Rio Ferdinand has taken on the formiddable job as England captain

JT and Rio

Rio Ferdinand has taken on the formidable job as England captain  today after Fabio Capello dumped JT as his main man after just one 12-minute meeting yesterday.

Rio is not without controversy himself as he is currently facing a four-match ban following a violent conduct charge and was previously banned from football for eight months after failing to take a drug test in September 2003 despite providing a negative urine sample within two days. But it seems these can be forgotten and swept under the carpet compared with the adulterous JT.

By sacking JT, Capello has given in to media pressure and once again proved than when it comes to being England manager, keeping the people and the press onside sometimes more important than what is best for the team and for the players…. I wonder did anyone even ask the players what they thought would be the best way forward?

Unlikely.

And I wonder if you divulged into their private lives would you find material to fill a few pages in the tabloids? Likely.

Yes cheating on your wife is pretty bad, but is the adultery that  has caused the problem here, or is it the fact that he had an affair with his team-mate’s EX girlfriend? Did anyone ask Wayne Bridge if he actually cared THAT much? To me this whole saga screams of  hypocrisy.

Good luck to Rio now because the slightest misdemeanor he commits from now on will be under severe scrutiny from the press, and we all the power they have in running the England team.

John Terry

We all know the story. John Terry has cheated on his wife with the ex-girlfriend of England team mate Wayne Bridge.

Bridge is very upset and doesn’t want to play in any team that Terry plays in and Terry’s England captaincy is under threat.

The crime, it seems, is not the adultery but endangering team spirit by sleeping with the ex-girlfriend of a team mate.

It seems that other England team mates think that this is not on also.

Hold On

Wait a minute here!

No one seems to be fixing themselves on the ‘ex’ here.

Wayne Bridge and his model girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel split up last summer.

She didn’t want to go to live in Manchester when he joined Man City and he wanted the big cash and the opportunity to play regularly at City.

All Over

It was all over between them (as far as a shared kid will allow) BEFORE John Tery had an affair with her.

Putting aside that it was adultery (which we are told isn’t the problem here), what are the rules in this situation?

Is it that once an England footballer splits up with his girlfriend none of his pals or acquaintences are allowed to touch her?

Is this the Secret Lads’ Rules?

Lads’ Rules

One feels that it wouldn’t have been any different if John Terry wasn’t married or it had been an unmarried member of the Chelsea or England squad – Lads Rules apply.

Once a women has been with one of the lads, even if they had broken up, no one is allowed to go near her.

This is something that goes on in every town and village in the world, i.e. a guy splits up with his girlfriend and she goes out with someone else.

Awkward

Sometimes, especially in small communities, it may be a friend of the guy that she has split up with.

It’s normally a bit awkward for a while till everybody gets used to it.

Of course, it is even more awkward if the guy is married.

However, life goes on.

The Rule

So, what is the rule that Capello should apply to members of his England squad?

Should it be that once a guy has ‘put his scent or spray’ on a girl, she is then off limit to the rest of the squad – even if the guy doesn’t want her any more or they have mutually agreed to split up?

That seems to be the logical outcome of this.

Terry seems to have broken a rule that doesn’t even exist except in unwritten form – The Lads’ Secret Rules.

And they say that things have changed!

Similar smiles...

Back in July 2008 we listened to an elated Robbie Keane on fulfilling his dreams of joining his beloved liverpool:

“It’s absolutely fantastic, a real dream come true for me. I’ve been a Liverpool fan all my life, going back to when I was a kid growing up in Dublin, and I always had a Liverpool shirt on my back. So, to be here now as a Liverpool player is incredible and I couldn’t be happier…”

Unlucky for Robbie just a few months later, he’s out of Liverpool and back down the M6 to North London and Spurs again… Not to fear eh as Robbie pleads his alligance with his club (that’s Spurs, not Liverpool, the one he supports

“I will give this club my all. We have got to get on and fight our way up the Premier League table.” Indeed.

