England head to Miami with more to prove

So what did we learn from Peru? They're among South America's weakest teams, haven't won for a year and from time-to-time looked a bit Arthur Daley with some questionable behaviour. 

Certainly more thought should be given to our friendly opposition. England public are too football-sophisticated to be soft soaped with such poor fare laid on at Wembley.

But there was no shortage of endeavour on our side. Daniel Sturridge, with his fourth goal in eleven internationals opened up a game in need of a goal and Leighton Baines is a real weapon from set pieces. He took the corner for the other two goals scored by Cahill and Jagielka. 

Joe Hart looked assured when needed keeping Peru out in the first half. 

But while defence seemed able, a question mark hangs over Glen Johnson, again found short against pretty ordinary opposition.

Roy Hodgson likes Johnson's ability to attack but is that a price too large to pay for his defensive inadequacies?

Wayne Rooney, who flatters to deceive in major tournaments wasn't short of application and commitment, but his lack of key match fitness reduced his ability to really make a difference. 

When substituted during the second half to give Roy a look at others, it was to disguise the fact he needed to be replaced. 

He needs match fitness after injury to realise his true potential.

Adam Lallana showed touches of class and his element of surprise could reap huge dividends in Brazil. 

When Raheem Sterling came on, his direct running at Peru gave England an attacking impetus and dimension missing up till then. 

But international football is too tactical for that kind of game.

I'd love to be proved wrong but we could be found wanting at this World Cup. Italy, Uruguay look weighty opposition. By the time we face Costa Rica in the final qualifying game, will it be too late?

Yes, there'll be a spirit of adventure about new young players given a first opportunity but if we're gung ho in Brazil, we'll be mopped up and eaten for breakfast by more experienced opposition. 

United rattle the European Champions - but can they finish the job?

England qualify for Brazil but no one expects

Podcast (with Roy Hodgson audio)

We may have secured our place among the world's elite by beating Poland but there'll be no "England Expects" fanfare before next summer's World Cup finals.

For what we lack in world class we certainly make up for in passion. It's a commodity more than good enough to beat Moldova but has a tinge of amateurish hopelessness as prep for Argentina or Spain next summer.

As we head to Brazil, even the most ardent England fan must take a reality check.

We're thin on the ground when it comes to elite players. Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard carried us through the decisive Polish win, but Cole didn't play and Lampard jogs through the closing stages of a glorious career. What's left of the golden generation won't scare the contenders.

Andros Townsend is taking his chance in an England shirt. His first caps against Montenegro and Poland were marked with a goal and bags of running. He was totally unfazed by the step up to international level.

But he runs with gay abandon with little more responsibility than that, akin to a privateer with a government licence to snaffle up any opportunities. Tactics aren't important for a player whose task is merely to dribble and shoot on sight - that is until the opposition demands greater respect.

Daniel Sturridge is another example of England's deficiency. Good enough for both Liverpool and England - but not the Champions League. Playing at Wembley in a qualifier is akin to the Europa League but it's no longer football's highest level.

As if to prove my point, the latest FIFA Rankings saw England jump back into the top ten, but two places short of being seeded for the Finals.

"You need a ticket to be in the lottery. We've got a ticket", cheered Roy Hodgson as his angst ridden husk relieved itself on the media after Poland. He got good press too.

And he deserves much credit for his mix of pragmatism and adventure, but his gung-ho optimism must disguise private thoughts that he's got to make the most of what he's given.

Look, I don't want be too down on England. We've qualified and rightly the popular press and media chirped and tweeted amid the feelgood factor qualifying brings.

But I'm also a paying customer. We're a football nation of the first water with a world class league, so I dream of an England with more than just a punchers chance of coping in finals.

Let's hope we don't do the Scotland Shuffle and last just three games.

Rooney's United career hangs in the balance

Rooney and Fergie's relationship: merely professional

Those with a long-term memory for detail at Manchester United might favour showing Wayne Rooney the exit door after talks with David Moyes.

 
Sent home with a hamstring injury just 24 hours after his arrival on the club's preseason tour, Rooney's Old Trafford career's dipped to a new low.

