from both sides, and that part of the attraction of the match itself was that two tough sides with lots of tradition in Europe and the ambition to win were meeting early in the competition.

Never mind that your club, sorry, plc, Barcelona, Arsenal and Real Madrid all going out in the round of 16 this year is a clear indication of the fierce competitiveness of the Champions League in general. Never mind that had Sir Alex Ferguson deigned to field a stronger team against Fenerbahce, you might have finished first in your initial group. Never mind that you were seeded to finish first in that group as well; if anything, that is further evidence of how unfair and discriminatory a practice it is to force glamorous, world-wide brands like Manchester United to slum with the commoners on the field of play.

Precedent for arranging the competition to favour the richest clubs already exists; the Champions League, of course, allows more than the champions of every UEFA country to compete. Indeed, when your plc won the Champions League in 1999, on the only night ever in Barcelona, you had finished in 2nd place the year before in the Premier League.

Scandalous.

After the Champions League has been repaired, you might put your brilliant and fertile mind to work on fixing the Premier League as well, Mr. Gill.

Indeed, why stop at "seeding" the quarter finals? Why not "seed" the entire competition?

You, Senor Perez, David Dein, and the representatives from other massive retailing entities can get together in Old Trafford every year, sit at specially installed tables, and smack each other with your piles of financial records.

Whoever squeals loudest is eliminated.

You might have to have a word with your manager, though. His counterpart at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, agrees with you that, as far as the Champions League is concerned, he who has the biggest purse has the biggest purse, and that’s all that matters.

"You can't afford to have Real Madrid and Manchester United - big clubs who invest so much money - going out in the last 16... You will have a revolt if it continues like that." said the clear inferior to your manager.

Given that Sir Alex and Arsene have had modest disagreements on an occasional basis in the past, perhaps a quiet word is in order. Wenger has given you several new avenues to pursue, Mr. Gill.

Big investment going out in the Round of 16? Preposterous.

The winners of the group stages should be the 16 teams with the highest profits.

No, wait, sorry, profits mean the company is actually making money. Your profits have just decreased by 50%, have they not, Mr. Gill? Surely there is no connection between this minor accounting problem and your call to change the Champions League.

No, we will seed things by turnover instead; whoever can wave the biggest numbers about in the media is in.

Genius. And the threat of civil disobedience raised by Wenger? Quality.

Imagine a hunger strike by club executives all over Europe. Why, the damage to 5-star restaurants and hotels would be incalculable. Accountants, lawyers and player agents would be mortified, and destitute. Surely Wenger’s implication is an idea with much merit behind it, Mr. Gill.

In short, the rest of Europe, particularly the supporters of all the smelly little clubs who only participate in the Champions League as designated fodder for the rich clubs like your plc, need to accept their foreordained, predestined role in the scheme of things.

Football as an athletic competition, as a sport, as a contest decided on the field of play, is on its last legs, Mr. Gill. Do the right thing and get rid of the matches all at once.

No need for any mundane, cheap activities like games any longer...

1815: Northern Ireland: Belief and s

by : Chris Sherrard

For Northern Irish football there doesn’t come many bigger occasions, certainly in the last number of years, than playing England in front of a packed house at Old Trafford.

For so long the Belfast boys have been in the international wilderness with nobody outside of the province particularly interested in how they are doing apart from to keep a methodical, increasingly pedantic, count on the number of hours they go without scoring a goal. It is frustrating for the supporters to know that their loyal and passionate support is not being matched on the pitch by the players who pull on the green shirt to represent them.

But things are looking a good deal more rosy in recent times. I promise. Since Lawrie Sanchez got off the mark in his very first game with, not a win, but a goal to end the barren spell, things have picked up. We even started winning games, too. Happy days. The World Cup Qualifying stage was always going to be an acid test for the young squad but, by in large, they have not disgraced themselves so far. In fact, the heroic display of Northern Ireland’s nine-men in the hothouse cauldron of Wales’ Millennium Stadium back in September was as good a performance as I have witnessed from Our Wee Country in some time. A draw was the very least they deserved from that one.

And now we come to Saturday and Manchester. This is the one the countdown has been on for since the draw was made. Because the spotlight which has seldom shone our way will for once expose Northern Ireland. The team have as big a chance as they are likely to get to impress a worldwide audience. Players who are used to performing each week in front of, more often than not, half-full terraces in English football’s lower leagues, will run out to a sell-out capacity crowd in one of the most famous and attractive footballing stadiums in the world. The thought in its own is enough to send shivers down the spine.

Nobody expects an away win. If you ask most pundits I’m sure they’d predict a veritable mauling for Northern Ireland. But they will be surprised. Football is littered with incidents of pure blind faith. But this is more than biased devotion on my part. We can ‘send it up ‘em’ at Old Trafford. Maybe not beat Sven Goran Eriksson’s side, but at least give them a scare. Get biting at their ankles right from the start and get plenty of support to the front two and anything really is possible.

Such is the form of Sanchez’ strike pairing of David Healy and Hull City’s 27-goal Stuart Elliott. They’ll provide a different proposition than much of what the English defence has faced this season. Who is to say how they will cope?

Northern Ireland do have a smattering of Premiership experience to call upon at Old Trafford. Those players – including in-form keeper Maik Taylor, Newcastle’s Aaron Hughes and Birmingham battler Damien Johnson – will be important in the heat of battle. Big games are needed from those type of players if a shock is to happen. But if you look beyond them to the other likely starters, Keith Gillespie is returning to something of the form that made him a popular figure at Manchester United and Newcastle in the past. Likewise, Sunderland’s George McCartney is in remarkable form of late and he will be a threat to England on Saturday, of that I am extremely confident.

For most Northern Ireland fans the step into the shimmering spotlight this weekend is a long overdue experience. In our hearts we know that the trip to Austria a few days after Old Trafford is just as big a game. But for one day, the boys in green will step forward and give England as hard and physical a game as they have faced in recent times. It’s all in the hearts.

1819: Watford: Will sacking Ray Lewi

by : Stephen Orford

Some football clubs never learn. Your team is sitting an admittedly disappointing 15th in the Coca Cola Championship, just four points off the relegation zone as you enter the notoriously decisive Easter period. You have not won since the end of February, and you have won just four of your last 24 league matches. So, what do you do? Sack the manager, of course.

Watford Football Club have become the latest in a long line of clubs to fall for the oldest trick in the book, believing that a change of manager at such a crucial stage in the season is the magic formula which just might save their skins for another year. Despite reaching the semi-finals of the Carling Cup this season, it has been decided that Ray Lewington’s services are no longer required after almost three years in charge at Vicarage Road.

Saturday’s (March 19) 2-0 defeat at home to Preston North End was apparently the last straw for the Hornets’ board, coming as it did so soon after defeats against Queens Park Rangers, Nottingham Forest and Coventry City. The word from the club is that they are now looking for a younger, progressive manager to take up the post. Quite apart from the fact that young, progressive managers with an ambition to coach in the lower reaches of the Championship are in short supply, what exactly do the Watford hierarchy think that the new man will be able to achieve between now and the end of the season?

There are just seven league games left, and although the club are only four points away from that dreaded trap door, there are still six other clubs who find themselves in closer proximity to the drop-zone. In all probability Watford will not be relegated, and would not have been had Lewington been retained until the end of the season. The likes of already doomed Rotherham United, Nottingham Forest, Coventry City, Gillingham and Cardiff City should see to that. With this in mind, the club’s refusal to wait until the summer to review Lewington’s position seems hasty at best, and a display of blind, paranoid panic at worst.

After all, it is not that long ago that Watford were handing out a 2-1 defeat to promotion-chasing Ipswich Town proving that, with the right application, they could mix it with the best of the Championship on their day. That February 22 win followed their valiant Carling Cup semi-final defeat by Liverpool, and a vital 2-0 win against Gillingham on February 5. These performances would suggest that, though possibly under-motivated and inconsistent, Watford were far from incompetent and that their Championship status should be secure for another year at least.

Of course, merely surviving in the Championship is not a desirable target for a club that once mixed it with the great and the good of the old first division in the 1980’s. With the likes of John Barnes and Luther Blissett around, the Hertfordshire club reached the 1984 FA Cup final when they lost out to Everton at Wembley. A return to those glory days seemed unlikely in the near future under Lewington, despite this season’s Carling Cup heroics and their appearance in the 2003 FA Cup semi-final when they were beaten by Southampton. However, it may just be that by ripping up the plan and starting all over again, Watford have ensured that they are even further away from a Premiership return than ever. A new manager will need time to bed in and implement his own ideas, and the pressure cooker of the current situation is not the ideal place to start the re-building process.

Watford do have some playing assets that are the envy of many in the division. Heidar Helgusson is among the Championship’s most sought-after strikers, having netted 12 times in the league this season, and 16 times in all competitions. Ably assisting him has been Danny Webber, whose 12 goals this season have all come in league football. There’s plenty of experience too, with men like Neil Cox, Paul Devlin and Marcus Gayle at the club. However, with the arrival of a new manager comes a new approach, and a very probably a high turnover of players in a short space of time.

