A few thoughts from the last week in Football (April 6-11)

What is going on with the FA? I know I am not the only person that is left scratching his head on a regular basis with decisions that come out from the FA, be it to do with the scheduling of the FA Cup Semi Finals, or their fining managers for speaking their minds and fining them when they don't turn up, but the department that deals with sending off appeals need to have a real look at themselves.


I will be the first to admit that Manchester United got a soft penalty against QPR, but I could also understand why the referee gave it (I know Ashley Young was offside before he was 'fouled' but I will address both of those issues a bit later) and he was obligated to send off Shaun Derry in that situation.


However, the television cameras made it clear that Derry was more than harshly done by, yet the FA, in all their wisdom, decided not to overturn that, which led me to believe that they will back decisions on the field regardless of how obviously wrong they are.


To make the FA look even more foolish, they decided they couldn't lay out any more punishment to Mario Balotelli for a potential leg breaking challenge on Alex Song, because at least one of the four officials would have seen it- what are they thinking?


Basically as long as one of the officials sees an incident, no matter how WRONG they see it, the FA will back them to the hilt, but an obvious disgusting challenge is fine by them... The sooner someone who knows something about football gets in there and clears out the old boys club, the better.


What to do with 'divers'? I think there is a real problem in consistency as to what to do with players that have dived as some referees are happy to book them, while others don't even give them a telling off.


In the Liverpool-Aston Villa game, we saw Luis Suarez and Samir Carruthers booked for diving, yet there was little consistency in this game alone. The first thing to say is that the tackle on Carruthers was a penalty, yet he was booked... Earlier in the game, Suarez went down in the box theatrically and was not given a penalty nor booked, although he did get one later on.


It wasn't just in that game as we also saw Ashley Young going down easily at Old Trafford which resulted in QPR being reduced to ten men and losing the game 2-0.


It is hard for the referees when players are trying to 'cheat' or 'fool' them, but the FA must surely have the power to hand out retrospective punishments as a way of preventing this becoming too common. We have so many cameras at games that they could get a panel to go through the tapes on Monday morning and quickly hand out suspensions.


The first offence could lead to a one game suspension, the second a three game ban and so on and so on. I would use ex-professionals in the panel, not the men in suits I discussed in the first topic, and you see how quickly players will stop throwing themselves to the ground.


Once the suspensions build, the fines start coming from the club, and the managers will start demanding players stay on their feet... One way or another, there has to be some retrospective action to stop the pressure being on referees to make these decisions on one view, and also to stop this disease in the game.


Officials making some horrendous mistakes: We have seen some really crazy decisions over the last few days, notably in games involving Wigan against Chelsea and Manchester United.


You always hear the talk about bringing technology into the game when there are any incorrect decisions, but Roberto Martinez was spot on in saying that it has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with missing obvious decisions.


How Chelsea got away with not one, but two offside decisions in their win against Wigan was embarrassing on the linesman. It was no surprise to me when I heard tonight that that linesman has tendered his resignation and will not be officiating at this level again.


The first one was one of the worst decisions I have seen this season as Branislav Ivanovic was offside along with two other Chelsea players, with the linesman standing level with play and looking dead straight at them.


On Sunday we then saw another linesman miss Ashley Young being at least two yards offside that led to a Manchester United penalty and a sending off for QPR- that was a terrible decision as the linesman was again up with play and the angle of Young's run made it completely obvious that he was off.


And then we had the hat-trick of linesmen making mistakes in the Wigan-Manchester United game, although he was at least kind enough to make cock ups for both sides. Wigan should have had a one goal lead in the first half, but the linesman saw a barely minimal foul on David De Gea, but then he missed a clear as day penalty in the second half when one of the Wigan players clear handled the ball in the box.


Too many of those decisions should have been seen without the game needing to be stopped and checked on a television monitor, and it is time these people are held accountable for decisions that can make, or break, a team's season.