Back home, the England striker's "angered and confused" about his future after Moyes hinted he'd not be first choice.

Moyes insists he "has a major role to play", but "if for any reason we had an injury to Robin van Persie we are going to need him. I want as many options as possible."

United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward underlined the stance by declaring no fear in allowing Wazza's contract to run down. But what if Chelsea's overtures to sign Rooney become deafening? The tone of the tough talk might then lighten at Old Trafford.

Jose Mourinho's already confirmed his first bid has been rejected, but strenuously denied offering Juan Mata and David Luiz as makeweights in the deal.

Rooney's dispute is 'afters' over the transfer request he slapped in nearly three years ago when declaring the club lacked ambition.

Remember the saga in 2010? How thickheadedness threatened to put a foot through everything of value in his life; his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson and wife, Colleen? I wrote about it furiously - THRICE. here, here and here!

I was right to think settlement between Fergie and Wazza was a ticking timebomb: that Sir Alex Ferguson had re-signed him, figuring Rooney was valuable to the team even if he had to break his own rules about tolerating such behaviour from one of his players.

Peace broke about between them back then but came at the expense of a distance, a coldness between the pair. Their handshake on the pitch as Fergie waved goodbye to management was much less warm than those shared with Giggs and Scholes.

Bridges built look to be burning down.

Three years on and United can cash in on one of their main transfer assets without losing value to Bosman. 

But the club insists it's not rushing to sign an extension to his deal despite just two years left on it. Neither is he for sale.

The message is clear from new boss David Moyes: play yourself back into contention. Robin van Persie is the 'main man'.

Now Rooney has to build bridges with Moyes, with whom he has a rocky past, including a libel suit that resulted in an apology from Rooney and a reported £50,000-£150,000 settlement for Moyes.

In his 2006 autobiography "Wayne Rooney: My Story So Far," Rooney accused Moyes of leaking the details of a conversation they had while they were both at Everton in 2004.

Rooney wrote that he told Moyes he wanted out of Everton after tabloids caught him visiting a prostitute. The next day the Liverpool Echo ran a story about the conversation, and Rooney wrote in his book that Moyes was the one who spilled the beans.

After the book came out, Moyes sued Rooney, HarperCollins, and co-author Hunter Davies for libel — saying the accusation that he threw Rooney out was "wholly untrue."

In 2008, the suit was settled before a trial. Rooney "sincerely apologized" and paid damages and legal costs worth £500,000, according to the Guardian, £50,000-£150,000 of that is believed to have gone to Moyes.

Despite Rooney insisting his battle with United in 2010 wasn't about money - more a lack of ambition at Old Trafford, United gave him a contract extension and a massive pay-hike.

But as Rooney and his representatives consider what to do with New United, perhaps they should be armed with the words of Roy Keane ringing in their minds.

Plain-speaking Keane, who's twelve years at Old Trafford ended after a spat with Sr Alex in 2005 said, "I would tell Wayne, who's a good lad, to make sure he looks after number one.

"Players are pieces of meat. When your time's up, it's up. Luckily for Wayne, he's at a good age and he's fit".

Keano's falling out with Fergie was at the end of his career - a few months at Celtic proved his swansong.

The first years of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa plus the emergence of Danny Welbeck, put unprecedented pressure on Sir Alex's then 'main man'.

His £10m a year wages plus United's inevitably daunting asking price puts paid to pretty much everyone's interest.

As with every top player in crisis, the only way to emerge better is to play yourself back into contention. Chelsea have emerged from the bushes like speculative hunters and despite his baggage, Rooney would be quite a trophy bagged.

Jose Mourinho can smell an opportunity. He's said England would be affected by a Rooney who wasn't first-choice at Old Trafford, hinting he could be the main man in blue.

Despite the talk, United may well be warned by Chelsea's interest to insist he's not for sale, then listen to eye-watering offers for his services at a time to suit them.

How much was Fergie worth to United's success?