Though this could eventually push Watford forward, there is also the possibility that a new manager will not work out and the club could find itself in an even worse situation this time next year. The quick-fix of changing the manager is often a myth, and far too often club directors and fans are left counting the costs of receiving what they wished for. The Championship is a notoriously difficult division to get out of, and the Watford board will be hoping that they do not live to regret the day when their patience with Ray Lewington ran out.

1817: Liverpool: Is a move for Raul

by : Bill Urban

"After 11 years here I want what's best for Real Madrid..." "If at some time I have to sacrifice myself in order for the team to progress then I will do it." Raul, in reference to a possible departure from the Santiago Bernabeu.

In the modern football era, with financial imperatives riding roughshod over traditional, one-man one-club, testimonials all round hero-worship, perhaps the news that Raul might consider leaving the club formerly known as Raul Madrid should come as no real surprise. More than any of the other galacticos, or indeed any player on the Real roster, Raul has become the playing symbol of the club, a walking, talking, brought through from the youth ranks, with the added spice of having been snatched from bitter rival Atletico’s youth team in one of Jesus Gil’s innumerable cost-cutting attempts, personification of All Things Real.

However, as in the rest of the football world, three Champions League titles, and four Primera league crowns are fine accomplishments, but for the first time, the Spanish press, particularly in the capital, some of the officials in the club itself, and certain sections of the club’s supporters, are asking the pithy question: What have you done for me (us) lately?

Coming shortly before David Gill felt comfortable in referring to Sir Alex Ferguson as "sackable," it’s clear that immediate results are the only valued currency in modern football, and that loyalty, from both players and clubs, is trading at a heavy discount.

So where does this leave Raul?

Speculation about possible transfers in football has just slightly more credibility than a Paris Hilton discourse on classy, understated behaviour, but after reading about Raul’s declaration to move on if necessary, the mind started to wander. With all bets off in the wake of the previously unheard of possibility of Raul’s departure, one naturally tries to consider where, in fact, the player might end up if indeed the End of Real Madrid Days is upon the club.

Raul to the Merseyside. It’s not nearly as strange and unlikely a possibility as it seems...

Start with the key piece of the original statement by the player: "...sacrifice myself in order for the team to progress..."

Right there, Raul knocks out the possibility of playing for any other Spanish side, and surely, were Real to come to the ultimate conclusion that moving their talisman on was a necessary operation, they would prefer him not turning out anywhere else in the Primera either.

So, where to for Raul, if Spain is not an option?

Spanish footballers in the past have, with a few exceptions, preferred to remain at home. Some who have ventured abroad have plied their trade across the Mediterranean in Italy.

Italy? Plenty of pedigreed clubs, plenty of money, plenty of tradition, but also plenty of stultifying, regimented, robotic football, the very antithesis to the approach favored in Spain in general, and at Real in particular. Surely Raul must have been filled in on some of the particulars of football by Zidane and Ronaldo, and there is every reason to assume that the player would reject such a restrictive approach to the game.

With Spain and Italy out of the way, and with all apologies to the German Bundesliga, that leaves one other major football competition, the Premiership. And if money is the sole concern for Raul, then he will end up plying his trade at a club other than Liverpool if he moves from Madrid; indeed, Chelsea are rumoured to have already made inquiries for the player’s services.

But...

If a player were moving from Spain, less a country than a cobbled-together patchwork of regional brothers and sisters, with all the accompanying squabbles and spats of family life, might it not occur to the player to select a club in the Premier League that has some hints of home in general, and Madrid in particular?

1816: Man Utd: Ferguson should retir

by : Rupen Ganatra

It looks like the time has come now, for Sir Alex Ferguson to hang up his stopwatch. They say it's best to quit while you're ahead, I think it's best for Fergie to go now while he and Man Utd are (relatively) ahead and where both still command some respect. Now that Keegan has announced his retirement from the game, it's probably best for Sir Alex to follow similar suit and end on the last high he is able to manage at Man Utd.

After achieving so much over the years and numerous attempts at the Holy Grail that is the Champions league, Ferguson looks to have lost any grip he had on the Premier league, his goalkeepers and his discipline that has been renowned over the years. Never in the past would a player have effectively "got away" with missing a drugs test or even thought of being a fashion Prima Dona on the pitch. It makes one think that simply the thought of retirement, and not having your way everyday, and ultimately, the thought of spending more time at home with his wife must have made Sir Alex sign an extension to his current contract!

I have a feeling Ferguson is still trying to hang on to the fairytale that was written exclusively for him in the embryonic stages of the Premiership. He saw off the spending power of Blackburn Rovers back in the day and I fear he will be thinking along the same lines again with Chelsea and their millions. Although Liverpool have always been somewhat of a threat to him, maybe he sees the beginning of a collapse and an exodus from Highbury which will only leave Chelsea in the way, who already look to have their sights set on the likes of Ashley Cole & Stevie Gerrard and no desire of letting go of Terry & Lampard.

If Ferguson wants a real challenge, he should do what every proud Scot should never say no to - manage Scotland. Now the easy part is to qualify for a major tournament in a decent manner, not coughing and spluttering your way through the qualifiers and relying on other teams slipping up. If Sir Alex managed this alone, he would be revered as saviour. If he made it past the league stage of the actual competition, he'd be able to walk on Whisky in the eyes of the Scottish. Now this is a challenge that will really test his Managerial credentials, where he doesn't have money to turn to.

So, as good as Ferguson is and as much as he has achieved, I don't feel Sir Alex quite has what it takes to stand up to the might of the Premiership anymore. Gone are the days of steamrollering the Premiership and winning the league shortly after Easter. Also long gone are the days of no more bets on Man utd after Boxing day and Championship winning bets without Man Utd. Fred Done has made a lot of money from Man Utd's dominance, but the gravy train has pulled up at it's last stop, I believe.

1813: Newcastle: Serendipity Souness

by : Hugh Larkin

Graeme Souness, hardened operator that he is, will be treating the plaudits coming his way for seven victories in a row in much the same way as the murmurings of discontent when his side were regularly dropping home points- with a large pinch of salt. He inherited an excellent squad but one that lacked the rigour to make full use of their talent but now he’s been able to focus minds fully, helped by two of his more errant charges.

Newcastle are not yet a side good enough to go on this kind of run without a large dose of fortune- in the two defining games of the recovery, the team benefited from both Chelsea and Olympiakos being deprived of players, albeit by different routes. This is not to say that Newcastle didn’t deserve their luck- for weeks before these results the manager had been saying that the rub of the green was all that separated his team from a decent series of results.

For the moment things are on the up and Souness is rightly taking his share of the credit; in particular, his stance against the members of his squad who were perceived as underperforming and worse still, unprofessional in their efforts. While he deserves respect for making clear his views on standards, the reality is that his stand would have come to nothing if the power of the market had gone against him.

The crucial factor in the Toon’s recovery is the way other clubs reacted to the availability of Craig Bellamy and Kieron Dyer. Both these players built a reputation as ‘awkward’ customers carrying a well-developed sense of their importance to the team, while inclined to a less than professional approach. Whether deserved or not, both clearly had become a focus for discontent at the club.

When Newcastle called Dyer’s bluff after a very public bust-up with the management and put the word out that the England man could be available, there was a deafening silence from the clubs near the top of matters in the Premiership. Within a very short space of time the player had put together a fulsome apology and realised that a transfer to a club in a better situation than Newcastle couldn’t be certain.

If the point hadn’t been made clearly enough to Newcastle’s misfiring squad, then Craig Bellamy’s exit underlined it. When Bellamy chose to enter into the much-anticipated quarrel with Souness the Welshman found that Birmingham City were the top of his list of potential destinations in the Premiership. Bellamy eventually found a way out to Celtic but clearly this wasn’t the player’s planned route and even now the striker is still talking about hoping that Celtic are “one of” the options open to him in the summer.

If they didn’t get the message earlier then the rest of the squad have grasped it since. Even if they do want away from Tyneside a move to another elite club is wholly dependent on quality performances now. Reputations have been tarnished in two years of mediocre offerings on the field rather than activities off it. Since Bellamy’s ousting, Dyer, Laurent Robert, Patrick Kluivert and others have knuckled to the task, aware that their careers were on the line. Olivier Bernard’s transfer added to the lesson - for all that Newcastle fans thought him a top player, he’s now in a relegation scrap at Southampton.

Graeme Souness has brought the sense of purpose to the squad that he was appointed to manufacture; his own tough approach and straight talking to players had made a distinct contribution but his efforts have been massively assisted by an outbreak of common sense in the transfer market. By the end of the season he may have a queue of players clamouring to stay rather than go.

1812: West Brom: Bryan Robson defies

by : Antony Melvin

If you read page 1 of the standard ‘Guide to being a Hack’ you are given a list of soft targets. This indispensable guide is basically a series of ‘opinions’ that can be universally accepted as fact. Your standard hack can use them as a standby on a slow day without having to stop concentrating on the matter in hand – usually a ploughmans and a pint.

