Going, Going... Still here?

It doesn't seem like a lot of time has passed since I walked past a bookmakers and thought "Rooney 2/1 to still be at United come next season? What great odds". This exclamation isn't a fabrication and nor was it with hindsight it was done the day the Rooney said he would be leaving United. Such was my conviction he would stay I claimed to any who would listen that I'd have bet money if I was a betting man.

Of course the reason it doesn't seem like too long ago since all this happened is because it really isn't that long ago at all. Back on the 20th October United were struggling to beat Turkish champions Bursapor in the shadow of Wayne Rooney's claims that he wouldn't be signing a new contract at the club and the main reason was because the club was going no where fast.

Fast forward to November 25th and Rooney was finally apologising to the fans, not just a month and five days since his statement but also a month after he'd signed his new contract.

Of course when the dust settled and all had been said it turned out that the boy Wayne hadn't been speaking from his head or even his heart. No it was the work of an evil genius, his agent. Rooney, so we now are told, had wanted in his heart of hearts to stay at United forever, fathered by the great Sir Alex. His agent on the other hand had wanted some more money, and so Wayne signed a new contract worth somewhere between £160,000 pound a week and £200,000 a week.

I know, I'm either way out of date or, as usual, I'm blabbering on before I get to my real point. It's of course the latter, so here goes. Fast forward again to the 12th of December but stay firmly in Manchester and yet another hero of the strikers fraternity was handing in a transfer request and causing an almighty kerfuffle at Manchester City.

This time it was Carlos Tevez kicking up a fuss. Not only was he not signing a new contract but Tevez handed in his transfer request and it seemed he not only wanted to go but go in January and if not sold then he'd retire. And why exactly? Well, and here's where you have to swim through mountains of utter tosh, firstly we were told he was missing his kids and wanted a trip back to Argentina and would either take a transfer away from Manchester or retirement from football. Then it seemed Carlos wasn't happy with not being in the Champions League having been promised that the club would be there this season. At this point the club hit back, presumably annoyed that Tevez now looked to be wanting a move away from Eastlands for footballing reasons and not family ones, they said that there must be dark forces at work, yes of course, it must be Tevez's agent, the now infamous Kia Joorabchian. Tevez came back saying Kia had persuaded him to stay in the summer when he wanted, which must be why Tevez changed his mind about only once he'd had a meeting with the club's owners minus Mr Joorabchian.

So what have we learnt so far then? Wayne wanted to leave and then didn't, earning himself a standing ovation when he finally came back from injury. Then Carlos wanted to leave and then didn't, earning himself the biggest cheer of the night against Everton- although that had something to do with City's lacklustre performance.

But the whole situation had led us to learn something more about Tevez than Rooney, for it seems to me that Tevez was making trouble for himself, and not for the first time.

Please don't see this as me attacking Tevez the player, even as a City player. The Argentinian is without doubt one of the most talented players in the Premier League at the moment. His work rate is second to none and earned him plaudits at West Ham, where it took him several months to score, at Manchester United, where fans wanted Fergie to sign him up and instantly at City, where fans apparently wanted Fergie to sign him up. His goal scoring record since being at City is brilliant and they are very much a lesser team without him but then perhaps all these facts are why his actions are so baffling.

Tevez started in England with West Ham in 2006 and did not learn much English whilst with the 'Hammers', which was understandable as no one expected him to stay there long and who knew where he'd move on to. Once at Old Trafford though surely Tevez and his agent would hope he'd be there a long time and set about learning English so he could understand his colleagues better and just get on with normal life better. On leaving Old Trafford to move across the city Tevez took a final swipe at Fergie saying that the boss hadn't spoken to him in months, a fair complaint you might think but surely not when Carlos can barely speak or understand English at the best of times never mind when someone with a thick Govan accent is talking. Then onto City where he has continued to not speak or understand English all too well, which is amazing considering one of the other reasons for his wanting to leave just over a week ago was that his relationship with certain executives, Brian Marwood and Garry Cook, had broken down to an unfixable degree. What kind of relationship any player needs to have with a club's executives is highly questionably of course.

So Tevez has never learnt English in his four and a bit years in the country, seems to pick a fight with everyone and anyone- something he did even before hitting these shores by wearing a United top during a Corinthians training session- and has a history of being with clubs no longer than 3 years. It seems to me that the great Carlos adventure may have been slowed down by his retraction of his transfer request but the English leg may be coming to an end. For City's sake I hope I'm wrong, in fact for the Premier League's sake I hope I'm wrong.

Cut down but still Big Sam

I know it's been a while, I know you barely care because you're most likely not even reading this, never the less I shall continue on.

So it's been a while. Football's still the same and nothing big is going on so I've not really been needed.

After all FIFA and Blatter messed up, that's still the same. United beat Arsenal at home and Wenger blamed something other than his team's average performance, no change there then. Benitez is happily going about his business ruining yet another side, I'm seeing a recurring theme here. Oh yes and of course, successful managers are getting sacked whilst those failing are still in jobs, hold on, that's not supposed to be the way.

I was halfway to changing my outlook on this blog, turning it from an all out column about one subject to a blog that featured several short musings from the week in football. Then suddenly Chris Hughton, Newcastle's Championship winning manager, was sacked. "Ahh mayhem at Newcastle" I thought, "could there be a better thing to write about?", indeed it did get better. First they replaced Hughton with Alan Pardew, handing him a 5 and a half year deal and then Pardew went and claimed Newcastle were one of the 5 biggest teams in the country. I can't exactly recall at which point my snigger turned into full out laughter but I think it was between Pardew being named as manager and hearing him call Newcastle one of the 5 biggest teams in the country- I wonder where he thinks they rank in terms of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Everton?

So there I was, laughing at Pardew whilst feeling sorry for Hughton and considering the new layout to my blog, when suddenly, from nowhere, I was stunned into silence by football and it's latest piece of news. How daft is that? I've been a football fan for about 18 years, surely nothing should surprise me that much any more. But Sam Allardyce being sacked?!? What the hell?!?!

Now I'm sure if you're reading this there's a good chance you may not like 'Big Sam', after all he seems to be the 'Marmite Man' of football, you either love him or hate him. His brand of football isn't always the most aesthetically pleasing in the world and he has a self confidence perhaps more suited to a manager who has won everything the game has to offer, like a Mourinho or Ferguson, so you can see why people may not like him. But, and I know we're going over old ground here, good football doesn't always win you prizes and being confident in your own ability often does.

Surely, love or hate him, you can't argue that 'Big Sam' is a man who knows how to be successful in the Premier League. I'm of course not talking about the kind of success that wins you the league, I'm talking of the relative success that teams such as Bolton, Blackburn and dare I say it, Newcastle would wish to achieve. At Bolton Sam finished in the top 8, not once but four times in a row, an amazing achievement for a team on such limited resources. He then moved on, wanting to win silverware. He believed he could do at Newcastle and started building a decent squad around him and found himself in mid table. This time he was sacked, with the increasingly intelligent Mike Ashley believing mid-table and 'unattractive' football was not enough for him. Brilliantly his team ended up mid-table that season followed by relegation the season after.

But, as usual, I digress, it is now his time at Blackburn, and now his sacking, which is most pertinent and bewildering at the same time. Only last season's top eight have gained more points than Blackburn during his reign at Ewood Park, if that doesn't put into some perspective how good he was during his time there I don't know what will. Perhaps that he finished 10th last season or kept Rovers up in his first season when all looked lost under Paul Ince will. The very fact that the man from Dudley has been linked not once but twice to the England job tells you how highly thought of in footballing circles, in fact only last week Fabio Capello named Sam along side Harry Redknapp as the two men who could replace him when he leaves the post of England manager in 2012.

So 'Big Sam' is a highly rated manager with lots of experience who brings relative success to sides without spending excessive amounts of money and is now out of a job because Blackburn's new owners demand attractive football. Apparently they want Diego Maradonna to take over as manager- a man who is known to act insane, has no real experience at club football and who's Argentinian side played lovely football at the World Cup but found themselves knocked out in the quarter finals despite having the world's greatest player in their ranks amongst other brilliance players. Sounds like a good swap to me.

Of course this shouldn't all be about Allardyce it should also be about Hughton and the stupidity of the owners of not just Blackburn but of Newcastle as well.

