MAGIC NOT QUITE THERE FOR SPECIAL K

Even before the game, the Newcastle fans were singing Kevin Keegan's name and attempting to pass a small banner with a picture of Kellogg's "Special K" cereal around. The atmosphere in their section must have been one of anticipation at Keegan's first 'proper' game in charge after the disappointing 0-0 at home to Bolton last weekend.

I have to admit, the confidence of the Geordies was filtering through to me in the form of nerves. I was beginning to convince myself that Keegan would make a difference. I was worried that they might scrape a draw and beat us back at St. James' Park. By half time I was even more worried. A half with limited chances, not a hugely entertaining spectacle although there were a couple of moments where Arsenal could have taken the lead, notably Eduardo's half-volley after a mistake by Steven Taylor, and then Abou Diaby's dipping effort on half-time. The Newcastle fans and players were starting to grow in confidence and it was evident that the Arsenal faithful were quite the opposite.

Second half, and Arsenal needed a goal to settle the nerves and stick it to the goading Geordie's kindly offering 5-1 fingered salutes at us. A few rude gestures went the other way but nothing extravagant until 51st minute where the game sprung to life, Eduardo first with a superb curling effort clattering the post and then almost identically, Emmanuel Adebayor shot only this time going in. Most of the crowd went wild, including me, waving their hands in the shape of rude gestures towards the Newcastle crowd. I was delighted until I was literally spat at by an old git in front of me telling me to "tone it!" I thought to myself, OK, I may be celebrating a little extravagantly but I am happy that the team I love has just taken the lead and I want to celebrate like everyone else. I’m young and energetic and I want to use some of that energy supporting my team even if he doesn't.

Anyway, as the second goal went in, I thought I would 'tone' my celebrations a little, but it didn't really work, the relief at going through was just too much and I let myself go. He didn't say anything else poor sod, was probably a little intimidated by the whole crowd but I can't help it and I think it's a little unfair to shower one person out of 55,000 with spit. After the third went in I didn't really celebrate because I wasn't sure if it had been given, no one seemed to celebrate and by the time i saw William Gallas with his arms aloft, the moment had gone to celebrate like a madman. Sadly for Newcastle fans, the magic of the cup wasn't there for them once again.

I can't believe the luck of Chelsea in the draw for the 5th round, firstly they avoid the others in the big four, and then they are drawn at home, AGAIN!!! To Huddersfield!!! I could not believe it, last season, they had home ties all the way until the final, then this season they only have one away tie to Wigan AND they are all to lower league opposition. I won't be bitter though, I just hope that Arsenal beat United - who they drew, and meet Chelsea in the final, because if we win the FA Cup, I want to beat all the best teams on the way, then we can say we truly are the best.

Another thing that has annoyed me this weekend was that Liverpool paid a reported £100,000 for a 'bender' for all the Havant and Waterlooville players. The fact that they paid it doesn't really bother me, it's that when Luton Town asked Liverpool for half that sum to save their club, not to waste on booze etc, they turned them down. Secondly, I'm not sure how most of their team aren't dead after spending that much money on a night out.

In the African Cup of Nations, three players have caught my eye so far; they are Mohamed Zidan of Egypt, Razak Omotoyossi of Benin and Manucho of Angola. The latter two have outstanding areal ability and especially Manucho; he has such strength and high in his leap that it makes him almost impossible to mark. I am dreading the day he joins Manchester United. Mohamed Zidan on the other hand has really impressed me with his skill, pace and flair for the game. In their opening game against Cameroon, widely regarded as one of the best teams in Africa at the moment, he showed excellent shooting ability as well as the speed to take players on, definitely one for the future. Omotoyossi scored Benin's only goal against the Ivory Coast, but he was a constant threat throughout that game and had he had some better support up front with him, he would surely have grabbed at least one more and possibly had layed one or two off for others. Everything Benin did attacking-wise went through him and his positional play off the ball is near to faultless. He scored 6 goals in 6 games with his club Helsingborgs IF in the UEFA cup this season and was top scorer in the Swedish league last season prompting interest from SC Heerenveen. At just 22, he is also one for the future.

One last thing to say - "A-de-bayor...A-de-bayorrrr, Give him the ball, and he will score!"

