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John Dykes

In Wrexham, North Wales on Friday, Gareth Thomas made his debut for the Crusaders rugby league team. It was a bold, pioneering career move by the former Wales and British Lions rugby union captain for two reasons: firstly, Welsh rugby has traditionally made its home in South Wales and, secondly, it's tough to switch from one code of the game to another.

Perhaps even more significant was the fact that Thomas also knew his return to big time rugby would most likely see him having to deal with abuse following his announcement at the end of last year that he was homosexual.

"I know the world is not perfect and there will be people out there who will be negative but I can take it," he said ahead of the game.

"I'm lucky I was able to say what I wanted to say. It's a free country. I felt I had the strength to do it."

Thomas, 35, had come out in an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper. At the time he said: "It's tough for me being the only international rugby player prepared to break the taboo I can't be the only one but I'm not aware of any other gay player still in the game."

Thomas also admitted he had contemplated suicide at times. Tellingly, so too did Nigel Owens, the Welsh international rugby referee who came out publicly in 2007.

"Why don't more players come out?" asked Owens. "It's a worry for us as individuals, whether you're involved in rugby or any sport."

There has only been one openly gay man in English professional football, Justin Fashanu, who killed himself in 1998 having been taunted and bullied.

Three years ago, writing in the Observer newspaper, Portsmouth and England goalkeeper David James asked, "If one in 10 people are gay, where are all the gay Premiership stars?"

There are 4,000 professional footballers in England and Wales yet none will openly acknowledge they are gay.

According to Paul Elliott, the campaigning former Chelsea and Celtic defender, at least 12 Premier League players are gay. After rugby's Thomas came out last December, publicist Max Clifford revealed he had advised two high-profile gay BPL stars to keep their sexuality secret because football, he said "remains in the Dark Ages, steeped in homophobia."

Last month, journalist Patrick Barkham revealed in the Mail & Guardian that England's Football Association (FA) had cancelled the launch of a film intended to counter homophobia.

Having previously reported that the FA had struggled to find high-profile players to support the project, the FA decided to conduct further consultation before releasing the "hard-hitting video that shows a man abusing workmates and commuters with anti-gay taunts before doing the same at a football match."

Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of a lesbian and gay rights group went as far as describing football as being "institutionally homophobic".

"It's ironic that the work we're doing with the army is much more advanced than what is happening in football," he said. "We're sending openly gay and lesbian people to fight in Afghanistan, but we can't send openly gay people to fight for the World Cup this summer."

That is a highly provocative statement to be sure. But should the FA, or football as a whole, be getting such a rough ride here? Organisations like Ben Summerskill's argue that they are helping people come to terms with their sexuality, and they are right to do so. Yet when one applies the approach to a commercial activity, which Premier League football undoubtedly is, individuals begin to weigh the need for personal happiness against potential financial repercussions.

Tennis star Martina Navratilova won titles and acclaim long after she came out but claims she lost out on US$12 million in sponsorship deals.

David James made that very point in his article, and applied it to the football world he has lived in for 20 years.

"Would football culture ever be the same again?" he wondered. "I can't imagine it would be possible for a 17-year-old to come out, no matter how good he was. The protective bubble of success wouldn't be there. You'd have to prove yourself first before you could be openly gay and still be accepted."

He ended his 2007 article by celebrating the fact that homophobic chanting would be banned at Premier League grounds from the next season. His parting shot: "It will still take some sort of new age hero to be the first to come out, but I just hope, for football's sake, that it happens soon.

Two years on, Max Clifford offered this verdict on the likelihood of a BPL star doing a Gareth Thomas.

"If he did, it would effectively be his career over, in my view," said Clifford. "Do I think that's right? Of course not. But it's a fact that homophobia in football is as strong now as it was 10 years ago.

"You look across society and see openly gay people in music, movies, television, politics, the clergy, and it's not a problem, nor in many sports. It's not that footballers are homophobic but the fans can be vicious."

And that opinion was echoed by Peter Clayton, who chairs the FA's "Homophobia in Football" working group.

He told The Independent: "It would take a very courageous Premier League footballer to come out because fans are so vociferous in football in a way they aren't in any other sport. There are also barriers to a player coming out from some clubs, firstly because the players are commercial assets and the clubs don't want those assets damaged, and secondly because a player coming out would cause disruption."

Perhaps it would be best if the last word on the matter -- for now at least -- went to Gareth Thomas.

"I want to be known first and foremost as a rugby player," he said this week. "I don't want just to be known for coming out. That is only a part of my life."

Anyone who pays any kind of attention to newspapers will tell you there was only one headline, and one story therefore, that caught the eye this week.

I refer of course to the report carried by most reputable news sources worldwide under the heading: "Japanese town baffled by kangaroo sightings."

 Apparently, authorities in the Mayama mountain district of Osaki City in Miyagi prefecture have received as many as 30 reports of "kangaroo-like animal sightings", including three since December when the area was often covered in snow!

Fortunately, the same authorities have just about managed to maintain public order in Mayama. Nonetheless, global coverage of the matter has extended as far as such illustrious news gathering organs as the website of British illusionist Derren Brown.

Rightly so, I say, given the mysterious nature of the marsupial manifestation. Incidentally, Brown's  article prompted the best reader's blog post of the year so far: "Wonderful! The world needs more incongruous kangaroos."

In case you are wondering just why this week's column has taken on such a bizarre tone, it's because possible kangaroo sightings make a whole lot more sense that the news from the football world this week

For instance, what are we to make of the news that a team meeting at England's hotel, as the side team prepared for last week's friendly against Egypt, was bugged? According to the Football Association, media outlets in Britain were offered recordings of conversations between coach Fabio Capello and his squad, John Terry included. Those media outlets have swiftly been reminded of the legal repercussions that would come with any publication of those conversations.

Within hours of this juicy story breaking, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson appeared to miss the point of it all. Pushed for a comment on it at his pre-Champions League press conference this week, the original Red Knight pondered aloud on the implications of this alleged bugging.

He likened the situation to one in 2005 when listening devices were found in the home dressing room at Old Trafford after a match against Chelsea.

 "I would be concerned about it," he said. "You have to be. Preparation involves discretion and secrecy. Capello may have been discussing some important issues about his team. All of a sudden someone else has got it. It is a concern."

Sir Alex is all about the football, isn't he? But while his club has been relatively scandal-free in recent times, others haven't. So the chances that the room was bugged to provide tactical information to England's Word Cup opponents are slim at best.

It's far more likely that the perpetrators of the "Hertfordshire Hotel-gate" were after salacious gossip. If they could have been heard over the relentless clicking of camera phone shutters as they frantically photographed their private parts, the players will have (at least according to the perpetrators),  spent most of the meeting with "il gaffer' "discussing extra-marital affairs and spectacular team-bonding activities in London hotels.

Indeed, one earnest news organization (but not Derren Brown's) offered the following stern appraisal of this "news" item:

"The incident is the latest blow to hit Capello's World Cup build up, in the wake of the media frenzy that surrounded John Terry's alleged affair with the ex-girlfriend of his international team-mate Wayne Bridge."

Seriously? Well, at least England's footballers managed to put whatever was said in Hertfordshire aside for 90 minutes and actually concentrate long enough to beat Egypt.

Which is more than can be said for Singapore's national team.

The side recently lost 2-1 to Jordan in an Asian Cup qualifier. They could have lost by more, but as it happened a draw would have seen them progress to the Asian Cup Finals. Naturally, fans back home were unhappy with the result.

They looked for answers. And this week, they got them from the Straits Times newspaper which ran an exclusive report.

Under the headline "No Wonder Lions Lost", the paper revealed that "on the day of what was arguably one of the most important matches in Singapore's football history, two players overslept and were late boarding the team bus."

The paper also reported that at half time, with Singapore trailing 0-1, "a couple of players were smoking in the dressing room". This "shocking behavior" was confirmed by national coach Raddy Avramovic, who said he would be submitting a report to the Football Association of Singapore.

It would be tempting to make light of this report, but it must have far-reaching implications for football in the Lion City. But it is still tempting to make light of it. Was the dressing room bugged perhaps? Or was the source of this news a stray passing kangaroo with a highly-developed sense of smell?

Three summers ago, I was lucky enough to be in Hong Kong to cover the English Premier League's Barclays Asia Trophy.

Liverpool, Fulham and Portsmouth contested the pre-season tournament with local side South China. Harry Redknapp's Pompey emerged the surprise winners.

It was by the far the most successful staging of the tournament - the Hong Kong Stadium drew good-sized crowds, especially given the presence of Liverpool, for whom Fernando Torres made his first appearance. The teams bonded and "pre-seasoned" in the sumptuous setting of the Grand Hyatt Hotel and all involved were wowed by Hong Kong at its most seductive.

Not everyone enjoyed five-star treatment though. One of the more memorable contributions to the event came from a pair of radio deejays who had journeyed to the East from England's South Coast.

Chris Wise, or "Wisey" as he is inevitably in known in radio circles, and his partner in broadcasting, Mark Mudie, were there to report on the tournament for Quay Radio, a commercial channel broadcasting from Portsmouth's tourist hub, the Gunwharf Quays.

On matchdays in Hong Kong, Wisey and Mark filled the air in the broadcast booths with their thoughts on Pompey's chances on the pitch as well as their observations on what was clearly an eye-opening first trip to Hong Kong. Neither was ashamed to admit they were operating on a very tight budget, staying in a distinctly modest hotel amidst the teeming masses in the Kowloon district, over the water and far from glittering Hong Kong Island.

In between reminders to get along to the TGI Friday's on the outskirts of Portsmouth for their value-added lunch specials, and Pompey transfer speculation, the pair chatted about the exorbitant cost of beer in Asia, the adventures they had traveling by train to the ground, and the perils of finding their way back to their little corner of Kowloon each night.

"Who would ever have thought Pompey would be playing in a tournament like this, in a place like this?" was a theme the pair returned to regularly. "How could we not be out here reporting on every step of the adventure?"

Almost three years on, my thoughts returned to those fun-filled days in Hong Kong when I recently read a series of articles which all carried variations on the same headline: "Portsmouth count the cost of living the dream."

Thanks to erstwhile Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale, "living the dream" has become a phrase synonymous with financial imprudence or living beyond one's means. Portsmouth FC's recent visits to Britain's High Court have revealed just how Pompey's dream was allowed to turn into a nightmare.

When the club attempted to go into administration a week or so ago, a counsel for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs told the Court that the taxman wanted to know how "a succession of owners of the club have allowed such enormous debts to accrue".

"How is it possible," asked Gregory Mitchell QC, "that this once-great club has become insolvent with liabilities exceeding assets by a figure of £65 million?"

By the time Portsmouth returned to the High Court this week at the insistence of HMRC, which questioned the validity of the administration process, it was revealed that the club needs £14 million just to make it through to the end of March. Portsmouth FC is in fact carrying debts of £86 million. The court was told that the debts are £8 million higher than the figure given by the administrator, and that HMRC lawyers valued the squad at £21 million - some £17m less than the estimate given by chief executive Peter Storrie the previous week.

"At the moment, everything is shrouded in mystery," concluded Gregory Mitchell QC.

Back in 2008, Chris Wise was named "Newcomer of the Year" at the Arquiva Radio Awards and, to this day, he lists his proudest achievements as "getting to commentate on Pompey in the FA Cup Final and subsequently in Europe as well".

In 2008, Portsmouth welcomed Jermain Defoe, Lassana Diarra and Peter Crouch to Fratton Park. They beat Cardiff in that Cup Final with a team which contained Glenn Johnson, Sol Campbell, Sylvain Distin, Sulley Muntari and Niko Kranjcar. They retained an unbeaten home record in Europe and led mighty AC Milan at Fratton Park with five minutes to play, only to draw the game. They traveled to play in Portugal, Spain and Germany.

The Wiseys of this world, along with those fans who blog or in any other way share their support for Pompey, are clinging to those precious memories in these desolate times. They are praying that the taxman is appeased, that the dreaded winding-up order is avoided, a buyer found and that some years down the road, Portsmouth FC rejoins the elite of English football.

Some are already allowing themselves to get angry about it all. Angry that Harry Redknapp was allowed to spend money on players and wages far in excess of the revenues they were generating; angry that it all fell apart when Gaydamak was hit hard by the credit crunch; even angrier that a succession of recent buyers would appear to have focused on satisfying the demands of other clubs and agents rather than keeping the taxman at bay.

Quite where it will all end remains to be seen, but at the very least a lesson has to be learned, not least to stop other loyal fans and broadcasters going through what Chris Wise and his mates have had to endure. At the risk of ending on an overly negative note, remember that last summer brought a "dream" trip to China and the latest Premier League Asia Trophy for West Ham United.

One simply has to look at that club's most recent accounts (which detailed calamitous over-spending on players) to realize that they too could soon be lamenting their having lived the dream.  As Chris Wise will tell you, there's nothing wrong with a budget hotel, if that's all you can afford.

Two weeks ago, Wales beat Scotland in a breathtaking Six Nations rugby encounter. The 31-24 win was sealed by a try scored at the death in Cardiff and Welsh fans soon began celebrating. Not long after, the players began their celebrations too. For one of them, those celebrations could have ended his international career.

Andy Powell, a 1.93-meter-tall powerhouse whose speed and agility belies his 115-kilo weight, nevertheless demonstrated an obvious frailty when he had too much to drink then decided to go in search of a snack at 5am the next morning.

Beer logic told Powell the obvious thing to do was to take a golf buggy from his team hotel and drive down the M4 motorway to a nearby service station. Along the way he picked up a cone and flashing orange light from the side of the motorway. The local police were not amused, and arrested Powell at the service station.

"It was a stupid prank which went badly wrong," said Powell soon after.

"I regret terribly what I did. I know it could cost me my international career and that tears me up inside every time I think about it. Gutted is not a strong enough word for how I feel. I've brought it all upon myself and I realise now that it could have a serious effect on my future."

Powell, who has been dropped for the rest of the Six Nations, also told the Daily Mail that the police who arrested him made a number of jokes at his expense.

"Someone made a joke by asking 'is that Tiger Woods in the back seat?'" said Powell.

Well of course they would. After all, it wasn't that long ago that we were all reading a statement which began: "As you all know, I had a single-car accident earlier this week, and sustained some injuries," and ended with, "Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible."

Yes he did admit culpability, and he kind of apologised, but three months and about a dozen kiss-and-tells later, we all know that Tiger Woods had also been attempting to manage an unmanageable situation in issuing the above statement.

Much as former England captain John Terry allegedly did when confronted by a newspaper which was about to print allegations about his sex life.

Terry's efforts to control a situation involving a former teammate, his former partner and his own wife ultimately cost him his captain's armband but not his place in the England team. So, he lost less than Andy Powell.

In fact, his club even gave him its absolute backing at the time and allowed him some paid leave to travel to Dubai where he was photographed kicking a football about in the sun and kissing his "forgiving" wife at a holiday resort.

Britain's public was less forgiving. According to a recent survey by OnePoll, Terry was the nation's second most-hated celebrity at the time of polling. Tiger Woods came fourth on the list. Topping it, however, was Terry's teammate Ashley Cole, who looks set to lose a wife and a football club.

In the meantime, Andy Powell has become the subject of a Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cardiff-United-Kingdom/Andy-Powell-Appreciation-Society-For-Driving-A-Golf-Buggy-On-The-M4/301791227198.

While no one wants to make light of the fact that Powell endangered himself and the public as well as breaching his governing body's rules of conduct, it is refreshing to read some of the online debate that his case has spawned. Has the Welsh Rugby Football Union been disproportionate in its punishment? Are the former players who have savaged Powell for his actions acting hypocritically, given that alcohol-fuelled mishaps have afflicted rugby players since the game was invented? Do high-profile sportsmen pay too high a price for their fame when it comes to personal transgressions?

Now that's a proper debate. And a welcome relief from the very concept of asking people who they hate.

It is also a debate which has spawned a genuine statement of contrition from the man at its heart. Powell said all there is to say about the matter. He spoke in his own words, with no attempt at putting "spin" on the topic, or manipulating the media through a PR agency or celebrity publicist.

If only footballers and their clubs could act the same way. The most sinister aspect of the Ashley Cole affair (discounting his own sad claim to have been "victimized by Chelsea) is the suspicion that Chelsea are more put out by the fact that Cole "out spun" them than they are by his actual infidelities.

Chelsea's Head of Communications, Steve Atkins, was made to look silly when he allegedly instructed one of the women Cole has been linked with on how to handle the media, in the mistaken belief that Cole actually hadn't slept with her. The club's security staff must also be under review given they have been accused of helping the player smuggle women into hotel rooms. For a club that arrogantly believes it can "manage" any situation, this is tantamount to anarchy.

Now we are told (and just how did this leak out by the way?) that Chelsea's players were this week given a harsh warning of the consequences should any of them further tarnish the club's reputation.

Spin, spin and more of the same. One almost expects celebrity publicist Max Clifford to pop up wearing a smart Chelsea blazer one of these days. So why does all this go on? Because, we are constantly told, the stakes are so high. The sums of money involved so vast.

But that is wrong. The stakes are considerably higher for Andy Powell, whose transgression may have a massive impact on his future earning potential in a sport which has nothing like the same wage structure as football's. He made a mistake and has accepted his punishment. JT, Tiger and Ashley are different stories altogether.

Tuesday night's Champions League classic at the San Siro may have been memorable for another breathtaking showing by Wayne Rooney but it also brought further evidence of one of football's great personal comebacks.

In defeat, AC Milan's Ronaldinho scored his team's opener against Manchester United and created the second for Clarence Seedorf. Over 90 minutes, he produced a performance studded with the no-look passes, elasticos, step-overs and jinking runs that made him a two-time World Player of the Year. He even bounced one remarkable pass off his standing leg. Deliberately, as opposed to Paul Scholes' unintentional effort, which somehow found the net.

Followers of Serie A have known for some time that the buck-toothed Brazilian is back to his best. Fans of his national team have been clamoring for his recall ahead of South Africa 2010. Now, thanks to the ubiquitous nature of Champions League coverage, Ronaldinho's rebirth is a matter of fact.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Henry Winter noted, "Ronaldinho was magnificent in the early stages, juggling the ball and conjuring up memories of his effervescent days with Brazil and Barcelona."

In the Daily Mail, Matt Lawton wrote: "The older of the two Brazilians was terrific, so much so that he could yet have a part to play at this summer's World Cup. He terrorised Rafael with one of his finest performances in years."

Now, juxtapose those journalistic plaudits with these articles.

Back in April 2008, the BBC's website published a detailed investigation titled, "What has happened to Ronaldinho?" As recently as September 2009, the Footballing World website issued (under the headline "Ronaldinho hits rock-bottom at maudlin Milan") the following eulogy:

"Winner of the Ballon d'Or just four years ago, the one-time star attraction at Camp Nou has slumped to a shocking low this season. His slump from pinnacle to past-it has been a dramatic one. Perhaps, though, it was an inevitable outcome for a footballer who has always focused more on the vibrant nightlife of Paris, Barcelona and now Milan, than dedicating extra hours preserving his fitness on the training ground. Aged a mere 29, Ronnie now faces being consigned to history as a quite brilliant flash-in-the-pan who fell short of true greatness."

Just think about that last sentence. When 2002 World Cup winner Ronaldinho was named the world's best player in 2004 and 2005 and led Barcelona to the Champions League in 2006, would anyone ever have dared suggest he might be labeled a flash-in-the-pan?

Most journalistic studies of Ronaldinho's decline point to a disappointing showing at the 2006 World Cup as being the beginning of his slump. Before long, Spanish newspapers printed pictures of "little Ronaldo" looking somewhat large around the middle. Barcelona fans regularly questioned the partying habits of Ronaldinho and his buddy Deco.

Significantly, Ronaldinho incurred the wrath of Brazil coach Dunga by skipping the 2007 Confederations Cup to take a vacation.

His spell at Milan (to whom he was "offloaded" in 2008) hardly appeared to have reversed this decline. It was only really as 2009 drew to its close that Ronaldinho sprang into life when he helped Milan overcome his old rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League. In January, he scored a brace in a 3-0 mauling of Juventus and a hat-trick against Siena.

Significantly, he also demonstrated an enthusiasm for the game to match that of his hugely-talented 20-year-old compatriot and teammate Alexandre Pato.

Before long, the Brazilian public decided it had seen enough to convince them that Ronaldinho should be recalled by national coach Dunga, who had overlooked him since the beginning of 2009.

The pages nearest the front of a Barclays Premier League matchday programme are rarely memorable. Your three pounds usually buy you a few platitudes from the club's manager, a page from the captain urging supporters to "get behind the lads today" and a ghost-written slot about the club's latest charity initiative.

They normally get a quick looking-over some 20 minutes before kick-off, as the players are finishing their warm-down and the club mascot is beginning its warm-up ahead of parading around dressed as a dinosaur, lion or an oversized hammer.

On Wednesday night, though, anyone who picked up a copy of Arsenal's glossy souvenir booklet produced for the visit of Liverpool, will have actually stopped and read the three pages written by Arsene Wenger. Possibly with a look of stunned disbelief on his or her face.

In them, the Frenchman produced an astonishing, and articulate, summing-up of his philosophy of sport. In essence, he argued in defence of his players' efforts in the successive defeats against Manchester United and Chelsea, claimed that there was no reason to believe Arsenal were out of the title race, and reminded us that sport is anything but predictable. As programme notes go, these were the equivalent of a philosophical treatise.

The response to his words in the Emirates Stadium press room, however, contradicted Wenger's assertion about football being unpredictable.

A number of journalists shook their heads, rolled their eyes and muttered words to the effect of "here we go again". They, like the rest of us, pointed to a league table in the very same programme which showed Arsenal nine points behind leaders Chelsea and seven behind United. They pointed to Arsenal's lack of a cutting-edge (and goals) in games against the so-called Big Four.

Furthermore, the assembled reporters rightly pointed out they had heard most of it before. Most recently at Wenger's pre-match press conference in which he lambasted journalists for allegedly not reporting the full content of his comments. In truth, Wenger had come across in their newspapers as a bit of a moaner.

Or as something worse than that. Tuesday's copy of the The Times, for instance, carried an opinion piece by Matt Dickinson, its chief sports correspondent, headlined: "Wenger's moralising is hard to defend". It was accompanied by a cartoon depicting him as England's King Canute, who had attempted in vain to hold back the waters of the sea.

Well, Wenger was never in any danger of drowning on Wednesday night at an icy Emirates.  Freezing, maybe. Certainly not over-heating, unless it was in outrage at further mischievous reports from Spain linking Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas to an imminent switch to the colours of Barcelona.

 But back to the Dickinson piece which, justifiably, suggested that Wenger "risks becoming an unpopular parody of himself by preaching from on high." The writer added: "Wenger... is so convinced that Arsenal's way of playing is the right way, how the game was always meant to be played, that things such as the number of goals are dismissed as mere details in his bigger philosophical struggle.

It was a fun read. And full of valid points, including Dickinson's concluding paragraph: "Arsenal are not good enough to compete for the big prizes - and until Wenger addresses the hole in his defence, there will also be one in his moral arguments."

Virtually every other paper of note made similar points, and suggested that Wenger was running out of sympathetic ears to bend. Maybe his own matchday programme notes had become Arsene's best bet to guarantee he would get his entire point across.

While he was waxing lyrical about sport and our expectations of it, England's football writers were echoing Dickinson's point about Arsenal's goalkeeper and the back four in front of him.

So, what happened on Wednesday night? Simply put, Arsenal kept a clean sheet against a team lacking a Rooney or Drogba. The players had clearly been coached not to make the mistake of rushing forward and getting caught on the counter-attack as they had in the previous two games.

That clean sheet, allied to Abou Diaby's second-half winner, represented a return to older Arsenal values. It was a tenacious showing by the home side, and one that owed as much to a backs-to-the-wall spirit as it did to any highbrow theories on how the game should be played. It was a night for battling, not showboating. The Emirates faithful were delighted to dust off the old Highbury classic chant, "1-nil to the Arsenal!".

At the end of it, Arsenal found themselves right back in the title race. Make no mistake of that. Chelsea's defeat at Goodison and United's draw with Aston Villa may have made an immediate impact on the league table. But it is the fixtures list that should offer Arsenal fans the most encouragement.

The Gunners now embark on a run of games which they will be expected to win comfortably, while the two teams above them face a challenging set of fixtures (including the Champions League knockout round) before they go head-to-head at Old Trafford on April 3.

Fabregas, incidentally, added to a positive night for his club after the game by rubbishing the Barcelona story. Thursday's papers brought a different set of Arsene Wenger headlines, but crucially, the reporters were able to report a football game rather than a moralistic rant by the Gunners' boss.

Perhaps there is a lesson there: save the philosophy for the matchday programme, Arsene, and perhaps the media will do you a favour after all. If they continue to report Arsenal wins, on and off the pitch, chances are it will be the turn of Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea and Sir Alex Ferguson at United to go on the defensive.

Wayne Rooney hardly invites criticism these days: his performances on the pitch have been breath-taking and his "New Dad" public persona compares favourably to that of, say, his national team captain.

Even the current proceedings against him and his wife at the Manchester Mercantile Court - his former management company is pursuing a £4.3 million claim against the Rooneys in a contractual dispute -- are unlikely to prejudice the public against Manchester United's finest.
But what, Wayne, was the deal with those boots on Sunday?

A shocking combination of lime green and orange, with a black "swoosh", "swerve fins" and odd side-on lacing, Rooney's Nike Total90 Laser III's hardly complemented his black and blue away kit. In fact they rebelled violently against it!

It was a sight to set the purists (well, former United defender Paul Parker) sighing. "Nothing looks better than a black-and-white boot," he observed wistfully in between his on-air stints spent praising Rooney's footwork.

Britain's Daily Mail newspaper - self-appointed guardian of public decency and a champion of the Good Old Days - felt sufficiently moved at the sight of Rooney's Nikes to invoke the spirit of Sir Stanley Matthews.

Its excuse for referencing the legendary winger was the news that the pair of boots he wore at the 1952 "Matthews Cup Final" have just surfaced at an auctioneer's. They go under the hammer on February 24 and are expected to raise £8,000.

The news gave the Mail an excuse to remind its readers of Sir Stanley's heroics in inspiring Blackpool to an unlikely 4-3 victory at Wembley. They also took the opportunity to detail the technical features of the Matthews "clod-hoppers", complete with their nailed-in leather studs.

From there, it was a natural progression editorially to contrast Sir Stanley's humble lifestyle with that of the modern football stars who, said the paper, "live in a different world, shielded from their fans by bodyguards, electronic gates and the tinted glass of their Ferraris."

To be fair to the Mail, though, it did point out that Sir Stanley himself was a pioneer of lighter, more effective football boots. He reportedly came back from the 1950 World Cup impressed with what foreign players could achieve with lighter boots than those he wore, and helped design a new "Matthews" boot which soon became a best-seller.

At the age of 38, Sir Stanley wove some Wembley magic for the ages. Was it down to the boots? Well that is very much up for debate. But while we're at it, let's argue that Wayne Rooney is getting a crucial advantage from his high-tech footwear.

Nike would certainly love to take some of the credit for a season which has already brought Rooney 22 goals (20 of them in the BPL). With 14 league games left in the season and the potential for a further eight matches (the Carling Cup Final and up to seven UEFA Champions League games), Rooney looks certain to break the 30-goal barrier.

If he does, expect even more "boot talk" to follow the 24-year-old. His recent goal surge has not just made him the hot favorite to finish the season as the BPL's leading scorer, but he could also be in line for the coveted European Golden Shoe award.

Who are his rivals? Up in Scotland, the SPL's all-time leading scorer, Kris Boyd of Rangers, is on 19 for the season. Over in Spain, the world's best player, Leo Messi has 15 and is one ahead of David Villa.

Luis Suarez (Ajax) has notched 18 goals in the Netherlands, Seydou Doumbia (Young Boys Berne) 17 in Switzerland. Djibril Cisse has 15 for Panathinaikos in the Greek Super League. Others like Pedro Morales (Dinamo Zagreb, 13) in Croatia and Oscar Cardozo (Benfica, 14) in Portugal could yet have a chance.

Italy's Serie A boasts Antonio di Natale of Udinese (13) and Inter's Diego Milito (13) while Ariza Makukula of Kayserispor leads the way in Turkey with 13. In France, Monaco's Nene leads Ligue 1 with 13 and the Bundesliga's top marksman is Leverkusen's Stefan Kiessling with 13.

At this point, one has to remember that the Golden Shoe is judged on a weighted system whereby the five "top" European leagues are deemed to be "tougher" than the others and goals scored in those leagues more worthy. A goal scored in the BPL is worth two coefficient points and one in Croatia, for instance, 1.5 points.

That's bad news for Boyd as the SPL has a lower coefficient than the likes of England, Spain and Italy. Similarly, Brazilian striker Welliton may have finished the 2009 Russian season with 21 goals for Spartak Moscow but his league has a lower coefficient than the big boys of Europe.

Rooney has already hunted down the prolific Kristaps Grebis on coefficient points, despite the latter having scored 30 times for Liepajas Metalurg in the now-finished Latvian league.

So, he looks well placed to win a new boot. But what if Rooney goes well beyond the 30-goal mark? What if he points his garish Nikes at the record books?

In terms of all-time goal-scoring feats, he has some way to go. German legend Gerd Muller twice won the Golden Boot (as it was then) without coming near the top score. Eusebio notched 42 in 1967-8, Yugoslav Josip Skoblar managed 44 in French football in 1970-71 and Argentine Hector Yazalde racked up 46 in Portugal in 1973-74.

Since the advent of coefficients, Brazilian Jardel leads the way with 72 points from his 36 goals in Portugal in 1998-99. A change in Portugal's status meant his 42 goals in 2001-2002 only earned him 63 pts.

The best recent efforts: Luca Toni's 31 goals (62 points) for Fiorentina in 2005-06, Cristiano Ronaldo's 31 (also for 62 points) in 2007-08 and last season's outstanding effort by Diego Forlan who scored 32 goals (64 points) for Atletico Madrid.

Rooney could find himself in famous company by the end of the season. And if the shoe fits...

Without wanting to offend anyone, be prepared to hear the "F" word a lot on football discussion shows and podcasts over the next couple of weeks. Not, thankfully, the Gordon Ramsay version of it, but rather in the form of the word "franchise".

The FA Premier League will meet early next month to debate the future of the world's most successful football "product". Its members - club chairmen and owners - will sit down at the table with those who shape and administrate the EPL. Central to their discussions will be a man called Phil Gartside.

Mr Gartside is the chairman of Bolton Wanderers FC, a club which these days falls into the category of perennial relegation battlers. Last year, he submitted a series of proposals (which he has slightly revised since) for a league made up of two tiers of 18 clubs each, with only limited opportunities for promotion and relegation between them, and no relegation from Tier Two.

Those proposals, plus other visions of the league's future will be on the table at next week's meeting of the Premier League and they will doubtless soon find their way into the public domain.

Just as they did last year. Then, critics were quick to say Gartside's proposals were aimed squarely at securing the long-term financial futures of clubs such as his. Bolton are not part of football's elite, and never will be. Yet with guaranteed "top-flight" football, the club could still survive despite its having run up reported debts of more than 50 million pounds.

Right now, a club relegated from the BPL (as Bolton could yet be, despite having moved out of the immediate danger zone with Tuesday's win over Burnley) can quickly get into financial trouble. So-called "parachute payments" can only go so far before wage bills and interest payments on debt lead any club which is in poor financial health toward administration.

Crystal Palace went into administration this week and we have been hearing loud warnings lately that more clubs will follow. Perhaps the Gartside Proposal has arrived at exactly the right time for football administrators who are being tasked to head off a looming financial crisis.

So, let's look at what Gartside is proposing. Effectively, it is a franchise-style product rather than what has traditionally been viewed as a meritocracy.

And the problem with franchises is that they are, by their nature, very deliberately constructed. Having seen Leeds United do so well in the FA Cup lately and having witnessed Newcastle United's resurgence (in front of crowds of 40,000) in the Championship, it is tempting to suggest that any BPL franchise would be better off if it contained those two clubs and not Bolton (average home attendance 21,855).

As a theoretical exercise, let's start with the BPL's Big Four then select the remaining teams for Tier One of a Gartside league. One might select them based on geographical location. Then one might factor in financial clout, attendances and fan base, historical relevance, strategic global importance, and so on.

Scottish giants Celtic and Ranger will not be involved -- that is now a constitutional reality thanks to a Scottish FA decision. So, how does one select clubs which currently don't make the 20-team BPL cut on merit?
Would Derby County make the cut? Or Sheffield United perhaps? Do we really need so many poorly-supported clubs from the northwest: Wigan, Bolton, Burnley, Blackburn?

What of Nottingham Forest, for instance? Should they make it because of their domestic and European trophy-winning heritage, their geographical location and their catchment area?

Well, given Forest's recent form, they may well be on for a return to top-flight football thanks to their results on the pitch. They are neck-and-neck with Newcastle at the top of the Championship.

But if Forest come up there is no way they will do what they did under Brian Clough in the ‘70s and win the top-flight title in their first season, then grab a couple of European Cups for good measure. Not given the "Big Four" domination of the BPL.

Yet the only model which could allow Forest fans to dream of lifting the BPL trophy one day is actually the franchise system. With guaranteed income, astute management and the right results on the playing field of course, the league could theoretically one day be won again.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool probably could not care less about these clubs. In fact, they would most likely oppose any suggestion that they share their cut of the BPL's revenues with more teams than they already have to under the league's collective sale philosophy.

Yet it cannot be denied that this meeting comes at a time when football appears to be due for a major shake-up - whether that be as a consequence of a credit crunch or stricter regulation by its governing bodies. To that we might care to add suggestions from some quarters that the BPL has suffered a dip in quality at its top end.

It may actually turn out to be the perfect time for the FA Premier League to take Phil Gartside seriously. After all, he has said he wanted -- at the very least -- to spark a debate about football's inequality through his proposals. So, let that debate begin, rather than dismissing Mr Gartside out of hand.

For a football club stocked with a seemingly endless supply of exquisitely-talented young players, Arsenal FC has become surprisingly reliant on a single footballer.

22-year-old midfielder Cesc Fabregas has become so influential for the Gunners this season that some are saying the destiny of this season's EPL title race lies in the hands of one man: Arsenal's physio Colin Lewin.

If Lewin keeps the Spaniard fit, they say, Arsenal could once again lift the trophy after a six-year wait.

While Manchester United and Chelsea will have something to say about this, there is no doubt Fabregas is putting together a magical season. He has scored 11 goals in 18 league appearances and is already four goals ahead of his best-ever tally for an entire season. He has been directly involved in either scoring or assisting 24 of Arsenal's 59 league goals.

He single-handedly demolished Bolton Wanderers in this week's double-header. At the Reebok he completed 123 passes, scored Arsenal's first goal, set up the second and had two penalty claims. Bolton manager Owen Coyle said Fabregas could play for any team in the world. On Wednesday night at the Emirates, he sparked a comeback with an assist then a goal.

What is more, he is playing with such a blend of flair and ferocity that Fabregas alone seems capable of lifting Arsene Wenger's charges whenever their pretty football and technical brilliance threatens to falter.

Forget Robin van Persie, forget Andrey Arshavin (who only has one goal from his last seven league games) -- it's Fabregas who got Arsenal to the top of the table.
So, upon revisiting Coyle's statement - which was made innocently enough - one might just have stumbled upon the motivation behind Fabregas' single-handed assault on this year's title. The question is: will this season be his last for Arsenal?

On Tuesday's "Football Focus", Spanish journalist Guillem Balague told ESPN's Asian viewers that he recently interviewed Fabregas for UEFA's "Champions" magazine. In the course of the interview, Balague said he got the impression Fabregas was talking about Arsenal and his title hopes as if he were making his swansong for the north London club.

The Daily Mirror newspaper this week ran excerpts from the interview, the most significant being a passage in which Fabregas addressed the topic of a return to his homeland.

He said: "You can never say never, but I feel grateful, wanted, comfortable and important at Arsenal. Some people will never understand if I ever leave, but you have to feel comfortable with yourself.

"I've given my all for Arsenal. I've played when I've felt ill, and through injury. I even played in the Champions League a few hours after my grandfather died. I'm proud to be a part of this club, and I'll always be proud of what I've done."

That was the sentence that got Balague's attention. Read the interview for yourself when it becomes available on line in a week or so but bear in mind that UK-based Balague is a well-connected journalist who has for some years now enjoyed a close working relationship with the UK-based Spanish players, Fabregas among them. Guillem Balague's journalistic hunches have a habit of coming true.

There is absolutely no doubt Fabregas is a hot property right now. Much to the chagrin of his manager, Arsene Wenger, Spanish giants Real Madrid have made no secret of their intention to sign the player this summer. Prior to the launch of Real's "Operation Cesc", the Spaniard had been tipped to return to Barcelona, the club which developed him as a youngster.

So, does this potential move explain the almost superhuman efforts Fabregas has been putting so far this season, which kicked off with the 6-1 rout of Everton at Goodison Park. Fabregas scored two in that win -- just as he did in a remarkable 27-minute cameo against Aston Villa in December. Having scored his goals in that game, Fabregas limped off into Lewin's treatment room and of course re-emerged in a playing sense to put Bolton to the sword twice.

For a midfielder -- and one who looked anything but a goal-scoring one last season - Fabregas' stats this term are staggering. There is a comparison to be drawn with Cristiano Ronaldo, whose prolific form at Manchester United was directly responsible for at least two of their recent Premier League triumphs.

But will that comparison extend as far as trophies. Fabregas only has the 2005 FA Cup to show for his efforts with the Gunners. He, like his manager, has now exorted his teammates to make the most of the chance that has presented itself.

This has been the most unusual of Premier League seasons: the "big" clubs have lost way more games than usual, and even Chelsea have surrendered an 11-point lead over Arsenal. Given all that, one gets the feeling the club that wins the title will do so as a consequence of something out-of-the-ordinary: a swaggering return from Africa by Chelsea's absentees, an epic effort by Wayne Rooney, or the continued heroics of a young Spaniard from north London.

Fabregas has partly attributed his form this season to a change in mental attitude. Partly as a response to last season's trials, especially the loss of his grandfather, he says he has learned to lighten up.

Again, quoting from the Guillem Balague interview: "I don't internalise now. I've got other things to distract me - my family, girlfriend, friends. I deal with criticism very differently now, whether it's something I read in the press or hear from fans.

"I'm always making jokes, having fun, all day long. More and more I'm realising that life is to be enjoyed. You're here today and gone tomorrow."

Again, Arsenal fans (as well as those of us neutrals who would hate to see the BPL lose such a magnificent player) will welcome Cesc's candour, but fear for the implications of a statement like that. Here's hoping it's just a figure of speech from Arsenal's main man.

Fifteen of England's Barclay's Premier League clubs this week bade farewell to players heading for Angola and the African Cup of Nations. That they did so served to highlight one of the more significant changes to have taken place in the league over the last decade.

At the start of the "Noughties", there were just 16 Africans playing in the Premier League and in 2002 only eight took part in their continental tournament. As we head into 2010 there are more than 40 Africans, representing 15 countries, in the BPL. Of them, 31 players are involved in the Angola 2010 tournament which runs from January 10 to 31.

The timing of the biennial tournament continues to provoke debate but it is unlikely to be moved to a slot that does not clash with European league seasons any time soon. With that in mind, managers and executives at clubs in those leagues have had to add risk assessment skills to their other attributes when it comes to signing players.

That "risk" refers to the potentially-harmful impact this twice-yearly continental tournament might have on their league campaigns. Much has been made, for instance, of Chelsea's "absent" quartet of Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, John Mikel Obi and Salomon Kalou. Chelsea's closest pursuers in the BPL title race, Manchester United, have no African players on duty in Angola.

Carlo Ancelotti's side will be grateful they do not have to play United (or any of their immediate rivals for that matter) during January. However they will be aware of the February 7 clash with Arsenal possibly presenting a problem should Drogba, for instance, come back jaded or injured after his efforts for the Ivory Coast. Two years ago, he played just 30 minutes of football for Chelsea in the two months surrounding the African Nations.

Chelsea, though, have a depth to their squad that few of their rivals can match -- not to mention the financial clout to buy their way out of trouble if necessary during January's transfer window.

Portsmouth, by contrast, look unlikely to be allowed to wheel and deal in January thanks to complications arising from their straitened financial circumstances. That only serves to highlight the massive impact Angola 2010 has had on manager Avram Grant's team selection.

The BPL's bottom club is the one affected most by the African exodus. Absentees Kevin-Prince Boateng, Aruna Dindane, Nadir Belhadj and Hassan Yebda have supplied more than half of Portsmouth's league goals this season. They are also missing Nwankwo Kanu and John Utaka.

When a club is bottom of the table and it loses six players to a tournament it knew was going to happen, it raises questions about the wisdom of being so reliant on African talent.

"Having six players leave is too much, but it's a fact," admitted Grant, who has of course not been at the club long enough to deserve any blame for Pompey's player acquisition strategy.

He added: "We can do nothing about this. All we can do is think about the solution and we are doing this."

Nonetheless, Portsmouth plight has done nothing to deter clubs from buying African. Three quarters of Premier League clubs sent scouts to watch the 2008 African Nations.

Of the five clubs who have no representatives at this year's tournament, Manchester United have just signed 22-year-old Senegalese striker Mame Biram Diouf, a prolific scorer in the Norwegian league. Canny as ever, Sir Alex Ferguson has signed a player whose nation did not qualify for Angola 2010.

Given that the young Senegalese will probably not be seen in action until possibly landing a substitute's role in the Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester City, it is unlikely Diouf will play any significant part in helping United overhaul a "depleted" Chelsea in the New Year.

However, it was notable that Monday's swansong from Drogba, Mikel and Kalou against Fulham was witnessed by Jose Mourinho, Chelsea's former manager. During his time at Stamford Bridge, the Portuguese publicly railed against the timing of the African Nations Cup and vowed not to buy African again.

Funnily enough, he moved to Inter Milan and promptly bought Ghanaian Sulley Muntari to bolster his midfield. Jose, however, tends to get what he wants, one way or another, and Muntari was a surprise exclusion from Ghana's Angola 2010 squad for disciplinary infringements.

One of Mourinho's former players, Didier Drogba, had his say on the matter recently when he suggested that the African tournament switch to a quadrennial formula and occur in the same year as the European Championships.

He, however, insisted the tournament has to happen in January. Unless South Africa, with its Southern Hemisphere climate, were somehow to be allowed to host the tournament each time, it is simply too hot and wet to stage it elsewhere in June or July.

Plus, Africa's footballer leaders have insisted there will be no change in their scheduling just to placate European clubs. Perhaps the ideal solution lies in a winter break. Angola 2010 was brought forward by 10 days to fall within the break period most major European leagues (with the exception of England's) are currently taking.

The five BPL clubs who have no reliance on Africans - United, Birmingham, Blackburn, Liverpool and West Ham - will hope to prosper throughout January. However, the league as a whole will suffer from the absence of Africa's finest. Perhaps the FA Premier League should re-visit the debate over a break or perhaps a month given over to cup competitions. Or even, dare we suggest it, an overseas match or two.

If you follow entertainment news, chances are you will by now be aware of a remarkable story from Great Britain. Amazingly, the "coveted" number one spot in the UK Christmas pop charts has been secured by a 17-year-old anthem of rebellion by American rock act Rage Against the Machine.

Thanks to a Facebook campaign launched by an English couple disenchanted with recent Christmas number ones for Simon Cowell's X-Factor production line, this year's festive chart-topper is none other than Killing in the Name. The song is liberally dosed with swear words and encapsulates Rage Against the Machine's anti-establishment ethos. It beat the X-Factor entry (contest winner Joe McElderry's The Climb) into second spot.