Again that was until he decided to take the whole team on a Christmas party night in Dublin just 4 days before a Premier League match… Que another change in home for oul Keano.

This time Keano was sent back up the M6 to Glasgow, home of another “loved” club of Keane’s

“It’s absolutely unbelievable. This is the reason why I’ve always wanted to come to Celtic. It’s no secret over the years I’ve been a Celtic fan.”

Bless Robbie, joining (one of) his boyhood club(s) has made him one happy boy… At least until its time to made that inevitable  trip back down the M6.

With another “make or break” game on the horizon for Rafa Benitez and his men surely the time has come to start asking a few questions of the management techniques at Anfield Road, is it not? With Rafa bravely promising the fans that his team would finish in the top four at the end of the season (a promise that with every defeat is looking less likely) what Liverpool fans and players need to address is, if that is enough for them?

Liverpool is a team with an outstanding history but it’s only so long that these memories can last. With yet another cup exit burning hard on the minds of Liverpool fans from Wednesday night, its no wonder we are forgetful of what a Liverpool team can achieve with the right players, and notably, manager! So should Rafa Benitez keep his promise and make the top four at the end of the season, the season can just about be regarded as not a total disaster. Throw in a decent run in the Europa League (winning it would be ideal), and Benitez will be able to stumble on into next season, safe under the cover of the still-loyal element in the Liverpool support and his five-year contract.

But even if this does happen (and on present form, it’s a big if) is that enough for Liverpool and its fans?

The Premiership highlighted a lot of different issues for a lot of different teams this weekend, but personally I think the most important was the mistakes that referees made in certain matches. I know when a team gets beat that it is often the easy option to blame the referee but when a referee makes blatant mistakes we can’t just sit back and say nothing.

In Aston Villa’s game against Wolves Richard Dunne clearly tugged on the shirt of fellow Irishman Kevin Doyle in the penalty area stopping the Irishman from scoring, you would expect that either the linesman or referee would point to the spot, but no.

In Chelsea’s match against Blackburn the linesman gave Chelsea a throw in which was so blatantly kicked out by a Chelsea player which subsequently led to another goal in their 5-0 victory over and under par Blackburn side.

And then finally we move to Anfield, where it showed Evra getting booked for a challenge against Torres (which Sky Sports clearly showed the Spanish striker fall over his own legs), not to mention Jamie Carragher’s challenge against Michael Owen, bringing down the forward on the edge of the box only earning him a yellow card. As far as I’m aware bringing down the last man should earn you a straight red! Similarly Vidic was given a second yellow for pulling down Kuyt on the half way line (a challenge i believe to deserve a straight red card seeing as Kuyt was the last man in this situation)

This is only a few of the decisions that referee Andre Marriner clearly got wrong in what was probably Liverpool’s biggest game in recent years, as another defeat would see the title race dead and buried and possibly could have the end of Rafa’s Bentiez’s reign at the club. I could go on and talk about Carragher bringing done Michael Carrick in the penalty area but i don’t want to start sounding like a biased fan looking for an excuse as to why we lost the game.

The point is, is that these referee’s get paid good money and therefore have a huge responsibilty to perform to the very best of their ability, and if it is not within their ability then they should not play or admit that they need video evidence to help them make important game changing decisions. Football fans spend huge amounts of money every year to go and see their team play, and it is them that deserve to have the best possible treatment that there is and if that means video evidence needs to be introduced to help referees handle the stress, then so be it. After all it works well in rugby so why not football?

Youngsters

I has always thought of Man United as having a young team, with the like of Ronaldo (now gone), Nani, Rooney, Anderson, Fletcher, O’Shea and Brown. I think that is what most people think.

However, I looked at the two teams on Sunday in the Liverpool v Man Utd macth to see what their average ages are.

The average age of the Liverpool team was 26 – which is about average for a top team.

