Liverpool lucky not to pay the penalty!?

Liverpool have won their first piece of silverware for six long years, something a club with Liverpool's great history and winning story has found hard to swallow.  At the end of the game, before Kenny Dalglish picked up his first winners medal since lifting the Premier League crown with Blackburn in 1995, the Liverpool boss looked to have shed a tear.  The tears of joy are something Dalglish denied, but it could have so nearly been tears of sorrow after the boys from the Welsh capital did the Championship, their club, and country, proud.  Liverpool won't take too much from the performance other than the result, but the game showed their problems this season.


At the back they are fairly solid and limited Cardiff to only a few real chances, the difference between the two teams was how clinical they were in front of goal.  Where Cardiff were clinical and efficient, Liverpool were again lacking and deficient.  All season Liverpool have created chances for their forwards and midfielders, but just haven't converted enough of these opportunities.  One reason they haven't score as many goals as they should is perhaps down to three of their 'new' signings, Stuart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam.  Downing, although voted 'Man of the Match' for his performance yesterday, (which took a few by surprise) had a pretty poor final ball and even when he did get to the byline or made space for a cross more often than not it didn't beat the first man, or floated over the head of Liverpool's flat footed forwards.  Jordan Henderson looked off the pace against more experienced, and frankly better Championship players.  His level looks to be Championship at best at the moment, his season was encapsulated by his reckless yellow card.  In a good area with the ball on the edge of the box he took too long to make a decision, dallied and lost the ball then went straight through the man who had dispossessed him with a desperate lunge.  John W. Henry the Liverpool owner may have wondered why he parted with the better part of 20 million quid for him as he was hooked off after 58 minutes. Charlie Adam, so deadly from dead ball situations at Blackpool last year ballooned his penalty in the shoot out so badly it showed how far he's dropped off from his credible form last season, maybe it's all the extra running he does now in midfield and the fact he's not the focal point of the attack, again, the harsh truth is, he's just not good enough to do that and boss the midfield in Liverpool or any other Premiership team worth their salt.


All this doesn't take away from the fact that they dug in and got the result the club needed.
It will be interesting to see if this result spurs Liverpool on for the rest of the season, and helps them get a good run in the FA Cup and maybe the final Champions League spot.
With the strength of the squad looking the best it has in a long time, but still far off the pace in the title race it'll be a few seasons more of building before they get up to where they, and King Kenny, believe they belong.

A wins a win, a trophy is a trophy and although it was nerve racking for all the Liverpool fans, the right result (for them) came in the end. Lucky for us Anthony Gerrard (part of the Stevie G family clan) takes a penalty like his more famous cousin. Not very well. Well played to Cardiff, and congratulations to Liverpool! Carling Cup Champions 2011/12, and a thought for Anthony Gerrard, sad day for him as he announced on twitter after...
“Sorry to everyone!”
“I can’t close my eyes wid out seeing that penalty!! It’s goin to haunt me for the rest of my days! Head is mashed!”

The Carling Cup Final

They say it's not important, but 'they' aren't in the final, and regardless of its reputation the Carling Cup is a very useful competition for many reasons.  Yes, the big boys don't play full strength squads and see it as an opportunity to blood some youngsters, and yes there is rarely capacity crowds to watch the games, and yes no one gets too excited about it. But, regardless of all this, and the negativity that surrounds the Carling (previously the Football League, Milk,  Littlewoods Challenge, Rumbelows, Coca-Cola, and Worthington) Cup, this is still the first 'real' (Community Shield excluded) competition of the season to be won and both Liverpool and Cardiff will give it their all this Sunday to walk up the Wembley steps to collect the shiny trophy.

You don't have to go back far to see what makes this competition less fashionable than it's big brother, the FA Cup. Last seasons final can be seen as a bit of a poison chalice.  The winners, Birmingham, were promptly on a downward spiral after picking up the trophy.  A few months after their big day out at Wembley they were relegated from the Premier League, lost their manager to bitter cross-city rivals Aston Villa, set about selling the majority of their cup final squad (I think it's up to 14 now that have jumped ship) and saw their owner, Carson Yeung, facing charges of money laundering in Hong Kong. All-in-all not a great turn of fortunes for the boys in blue.  Giving the Birmingham support the option before the game of losing that day and staying in the Premiership, keeping McCleish and the squad together you may have got a lot of takers, but in hindsight, winning that day and the events that followed probably weren't such a bad thing.