"The people in the UK are tired of being spoon-fed one schmalzy ballad after another and they want to back their own charts, and we are honoured that they have chosen our song to be the rebel anthem to try to topple the X-Factor label," said Rage's guitarist Tom Morello this week.

Fabulous stuff, if you ask me. But you may also want to ask me what all this has to do with football? Well, the episode has demonstrated the power of grassroots campaigning via social networking or viral means: the Facebook initiative saw 1.5 million people sign up in support of it, and it yielded 500,000 downloads for the song (Rage Against the Machine are donating all the royalties to the charity Shelter). Killing in the Name beat The Climb by about 50,000 downloads according to the BBC.

Emboldened by their success, the campaign's originators, Jon and Tracy Morter, have now said they may try and mastermind a World Cup chart upset.

Just as the Christmas Number One has grown to occupy a special place in British popular culture (largely because the slot tends to be occupied by either gimmicky or cheesy songs), so too has the "World Cup song". Beginning back in 1966 with the England squad's Number One hit Back Home and continuing through Scotland's 1978 efforts Ole Ola (by Rod Stewart) and Ally's Tartan Army (by Andy Cameron), the idea of jumping on one of the Home Nations' football bandwagons swiftly took hold with musicians and their labels.

By 1982, England's dire This Time We'll Get it Right/England We'll Fly the Flag made it to number two, Scotland's equally lame We Have a Dream got to number five and Northern Ireland's Yer Man (which featured Gerry Armstrong and squad accompanying angel-faced songstress Dana) sadly did not chart.

Suddenly our TV screens were filled with early music videos featuring sheepish footballers grouped around microphones. The years between World Cups were occupied by the likes of Kevin Keegan, Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle pursuing "solo" careers. Just as Christmas became associated with chart success for Bob the Builder or Mr Blobby, the "footballer's single" became a running joke down the pub.

Yet it wasn't long before the public grew tired of badly-sung efforts with questionable lyrics promising an unlikely World Cup win. Indeed, by the time Bryan Robson's shoulder popped out in Mexico in 1986, his squad's We've Got the Whole World at Our Feet had disappeared from the charts, having peaked at number 66.

Then something amazing happened. Not quite Rage Against the Machine amazing, but significant nonetheless. In 1990, England headed for Italy with their supporters singing something called World in Motion. The song was recorded by cool alternative/electro band New Order and it featured a rap by John Barnes, some vocals from Paul Gascoigne among other squad members, and it contained a "sample" of commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme's 1966 pronouncement "They think it's all over!"

World in Motion is regularly described as the Gold Standard of football songs. It raised the bar for England songs at least and had no serious competition for six years (remember, England failed to qualify for USA '94). In 1996, England hosted the European Championships and comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel teamed up with the band The Lightning Seeds to release the angst-laden Three Lions, which surfed to the top of the charts on the wave of Cool Britannia/New Labour.

Football song-writing had by now become a highly-competitive business. By 1998 and the France World Cup, the UK charts boasted no fewer than five England songs to go with tunes championing Scotland, Jamaica and Cameroon. Three Lions was re-released and went back to number one.

It was actually re-re-released in 2002, making it to number 16 as England's trip to Japan and South Korea inspired efforts by Ant & Dec (We're on the Ball), Bell & Spurling's Goldenballs (Mr Beckham to You), England Boys (Go England), Crazy Rider featuring Terry Venables (England), Fat Les and Ricky Tomlinson (Who Invented Fish and Chips?), Svengland (This Time We'll Get it Right) and many others. Alas, there was a preview of Roy Keane-fuelled disharmony to come as the Irish squad's Here Come the Good Times didn't chart.

By now, the emphasis had changed, in that most of the musicians were aiming to better the chart position of the "official" song, or the one endorsed by the Football Association. In 2002 it was the Ant & Dec song and in 2006 it was the guitar-driven World at Your Feet by the band Embrace.

While not being at all offensive, Embrace nevertheless came under assault by a host of would-be usurpers, ranging from legendary punk band Sham 69 with Hurry Up England to Crazy Frog's techno take on We Are the Champions. There was even a jingoistic number by the Tone Def All Stars titled Who Do You Think Yor Are Kidding Jurgen Klinsmann?

So, come the New Year, keep a close eye on the entertainment pages and sites. Look out for the announcement of the "official" World Cup song then just wait for the Facebook campaigns to get underway. As Rage Against the Machine Would Say, it's time to Take the Power Back!

As post-match revelations go, this one was extraordinary.

"The boss screamed," said Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas of his manager Arsene Wenger in the wake of the team's win over Liverpool last weekend.

"I've never seen him like that before. He said we didn't deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt...," added Fabregas as he explained how his side had turned a 1-0 half-time deficit into a 2-1 victory.

Given that Frenchman Wenger is famously one of football's more sophisticated, cerebral bosses, this revelation conjured up delightful images of terrified Arsenal players running for cover as plates of hors d'oeuvres and demi-tasses of espresso flew about the changing room.

Wenger himself was self-effacing about it all, saying, "I don't like to talk about that. I'll keep that in the dressing-room." But he couldn't help showing his satisfaction at a plot that had obviously worked: "it is good because after 13 years I can still surprise the players.'

Two things to note from Wenger's comments: firstly, that shock tactics still have their place in management, and secondly that football managers prefer to keep what happens behind closed dressing-room doors confidential.

That became apparent recently after two alleged dressing-room bust-ups between managers and players. First, Stoke manager Tony Pulis and striker James Beattie were reported to have traded blows in a row over the squad's Christmas party plans then QPR manager Jim Magilton was suspended by the club following an alleged head butt on midfielder Akos Buzsaky.

Both clubs said they would handle the matters internally but British newspapers were suddenly awash with lurid tales of When Managers Attack.

Squeaky-clean former England striker Gary Lineker revealed in his newspaper column that his own playing career had got off to a scary start.

"My first manager at Leicester City, Jock Wallace, was old school," he wrote.

"At half-time on my reserve team debut, he picked me up by the scruff of the neck and threw me against the dressing-room wall."

Meanwhile, Scottish midfield hard man and former Liverpool manager Graeme Souness admitted to BBC radio that he had used intimidation and confrontation to get his job done.

"I've not thrown a punch," he said. "Physically, I've actually got hold of someone but that's 100 miles away from punching someone. There's always been confrontation but generally it's been kept in the dressing room, whereas today everything seems to get out of the dressing room."

Yes, confrontation is out in public and the press loves it. Suddenly every manager is being revealed to have a hitherto hidden dark side, and it is even more fun if the manager is a foreigner.

It all began with Wenger dropping an F-bomb last month when he reacted angrily to a question about Theo Walcott's World Cup chances. Over in Italy, Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho is being investigated by the football authorities after admitting to a profanity-laden tirade against a journalist last weekend.

Earlier this week, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti was detailing his plans to take on Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge when a journalist asked if he had mastered the necessary English vocabulary to give his players a right good Wengering.

"I can speak in English now," said Ancelotti with a smile. "I have learned words and sentences, but I don't want to say them. After the game against Apoel [Nicosia] I think I surprised them. Sometimes it is necessary for a manager to give an electric shock."

But not, he stressed, anything more physical. In saying that, he was echoing the sentiments of legendary Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni.

"This can never work any more," said the Ireland manager.

"If you go back to 30 years ago, maybe people like Alex Ferguson and myself could rule by fear, but players don't care for this any more. You are looking for respect and that brings discipline, but this does not come by making players scared of you. It is all about knowing how to pull the right strings in a player."

Souness, meanwhile, says he will not manage again because the balance of power has shifted too far.

"I would imagine Alex has to bite his tongue every day of the week with the things that go on. I'm sure he has to be a diplomat

"Players have such a powerful influence. Without naming names, at one of the biggest clubs around today the managers are changed on a regular basis and I'm sure the big players at the club had some input in that."

That's a gloomy assessment from a man who surely would still welcome a job at a top club. But if Souness is right, then just how is a manager supposed to succeed in the modern game?

Some feel that Chris Hughton at Newcastle United might have hit upon the winning formula. After a string of big-name managers (Souness among them) failed to impose their beliefs on the team, former assistant manager Hughton is doing things differently.

He is said to have devolved considerable power to a committee of senior players and it is hard to argue with the results: Newcastle are the Championship's runaway leaders, on course for a swift return to the top flight.

Of course, this ploy of expecting senior professionals to set the tone has long worked for Sir Alex at United where Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes call the shots. And Liverpool's Jamie Carragher revealed last year that his manager, Rafa Benitez had pulled him aside one day and told him about his days in charge at Valencia.

"When members of the squad didn't show the right attitude in the match," reported Carragher, "[Rafa said] the Argentinian players would start a fight in the showers with the teammates who weren't doing their jobs."

"I looked at the manager to make sure it wasn't a joke and I could see a glint in his eye. He's dropping me a hint here. I thought."

As sporting statements go, there could hardly have been a greater contrast between two that were made this past week.

In one, a beleaguered, shamefaced icon issued a penitent "I'm human and not perfect" from his gated Florida community, while the other statement was there for all to see at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium. The message: I'm only human but damn-near perfect.

No prizes for guessing who we're talking about here. But let's leave Tiger alone for now and focus on the extraordinary contribution by Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo to a seemingly run-of-the-mill La Liga encounter with Almeria.

In only his fourth appearance at the Bernabeu in a Madrid shirt, the Portuguese star scored a goal, set up another, won a controversial penalty, missed it, failed to celebrate with his teammates when Karim Benzema put the rebound in, and then got sent off in farcical circumstances. The first of the two yellow cards that added up to his dismissal came when he ripped off his shirt in a goal-celebration to reveal a torso which we're informed is the product of a daily regimen of 3,000 crunches.

"Ronaldo's Incredible Hulk impersonation!" raved countless newspapers and websites the world over. A few months back, The Sun newspaper even "Photoshopped" a similarly shirtless Ronaldo pose over a shot of TV's Incredible Hulk, Lou Ferrigno. After the Almeria match, Spanish sports daily AS described Ronaldo on its cover as "an angel and a demon".

The fact that Ronaldo swiftly apologised for his perceived lack of team spirit after the game (saying, "I am a perfectionist but I am glad Karim scored") hardly matters. Ronaldo is loved and loathed in equal measure, always has been, probably always will be.

To certain English tabloids, he will always be "the winker" for his conspiratorial gesture to his Portuguese teammates when he seemed to encourage the referee to send off his Manchester United colleague Wayne Rooney at the 2006 World Cup. He has been accused of being a serial "diver", oozes arrogance in everything he does on the pitch and reportedly leads a spectacularly promiscuous social existence.

At the time of his USD131 million move to the Bernabeu, much was made of Ronaldo's potential to overhaul even David Beckham in earnings derived from commercial activities. Indeed, it has been estimated that, with the right management, Ronaldo could accumulate as much as $80 million more than Beckham has by the time he gets to the Englishman's current age of 34.

Ronaldo will earn more than $100 million in basic earnings over five years at Real. He could collect a further $50 million in profits from his clothing company, CR9, which is endorsed by the club. He has taken over from Beckham as the public, er, face of Armani underwear and his crotch will soon be appearing on a billboard near you.

By the time he left Old Trafford, he earned $12 million a year in salary and $18 million in endorsements. Ronaldo has already starred in adverts for Coca Cola, the video game FIFA Street 2, Fuji Xerox copiers, an Indonesian energy drink called Extra Joss as well as the Suzuki Swift car. His sponsorship deal with Nike is understood to be worth $15 million but he earns Madrid fortunes by pulling on an Adidas shirt to play for them. His most recent deal saw him take on the role of "global ambassador" for Castrol.

Yet there are still those in football's commercial community who believe Ronaldo's global branding potential is undermined by his lack of Beckham-style "likeability".

A leading sports marketing expert told The Guardian newspaper earlier this year that while Ronaldo ticks many of the boxes needed for success in the critical "overseas" markets - he is handsome, glamorous, has a good physique and is associated with a renowned club brand - he misses out in at least one key area.

"Off-field lifestyle is important: who you are married to and where you live," said Simon Chadwick, professor of sport business strategy and marketing at Coventry University.

"This is where Beckham has done well and Ronaldo has a lot of work to do. He needs to find a steady partner and ideally someone who is famous in their own right. Finally you have to be seen as a good team player. In his later career, Beckham has had a fantastic reputation as a team player and I think Ronaldo has a problem in this area because he is seen too much as an individual."

Now, those comments from Profesor Chadwick came back in June, at a time when, true to form, Ronaldo was "conquering" the USA by clubbing in Vegas, reportedly "dating" Paris Hilton and allegedly bedding a string of women. When news of the Madrid deal came through, he was filmed shopping for clothes in Los Angeles with his entourage.

Interestingly, in the same interview, Professor Chadwick pointed out that the runaway leader in terms of earnings from commercial endorsements was Tiger Woods. The world's finest golfer not only eclipsed Ronaldo in the university's research - he also far outstripped Beckham by ticking every box on the list, especially that dealing with sustained success.

Sadly, we now know that the model wife, beautiful kids and low-key private life thing hasn't exactly worked out for Tiger. Just ask David and Victoria Beckham too about the innuendo and intrusion that comes with trying to live a private life in the public eye.

Perhaps Cristiano Ronaldo would be better off doing what he does best: performing heroics on the pitch and antagonising his opponents at the same time.

He recently told a magazine, "It's true lots of people hate me but there are even more who love me and who support me. I feel bad only when I play badly. Fortunately, that happens rarely."

Such arrogance. Such honesty? Given what we have seen lately from Team Tiger and the constant Brand Beckham overkill, a little bit of honesty and a whole lot of arrogance doesn't seem all that bad after all.

A fortnight ago, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson made some colorful, and critical, comments about the role football agents play. Days later, his club captain Gary Neville did something similar when he accused agents of "mollycoddling" players.

It wasn't long before cynics laughed off Neville's contribution as the latest effort by a perceived "teacher's pet" to please his employer. Fergie's assertion that some modern players are "fragile" and "cocooned" by agents, meanwhile, was deemed to be a passing observation on the changing nature of the game.

This week, however, it became apparent that the United pair had timed their comments to perfection as the world came to terms with an eye-catching FA Premier League fact sheet on payments made to agents.

As it has been doing for five years now, the Premier League published figures for the 12 months from October 1 last year to September 30 this year. In that period (which contained two transfer windows), clubs paid out a massive 70 million pounds sterling to agents.

Manchester City (who spent around 170 million on players at the prompting of owner Sheikh Mansour) led the way with an outlay of almost 13 million, while Chelsea paid out 9.6 million. Meanwhile, Liverpool (6.7 million), Tottenham (6.1 million), Wigan (5.5 million) and Arsenal (4.8 million) also kept the agents happy.

The Premier League also asked its member clubs to publish their figures on their websites, but few of these were accompanied by detailed explanations. Only Manchester City went into specifics - listing 35 player transactions as well as revealing that its 12.9 million outlay included installments paid on deals done before the last financial year began.

This policy of publishing clubs' payments was aimed at promoting greater transparency in club's financial dealings, and grew out of widespread concern over financial excesses in the game. Yet the Premier League is still not required to answer detailed questions on what exactly agents do to earn their money. The clubs are not required to break down their payments on a deal-by-deal basis, nor need they declare which agents were paid for which deals.

Indeed, the only transfer deal explained in any detail was that which took left-back Wayne Bridge from Chelsea to Manchester City. Bizarrely, given that it appeared a straightforward case of a club happily selling a player to a club which wanted him, Chelsea made a 900,000-pound payment to agent Pini Zahavi.

So, what services would the agent have provided the player, or the clubs, in that deal? And what service do they provide that could not otherwise be handled by a solicitor or an accountant?

Let's revisit those comments from Sir Alex Ferguson and Gary Neville and try to read between the lines.

Admittedly, Sir Alex's biggest gripe was about players' not taking as much pride in their performance ("They're less ready to hold their hands up"), but he also lamented the growing role of agents in initiating player moves.

He said: "I don't get phone calls from agents as such, but nonetheless they're conducting most transfers now. It's hard to handle that. It's a new way.

"I had an agent phone me up - we had a young boy, (who) got in the England Under-21s, and his agent phoned the next day and said, 'I think it's time we sat down and talked about a new contract for the boy'. He'd played for England once. But to his mind that demanded a new contract. I said, 'Well, let's see how he plays for Manchester United'."

Traditionally, an agent's essential brief was to find his client a prime contract and then maximize his earning potential within it. Yet Gary Neville feels modern-day players have allowed agents to operate far beyond that brief.

He said: "There are some agents who do a good job looking after players, but there are others who stifle and mollycoddle players. Every footballer needs an adviser at some point. But a player doesn't need to pay between five and 15 per cent of his wages to a guy to set up a bank account, buy him a new fridge, or ask his club's chief executive for a pay rise."

The reason I highlighted these comments by Manchester United's manager and captain is that this particular club used to publish all payments it made to agents, deal by deal.  In 2004, for instance, we learned that Ruud van Nistelrooy's agent received a staggering 1.34 million for renegotiating the striker's contract.

Now, under the ownership of the Glazer family, United has stopped publishing such details. Hence our need to live off the scraps tossed us by the likes of Fergie and Neville.

The latter may have made the more colorful point, but it was his manager's comments that gave us the greatest insight: it is now obvious that agents are not just acting as advisers to players -- they are also being employed by clubs directly, to help sign a player, or assist in selling one. But just how much of that 70 million was spent on this? Agents generally take around five per cent of a player's signing-on fee or his wages for the term of the contract, but what of the fees some agents allegedly earn for  "persuading" a club or chairman to "consider" negotiating a transfer?

The most vociferous critics of agents and their earnings invariably argue that this money is "going out of the game". They suggest that the money would be better spent on grass-roots development, or at least in a "trickle-down" effect to lower leagues than the BPL.

However, it would be naive to think that payments to agents will do anything but increase as the multi-billion pound Premier League bandwagon continues to barrel along. So attractive is the profession, in fact, that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's son Nicky was reported last week to be setting up his own football agency.

What would be nice to see, though, is even more transparency. And a politician's son should be able to relate to that.

It's an image that brings a smile to the face: two dozen former English Premier League stars stand shivering at Hanoi's Noi Ba airport in flip-flops and shorts because someone has forgotten to tell them they are flying into wintery conditions rather than the tropical Asia they are expecting.

"It was seriously cold -- we thought it was just a case of the air-con being a bit strong as we stood around waiting for the visas to be sorted out," recalled former Arsenal and Liverpool star Michael Thomas this week.

"But then another plane landed and all these people got off wearing parkas and thick jackets," he laughed.

Thomas and fellow players, including Steve McManaman, John Barnes and Andy Cole, were in Vietnam as part of the Liverpool and Manchester United legends teams which played games against a team of Vietnamese ex-internationals. The dress-code confusion arose because the second-leg of the Asian trip contained an indoor tournament in sweltering Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

Cold conditions aside, the players duly carried out their commitments in Vietnam, performing well on the pitch, despite having to do so in front of disappointing crowds. Off the pitch, they described the visit as an eye-opener.

There could have been more fans in KL too - the Putra Indoor Stadium crowd was disappointing, given the football on show at the EPL Masters. Liverpool and Manchester United were joined by an all-stars side containing Arsenal star Ray Parlour and former Spurs 'keeper Ian Walker, as well as a team from Sheffield United (Brian Deane, Tony Agana, Alan Wright).

As it turned out, after some hard-fought and high-quality matches, the final featured fierce rivals Liverpool and Manchester United, with the latter edging it on penalties after a 3-3 draw. Andy Cole stroked home the winning spot-kick to earn his team a rare Masters win over Liverpool, whose side also contained Jason McAteer, Don Hutchison, Mark Wright and Mark Walters.

The tournament, beamed live in Malaysia and back to Britain, was notable for its intensity: seven games, played back-to-back with hardly any let-up left several players hobbling by nightfall.

Not that that stopped any of them from enjoying the social aspect of the tour - drink was taken, old matches re-lived and banter exchanged, and all under the watchful eye of Masters veteran Viv Anderson, the former two-time European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest whose performances on court belied his 53 years.

"It's the camaraderie that keeps players coming back," said Andy Cole, a newcomer to Masters football, having only retired from the professional game a year ago. Gesturing across a hotel bar that hosted the likes of 35-year-old Swede Jesper Blomqvist (of Manchester United fame) and Norway's Ronnie Johnsen, Cole said, "this is what they miss."

That camaraderie explains why Masters football throws together players like Cole (whose CV includes an amazing 68 goals in 84 games for Newcastle, a treble with Manchester United and 15 caps for England) and others 15 years older than him, some of whom enjoyed modest club careers, such as striker John Durnin who only played twice for Liverpool in the League Cup.

"I for one welcomed the chance to play again," said former Spurs and Leicester goalie Walker. "It was good to have the ball flying at me again as I'm hoping to find one more club."

The 38-year-old has been scouting around for a contract in America's Major League soccer but said he would be happy to get a game anywhere in the world - Asia included.

Cole in the meantime wants to stay in the game, and is seriously looking for an opportunity in management. He has also demonstrated a flair for media work and writes a weekly column for British newspaper The Independent.

Following the lead of former England teammate David James, who writes for The Guardian, Cole uses his column to give his take on the football issues of the day. He is forthright in doing that and isn't averse to throwing in an amusing personal insight or two: he says he missed the recent England-Brazil friendly because he fell asleep in front of the telly having been out late the night before.

Cole, who it's probably fair to say is one of the more misunderstood members of the footballing fraternity of recent years, appears to be making a concerted effort to "open up". His work on charitable projects for a UK law firm has raised his profile and he is keen to increase his media work. However, it's the coaching and management side of the game that appeals to him the most.

He reported, through his column, that Sir Alex Ferguson has said he would like to see him involved at United's Carrington training ground before too long. He is working towards getting his first UEFA badges and has worked on an unofficial basis with the strikers at Huddersfield.

It's heartening to see the likes of Andy Cole still involved in football. Some feel today's recently-retired superstars will drift away from the game as they have no need for it financially. Cole insists the money doesn't come into it. On the evidence of last week in Vietnam and Malaysia, he is right.

Anyone who takes more than a passing interest in football will this week have become aware of the contribution a placenta will be making to Arsenal Football Club's bid to win the Barclays Premier League title.

Under the magnificent headline "Van Persie's a Placenta Forward!" the Daily Mirror (and every other news journal on the planet) picked up on striker Robin van Persie's proposed visit to a Serbian housewife who offers a novel treatment for sporting injuries.

Marian Kovacevic is said to rub fluid from a cow or horse's placenta on the affected area (in van Persie's case his sprained ankle), and she is said to achieve remarkable results. Dutchman van Persie was told about her by teammate Orlando Engelaar, who recounted the tale of another former Feyenoord team-mate, Danko Lazovic.

Serbian Lazovic is said to have more than halved his recovery time from a hamstring injury after his placenta treatment, while an Ajax striker, Marko Pantelic, claims to have been in action eight days after suffering a thigh injury which would ordinarily have seen him sidelined for a month.

"She is vague about her methods," admitted van Persie. "But I know that she first massages you for a long time with placenta fluid. I am going to give it a try. It can't do any harm and if it helps, it helps. I've been in contact with Arsenal's chief physio about it. The club has allowed me to have this treatment done."

One can fully understand Arsenal's desire to have van Persie back in action as soon as possible. The Dutchman has score eight times this season and been a central figure for the BPL's top goal scorers. If he is sidelined for seven weeks, as is normally the case with his injury, he would miss matches against Chelsea, Liverpool and Aston Villa, as well as well as the "revenge" League Cup encounter with Emmanuel Adebayor and Manchester City.

But placenta? Really?

While we know that in the animal kingdom mothers routinely eat the placenta to help them recover from the exertion of birth, human applications of placenta treatment range from the weird to the wonderful. There are anti-ageing creams on the market that use sheep placenta cells, practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine dry and pound placenta into powder to be drunk by children who are ill and Turkish researchers claim to have found that injecting placenta cells into rabbits helped them recover from fractures.

Doctors have been quick to comment on this alternative therapy as applied to torn ankle ligaments. Most have concluded that Kovacevic's "results" owe more to the so-called "placebo effect" than anything else. Van Persie has accordingly been bracketed with those new parents who dine on "Mummy's placenta" shortly after the arrival of a child and Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey, who buried his partner's placenta in an orchard following the birth of the couple's son last year.

But that's Hollywood, isn't it? The super-professional modern-day football environment is not one normally associated with bongo drum-beating weirdness. The term "sports science" exists for a very good reason: the science of sporting medicine and treatment is one which, by necessity, has made huge advances in recent years.

Clubs and national teams invest massively in players in a bid to gain results and accordingly do their best to ensure those "assets" are available for use as often as possible. Hence Wayne Rooney's use of an oxygen chamber to help speed his recovery from a broken foot in time for the 2006 World Cup.

So-called "blood-spinning", wherein small samples of an athlete's blood are spun in a centrifuge to increase the concentration of growth hormones, then injected into the wound, is said to shorten healing time by as much as five times.

When Chelsea recommended that treatment to injured players four seasons ago, the world's anti-doping authorities expressed concerns that non-natural elements could also be introduced into the players' bodies. As for the actual spinning process, well the science behind it looks 100 per cent solid, and is proven to aid recovery.

It is, however, far less "exotic" than several other "alternative" recovery methods employed by footballers over the years.

A German medic, Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wolfhart has long claimed that an extract from the crest of cockerels called Hylart can lubricate injured knees, and prescribes injections of goats' blood for hamstring problems. Among his clients over the years have been Michael Owen, Jurgen Klinsmann and Arjen Robben.

When Gerard Houllier was in charge at Liverpool, he advocated a radical treatment for up-coming star Steven Gerrard, who was suffering crippling groin and back problems: he had a French dentist remove Stevie G's wisdom teeth. Et voila! Problem solved.

Chelsea winger Florent Malouda and even van Persie himself have since sat in the dentist's chair to ease muscular pains.

One wonders how long it will be before footballers emulate British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe who made an amazing recovery after a nasty crash with a cyclist left her cut and bruised. She took a traditional Australian aboriginal cure and applied an oil extracted from the backs of emus, which is said to ease pain and aid recovery.

Lastly, while not strictly being a treatment for injuries, it is worth pointing out that several South American clubs and national teams have taken to prescribing Viagra to their players when they have to play matches at high altitude, of say more than 3,500 metres above sea level. The reasoning is that the drug is designed to improve blood flow.

One suspects, however, that BPL clubs will not be jumping on that particular bandwagon any time soon. When all is said and done, there is science and then there is sheer lunacy.

There was a time when the only people who welcomed an international break were the players at Kevin Keegan's Newcastle who hadn't been called up by their countries.

Former Toon and England midfielder Rob Lee recalled during a recent visit to Asia that Keegan used to be chummy with the sultan of Brunei back in the 1990s and would occasionally take those left behind in Newcastle over to the cash-rich sultanate for mini-breaks.

"Some of us visiting less exotic places with our countries were a little bit jealous," admitted Lee.

Those non-internationals left behind at other clubs, meanwhile, tended to end up training with a few reserves drafted in to make up the numbers. Managers found themselves reminded daily of their injury-lists as only those working on regaining fitness were to be seen at the clubs on a daily basis. Depressing times.

Little wonder today's Premiership managers get away for sunshine breaks at times like this. The five-star resorts of Dubai, Spain and Portugal will all host Premiership gaffers and their wives this week. Some of them may choose to hop across the pond, just as Sir Alex Ferguson did during October's break - his few days in New York City also spared him the direct wrath of the referees he had been so critical of the previous week.

Yet no matter how glowing their tan may be, or how well they are wined and dined, all of those managers will be unable to escape the nagging suspicion that they will return to their clubs next week to find key performers have been injured while "on duty". Few, if any, will be looking forward to the resumption of BPL action on November 21 with any great enthusiasm.

Except, perhaps, for Manchester City's Mark Hughes. After all, not only has City's trip to Anfield been made less daunting by Liverpool's crippling injury problems, but Hughes has also been able to embark on an international break aimed at directly benefiting his club.

City have spent the last few days living in seven-star luxury in Abu Dhabi, home of the richest men on earth, City's owners the Nahyan family. They played a friendly against the United Arab Emirates national team, trained without interruption and relaxed poolside and in the emirate's sumptuous air-conditioned malls.

If ever a team needed a bonding exercise such as this, it is Manchester City. A team of superstars thrown together over the summer has performed reasonably well, proving hard to beat but drawing its last five games. Indeed, had the team showed more cohesion and fluency in its build-up play, City could arguably be right up there challenging Chelsea at the top of the BPL.

With the exception of Robinho, the disruptive Brazilian whose days are now numbered at City, Hughes' squad boasted a number of players who will have welcomed the warm-weather training camp and the friendly match. Defender Nedum Onuoha, a 22-year-old who has yet to fulfill his potential, was handed an opportunity to stake a claim to first-team football. City have only kept one clean sheet in 10 games and Hughes is only too aware he needs to strengthen that department.

Then there was Craig Bellamy - who joined the City party controversially, given that he withdrew from the Wales squad to face Scotland citing a groin problem. Bellamy's presence in the City party will have helped boost morale, as he is by-and-large a popular and enthusiastic squad man when he is not attacking teammates with a golf club (he was said to have done just that to John Arne Riise when at Liverpool). The likes of Bellamy and Stephen Ireland appear to be increasingly important to Mark Hughes as he seeks to develop a "home-grown" nucleus to his highly-diverse group of players.

City's opponents next weekend, meanwhile, are counting on the medical team at Liverpool's Mellwood training facility to use the international break to help end a terrible run which has brought just one win in nine games.

Yossi Benayoun and Albert Riera were the latest players to hit Melwood's treatment tables, while Daniel Agger and Fernando Torres must be nursed back to health as soon as possible.

Given Rafa Benitez's exhaustive attention to detail when it comes to doing his job, he will doubtless be aware that Liverpool tend to win home games after an international break. In fact they have had four wins and a draw in the last five.

Even more recently, the teams who have won both games this season which immediately followed international breaks are Manchester United, Aston Villa, Fulham, Blackburn and Sunderland.

While the Liverpool-Manchester City and Manchester United-Everton fixtures catch the eye, one of the biggest games next weekend takes place at Hull's KC Stadium where Phil Brown's side takes on fellow-strugglers West Ham in a genuine six-pointer.

Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola vowed to spend the international break working hard on fixing the problems that arose in his side's disappointing 2-1 defeat to Everton last time out. In October's international break, he allowed his non-internationals to take some time off, but he is unlikely to have done something similar this week.

It might be worth examining the Hull and West Ham players and coaching staff for signs of sun-tanning next weekend (well, all but the perma-tanned Mr Brown perhaps). Come the end of the game, we might have an idea as to what works best during international break week: hard work on a chilly English training ground, or a change of scenery somewhere warm.

If we required any further convincing that we are witnessing a football season that is out of the ordinary, it came from the Liverpool Women's Hospital this week.

As an expectant media waited outside, word came from the maternity ward that the baby they had been waiting for had been born. Then, even better, that raging bull of a striker known as Wayne Rooney announced his new-born baby son would bear the kind of name normally bestowed on their young by effete ball-juggling lightweights.

Yes, Wayne and Coleen proudly emerged from their National Health Service room with a wee fella named Kai Rooney and sparked an immediate inquest into the name's derivation.

Apparently it means "Keeper of the Keys" in Celtic and "Great King" in Farsi while there appears to be some confusion over what it means in Finnish, despite apparently being a popular name in Finland. As yet, no one has explained precisely what Mr and Mrs Rooney had in mind when it came to picking a name which has reportedly gone racing up the Baby Charts.

They are in fact simply following the lead of other high-profile Premier League parents with a penchant for odd-sounding offspring.

David and Victoria Beckham, naturally, lead the way with Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz, but other notable efforts came from the following: Rio Ferdinand has a Larenz, Ryan Giggs a Liberty and Wayne Bridge a Jaydon Jean-Claude. Jermaine Jenas' daughter is Sancha Natasha, while Frank Lampard's kids with former partner Ellen Rives are Luna Coco and Isla. Steven Gerrard and Alex Curran seem to favour a similar approach to girlie names as celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, having opted to name theirs Lily-Ella and Lexie.

Oliver's girls are of course named Poppy Honey and Daisy-Boo. They in turn have plenty in common with former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's daughter Bluebell Madonna and Sting's girl Fuschia, without having reached the extremes of eccentric naming demonstrated in Hollywood. Over there, Gwen Stefani has a boy called Zuma Nesta Rock and Nicole Richie a son named Sparrow James Midnight.

Back in the land of the BPL, Rooney's bundle of joy follows closely on the heels of teammate Dimitar Berbatov's daughter Dea (named after the Roman goddess of fertility, healing, virginity and women). Michael Owen's wife Louise is expecting the couple's fourth child.

Another striker who seems to be prolific in a couple of ways is Arsenal's Robin van Persie, who was with wife Bouchra recently when she gave him a daughter, Dina Layla, a sister to big brother Shaqueel.

There is a theory, widely-held in football circles (especially those circles in which Sir Alex Ferguson moves), that "settling down" and having kids is the best thing that can happen to a player.

Van Persie would appear to bear that theory out. His goals against Spurs at the weekend took his tally for the season to seven (all scored in the last seven games) and his consistent performances as Arsenal's offensive focal point seem to explain the London club's free-scoring ways of late.

But it's also fair to say that Van Persie, who regularly extols the virtues of nappy-changing and hands-on parenting has become a much better footballer since babies came into his life.

Anyone who watches the game regularly will attest to the improvement in Rooney's on-field discipline since his marriage to Coleen, who Fergie happens to think is an excellent influence on young Wayne. Let us not forget too that the player sitting at the top of the BPL scoring charts with 10 is Liverpool's Fernando Torres, who became the proud father of daughter Nora back in July, and has been happily settled with partner Olalla throughout his amazing stint at Anfield which has seen him scoring at a rate of two goals every three games.

Anyway, if one were to apply the new baby theory to this weekend's big Chelsea-Manchester United showdown, it would seem United with their new Dad striker pairing may just edge it, even if Didier Drogba's third child did come along as recently as May.

Unfortunately for United fans, they may have to hope Dimitar and Wayne are getting enough sleep to work miracles, because the odds do look weighted in Chelsea's favour.

Consider the following: Droga is having an amazing season and has been directly involved in 17 of Chelsea's 28 league goals this season. He has nine goals to his name but has been prolific in setting up the likes of Anelka - just ask Liverpool about that. Chelsea, in fact, look like scoring every time they play and have scored in every BPL game since April 22.

Tuesday night's Champions League game demonstrated that United still have defensive problems to overcome, whereas Chelsea have not conceded a goal at home since the opening day of the season against Hull.

Curiously, United still seem to be able to get away with indifferent results against their "Big Four" rivals. They lost to Liverpool but bounced back, inevitably, against Blackburn Rovers. Inevitably because the stats will show you United have not dropped a single point against a bottom-half-of-the-table team since the opening weekend of last season when they drew with Newcastle.

But if they lose to Chelsea, twice perhaps this season, beating the minnows may not be enough. Sir Alex and company need to do something special against Carlo Ancelotti's battle-hardened, in-form men.

So, let us turn once more to Kai Rooney for inspiration. And let us return to that confusion over the name's Finnish translation. Some say it means "probably", but United fans will doubtless favour the other commonly-available translation: "rejoice".

When Gianfranco Zola was in his pomp as a player at Chelsea, he became the subject of one of those jokes that rival fans routinely trot out to wind up their mates.

It went: "What's the difference between Gianfranco Zola and a Mini?" The answer: "a Mini can only carry three passengers."

It was also a back-handed compliment to a player who, despite his advancing years, helped Chelsea to a couple of FA Cups and into the Champions League. Chelsea, of course, didn't have that many "passengers" in the sides put out over Zola's seven years at Stamford Bridge, but the little Sardinian was undoubtedly the class act at the club.

Gianfranco Zola is still a class act, but these days he couldn't carry his team even if he wanted to. As manager of struggling West Ham United, Zola has this season cut a frustrated figure as he patrols the touchline. Second from bottom in the BPL, without a win since the opening day of the season, Zola's club faces a prolonged relegation battle.

They have also been plagued by financial problems since Björgólfur Gudmundsson, the former owner, was forced into bankruptcy by the collapse of Iceland's Landsbanki, of which he was the majority owner. Straumur, another Icelandic bank, took charge and has insisted upon stringent financial controls.

Zola has had to balance his books on player recruitment and trim the wage bill. It was also reported in The Times newspaper recently that Scott Duxbury, the chief executive, and Gianluca Nani, the technical director, needed to take a small pay cut to fund the wages of Mexican striker Guillermo Franco.

Youngsters like Junior Stanislas, Jack Collison and James Tomkins did a fine job for Zola in his first season at the club, which ended in a ninth-place finish. This season, however, youthful enthusiasm has not been able to ensure results. Up until Sunday's unlikely 2-2 draw with Arsenal, West Ham's record had been identical to that at the start of the 2002-3 season which ended in relegation. Bookmakers urged punters to take the 5-1 on offer that the Hammers would go down again.

Even last week's talk of a consortium of wealthy West Ham fans meeting Straumur's reported £100m asking price for the club failed to lift the gloom over Upton Park.

Yet, true to form for this remarkable footballer, Gianfranco Zola is tackling the situation with enthusiasm and originality.

While others would invoke a "siege mentality" and growl defensively at their doubters in the media and the stands, Zola has recently embarked on a charm offensive aimed at winning over the critics and, perhaps, at helping entice other investors.

One day last week, Zola happily braved traffic snarls and long delays as he drove across London to our UK studio where he sat down and gave ESPN an exclusive interview in which he laid out his vision for the club.

To start with, he insists he has not been distracted by the continued financial turmoil.

"It was happening last year and we did okay," he said. "I've been in charge of the club one year now and there is always something happening. It doesn't bother me."

But is he not hoping an investor arrives on the scene with scads of cash to be spent on January signings?

"Not really. Ours is a long-term plan and one that is suitable for this club. Yes, we will look to bring in the right kind of players, but what I like is working with our players, developing them.

"We have some good young players. Zavon Hines is the latest of them. Junior Stanislas started to come good at the end of last season. He has scored three crucial goals and he is doing very well this year. They have the enthusiasm and the willingness to improve - and that's all I am asking them to do."

Zola also insists that performances this season have, in the main, been far better than the results would suggest. Despite being second bottom, West Ham's goal difference is just -4 because only one team (Manchester City) has beaten them by more than one goal. Yes, the Hammers have yet to win at home, but they have had to host high-quality teams like Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham.

The return to the team of Valon Behrami, Collison and Matthew Upson for recent games has given West Ham a more solid feel, while former Livorno striker Alessandro Diamanti proved to be an inspirational substitute as he led the fight-back against Arsenal.

Yet at 2-0 down on Sunday, they had looked dead and buried. They were booed off at half-time and written off by the pundits.

Forty-five minutes later, a corner had been turned. Thanks to Diamanti, and an unbelievable save by Robert Green in the dying moments, Upton Park had come back to raucous life. Arsenal may have offered them a way back, but there was a show of collective resolve that had many experts puzzled.

Just where had that come from?

Backtrack to last week and our interview. When the league table shows you being one bad result away from the bottom of the table, I asked Zola, how can you possibly stay true to your principles? What if prudent financial practices and youth development are not enough?

"Because this is what I believe in," he answered. "This is why I am a football manager and I will stick to what I believe. Despite all the trouble I believe this is the correct way and I am confident sooner or later things will go my way. I am a stubborn person and I see things through until I get what I want."

Gianfranco Zola believes things are changing for West Ham. Over the next month, they play Sunderland, Villa, Everton, Hull and Burnley, and if enthusiasm alone counts for anything, expect West Ham to be out of the bottom three by December.

In recent seasons, Liverpool have specialised in digging themselves into holes before, usually at least, clambering defiantly out of them. The one they find themselves in right now looks steep-sided to say the least.

On the European front, Tuesday's defeat by Lyon probably left them needing to win their remaining three group games. On Sunday they face old rivals Manchester United in the BPL knowing defeat would leave them 10 points behind Fergie's men. Then the following Wednesday brings another potentially embarrassing Carling Cup encounter with Arsene Wenger's young Arsenal charges.

Look further ahead in terms of league fixtures and the schedule reads: Fulham (away), Birmingham (home), Manchester City (h) and Everton (a).

With the possible exception of the Birmingham game, they all look like potentially tricky fixtures, especially the last two. In fact, Liverpool's biggest problem right now is that just about every team they play will fancy their chances.

Steve McMahon made a valid, if depressing point, this week when he said Sunderland will have looked at Liverpool's starting lineup last weekend and thought, 'there are probably only two or three of their players that would get in our team'.

Another pundit made the point ahead of the game at the Stadium of Light that Liverpool fans would probably rather have seen a strike force of Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones on their team-sheet, than on that of the opposition.

Take Torres out of Liverpool's lineup and somehow they do not pose the sort of threat they should. Dutchmen Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel are perceived as having struggled this season, David N'Gog showed how far he still has to come in the Lyon game, and Andriy Voronin seems to have gone from being a successful on-loan Bundesliga striker last season to a figure of fun, even ridicule.

Liverpool's seemingly threadbare striking options could well be thrown into even starker relief by Michael Owen on Sunday. His showstopper against Manchester City notwithstanding, Owen is hardly the player he was when Liverpool let him go. Yes he will receive plenty of boos and abuse at Anfield, but those dishing out the abuse should consider the assurance his name brings to United's fans when it appears on a teamsheet, even as a substitute.

Owen is at least a recognised striker, and goal-scorer. Voronin has scored six goals in 35 appearances, while another occasionally-used Liverpool substitute, Nabil El Zhar, has only managed one in 25 games, even if he is admittedly more of a winger.

Hence the earlier comment about Sunderland's Jones and Bent. If there is one thing this highly-competitive BPL season is teaching us, it is that clubs with plenty of attacking options are apparently doing better than Liverpool.

Spurs have Liverpool cast-offs in Keane and Crouch. Would the Anfield faithful welcome one of them into the squad right now? Probably. Arsenal have the likes of Euardo, Bendtner and Vela as support to leading striker Van Persie and their goal-scoring midfielders Fabregas and Arshavin. Manchester City's riches have bought a wealth of attacking options, with another Liverpool cast-off, Craig Bellamy, coming up trumps when they most needed him to. Chelsea may be short of numbers up top, but at least they have last year's Golden Boot winner Nicolas Anelka to support the "main man', Didier Drogba.

Look at the league's top 20 goal-scorers and Chelsea in fact boast three: Drogba, Anelka and Ballack combing for 13 goals between them. Arsenal also have three players in the top 20: their unlikely trio being Van Persie, Fabregas and Vermaelen (12 between them).

But if one looks a little more closely, more specifically at the goals scored by out-and-out strikers alone, Liverpool are not doing that badly. They have a total of 14 (Torres 8, Kuyt 3, Babel 2, Ngog1) which beats Sunderland's 13 (Bent 8, Jones 5), Tottenham's 12 (Defoe 6, Keane 5, Crouch 1) and United's 11 (Rooney 6, Berbatov 3 and Owen 2). Manchester City's strikers have managed 10 goals between them and Arsenal's only seven.

So why the doom and gloom? Why the envious glances at team-sheets containing tried-and-trusted BPL goal-scorers like Everton's Saha and Yakubu? It certainly wasn't an issue last season when Liverpool scored 77 goals -- nine more than the next best teams.