Early Moyes shot in new training kit with unretiring Fergie

The 3D personality of Sir Alex Ferguson dragged an average Manchester United over the line and the difference in points between last season and this will tell us the exact worth of all the inspiring, cajoling and intimidating.

United fans are putting on a brave face but worry lines will appear once it becomes apparent the control Sir Alex exercised through results no longer exists.

There will be no Moyesy-time, no banning of reporters, no imagined injuries preventing players joining up with national teams - and there will be no title.

After 26 years of bullying, match day officials must feel relieved. No longer will a game at Old Trafford be one to be dreaded and they can do their job without fear of private admonishment or public ridicule. The new man can tap his expensive watch all he likes but he has won nothing and his histrionics will count for little.

Fergie's last day as United boss at WBA

Journalists, too, will be able to ask a reasonable pre-match question without the prospect of a bollocking or a ban. After games the written press and media other than MUTV will be allowed to talk to the United manager. It is unimaginable that any other manager will ever be allowed the treat the media with the same contempt Ferguson displayed.

The Premier League maybe the most successful in the world but Richard Scudamore’s failure to stand up to Sir Alex was weak.  Can you imagine the manager of, say, the New York Yankees refusing to talk to the media after games? He would last less than a minute as would the Major League Baseball commissioner.

England will also benefit from the the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. His antipathy towards the Football Association manifested itself in his refusal to let players join up with the national team if he felt it was against the interests of Manchester United. Fair enough, United pay their wages but would he have acted in the same way if the national team had been Scotland? It was another abuse of power that the FA declined to do anything about.

Different tracksuit, same face-to-face needed

Roy Hodgson’s team is built around young mobile United players. Wayne Rooney (if he stays), Phil Jones, Tom Cleverly, Danny Welbeck, Chris Smalling and Wilfred Zaha will all be more available to England.

This is how Sir Alex won titles and why David Moyes will find it difficult especially in his first  year. Through his success Ferguson became not just bigger than the club but more powerful than those running the game.

As of now, without a single result to his name at United, Moyes is merely another dimensional manager ready to be chewed up and spat out by those his predecessor treated with disdain. 

England deserve win amid cautious optimism

Lampard netted his 27th international goal.

When the older, more experienced players are in the mood, England tick.

They were bright from the get-go recording a first win over the 5-times world champions in 23 years, 2-1 at Wembley.

Despite some early defensive flurries and the mistake by Gary Cahill which led to Brazil’s goal, England deserved it.

The Roy Hodgson and Steven Gerrard regime has given England a spring in its step, a desire to do well.

It was a friendly, so it wasn’t as frantic as per, but there was definitely a competitive edge to the challenges.

Wayne Rooney took his most recent Manchester United form to the Three Lions shirt to give us the half time advantage. But the Brazilians came out after the interval. Right Said Fred! he equalized.

Right said Fred, let's get back into this game

Then Frank Lampard exquisitely placed the ball into the net and restored the lead for his 27th international strike.

All this after Ronaldinho had a penalty saved by the imposing Joe Hart.

Theo Walcott skinned the defence with frequency, Jack Wilshere’s long, long England absence is water under the bridge, he's such a talent and Tom Cleverley is unfazed at this level.

Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill are the latest defensive partnership to be tried out. It wasn’t glorious – but they’re the most likely duo that Roy will go with.

Composed calm opportunism from Rooney to open the scoring

But what of the Samba Boys? The truth is they're totally demystified. Gone are the days of the faraway fantasy football which captivated worldwide audiences.

We’re totally used to the players and personalities of Brazil in 2013.

Hark back to the 70’s and 80’s and the Samba Boys with their free-wheeling, flowing football captivated the world.

With honourable exceptions, Brazil have the look of a built for purpose group of European stars, so many ply their trade in our Premier League - at Chelsea, QPR and the like.

I’m not saying the Brazilians don’t have a shout of winning the World Cup in their own backyard next year, but they’re definitely not the best team going into the tournament – and I’m wondering whether home advantage will be a hindrance rather than help.

Smooth Radio on transfer deadline day!

Good Morning Sports Fans!