-The Carling Cup was a highlight of the season and a great day out for all the Birmingham supporters, something that many clubs fans never get to experience.  There is still a magic to walking up Wembley way alongside the opposition support on the big day, and the walk out and down the same route after as winners is a special feeling.
-Alex McCleish is perhaps the most negative manager in the Premiership and the brand of football he instilled is not missed.  Chis Hughton, his replacement has done a remarkable job on domestic and European fronts this season with a completely different set of players and no where near the financial backing McCleish enjoyed.  Their recent FA Cup draw at Stamford Bridge shows how far they've come this season under his unassuming guidance.
-Getting rid of the over-payed playing staff who couldn't cut it in the Premiership has meant consolidating their finances and giving a chance to younger players and academy graduates, something most clubs are afraid to do in their charge for bounce back promotions.
-If they lost they might have done an 'Arsenal'


'Arsenal'.
Last seasons Carling Cup runners-up saw the wheels fall off almost immediately after Obfemi Martins' winner a year ago.  The Gooners downfall trajectory and subsequent crisis is frightening, and enough to make teams not want to make it to Wembley in case history repeats itself and flushes their teams prospects down the gary (Glitter).  It's hard to put a positive spin on what has happened to Arsene Wenger and his club since that defeat, and Kenny Dalglish and his men will be keen not to follow suit.


Talking of suits, it will be the first time Liverpool will appear at 'new' Wembley having last rolled up at the old stadium in those famous cream Armani suits in 1996.  The faux pas wasn't just the Spice boys choice of clobber that day as Eric Cantona volleyed home the winner to send the Reds home empty handed.  Dalglish, and the clubs new owners will be eager to get their first piece of silverware, in this - his first full season back in charge.


Liverpool have been a cup team in the past decade. 2001 saw them win a treble of trophies and the Worthington Cup the first of the three, followed by the FA Cup and then the UEFA Cup (and even later and not part of the treble - The European Super Cup).  Gerard Houiller created a winning mentality in that squad that fell well short in pushing for the title, but gave the club some real success in the form of 3 trophies in one season.  In 2003 Houiller led his men to victory in the League cup again, followed by his successor Rafa Benitez winning the Champions League (and European Super Cup again) in 2005 and then the clubs most recent bit of silverware the FA Cup in 2006.  There was a winning culture at the club.  All of those finals took place across the border at the Millennium stadium in the Welsh capital, Cardiff.  A shame for many fans then, that the cup is now back in London.  Liverpool enjoyed great support and a good record at the Millennium and playing against the home town team this year would have made for an electric atmosphere and pulsating game.  The cup sponsors will be hoping for a same kind of verve in London, but the traveling fans from both sides would have probably chosen the Millennium given the option for location more than anything!


This competition is important for Liverpool.  It's important for them to get back amongst the trophies and bring back that culture of success and confidence that can once more breed through the club and go a long way to speeding up the rebuilding process.  If they do win this cup, then it may give them that extra push and bolt of drive they need to push on in the FA Cup and pip their rivals to 4th place, and the final Champions League spot in the Premiership.  On the flip-side defeat here could take the wind out of their sails and see them tumble down the league and crash out the FA cup as confidence and clout is sucked out of them as it was Arsenal.


Cardiff and their Scottish manager (see previous blog 'McCarthy and the rise of the Scots' for more on our northern bredin and their power in the managerial game) Malky Mckay will have something to say about Liverpool's success on the day.  Although heavy underdogs they will look to last seasons final for inspiration.  For where it fills Liverpool with fear of suffering an defeat, the Bluebirds will be hoping to emulate Birmingham's upset even if it does mean some hard times down the road.  The Welshmen have less to lose.


They can't take trophies away from you, or the memories of a victorious Wembley final, even if it is only the Carling Cup.  

'Carlsberg don't do trophies, but if they did, it wouldn't be the League Cup...'
Either way, a win is a win, and all that, and a win is what Liverpool need.