Of those 77, Gerrard and Torres contributed 30. So the supporting cast certainly did its job - Kuyt (12) and Benayoun (8) supplying 20 of them. Chelsea were far more reliant on Anelka and Frank Lampard, who scored 31 of their total of 68, while United's Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo supplied 30 of their team's 68.

The problem with analysing Liverpool is that the stats tell you one thing, the emotive headlines and impassioned blog posts tell you another. In digging itself out of all those holes in European Cup Finals, FA Cup Finals, Champions league qualifying campaigns and countless individual league fixtures, the club has fashioned itself an identity as one prone to extreme mood swings.

Compounding the problem is the tendency towards superhuman performances, most notably by Steven Gerrard. So, take him out of the equation, remove Torres too and it comes down to the black and white truth that lies in statistics.

They tells us, among other things, that Dirk Kuyt has scored more BPL goals this season than Carlos Tevez and as many as Nicolas Anelka. They also tell us that Ryan Babel has scored more than Peter Crouch and Nicolas Bendtner.

Rafa Benitez will place his trust in those players, and presumably those stats. But if they fail to do the job against United this week, and perhaps Lyon in 10 days, it looks likely Liverpool will need to buy themselves a proven Premier League goal-scorer in January if they are to dig themselves out of the latest hole to come their way.

A common thread ran through several of the most significant developments in football recently. Go back and read the coverage of the Gael Kakuta saga, the passing of Sir Bobby Robson, Arsene Wenger's 13^th anniversary at Arsenal, George Gillett's publicly-aired concerns about Liverpool FC, and you will chance upon a reference to scouts or scouting.

Not scouting in the sense of a "scouting report" or analytical dissection of a team (a scout working for Ukraine's football coach recently reported that England had poor defenders and would be beaten 1-0). Rather, we're talking about the men and women who earn a living by scouting for players.

Now that Kevin Keegan has won compensation from Newcastle United, we know his main beef was that he was told by his Director of Football to sign a South American player on the evidence of a couple of dodgy YouTube clips. Keegan is old-school enough to insist that his club only buy a player when he has either seen him play or has heard a ringing endorsement of the lad from a scout he knows and trusts.

Someone like Geoff Twentyman, for instance. The book Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout tells the story of Twentyman who was Liverpool's chief scout from 1967 to 1985.A former Liverpool player, Twentyman was hired by legendary manager Bill Shankly to identify and recruit players.

Look at the record books, and the Anfield trophy room, and you will get an idea of just how good Twentyman was at his job.

He travelled the length and breadth of Britain, watching matches, compiling reports and reporting back to the four different Liverpool managers he worked under. Among his finds:  Keegan, Alan Hansen, John Toshack, Terry McDermott, Steve Nicol and Ian Rush. Among the players he unearthed but didn't recruit for Liverpool: Malcolm Macdonald, Trevor Francis, Francis Lee and Andy Gray.

One doubts whether George Gillett is aware of Twentyman's career, but he certainly knows the value of scouting. Tellingly, the club's co-owner cited scouting and the manager as the two reasons why Liverpool have failed to land English football's top title in recent times.

There are fascinating parallels between the art of scouting as practised then and now.

Twentyman was told that players had to be acquired cheaply and that they be of the right character to play for Liverpool. He accordingly adopted a clandestine approach to his job, researching his targets and quizzing fans and friends on a player's contractual situation, family background and lifestyle choices.

Twentyman's secretive ways would strike a chord with the modern breed of scout, even if there appears to be no such thing as a cheap acquisition today.

Under Bobby Robson, Ipswich Town punched well above their weight. They won the FA Cup in 1978 and the UEFA Cup in 1981. They came close to winning the league twice.

That Ipswich consistently challenged the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Aston Villa was testament to the remarkable job Robson did at the small, family-run club. So efficient was his youth system and youth-scouting network that Robson only had to sign 14 players in his 13-year spell at Portman Road.

That amazing fact would certainly resonate with Arsene Wenger, the manager who is widely considered to be the modern-day master of scouting and recruitment.

When Geoff Twentyman did his job, he travelled Britain in an orange Ford Cortina once owned by Bill Shankly. Wenger's chief scout, Steve Rowley, delegates his work to a network of 23 star-spotters (seven based in England, 16 overseas). When one of them spots a potential target, Rowley jumps straight on a plane, as he did when Mexican striker Carlos Vela appeared on the radar at the World Youth Championships in Peru.

Rowley flew to Lima to get that deal done.  His first assignment when Wenger joined Arsenal was to travel to a city in northern Brazil. Rowley now insists on watching every young player personally before he recommends them to Wenger. How Kevin Keegan would appreciate that.

Rowley and his team maintain an exhaustive database of players and have a screening process that sees them view about 150 youngsters each year. Only two or three are eventually signed.

As in Twentyman's day, the modern scout must also master covert skills. When a player is identified, there is much detective work required. Parents and agents have to be charmed and the youngster's precise contractual status must be ascertained.

Chelsea's French scout, Guy Hillion, recently gave this insight into the highly-publicised case of Gale Kakuta and his move from Lens in 2007.

"His mother is widowed and was responsible for five children and had big financial difficulties," Hillion told a French paper.

"When we started to talk about a possible move to Chelsea, we asked her if she had ever signed anything with Lens. She promised she had signed nothing, nothing at all. Six months later, sorting out her papers, she found a pre-contract. She didn't even know what it was."

FIFA subsequently slapped Chelsea with a fine and a ban on signing players until 2011.

So exhaustive is Arsene Wenger's global scouting network (the club is in commercial partnership with academies in Africa, Asia and Europe) that others have had to up their games to compete. Manchester United threw money at the problem (it enabled to them to grab Cristiano Ronaldo away from the Gunners), while Chelsea set up a worldwide network of more than 60 scouts only to sack 15 of them last year in a cost-cutting exercise.

Liverpool have worked hard with feeder clubs and a revamped academy while Tottenham went down the "Sporting Director" route with Frenchman Damien Commoli, only to dispense of his services when Harry Redknapp came along.

Ask Harry the secret of his success, and he's happy to tell you. He gets out there and watches games, lots of them... lower league and non-league. He scouts because, he says, it is fundamental to success. Always was, always will be.

Almost a week has passed since Florent Malouda's scrambled goal sealed Chelsea's win over Liverpool in the Stamford Bridge "Super Sunday" showdown, but the game's repercussions rumble on.

Chelsea's players have been regular fixtures in this week's sports pages, all championing their chances of reclaiming the BPL trophy. Liverpool, meanwhile, have been subjected to the sort of withering media scrutiny we haven't seen since, well, since the last time it happened.

Hence the comment I heard from a member of Liverpool's backroom staff when we met at the Bridge ahead of Sunday's game.

Games like the one against Chelsea are troubling affairs for Liverpool, he said because, "if we win they'll all say we should go on and win the title, but if we lose we'll be called no-hopers".

Those comments, which at the time seemed a little paranoid, have since proved to be accurate in that the media has wasted no time in jumping all over the Merseysiders.

"Gillett blames Benitez" (or variations on that simple message) is a headline you will have seen this week. To clarify, the story that followed was not a response to the Chelsea result, but rather a leaked report of an "informal" meeting between Liverpool co-owner George Gillett and a representative of fans group Spirit of Shankly.

The killer quote on which this story hung went as follows: "If it's not getting better, it's not because of Gillett and Hicks - it's the manager, the scouting."

Gillett perhaps naively thought his September 26 discussion with a fan, who had followed him from Liverpool's Melwood training ground to the club's academy at Kirkby, constituted a private exchange of views.

However a transcript of the discussion found its way into the hands of at least two journalists, one of whom was The Times newspaper's chief football correspondent Matt Dickinson. He duly divulged the details of a discussion which covered the club's financial health, transfer budget and stalled stadium development.

Tellingly, he waited only three paragraphs before making the following comment on the saga:

"The circumstances in which Gillett passed the buck are perhaps as notable as the words themselves, and tell you everything about the dysfunction that exists at Liverpool. Instead of a club striding forward, Anfield is a place where everyone is already preparing their excuses should it go wrong (again)."

Elsewhere, another highly-respected journalist was using similarly forceful language to describe Rafa Benitez.

Writing in the Telegraph, Henry Winter insisted that Benitez needs to work on his man-management skills, particularly where his senior players are concerned.

He wrote: "Unlike Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger, Mark Hughes, Martin O'Neill, Harry Redknapp, Carlo Ancelotti and David Moyes, Benítez is an incredibly difficult person to warm to. Too detached, too cold. Everyone has heard the stories of Gerrard joking that he will retire in shock when he gets a "well done'' off Benítez."

Winter went on to list examples of Benitez pouring cold water on celebrations and failing to acknowledge his players as human beings. He finishes his column with, "if Liverpool are to get a grip on their season, Benitez must loosen up."

To be fair to Henry Winter, he does acknowledge that those close to Rafa say he is a personable character, and he agrees that there is probably more to him than we are allowed to see. Similarly, Matt Dickinson's piece in The Times reports that George Gillett also spoke of the "genius of Benitez". But that detail was buried in the latter stage of the article.

For Rafa and Liverpool, the damage had already been done. To consider that two prominent publications should give Liverpool such eye-popping coverage says much about the unique micro-climate that seems to hang over Liverpool Football Club.

Chelsea enjoyed a much sunnier media climate this week. A 2-0 defeat for the reserves at the hands of Arsenal was spun into a positive as it had allowed Joe Cole to continue his comeback after eight months out. Didier Drogba, the pantomime villain and goal-creating hero of the Liverpool game, spoke to the press, who gladly reproduced his two main thoughts: Chelsea will get by just fine during the African Cup of Nations in January despite his absence, and Chelsea will win the title if they continue taking points off the big teams.

No mention of his repeated tumbles to the ground Sunday, and seemingly-feigned injuries which cleared up miraculously in time for him to muscle his way past the likes of Jamie Carragher. One has to mention these as Chelsea's fans and even Drogba's teammates looked embarrassed by his actions during the game.

But to the winners go the spoils, at least in terms of an easy ride in the press. That Liverpool commanded so much space in the sports pages this week - a week which also featured stories like Fergie-versus-the-referees, Portsmouth's latest buyout and Harry Redknapp's ongoing "persecution" by the tax man - says much about the unique place this football club holds in the public consciousness.

Had they won, or at least not lost at Stamford Bridge, would be reading as much about them, and Rafa?

European football has a distinctly Retro feel to it these days. In any given week of Champions and Europea League action, one is more than likely to read about the exploits of Diego, Michel Platini, Falcao and possibly even Pele.

Okay, so the latter has hardly featured in European competition since his career at Inter Milan fizzled out and he hopped from Porto to Portsmouth to Genoa and now Real Valladolid in Spain, but the others are very much in the news. If Juventus' Diego plays, they look a quality team, Falcao is part of a powerful strike force at Porto, and just ask Fulham about the goal-scoring exploits of CSKA Sofia's Michel Platini.

Confused?

To clarify, the players in question are of course not Argentine legend Diego Maradona, Brazilian free-kick wizard Falcao and French captain-turned-UEFA president Michel Platini - all of whom dazzled the world 20 years-or-so ago. Instead, they are Brazilian attacking midfielder Diego Ribas da Cunha, known simply as Diego, Colombian striker Radamel Falcao Garcia Zarate and Brazilian striker Michel Platini Ferreira Mesquita, who turned out for Sofia this week.

The "Pele" mentioned earlier, is a Portuguese midfielder whose full name is Vitor Hugo Gomes Passos, but who goes by the name of the world's most famous footballer. He is, of course, just the latest in a long line of players to carry on the "Pele" nickname made famous by Edson Arantes do Nascimento.

Among them: Ghana's greatest football export before Michael Essien, the brilliant Marseille striker Abedi Pele; Pedro Pele, a Cape Verde Islands defender who played for West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League last season; Yohann Pele, a 25-year-old goalkeeper who plays in France for Le Mans and his younger brother Steven Pele, a defender for another French club, Guingamp.

It's not that hard to understand the whole "Pele" thing. Parents have high hopes for their kids and maybe they feel a sufficiently ambitious nickname will prove to give them that winning edge. After all, there is a young English golfer playing on Europe's professional tour whose name is Seve Benson.

His parents obviously revered Spanish genius Severiano Ballesteros, but just imagine how many youngsters nicknamed "Tiger" there are around the world nowadays, working on their drives and perfecting their short games.

Back to football, and it's no coincidence that Brazil supplies the bulk of the world's footballers who have "recycled" names, as it were. Some are named after musicians, politicians and even philosophers (Socrates, Cicero), but most relate to football stars of yesteryear -- hence CSKA Sofia's Michel Platini (who once played for the South China club in Hong Kong by the way).

The problem with this custom is that it leads to repetition and confusion, particularly in European football where Brazilians rub shoulders with Portuguese and Spanish players who share a similar passion for name-sharing.

Mention the name "Alex", for instance, and further clarification is needed. Do you mean the Brazilian centre half who plays for Chelsea, the Porto striker or the naturalised Brazilian who played for Japan until recently? Even more confusingly, Inter Milan have a Thiago Motta in midfield, AC Milan have a Thiago Silva in defence, Barcelona a Thiago in attack. Juventus play Tiago in midfield, as do Standard Liege whose guy has the same name spelling. Tiago also plays Europa League football for Sporting, while Maccabi Haifa's Champions League squad contains a Tiago Dutra.

Lyon and Manchester United both have an Anderson, Inter and Porto both have defenders called Maicon, while Leonardo plays for Olympiakos but coaches Milan.

Of course, the most accomplished trio of name-sharers in recent football history have to be the three Ronaldos. Yes, three. The somewhat hefty one who is still scoring goals in Brazil for Corinthians goes by the full name of Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima and first came to worldwide prominence during his time at PSV Eindhoven.

The one we know as Ronaldinho, now at Milan, of course, is actually named Ronaldo de Assis Moreira and only took on the "little Ronaldo" name to differentiate himself from the fellow described above.

Then there is Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo does Santos Aveiro, the preening Portuguese star who was actually named after former US President Ronald Reagan.

To delve into the ranks of Brazilian footballers is to invite utter confusion. The country has made a habit in recent times of exporting players called Ze Roberto to the Bundesliga, and has given the world an outstanding collection of Giovannis, Leandros, Juniors and Juninhos.

To give you an idea of how confusing things can get for managers and scouts (urban legend still has it that Manchester United once signed the "wrong" Kleberson), consider our old pal Diego. He, of course, plays for Juventus, but must not be confused with Diego Costa Silva of Atletico Paranaense, Gremio's Diego de Souza Andrade or Diego de Souza Gama Silva of Tokyo Verdy.

The next time you hear a set of supporters at a game chanting, "One (apply name here)! There's only one (apply name here)!" perhaps it would be best to stop and ask yourself, "now, are we absolutely sure about that?

Of all the comments made in the wake of Michael Owen's stunning last-gasp winner for United in the Manchester derby last weekend, one stands out most vividly in my memory.

The final whistle had just gone, City manager Mark Hughes was asking the fourth official where he had found the extra seconds of stoppage time that allowed United to snatch the game, and our TV pundit Steve McMahon was struggling to take it all in.

As Hughes pointed furiously at his watch, and his opposite number Sir Alex Ferguson jumped for joy, Macca said, "It's almost like one of those games you play as a kid when you say, 'the next goal wins it'." His point being that the officials almost seemed reluctant to let the game end without a clear-cut conclusion.

The reason I bring this up is not through any desire to reignite the debate over the officials' calculation of the added time last Sunday but rather because Macca's comments highlight a fascinating trend in the Barclays Premier League this season.

Nature may abhor a vacuum but it's also fair to say England's top-flight football league appears to abhor a draw.  Look at the evidence of this season so far: 56 games have been played and only four have resulted in draws, two of them being of the dreaded scoreless variety.

Thanks to a diligent ESPN viewer, Singapore-based Jude Ikara, we now also know that this season is dramatically continuing a trend which began last season. Jude wrote in to our Football Focus discussion show this week to highlight some eye-opening statistics.

Those four draws represent just over 7% of the results in BPL matches this season so far, whereas at the same stage of the last four seasons, the drawn game percentage stood at 17%, 24%, 27% and 29%. By this stage last season, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United had already drawn two games each.

Taken as a whole, here are the results for the last four seasons in their entirety: last season there were 97 drawn games (25.53 per cent of all games), in 2007-2008 there were 100 (26.32%), in 2006-2007 there were 98 (25.79%) and the season before that there were 77 (20.26%). That averages out at 24.47%.

So, at the current rate of 7.14%, it's fair to say the drawn football match looks like it is becoming a thing of the recent past.

At least it does in England. To put the BPL's result-oriented nature in perspective, here are the current drawn-match percentages of three of Europe's top leagues: Spain's La Liga is at 16%, Italy's Serie A is at 22% and Germany's Bundesliga is at a highly inconclusive 30%. So, Germany has seen four times the number of drawn matches as England.

Why is this happening? The Football Focus panelists reckon it is a combination of poor defending, increased amounts of added time and a concerted determination to seek out three points rather than the one available for a draw.

Take Liverpool, for instance. It is widely thought the Merseysiders squandered their chance of winning that elusive English title last season when they allowed themselves to be involved in 11 drawn matches (compared to champions Manchester United's 6). Having lost two out of their first three games at the start of this season, Rafa Benitez' side has had little choice but to chase victories in matches which last season might have ended drawn. Liverpool's last two away games have seen second-half goals from the likes of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard securing 3-2 victories.

There is actually a trend towards higher-scoring in the league as a whole so far this season. The 56 games played have yielded 159 goals at an average of 2.84. Last season's goals-per-game average was 2.48, with the three seasons before that producing 2.64, 2.45 and 2.48 respectively.

Looking to Europe again, the BPL's 2.84 goals per game is much better than Serie A's 2.58 but only just better than the Bundesliga's 2.80 and nowhere near as frenzied as La Liga which has so far this season enjoyed an average of 2.94.

So perhaps the panelists were right in highlighting defenders and goalkeepers as being responsible for the lack of draws. Shebby Singh pointed out that the summer transfer market saw a merry-go-round of central defenders especially, with some clubs having to reorganize their entire defensive lines even after the season had got underway. Steve McMahon highlighted the poor quality of goalkeepers (especially the English ones) on show in the league.

Chelsea have been scoring late goals this season, coming up with crucial scores by Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda to sink Hull and Stoke respectively. They did not need to score late on against Spurs at the weekend, but had they, they would have enjoyed the benefit of eight added minutes in which to do so. Liverpool have scored four times in the last 15 minutes of games this season, and Manchester United have done so five times. In fact, 20 per cent of all the goals in the league so far this season have come in the last 15 minutes of matches.

So, the stats point towards something odd, something different. To end, as we began, with Steve McMahon, the ex-Liverpool captain listened to the evidence of this season's statistical anomalies and gave the following conclusion: "The managers might not like the late goals, the bad defending and goalkeeping, and it certainly isn't as if clubs are playing the perfect match, but it's really entertaining for the rest of us. Long may it last."

It was a weekend when football, to use a term popular with followers of the game, totally lost the plot.

Emanuel Adebayor, a player who says he is now "loved" by one set of fans, chose a foolish way of showing his disappointment at another set of fans (whose love, he claims, has turned to hatred).  They got angry. A steward got knocked senseless by a flying bottle.

The same player appeared to kick a former teammate in the head. That former teammate, Robin van Persie, got angry and issued a statement condemning Adebayor. His manager, Arsene Wenger, decided a religious reference was necessary in support of van Persie's statement.

He said: "If somebody stamps on your head in that way, you wouldn't say, 'thank you very much' and turn the other cheek. Only Jesus Christ did that."

Okay, enough already. As with most aspects of everyday life, one can pretty well assume a situation has been blown up out of all proportion once religion gets dragged into it.

Take Serie A club, Roma, for instance. The Italian club sacked manager Luciano Spalletti for overseeing a disastrously leaky defence and appointed genial former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri in his place. When asked about his management tactics at his "unveiling" press conference, the native Roman thought it appropriate to adapt a Biblical episode to illustrate his pragmatic approach to shoring up Roma's rearguard.

"Bread into bread, wine into wine," promised Ranieri. Wow! And all that without anyone having even mentioned the dreaded "M"-word ("Messiah") around the Stadio Olimpico.

To be fair to Ranieri, he has always tended to be a man capable of seeing humour -- absurdity even -- in most things. He did, after all, gift us a delightful addition to football's vernacular in his less-than-perfect English when he coined the word "Tinkerman" to describe his squad rotation at Chelsea.

So, in the spirit of the Tinkerman, let's seek out recent examples of refreshing absurdity in the modern game to act as a counterbalance to the snarling intensity and massive overreaction demonstrated in some quarters last weekend.

One only had to travel 250 kilometres north from Rome last weekend to find such case. In Tuscany, Livorno managed a 0-0 draw against not-so-mighty AC Milan. According to one report, they did so despite fielding two players whose names were misspelled on their shirts, and one who nearly didn't get to start the game. Apparently the referee, Daniele Orsato, did not recognise Livorno's new Brazilian midfielder Mozart, and delayed the kick-off while club officials ran back to their team hotel to get the player's passport as proof of his identity. Talk about an Overture in the Italian Style.

In Germany, meanwhile, the real Franck Ribery was definitely on show as Bayern Munich destroyed Borussia Dortmund 5-1 in the ever-entertaining Bundesliga.

Before the recent international break, Ribery publicly expressed his unhappiness with Bayern's new coach Louis van Gaal. In fact, he sparked a frenzy of speculation over a January move to Spain.

So imagine the reaction of the 80,000 or so people in Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park after Ribery scored Bayern's third with an expertly-placed free-kick. The Frenchman went nuts and began beating his chest, then sprinted maniacally towards van Gaal... and promptly leapt into his open arms, to the bemusement of the Munich coaching staff.

"He's shown today that he loves the coach," said van Gaal after the match, smiling perhaps with relief as much as anything else.

Elsewhere in Germany, Bayer Leverkusen beat Wolfsburg 3-2 with Stefan Kiessling scoring their third, his fifth goal in consecutive games. The striker has said he will keep on growing his beard as long as his run continues.

The chances of Alan Smith ever scoring in two consecutive matches, let alone five, look slim at best. However, the Newcastle captain was looking far bushier about the face than Kiessling last weekend as he had vowed not to shave until the Toon lost a game in the Championship.

"It all started off as a bit of a joke but then a few of the lads told me to keep going until we get beaten so I hope it's still there at Christmas," said Smith who got himself sent off in injury time against Cardiff then saw his side promptly surrender that unbeaten record midweek against Blackpool.

In characteristically amusing Newcastle fashion, Smith had already tempted fate by saying he planned to modify his facial hair (it itched apparently) but it is a pity we have now been denied the oportunity to see what "Smiffy" would have done had the Toon's run continued and his beard taken on ZZ Top proportions.

When one goes in search of absurdity, it's not all that hard to find in football: watch any Scottish Premier League game and one can always glean amusement from the fact that the referee and his assistant are sponsored by British optical retailers Specsavers.

Look closely at any given weekend's action in England's BPL and there are plenty of little incidents that raise a chuckle. Last weekend alone, Fulham's Andy Johnson managed to make a complete mess of his team's kick-off against Everton, pinging the ball off strike partner Bobby Zamora's shin and straight to a blue-shirted opponent.

Then, in the Second City Derby, there was Birmingham goalkeeper Joe Hart's desperate sortie up-field in the game's dying seconds as Blues' sought to equalize against Aston Villa. Sure enough, the ball dropped to Hart in Villa's box and - doubtless dreaming of Peter Schmeichel-style heroics - Hart went up for the header.

The ball went sideways.

Hart had to charge back towards his own goal, all the while expecting a 60-metre Villa shot to sail into his untended goal and compound his agony. Hart, and Birmingham's fans may not have thought so at the time, but it was a hilarious moment.

Football's full of them. It's just a question of how seriously you take the game.

Birmingham City's St Andrew's stadium will provide the most raucous atmosphere to be found at any ground this weekend in the Barclay's Premier League.

Bitter rivals Aston Villa are the Blues' opponents in the Sunday lunchtime kickoff and it's fair to say one can expect fireworks from the encounter.

By the time the two teams meet again, on April 25, there is a chance England's Second City Derby match could stir a few million people up out here in Asia.

In fact, if the recent comments by one Hong Kong businessman are to be taken seriously, Birmingham will be roared on by the most populous football-supporting nation in the world.

By the end of this month, the club could be fully owned by Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung's Grandtop International, provided he and his backers pass the FA Premier League's "Fit and Proper Persons" test and, of course, provided they come up with the cash.

Should it happen, expect plenty of fiery patriotic rhetoric from the Grandtop team. After all, the company's chief executive, Vico Hui, has already told one newspaper: "We will become the first Chinese owners of a club in the Premier League. Our business will be idolised. We will be bringing glory to the Chinese people."

Grandtop, which already holds a 29.9 per cent stake in Birmingham, is throwing everything at this deal. Formerly a sportswear and clothing manufacturer, the company is totally restructuring its business to focus solely on developing Birmingham City.

Citing a "very good relationship with the Chinese government" and, crucially, a strong working relationship with China's BPL TV broadcast rights holder, Hui and Yeung aim to open Birmingham-themed shops and restaurants in China, initiate player exchanges between China and Britain and turn the Blues into the PRC's favourite club.

They also seem convinced that Birmingham City, despite being something of a yo-yo club recently in terms of its Premiership status, represents a viable business proposition in its own right, even without the lucrative China market.

"Birmingham is the second city in the UK," said Hui. "The stadium has a good location near the city centre, and the council has plans for a new stadium. This is also a very attractive business financially. We are going to make sure Birmingham stay in the Premier league. That is our main priority."

For all of this to happen though, Grandtop must first complete the £81.5 million takeover. According to one British newspaper, that is by no means guaranteed.

To get the deal done, Grandtop secured a £57 million bridging loan from a company called Kingston Securities, while it carried out the negotiations. They were also required by Birmingham to place a £3 million non-refundable deposit with the club. Birmingham insisted on the deposit after Yeung's previous attempt to gain control at St Andrew's ended when he was unable to secure funding during the 2007-08 season.

Britain's Daily  Telegraph recently ran an article suggesting the bid could fall foul of the FAPL's more stringent recent implementation of its Fit and Proper Persons Test, as both Yeung and Kingston Securities owner Polyanna Chu have in the past been found guilty of financial malpractice by Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission.

We should know by the end of September whether the Grandtop bid has been approved by the FAPL . Financially, Grandtop appear to be making all the right noises, with Yeung recently declaring, "I just want to make clear that if we didn't have enough finances, no one would have given us £57 million to buy the club. We have the finances."

Provided it all goes through, it will be fascinating to see what inroads Grandtop and Birmingham are able to make into China, a country which has seen football going backwards over the past decade.

Corruption, crowd problems and an archaic transfer system (totally at odds with FIFA's guidelines) set back the development of the domestic game, while the otherwise world-conquering BPL has been roundly thrashed by America's NBA in terms of its popularity in China.

The biggest recent problem for the BPL was the awarding of exclusive TV rights to small digital broadcaster Win TV in 2007. After years of free-to-air broadcasts, Win tried to convince Chinese fans to pay premium rates to watch BPL football. The fans refused, and boycotted the broadcasts to such an extent that viewership reportedly fell from 30 million in the free-to-air days to 50,000 or so.

The FAPL itself seems to have urged Win TV to do something about this, persuading the cable operator to screen one match a week for free. Win has also sold on broadcast rights to the biggest local channels nationwide, while China Youth Media is broadcasting to 30 million-plus college students via Kooboo, a video-sharing website; the Sina web portal is broadcasting live streaming video of all 380 BPL matches this season for free, while a company called Tencent Inc is streaming live video of all Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City games on QQ.com, the company's Chinese web portal.

This represents an absolute explosion of exposure for the league, and a scary prospect for the FAPL in terms of rights infringements, but for the likes of Carson Yeung, it could well prove to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Will China take to a team that wears blue, rather than the more traditionally auspicious red? Will Yeung and his colleagues' close ties with China's football authorities enable Birmingham to be cast as "good guys" rather than as just another European club out to pillage and plunder a juicy market?

Time will tell, but first Grandtop need to seal the deal with both Birmingham's owners and the league itself. There's more at stake this weekend than derby bragging rights and three points.

I spent an hour Tuesday night listening to the sound of silence. Silence from Old Trafford, Anfield, Stamford Bridge and the Emirates. Silence from managers, chief executives, directors of football and public relations officers.

The only problem was I, and we at ESPN, had been hoping to hear from at least some of them on our Football Focus Deadline Day Live Special. As it happened, not one of the Big Four did any meaningful business as the midnight Transfer Window Deadline came and went. We heard from our reporters at Tottenham, Aston Villa and Portsmouth, but that was about it.

So, no last-minute move to Chelsea for Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery, no return to Arsenal by Patrick Vieira, and no truth in the rumour that David Villa had been spotted eating a kebab on Merseyside. Just a deafening silence.

Then that silence was shattered by the unmistakable tones of Patrick Kinghorn, football analyst, gambling expert and occupier of our London studio.

"I want everyone to remember where they were on this day," he trumpeted in his customary bombastic fashion.

"Because for me the goalposts have completely moved [today]. Manchester City's net spend this summer is £106 million and when you consider the net spend of the entire rest of the division is £55 million, it really puts it into perspective.

"The next biggest was Chelsea, who have spent six times less, and it really proves to me that Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United just do not want to entertain the idea of competing with Manchester City in the transfer market."

Those viewers familiar with Mr Kinghorn will know he is not afraid to lace his on-screen predictions with superlatives but he, and others, are deadly serious about the implications of City's transfer window dominance.

"I was skeptical at the start of the season, but they [City] have started well," Patrick added. "For me, this is the day that City have broken the Big Four. I'm confident they'll knock Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester United out of the top four, because if they are in contention for the League or Champions League in January they can spend a fortune again."

Perhaps this helps explain a curious pieces of news which emerged from UEFA's get-together in Monaco last week. "Abramovich backs UEFA spending ban" read the headlines when UEFA President Michel Platini vowed to ensure that by 2012, Champions League entrants be able to balance their books.

"Manchester City can spend £300 million if they want," said Platini. "But if they are not breaking even in three years then they cannot play in European competition."

The Frenchman went on: "It's mainly the owners that asked us to do something. Roman Abramovich is a football person and passionate about the game. He loves football. He has come to me and said that we must do something about this."

That would be the same Abramovich who spent lavishly to kick start the "Chelski" revolution upon buying the club in 2003 and whose overall outlay is now nearly £700 million.

Chelsea have experimented with relative austerity this summer but they are still far away from the break-even model that chief executive Peter Kenyon unveiled a year or two ago. And what of the other members of England's "Big Four"? Arsenal's stadium and property developments have left the club some £400m in debt; Manchester United's accounts for 2007-08 showed debts of £699m, which related to the Glazers' purchase of the club; there are similarities with Liverpool, who had to pay £34 million in interest on loans secured to buy the club.

UEFA's view of these figures notwithstanding, how likely is it that Manchester City will force themselves into Champions League reckoning any time soon, perhaps even this season?

Well, no club has broken up the usual quartet since Everton pushed Liverpool down into fifth place four years ago. Big-spending Tottenham have their own ambitions, but let's keep the focus on the club from Eastlands which was taken over exactly a year ago by the Abu Dhabi United Group.  In 12 months, City have spent more than £200 million on 13 new players, while 20 or so players have been either let go or loaned out.

"It's been unprecedented, the amount of business we have done," said manager Mark Hughes this week.

"We've packed a process that should have taken two or three years into nine months."

It all started with the snatching of Robinho from under Chelsea's nose. That piece of business gave the critics plenty of ammunition: they pointed to the Brazilian's erratic performances as being symptomatic of broader problems at the "nouveau riche" club. Silly-money bids for players like Kaka and a failed pursuit of "Mr Chelsea" John Terry seemed to confirm the naysayers' belief that this project could never work.

Hughes, for one, is sure the struggles of last season will not be repeated.

He said: "There's been a bit of pain but everything in the future will be better from now on. It's been a huge effort by everybody but we've been able to get through that and we can really kick on now."

And Hughes says it can be done without having to repeat the massive spending exercise.

"We won't go through this process again because we won't need to," he said. "We will target individuals but it won't be wholesale changes like we've had to do this time. We feel we have the blocks in place now."

And that, concludes Patrick Kinghorn, could spell drastic consequences for City's rivals.

"If one of the Big Four drops out of the Champions League there will be goodness knows what kind of repercussions," he predicted. "It's the most exciting season ever now... and unless they start giving out 5 Champions League places we are going to have a meltdown for one of those "Big Four" clubs at the end of the year."

Here's a football trivia question for you: name the team which began its Primera Liga campaign last season with only one point and one goal from its opening two matches, making it the worst start for 35 years?

That's right, folks, the answer is Barcelona, whose most sluggish start to a campaign since 1973-'74 prompted goal.com to report that "an inquest into their inability to hit the target is underway in Catalunya".

Nine months later, that inquest had become a celebration. Barca won the league with a record 87 points from 38 games, scoring 105 goals - just two short of the Primera Liga's record. They even overcame a late-season blip  which saw them win only one league match in seven. At the time, midfielder Xavi Hernandez  felt compelled to issue the following statement: "People love to talk about a crisis but we are in the semi-finals of the Champions League. What sort of crisis is that?"

We love a crisis in football, don't we? English newspapers virtually branded Liverpool a "crisis club" this week after a sloppy showing by senior players against Aston Villa saw a 31-game unbeaten home run come to an end.

It was a second defeat in just three matches and it means the Reds have now lost as many games as they did in the whole of last season. Yet Liverpool drew 11 games last season and still finished second.

They should also remember that bitter rivals Manchester United make a habit of overcoming slow starts. Last season, United took four points from their first three games and still won the title.

At the other end of the hyperbolic scale, by winning three on the bounce Tottenham Hotspur have now made their best start to the season since 1960-61 when they won their first 11 league matches and went on to claim a League and FA Cup double. The press have already asked manager Harry Redknapp how his team measures up to the class of '61.

Hilarious. But not as funny as the hysteria surrounding German giants Bayern Munich who have made a poor start to the latest Bundesliga campaign, with a haul of just two points from three matches.

The Bild newspaper's headline this Monday spoke of "The Bayern Downfall".  Spiegel branded Louis van Gaal's team as being "worse than under Klinsmann".

It's as if we media people seek to make up for a summer of inactivity by exploding into knee-jerk sensationalism the minute we have enough games played to generate a statistic. Let's get a sensible number of matches into our seasons before going ballistic.

On a far more serious note, all this early-season overreaction has overshadowed something which might genuinely be regarded as a "crisis" facing football:  a spate of deaths or health-scares among top-flight footballers which have been attributed to cardiac problems.

Earlier this month, Espanyol's 26-year-old captain Dani Jarque collapsed and died following a pre-season training session in Italy. His death came two years after that of Sevilla's 22-year-old Antonio Puerta  in similar circumstances. Spain and Real Madrid midfielder Ruben de la Red also collapsed during a match last October. He survived but has not played a game since.

Two French players will definitely never play again after they arguably got lucky. Former Caen striker Steve Savidan, a 31-year-old journeyman, was about to make a dream switch to Monaco when a medical test revealed a heart condition. Savidan is in no doubt that he made the right decision.

"I thought it was my lucky day," he told a newspaper. "I've been told to stop before it breaks. I was risking sudden death. To play my life at Russian roulette is not my thing."

Last year, Lilian Thuram, France's most capped player, announced his retirement at the age of 36, citing a heart condition that stopped him from moving to Paris Saint-Germain.

While they have been able to retire after successful careers with their health intact, those still playing the game admit to being worried.

"It's strange there are so many cases in such a short space of time. It makes you think it could happen to anyone," said Villarreal midfielder Santi Cazorla.

Sevilla goalkeeper and captain Andres Palop recently admitted, "It starts to worry you. We do tests and medicals but it isn't possible to detect these cases. We hope they will specialise a little more to try and improve the detection so that it doesn't happen again."

After Puerta's death in 2007 doctors said the weakness in the player's heart was extremely difficult to detect and was unlikely to show up in medical tests. The same was said of former Manchester City and West Ham player and Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe who collapsed and died while playing in the Confederations Cup in 2003.

Two years ago, UEFA called for all professional players to have a heart test before the start of each season.  It ordered players at the 2008 European Championships to undergo cardiac screening and, in so doing, emulated FIFA which had looked into the feasibility of a pre-competition medical assessment at the 2006 World Cup.

FIFA is still refining its pre-competition testing, most recently at the African Under-17 Championships in Algeria this March when it assessed all 160 players from eight participating teams.

Professional football associations around the world conduct screenings in varying levels of sophistication and all would be advised to learn from Italy's experience. In 1982, the Italians started screening all 12- to 35-year-olds who planned to participate in strenuous competitive sport.  A 2006 study found that during the 24 years that the programme had been used, the annual deaths among athletes decreased by 89 per cent.

At an amateur level, some fear the cost of an electroc-cardiogram may make this program too expensive in certain countries, but top-flight professional sport has no such constraints and can offer the most sophisticated screening available. This is one "crisis" football can deal with, and the media has a vital role to play too.

While the Barclays Premier League will undoubtedly struggle to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo, this season's opening exchanges have already unearthed a quartet of newcomers who look set to widen the league's appeal.

To a man they are supremely gifted, highly photogenic and each possesses a "human interest" story guaranteed to endear them to fans of their clubs, wherever they may be in the world. But the most exciting thing about these players is that they have their careers ahead of them and will most likely develop in tandem with this ever-changing, multi-cultural league.

One is a former refugee from Kosovo who has battled his way to a career in top-flight football; another is likely to become a pin-up boy to rival Ronaldo and Torres. One looks set to become a Balkan football legend at next year's World Cup and the last could turn out to be the catalyst for long-overdue success at White Hart Lane.

Let's begin with the Spurs player. Sebastien Bassong's all-round performance and match-winning goal against Liverpool last weekend were impressive enough. His nonchalant, feet-on-the-ground post-match interview for live TV suggested this graduate of France's famous Clairefontaine youth academy is very much at ease at football's top table.

 Newcastle United could hardly say "no" to the reported 8 million pounds Tottenham paid for Bassong, but they will look on in regret as the 23-year-old attempts stars in Spurs' pursuit of Champions League football, and also Cameroon's efforts to qualify for the World Cup.

One player who looks guaranteed to feature in South Africa next summer is Serbia's Nenad Milijas. Little was made of the 26-year-old's arrival at Molineux this summer, but Wolves' 2.6 million signing already looks like one of the buys of the year.

Named Man-of-the-Match in Wolves' opening-day defeat to West Ham, Milijas earned Mick McCarthy's side a first win of the season at Wigan on Tuesday night with a stunning display of skill, including the free-kick that Andy Keogh converted for Wolves' winner. Milijas was an oasis of calm, and a model of perfect technique, amidst a maelstrom of a football match.

This will come as no surprise to followers of Serbian football who have seen the former Red Star Belgrade midfielder lift trophies and personal honours every season since 2005. Last season, he notched 22 goals in all competitions, was named the Superliga's MVP and broke into the national team. He is now a fixture in the World Cup-bound Serbia squad and notched the winning goal against Austria this June. That goal came from the penalty spot and if he is not in your Fantasy Football team, then you are missing a trick.

Another player who has caught the eye of FC Manager and Dream Team enthusiasts is Wigan's set-piece specialist Jordi Gómez. He may have been on the losing side against Milijas' Wolves this week but the Spaniard, whose full name is Jordi Gomez Garcia-Penche, kept up the good work he began on his debut at the weekend when Wigan beat Aston Villa 2-0.

Jordi will also have caught the eye of the ladies. He is possessed of Robert Pires-esque good looks and is fast developing a following among those who follow footballers on holiday and after work as much as they do during games. Fortunately Jordi is also, in the words of Steve Claridge (a former player who now assesses players' talents for a British newspaper),  "proper footballer in every sense of the word".

A product of Barcelona and Espanyol's youth programmes, Gomez played only briefly in La Liga before Roberto Martinez took him on loan at Swansea City in the Coca-Cola Championship. Quickly adapting to the physical demands of British football, and taking all Swansea's corners and free-kicks, Gomez finished the season with 14 goals. It was hardly surprising Martinez wasted no time in signing him for Wigan when he joined the club in the summer. Again, like Milijas, Gomez came cheap at approximately 1.7 million pounds.

Our last newcomer-to-watch cannot be classified as a budget buy. Steve Bruce splashed out 5 million pounds for Albanian midfielder Lorik Cana in a four-year deal and placed immediate responsibility on the 26-year-old by naming him team captain for the 1-0 season-opening win over Bolton.

Bruce has bought himself a midfield battler, and a man who brings a fascinating life story to the BPL. Cana (pronounced "Sanna") dreamed as a youngster of following in the footsteps of his father, Agim, a former Yugoslav international and star of his hometown club KF Prishtina. However war came to Kosovo and Cana found himself fleeing to Switzerland, a refugee.

Once there, he decided football was his best chance of success in life and he battled his way up through the ranks at Lausanne Sports until he was spotted and signed by French club Paris Saint-Germain.  His commanding style of play attracted the attention of Arsenal, who invited him for a trial, but Cana, who now holds Swiss, Albanian and French passports was refused a visa.

 In 2006, he moved to Marseille and became their captain two seasons later. Despite being eligible for France and Switzerland, Cana chose to play for Albania and has done so since 2003, reaffirming his ties to the country he had to flee at a young age. He has also finally been granted his dream move to the BPL.

So there we are: four new names, four players who have made an immediate mark on the BPL. They are proof of the quality and variety that exists in the league if one takes the trouble to look beyond the traditional "Big Four".

Heard the one about the Premier League footballer who chose to spend his summer holiday in a muddy field on an island off England's south coast? No, well it's a story that might provide some comfort for fans of West Ham United.

The Hammers get their 2009/2010 Barclays Premier League campaign underway this weekend with a tricky assignment at Molineux against pumped-up newcomers Wolves. Given their ongoing financial woes, and following an underwhelming pre-season, some pundits feel the Wolves game will be the start of a long, difficult battle to avoid relegation.

Striker Carlton Cole is desperate for a new signing to partner in the absence of the departed David Di Michele and the on-loan Freddie Sears. Key players such as defender Matthew Upson could yet leave before the transfer window shuts. Much-vaunted Chilean midfielder Luis Jimenez, a loan signing from Italian champions Inter Milan, seems to be struggling to settle.

But if all of the above needs putting into perspective, and if a bit of common sense and pragmatism will get Gianfranco Zola's men through a challenging season unscathed, they need look no further than goalkeeper Robert Green.

Nothing fazes the 29-year-old Englishman. Last season, he turned in a stunning series of performances despite suffering the lingering after effects of altitude sickness. A ‘keeper who once self-deprecatingly had the legend "England's number six" embroidered on his gloves in response to repeated snubs by his national team now finds himself Fabio Capello's first choice.

Green's impressive efforts last season helped West Ham to a ninth-place finish in the BPL, one higher than the previous term. Yet, despite that success and his recognition at international level, Green decided against a typical modern-day Premier League star's self-congratulatory summer break. Not for him champagne in St Tropez or clubbing in Las Vegas. Rather, Rob Green opted for a campsite on the Isle of Wight, just off Portsmouth.

He and a friend rented a cheap fixed caravan, wore the same clothes for a couple of days and braved muddy conditions and appalling portable toilets at the annual Isle of Wight Rock Festival, which this year featured performances by the likes of the Stereophonics, Neil Young, the Prodigy, Razorlight, Simple Minds and the Ting Tings.

"I'd have to say the Prodigy were probably the highlight as I'd always wanted to see them. It was great, just what I wanted to do with my end-of-season break," said Green during West Ham's trip to China for last month's Asia Trophy.

