And now for the English

Just the other week the Sidler returned from a long hiatus in the world of football blogging. Oh, you hadn’t noticed I’d gone, well okay- trust me I hadn’t written for a while and I felt down right rotten about it, clearly my public were demanding a return.

After months out you’d assume that I would come back with a new blog post to do with something I knew loads about in a screaming, all passionate, all brilliant piece of writing that brought the readers back. As they read on with excitement, coming away with a sense of something learnt, and thinking “yeah, this guy knows his stuff”. As you know though I don’t do things in an ordinary fashion, I wrote about Scottish football. Roughly 20 minutes after announcing my return my opinions had been blown out of the water.

So, with all that in mind, it’s time to return to everyone (well my) favourite subject, ENGLAND!! *groans from everyone else*

Robben caused England problems all night

There’s been so much for discussion from an England point of view recently that it’s so hard to know where to start from. We could dissect the end of John Terry as captain, the end of Capello’s reign, Harry’s credentials and potential new job, Stuart Pearce’s performance as manager for the one game or even his choice of Scott Parker as captain.

Well I think that’s those topics discussed and by that I mean they’ve been discussed to death already why do I need to bother. Okay, so you want my opinions? Quickly then; the F.A were right to get rid of Terry as captain and to take the decision away from Fabio, the Italian felt he needed to go and so went- good on him, no tears from me but actually I didn’t totally dislike him and might have been interesting to see if he’d learnt any lessons from 2010 in 2012, I’m not Harry’s biggest fan and wouldn’t pick him personally but there isn’t loads of options out there and he’d bring with him public and probably player support, Pearce is potentially a future England manager but not right now, didn’t do badly with what he had against Holland, not a massive fan of Parker as captain but nor I am a massive fan of making such a big deal of the captaincy and he is Mr. Dependable if nothing else.

Quick enough? Well it’s a good job speed impresses you.

Of all the what if moment’s I always wonder how the game would have panned out if Lampard’s free kick had gone over the bar, goal kick and probably no counter attack goal but that’s by the by.

Compare the Germany game to last night’s versus Holland and one thing is remarkable- only 2 players who started that summer’s evening in 2010 did so last night. One was the seemingly irreplaceable Steven Gerrard- passionate, driving force, constant vice-captain fantastic, Stevie G! Last night Gerrard was obviously still feeling the effects of Sunday’s epic league cup final between his Liverpool and Cardiff City which went all the way to penalties and was replaced after an abject half an hour, sighting a tight hamstring for the reason of his removal.

England's game against Germany was hardly Barry's shining moment

The only other player to start both matches was Gerrard’s central midfield partner on both occasions, Gareth Barry. In 2010 Barry had returned from injury mid-competition and arguably should not have been taken to the tournament at all but was fortunate enough to be one of Capello’s favourites. Ironically Barry went to the 2010 World Cup when Scott Parker could have gone instead. Against Germany Barry’s lack of fitness and pace were clear to see, especially as he struggled to get back into position during the blissful counter attack move that was the German’s third goal.

Fast forward to 2012 and England no longer play 4-4-2, they have advanced to a 4-3-2-1, Scott Parker has finally been given the long run in central midfield that he has deserved, there is no longer a question of forcing Lampard and Gerrard into a team together and with a third central midfielder there is now more chance of playing a patient, position keeping game that is required at international level in this day and age and yet Barry remains at the core of England’s side, despite his obvious failings. I can hear the Manchester City fans championing Barry’s cause and shouting about how great he’s been this season but hold on! Think about the month of January, as City started falter slightly, and the loss of Yaya Toure. , did Barry look so brilliant in this period? No? I thought not. Now obviously the loss of a World class player like Toure would affect most, especially with no replacement anywhere near as good but this also is a worry as it suggests Barry struggles to perform without a world class player by his side. Now look at the England central midfield and, although the player’s to choose from are talented, there is a seriously lack of World class. With all players fit and firing Barry is surely not good enough to start in this central midfield with Parker and Gerrard likely to be joined by Jack Wilshere. So does Gareth then make the bench? Well in my eyes there are at least 3 players who should be on the plane in front of him, all being well, in the shape of Tom Cleverly, Lampard and the forgotten man of English football Michael Carrick whose performances for Manchester United this season have been brilliant without any world class players alongside him and his ability to move the ball at pace is exactly the type of penetration the England side were missing on Wednesday.

