Football News And Views

It’s nice to see that George Burley has taken over as the new manager of Scotland. There is no doubting his ability after being successful with Ipswich and more recently at Hearts, where he briefly challenged Scotland’s top two with them. His international ability however is unknown but that has been said about many successful club managers who have gone into the International scene.

Scotland fans will of course be hoping that George Burley pick up where Alex McLeish left off and personally i think he has the players under him to be able to do so. The first aim for Burley will be to reach the World Cup and he is confident he can do it.

“This job gives the opportunity to try to do something, to try to get to the World Cup finals, and as a manager you couldn’t ask for more than that.”

“It’s something I’m really looking to. I feel I’m ready for it.

“Let’s got for it, two, two-and-a-half years, can we qualify for the World Cup? That’s my aim.”

Scotland were unlucky not to reach the European Championships after their brave displays against France and Italy and if they can get the big results in the world cup qualifiers against the likes of Norway and the Netherlands then I can see them reaching the World Cup Finals and even as an Englishman I believe Scotland have what it takes to do this and under Burley they have a manager who will bring the best out of the players.

So Steve McClaren has been sacked after Englands miserable display against Croatia meant that they wont be in Euro 2008. I was too young to remember when England last failed to qualify for anything and I knew it wouldn’t be easy but I still expected it. I never thought McClaren was the right man for the job in the first place and he should have quit after the Croatia game to have some dignity left. I remember when Keegan quit after our loss to the Germans a few years ago and I hold a lot of respect for him to quit the way he did. It took a lot of guts but it was his time to go and he knew it. So yet another new era for England will begin when the FA appoints a new man for the job but first they need to find the right man and not rush the appointment like they did with Steve. Let’s look at the contenders.

Jose Mourinho

My top choice by a country mile. I don’t like the guy but he is a great manager and can really bring the best out of England. He is famous for bringing a great philosophy to his players minds and that is certainly something the current England team need. He also wont tollerate failure and England will do everything not to put a foot wrong under him. He is the perfect contrast to the laid back style of McClaren and could be the kick up the backside our national team need.

Martin O Neill

No doubt he is a good manager. He has a past of success and is doing well at Villa. England manager though? Well he nearly was before McClaren was appointed but I just feel that he will be another McClaren. Let’s not forget that McClaren did very well at Boro. O’Neill is a risk that the FA really cannot afford to make.

Sam Alardyce 

No chance. I don’t like him and I don’t like how manages teams. He isn’t doing a great job at Newcastle and after only joining them I cannot see him leaving so soon. Let’s hope not anyway.

Alan Shearer 

No experience but he’s a great guy and one all our players look up to. It is likely he will need a very good assistant manager and coaching staff. It’s a shame he can’t get a few clubs under his belt first. He could also be drafted into the coaching staff to gain much needed experience. I think he will be England manager one day but not just yet.

Fabio Capello

I will be honest. I don’t know much about this guy but his track record speaks for itself. He has had about as much success as you can at club level and has been with some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Would be my second choice after Jose Mouinho.

England 3 - 0 Estonia

The winning streak continues for England in their European qualifying group ahead of the big game away to Russia on Wednesday. It was important that England keep the pace by beating the Estonians and they did just that. It only took 11 minutes for England to take the lead when great play down the right between Shaun Wright-Phillips and Micah Richards saw Richards release Wright-Phillips into space in the box which he ran into and fired a shot between Mart Pooms legs.  Michael Owen later found himself one on one with Poom only for the flag to go up wrongfully but Poom saved well anyway.

The scoreline was doubled when Joe Cole found Rooney from the left and Rooney made a yard for himself just outside the box to fire a shot and hard past Poom and replays show that the shot took the tiniest of deflections on the way in. The score was 3-0 moments later from a bizarre own goal by Rahm. Ashley Cole whipped in the ball from the left and Rahm powered a header off his own post and in from about 18 yards. There were very few other chances in the first half. The only close one was a lob from Rooney that was just over the bar.