As Wayne Rooney strikes a brace to extend Manchester United's lead at the top of the Premier League, the rest of the division will be scrambling round for last-minute deals.

Will Harry Redknapp wheel and deal to aid QPR's plight, will Aston Villa look lively in the boardoom as their team sinks - and will Stoke continue to show the ambition which has seen them establish themselves as a top flight club?

And does trouble have to follow Mario Balotelli around everywhere. Police fire teargas at crazed Milan fans as the Manchester City striker dines in a restaurant close to the San Siro!

All revealed here!

listen to ‘.@smoothbreakfast sports bulletin on deadline day!’ on Audioboo

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Wazza

The kick that disrupted EURO 2012

They might’ve won the FA Cup more than anyone else but the insatiable Manchester United winning machine’s been without it in the trophy cabinet for eight years.

If they’re to break Chelsea’s recent dominance, they’ll need Wayne Rooney bang in form, in match winning mood.

United beat West Ham 1-nil to reach the fourth round this week, but the story might’ve been different story if the Hammers had taken their chances.


Hammering in the advantage

Wazza scored the winner – but also missed a penalty.

He’s missed ten spotkicks as a United player. Okay, he scored too but for a world-class performer, he’s quite a complicated soul.

Whatever they say, a succession of injuries indicates a certain lack of core fitness.

Elbow are also from Greater Manchester

There’s an old maxim that fit players don’t get injured.

Rooney said recently that Robin Van Persie – not him, was now Manchester United’s talisman.

This is a snapshot of his state of mind. With recent injuries, perhaps they explain why his career hasn’t taken off in the same way as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Rooney was definitely a peer of the pair after his sensational EURO 2004 show, but layoffs, disciplinary tangles and bad headlines in the press have left him battle-scarred.

Even if he's got the appetite for playing, does he still have the confidence in his own ability to perform?

There’s still more to come from Wayne Rooney, but fans of both United and England will look to him for a sustained period of consistent match-fitness and personal discipline.

No sweat England ease past San Marino

Rooney's penalty

Oxlade-Chamberlain's 1st goal

Jonny Gould reports live from Wembley as England made easy work of San Marino.

But could they have scored more against the joint worst team in world football?

Jonny reports at the final whistle.

listen to ‘No sweat England ease past San Marino ’ on Audioboo

San Marino want a piece of Wazza too.

Shootout lottery denies England again

England bow out of EURO 2012 at exactly the stage Roy Hodgson anticipated. Outclassed during most of 120 captivating minutes, it's Italy who'll go forward to face Germany in the semi-finals.

The game descended into a goalless war of attrition as Italy's passing and possession forced England into a rearguard action.

Pirlo crowns Man Of The Match with cheeky pen!

The first-half would've been the time for England to score and assert their authority on the game, but it wasn't to be. With Andrea Pirlo orchestrating midfield, Italy created chance after chance. Even Mario Balotelli played with discipline and resolve. Talk of mini-explosions and tantrums proved fruitless for the baying English media.

The Italians did score through Nocerino, but he was ruled offside. They'd have deserved it but manful England defended doggedly, managing to get over the line for the penalty lottery.

Sadly, it's never a competitition for England. We always go out of tournaments on spot-kicks - and despite the preparation Joe Hart and others insisted they were ready for, the cheekiest of Pirlo chips helped secure a 4-2 win.

The England manager insists he's no regrets and the team can keep heads held high without a single "What If" to keep them up at night.

But there were some distinctly ordinary performances out there led by Ashley Young, who surrendered possession too much and Wayne Rooney, who was completely beyond the required match fitness needed.

On the positive side, Glen Johnson produced his best performance in an England shirt to date and John Terry, Joleon Lescott and Ashley Cole will all know they were in a real contest.

We also have in Hodgson the new head of a settled regime ready for our next disappointment, the World Cup in 2014. It's now 48 years of hurt - and counting.

Pragmatic Roy steers England through to the last eight

England have made it to the quarter finals of Euro 2012, winning the group with two wins and a draw.

Let's keep our powder dry, we're English, FFS!