The managerial merry-go-round

Lee Clark the ex-manager of League One outfit Huddersfield Town has just been nominated for the Football League's "outstanding managerial achievement" award one week after his dismissal. Clark's firing was a huge shock to many, including the 39-year-old manager himself, after leading Huddersfield to a 43 match unbeaten record and last seasons playoff final and currently sitting 4th in League One, 4 points of the automatic promotion spots. All this equates to many that the job he was doing, was good enough. The man that matters, Huddersfield chairman Dean Hoyle, didn't agree and one of the reasons that the Geordie got the boot (as ridiculous as it sounds) was partly down to his teams unbeaten record. The clubs position looks fairly rosy from an outsiders perspective but from closer inspection you see that Clarke's promising reputation although deserved, has deficiencies. Only 17 points from a possible 36 since November has seen the Terriers slip up, and slide down the table. Hoyle believes that the team, after all the financial backing it has received should be in the automatic spots, and gaining promotion to the Championship before the season is done without the lottery of a playoff.
Last years 3-0 defeat to Peterborough shows the concerns the chairman had over his ex-manager to be well founded. Hoyle said of the sacking "I had lost faith in his ability to get the club into the top two...I had also lost the faith that in a play-off final he could do it. The pressure would maybe have been too much for him." A young manager that is crackingunder the pressure to win the big games. Under Clark's tenure Huddersfield drew too many matches (including many in that unbelievable unbeaten run), and to win automatic promotion you need to pick up 3 points on a regular basis, either coming back from losing positions, or sneaking wins from a tie, and 13 draws so far this season just didn't cut it.


The first man on Hoyle's shortlist would have probably been the chap who just signed a contract at the once great Leeds United, who under Ken Bates' stewardship regard promotion even more important than Hoyle. Neil Warnock, sacked by QPR last month is a man made for promoting clubs, he's done it 7 times so far in his career and will need to make it 8 if he is to stay employed in Yorkshire. It seems that every job is the one 'last' big challenge for the outspoken Warnock, who is a man clearly devoted and in love with the game. Warnock has been in the professional ranks of the sport since 1967 and after a 12-year playing career he's been in management pretty much ever since. Bates, (who nearly signed Warnock for Chelsea many moons ago) is hoping that Warnock's no nonsense attitude to tactics and the game will be enough to see his depleted playing staff into the Premiership at the first attempt.

The man who Warnock replaced wasn't out of work long. With the first choice, and acknowledged 'don' of promoting clubs snapped up, Hoyle turned to a younger and equally hungry manager, Simon Grayson. Grayson, like Clark, is well regarded in football circles and is still a promising 'young' manager, but there is one key issue dividing them. Grayson seemed to overachieve on a small budget at Leeds, and Clark underachieved on his bigger budget at Huddersfield. Grayson, 3 years the senior of Clark also has the edge on his CV. Grayson has already overseen 2 promotions and will be expected to get his third within the next 3 and a bit months.

So after all this chopping and changing, what for Lee Clark? A young, English, coach who is all of a sudden out of work but still claiming some plaudits. Will it be the slippery slope to punditry like the once 'young and promising' Ian Dowie? Or a new and improved job at a bigger and better club?
To be honest it'll probably be neither, instead it's an award ceremony for an award that he probably won't win, and why won't he win? Well that's simple, he likes a draw too much.

FA Cup weekend

Although I didn't get to watch many games this weekend, because I was stuck in a classroom for 20 odd hours on a Director of Coaching Course, I did get to enjoy some football on another FA Cup weekend with plenty of drama and goals, but maybe not as many shocks as people would have hoped for.
Crawley 0-2 Stoke

Crawley may be making huge strides to promotion but (the universally disliked club, for various reasons -many stemming from the jealousy surrounding their financial backing and success) got out muscled and maneuvered by a 10-man Stoke team. Although Stoke aren't admired for their style of play Tony Pulis gets results, and gets the best out of his players. It's another quarter final for them on the back of a Europa League game, and I'm sure Pulis will have an eye on another FA Cup final appearance. For Crawley it's another game and defeat against premeirship opposition in the Cup and a great experience and lesson for the club with the aspirations to play in the top flight week-in week-out.

Stevenage 0-0 Tottenham

Harry Redknapp was pleased to come out of this game still in the competition. Gary Smith on the other hand knows that the task of getting a result in the replay at White Hart Lane massively effects Borough's chances of an upset. That being said, Smith, - the former Colorado Rapids head coach, will be more than happy with his teams performance and the fact he's back involved in the English game and the great old FA cup. Smith and the Stevenage players will draw confidence from the fact they stopped the Spurs front line from getting on the scoresheet, something not many premiership teams have been able to do this season, but will know that the replay promises to be a different story.  Spurs will want to take care of Crawley before taking on Bolton in the next round, which they'll be favourites for, and probably short odds to reach Wembley.

