Holding Out for a Hero

Manchester United 2-0 Cardiff City 

The crowd sang Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s name as they looked, seemingly at times in vain, for a hero to rescue them. But this was not May 1999, this was January 2014. This was not Camp Nou but Old Trafford. And this was not Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final but Cardiff City in the Premier League.

Times have changed since that fateful night in Barcelona but the need for a hero still remained as Manchester United took to the pitch against Cardiff. Before the match began there was a tremendous reception for United’s former number 20 as he took his place on the opposition bench. On any other night his return would have been the story. However, on this night, Old Trafford welcomed back Robin Van Persie from injury. But the headline didn’t even go to the Dutch striker, on this night the main attraction in Manchester came from Spain via Chelsea. On this night United welcomed Juan Mata.

The game kicked off and the ‘Red Devils’ looked intent on attacking from the off. It didn’t take long for the ball to find its way to Mata and in turn Van Persie. On six minutes the Spaniard sprayed the ball to the left and found Ashley Young who checked back onto his right foot and swung in a cross that Antonia Valencia headed against the bar, Van Persie slotted the follow up from close range. But Old Trafford is a different place these days and an early 1-0 lead did nothing to lift the nerves that have settled over the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ during United’s bad form.

Cardiff fans were out singing their hosts. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to Old Trafford often enough to know the home fans aren’t always the loudest but home fans rarely are. At the league cup semi final the 9000 Sunderland fans were excellent, but I’ve been to the Stadium of Light where they were silent. Spurs fans love to gloat about their away support but against Wigan last season they were out sung, BY WIGAN FANS! But even the Stretford End has been relatively quiet recently and, other than stirring to sing for Ole, this trend continued as Cardiff began to get a bit of a foothold in the match. There weren’t many clear cut chances but chances and crosses flashed across the box came and went as the home crowd gasped with horror built from recent games against Swansea and Sunderland.

Cardiff continued to push forward on the break as half time came and went and still looked bright on the counter in the second half. Then, with a flash of brilliance from none other than Ashley Young, that cloud of doubt, of nerves, of tension, was gone. Cutting in from the left Young hit the ball beyond the reach of David Marshall and it nestled into the back of the net. The crowd rose and cheered, sheer and utter relief!

There was singing, chanting and good, patient but attacking football. Mata and Jonny Evans came close with long range shots. Just to add to the party mood Van Persie was replaced by Wayne Rooney to a standing ovation that was extended for both players. Januzaj came on for Mata and the trick was repeated. Rooney nearly made it 3-0 with a cheeky chip and then Marshall saved well from Valencia.

This was neither a classic nor a tale for the ages. It was not a match that suggested United would win the title, or even finish in the top four. United still need to put together a run of form. But part of the nerves that shackle Old Trafford have begun to lift. In 99 Ole was the hero in a team of legends, now in a mediocre side United may need four heroes, when Mata, Januzaj, Van Persie and Rooney get on the pitch together they may just have them.

Simply, the Best!

Recently my blog posts, it could easily be said, have been written as a fan first and a blogger second. I'd argue that I am a football fan first and a blogger second so all my blog posts have been written in such a way.

I get equal joy in being a football fan as I do writing about the sport and so it gives me as much pleasure writing about Manchester United winning the Premier League as it did to be at Old Trafford on Monday to see them beat Aston Villa 3-0 and thus capture the Premier League title. Well okay, that's a slight lie.

Yes United wrapped up their 13th Premier League title on Monday night with four games to spare with a points gap that currently stands at 16 points. There is a good chance that the gap to closest rivals, Manchester City, will come down by the end of the season; City have a game in hand and United have the harder remaining fixtures. That though should not take away from the fantastic achievement of this title winning side. After all a team winning a title with so long to go, relatively, will always be remembered as a great side of course.....

Apparently not!

On winning the league, and even before hand, it has been levelled that Sir Alex Ferguson's side is not 'one of his best' and that, even more ridiculously, United have only won the title because everyone else is rubbish.

Champions always deserve to be champions, this much can be said of all league campaigns. That is not to say that you don't need a tinge of luck but over such a long competition the team that wins and the teams who get relegated will always be the best and worst respectively.

Is it SAF's best ever United team? No of course not but the Scot himself, not one for these comparisons has told us it's one of, if not the, best squad he's had. Upfront the 'Red Devils' possess one of the best strikers in the world in Robin Van Persie and probably the best strike force as he is partnered by Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck. Within the ranks are also some of the best young talent in the game, some of them even English, in the likes of David de Gea, Phil Jones and Rafael. Add this with the experienced perennial winners in the shape of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Michael Carrick and you have an almost perfectly formed squad, the likes of which not even Sir Alex's long reign can previously boast.

Is the rest of the league that bad? No! The Premier League's 'demise' is greatly exaggerated despite any representation in the last four of the Champions League. For one all 4 sides went out in very different circumstances and three of the four went out to at least one, if not two in City's case, of the semi-finalists. Three English teams did make it into the Europa League and Chelsea, still reigning Champions League winners for now, are still there. A sign of improvement is not usually found at the top anyway, it is normally in the middle and lower skilled where the gap closes. Take cricket as an example, no batsmen will ever be better than the great Sir Donald Bradman but the worst of this era's batsmen are far superior to the bygone age of the 'rabbit' coming in at 11. Taking this example we can see that the middle to lower sides have certainly closed the gap to the likes of Liverpool and Everton.

United's dominance is laughably being used as proof that they only won the league because everyone else is rubbish, meanwhile in Germany Bayern Munich won the title by 20 points and people are saying they are the best team in Europe in the best league in the world because of this.

This United team does not inspire and destroy like the Treble winning side of 1998/99 or even the Double winners of 2007/08 but it is a juggernaut of a squad who do not give up ever. They have ground out the title in a spectacular way and they have done it as a brilliant squad.

This title does not belong to the sides below being rubbish it belongs, simply, to the best!


Officially You Don't Know Your Job

Officiating in a game of football cannot be easy, I've never had to do it but that's only because the team Sporting JLGB were due to face when we had no referee assigned that day did not turn up- I was very relieved.