Newcastle's reason for getting rid of their manager was his lack of experience, which might be all well and good if he hadn't just won the Championship at a a canter last season and had taken Newcastle into the top 10 this season. Amongst this seasons victories he had seen his side beat Arsenal and Chelsea and best of all destroy local rivals Sunderland. Hughton seemed to have built a rapport with his team of 'misfits' including the ever lovely Joey Barton and the headline grabbing Andy Carroll. I wouldn't like to comment on Pardew's ability to manage the team but surely there was no need to risk the harmony at the club and current good form just to turn to a manager, who though, experienced, has hardly brought success, even in relative terms, to his previous clubs.

Here's hoping these two managers are back in jobs soon, although in 'Big Sam's' case he's certainly too good for the West Ham job is rumours are to be believed. And, as some one who has nothing against either Newcastle or Blackburn, here's hoping their owner's risky strategies pay off.

Breaking the Molde

"And Solskjaer has won it!"

Five words, and other than a slightly complicated Norwegian surname, they are a very simple 5 words. And yet they invoke real emotion, sat here typing them has given me goosebumps- yes I'm a little weird like that.

But these 5 words, said by Clive Tyldesley back in 1999, create memories for so many- some good (like me) and some bad. And for me the 5 words, and the emotion that engulfs me following them, bring me back to the days when football first really mattered to me.

I had been a football fan, along with any sport, for as long as I could possibly remember and yet until the treble season I can't recall getting so emotionally attached. It was perhaps Dennis Irwin's sending off in the match against Liverpool in the same season that got me so riled first. I, along with my cousins, felt it necessary to call the F.A and complain about the Irishman's sending off- it may also suggest where my utter hatred for Liverpool comes from, that and being from Manchester.

Of course I digress, as usual. It was Tyldesley who said those words but it was of course United's baby faced assassin, their super sub, 20Legend and whatever else you want to call Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

The Norwegian was a brilliant player, a goalscorer of the highest regard, and someone who played the game smiling- which is not something we see too often these days. Of course Gunnar is best known for that goal in Barcelona on a night that the gods of football had clearly pre-written the script for and his second most well known attribute was to score late goals. I remember sitting at a friends house for his birthday watching Match of the Day as he scored 4 goals in the last 10 minutes of a match vs Nottingham Forest. It wasnt' important, as United already lead 4-1, but it's what Ole did- score goals!

It was a shame that Ole had to retire from injury in 2007 having been unable to recover from a knee injury, but by that point his place in the hearts of all Manchester United fans was obvious. Having joined in 1996 for a paultry £1.5 million pounds he scored within 6 minutes of his debut against Blackburn Rovers. You may be thinking that £1.5 million may have been a lot at this time but remember 'Alan Shearer is 10 times dearer', or words to that effect. It was befitting that his last league game came against Blackburn and just like old times, he scored.

But Solskjaer has now moved on from United, having spent a succesful term at the helm of the Red Devil's reserve team, to join his first team- Molde- as manager.. In his first 4 games as manager the team were truly playing in the image of their boss as they scored late goals in the games to either win or draw, a start to the season that ended with the reserves winning the Lancashire Senior Cup.

With Ole now becoming manager of a first team he will inevitably join the ever growing list of names to be Sir Alex's successor- many of these names are already ex-United players. And who of us would bet against Ole being the man to win the race, as either the next manager or the one after that. Solskjaer is a true United hero, he knows the club- as player and coach, and is a nice, media friendly guy. His reputation for goals also fits in with the Old Trafford ethos of football.

The big question surrounds wether or not he can handle the pressure of football management and the added pressure of possibly being lined up to replace the most succesful manager in United's history.

If Solskjaer winning the Champions League as manager of United is akin to his goal in that 99' final, then his first step into football management maybee the moment Peter Schmeichel joined his teammates for the first significant corner on that night.

"And Solskjaer has won it!"?...

Only time will tell!

Yid's Army

Football is a game, a game I want to win- or so a friend once told me, it was something along those lines anyway.

Being a game, though, football very rarely has anything to do with race; of course there is the incident involving England at the Bernabeu, or Mario Balotelli at Chievo and the underlying racism that surrounds black managers especially in the English game and many other stories of racism appearing in football but that doesn't make football about race. Football also rarely has anything to do with religion, of course there is the 4 times or more a season that Rangers play Celtic but that would be about it.

Being Jewish I can also, quite honestly, tell you that football rarely has anything to do with Jews. There is the odd famous professional Jewish footballer; Yossi Benayoun, Tal Ben Haim, Eyal Berkovic and Avram Grant to name but a few (yes they all happen to also be Israeli), there is the wonderful MJSL but that's about it for us Jews.... oh and Spurs!


The good old 'Yid Army' ey! Named so because lot's of Jews support them- so that'll be Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal as well then, and that's just for starters.

Oh, suddenly thought of what Jews are known for when it comes to football. It's not heading the ball. We close our eyes and shy away from the ball, we also can't tackle or play in particularly physical matches.

And so last night Sporting JLGB (remember them?) played their first pre-season friendly of the summer, against a non-Jewish team or just a team. This was no charity peace match or any rubbish, this was a competitive friendly between two sides getting ready for the excitement of a Sunday League campaign, and boy was it a match!

The match started with Britain's Protection on the offensive but Sporting's defence stood strong and gave as good as they got, new signing Blake Englander probably giving better. But Sporting, looking awesome in their new pink kits, struggled to get the ball under control in the opposition half and thus it kept coming back at a well organised Sporting defence. The defending was resolute and tough but it was eventually broken, a left foot shot from the edge of the area beating the keeper.

It was 2-0 before half time, another shot from the edge of the area, this time brilliantly saved, would fall inside the 6 yard box for the Protection's number 9 to slot home. At half time Sporting marched off anything but dejected, they were well in this game and playing well, and it got better.

The 2nd half was an even scrappier, more aggressive affair from both sides, and with plenty of subs being made it was now JLGB on top. Rafi Bloom was finding himself in more and more space upfront and was starting to show the kind of form that left defenders fearful of him in his Westdene days. The partnership upfront between Bloom and Uri Steinberg looked strong, and with Englander and Saul Davies forming a rock at the back, Sporting will go into their season with a solid base through the middle of the team.

Unusually in a friendly there was a red card brandished as the ref had enough of the foul and abusive language he was receiving from Protection's centre back. The away side were all getting fed up of the ref as they constantly thought they were wrongly being punished but the man in black didn't seem to be doing too much wrong. With time ticking away it seemed that Sporting would not get the goal that they deserved, until, with 10 minutes to go, Bloom got the ball just outside the area, danced his way past two defenders and into the 'box' only to be brought down, he brushed himself off and buried the ball in the top corner from the penalty spot.

The ref blew for full time and everyone had enjoyed the run out, from both sides. Hands were shook and pleasantries swapped as the two sides had taken part in a highly competitive match that had ended with a very fair scoreline, a real reflection of the match.

Religion very rarely comes into football, and as Sporting JLGB and Britain's Protection walked off the pitch, it still didn't.


P.S- Apparently Spurs got into the group stages of the Champions League tonight and I fooled you all into thinking that's what this post was about, oh well!

Weather or Not

Bloody Manchester!

Don't get me wrong, I do love this city (yes honestly), but it's the weather- it's all over the bleeding place.

I get up this morning at half 7 and the weather, though not great, was certainly not horrendous. Arrive at work at 10 with no sign of rain despite the odd cloud, by noon the rain was bouncing off the pavement with much aggression. Of course it wouldn't stop there, oh no, by half 1 the sun was out and it seemed to be heading towards a pleasant afternoon, that was of course before it started chucking it down with rain again at 3. It's just ridiculous.

But of course I digress, as usual, for this is not Sidler on Weather, as exciting a blog as that would be.

The weather in Manchester is such that they say you can get four seasons in just one day and that seems to mirror football in the region, it seems we've had at least two seasons in just one footballing weekend.

First up was the blue team of Manchester. City, who have spent upwards of 100 million pounds on players this season, took on their fourth place rivals of last year Spurs. City were absolutely rained upon. Tottenham's soon to be Champions League players were well onto of their much richer rivals and it seemed that the Mancunians multi-million pound squad were struggling to gel.

Out of the melee of shots that was being rained down on them City found a very useful umbrella. Of course it would be that out of all of the mass amounts the 'Citizens' have spent in the last two years it would be a man who cost them a maximum of £1.5 million before the 'Citeh' era who would prove to be their most valuable asset on the opening weekend of the season and most likely the rest of the season.

City of course are hoping to hail (get it) in a new era, and they will be doing so now without Craig Bellamy and Stephen Ireland, the latter seemingly on his way to Aston Villa as part of the deal to take James Milner to Eastlands. But, if their opening day fixture is anything to go by, City's main issue will be getting their team to gel quickly and with two more players coming in since the weekend Roberto Mancini has a big job on his hands.