Liverpool 6-1 Brighton

Kenny Dalglish has been saying his team would 'batter' someone for a while. Gus Poyet the Seagulls manager and outspoken Luis Suarez fan saw his team do eveything in their power to help Liverpool score and eventaully 'batter' them. 3 own goals, including a brace from Liam Bridcutt (something many thought only Jamie Carragher was capable of) saw Liverpool through easily. For the Reds seeing Carrol, Gerrard and Suarez on the pitch together and working in tandem, creating chances and goals will fill fans with hope, even the performance of Stewart Downing was bright. All that being said, this was Brighton, and their defending at times was, according to gaffa Poyet, "comical".  Liverpool fans will want to get back to Wembley again this season after their Carling Cup final this coming weekend.

Everton 2-0 Blackpool

This game was over nearly as quickly as it had started. Royston Drenthe scored after 49 seconds and then the dangerous looking Denis Stracqualursi added a second six minutes later. Ian Holloway knows that if he gets his Blackpool side promoted this season he will have to add quality and concentration to have any chance of survival. The more important game for Olly and his team's season will be Tuesday night against West Ham.



Millwall 0-2 Bolton

This result just shows that the Den is a more nerve wracking experience for fans than players. Millwall has a reputation for being a difficult and hard place to go and play, but Bolton found it relatively easy against the Championship side, and given their home form this season probably enjoyed the freedom of playing away from home. The Arsenal loanee Ryo Miyaichi got some of the headlines with his decent goal, but that is more to do with the fact he's from a struggling Arsenal camp than anything, because the other goal scorer was ex-Liverpool man David Ngog so Millwall's defence can't have been up to much if the lanky Frenchman was on the scoresheet.

Sunderland 2-0 Arsenal

This wasn't a shock to anyone.  Even though the Gunners had travelled to the Stadium of Light the previous week and beaten the Maccams in the league they were out played and deservedly beaten in this FA cup game.  The pressure is on Arsene Wenger more than ever after this result especially coming so shortly after their turgid performance against Milan in the Champions League mid-week.  Sunderland are flying under Martin O'Neill and have now won 10 of their last 15 matches, something Arsene Wenger would love to be able to produce from his side for the remainder of the season, but after their last few games looks very unlikely.  The Gooners need to turn their season around and quick, and if it was me I'd rather have O'Neill as my boss, motivator and inspiration than the tired looking Wenger, and I think, crucially, some Arsenal fans would too.

Norwich 1-2 Leicester

This was the most entertaining game of the round with both teams statistically close in shots on goal, corners and chances created.  Paul Lambert will be disappointed that his team didn't get the result at home but there is no shame in losing such a close game to the Championship side riddled with ex-Premiership players.  Lambert's and Norwich's primary concern is the league and their survival.  Norwich fans knew this coming into the game and despite the loss will be more than happy with how their season is panning out.  The traveling Leicester fans will hope Nigel Pearson can get this expensively assembled squad in to the Premiership to face Norwich, who will surely still be there, next season.

Arse-an-all

It ended 4-0 at the San Siro but the Gooners got out of Italy lightly considering their performance, and they were dangerously close to the kind of collapse that saw them hammered 8-2 by Manchester United at the start of the season. Although the Rossoneri didn't bang that many past Wojciech Szczesny in the Arsenal goal this time they could have with Kevin Prince Boateng, Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all conspiring to miss easier opportunities than the chances they did take. The big issue with this game wasn't just that Arsenal were beaten by a better team, because they were, but the consummate ease in which the Italian side turned them over. Milan haven't been in great form themselves of late, they came into this game on the back of one Serie A win in four attempts, they again weren't at their best on Wednesday night, but didn't need to be anywhere near it.  

AC have been criticised in the Italian media for selling on their playmakers and traditional number 10's leaving them with a lack of creativity. The 'architect' Andrea Pirlo was offloaded to Juventus in the Summer and replaced by the 'carpenter' Mark Van Bommel. They have some attacking firepower with Boateng, Zlatan and Robinho but not a lot in terms of creative support.  Arsenal fans will point to their injuries (like usual) and the fact they weren't at full strength without Jack Whilshere amongst more insignificant others. Whilshere is a talent, that is unquestioned, but the hope and responsibility he is going to face when he comes back to full action is unprecedented for a team as well respected of late as Arsenal.  Wilshere watching in the San Siro with the 5,000 Arsenal away fans will have seen the same huge problems everyone did but know that alone, he cannot fix everything. In Wilshere's breakout season he was playing alongside Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, he will now be slid in next to a stalling and overplayed Aarron Ramsey and a useless and aged Tomas Rosicky. Is he the answer? No, he isn't, in fact he probably just another another player that will be developed at Arsenal before moving on for a nominal fee to bigger and better club.  No matter what Whilshere indicates his allegiances to be with his romantic tweets on the club he will surely have look to move on to better himself and his career, because at the moment he finds himself part of the worst Arsenal team in Arsene Wengers tenure.  