On some occasions referees and their assistants get a harder time than they deserve. Many occasions I have felt sorry for a 4th official, powerless to do anything but taking abuse from both manager's in the dugout on behalf of the 'ref'.

Of course officials do not help themselves. There is always terrible decisions to pour over, and I often do. I have been known to abuse 'refs' as much as the next Sunday League player/coach/manager/secretary/fan. Officials making mistakes, after the heat of the moment, is acceptable.

What is not acceptable is them not knowing their job. On Tuesday night Bayern Munich played Barcelona in the Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg. Munich ran out comfortable 4-0 winners.

Bayern's second goal may have been offside, it was a close call. The assistant referee did not flag. In part this was because he did not believe Mario Gomez was offside but partially this was because Arjen Robben was stood in his way. Both ref and assistant did their job correctly. My issue comes with official number five, or six I'm not sure. The 5th official, the man stood by the goal, clearly thought Gomez was offside. His first reaction, like that of a striker believing he is offside, was to look at the assistant. When he saw no flag he too decided it mustn't have been offside but that's not his job. The 5th official is essentially just another assistant, his job is to decide his stance, in this case that Gomez was offside, flag for it and allow the ref to weigh up both opinions.

On this occasion the ref would have sided with his assistant ahead of 'number 5' but that's totally besides the point. Until officials know what their role is how can we expect them to do it properly?

Finally F.A is Sweet

Luis Suarez bit another footballer, for the second time in his career!

Just read that sentence, read it several times if something doesn't look quite right, it shouldn't look right. No person should bite another. It, in the worst possible way, is what animals do. It is a disgusting act done by no one with any decency.

Suarez has previous, and not just with biting, and his constant trips to F.A disciplinary hearings, the fact he's a repeat offender and the fact he bit someone has led to him getting a 10 match ban.

Many believe this is harsh and the Football Association has once again got it all wrong. They have pointed to Jermaine Defoe's bite on Javier Mascherano going unpunished but just because it has made once mistake a few years ago this doesn't mean they should compound it by making the same mistake again. Some, including Gus Poyet, say that Suarez is being targeted but perhaps the Uruguayan should stop biting and diving amongst his many other flaws.

For once they've done something and it really is sweet F.A

Wembley Warriors!

Promotion to the Premier League, as Cardiff will hopefully find out next season, does not automatically make you a Premier League team. For some teams they are back in the Championship before they come close and for others, Stoke perhaps, just as they have finally established themselves relegation comes a calling.

Amongst those who did not feel like a Premier League team on their introduction to England's top tier were Wigan Athletic. A small club, who rose from the 84th best team in England to 10th in just 10 years, they were never going to be well followed.

Coming from a Rugby League town and surrounded by Manchester and Liverpool, along with many other Lancastrian footballing strongholds, Athletic have struggled, even now in the Premier League, to be fashionable. But, after finishing 10th in their first season, Wigan are still in the Premier League 8 years on. They may battle most seasons  just to stay in and once again they could go down but the Latics are well and truly an established Premier League side.

The "Pie Eaters" now have some top quality players, Arouna Kone, Shaun Maloney and Jordi Gomez to name but a few, they play attractive passing football, have an intelligent manager with a strong philosophy and a chairman who genuinely cares about the club and town where the club is from. All of which sounds extremely likeable. However there are many who still look down their noses at the low attendances at the DW Stadium and use this as a reason to suggest Wigan should not be a Premier League team.

Wigan's average attendance is often less than a Championship side but when considering their rapid rise as a team, the history of rugby league in the town and the locality of famously bigger sides than themselves this is unsurprising- they simply grew in stature quicker than they could generate new fans. People criticised the club for underselling their tickets for the FA Cup Semi Final by 10,000 but no trains ran direct to Wigan from London after the final whistle and in a world of recession, expecting fans to travel down to London twice in a month is ludicrous.

The naysayers think Wigan's constant scrapping for survival on the last day suggests they do not belong in the top tier but the league table at the end of the season rarely lies, on top of which did Everton not go through a period of hanging on for dear life to stay up and that when they were a well and truly established side.

When people consider teams they don't support but have a soft spot for the likes of Arsenal, Spurs and Swansea are often mentioned because of their passing style but Wigan are somehow left off this list. In modern football a 3-4-3 might be seen as a risk but that does not stop Roberto Martinez from playing it, and his players have adapted well, unlike the superstars at Manchester City who have failed to welcome Roberto Mancini's 3-5-2 formation.

It is truly amazing how much Wigan's players respect, not only their manager, but also their chairman whom many of them praised at the end of the match against Millwall on Saturday. And it's easy to see in the reaction of both Martinez and Whelan  how much the clubs success means to them- Martinez could barely stop smiling in the post match interview.

When Wigan return to Wembley, home of many rugby league successes for the town, to face Manchester City on May 11th many may turn their affection to Wigan but only because they envy City's success and won't want them winning. The truth is that we should be supporting Wigan because we have a soft spot for them.

Perhaps if Martinez can lead his side to a memorable and improbable FA Cup victory some will consider eating humble pie. And if so, I know a great place to get it from.

Doffing my Baseball Cap and Glasses

It seems the North West of the country is full of football teams easy to dislike; the Manchester clubs- for their success, Wigan- for seemingly no reason, Liverpool- for well, being Liverpool, Blackburn- because of their owners and of course Stoke City. I don't need to tell you why, you already hate them.

Tony Pulis' men go against all that we are told is the 'right way' to play football in this day and age. Barcelona are potentially the best team to ever play football as Stoke are the polar opposite it's fair to assume they are the worst.

After Stoke lost to Manchester United it seems that 'The Potters' are really staring down the barrel of relegation. The manager, Pulis, seems to be on the way out and many are glad. Pulis' style, or lack thereof, is pretty much to have his team hoof the ball  up to a tall striker and hope to cause havoc- it wins him few fans.