On page one you will find ‘Bryan Robson is a useless football manager’, this is just below the related item ‘good footballers make bad managers’.

Obviously if West Bromwich Albion continue their recent progress this first page (of an admittedly already thick tome) will need revising. Robson will probably move into chapter two, which covers formerly accepted truisms that have fallen into disrepute (but have revisionist potential).

A 4-1 win at Charlton was only West Brom’s third win in a resurgent 12 league match run since being humiliated 5-0 by Liverpool at The Hawthorns on Boxing Day; but it confirmed that there is a pulse – that there is hope. The Liverpool match was the nadir of West Brom’s season. In mitigation Cosmin Contra was sent off conceding a penalty at 1-0 and Liverpool did seem to score with every shot – but West Brom were bottom, with 10 points and the season was one game shy of the half-way mark. Baggies fans left that match wondering how many teams had been relegated in February.

But Sunderland’s Premiership record of 19 points has now been left far behind. 10 points and only one win from the opening 18 games, has been followed by 14 points and three wins in the next 12 games. And this improved form has been despite the following pieces of misfortune: a Bolton equalizer 5 minutes from time, a battered Fulham getting an undeserved injury time winner, an injury time equalizer from 10-man Crystal Palace, twice leading at Norwich only to lose the game in the closing minutes.

The four games in the last twelve where crucial goals were conceded in the last five minutes cost West Brom 6 points. Vitally three of these games were against clubs also in the relegation fight, meaning that had West Brom hung on they would be on 30 points in sixteenth place – with a 3 point cushion.

But far from crushing team spirit West Brom have taken a series of late goals in their stride. Just recently West Brom have tightened up their defence and kept going to the end.

Maybe, just maybe Bryan Robson’s methods have matured and he is now able to motivate and coach players into getting results. He has inherited a team and made them better – the only true indicator of a good manager. It can be no coincidence that West Brom’s defence is now better focused - it’s five matches since West Brom have conceded a second half goal – and in Robert Earnshaw, West Brom suddenly have the fourth top goalscorer in the Premiership.

West Brom are still probably relegation bound as even 12-15 points from the last 8 games won’t definitely keep them up. On top of this 3 of the last 8 games are against teams in the top 4 and of the remaining fixtures West Brom do not have another home game before the last day of the season. But if the Baggies do go down, they can go with an awful lot of expectation that they have found another manager capable of getting them another shot at the big-time.

Bryan Robson may not be as useless as the ‘Hacks’ Bible’ suggests.

1814: England: Heskey, the fifth str

by : Stephen Orford

Sven Goran Eriksson’s latest England squad selection included a nasty surprise in the striking department. Just when it seemed that the football world was waking up to his lack of balance, skill and a genuine goal threat, in strolls Emile Heskey back to the international fold.

The Birmingham City striker is one of five strikers selected for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers with Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan. All things being equal diminutive super-sub Michael Owen should lead the attack alongside bad-tempered, foul-mouthed genius Wayne Rooney. As such, we might be spared the undignified sight of Heskey putting his not inconsiderable frame about, winning plaudits for his ‘effort’ and ‘willingness’, without unduly worrying any goalkeepers. However, this might not be the case. That a player of Heskey’s modest ability has again managed to re-enter Eriksson’s thinking is alarming.

Heskey’s inclusion comes seemingly at the expense of Manchester United’s Alan Smith. The former Leeds United man has found himself out of the United team in recent weeks due to the return of Ruud Van Nistelrooy and the impressive form of Rooney. A quick look at the goalscoring records of Heskey and Smith this season show that they are remarkably similar. Heskey’s goal in yesterday’s Birmingham derby (March 20), which bordered on an own goal by Villa goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen, was only his 7th in 26 league appearances for the club, but interestingly, was his 6th in the last 12 outings.

Meanwhile, Smith has appeared 25 times in the league for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, netting on only five occasions. He has not troubled the scorers at all in 2005 so far, and it looks as if Eriksson has temporarily adopted a policy of picking strikers based purely on current form. With that in mind, he has had to delve deep into the bottom of the barrell to find Heskey, as on this occasion the England coach insists on including five strikers in his squad rather than the four he has gone with many times previously.

This policy of picking players on current form would be difficult to argue with if it were maintained consistently in other areas of the team. Despite disappearing almost completely up his own back passage as a footballer, David Beckham remains un-droppable as captain of the side, while the persistent inclusion of the pointlessly ineffective Owen Hargreaves remains a mystery. Even Michael Owen cannot secure a regular first-team place at Real Madrid, but is untouchable as England’s number one striker regardless.

It would appear that Smith’s previous misdemeanours with England, which include being dropped from one squad following a bottle-throwing controversy, and being sent off in a Euro 2004 qualifier against Macedonia have gone against him in the mind of Eriksson. In reality, Smith’s temperament is no more questionable than that of Rooney or, indeed, Beckham, but the mere fact that the Swede feels he can do without the services of Smith has led to a different set of rules being applied in his case. All of which offers an opportunity for Heskey to poke his nose into international business once more.

It is to be hoped that Heskey’s inclusion is a token gesture, motivated by Sven’s reluctance to pick Smith or the out-of-form and often injured Darius Vassell, and not an indication of a tactical shift. Recent England performances have been tainted by a staggering lack of attacking ambition, with one explanation offered being the difficulty in maintaining possession of the ball in the last third with two small men up front in Owen and Rooney, or the equally pint-sized Jermain Defoe.

Frighteningly, it may just be that Eriksson is seriously considering throwing the physical presence of Heskey into the fray, particularly against Northern Ireland in what looks set to be a more physical, 'British-style' (what does that mean, anyway?) encounter than the probably more technical affair with Azerbaijan. The England players have shown in the recent past that they need no second invitation to begin hopelessly punting the ball forward into ‘good areas’. In addition, their insistence on defending so deeply could mean that they will need a bigger target up-front as an outlet. Heskey, as unlikely as it should be, may well be the man in the mind of Eriksson.

Setting aside the case for Smith’s inclusion in the England squad, it would be a travesty of epic proportions if Heskey were to leap-frog either Defoe or Crystal Palace’s Andy Johnson in the pecking order of England strikers. Defoe continues to score goals for an up and down Tottenham, while Johnson also remains high in the list of Premiership goal-scorers despite the relegation battle currently being endured by his club. One cannot help but think back to that Holland friendly, in which Johnson was used as a right winger by the tactical revolutionary that is Eriksson, and wonder whether it is his inclusion, and not that of Heskey, which is the token gesture.

Whether or not England need five strikers to beat Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan is another article.

1810: Man City: Matias Vuoso – Manch

by : David Hulott

Averaging a goal per game after nine games to top the scoring charts in the Mexican Clausura this year and with a healthy return of 34 goals from 61 appearances overall for Santos Laguna, striker Vicente Matias Vuoso has been showing the kind of form that led to Kevin Keegan shelling out somewhere in the region of £3.5 million for the Argentinean back in June 2002.

The forward arrived at Maine Road approximately six months after ex-Independiente team-mate Diego Forlan moved to neighbouring Old Trafford but, difficult to comprehend though it is, failed to even match the achievements of his former Uruguayan strike partner during his short stint in the Premiership.

In reality, Vuoso’s career in England and subsequent success on leaving can probably be more closely associated with that of Luciano Figueroa at Birmingham City. Another Argentinean, Figueroa did at least get to represent his English club side in a competitive fixture, ambling on for three minutes as a late substitute against Portsmouth. That’s three minutes more than Vuoso ever managed in a Manchester City shirt, with a loan move to Mexico coming in the summer of 2003 after having failed to break into Keegan’s first team plans.

The loan went well for Vuoso, with goals flowing freely, but with City mired in debt and with the likes of Nicolas Anelka, Robbie Fowler, Jon Macken and Paulo Wanchope all ahead of him in the pecking order at the time, a permanent switch to Santos was concluded last summer. Officially it seems the deal was for an “undisclosed” fee, although the suspicion has to be that precious few pesos were converted into sterling – another masterly piece of transfer business from King Kev.

Forlan and Figueroa are now strike partners in La Liga at Villarreal with Figueroa, like Vuoso, having rebuilt his reputation in Mexico (although Figueroa didn’t make as immediate an impact as his countryman during his time at Cruz Azul). Forlan is now a leading scorer in Spain, while Figueroa has progressed so far that he is now an integral part of the international set-up with Argentina.

Vuoso is still only 23 years old and the suspicion must be that he came to Europe too early in his career and probably went to the wrong club, if not the wrong country. A move to Spain would seem the obvious next step. Villarreal, the club to which Latin American strikers who struggle in the Premiership appear to gravitate towards, are no doubt well aware of the situation.

1809: La Liga: The End of Raul’s Mad

by : Kevin Buckland

It is a sight that has become all too familiar to Real Madrid fans: Raul Gonzalez, kneeling on the ground, his head in his hands, ruing a missed chance.

The struggling striker was once the hottest property in football, hailed by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as the best in the world.