England rode their luck en route to a 1-0 win over host nation Ukraine, including a "goal" for the host nation which should've counted. John Terry's athletic last ditch clearance was in fact over the line. But Ukraine are out.

Wayne Rooney marked his return from suspension with the winner from a Steven Gerrard (who else?) cross. It was a tap in but an important boost for the Manchester United striker, who huffed and puffed his way through a first outing for five weeks. He looked off the pace for long periods but has an inner determination to overcome his blatant lack of match fitness.

He found his feet towards the end of the match, but will certainly feel the effect of the workout tomorrow.

Keeper Joe Hart was on top of his game and had to be, staying alert to the most determined of Ukrainian strikes, but special mention goes to the skipper.

Gerrard has been magnificent this tournament. He's responded to wearing the armband with aplomb.

Twelve years ago, I witnessed Liverpool's highly-rated youngster make his debut, also against Ukraine. Years later, now skipper, he stands up as our most important player.

Some say we over rely on the set-piece for our goals and creativity: if so, who better than the artist Gerrard to conduct our progress?

In winning the group, we avoid defending champions, Spain. That fate befalls the French on Saturday night. Instead, it's Italy on Sunday who like England, arrived at the tournament with low expectations despite the reputation of a first rate nation.

John Terry, who'll always assume a form of captaincy whether wearing the armband or not, huddled the team together at the final whistle. Difficult to beat and united in purpose, England have a chance to make it to the semifinals. Then again, so do Italy. We must remain resolute and concentrate hard. Our dreams of winning can end in a heartbeat.

England aren't the finished product by any stretch, but as John Lennon said "life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

We've more than a fighting chance of going beyond expectations and this is a vast improvement on Capello's South African flop.

Roy Hodgson's called everything right. It's as if being overlooked for the job too many times has prepared him even more so. Doesn't he look so much the better choice than Harry Redknapp now?

Talent is valued more than self-discipline & personal morality.

eh, like. Sorry UEFEH!

Wayne Rooney's petulant kick during England's two-all draw in Montenegro could derail our hopes of winning EURO 2012 next summer, (says the ever hopeful England fan writing this!) 

Red mist!



Our preparations in the tournament leadup are compromised too. Fabio Capello insists he'll be using different strike combinations in friendlies ahead of the finals - irrespective of Rooney's availability. It's the right thing to do.

After all, Capello must examine other partnerships, forced as he is into Plan B and C by Rooney's moment of madness.

Why do you bother?

UEFA decided on Thursday that Rooney's straight red was worth a three-match ban at the start of the EURO 2012 Finals. It rules him out of the Group Stages entirely, by which time he could be on the plane home with the rest of the knocked out team.



In a bid to curb the full wrath of UEFA's punishment., Rooney wrote a "sorry note" to the powers that be. Turns out two games of the punishment were for bad grammar.

Personal morality remains the property of the individual. Isn't having a good name still worth something? Don't Rooney and Carlos Tevez owe it to themselves to behave better?

So who's show of peevishness was worse? Rooney's thickheadedness or Tevez's refusal to warm up off the subs bench?

The last Evertonian with any pace! Moyes take note.



Manchester City fans are less than impressed with their former hero, who refused to follow Roberto Mancini's orders and play while losing at Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

But it seems as soon as these players are cleared to play or available for transfer, there's a scramble for their services - even at the expense of players with better attitudes who staked a claim in their absence.

Even David Moyes, boss of the austere, workmanlike and thoroughly professional "School of Science" claimed even though Tevez's behaviour was unacceptable, he'd make every exception to have him in his Everton squad.

Never has the line "break the rules, 'cos you are the best" been more applicable, and it's not right.

I despair of football's morality. Winning at all costs is a given at club level. It's an environment where if any manager takes a stand against a miscreant player, they merely shoot themselves in the foot.



Everton, "the School of Science": Stuart Hall

Sure, we pass the ball back to the opposition goalkeeper or kick the ball out of play for an injury but those are rather small concessions in the face of banning players or kicking them out on a freebie.