"It's just that it's the sort of thing that I simply wouldn't normally get a chance to do as a footballer," he added, glancing around his Beijing hotel's vast, marbled foyer.

That's some understatement: one could hardly imagine any of his contemporaries for club or country making a similar choice, let alone going largely unrecognized over the course of a weekend spent in the public eye.

It was also in keeping with Green's recent tradition of spending his summer holidays in ways that distance him from 5-star hotels, first-class travel and all the trappings of the millionaire footballer persona.

Last summer he climbed Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, to raise funds for AMREF, a medical and research facility. Before the climb he spent time in Kenya, seeing the organisation's work for himself.

"I'm glad I did it and raised the money but it's something I will never do again," he admitted. "Some people suffer from altitude sickness, some don't. I was a real mess by the time I got to the summit. I was delirious, and by the time I made my way back down I was the best part of two stone lighter. I felt the effects all season."

As you might have gathered by now, Robert Green is not your average footballer. He writes an intelligent, original column for a British newspaper, dabbles in poetry and studied law and psychology before deciding to begin a professional footballer's career with Norwich City.

He once told an interviewer, "A footballer's job stimulates you a lot physically, but not mentally. It's very much tunnel vision. There's no real spectrum of life - not real life anyway - and it's good to have something else to focus on."

But don't for one minute think he is anything but focused when it comes to his work. Green's all-round skills as a ‘keeper have blossomed in recent seasons. While he had the capacity to pull off some remarkable shot-stopping during Alan Curbishley's spell as West Ham manager, last season saw Green taking his game to new heights.

He attributes his improvement in large part to Gianfranco Zola and the work he has done since he arrived at Upton Park.

"He has introduced a new brand of football," said Green. "Changed the way we play. I think everyone has benefited, including me when it comes to distribution. Now that we are being encouraged to play football, and the guys have the confidence to play the ball, I have been able to release the ball from the hand a lot more."

Confidence is so often the difference between success and failure at sport's highest level. West Ham fans can take huge comfort from the fact that their team's goal will be guarded this season by a player confident in his own playing abilities and confident in his ability to make the right decisions, both on the field, and in the wider context of life itself.

It was a weekend of upsets -- Liverpool crashing 3-0 to Espanyol, Spurs losing 2-0 at the hands of Hong Kong's South China and Newcastle even managing a draw against Dundee United - but it was an upset in a competitive league fixture that really caught my eye.

In China's Super League, leaders Beijing Guo'an went down 3-2 away to the league's bottom side Chongqing Lifan. In doing so, they provided an ironic postscript to last week's Barclay's Asia Trophy.

When the Premier League's executives arrived in the Chinese capital last week, they did so with the intention of staging a tournament featuring a full-strength Beijing side whose league commitments had been postponed to allow them to give it their all. They soon learned that the Chinese Football Association had decided it would rather Beijing honoured those commitments.

Rather than incurring the wrath of either host (country or organizer), let's just say it has been alleged that someone, somewhere went back on an agreement.

The upshot: faced with an itinerary which called for Asia Trophy matches on Wednesday and Friday and then a two-hour flight to Chongqing for the league game, Beijing coach Lee Jang-soo did what he thought was right. He withdrew his key players at regular intervals during the second half of the opening game against Hull, and arguably cost his team a victory that looked highly likely (they eventually lost in a penalty shoot-out).

Then, faced with a "meaningless" third-place playoff against West Ham, Lee put out a "Beijing" side which piqued the curiosity of local journalists.

"Could you please tell us a bit about tonight's starting lineup," asked one reporter at the post-match press conference following their 2-0 defeat. "For instance, who were those players?"

Lee, you see, had drafted in a collection of Beijing-based foreign footballers who aren't actually contracted to Guo'an, along with some youth team players. To be fair, they put up a decent enough showing to maintain the integrity of the match in which they were involved (and the tournament for that matter), but Beijing's "rested" first team still managed to lose in Chongqing despite Lee's efforts.

The shame of it is that a full-strength Guo'an would have made the Asia Trophy final and ensured a raucous sell-out crowd. They would also have given Spurs more of a challenge in the final than they received from the weak Hull starting XI named by Phil Brown.

As it happened, Spurs looked a genuinely classy outfit in Beijing before they too played a Sunday fixture they could have done without and saw their young side beaten in Hong Kong.

The point here is that many of the score-lines from friendly matches played over the past fortnight have made for unusual reading at first glance. Gain a little more information on team lineups, fitness, weather conditions and travel plans, though, and one begins to get a clearer understanding of these results.

So,  what have we learned from Manchester United's eight-goal romp against Hangzhou compared to, say, Chelsea's wins over Inter and AC Milan, or Arsenal's romp against Rangers?

Well, we know that the "Big Four" managers could all do with buying players. No one is writing off Manchester City's chances, given the money spent, but Tottenham have also caught the eye.

We have also been reminded that Liverpool look fairly ordinary if Gerrard and Torres aren't playing. That said, former West Ham players Tony Gayle and Tony Cottee (in Beijing with the Hammers) both tipped Liverpool as the team to upset United and Chelsea in the race for the title. But another seasoned football-watcher, who was working in China last week, made the following observation: don't write off Arsenal.

While conventional wisdom has it that Arsenal's place in the "Big Four" looks the most threatened, renowned football commentators Martin Tyler pointed out that the UK football gambling markets have see heavy bets placed this past week on Arsenal to win the title. With odds as long as 10-1 from most bookmakers, many punters feel Wenger's youngsters may just be worth a look, especially if the manager does decide to spend some of the money raised by the sale of Adebayor and Toure.

With the transfer window open well beyond the start of the BPL season, there is still scope for Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea to make signings that ultimately take the title out of Arsenal's reach.

Until we know what has happened in the market, we have to limit ourselves to acknowledging that all of the above clubs have been steadily working their way towards match fitness this pre-season. Just as they always do, and in spite of some eccentric results in exotic locations.

Spare a thought, though, for Beijing Guo'an and the effect that a BPL pre-season could have on their own 2009 campaign. Here's hoping they too can shrug off a surprising defeat and get back to winning ways.

Friday's Asia Trophy final is not without its appeal: Spurs arrived in Beijing jet-lagged and lethargic but they destroyed West Ham on Wednesday night at the Workers Stadium with a classy display and will illuminate the final, while Hull City will be hoping to do what Portsmouth did to Liverpool two years ago in Hong Kong and score one for the underdogs.

Yet one cannot help feel that Wednesday's second semi-final will have left organizers the FA Premier League and host club Beijing Guoan with a serious case of the what-ifs.

Let's take nothing away from Phil Brown's Hull City who hung in there for a penalty shoot-out win. They arrived in Beijing as the Premier League's poorest team not to get relegated last season. Amateur crooner Brown himself joked at his opening press conference that his sing-along of choice this season might have to be "I Will Survive".

Good luck to them. Had they lost to a Chinese club side in their first high-profile game of the season, they could expect to be seriously up against it once the league proper opens against Chelsea.

Yet Hull will accept they could easily have lost to Beijing. Yes, Geovanni's early goal was a belter, but it came after he was gifted the ball. When Beijing drew level soon after the restart, most neutrals in the crowd could only see one winner.

But then Guoan coach Lee Jang-soo started taking off key performers: combative, influential midfielder Darko Matic, standout Chinese players Yang Hao and Yan Xianchuang as well as striker Ryan Griffiths. With them on the field, Beijing would most likely have overcome a Hull City squad still working its way towards fitness.

But then Lee was always going to take his stars off early. After Friday's second Asia Trophy game, he has to take his side on a two-hour flight to Chongqing for a Chinese Super League match on Sunday. Chongqing may be the league's bottom club but Beijing are a point in front at the top of a league they have never won in its six-year history, They are midway through their campaign and can ill-afford a slip-up.

The reason this tournament could have done with Beijing properly focused on winning the Asia Trophy is that the club has brought a level of passion and commitment to its hosting of this biennial event that we did not see in previous tournaments in Hong Kong, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Guoan are a great club with a magnificent stadium (China's largest) and a vociferous local support. The BPL clubs took on national selections in Malaysia and Thailand and a modest club side, South China, in Hong Kong. Beijing's fans honestly believe their team is the equal of anything the world can throw at it: in a 17-match run of friendly internationals, Beijing held a record of 16 wins and one draw before Wednesday's defeat.

The fans are rowdy and hugely entertaining, and had they been supporting a team involved in Friday's final, the Premier League could expect a bumper 40,000-plus crowd. As it is, the attendance will probably be lower for Beijing's third-place playoff against a West Ham side which was surprisingly unfit and perhaps predictably toothless in the defeat by Spurs.

Having said all that, Spurs were highly impressive Wednesday, not least when newcomers Kyle Naughton and Jack Livermore got a chance to shine. They look like being a team to watch in the season to come.

In the final, Hull will fight them all the way - be sure of that. The one thing that can be guaranteed is that we will see more of the same "proper" football played. The Asia Trophy exists to bring an authentic display of competitive BPL football to Asian fans who otherwise see their heroes play insipid, half-paced football on their trips to this part of the world.

Expect nothing less when you watch the two matches Friday night. But let's hope that Beijing's fans regard an opportunity to beat Premiership opposition in the shape of West Ham as reason enough to field a strong team and to pack the stadium.

If a press conference performance could ever be seen as a pointer towards a club's showing on the football pitch, Wednesday's opening matches in the Barclays Premier League Asia Trophy in Beijing will see an enthusiastic Hull City, a lethargic Tottenham Hotspur, a pragmatic Beijing Guoan and a delightful, ebullient even, West Ham United.

Fortunately for Spurs fans in particular, a press conference is rarely more than just a press conference. Bleary-eyed manager Harry Redknapp and captain Robbie Keane struggled through a session with the press at the Grand Hyatt Hotel just hours after arriving in China off the back of a disappointing defeat at Wembley by Celtic and a delayed take-off when Darren Bent (and his baggage) were taken off the plane on the Heathrow tarmac.

Bent was left behind and will most likely become a Sunderland player very soon, while Redkapp's thoughts (and perhaps those of Keane) will have been rather more focused on another striker, Peter Crouch, who could find himself on a long-haul flight to China soon after completing his nine million pound move to White Hart Lane.

"Not ideal," was Redknapp's dismissive comment on the prospect of a flight to Beijing in the aftermath of the Celtic loss. Here in China he continued the theme, shrugging his shoulders and saying he and his team simply had to go where they were told to go by the club's owners. Hence their arrival in Beijing, with two games to be played here and then another in Hong Kong before they return to London and another ongoing headache for Harry: the task of assembling a central defensive lineup capable of dealing with the demands of a BPL season which kicks off with a visit from Liverpool.

By the time his players assembled at the Workers Stadium in the evening for the most gentle of training sessions, many of his players were openly yawning. They had been kept up all day by the coaching staff in an effort to get them onto local time. But, tiredness aside, fans at the open straining session will have noted that Spurs look to be the main draw at this showcase event.

Theirs is a squad packed with creative, glamorous, high-profile players: Defoe, Lennon, Modric, Keane, O'Hara, Huddlestone, Pavlyuchenko, Palacios and exciting newcomers Bostock and Livermore. Spurs represent a near-perfect representation of a wealthy, star-studded BPL club - just the sort of club the FA Premier League would choose to showcase its international appeal at a tournament such as this.

But the beauty of the Asia Trophy - as we have seen at its three previous installments in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Hong Kong - is that being a well-off, well-staffed Premiership outfit is no guarantee of success on the pitch. Tottenham's opponents tonight are London rivals West Ham United and they are making the sort of noises their fans want to hear.

Having been in Beijing a lot longer than Spurs, they looked a far fresher bunch on Tuesday. Furthermore, manager Gianfranco Zola and striker Carlton Cole demonstrated a real appetite for the tournament at their press conference.

"Fans back home have been telling us this game against Spurs is one we have to win," said Cole.

His manager, polite, charming and always willing to give a good answer to any question that comes his way, reinforced Cole's point. Zola said he was determined to put out a side capable of beating Spurs. He insisted that preparing a team for a new season 5,000 miles from home was unusual but said he and his staff would be doing their level best to get the most out of the players in training and on the pitch tonight.

Cole himself looked to have picked up a niggle in training and that could be the only downer for the Hammers who have arrived in China looking a little lightweight up-top following the departure of experienced strikers David di Michele and Diego Tristan, the injury to Dean Ashton and Freddie Sears' loan move to Crystal Palace.

Tonight's other match is a tough one to call. Hull City Phil Brown told the press he was "ecstatic" to be in Beijing, saying it was a measure of how far his club has come. However, he also recognized that Hull's dismal second-half of last season had left them many people's favourites to struggle this coming term.

Brown, who always gives his best in front of the media, said he reckoned his club's failure to bring in a single player (other than Boulogne youngster Steven Mouyokolo) from January's transfer window onward was the main reason Hull had gone off the boil so badly.

The local journalists certainly have Hull in their sights. Beijing Guoan, pointed out one reporter to Brown, are top of the Chinese Super League. Hull, he said are effectively bottom of the BPL as they finished one above relegation. "So it's a top against bottom match-up!" he gleefully concluded.

Phil Brown smiled and politely admitted that, yes, Hull have a lot of respect for their Chinese opponents and are expecting a hard game.

The last of the managers to speak yesterday may, however, has given Hull cause for optimism. Guoan's stern-faced Korean boss Lee Jang-soo wasted no time in urging pragmatism in terms of his club's ambitions in the Asia Trophy.

"I would rather win the Chinese Super League than the Asia Trophy," was his message - an understandable one given Beijing's league placing - top by a point exactly midway through their 30-game season. With that in mind, and a game against bottom-side Chongqing just days away, he will be using his star players sparingly.

Provided Beijing's poor air quality doesn't impact on players' performance levels, both games tonight will provided more competitive football than we have seen in any of the Asian Tour games to-date featuring Liverpool and Manchester United. Then, there is another press conference to look forward to tomorrow. Fun and games for sure.

The title has been decided, Fulham are the favourites to snatch the last European place and everyone is trying to come to terms with Paragraph E20 of the Premier League Rules. As "Survival Sunday" approaches, we are all asking what exactly constitutes a "full strength team" for Manchester United and will this have any bearing on the immediate futures of Hull, Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough?

You will read plenty of debate about this subject elsewhere. Enjoy it. Have your say if you want. But all I'm prepared to say here is that it is important to consider the season as a whole. Which is precisely what we are about to do.

So, how was it for you? Any better or worse than last season? More exciting in a tactical sense? More defence-oriented? More dirty perhaps?

Let's hit the stats and see if they have the answers. Well, straight away it's obvious from a look at the league table that the Big Four are just as dominant as they were last season: if all four win this weekend, they will have amassed 331 points between them and that will equal last season's record tally.

In terms of the overall spectacle, the average number of goals scored (2.48) is slightly below the BPL's average over the last three seasons. England fares badly this season, however, compared to Europe's other major leagues in terms of goals scored. Serie A averages 2.51, the Bundesliga 2.90 and the Primera Liga 2.91.

Conclusions are rarely foregone in the BPL where 29 per cent games result in away wins. That is right up there with the Primera Liga. There have been, however, more draws this season in England than in the three other continental leagues.

Goal-scoring as a whole has been a problem in England this season, with the BPL's sharpshooters looking somewhat blunted. For the last five years, the Golden Boot winner has averaged 26.6 goals. Cristiano Ronaldo notched 31 last season remember. Yet Nicolas Anelka leads the way this season with a paltry 18 and, unless he goes beserk against Sunderland or Fergie has a brainstorm and plays Ronaldo against Hull, it looks as we are going to end up with a slightly tarnished boot. After all, Roque Santa Cruz finished fourth last year with 19 goals.

Liverpool are winning plaudits for having scored 74 goals so far, but Manchester United notched 80 last season (Arsenal were second with 74) and 83 the season before that.

While Marouane Fellaini and Wilson Palacios have angered the officials more than anyone else (they have collected 12 yellow cards apiece), the stats do not suggest that it has been a particularly thuggish season. The yellow card total is slightly down on last season, the red count identical with one round of games to go.

Much has been made of falling attendances at Premier League grounds in recent times but the facts do not seem to support those concerns. The BPL's average gate is 35,543 (only slightly down on last season's) and much of that discrepancy is due to the size of the clubs involved in the league. However, should the BPL lose Newcastle or Sunderland for next season, that average will drop dramatically. The Bundesliga is still the best-attended major league in Europe with an average gate of 42,482 but England's attendances are still, on average, 10,000 per game more than one sees in Spain or Italy.

For all our early-season concerns, Premiership clubs have been slightly less inclined to sack their managers this season, or to accept their resignations. Messrs Curbishley, Keegan, Ramos, Keane, Ince, Adams and Scolari are probably still unhappy about the situation but the BPL has not suffered a repeat of Season 2007/08's carnage which saw the departure of nine managers. That Gareth Southgate and Mark Hughes kept their jobs is a reminder to us that we should not always believe everything we read in the newspapers.

So, has it been a surprising season? Certainly. Unscientific as this assessment may be, none of the four regular Football Focus pundits picked Manchester United to make it a hat-trick of BPL titles, so their win probably qualifies as a surprise. The bookies, it should be said, also had Chelsea down as favourites in August.

You could have got odds of 7-1 against Liverpool winning the title, and that can only add to the frustration of ‘Pool fans who know they came incredibly close to a big pay day. Plenty of pundits were surprised to see Tottenham offered at no better than 66-1 to win the title in August. Within a few weeks they got over that surprise.

It was more a reflection on the Big Four dominance than anything else, but Everton's 200-1 odds in August were disappointing. Many of us tipped Aston Villa to break the moneyed quartet's stranglehold on the league, and they made a decent fist of it.

Excitement-wise, the title race made it to the last day of last season when United confirmed the title with a win at Wigan. Fulham won at Portsmouth to send Birmingham and Reading down to the Championship.

This season, United are also involved in one of the televised feature games, but only because of their role in determining what happens at the bottom of the table. Survival Sunday looks set to better 2007/08 in terms of sheer drama but whether the season, as a whole, has done so is questionable.

Arsene Wenger could be forgiven for being a little down-in-the-dumps right now.

His club has endured a fourth straight season without silverware, his boardroom is the scene of a power struggle and even his own fans have begun to publicly question Wenger's preference for young home-grown talent over experienced imports.

Yet the urbane Frenchman must have been tempted to punch the air, dance a jig and, heck, even let out a whoop of joy this week when news filtered through that the Premier League had done a highly-significant about-turn -- one which appears to have vindicated Monsieur Wenger.

In a major reverse of its long-standing opposition to quota systems, the BPL announced this week that its clubs will be required to include a specified number of "home-grown" players in their squads or first teams from the 2010-11 season.

BPL chief executive Richard Scudamore said the rule may be similar to UEFA's requirement for European competitions, that clubs must have eight "homegrown" players in their squads of 25, or it may resemble the Football League's quota of four "homegrown" players in a matchday squad of 16. Scudamore also insisted, however, that the league would fiercely oppose FIFA president Sepp Blatter's insistence on a "6+5" complement of domestic to international players.

Wenger's vindication lies in the phrase "homegrown", which refers to players who have spent three successive seasons at a certain club between the ages of 16 and 21. Under UEFA's stipulation, four of these players must have emerged from their own youth set-up, even if they are non-English and were imported from overseas, while the other four must have trained for three years at another club registered with the same association.

It suits Arsenal because Wenger's club, for all the criticism it has received for fielding "non-English" sides over the years, it is comfortably the best-placed of the BPL's Big Four when it comes to "homegrown" talent.

Cesc Fabregas is usually held up as the shining example of Wenger's foresight, as the Spanish international qualifies as a "homegrown" Arsenal player, having been with the club since he was 16. Of the club's other regular starters, Denilson, Alexandre Song, Gale Clichy, Johan Djourou, Nicklas Bendtner and Aaron Ramsey all meet the criteria without being English. Before too long, Carlos Vela, Fran Merida and goalkeeper Vito Mannone could both qualify and also be part of the first team.

Manuel Almunia qualifies for British citizenship next month. He already shares a dressing-room with Englishmen Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs, while we can expect to see a lot more of young English-born players Gavin Hoyte, Henri Lansbury and Mark Randall next season.

Britain's Culture Minister, Andy Burnham, will doubtless describe the BPL's move as a response to his call for the safeguarding of young British talent, but it actually plays into Arsenal's hands in that they will be under no obligation to field English players if they feel they are not up to the required standard.

Arsenal stand out from the other Big Four clubs because they clearly have several "homegrown" players who are already "battle-hardened" from top-flight BPL and Champions League competition. Liverpool may have won the FA Youth Cup in 2006 and 2007 (they and Arsenal are contesting this season's final too), but their young players from Spain, Denmark, Sweden and Norway have hardly featured for Rafa Benitez's first team.

Manchester United's talented young trio of Ricardo Possebon and the de Silva brothers, Fabio and Rafael, are edging towards "homegrown" qualification, along with Kiko Macheda. They may one day be joined by Mancunian Danny Wellbeck in Fergie's first team. Chelsea look to be the worst-off with only the likes of Englishman Michael Mancienne and homegrown" Slovakian Miroslav Stoch likely to break through any time soon.

Did Arsene Wenger see the Premier League's decision coming? Is that why he has so staunchly defended his policy of playing the likes of Diaby and Song this season? Fans and pundits alike have been crying out for Wenger to make two or three significant purchases: big-name players to provide the "spine" of the team. If he does that, and blends these stars with his "homegrown" talent there is a convincing case for suggesting Arsenal will be competing for major honours next season.

Wenger, and Arsenal, may also be aware that their ability to recruit really good young players from overseas is under threat. Arsenal acquired Fabregas (a contemporary of Lionel Messi at Barca's youth academy) by exploiting a loophole whereby Spanish clubs, under their country's law, cannot sign players professionally until they are 18, while English teams, under EU and Fifa regulations, can sign them at 16. Manchester United did something similar with Gerard Pique, and the cases caused outrage in Spain.

More recently, Arsenal witnessed a legal battle after they signed Fran Merida, who had been picked up by Barcelona at the tender age of eight. In late 2007 Merida was ordered by a Spanish court to pay a fee of 3.2 million Euros to Barcelona as "compensation" for "failing to meet the terms of a personal pre-contract." He is appealing the fine, but it is clear Europe's big clubs are exploring ways of preventing youngster such as Merida or former Lazio prodigy Kiko Macheda from being stolen away by English clubs keen to "homegrow" a high-quality youngster.

If they find their access to players from European clubs restricted, the Big Four will increasingly discover that global talent-hunting becomes a far more costly and less precise science. They may, of course, end up pleasing Mr Burnham, Herr Blatter and FC Barcelona, by trying to get the best out of their homegrown English talent. But until then, it looks as if Arsenal have been given a golden opportunity to end their recent trophy drought, if not next season then certainly the one after that.

Arsene Wenger had so much trust in Cesc in fact that in September 2006, with six years remaining on his existing contract, he was offered a new eight year contract with Arsenal, the longest ever signed in premiership history. It will last until Cesc is 27.

Thanks to a bouncing Mexican and a sweaty soccer jersey, the question of referees' impartiality made it back onto our radars last week.

In America, Major League Soccer ref Jair Marrufo was handed a one-match suspension after he reportedly left a game between the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew with a match jersey given him by Chicago's star player, Cuauhtemoc Blanco. The Mexican (renowned for his party-piece trick, the "Blanco Bounce", which sees him hop away from would-be challengers with the ball between his feet) reportedly tossed the shirt into the officials' room after his team completed a second-half comeback to draw the game 2-2.

Blanco was reportedly seen chatting with Marrufo before the game and yelling at the officials at halftime. Marrufo issued a controversial red card to Crew defender Gino Padula for a foul on Blanco in the second half before Chicago's late goals came against their 10-man opposition.

"(Marrufo) was informed his actions were unacceptable," said U.S. Soccer spokesman Neil Buethe.

"(Blanco) tossed him the jersey and he caught it," Buethe added. "He understands now he should have handed it back."

The embarrassing thing about the incident is that Marrufo was named the 2008 MLS referee of the year. He was one of four referees hired full-time by US Soccer 2007 in an effort to improve the quality of officiating in the U.S. and is a candidate to ref at the 2010 World Cup.

Although the incident occurred far away from Britain, it will strike a chord with those critics of Barclays Premier League referees who they claim are "star struck" when it comes to players from the league's bigger clubs.

Coventry manager Chris Coleman and West Bromwich Albion Boss Tony Mowbray have both insinuated this season that referees want to be pals with high-profile players while Stoke's Tony Pulis suggested there was a "class system" in place with the lesser clubs getting fewer decisions than the elite.

These are serious allegations, as are the often-voiced fears that the standard of refereeing at the top tier of English football has slipped. It is really encouraging, then, to report that the two bodies representing the country's managers and players have actually set out to do something about it, rather than just sitting back and complaining.

The League Managers' Association (LMA) and Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) have just published an impressive, highly-detailed report aimed at supporting referees and improving standards. It contains the findings of a working party established by the LMA and PFA and headed by former BBC director-general Greg Dyke. It has been handed to the Football Association and the organisation that supplies English and Welsh football its referees.

Richard Bevan, chief executive of the LMA, stressed that managers want to see more concrete measures taken, and not just sloganeering from the FA.

"What has become very clear now is that managers are strongly united and want to see major improvements in refereeing and decision-making," he said. "The recommendations are wide-ranging but it is our view that initiatives such as the Respect campaign will only be fully successful when the game acknowledges that it needs to develop to the next level."

Among the report's key recommendations:

The implementation of a formalised complaints and feedback procedure.

The establishment of a Referee Academy and the appointment of a Director of Professional Referee Training.

The development of a set of agreed "competences" or standards, which would help with identifying refereeing talent and maintaining quality control among referees.

"Tests of competence" for would-be referees, with acknowledgement of playing experience given to any former players who might wish to take the test.

Full-time professional contracts for all licensed referees who have reached the required level.

Video Performance Analysis conducted on every game refereed by a licensed official.

Howard Wilkinson, the former Leeds manager and chairman of the LMA, said of the proposal: "Football has changed and developed enormously over recent years... the game is quicker, players are fitter and more skilful, there is a more scientific approach to player development and advances in technology allow every element of a game to be analysed. Given this backdrop, we want to work with the professional officials to ensure that the highest possible standards are achieved."

Hear, hear. Hopefully something will come of this, and hopefully pundits will do more than just roll their eyes at the mention of refereeing standards in the near future.

Now, if some of the above was a little dull for your taste, here's a bit of fun in the shape of the Barclays Premier League table as produced by a group of fans who run a website called "Right Result." It is, if you like, a way of assessing referees' performances this season by seeing how they have impacted on your BPL team.

If you haven't seen their site before, "Right Result" basically apply a set of rules to matches played in the BPL and "correct" wrong decisions. These include penalties either not awarded, or awarded in dubious circumstances, did-it-cross-the-line incidents and offside calls. They then adjust the scorelines, and sometimes the results, of matches and adjust the league table accordingly.

Last season, their table had Everton and Liverpool swapping places (with UEFA Cup football for Rafa's men) because of a massive 11-point discrepancy between the official league table and their own.

This season, their top six is identical to the official one, but they have Manchester United only two points ahead of Liverpool. The most marked discrepancies occur at the foot of the table where Sunderland and Stoke sit in 19^th and 18^th places respectively. They believe Newcastle should be five points better off and Middlesbrough seven points to the good.

It won't, of course, change anything in football. But check it out at all the same at www.rightresult.net and, while you're online take a YouTube peak at the "Blanco Bounce". Then, get serious and send an email in support of the LMA/PFA proposal.

Newcastle United have fallen on hard times before. This much I know, because I was there during the late 1970s for the start of a season so wretched that it saw them finish 11 points from safety.

It was 1977 and we were visiting the Northeast (even though we lived in East Anglia, my Dad's family hailed from the coal-mining town of Ashington). One Saturday afternoon, Dad, his uncle Joe and I trooped along to St James' Park. I, for one, did so in high anticipation: the previous season the Magpies had achieved their highest League position for 25 years and qualified for Europe.

So, I looked on eagerly from the soon-to-be-demolished Leazes End terrace at Newcastle United:  the fabled club that had won three FA Cups in five years in the 1950s with Jackie Milburn leading the charge; the club that had brought the old version of the UEFA Cup home in 1969.  It was Malcolm "Supermac" Macdonald's club until he too drifted south, and it was a club whose fans regularly travelled to Wembley, even if 1974 and 1976 had brought FA and League Cup Final defeats.

Yet the mood around the ground, and even among our friends, was strangely wary. Supermac was long gone and there were whispers that manager Gordon Lee was at loggerheads with club chairman Lord Westwood and his fellow directors. The season had started poorly enough and long before this September encounter with West Bromwich Albion ended in a 3-0 defeat, the fans were shaking their heads in resignation.

That season, Newcastle set a number of unwanted records: least number of wins in a season (six); most defeats in a season (26); least number of points in a season (22); most consecutive defeats (10); most games without a win (19). They did nothing in the Cups, had a nightmare in Europe and lost two managers along the way. As newly-promoted Nottingham Forest ran away with the league, Newcastle eventually finished in 21st position, with a mere 22 points from 44 games.

But all along the fans demonstrated a stoic acceptance of their fate: Newcastle had been relegated plenty of times before but had always bounced back. Newcastle's fans shared a belief in the rightness of the club's place in the grand scheme of things. United would always come good in the end, and they, in return, would support the club through thick and thin.

Today, as Alan Shearer's misfiring modern-day team finds itself faced with the prospect of relegation, it's less easy to find Stoics among the Toon faithful.

These are scary times for fans of struggling clubs, with cautionary tales to be found around every corner.

Last week's desperate goings-on at Southampton saw the club demoted to the third tier of English football for the first time in 50 years.

The Saints followed Leeds, Leicester and Charlton in falling rapidly from grace and demonstrated that times have changed dramatically for clubs who, in the past, could count on a strong fan-base and a bit of common-sense management to get them back on track.

Granted, Southampton's case is an extreme one: fans and ex-players are pointing the finger of blame at Rupert Lowe, the hockey-loving ex-public schoolboy who made himself the fourth highest-paid chairman in the Premier League, sacked 10 managers in as many years, gave a £750,000- a-year "performance director" job to former England rugby manager Clive Woodward, and oversaw the development of a costly new stadium.

Like Leicester, Derby County and Coventry City before them, Saints' development of that stadium put their finances in such peril that they are now struggling to pay players.

While no one is suggesting that Newcastle United are in a similar position, they do have an owner in Mike Ashley who is looking to sell the club at a loss. Mr Ashley is still paying off the club's debt, which is substantial.

There is a crippling wage bill (the likes of Mark Viduka and Michael Owen do not come cheap) and the squad would have to be trimmed radically should they go down. Newcastle do not have the same stadium-inflicted woes of some of the above-listed clubs, as they own the St James' Park stadium (if not the land it stands on, which belongs to the City Freemen).

Such is the support for Newcastle United that they would be guaranteed healthy attendances every week in the Championship, but Ashley might struggle to find a buyer if he could not guarantee an immediate return to the BPL. Frankly, could anyone envisage that right now, given the club's recent form?

Perhaps Newcastle fans should take note of developments at Ipswich Town, the club I supported as a kid in between trips to Newcastle.

Upon their 2002 relegation (and the accompanying money woes which sent the club into financial administration), Ipswich tried to rely on broad community support, a superb Academy and a tried-and-trusted passing game to win a return to the BPL.

It hasn't worked. The best they have managed is two Play-Off Semi-Final defeats. They can finish no higher than ninth this season. Perhaps because of their adherence to the genteel, almost Corinthian standards of behaviour laid down by the club's former owners, the Cobbold Family, Ipswich became a soft touch - proof that nice guys don't finish first, or even make the Play-Offs any more for that matter.

Then along came Keano. In a departure from traditional Ipswich protocol, Jim Magilton was given the boot, over the phone, while he was on compassionate leave in Northern Ireland, visiting his sick mother. The club's relatively new owner (Marcus Evans, who completed his takeover at the end of 2007) had decided to act.

The nice guys are now managed by Roy Keane, a snarling winner of a manager. There is an edge to a club that previously had none. Motivational jargon has replaced countryside banter in the Director's Lounge and the fans are bracing themselves for a roller-coaster ride.

Such are the high-stakes times we live in. No club - not even fabulous, stoic Newcastle United - can afford to ignore the fact that times have changed. Irrevocably. One can only hope those fans are given a chance to keep supporting their club, no matter which division they are in. It is a privilege Southampton's fans are in danger of losing.

It was a crazy night at Anfield, a 4-4 draw which left us with so many memories. But at the end of it all, the image that stuck in my mind was not that of Andrey Arshavin celebrating his stunning fourth goal for Arsenal, but rather that of a grey-haired man taking his place in the Directors' Box and moving with as much dignity as his physical condition would allow him.

Just before kick-off, Liverpool and Arsenal fans paid tribute to that former star of both clubs, 57-year-old Ray Kennedy. Those fans held up cards forming mosaics: against a red background, Kennedy's shirt number (5) adorned the Kop, while the away fans showed a blue number 10 against a yellow background.

The latter was the number Arsenal's centre forward wore in Arsenal's Double-clinching FA Cup win over Liverpool in 1971. In eight subsequent years as a Liverpool player (1974 - 1982), Kennedy won five league titles and a trio of European Cups.

Then, at the age of 35, one of England's finest footballers was struck down by Parkinson's disease. Kennedy's long battle against the debilitating neurological condition has left him housebound, reliant on daily care and, on bad days, barely able to walk or talk.

Despite a specially-arranged testimonial in 1991, Kennedy faded from public view and fell on hard times financially. Living in his native northeast, Kennedy took the painful decision to sell his collection of medals and international caps to make ends meet. He even injured himself badly in the bathroom of his Whitley Bay bungalow which had not been outfitted to meet the needs of his condition.

Two years ago, a 40-year-old Liverpool fan called Karl Coppack got together with friends to set up the "Ray of Hope Appeal" which had - prior to Tuesday night's game - collected 40,000 pounds. They have gone towards supplying Kennedy with essential equipment and services - earlier this year, with the added bonus of a donation from the PFA, Kennedy's bungalow was finally modified.

Tuesday's moving tribute at Anfield wasn't just a timely reminder of Kennedy's contribution to two of the world's great football clubs. It also struck a moving note of humanity amidst the hype and hubris that typically surrounds modern, big-time football.

That note will have resonated with fans the world over, but especially in Malaysia where that country's greatest ever player, Mokhtar Dahari, was stricken by a related neuro-degenerative disease and tragically died in 1991 at the age of just 37.

"Supermokh", as he was known to fans throughout Asia, picked up an equivalent amount of silverware to Kennedy's during his career in the 1970s and 1980s. Mokhtar helped Selangor FA win the Malaysia Cup 10 times and notched a remarkable 125 goals in his 167 caps.

Fortunately, YouTube carries "Supermokh" highlights which, curiously enough, include a 1975 friendly against Arsenal in which Mokhtar scored both goals in a 2-0 win. He was rumoured to have been offered a chance to play for the Gunners on the back of that performance, but chose to stay in Malaysia, where he later scored a fabulous goal against Bobby Robson's England "B" in 1978, and took on Diego Maradona and Boca Juniors in 1982.

Sadly, shortly after his playing days came to an end, Mokhtar was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease" after the New York Yankees baseball legend. Mokhtar succumbed to the condition on July 11, 1991.

While it is important to differentiate between Ray Kennedy's Parkinson's (the second-most common neuro-degenerative condition after Alzheimer's) and Mokhtar's Motor Neurone Disease (MND, or ALS), what must not be ignored is the reality that professional athletes appear to be especially vulnerable to neurological conditions.

In a peculiar development, Italy is currently investigating a mysterious epidemic among former professional footballers. If you followed David Beckham's move to AC Milan, you will have seen him offering support at the San Siro to Stefano Borgonovo, a 44-year-old former Milan striker who is now wheelchair-bound and speaks with the same computer-generated voice technology as British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.

While Borgonovo attributes his condition to a "genetic malformation", Italy has been gripped by a climate of fear and suspicion after research showed that professional footballers are seven times more likely to develop MND than others. Some are suggesting this is linked to the pesticide used on football pitches, others say it could be the result of doping, injuries or repeatedly heading the ball.

One study found that 41 retired Italian professionals had suffered lingering, paralysing deaths from MND since 1973. Among the victims were former Genoa captain Gianluca Signorini, who died in 2002 at the age of 42. Elsewhere, MND claimed the lives of former Celtic forward Jimmy "Jinky" Johnstone, who died in 2006, former England and Leeds manager Don Revie and Rob Hindmarch, a former Derby County and Sunderland player, who died in 2002 at the age of 41.

While investigations around the world have produced conflicting findings (Spanish and French doctors found no links between football and the disease), one American study found that a disproportionate number of sufferers had played sports at university level. The suggestion being that an "athletic gene" may make people more vulnerable.

In Italy, Borgonovo's plight has prompted concerted action: the Italian Football Federation donated 150,000 euros to help fund a taskforce of scientists in the investigation, while a host of stars - Ruud Gullit among them - turned out in a fund-raising friendly between AC Milan and Fiorentina.

Complex as the phenomenon may be, there can be no doubt that public awareness campaigns and fund-raising efforts can only be positive. If this is a problem unique to sports, especially football, then it is imperative that the game does all it can to harness its immense powers (financially and publicity-wise) to do something about it.

Footballers have mobile phones, right? Really nice ones too, ones that connect to the internet. Well, perhaps it's time someone told England's Professional Footballers Association (PFA) chief Gordon Taylor that.

This week's announcement of the six nominees for the PFA Player of the Year award met with an outcry, largely because five of the spots are filled by Manchester United players. Fans, players and managers have all had their say about a scenario that might see a player collect the award despite a disappointing end to the season form-wise for either himself or his club, if indeed that unlikely fate befalls United.

The fiercest criticism has however been aimed at the system that produced the short-list in the first place.

In an era when footballers are multi-millionaires with access to up-to-the-minute technology, and in this age of Twitter and sophisticated social networking structures, the PFA runs its prestigious award on logistical lines that wouldn't have looked out of place in Florida's contribution to the 2000 US Presidential Election.

You may have heard this before, most recently from ESPN pundit Steve McMahon and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, but players vote for their peers as much as three months before the April 26 awards dinner in London.

Here's how it works: each of the Premier League's 20 clubs has a PFA representative who receives ballots which must be returned by March 16. He then ensures his teammates (almost all of whom are PFA members) get around to voting. They are not allowed to vote for their own teammates and if they fail to vote, none of their teammates will be eligible to win. So, the representative's main concern is to get them to vote for someone, anyone at all, and to get those votes back in good time.

So, we ended up with the top six vote-getters being Edwin van der Sar, Ryan Giggs, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool's Steven Gerrard. Granted, United were in magnificent form in the early part of 2009 but in the absence of a single outstanding candidate (a la Cristiano Ronaldo last season), it looks as if some voters may have been swayed, in the case of one nominee at least, by a string of affectionate newspapers in January and February.

They focused on the evergreen Ryan Giggs, and correctly lauded his magnificent ongoing contribution to his club. Yet Giggs has scored only three goals this season (one in the league), compared to 19 for Frank Lampard, who didn't make the shortlist. Gerrard has 22.

The closing date for the PFA ballots fell, by the way, two days after Liverpool's 4-1 thrashing of Manchester United at Old Trafford, in which Vidic received a red card. Injuries and a defensive wobble for United have made the choice of Vidic and Ferdinand a potentially embarrassing one, but van der Sar's record-breaking run of clean sheets still stands up to scrutiny.

Ronaldo may have scored a Champions League wonder goal in the week but he has been publicly admonished by his manager recently after a season in which he has scored plenty of goals but not been at his world-beating best

So even though United are still in the running for three trophies, the PFA's logistics allow for a potentially embarrassing scenario: Giggs or Ronaldo might feel a bit silly looking at a snapshot of themselves holding up a Player of the Year award in late April if Liverpool go on to win the Premier League in May with a raft of goals from Fernando Torres, or Chelsea win the Champions League thanks to Frank Lampard.

Hence the Twitter reference earlier on. The PFA should leave the decision until the last possible moment. Instead, as Steve McMahon pointed out, players often cast their vote as early as January just to get the job done and to get the Club Rep off their backs.

"It's just nonsensical that the players are asked to vote for the best player in the league when it's only half-finished," he said.

"I don't think that's fair as the players are competing for nine months of the season and not from August to December. The voting system should be changed to reflect the whole season or most of it."

While he cannot really have hoped any of his players would get the nod after a poor opening to the campaign, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger must have been thinking of the recently-returned and red-hot Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor when he gave his take on the awards.

"What I believe is that the PFA players of the year decisions are all made in February," he said.

"But February is not a really important time and that means the players who are rewarded are those who played well until February. Now is the most important time of the season - April, May - so I believe these awards just reward the players of the first six months of the season.

"A player who has been out until January has no chance to be voted but he can still be very influential for the rest of the season."

United could still prove to be the best and most successful team of the season but it is a pity the likes of Xabi Alonso, Tim Cahill, Gareth Barry, Brede Hangeland, Phil Jagielka and Stephen Ireland will not be recognized for their efforts in the face of adversity.

What's more, United's blanket representation at the awards could backfire on them with a split vote among their players allowing Steven Gerrard to walk away as Player of the Year. He would be a worthy winner, as would a couple of United's various nominees, but all of them would tell you they would rather win the award after a league and cup run-in that saw their individual efforts lead to team honours.

Come on, PFA, it's time for a change.

Having portrayed FC Porto as being somewhere between hapless and hilarious earlier this week, many of us have some apologizing to do to fans of the Portuguese club.

"It's only Porto," said one of ESPN's pundits when questioned about Manchester United's recent frailty and the risk they took in playing a league game just two days before the Champions League quarter-final. Meanwhile the rest of us found amusement, once more, in the presence in Porto's attack of the Brazilian called Hulk.

United fans were less than amused when Hulk (and his strike partners Lisandro Lopez and Cristian Rodriguez) tore into the wobbly Red Devils from the start on Tuesday night.

Porto came away from Old Trafford with a 2-2 draw that hardly did justice to their contribution. Still, United must now do what no English team has done before and win at Porto's Estadio do Dragao if they hope to retain their trophy.

Yet everyone had predicted a United win along the lines of the 4-0 thumping Arsenal gave Porto in September on their last visit to Britain. The bookies also had Porto at 9-1 to win and the draw at 7-2.

So, how did we get it so wrong? It's not as if the evidence wasn't there for all to see. Porto (champions of their national league for the last three seasons, and leading this season's race) went into Tuesday's game unbeaten since November 2, with 16 wins in their last 22 games.

More significantly, Porto had won nine of their last 10 away games, with Champions League group stage victories against Dinamo Kiev and Fenerbahce among those wins. They drew 2-2 away against Atletico in the last round and also beat Arsenal at home earlier this season.

Lisandro is joint-second in terms of the competition's goal-scoring charts and he and his teammates look extremely likely to breach United's defence when the sides meet again next week. For their part, United can't rely on more gifts like the one Bruno Alves handed Wayne Rooney on Tuesday. Porto must be the favourites to progress.

So, respect is definitely due Jesualdo Ferreira and his band of attack-minded, er, well, superheroes! Oh come on, you didn't think it would be possible to get through this match report without a comment on Hulk, did you?

When Martin Tyler - normally the most urbane of commentators - is reduced to a string of slightly embarrassed superhero references ("he looked like the Incredulous Hulk after that decision"), then you know something is wrong with allowing a player to wear a daft nickname on his back.