When Chelsea played Liverpool earlier in the season Chelsea’s team was an average age of 29.

Getting On

However, United’s team on Saturday had an average of 29.5.

That’s getting on.

Of coure it was boosted by Van Der Sar being 37.

And Darren Fletcher (25) coming back would help.

However, United had only four players in the team aged under 28 – and none in the back five.

Long Course

So, will Chelsea and United, with all their old fellows, manage to stay the course of the Premiership race?

It’s usually younger teams that win the Premiership.

Older teams tend to win the Champions League or European Cup as it used to be called.

Puskas and De Stefano were well into their thirties when Real Madrid won five-in-a-row.

AC Milan’s winning teams were quite old – especially the recent one which had players up to 40 years of age in the team.

So, are Man Utd and Chelsea more likely to feature prominently in the Champions League this season?

Well, they’ve already got a good start on Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premiership.

Later

But we’ll see what happens when they’ve been playing two games a week for ages later in the season and what happens to their old legs.

Chelsea and Man Utd have good pools and that should help them.

But is the clock ticking for their goden olden oldies?

By Livelier Bird

Torres

Vidic was headed for Player of the Year last year till Torres exposed him. This year Torres toyed with several United defenders before scoring the winner. Early on Patrice Evra found him too hot to handle and brought him down several times. He was in danger of going off.

Then, at the goal Torres held Ferdinand off well before shooting past Van Der Sar. Ferdinand looked stunned after that one. Torres was also part of Vidic getting sent off as Vidic had fouled him for his first yellow card offence.

Fernandophobia

According to one commentator their fear of Torres caused the United central defenders to defend deep so that they didn’t get exposed and this caused too big a gap between the central midfielders and the defence giving Torres and the others plenty of room to operate in.

And that was when Torres was only 80% fit according to Rafa Benitez.

Have Liverpool turned the corner?

They are still 6 points behind Chelsea and 4 behind United – but at least they have some hope now.

By LiverBird

No Sex

The Ireland manager, Giovanni Trappatoni (which probably stands for Trappist in English) has said that if Ireland qualify for the World Cup, Ireland’s footballers will be allowed sex on one night only – and only once. “Sex is positive” he said. Thank goodness for that. Now we know. I might take it up again.

I know football is becoming more important but to have sex merely as a tool to help win football games is something else. However, although having sex is positive, it is only positive once. After that, according to Von Trapp, it seems to be a case of the law of diminishing returns or even diminished returns.

Once a Night

It should be once a night he reckons not “three times, four times, five times. That is not good”, he informs us all.

Oh dear!

It was once said that having sex was as good exercise as a five-mile run and did you just as good. Surely three, four or five times would be as good as a fifteen, twenty or twenty five mile run.

Yes, I see what he’s getting at now. Having sex five times a night would be the equivalent of running a Marathon – not something you’d want to do the night before a big game.

It’s been very interesting having an Italian manager in charge of Ireland. You can learn a lot – and not just about football. Although everything ends up as football anyway. I wonder what advice he would give about sex before a Journalism Masters Exam.

He’s been in the job for 5 years but hasn’t won a trophy in his last three years at Liverpool FC. Last year Liverpool were joint top at this stage and in the end only lost the title race by 4 points. So, even though Liverpool were trophyless in three years they were moving in the right direction.

However, the start to this year’s campaign has thrown a huge spanner into that. Rafa has spent a lot of money, much of it on duds. And now Liverpool are already 7 points behind Man Utd and with a game against them coming up next weekend. The deficit to the top would have been even greater if Chelsea hadn’t lost to Villa

Early Ending

If Liverpool lose to United it looks as if their Premiership season will be ending very early – and just the Champions League to concentrate on of the major trophies available. One suspects Liverpool will be playing full teams in the two domestic Cup competitions this year.

How long will the fans give Rafa if they lose to United next weekend and fail to beat Lyons in the Champions League? One would guess that this might be his last season at Liverpool – barring another Champions League success.