Each time, the FA or UEFA fail to sanction clubs, managers or players, the wider game loses. Power seeps to the already over powerful clubs.

So it has to be upto the Governing Bodies to make these decisions. Otherwise, what does football teach our kids?

It's a sad era when professionalism is valued less than winning.

Barcelona's gentlemen crowned greats as FIFA's guttersnipes gun each other down.

Brilliant Messi

What an extraordinary weekend in football. In the Champions League, Barcelona lived upto the hype to produce a stratospheric team display at the very moment it counted most.

At the same time, what started with Lord Triesman's complaints to Parliament over England's failure to win the 2018 World Cup bid has ended in disgrace and ignominy for FIFA. An extraordinary implosion has left Sepp Blatter as the only cowboy standing in the saloon bar shootout. The town ain't big enough for Mohammed Bin Hammam and Jack Warner.

New Wembley's first European final was supposed to be between peers. Pep Guardiola and Sir Alex Ferguson, already previous winners were aiming to claim a fourth European Cup for their respective clubs. In the end, United were trumped as the Govanator was first to acknowledge calling the 3-1 defeat "a hiding".

Because for all the tabloid headlines of drunken nights, love trysts and horrid WAGs, of bungs, dodgy expenses and allegations, it turns out winning can after all be achieved with grace, fairness, planning and hard work.

Because Barcelona play football the right way. Another concession from the generous Fergie, who looked a forlorn figure at full-time on the Wembley pitch. Beaten thoroughly - every which way.

Football, Bloody 'ell: Forlorn Fergie

Because though Wayne Rooney is a star player, he's not in the mould of one from Barcelona, where foundations extend way, way beyond the 90 minutes of game time. Rooney strayed from his Wembley instructions and Fergie bawled at him on the touchline for everyone to see. So incensed was the 67-year-old, it launched a bilious, coughing fit. Rooney to Barca one day? No chance.

Because Puyol, already a world and European champion at club and international level, who came on toward the end of the game, ducked out of his role as captain in hoisting the trophy aloft, so Eric Abidal, who spent most of the season recovering from testicular cancer could have the honour instead. 

Mes Que Un Club and Football, bloody 'ell, you might say.


Mes Que Un Club

And so to FIFA, where years of conniving and collecting dirt on each other is being mudslung for our entertainment.

The headlines are set to be sponsored by Warner, who unleashing periodic nuggets to the media, he's dubbed a Football Tsunami.

That he uses that word to describe his tittle-tattle is a measure of the man. An amoral urchin, who together with a generation of FIFA representatives are about to get their comeuppance.

UEFA's been growing in status over FIFA for many a year. The formation of the Champions League was a masterstroke, acknowledging the growth of the European city states over their countries. If the 2010 World Cup threw up knackered horses in a steeplechase, this year's European Cup was one for the thoroughbreds.

Now FIFA has no moral authority to govern the game as UEFA looks on at the top of the world game. Michel Platini constantly rejects the notion of standing for the FIFA presidency.

Meritocracy wins the day. The start of a Football Spring?

Giggs is Manchester United's best ever

It's advantage Manchester United in their Champions League quarter-final. A one-nil first leg lead secured at Chelsea puts Sir Alex Ferguson's charges in the box seat for a final four place.


Rooney's deft finish caps a brilliant United move

Hungry Wayne Rooney put his two-match ban to one side to strike the winner, but all the plaudits must go elsewhere.

That Ryan Giggs is already a legend is without doubt. But after his virtuoso moment at Stamford Bridge, I think he's got to be classed as United's best ever. He just keeps delivering.

Yes, a greater United figure than Bobby Charlton, Eric Cantona, George Best - even Ralphy Milne.

And what crowns him as United's greatest is his ongoing athleticism, his influence and sheer consistency at the highest level. The marriage of good form and experience that only a 37-year-old could have (late thirties, remember!)

But he also has something in his locker that even another giant of longevity, Paolo Maldini didn't have; that's the individual brilliance to create a winning goal from nothing.

Could Ryan Giggs play to the age of 40?