When Pulis leaves Stoke, and I believe he should whether his team stay up or not, he should actually be fondly remembered. He has done wonders to turn the team into an established Premier League side, has taken them to an FA Cup final, delivered European football and delivered players with reputations far beyond logical thinking.

Pulis, and his uncompromising style, demand our respect, not derision. I will doff my baseball cap and lift my glasses- relegation or not.

The Curious Case of Wayne Rooney

I still remember the ball being brought down by his right foot, the swivel on the ball, he shaped up to hit the shot and then, with the brilliance of a world class striker, he hit it. It looped over England's best centre back who could only look on in amazement as the ball struck the underside of the cross bar to beat England's number 1 'keeper'. 

This was of course Wayne Rooney, at 16, scoring a wonder goal from 30 yards out against David Seaman to stop Arsenal going 31 games unbeaten in the league. It was his first senior goal. I remember it so vividly, I can even remember the conversation about it the next morning at the Heaton Park football pitches before King David F.C took on South Manchester. And of course I remember the commentary.


Fast forward to modern day, Monday night to be precise, and the exciting youngster who defeated the then champions of England looked more like a washed up, out of shape and rubbish player- ironically against the now champions of England as Manchester United lost the Manchester derby to City. 

Rooney was not the only 'Red Devil' who looked below par but he was the most worrying. The ex-Evertonian is not exactly having an awful season, after all he has 12 goals and 9 assists for United in just 22 games whilst this year alone he has scored in all 3 of England's internationals. All in all it is a fantastic return for the 27 year old however what worries is how he plays when first coming back from injury and, most importantly, how often he's been injured.

Sir Alex Ferguson has gone on record on a couple of occasions this season about United's number 10 and his fitness; "Wayne is a boy that needs games, you can see that from the frame he’s got." said the Scot. And even more recently he repeated the idea "He's missed bits of games and I think Wayne is the type of player who can't miss games." In essence the United manager is saying that Rooney can't afford to miss games because it takes him several games to get back up to any decent level. 

Too often this season, Real Madrid, Chelsea and City at least, Rooney has been injured in the build up to big matches. He wasn't risked against either Madrid or Chelsea but, with United's recent performances being under par, 'Wazza' was thrown in from the start in the derby. 

That putting Rooney in from the start in the derby can be viewed as a gamble should be preposterous he is still, after all,  United's talisman despite Robin van Persie's added brilliance. Yes most player's might lose a step or two after a week out but Rooney looks unable to perform until 3 games after a 'come back'. 

I don't yet think the 'boy' from Croxteth should be moved on, nor do I think he will be, but something seriously needs to be done- either stop him getting injured or find a way of getting him back to his best quicker. Remember the name- because the brilliance may start to fade.


Curiosity Kills the Kag

I remember a lot. It doesn't help because it's never useful things. But I remember watching as City destroyed United 6-1 at Old Trafford. It was only last season, of course I remember.

On that day City were almost unstoppable, especially after 'The Reds' continued attacking at 3-1 down. After the match pundits poured over the game and everyone came to the conclusion that the biggest difference between the two sides was David Silva. The small but hugely talented attacking midfielder got in the gap between United's defence and midfield and ran the show with brilliant off the ball running and excellent passing. His creativity is what United lacked, not only in that match but also for the season.

With City going on to win the league United looked to find that spark of inspiration and, with the season barely over, they announced that Borussia Dortmund's own attacking midfielder, Shinji Kagawa, would be joining. The Japanese player was named Bundesliga "Player of the Season" in Dortmund's title win. 

Players often struggle in their first season in the Premier League but, despite a slowish start, Kagawa has shown himself to be an extremely promising signing- especially with his hat-trick vs. Norwich in March. With this in mind and Rooney's inability to come back from injury it seemed ridiculous that the man from Kobe wouldn't start. 'Kag' didn't even get onto the pitch till the 92nd minute when Ashley Young went off injured.

United will go onto win the title, not because of their small but hugely talented attacking midfielder but because of Robin van Persie. Next season City will look to sign their own RvP, perhaps United can just find room for their own world class attacking midfielder.

And the nominees are...

It's been a busy few weeks in the world of cinema, it's always the same this time of year. In the past month or so the silver screen has seen esteemed awards, in the shape of Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Oscars, go to the likes of Ben Affleck, Adele, Christopher Waltz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Emmanuelle Riva, Jennifer Lawrence and Ang Lee, to name but a few.

In football it's always a busy few weeks, recently we've had a slew of F.A cup shocks, fantastic Champions League games, some absolute 'thronkers', to borrow a phrase from Football Focus' Dan Walker, and of course the very first 'Pulled off at Half Time' Podcast, featuring me. But many people seem to have mixed up football's busy period with that of cinema with many starting to speculate on who will be this season's "Player of the Year." The confusion has come after yet another wonderful performance, and goals, from Gareth Bale against West Ham United on Monday. Added to the fact that the voting slips for football's end of season awards come out famously early, although not this early, and you've got a myriad of speculation.

It's clearly too early to be considering player of the year with many pivotal moments to come in the next 11 games. Now, obviously, I'm not suggesting the player who performs best in the next 11 games should win the award I simply mean the 'run in' may tip the scales towards one of the contenders.

All this got me thinking, in this mini season of 11 games who is the player who will be the most important?

And the nominations are...
In alphabetical order

Gareth Bale
The Welshman has been almost unstoppable recently, his 2 free kicks at home against Lyon and his top class goal against West Ham amongst his many match winning performances for Spurs, but the winger will have to keep up his current form if Spurs are to clinch a top 4 spot, with 2nd still up for grabs. The North London side have the hardest of run ins with home matches against Southampton and Sunderland the only 'easy' games on a list that includes the North London derby and away trips to Liverpool, Swansea, Chelsea and Stoke. Ironically a good end to the season for Bale may propel his side into the Champions League but may make the likes of Real Madrid more determined to stop him playing for Spurs next season.