Robin Van Persie has almost single handedly kept Arsenal's season alive with his phenomenal form and unbelievable scoring record, but he too will look for a move in the Summer especially after last night's debacle in Italy where he saw old hero Thierry Henry pulled off the bench at half-time to try and salvage an away goal for the men in yellow.  That didn't work.  Henry replaced the dismal Theo Walcott who has be terribly bad this season.  For Henry it was another goodbye to a club he loves, but this second term has been like getting back with an ex-girlfriend for the New York Red Bulls man.  At first it was great but by the end he couldn't wait to get away again, and in this case the ex-girlfriend (Arsenal) needs him much more than he needs her.

That Henry substitution just added to a game that tactically Wenger got all wrong.  He said before the game he wanted his team to be 'audacious'.  Audacious away from home in the first leg of a knock out Champions League game against Italian opposition???  He really may be losing it. The Arsenal fans will remember back to their wonderful 2-0 win 4 years ago, and compare how far they have fallen off since then.  By the end of the game Wenger admitted they "were never in the game" and "poor", and that was putting it lightly. 

Arsenal are a very average side with big expectations to meet which they probably won't.  Although they currently lay in 4th position in the Premiership if that is still the case at the end of the season it won't be because of Arsenal's superiority it will be due to the lack of consistency from other teams.  Arsenal were once the best team in London, but with the recent rise of Tottenham Hotspur they aren't even the best team in North London. This is arguably one of the worst Premiership seasons in terms of top quality teams and football, we have the big names and the glamour, sure, but there is no sense of the empowered 'invincible's' or the wonderful attacking Manchester United sides of the past reemerging.  The Champions League knock out stages echo this, with the soon to be knocked out Arsenal and a ropey Chelsea squad the only Premiership representatives.

On the night Arsenal lacked leadership, heart, direction and quality and by the end of the game Wenger was slumped in so far back in his chair he almost disappeared, and by the final whistle I bet he wished he had.

 
The comparison between Arsenal's one-sided reports of this game and the game in 2008 tell their own story
2008
2012

Barcelona and Real Madrid, the battle for supremacy moves from home to Europe

The Champions League is back and it's not only football fans that are excited and relived to see the most prestigious and famous tournament in club football blasting out it's wonderful action, drama and goals in the group of 16 knock out stages. A certain Pep Guardiola will be more than happy to see his boys travelling to Germany to beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 last night as they attempt to become back-to-back champions.

Compared to his biggest rival in Spain, Real Madrid's own 'special one' Jose Mourinho, Mister Guardiola has had a relatively quiet time in the press so far this season. Since the Copa Del Rey 'el clasico' series which Barcelona won, the pressure all seemed to be on Mourinho. There were tales of training ground bust ups including arguments with two of Spain's 2010 World Cup winning hero's and Madradista's Sergio Ramos and club and national captain Ilker Casillas. There were rumours that Mourinho wanted out of Real and was looking for a return to England where the press and public took to him like one of their own, so much so he's been linked with the vacant England managers position. During this pressurised time Mourinho has showed why he is so special, Real have been winning, and winning a lot, and winning more than their bitter rivals. These recent events in La Liga now see Guardiola facing some difficult and previously unasked questions.

Are Real Madrid now the best team in Spain?

The league title looks to be going back to the Capital after the three years it's spent in Catalonia. Real Madrid have amassed a 10 point league over Barca. This means that even if Barcelona win all their remaining games (something that looks highly unlikely on current form) Real can afford to lose 3 games and still finish as Champions come May (providing they win the other games - which is much more likely). So, why have Barca gone off the boil domestically? Head-to-head in the various clasico's they seem to be far more accomplished a side, but during the season they have struggled to turn possession and fluidity into points. Real on the other hand, outclassed in recent clasico meetings, have powered through teams with dynamic efficiency and bags of goals. Barca won the battles, but Real are winning the war.