Yes, Rooney's bicycle kick against Manchester City was fantastic, but United's winner at Chelsea was a team goal of breathtaking precision. Carrick's cross field pass was collected on the run by Giggs, who made space for a defence splicing pass to Rooney who steered the ball into the net giving the post a little "ting" as it crossed the line.

Giggs, Giggs, Giggs!

Fergie believes he can play another couple of seasons yet and who would doubt that? Giggs has signed another year's extension to his contract but you're a long-time retired - and I'm sure the Salford-born Welshman will accept each offer so long as he remains an asset to the team.

The model professional maintains his lithe physique with yoga, topping up his already abundant natural fitness. No "thickening process" for this man, as Fergie described Eric Cantona's body in 1998. Giggs remains thin through thick and thin.

Amid all the bluster and comment claiming this current United crop is far from great, in reality, they're about five weeks from it. As April progresses, a second Treble is possible. For Giggs, it could mean a twelfth Premier League title and a hattrick in the Champions League.

And just like Manchester itself, long may he reign.

Also on Soccermongery: The day in 2009 when Giggs and Becks became greats.

Click here for the current Top Story Soccermongery's all about your feedback, so write away, right away!

Football needs to punish its miscreant stars

Graham Norton gets to grips

The BBC's Graham Norton Show isn't normally the platform to gauge public opinion on football, but the instant reaction of his studio audience should send alarm bells ringing at the Premier League.

Norton's routine covered Ashley Cole, who took an air rifle into training at Cobham which he not only used, but actually shot someone with. Norton's fans booed Cole on two separate occasions, taking the entertainer by surprise.

Ashley Cole's story in The Super Soaraway

Obviously with a big midweek game against Manchester United just days away, Chelsea took no action. But neither did the Premier League or the FA. A case of the Three Monkeys if you ask me.

United also faced no censure as Wayne Rooney crunched Wigan's James McCarthy with his elbow.

Sir Alex Ferguson conceded Rooney had been "a lucky boy" not to be sent off, but the only swift reaction we got from football's authorities was the England striker was to face no punishment.



See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil

Football claims to be a cradle of English culture and values. The FA have run campaigns with titles such as Respect and Get Into Football. But its ideals will soon be regarded as hollow if it doesn't take even the smallest stands against its biggest miscreant stars.

Sponsorship and TV revenue keeps rolling in - but investment from corporations isn't just reliant on ratings. They're also badging a product and if it's perceived to have diminishing morals, then football will lose its financial value.

Sky took a stand against sexism with the resignation of Richard Keys and the sacking of Andy Gray. That sets the tone for a repositioned morality and style to football from here on in.


Rooney: The 4th Monkey



Football, TV and sponsors need each other in equal proportion. It appears in these days of ecomonic austerity, there isn't one stakeholder which is any more powerful than another.

The FA would have been surprised by the public's positive reaction had they had the guts to punish Cole and Rooney. Graham Norton would bear witness to that.

It's nearly twenty years since the formation of the Premier League. It's never been more successful, but it's probably never been more complacent either.

Click here for the current Top Story Soccermongery's all about your feedback, so write away, right away!

Rooney's not apologised properly

We've waited weeks for Wayne Rooney's apology to fans for the drama and brinkmanship which might've resulted in him quitting Manchester United.

"Sorry for my side of things": Rooney



We were told he'd said "sorry" to the gaffer and his teammates. So we all waited for the headline grabbing apology to the supporters.

And waited... and waited.

But when it came, with a big fanfare in The Sun, it showed him up yet again as an uncouth yob.

Rooney declared, "I feel like I've apologised to the fans, but everyone keeps saying that I haven't and, if that is the case, then I apologise for my side of things. "My side of things"? What's that supposed to mean?

In my book, the apology he's dished out is at best grudging and at worst, conditional.

Does he think he's only partially required to say sorry and that United are equally culpable for an apology? or perhaps he believes he's not really required to say sorry as much as others feel he is?

He also thinks he'd already said sorry to supporters.

Wayne Rooney's not apologised wholeheartedly.