The relegation battle is becoming more and more fascinating: Even though Wigan were given the benefit of the doubt with some decisions in the second half of the game with United, they did deserve the three points that has taken them out of the relegation zone.


With QPR also winning on Wednesday evening, Wolves are definitely getting relegated and they could be gone by April 22nd when they entertain Manchester City at Molineux.


The wins for Wigan and QPR also means Blackburn Rovers 3 points from the safety positions and now have a worse goal difference than both the Latics and Rangers. That goal they conceded in the last minute to ten man Liverpool on Tuesday night could be a mortal wound from which they cannot recover, especially if they lose at Swansea on Saturday.


Bolton also were moved back into the relegation zone, although they do have one extra game to play and are only 2 points from safety. The Trotters play Aston Villa in that game in hand and Villa are only 6 points from safety so that game could be really important to them.


All of this means we could be in for a fascinating last month of the season.


Not the time to panic for Manchester United fans: Why do so many United fans predict so much doom and gloom so quickly? Yes, the team is not of vintage class, but they are still 5 points clear of Manchester City with 5 games left to play this season, and I would have happily have taken this position at this stage.


It was a disappointing result at Wigan, no doubt about that, but they were always going to suffer a bit of a let down in one of their games, and I made it clear in my preview of that game that Wigan were being under-estimated.


The title is still in United's hands as three wins at home from their final 5 games will really put the pressure on City to keep winning, and United would just need to avoid defeat at City or win at Sunderland to confirm the title. Let me put it this way, I would not want to swap positions with City right now!


The key for United is to win their next two games at Old Trafford and then head to the Etihad Stadium with at least a 5 point advantage and keeping the pressure on City.


And if you want some history to keep the faith, how about looking at the end of the 1995/96 season? United overtook a club that seemingly had the title within their grasp, but lost on April 13th at a club struggling to avoid relegation to leave themselves just 6 points clear of their rivals. They then won their final 3 League games to secure the title, while Newcastle faltered down the stretch.


Hopefully Newcastle United can keep the Champions League chase alive: I am purely talking from a selfish point of view, but it would be nice if Newcastle United can maintain their form and a push for a Champions League spot as a security blanket for United's title charge.


That is because Newcastle are entertaining City on the penultimate weekend of the season and I want that game to mean a lot for the home side.


This is a scenario that is not out of the reckoning with Newcastle now level with Tottenham Hotspur in terms of points.


I think Arsenal are going to be the third team into the Champions League behind the Manchester clubs, while both Spurs and Newcastle have a tough couple of games ahead of them and I think this race is going down to the wire.

Chelsea's draw at Fulham makes me think it is going to be tough for them to get above both Newcastle and Spurs, particularly considering they have games at Arsenal and Liverpool left this season as well as the Champions League Semi Finals.


The next couple of weeks before the end of the month is going to clear up the Champions League spots a little bit more, but it won't surprise me if it is decided on the final day of the season.

A few thoughts from the last week in Football (March 17-28)

I have been extremely busy at work during the last month and that has meant I have not been able to do many recaps due to time constraints and making sure all the picks were out in time.

It has been a busy time in the world of football as we get to 'squeaky bum time' meaning games are coming thick and fast, but I have found a slight window to put down a few thoughts on some of the issues that have arisen in the last couple of weeks.



The reaction to the Fabrice Muamba incident: This is something that united the football world as everyone hoped the best for the young midfielder, but more recently it has become a source of contention- not what happened to the player, but the reaction of people throughout the country.


The first thing we have to point out is the advances of social networking in the last ten years which has allowed people to put to their everyday thoughts down instantly. Therefore, any news can quickly expand and we can also see uprisings down to planned meetings on such sites, for example what happened in Egypt.


My position on Muamba is that when I initially heard what had happened, I was shocked... Not because of his age, but because it is a shock when a professional sports athlete would suddenly just collapse. It was the exact same reaction I had when I heard Daniel Jarque of Espanyol died after a training session in August 2009 and when Antonio Puerta of Sevilla died on the pitch in August 2007.