A little bit of Keegan and my weekend

In Newcastle's 'bore draw' with Bolton this weekend, it was evident that Kevin Keegan had not yet had the influence over his new players that he has over the fans. Keegan himself was quick to blame absences for the result.

He said: "You take nine players out of a football club of that quality - four of them are good enough to play for their countries in the African Nations Cup, there are two very experienced players who have played for Manchester United and won things, a player like Emre, who is a very inventive player, and then Mark Viduka, who has scored goals wherever he has played and at international level too."

Sounds like sour grapes to me.

I personally had an excellent weekend, meeting some great people at a party for a brilliant woman’s birthday and a brilliant cause in Breast Cancer Care. Some of you may have seen it in the guardian. I also got the chance to talk to a professional footballer - Lee Bell. The first I've spoken to at the level I did. Most people probably won't have heard of him but in my opinion he should be playing in a better league than he is having done well at Crewe. Sadly that didn't work out and he moved to Mansfield via Burton Albion on loan. Aside from his football, he is a nice bloke, from what I saw in the half an hour I met him in. Most people wouldn't care but I thought it was quite weird sitting with a cup of tea with a footballer who is friends with people like Dean Ashton and Luke Varney, both of whom are players I genuinely like, and both coming from the same Crewe academy as himself. This makes me think he's probably a better player than his club suggests. No disrespect to Mansfield of course. Everyone who reads this, look out for him in Saturdays home game against Middlesbrough. If you read this as promised Lee - good luck and I hope for a repeat of 1967. If you don't know the score - you should! Look it up! lol

I also found time to go to see Stoke City, as I was in the vicinity, at home to Preston on Saturday, and I was shocked, having watched Charlton most of the season, to find some good football being played at Championship level. The stadium's not bad either. I was also shocked at the sheer power with which Rory Delap launched a throw into the box and almost directly into the net, only for a flick from Leon Cort for Stoke's first goal. It's quite amazing that anyone can throw that far AND get power on it, it's like a whipped cross. Anyway, I enjoyed the match, although Preston played some good football on the floor at times, they were quite bad, but I did feel sorry for their young 'keeper.

I'd just like to finish by saying, if anyone who reads this hasn't visited before, please do read some of my other stuff. I hope you like it. Cheers!

Hicks and Gillette need to follow by example

On October 1st 1996, an historic day in the history of Arsenal football club. They hired a man, scarcely known in England and who had a very odd look about him with his grey hair and glasses. Even some found it mildly amusing at the time at the time, with cries of "Arsene who?". Now we know him better as Arsene Wenger, one of the best managers in the world, possibly one of the greatest to have ever lived. After two seasons he achieved something that no other over-seas manager has achieved and won the league and FA Cup double in 1998.

What could have happened: However, after '98, Wenger failed to win another significant trophy in the next three years and was sacked at the end of the 2000/01 campaign.

What really happened: After the success in 1998, Arsenal went on to press United for another triumph, coming close to ruining their treble chances in both the league and FA Cup in 1999, until finally in 2002 the club won their second double in four years. Wenger went on to enjoy success in one more Premiership title in 2004 and two more FA Cups, as well as finishing as runner-up in the Premiership on five separate occasions and reaching a Champions League and UEFA Cup final. He is currently building an excellent crop of new stars who are challenging in all four competitions in 2008.

On June 16th 2004 Liverpool appointed La Liga winner and former Valencia manager Rafael Benitez. He was quite well known at the time and had quite a few credentials as being a decent manager. He has since built up a very good team with some quality players, and has won the Champions League and FA Cup and reached the Champions League final again since his win. He currently has a squad hoping to start challenging, within the next couple of seasons, for the title.

What could happen from now if Benitez stays: A disappointing season in 2007/08, saw Liverpool finish trophy-less but with high-hopes for the future. The next season Liverpool finished second in the League, but won the League Cup and FA Cup, going out in the semi-finals of the Champions League. He then went on to take the League title in 2009, just beating Arsenal, United and Chelsea to top spot on the final day. After the disappointment of losing in the Champions League final in 2007, Benitez finally won his second title in 2010.

What could happen if Benitez goes: A disappointing season in 2007/08, saw Liverpool finish trophy-less and Rafael Benitez sacked. Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillette appointed Jürgen Klinsmann as their new manager in the summer of 2008. After spending lots of money and only winning one FA Cup in 2010, Klinsmann was sacked at the end of that season and the club was sold by Hicks and Gillette to a Dubai Billionaire consortium. The manager merry-go-round continues.