For those of you who may not have come across the player before, his passport carries the name Givanildo Vieira de Souza. The "Hulk" nickname came about because of his build, his resemblance to Hollywood actor Lou Ferrigno (he played the Hulk on TV some years ago) and the fact he played in the green strip of Tokyo Verdy during a prolific stint in Japanese league football.

Being Brazilian, he was always going to have an "apelido" - the one- or two-word appellation that strikers in particular carry with them from childhood into their sporting careers. Pele (originally Edson Arantes do Nascimento) is the most famous of the lot. He was given the nickname as a kid when he used to mispronounce the name of "Bile", a famous goalkeeper of the time. Today we have to take care with our pronunciation of the nickname Kaka (Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite), a name which stemmed from his younger brother's inability as a child to master the name "Ricardo'.

But we are, of course, perfectly used to dealing with Brazilians - as well as Portuguese and Spanish players for that matter - with cute little nicknames. What is noteworthy about Hulk, though, is the fact that his nickname is more like the sort of thing you might see worn by a pub team player, or on the back of a fan's replica shirt.

Imagine if Stuart Pearce had been able to play his football with "Psycho" on his back. Or if we had been able to cheer on "Chopper" (Ron Harris), "Bomber" (Gerd Muller) or "The Beast" (Julio Baptista). How much more visceral an experience would it have been?

And if the practice became accepted, we would probably see players going for more emotive nicknames than "Gazza", "Keano" or "Becks". Players may even feel that the more memorable the nickname, the more chance they may have of winning fans over: Chelsea and Arsenal fans arguably developed more affection for Alex ("The Tank") and Oleg Luzhny ("The Horse") than they may otherwise have done had their nicknames been less striking.

Lastly, one should stress that this lighthearted musing is not in any way intended to suggest that Porto's Hulk is more memorable for his name than his skills on the football pitch. The striker has demonstrated otherwise throughout his career, and few would now bet against him and his teammates performing more heroics against the reigning European champions in next week's enthralling episode of The UEFA Champions League.

Two footballers, both of them icons in their own right, have recently helped revive an age-old debate about, well, age.

First, it was Japan's remarkable Kazuyoshi Miura -- "King Kazu", the former Genoa striker and 1993 Asian Player of the Year - who last month scored for Yokohama against Kumamoto in a J-League Division Two game. In so doing, he became the oldest ever J-League goal-scorer at 42 years and 16 days. And he's still playing.

Last week, David Beckham (a mere pup in comparison -- he does not turn 34 until next month), suggested he has his sights set on similar record-breaking exploits in years to come, thanks in large part to his association with AC Milan.

Speaking to journalists about his passion for representing his country, Beckham said: "I think I'd recognise when the time is right to finish playing. I'm an honest person... and I wouldn't want people wondering why I'm still playing, but I'd like that option to be involved in a squad one day. If that happens when I'm 45, then great."

Sorry, David? 45? Surely you kid. Conventional football wisdom holds that the mid-30s are just about as far as an outfield player can realistically expect to go before muscles shorten and joints stiffen up sufficiently to prompt retirement.

Sure, some have defied conventional wisdom (England's Football League archives boast three players who played beyond the age of 50, with Sir Stanley Matthews the most famous of the lot) but that was back when wingers smoked pipes in between bouts of touchline-hugging wizardry, right?

More recently, it has tended to be goalkeepers (Peter Shilton quit at 47, Dave Beasant at 44 and John Burridge appeared for Manchester City in the Premier League when he was 43) who have defied the years. Outfield players have it harder in terms of physical wear and tear, and most struggle to play at the top level after the age of 40.

Even when they manage it -- former Scotland winger Tommy Hutchison was 43 when he played for Swansea City against Southend in 1991 -- it tends to be in the lower leagues. In the top flight, Teddy Sheringham beat Gordon Strachan's mark as the league's oldest outfield player when he turned out for West Ham at the age of 40 years 270 days.

On the world stage, Colombian Carlos Valderrama played in America's MLS until he was 40 and Brazilian goal machine Romario carried on until he was 42. Cameroon's amazing 42-year-old Roger Milla scored against Russia at USA 1994 to extend his record as the oldest scorer in a World Cup Finals.

But the real home of the Golden Oldies has to be fabled Italian club AC Milan. Time was when Franco Baresi won acclaim for playing until he was 37, but consider the Rossoneri's two great veterans of recent seasons: Alessandro Costacurta won seven Scudettos with Milan and retired in 2007 at the age of 41. Paolo Maldini, now 40, has made more than 600 appearances for the club.

They, along with Giuseppi Favalli, were the products of something known as the Milan Lab. Legend has it The Lab was created in 2002 after Milan spent 30 million Euros on Argentine midfielder Fernando Redondo of Real Madrid. UEFA's Most Valuable Player of 1999-2000 showed up, damaged a dodgy knee and was able to play no significant part for the club, who vowed never to waste money on a "risk" player again.

Situated in the Milanello training centre near Lake Como, The Lab is said to represent "the ideal combination of science, technology, IT, cybernetics and psychology". Its scientists, doctors, nutritionists, trainers, chiropractors, computer programmers and psychologists use the latest technology to keep players injury-free and prolong their careers. The Lab's director, Belgian Jean-Pierre Meerseman claims to have reduced non-contact injuries by more than 90 per cent and decreased the amount of medication players take by 92 per cent.

Artificial intelligence is used to analyse data gathered on players and predict their injury risks. There is daily biomechanic and neurological screening. Training is customised to suit individuals, with routines precise down to the last second and metre. Players have their own rooms and beds at the training ground. There is even a "Mind Room", described as "a glassed-in facility that helps players relax and relieve stress" for 20 minutes after every training session.

So, was the investment worth it? In terms of silverware won by Milan, who won the European and World titles after the Lab's creation, the answer is "yes". In terms of its impact on the way individual players can now sustain lucrative playing careers into their 40s, the answer is "very much yes". Dr Meerseman reckons a top-class players used to be able to look no further than the age of 34 when it came to performing at his peak. He has now adjusted that age to 40. Brazil's hard-running, overlapping fullback Cafu had been written off when he arrived at Milanello. The team there put five years on his career.

David Beckham's first experience of The Lab came at the turn of the year when he first hooked up with Milan on a winter tour after several weeks without competitive football.

"It's amazing, but when I arrived at Milan's training camp in Dubai my body fat index was 13.7 per cent, but when I was tested the other day it was 8.5," he said. "Everything I'm doing at the moment is benefiting me."

Beckham, like Sheringham never had to rely on blistering pace to earn his place in a top team. So, he needn't change his game anyway. He is also so thoroughly professional, so gifted physically and so coveted a player (a footballer needs a reason to keep going) that one cannot help feeling that if anyone is going to change the way we calculate footballers' life expectancy, it is David Beckham.

Sydney in March is a truly glorious place to be: a day spent with the kids in the sun and surf at Bondi, an evening enjoying superb Italian food and fine wine across town in Leichhardt with its renowned Norton Street eateries.

It's hard to imagine anyone giving all this up, especially after travelling half-way round the world from hardship and heartbreak in Europe to earn it. Yet giving up Australian citizenship is exactly what Aleksandar (Alex) Duric did.

The former Leichhardt-based Sydney Marconi player surrendered his Aussie passport two years ago when his application for Singapore citizenship was finally approved. With his 39^th birthday not far off, it would seem an odd move for someone whose thoughts should be turning to retirement - something which is often linked with a move to Australia for many Singaporeans.

"I worked hard for this and I am really happy here," said Duric during a candid, moving Football Up Close interview last week.

"My wife and two children are really happy here, and maybe we feel comfortable in a country which is so multi-cultural with so many different kinds of people from different parts of the world."

The Duric story, which you can hear at greater length when the interview airs soon on ESPN, is an extraordinary one.

Born in Bosnia in the former Yugoslavia, Duric was a talented young sportsman who grew up playing football but took up kayaking on the advice of a doctor and became so good that he represented his country on the world stage at youth level.

When war came to his country, Duric (an ethnic Serb) was told by his father to leave, to ensure the continuance of the family name.

"He knew the war was going to be bad and told me it was either me or my brother who should leave, as we would both have to fight in the army. He told me because I was the sportsman I should leave and that I should play sport and make a life in sport."

So Duric left for an unsuccessful trial at AEK Stockholm in Sweden before he found work at FC Szeged in Hungary. He lost touch with his family for more than a year and, tragically, his next contact with them revealed that his mother had been killed in a grenade attack.

"It was the darkest time of my life," he recalls. "I lost my Mum and I wasn't able to see my father and brother for years."

A year earlier, a letter had somehow found him in Hungary. It was from Bosnia's sporting authorities who asked him if he would represent them at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. With no formal papers and just a letter from the Games organizers, Duric hitch-hiked across Europe (with lengthy, skeptical interviews at every border) and made it in time for the opening ceremony.

The 10-athlete Bosnian team received a standing ovation as they marched around the track. Using borrowed equipment, Duric made the quarter-finals in his event.

That amazing experience was a delightful interlude amongst depressing times. Life as a refugee in Hungary was tough, no news came from home and the news on TV was relentlessly grim. When he was finally reunited with his family members after the war, Duric had just days with his father before he, too, passed away from illness.

He took up a friend's offer to try a new life in Australia and played in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, where he met his wife Natasha in 1998. By then he had already spent a year playing professionally in China. In 1999, he was given a choice between attractive playing contracts in Hong Kong or Singapore. He chose the latter and hasn't looked back since.

Indeed, it was after his arrival in Singapore that Duric came into his own as a footballer. Perhaps it was his kayak training, perhaps it was the grueling physical regime he went through as a trainee officer in the Bosnian army (he recalls being dropped in the freezing Balkans for 60-kilometre walks carrying a hefty 30-kilo pack) but Duric is as fine a physical specimen as the S-League has seen, even in his late 30s. He also converted himself from a midfielder to a striker and took Singapore football by storm.

Duric has scored goals at all his clubs but has been a revelation at the club he currently captains, Singapore Armed Forces.

From the age of 35, he topped the S-League's goal-scoring charts and was named Player of the Year in consecutive seasons. He is now leading SAFFC's valiant tilt at the AFC Champions League - the first time a Singapore club has made it to the competition.

He is also a Singapore international, who scored twice on debut and has come back from a broken leg suffered during December's AFF Suzuki Cup to command a place in the Lions' starting XI. He has also captained the side.

"It's important that people understand I didn't get into the national team by the Foreign Talent Scheme (Singapore's controversial fast-track approach which has seen former mainland Chinese win the country medals at table tennis, while Nigerians and Britons have helped boost the national football team)," insists Duric.

"I had to apply for citizenship twice before it was approved. I wanted to become a Singapore citizen. Yes, it was hard to give up my Australian citizenship but this also gave me a chance to reach the next level in my career. I have been here 10 years now and I am proud of being a Singaporean."

Again, the full on-air interview will give you a fuller understanding of the man, but one gets the impression that Alex Duric's extraordinary longevity as a professional athlete has its roots in a number of life-shaping experiences.

But one in particular stands out: his father said go out and be a sportsman, and make a name for yourself. And that is precisely what Alex Duric has done. And is still doing.

Even as the UEFA Champions League quarter-final draw is made in Switzerland Friday, post-mortem inquests are still being carried out in Italy and Madrid into their Euro-representatives' exit at the hands of English clubs. This week also brought a reminder of another once-great European football power which these days can only dream of representation in the Champions League's later stages.

Passing through Singapore was Reinier "Rene" van de Kerkhof, the former PSV star who appeared in two World Cup Finals (1974 and 1978) and played his football during a decade when the Dutch and their Total Football captured the world's imagination. Feyenoord won the European Cup in 1970 before Ajax, under the tutelage of master coach Rinus Michels and inspired by Johann Cruyff, won it the next three years in a row. The 1980s brought a win for PSV (1988) and the 1990s another for Ajax (1995) but since then the Dutch have fallen on hard times.

"We still have players but they are not in Holland," lamented van de Kerkhof. "They are in England, Spain, France. The money is with England now and that is why they have the power in Europe.

To illustrate just how far the Dutch have fallen, the last five years of Champions league football have brought slim pickings for fans of the Eredivisie's finest: Back in season 2004/05, PSV lost in the semi-final to AC Milan on the away goals rule but since then the best they have managed is a quarter-finals appearance in 2007. Ajax have done no better than a first knockout round loss in 2006 while this season saw PSV exit at the group stage.

To someone who grew up hand-painting his subbuteo players in the iconic Ajax white and red, it is the demise of the Amsterdam giants that I find the most shocking. Despite a 3-0 triumph over De Graafschap at the weekend, Ajax are still in third place, 14 points behind leaders AZ Alkmaar. PSV are down in fifth place, way off the pace.

"Alkmaar are 11 points ahead of [second-placed] Twente now, so we can give them the title," shrugged van de Kerkhof. "It is not going to be the season for PSV, they cannot catch up this time."

PSV are also faced with the shocking prospect of not qualifying for Europe, let alone the Champions League qualifiers. In what was once an Eredivisie showcase showdown, last weekend saw Feyenoord, the team in 10^th, beat the fifth-placed side in a scrappy 1-0.

"I'd already given up on second place," said PSV's caretaker-manager Dwight Lodeweges. "We're trying to make it into Europe and even that's no longer in our own hands. We need to get back in our cages."

An interesting turn of phrase for sure. Meanwhile, Feyenoord are slowly turning things around after a series of financial calamities led to a wretched start to the season. They have found some investment from wealthy Rotterdammers and look as they will rebuild for the near future.

Money is also at the heart of Ajax's problems. They are even more of a selling club than ever. In the past 18 months they have lost the services of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ryan Babel, Wesley Sneijder, Zdenek Grygera, Hedwiges Maduro and Johnny Heitinga. Although they still pride themselves on developing youth, they are only capable of bringing in "premium" players of the likes of Serbian attacking midfielder Miralem Sulejmani and striker Dario Cvitanich, who took until December to score his first league goal.

Ajax chairman Michael van Praag foresaw problems for the club as far back as the year 2000 when Ajax went into a centenary season knowing that any further European Cup successes might be a long time in coming.

In a highly prescient interview, van Praag said: ""It might take a few years to repeat that (European) success, but I also predict that if the market doesn't change we'd have to wait quite a long time if ever we're able to do it again."

Clubs like Ajax saw it coming as soon as the Bosman Ruling on freedom of contract (it scrapped limits on the number of non-nationals and allowed out-of-contract players to leave for nothing) came into effect. The massive disparity in broadcast revenue between the Dutch clubs and those in Britain especially also spelled doom: English clubs were getting 10 times what Ajax received from a Dutch broadcaster.

In a statement that will have resonated with UEFA President Michel Platini, van Praag laid out a depressing scenario where Scandinavian, Scottish, Dutch and Portuguese clubs played only a peripheral role in Europe. His solution to the problem was the creation of a Europe-wide league or series of leagues with regional "feeder" championships, mirroring the American sporting model.

"It is in nobody's interest to have a situation where only five countries of Europe dominate the football market. If you consider Europe to be one country, why not have a competition in that country. I'm positive that between now and 10 years time there will be a European competition."

Remember, he made those comments nearly 10 years ago. Things have only worsened for the Dutch.

If there is any consolation, and Rene van de Kerkhof believes there it, it is that the Dutch national team is still as talented as ever. While he still rates the class of '74 as the best Oranje squad ever, he points to the European Championship-winning side of 1988 and -- in his opinion -- a superior crop from Euro 2000 as evidence that the Dutch will always form a potent team when they return from their overseas postings.

So he, and those who follow the fortunes of the Dutch in European club competition, will have to focus on the draw from the perspectives of Dirk Kuyt, Mark Van Bommel, Robin van Persie, Ryan Babel and Edwin van de Sar and the English and German clubs they represent if they are to have any continued involvement in the European Cup this season. We have come a long way from the '70s, Cruyff and subbuteo.

As Europe echoed to triumphant roars and anguished howls during this week's epic Champions League clashes, a smaller but no-less-poignant footballing drama was being played out on stage at a Liverpool nightclub.

Sixteen-year-old Melissa Reeves joined six other young "Glamour Gals" clad in skimpy costumes at the trendy Kingdom bar as part of a "Miss Motors" search for a pit lane representative at this year's Monaco Grand Prix. But pretty, blonde-haired Mel's smile was a forced one. As the Daily Star newspaper put it, "Mel put on a brave face last night as she wowed revellers". Several hours earlier she had been weeping.

The previous weekend, the same paper had shown her "sizzling in a racy outfit" at another Formula One event. It dubbed her "Britain's hottest WAG" because of her relationship with the exciting 17-year-old Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell.

Similar frenzied tabloid reports labeled the couple "the new Wayne and Coleen (Rooney)" and listed the similarities in terms of both couples' backgrounds and achievements. One paper revealed that young Jack was nicknamed "Roo Two" by teammates who had seen the stories.

Then came the bombshell that left Melissa -- the reigning Miss Teen Cheshire no less -- fighting back the tears.

Rodwell reportedly broke up with Melissa last Sunday after seeing the newspapers. The Star quoted a "mate" of the former England under-16 captain as saying: "Jack's desperate to make it in the top-flight and doesn't want anything getting in the way. All those pictures and stories of him with Melissa and comparisons to Wayne and Coleen are not what he wanted. He found himself on the front of newspapers instead of on the back page - where he should be."

Devastated Melissa reportedly told "pals": "He's finished me for his football. I'm stunned. I'm not bothered about the WAG thing - it's not my fault I was photographed. I love my modelling but I didn't want anything to come between us. Just when I thought things were going so well he's gone and done this. I'm gutted. I feel like my world has ended."

Rodwell's, it seems, is just beginning. While no one could reasonably expect him to emulate Wayne Rooney's achievements, the 17-year-old is off to a good start, and recently committed to Everton until 2014. That contract represents a coup for David Moyes as it is common knowledge that Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have been keenly tracking the lad's progress.

Rodwell's impact has been eye-catching. He looked every inch a top-flight midfielder in both FA Cup derbies with Liverpool and scored in the win over Aston Villa. David Moyes has suggested the tall, powerful, technically-skilled player could follow Rio Ferdinand's lead and become a classy defender one day.

So where does this leave Melissa? Have those advising Jack Rodwell decided that he is too young to be distracted from his apprenticeship in football by a girlfriend? Or is she the victim of a broader anti-WAG backlash.

For those who have made it this far without understanding the acronym, WAGs are "wives and girlfriends" (the term gained popularity when used to describe the women who accompanied England's World Cup to team to Germany in 2006 and performed more impressively in the shops and wine bars of Baden-Baden than their partners did on the pitch).

Today, as Melissa is discovering, "WAG" is a loaded phrase, describing a particular sort of predatory young woman whose sole purpose in life is to bag a rich footballer and live to excess off the back of his income. The BPL attracts a parade of fake-tanned conspicuous consumers who live their lives through the pages of the newspapers and Hello! or Heat magazine.

Time was when a football manager's sole concern when it came to wives and girlfriends was one of, er, fitness. Liverpool's legendary Bill Shankly would phone player's wives the night before a big game, tell them their husband was the most important player in his team and request they keep their distance in the bedroom. Manchester United manager Wilf McGuinness would look in on George Best's hotel room even on the afternoon of a game to ensure he hadn't kicked off early as it were.

Then along came Victoria Beckham. Sir Alex Ferguson could handle wives and girlfriends until he was confronted by one who posed a confusing new set of problems for a manager who wanted to get the best out of his star player. Sex was no longer the problem. It was more to do with the distracting impact on David Beckham of photo shoots, endless fashion shows and a lifestyle that valued image and appearance as highly as it did goals and trophies.

A flying boot in the Old Trafford dressing room helped end Beckham's association with English club football but the damage had been done: the TV show "Footballers Wives" simultaneously repulsed and inspired different sectors of British society and tabloid newspapers mined a rich new vein of material supplied by an army of wannabe Posh and Becks

Hence the recent tabloid frenzy over Ashley Cole's arrest for drunken and disorderly behavior while his glamorous wife Cheryl was off climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro for charity.  Hence the News of the World's gleeful recent report on Wayne and Coleen using a half-price voucher to pay for a meal at an Italian restaurant.

Hold on, though. That story offers some encouragement for poor Melissa Reeves. Sir Alex Ferguson regularly voices his approval of Mrs Rooney - "clever girl. Down-to-earth." - and he will have been delighted the couple heeded his advice to United's players that they should be less flash with their cash during the current recession.

Coleen left school with decent results (she passed 10 GCSEs) and has forged a lucrative career in the media, admittedly as a result of her association with Wayne. The path of young love isn't always smooth but Melissa could do a lot worse than giving Coleen a phone call if she wants to get hers back on track.

These are confusing times for those who make a habit of commenting publicly on the Barclays Premier League.

This week has yielded gigabytes of downloadable anguish over the apparent lack of a title race. The Guardian website even called it "the most disappointing season for 12 years". Yet this weekend will also bring its share of articles predicting that all four English giants will progress to the last eight of the Champions league and prompt a third straight season of Euro-domination.

So how do we interpret these conflicting messages? Does the fact that Liverpool can go to the Riverside and be soundly beaten just days after winning at the Bernabeu simply remind us that Rafa Benitez has a weak squad and is prone to tactical and motivational failings, or does it suggest that teams from the lower reaches of the BPL have become more resistant to the threats posed by all but Manchester United?

Arsene Wenger certainly feels his team has been coming up against better organised, defensively-watertight outfits on a regular basis. Chelsea and Liverpool's home records seem to support his theory.

Are the Big Four (and Villa) dragging the rest up to their standards then, or have they let those standards slip, with the side effect being a decrease in the league's entertainment value?

Statistics reinforce the belief that it simply has not been as much fun this season: from a goals-per-game average of 2.64 last season, the BPL has slipped to a dour 2.46 (as of last weekend, and not including goals from the midweek fixtures). That is still marginally better than Serie A (2.44) but way off the free-wheeling entertainment offered by Spain's Primera Division (2.89) and the positively hysterical Bundesliga (2.94).

Turn to the league tables and there is further evidence that they are having more fun over there on the Continent. Barcelona's lead over Real Madrid in la Liga has amazingly shrunk from 12 points to four in the space of three weeks. Thanks to that madhouse 4-3 defeat by Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday, Barcelona have turned a procession into a potential disaster.

Over in Germany, Bayern Munich (who scored five goals away from home in the Champions League last week) are only fifth in a league table which is now headed by Hertha Berlin (who last won the championship in 1931). Rags-to-riches outfit Hoffenheim continue to hang around near the top, the top sides keep beating one another, and the league looks set for a thrilling finale as only four points separate first and fifth places.

Even in boring old France (average goals-per-game 2.2) Lyon are only four points clear as they chase an eighth straight title. PSG, Marseille and Bordeaux are putting up a better-than-usual challenge. Granted, Italy's Serie A looks about as dull as England's BPL, with Inter seven points ahead of Juventus, but even Inter were involved in an extraordinary 3-3 draw with Roma last weekend.

The "goals for" averages in Italy and England are similar, with United averaging 1.76 goals a game, Chelsea 1.71 and Liverpool 1.6 in comparison to Inter's 1.8, Juve's 1.61 and AC Milan's 1.61. Those numbers are distinctly ordinary, however, when contrasted with Barcelona's outrageous 2.96 goals scored per game and Real's 2.28. Three of the Bundesliga's top five are averaging two goals per game or more: Hoffenheim 2.22, Wolfsburg 2.04 and Bayern 2.0.

If you can stomach any more stats, the most revealing of the lot relate to defensive strength. In Germany, not one of the top five is capable of keeping opponents to less than a goal a game. Hertha average 1.18 conceded, Hamburg and Hoffenheim 1.4. In Spain's top four, Villareal (1.36) and Real (1.12) always give opposing strikers something to cheer, while Barca let in 0.96 and Sevilla 0.88.

Meanwhile, back at the They Shall Not Pass BPL, Edwin van der Saar and friends average a mean 0.38 goals conceded, while Chelsea and Liverpool average 0.57.

So, the stats reinforce the belief that the BPL as a whole is tighter, more competitive and harder to predict (certainly in games between teams placed from seventh to 20th in the table) than ever before. Also, there are no obvious whipping boys this season, like Derby County last time out or Sunderland before them, to help boost the top teams' Goals For columns.

The key indicator in assessing the overall competitiveness of the league lies in the differential (points- and goals-wise) between the teams in seventh and 18th places. It has been hovering at the 10-point mark of late and that will ensure an extraordinary finale to the season with the team currently in seventh either going on to secure European football next term or possibly getting relegated!

So, even if English clubs do continue to infuriate Michel Platini by dominating the Champions League, and even if Manchester United refuse to undergo a Barcelona-like wobble domestically, the BPL's supporters will tell you there is plenty to look forward to over the next 10 weeks, never mind that the matches themselves are less captivating than those being played out elsewhere.

It would appear that in the BPL, at least this season, context is everything. It's what is at stake that matters, more than what happens entertainment-wise on the pitch.

Looking further ahead, however, expect the big English clubs to get out their cheque books and go in search of Europe's top strikers. It is obvious that Arsenal and Liverpool's seasons would have benefited from the presence in their respective squads of better strikers. So, enjoy watching Samuel Eto'o, David Villa and Sergio Aguero in Spain, Amauri in Italy and Demba Ba in Germany while you can.

The TV-watching world wants more from its BPL, and TV money, as we well know, usually provides the answer to problems for Premiership clubs. The numbers may be down this season, but don't expect that to last.

I was totally stumped. It certainly wasn't the first time I had been asked who I thought would win a football game, but I had never been so absolutely clueless.

The question came from a guy who worked at the golf course where several ESPN presenters and pundits enjoyed a regular 18-hole outing. The fellow in question often sought our "expert" opinion on matches before he headed off to the bookmakers. The only problem was, it was the middle of June and football -- at least as we knew it -- was on its summer holidays.

"Which game are you talking about?" I asked.

"Oh, you know, Costa Rica versus Canada in the CONCACAF Gold Cup," he replied.

Needless to say, I politely declined to make a prediction. Needless to say, the fellow in question went ahead and placed a bet anyway.

The episode, in the summer of 2007, opened my eyes to the sheer scale of the international football gambling phenomenon and also to the extent of the betting options open to punters who insist on placing a wager on any game that is made available to them.

I went away that day and researched the legal, locally-available betting avenues only to discover that, had I wanted to, I could have placed bets over a 24-hour period on the following matches: Japan v Colombia in the Kirin Cup, Brommapojkarna v Osters in the Swedish Cup, China v Chad in the Toulon Under-20 tournament and Romania v Serbia in the Euro Under-19s

Any bet I placed would have been an ill-educated one.

But assuming football punters place bets in the hope that they will actually win money, just how do they get their hands on the sort of background information that makes a bet educated rather than purely based on chance? And, crucially, how do they get the sort of quality knowledge that will give them the edge over bookmakers?

Well, simply put, they don't. Unless they have either an unbelievably clever gambling website at their disposal or they are somehow privy to the kind of information that led to a humiliating experience for British bookmakers last weekend.

On Saturday, financially troubled English non-league side Weymouth Football Club suffered a 9-0 trouncing at the hands of Rushden & Diamonds. Weymouth's fans may have been humiliated but many of them came away from the game substantially better-off financially. In fact, it has been estimated that bookies paid out more than £1 million in one of the biggest betting coups in non-league history.

The match became the hottest betting prospect in British football and many bewildered bookmakers were forced to cut odds before suspending betting entirely. What they did not know (but the Weymouth fans did), until it was too late, was that Weymouth's regular first team, which has not been paid at all this year because of the club's debts, went on strike after discovering that there was no medical insurance for the game. The club decided to field its youth team instead.

One punter told the Daily Telegraph how he had raced from one Devon bookmaker to the next to place thousands of pounds in bets.

He said: "As soon as word began leaking out on Friday night that it might be the entire youth team playing the next day we began putting on bets. We put on money at all the local bookmakers and then started driving to all the surrounding towns to get more bets on.

"We then began ringing friends around the country to get them to put on money for us. Even as the price began shortening we kept putting on thousands because there was no way a team of 17-year-olds was going to win that game."

About £680,000 was traded on a Rushden win on the Betfair exchange alone. At first the odds were 15-8. By kick-off at 3pm on Saturday the odds on Rushden winning were just 4-6 and some bookmakers had stopped taking bets.

A spokesman for Coral bookmakers said: "Normally £30,000 to £40,000 would be paid out on a match like this across the whole industry. But we paid out in the region of £100,000 and we are 20 per cent of the industry."

Steve Palmer, deputy sports editor at the Racing Post, said that the match had become "the centre of the betting universe" before the game.

"Non-league football is one of the few sports where punters can get an edge on the bookmakers," he said. "They can have superior knowledge and the bookmakers can get caught with their trousers down."

Big-time football, particularly the major European leagues, is ubiquitous, as is the information pertaining to individual matches -- hence the trend towards "obscure" gambling.

Most gambling services offer detailed information on every game they consider to be worth gambling on. But it's only when Weymouth-style situation crop up that anyone gets caught with their trousers down.

Unless, of course, punters employ more than just inside knowledge to beat the bookies. Yes, we are talking floodlight failure and bent German referees here. But even then, football's authorities now know that the best way to police the game is by following betting market patterns.

When Finland's top club Allianssi lost a game 8-0 to Haka shortly after a new Chinese owner had taken over the club, authorities monitored betting patterns in Asia around the game and found significant deviation from what was happening with their European counterparts. It turned out the new owner had brought in a new coach and new group of players for the game.

Thanks to increasingly sophisticated monitoring mechanisms (FIFA's independently-commissioned anti-fraud agency is in partnership with more than 200 bookies, police, journalists and club officials) it is getting harder to beat the bookmakers. But that won't stop my man at the golf course placing a bet whenever possible. The next time we meet, I'll ask if he is winning, and if so, how he does it.

Back home in Holland, Edwin van der Sar is sometimes known by the unusual nickname "Ice Rabbit".

Apparently it refers to his cool, unflappable demeanor between the sticks. Quite where the rabbit comes in, is hard to say though. He apparently used to also be known as "Flappie", because of his generously-sized ears, but few people today would dare show that kind of disrespect to a 'keeper who stands on the brink of greatness.

Thanks to a glaring miss by Bobby Zamora an hour into Wednesday night's routine 3-0 win over Fulham, van der Sar has now gone 1,302 minutes and 14 games without conceding a goal in the league. If he can keep Blackburn at bay for 89 minutes at Old Trafford on Saturday, van der Sar will eclipse the European record of Club Brugge's Dany Verlinden, who went 1,390 without conceding a goal in 1990.

Van der Sar has been typically down-to-earth throughout a run which has already seen him break the record for clean sheets in the Premier League, English league football and now British league football.

He told a Dutch magazine: "These are beautiful times, but enjoy it? I'll enjoy myself in the summer holidays. That's the only time I can relax.

He even suggested that letting a goal in one of these days (but not failing to win the game of course) might not be a terrible thing. Whatever happens. his achievements will guarantee him a special place in United's history. It's accurate to say he is the best 'keeper they have had since Peter Schmeichel and it is also pleasing to report that van der Sar is living evidence that goalkeepers do get second chances in life.

The Dutchman could have joined United in 1999. Sir Alex Ferguson wanted him to but van der Sar had told Juventus a day earlier that he would sign for them. He had given them his word and, despite his anguish at missing out on his preferred move, he honoured his commitment to the Italian club. He had to wait six long years (during which time he actually won at Old Trafford as a Fulham player) before getting the chance to play there for United.

For further proof that goalies get opportunities that don't come the way of outfield players, one needs to look no further than van der Sar's opposite number on Wednesday night.

When Mark Schwarzer spent FA Cup Final night with us in the ESPN STAR Sports studios last May, he spoke guardedly about his future prospects in the game. His 11-year association with Middlesbrough was coming to an end and although he had received flattering offers from Bayern Munich and Juventus, he was reluctant to move to any club that could not guarantee him first-team football.

As it turned out, Schwarzer chanced upon just the club, and manager, he had been looking for. Fulham offered an attractive two-year contract and the 36-year-old Aussie found himself managed by a man, Roy Hodgson, who has total faith in older goalkeepers.

Hodgson has, by the way, spent the last few days praising Edwin van der Saar for his ability to handle the pressure that goes with representing a truly massive club.

"To play at Old Trafford, Anfield or the Arsenal, your goalkeeping qualities have to be enhanced by certain other personal qualities because it is heavy responsibility going out every week in front of 60,000 or 70,000 people and playing in semi-finals and finals," Hodgson said.

"Van der Sar has proved he is that type of person and I think Mark Schwarzer falls into the same category. There are a lot of good shot-stoppers out there but (van der Sar and Schwarzer) give a certain dominance of the penalty area that encourages defenders to push up that little bit further and not be so worried about the space behind them."

Roy Hodgson is as canny a manager as can be found in the BPL, but even the most inexperienced would have noticed by now that the reassuring presence of an experienced 'keeper tends to outshine youthful talent.

Nine of the 20 'keepers who now start regularly for BPL clubs are over the age of 30. At the lower end of the age scale come Thomas Sorensen (32), Shay Given (32), Jussi Jaaskelainen (33), Steve Harper (33) and Carlo Cudicini (35). But they are mere striplings when compared to Brad Friedel (37), David James (38) and van der Sar (38).

It is surely no coincidence that the last three goalkeepers, along with Schwarzer (36) on a good day, would be right up there near the top of most fans' "Best 'Keeper" lists. What is more, none of them seem to be contemplating retirement.

Friedel, for instance, signed a three-year contract when he moved from Blackburn Rovers, a deal which will take him beyond his 40th birthday. At the time he said he had no doubt he was capable of meeting expectations.

"I'm 37 now but I've come here because I feel there's a lot more Premier League football left in me," said the American. "I wouldn't sign a contract that I didn't think I could fulfil to the best of my ability. I know I'll be able to give Aston Villa at least three years and hopefully more on top of that. But that's down the line. I'd never sign a contract I didn't think I could fulfil."

He is right to believe he will be able to play well into his 40s. Three goalkeepers have already done so in the Premier League era: Manchester City's John Burridge was 43 years, 4 months and 26 days when he came on as a half-time substitute for City against Newcastle United on April 29, 1995. Former Everton legend Neville Southall played his last top-flight game at the age of 41 years, 5 months and former Coventry 'keeper Steve Ogrizovic put in a stint between the posts at the age of 41 years and 3 months.

Going further back, Peter Shilton retired at the grand old age of 47 when he admitted he was no longer able to kick the ball far enough and Pat Jennings was playing in the World Cup in Spain in 1982 at the age of 40.

If Manchester United continue to defend as they have been, Edwin Van der Sar's career might end up being about more than just a second chance. There is a world record to be broken and if it doesn't come his way this season, well there is always the next one. Or the one after that...

Having spent hours this week pondering the managerial options open to the owners of Portsmouth and Chelsea, I came to the conclusion they could both do a lot worse than go back to former managers. In Pompey's case their erstwhile Technical Director Avram Grant and, in Chelsea's, their best ever gaffer: Jose Mourinho.

That was earlier this week, and things have moved on since then, but I remain convinced that would have been the best way for both clubs to go. Not just because it flies in the face of traditional, grizzled old pro wisdom which states that one should "never go back", but because it simply makes sense.

Graham Taylor, the former England boss who made a habit of returning to former clubs - he had two spells with both Watford and Aston Villa - insists that you rarely go back to the same club (in terms of atmosphere and circumstances) that you left first time round, but in Pompey and Chelsea's case there are enough similarities to argue that Grant and Mourinho are precisely what they need now. Just as they were last time out.

Portsmouth need a calming influence, a rational, financially cautious individual who can counsel players (he did a marvelous job of that with Pompey's former striker Lomana Lua Lua when he lost his young son to pneumonia during his time at Fratton Park).

Grant is happy in the company of emigre Russians, Israeli agents and middlemen who exert such a strong hold over English football today and can also hold his own in traditional English football circles. His are valuable assets to a club as deeply troubled as Pompey.

Chelsea are once again a club with a worse public image than any other of the so-called Big Four. All that changed for a while under happy-go-lucky Big Phil and his early-season entertainers, but he got the boot and now everyone in football is booing and hissing at Roman Abramovich and his corporate henchmen. Who better then to embrace this "siege mentality" and turn it to the club's advantage than Jose?

Having watched Manchester United demolish the Blues at Old Trafford recently, Jose muttered, "I didn't see Chelsea on the pitch. I only saw Manchester United." What went unsaid was that the same 11 Chelsea players, had they been managed by Mourinho, would not have met with the same fate. He could walk into Stamford Bridge now and produce a title-challenging team. The current team boasts something his always lacked, a great right back (Jose Bosingwa) and is only under-achieving because of the absence of Michael Essien and Joe Cole plus the questionable motivation of Messrs Drogba and Ballack.

But would a big British club contemplate going back to a former manager? While there are a few examples of this happening in the past (a random selection includes Taylor, Ron Atkinson at West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday, Kevin Keegan at Newcastle, Walter Smith at Rangers and Mike Walker at Norwich) the feeling persists that they are not comfortable with going back to the future.

Europeans, on the other hand, have no such qualms. On the Continent there is a fervent belief that one should return to the scene of an earlier triumph (or failure) and have another go.

England's manager, Fabio Capello, for instance had two spells at both AC Milan and Real Madrid. The Spanish giants have always enjoyed the return of a prodigal manager, with John Toshack and Leo Beenhakker among those who had two stints. Barcelona welcomed Rinus Michels, Helenio Herrera and Louis van Gaal back with open arms.

It is the Italians though who most famously re-employ managers they consider to be the best in the business: as well as Capello, there was Arrigo Sacchi, who was at Milan twice, and Marcello Lippi who returned to both Juventus and the national team. The ultimate Comeback King, however, has to be Giovanni Trapattoni who enjoyed two spells at three separate clubs: Juve, Milan and Bayern Munich!

So, Italy would bid farewell to Jose secure in the knowledge that he would probably return one day. As for the man himself, he has given every indication that he is more suited to England than Italy when it comes to the mind games, press conferences and the other peripherals that seem so important today.

Of course, the fundamental problem between himself and Roman Abramovich towards the end of their first liaison appeared to lie in the owner's flawed belief that "sexy" football could be bought. If the chastening experiences of the last two seasons have not taught Abramovich that winning trophies is better than sex, well it just isn't going to happen.

As it is, Abramovich is inviting problems if he persists with his plan of using Guus Hiddinck as a stop-gap before bringing in Carlo Ancelotti. What if the former does a great job and even wins something? What if the latter has a bad start to his time at Stamford Bridge?

Mourinho is the nearest thing there is to a guarantee of success in modern football. The only other option? Frank Rijkaard, who is booked in to replace Ancelotti at Milan. Lest we forget, he knows a thing or two about happy returns -- after making his name there at Ajax in the '80s, Rijkard moved on (via Sporting and Zaragoza) to have five great trophy-laden seasons at AC Milan, before returning for two more years in Amsterdam. In his final game for Ajax in 1995 he lifted the European Cup and then retired.

Thanks goodness that's over.

Despite Arsenal's efforts at extending the Transfer Window into Spring, the whole shambolic process has finally come to an end. Deals have been done, or not as the case may be, various footballing sons have gone prodigal and all those lovely agents have trotted off to the bank to deposit their hard-earned fees. So what happens next?

Petr Cech knows what he hopes will happen.

"We need to win every game," said the Chelsea goalkeeper

"We are behind and we need to keep winning so if Man United or Liverpool drop points we can close the gap. This is the only way now for us to get back into it. We need to keep winning because we don't have the control in our hands."

After Sunday's disasatrous outing at Anfield, the Blues are now five points behind Manchester United, who have a game in hand, and three behind Liverpool.

"Eight points in football, especially in the Premier League, means anything can happen," insisted Cech. "You can see that from last year. Arsenal were eight points clear and ended up third, so we will keep playing, we will try to keep winning and we will put the pressure on the others."

Chelsea may have given themselves a chance with their Deadline Day swoop for Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma. Former Liverpool and Ireland defender Phill Babb, a guest pundit with ESPN this week, worked with the young Quaresma in his time at Sporting Lisbon and reckons the Portugal international has the pace and power to be an immediate hit at Stamford Bridge. Babb, like Quaresma's most recent manager Jose Mourinho at Inter, acknowledges that the 25-year-old suffers from a lack of confidence at times, but a winning start with Chelsea could help him overcome it.

So, how likely are Cech and Quaresma to get that winning run going? Chelsea's next six games are: Hull (home), Aston Villa (away), Wigan (h), Portsmouth (a), Manchester City (h), Tottenham (a). It's fair to say, then, that the club's title hopes depend largely on what happens at Villa Park on February 21 and, to a lesser extent, at White Hart Lane a month later. Win all six and they will be very much in the running.

While we're at it, let's flag up the most obviously significant fixtures in the title race and relegation struggle between now and May 24.

It's impossible really to point out potential hazards for a team which has just kept 12 clean sheets but it is reasonable to view Manchester United's trip to Upton Park this weekend as being a tricky fixture. After that, their lunchtime showdown with Liverpool at Old Trafford on March 14 is the biggest game of the season to date. They host Villa on April 4 and will hope they have all-but secured the title before May brings visits from Manchester City and Arsenal in consecutive weeks. The Champions' last game, by the way, is at Hull.

Last season, Liverpool would have viewed a trip to Fratton Park with greater trepidation than they will feel this weekend, however dangerous "floaters" City lie in wait on February 22. Like United, Liverpool also have to host Villa (March 22) and Arsenal (April 18). They then finish with an intriguing home match against Tottenham, who may still be battling to avoid the drop and whose new captain, Robbie Keane, may just have a point to prove.

Such is the congestion from eighth place down (only six points separate ninth-placed Fulham and the drop zone) that it is impossible to list all the key encounters between now and season's end, but several stand out even at this stage. This weekend's clash between West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle, for instance, is a real six-pointer. Newcastle (and Kevin Nolan's) March 1 date with Bolton looks similarly important, while West Brom will hope they are still in touch come April 11 and another potential six-pointer against Portsmouth. The April 18 battle between Stoke and Blackburn stands out from those two clubs' fixtures.

So to May 24 and the games that could impact on the title and the dreaded drop. We already know Manchester United and Liverpool's opponents but the Sunderland-Chelsea encounter could also impact hugely on the top and bottom of the table. Elsewhere, Stoke will hope they have guaranteed Premiership survival before heading to the Emirates Stadium while Newcastle will feel the same way about their trip to Villa. For last day drama, however, it's tough to look beyond Blackburn versus West Brom, while 'Boro will hope opponents West Ham have nothing to play for and Portsmouth may feel the same about their away opposition, Wigan.

Buried beneath this week's flurry of Transfer Window headlines was one which really should have commanded far more publicity. After all, how often is it that a club signs "the world's most unambitious footballer"?

The club is Tottenham, the player Carlo Cudicini and the bit in quotation marks came from Daily Telegraph journalist Roy Collins. In his January 2008 article, Collins rated Cudicini as the BPL's second-best ‘keeper behind teammate Petr Cech and went on to say, "at one point, (Cudicini) could easily have moved to Arsenal or Manchester United. Yet despite making only 19 league appearances in the past four seasons and losing out on championship medals in 2004 and 2005 [because he hadn't played enough games to qualify], he shows no interest in finding a new club. Nor does he want to play for England."

Cudicini finally ended his nine-year association with Chelsea this week by signing an 18-month contract with Spurs. Chelsea reportedly released their grip on Cudicini when Spurs insisted the Italian would get regular first-team football. Sure enough, his debut in the 3-1 win over Stoke on Tuesday night was only Cudicini's third league game of the season.