Obviously as a reportable quote, it'll be declared an apology to the fans. But it isn't. 

Rooney also made it clear that he would've never joined Manchester City or any other Premier League club for that matter. He's arrogant enough to believe Barcelona and Real Madrid would sign him. That was by no stretch of the imagination, a certainty.

He clearly doesn't give a monkeys for any relationships he has and he should be treated accordingly.

My advice for United fans from now on: cheer when he scores and boo him when he's not delivering. For United's board, keep him performing at the highest level - and transfer him for a fortune within the next three years when he doesn't.

Wayne Rooney, another footballer who contributes to the sport's growing bad image.

Rooney stays!

"You''ll never know what I really think!"

One of the most extraordinary and challenging weeks in Sir Alex Ferguson's managerial career has ended with him winning again!

United get to defend the balance sheet value of Wayne Rooney in the only way they can in these days of the Bosman and Webster rulings: by committing their star asset to a long-term contract.

It was a crazy few days where Rooney asked to leave Manchester United - and ended with him penning a new five-year deal. Now United have about three more years to sell him at optimum value, without Bosman diminishing it.

Hours before, Paddy Power and William Hill both closed their books on Rooney staying. Hills did so after a spate of large bets were placed on Rooney staying. These were all placed at shops in Liverpool.

An interesting theory doing the rounds was that the whole fiasco occurred because Rooney blamed "colleagues" for introducing him to his dubious lady friends and generally leading him astray.

Colleen's condition for staying with him was that he distance himself from such "friends", meaning he had to leave United. This is a female take on this and it's plausible, if only because "blaming the lads" is a very blokeish tendency.


Macheda was right about him!

"United lack ambition" doesn't really stand up to scrutiny as a reason to leave either. Only Manchester City are net spenders in the transfer market - and wages are hardly the issue. Rooney could presumably ask for a clause in his contract guaranteeing he'd be the highest-paid player. United gave this to Roy Keane, I'd be surprised if they didn't give it to Rooney.

But moving forward, the only currency that really matters is a dramatic upturn in his form: "How will Rooney respond?".

He needs to buckle down and get to work. He's apologised to Fergie - now get on with it!

Fergie will expect nothing less after enduring one of the most difficult weeks in his near quarter century tenure as United boss.

Rooney quitting United is a sign of the times

Fitba, bloody 'ell!

So we've now heard from both protagonists in this extraordinary story. Wayne Rooney confirms he wants to leave Manchester United; and Sir Alex Ferguson is left baffled, bemused - and helpless.

But the 24-year-old striker, on £90,000 a week, well short of the riches of his Chelsea peers, Lampard and Terry (both on £150,000), claims it's nothing to do with money.


Players are just pieces of meat - and I'm hungry.

Rooney just doesn't believe United can compete for the best players anymore. He's witnessed Carlito and CR07 leave for United's biggest rivals - and as the club buckles under the weight of a reputed £750m debt, Wazza's transfer request is a stunning vote of "no confidence" in United's future.


Sir Alex, the one-man winning machine doesn't view it like that. He sees the culmination of his life's work in the majesty of a 75,000 all seater stadium, palatial training facilities and a conveyor belt of trophies.

But Rooney's view is shorter term: having won three of Fergie's dozen titles plus the Champions League, he can't see victory being sustained at the same level.

"Shoulda nicked it, I'll never see it again!"

This is a massive blow to morale at Old Trafford - because it's partly true.

The club is profitable - but the debt noose round its neck is tightening - just as Manchester City come to the fore with their lavish spending. And despite new economic realities, Real's spending power remains unreal.

Former United skipper Roy Keane described players this week as "pieces of meat, nothing more - and when your time's up, it's up", hinting that Rooney had every right to look around for the best deal he could.

Fergie's already planning for the future without him - his programme notes for the Champions League game talked of Chicharito's finishing power and the quality of Berbatov. Not a word about Rooney.

But he's genuinely rattled by this, and even at 68 with all his experience in management, this is the first time he's not in control of a sit-ye-ashun.

Football, bloody hell!