But over the last two seasons he has barely been able to string two decent games together.

A glance at the team’s score sheet provides stark confirmation: so far this season Raul has only found the back of the net 6 times; last season was little better, tallying just 11 goals.

The team captain’s dramatic dip in form has triggered speculation in the press that it is time for him to leave.

But would it really be in the club’s best interest if he did?

Raul is Real Madrid’s captain. Born in Madrid, Raul is Real Madrid’s hometown hero, and he is the only Spaniard among the club’s 7 Galacticos.

Still only 27, Raul is already a club legend. He is the all-time leading scorer in European competition with 49 goals – a record he shares with another Madridista, former great Alfredo Di Stefano. It is a record that he will surely make his own before the end of next season.

Raul also captains the Spanish national side, and is his country’s top scorer ever with 41 goals.

How could Real Madrid let go of such an iconic figure?

But sentimentalism is a luxury of the fans, not of the board.

If Raul is not performing, then he has to leave. From a sporting perspective it is as simple as that.

Several strikers are being linked persistently with the club – such as Santos wonder boy Robinho, Arsenal young gun Jose Antonio Reyes and Inter ace Adriano. Someone will have to make way for any new signings.

Raul is still young, and the possibility of a return to his once dazzling form will surely attract interest from a lot of top clubs. Only this month, Juventus coach Fabio Capello expressed an interest in bringing the player to the Stadio Delle Alpi.

While the departure of the iconic team captain could seriously threaten Real Madrid’s carefully cultivated commercial image, it may be a loss that the club can recover from.

Real Madrid already boasts another homegrown hero who has increasingly been making a name for himself as one of the world’s top players.

Although goalkeeper Iker Casillas wasn’t born in Madrid, he is a product of Real Madrid’s youth system, having arrived at the club at the tender age of eight. Raul, meanwhile, was plucked from the youth system of city rival Atletico.

And Casillas has been in scintillating form this season, rescuing the team almost every weekend with strings of breathtakingly acrobatic saves.

But the reasons that Real Madrid may seek to push Raul out go beyond the merely sporting.

Raul represents the pre-Perez era at Real Madrid: a time when the club’s finances were in shambles, but the team’s record was impeccable – in stark contrast to the state of affairs now.

In those days, a close-knit group of players are said to have run things from the dressing room, led by Raul and former team captain Fernando Hierro.

But since Perez’s arrival, the old guard has been systematically driven out.

The first to go has Hierro, simply told to leave when his contract expired in 2003. Then Raul’s good friend and erstwhile strike partner, Fernando Morientes, was first relegated to the bench and then eventually sold. Veteran defender Ivan Helguera will also be out of contract soon; he turns 30 at the end of this month, and will in all likelihood be told he can leave this summer.

The relationship between Raul and Perez has often given the impression of being less than smooth.

The team captain leveled a thinly veiled criticism at the club president just last week. Shifting the blame for the club’s poor results away form the players, he griped, “Winning trophies is very difficult when you have three trainers in one season.”

Perez may see Raul as an enemy of his reign, a Galactico opponent of his Galactico policy. Raul has been the loudest voice from the dressing room, grumbling about Perez’s policy of regularly bringing in new superstar players.

And Raul’s is reputedly on of the biggest egos at the club: despite calls for the team captain to be replaced in the starting XI with in-form English striker Michael Owen, he recently told reporters that he couldn’t imagine being relegated to the bench.

Now, with the fans and the media both baying for blood, the time may finally be right to push the striker out.

The prospect of another trophyless season looms at Real Madrid, and changes will have to be made.

Just this week, Raul revealed he was ready to leave the club if it would help end the slump.

“I want to stay,” he stressed, “but if I have to make a sacrifice so that the club can move forward, I will do so.”

“I love Madrid and I want what’s best for the club.”

In the past, Raul has fought to protect the place on the team of close friend Luis Figo, Perez’s first Galactico signing.

Now, no one’s exit seems more assured than the former Portuguese national team captain.

And it could well be that the two fading stars will be leaving the club together.

1808: Champions League: AC Milan v C

by : Alex Kay

For many people, the draw for the last sixteen of the Champions League provided a dream final. Barcelona v Chelsea: the two top teams from arguably the two best leagues in Europe. And the tie did not disappoint. The first had controversy, and the second was explosive and full of fantastic goals. Unfortunately, one of them had to go, and luckily for fans of the Premiership, it was Barcelona who had their Champions League dream cut short. With Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid also crashing out before the quarter finals, it could be suggested that the latter stages of the Champions League this year might not produce as many glamorous ties as in previous seasons.

Friday’s quarter final draw did throw up some intriguing ties however, particularly the Milan derby and Liverpool v Juventus. Although unpredictability is often what makes football so captivating, and there may yet be a fair deal of surprise left in this year’s competition, it is very difficult to see anything but an AC Milan v Chelsea Champions League final on 25 May in Istanbul.

Despite Bayern Munich’s very impressive showing against Arsenal, they probably don’t quite have enough firepower to knock out Chelsea, even though they have the advantage of playing the second leg in Munich. Chelsea are almost a dead cert to reach the semi-finals, and if word on the street materialises, we can expect Juve to dispose of Liverpool fairly easily. I would not write the Merseysiders off so easily however. Despite their lacklustre league form, the Reds have performed admirably in Europe, and have the potential to cause an upset, especially if they can put together a good string of results going into the match.

Whichever of these teams make it through to face Chelsea can expect a tough task. Liverpool aren’t good enough to beat Chelsea, and although Juve are great defensively, they don’t score as many goals as their talented frontline suggests that they should. With Robben back at full fitness, Chelsea will surely make the final.

The other side of the draw is strange, in that two of the two best teams have been drawn against each other, and dark horses Lyon were handed a kind draw against Dutch outfit PSV Eindhoven. The Milan derby will no doubt be a passionate affair, but AC are 16 points ahead of Inter in Serie A at the moment and will be expected to move into the semi-finals. If they do beat their rivals, then they also would expect to make the final, as although Lyon have performed fantastically this season, they (or PSV if they were to make it through) are a class below Milan, who are desperate to reclaim the trophy that they won two seasons ago. Milan and Chelsea are without a doubt the two best teams left in the competition, and luckily the draw has kept them apart until the final – and it’s going to be one to remember.

1811: Liverpool: Rafa needs help wit

by : Bill Urban

In the aftermath of the 2-1 Liverpool derby victory that has thrown the race for fourth place wide open between Everton, Liverpool and Bolton, Rafael Benitez revealed a stunning lack of understanding of the proper post-match behaviour expected of Premiership managers. Asked to comment about the sending-off of Milan Baros for a bad tackle on Alan Stubbs, Benitez commented: ""We are going to be short in attack now... I have seen the replays of the incident and maybe it was a red card offence..."

Rafa, Rafa, Rafa...

With so many clear-cut examples of how to approach controversial incidents in post-match interviews, this cannot be considered the proper approach.

School is in session, Post-Match Interviewing 101. Let’s go through a few case studies of other possible approaches...

Fergusonizing: If you choose this sort of mind-set for post-match interviews, quite simply, everything that did not go your way was the match official’s fault. This would mean that you should have blamed the match official, Rob Styles, for wrongly sending off Milan Baros, despite the fact that his boot came close to permanently altering parts of Stubbs’s anatomy. But placing all the blame on the match official, never a popular figure with the press, the supporters, or the other manager even, is a time-honoured and safe method for navigating post-match Sky Sports gossip hunts masquerading as serious football news presentation.

A few choice examples from your counter-part, Everton Manager David Moyes, clearly a passionate and committed advocate of Fergusonizing: "We didn’t get any protection from the ref..." "If we had been given enough time at the end (to get an equalizing goal) yes, but the officials had other ideas."

Obviously, Senor, this would be a much more common and proper approach to post-match interviews. I’m not sure that the honest approach you employed is going to be a successful one for you; it’s not all that common among Premiership managers.

Or, if you don’t want to blame thoroughly corrupt and incompetent match officials, perhaps contracting a case of Wenger-itis might have some merit. Any incident involving one of your players is waved off in post-match interviews with a phlegmatic "I did not see the incident" comment. Cleverly, this removes you from much of the controversy and responsibility for the actions of your player during the match, even though you might also claim to have seen atrocities committed upon your own players by the other side.

A strangely selective illness, this Wenger-itis...

There is a third option, recently introduced into Premiership managerial notebooks, which involves spouting increasingly ridiculous conspiracy theories about plots by the league, or UEFA, or the American government, or aliens, or Sepp Blatter, designed to undermine your efforts at managing your team. This approach has come to be known as The Special One, and, while it certainly has served as an effective tool for distracting from events on the pitch, I caution you to think very clearly before attempting this sort of thing in your interviews.

It has been proven, after copious testing and re-testing, that this approach requires an ego slightly larger that the price of a Premiership match-day ticket, a strong desire to appear in men’s fashion magazines, and the presence of an apparently inexhaustible supply of Russian roubles. Primping for the cameras on the bench at matches is also a pre-requisite, although occasionally leaping from the bench to shush the opposition’s supporters, then claiming you were in fact shushing the press, is also considered acceptable.