Christian Benteke
Aston Villa have been absolutely awful for most of this season, with performances against Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United being some of the few exceptions (though they only won one of those matches), and find themselves in the relegation zone during Paul Lambert's first season in charge. Villa's young side have missed the experience of club captain Stylian Petrov, battling against leukaemia, and so their only hope of survival falls to the young Belgian striker Benteke who has so far bagged himself 15 goals.

Jussi Jaaskelainen
It seems odd that I would include a 'keeper' for a team seemingly on the way to mid-table obscurity on this list but the 'Hammers' are in a run that certainly suggests relegation form, winning twice and losing 8 times since beating surprisingly beating Chelsea on December 1st. If Jaaskelainen can continue his form from Monday's match against Spurs, as well as call on his previous experience of relegation fights with Bolton, then West Ham should be okay.

Arouna Kone
"Shock as Wigan win in late February" was never going to be a headline as Wigan brushed aside 10 man Reading at the weekend, after all the Latics are well known for their sudden revivals in the last third of the season. Roberto Martinez, and Paul Jewell before him, has become well versed in keeping his Wigan team in the Premier League, often on the last day of the season. The difference between this season and previous ones is Kone, a genuine match winning goal scorer, and the man who may well keep the 'Pie Eaters' up before their last day encounter with Aston Villa.

Wojciech Szczesny
The second goalkeeper on the list, and player who's name I looked at about 8 times before typing it correctly, Arsenal's custodian will be more important to his side's battle to be in the top 4 than the likes of Walcott, Podolski and Giroud. The 'Gunners' will always score goals but it is not so certain that they will stop them going in. The Pole is so important because Arsenal's other choices have had so little football and because the defence in front of him can be so shaky. In Szczseny can find his best form then Arsene Wenger's team could still pick up a trophy this season (I know and you know 4th place isn't a trophy but apparently Arsene doesn't).

John Terry 
Love him or hate him, and I loathe him, it's difficult to reject the importance of John Terry to Chelsea football club on the pitch, and in the dug out. "Captain, Leader, Legend" Terry has plenty of influence in the 'Blues' dressing room, which he's showed by helping get rid of Andre Villas Boas and guiding Roberto Di Matteo through his managerial stint to win the Champions League, and with the dressing room in current disarray he is the only man who can pull it together. 'J.T' is also important on the pitch which has become more and more evident during his run on the sideline through injury. Terry could be the man who performs miracles and leads Chelsea into the top 4 and F.A cup success- although he won't be able to get Fernando Torres to score.

And the winner is...

Yeah right, don't get ahead of yourself!

Your Not Very Good

The King is Dead

"...It has been compounded by our own mistakes in a difficult first two years of ownership" John W Henry may not have gone as far as naming his mistakes, or any mistakes made since he bought Liverpool from their previous American owners, but we all knew what he was alluding too.

It was a bold step by Henry to release an open letter to the Liverpool less than a day since a 2-0 home loss to Arsenal and just over two and a half days since the transfer window shut with Brendan Rogers hands trapped underneath but a step he felt he had to take, it was one not only to get the players on board but seemingly the manager too.

Henry went onto say such things as;  "we are still in the process of reversing the errors of previous regimes", "spending is not merely about buying talent. Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a midtable place with expensive, short term quick fixes" and "We have no fear of spending and competing with the very best but we will not overpay for players." The 62 year old laid some blame at the feet of the previous owners but more tellingly at the previous manager's, Kenny Dalglish.

When Dalglish was given the job in January 2011 it seemed like an odd decision and one that seemed odder the more times Dalglish dipped into the transfer market starting off with the £35 million transfer of Andy Carroll and finishing nearly £100 later after Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson had joined and now, 18 months later, that odd decision seems to have derailed not only Liverpool's campaign last season but also for the forseeable future.

The Boston Red Sox owner talked about his disapointment at not being able to sign a new striker but defended their transfer dealings by talking about the likes of Joe Allen, Fabio Borini and Nuri Sahin, even though the latter is only on loan, the ability to keep hold of their current players, such as Luis Suarez and Daniel Agger and UEFA's upcoming sanctions on teams who spend beyond their means. This lack of spending stemmed from the transfer mistakes of the last 18 months.

The man known as "The King", from his playing days at Anfield, made many mistakes that ruined Liverpool's season last year it seems now he did far more to ruin the longer term too. The King may well be dead.

Rather Striking

Let's not pretend that, given the chance, most of us would have tried to move Andy Carroll on had we taken over at Anfield this summer however that decision, and Brendan Rodger's actual implementation of it, now seem ridiculous. Liverpool are left with 2 front line strikers and a mix of young talent, this is a Liverpool side attempting to play 3 upfront.

This has led to critisim of the manager for not replacing Carroll, though this has quickly subsided since the owners open letter, and thoughts of bringing in an out of contract player to the club.

Among those mentioned is former Kop hero Michael Owen. Owen has long since tainted his name at Anfield by playing for Manchester United and this, as well as injuries, seem to have soured the idea to many fans. Yet these fans also forget that Owen is certainly not 'passed it' as many would have you believe and is in fact a very viable option considering his recored off the bench for United during his time at Old Trafford.

Perhaps what many have forgotten in all this is not simply Liverpool's lack of options from the bench in case of injury but also the fact that Fabio Borini and Luis Suarez, the only epxpereinced front men, are currently under no pressure to perform as they simply cannot be dropped.


Too soon to be crap

So far this season I look a bit foolish in my thinking that Andre Villas-Boas would be a good replacement for Harry Redknapp at Tottenham Hotspur and would in fact be a better manager that 'Arry.

My assumption was based on the fact I think Redknapp is highly overrated and that AVB, unlike his predecessor, would be a master tactician. It is therefor ironic that Spurs under the Portugese manager's tutelage look all over the place and without any tactical discipline.

But Villas-Boas' early plans have been in part ruined by the ego of his boss, Daniel Levy, and the insistance on eeking out as much money out of Real Madrid for Luka Modric. In a strictly business world this would have made sense but in footballing terms it was a disaster and left the Portuguese manager with only a couple of days to buy who he needed, missing out on the likes of Joao Moutinhio.

