The different worlds of Fergie and The Special One

Internazionale and Manchester United's Champions League first-leg tie may not have been high on excitement - but no one can deny the quality on display.

One things for sure: the second leg in Manchester will be a more dramatic affair with the clock-ticking down and United's attacking urges to satisfy at Old Trafford. Inter will have to come out and play to quell the onslaught.

It's as much a clash on the field between these two clubs as it is in the manager's offices.

Mourinho: the suave Portuguese itinerant: Fergie: the grizzly Scottish empire builder.

And it made me think: bearing in mind the mentalities of the two, if you were a fan of a big club, would you rather have a Mourinho or a Fergie in charge?

There's no doubt that Mourinho's management style would offer few chances for United regulars such as John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher, but they are essential components of the Red Devil's incessant charge through trophy bid after trophy bid.

Even flair players like Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs take on a workmanlike demeanour under Fergie.

Of course, there's a work ethic and commitment to gameplan in every Mourinho side; sometimes at the expense of entertainment - but the players that arrive at the Giuseppe Meazza are usually players who've made their names elsewhere.
There'll always be clubs like Inter and for that matter, Real Madrid and Chelsea who are showbiz entities - ready to unveil the multi-million pound signing and replace the manager just for coming second, sometimes twice a season.

But on the other hand, there's United, AC Milan and Arsenal, who have a five-year plan and remain unwavering in the darkest periods of the barren trophy cabinet.

And I prefer these clubs: I think it's those who'll prosper in the unsure economic times ahead, starting with Fergie to advance at the expense of The Special One in this season's Champions League.

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Why aren't these players considered for England?

Fabio Capello has a meritocratic, almost linear approach to selecting his England squads.

Our national coach comes from a football culture where the player with the most caps is made captain.

And so it follows that if you're in form, the Italian boss will call you up. Players who've benefited from this recently have included ex-Fulham midfielder Jimmy Bullard and Carlton Cole of West Ham.

But somehow, there's still that nagging feeling there's a glass ceiling when it comes to selecting players from less fashionable clubs or of a certain age or pedigree.

I see some Premier League players perform week-in and week-out, even season-in and season-out, and they never getting a look in. Bolton Wanderers would be struggling without the evergreen commitment and goals of Kevin Davies and the wand like, left-foot of Matt Taylor, purveyor of the spectacular strike both at Bolton and at Portsmouth for several seasons before.

Even the Championship has a growing cluster of quality players who deserve closer attention at international level. Just because they're not in the top-flight doesn't mean they wouldn't be equipped to make the step up.

Mansfield-born Kris Commons has elected to play for Scotland because he never believed he'd get that chance with the country of his birth. Why he's never played above the Championship is beyond me. Strong, skilled, attack-minded and who weighs in with a good few goals from his position. He's more prominent following his winner against Manchester United in the Carling Cup semi-final first-leg, but he performs at that level all the time.

I was surprised that Chris Eagles left Manchester United, but moreso that Burnley was his best option. With all due respect to the Clarets, Eagles was beginning to make an impression in the United first-team, so if his decision to leave Old Trafford was about playing more often than surely a Premier League side would've wanted him? Eagles for England!

Some players, particularly younger ones respond to the challenge of playing at a higher level without succumbing to nerves or being found out.

So Fabio, give good professionals an unexpected platform at international level that their quality and commitment deserve.

Cast your net wider to find form players from a dozen clubs.

More often than not, they will respond to the call!

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Liverpool to Chelsea, Manchester United to Spurs, West Brom to Stoke - who'd be a manager?

By JOE MORRIS.

Football is full of half-finished sentences and unanswered questions. There are times when the Premier League would just love a full stop - even a punctuation mark. When a referee allows a dodgy goal or a player loses his rag, it is best to leave things hanging in the air.

Take for instance the FA Cup fourth-round replay between Liverpool and Everton. With minutes to go in the match and the game finely balanced, Everton launched one final attack. ITV viewers were then treated to the bizarre spectacle of an advert break at the wrong time. Now we all know about the importance of timing in sport but this was rather like interrupting Gilbert and Sullivan with the Coldstream Guards. Totally inappropriate, you might say.

At the top of the Premier League, managers are frequently questioned for both their timing and behaviour. Only a couple of weeks ago Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez put his ugliest foot in it with an inflammatory remark about Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and vice versa. Apparently Fergie thought the time was ripe for a spot of verbal jousting.

Now the story so far is that Liverpool have made their Premier League title bid emphatically clear and Fergie, of course, is quite clearly on the warpath. Sir Alex, as many of us know, is renowned for his cunning mind games but for Benitez this had gone far enough. Ferguson apparently made a childishly spiteful remark about the wisdom of signing Robbie Keane and Benitez took immediate offence.

It was at this point that the gloves went on, Fergie spat out his chewing gum and the air became blue with good old-fashioned Anglo Saxon fury. When Sir Alex Ferguson buttons up his black coat and gums up for the afternoon, it is safe to assume that all animals are safely protected. He shoves his hands in his pockets, gazes threateningly at the referee and then considers legal action.

Both Ferguson and Benitez are classic examples of men with a proverbial chip on the shoulder. It would be unfair to say that both men suffer from a persecution complex. But when the tension reaches boiling point and the stakes are at their highest, both seem to revert to a frustrated childhood. The accusations fly, and both end up in tears.

To all outward apperances, Benitez has been the calm and rational one who would rather keep out of the limelight. He stands on the touchline in the warmest of tracksuits, pointing and gesturing at his players and then shuffling his shoes. Benitez may look as if he's waiting for a bus but then Liverpool have been waiting 19 years for a League title so impatience is perfectly understandable.