The issue I had was the number of one minute applauses held up and down the country at football matches in the days following Muamba's collapse... I could understand this a LOT more if he had passed away, but I found it a little distasteful considering he was still fighting for his life. The last time I checked, an applause was unlikely to be helpful and it just seemed really out of place because...  well because Muamba was still alive.


I could understand his former clubs at Birmingham and Arsenal holding some sort of event to let Muamba's family know he wasn't forgotten as there were players that likely had played with him, and I could understand Spurs fans wanting to do something as they were sadly witnesses to the event, while Bolton was a given.


BUT I didn't understand the need to hold an applause at Chelsea v Leicester the day after Muamba collapsed, or at Blackburn v Sunderland on Tuesday evening.


It just seems to me that people want to show their grief at something like this as a barometer as to how decent a human being they are- if you didn't shed a tear or applaud or offer your thoughts at every moment in the following days while Muamba was fighting for his life and you were disregarded as being heartless and out of order.


The last couple of days we have seen people attack the Red Issue cover, which took a satirical dig at the people who have been OTT with their response to this whole issue- the ones that seem to revel in showing how upset they are over events they have no control of.


The people who seem to have the loudest voices offering their disgust at the cover also, unsurprisingly, seem to be the people that wanted to put their grief on their sleeves in the most prominent manner.


I just don't remember the reaction of these same people to Antonio Puerta when he actually DIED on the pitch as they have had for Fabrice Muamba who is, gladly, making a recovery from his unfortunate events.


The question I have left is in what situations will a one minute applause NOT be applicable from now on? A dangerous precedent has been set in my opinion, and one that has nothing to do with people's actual feelings on the matter, making much more reasonable requests for a minute's applause/silence just part of a national grieving day.




FA Cup Semi Final Dilemma: We are coming up to the 23rd anniversary since the Hillsborough Disaster and the FA have been left in a tough spot as to what they can do with the FA Cup Semi Finals that are due to take place that day.


Liverpool, understandably, have always requested not to play on April 15th and that is the date for the second Semi Final this season. The problem for the FA is that the other Semi Final involves Chelsea, a team that are likely to be playing a Champions League Semi Final on Tuesday following this weekend.


Now what to do? The first thing is they could talk to Liverpool and ask them their feelings of playing on April 15th considering they are meeting Everton, a local rival but one that was also affected by the events in 1989. It is no exaggeration to say families can be split down the middle in that City with their support for either Everton or Liverpool, so it could be the ultimate way to pay respects to those that lost their lives 23 years ago as the two famous clubs come together.


However, that is a question for Liverpool and they have every right to say they do not wish to play on that date regardless of the opposition.


Therefore, the FA have only two real options in my opinion for the Semi Finals. Both involves keeping the Sunday clear for Chelsea as well as they deserve to be given the best opportunity to win the Champions League and need the rest between this game and the Semi Final of the other competition.


The first is simply to move the Liverpool-Everton game to take place at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff... This stadium is closer to Liverpool than Wembley and this game could take place as the early game on Saturday 14th April, with Chelsea meeting Spurs at Wembley in the evening.


However, I think the FA are adamant in playing both Semi Finals at Wembley and the only reasonable idea seems to be Chelsea-Spurs meeting on Friday evening and leaving the Liverpool-Everton game on the Saturday. Some will argue that it is impossible for the police to ensure crowd safety for the Chelsea game if everyone has been on the drink during the day, but there have been night games between the teams in the past and the police have had night games at Wembley in the past.


It seems the most logical way to avoid any issues for Chelsea and Liverpool as both clubs will be keeping a close eye on this game. The London Semi Final makes sense to be played on a Friday night as most fans will be close enough to attend and it keeps the April 15th free for both Chelsea and Liverpool for their respective reasons.




Patrick Vieira is clearly still in touch with Garry Cook: That is the only logical reason I have for the comments coming out of the 'Manchester City legend'  (he was there for 18 months at the end of his career) regarding Manchester United.