At half time Jolean Lescott made his England debut when he came on for Rio Ferdinand who was saved for Wednesday match as he was only one yellow away from a suspension. Ashley Cole who was in the same situation also came off but that was because of an ankle injury which hopefully won’t see him miss Wednesdays match with Russia. Lescott was moved to the left hand side of defence which is where he may find himself playing against Russia if Ashley Cole isn’t fit.

Michael Owen again had another close offside call which Poom also managed to save well from. Frank Lampard found himself back in the England frame when he came on as a sub for Michael Owen. The last 20 minutes of the game didn’t see much in terms of chances. England were happy to just keep the ball while Estonia had a couple of half chances but really didn’t do much at all. England could have made it four in the last minute when Gerrard and Joe Cole found themselves breaking away against the last defender but Gerrard unselfishly passed to Cole when he should have took the shot on himself and nothing came of the move. Joe Cole also had a chance himself but his shot went across the goal and wide.

So the 5^th 3-0 win a row for England sees them in a great position to qualify for Euro 2008.

After their under 17 world cup triumph against Spain last week, every member of the Nigerian under 17 team have each been given their own 3 bedroom house by the Nigerian president Umaru Yar’Adua. Not only have they each been giving their own place (or bachelor pad as most of them will like to call it) they have also been given one of Nigeria’s highest honours, each becoming a member of the Order of the Niger. It’s nice to see in Nigeria that such high rewards have been given for success. This can only encourage more kids to start playing football in the country. I doubt the same would have much effect here due to the stupid wages our players get, a 3 bedroom house is not even a weeks wages to some of the highest paid players. It will be interesting to see how many of these young Nigerians actually move straight into their new houses as they are all 16-17 year olds and may be too young to stand on their own two feet. Well done to them for winning the world cup though. If they win it for the senior team in 7 years time then who knows, they may all be given their own island.

Scotland jumped straight to the top of their Euro 2008 qualifying group with a hard fought win over France. Scotland proved very hard to break down and France, despite all their pressing could not break the deadlock. France had two very good chances in the second half from Ribery and Anelka which Craig Gordon did brilliantly to deny and on the 64th minute Scotland took the lead through James McFadden who thundered a strike in the back of the net from 30 yards away to stun the French. It was pretty much backs against the wall for Scotland from that moment on as France kept on pressing but were unable to find the net.

Meanwhile England had a comfortable win against Russia. Two well composed and well finished goals from Michael Owen in the first half and a good finish from Rio Ferdinand gave England their 4th 3-0 victory in a row. England took the lead after just 7 minutes when Michael Owen made himself space and time in the box to finish smartly. Russia will be angry that they had a goal disallowed for hand ball which was wrongly given but England continued to push forward and Heskey headed down a long ball from Ferdinand straight to the boot on Owen who fired home from 20 yards. England could have had 4 in the first half alone as Wright-Phillips sent a close range header over and Heskey was denied at close range by the Russian goal keeper. In the second half Rio Ferdinand made it 3 when he collected the ball in the area having previously been up for a corner and took a clever touch to set himself up for a finish that any striker would be proud of. Apart from a brief spell at the beginning of the second half Russia never looked like ever scoring and England controlled the tempo of the match and had most of the possession. England will be hoping for more performances like this is in the future.

Germany 11- 0 Argentina

Holders and favourites, Germany kicked off their Woman’s World Cup campaign in some style by smashing Argentina 11-0. Argentina keeper Vanina Correa fumbled in before a Kerstin Garefrekes volley and Melanie Behringer sidefooted home. Birgit Prinz scored with a header and a shot before half-time, Renate Lingor smashed in, Sandra Smisek tapped in and Prinz’s header completed her hat-trick. Smisek netted with a drive, then a tap-in, before Correa fumbled in again. It was a torrid match for Correa who had no help from her defenders most of the match but her two fumbles will certainly haunt her for a long time. Argentina were hoping for a better result than the 6-1 defeat from the last world cup when they also played Germany. The two countries are certainly a gulf apart in womans football which can be said about a lot of countries compared to the likes of Germany. I hope we will see more competitive matches than this one in this years world cup or it could be very disappointing unless you are German.