Over at Old Trafford the sun was shining, despite the driving rain, especially on the evergreens in red. The United of Manchester took on their Newcastle counterparts as they began their quest to wrestle the league title back off the hands of Chelsea and they looked good in their match against the newly promoted Magpies. Chelsea had shone on their season debut against another promoted side, West Brom, putting 6 past the team from the Midlands and United needed to respond with an emphatic victory of their own, and they got it.

There was lots to talk about from the 3-0 win, from Joey Barton's 'moustache' to Dimitar Berbatov's impression of a player playing to his potential. But there was one man who stole the headlines and rightly so. There's snow way one could fail to mention Paul Scholes. He was brilliant. So good, in fact, that his Spanish midfield compatriots, Xavi and Iniesta, would have been watching in wonder and amazement. Near everything that came off Scholes' boot flew to its designated place on the pitch. His passing was immaculate and the most incredible thing was the sheer variety of passes; lofted, drilled, short, long, over the top, through the middle. The man was brilliant, no more so than when he set up Ryan Giggs, his forever partner in crime, for the 3rd goal, a goal which stretched Giggs' record of scoring in every season of the Premier League, a record which may well stop sooner rather than later.

Of course the season is only one week old and we cannot take too much from the first week of the season but we at least know that Chelsea look every bit the favourites they ought to be, City, despite their spending, cannot hope to achieve instant success and United will one day be much the worse for not being able to call on Scholes and Giggs. I guess we knew all this already, all which proves I really haven't the foggiest

Englishman Reaches World Cup Final

(The following blog appears on www.blog.kitbag.com, written by the Sidler)


And England have done it! They’ve made the World Cup final. What? Oh! It’s just our referee. Well at least we have the best something when it comes to football. Sorry, little bit of patriotism there and no doubt I’m clutching at straws.

But hang on, lets not take away the wonderful achievement of Howard Webb getting the honour of being the referee in the World Cup final and the first Englishman since Jack Taylor in 1974. Speaking of Jack, the great man has praised Webb and went as far to suggest that “he’s the best referee this country has ever produced”. Furthermore the man who awarded a penalty in the first minute of his world cup final added “He’s ready for this: he’s fit, his man-management is excellent.” Of course you’d find it difficult to argue with Jack, mainly because of his pedigree of refereeing, a little because you have to wonder why you’re arguing with an 80 year old man and lastly because Webb is clearly an excellent ref.

Ironically Webb had one of his worst seasons in the Premier League last year but so is life, he’s still taken charge of both the Champions League final and World Cup final, the first man ever to do so. Of the men he beat to officiate in the biggest game in world football the standard of officiating in the World Cup has generally been quite high. There has of course been the odd controversial moment, IT WAS OVER THE LINE (sorry), and the odd card happy ref, as in the Chile vs Switzerland match many moons ago, but we don’t expect our referees and linesmen to be perfect- well we do, but we know they’re not.


For me, two major issues come out of the tournament as far as refereeing is concerned. The first is obvious- video refereeing. I believe it is a must in some form, even if just for the goal-line, it would not undermine the referee – just help him make the right decision. If sports steeped in ridiculous amounts of old fashioned tradition like cricket and tennis can embrace video technology then so should football. The second issue is not so obvious but is just as important. The free movement of referees between leagues is very important to ensure that officiating is more consistent by allowing more referees to become professional, thus gaining more big match experience.


But here’s to Mr Webb and his team, make England proud by hardly being noticed in the World Cup final- after all, that’s what English football is all about.

As it ends so it begins

I wish people would listen to me. I've been saying all along that England would fail early on and crash out in the 2nd round having played average at best throughout. Now how do I delete all my old posts to cover my tracks.

Right so it wasn't great, in fact it was bloody awful. The only positive slants I can find is that fact that we conceded the decisive 3rd and 4th goals whilst attacking too much to get back in the game. And there was of course that incident for Frank Lampard, you know when he hit the cross bar from a free kick. Good job nothing controversial happened ey?

Ohhhh wait, yeah there was that moment the ball clearly crossed the line by a fucking mile, excuse the language but it's difficult not to swear. FIFA, and their master moron Sepp Blatter, decided in all their glory that people just love talking about controversial decisions so much that technology was a stupid idea. Mr Blatter is clearly a moron. People like discussing team selection, formations, transfer rumours and perhaps the odd should that or shouldn't have that been a penalty- not the ball crossed the line why wasn't it a goal? That's not a discussion that's the rules of the game.

Don't get me confused with blaming England's defeat solely on this one moment but it was definitely a game changer. Annoyingly you always knew at some point in this World Cup there would be controversy that highlighted the need for technology after FIFA completely ruled it out several months ago- just did it have to be in the England vs Germany match in such an ironic fashion. Just to soften the pain it wasn't the only moment that had us asking for replays yesterday but amusingly the Mexicans got to see a replay. I say amusingly it was only amusing in the sense it but egg on the faces of FIFA officials. Not amusing in the way ze Germans would have found Lampard's disallowed goal the highest form of schadenfreude (look it up) possible.

So England are out, and of course we look for someone to blame. It could be FIFA, it could be Capello, it could be Wayne Rooney. The truth is it is no one's outright fault. It was the collective. The players underperformed no end, especially Wayne Rooney. There were of course glimpses of good play but not enough at any time. The manager made mistakes, perhaps he was too strict in camp, he certainly got his tactics and team line ups wrong in the first two matches and right up until the end he got the substitutions wrong- Heskey for Defoe, really? And FIFA also got it wrong, months ago, possibly years ago, by refusing to even trial technology. Blatter should take a bow for organising such a wonderful tournament but should get an egg thrown at him whilst doing so.

And what next? For England, and hopefully Capello, we turn our attention to 2012 first. There will be new faces but some old will no doubt stay and at least try to fight for their place. But it is 4 years away and Brazil 2014 that interests me most. Firstly there will no doubt be a new manager, if there isn't already one for 2012, and there will definitely be new players. So after succesfully predicting that we'd win the World Cup this year, shush, I won't be doing the same right now. I beleive we have a chance, though I'd personally back the hosts. But I am going to try and predict the future. Who will be England's squad in 2014?

Joe Hart, Ben Foster, Scott Loach
Nednum Onuha, Micah Richards, Ryan Shawcross, Gary Cahill, Michael Dawson, Leighton Baines, Ashley Cole
Jack Rodwell, Jack Wilshire, James Milner, Adam Johnson, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Barry, Lee Cattermole, Fabian Delph, Theo Walcott
Wayne Rooney, Jermaine Defoe, Nathan Delfouneso, Gabriel Agbonlahor

Captain Rooney and I'm not quite sure who the manager will be but don't be surprised to see Mr Beckham somewhere near the squad, if he's not actually playing in it. The funny thing is I'll be miles away with my prediction. But either way between all the fall out from yesterday afternoon till June 2014 it's going to be one hell of a ride.

As it ends so it begins!

In Glory-you Basterds

The Italians waved arrivederci and the French exclaimed 'Sacre bleu' so it is time for the Sidler to once again take on football. Yes I know we've nearly come to the end of the group stages and not a peep from the man who's bored you all half to death about the World Cup for the last year. And for this I would like to apologise, but, the main reason for my silence is that I have been writing a blog over at . I haven't been covering all their matches but if you've missed it so far I shall be covering this afternoon's match between North Korea and Ivory Coast then Uruguay vs South Korea on Saturday afternoon and also Argentina vs Mexico on Sunday evening.

Of course that last blog, for this week at least, on Sunday may well be effected by my emotional over spill from Sunday afternoon's match- and any movie fan, or even Sidler on Football 'fan' will probably guess that I'm here to talk about Sunday afternoon.

First off England, we were dreadful, absolutely dreadful, in our first two games. You don't need me to tell you this but I have to reiterate just how shocking we were. It's a good job kitbag didn't assign me those two games as I'd have been hard pressed not to use swear words. We lacked the ability to out pass and out think sides we should be putting to the sword with ease. And it came down to one final game. Even me, the most passionately blind England fan, was starting to have some doubts. Not over Fabio, the media's reaction to his picking the team 'only' 2 hours before kick off has been a farce, but over the player's ability to overcome the fear.

And just as it looked like they would crumble under the pressure they put in one of the most convincing 90 minutes of football England produce. I'm not getting carried away but actually think of the last time they played so well for the whole 90 minutes, and not just 45 or 60 minutes, and it's difficult.