Given these three approaches to proper conduct in post-match interviews, perhaps a little time spent in serious study would not go amiss, Senor Benitez. I’m quite certain that many of the supporters, and certainly all the other Premiership managers, were quite surprised that you agreed with match official Styles’s decision to send off Baros. Honesty may have its place, but certainly not in interviews with Premiership managers.

1804: Premiership: Arsene Wenger and

by : Alex Wolstenholme

Another Galactico that is probably on his way out is Ronaldo. Despite being a three-time World Player Of The Year, and still possessing the ability to break a game wide open with one moment of dazzling brilliance, the overweight striker has often been criticized as lacking a work ethic. A dip in form coupled with a series of high-profile gaffes such as returning injured from his Valentine's Day bash in France, may have seen him fall from favor. He is also reportedly unhappy with Luxemburgo's heavy training regime, and recently made comments that he would welcome a return to Italian side Inter Milan. Rumours have been swirling that Madrid supremo Perez is enamoured with unsettled Inter striker Adriano. Perez is on good terms with Inter president Massimo Moratti and a swap deal may be in the works. Ronaldo will be 29 in September, so time is right to cash in on El Fenomeno.

Madrid's newest Galactico, Owen, also looks likely to leave. When he arrived at the start of the season he was already surplus to requirements. He is getting fed up of waiting on the bench, but seems likely to remain there no matter what he does. He has proved again and again that he can score for the club, and despite being a fan favorite, Perez may not consider the soft-spoken striker to be glamorous enough for the first team. Owen knows he needs regular football to guarantee his starting spot on the English national team, and a move back to the Premiership is probably his best option. There is no shortage of clubs interested in acquiring his services. Madrid are well aware they stand to make a tidy profit off his sale after securing him for only eight million pounds plus fringe player Antonio Nunez last summer.

If Marca is right and three Galacticos leave this summer, no matter who they are, it will mean a major shakeup at the club. But it will not in itself be a revolution; it will not be the end of the Galacticos. Perez declared only this month, "I'll defend to the death my policy of the Galacticos." although admittedly that was before Madrid crashed out of the Champions League.

However, despite never admitting he is wrong, Perez has been subtly adjusting his policy. Following his re-election as club president last summer, Perez voiced his admiration for Arsenal's holding midfielder Patrick Vieira. Perez's Galactico policy, as people understood it then, had come under fire for only focusing on attacking talent. However Perez said at the time that his policy was, and always had been, signing the world's best players at positions where the club didn't already have them. Brazen words from the man who only one year earlier had signed Beckham when the club already boasted Figo at right wing.

It may well be that a revolution will come at Real Madrid this summer. The policy of signing established stars may give way to a policy of signing rising stars. Trading Ronaldo for Adriano would be a perfect indication. But the policy will likely still be called the policy of the Galacticos, at least by the club's president. Even if there is a revolution at Real Madrid this summer, it seems highly unlikely that Perez will be willing to admit it.After a difficult season (by their own recent standards) Arsene Wenger is facing up to the task of responding to the gauntlet laid down by Chelsea and reclaiming Arsenal’s crown as the top team in English football.

With the media openly questioning the Frenchman in the wake of Arsenal’s disappointing second-half of the season and his body language since the defeat at Old Trafford, would Wenger be tempted to jack it all in for one of the big European clubs if they came calling during the big summer merry go-round?

Wenger is seemingly a man who likes to be in control of all aspects of a club while still being a coach and working with the players and only English football offers that kind of freedom to him to do that. It is very difficult to see him pitching up at Real Madrid and being told what players have been signed for him to work with.

With a new stadium on the way, a project he has been heavily involved in, Wenger will want to build at least one more team capable of winning the major honours and truly marking him out as a great manager.

There is still plenty going for Arsenal even if the short-term may see them struggling to catch Chelsea and Manchester United.

Thierry Henry has said he wants to stay at the club for life and although that’s been heard before he does seem genuine in that belief while the young players coming through have shown in flashes this season what they can be capable of.

Clichy, Toure, Flamini, Fabregas and even Owusu-Abeyie can form the backbone of the side in three to four years time.

His nemesis Sir Alex Ferguson cannot go on for ever while although Chelsea have changed the landscape slightly this season who knows where they will be in three or four year’s time?

Money won’t be a problem with the assurances of the Arsenal board over funds for new players and the potential sale of Ashley Cole (and perhaps Patrick Viera and Lauren too).

Champions League football is virtually assured every season which is a help in attracting players while Wenger himself remains someone that top players want to work with and has developed a scouting network that continues to bring in some of the best young talent from across Europe.

The kind of empire that the Frenchman has built is one that isn’t left easily nor is it easily repeated at another club.

After all, Arsenal are only 2 points behind Manchester United and 13 behind Chelsea, points that have been lost mainly through individual errors at the back and that could be easily remedied with a couple of top-notch new signings.

The FA Cup games at Sheffield United and Bolton showed a resolve among the team to still be in the hunt for big trophies and drawing Blackburn in the semi-final presents a major chance to make it to Cardiff again.

1806: Premiership preview: Liverpool

by : Colin Illingworth

Everton are top dogs on Merseyside at the moment and victory over Liverpool will hand them their first ever double over the Reds in the Premiership and extend the gap between fourth and fifth to an unassailable ten points.

A Lee Carsley strike in December handed Everton their first win over their city rivals in nine attempts earlier this season and Moyes’s men head to Anfield looking to cement their Champions League position.

Liverpool blew an excellent chance on Wednesday to cut the gap on Everton to five points by drawing with Blackburn Rovers but this is a must win game if they want to play with Europe’s elite next season. Currently seven points behind Liverpool could cut their lead to just four points.

Everton have been in the top four for most of the season but the Toffees have suffered a dip in form recently. Jonathan Stead’s first goal of the season handed Blackburn a shock win at Goodison Park after the Toffees put in an awesome performance at Villa Park which came hot on the heels of a valiant defeat against leaders Chelsea and a last gasp equaliser at Southampton.

The Reds have been awesome in the Champions League and will be buoyed by the fact that they could face Premiership leaders Chelsea in the semis, if they get past the small matter of Juventus. However in the Premiership they have been extremely inconsistent and haven’t found the back of the net for over four hours. Their goalless draw with Blackburn was their first this season and defeats by Newcastle, Birmingham and Southampton have hindered the clubs league position.
This is a great chance to get back to winning ways and keep the pressure on Everton for that fourth spot.

There are just eight games left to play after this weekend and the Goodison Park club are nearing the finish line. David Moyes will be drumming it into his players that they cannot let fourth place slip out of their hand. Victory today over their nearest rivals will all but secure the Holy Grail.

It will be a tough ask for the Toffees though as they have only won twice at Anfield in the Premiership. Kevin Campbell was the hero six years ago as he scored the only goal of the game and Moyes will be hoping for a similar result on Sunday.

The last three meetings at Anfield have all been draws, the last two goalless despite countless attempts on goal. You have to go back to October 2000 for the last time Liverpool beat their neighbours at Anfield when former Blue Nick Barmby and Emile Heskey scored in a 3-1 win.

Everton fans have been niggled by the fact that Liverpool could yet wreck their chances of playing in the Champions League regardless of where they finish by actually winning the coveted trophy and sending the Blues into the UEFA Cup so their prayers must have been answered when Liverpool were drawn out of the hat with Italian giants Juventus. David Moyes can control his own destiny with all three points and hope that Juventus do him a big favour.

Liverpool will welcome back Sami Hyypia and John Arne Riise back into the squad but Jimi Traore and Harry Kewell miss out.

Everton will have striker James Beattie back from suspension Mikel Arteta and James McFadden are serious doubts. Steve Watson should make the squad.

Liverpool tackle fellow European hopefuls Bolton next before travelling to Eastlands and entertaining Spurs at Anfield. Everton face relegation battlers West Brom and Crystal Palace before taking on Manchester United so the big games are coming thick and fast as the end of the season fast approaches.

The Merseyside derby is always a tempestuous affair and there have been seven red cards in the past 11 meetings. The game is massive without the added incentive of European football so lets sit back and watch the fireworks!

1805: Championship: Wigan, Sunderlan

by : Alex Wolstenholme

The finale to this season’s Championship looks set to be a thriller with any two of Wigan, Sheffield United and Ipswich going up automatically with the unlucky losers having to battle through the play-offs.

All three sides are a clear distance ahead of the rest of the pack and deserve to make it to the Premiership for their sheer consistency in a division where the majority of teams have been unable to string consistent runs together.

Derby and Preston have both done magnificently to make themselves favourites for two of the remaining three play-off places but 6th place is currently being treated as a red-hot poker with no one else willing to reach out and grab it.

At Sunderland, Mick McCarthy has been rewarded for his willingness to seek out talent from the lower leagues both in England and Scotland with the displays of Liam Lawrence, Dean Whitehead and Danny Collins in particular and although his side lack the prolific goalscorers that both Wigan and Ipswich have, goals have come from all areas of the field in recent games.