Whilst there is no doubt during this massive changing of the guard England have done so much right, and there is still obviously a long way to go- there is a new manager to find, a choice over a permanent captain, there is still a long way to go with there hardest, and most important decision to come- finding the right time to get rid of those who remain from 2010, Gerrard should for the Euro’s, Barry must not.

Dinner and a Show but Without the Show

So apparently there's something special about today. Champions League re starting? A day without a handshake being in the news?

No? Okay I'm at a loss, seems like a normal Tuesday to me.

Any how in the footballing world it's been a rather busy day, and that's before Europe's aforementioned premier club competition restarts with the knock-out stages, but then when was the last time there was a quiet day?

Today's stories, as with most of the recent controversial football stories, were shrouded with lots of mystery and confrontation. In the North West of England we've been reintroduced to an old 'friend' of the region in the form of Carlos Tevez.

Meanwhile in Glasgow and Portsmouth, two cities separated by roughly 440 miles but never closer in footballing terms than today, issues of a far more serious nature were unravelling. Both Glasgow Rangers and Portsmouth F.C owe millions of pounds to HMRC  and have been forced to go into, or apply for, administration. Football clubs building up so much debt is not a new thing nor is football clubs having to go into administration, Portsmouth themselves have already had to take this measure as recently as 2009, but it is striking the regularity that football clubs, which now fully accept need to run as much as businesses as any other  business, find themselves in trouble.

Ibrox

The case of Rangers is the story attracting the most headlines, and rightly so, because of the size of the club involved and because of the massive effect the 10 point reduction, as a consequence of going into administration, will have on their season. What?! Really?! They've lost points and they're still in second place? Right well the first point still stands. Rangers are a massive club, they're in Europe every season and have won the domestic league 54 times. Of course the reason Rangers have managed to hold onto second place, despite the 10 point loss, is that the Scottish league is essentially a two horse race, every year- like The Boat Race with members of other Universities throwing stones to slow down the Oxford and Cambridge boats- with Rangers contending with their city rivals Celtic.

Celtic fans will not shed a tear for their rivals downfall, and many will be hoping that Rangers fall from grace continues with insolvency the next punishment for them, and they will no doubt point to the Gers spending beyond their means to win trophy after trophy for the previous few years as well as their already built in hatred for the team from Ibrox as reason for their glee. And who can really blame them? Those of us who are United fans may have been crossing our fingers for the same to happen to Liverpool when previous owners Hicks and Gillett  attempted to run the club into the ground. But the truth is that we need each other, much as Celtic need Rangers. Of course, there are Celtic fans who will refute my last statement, again, they will find reasons- they will point to a time, in the 80's when Aberdeen, Dundee United, Hearts and Motherwell regularly competed for top honours, they will point to continued yearly profit being made by their club and at an average attendance that is the 12th best in Europe but these would all be fickle arguments.

The very fact Rangers will still be in 2nd place in the league automatically throws out the argument that there is other competition to Celtic's thrown, perhaps in the 80's this was not the case but only once since 1996 have one of Celtic or Rangers finished outside the top two, and that was in 2006 when Hearts finished 2nd, a team on the brink of administration themselves. Celtic may well hold onto their fantastic support in the absence of Rangers but it is in their profits where they will surely be hit hardest. With no Rangers there is clearly no competition and with no competition there is less appetite for an already floundering league and by consequence television companies, like Sky and ESPN, will refuse to pay as much for T.V rights, if they indeed want them at all. The Hoops may think that joining the English leagues would act as a reprieve from this but there is currently not much call for them to join and there would be less so without Rangers.

Overall my argument would be that football fans need to stop being so partisan sometimes, be it in cases of racial abuse, seeing a magical player return to the Premier League or seeing a team go into administration but actually there is one more argument that allows for partisanship;

Who won't miss moments like this

Let's suggest I am completely wrong, as usual, and Celtic can 'survive' without their rivals. They can win competitions whilst being pushed all the way by another Scottish football team and continue to make profit whilst bringing in near 50,000 supporters every week, wouldn't there still be something missing? Even as someone who shows little interest in Scottish football there are always 4 dates that excite me- Old Firm matches! Without Rangers Celtic Park will not pulse and vibrate with the sort of passion and vitriol that those occasions create.

Now back to today what in the world is it? Oh wait it's not Valentines Day is it? Fortunately I've no girlfriend so I won't get in trouble for forgetting. And with no one to take out I'm like Celtic- surviving is fine but what's dinner without the show!

@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.

North London- It's only 930 miles long!

Rivalries in football always make life much more interesting. Who doesn't look for their team's derbies when the fixture list first comes up?