Last week he described the current League leaders as 'desperate' and was promptly put in his place by Sir Alex Ferguson later that week.


He clearly hasn't learned that he was looking like a tool (much like Garry Cook didn't recognise that until it was too late) and today has made comments about how Manchester City 'deserve' to win the League and Manchester United get all the decisions at Old Trafford.


Vieira states City deserve to win the League because they have played the best football, but clearly didn't receive the news that it was announced last week that 16 of the 20 top flight managers had nominated Tottenham as playing the best football this season.


I'm guessing the former Arsenal midfielder also missed the tape of Newcastle United being awarded a ridiculous penalty at Old Trafford earlier this season that cost Manchester United two points.


Granted it was a penalty on Monday night for the challenge on Fulham's Danny Murphy, but that has evened up the bad decision earlier this season, while Vieira also tried to hide the 'bitterness' that was brewing by suggesting all the big clubs get these decisions and that is what City are striving for.


I just think Vieira has not forgiven United were thwarting his dreams on more than one occasion during his time at Highbury, but surely someone needs to have a word that the team need to keep the focus on the field during this City run that has seen them drop to second in the League table rather than giving Sir Alex Ferguson more 'ammunition', which he already has 'plenty of'.




The relegation picture got a little murkier: Am I the only one that used to love it when the press would release their predictions as to who will win the League and who will go down based on how they thought the final fixtures would go?


I am going to release something like that on the blog in the coming days, before the weekend games, but what I do know is that last weeks results from the Premier League have made it a little tighter at the bottom of the League with all 5 teams still involved.


The biggest loser was Wolves who find themselves 4 points behind Bolton in the final position of safety (5 if you include their horrible goal difference), but a win for Wigan at Liverpool is a huge boost for their chances while Bolton beating Blackburn has dragged the latter back towards the trapdoor.


Momentum is a big thing at this stage and I think Bolton are leading that front, while Wigan and QPR have an awful set of fixtures to come. I would say Wolves will be all but down if they fail to beat Bolton this weekend at home because they have no momentum and nothing positive happening for them right now.


Blackburn had been playing better of late but the loss last week would have hurt them and it is getting tougher down the bottom. Aston Villa may want to be a little careful in thinking they are fine as there are only 8 points between them and QPR in 18th and they too have an awful set of fixtures to come and looked a little lost at times in their loss to Arsenal.




What is it with those Manchester City fans crying at Swansea and Stoke City?: I have a couple of theories: Either they had heard such a funny joke that it had brought tears to their eyes, or they have been following City for around two seasons.


I mean seriously, crying because the team is second in the table and still in control of their own destiny? (Win every game left and City are Champions as it stands).


This is a team that has gone 34 years without a trophy before winning the FA Cup last season, a team that was playing in the League One Play Offs just a few short years ago and one that has had more bad times than good for a generation.


Crying? I mean come on... It has been rightly ridiculed in a number of quarters, so much so that one of the so called 'fans' came on a radio show to claim he was just 'tired and frustrated'. Those 'fans' need to get a grip- it hasn't all be Sheikhs and financial fortunes at City in recent years and they haven't lost anything just yet.

A few thoughts from the last week in Football (February 11-19)

It has been two weeks since the last time I put down a few of my thoughts from the week in football so I have a little bit more to look through.

Some of the issues may seem like they happened a lifetime ago now as football moves on so fast, so I won't cover those in great depth.

Hopefully I will be able to get back to doing these on a weekly basis, but that is something that will be dictated by work pressures unfortunately and finding the time between writing previews and thoughts.


1) Where do Arsenal go from here?: For the second season in succession, Arsenal have found their season in tatters before we get to 'squeaky bum time' and the question is relevant as to where they will go from here. The Gunners are effectively out of the Champions League following a crushing defeat in the San Siro last week and have now fallen out of the FA Cup at the 5th Round as they have reached 7 years since they have last won a trophy.

The pressure is on the management and staff to make sure that they get into the Champions League, but the best they can hope for on that front is reaching the Qualifying Round as they had to pass this year.