My point is, that should Liverpool sack Rafael Benitez, basically the minute things start to get rough, they will find themselves in the position of Newcastle within a matter of 10years. They have already failed to win the League for nearly 20 years now, and if they decide to change their manager again, they will find themselves falling further away each year, and unless they can find someone who can take off and improve from where Benitez leaves things, which is highly unlikely, then there is simply no good that can come from sacking him. Benitez knows the club very well, has built his own team up and has begun to lay the foundations for the club to build on and become a major force in the League once again. Should they choose to stick with him, then Liverpool should have a very bright future to look forward to, littered with trophies from the next ten years at least.

Who's next for the job from hell?

Newcastle don't make it easy for themselves. Harry Rednapp may well have taken the job on Friday, had it not been almost guaranteed he would be out of work within a year. Granted, whoever takes over at Newcastle United will have a lot of money to spend, but as the three or four previous managers have shown, money doesn't keep you your job if results don't go your way. And yes, I am going to say it, it is "the results business". No matter how much I hate that phrase, mainly because of the blatant obviousness of it, I still have to agree that it is extraordinarily appropriate for a club that has had 7 different managers in 10years.

Personally, being someone who would love any chance at managing any kind of club within or around the football league, I would jump at the chance to manage a team with such great foundations - the fans, the stadium and some half-decent players to work with. On the other hand, were I a manager at the top of the game, for example Blackburn manager Mark Hughes, i would run a mile should Newcastle come knocking. I have a few reasons for this but really all you need to do is look at Graeme Souness and then think, what happened to him after Newcastle, and then realise that becoming their manager can ruin your career.

Onto the appointment, if i was looking from a Mike Ashley perspective, my favourite would be either Mark Hughes or someone people haven't mentioned yet - David Moyes. Moyes, personally would be top of my list. He has proven he knows his stuff, he knows what to do with money when he gets it. He has taken a mediocre team in Everton to Europe in only a few years and can only go further. However, were i David Moyes, nothing Newcastle could offer me would tempt me into leaving Goodison for St James' Park. I'm afraid that the club have got themselves in a lose lose situation and sacking Sam Allardyce last week has only shot themselves in the foot. The fans, as passionate as they are, need to lay of the clubs next manager and give them time to do their job and sort out the team. If they don't do this, soon everyone will be thinking like me and they will only be able to appoint rookies.

Cristiano Ronaldo? Ha, I laugh in the face of Cristiano Ronaldo!

And I wish I had the right to. Unfortunately, nobody has the right to laugh at Cristiano Ronaldo, even if he does insist on strutting around like he owns Manchester and most of England. The talent of this man is phenomenal, but you can't help but hate him. Especially if you are an Arsenal fan you will know what I mean because he is looking ominous in ruining your title bid. He struts around the football field, WORSE than Thierry Henry used to! He seems to think that cheating is part of the game, but worst of all, he is a pretty boy, and knows it! We have all heard women - wives, girlfriends, mums and sister saying "Ooo isn't that Ronaldo lovely". I don't know about everyone else but it only makes for me hating him. I am jealous, yes, and he knows a lot of people are, but does he have to be so arrogant about it? To compound it all, he scores a hat-trick for United yesterday, and makes it his mission to look as cocky as possible.

Credit to the man, he is probably the best footballer in the world, only Kaka comes close at the moment in terms of consistently amazing performances. He can use both his feet, he reminds me of what I have seen of George Best in his ability on the ball. The way he strikes the ball is an envy to us all and a mystery to goalkeepers everywhere. I just can't hold this niggling feeling that I wish he wasn't so damn good. Or at least that Real Madrid would pay £70million for him instead of spending it on five players who will be sold for half that in 2 or 3 years time. Either way he wouldn't be able to stop Arsenal anymore, which is great for me.

Another thing that makes me want to strangle him and shout obscenities at him from my sofa is his insufferable diving! Why he feels he needs to dive to get his own way, I really do not know. His ability far exceeds his need to dive, proven after he had another dive turned down against Newcastle, and then went on to score a superb hat-trick. It's a shame, because if he didn't dive, I and many others would have nothing but good words to say about him, apart from jealous ones of course. If you ever read this Mr Ronaldo, take note.