It would be nice to report that Cudicini single-handedly won the three points for Spurs, but the truth is his new team had the game won by half time and his first save of any note came six minutes into the second half. Still, no-one doubts Cudicini's worth and Heurelho Gomes will do well to reclaim his starting place on a regular basis.

Newcomers to the BPL will be baffled to learn that one of its best 'keepers has only made 210 first-team appearances in nine seasons and that he went on a free transfer, when Newcastle's Shay Given is valued at somewhere between 10 and 15 million pounds. However, those who have followed Cudicini since he started out in as a pro in 1991 will be all too familiar with the twists and turns of a most enigmatic career.

It began with a four-season spell at AC Milan which yielded just two first-team appearances (and neither of them in Serie A). In a season at Lazio, he played once. His other Italian clubs were the distinctly unglamorous Como, Prato and Castel di Sangro. Yet this was a goalkeeper who almost instantly displaced Ed de Goey when Gianluca Vialli brought him to Stamford Bridge and was voted Chelsea's Player-of-the-Year for the 2001-02 season.

Cudicini peaked in season 2004-05, winning the "Golden Gloves" award as best goalkeeper, but the following season was wrecked by injury before Jose Mourinho arrived and identified another newcomer, Cech, as the man he wanted in goal. From that point on, Cudicini was a back-up option. When he did get a game, however, he tended to catch the eye: by the end of the 2005-06 season, he had saved six of the 12 penalties he faced.

In February 2006, Cudicini signed an extension to his contract to take him through to summer 2009. Since then, he has seen off the challenge of Henrique Hilario but not displaced Cech. He also amassed 101 clean sheets, second only in Chelsea's record books to the legendary Peter Bonetti.

Along the way, incidentally, Cudicini married and then split from his Italian wife, reportedly because he would not bow to her wishes and seek a career move away from Britain's miserable weather.

It will not surprise you to learn that Cudicini's international career has been similarly esoteric: after an under-18 and under-21 spell which earned him more than 20 caps, Cudicini has not once managed to play in goal for Italy's senior side. He says the presence of Messrs Toldo and Buffon made it virtually impossible to get the nod for the Azurri.

Plenty have tried to unravel the mystery of Cudicini's apparent career apathy and most have concluded that he pre-disposed towards playing second fiddle. After all, Carlo Cudicini is the son of The Black Spider.

For a decade Fabio Cudicini was a cult figure at AC Milan, and a hero of the 1969 European Cup triumph. When young Carlo began his career at Milan, plenty whispered he was only there because of his old man. When he was beaten by a shot from the halfway line in the opening seconds of his first game for Milan, those whispers got louder. Then came the bad luck: a wrist injury sidelined him for two seasons and then that solitary Serie A appearance for Lazio was ended by a knee ligament injury.

In a newspaper interview some years back, Carlo Cudicini refused to blame his early career woes on his status as the son of a legend.

"I've never had a problem with going to my father," he said. "There are people who sometimes go the other way when somebody in their family has done the same job. But I see my dad as a father, not a former goalkeeper. Never, ever did he say to me when I was growing up, 'You must be a footballer' - or worse, a goalkeeper! He was always a figure behind me and every step I took forward, he was with me all the way, always willing to help."

Carlo Cudicini appears to be a well-educated, well-adjusted man with interests which go beyond those traditionally associated with Premiership footballers. Visit his personal website and that impression is confirmed: he charts his love of food (Thai is apparently a favourite, along with pasta), he details his travels in search of different cultures and experiences, and says he dreams of earning his pilot's licence.

Cudicini speaks wistfully of winter skiing holidays in the Alps which ceased when he moved to English football. His online photo album contains shots of him playing claycourt tennis as a youngster, chilling out in Hawaii, exploring the ancient civilisations of Egypt and India.

To the amateur psychologist this probably all adds up: famous father plus privileged upbringing and a range of interests outside of football equals... what? "The world's most unambitious footballer"?

Hopefully Carlo Cudicini's 18 months at White Hart Lane will prove otherwise.

It all happened at Phuket's Surakul Stadium as the hosts took on Lebanon in the King's Cup, a friendly invitational tournament, now in its 39th year and one of the Asian football calendar's most convivial events. As the sun set on the modest stadium, the good-spirited crowd generated a party atmosphere as Thailand roared into an early 2-0 lead against a poor Lebanese side.

As the second half wore on, however, the mood changed on the pitch. The Lebanese scored a goal five minutes after the re-start and troubled the Thais with a far better performance. An unfortunate and accidental clash of heads with 10 minutes remaining in the game left a Lebanese player with a badly-gashed head and several of his teammates with a sense of injustice.

One of them, substitute Zakaria Charara, took it upon himself to exact some kind of revenge and he sparked an argument with Thailand's impressive defender Suree Sukha after they tangled. Things got out of control and players and officials from both sides got involved. Charara then slapped Suree's twin brother Surat in an unfortunate case of mistaken identity.

Bizarrely, the Lebanese team then walked off the pitch, presumably feeling they had in some way been wronged, while the TV coverage ran replays of Charara committing what surely had to be a sending-off offence.

The game was stopped for nearly 10 minutes before Dato Worawi Makudi, president of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) and an experienced FIFA council member, persuaded the visitors to return to the pitch. After the distraction, Charara only got a yellow card.

In injury time, another clash between Suree and Charara (who, by now, was completely out of control) led to another near-riot. The referee then decided to blow the final whistle with a few minutes of stoppage time unplayed.

Anyone who watched the game could tell you that the Lebanese were wrong to take the action they did and that Charara's behaviour was disgraceful.

Looking back at the game later, it was obvious that several of the Lebanese players had been arguing among themselves throughout the match. Sources later revealed some members of the Lebanon team had been involved in a punch-up with their own teammates at the tournament's official hotel some days earlier.

Simply put, all of the above would suggest the team had not demonstrated the kind of professionalism the tournament deserves. Thailand's football authorities are making great strides in taking the national team forward and it was notable that team manager Peter Reid kept well clear of the nonsense going on during the second half in Phuket.

After the game Reid told reporters he would be reminding his team of the need to avoid being distracted by the sort of antics produced by Charara.

The King's Cup should provide an opportunity for Thailand's fast-improving side to pick up good habits, not bad. Indeed, Thailand's opponents in Friday's final have virtually written the book on professionalism.

Denmark's representatives in Thailand are by no means the country's first-choice national team. Or even the second choice for that matter. However they are there under the leadership of national head coach Morten Olsen and his national team coaching staff.

Olsen, the former Anderlecht star who won more than 100 caps for his country, told me that he wanted to immerse his squad of youth-team products and fringe players in exactly the same atmosphere that the he would the full national side -- the same preparation, training, tactical shape in games.

What was even more impressive about Olsen and his team was that they refused to allow themselves to be unsettled by anything that came their way (a poor pitch which had not been watered as they had requested, plus a kick-off time in blazing later afternoon heat for their match against North Korea). Denmark handled all that came their way in a manner befitting former European champions. Plus, they won a tough match despite several of their players experiencing severe dehydration.

The King's Cup, and tournaments of its ilk, are vital if Asian football is to continue on its upward path. The Thais are to be commended on the excellent job they have done in staging it, but perhaps they need to rethink their approach to choosing their guests.

We have reached the midway point in January's Transfer Window but we have yet to reach a consensus:  is it all a "joke" (Tony Pulis), an "inconvenience" (Neil Warnock) or just "one of the most destructive times of the season" (Sam Allardyce)?

One thing we can agree on: Sam and his fellow managers really, really don't like it. The Blackburn boss continued his rant on Sky Sports News this week by saying: "I keep telling the authorities that we should get rid of it, but they don't listen to me. As far as I'm concerned, it's unproductive, creates mayhem, inflation and unrest. I think they should seriously think about the position managers are left to try and deal with."

For the rest of us, window-watching is a fascinating, if sometimes morbid, pastime. Will Manchester City really spend 100 million pounds on a single player? Why would Newcastle allegedly pursue Nigel Quashie (who unfortunately for him will always be remembered as the player who was  relegated from the Premiership with four different clubs)? Would David Bentley really be the makeweight in a deal to take Stewart Downing to Tottenham?

Steve McMahon and the ESPN Football Focus pundits developed Sam Allardyce's "destructive" theme this week by suggesting the Transfer Window allows certain clubs to destabilise others, particularly their direct rivals.

Should Tottenham, for instance, move to buy the likes of Wigan's Wilson Palacios or Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones (as newspapers have suggested they will), the White Hart Lane club would be seriously weakening two clubs they hope to see occupying the relegation slot they currently fill themselves.

Manchester City are nowhere near the title race yet could have a say in it by weakening the chances of Chelsea or even Arsenal if they tempt some of their key men to join Wayne Bridge at Eastlands.

In fact it's fair to say that the only story worth following this January is that of Manchester City. Agent-chatter suggests that City's Brazilian players are already calling the shots at the club - so much so in fact that some say Kaka will only join if there is a manager in place who meets with their (the Brazilians') approval. Good luck, Mr Hughes.

Compared with a saga of that scale, all other Transfer Window stories seem petty. But it would be wrong to overlook the potential for redemption this January has offered two very different players.

James Beattie, for instance, returned to the Premier League this week by leaving Sheffield United and signing for Stoke City on a two-and-a-half year deal for a fee which could rise to £3.5 million.

Beattie, now 30 and with his five England caps a fading memory, first arrived on the scene with his local club, Blackburn Rovers, in 1995. Nothing much happened for him at Ewood Park and he joined Southampton where his form was intermittent but peaked in season 2002-03 when he scored 23 league goals and helped the Saints reach the FA Cup Final. Beattie's England caps all came along in 2003.

David Moyes and Everton then seemed to be talked into buying an "old-fashioned" English centre forward by fans and media alike in the transfer window of January 2005. Beattie duly arrived at Goodison for a fee of six million pounds -- a record spend by the club.

Things didn't work out for Beattie at Everton: 76 appearances spread out over 32 months yielded just 13 goals. He fell out of favour with England's management and it came as no surprise that the club sold him to Sheffield United of the Championship in August 2007. The Blades actually paid a club record four million pounds for Beattie and got an immediate return on the investment when the player scored on his debut. Beattie went on to score 22 goals and was named Sheffield United's Player of the Season.

So, here he is, after a good start to the current Championship has left him with an overall Sheffield United goal tally of 34 goals from 62 games. Will he bring that kind of goals-per-game ratio to the BPL or will he again prove to be an ill-advised January buy?

Nonetheless, Beattie appears a rock-solid choice when compared to another of this week's reported signings.

A decade ago, Denilson became the most expensive player in the world when Real Betis paid Sao Paulo US$32 million for his services.

Denílson had apparently caught the eye at the 1997 Copa America and the pre-World Cup Tournoi in France. In the green of Betis, Denilson struggled to justify his fee and was even relegated in the 1999/2000 season. Granted, he was a World Cup winner in 2002, appearing five times as a substitute, but he slipped out of the Real Betis squad and was eventually sold to Bordeaux in 2005.

Then came 15 appearances for Al-Nasr in Saudi Arabia, Seven disappointing showings for FC Dallas in America's Major League Soccer and eventually a return to Palmeiras in Brazil on a performance-based contract.

Now 31, Denilson began trials with Bolton on January 6. Yes, that's Bolton, managed by gritty, no-nonsense Gary Megson. And this is the Denilson who once explained his choice of the number 20 shirt for Brazil by saying; "I'm twice as good as the number 10." The same Denilson who once said of David Beckham; "He's pretty. So he's very lucky: he's both a footballer and pretty. I'm this ugly and still the women are all over me".

Sign him, please, Gary. This could turn out to be the ultimate piece of risky January business. It might even persuade someone to finally shut this window. 

A substantial crowd, very much a family affair too, turned up to see David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Paolo Maldini, Pato and Andriy Shevchenko work up a sweat but little excitement against Martin Jol's rather more enthusiastic outfit. Milan won on penalties after a 1-1 90-minute scoreline, but the night's highlight was a slip-up by the TV director which gave the worldwide audience an amusing shot of Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti yawning uncontrollably even as the "shoot-out" took place.

Moments earlier, the same director brought us an equally significant image as a camera panned along a VIP box filled with sheikhs and other diginitaries, each ensconced in an oversized armchair. Watching smugly on was Milan's vice-president Adriano Galliani, the man who brought Beckham to Milan despite the one-time England captain being under contract to the LA Galaxy.

In announcing the Beckham loan deal (which may now be extended until June), Galliani conceded that Beckham's commercial clout was every bit as attractive as the playing skills he would bring to the San Siro. Indeed, even before Dubai came along, a British sports business expert claimed the deal could earn Milan up to 10 million pounds.

Professor Simon Chadwick, who represents Weber Shandwick Sport, said the former England captain's move to Italy would have a startling impact on ticket sales, sponsorship deals, merchandise, TV revenues and promotional activities such as the Dubai trip.

"Many of the world's finest footballers have represented the Rossoneri, but Beckham is in his own league when it comes to global impact," said Professor Chadwick. Signor Galliani is all too aware of that fact.

For continued evidence of Brand Beckham's remarkable impact on a club's earnings, take a look at the Deloitte's Rich List report on the world's wealthiest football club. In the latest report, published this week, Real Madrid made it three straight years at the top. Even though ticket prices are substantially lower in Spain than in England, Real's annual revenue from commercial streams has grown ever since the club embarked on its policy of signing "galacticos" - with Beckham's time at the Santiago Bernabeu coinciding with Real's rise to the top of Deloitte's list.

When they went top, they ended a nine-year run as World Commercial Champions by Beckham's former club, Manchester United.

Milan know what they are getting, and even if Beckham's showing on the pitch in Dubai was uninspiring, don't be surprised if he features in as many stories before Milan's next Serie A encounter - a tricky trip to play Roma - as any other Rossoneri regular.

On a broader level, expect money talk to dominate football for the next few weeks as activity continues in the Transfer Window against a backdrop of global financial uncertainty. For example, it was fascinating earlier this week to learn from another financial survey, that Roman Abramovich is now only the third richest man in British football.

According to the annual list of the 100 richest people in the game, compiled by Four Four Two magazine, Chelsea's owner Abramovich has fallen to third behind the Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nayan and Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian steel magnate who has a stake in Queens Park Rangers. Abramovich is said to have lost up to 3 billion pounds as a result of the global economic slump and London financial circles have been abuzz with rumours that he may be looking to sell Chelsea.

Much has been made of Chelsea's apparent freeze on signings but money talk is always made more entertaining when there is a correlation, accurate or otherwise, to the same club's fortunes on the field. So, are Abramovich's financial woes in any way connected to his team's poor run of form, culminating in the embarrassing FA Cup draw with Southend? Sheikh Mansour's City have started the big spend already with the signing of 92,000 pounds-a-week full-back Wayne Bridge, but will splashing the cash help a club in freefall?

Bridge was paraded around the City of Manchester Stadium ahead of his new club's appalling 3-0 beating by Nottingham Forest in the Cup. A few nights later, Jermaine Defoe got the same treatment at White Hart Lane, then watched Spurs beat Burnley 4-1 in the Carling Cup. These two clubs will probably provide the most entertainment in terms of Transfer Window activity. In case you were wondering just how Spurs manage to consistently throw so much money around, well fourth on Four Four Two's list is Joe Lewis, the billionaire behind Spurs' owners Enic. His fortune is valued at 2.5 billion pounds by the magazine.
The global financial jolt may have halted, for the time being at least, the rush by international billionaires to buy Premiership clubs, but at some stage this year another global and international TV rights deal will be hammered out by the BPL's CEO Richard Scudamore and broadcasters. Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton have already filed accounts covering the 2007-08 season and all increased their income based on the last TV rights bonanza. Other clubs - especially those reliant on sugar daddies or previously benevolent banks - will fare less well.

While we are unlikely to see the "Serie A-style collapse" forecast last month by Boro' boss Gareth Southgate, we can expect to see Premier League clubs attempting to rein in costs and get back to basics when it comes to managing budgets. They could also do with a bit of creative brand development of the kind seen in Dubai last week.

With that in mind, don't be surprised if David Beckham finishes his career in England after all. And, because it's a new year and people are sticking their necks out with crazy predictions, I'll do likewise and say Tottenham and Beckham look made for each other.

Football people say the daftest things. Whether they are managers, players, commentators or fans, all those associated with The Beautiful Game churn out enough quotable quotes and catchy one-liners to sustain at least one weekly football press review show. It's called First Edition, and as the person who fronts it, a large part of my working week is spent collecting these bons mots for use on ESPN.

Here is a review of just some of 2008's top football stories -- some serious, many silly, all represented by quotes that made it into my scrapbook.

January

"I am sure we will see pictures of Sam [Allardyce] in his Speedos walking along a beach somewhere. That won't be a pretty sight."

- Wigan manager Steve Bruce with an accurate, if alarming, assessment of Big Sam's movements after his departure from St James' Park. I wonder if Brucey realised just how long it would be before Sam would be pulling on his manager's overcoat again?

"The hair stood up on the back of my neck. My phone started going mad with people phoning and texting me. I am very excited by the news. I know how highly he [Kevin Keegan] is regarded and he will give the players and the fans a massive lift."

- Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given summing up the mood in Newcastle on the third coming of Keegan. One wonders whether those same hairs stood up when Joe Kinnear was named caretaker manager later in the year.

February

FA Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore outlines his "39th game" plan. The managers promptly have their say:

"Can you imagine going to Fergie and telling him, 'By the way, you're not playing at home this week, you are playing in Japan'? I'd like to see it!"
- Steve Bruce

"It would be like the Harlem Globetrotters."
- Harry Redknapp

"Is it April 1st?"
- Gareth Southgate

March

"When Rio Ferdinand went in goal, I wasn't too worried. I saw him play in goal when he was a kid and I knew he wasn't very good."

- Harry Redknapp's path to a magical FA Cup Final win for Portsmouth opens up with a controversial win over Manchester United, and Rio in goal.

Meanwhile, FIFA President Sepp Blatter tries to counter some homophobic utterances made by an Italian football official but only ends up getting himself in a tangle by saying:

"Football is open for everybody, which is why they made a gay competition in South America. And look at women's football: homosexuality is more popular there."

April

I always listen out for original chants or songs from supporters and Aston Villa's produce this one in celebration of towering striker John Carew. Sing it to the tune of "Que Sera".

"John Carew, Carew,
"He's bigger than me and you,
"He's gonna score one or two,
"John Carew, Carew."

May

Victory in Moscow on penalties seals a magnificent league and European Cup double for Manchester United, prompting Sir Alex Ferguson to say:

"We started the British sojourn into Europe in 1955 and we deserved to get his trophy tonight. I'm delighted for my players. I think this has the making of my best team."

June

Euro 2008 provided a fantastic spectacle. Here are some quotes that stuck in the memory.

"As the Prime Minister I have to be balanced and collected but on Thursday night I wanted to kill."

- Polish PM Donald Tusk fumed at referee Howard Webb who awarded a controversial late penalty, and equaliser, to Austria.

"I am not superstitious. It brings bad luck."

- French coach Raymond Domenech speaking before a disastrous game against The Netherlands.

"The only positive thing about this season is that it's over."

- Petr Cech followed his misfortunes for Chelsea with an absolute howler for the Czech Republic.

 "I don't want to use big words but it is almost a miracle. I'm so proud of these guys."

Surprise package Russia outplayed the Dutch, prompting these words from coach Guus Hiddink.

August

"Naturally we're all absolutely delighted that Gareth Barry will be staying at Villa Park."

- Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill

"Liverpool will have all the time in the world to sign him. They've got to the end of the transfer window at the end of the month."

- O'Neill again three days later. Thankfully, the protracted Barry saga failed to derail either the club or the player. Liverpool have managed to get by without Barry too.

October

Of all the comments made before and after Spurs' amazing 4-4 draw at the Emirates, this one from Cesc Fabregas got the most attention:

"They [Arsenal's ladies' team] would do really well [against Spurs]. I'm sure they would get a point!"

Meanwhile, over in Italy, Jose Mourinho locked horns with an Italian reporter who had been critical of the Inter boss. ‘Why don't you select the team then?' he asked the journalist ahead of a Champions League clash.

"I would if you gave me part of the nine million euros you earn," said the scribe. Mourinho shot back: "It's not nine, it's 11 and with sponsors it comes to 14."

November

"The game was fantasy football, playground stuff."

- Sir Alex Ferguson reacts to an amazing clash with Arsenal at the Emirates.

"I love my pink boots. I've wanted to play in that colour ever since I was young."

- Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner gives an indicator as to why the Gunners have struggled for consistency this season.

December

"Whatever the punters thought last weekend when we lost, multiply that by a thousand for what was going through my head. I've always been like that and that is possibly why I will be a manager only for a short time."

- Roy Keane talks himself out of a job and denies us quality First Edition content for the near future. Pity. Anyway, that was 2008. Or so they said.

Then one picks up the sports pages and says, "no way! I'm just not having that!"

Last week, for instance, the Daily Mail tried to tell us Manchester City are seriously contemplating meeting 30-year-old Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon's pay "demand" of 250,000 pounds sterling a week. Or 390,000 US Dollars! That's such a ridiculous sum of money that it needs further quantification: based on those annual wages, if Buffon were to play every minute of a 38 game league season, he would be earning 3,800 pounds per minute of game time, or more than three times the average annual income in India for every 60 seconds of goal tending.

Even if we are used to seeing stupendous numbers splashed all over the front pages of the press these days ($50 billion fraud anyone?), the Mail's article still demanded closer inspection. And that inspection revealed the following gems: "the Premier League club - backed by the vast riches of the Abu Dhabi royal family - have not baulked at the demands" and "City manager Mark Hughes is believed to have endorsed the transfer - on condition Buffon proves his fitness". Ah yes, Buffon has recently been out for a month, so as long as he is healthy there should be no problem with the deal then.

Towards the end of the article came the acknowledgement that "sources in Italy were said to be ‘completely amazed' that City are prepared to continue with such a vast financial outlay", but that line didn't make it into the countless reproductions of the original story by news organisations the world over. Why would it? These days we only bother to pay cursory attention to a football-related story if it contains the sort of blockbuster revelation that in days of yore (or last season) would have sustained TV chat shows and radio phone-ins for weeks.

We stifle a yawn as we read that Michael Owen may have to take a 25,000 pounds-a-week pay cut at Newcastle; we barely register the news that young Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson, who has made fewer than 20 starts in top-flight football, is being courted by mighty Real Madrid; we passively accept one paper's claim that struggling Sunderland received 33 applications from wannabe Roy Keane replacements within a week of his departure. Among those rumoured applicants, we learn, are last season's La Liga-winning coach Bernd Schuster, Serie A winner Roberto Mancini and former Brazilian World Cup winning captain Carlos Alberto Parreira. No one is surprised that Sam Allardyce will have to compete with the likes of Sven-Goran Eriksson, Martin Jol and Dick Advocaat. It is Sunderland after all.

As remarkable as it may seem, we have become utterly blase about things that used to provoke outrage. This is a product of football's stakes having been raised to unprecedented levels, its ante upped to the nth degree. What's more, with January's transfer window just around the corner, we can expect a steady diet of similar hype and bombast from tabloid and broadsheet alike.

Mind you, it is somehow fitting for a time of year when excess becomes the norm.

So, just as we seek relief from the retail frenzy and epicurean orgy of the season through Christmas carols and uplifting fables, then so too should we seek out inspirational football stories to remind us of the game's non-materialistic virtues.

How about a good old-fashioned success story? In England, Phil Brown and Hull City have enjoyed a magnificent Barclays Premier League campaign that almost included an away win at Anfield last weekend, but the story that really stands out from the hype and bombast surrounding the game today is that of the small German club TSG Hoffenheim.

By now you will have heard of this former village team which received a massive cash injection from software billionaire Dietmar Hopp and rose from the fifth division in 2000 to the Bundesliga in 2008. Well, the modest club from the less-than-glamorous Rhein-Neckar metropolitan area has just been crowned Germany's winter champions or league leaders as the Bundesliga goes into hibernation.

Hoffenheim are level with Bayern Munich, or FC Hollywood as they are still sometimes called, but lead on goal difference. Had they not dropped two points against nine-man Schalke last time out, and lost late against Bayern, manger Ralf Rangnick's side could have a healthy Christmas lead.

The reason Hoffenheim represent an uplifting Christmas story is not that they have performed a rags-to-riches feat (quite the opposite in fact - until recently they were dismissed as a "test tube" club by many resentful of their nouveau wealth) but rather that they have done it by playing superb attacking football. In so doing, they have lifted the Bundesliga to new heights.

I recently read that according to a poll by a German institute, 63 per cent of German football fans want them to win the title next May, compared with 17 per cent who favour Bayern. Theirs has been the most sensational first half of a season ever produced in Germany by a newly-promoted team. They have won the nation over with their football and results which have forced Bayern, and star player Franck Ribery in particular, to lift their game to new heights.

This Christmas, let's hope Manchester City find a bit of Hoffenheim's flair and Rangnick's progressive football mentality under their tree alongside their other expensively-wrapped treats. They need them much more than they need attention-grabbing headlines.

On this occasion, a pre-season tournament, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard ploughed through hotel staff, curious hotel guests and autograph seekers only to abruptly change direction and head straight for me. He nodded at revered English commentator Martin Tyler next to me, then stuck out at a hand, smiled and said "Hi, how are you?" to me before heading to the lifts.

Martin was impressed. "I interviewed him about six months ago," I murmured by way of explanation. "Steve McMahon and Ian Rush helped us get the interview and Steven gave us a really good 20 minutes on his life and times."

"That sums him up," said Martin, who has commentated on, and met, every big player in world football. "No airs and graces."

Please forgive me the name drop, the stars-in-my-eyes memory of a five-second encounter. The point is that none of Gerrard's Premier League contemporaries would have done the same. Steven Gerrard will have done the interview because two of his childhood heroes asked him to, then his innate professionalismwill have seen him figure out what ESPN Star Sports means in Asian, and Hong Kong, broadcasting terms. His being a nice bloke was a bonus.

This week, Gerrard celebrated 10 years of Liverpool first-team football. The tributes flowed in.

Steve McMahon summed up Gerrard's worth on Football Focus, saying, "I have to be careful about ranking Steven Gerrard up with the likes of Kenny Dalglish because you have to realise that Kenny had a team of stars around him. Steven Gerrard has done what he has done without really great players around him, a bit like Bryan Robson and the Manchester United team at the time he was playing."

Liverpool hardman Tommy Smith has said, "Nobby Stiles once told me that he thought Steven Gerrard was the nearest thing to Duncan Edwards and that is a tremendous compliment for a player."

John Barnes said of Gerrard, "He can do it all. For me he is the most complete midfield player in the world." Terry McDermott added: "He is so influential. I'd definitely put him in the same bracket as Graeme Souness."

Pele paid him this compliment: "Gerrard is an excellent player, absolutely world class. If I was a manager, everywhere I went I would buy Steven Gerrard."

As would Sir Alex Ferguson, who tried to sign Gerrard when he was starting out. "Everywhere the ball is, he [Gerrard] seems to be there," said Fergie. "He's got that unbelievable engine, desire, determination. Anyone would like to have Gerrard in their team."

This came from England manager, Fabio Capello, who said: "He is a player who commands authority and can lead by example on the pitch and inspire the team. I like a player who is willing to be critical of himself. A lot of players criticise the manager and the coaches; but he has shown respect for other players, for the manager, and he has shown humility."

Humility. Google Steven Gerrard long enough and the word "humble" comes up on a regular basis. He has been quick to admit to failings, whether for England or Liverpool.

Earlier this season, he credited Rafa Benitez with curbing his natural "Roy of the Rovers" instincts.

"He has helped me become slightly more disciplined," Gerrard said.

"You cannot afford to be rushing all over the place against top sides. I will be honest and say I have not always hit my Liverpool form for England."

He is constantly urging his club to be humble despite leading the Premier League. In Monday night's disappointing 0-0 home draw with West Ham, Gerrard was responsible for that most embarrasing of football faux pas, the air-shot.

And this from the player whose amazing 25-yard drive against the same opposition set up one of the great Cup Final triumphs.

Had the air shot happened to any of Gerrard's more image conscious England teammates, one wonders how they would cope with You Tube humiliation and sniping from opposition fans and journalists. One doesn't have the same fears for Gerrard's ability to deal with the miss and move on.

Indeed, on the even of his 10th anniversary, he spoke of his ability to put footballing matters into perspective.

"Football is the priority, but not an obsession," he said.

"I love it, I make sacrifices for my job and I wouldn't put anything before it. But there are times when you have to get football out of your system.

"I find it helps me to get on to a golf course for four hours, and don't talk or think about football. I spend half my time looking in the trees for my ball, but at least I am not thinking about football."

Apart from his love of golf, Gerrard's non-football-related favourite things include wrinkly pop star Phil Collins and TV comedy The Office. His first car was a 1.4 litre VW Golf. Today he has the glamorous WAG, top-of-the-range cars and an opulent lifestyle.

He has every reason to run short of hunger and ambition one of these days. Yet when Rafa Benitez speaks of Gerrard being able to play for many more years, perhaps even as a striker, it's possible to envisage this remarkable player doubling his 104 club goals and completing 100-plus England appearances if his body holds up. When it all comes to an end, the record books will not state that he was also a down-to-earth character, but that is undoubtedly a key component in the Steven Gerrard success story.

Cesc Fabregas the footballer did well against Kiev on Tuesday night. He probed intelligently from a packed midfield, set up the goal that saw Arsenal qualify for the Champions League knockout phase and earned praise for his play from manager Arsene Wenger. So, does that automatically mean that Fabregas the captain did well too?

The man himself will think so. After all, when he spoke ahead of the game about captaincy and what it means to him, Fabregas said: "To be honest, I will not change my playing style now that I am captain. I will try to lead by example first of all. I have always tried to do that on the pitch, anyway - armband or no armband."

At the same time, Fabregas spoke of his first two captains at Arsenal, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry and identified their key qualities as captains with the following phrases: "on the pitch you always knew you could count on him [Vieira] to go into war with you" and "Thierry was... definitely a guy you always knew would be there at the decisive moments."

So, by his industrious, foraging performance Cesc met his own captaincy criteria. But what of his manager? Arsene Wenger said on Monday that Fabregas "will be one of the leaders but not the only one''. So, who are the others? Manuel Almunia, who wore the armband in Cesc's absence at Manchester City last weekend? Gael Clichy, who gave his colleagues a team talk on the pitch ahead of the same game? Gallas, who has been forgiven, indulged even, and looks set to keep Kolo Toure out of the side?

Let's face it, none of the above stand out as natural leaders in the eyes of those of us who watched Frank McLintock, Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira lead the Gunners.

Writing in The Times newspaper, Tony Cascarino argued this week that the appointment of a new Arsenal captain was irrelevant.

"Wenger might as well have sat in the press conference yesterday and said that Arsenal will be the first team in history not to have a captain," wrote Cascarino. "Or he could just have plucked a name at random. No one, not Cesc Fabregas, Manuel Almunia or the rest of the squad, is worthy of the armband. There are no outstanding leaders at Arsenal, no personalities big enough to lift the team to where they need to be."

Cascarino contrasted the Arsenal situation with that at the other Big Four clubs where -- and these are my choices not Tony's -- one would feel confident about handing the captaincy to any of the following: Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Van der Saar, Hargreaves, Giggs, Carrick  and Rooney at Manchester United; Terry, Cech, Carvalho, Lampard, Essien, Ashley Cole, Ballack, Joe Cole, Deco at Chelsea; or any of Liverpool's Gerrard, Reina, Carragher, Alonso, Mascherano, Hyppia, Kuyt, Keane and Torres.

Underpinning Cascarino's argument was his assertion that "all successful sides have a great captain, someone with hunger and charisma who inspires his team-mates".

Hence Fabio Capello's eventual choice of John Terry as England captain. A very English decision from an Italian as it happens. In English football, a captain has to be inspirational, a motivator and battler (preferably one who has played with a bloodied bandage around his head, a la Terry Butcher and Paul Ince). Steve McClaren also named Terry as his captain and chose to speak of "JT's" motivational powers when he explained his choice.

But then, that was an English solution to an English problem. Those rules do not necessarily apply at Wenger's Arsenal.

It would not have occurred to McClaren to consider Terry's tactical acumen, knowledge of the game's history or even his ability to interpret the psychological nuances displayed by his teammates. Unlike cricket and rugby where the captain plays an integral role in determining team selection or developing strategy, the English football captain is a blend of talisman and British Bulldog, one whose primary role is to exhort his players to follow a game plan. What happens, then, when England reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup in South Africa and find things going wrong on the pitch? Can John Terry supply a tactical quick fix, or identify flaws in the opposition's strategy once the game is underway and Capello is relatively powerless?

Look at the leading captains in the European game today and they demonstrate the following broad qualities: individual brilliance as players, unquestionable loyalty to their club, physical bravery and tremendous popularity with supporters. Here are 10 who meet almost all those criteria: Steven Gerrard, Paolo Maldini, Francesco Totti, Mark van Bommel, Alessandro del Piero, John Terry, Javier Zanetti, Barry Ferguson, Carlos Puyol and Raul Gonzalez.

Crucially, all possess great "football brains" and one has to believe that Arsenal's new leader isn't short of quality in that department.

So, is it right to say that because Cesc Fabregas might not immediately seem to show the traditional chest-thumping virtues of an English captain his appointment is an irrelevance? Or even "madness" to quote another British journalist, Henry Winter, who fears Fabregas' game may suffer because of his new responsibilities.

One hopes not. Fabregas is a truly special footballer. At 21 he has already made 215 appearances for Arsenal (which was more than three times as many as Denilson, Song and Ramsey -- his midfield colleagues against Kyiv -- combined). He captained Barcelona's youth teams and Spain's Under-17s. He is a European Championships winner and has scored a winner at the San Siro against mighty Milan. Crucially, he passes the "loyalty" test despite regular overtures from Barcelona.

If Fabregas performs as he can, then Arsenal will prosper. If Arsenal prosper without Cesc having to stick out his chest and demand "200 per cent" then he will take his place among the greats listed above.

In the airy, well-lit living room of a house just outside Reading, near London, Lawrie Sanchez sits and talks football.

"I bought this house at auction the week after the [1988] Cup Final," he reveals.

It made sense at the time, Sanchez adds, seeing as his Wembley goal against mighty Liverpool had just clinched one of the great Cup shocks. The house remained his base through the end of his playing days and into a managerial career which brought another Cup highlight in the shape of a semi-final clash for lowly Wycombe Wanderers against Liverpool, although that one ended in defeat.

Over an hour-long interview, Sanchez relives those memories, talks fondly of his exploits in dragging Northern Ireland's FIFA world ranking down from 124th to 27th with wins over Sweden, England and Euro champions Spain, and talks sadly of his ill-fated spell in the Barclays Premier League with Fulham.

That spell came to an end 11 months ago and Sanchez has not worked as a manager since. He had a settlement with Fulham to pursue, holidays to take, and psychological issues to resolve over all that had happened in his relatively short time at Craven Cottage.

Sanchez is still aggrieved at the way things turned out, both for Northern Ireland and Fulham. The national team sat atop its Euro 2008 qualiying group when he left for Fulham, but failed to make it to Switzerland and Austria despite David Healy's 13-goal qualifying campaign haul. The same player's goals at the start of season 2007/8 dried up after club captain Brian McBride was injured. By December 2007, Sanchez was "installed" as the bookies' favourite to be sacked, and he wasted no time in making his feelings known.

"I am surprised that they run books on managers getting the sack," he said ahead of a game against Newcastle United, managed then by another "sack race" favourite, Sam Allardyce.

"It is morally questionable to bet on somebody else's misfortune."

Sanchez still feels strongly about the sacking hysteria which overcomes many a club chairman at this time of the year, with a transfer window opening on January 1. However, he is realistic enough to recognise that the very same syndrome could well offer him a chance of employment. He is available for work and is quietly going about looking for a new challenge. It is important to stress the "quietly" aspect of it all, because it is in marked contrast to Sam Allardyce's current modus operandi.

Everywhere one turns, Big Sam's name is being linked with managerial work: various news organisations reported this week that Allardyce had turned down the offer of a three-year contract to coach Queens Park Rangers. Last Sunday, the News of the World claimed that "business associates close to Big Sam" want to purchase struggling Championship club Nottingham Forest and install him as manager. Previously, Allardyce was linked to Portsmouth after Harry Redknapp's departure.

All this followed a candid interview Allardyce gave to the Daily Mail at the start of November in which he claimed he had not received a single job offer since his January 9 sacking by Newcastle, save for a Republic of Ireland approach which came too soon after the Newcastle debacle.

Sam, who has travelled the world doing TV work here in Singapore as well as Dubai, has also worked with SKY and Setanta in Britain to keep his profile up. He inquired about the manager's job at Blackburn before "taking a step back" when he realised the club was set on appointing Paul Ince. Although he regularly jokes his chances of getting a job would be greater if he had an Italian surname, one gets the feeling Big Sam knows his time will come again soon. Hence a cleverly-orchestrated media campaign in which he is determined not to put a foot wrong.

‘I don't really want to express an opinion on what seems to be a bit of a trend: giving these jobs to young managers," he told the Daily Mail. "It's the right of every football club to appoint the manager they want. But we'll see how things turn out because it's a tough old business. I'm sure I will soon be back involved. I just have to be patient, and perhaps wait until January. That's often a time when chairmen start to panic and make changes, when jobs suddenly become available."

So, just what is likely to be posted on the Job Centre wall in the weeks to come? Should Lawrie Sanchez overcome his moral repugnance long enough to glance at the bookies' latest "sack race" odds, he will find Bolton's Gary Megson quoted at 11/4 to leave his post, followed by Gianfranco Zola at 13/2 and Roy Hodgson and Mark Hughes both at 7/1.

It is a measure of the insecurity inherent in a BPL manager's job that nine other managers are quoted at odds of 20/1 or shorter. Among them, Arsene Wenger and even the next Newcastle manager, whose identity is not yet known!

Outside of the BPL, Huddersfield have yet to replace Stan Ternent and claim to be in no hurry to do so. The vacant post at Swindon Town looks likely to be filled by former Carlisle manager John Ward while Chelsea reserve team coach, 35-year-old Brendan Rodgers, is the new favourite to take over at cash-strapped Watford.

By the time this article appears, it seems likely QPR will have announced the appointment of former Portugal star Paulo Sousa as manager. Despite having little management experience, Sousa spent a large portion of his playing career with Juventus and Inter Milan and that will have influenced QPR chairman Flavio Briatore.

Should he get the nod, Sousa's appointment will doubtless be met with ironic smiles from Sam Allardyce and Lawrie Sanchez, especially the latter who may now be tempted to play up the significance of his Latin surname when it comes to job applications.

In a scene not unlike something from The Amazing Race, I spent last Saturday afternoon and evening watching three Champions League contenders in action over the course of 12 hours spent in two different European cities.

First, London and the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal and Manchester United played out a thrilling, incident-packed contest in pelting November rain. With the triumphant roars of Arsenal's fans still ringing in my ears, it was time for a dash by car across London to Heathrow Airport for a flight to Barcelona.

Four hours, one flight and another cab ride later, I was strolling down the hill that leads to Europe's biggest football stadium, the Nou Camp. On a cool Catalan evening, Barca's fans - young and old, male and female, left their homes and tapas bars and went in search of entertainment.
Pep Guardiola's team duly delivered an eighth straight Primera Division win, a 6-0 demolition of Valladolid. Unlike the almost unbearable tension that surrounded proceedings in north London a few hours earlier, there was a feel of after-dinner theatre about a Nou Camp show that kicked off at 10 pm. The crowd swelled to an estimated 60,000 (still 40,000 short of capacity) as they sat back and waited for Guardiola's goal machine to get going.
It didn't take long. With Samuel Eto'o scoring four before half time and Eidur Gudjohnsen and Thierry Henry completing the rout, Barca moved on to 34 goals for the season, from 10 matches. No team has managed that since the great Real Madrid side of 1959-60.

"Barcelona are right now the best team in Europe," was La Liga commentator Gerry Armstrong's resounding verdict the following day.

Really? Or should that be "Europe's best attacking team"? There were many contrasts between the two games I watched Saturday but the most obvious one was the difference in intensity.

Sure, Arsenal and United played "fantasy football, playground stuff" in the words of Sir Alex Ferguson, but they also closed down space, flew into tackles and ran like men possessed. At the Nou Camp, a staggering amount of time and space was made available to Barca's magnificent front five of Eto'o, Henry, Messi, Gudjohnsen and Xavi, as well as the rampaging Dani Alves.

Only the towering Yaya Toure put in a truly defensive midfield performance against a lightweight Valladolid. Despite that, the visitors could have scored at least twice against a defence featuring former Manchester United centre half Gerard Pique.

Based on that showing, Barca look likely to concede at least two goals every time they encounter Arsenal, United, Chelsea or Liverpool. The question is, could the BPL's Big Four resist Barca's remarkable attacking threat?
"It's been amazing recently," said Gudjohnsen two days later when I caught up with him and former Arsenal stars Henry and Aleksander Hleb after training.

"We have been killing teams off so early in games and then going on and scoring more," said the in-form Icelander.
Henry's take on Barca's recent habit of running up high scores, was characteristically perceptive.

"This is not normal and I have to keep telling everyone this," insisted the Frenchman, who seems a more intense character these days.

"To win by six, five, four, six again, it is not normal. Of course it's fun but it won't mean anything unless we win a trophy.'

Henry is adamant that Barcelona, and La Liga, should not be dismissed out of hand as being all flair and no substance in comparison to the BPL's elite.

"Did you see the running I did out there? I am doing more than I ever did at Arsenal because of the space I get. Did you see what we did against them (Valladolid)? We don't relax, we keep going. Look at Gudi's goal -- we were already four up but we didn't stop playing, didn't stop putting pressure on their goalkeeper.

"And I absolutely disagree that there is more strength in depth in the English league. It is not true because I can safely that at Arsenal we were never once outplayed by a team below us. Not once. We might have been bettered physically, in aggression or whatever you want to call it, but never outplayed. Here, if a team gets the ball off you they will play it around. We went to Getafe last year and didn't get a kick."

Gudjohnsen is all too aware that his former club, Chelsea, and their Big Four rivals look likely to stand between Barca and Europe's top honour this season, but he too demonstrates an intensity and clarity of purpose.

"I'm not going to sit here at Barcelona and say we can't compete with the English clubs. Just look around you. I honestly think I am at the biggest football club anywhere in the world. I am playing football at the highest level of my life."

Of course a lot can happen between now and the business end of the Champions League season, but right now it is reasonable to anticipate something truly magical when the world's best attacking outfit meets one of the English giants.

Why take on another relegation battle at this stage of his career? Why put himself through the awkwardness of Tuesday's unfortunately-timed ceremony awarding him the "freedom" of the city of Portsmouth?

Well, he had already answered that one, to be honest.

"Tottenham is a big, big club," he told The Sun newspaper, adding: "whether they are languishing at the bottom or not.

The crowd, stadium, the whole set-up. It was just too good an offer to turn down."

But just how big is a "big, big" club anyway? It's a question I have found myself asking once or twice this season.

Firstly, on a Football Focus where the pundits discussed a radical proposal to transform the BPL into a 10-team franchise with no relegation and membership by invitation only. Which teams would make it in? And what would the criteria be? At one stage, one pundit suggested Portsmouth make the cut based on the Gaydamak Family's financial clout, at the expense of Everton who appear to be struggling to keep up with the financial pace. Not surprisingly, former Everton ball-boy and captain Steve McMahon was having none of it. Everton, he asserted had always been a big club and always would.

It's the sort of argument one come across when trawling football websites and chat-rooms featuring debates on the definition of a "big club". Most of these debates end up with a BPL "Big Eight" of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Everton, although not always in that order.