Even that is no guarantee with a host of clubs queued up behind them and they have to find their form quickly.

The game against Tottenham Hotspur was usually a 'gimme' for Arsenal fans over the years, but this Sunday the tables will be turned as Spurs come to the Emirates intent on keeping their title ambitions alive while denting their North London rivals' own abitions.


2) Fourth place is up for grabs: The Premier League was not in action this weekend, but Newcastle United and Liverpool must feel they have a great chance of securing the coveted Fourth Place in the Premier League as Arsenal and Chelsea continue to show massive vulnerabilities in their own play.

Both London clubs struggled mightily in their respective FA Cup ties, and both have looked vulnerable in the League all season so surely the other two teams in contention for this place will be full of confidence.

Newcastle United would be the surprise package if they could manage it, while Liverpool may just finish with one of their most successful seasons in recent times if they can get back into the Champions League as well as adding a couple of bits of silverware too. They host Arsenal and Chelsea during the remainder of this season and will feel comfortable having already played Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur twice this season.


3) Aston Villa cannot afford to lose at the DW Stadium this weekend: I said, with my tongue in cheek, that Aston Villa fans may have to deal with a relegation scrap if they don't pick up form a couple of weeks ago in my preview for their game with Manchester City, and that could become a real concern if they were to lose at Wigan this weekend.

Villa are currently on 28 points, leaving them 7 clear of those in the relegation zone, but a defeat could suddenly leave them in an extremely uncomfortable position.

Speaking off the top of my head, I believe they are yet to play Manchester United (Away), Liverpool (Away), Arsenal (Away) and Chelsea (Home) in the League this season, so those 7 points could quickly evaparote with a defeat on Saturday.

Alex McLeish has been under pressure even since accepting the job as he came across town from Birmingham City and that could be increased ten-fold with a defeat at the weekend.


4) The Premier League being the best League in the World: Now I personally hate it when the Premier League is described this way, usually by Sky in hyping a game or by fans that haven't visited a stadium more than twice in their lifetime, as I just don't believe it is true.

There was a period recently when the English sides would do very well in Europe, but they never had a sustained period of dominance in actually WINNING the Champions League, with only Liverpool in 2005 and Manchester United in 2008 winning the top prize since the famous Treble-winning United side of 1999. To prove the Premier League was the 'best League', surely English sides should have won more than a couple of titles in the last 12 seasons, especially considering Real Madrid and Barcelona accounted for 4 of those between themselves in that time and the two Milan clubs have shared 3 titles.

On Wednesday last week, we saw one of the two remaining English representatives hammered at the San Siro, while Manchester United and Manchester City were preparing for their first Europa League games.

The Premier League may be the most 'competitive' League, but the League is of a poor standard as far as I am concerned.

I say this as a United fan myself- the fact we are sitting 2 points off the lead with the midfield we have operated this season is a sad indictment of the quality in the Enlish Premier League rather than anything else.


5) And they said Patrice Evra was the liar?: Over the last 3 months since the incident between LS and Patrice Evra, we have heard a bunch of rhetoric coming out of Anfield from people like Kenneth Dalglish straight through to the players and the fans, with most of that people an attempt to discredit Patrice Evra and the allegations he had made.

There have been a number of PR gaffes throughout that time (those T-Shirts being the most embarrassing without a doubt), but it all seemed to come to a head at Old Trafford 10 days ago.

The most influential way Liverpool had felt it was right to defend their own player was to accuse Evra of being a liar, Dalglish in particular saying soon after the allegations had been made that 'he has done this before, hasn't he?'

I even remember people telling me it was Evra's word against LS's word and that Evra was a known liar so how could he be believed...

Since last Saturday, I have heard nothing but radio silence...

You see LS was proven to be an absolute liar when he informed the club and his manager that he intended to shake Evra's hand, only to decide against it at the last minute... He didn't tell anyone, everyone believed LS when he said he would shake hands, so I guess the FA believed the right person after all.