But now is the real task, ZE GERMANS ARE COMING! Germany started their World Cup campaign in a slightly different fashion to the English- they battered their first opponents, Australia, and had all pundits purring over their performance. Truth was though they were highly flattered by their highly disappointing opponents. This was proved when they lost to Serbia and only a 1-0 win over Ghana saw them progress as winners of Group D.

There will be many naysayers for England going into this 2nd round match, none more so than Franz Beckenbauer who believes that England can only play kick and rush football and that England messed things up by coming 2nd in their group to set up this match as 2nd round match and not a final. But of course I have faith, and ironically it is the Americans who have provided me with the belief that we can, no will, be victorious over the old enemy.

So why have the Americans given me the belief? Well firstly England have our own 'bear Jew', I may lose some of you here and if I have, GO AND WATCH 'Inglourious Basterds" it's an awesome film. But England's 'Bear Jew' is of course Wayne Rooney. Okay, so the boy Wayne hasn't come to life yet but what better place to do so than against Germany. He could really club them into the ground if he could just find form. He was of course looking a lot better in the match against Slovenia but an early piece of magic in the match on Sunday could reinvigorate the United striker and in turn the whole team.

England too have our own Apache in Steven Gerrard. He leads our band of real Englishmen into battle and helps leave a scar on the forehead of our opponents, well maybe not the foreheads but we really need Captain Gerrard to perform the way we know he can, at his marauding best.

Of course I'm not trying to say the German football team are Nazi's, or any Germans for that matter but the fact is you can't think of Germany without thinking that we've beaten them in 2 World Wars and one World Cup. Nor can you think of them without thinking of them dumping us out of the World Cup in 1970 or penalty defeats in 1990 and 1996. Football is war, and in England vs Germany it's a war with plenty of history.

Perhaps Fabio Capello should borrow a quote from Aldo the Apache for his team talk on Sunday;

We will be cruel to the Germans, and through our cruelty they will know who we are.
And they will find the evidence of our cruelty in the battered, bruised, and disfigured bodies of their brothers we leave behind us.
And the German won't not be able to help themselves but to imagine the cruelty their brothers endured at our hands, and our football boots, and the class of our goals.
And the German will be sickened by us, and the German will talk about us, and the German will fear us.
And when the German closes their eyes at night and they're tortured by their subconscious for the evil they have done, it will be with thoughts of us they are tortured with.
Sooounds good?"

Okay so I changed the words slightly but we're not actually trying to kill them. Are we?

Nearly Here

Admit it! I had you going for a bit there didn't I?

You lot actually thought that I could resist commenting just two days from the World Cup? You realise I've been waiting this for four years. Bloody Steve McLaren stopped me truly enjoying the last European Championships, making this the first time I've been allowed to get ridiculously patriotically excited since the stamp, the winker and Jamie Carragher forgetting to wait for the whistle knocked us out of the last World Cup.

I wonder if you lot are as excited as me? How could you possibly not want to be sitting at home all day everyday watching football? Unless of course you're forced to be at home because you've just had knee surgery or something like that.

So the time for all the talking is done. I could have written about the sad absence of Rio Ferdinand, or for that matter many others. I could have written about the omission of Theo Walcott, or for that matter many. I could have written about the shock inclusion of well I can't think of any. But the point is I've said the time for talking is done so I will stick to it.

Instead I shall go for some predictions, which is still talking but it's just foolish talking that could make me look, well, foolish!

First up is the groups;

Group A: Based on past tournaments it is difficult to count out the hosts not progressing and it would be great for the tournament if they did. Sadly though I see France and Mexico being the teams to get through.

Group B: Though Diego Maradona will try his hardest to screw up Argentina's chances I'm pretty sure they'll have a simple passage through. 2nd place is pretty difficult to call in a group of average teams but I'm going for South Korea to just pip it.

Group C: England and U.S.A to progress, although I would fancy Algeria to give the Americans a run for their money. Saturday's evening game between England and America should be an interesting start for the three lions but I'm expecting a comfortable 3-1 win.

Group D: Don't count out the Germans! And I certainly won't be as, despite missing Michael Ballack, they should have enough discipline in their side to progress easily. Behind them I'll go for Australia, it'll be tight between them, Ghana and Serbia but I feel the Aussies, with Tim Cahill, have more fire-power.

Group E: Finally I'll back an African side to come through the Groups in beating Denmark to 2nd place in this group. I say 2nd place because I fully expect the Dutch to start strong before fading quickly in the quarters, just like they often do and just like the English.

Group F: Reigning champions Italy should progress with relative ease, despite the fact that their squad won't exude confidence to the nations fans. They'll take Paraguay with them into the 2nd round.

Group G: "The Group of Death" or so they say. Despite this apparent deathly group the Brazilians will come through very much alive and kicking and may go all the way once again. Who will go through with them though? First off it won't be North Korea. Last week I'd have said Ivory Coast, but it could be difficult if Drogba's unavailable. On the other hand I'll stick with my instinct and say The Elephants will progress.

Group H: The Spanish are coming, and they've got a bloody squad too. Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Puyol, Pique, Ramos, Villa, Torres- I'll stop! They're through, long gone are the days of Spanish chocking! With them will be Chile.

Surprise package: Chile and Paraguay both certainly have the chance to surprise teams way into the latter stages and hosts South Africa could climb out of a tricky group. Truth be told any African side could finally break the mould and reach a World Cup semi-final.

and the winner? Well do you expect me to change my mind now? good it's England- all the way it's England. It won't be easy but we can do it!

That's All Folks

So the dust has settled once again, although this time no smoke to clear from the cigar of a Chelsea manager- see June 1st 2009 for reference. And as last season it was all tied up with a lovely FA Cup win for Chelsea. This time though there is no English representation in the Champions League final so it'll be as far away as June 12th till we see some competitive football with Englishmen involved, can you last?

Reading over June 1st's post I notice that I alluded to Portsmouth possibly having some new money from new investors, oh the ironies of life. In fact I was of course wrong with many of the things I pointed out not even a year ago but then predicting the future has never been a skill of mine.

Back to today though and I must say congratulations to Chelsea, they fully deserve their double this season. Those in the past, not me, who have complained about Chelsea's lack of 'history' must now surely be silenced as their 'history' is now created in the present. Their league triumph was especially special, any team who scores over 100 league goals in a season truly deserves to win the league. It was also good to see a well contested final especially when, judging on the league season just gone, it could easily have been a battering.

Talking of a good old battering it would could not have been a more apt way to decribe the season Pompey and their fans must have been feeling this season, they have been utterly battered from pilar to post. And yet they came within the boot of Petr Cech of finishing the season as FA Cup winners. All this has meant their usually amazing fans have looked even more incredible this season and I for once shall miss them being in the Premierleague next season.

The first time I encountered Portsmouth fans in January 2003 at Old Trafford in an FA Cup third round match the season that they went on to win the Championship in. I was in awe at the size and noise of the crown for a mid-day Saturday afternoon kick off in the FA Cup. I thank them for that experience and honestly hope they some how make it back to the Premierleague in the near future only this time in a much better financial state.

And now it's time for me to wrap up the domestic season with a salute to my none PFA team of the year.

Goalkeeper; Where the PFA opted for Joe Hart, and rightly so, I'm going to go with a 'keeper' who has performed well- as he always does- but even more impressively due to his off field problems. It is Edwin van der Saar, coming back after injury and a serious illness to his wife to be as solid as ever.

Defence; My defence is made up of Leighton Baines, Michael Dawson, Vincent Kompany and Carlos Cuellar. It was a difficult choice and certainly many arguments could be made for the inclusion of player's such as Ledley King and James Collins. Baines has been integral to Everton's resurgence and is most likely to be Ashley Cole's understudy at the World Cup. Dawson has had an excellent season coming off the back of a pretty ordinary one last year, his next 12 months may be even bigger if he gets to pit his skills against the best in the world in South Africa and next seasons Champions League. Kompany moved from centre mid to centre back so effortlessly and nearly helped guide Manchester City into the top four, it was a big move for the Belgian as you can't help but think he'd be out at Eastlands next season if he was still in midfield. Carlos Cuellar was a rock at right back for Aston Villa's incredible defence this season in all three domestic competitions.