This result does not make good reading for English fans who alongside Japan are also in the same group as Germany and Argentina. It may not have been a very good display by Argentina especially Correa but the Germans will be fired up in their next matches and they look very tough to beat, as they have proved to be in recent years.

Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA’s director of development reckons that the growing amount of foreign players playing in England could put the England national team chances of success in Jeopardy. Whilst I believe this is true I don’t think it is possible to stop the figure of foreign players growing simply because of the price of English players. Arsenal are blasted a lot for their lack of English players yet they are congratulated on playing superb football. But why is it that there are more and more foreign players in the Premiership? Well it’s simple really. The price of English players is ridiculous. Arsene Wenger sold Thierry Henry in the summer and could have bought an English striker as a replacement but he chose Croatian Eduardo who cost roughly £7m. Henry, easily the best striker in the world was sold for £16m yet Tottenham bought Darren Bent from relegated Charlton for £16.1m. It is a joke to see players like Bent go for this kind of money. The problem is that when young English talent comes through an academy from a smaller club and then breaks into the first team and looks like a potential success they may not be able to go on to play at a higher level and further their game. Up until recently Curtis Davis was a prime example of this. There is no doubt he could be a future centre back for England and he was admired a lot by Arsene Wenger who could have signed him for Arsenal last summer however West Brom wanted stupid money for him and he didn’t move to Arsenal. Maybe if he had done he may have been playing regular football at a top level and getting champions league games and maybe even be in Steve McLarens latest squad.

Whatever else you might say about England you have to realise we are one of the few big nations who can boast having the majority of our players playing in our country. Now that Hargreaves is at Manchester United, only David Beckham plays outside of the Premiership. How many other countries can say that? Brazil have a lot of stars in Spain and the Spanish have players such as Cesc Fabregas and Torres playing in the Premiership. A lot of the Brazilian team have to fly half way around the world to link up whereas most of the England squad only have to travel down a couple of motorways or just hop across London. Surely that is benefit we have over most nations.

England U21 1 - 1 Romania U21

With the main England team playing tomorrow it the under 21 team who take the spotlight tonight against Romania under 21s in front of 18,000 fans at Ashton Gate in Bristol. It was England who took the lead when Matt Derbyshire scored after latching on to Agbonlahor’s pass though some may suggest that the young Villa striker was going for goal himself. The Romanians equalised when Onuoha looked to handball just outside the area though replays suggested he was pushed first and handballed on his way down. The resulting freekick hit the bar and bounced down onto the backside of a diving Joe Hart and bounced over the line. England had a chance to go back in the lead when Agbonlahor sent in a great ball to Kightly who was all on his own but he decided to head the ball to Derbyshire instead of going for goal himself. His header went behind Derbyshire and the ball was cleared. If he had taken it on his own he would have scored. A minute later Michael Johnson sent a long range curling shot just over. Mark Noble, who played great on the night, blasted a free kick just wide.

England rang the changes at half time with Mancienne, Adam Johnson and Ben Alnwick coming on for Gardner, Knightly and Hart. Theo Walcott who has causing all sorts of problems on the left wing in the first half was moved to the right hand side. Derbyshire should have got his second when he found himself one on one from a few yards out but he couldn’t direct his shot but he was also wrongly flagged for offside. Alnwick made a great save when Torje found himself through. England made more changes with Tom Huddlestone and Fabrice Muamba coming on for Michael Johnson and Mark Noble. Just moments later England came very close to scoring when Adam Johnson sent in a peach of a cross which Matt Derbyshire could only direct straight at the keeper. Walcott picked up the loose ball but couldn’t do nothing with it. He also appeared to be fouled twice in succession but didn’t go to ground straight away. He took a little knock but it was encouraging to see him back on his feet.