Behind the pacesetters are Aston Villa and Martin O'Neill. For Villa a place in the top four is new territory this decade so O'Neill does seem to be gate-crashing the party. At no point during any Premier League match does the Villa manager seem to stand still or sit down.

He nervously twitches on the balls of his feet, a picture of anxiety and curiosity. When Villa score and the crowd explode, O'Neill jumps 4 feet into the air in celebration, punches his fists with delight and then just congratulates himself.

For Luiz Felipe Scolari, the world according to Chelsea proved a deeply unpleasant one. He was never the tormented and anguished Jose Mourinho where every match was a horrible ordeal. Whereas Mourinho seemed to hate everybody and everything, Senor Scolari was a smouldering Brazilian volcano ready to blow. In the heat of action he became cold and emotionless, only letting himself go when Frank Lampard crossed the half-way line.

At the other end of the Premier League, life for new Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is all worry and restless animation. From the moment happy Harry, formerly of Portsmouth and West Ham, walked into White Hart Lane, every day has come with a government health warning. In his thickly padded top, Redknapp often looks as though he's being tortured with red-hot pokers. He throws his head to one side when things go wrong, flings his hands in front of his face in utter exasperation and then asks his wife to play up front.

Last but not least, there are the men who just fold their arms, hoping and waiting for something to turn up. Tony Pulis is the helpless manager of Stoke City, baseball cap on his head, smart and upright and yet resigned to his fate. Perhaps Stoke will be relegated or maybe they won't.

There is the immaculately shirt-and-tied Tony Mowbray, who probably wishes he hadn't been offered the West Brom job. Mowbray looks like a grim trade unionist who only smiles on a Tuesday afternoon.

There you have it, then. Premier League bosses really do have to suffer for their art. When the whistle goes and players kick off, theirs is the kind of job only the foolish and deluded would take.

It is undoubtedly one of the most thankless and unenviable jobs of all. It is 90 minutes of joy, heartbreak, endless toil and drudgery. When the pressure reaches its most intense and the wealthy chairmen demand their ounce of flesh and blood, it is quite simply no place for the faint hearted.
Anyone for tennis?

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It's Chelsea's Financial Statement (EBIT-DOH!!)

Fresh from Chelsea's Media Department, here's a very professionally delivered statement of the financial state of play at Stamford Bridge.

Proof indeed that whichever way you look at it, you can't polish a turd! They paid out £23million in compensation to Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and a few staff. Chelsea's future is ONLY about the commitment of Roman Abramovich. Good luck Blues!

Chelsea reduce losses again as shareholder ‘debt’ is halved:

Chelsea FC plc today (Friday, February 13 2009) announced record group turnover and reduced losses for a third successive season.

The group results for the financial year end June 30, 2008 also revealed that half of the interest free loans from Chelsea Ltd, whose ultimate controlling party is Roman Abramovich, have been converted into equity demonstrating a continued and strengthened commitment from the shareholder to the football club.

The results followed another year of relative success on the field with football and media revenues all showing large rises on the previous financial year.

The main figures were:

- group turnover up 11.9% to £213.1m from £190.5m (2006/7)
- football activities up 14.8% to £189.8m from £165.3m
- of this media revenues are up 30.4% to £77.6m from £59.6m
- Shareholder loans have been reduced to £339.8m while shareholder capital/equity has increased to £369.9m
- losses reduced by 43% before exceptional items to £42.6m from £74.8m
- losses reduced by 12.2% after exceptional items to £65.7m
- wages and salaries as percentage of turnover before exceptional items 70.6%
- gross turnover of £248m (includes adidas and other merchandise and Chelsea Digital Media not consolidated in group results)

Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck said: “Following the conversion of half of the interest free loans into equity there should now be no doubt as to the owner’s commitment to the club and the stability of the company’s funding structure.

“We have always believed that this ‘debt’, now reduced by 50%, has been misrepresented. Chelsea has no external debt and makes no punitive interest payments to external funders.”

The results include exceptional items of £23.1m related to compensation payments to two first team managers and five coaching staff.

These are treated under wages and salaries for accounting purposes only. Wages before exceptionals were £148.5m (£132.8m 2006/7) and after exceptionals £171.6m

Chelsea has also conducted independent research by TNS (October 2008) that indicates the club has 110 million “core” fans globally an increase of 20 million on the previous research.

Chelsea Chief Executive Peter Kenyon said: “There is no doubt that the positive upward trends of turnover and the continued reduction in losses shows that Chelsea is building a strong business base to build on in what will be challenging times. This is even more evident given that the results were adversely affected by the exceptional items.

“We have set ourselves ambitious targets to be EBITDA neutral on June 30 2010 and to require zero cash funding from the owner at the beginning of the financial year 2009/2010.

“We have consistently advocated the aim of self-sufficiency which has always been supported by the owner. We are hopeful of being close to these targets in the timeframes we have set given the underlying strengths of the business.

“Success on the field is a key part of this. But in line with our long stated business aims any squad restructuring in the summer will be funded predominantly by sales as we have consistently reduced our net transfer spend over the last five years and will attempt to continue this trend.

“This is the fifth set of financial accounts since the takeover and Chelsea has made huge progress during that period as a football club and a business.

“In that time we have had significant on field success, our turnover has increased by 96% which ranks us 5th in the world and our fan base has increased hugely. That gives us great confidence for the next 5 years.”

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