Midfield; Florent Malouda, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard and Steven Pienaar. Malouda has gone from a player with lots of promise who underperformed to a player in his element who helped win a double with some truly inspirational displays. If any player shows the value of rolling back the years it is Paul Scholes, another season where he was written off as being past it turned into another season where United could barely do without him- his goal at Eastlands kept United in the title when all seemed lost, just a shame it was all lost in the end anyway. 22 goals from central midfield is almost all that needs to be said about Frank Lampard and yet he brings so much more than that- pure inspiration and a calm enough head to tell Drogba who's going to be taking the penalties (maybe should have chosen Drogba in the cup final). Pienaar has been linked to Manchester United and Arsenal only a week after the season has finished and based on some of his perfromances it's easy to see why. If Arteta, Jagielka, Fellaini and co had been around all season to help out Pienaar, Liverpool may well have found themselves not even in the Europa League next season.

Attack; "When the ball hits row Zed there's one thing you can bet, it's not Zamora" but the Fulham striker, despite an incredible season- especially in the Europa League- still misses out. Instead I've plumped for the strike force of Fernando Torres and Carlos Tevez. Liverpool have often been referred to as a two man team and yet with Gerrard having such an average season that seemed to become a one man team, which isn't too bad when that man is Fernando Torres, who managed 18 league goals despite all the injuries. Imagine a world where Carlos Tevez still played for United- they'd have become Champions and City may not have even been in the Europa League. Not because City are a one man team but because Tevez can galvinise any side with his juggernaut like energy.

The manager; Roy Hodgson might be a good shout but his LMA award rules him out as far as I'm concerned. Zola could be considered after having to deal with Moron Gold and Moron Sullivan, and he nearly sneaked it after bringing out coffee to the press outside his house last week. Tony Pullis could be an outside bet after being the only manager to improve a promoted teams points tally in their second season. But I'm going with the man who this season had the hardest job in football- Mr. Avram Grant!

So that's it for the domestic season! Dust settled and all! Time to pack your bags and jump on a plane, for South Africa is just around the corner- bloody big corner if you ask me!

Name off the trophy?

So the time for all the talking to stop is here, and at this moment it's time for the Sidler to speak up once again.

Yes ladies and gentleman unsurprisingly the announcement of Fabio Capello's provisional 30 man squad for the upcoming World Cup has shot me right back into action. I mean it's not been that long has it? MARCH 1st?!?!? What the hell have I been doing?

I've no idea really but at least the football's been boring right?

Well with all the boring football it's a good job the World Cup is round the figurative corner and the countdown has now really kicked off with, not only Capello but, all the managers picking their provisional squads.

Perhaps the biggest news comes from Brazil where past World Cup winners Ronaldinho and Adriano are not included, though Dunga has gone straight to naming his 23 so any injuries could mean a last minute place for either of these two. The French have left out Premiership pair Samir Nasri and Patrick Vieira. Argentina have left out Esteban Cambiasso. Italy have left out Francesco Totti as he couldn't quite decide whether or not to come out of international retirement.

And talking of players coming out of retirement brings us right where we want to be, talking about England's squad.

Firstly there is the man who hasn't come out of retirement, Paul Scholes. I for one would have loved to see Scholes wearing an England shirt once again. The ginger maestro's retirement was probably one of the biggest tragedies of the Sven era. And with Gareth Barry's injury potentially keeping him out of the squad Capello's inability to get Scholes out of retirement may be one tragedy that keeps the World Cup trophy out of English hands. After all with no Barry it could be left to Tom Huddelstone to fill in the holding role in midfield and Huddelstone is an average player at best, even if his ability to hit a ball with power is second to very few if any.

Meanwhile Capello was able to get another player to come out of the international wilderness and unlike on his way out Jamie Carragher managed to not get himself on any sport's based radio stations on the way back into the big time. I am, probably unsurprisingly, not a fan of the Liverpool captain and yet I believe he will probably end up in the final 23 and it may well be one of the most astute picks by Fab. The reason is because of Carra's ability to play at either centre back or more importantly at right back.

Other talking points are in goal, despite the fact that there are no surprises. The three expected to go are the three that have gone but it is the fact that we don't yet know the order in which they are regarded and the fact that at least one if not two of them should perhaps not be there. Joe Hart is exempt from my criticism, he is an excellent goalkeeper in brilliant form and should be England's number one, the sad truth is he may end up being number 3. My main contention comes with the choice of David 'sideshow bob' James. James is simply not reliable enough a goalkeeper to be in the World Cup squad and he never has been. Sam Allardyce's opinion on why his 'keeper' is not going to the World Cup might be wide of the mark but you'd struggle to argue that he shouldn't be in the squad based on his previous experience and form this season.

Upfront the Premierleague's 3rd top goal scorer, Darren Bent, has managed to force his way into the 30 and yet with Capello likely to only take 4 strikers, along with Theo Walcott likely to be taken as a midfielder and cover for a striker, it means one of Bent and Heskey will not be going. And one can't help but think that despite his lack of goals, ever, Heskey will be on his way to South Africa.

But this all sounds far too negative from a man so upbeat on England's chances. So has the squad announcement on top of possible injuries to Terry and Barry and the news of Capello's now defunct ridiculous website dampened my spirit? HELL NO!

Now is the time, more than ever to believe and really get behind the men who will wear the three lions in just a few weeks. Forget my personal bias or club bias this is a squad capable of winning the world cup, heck any side with Messers Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard, Terry, Ferdinand and A Cole has a great chance.

Win or lose it's time to use the next few weeks to get ready for what will no doubt be a thrilling rollercoaster of a ride. After all only 24 hours after the announcement former captain John Terry looked like he might be ruled out with a broken metertarsal and that's after only 24 hours. It's going to be an exciting time. Can England win the World Cup? As the advert says, "Maybe! Just Maybe"!

Taking the Mickey!

Walk up stairs, walk across dignitaries shaking their hands, smile, lift trophy, listen to crowd applauding- the banner said it all "Not arrogant. Just better" and after 90 minutes of cup final football you couldn't really argue.

Yes I am talking about Manchester United and them winning the first trophy of the year, one often called "The Mickey Mouse Trophy", and it was a tense and exciting final against Aston Villa.

The Carling Cup had had many names down the years but it is always patronised as a competition, either by the media's name calling or managers resting vast amounts of their players. But, other than mocking for mocking's sake, does the Carling Cup really belong to Mickey or is it slightly more dazzling?

There is the obvious, that some of the best teams in the country could not care less about winning the fourth best trophy of the season, these teams do not play their best available 11 in any round. Arsene Wenger has come closest to winning the trophy that he clearly holds no feelings towards whilst playing his often over complimented "kids". This never fully works though as the poor little kiddies get kicked all over the park by the overly cynical big boys (tongue firmly in cheek). Heck back in October we witnessed the children of the Emirates take on the reserves of Anfield or wherever they usually play. Two teams who don't care about minor competitions and only care about the big ones.

Fast forward four months and perhaps both managers, or at least Rafa, may want to reconsider their stance over the trophy Sir Alex and his men picked up at Wembley. Rafa's men can only win the Europa League, and there is certainly better sides than theirs left judging on their latest performance in that competition. Whilst Wenger's men can only win the Champions League, although they are in an even worse position than Liverpool's Europa League campaign, and an outside chance for the Premier League.

Perhaps the second thing against the cup is the lack of a place in Europe for it's runners up should it's winners already be in Europe. But should this really detract from a competition that does still give away a place in Europe? I mean no one's aiming to lose a cup final.

But didn't the Premier League champions win the league cup yesterday? And last year as well? Weren't Chelsea in the two finals before then? So Wenger and Benitez don't value the competition- does that mean it has no value?

Clearly not! Ask Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers, both beat members of the 'big four' in their cup quarter finals and both led their semi finals at one point. They would have done anything to progress to the final and gave a shot at winning some silverware.

The same can be said for Aston Villa, not just content to battle for that illustrious forth position, Martin O'Neil and his players are hell bent on picking up some silverware. And had Nemanja Vidic not somehow escaped a red card they may have come away with some. O'Neil was rightly annoyed at the decision but didn't want to make the game all about it- perhaps is blow softened by the fact he still has the race for forth and the FA Cup to play for.

But the men who clearly think the Carling Cup is worth winning were the ones with the biggest smiles yesterday. Firstly the man who's been there and done that- Sir Alex himself. Having rested some players in the early rounds his selection has strengthened through the matches against Spurs, City and then Villa. Fergie understands that silverware is silverware, something Wenger seems to have forgotten, and that the momentum of a winning team will carry over to the league. Above all though Fergie still plays trophy winning rookies in the final so they know what winning in big matches is all about- every United player NEEDS to know how to win.