Manchester United, as a team though, are looking almost unstoppable. They would have won comfortably yesterday even without Ronaldo, albeit with a smaller margin, I would imagine. Rooney and Tevez look to be the best partnership in the league, which makes me wish one of them was African or something. That way, United would tragically lose one of them to the African Cup of Nations.

The African Cup of Nations is THE single most ridiculously placed tournament in the history of world football. And by the way, why is Samuel Eto'o still playing for Barcelona now, and all the Premiership stars have gone? I do not know what the problem is with simultaneously playing the ACN alongside the European Championships this summer. Or is this just too much for FIFA to cope with? If so, then surely it’s a little easier than sorting all the documentation out with hundreds of clubs, allowing the players to leave for international duty, and if this is a big problem, then what was wrong with last summer? No football, nothing interesting happening, where is the problem?

Please Mr Blatter, consider us poor clubs who need the African players. It also, and I don't mean to make excuses, gives an unfair advantage to teams who don't have vital African players. The argument that teams should not have African players in their teams is absurd because what does this do to African football? It will start to make teams think twice soon about taking them on because they will be away for a vital part of the season. I don't know anyone who thinks that having the tournament now is a good idea.

If I were a rich man.....I would throw money at my football club from my yacht!

Another £15million of Roman Abramovich’s hard earned interest goes in the direction of away - from his bank account. Having spent a total of reportedly nearly 60million on their current strike force, and currently have on their books a £30million man in Andrei Shevchenko, who has actually started playing quite well, they decide they haven’t spent enough money recently and splash out on Nicolas Anelka.

The board meeting (taking place on Mr Abramovich's yacht) probably went something a little like this:
Avram Grant: "Can I have some money please?"
Roman Abramovich: "What do you need it for?"
Avram: "I want to buy a new striker..."
Roman: "No! My interest is hard earned, Jose spent enough already!"
Avram: "Ok, I suppose I could just sell Shevchenko to raise the money"
Roman: “Alright, it's yours. How much to you need?"

In all fairness to Roman though, he does not have a clue what he's doing in terms of football. He probably just thinks Shevchenko is a good player...right? Anyway, I won't criticise Avram Grant for his choices in the transfer market, because he hasn't made any before this one. We all know what Anelka is capable of from his Arsenal and Manchester City days mainly and of course from what he did at Bolton. On the other hand, it was Grant, who more than likely got Jose Mourinho the sack. For this, all the die-hard (if this applies to Chelsea) fans that I know, hate him or at least have strongly disapproved of from the start.

Let's face it; £15million is just not a huge transfer these days in term of football. It’s medium to high but not huge, and more and more clubs seem to be prepared to gamble this sort of money. For example: Arsenal paid a reported £12million for Theo Walcott and £17million for Jose Antonio Reyes. Manchester United paid between £15-20million each for Owen Hargreaves, Anderson and Nani and even Tottenham paid over £16million for Darren Bent. It is a pretty common figure now.

Even so, players cost too much and are over-paid. Another argument I could get into. Some people say that footballers have short careers and therefore have to earn more in that short space of time. Ok, so none of these players have jobs as Coaches or Managers, TV Pundits or Host or even in some other field or sport? Of course they do, so that makes that argument exempt. It's only alcoholics and wasters that don't bother getting jobs when they hang up their boots. Not naming names (Paul Gascoigne). Even Paul Merson has a job for Sky Sports, despite his utter inability to commentate or make any intelligent comment on a relevant subject. For example his neandertol-like use of Cockney rhyming slang ("Oh, he's hit the beans on toast" - post).

Interestingly, Sky Sports seem to like cockneys in Tony Cottee and Tony Gail, although their levels of intelligence are far superior to someone like Merson. As for Chris Kamara, he doesn't have a clue what to say half the time, which results in the constant repetition of "Unbelievable Jeff" and "I'm not sure what's happening Jeff". Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against any of these people, but I’m just making the point that even the thickest footballer can get a job after he retires from the game.

I haven’t yet heard Nicolas Anelka's weekly wage but I’m sure it's ridiculously high, both in amount and on his list of reasons for joining Chelsea I’m sure. Halve every Premiership first team footballer’s wage and you would have enough to double every nurse’s yearly wage in the UK. A much more worthy cause I think everyone would agree. Do they think no-one would be a footballer if they put a cap on their wages? I think not.