The embarrassment was not complete though for Liverpool as Kenneth decided to blow up live on TV moments after the game (not quite Kevin Keegan levels, but very enjoyable all the same) and then we once again got all the Liverpool fans up in arms that EVRA had refused the handshake and it was all a conspiracy against the club- some even went so far as to say that Rio Ferdinand should have some consequences for his refusal to shake LS's hands (they were being serious too).

The climbdown on Sunday, courtesy of the American owners finally deciding to make a stand, saw a number of apologies come out of the club- far too little and far too late considering there was no apology over the whole incident that began this sorry affair.

Right now, I don't think it is too far fetched to believe that LS will be shipped off in the Summer at the request of the owners, especially since the refusal to shake Evra's hands had reached the New York Times on Sunday morning.

Fabio Capello Leaves England Post

So everyone would have heard by now that Fabio Capello has decided to leave his position as manager of the England national team and I have been a little surprised by some of the reactions across the board, although others are more understandable.

The first thing I would like to say is that I fully agree with Capello's reasoning for walking from the job, even at this moment just four months before England are due to take part in the Euro 2012 tournament in Poland/Ukraine. The FA have completely botched the way they have handled the John Terry case, and stripping of the Captaincy was the final straw for the Italian.

It is no surprise to see the FA once again making the wrong decision- I don't think England should have John Terry leading them with the charge that was levelled against him, especially not before he was found innocent. Racism is too big an issue for the FA to take the wait and see approach and their first big mistake was not to remove the Captain's armband from Terry back in October when the issue with Anton Ferdinand came to light.

Even then, they could have been excused in waiting to see what the police investigation had resulted in before making the decision. The second opportunity for the FA was when it was made clear that there was ENOUGH of an issue that Terry should hear his case in front of a magistrates court. This was another opportunity that was lost on the FA to ask Terry to give up the armband.

So what exactly has changed in the last three months that they now decided they will not wait until the court case, but they will strip Terry of the armband now? Like I say, I disagreed that Terry was allowed to keep the Captaincy as far as this, but there has been nothing that should have made the FA change their mind from October to February.

It was completely reasonable to expect Fabio Capello was not going to take it positively when the FA decided that it was correct, after all, to take the armband off Terry. I also think it is no surprise that the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger offered their support to Capello- I can't imagine either of those two managers would be treated in this manner by their clubs, especially not after offering implied support for four months.

The FA have been poorly run and advised through this whole issue so far... I like watching other sports as well as football and I just think the way the Pittsburgh Steelers dealt with Ben Roethlisberger (suspended for the first four games in 2010) after he was alleged, but never convicted, of sexual assualt on a girl was the way the FA should have dealt with the Terry case- it should have made an immediate decision on how they were going to move forward, rather than swaying left and right with their opinion and finishing off by undermining their manager.


A lot of people have been very happy to see Capello leave the job, but it once again highlights the level of incompetency at the FA... Capello had done a fabulous job of picking up a group of players that had failed to QUALIFY for the Euro 2008 tournament while leading them to a simple and effective qualification for the World Cup in 2010.

I don't disagree that the tournament performances were not good enough for the public, with England struggling against the USA, Algeria and Slovenia before being beaten by Germany in the last 16. Even then, who knows what the side would have done if England's 'goal' from Frank Lampard was allowed to stand when the game was stuck at 1-1?

The FA again failed to make a real decision and decided to keep Capello on after that tournament, even after most people wanted the Italian removed for the dressing room unhappiness and shocking performances. It seems the last 18 months has convinced those in power down in Soho that Capello was not the man after all, and they seemed to undermine him here, although I won't say how deliberately I think that is. This has also left the National team in a very tough spot to really compete in the upcoming tournament and is another insight into the poor workings at the Association.


As soon as the news was released, you saw how some people were celebrating like England were now free from the 'foreigners shackles' and would be allowed to play with 'passion' that would help them win tournaments- the reactions of Barry Fry and Neil Warnock were particularly funny to watch.