The game was quite a heated affair and the referee was very card happy and I wasn’t surprised when a red card was shown in the match. Cristian Scutaru who was already on a yellow was sent off after 71 minutes for a foul on Agbonlahor. There were not really any complaints about it but it’s not nice to see a red card in a friendly match. James Milner came on to equal the record number of England under 21 appearances when he came on for Matt Derbyshire and Luke Moore replaced his fellow Villa striker, Agbonlahor. The Romanians were let off near the end of the match when Tatarusanu’s goal kick went straight to Theo Walcott who slipped as he shot towards the empty net and narrowly missed. There was still time for the Romanian keeper to make another error when he punched straight to Huddlestone who’s miscontrol made the ball fall to Onuoha who’s shot suggests why he is a defender and not a striker. England were very unlucky to only draw this game but the result is meaningless compared to the performance which was very promising for England.

Elsewhere there were wins for Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland Under 21 teams against Finland, Sweden and Czech Republic Under 21 teams respectively and the Republic or Ireland U21s drew 2-2 with Germany U21s

With the injury to Wayne Rooney causing him to be out around 6-8 weeks he is surely going to be missed. Especially by England. Man Utd have Carlos Tevez who on his day can fill Rooney’s boots and bag a few goals. At international level Rooney certainly will be missed. However there are many strikers in contention for the space left by Rooney’s injury. With MichaelOwen coming back to fitness he seems like he may be playing in the next few England Internationals but the choice of who will play alongside him is a tough choice. Here are a few contenders.

Dean Ashton 

Dean Ashton has apparently told Steve McClaren that he is ready to start up front for England but I don’t think he is quite ready yet. He has only just came back form a long injury and will need a lot of games to build up his fitness. He is also going to need to score a few goals for West Ham to build his confidence up. If he can do that then he should be ready to make the step up to International level. I would like to see him play for England but he has not proved yet that he has the quality.

Andy Johnston

He has had a couple of good seasons in the premiership but a lot of his goals have come from the penalty spot. He is another striker like Ashton who I would like to see at International level but I don’t think he has the quality that the likes of Rooney has.

Peter Crouch

I have always been a fan of Peter Crouch and he has International experience. He has scored a few goals for England and he offers something different up front. He would be my personal choice however he is better as a substitute who  can come on and change a game. His height offers a threat in the air and he is good playing off a fast attacker.

Jermaine Defoe

I have never rated Defoe but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was called up. He has the ability but is very inconsistent but he seems to be rated by a lot of people. I would like to see him repay the faith.

Darren Bent

Not really done it so far this season but he needs more games. He may be playing in an England shirt a lot in the future, especially if he can find the form of last season.

David Nugent

He scored on his debut even though he couldn’t have missed. I can’t see him getting called up but he is still young. He needs to prove himself at Premiership level before he will be considered being called up again.

To summerise I think Ashton/Johnston and maybe Crouch will get called up if they are all fit. They are not the best strikers in the world but when someone of Rooney’s quality is out they are the most obvious choices to me. This is a huge chance for them to show that they can do it at International level and England’s qualifying chances could depend on their performances. No pressure then.

Lee Trundle has spoke out about his move from Swansea to Bristol City saying that he is targeting a place in the Irish national team. Trundle is now 30 years old and has easily been one of the best strikers below the Championship for a few seasons now but he has not taken the step up until this forth coming season. If he can maintain his record in the Championship with Bristol City then I think there is a serious chance that he will get his first cap. However at 30 years of age there is not much time for Trundle to make a huge impact at International level. In a couple years he may find it difficult to keep up playing for club and country. However I am sure Lee is happy  if he just gets one cap as it has always been his dream to put on the green jersey of Ireland. I just feel that he would have already have put it on if he had joined Sheff Wed in 2005 when they tabled a £750k bid for him. Good luck to Lee anyway. I have always been a fan of him and as long as he doesn’t score too many past Norwich I am sure I still will be for a while yet.