Liverpool Crisis? Tinker-man Rafa in trouble

I have always been a supporter of Rafa Benitez, but at the moment, it is hard to see what good he is doing at Liverpool right now. Yes, granted, he has won them the Champions League, something that one of the greatest managers in the World - Arsene Wenger - has never managed, and for that he should be commended. He has taken Liverpool to two Champions League finals in three seasons and this has always been my defence for him, and probably what has kept him in his job for so long. Had he not done well in the Champions League, they would arguably be just like Newcastle are now, sacking and replacing managers almost every season.

The reality is that the results Liverpool pull off in the Premier League are not good enough. Drawing 1-1 at home to Wigan is poor, and 1-1 away at Luton is even worse. I have never been one to agree with changing around a winning team and resting players. If you find your best team, or a winning formula, then stick with it; don’t start resting players because you end up with results like at Luton and a congested fixture list with the replay that simply could have been avoided. If you are chasing the title, which realistically Liverpool aren't anymore, then you have to win FA Cup ties to avoid replays and wearing your players out any more than needed.

People have been saying to me recently that Benitez has pulled out a transfer coup in bringing Fernando Torres to Anfield. I'm sorry but since when was £26million a coup? £12million for a relatively unknown Thierry Henry is a coup, but going and spending the same amount of money that would completely buy out a Championship club on a World famous player who was reportedly being chased by Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, two of the most respected managers in the World, is not something to put on your C.V. Any manager could go to a club with almost unlimited money to spend and think, ok, I’ll go and buy Kaka for £40million. Everyone knows he is an excellent player, but it takes a good manager to in for a relatively unknown player, take a gamble and turn him into a World Class star - Cesc Fabregas. On the same note, do you spend all that money on a player to only play him in half of your games in a season?

I believe that, with a full strength team being put out every week, being given the chance to gel, Liverpool would be somewhere near the top of the League, and would be safely through to play Havant and Waterlooville or Swansea in the FA Cup Fourth round. Four wise four-lettered words of advice to you if you ever read this Rafa, PLAY YOUR BEST TEAM!

Sport today

Firstly I would like to say sorry for not posting for six months, but I have been busy with my GCSEs and currently AS levels.

I suppose the main issue in sport at the moment is the Indian cricket racism row. It’s all very complicated, Harbhajan Singh has been accused of calling Andrew Symonds a "monkey" and now Singh has accused Brad Hogg of racial abuse. They have both been banned pending appeals. Quite frankly, Harbhajan Singh has been in trouble for this sort of thing before after an incident with Ricky Ponting, and if he did make another comment, the ICC should quite literally "throw the book at him". There is no room for this type of unsporting behaviour in any sport and anyone found guilty of it should be banned for life.
What followed this should bring the whole of the Indian cricketing game to shame. First, they accuse Umpire Steve Bucknor of giving a number of decisions to the Australians and demand that the ICC replace him. Then upon hearing that Singh had been banned, they decided to suspend their tour until the ICC withdrew the ban. This sort of action should be severely reprimanded, and is highly irresponsible of the Indian Cricket Association. What example does this set to up and coming athletes? If decisions don't go your way, use blackmail to get what you want? It's ridiculous. This could be an under-hand move to try to over-shadow the race row, and it if is, for me, it has worked. In all honesty, if the Indian Cricket Association is going to behave like this, then we don't need them in the game, and they should be banned from competing until they learn to accept punishments and to play by the rules.
Anyway, that’s the end of my cricket rant. On a lighter note, it is nice to see the English teams away from any negative press for a change. In tennis, Andy Murray has won his fourth ATP Tour title at the 2008 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, moving him up to 9th in the World rankings. It’s good to see a Brit finally doing well in, well anything really. No that’s not fair, I mean, Paula Radcliffe’s not bad is she?
Away from tennis, Fabio Capello has started his new job as England football team manager as of Monday. His first job is to travel to the Croatian capital of Zagreb to organise the fixtures for the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers on the 31st January. He has already been spotted on scouting missions at Aston Villa v Man United and Luton Town v Liverpool. It’s good to see he has taken by Sven Goran Eriksson’s example by attending matches and making public appearances regularly.
I hope to attend Charlton v Blackpool this weekend and I will hopefully have a report by the end of this Sunday.