The second biggest smile was strung across the face of a United substitute- and let's face it that wasn't the first time this was true of a United winning team, it's just usually the sub isn't Wayne Rooney. The Englishman was dying to start but his manager was dying to rest him and so it was that he started on the bench. Unfortunately Michael Owen left early and so the inevitable match winner entered. Rooney knows how to win trophies and it all started with the league cup.

Above all else is some of the most exciting matches of this season in the earlier rounds of the league cup- the 2nd leg of both semi finals, the quarter finals at City and Blackburn, the topsy turvy giant killing of Burnley by Barnsley and Stoke's 96th minute winner against Blackpool.

Sure the League cup might not be the most important trophy but it's certainly worth winning the final, walking up stairs, walking across dignitaries, shaking their hands, smiling, lifting the trophy, listening to the crowd applauding and getting used to winning more trophies. And so the Mickey Mouse trophy is won! Will United also be the kings of the Magic Kingdom?

A Bridge Too Far

I think it was my good friend Swiss Tony who once told me "playing football is like making love to a beautiful woman"

I'll be honest I've no idea what he was talking about, but as a car salesman what did he know about playing football. But in Tony's comparison I guess the higher the level of football the more beautiful the woman- making the MJSL akin to Susan Boyle

There is obviously beauty in football- in the playing style of Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, in the winning of trophies (not like Wenger's Arsenal), in overcoming injury and adversity and in the passion of the fans.

There is of course beauty in women as well, just ask John Terry he seems to find it in lots of them. And Terry's deeds with the ex of his one time team mate, Wayne Bridge, have led Bridge to quit the England team. Firstly I'm starting to think Terry should sleep with other wives of English players that we don't want playing for our national side- no names mentioned.

Now on to the real issue- Bridge! So he has turned his back on the England side at the moment when the England side actually need him. Not to be harsh to him but at no other point has Wayne really been needed by England- there has always been Ashley Cole. But Cole is injured, and though the Egypt game is not important it is what lies beyond that which matters. Cole may still be unavailable come the World Cup. Enter Wayne Bridge surely? Well not now!

I personally am not a fan of Bridge, it was never a shock to me that he was second choice at Chelsea and England to Cole, he's not as good. In fact the only thing that has shocked me is that he has always been second choice to Cole for the three lions, especially in recent times with Stephen Warnock and Leighton Baines' stock rising.

And now we turn to Capello and wondering who will take Bridge's and possible Cole's place come June 12th against U.S.A. There is Warnock and Baines, two of the player's who even before this recent news would have been in the Italian's thoughts. Fabio could also turn to centre back come left back Joleon Lescott. Undoubtedly Lescott has more experience for England than the other two but he has never looked truly comfortable in an England shirt and he has been average at best for City this season whilst the other two have shone.

One other option would be to change the position of a player who had surely already booked his place to the World Cup and it could come in the form of either James Milner or Gareth Barry. Should everyone in the midfield be fit Milner would probably start this summer's tournament on the bench, despite his performances over shadowing those of Steven Gerrard this season, so with his versatility he could play at left back but that would mean restricting his impact as a great player to bring off the bench. Dropping Barry back would open a whole new question of who might fill in at Barry's position of the holding glue to England's attacking midfield. Once upon-a-time there was a defensive English midfielder who could have done such a job, his name was Owen Hargreaves- no really it's not a fairy tale!

For me, in a World Cup, you can't chop and change a player's position just 4 month before the biggest tournament in these players lives. One of Warnock or Baines should be the left back in the squad, the other though may not make it at all. With Milner, Barry and possibly Lescott in the squad there may not be the need for a second left back in the squad.

I guess if playing football is like making love to a beautiful woman then the World Cup would be Cheryl Cole. So that's two England left backs who won't be making love to Cheryl Cole then!

No I in Team

It doesn't rain, it pours (or snows in the case of the MJSL- third time this season we've had a game cancelled because it's snowed Saturday night). It's bad enough that you have a moronic owner but then fortunes on the pitch couldn't be worse. Bad results, bad luck and having to sell your best players for relatively cheap prices.

When once it seemed the only way was up now the only way is down and pretty damned fast, you may even be lucky to still be around come the end of the season. Oh how I feel for Portsmouth. Of course you probably knew I was talking about the 2008 FA Cup winners, I guess I could have been talking about Crystal Palace...

... Apart from the fact I feel sorry for Avram Grant, the same can't be said of Palace's manager.

Neil Warnock is the head of the whinge brigade of football managers. Don't get me wrong every football manager is allowed a whinge now and again but when it happens so often it gets annoying. And I should know the manager of my beloved Manchester United is one of the kings of it. This season Sir Alex's moaning has been unbearable, mainly because it's always about the same thing- the amount of added time in matches. Arsene Wenger is another moaner who frustrates, mainly because every week something other than his teams poor performance is at fault for dropped points or cup losses- Wednesday's comedy of errors against Porto for instance. Rafa Benitez is now hilarious, not because he moans, but because he doesn't, a simple "the ref was excellent" seems to do for the Spaniard.

Now to Warnock, a man who's past as the man who nearly put Bury- a club close to my heart and home- into administration a few years back, is clearly not my favourite manager at the best of time but his moaning pushes me over the edge. The former Sheffield United manager consistently blames officials if anything goes wrong and is so far over the top it's ridiculous, last weeks FA Cup match against Aston Villa was a major case in point. I don't argue that the officials got it wrong, clearly a corner was wrongly given but giving a corner wrongly is hardly the worst decision in any game. Instead of perhaps making a passing comment and accepting a draw with one of the Premier League's top sides as a decent result Warnock instead complained, but it wasn't a normal complaint, no Warnock suggested the official should be suspended- for giving a goal kick as a corner, utter ridiculous!

If this was not bad enough Warnock decided on Thursday, after Mick Mcarthy and Wolves had been wrongly, in my opinion, been charged for changing 10 players for their trip to Old Trafford, that this matter needed his opinion. Warnock is not a manager of a Premier League club, he hasn't been since May 2007. Warnock is not a manager of Wolves, nor has he ever been. The matter had nothing to do with the Palace manager or his current club. Warnock instead decided that this matter reflected 2007 when both Liverpool and Manchester United played weakened sides against Fulham and West Ham and thus Sheffield United were relegated. What he misses out is the fact that the reason Sheffield United went down, contrary to the courts blaming purely Carlos Tevez, was that Sheffield United weren't good enough to stay down. Furthermore he even asked the question "Were Liverpool or United docked points?", well no but neither were Wolves.

Above all the moaning and nearly running Bury into the ground my main problem with the former Oldham manager is his clear selfishness. Everything Warnock says is to do with him. He does not feel for the club, or the fans he only cares what impact it has on him. Sheffield United went down and it meant he was no longer a Premier League manager. Palace drew with Villa and so it meant he was not in the next round of the FA cup- never mind the fact a replay was most important for Palace.

Selfishness is what kills a club. In this team game there is no room for a "me" attitude in any team, never mind one that is in financial danger. And this is where Pompey come back into play.

Portsmouth have been destroyed by several acts of selfishness. From chairman to former players. Perhaps one of the worst cases is Sol Campbell. Sol enjoyed a good period at Portsmouth, moving for free from Arsenal, he was amongst the clubs top earners and lifted the FA cup as captain. Now, back at Arsenal, Sol had decided that this is the time to claim the image rights he is owed. An argument for Sol is that he's just claiming what is rightfully his from the contract he had with the South Coast club. But has he not made enough money in his career that he can't avoid putting yet another nail in the Portsmouth coffin?

Look beyond the moaning, look beyond the character's involved and see just what is left. The sad truth that two football teams, with fans like you and I, are on the verge of extinction and that is truly sad!

Oh for some excitement!

I knew one day Arsene Wenger would say something that not only didn't annoy me but I also agreed with. Of course it wasn't his comments after Arsenal's game against Porto. I mean that was hilarious- the incident and Wenger's comments after.

Wenger's undying refusal to ever blame his players is getting beyond ridiculous now. How he could possibly blame the referee for Arsenal losing last night was too far. The ref made an error in not awarding a penalty when Tomas Rosicky went down in the box, but then the commentators on both ITV and BBC Radio 5 live thought the midfielder had gone down easily, it wasn't till they saw the replay that they reckoned ref and linesman had got it wrong and neither these men had the fortune of seeing the replay. Other than that the man in yellow did nothing wrong when it came to the big decisions despite Wenger's thoughts.