The total football inspired by Johan Cruyff, nurtured in La Masia and polished and perfected by Pep Guardiola wins plaudits the world over. Mourinho's huge squad stacked with talent doesn't win the same respect, but certainly churns out some staggering results and scorelines. Cristiano Ronaldo's sixth hat-trick of the season in this past weekend's 4-2 win over Levante has certainly helped in the 'goals for' department, but Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema have smashed their fair share in too. Real are exciting, powerful and dangerously fast on the break and domestically this means they exploit teams in seconds. Barcelona pass you to death, Real break you to death.

The return of the Champions League means that Guardiola and the Catalan press (who have already conceded the league to Real) can try to deflect attention from home issues and allow themselves the opportunity to show that they are still the best team on the biggest stage. La Liga is a two horse race every season, but recently Barcelona have dominated Europe with three Champions League titles in the past six years and Real not even qualifying for the knock out stages in some of these. If Real can force themselves into the reckoning come the 19th of May in the Fußball Arena in Munich, then they will have well and truly knocked Barca and Guardiola off their dominant perch.

Either way, 'the special one' has done a job on Barcelona many didn't think he could, and domestically at least, his team is the most clinical and efficient. The interest now lies with how both teams perform in Europe in the next few months, something Barcelona (and their press) will be keen to make their own to restore some of their 'untouchable' gloss.

McCarthy and the rise of the Scots

This week Mick McCarthy became the third premiership manager to get the axe this season.  It's a low total of firings thus far, but that number will inevitably rise before May.  The Irishman is well liked throughout the game but during Wolves bad run he found himself 'undermined' by his Chairman, Steve Morgan, after he entered the changing room post match after an embarrassing 3-0 defeat in which even Andy Carroll scored! The writing was on the wall for Big Mick after the battering they took at the hands, or should I say feet, or Woy Hodgsons average West Bromwich Albion side.


So McCarthy follows the dismissals of Steve Bruce at Sunderland and Neil Warnock at QPR.  Sunderland have made the greatest strides since replacing Bruce with the energetic Martin O'Neill, not only have Sunderland won some games but they're are the in-form team in the Premiership.  Mark Hughes hasn't enjoyed a honeymoon period in West London, but he has been able to blow some of Tony Fernandes' cash in the January window and strengthen the squad with much needed firepower.  Wolves however have now missed the window and by not allowing a new manager to get involved earlier and bring in some fresh faces they will face the rest of season knowing it's the current squad, who's results ultimately got McCarthy sacked, to get themselves out of it and avoid the drop.  The Wolves job is a tough one to take over, expectant fans of a club which has maybe stayed up in the Premiership a little longer than they perhaps are capable of (they of course escaped relegation on the final day of last season).


McCarthy may argue that with the backing that Roberto Martinez enjoys at Wigan he would have been able to turn it around.  Maybe it's his broad Yorkshire accent that hurts him, perhaps if the 'Irishman' had a thick Scottish accent he'd still be in the job.  Steve Kean, the most hated manager in recent Premiership history has weathered attack after attack from his own support but has managed to keep his job at Blackburn and therefore granted the chance to turn it around.  Owen Coyle at Bolton has the same kind of support and even though his team isn't playing the 'attractive' football, he is for some unknown reason associated with, he finds himself employed and relatively safe.  Alex McCleish appears to be anti-football in his style and setup and many Villa fans would rather have last seasons Caretaker manager and fellow Scot Gary McCallister back!

What then is it about these Scotsmen that make them so attractive in the English game?  Is it the fact that they have accents that half of football fans don't understand and the other half enjoy listening too even if they're talking drivel? Or is it that they are living off of great Scottish managers past and present, Docherty, Shankly and Ferguson to name a few.  Possibly they hope that their Scotch boys will be more like new coach Paul Lambert and take the Premiership by the scruff of the neck, or like King Kenny and hold onto his legions of supporters with undying love for his job and club.


Whatever it is there are 6 managers in the premiership who hail from north of the boarder and after seeing what's developed in the last 24 hours at Rangers it's no wonder they are fleeing their homeland looking for work in the biggest and best league in the world, maybe the surprise is so many of them find the jobs and are able to hold onto them so long, despite playing poorly and losing games...