At the back Sunderland are extremely strong and at this stage they and Wigan look to just have the edge over Ipswich.

Wigan are a very solid unit as well (all three teams have excellent goalkeepers, two in Sunderland’s case) and have the added edge of top quality front pairing in Jason Roberts and Nathan Ellington.

Paul Jewell is right to feel that his side have not been given the credit that they deserve for their achievements in recent seasons.

The fact that Wigan is an unfashionable place and that the football team gets relatively small crowds shouldn’t detract from the side that Jewell has built without, contrary to popular belief, spending huge amounts of money.

Ipswich have recovered in style from their recent blip with the return of Shefki Kuqi a massive boost to Joe Royle’s side.

Kuqi and Darren Bent are a formidable partnership while Tommy Miller’s goals from midfield are vital.

The addition of Darren Currie has provided the extra avenue of creativity that Ipswich needed to stop themselves becoming too reliant on their front two.

Hazarding a guess at this stage I would say that Ipswich lack slightly the extra options that Sunderland and Wigan have in the event of injuries and suspensions but all three sides would fully deserve a place in the top flight next season.

1801: Premiership: Pompey need clean

by : Hugh Larkin

Portsmouth are currently on a run of seven defeats in eight Premiership games, the losses separated by a win over Middlesbrough. During that run they have failed to keep a single clean sheet and this inability to keep the opposition at bay is the biggest factor contributing to their slide toward the relegation zone.

Only bottom club Norwich City have been worse in this part of the game; even West Bromwich Albion and Southampton are better than Pompey in this regard and Crystal Palace have shut out the opposition eight times compared to Portsmouth’s four. The Fratton Park side and Arsenal are the only teams not to have been involved in a 0-0 stalemate this season- it may make for entertainment but it’s a shaky basis on which to build survival.

Mark Hughes’ Blackburn side have been climbing steadily clear of the drop zone in 2005 by methodical accumulation of points. Rovers have enjoyed four 1-0 wins since Christmas and were able to put the shutters up at Anfield to win a valuable point. Portsmouth under the Zajec/Jordan regime seem unable to close down a game.

This is partly down to the type of players Harry Redknapp brought to the club. The former West Ham boss isn’t a negative manager by choice and his midfield is usually full of creative players like Patrick Berger, Eyal Berkovic and the like. Redknapp signs players who like to try to outplay the opposition and his achievement in getting Portsmouth into the Premiership and keeping them there vindicated this approach.

This is why the departures from the club since Redknapp left have been puzzling. Amdy Faye and Nigel Quashie were the two central midfield players most likely to have the experience and nous to battle in the middle of the park and protect the fragile back four. Their departures have thrown a huge burden on one of the manager’s Greek signings Giannis Skopelitis, who finds himself pitched into a Premiership relegation fight and holding the midfield together.

On the subject of Greek additions, it looks to be an extremely high risk strategy to introduce a goalkeeper with no Premiership experience into the fray. Konstantinos Chalkias may very well be an excellent custodian but it’s fair to say that his performances since taking the jersey haven’t inspired confidence. In common with other Continental keepers like Jens Lehmann he doesn’t dominate on crosses, which can undermine defences in the English game.

With a traditional relegation scrap in the offing, letting the most experienced defender in the squad go on loan to a Division One side can also be viewed as a perverse move. David Unsworth isn’t the paciest of defenders but he does know his way around the top flight and what it takes to survive at this level.

The new regime has certainly moved swiftly to put a new stamp on Fratton Park and Vladimir Zajec is a hugely respected figure in European soccer. If he reverts to his original position as Director of Football Pompey fans should be able to look forward to some exciting additions to the squad and some excellent football on the pitch.

However, the club have gambled by making fundamental changes at a crucial time in the season and serious attention is needed to stemming the flow of goals to protect Premiership status. At the moment the strategy is the opposite of the Blackburn method - if Portsmouth produce a couple of wins the troubles will be over, but it may be more sensible to batten down the hatches and grind out some results.

1807: Championship: Win a player for

by : Alex Ross

League fans up and down the country have been buying bottles of pop and feeling lucky in a bid to buy players for their club.

It is part of the latest move by Coca Cola to bring ‘excitement’ and ‘publicity’ for the League and their products. The deal asks football fans to send back promotional codes off bought bottles, to give their club extra funds for the, currently quiet, transfer market.

But is this commercial coup set to raise the profile and help the clubs in the Football League, or just Coca Cola products?

If the company genuinely does mean to help league clubs, the aid couldn’t come at a better time. The ITV digital collapse is still affecting League clubs. The whole saga left gaping holes in league club budgets and many of these holes are beneath the waterline. The result is that since the collapse of the sports channel, nine clubs have had to drop into administration to control spiralling debts.

Financial problems at League clubs have meant managers have little to spend on transfers, or even offer new contracts for players at the club – the transfer market is as good as static. Teams are getting smaller as clubs can no longer afford to keep adequately sized squads.

This £250,000 prize money from Coca Cola can only be spent on transfers and would be much appreciated from any League club. The chance to dip in the transfer market would give a team a superior advantage over rival clubs.

The prize is also worth winning for the supporter. Coca Cola offers a £10,000 personal prize, a season ticket for the next season at your chosen club and ‘a chance to put forward your opinion on who the club should buy’ – I’d like to see that last one work! This is sure to be a prize thousands will enter for and crave to win.

But of course, publicity and money will also come Coca Cola’s way; the brand is spreading, quite uncontrollably across every part of our lives. Not only do Coca Cola sponsor The Football League, the company has a challenge for the 72 Football League Clubs to score 4,500 goals between them in the season to earn a share of £1 million to spend on a young and up coming player.

Am I being harsh or is this an excellent opportunity for Coca Cola to sponsor a player for life? If, by some small chance this ‘up coming, young player’ or talent bought with the prize fund makes it big time, he will be labelled ‘the player Coca Cola funded’.

This fund and prize from Coca Cola will bring a media spotlight and revenue to the League, but it will only be short term. Clubs cannot spend the money given on clearing debts. Anyone read ‘catch 22’?

What the Football League is really crying out for is a stable bridge between the Premiership and the League, a bridge that won’t stretch anymore. The football league deserves more money, as cash from TV deals goes mostly to the clubs at the top of their respected leagues.

League football has been the grass roots of our national game for over a century. Anything that brings millions of people together is great, to share experience and socialise in an age of increasing individualism, where real social interaction is becoming more and more alienated.

So go on, send that promotion code now. Remember, your club needs you - so does that huge international company.

1803: La Liga: The 3 Galacticos that

by : Kevin Buckland

"There will be a revolution," boomed Spanish sports daily Marca after Real Madrid crashed out of the Champions League on Wednesday at the hands of Juventus. "One day people will remember," it eulogized, "that in Turin a legendary team, made up of the brightest stars in the footballing firmament, came to an end."

And then a startling prophecy: "Three of the Galacticos will leave in June."

Marca has close ties to Real Madrid, sometimes being called an unofficial mouthpiece for the club, so its words should not be taken lightly.

Add to that the ominous rumblings that were already emanating from the club a week before the loss at Juventus, when President Florentino Perez warned that it was time for a change. "Players arrive at the club, age, and then must leave," he explained matter-of-factly, "It is the law of life."

The timing is right for a shakeup at the club. Madrid has not been eliminated from the Champions League before the quarterfinals in 8 years. And, perhaps worse, the club is facing a second consecutive season without any major silverware, something that hasn't happened for 13 years.

So the question is, if Marca is correct, who are the three superstars that will be shown the door? The journal mysteriously stopped short of naming names.

Raul has faced a lot of criticism lately, in the press and from the fans, for his recent lack of form. But a move away seems highly unlikely. He is team captain, Real Madrid's homegrown hero, and already a club legend. He is the all-time leading scorer in European competition with 49 goals, a record he shares with another Madridista, former great Alfredo Di Stefano. It's hard to imagine the club letting go of such an iconic figure.

There have been constant rumors of a Premiership return for David Beckham ever since he arrived at the club 2 years ago. However he has recently found some form, and is especially deadly with a set-piece. His value to the club in terms of marketing cannot be underestimated either. There is an urban myth that Perez admitted he would sell the Bernabeu stadium before he sold Beckham, so highly did the club president rate the Englishman's commercial value.

Zinedine Zidane, too, will stay. The three-time world player of the year recently signed a contract extension with the club until 2007, and plans to retire after that. He has proved on several occasions that he's still a force to be reckoned with, routinely befuddling defenders with a well-timed step-over or his trademark Marseille roulette, though fans nearer the pitch may hear his joints creak oh-so-slightly as he does.

Roberto Carlos is another of the clubs aging superstars, but it seems unlikely he will leave. Under newly-appointed Brazilian coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo he has refound his form, after enduring a difficult time at the start of the season under then-coach Antonio Camacho. Like Zidane, he signed a contract extension until 2007 that will see him retire at the club. In addition, Carlos is not a Galactico in the truest sense of the word, as he isn't in the same pay bracket as teammates Raul, Beckham, Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo and presumably Michael Owen, and so isn't as big a drain on the club's coffers. The top earners at the club reportedly take home some £4million a season.