Anyway enough of all that, Wenger complaining and me not agreeing is hardly worthy of blogging about, after all I'd end up doing it every week if that were the case. Now to what me and Arsene agree on- and to add to the madness so does Rafa.

I'm sure most of us would claim that the English Premier League is the best domestic competition in the world, but I'm also sure we'd like some changes perhaps. I for one would like more English players- I have nothing against the foreign players I just wish there was more talented Englishmen to mean we didn't always have to go abroad. I'd also like video refs, for decisions on goals and penalties, I'm not asking that the refs ask for someone to review which way a throw in should go but can't we eradicate mistakes like the ones which ruled out recent winners for Bolton and Stoke by simply asking a man in a booth "can I award a goal?" waiting 30 seconds to a minute and then awarding it.

Two things that aren't on the top of my list, or anywhere near, are the need for more excitement or the need for more money in the Premier League. Richard Scudamore seems to disagree with me.

I am of course referring to Mr Scudamore's new idea that there should be an end of season playoff between the teams finishing forth, fifth, sixth and seventh in the Premier League to decide who will qualify for the Champions League. This idea of course comes one season on from "Gam£ 39", as it came to be known.

Hold on! One of the reasons for the play offs is so the season is more exciting?!? I've missed something here. Is the Premier League somehow not exciting enough?

We have a very even title race, a very even race for forth and a very even relegation battle- not just even but bloody exciting. I would take a quick look at the table and suggest only Birmingham, Everton and Fulham can be all but sure they won't get relegated and be looking at too much of a deficit to get into the top 7 but I'm sure fans of these clubs would argue with my assumption- and rightly so. This all means, that with 3 months and 12 or so games to go, the Premiership is at it's most exciting in years, and it looks like the next few years will only shorten the gap between the 'big four' and those jostling for position behind them.

And what of those jostling for position? What if one did earn 4th spot? Would they be happy to then have to go through play-offs to re-earn what they already have? I think not, especially as the member of the 'big four' who got knocked away from 4th spot would almost certainly be in the top 7 and who would bet on them not winning those play-offs- not me!

The proposal would also be hugely detrimental to any future success in international competitions that England may be aiming for. Take this season for example- heading to a World Cup the teams in the play-off would be Liverpool, Manchester City, Spurs and Villa. So in essence players such as Gerrard, Barry, Bridge, Lescott, Wright-Phillips, Adam Johnson, Defoe, Crouch, Lennon, Huddelstone, Dawson, King, Warnock, Milner, Young, Agbonlahor, Heskey would all be playing in highly competitive matches for a further 2 weeks after the F.A Cup final, possibly even Champions League final. Fair enough I've over exaggerated the amount of players but those listed all have at least an outside chance of making the plane to South Africa.

Quite frankly other than lining the pockets of men like Scudamore and the other 'suits' in charge of our beautiful game there is simply no reason to add play-offs to the Premier League. Rafa himself suggested that if we do this why not a play-off for the last relagated team as well.

You could argue of course that Wenger and Rafa (and potentially me as a United supporter) have most to lose from the introduction of these play-offs but the truth is that the managers who usually complain the most about nothing finally have something to complain about!

Keeping, the Engand Job

It's been a while, for me anyway, since I mentioned that big tournament just 4 months away. You know the one in South Africa that England are going to win. Stop the giggling. Rio Ferdinand is going to get to lift the World Cup come July of that I'm sure.

And yes it will now be Rio's face we remember lifting the trophy in years to come and not the now ex captain John Terry. Of course on reading the title of this post you'd probably be thinking the comma is a typo and I'm about to embark on my opinion on Terrygate/Bridgegate. As it happens I would have kept JT on but I understand why Don Fabio didn't and fully back both his decision and how he delivered it in their short 12 minute meeting.

Meanwhile on the England front Wayne Rooney continues to show why most people increasingly believe that if he were to get injured between now and June England's hopes would evaporate. Also those player's who have at different times been definite starters on the right wing, Mr Lennon and Walcott, continue to fade from thoughts due to injury and form whilst their potential replacement, Mr Milner, continues to improve his rising reputation.

Along with Rooney there is one other aspect of the side that many believe must be right for Rio's side to bring back the trophy and end 44 trophyless years for the country. It is of course the question of who, as the song says, is "England's number 1, England's England's number 1"?

It is a question that has long been asked and long been unanswered, certainly since Paul Robinson's mistake in Croatia was followed up by very quickly by Scott Carson's at Wembley in the rain.

So those two players seem like a good place to start. After Robinson missed Gary Neville's back pass it looked like the then Spurs keeper would never recover to such a time where he might be considered as England's man between the posts again. Errors started coming into his game at club level and he looked a calamitous as a James. Shipped off to Blackburn though Robinson has set about rebuilding his career in the last 19 months and this season has put in a number of dazzling displays hardly helped by his defence. Carson on the other hand is no where near in the picture. Now a Championship quality goalkeeper playing in the Championship. It is proof that of all of Steve McLaren's mistakes as England manager the one to replace Robinson with Carson on that rainy night in London was perhaps the biggest.

Fast forward to the end of 2009 and the man most recently in possession of the cover ted gloves has been Ben Foster. It's an almost laughable thought that the man who started against Brazil in November will be starting against U.S.A in June. Foster has fallen so far off the radar with club side, Manchester United, that during Edwin van der Sar's recent absence it was not Foster but Tomasz Kuszczak who took the Dutchman's place. Foster is a talented goalkeeper, to that there has never been much doubt, but he is no longer a youngster and major questions remain over the mental side of his game. And without games for United there is unlikely to be any for England.

Before Foster it was Robert Green who had the gloves, not long ago he worse a pair with the words "England's number 6" stitched into them. But as recently as the qualifier against Ukraine Green has been England's number one. I personally am not a big fan, and he still looks highly error prone for West Ham but he must currently be in the top 3. It wasn't though till Chris Kirkland was injured for friendly against France in 2008 that Green came into Capello's thinking. For me the man he replaced is the most talented English keeper around- but his constant injuries all but count him out.

There is two more candidates at different ends of the scale. One an up and coming Englishman in the form of his life. The other an ageing keeper who is only just playing Premier League football because the inform keeper at the club has been sold to clear the team's debt. Joe Hart, on loan at Birmingham, has been nothing short of sensational at times this season. Birmingham have been the surprise package of this season and it is in no small part down to Hart's reactions, athleticism and all round game that shows maturity way beyond his years. Down in the south coast David James has been in and out of injuries for big parts of the season and is only now playing for Portsmouth, a side as calamitous as James' own nickname and reputation. I had the misfortune to watch the recent Manchester City vs Portsmouth match. It was a drab match in which most of the excitement came from James, on several occasions, being unable to hold on to the most simple of balls- one of which went for the corner which led to City's second goal.

At this time I would personally take Robinson, Hart and Green to the World Cup with the former two fighting for the number 1 spot.

One final thought though goes towards Brazil, serial winners of football's biggest tournament and specifically their recent wins in 1994 and 2002. The goalkeepers in those tournaments were Taffarel and Marcos respectively. Two goalkeepers who have never done too much in their careers and never been thought of as much more than average. Perhaps England don't quite have the sides these two had playing in front of them. Or perhaps all you need is a competent goalkeeper who won't cost your team the match and the tournament. Sorry David!

Bit Drafty!

So apparently the transfer window shut on Monday. No bang, no crash, barely even a whimper- quite frankly if Robbie “everywhere I go is my favourite club” Keane hadn’t headed north to his favourite club, Celtic, then the window wouldn’t even had made any headlines.

Obviously Manchester City were chasing more headlines, with late transfers seeming to be their favourite way to do it- maybe second behind Garry Cook’s outbursts of moron like behaviour. Having captured the signing of Patrick Vieira earlier in the window the Citizens returned to Italy for another central midfielder. This time they wanted Ronald McDonald from Parma, what? That’s not his name? Ok so it must have been Old McDonald they wanted? No? Unfortunately McDonald Mariga couldn’t get his work permit and ended up at Jose’s Inter. Of course it wasn’t unfortunate he didn’t sign because of his talent but more because of his headline writing name.

Once that target had disappeared City decided to try and grab the headlines with a transfer more of note for the player rather than his name. Enter Adam Johnson, a reported £7 million acquisition from Middlesbrough. Johnson is a highly rated English left winger who, should City not do a Chelsea, one day be a successful part of an England side- yes an exciting left winger!

Looking for excitement beyond City and perhaps Robbie’s 2nd temporary transfer in the last 18 months there wasn’t much to write home about. Portsmouth’s numerous outgoings and few loan incomings and the story of where Victor Moses might end up kept us with something else to concentrate on but the rest was all drab.