It is not the first time that Levy has pulled this trick having waited to sell Dimitar Berbatov till the last minute. Then, as now, the team struggled early in the season. Hopefully unlike now, when the transfer of Modric was done with enough time to get in Moussa Dembele, the manager will be given time to prove his worth.

Oops, Butterfingers

The number of high profile goalkeeping errors at the beginning of this Premier League season is quite out of the ordinary, especially as some of the league's best 'keepers' have been at fault.

We've already seen mistakes from Hart, Cech, De Gea, Given, Green, Federici and Reina to name but a few.

It can't be long before the roundness of the ball is blamed, after all who wants a round ball!

@Sidler28 thinks the season should twit off already!

I have to admit it, and they say admitting it is the first step, I have an addiction. I definitely don't have an addiction to sex, or drugs or alcohol for that matter, nor is it gambling so you can stop worrying for my well being, not that you were. I'm not about to make some sad announcement that I'm addicted to football, though I probably am. No, my addiction is social media based.

Yes that's right people my addiction is a current trend in the world especially, it seems, in the footballing world. Of course I am talking about twitter. It really is the last thing I check at last night on my phone, the first thing I check, not only in the morning but also, as soon as I finish work or go on my break at work. I check it when I'm out with friends, sat with family just whenever. In recent times it has been the medium on which I have found out about the finding and killing of Osoma bin Laden, the recent tragedy in Norway and the brilliance of Stuart Broad's hat-trick.

(At this point the Sidler picks up his phone and checks Twitter- not that much has changed as it's only been 5 minutes since I last checked so what was I really expecting? (Added note that I made sure I checked twitter at this point both when I wrote the blog post and then when I typed it up)

Twitter has become big business in football and mainly for controversy. It all started when Darren Bent moaned, whilst still at Spurs, that his team had rejected a transfer offer from Sunderland even though he wanted to go. Now of course the man under the spotlight is @Joey7Barton or just Joey Barton for some of you. Some have criticised Barton's rantings against his employers as stupidity I see his use of twitter as a personal monologue and press conference brilliant. And not forgetting his own personal list of 'My favourite quotes'.

So in tribute to the likes of @Joey7Barton, @rioferdy5, @JackWilshere, @DiegoForlan7, @GNev2, @RobbieSavage8 and @WayneRooney I have decided to write my season preview in just 140 characters per team;

@AFC will face real struggle for 4th if Cesc no replaced well. Combative CB + CM also a must. Arsene must prove himself again with trophies

@AVFC have lost last seasons top 2 players but bought in quality in NZogbia + Given. Big Eck must hit the ground running. Top 8 at very best

@BRFC the Venky boys must continue to be patient with Steve Keane. They want top 10 + Goodwillie could fire them there. Hoilett is important

@BWFC if they get over last seasons end of year dip Bolton will be up there again. Will need another striker, hopefully Sturridge. Keep Cahill

@CFC how do you solve a problem like Torres? Aged squad and Essiens legs also issues but AVB will have Chelsea in the hunt. Need a CM and RB

@EFC keep Jagielka, get Saha fit, make sure Cahill is scoring, start well and find a new investort- otherwise all could go wrong at Goodison

@FFC welcome back Jol, you've been gone too long. Hodgson + Sparky did good things.Gera and Foster good signings but Europa could distract

@LFC lots of money spent but is it good money?Downing for 20 mil is over the odds but Suarez is world class. Should come 4th ahead of AFC

@MCFC callengers ready? Hell yeah they are- Aguero maybe the X factor they've missed. Will go well and finish at least 2nd even if Tev goes

@MUFC champions ready? of course, does SAF do it any other way? Young, de Gea and Jones good additions. Sneijder still to come? Would be great

@NUFC Nolan out, Jose + Joey to follow?Still not replaced Carroll though Ba is a good player.Tiote must be kept but lucky to get to 10th

@NCFC if Hoult cuts the Colman's Mustard then Norwich may stay up. Laberts side master of the late goal shows fantastic fitness. 15th?

@QPRFC oh fuck- Warnock's back in the Prem, can't stand him. Bernie won't give him any money though. Taarabt is excellent but should go down :D

@SCFC Tony Pulis is a genius and his team get results. Juggling Europa will be a big difficulty. Need another striker, could be C Cole

@SAFC plenty of experience signed and plenty of money spent. Bruce must start well or be under pressure. Either sacked or top 10 finish

@SWFC glad to have the Welsh side in the Prem and fans will be incredible but enjoy it while it lasts relegation beckons. Very talented manager

@THFC remember the Bernabeu and San Siro? Good you'll need the memory. Back into the pack despite Bale. Need a world class striker, LB + CB

@WBFC a great end to last season and need Odemwingie to keep firing.Chris Brunt is an excellent talent.Could still struggle but stay up

@WAFC I tipped them to stay up last season but can't rule it out this year. Need goals now NZogbia's gone but who from? Need more consistency

@WWFC up,down,up- what a last day it was. Doyle and Fletcher get goals and new signing Johnson will steady the defence. Will stay up again

@PL top 4 MUFC, MCFC, CFC, LFC. WAFC, SWFC. QPRFC bottom 3. Aguero, Hernandez, Suarez top scorers.

The Premier League is nearly here ladies and gents, and I for one can't bloody wait. If nothing else, it means they'll be something interesting on Twitter!

A Golf in Class

I don't know about you but I bloody love summer. Okay it's not quite like my younger days when you could savour that moment the final school bell of the year went and you rushed out of the hellish building as quickly as was humanly possible- on a side note the hellish building I attended no longer exists- and the weather might not always be the greatest but there's a certain feeling in the air when it's the summer, everyone's more relaxed and smiles more.

One man who's smile will certainly be beaming across his face from now until the end of the summer, and no doubt longer, is Darren Clarke. The Northern Irishman became the first British winner of The Open since 1999- yes I am talking about Golf, look at the title of the post!