The most likely casualty of a clear out would be Figo. He will be in the last year of his contract in the summer, and he is a very different player at 32 years of age than he was when he joined the club 5 years ago. Despite a strong work ethic and still-silky dribbling skills, he is not the world class game-winner he once was. With Beckham back at right wing under Coach Luxemburgo and a host of young midfield talent being linked with moves to the club, Figo's exit seems almost assured. What is more in doubt is whether the club will try to sell the veteran winger or let him leave for free.

1802: Premiership: Do Liverpool dese

by : Stephen Orford

The last time I felt compelled to scribble down my thoughts on Liverpool I may have slipped into something of a rant. Their Carling Cup surrender against Chelsea had me reaching for the dictionary to find language that could even begin to describe their inept lack of ambition.

The best I could come up with on that occasion was ‘vomit-inducing’ as I referred to Rafa Benitez’s defence of the indefensible that day. I would describe the performance during last night’s 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Anfield similarly, though I fear there simply is not enough vomit in the world to express my distaste on this occasion.

Put simply, Liverpool were awful. They were demonstrably lacking in urgency to the point at which their best opportunities came from the boot of Argentine defender Mauricio Pellegrino, one of which was fully 35 yards from goal. Their pointless lethargy was a cure for insomniacs everywhere throughout the ninety minutes, but it is the consequences of this, rather than the fact itself, which are most dire.

Still chasing neighbours Everton for that much coveted fourth Champions League spot, Liverpool now find themselves seven points behind the Toffeemen ahead of the crunch meeting between the two on Sunday (March 20). Merseyside derbies are always tasty affairs, competitive and passionate, but this one has extra flavouring that the term ‘spice’ does not offer justice to.

A win would drag Liverpool back within four points, but lose and they face an almost insurmountable 10-point deficit at this late stage of the season. Given the pressurised nature of these fixtures, don’t be surprised to see Benitez’s men dragged down to the level of their opponents in terms of style. This will no doubt lead to another similarly unattractive affair which may in turn take care of the result in the Blues’ favour. Against Blackburn, Liverpool showed their alarming inability to break down a team focused on making itself hard to beat. A clean sheet at Anfield from David Moyes’ men would have to be considered a job well done from their point of view, even if current evidence suggests it will not be all that difficult.

Regardless, it will keep the gap between the two sides at seven points at the very least, and possibly lay the platform for another smash and grab three points for the rejuvenated Goodison outfit. All of which will probably leave Liverpool having to win this season’s Champions League to deny their local rivals or one of Bolton Wanderers or Charlton Athletic a Champions League berth for next season. Failure to break down Mark Hughes’ moderate charges suggests that Liverpool are as likely to win the Champions League as Mark Bright is to say something insightful on the BBC.

What is required in the Merseyside derby, and for the remainder of the season, is a return to a more attacking, fluent style of football. The strike duo of Milan Baros and Fernando Morientes appear to be getting in each other’s way, and in the absence of a better option it may be prudent to slip Luis Garcia in behind one of these two, rather than place him on the right-hand side of a midfield which is critically lacking in width once more. The exclusion of Jon Arne Riise from the Blackburn game was mystifying, as he is one player in the squad who seems to offer genuine width, and an urgency that many of his colleagues can only stand and admire.

The mooted return of Xabi Alonso to the midfield should help Liverpool in their attempts to retain posession of the ball. In recent weeks, even the ultra-reliable Steven Gerrard has been found guilty of being wasteful in possession as his team-mates make ever more confusing movements off the ball. However, it may be that by the time of Alonso’s return Liverpool’s bid for fourth place may already be over.

At which point the club will point to injuries such as that suffered by the former Real Sociedad man, aswell as Djibril Cisse, Harry Kewell, Djimi Traore and now Sami Hyypia as mitigation for their inconsistent season. While it is impossible to deny that they have been unlucky with injuries this season, Liverpool only have themselves to blame for an overly-cautious approach, deficient in imagination which looks likely to cost them Champions League football next term. The financial implications of this are obvious, and though it is unlikely that the Anfield club will 'do a Leeds United' just yet, they face a massive struggle to hold on to the talent that they do have if they miss out on Europe’s Premier club competition in 2005/06.

Rant over.

1800: League 1: Mike Newell – Miracl

by : David Hulott

So putting the losers aside for one moment, what of the winners in English football? Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez have been the two stand out managers of European football over the last two years and ironically it’s due to the efforts of Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, not exclusively, that the premiership has been turned into a league big enough to attract such top managerial talent. Benitez and Mourinho’s highly continental ideas have carried there team through in fixtures which previous managers, have done and would have, failed in. These continental ideas have not compromised the English spirit or ideal as was feared and which thus far have been incredibly unsuccessful, but merely done away with the ineffective and harnessed the best. Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole have excelled under their new managers ideas and have stood out in a competition that has traditionally made people put English talent into disparaging perspective.

So no longer can the quality of English teams be questioned; the might of all the English teams competing in Europe, on paper last season, was superior to both of the Champions League finalists, but its testimony to these finalist’s managers, whose tactics and organisation, that they achieved more than their English counterparts.

Just where Wenger failed against Magath, Mourinho succeeded against Rijkaard. Mourinho’s indirect criticism of Rijkaard, via his comparison between their managerial and playing career’s successes, is more poignant after Chelsea’s victory. Barcelona were one dimensional in the second leg, much like Arsenal, at Stamford Bridge and Mourinho showed that their unparalleled, unstoppable attacking qualities can be beaten by intelligence. Nobody should take away from the quality shown by Chelsea on the night, but it is likely that if they had resorted to classic English ideals of attrition ala Claudio Ranieri’s Chelsea against Monaco the previous season, they would have lost.

So English football is going through an education, it is morphing into a league which doesn’t rely purely on its most boasted features of strength, speed and endurance but has those features as an intrinsic part of its challenge. The footballing IQ of English football has been low enough to disappoint in European club football but also in International football. So with Mourinho and Benitez spreading their gospel to the rest of the premiership it all looks like English football has a more sophisticated and successful future ahead of it. Maybe 2005 will have an English team win the Champions League or UEFA Cup, but maybe 2006 will see 50 years of hurt appeased all thanks to the foreigners.When it comes to doling out the managerial baubles come the end of the season, there can be little doubt that, barring an unlikely collapse in form of Devon Loch proportions, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will be picking up an award or two. Fair enough really, given his likely achievements and the distraction he provides from the tedious “mind-games” elsewhere. Even so, no matter how many trophies he brings to Stamford Bridge, Mourinho’s efforts are always going to be open to scepticism from those who will point to the vast financial backing he receives from Roman Abramovich.

By contrast, the achievements of Luton Town this season have certainly not been built on the back of vast expense, with manager Mike Newell actually having to overcome the loss of three of his best players last summer, with Matthew Spring, Emmerson Boyce and Adrian Forbes all leaving Kenilworth Road.

Despite those departures, Luton started the season at a ferocious pace, winning 10 and drawing the other two of their first 12 matches in Coca-Cola League One. Since then they’ve barely relinquished leadership of the division and currently stand 13-points to the good in the race for automatic promotion. Another factor is that not only are they the joint highest scorers, but they also possess the meanest defensive record in the division, the latter owing much to the abilities of Chris Coyne and young Curtis Davies in central defence.

Their success has been built around a degree of good fortune, in that Newell has largely been able to rely on the same group of players for much of the campaign to date, although he did lose Director of Football Mick Harford to Nottingham Forest (a move that certainly didn’t work out for Harford) earlier in the season.

There seems to be a particularly good spirit at the club, with key midfielders Kevin Nicholls (who is also the club captain) and Ahmet Brkovic both having agreed new deals to stay with The Hatters. The club were further boosted when Newell and first team coach Brian Stein both recently signed new two-year deals at Kenilworth Road, keeping them at Luton until summer 2007.

To his credit, Newell has refused to rest on his laurels and is already looking to strengthen for the run-in and the seemingly inevitable step-up in class next term. He seems especially keen to bolster his attacking options, which would seem sensible given that the soon to be out of contract Steve Howard could well be on his way at the end of the season, if not before next week’s transfer deadline. There must also be a concern over on-loan striker Rowan Vine, whose future at parent club Portsmouth will largely depend on who is finally brought in as Harry Redknapp’s long-term successor.

Among those linked with joining the club are Warren Feeney (Stockport County), Andy White (Crewe Alexandra), Kevin James (Nottingham Forest) and most recently, Nathan Tyson (Wycombe Wanderers), although perhaps the most interesting new addition could be Stacy Long. The promising Charlton Athletic midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season and has been training with The Hatters recently.

Newell, who steered Hartlepool United to promotion in 2003 before being cast aside for Neale Cooper, was one of the names linked with the Blackburn Rovers job when it became vacant earlier this season. With his second promotion in less than three seasons as a manager now close to being realised, it won’t be long before his name is mentioned in association with other Premiership clubs.