Of course Sky Sports News and BBC’s live text tried to keep us occupied but the very fact that the former didn’t have their usual man on 4 phones even in the office suggested the last day of the window would be one we’d be happy to see the end of. God knows the last few weeks have been full of coaches, managers, players and even agents moaning about how the window needs to go. But are they right?

The window was created to make it fairer to the lesser clubs, basically the Uniteds of the world couldn’t buy your player in November just because he was in great form and they were due to play you. To me though it doesn’t seem to make too much difference, the player will just be sold in the summer anyway. And surely the window helps more players leave on a free when their contract runs out. Currently if a player doesn’t want to leave in January or the club don’t get a good enough offer then he just sits around to leave on a free in July. Without a window there would be longer to get a deal done or if a player is being stubborn you can just freeze him out for a few more games till he gets fed up and accepts to leave in March- you may get less for him but it’s more than nothing.

Steve Bruce today flagged up what is perhaps the most agreeable argument; it is only a matter of time until a player takes action against the transfer window as a restraint of trade- basically stopping a player working. He took Benjani as an example, had his loan move from City to Sunderland (yawn) not gone through then it “restricts his career, it restricts his movement”. As we know these laws are the kind of thing that stops a cap on the amount of foreign players allowed and the now infamous Bosman ruling.

It is clearly time to get rid of this window. By now it’s only real function is to give us some drama twice a year. It is failing to do that now!

Time to change that window for some open patio doors. Otherwise it might be time for the Benjani ruling.

Title down to two?

"And then there were two!"

Phil McNulty's words not mine.

Sunday's match wasn't your normal cagey affair between two of the big four, instead it was as open a game of football as you could wish to see. Well it was open in the way that Arsenal's defence opened up for the United attack, especially Messrs Rooney and Almeida da Cunha (or Nani to most of us).

This of course was not the first time that another member of the top four exposed Arsenal’s defence to looking like it had more holes in it than a Swiss cheese, oddly enough Philippe Senderos was already on loan at Everton. Back in November Chelsea exposed Arsene Wenger’s side in the same way, at least Wenger could be happy Thomas Vermaelen didn’t break his leg last week otherwise it would have been Rooney and Nani running at Sol Campbell, the match may have been even more unbearable for Gunners everywhere.

I for one had picked out Arsenal as a good chance for title success just a few weeks ago. United had just lost to Leeds and Chelsea had just lost their African players to their continental competition, Arsenal had a tough run of matches coming up against Aston Villa and United followed by Chelsea and Liverpool. “If they win those four I think they’ll win the league”, this time they were my words, I need to stop predicting stuff- “Marouane Fellaini must be one of the worst midfielders in the Premier League” just before the Everton vs. Man City match and “I can’t stand Park Ji-Sung he just doesn’t add anything to the attack” before Sunday’s match- are both amongst my latest observations before watching football.

Of course United seem to have picked up some form since losing to Leeds, Chelsea look excellent even before their African players arrive back in the Premiership and Wenger’s ‘new animal’s’ have looked like very tired sloths in their matches against Villa and United. That last comment may be slightly harsh, certainly against Villa they weren’t all that bad but certainly against United they showed that perhaps they hadn’t grown up as much as the Frenchman thought since last year’s Champions League exit to the same opponents. So are Arsenal out of the league already?

Clearly there is still plenty of time till the end of the season and they are only 5 points off Chelsea’s top spot, a gap which could be diminished at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. There is also the fact that last time Arsenal lost in the league, against Chelsea, they reacted by going 10 games without losing. Last but not least in Arsenal’s favour is the return of most of their previously missing players- Alex Song’s return from Angola is essential, as is Nicklas Bendtner’s return from injury to give Wenger an actual striker to pick up front instead of rotating the skillful but short midfielders who have beern occupying that area of the pitch.

There is though the other side. For one Arsenal’s best striking option, Robin van Persie, is still out and most likely till April, unless someone else can start scoring the goals by the time the Dutchman is back it may be too late for the title to head to the Emirates. Secondly is the question of the squad. We all know in this day and age it is not about the first 11 but about the whole squad, and Arsenal are definitely third in these stakes. Only a few weeks ago you would have argued Arsenal’s was stronger than United’s but take a look at the champion’s bench on Sunday and you’d find Valencia, Owen, Berbatov, Giggs and Gibson- there was no room for Anderson or Diouf and there is still Ferdinand and Vidic to return from suspension and injury respectively. Finanlly is Arsenal’s recent record in winning the Premier League- unlike their two rivals it is some time since they managed it. Last time they challenged was two seasons ago, Arsenal looked good in the league and travelled to Old Trafford in the FA Cup fifth round on February 16th 2008. They were outplayed in every deparment, losing 4-0 and being embaressed by a young skilfull Portugese winger named Nani. Arsenal never recovered mentaly from that hammering and United went on to win the league.

Football doesn’t always repeat itself but then again Robbie Keane has just gone on a temporary transfer to the team he supported as a boy!

Then there were two? Sunday may just have the answer!

Welcome to Football!

Forget the gloating. Forget the violent morons arrested before the match. Forget the insults. Forget the poster. Forget Carlos Tevez, actually don't forget him, he's important.

Last night it didn't matter if you were a Manchester City or Manchester United fan, it didn't even matter if you hated both these teams, it just mattered that you can appreciate football in it's most beautiful form.

It wasn't just about last night though, it was about last week as well. Two of the countries biggest clubs entertained us to the maximum in the last 7 days and all in a competition that has been nicknamed the "Mickey Mouse Cup", the "Worthless Cup" and such other things in the last few years.

Suddenly the countries attention turned to the Carling Cup. On a night where Aston Villa faced Arsenal and Chelsea put in another brilliant performance to go top the Premier League never seemed so insignificant.

Not having Sky Sports I went to a pub to watch the match with some friends. One a big City fan, one a big United fan and one with very little interest in football. The pub was split pretty evenly with City and United fans. Singing began before kick off, the United fans booing any sights of Carlos Tevez and chanting the name of the white Pele on his every appearance "Rooney, Rooney, Rooney". Even from the pub some 3.5 miles away from Old Trafford you could sense that these two would be the protagonists for his side.

The nerves lay on the shoulders of those in Blue as the match started. United were favourites but had nothing to lose, City were ahead and had it all to lose but so much to gain to. The none football fan amongst my friends remarked towards the City fan "watching your reactions is half the fun". As the game wore on the nerves didn't quite totally shift, but I certainly began getting more nervous, and so did the other United fans as they began to sing more, the nervous energy becoming songs.

But it's not just about my experience of the game, last night was about pure drama, pure football. One moron, possibly two, tried to ruin the atmosphere and the excitement by throwing a coin at Craig Bellamy, if anything it added to the excitement and it the occasion, it showed the two sets of players agreeing with the rest of the population, that this person is clearly a moron. The way I'd punish him would be to ban him from all football matches but one. And for that one match I'd drag him into the centre circle at half time of Manchester City vs Manchester United and allow the Welshman to kick the moron right in the testicles and let everyone point and laugh.

But enough of that. He tried to ruin the game he didn't. It was awesome. I loved watching it, I love watching all football but this game was special to everyone, especially everyone in Manchester. The rivalry last night was taken to a new level but at the same time the rivalry kind of disappeared. We all loved the game no matter, obviously come the end of the match City fans weren't in as good a mood as the reds of Manchester but even they had to applaud a real battle of two teams who really wanted to win, needed to win.

This blog hasn't really been about anything. Some might complain about that but it doesn't really matter to me. I'm just telling you how much I love football especially when it was exciting as last night.

Talking of cup excitement last Sunday was the Shonn Trophy, no doubt you don't know this competition because it's one that Sporting JLGB played in. Yes ladies and gents- it's back, Sunday League is back. We lost 2-1 to Maccabi, saddening yes but we played with 10 for the whole match and we were excellent. For half an hour we outplayed them, and then we went down to 9 men, and they got a cheeky goal. Very annoying but we came off the pitch, heads held high. Unfortunately no semi final place but still.

Back at Old Trafford United fans and players celebrated. City fans and players thought of what might have been. Fortunately they have the F.A Cup still to play for and a trip to Wembley is still possible. Any side who took part in that semi-final deserves that place, and so I for one will be cheering them all the way to the FA Cup Final and I don't care if that upsets any United fans.

Welcome to the league cup! Welcome to football! Most of all, WELCOME TO MANCHESTER!!