As Clarke finished his final round with a bogey on the 18th there could not have been a sports fan who didn't smile, sigh and nearly cry all at once (I did and I was sat on a train from Leicester with limited signal on my radio). This wasn't just because of the relief of a Brit finally winning the only golfing major not in America for the first time in 12 years but also because DC has gone through what no man should and we have all shared into his emotion and lived his pain with him. In 2006 Darren lost his wife Heather after her long fight with breast cancer, it left Darren and his two sons without a wife and mother, without a rock to support him. You could never blame a man for crumbling in those circumstances, in wanting to hide away from the world for a while and yet Clarke was not that kind of man. Instead he made himself available for the Ryder Cup just six weeks after his wife's death and got picked as a wild card. He didn't just make up the numbers though, oh no, the former World Golf Championship winner went and won 3 points from his 3 appearances and helped Europe beat U.S.A whilst adding to his already impressive following.

On top of all this the man known as 'The Prince'  won the title at the age of 42, a quite remarkable feat- especially when the likes of Colin Montgomerie have started righting world number 2, Lee Westwood, out of winning a major due to his age and the amount of previous chances he's already had. Clarke has made himself the people's sporting champion of this quite remarkable summer by being so likeable, by having such a fantastic story and by asking the R & A if he could drink Guinness out of the infamous Claret Jug. 

And what of the contenders to his people's champion crown? Well after an enjoyable Wimbledon Andy Murray eventually succumbed to Rafael Nadal in the semi final. Should this rule Murray out of our affection? Surely a Wimbledon losing semi finalist is endearing to us all, after all a man named Tim did this over and over again and we loved him for it, heck we remember those should be lazy summer evenings with the sun starting to set over the horizon as Tim finally lost a battling 4 setter vs Pete Sampras so well that we still shout out COME ON TIM when Andy is playing. Then there was the big fight, David Haye vs Wladimir Klitschko. The tough talking, fast moving, Londoner against the robotic, boring, never been tested Ukrainian. Of course the Ukrainian won, not only won he destroyed Haye in a way the Englishman had suggested he would do to the Eastern European with Haye barely throwing, never mind landing, a punch in the first 11 rounds. Afterwards 'The Hayemaker' blamed his ickle toe which was broken 3 weeks earlier. Now us Brits love a loser but we love a plucky one and not an excuse making one who dies on his arse during his biggest test, the moment that could make him. 

I tell you what, that golf though, it's a real sport..... What's that?!? It's only 25 days till the Premier League season starts, 18 days till the Community Shield and 16 days till Paul Scholes' testimonial (which I'll be at)... Finally! I can stop pretending this other rubbish matters. Don't get me wrong I do really like other sport, especially when it allows me to be patriotic but it's not the football season. It's time we kick started the greatest 9 months of any 12 month period!

After all anything else is just a Sunday walk ruined.

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!

Manager of the Season!

Yet another week when football, and the Premier league in particular threw up a whole load of headlines. From weather based cancellations, more injuries to David Moyes' Everton, Lionel Messi picking up yet another award after winning the World Club Cup for Barcelona, 3 time taken penalty, the Spurs' players 'golfing' trip to Dublin and of course unpredictable results by the bucket load.

Ok granted the bucket maybe wasn't as deep as in past weeks but there was still losses for Liverpool, Manchester United, and Celtic whilst Chelsea dropped points at could be relegation fodder West Ham.

Chelsea were looking invincible just a few weeks ago and suddenly, having lost to Blackburn on penalties in the League cup, they seem anything but. Petr Cech would find it difficult to get into the England squad on current Chelsea form, if England had any goalkeeper they could rely on, and John Terry is playing at his worst for some time. Tony Cascarino said on Sky Sports News today that he couldn't see Chelsea playing worse than they currently are but he seems to forget that in January some of there most influential of players will be jetting off to Angola to take part in the African Cup of Nations. It may of course have little effect on the Blues but it will leave Carlo Ancelotti looking over his shoulder at United and Arsenal.

Talking of the champions, that's United of course and not Arsenal, their title defence is starting to look a little nervy to say the least. When Sir Alex says "there's no light at the end of the tunnel" you can't help but listen. Of course just a day or so later the Glaswegian was stating that many of his defensive injuries were nearly back and he wouldn't be swooping into the market to pluck out and defensive cover come January.

The fact is thought that whilst United lost for the 2nd time in 3 league games they once again lost to an in form side. Fulham are transformed under Roy Hodgson, from a team who would have been relegated had it not been for Rafa Benitez resting all is players in a match against them a couple of years ago (don't remember Arsene Wenger complaining then), into a side who look at home in Europe and are easily disposing of the champions. At this point you'll all be looking at the title and thinking something along the lines of "Oh he's going to say Roy Hodgson is manager of the season. Bit premmature but fair enough." You're wrong of course, the Premier league 2009/2010 Manager of the season goes to either....

Roberto Mancini- Manchester City's new manager is going to have an incredible season, winning the Carling Cup having beaten city rivals United in the semi final and then going onto finish 4th in the league. Oh no the future's not been decided yet?!? I thought it had, I thought that's why City sacked Mark Hughes. Wait so Mancini hasn't already won the league cup and got to 4th? He's done nothing in English football so far you say? Well I am mistaken. So Mark Hughes leads his side to 6th in the Premier league, a good position to find yourself in just before Christmas, and a league cup semi final and still gets sacked! He wasn't managing United or Chelsea, teams who would frown on being 6th at any time of the season passed the third game, he was managing at City, a side who have never finished inside the top 6 in Premier league history.

For those of you who didn't work out the last paragraph was written slightly tongue in cheek. I'm also not a big fan in the way Manchester City have gone about sacking a manager who, though he hasn't blown the Premier league away, has done little wrong to get sacked. I'm especially not a fan of Garry Cook, who is chief executive down at the City of Manchester Stadium. In the past he has been referred to as the David Brent of football, watching him in Monday's press conference acting arrogant and passive aggressive towards journalists you can see why. Cook was unflappable in suggesting the club were right to sack Sparky and did nothing wrong with the way they went about it. For me though deciding you're going to sack a manager three weeks before you actually sack him and then doing it after a victory is almost definitely the wrong way to go about it! I'm not saying that sacking a manager needs to be an impulse decision but that victory over Sunderland should at least have bought him some time and having the new guy in place almost by the time Hughes had left the changing rooms for one last time must have been a kick in the nads for the Welshman. In the end though it will be City who may well regret Hughes' sacking most, if rumours are to be believed then should Mancini fail to make the top four he'll be sacked and the Blues of Manchester and their fans will once again be green with envy over the stability just a few miles away.