For certain those members of the Glasgow fraternity will always look for the Old Firm matches. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately if you happen to be a policeman in Glasgow or a member of the SPL's disciplinary committee, Old Firm matches are a regular occurrence with 4 league games every season and the possibility of a cup game- or three- to look forward to.

Local derbies are always exciting in build up but not always so on the pitch, a la the first Manchester derby of this season, as the two teams nervously circle each other determined no to lose. It's amazing how quickly a teams usual attacking instincts go out of the window when it comes to derby days. This week we saw, quite frankly, the oddest ever North London derby played over two nights, during two matches, in cities roughly 930 miles away.

On Tuesday night Arsenal, away from home, were forced to abandon their usual glorious marauding style of play as they spent most of the first half of this Champions League derby inside their own half. So much were they on the back foot that, for the first time since 2002, a team managed no shots in a Champions League match. A ridiculous stat from a side that, despite the absence of Theo Walcott, included the likes of Robin Van Persie, Jack Wilshere, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, and that's before we get to the subs of Andrey Arshavin and Nicklas Bendtner. To simply read such a stat would probably lead you to believe that for once in his life Arsene Wenger had dropped his usual stubbornness and inability to change game plan and had realised that his best chance of progressing on Tuesday was to sit back and defend and see out the game, possibly hitting the opposition on the break. The truth is completely different, the truth is that Arsenal were forced to play only in their own half and because of their love of playing pretty football, no matter where on the pitch, Arsenal gifted the home side their opening goal, and the goal that changed the tie.

In the second half of this derby Spurs played the part of the team that have to forget the way they usually play in favour of defending for their lives as the away side came back at them. Spurs have no doubt been a sigh of relief in the often mundane world of football since Harry Redknapp took over and with the likes of Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart, Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric at his disposal it is no surprise that Spurs prefer the 'we'll score more than you' approach to football. Mid week though Tottenham hung on to their lead as if it was their lives at steak. Whilst they were on the back foot for most of the game the team from White Hart Lane still managed a few shots, two even actually on goal, unlike their North London rivals- this probably had something to do with keeping 10 men on the pitch (a decision that was clearly ridiculous but did not cost Arsenal the match). Spurs of course were not trying to play on the back foot, they would have love to have been attacking the oppositions goal at every possibly moment but the sheer pressure exerted on their midfield and defence did not allow them out of their own half often enough.

As with all derbies there was some real controversy and both sides had chances at the end to clinch the tie or throw it away. Arsenal really should have given away a penalty before they eventually did in the second half, when Laurent Koscielny should have received his second yellow card for two actual yellow card offences. On the other hand Robin Van Persie clearly should not have been sent off. Van Persie's initial yellow card was his own fault but his second was harsh to the nth degree, though I don't buy his claims he couldn't hear the whistle or suggestion he didn't know he was offside, but we'd all had taken that shot- ironically Arsenal's only one. Spurs had little of the controversy but still could have thrown it all away were it not for a William Gallas clearance off the line and Heurelho Gomes' save right at the end following a brilliant move. It could have also been so different if it hadn't been for Bendtner's awful first touch.

Despite all this it is quite ironic that on the nights it was Arsenal who scored and not Spurs but that is the beauty of games played over two legs, it creates compelling 2nd legs. Fortunately for all of us none of the Champions League ties this week were anywhere near finished when it came to the 2nd legs and excitement could be found everywhere and even the most drab of games, including ones that featured sides from North London abandoning exciting football, were exciting because we did not know which way they would go.

If you didn't know I have of course been referring to two completely separate matches. One between Arsenal and Barcelona played in the Camp Nou which featured Barcelona prove why they really are the best football team on the planet as they penned the Gunners into their own half for most of the match and Arsenal couldn't cope, the immense pressure they were under really being shown as Fabregas gifted his boyhood team their first goal and Koscielny giving away a penalty when extra time was still a possibility. The second match was at White Hart Lane and features Spurs and, Serie A leaders, A.C Milan. Milan, 1-0 down from the first leg, did most of the attacking in the game and forced Spurs to play on the counter attack, arguably their favoured way of playing, for much of the match but failed to find away past the resolute defending of Michael Dawson and William Gallas. Yes the difference in class between Barcelona and Milan is hugely recognisable but the difference between going out of the Champions League, like Arsenal, and going through to the quarter finals, like Spurs, was simply being resolute and not losing.

Two matches, two cities 930 miles away, 2 different results, no winners but only one North London derby!

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.