Suarez vs Cantona

Luis Suarez should have shook Patrice Evra's hand before the game this past Saturday at Old Trafford.  No excuse.  Even if the Uruguayan felt hard done by with his 8 match ban after being found  guilty in a hear say trial he should have shaken his hand. He had to to put the issue to bed.  Evra was ready, even offered his hand, but the man they call 'El Pistolero' declined, instead going to David De Gea and then Rio Ferdinand who didn't shake Suarez's hand in return.


He told the club he would, he told the manager he would, but crucially at the last moment he didn't.  Suarez, with this small but significant non action, has created a firestorm surrounding a fairly average match where United came up winners after a defensive lapse from Glen Johnson at a corner and an awful giveaway on the edge of his box from Jay Spearing (don't get me started).  The man in all the headlines actually scored late on after Johnny Evans made his huge usual mistake and Rio Ferdinand showed everyone why he's half the player he used to be with his snail like reactions and poor body shape.


Sir Alex Ferguson came out after the game and made some pretty huge statements.  Labeling Suarez a "disgrace" and declaring he should never be allowed to play for Liverpool again.  I'm not sure if Kenny Dalglish had heard these sentiments before he was interviewed, but King Kenny, clearly riled, didn't paint himself or the club in the best light by saying the interviewer was "bang out of order" and Luis Suarez was not to blame for anything.  Kenny has since apologised for his comments after the match, but I think they're more understandable than what they may have first seemed.  Sir Alex, the greatest Manager the game has ever seen in my opinion, jumped up on the high horse (which he is entitled to have after his years of success in the game and the vast experience he had) but commenting on another clubs player like that is not only out of character for him, but also as Kenny said "bang out of order".  Fergie defends his players just as Dalglish does.


Suarez was found guilty and served his ban. He still believes his innocence and feels harshly done by.  Claiming a player should never play again for a club because he didn't shake someone's hand is a little much, especially when you consider Ferguson's players previous behavior on and off the pitch.  Eric Cantona kung fu kicked a fan and I don't remember Fergie declaring that behaviour as the last he should ever make on the pitch.  Sometimes the great players have an edge.  Suarez, the player of the tournament at the last Copa America, is an amazing talent.  Like Cantona, he has made mistakes, but like Cantona, is supported by his own fans through thick and thin with a type of blind love only the greatest players can muster from the public.  Many football fans were horrified by what Cantona did, and while Suarez racially abusing and then not shaking Evra's hand is horrific enough it is not as in your face and dramatic as what Cantona did.  Kids watching at home will not have been able to lip read "negrito" and probably won't have seen the non hand shake from Suarez, but if they did, they will have also seen Ferdinand not shake, and if there's one thing we tell kids - 'two wrongs don't make a right.'  Suarez like Cantona was wrong and paid the price, apologised and now has to let his football do the talking.  Rio Ferdinand should try and do the same thing, as I can remember not too long ago him being out for 9 months for failing a drug test.  (Failing to show up counts as failing of course.)  One thing that is beyond question, just like Cantona, Suarez was wrong - but maybe that wrong is what helps make them so 'right' on the football pitch...

Capello's successor

Many coaches or managers in the world game will look at the vacant England's managerial seat and think twice about applying for and even taking it.  It's a well paid job - one of the best paid coaching positions in the world, which consists of watching Premier League matches on the regular, getting England's best players together and preparing them for international tournaments at luxury hotels and training facilities.  There is the occasional trip to the FA HQ but that can be tacked onto a day at the shops.  All this doesn't sound too bad! 

The negative aspects of the job is where lots of managers will lose interest.   The coverage the open seat has caused in the British media is already manic.  The papers are awash with 'what really happened in that meeting', bookmakers are taking bets on all possible new comers, and twitter is rife with people declaring that the FA should employ 'one of our own'.

These three downsides are enough to turn anyone off.  The media and press will look to build you up before smashing you to pieces on their back, and more likely, front pages with exposes about private lives, financial history's and kiss-and-tells from anyone willing to sell a story.  The bookies will be sharpening the swords for the new boss as soon as they take the job, on when they will get fired and whether they will win the Euro's or get knocked out in the group stage.  The British public will expect the world, literally, in the form of the World Cup and before that European domination this summer.  If it's a foreign coach, they're on to a loser from the start as the FA and the polls say they'd prefer an English coach.  That's not a great way to do business for a new hire.  Limiting yourself off the bat to a shortlist, and a very 'short' list at that, of viable English candidates is professional suicide in most cases, why is football any different?