1799: Champions League: Why Arsenal

by : Henry Knight

Why don’t English clubs do well in Europe? Is it a lack of quality? Well quite simply, no. The two bastions of English football, Arsenal and Manchester United, were enjoying their perennial early disposal from European Competition, whilst new managers to the premiership, Jose Mourinho (Chelsea) and Rafael Benitez (Liverpool) guided their teams through to the next round.

When looking at the basic implementation of tactics, you look at the formation/system that the manager plays. Both Mourinho and Benitez have imported variations of a 451 formation and like a colonial disease it is spreading through the ambitious minds of the younger managers in the Premiership. Iain Dowie (Crystal Palace), Chris Coleman (Fulham), David Moyes (Everton), Mark Hughes (Blackburn Rovers) and Kevin Keegan (Manchester City) have largely successfully employed this tactic. Bitterly for Benitez this formation has been used by Everton to Liverpool's detriment, as key injuries to Liverpool’s squad and miracle working from David Moyes sees Everton looking more likely to qualify for the Champions League.

Manchester United’s return to winning form over the winter period was inspired largely by a new system of play, suspiciously similar to Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. Manchester United matched the form of Chelsea for the majority of that period, keeping them in with a minute chance of overtaking them in the title race. However the return of their talismanic striker, Ruud Van Nistlerooy, saw a return to a traditional Ferguson system, 442, that has worked so well on home soil but achieved so little on the European scene. I don’t believe it was just coincidence that Ruud Van Nistlerooy’s return to the premiership was in a very disappointing, probably title losing, 0-0 draw against valiant strugglers Crystal Palace.

Not taking the hint, Ferguson retained the 442 system in the AC Milan tie, no doubt remembering his famous victory over Juventus in 1999. But whereas he had the prime form of Beckham, Scholes, Keane and Giggs to rely on then, he had only rookies and tired legs to throw at one of the most experienced and talented back fours in AC Milan history. The 2-0 aggregate win for AC Milan is purely a sign, not of how close Manchester United were, but of how comfortable AC Milan were, not having to move out of cruise control for much of the 180 minutes.

There is no doubting the European pedigree and quality of Bayern Munich, but even now their players would have to admit that Arsenal are a stronger side on paper. So how did Bayern Munich dominate a supposedly domineering Arsenal? It is simply not fair to the Arsenal fans for Wenger to say “the team wasn’t good enough over the two legs.” Wenger may have done a stunning job transforming Arsenal and the calls for his resignation are definitely premature, but this does not mean he is blameless. The reality is that Bayern won because their manager Felix Magath expertly exploited the tactical disability English teams have traditionally shown.

Against Arsenal, Bayern Munich crammed their four midfielders into the centre of the pitch to stop Arsenal from playing their trademark, intricate style, before breaking out and crossing the ball with regularity and as ludicrously simple as that sounds, that is all it took for Munich to dominate and look more comfortable than their 3-2 aggregate score suggests.

1797: FA Cup: Sympathy for the devil

by : Bill Urban

A quick glance out the office window confirms the wildly improbable sight of pigs soaring through a misty Georgia morning rain, which was always the harbinger of the End of Days were I ever even to attempt a column in support of anything involving Manchester United. And yet, as the swine swoop and soar, I find myself in complete agreement with the Chairman of the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association, Mark Longden, who has called for United supporters to boycott the FA Cup semifinal due to its venue in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Longden’s point is a simple, and unfortunately repetitive one; the "authorities" in football, either or both of the Premier League and the Football Association, base their decisions solely on profits, with no regard for the troubles they visit upon the game’s supporters.

"The fans have never been consulted about this yet we are the people who put money into football. Nobody wants to turn their back on the team but you've got to say enough is enough." said Longden.

The underlying suspicion is that Cardiff was chosen for both semifinal matches due to the larger capacity of the Millennium Stadium, in comparison with the Elland Road Stadium, the venue put forward by Mr. Longden as an alternative site for the semi-final. The central issue for Mr. Longden and the United supporters is a combination of distance and the accompanying expense of travel.

"I would urge all United supporters to boycott the game. It is a crazy place to play a semi-final. Newcastle fans are going to have to drive past Elland Road, which is 40 miles from us."

Villa Park has a similarly convenient location in relation to supporters traveling from either North London or Blackburn, and has also been mooted as an alternative location for the other semifinal.

The Football Association, showing a spine absent from any of its attempts to confront Jose Mourinho, racism in Spain, or anything else not directly sucking money from the budget necessary to construct the Great White Elephant that will be the new Wembley, has issued a comprehensive refusal to consider changing the venues of either semifinal.

According to the FA Director of Obstinate Refusal Because They are Desperate For the Money, Adrian Bevington, "We announced that Cardiff would host both semi-finals back in September and these matches will be played there."

Now give us your money or we’ll take our ball and cup home. And it has nothing to do with the money. You can trust us, we only have the best interests of the supporters at heart.

"Every year, we have come under increasing pressure to accommodate as many fans as possible at semi-final matches," added Bevington. "The choice of Cardiff will allow in the region of 30,000 fans from each club to attend the games. Elland Road would provide access for less than half that number."

And of course, less access equals less money for the FA, would of course hurt the FA monetarily, which is the underlying motive behind the selection of Cardiff for both semifinals. Bevington’s shameful attempt to convince the public that the semis are held in Cardiff to provide increased access to supporters represents yet another patent attempt at cloaking greed in the guise of altruism. How are the prices for those tickets, Adrian? Are any of them reduced to provide increased access, to cover the added expense of traveling to South Wales?

Sadly, the FA have followed the lead of the Premier League by moving both semifinals to Cardiff; the intent is to price out the "loyal" supporters who follow the clubs through thick and thin, replacing them with those casual followers of football, drawn to "big matches," and willing to pay handsomely for a day out in the Millennium Stadium. The FA Cup this season has been a thrilling, passionate contrast to so much of the snarling nastiness, on and off the pitch, of so many of the Premiership matches.

But when presented with the chance to further separate their showcase competition from the money-at-all-costs driving force which underlies all Premiership competition, the FA opted for pounds rather than passion.

"The only way to hit the FA is in the pocket." according to Mr. Longden.

Too right, because the FA already has its hands creeping into as many supporter’s pockets as possible...

1795: Premiership: Spurs’ ambition i

by : Antony Melvin

Frank Arnesen is clearly the brains behind the revolution at Tottenham Hotspur. After ten years as a Dutch football administrator at PSV Eindhoven, as well as a very successful career as a player, he is one of the few men astute enough to know how football works and how the business of football works – from the inside.

Arnesen’s three year plan was to restore Spurs to being a top six team, and with it the annual trips into Europe. Obviously this plan then feeds on itself as the European qualification brings in extra revenue and also the better class of player that demands European football. Which in its turn helps achieve top six finishes.

Why a team that was recently confirmed as the fourteenth richest in Europe should struggle to get into the top six domestically is more interesting. The study by Deloitte found that eight English clubs were amongst the top 20 in Europe – and that Spurs were England’s sixth richest club.

The critics of English football believe that it is less technically good than the Spanish or Italian leagues, but even the critics agree it is often more entertaining. This entertainment means that English football attracts more financial sponsorship and therefore generates more money.

So fourteenth in Europe, still means that Chelsea (4th), Arsenal (6th) and Manchester United (1st) are a long way ahead. Spurs (14th) have to compete with Liverpool (10th), Newcastle United (11th), Manchester City (16th) and Aston Villa (20th) – who are all on a similar financial footing.

This then is the reality. The eight English clubs with the most money should really compete for the European places if they have a half decent manager and appropriate board level backing. To move into the regular European spots Spurs need to move past the relatively mediocre talents of Manchester City and Aston Villa to secure sixth place most seasons.

Most seasons there will be teams that overachieve compared to their financial weight – but only exceptional managers can make overachievers anything more than one-season wonders. This year Spurs’ task may be blocked by teams like Everton and Bolton Wanderers overachieving, but given a reasonable season next year Spurs will begin a series of European trips.

Many Spurs fans have, in the past, been critical of the financial backing from the Spurs owners. But their prudence has laid a platform, and that platform is allowing Spurs to climb towards the top half of the rich list. Since the purse strings were opened after the rights issues of a year ago, Spurs have also been building a squad for the immediate future. The signs are there that the squad is now capable of finishing in the top six regularly – before the push to the next obvious step of a title challenge.

Frank Arnesen’s plan is clearly very conservative – and very achievable. He knows that growing the financial base of the club will enable the club to sign better players and the easiest way to grow the revenue is to qualify for European competitions each year.

All things being equal Spurs will miss out on Europe this year but finish in the top six next term – and for the conceivable future – and will move into the top half of the rich list after a couple of seasons in Europe. Once Spurs are established as one of the richest teams in Europe a title challenge will be inevitable and should be mounted in time for the fiftieth anniversary of the 1961 double season.