A New Era Beckons

I am writing this about 7 hours before England Kick off against Switzerland in what could have been a meaningless friendly but has now turned into the beginning of a new era.
I don’t believe half the stuff that’s printed in the papers, most of the time its broad speculation but the things that are coming out regarding Fabio Capello and his hard line stance can only be commended.
There was no way David Beckham could have been picked for his 100th cap, when was the last time he actually played a full 90minutes in a competitive match, there is no room for sentimentally in international football.
The banning of mobile phones and the discipline involving everyone eating at the same time can only be the correct way to go, some of England’s pampered stars definitely need a kick up the backside and Capello is the man to do it.
I genuinely believe England have a winner in charge now and we will see a serious improvement on the pitch whoever lines up.
We have a goalkeeper problem that needs resolving and we are possibly a goalscorer in the mould of shearer or lineker short but we look solid in other departments and have some genuinely talented players.
It’s going to be hard to swallow come June time when the European championships are on but 2010 will be here before you know it and we will be ready.

Keegan confirms Dennis Wise as his Number 2

Couldn't resist, sorry.

KEVIN KEEGAN WASTES NO TIME AT NEWCASTLE AND MAKES HIS FIRST SIGNING IN SHAUN WRIGHT PHILLIPS

Well, I thought it was funny.

Coals To Newcastle

Who in their right mind is going to accept the Newcastle hot seat now that Big Sam has been found out.

Harry Redknapp is probably one of the most streetwise managers in the game and it looks like he has turned it down, Mark Hughes is currently been touted as favourite at the time of writing but how long would he be given to turn a mediocre squad into a successful trophy winning side.

Newcastle are almost certainly the most unsuccessful "biggest" club in the world, they have absolutely no history or pedigree and yet their fans demand success.

Success for the Geordie's is at best a top six finish, they were spoilt a little bit when Keegan was in charge and they came so so close to a Premiership title but their star has waned and their squad is currently full of has-beens and unsuccessful foreign imports.

Newcastle need a clear out and a change of direction, they need a revolution and who would be the men for the job, it has to be the dream team pairing of Keegan and Shearer, no-one else could light the blue touch paper better than these two and any other appointment would just be regarded as second best.

Fantasy Football Update: Black Christmas

Everything was going so well in the fantasy football in early December, highest position ever (1499), way out in front of everyone else in the work league and most of my players doing the business.

The Christmas period was nothing short of calamitous, my obsession with having a Chelsea defender in my team resulted in first Ben-Haim not getting picked and contributing -3 points overall before I replaced him with that most cultured of defenders Ricardo Carvalho who contrived to play in a 4-4 draw before getting himself sent off for the type of lunge Bruce Lee would have been proud of, a fantastic -11 points in one game.

Not withstanding all that, Nicklas Bendtner got himself sent off for Arsenal earning me more minus points.

So I enter the new year down in the low 3000s and a few points behind the current leader.A long way to go yet, the old cliche comes to the fore, its a marathon, not a sprint.

Right Man For The Job

Fabio Capello breezed into town as the new manager of England promising his English will be so much better when he takes charge of his new squad.

There is no doubt in my mind that the FA have made a great choice, there were other people on the list who also fall into that category but Capello got the nod.

The "we want an English manager" brigade have had their say, Paul Ince was said to be upset that a non English manager was selected, well Paul I've news for you, most of the football supporters in this country are upset we haven't qualified for the European Championships and we know the nationality of the guy responsible for that.

Fact: No living English manager has won the European Cup.

Fact: No English Manager has ever won the Premier League.

The FA had to go foreign, no ifs or buts about that.

There will be so much rubbish wrote about Capello between now and his first game (and so much more after) but the simple facts remain, he is a winner and his list of trophies is second to none, he knows how to deal with players and he is an ex international.

The FA should back him to the hilt, him and his backroom staff and the English Football team might just give us all something to shout about again.

England, My England.

The dust has settled on the English Football teams debacle against Croatia, Steve McClaren has been spared the ignominy of falling on his sword and quite rightly shown the door by the F.A, all the players who played on Wednesday night (and even some that didn't) were roundly booed in their premiership matches today and the merry go round that is, has begun to find the next England manager.

All the usual suspects are thrown into the mix and a few new candidates.

The England managerial position is considered to be one of the best in the world, lets face it, its not that difficult, about 12 games a year, the best (English) players to pick from and a pretty solid coaching structure right down to grass roots level.

McClaren should never ever have been given the job, he was a decent coach at Man Utd but there is a lot of decent coaches at a lot of clubs, many of whom the average football fan will never have even heard of.

As a manager, he was nothing short of a joke, his tactical awareness was naive at best and his man management skills left a lot to be desired, it was plainly obvious that he didn't have the respect of his players.

So, who is going to replace him. Once again there are a few footballing luminaries clamouring for an English manager, are they having a laugh, who?

Sam Allardyce is currently heading for the sack at Newcastle, he did a decent job at Bolton, but did they ever win anything? ditto Alan Curbishley, Harry Redknapp would be very interesting but seriously, after that we start to run out of candidates.

So we need to go foreign, if (and its a big if) hes interested, the FA should be hammering Jose Mourinhos door down (assuming Wengers not interested).

If these two are crossed off the list then Fabio Capello has to be a contender, his record is impeccable (his English not so apparently). Martin O'Neill would be a good choice (at least hes British) but I'm not sure hes quite got the passion for it. Jurgen Klinsmann? give me a break.

Football is now more than ever a global game and although Sven had his critics, his record as England Manger was actually extremely good, he was criticised mainly for his lack of passion but tactically he was a very astute manager and his knowledge of the game was spot on.

This is what England need, not a British bulldog who would die for his country but a clever tactician who can read his opponents and can get the best out of the current decent crop of English payers.

And does the English Football system need a complete overhaul? The answer is a resounding no, we just need a decent manager.