Let's put a couple of them to the test in terms of achievement and popularity. Tottenham have won only two top-flight league titles (the last in 1961) even if they have a strong tradition in the cups, with eight FA Cups (the last in 1991), four League Cups and a European Cup Winners' Cup to their name. In this respect, they lag well behind Everton (Nine league titles, five FA Cups and a Cup Winners' Cup) and Aston Villa (seven league titles, seven FA Cups, five League Cups and a prized European Cup).

Newcastle United have won two more league titles (albeit with none since 1927) and have six FA Cups to their name as well as European silverware. Manchester City also have two titles (the last in 1968), four FA Cups, a couple of League Cups and a Cup Winners' Cup.

So, Spurs sit somewhere near the bottom of that second tier of BPL clubs in terms of silverware, but can at least claim recent success. However, they do trail Sunderland, a club which has landed six top-flight titles over the years.

My reasoning for introducing Sunderland becomes apparent when we move on to attendances. Of course, clubs like Spurs are limited by the size of their stadia and often score high in terms of average percentage of capacity, but let's stick to average league attendances for the time being.

Based on last season's figures, Manchester United and Arsenal are not surprisingly placed first and second (with average crowds of 75,690 and 60,070 respectively) but Newcastle's impressive 51,324 grabs third place ahead of Liverpool (43,534). Fifth places goes to Sunderland with 43,343 while Tottenham's average of 35,966 leaves it down in 10th place, behind Manchester City, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Everton, in that order. Portsmouth managed only a poor 19,917, making the club the 30th-best-supported in all England's leagues.

Now that may explain Redknapp's slightly odd reasoning when he said "the crowd, the stadium, the whole set-up" by way of explaining his move from Fratton Park to White Hart Lane. Granted, even Portsmouth fans admit Fratton isn't the best of areas, but any neutral visiting White Hart Lane tends to be underwhelmed.

On my last visit, a month or so ago, my colleagues and I found the ground just as inaccessible as ever. The Press Room was cramped and unimpressive, on a par with Wigan and Fulham. Getting to our seats in time for kickoff proved impossible as up to a dozen stewards (several of them South African backpackers by the sound of things) sent us in the wrong direction. Five minutes after kick off, we finally found out seats and listened to 36,000 fans make a decent amount of noise -- more than West Ham but less than Everton, to this trained ear.

Frankly, it comes as a surprise to be confronted by Tottenham as another somewhat anachronistic English club, when the mind tends to conjure up images of modern, urbane sophistication when one thinks of Spurs Version 2008, David Bentley and all.

Spurs' trip this week to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium (40,000 season-ticket holders, 7,500 premium seats, top-of-the-line corporate hospitality - all of which generates about £3 million for every home game and contributed to turnover of more than £220 million last year) will have reinforced the belief that they must move fast to redevelop White Hart Lane.

Chairman Daniel Levy spoke of doing just that when his report to the club's AGM coincided with the publication of Tottenham's healthy financial results for the year to June 2008 - which, at the time of writing this, are expected to include a profit in excess of £30 million from turnover that may be as high as £110 million.

That excellent earning power leaves Spurs ahead of all but the Champions League-fuelled Big Four in terms of earning power and now there are plans to redevelop the Wingate trading estate adjacent to White Hart Lane. Land has been purchased and planning consultation with the local council is up and running.

"If we had a 50,000 or 60,000-seat stadium," said Redknapp ahead of the Arsenal game, "we'd be filling it and, financially, there would be nothing between the clubs, but it's about what you do on the pitch."

Wednesday night's incredible result demonstrated some of the rebuilding Harry Redknapp needs to do on the pitch while, hopefully, something similarly spectacular happens off it to cement Tottenham's reputation as a genuinely big club.

Seven minutes were left on the clock at St James' Park Monday night when Manchester City's Stephen Ireland flicked the ball up and hit a swerving volley from 25 metres. Initially unsighted, Newcastle 'keeper Shay Given threw himself to his right and made a stunning save with one strong, outstretched hand.

The episode showed two players at the top of their game, football at its most thrilling. The match, which ended 2-2 after Ireland beat Given with another effort late on, featured a controversial red card decision by referee Rob Styles. That has been analysed at length elsewhere but, as far as I am concerned, the game was made truly memorable by that Shay Given save.

Why? Because it was a reminder of football's ability to thrill, to amaze, to get one jumping out of one's armchair. More personally, it shook me out of a depression brought about by a day spent reading articles, blogs and posts on the subject of match-fixing in the professional game.

It was a subject I felt compelled to read up on after a string of match-fixing allegations; a  Norwich City - Derby County game is being investigated after suspicious betting trends developed; investigative journalist Declan Hill's new book "The Fix" (a fascinating study of the structure and mechanics of illegal gambling syndicates) alleges several World Cup 2006 games were fixed; hardly a season goes by without someone from Malaysia writing in to ESPN's Football Focus and "explaining" how football is rigged, largely by Asian gambling syndicates.

So, off I trudged to the Internet, in search of conspiracy theorists.

Type "football" and "fix" into any search engine and you bump straight into Jerry Bullivant. Jerry is a "financial market analyst" who has written the footballisfixed.blogspot.com site since 2006. His aim is to "expose and confront the corruption that blights the beautiful game... to address the regulatory framework that allows such corruption... to optimise the trading [betting] process... to celebrate proper football."

Here's a sample of Bullivant's writing, starting with a September 29 entry: "There was massive fraudulent behaviour in the global betting markets on the weekend's matches. The outcomes of EIGHT matches were decided by controversial refereeing decisions, while extensive hacking across the planet severely disrupted the markets for Saturday's matches."

And more recently: "The Association of British Bookmakers claim that there were no suspicious betting patterns on the Norwich v Derby game, which kind of flies in the face of the fact that the corruption was exposed by Spreadex, a British firm. The money surfaced across the planet at Half Time, not just the Philippines. What are these people looking at? Yesterday, we traded on every Premiership game. Every single match was manipulated in one way or another."

Elsewhere on line, I visited a football tipping site which, under the heading "Advanced Betting Strategies", featured an article titled "Fixed Football Matches".

It listed Italy's Calciopoli scandal and Germany's bent referee, Robert Hoyser, as evidence of corruption and then made a sales pitch to prospective clients.

It read: "There is no monopoly that is single-handedly responsible for all or most of the fixed matches. At best, there is a fragmented cartel structure dominating the football betting market made up of different parties and for various reasons...Because there is the possibility that someone or some group of people know to a good extent what's going to happen for certain matches and will likely stake a sizeable sum of money on this, we can look for signals of this in the markets."

Lastly, here is a blog written by a Malaysian gambler under the heading "Ball is Round". In it, he sets out to explain how the Asian Handicap works. These are his unedited words:

"Normally an Asian handicap (AH) will open two plates for punters at each match. Some bookies may open three plates as well, which is the upper and lower limit plate plus the original plate. For example, 1/2 ball, the upper limit is 3/4 ball and the lower limit is 1/4 ball. Example - Liverpool vs. West Ham, assume the two plates are Liverpool gives 3/4 ball win 80 lose full, Liverpool gives 1 ball win full lose 95. And West Ham eat 3/4 ball win full lose 85, West Ham eat 1 ball win 90 lose full."

While I recognize all of the individual words, I have no idea what the above paragraph means. As you might have guessed, I am not in the habit of betting on football, or on anything for that matter. Don't think I'm claiming the moral high ground here; it's just that on the very rare occasions when I have taken up a colleague's challenge, or if someone has talked me into making a prediction on a match, it has absolutely ruined my enjoyment of the game in question. Even Fantasy Football can be a drag at times if one ends up worrying more about "your" players' individual scores than the genuinely interesting aspects of any given game.

An advert for an online betting company in the UK uses the slogan, "It matters more when there's money on it". As far as I'm concerned, it matters too much when there's money on it. The football gambler sees conspiracy in every refereeing decision, own goal and error. The football gambler cannot accept many of the vagaries of sport, and life. Just as religious fanaticism, political extremism or extreme personality traits lead people to bend any set of circumstances to fit their own viewpoint, so the football gambler watches a match in a blinkered, obsessive way.

I have no way of knowing if football matches are manipulated, nor would I dream of telling anyone not to gamble. I just know that moments such as that provided by Stephen Ireland and Shay Given on Monday remind me why I love the game, and really don't care who wins or loses, be it points or money.

According to Davies, the England coach asked the FA to look into recruiting Carlo Cudicini, Steed Malbranque, Edu and Louis Saha. At that time, none of the four had played for their own nations and would have been eligible for England under FIFA's residence rules.

As it happened, Saha and Edu were swiftly called up by France and Brazil respectively, while Eriksson was dissuaded from courting Cudicini in case he alienated the English-born goalkeepers by so doing. Although the English public and press were spared from having to react to such a move back then, they could yet form an opinion should Arsenal's ‘keeper Manuel Almunia choose to represent England, where he has lived since 2004.

England's cricket and rugby fans have grown used to the policy of playing "naturalised" talents but the football team is very late in coming to the party. Had England been at Euro 2008, in place of Russia, they would have been in the company of 44 "foreign" players spread over various squads.

Some nations, like France (who had seven players in the Euro squad who were born outside the country), will always have this kind of situation due to the country's ethnic diversity. Yet it is amazing to think that Croatia had seven "imports" while there were five apiece in the squads representing Germany (their imports were born in Brazil, Poland (3) and Switzerland), Portugal (Brazil (2), Cape Verde, Zaire and France) and Switzerland (Cape Verde, Colombia, Yugoslavia (2) and Cote D'Ivoire).

If there was one import who really stood out at the Euros, though, it had to be Poland's Roger Guerreiro. He was born in Brazil and is an excellent, creative player, but probably not good enough to make it into his own national team. So, after two years of playing for Legia Warsaw, the Polish FA asked him how he felt about playing international football for them instead. He was granted citizenship in April this year (by the Polish president himself, to whom he spoke in Portuguese) and played at Euro 2008.

His inclusion in that squad drew a mixed reaction in Poland even though he wasn't the first foreigner to play for them.

Emmanuel Olisadebe had a Polish wife and had travelled to the country as a youngster to try and make it as a pro. In contrast, Guerreiro had more in common with fellow Euro 2008 ex-Brazilians Mehmet Aureliuo (Turkey) and Pepe (Portugal) who arrived in their respective countries as profesionals.

To be frank, he had even more in common with the now-notorious Brazilian trio of Ailton, Dede and Leandro who four years ago were responsible for FIFA introducing emergency measures to stop players and national associations from abusing its rules on switching nationality.

The three Brazilians, all based in Germany and not yet Brazilian internationals, accepted an offer from Qatar (Ailton was allegedly offered one million US dollars) to take up citizenship despite never having set foot in the Gulf state. Their case followed that of five Brazilians who were given citizenship by Togo the previous year. FIFA swiftly re-wrote its statutes so they required a connection with the country planning to grant citizenship. They now state that a player must either have lived in a country for at least two years or have a parent or grandparent who was born there.

Qatar's football authorities have not been entirely deterred from their policy of importing talent. When you consider that the country has a population of 850,000 and that only one quarter of them are actually Qatari and half of them male, it becomes clear why the nation has decided to "buy" its way to success on the Asian football field with its petro-dollars.

Singapore has done something similar in terms of foreign talent but only competes effectively as yet at the Southeast Asian level. The fact that Qatar made it through to Asia's final round of World Cup qualifiers demands attention. A heavy defeat this Wednesday in Australia would suggest they will struggle to make it through to South Africa 2010 but the Qatar story is one that continues to vex those who stick to traditional football values.

When they lined up against the Socceroos, Qatar fielded a team featuring star striker Sebastian Quintana (Uruguayan-born), former Brazilian Fabio Cesar and ex-Senegalese stopper Kone. One player who did not feature was a Brazilian called Emerson. He played in Qatar's vital win over Iraq in March even though he contravened FIFA rules in doing so (he had previously represented Brazil at youth level). Iraq appealed the game's result but FIFA cleared Qatar of wrongdoing and then the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled against Iraq on a technicality (apparently they were late in paying the necessary FIFA fees).

Others will go where Qatar have pioneered. Despite that defeat against Australia, they don't look that far off the pace. A bit more bite in midfield, perhaps. A better goalkeeper, definitely. If you're reading this Senor Almunia, it might be worth thinking about.

Most notably, Joe Kinnear launched his interim stewardship of Newcastle United with a blistering assault on a couple of reporters for UK dailies, abusing them personally in coruscating language and then describing their colleagues as "slimy".

Next, Sir Alex Ferguson declared he would never again talk to the Press (outside of mandatory UEFA pre-match press conferences) as long as he is in charge at Old Trafford.

"You will never get any help out of me again," he promised (expletives deleted). "From now on, no matter how many miles you travel to get an interview, you won't get one."

Both Kinnear and Ferguson took offence at what they considered to be inaccurate or unfairly critical coverage by newspapers. Should they ventured into the blogosphere, they would find similar complaints penned every day of the week by football fans.

At the BBC's 606 site, a furious Manchester City fan rails against perceived media negativity over the club's recent rise to the top of the Rich List. He cites four recent headlines: "United rubbish City's Ronaldo talk", "Buffon laughs off City link", "Kaka brushes of City rumours" and "Fabregas dismises City link" as evidence of a mistaken, short-term view of what is happening at Eastlands. He may have a point.

Meanwhile, over at the Birmingham Post's SportBlog, a writer wearily points out that a stellar weekend of results for clubs from the Midlands (two weeks ago) was yet again been overlooked by a football press concerned solely with London clubs, Liverpool and Manchester United, and events in the Northeast.

Liverpool fans have long complained of an anti-Rafa Benitez agenda from the London-based national press, Newcastle fans have complained of being ridiculed by "snobbish" Southerners and anyone who takes on the role of West Ham manager invariably ends up lamenting the fact that 75 per cent of London-based footballer writers seem to support the Hammers.

But one should hardly be surprised by all this. Supporting a football team is, by its nature, a highly subjective occupation and one riddled with historic rivalries, illogical antipathies and sheer bloody-mindedness. Show me a pundit/analyst/reporter who actively supports a football cub and I'll show you someone who regularly loses sight of the objectivity his job is supposed to demand.

To be truthful, Britain doesn't know how lucky it is when it comes to its Press and its sporting allegiances; even if individual journalists or publications may be accused of bias, they never come out and overtly support one club or another. Were they working in Spain or Italy, things would be very different.

Last season, as Internazionale were romping to the 2007/08 Scudetto with just one league defeat in the calendar year, the club launched a "silenzio stampa" or silent protest at alleged press bias.

It followed a controversial win over Parma and Roberto Mancini's bizarre omission from the shortlist for the Oscar del Calcio Coach of the Year award. Mancini and the club said they felt the media in general were painting the Nerazzurri as being dominant only because of the Calciopoli match-fixing crisis which weakened their most immediate rivals, AC Milan and Juventus.

Inter had no qualms about making such an accusation because it is accepted, as a matter of course, that newspapers in Italy do have a natural bias towards a certain team or region.

The leading sports daily, Gazetta dello Sport, is based in Milan and will always favour that city's clubs over Juventus, while Tuttosport is Turin-based and naturally does the opposite. Roman clubs have their causes championed by Il Corriere dello Sport. It is also quite acceptable among journalists and editors at these and other newspapers to openly declare their support for a certain team.

In Spain, the best-selling sports paper, Marca, is a royalist paper that is completely biased towards Real Madrid. Marca journalists turned up at a Euro 2008 press conference staged by Portugal so they could "present" Cristiano Ronaldo with a Real Madrid shirt bearing his name on its back. Another Madrid-based paper, As, is number two in terms of circulation.

Over in the Barcelona corner, the third- and fourth-best sellers are Sport and Mundo Deportivo. They never waste an opportunity to ridicule Real Madrid through a headline.

These are just two examples of countries where the press operates along different lines from the UK model. Italian and Spanish fans may argue that theirs is the better system because it is more transparent.

But then, they might also argue they have the better football league too. That is one argument that will never be resolved. It's a matter of personal taste, to be honest -- a bit like the way one chooses where and how to read about the game. Because, at the end of the day, it comes down to choice, and Heaven knows there's plenty of that about.

He's an ageing (30 this month) midfielder with an unfashionable Premier League team (Fulham) who is only on the fringes of the national team and is valued at "just" 4 million pounds according to a newspaper which recently linked him with a move to Everton.

Yet Bullard is near the top of many football writers' wish-lists when it comes to a sit-down interview. Just as he is massively in demand with those who trawl YouTube in search of football-related funnies.

Type the mop-haired midfielder's name into the aforementioned video-sharing site and up will pop clips of Jimmy Bullard attempting to sprint the length of the pitch and score after a floodlight failure; Jimmy charging towards a scrum of fighting Wigan and Everton players, then gleefully diving over the top of it as a bemused referee looks on. Then there's a naked Jimmy re-enacting some kind of chariot race in a plastic laundry bin at the JJB Stadium. Jimmy won the hearts of UK football show Soccer Am when he stood next to a seething Duncan Ferguson and pulled a silly face.

Yet there is far more to Jimmy Bullard than clips of him dissolving in tears of laughter while trying to record a TV interview. Sit alongside him, as I did after training at Fulham's New Malden complex one afternoon, and it's hard not to notice the shiny scar that covers his right knee cap. It is a reminder of the darkest days of his career and also a pointer toward his remarkable powers of recovery.

Bullard dislocated his kneecap and suffered cruciate ligament damage two years ago in an awkward challenge with Newcastle's Scott Parker. YouTube accurately, if illegally, carries a vivid depiction of the damage as it was done. Dr Richard Steadman, the renowned American ski-injury specialist, rebuilt the Bullard knee, just as he has those of many top footballers. Then it was re-hab time.

"There were times when I was over there [Bullard nods towards the club's weights room], looking out the window at the lads training, and I wondered if I would ever kick a ball again," he admits.
"They were dark days for me."

It's hard to imagine this bubbly, immensely likeable man ever having to overcome self-doubt and depression, but he did. Bullard fought his way back to fitness and then played a major role in helping Fulham pull off an almost miraculous escape from relegation last season. Indeed, such has been is impact on a resurgent Fulham that England coach Fabio Capello called Bullard into his squad for the opening World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Croatia.

Bullard may not have made it onto the pitch in ether game but you can be sure he has left his mark on the manager, as much through his sheer force of personality as through his football. Simply put, there would not have been a player in that squad who prized his place more highly.

"I didn't think my chance was ever gone but maybe faded away," he admitted. "Just to get back playing football was the first thing, so to get called up was brilliant."

Before the knee injury, Bullard's call-up would have been a nice-enough story of perseverance and self-belief. After all, the 29-year-old who linked up with Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole under Capello was the same lad who had been rejected by their former club West Ham for not being up to standard. West Ham had originally paid 30,000 pounds to non-league Gravesend in 1999 so they could take a chance on a young lad who was then serving an apprenticeship as a painter and decorator with his father's firm.

When he left Upton Park on a free transfer, Bullard found himself playing lower league football with Peterborough before Wigan paid 250,000 pounds to take him on. Even then, it took them two promotions to rise from League One to Premier League status. When he moved to Fulham, his value had risen to 2.5 million pounds.

Bullard attributes his self-belief to the influence of his parents, his father especially.

"He said I would make it, but only if I really wanted it and spelt it out in black and white for me. He told me I had to train hard. I believe that if you have got the ability and you keep dedicating yourself to the game then you will get spotted some day."

And, despite his slight frame, Bullard finally toughened up enough to play at the very top level. Perhaps one should not be surprised that he succeeded once he put his mind to it. After all, anyone who can play golf off a scratch handicap and also win trophies at competition fishing must have some truly remarkable capacity for focusing on the task at hand.

Those qualities clearly helped Bullard through those dark days at New Malden when Fulham were floundering on the pitch and sacking Lawrie Sanchez (the man who had signed Bullard).

"There were a lot of tough times going through the injury," he repeats. "You get a lot of dips in rehab. It definitely makes you a stronger person as well as a better footballer.

I appreciate it so much more now. I value being able to do this and I want to make the most of it."

He's a more serious character these days, Jimmy Bullard.

But not all the time. The next time I saw Jimmy, he was back on Soccer AM trying to chip golf balls into a bucket in a "Ryder Cup" competition with American teammate Clint Dempsey. Needless to say, the contest ended all square thanks to some generosity from Bullard, who before long jumped on top of his teammate and said his goodbyes to the camera while sprawled, laughing helplessly, on the ground.

Newcastle United, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur have been making enough headlines already this season but the last two weekends saw them take their respective dramas to new heights.

First, Newcastle, whose game against West Ham at Upton Park was played out under blue skies and in a party atmosphere: Upton Park was abuzz at the prospect of Gianfranco Zola's first game in charge. The Hammers had been in good enough home form already this term to warrant a degree of optimism. However, the home fans seemed prepared to deal only in superlatives.

Without resorting to the word "Messiah" -- one so loved by Saturday's opposing fans -- the Upton Park faithful seem convinced that unqualified, inexperienced manager Zola is going to take the club to dizzying heights. Indeed, such was the extent of the hysteria gripping them that on-loan striker Di Michele's two goals against a woeful Toon defence prompted one elderly fan, who should have known better, to comment, "Dean Ashton's never going to get back in the team now."

But when it comes to limitless optimism, West Ham were in the presence of the best in the business: Newcastle took up their full allocation of tickets for away fans and packed their corner of the stadium with singing, cheering, ebullient Geordies. A weird juxtaposition, given the limp, uninspired showing on the pitch in front of them by the team they so passionately support.

Indeed, on a TV talk show the next day, a Geordie journalist from one of the leading dailies spoke with unabashed pride of the "magnificent" Newcastle fans at the game. Another insisted that once Mike Ashley (or whoever he sells to) understands just how much the fans love the club then things will magically start to improve.

But, like many great love stories, this one is turning tragic. Those magnificent fans were witness to a shocking display from their managerless, rudderless team. Newcastle contrived to have the game lost at 3-0 down before they started to play the football they are capable of. Michael Owen scored a classy goal and they proceeded to pound a West Ham defence which will leak loads of goals this season, even with Zola and Steve Clarke to educate them.

But of course it was all in vain for Newcastle -- yet another rousing failure. And so the fans sing, and exhort the team to attack at all costs. More performances like that one and Newcastle will be in serious trouble. Off the field, the farce continues to take turn after comical turn.

Perhaps the likes of Mike Ashley feel they can continue down this path because the fans are so blindly in love with being magnificent that it doesn't occur to them to do what anyone else would do in this situation.

Should the Toon Army refuse to pay to watch this half-baked nonsense then maybe it would hit the owners where it hurts: in the pocket. Should their criticism prompt players to leave, then perhaps it would provide the sort of shock needed to effect change.

"This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better," said one Geordie fan Saturday night. "Perhaps we just need to get relegated and start all over again."

Speaking of relegation, Sheffield United's revenge on West Ham (from beyond the grave, so to speak) will create all manner of problems for the new management team. Here's hoping the supporters at Upton Park recover from their attack of hyperbole fast and accept the reality of the tough job that awaits Messrs Zola and Clarke.

So, for West Ham and Newcastle a reality check would be a good thing. Over at White Hart Lane, there is another altogether more unsettling problem developing, precisely because the fans there have been experiencing one long reality check ever since season 2008/9 kicked off. A Carling Cup win and a summer of eye-catching transfer activity left us all expecting fireworks from Juande Ramos' men. This was one set of supporters with every right to exhibit limitless optimism.

By the time I took in last week's wretched home league fixtures (defeat by Aston Villa and a lifeless draw with Wigan), that optimism had been replaced with a troubling set of emotions: anger at the executives for selling proven goal-scorers and bringing in mercurial talents who cannot gel into a team; embarrassment at sitting rooted to the foot of the table; and, most troubling of all, a growing sense of doubt.

Spurs fans are beginning to doubt their much-vaunted manager, doubt the commitment of one or two of the new boys and perhaps to doubt their own traditional virtue of shoulder-shrugging stoicism in the face of disappointment.

West Ham and Newcastle may be in for dramas aplenty - all star names and sensational headlines -- in the days to come, but it's the slow unravelling of Spurs' season that worries me most right now.

Jose Mourinho may be up to his old tricks on new turf, antagonising opponents in Serie A, but he is not being missed in England quite as much as one might have expected.

The reason: there' a new Jose in town. Actually, that's being unkind to Luiz Felipe Scolari who is already proving to be every bit as entertaining as his charismatic Portuguese predecessor. This week's press conference at Stamford Bridge ahead of the Bordeaux Champions League match saw Scolari at the top of his game.

With a personal style that falls somewhere between avuncular and garrulous, as well possessing a genuine twinkle in his eye, Scolari turns even the most mundane of questions into dramas. He was highly amused to hear a journalist call John Obi Mikel (who sat alongside his manager) by the name "John" when everyone one at Stamford Bridge apparently calls him Mikel.

With his shoulder shrugs, wide-eyed protestations and quaint English phrasing, Scolari disarms even the most predatory of journalists. Chelsea's formerly uptight press officers would not dream now of censoring his comments or telling him not to answer a question.

Sure enough, given this refreshing new era of transparency at Stamford Bridge, the predators got stuck in. Several reporters pursued a line of questioning that pre-supposes Chelsea and Scolari have been told by club owner Roman Abramovich to make winning the Champions League this season's number one priority. One journalist suggested that Mourinho (and to a lesser extent Avram Grant and Claudio Ranieri) had lost their jobs because of a failure to win Europe's top trophy.

"The previous manager was not sacked because of the Champions League," insisted Scolari, for once unsmiling. "You are wrong. You do not know the history. I know why. Not to win, the coach is out? No, it's not this."

That outburst aside, Big Phil was in hilarious form. Asked if his preparations for the Bordeaux game were overshadowed by Sunday's domestic clash with Manchester United, Scolari replied: "Am I thinking about Sunday? Of course not. I might be dead before then."

When the relentless journalists persisted with questions about Chelsea's priorities, Scolari enlisted the help of "Mikel", who had spent the press conference grinning broadly at his boss's pronouncements.

"If you asked ‘John' which of the Premier League, Champions League, Carling Cup and FA Cup he most wants to win, I know he will say, ‘all of them'. Right, ‘John'?"

"Yes, all of them," grinned the player.

"I'm glad you said that or I'd have killed you," laughed Scolari before throwing a fatherly arm around his player's shoulders.

Scolari's charm and comedic skills nonetheless disguise a keen professionalism. He may be a Champions League debutant but we should remember he has twice won the Copa Libertadores, South America's equivalent competition.

During the Bordeaux briefing, an innocuous question from a French journalist, who suspected Scolari did not know much about the modest French outfit, was met with a bombardment of facts, figures and insights from a bristling Brazilian. Scolari knows his stuff, he does his homework and he makes sure everyone knows it.

On the pitch, Chelsea look the strongest outfit in England, possibly Europe, right now. Off it, Scolari looks capable of keeping the ship on course, no matter who tries to rock the boat. His laugh-a-minute press conferences promise to be a highlight of his time at the club.

"That was a lot of fun," said one seasoned reporter. "I only hope he doesn't become morose as time goes on."

It is a good point. Despite Scolari's vehement protests, most of the newspapers went ahead and wrote stories claiming the manager is "feeling the heat" over Chelsea's Champions League ambitions.

For the time being, Scolari is making all the right noises. He cleverly refused to make any provocative public comments on the appeal against John Terry's three-match ban. "It's down to the FA to make a judgement," he shrugged on Monday. By Tuesday, the FA made its judgement, overturning the referee's decision and infuriating Sir Alex Ferguson in the process.

Score one for Scolari. The manager's willingness to speak to the media at length will also make him friends in the UK-based press corps. However, he also makes a point of laughing, joking and speaking Portuguese with the ever-present Brazilian and Portuguese media.

The real test of Scolari's media skills will come when things get competitive in the BPL and Europe. When Fergie, Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez start to play mind games, when the press stirs things up, only then will we know if Scolari's pigeon-English and shoulder shrugs will be enough. One thing is for sure though - it's going to be fun finding out.

Midway through the first half of Spurs' 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa Monday, the away fans began chanting the name Martin Jol, Tottenham's previous manager. Even at that early stage, it was obvious to them that current boss Juande Ramos is feeling the heat.

The White Hart Lane faithful may have given Ramos the benefit of the doubt after a battling draw with Chelsea last time out but their misgivings surfaced long before the end of a defeat which has consigned Spurs to their worst start to a league campaign for 34 years.

A starting lineup missing the injured skipper Ledley King and the talented trio of David Bentley, Giovani and Jermaine Jenas suggested Ramos may have had one eye on Thursday's UEFA Cup encounter with Wisla Krakow. Martin O'Neill's side duly capitalised against a home side lacking balance and purpose.

It took Villa just four minutes to go in front, Nigel Reo-Coker scoring after Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor turned disappointing debutant right back Vedran Corluka inside out.

The ineffectual Luka Modric departed within 30 minutes, replaced by Jenas who wasted no time in becoming Spurs' most effective player. Another debutant, Roman Pavlyuchenko was to endure a frustrating first outing up front with Darren Bent.

Villa could have been three goals up at the break but were frustrated by goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes who pulled off two remarkable saves in the space of three minutes. Spurs duly replaced Didier Zokora with David Bentley having been booed off at the interval.

Gomes then let himself down badly, allowing an Ashley Young shot to go straight through him with the second half barely 10 minutes old.

Ramos was on the verge of panic by this stage and went to a back three when Giovani replaced Michael Dawson. Spurs launched wave after wave of attacks against a resolute Villa backline but could only find a way past Brad Friedel with four minutes left. Even then, the goal was a fortuitous one, a Jenas shot deflecting in off Bent.

Villa had chances to wrap the game up on the break but ended up holding on for a win which moves them into the top four. O'Neill will have been alarmed to see John Carew depart injured but was at least able to hand new boy James Milner some valuable game time.

Tottenham and Ramos now face must-win home encounters against Wisla Krakow Thursday and Wigan on Sunday if they are to turn around a season which began with such high hopes but which has already taken an alarming turn.

Saturday's Barclays Premier League showdowns at Anfield and Eastlands were billed as "New Money versus Old Money", "the Clash of the Cash", "the Battle of the Bilionaires" and so on.  As it turned out, events on the pitch proved to be utterly compelling and initial reaction focused on debut goals and sendings-off.

However, by the time Sunday came along, newspapers were full of reflective pieces grappling with the money-related goings-on outside Anfield and St. James' Park. There was no shortage of soul-searching and philosophical musing on the direction that football in this country appears to be taking.

In the Mail on Sunday, Daniel King wrote a piece headlined "Football club for sale: only the very, very rich need apply" in which he noted that fans at Liverpool and Newcastle showed disappointment with their super-rich owners for apparently not being rich enough when it comes to taking the clubs forward.

"The reality," wrote King, "is that in the "Greed is Good" Premier League it is now not enough simply to be rich. To succeed and to keep the fans happy, you need to be very, very rich. "

Later, he commented on the protest marches against owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett by a supporters group calling itself Spirit of Shankly or SOS.

King asked: "What would Bill Shankly have made of supporters who marched under his name, demanding the departure of the club's co-owners because they had not proved to be as rich and beneficent as had been hoped."

I was fortunate enough to witness Robinho's debut goal at the City of Manchester and Chelsea's awesome reaction. I was even more fortunate to spend some time post-match in the Directors' Lounge where City's well-heeled and influential supporters tried to come to terms with life under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour.

It has to be said that most of them are loving it. They engaged in a humorous debate about what constitutes a "fit and proper" owner, speculated out loud on potential signings and took comfort from the fact that Manchester United had also lost on Saturday.

Outside the lounge, City Chairman Dr Thaksin Shinawatra was asked by a news crew to explain why he had sold the club to the Abu Dhabi investors.  

"To take the club forward today you need an owner with very deep pockets," he shrugged. Fans seemed happy enough with his explanation. As they filed out of the ground, the majority of City's supporters seemed to think the club was indeed going forward.

But not everyone is convinced.  In Monday's The Times, renowned sports columnist Simon Barnes expressed severe resignations about the new breed of football club owner.

"The Premier League," he wrote, "is turning into the America's Cup, a yachting event that reflects not sporting excellence but the depth of the pockets of the owners. The America's Cup matters only to a few buffs and a handful of billionaires. Is football heading the same way?"

Barnes argued that Saturday's demonstrations showed that fans want football clubs to continue to represent the community from which they sprung. Alas, he concluded that it is simply not going to happen. Football, he sadly conceded, is slowly losing touch with those who love it the most.

Depressing stuff. But let's not give up just yet. City's fans showed they believe there is a compromise position available: one whereby they get the players and success they crave, but stay true to the essence of Manchester City.

If Mike Ashley manages to find a buyer for Newcastle, we will see if a similar compromise can be reached. The Toon fans are loyal, passionate but highly suspicious of outsiders who may not share their singular passion. 

We wait with bated breath, Britain's sports journalists wait with sharpened pencils.

Simply put, it didn't happen. To start with, the top journalists (with one or two exceptions) were nowhere to be seen. The allure of Manchester United's press conference (scheduled at more or less the same time as Liverpool's) and Manchester City's, ahead of their mouth-watering clash with Chelsea, obviously proved more appealing to the sports writers.

Those who did catch up with Rafa were then given further insight into the Spaniard's oft-criticised priorities.

While insisting that Liverpool's poor record in the league against United wasn't entirely representative of his team's performances in those games, Rafa was in no mood to make any swashbuckling statements of intent. He insisted it was far too early in the season for the game to have any bearing on the title race and refused to say whether or not Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres would start the game, despite saying they would be in the matchday squad.

In fact, the most telling statement of the day came from another Spaniard entirely.

Journalist Guillem Balague, a confidant of the top players, managers and clubs in Europe, was asked a lot of questions after the press conference by other reporters anxious to get the lowdown on Liverpool's new left winger Albert Riera.

He spoke very positively about the former Manchester City and Espanyol player but then expressed surprise at the notion that Gerrard and Torres might even be considered for the starting XI.

"The Champions League game next week is more important," he insisted. Of course a Liverpool executive will make all the right noises about a game against United being more important, but Rafa knows it is more of a priority to get off to a good start in Europe."

Of course, I have to stress these are Mr Ballague's thoughts, but the fact he was so matter-of-fact about it all, combined with his genuine insight into the workings of Rafa Benitez's mind, tend to make one suspect that he is not far from the truth.

It will be fascinating to see how Liverpool's fans and ex-players will react if both superstars are on the bench at the start of the United game. Given that one Liverpool supporters group has said it will be staging a protest against the club's American owners before the game, it could all add up to a spicy afternoon.

So, he asked one not-so-happy Hammer, who's your choice to replace Alan Curbishley?

"That Donaldini one," answered the fan.

Er, right. Would that be Roberto Donadoni, Roberto Mancini or even the leading candidate, Gianfranco Zola? Or perhaps a composite of the three? Essentially then, an Italian. Any Italian. Because they're Continental, right? And that's what we're after; an Italian manages England, another's off to a good start with the Irish and we all know Continental is the way to go.

In all seriousness, the slightly-confused fan was simply articulating the mood of a club which appointed an Italian (Gianluca Nani) as its sporting director, and also the mood of the BPL as a whole.

With the departure of Curbishley as well as Kevin Keegan at Newcastle, the number of British managers running BPL clubs was only modestly reduced last week.

There is actually a healthy representation of managers from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland at work in the league this season. However, the tumultuous developments of the last fortnight at Manchester City, Newcastle and West Ham are beginning to suggest that the "traditional" British manager could become a dying breed.

By traditional, we don't necessarily mean Sir Alex Ferguson (who is in a category all of his own), but rather the typical manager of the last 50 years who had a say in the running of most departments of his football club, especially the hiring and firing of players.

Go the website of the League Managers Association and click on the dropdown box labeled "available managers". Up pop the names of managers, registered with the LMA and presumable not in arrears when it comes to their annual subscriptions, who technically are still seeking employment as managers rather than TV pundits.

Here are some of those names, representing just a fraction of the total list: Sam Allardyce, Dave Bassett, Alan Curbishley, Billy Davies, Trevor Francis, George Graham, John Gregory, Glen Hoddle, Kevin Keegan, David O'Leary, Bryan Robson, Joe Royle, Lawrie Sanchez, Graeme Souness, Gianluca Vialli, Mike Walker.

All of the above have managed clubs in English football's top flight. There is a chance none of them will get the chance again unless they bring a team up from a lower division.

The reason: with new money and new ideas flowing into the game faster than floodwater into English city centres in summer time, it has become fashionable to appoint technical directors, sporting directors and general managers and then to bring in a "head coach" or even "trainer" to prepare the team. The guys listed above might be welcome to apply for such a position, but they would be well advised to defer to their employers when it comes to transfer dealings.

Consider this recent comment from Formula One team boss, international playboy and Queen's Park Rangers co-owner Flavio Briatore:

"I don't trust anyone with my money. Sometimes I will ask the manager of the bank but not the coach. This is our money which we want to spend in our direction. We will use the knowledge of the coach but I believe everybody needs to do their own job."

It should not come as a shock to read something like that. After all, the football manager's power has been steadily eroded over the past 30 years. First it was the commercial manager, appointed to exploit other means of income apart from a winning team. Then the rule forbidding paid directors was lifted, thus spawning the hands-on chairman who became chief executive with a handsome salary to match.

Clubs then became public limited companies and that gave major shareholders the muscle to challenge a manager's position, or at least make it uncomfortable.

People often cite Brian Clough and Sir Alex Ferguson as being the two great untouchables of football management, with a nod to the continuity achieved by at Anfield in Liverpool's heyday. However, people also tend to mention Harry Redknapp's name in these discussions without recalling that he actually left Portsmouth some years back when an executive director, Velimir Zajec, arrived to oversee things.

In doing so, Redknapp actually reinvented the role of the manager. He went to Southampton and then came back as more of a technical/executive director than an actual old-school manager. While Joe Jordan and Tony Adams coach the players at Fratton Park, Redknapp recruits players, works closely with his chief executive to nurture Sascha Gaydamak's investment and would be forgiven for periodically asking just where Velimir Zajec is these days, eh?

With backers demanding immediate returns on their investment in clubs, it is easy to see the life expectancy of head coaches in the BPL getting shorter and shorter.

However, the clubs are crying out for "technical directors" who can provide some kind of continuity, as well as a link with the club's traditions. If the likes of Sam Allardyce and Alan Curbishley really are serious about working in the BP again, perhaps they have to reinvent themselves as "technical directors" and carefully leave the word "manager" out of all future job applications.

It is a given that in any English football season, Liverpool  versus Manchester United stands out from the rest of the fixtures. Given Liverpool's solid start to the latest campaign and supposed title ambitions, Saturday's clash at Anfield was always going to attract plenty of hype.

SKY Sports have duly billed it as a "High Noon Showdown" and some of Liverpool's Latin contingent have played along, with assistant coach Mauricio Pellegrino describing the game as the biggest derby in the world and Javier Mascherano declaring that it's about a lot more than three points.

So I arrived in Liverpool (at the start of a 10-day trip that will take in big BPL and Champions League games in Liverpool, Manchester and London) and headed off to Melwood for Rafa Benitez's pre-match press conference expecting more of the same.

Simply put, it didn't happen. To start with, the top journalists (with one or two exceptions) were nowhere to be seen.  The allure of Manchester United's press conference (scheduled at more or less the same time as Liverpool's) and Manchester City's, ahead of their mouth-watering clash with Chelsea, obviously proved more appealing to the sports writers.

Those who did catch up with Rafa were then given further insight into the Spaniard's oft-criticised priorities.

While insisting that Liverpool's poor record in the league against United wasn't entirely representative of his team's performances in those games, Rafa was in no mood to make any swashbuckling statements of intent. He insisted it was far too early in the season for the game to have any bearing on the title race and refused to say whether or not Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres would start the game, despite saying they would be in the matchday squad.

In fact, the most telling statement of the day came from another Spaniard entirely.

Journalist Guillem Balague, a confidant of the top players, managers and clubs in Europe, was asked a lot of questions after the press conference by other reporters anxious to get the lowdown on Liverpool's new left winger Albert Riera.

He spoke very positively about the former Manchester City and Espanyol player but then expressed surprise at the notion that Gerrard and Torres might even be considered for the starting XI.

"The Champions League game next week is more important," he insisted. Of course a Liverpool executive will make all the right noises about a game against United being more important, but Rafa knows it is more of a priority to get off to a good start in Europe."

Of course, I have to stress these are Mr Ballague's thoughts, but the fact he was so matter-of-fact about it all, combined with his genuine insight into the workings of Rafa Benitez's mind, tend to make one suspect that he is not far from the truth.

It will be fascinating to see how Liverpool's fans and ex-players will react if both superstars are on the bench at the start of the United game. Given that one Liverpool supporters group has said it will be staging a protest against the club's American owners before the game, it could all add up to a spicy afternoon.

Even before the guys from Abu Dhabi decided to "sheikh up" the world of football this week, it had begun to feel like something different was happening; the natural order of things just don't seem that normal this season.

For instance, our knee-jerk reaction to last week's Champions League draw went along the lines of, "all the big teams should get through unscathed". Then things started happening that may just force our reaction to be reconsidered.

It began on that peculiar Monagesque rooftop pitch we visit each year for the Euro Super Cup. As Roman Abramovich and Guus Hiddink looked on delightedly, Zenit St Petersburg ran rings around the reigning European Champions, ultimately provoking Paul Scholes into a moment of madness.

Zenit of course don't belong to Abramovich. Rather it's money from Gazprom (the world's fourth largest company) that has helped the UEFA Cup winners become a truly awesome outfit. We'll come back to the theme of money shortly, but imagine how Juventus and Real Madrid felt when they saw their Champions League Group H rivals Zenit giving United such a hard time.

Perhaps that contributed to the poor starts both teams made to their respective Serie A and La Liga campaigns; Juventus only managed an opening day draw (as did Inter and Roma), but at least they didn't get beaten, as was the case with much-hyped AC Milan.

Meanwhile, over in Spain last weekend there were defeats for both Real (against bogey team Deportivo) and Barcelona, at the hands of newly-promoted Numancia in a match which bizarrely saw the home team's eight ball-boys red-carded by the referee for allegedly returning the ball too slowly for Barca to get an equalizer.

Imagine if Manchester United and Chelsea had both lost on opening day in the BPL and you get a measure of what a remarkable La Liga kick-off it was. By the way, Atletico got off to a flyer, scoring four and confirming suggestions that they could really trouble the big two.

Fiorentina are in the Champions League, in a less-than-intimidating group F lineup. Don't be surprised if the team in violet does just as well as any of their fellow Italian hopefuls. Similarly, Villareal may have just as good a chance of progressing to the knockout stage as Real or Barca.

After all, Real's recent Champions League record has been wretched and the Spanish "giants" slipped significantly behind their English rivals last season. On that evidence, it's fair to say that any challenge to the Chelseas and Uniteds this season could come from an unexpected quarter.

Maybe not from somewhere like BATE Borisov, or Chelsea's group opponents CFR. Yes, they are in the competition on merit and while they probably won't make it through from the group stages, do look out for another of the newcomers with a funny team name.

Anorthosis Famagusta, who hail from Cyprus, are coached by former Newcastle player Temuri Ketsbaia and will provide a real challenge for Panathinaikos, Bremen and Inter in Group B. They eliminated Rapid Vienna and Olympiakos to get into the draw and have a chairman who is happy to throw cash about (he just gave the players a one million euro bonus for their efforts).