But why stop there! We have another nomination to come....

Ladies and Gents I give you, Rafa! Well what a season, back in November they were knocked out of the Champions League and found themselves in near disarray in the Premier league. Then came wins against Arsenal, Wigan and Portsmouth in a week and the whole season turned around. They surged up the table into fourth place and won the FA Cup and Europa League double. Ok so granted just like the Mancini hypothetical situation it could end up not being so hypothetical, but again like with Mancini I can't see it happening.

The reason I'm picking on Benitez, other than it being fun, is he just makes it too easy. About 10 days ago the Scouse Spaniard said "the season starts here", in which case he's started with 3 points from a possible 9 with a goal difference of minus 1, and judging on how badly the real seasons gone so far he may just take that.

We were led to believe at the beginning of the season that if Torres and Gerrard were fit then it would be extremely difficult to stop Liverpool finally winning the league, they haven't stayed fit and it has exposed the holes in the squad and specifically the Rafa made problem of having few strikers after selling Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch and Craig Bellamy in the last couple of seasons. Indeed even with El Nino and Stevie G fit they have been anything but firing, as on Saturday when they were well out played and out gunned by south coast strugglers Portsmouth. I know only a few short weeks ago I said Liverpool were dangerous in the race to the top four as a wounded, out of Champions League, animal type way but having seen them continue to struggle and Spurs and Villa looking just as strong or stronger I'm starting to believe they'll be lucky to finish ahead of City, Birmingham or Manchester.

With the end of the year and in fact end of the decade approaching it's only inevitable we start to reminisce over the last 10 years of football. Personally I'll be blogging about it next week but for now with the exciting Christmas schedule to come over the next week or so I'd like to look forward, after all the season truly starts here!

Football's West Lothian Affair!

Welcome to the English Premier league, home of some of the world’s greatest teams, players, managers, coaches and stadiums. Not all of them English admittedly, and I mean that for the players, managers, coaches and to an extent the stadiums, although the choice of Australian builders for Wembley wasn’t what you’d call an inspired choice, but the teams are most certainly English.

Welcome to the Scottish Premier league, home of some of Scotland’s best teams, players, managers, coaches and stadiums- well it has all of Scotland’s teams, for now!

There may be no greater tragedy in domestic football if than if Glasgow’s powerhouses of Scottish football, Celtic and Rangers, were to join the English leagues.

There can only be one reason for these two sides to want to join the elite this side of the border, money. Many will suggest it is for success but it is clear that this is an afterthought as it is money that breeds success and not the other way round in most cases. In most domestic leagues throughout, certainly Europe if not the World, there is usually only three or four clubs who are likely to win the league. I don’t need to go through the list of the main players in England, Italy, France, Germany, Spain or Scotland we know them all. But look at Russia, Austria, Belgium, Israel, Portugal, Ukraine, Holland it is always the same teams competing in the European competitions, we can only assume it’s therefore the same teams picking up trophies domestically.

It is also the same clubs who win the big prizes in Europe, mainly from England, Spain and Italy. There has of course been the odd surprise from, say, Portugal or Germany. There is also the ever unpredictable UEFA Cup/Europa League which throws up winners from all over the place, although this may end now with the new set up favouring consistency as it’s more esteemed cousin the Champions League. Consistency means the strongest teams will always rise to the top and lowers the risk of upset. So expect Champions League drop outs or those who struggled domestically last season, and ended in the 2nd tier of European football, to be competing in Hamburg come May.

The point here really is that Celtic and Rangers have no divine right to the money that the English league generates, funny way to suggest it I know, but basically being the most successful club/s by a country mile in a below par domestic league is not exactly a one off, unique in only Scotland. It happens everywhere, and yet there isn’t to my knowledge any question of Anderlecht and Standard Liege joining the Dutch leagues just because the two countries are neighbours.

Actually the whole thing is extremely laughable for one big reason! In 2012 there will be some small multi-sport event in London, you may have heard of it, the Olympics I think it’s called. In said event there is a football medal up for grabs. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have never competed in the football at the Olympics. The reason for this is because at the Olympics the four nations compete together as Great Britain, at football they compete separately with separate Football Associations. With the Olympics being held on home soil the BOA (British Olympic Association) thought it would be a jolly good idea to enter as many, if not all, sports available. The English F.A thought a football team in the Olympics would also be a jolly good idea. The Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh F.As on the other hand were all worried about their status as separately competing nations when it comes to footballing matters. I think we all agree a fair argument. How then can it be a good idea for Celtic and Rangers, the two sides from Scotland with any remote chance of making an impact internationally, to compete in English competitions, where they have little or no chance of qualifying for said international competitions? Way to show some patriotism!

Some north of the border have suggested that it would be good for the Glasgow monopoly on all competitions to flee. After all it would bring serious competition back to the league and bring the crowds back to the grounds. Cue all those south of the border with Sky Sports channels switching off as soon as Inverness vs. Aberdeen kicks off. A lack of Celtic and Rangers in the league would not make the rest of the clubs better teams, it would just get of the two decent sides. The league might come down to more than just the four Glasgow derbies in a season but only a few seasons of Aberdeen and Hearts reign (these clubs are an example) would mean they instantly became a lot richer than the likes of Falkirk due to European money, suddenly two new ‘superpowers’ of Scottish football and we’re back to square one, great!