Looking at the possible English candidates you see why employing a local boy might not be the best bet.  Yes there's Harry Redknapp, a man who has won the FA cup and coached one season in the Champions League, but is he the answer?  He has said previously that he'd like to manage England one day, but maybe the time isn't right for him just yet, he's enjoying his time at Spurs and they're having a great year so far.  There is talk of him seeing out the season at White Hart Lane and taking a 'part-time' role with England.  Nothing spells amateur more than 'part-time'.  'Arry is popular now amongst pockets of the general public, hated by others (Gooners), but if he loses a couple of games that will quickly change, and has he got the necessary tactical knowledge to compete on the international stage? 

If it's not Harry for whatever reason then who is left?

Woy Hodgson - He's too busy banging his head against the wall at West Brom and couldn't even get Liverpool to play football.

Psycho Pearce - His nickname is Psycho and he hasn't done much in the professional managerial game

Alan Pardew - like so many people who we're never in the running have, has ruled himself out.
Alan Curbishley - Charlton hasn't been the same without him...
Big Sam - Want to beat Spain? He'll help us do it physically at least!

Trevor Brooking - He's old and knocks around at the FA, maybe he could be 'caretaker' manager 'cos he looks more like a janitor than anything else.

There aren't maybe that many foreign coaches interested because of the press and pressure. But at least have a good look at whats on offer before limiting ourselves to the few options in the English game.

'Arry, Capello and England

The footballing world is a buzz with stories after an amazing turn of events after the conclusion of Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric's trial and the resignation of Fabio Capello.


Earlier today Redknapp and Mandaric were cleared of charges of tax evasion at Southwark Crown Court.  The result was no real shock to anyone as the prosecutions case was flimsy at best, but the result of the trial could be huge in relation to who is hired as the next England manager.  Redknapp will now be odds on favourite to replace Fabio Capello who sensationally quit his post as England Coach after a meeting today with the FA.


Capello had spoken out about John Terry being stripped of his captaincy after the Chelsea man was accused of racial abusing Anton Ferdinand in a Premiership game a couple of months ago.  That criminal trial has been postponed till the after the summer European competition leaving Terry free to play.  The race row in the game started with Liverpool's Luis Suarez being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra means that Terry now has a 'racist' tag looming over him and his career.  Therefore the FA saw it in their best interests to strip him of the captains armband to Capello's displeasure.

All this sums up the state of the game in England.  We don't win major tournaments and it's no real surprise as we can't even keep our own house in order.  All this commotion started with the result of a 5 year court case accusing Redknapp of tax dodging.  The deal in the prosecutions arguments dated back to 2002 when 'Arry flogged Peter Crouch from his then club Portsmouth to Aston Villa.  There was some ropey looking offshore Monaco bank account named after Harry's dog, Rosie, and about 190,000 quid of 'gifted money' from then Pompy Chairman Mandaric to his Manager Redknapp. 


Capello went into his meeting with the FA with a bee in his bonnet.  Apparently the FA wanted to smooth over the public criticisms that Capello had made and come to some sort of agreement to move on and allow him to continue to coach the team to the Euro's this summer, and then after watch him bugger off.  Capello had, of course, previously stripped Terry of his captaincy for shagging his teammate's, Wayne Bridge, misses!  I think racism is generally considered worse in most circles than a sexual affair, but not for Mr. Capello.


The FA said they would employ an Englishman to take over from Capello after his final hurrah at the Euro's this summer.  The door is now open for Redknapp who, after doing his best Terry Venables impression off the pitch, has been cleared of any legal wrong doing and has built an excellent side in Tottenham Hotspurs on the pitch.  JT will get his chance to play at the Euro's if he's fit and in form regardless of who the new coach is, but if 'Arry does get the job - with the FA compensating Spurs for the remainder of his 2 year contract - maybe he'd be more interested in the partnership of Michael Dawson and Ledley King, a couple of non 'racist' center halves who played excellently together at Anfield on Monday night and seem to be as strong as any English center half pairing available.


So, after all this excitement these are the facts-
England don't have a coach and England don't have a captain.  The first game against France in Euro 2012 on Monday June 11 in Donestk can't come soon enough from them.  We are a national team in disarray and we hope or think that a freshly acquitted Harry Redknapp, with Sven Goran Eriksson's backing, can save the day.  Don't hold your breath.