So, Zenit and Famagusta could shock people this season. By next season we might be looking out for rags-to-riches Bundesliga side Hoffenheim (bankrolled by a software billionaire) to be doing something similar. Of course Manchester City could now be in the frame to challenge for Euro honours in a season or so, while Russian roubles will likely propel other "investments" into Europe.

UEFA President Michael Platini has famously spoken of the need to reform the Champions League and he never wastes an opportunity to rail at the billionaire investors targeting football clubs. Platini's changes to the competition have as yet been theoretical yet, ironically, dramatic change has already come to the UCL and it has been made by the very investors he has sought to criticize.

The potential losers in all this are the Spanish and Italian giants I mentioned before, as well as England's third- and fourth-placed finishers like Arsenal and Liverpool who have lately almost taken their Champions League participation for granted. They will now face challenges from within their own domestic leagues, in qualifying (as Liverpool in the shape of an excellent Standard Liege) and then in the Group Stage itself.

Back, then, to that knee-jerk reaction to the Champions League draw. As Zenit demonstrated not long after the draw as made, Europe's big boys had better look out: things have changed on the continent.

Forget talk about the pre-eminent Big Four or Big Two; forget the fact that La Liga's very top sides often produce more attractive football than that seen in England -- the real measure of the BPL's success is its strength in depth.

Indeed, in replying to Keegan, the BPL's chief executive, Richard Scudamore, said: "There are a lot of different tussles that go on in the Premier League depending on whether you're at the top, in the middle or at the bottom that make it interesting."

After two weekends of Season 2008/9, there are encouraging signs all around. Chelsea and Manchester United may look likely to dominate once more at the top but Liverpool are up there (in points, if not in terms of play) and if Arsenal and Tottenham continue to wobble, well that might finally open the top four to someone else for a change.

More importantly, in terms of the Scudamore Theory, there does not seem to be a team which will struggle as badly as Derby County did last season. By that, we mean a team which only picked up three points after January.

Many thought Hull or Stoke would be destined for something similar, but Hull have four points (that's more than 10 per cent of the total they will likely need to guarantee survival) and Stoke have three, thanks in large part to a top-quality strike from Ricardo Fuller. Sure, West Brom have none, but they look as if they will never be pushovers.

So, a good start by the new boys, but they will have to struggle all the way to make the 37 or 38 points they need. At least as long as no one gets cut adrift a la Derby it should make for the sort of competition we love to see.

What is more encouraging about the start of this season, though, is the fact that it seems to be bucking another BPL trend.

When it comes to predicting which teams will be battling for survival against the newly-promoted sides, it normally makes sense to look at the three worst survivors from last season's Premier League. Indeed, BPL history tells us that in a season when only one or none of the promoted teams has gone straight back down, seven times out of nine one of the relegation places has been filled by a team that was among the worst three survivors the previous season.

It therefore made sense pre-season to predict doom and gloom for Bolton, Fulham and Sunderland, last season's survivors. Furthermore, all three clubs finished last season with fewer than 40 points. Again, Premier League history shows that the outlook is bleak for teams that finished the previous season with fewer than 40 points.

Before Sunderland, Bolton and Fulham, 10 teams had survived with fewer than 40 points since the Premier League was reduced to a 38-match season and the majority of those also struggled the following season. Eight of the 10 finished the next season with 42 points or below (five with 40 points or fewer), seven finished in the bottom five, four finished with fewer points than the season before, and two were relegated.

Sunderland fans especially would have had even more cause for concern, given that they are now in their second season after promotion. Second-season syndrome is a well-known phenomenon and in recent years teams that struggled in their first season have found the going even tougher in their second season. Of the last four promoted teams to survive their first season in one of the three lowest non-relegation positions), all four finished in the bottom four in their second season with two being relegated and one of the other two staying up only on goal difference.

So, what has happened to the three supposed weaklings? To start with, each pre-empted a potential struggle by spending big this summer. Bolton and Fulham invested £10m-plus to bring in a striker, with Johan Elmander moving to the Reebok and Andy Johnson heading back to London, while Sunderland's spending spree began with Spurs cast-offs and has now expanded spectacularly to embrace the likes of Djibril Cisse, David Healey and Anton Ferdinand.

This sort of spending power is never seen in the supposedly lower reaches of Europe's other major leagues (unless you get a situation like that at Bundesliga newcomers Hoffenheim, who are bankrolled by a billionaire). Thanks to the efforts of Bolton, Sunderland and Fulham, it looks as if everyone bar the very top teams are going to have to be on their guard to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle.

Hopefully there will be no repeat of the situation last season when West Ham and Tottenham seemed to have cemented their positions of "mid-table mediocrity" by January. With likes of Boro', an enigmatic Manchester City and a resurgent Newcastle capable of beating anyone on their day, the only thing that looks predicable about this BPL season is it unpredictability.

One of the less widely-reported "human interest" stories of the opening Barclays Premier League weekend was nevertheless one of the more compelling. It concerns a young Korean, a baby and the Baggies.

They may have lost to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium but West Bromwich Albion produced a display which suggested they will be able to hold their own in the top flight this time around. Having looked like being swamped by Arsenal's attackers early on, West Brom threatened the Gunners on several occasions, with attacking midfielder Kim Do-heon causing most of the problems for William Gallas and company.

It was an impressive showing by the 26-year-old Korean international, especially as he could have been forgiven for being distracted by events 9,000 kilometres away. On Tuesday last week, Kim's wife, Hye-won, gave birth to the couple's baby son. Kim decided to stay in England and fight for a place in West Brom's first team rather than return to his homeland.

It was a decision which earned the admiration of his manager Tony Mowbray, himself the father of two young boys.

"He [Kim] is showing a great dedication to his career and loyalty to the team by being here," said Mowbray.

"I know if my wife had given birth I would have been asking the manager to leave, even if it was just for a day, to be with my family. I'm pretty sure it will happen. We have got an international break coming up with some qualifiers to play so hopefully he will be visiting them soon. But he is getting on with his job and is doing really well."

That international break only comes after two more weekends of Premier League action, so Kim has got some waiting to do yet before he is able to hold his son in his arms. He can rest assured though that he has made a good decision, at least in terms of his career.

West Brom fans were unanimous in their praise of Kim after the Arsenal game, and indeed throughout pre-season. Mowbray spoke of his versatility and said Kim's experience on the big stage for Korea would set him in good stead.

For his part, Kim has shown a real determination to make things work in England. He first arrived at the Hawthornes for a trial at the end of last year and then moved to the club on loan from Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma until the end of the season. He struggled to break into the Championship-winning side and only scored his first goal in the last game of the season, eight minutes after coming on as a sub against QPR.

Mowbray decided to make the deal permanent and signed Kim for the bargain price of 550,000 pounds sterling (one month's wages for Frank Lampard) at the end of May. Even though the likes of Robert Koren, Luke Moore and Roman Bednar will be fighting to regain their places in the Baggies' starting lineup, chances are we will see more of Kim in the BPL this season than any other Asian player.

Kim's compatriot Seol Ki-hyeon started, and scored, against Hull on opening day but looks likely to miss out when Andy Johnson is fit again, possibly even for the Arsenal game this weekend.

Last Saturday brought only a second start for Seol under Roy Hodgson (he was bought by previous manager Lawrie Sanchez) and the 29-year-old has said he will play anywhere if it means he can get some game time. With Bobby Zamora's arrival at Craven Cottage, it may mean Seol will have to battle for a place on the wing.

Elsewhere around the BPL, Asian starters are few and far between: Park Ji-sung (who kept Kim Do-heon on the bench at the 2006 World Cup) appeared to have grabbed his chance at Old Trafford well towards the end of last season, only to suffer the heartbreak of missing out in Moscow.

Park has admitted it is crucial he stays injury free if he is to have any chance of being involved in Manchester United's title defence, but worryingly he had to sit out the draw with Newcastle on Sunday with a knee injury.

His Chinese teammate Dong Fangzhuo has hardly made an impact at Old Trafford, while another striker, Korea's Lee Dong-gook failed to score a league goal in almost 18 months at Middlesbrough and has returned to the K-League.

Two players who did enjoy a degree of Premiership success, Tottenham's rarely-used Lee Young-pyo and Manchester City's Sun Jihai (now at Sheffield United) are out of the picture, while there has not been a single Japanese player in the league since the 2006 departures of Hidetoshi Nakata from Bolton and Junichi Inamoto from West Brom. Ali Al Habsi has shown excellent form on the odd occasion he has started in goal for Bolton but the Oman international is still second choice behind Jussi Jaaskelainen.

The last of the seven players on BPL clubs' rosters is Iranian Andranik Teymourian who joined Fulham from Bolton on a free transfer over the summer.

So, seven Asian players in the league. None guaranteed a starting place. Even the three Thai players taken to Manchester City by Thaksin Shinawatra earlier this year have been experiencing work permit difficulties in various efforts to loan them out. It looks as if it's getting tougher and tougher for Asians to break into the league.

All of which perhaps explains Kim Do-heon's decision last week. Here's hoping it works out for him, both professionally and personally.

What a lovely, carefree summer that was! Its highlights ranged from the imaginative, positive football on show at Euro 2008, to a concerted global movement toward a greener, trans-fat-free lifestyle, as well as the democrats in America getting excited about a man who speaks like professional wrestler The Rock.

But all good things must come to an end and here we are again in our Football Focus suits and ties, preparing for a bitterly-fought election, fearing war and sharpening our opinions on the great Ronaldo/Blatter slavery debate.

Yes, big-time football’s back. Having filled countless pages online and in print for the past two months with stories of non-existent transfers, the sporting media finally has something tangible to discuss: the big kick-off.

The only problem is that, at least as far as the Barclays Premier League is concerned, it would appear to be a foregone conclusion. Find me a pundit who is tipping anyone other than Chelsea (apparently the favourites) or Manchester United for the title, and I’ll find you very long odds against. You know, it’s remarkable to think one can get odds of about 5-1 against Arsenal winning the league, and about 7-1 against a strengthened Liverpool outfit.

It’s more than just remarkable... in fact it’s frankly disturbing, that Tottenham Hotspur (with a possible lineup of Gomes, Bale, Woodgate, King, Hutton, Modric, Zokora, Bentley, Jenas, Berbatov and Bent/Dos Santos) are offered at no better than 66-1 to win. Not that he would do this of course, but just supposing Dimitar Berbatov gambled one week’s wages on his team winning the league, he would stand to win about 3.5 million pounds sterling if they did.

Even though I am not a Spurs fan, or a fan of any BPL club for that matter, a large part of me hopes that Spurs do win. Perhaps it’s a lingering after-effect of my summer of love, perhaps it’s a reaction to the absurdity of the BPL’s apparent lack of competitiveness (Everton at 200-1 anyone?) but it would delight me if this BPL season turns out to be one that bucks the trend. It would be wonderful to see Richard Scudamore’s juggernaut leave its superhighway and head off to explore a quaint side street or two.

No, you’re not about to read an anti-Scudamore, anti-BPL rant. Quite the opposite in fact: it’s a wonderful league, in fact one which we sometimes take for granted, but there is nothing wrong with freshening up the mix a little.

In this spirit of idealism, as well as a changing of the guard at the top of the table, here are one or two things I’d also like to see happen this season:

First, it would be heavenly to not have to listen to Liverpool fans and pundits endlessly debating the merits of Rafa Benitez. The ex-players spent last season going on and on about Rafa’s rotation when the stats demonstrated he didn’t actually change his team any more than Manchester United. The fans got somewhat bogged down in defending the boss and criticizing the critics. The reality of the situation was that Liverpool’s squad simply wasn’t strong enough and those who are passionate about the club were simply looking for anything, anyone to blame for another season without a title.

Here’s hoping that the new, improved Liverpool squad will render the whole rotation debate irrelevant. It would be wonderful to see Fernando Torres recapturing his form of last season and making the Reds genuine challengers.

Similarly, it would be delightful not to have to witness another season of unfulfilled potential from Arsenal. Arsene Wenger has been responsible for some of the most exquisite football ever played by English club sides. An Arsenal Champions League win this season would be a wonderful advertisement for the English game.

David Moyes and Martin O’Neil are taking a low-profile approach to their respective quests for success this season. Villa look the more likely to achieve it and Champions League football would be a great reward for a club with a strong English contingent.

Here’s hoping we don’t get another Derby-style washout of a season for one of the newly-promoted teams. Last season’s “sack race” was grim to watch and hopefully those in charge at the likes of Hull and Stoke especially realize that the odds are against them from the get-go and that BPL success is something that simply cannot come overnight.

The minute Football Focus starts running a book on the first manager to be booted out we’ll know that the carefree, dreamy days of summer have been left far behind.

* Catch Football Focus LIVE on ESPN every Tuesday.

We came with high expectations of Euro 2008. Thankfully, those expectations have been fulfilled, and then some. We came expecting to praise the likes of Ronaldo and Torres yet again. And duly did. Thankfully, we have found plenty of others to rave about too.

Here then is a "Dream Team" made up of players - some already household names, others whose performances have made scouts from Europe's top clubs pay attention - who have illuminated this most entertaining of tournaments.

As is always the case with things like this, I have had to take a couple of liberties with players in terms of the positions they play in. I have done so to try and stay true to a formation which has really worked for all the best sides these past three weeks; I have tried to create a 4-1-3-1-1 lineup which utilizes two attacking fullbacks, a holding midfielder and a trio of midfielders supplying ammunition to a floating striker as well as a target man.

We start, of course, in goal where Petr Cech's uncharacteristic howler ruled him out of the frame early on and left it down to Spain's Iker Casillas and Italy's Gianluigi Buffon. Had the Italians progressed further than Spain, the latter might have got the nod, but Casillas is a talismanic figure for Spain, and his save from Russia's Sychev in the dying moments of the semi-final (even though his team had the game won at 3-0) once more demonstrated his powers of concentration and quality.

In going for two dynamic, over-lapping fullbacks I have had to make one positional switch. Despite the valid claims of Spain's Sergio Ramos, I am going to bring Germany's Philip Lahm over from left- to right-back. Our studio pundit Jason McAteer has said for the past three weeks Liverpool would win the BPL if they had more players like him. Jason has a point. The reason I pulled Lahm out of position is because I absolutely must include Russia's dynamic Yuri Zhirkov as left-back. One of the relative unknowns in my side, his work-rate, quality on the ball and powerful shot should make him a key target for scouts.

Perhaps the only disappointing aspect of Euro 2008 has been the failure of any great players to emerge in the centre-half position. Fabio Cannavaro was a big loss on the eve of the tournament and even the four players who will occupy the position in the final (Puyol and Marchena for Spain and Metzelder and Mertesacker for Germany) have hardly looked impregnable. My choices are Portugal's dynamic Pepe, a goalscorer as well as impeccable timer of the tackle and Croatia's Josip Simunic, as calm and composed a defender as I have seen in a long time.

On now to the crucial holding midfield role. All of the successful teams employed one, occasionally two, to mop up attacks and get the ball to the playmakers. Russia's captain, Sergei Semak, did unbelievably well in the role but even he was eclipsed by Brazilian-born Marcos Senna of Villareal and Spain. Tidy on the ball, strong in the tackle and capable of getting forward and shooting from distance, he looks the complete midfielder.

My player of the tournament, Germany's imperious Michael Ballack, of course gets a midfield role. Match after match, UEFA's stats have shown that he covers more ground than anyone else on the park. Yet he appears to stroll everywhere. He knows where to be and what to do, time after time. And his cocky swagger lends Germany that X-Factor needed to win when it counts.

With Ballack prompting from a central position, I need two more players capable of play-making but also getting forward to support the strikers as well as score. I have reluctantly left out Holland's Wesley Sneijder (who had a poor game against Russia) and Spain's Iniesta and Xavi so I can include their teammate David Silva, always inventive and the scorer of a great goal in the semi-final, along with Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger. His ability to bomb in from the flank and score has proved tough to defend against.

So that's the 4-1-3 taken care of - now to the two men in front of midfield. He may have run out of puff in the semi - but Russia's Andrei Arshavin was so extraordinarily dominant in the two preceding matches that he absolutely demands inclusion. Whether or not he proves to be a success with Barca (or whoever it is that buys him from Zenit St Petersburg) remains to be seen, but his return from suspension was one of the stories of Euro 2008.

Lastly, the target man or lone striker. Euro 2008 saw some patchy efforts from players in this position (Luca Toni, Jan Koller, Roman Pavlyuchenko) but two strikers do spring immediately to mind when it comes to putting a finish to the quality service they would receive from my "Dream" midfield. I would be sorely tempted to go for Ruud van Nistelrooy in this position because of his hold-up and link-up play as well as his goal-poaching but it would be unfair on David Villa to ignore the contribution of the Valencia hit-man, so cruelly injured on the eve of the final.

Villa's hat-trick gave Spain the start to the tournament it needed, and his partnership with Liverpool's excellent Fernando Torres always gave the impression it would produce goals and lessen the likelihood of another "choke" by Aragones' side. Pacy, blessed with a mighty shot and every bit the natural goal-scorer he looks at club level, Villa looks destined for a massive-money move before long.

My substitutes would include those listed above who missed out on a starting place, along with Spain's Cesc Fabregas and Turkey's youngster Semih Senturk, so deadly in the closing stage of matches.

My team would be coached by coached by the wise triumvirate of Fatih Terim, Guus Hiddinck and Luis Aragones and I would pay good Euros to watch it every day of the week.

It was depressing to hear David Beckham say this week that he had been unable to sit and watch a single televised game from Euro 2008. Sure, he was right to infer that England’s players are still mad at themselves for failing to join the party, but if ever there was a tournament that needed watching by England, then this is it.

Let’s temporarily invent a scenario whereby Beckham and company actually had made it to the Finals. Chances are we would be sitting here writing a report on their departure from Austria and Switzerland after a disappointing group stage culminated in a thumping at the hands of a Croatia, Russia or Turkey. For England, read Sweden or perhaps France.

This has not been a tournament for conservatism, for percentage football reliant on set-piece success, for teams relying on past glories and over-hyped Premiership stars. With no exceptions, this has been a tournament at which the team which is prepared to go for it, to play inventive, attacking football has reaped the rewards.

Even Italy, typically blessed by fortune when it looked as if all was lost against Romania, realized it needed to do more than hang in there. Donadoni’s men took the game to France and now appear galvanized. They were only following an example set night after night at one of the most entertaining tournaments it has been my privilege to cover.

Russia provided the latest example of what can be done with the right approach. Granted, the return of the inspirational Arashavin was a massive boost, but Guus Hiddink’s 4-1-3-2 formation, with the admirable Semak holding midfield and Semshov, Kyrianov and Bilyaletdinov supplying the service to two attackers, proved too much for a creaking Swedish defence in Innsbruck.

Hiddink was simply following a formula employed most effectively so far by the Netherlands and Spain. The latter rely on Silva, Xavi and Iniesta to supply ammunition for hitmen Villa and Torres, while Marco Van Basten unleashes his dynamic duo of Sneijder and var der Vaart (with Robben looking more and more likely to feature from now on too) in support of Van Nistelrooy.

It has been said time and again, but it is so refreshing to report on this tournament, where fortune favours the brave, in contrast to 2004’s triumph for Greek pragmatism. The tournament may yet be won by a team which toughs it out over the next 10 days of knockout competition, but it is inconceivable that we will be witnessing a string of 1-0 scorelines en route to the denouement in Vienna.

Thanks to the efforts of Croatia against Germany, Russia against Greece and Sweden, and Turkey against the Czechs, our quarter-final lineup is one that few will have predicted. It is also one which appears to guarantee that at least one of the above-mentioned 4-1-3-2 or 4-2-3-1 formations will go all the way.

Part of me hopes that Croatia stay in this tournament a lot longer. They have one of the weaker sets of players in the last eight yet are so technically accomplished that they can beat anyone on their day provided the tactical approach and motivation is there. It is also worth remembering that they are there at the expense of England. And that they will soon be playing England in World Cup qualifiers.

For that reason alone, Mr Beckham and his teammates would be well advised to pay attention from now on. Fabio Capello has already indicated that he wants to move towards a tactical set-up that relies on a lone striker (Rooney) with a triumvirate of attacking midfielders offering support. The evidence of this system’s worth is there to see every night at Euro 2008.

Looking back at my personal mental photo album for the past football season, several snapshots stand out.

They range from matches covered to players interviewed and offer a unique perspective based on a job which covers the wide world of football.

September 2007. Old Trafford

How the mighty have fallen. Days after Jose Mourinho's departure makes the front pages of the British press, Chelsea are in disarray. Their fans protest Jose's passing, while United's mock new man Avram Grant. On the pitch, John Obi Mikel gets sent off and United score a victory which may ultimately have secured the title. Moments after the final whistle, a cock-a-hoop United fan leans over to the Director's Box and berates a stoney-faced Roman Abramovich with, "Call yourself a billionaire? You still buy rubbish jeans!"

October 2007. Liverpool

Having proved to be maddeningly elusive interview targets under the previous regime, Liverpool's top duo, Rafa Benitez and Steven Gerrard, are now made available to us by a new, enlightened Liverpool Football Club. With the Americans in charge, the club looks to shake off its insular, this-is-the-way-we've-always-done-things past and embrace markets (like Asia) which have been neglected. However, as we find out later in the season, not all change proves to be good for the club.

November 2007. London

It is a peculiar interview, staged in an elegant office around the corner from some of London's best-known theatres. The office represents the London headquarters of Dr Thaksin Shinawatra, former Thai Prime Minister and new owner of Manchester City. Chelsea may have thumped his club 6-0 but Thaksin is delighted with the start to the season made by manager Sven-Goran Eriksson. "At the start of the season we may have aimed for a top 10 finish, now we will only settle for a place in Europe." They turn out to be prophetic words. The interview was arranged as part of a campaign to raise Thaksin's international profile ahead of crucial elections in Thailand.

November 2007. South Africa

"You must be feeling rather vulnerable right now," comments a South African doctor, needle in hand as I lie facedown on a Johannesburg hotel bed, underwear around my ankles. I'm about to receive an injection aimed at arresting a violent attack of food poisoning when the lights in the room, and the hotel go out. Hence my physician's grim humour. "Scheduled power cut," he sighs by way of explanation, going on to explain that they are a fact of life in the Republic and will be for years to come as a new national grid is slowly developed. So, yes, that does mean there will be power outages during the 2010 World Cup. In Durban, the qualifying draw pits England against Croatia once again.

December 2007. Beijing

As a goal-scoring midfielder, Michel Platini rates right up there with the best the world has seen. As UEFA's president, he is a force of nature - all Gallic shrugs and provocative opinions. While snow falls outside our conference room in the Chinese capital, Platini outlines his plans for the Champions League, worries out loud about the financial clout of the Premier League's new foreign owners and sets out a charter for the reform of football.

December 2007. London

Ashley Cole's match against his old Arsenal teammates does not go according to plan. William Gallas scores the winner at the Emirates Stadium, Cesc Fabregas gets away with nearly chopping Cole in two and the defender storms off the pitch and down the tunnel at the final whistle. Inside that tunnel he hurls a full water bottle at the TV interview room. If not for the quick action of a steward who shuts the door, Mr Cole might have found himself up on assault charges. Lurid tabloid revelations about his private life provide a possible reason for his frame of mind.

February 2008. Bali

Franck Leboeuf is making a movie. Now based in Hollywood, the French World Cup and European Championship winner has joined the cast of "The Ball is Round", a comedy being shot on the Indonesian paradise island. His thoughts, though, are still very much with Chelsea. He won plenty of silverware in his time at Stamford Bridge but admits that it's "a very different club today." He tips France to win the Euros this summer.

March 2008. Manchester

Javier Mascherano is determined to get himself sent off at Old Trafford. Long before Steve Bennett shows the Liverpool midfielder a second yellow for his seemingly innocent question, "What's that for?" everybody in the press seats knows a red card is inevitable. Why? Because the TV cameras may not show it but the Argentine greets every decision made by Bennett (including his earlier yellow card for a reckless lunge) with a stream of four-letter words. And this in the week that Angry Ashley Cole "disrespects" Mike Riley. Simply put, you had to be there to tell the whole story.

April 2008. London

Sam Allardyce is our guest pundit at Stamford Bridge as Michael Ballack seals a Chelsea win over Manchester United. It's great to see the amount of affection everyone in football seems to have for "Big Sam" - from the average fan to players to those in the media. He tells it like it is and is passionate about being the best football manager he can. Hopefully, season 2008-09 will give him another chance to do just that.

Come the end of the season, we may well congratulate Roy Keane for doing an excellent job in keeping Sunderland in the Barclays Premier League this time. However, I think the time for congratulations is already upon us.

Let’s not just credit him for his accumulation of points either – but rather for what he has brought to the way we perceive the game. If there is a more candid, straight-talking boss around in the top flight today I’d like to meet him. Just consider one or two of Keane’s comments in recent weeks: to start with, his ex-bosses Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz have yet to reply, but they will surely be aware that Keane accused them of hypocrisy in calling for greater respect to be shown to officials.

Then there is the Irishman’s ongoing campaign to draw attention to what he perceives as anti-Sunderland bias on the part of several match officials. Keane is so fed up with it that he mentioned in one of his matchday programme columns last month.

“I’m starting to wonder if it’s more than coincidence,” he wrote. In the column Keane pointed to winning goals against Aston Villa and Derby County being disallowed, a late goal for Reading that did not cross the line denying Sunderland a draw, and a harsh penalty award at Ewood Park that presented Blackburn Rovers with a win.

Plus, it was great to see someone finally take issue with one of the most annoying myths in football. Keane wrote: “Don’t fall for this nonsense that things will even themselves out over a season. There’s no way anything can be evened out for us. We’re not getting the rub of the green against any club, not just the big four, and it worries me. Even our youth team had a good goal ruled out in the last minute this week.”

Roy Keane isn’t the only person who thinks that it’s simply not good enough to point to a refereeing howler and say, “Well, the team will actually benefit some time later from a similarly outrageous mistake”. West Bromwich Albion arguably went out of the FA Cup to a goal which featured a handball in its build-up. Will they get a comparable break any time soon? Will they be in next season’s semi-final?

This has been a terrible season for referees. No one disputes that. But could some of these decisions have had far-reaching consequences for one or more teams in the league?

Once or twice a season, it’s worth popping along to the website www.rightresult.net where a group of football fans set out to produce a league table which reflects results as they might have been had officials not got things wrong.

Each week, their panel (made up of members of the Association of Football Statisticians) assesses the key injustices that happen each week during the Premiership season, applies the strict rules of the game to them and passes judgement. Typical examples of incidents include questionable penalties or those which have been overlooked, whether balls did or didn’t cross the goal line and goals disallowed for questionable offside.

According to their current “right result” league table, Manchester United would still seem to be cruising to the title (they believe Fergie’s men should have 82 points rather than 80), but they have Arsenal in second on 74 rather than 71 and Chelsea on only 69 instead of 75. So there you go, Monsieur Gallas – maybe life has been slightly cruel in recent times.

So, referees haven’t affected the ultimate destination of the league title. However, there are a couple of glaring differences elsewhere in the table. According to Right Result, for instance, Everton should be all but guaranteed Champions League football next season, rather than Liverpool. They point to decisions which robbed the Toffees of points in matches against Blackburn and West Ham, among others, and suggest Everton should have 66 points rather than 61. Liverpool’s total, meanwhile, has been “corrected” to 59 rather than 66, with the dubious decision to give Arsenal a 2-1 win in the league encounter at the Emirates, based on a penalty that they say wasn’t awarded.

Perhaps the biggest discrepancies occur down at the foot of the table where managers most commonly complain about bias, often in favour of the “Big Four” teams they play. Right Result currently have a bottom three of Derby (11 points), Reading (32) and Birmingham (32). Fulham are estimated to be two points clear of danger and Sunderland are in thirteenth place on 38 rather than 36 points.

Here’s the major talking point: Bolton, they feel, should be six points better off, with 35 rather than 29 points, and in 15th place rather than 18th. Most of the incorrect decisions against the Trotters came earlier in the season, say Right Result.

If you haven’t laughed all this off as nonsense already, go to the site to see how your team’s season has gone in this parallel universe. Unless perhaps you support Tottenham: along with Derby and Reading, they are the only team whose Right Result points match those of the official Barclays Premier League table.

Lastly, let’s leave the final word on the matter with the pundits. American football analyst Don Meredith had no time whatsoever for playing the game of what might have been. His standard reply: “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas.” Try telling Roy Keane that.

It would be tempting to laugh away this week’s cares with a lighthearted column about the ruling by Britain’s government that footballers signed from non-EU nations must be able to pass an English test before they can join Manchester United or Chelsea.

Brazilian, Argentine, Senegalese and South Korean footy wizards will be grilled on everyday phrases and simple conversation under a tougher, new, points-based immigration system aimed at slowing down the flood of foreigners into the country.

Fair enough. But one wonders just how many home-grown British footballers would actually pass the test? The clubs are doubtless relieved the rules apply to the likes of Carlos Tevez rather than Jermaine Pennant. Then there is the much-maligned practice of “tapping up” potential targets. Now, overseas clubs only have to look out for English language tutors sneaking into their players’ villas to know that something is afoot.

Seriously, though, because this really is a serious subject after all, the move would appear to be connected to a broader global crisis which we shall refer to as “The Big Four and World Domination.”

Excuse the melodrama, but it seems necessary given the absurd situation in which we find ourselves: we’re coming towards the end of one of the most memorable-ever seasons of English and European football, yet newspapers and websites are full of the most ludicrous twaddle.

Kevin Keegan started it all off with his interview after Chelsea beat his team on Monday night to set up a thrilling Barclays Premier league finale, and Sepp Blatter carried it on with a critique of this season’s Big Four-dominated Champions League.

"This league is in danger of becoming one of the most boring but great leagues in the world," said Keegan, with a turn of phrase which may have caught the ears of Britain’s new immigration invigilators.

He added: “The top four next year will be the same top four as this year."

Keegan may actually have got that bit right. Study the BPL league tables for the past decade and it’s easy to identify a trend towards the top four finishers accruing even more points than ever. In the season ending in 1998, they picked up 283 points between them. In 2001 they amassed 287. Now consider the totals for the past four seasons: 2005 yielded 316 points, in 2006 they grabbed 323 points, 2007 saw them slip slightly to 308, but this season has seen the Big Four earn 321 points with this weekend’s four games still to go.

But does that automatically make the BPL boring?

It depends what one wants. The billions of BPL fans worldwide apparently relish each season’s battle for the top spot involving the Big Four. Should they demand a competition in which as many as six or eight teams vie for the league title, then how about this proposal: let’s abolish the UEFA Cup and the Carling Cup.

In England, the Big Four have the resources in terms of squad strength to successfully compete in three or four different competitions without losing power but clubs like Everton and Aston Villa do not. Whenever they are involved in the UEFA Cup, their domestic seasons fall short of the top four finish they promise early in the campaign. Then you get a side like Tottenham who win the Carling Cup and effectively have nothing else to play for over the last three months of the season. Across Europe the UEFA Cup also exists to distract the next best teams outside the top four. Fiorentina's form has certainly suffered as a result of the UEFA Cup which has allowed AC Milan to recapture fourth position.

I honestly believe there are clubs in every major European league which could break the dominance of the established powerhouses and, at the very least, focus on earning a champions league spot each season.

Now, let’s turn to Mr Blatter.

“Shall we let the rich become richer and say nothing?” spluttered the man who lords over the cash cow that is FIFA.

"The big money is coming out of the Champions League. It's the biggest league in the world and practically 80 per cent of the income goes directly to the 32 participating clubs.

"The Champions League has been very successful financially but it has also favoured national inequality.”

Blatter was basically using this as an excuse to reiterate his proposal that teams field five homegrown players.

"This rule,” he declared, “will be fighting against the monopolies of clubs and leagues. We are not fighting the problem of money but for the identity of national teams."

It was unfortunate Mr Blatter made those comments just days after Zenit St Petersburg smashed Bayern Munich 4-0 in the UEFA Cup. Yes, the same Bayern that spent 108 million dollars on players last summer.

UEFA president Michel Platini made a far more valid point recently – as did Steve McMahon and our Football Focus pundits this week. They suggested the real danger posed by financial inequality in football comes not when clubs are able to buy the likes of Ronaldinho, Kaka and Messi but rather when the Big Four and their continental counterparts weaken smaller clubs by buying Scott Parker, Michael Carrick and Steve Sidwell and turning them into squad players.

Can the likes of Keegan and Blatter convince talented players to shun big money moves to the Big Four? If they can come up with the rhetoric needed to convince the likes of Micah Richards or Gareth Barry of the need for loyalty ahead of financial advancement, then they will have passed my language test with flying colours.

To look at him you’d think Sam Allardyce is as happy as can be.

A recent trip to Dubai has left him suntanned and fit looking, while his recent stint working with ESPN STAR Sports here in Singapore was punctuated by a brief beach holiday on the Indonesian island of Bintan.

But it doesn’t take long to learn that Big Sam craves a return to what he does best: work. And hard work at that. In his eight years at Bolton Wanderers Football Club, Sam Allardyce developed a management technique that involved scouring the world for innovative training and preparation techniques, as well as seeking out bargain buys and handling the day-to-day running of a Premier League club.

“Now, I get up in the morning and the part of my brain that normally would deal with work has nothing to do. The biggest decision is what to have for breakfast,” he confided during a break in filming this week.

With his short-lived tenure at Newcastle still vivid in his memories, Allardyce is talking to big clubs in the UK and on the continent about a speedy return to the dugout.

Sam’s words echoed those of Sven-Goran Eriksson shortly after he took up his current job with Manchester City after months on the sidelines.

"That has been the most stressful time of my life,” admitted the Swede. “Not sitting on the bench as a coach has been very stressful. Waking up every morning knowing that I was not working is something I had never done before. That was awful.”

Sven was lucky. Work came his way before unemployment did him any permanent damage. Now that he is involved in the English game once more, he must be aware of an alarming trend in that country when it comes to his line of work.

Visit a resort in Dubai, or a TV studio anywhere in the world that shows the Barclays Premier League and chances are that you will find one or more relatively experienced football managers talking about the game rather than being a part of it.

A few names to conjure with: Glenn Hoddle, Graeme Souness, Brian Robson, Adrian Boothroyd, Peter Reid, David O’Leary and Iain Dowie, all of whom have had Premiership experience. Other managers currently out of work include Lawrie Sanchez, Steve Cotterill, Chris Hutchings, Martin Jol, Sammy Lee, Peter Taylor, John Gregory and some chap called Mourinho.

Compared with other professions, there has always been a high turnover of football managers. However, many people in the game are now concerned at the speed with which chairmen show managers the door once results start to slip.

Howard Wilkinson, chairman of the League Managers' Association, was so incensed by Allardyce's 239-day tenure at St James’ Park (even after he led the Toon to its best opening 10 games of a BPL season for 10 years) that he said the manager’s job had become “debased” by its high turnover.

Back in 1992, when the Premier League was launched, the average life/job expectancy of a football manager among the 92 professional clubs was 3.2 years; by 2007, it had fallen to 19 months. Of the 91 managers employed by Football League clubs today, only 18 have been in their positions for more than two seasons.

The turnover is highest in the lower reaches because pay-offs are cheaper. However, the Premiership has seen an alarming rise in the number of layoffs: in season 2002/03, five managers parted company with clubs; so far this season, eight have left BPL clubs. That number is just one short of the nine who were culled in the bloodiest season ever, 2004/05.

This past season has seen an unprecedented number of sackings in the Coca-Cola Championship where managers typically have to clear their desks within 11 months of starting work.

More alarming still, according to LMA research, 49 per cent of first-time managers who lose their jobs never get another chance to manage a club.

These are worrying times if you are a Sam Allardyce. However, the LMA is at least trying to address the problem. Its new chief executive, Richard Bevan, made some encouraging noises upon taking up his post.

"The Barclays Premier League is now shown in 200 countries around the world, which makes football the 12th most-exported business in this country," he told one newspaper.

“We are probably the wealthiest football nation in the world, so what are we not doing right that prevents England from winning a World Cup or European Championship for 42 years? Part of the landscape is undoubtedly the turbulent trend in managerial turnover, which is fuelled by financial rewards at the top end of the scale, pressure from the media and expectation among supporters.

"But we need to ask why, when Fabio Capello was given the England job, there was not a larger pool of English-qualified managers among the candidates?”

Bevan aims to provide managers with technical research and also to encourage greater communication between boardroom and dugout. He advocates corporate-style “appraisals” and similar techniques for heading off potentially terminal problems between directors and the manager.

If he is successful, it will be good news for the league’s managerial incumbents. If he is not, we can expect more visits to our studios, and beaches, from the Sams of this world.

It was hot last Saturday at Stamford Bridge; hot enough to encourage a display of bare bellies in the crowd, hot enough for Sir Alex Ferguson to discard his suit jacket, hot tempered on the pitch during and after the game. It was even hot enough to melt The Iceman.

Silver-haired, impeccably dressed and Paul Newman-handsome (Monica Bellucci’s description, not mine), Marcello Lippi is a man who commands instant respect. Not least for the fact that he led Italy to World Cup glory in his last job and Juventus to five Serie A titles and four Champions League finals before that.

He has the thousand-yard stare of the deep-sea fisherman that he is, and has been known to turn glacial in the presence of the media -- hence the Iceman nickname. Yet at The Bridge on Sunday, the man whose limited English and natural gravitas had previously seen him cut a rather aloof figure finally broke down and smiled, laughed and – if you like – let his hair down.

The game had just ended. Lippi and the rest of us broadcasters were slowly filing out of the commentary gantry through the grandstand when the Stamford Bridge deejay decided to celebrate the Chelsea win in style. Over the sound system came the Madness classic One Step Beyond and the stadium went beserk.

As fans danced deliriously down the aisles in the stand behind the goal and even the corporate boxes, Signor Lippi lapped it all up. Turning to his producer for Italian channel Sky Sport, he smiled and made a gesture to suggest he wanted to breathe in the atmosphere, to soak it up perhaps. More than one of us wondered out loud if that meant Mr Lippi has finally decided to follow in the footsteps of Fabio Capello (England) and Giovanni Trapattoni (Ireland) and make his next job an overseas posting.

Lippi has of course already rejected an approach, last year, from Birmingham City, and Manchester United were quick to quash speculation that he would replace Sir Alex when they surfaced after Italy beat France in the final of Germany 2006. However, there is a growing belief that Lippi is soon to end his sabbatical from the game.

It has long been suggested that he only stepped down from the Italian post after the World Cup to avoid any conflict of interest for either the authorities investigating Italian football’s “Calciopoli” scandal or his son, Davide, a football agent.

One of the allegations made before Germany 2006 was that Lippi had been pressured to call-up certain players for the national team, to inflate their worth, and to leave others (that is to say Juve players) out so they might rest up for club commitments. As far as his son was concerned, Lippi junior was one of many involved in the game in Italy who came under investigation.

Marcello Lippi, it must be said, was never found to be guilty of anything. He was certainly never charged. However, it looks certain that the investigation, at least in part, prompted his decision to get out of the game, to spend time either at sea or catching up with friends at his home on Tuscany’s coast, and occasionally to travel the world as a pundit.

However, Lippi does not consider himself to be retired and spoke recently about the offers he has been made. He insisted he would only consider “serious clubs with a serious squad and serious plans”.

Lippi has been linked with Chelsea on numerous occasions and has even hinted that a return to the Italian job might not be out of the question. However, Italian football analysts are suggesting that AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti could be in line for the Azurri if things go wrong for Roberto Donadoni at the Euros this summer. Could that leave the Milan job available to a man who had a less-than-happy spell with Internazionale some time ago?

Prior to Saturday, it would have been tempting to suggest that Marcello Lippi only has eyes for Serie A. However, with Fabio Capello sitting in the posh seats at Stamford Bridge as evidence that a limited command of English need not rule a man out of a coaching job, it was tempting to put Lippi in the same category as our star pundit for the day, Sam Allardyce.

Sam is somewhere near the top of the list of candidates when it comes to any half-decent job that becomes available. Indeed, Steve McMahon greeted news of Sven Goran Eriksson’s departure from Manchester City with the opinion that Big Sam would be ideal for the job.

But should Sam be worrying about an Italian rival for whichever job he chooses to pursue? The answer is probably, “yes”. Should Avram Grant worry? You bet. Marcello Lippi looks as if he has developed a taste for English football and what club would not want to employ a man rated by Sir Alex Ferguson as the best in the business? A man who finally looks ready to take one step beyond his homeland?

If you thought the Champions League produced unparalleled drama midweek, think again. Saturday lunchtime at Stamford Bridge could provide us with the springboard to the most astonishing title run-in we have had for years.

Most right-thinking folk reckon that the Barclays Premier League trophy will still be Manchester United’s even if Chelsea beat them. Such is the superiority of that United goal difference that there is no way Chelsea can overcome it should both teams win their remaining two fixtures.

However, what many people are overlooking is the fact that the BPL, probably more than any other league in Europe, always offers the possibility of an underdog upsetting a team like United or Chelsea.

Just look at recent results (achieved, by the way, when United and Chelsea have been arguably distracted by Champions League concerns): Wigan’s draw at Stamford Bridge probably stands out, but it must not be forgotten that United had to come from behind against both Middlesbrough and Blackburn to draw.

Avram Grant and Chelsea will doubtless have pondered long and hard over United’s remaining fixtures, seeking signs of inspiration, clutching at straws, perhaps. They will be aware, of course, that any hope of taking their pursuit to the last day of the season is dependent on beating United this weekend, then overcoming a resurgent Newcastle at St James’ Park and a desperate Bolton at home on May 11.

Just for the sake of it, let’s suggest that Chelsea somehow do manage to win all three matches (with Anelka sending Bolton down, naturally). It may be a bit of a stretch to assume they will win all three, but what then do we make of United’s remaining challenges?

Firstly, I don’t expect them to lose at Chelsea. Instead, I favour a score draw to all-but guarantee them the title. However, should Fergie’s men be beaten, it would naturally come as a shock. Big teams sometimes take a while to recover from that kind of thing.

Even so, how can one suggest West Ham and Wigan are anything other than pushovers?

The Hammers appear to be the easiest opposition around in that they have nothing to play for (unlike last season when Carlos Tevez helped them avoid relegation with his winner at Old Trafford).

Conspiracy theorists will point to a strong friendship between Sir Alex Ferguson and Hammers manager Alan Curbishley as evidence that the latter (like Wigan’s Steve Bruce) might be inclined to help out. Well, let’s just tell the conspiracy theorists to get lost and deal instead with the black and white reality of history.

Back in 1995, West Ham secured a remarkable 1-1 draw with United to hand the title to Blackburn. More recently, West Ham have actually won three of their last six in all competitions at Old Trafford. And, for the hardcore stat-freaks out there, West Ham have won each of their last three second-last games of the season.

Yet it still looks as if the May 11 trip to Wigan could be the hardest challenge facing United. Firstly, there is the worst pitch in the league (even if it is less likely to trip up United than it was Arsenal). Then there is United’s relatively poor form in matches against local rivals; in “Lancashire” away games, United won at Liverpool and Everton but lost at Bolton and Manchester City and drew at Blackburn.

Wigan are also unbeaten in their last six games and have a fit and in-form Emile Heskey in their ranks. He has a good record against Manchester United, having only been on the losing side three times in nine matches played away from Old Trafford.

Lastly, and perhaps most significantly, a 10-man Wigan team battled to a 2-1 win over Sheffield United on the last day of last season to keep themselves up and send the Blades down.

The Football Focus pundits tend to think Chelsea are the more likely of the two teams to drop more points in the run-in, but should Avram Grant’s men win this weekend, they have an advantage next weekend with United involved in a Saturday lunchtime game and Chelsea resting up until the Monday night.