Meanwhile down in England! “Welcome to Parkhead on this cold Saturday afternoon as Celtic take on Portsmouth”, just think of the hoards of Pompey fans wanting to make the long, and no doubt, expensive trip to Glasgow during these times of recession. Fans of both Celtic and Rangers will tell you that atmosphere’s at their grounds are amazing, and no doubt the games I’ve watched that these teams take part in have seen great crowds, but then again I only watch derby games and European nights so it’s hardly surprising. The fact is that most, if not all, team’s fans are the same. Loud away from home, loud at big games, loud when the mood suits them, but quiet a lot of the time and there to watch football being played and not make ridiculous amounts of noise all the time. The other thing I’d say for the fans is that I went through Manchester the night after Rangers UEFA cup final loss and I’d rather not see my city looking like that again thanks, one off maybe but I still don't want another potential Milwall or Leeds.

Celtic and Rangers aren’t good enough to compete week in week out in the Premier League, maybe one day, with all the money the Premier League generates, they will be. But that’s the point; they have done nothing to warrant all that money. I’ll tell you what my Sunday league football club could do with all that money and then we’ll start our Europa League campaign!

Fantasy Football? More Stupidity that Fantasy

As the story goes Roman Abramovich flew over Stamford Bridge and decided to buy Chelsea instead of Spurs. It was great timing for Chelsea, they had just beaten Liverpool on the last day of the season to steal the last Champions League place, it apparently saved Chelsea from administration. In a manner of weeks they went from near administration to being cash rich beyond belief. The Russian bought to football his billions and set about taking Chelsea from battling for 4th place to battling for titles home and abroad.

His billions have of course brought success to Chelsea by bringing in some of the world's best players. But without doubt Chelsea's money has at times meant over buying, or certainly buying the wrong players. In fact one of the first players bought to 'The Bridge' under the Russians reign was Juan Sebastien Veron, once touted as one of the world's best players, the Argentinian had found British football difficult to contend with after his £30 million move to Manchester United. Two years later and United had recouped half their money by shipping him off to Chelsea.

5 years later, and from almost nowhere, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (I looked it up on Wikipedia) bought Manchester City. The news shocked the footballing world. Mansour is very rich, rich beyond Abramovich. In he came and we were promised big money and big signings. On the last day of the transfer window in August 2008, as the world expected Manchester United to sign Dimitar Berbatov, City proved they meant business. News circulated that the Blues had put in a bid for the Bulgarian and that Berbatov was on his way to Manchester to have talks with City. As a United fan who never really wanted Berbatov at Old Trafford I suddenly panicked "We need to sign him" was suddenly my view. Meanwhile in London Chelsea were expected to finally wrap up the signing of Robinho, the Brazilian from Real Madrid. Chelsea were so certain of his transfer they had even accidentally had Chelsea shirts with Robinho's name on the back on sale from their website. I've no idea if any of those shirts ever got sold, if they were I'd love to get my hands on one. City had pulled the greatest trick ever. Whilst people laughed, and I'm sure Chelsea fans were amongst those laughing, at City stealing United's primary transfer target, City moved instead for a British record... £32 million for Robinho!

Nearly one year later and after a not so great season City were ready to spend their millions all over again. Everyone had been linked, from Adebayour to Andy Bishop (Bury FC's top goalscorer, ok they weren't quite linked to him but still). The two names who kept cropping up were Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz, Mark Hughes's former talisman, and United's very own crowd pleasing Argentinian, Carlos Tevez. With Tevez seemingly at loggerheads with Sir Alex and the United hierarchy a move to City looked inevitable, and alas, it was done. £25 million and a wage no doubt near £125,000 a week took Tevez to City. Santa Cruz had already signed- £18 million and a wage probably similar to that of Tevez was enough to take the ex Bayern Munich striker to City. And finally this week Emmanuel Adebayor was signed from soon to be rivals Arsenal for £25 million and a wage of reportedly £140,000 a week. Wages not included City have spent around £67 million on 3 strikers, meaning they have 9 strikers to chose from. Right so we can see City mean business, and they have the money to back up their claims.

Down in London, Chelsea have not spend the millions and millions that they did in the early years of the Chealski era, they simply can't. Firstly Abromovich has to write off the money he's lost from pay offs for his previous managers- Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari. Then there's money from the signings of flops like Andriy Shevchenko. And finally following the global recession we know Abramovich lost lots of money, up to £10 billion has been quoted. So Chelsea went after a cheap option as a striker. Chelsea have signed young Daniel Sturridge. A player who Manchester City have let go, the reason being they refused to give the 19 year old from their own youth system a £70,000 a week contract. Chelsea will have to hand over a maximum of £10 million for the youngster, though this fee could be signficantly less depending what the tribunal for his transfer fee decide. Whilst City have made it abundantly clear they will stop at nothing and spend anything to get to the silverwear and the promised land of the Champions League they have also continued to claim they will look after their youth system and continue bringing through youngsters. Youth players such as Daniel Sturridge. Now don't get me wrong £70,000 a week for a 19 year old is pretty hefty, but when you already have 8 strikers, including Santa Cruz, Tevez and Robinho, why not spend £70,000 a week for Sturridge and save yourself the extra £70,000 a week and £25 million transfer fee for Adebayour, it's madness. For one we know that FIFA would love nothing more than to enforce the 5 foreigner rule on the Premiership, good move City! Sturridge will hopefully go on to be an England player, under the coaching of Carlos Ancelotti and with help from fellow strikers Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba he may become one of the world's best. City will do great, but one day the money may dry up, and they'll look around for their youth prospects, funnily enough they may find it difficult to find them.

On a sad note, I for one, and I hope you my readers will join me in wishing John Hartson all the best in recovering from his terrible illness. Football is important to us all, it is a passion, a religion to some. But in life there is always something more important and in this case it is life itself. All the best John, get better!

I will leave you on something slightly lighter. As all football team's begin training for the new season the Sunday league's are no different. I wonder if Sir Alex, Carlos and Rafa have the same problems as us? Player's unfit because of drinking and general unfitness, players on holiday, taking a youth group on tour to Israel. On one hand our team does have someone away playing in the Jewish Olympics, I guess there's one link to professional football!