Fry has always been 'passionate', but his criticisms were a joke considering Fabio Capello has more Champions League winning medals (1) as a manager than Fry has managerial experience in the top flight (0) of English football... If ever there is proof that 'passion' will not take you to the top, take a quick look at the amount of teams Fry has 'fired up' to even get to the top flight.

Another manager who was open to all channels to air his voice was Neil Warnock... Yes, the same Neil Warnock who has recently been heavily criticised by his former Captain, Joey Barton, for essentially having no knowledge of tactics or setting his team up properly in preparation for games.

Yet here was Warnock spouting off at being 'over the moon' that Capello had left, a manager who has won more League titles (6) than Warnock has had years managing in the top flight (2.5 years).

The likes of Fry and Warnock think it's easy to inspire by being passionate and 'bringing humour into the dressing room' but both have been shown up when it comes to actually managing, with the latter being heavily criticised for his ability by his former Captain just a week after leaving QPR.

Their reactions are very similar to what a lot of fans were saying when on the airwaves, and from what I have heard from friends and work colleagues since Capello was fired. The thoughts that it was 'all the foreigners fault' because he wasn't 'passionate' are a joke considering England have hardly pulled up trees since winning the World Cup in 1966, a time since they have had just 2 foreign managers.

Steve McClaren failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 tournament, Kevin Keegan proved totally out of his depth, while the less said about Graham Taylor the better.

The players seem to escape some of the criticism as people buy into the Sky Sports mantra that the 'Premier League is the best League in the World'... But how much of that is down to the English players? It is the foreign players and managers that have helped the League move forward and it is telling that no English manager has won a League title since 1992.


Now in saying that, I think Harry Redknapp should be given the job if the FA have decided it is time for an English manager to take charge. He has the credentials in recent seasons to suggest he would do a decent enough job, although I am sure it will all end in tears as it usually does for England.

The bottom line is that the players are simply not good enough to win a major international tournament right now. There are some positives as I think Jack Wilshire, Joe Hart and Wayne Rooney can help lead England to the next few tournaments, but I just don't believe there are enough quality players coming through to expect England to make a real impact at a big international event... And no, I don't count the Olympics as a major tournament.

Redknapp would be a popular choice for both players and the media, and I think he has earned this opportunity ahead of Roy Hodgson, who would have been a major favourite outside of his time at Liverpool.


The one person who should NOT be getting the job is Stuart Pearce and I am really surprised his has positioned himself in such a way that he is now second favourite to take the job on a permanent basis. His time at Manchester City was an absolute joke, and I am not sure he has the CV to take the 'top job in England' based on being part of the set-up and managing the Under-21 team? I am frankly a little stunned to seem him in the position he is and I just am left scratching my head at this development...


With Harry Redknapp being the most likely choice to fill the England manager's post, it will mean there is one big vacancy in the Premier League in the coming months as the Tottenham Hotspur job would be available.

There has been a lot of big talk over who should take over if it does become available, with a lot of people mentioning Jose Mourinho, although I am sure the Portuguese manager has his eye on just one job in England at the moment, the one that is likely to come up at Old Trafford in the next few seasons.

I really hope that David Moyes is offered the job at White Hart Lane as I think he is the most under-rated and deserving manager in the Premier League. Moyes has been brilliant in his time at Everton, getting the best out of a limited squad and he clearly has an eye for a good purchase as we saw when he brought in Mikel Arteta and Tim Cahill.

The Scot has never had the money that the 'big' clubs have enjoyed, yet he consistently has Everton exceeding expectations and also led them to a Champions League in 2005. I think Moyes would really flourish at White Hart Lane and I think he would maintain their success that they have enjoyed in recent seasons.

I always thought it was a shame that Moyes has not added a bit of silverware to his time at Goodison Park, but I think it would be a good time for him to move on and show his capabilities at a higher level. I have a lot of respect for Moyes, and would be very happy if he is given his chance at White Hart Lane, IF the job is available this Summer.