Even if they beat United they would still probably be 6 points behind in the title race. If they lose it will be 10 points. It could be a long, lonely season for the Koppites

Contact Katie Barr here at katesbarr@hotmail.com

Rabble

If you wanted to publish a book How Not To Run a Football Club you would head straight for Newcastle and just jot down what has happened there over the years. For goodness sake they sacked Bobeby Robson for finishing 5th. They also sacked Kenny Dalglish early into the season after he got them into the Champions League.

What other major club would appoint Denis Wise to be the boss of football at their club. He didn’t even know anything about football when he was playing the game. Now they’ve been caught out foisting a player on a manager just to do a favour to a couple of dodgy Sough American agents. When Ashley and Wise were running the club the supporters called it the Cockney Mafia. Now, after the Keegan case, they look like a couple of East End wide boys who would be more suited to selling fruit off a barrow in Petticoat Lane market.

Fools

The supporters don’t deserve much more. They’re as big fools as the owners. They clamoured for the Messiah to be given the job at the club, Alan Shearer, who promptly took them down. This Messiah had no managerial experience or coaching certificates and little in the way of man management skills.

Some Messiah!

I think this was more like the Messiah out of Life of Brian rather than the biblical one.

And yet Newcastle remain a big club with an income to compete with the best – even though they get nowhere near the Champions League nowadays. They used to say that Yorkshiremen were Scotsmen with a sense of Fair Play and Geordies were Scotsmen with their brains bashed out. Many a true word said in jest!

The press in Manchester this week is dominated by the news of the impending birth of Wayne Rooney’s first child. Not a cause for concern for United fans you would think. Wrong.
Colleen is due on October 25th, the day the reds head South-West to face their biggest rivals, Liverpool. This apparently puts Rooney’s involvement in the game in jeopardy.
Considering the money that Rooney earns and the fact that United are seeking to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive league title this seems a crazy situation.
Can you imagine Roy Keane missing a massive game for the same reason? Didn’t think so.
Imagine if the Beatles didn’t play Shea Stadium because Ringo’s partner was having a kid. Imagine if Muhammed Ali couldn’t fight Frasier because ‘Junior’ was on the way or if McEnroe skipped Wimbledon to be at a hospital in Queens.
Get your boots on Wayne; it’s a small sacrifice to make. Score three and you can head home at half-time!

This Premier League season is set to be one of the closest contested yet, with Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham all looking like they have a point to prove, all looking like they aren’t going anywhere in a hurry.

Perhaps this plays on the minds of managers and players when they go into European matches such as Liverpool’s last night and to an extent Arsenal’s as well. Liverpool don’t need reminding that they haven’t won the Premier League in 19years and with rivals Manchester United having alreadly equaling and threatening to beat their past record of 18 Premier League titles, perhaps they see winning the Premier League as their first and main priority this season? Perhaps they see it as being their biggest ever opportunity to silence Man United and their fans?

Otherwise how can a team go from thrashing a side 6-1 to suffering a shock away defeat 2-0? Liverpool went from being a strong classy title contender to a team that didn’t even look like they should be playing in the Europa Cup, never mind the Champions League in just a matter of 3 days. “Never before have I seen a team struggle so much as we did in the first half,” says an infuriated Rafa Benitez.

As Jamie Carragher himself added after the game “Nothing went to plan. It was a massive game for them, and a massive game for us, but they seemed to be more ready for it from the start, for whatever reason. It is something we have got to sort out but fortunately in the Champions League we have still got four games to put that right.”
Is he saying that even though it was a massive game, they still have four more games and a pretty good chance of qualifying to the next stage anyway? That the match at Stamford Bridge on Sunday is more important? That their minds weren’t on the job in hand?

Time will tell how they recover from the shock defeat and are ale to overcome Chelsea, who also has a point to prove after suffering defeat to Wigan on Saturday.
One thing’s for sure it makes for a great match!!