Spoofer Shearer the Right Man to Take Newcastle Down.

Enjoying the comfort Zone: Shearer being interviewed on Match of the Day.

So Shearer is the saviour, is he? He certainly likes to think he's the saviour. He's always given the impression he could do the job better than anyone else without actually doing anything at all. Shearer has made a career of taking the easy option and achieving very little. He may have won the title with Blackburn Rovers but that has been his only achievement. Even then I suspect the only reason he moved to Blackburn in the first place was because of the amount of money being offered to him. That and the fact that Blackburn represented a move free from the stresses of playing for a big club, a real club, a club where you are expected to challenge. No matter how money Jack Walker threw at the clubs Premier League challenge, anything better than mere survival would always count as a bonus at Ewood Park.

It wouldn't have been such a bad move for Shearer if he had built on his success there but instead he went to another perennial struggler or back home to Newcastle as he might say himself. Manchester United wanted to sign him at that time but Shearer chose Newcastle. Maybe he honestly thought he could win the championship for his hometown for the first time since 1927 or maybe he was once again dazzled by all the zero's at the end of his pay cheque and attracted by the comfort zone.

A real player would have moved to the biggest club and been as successful as possible. Damian Duff has since imitated Shearer's lack of ambition by also moving to Newcastle, this time from Chelsea at a time when he also had the option to move to Liverpool. He played at left back against Portsmouth last night by the way.

Shearer always seemed to have influence where it counted. At Euro '96 he made the team despite not scoring in his previous 12 appearances for England, maybe the pressure was too much for him. He redeemed himself at the tournament finishing up top scorer with 5 goals as England crashed out on penalties in the semi-finals to Germany.

Much is made of Shearer's success at this tournament, yet every game for England was a home game at Wembley. He scored against the Swiss, Scotland, a Dutch side in absolute disarray and ok, the eventual champions Germany. He couldn't replicate this success at future tournaments and quietly slipped out of the England set up at the age of 29 so he could retire to taking all the penalties and free kicks at St. James Park for the remainder of his career. He did end up the Premier League's all time top scorer but he never won anything else.

Shearer always struck me as a guy who didn't like to have his authority challenged in any way. He liked to be the biggest star and couldn't quite hack the competition or scrutiny playing at a big club would have brought. Shearer revelled in being seen as the one man band who was single handedly running the show. He always had to be the centre of attention. The adoration was more important to him than success.

This hero-worship status he acquired for himself gave him great clout such as getting him off with the kicking of Neil Lennon because he threatened to pull out of the World Cup '98 squad. There was also an incident where he elbowed a Grimsby centre-half in the face breaking his nose but again the FA turned a blind eye. Shearer was untouchable and beyond criticism, just the way he liked it.

He was so much beyond criticism that Newcastle fans were delirious when he took over at Newcastle thinking that he could save them from the drop. Only Alan Shearer could approach such a challenge without taking up a challenge at all. By taking the job with 8 games to go and Newcastle already being in dire straits, he has already insulated himself from any blame. It won't be his fault if they go down. He insists he will only stay for the 8 games so he can walk away at the end of the season because Shearer wouldn't dare be put in a position where he could be sacked.

He has always played on his own terms. Facing challenges only in so far as he can control the outcome. He has cast a shadow over every Newcastle manager since he arrived at the club always hinting that he would do the job better but failing to stand up to the plate himself until now, when it is probably too late. When he was dropped by Gullit, instead of fighting for his place back, he sulked before getting his manager sacked.

His Match of the Day punditry suited him because it provided a massive platform for his ego and the chance to say what he would have done without doing anything at all. He has arrived back at Newcastle as the messiah but the bare facts suggest that Shearer will not save them. He began his tenure as if only he could do the job. He played three at the back against Spurs (where they lost). He played Damien Duff at full back against Portsmouth, two unfit strikers and Martins, no creativity in midfield and no one to supply the front three.

Shearer should have known he would make mistakes as a manager and would need time to learn the ropes but he too believes that only he can save Newcastle having carried them as a player for so long. Shearer will probably walk out of St. James Park in the summer with his reputation in tact but for some of us that reputation was already built on false foundations to begin with.

Please Don't Return To Long Ball, Limerick.

I enjoy going to Jackman Park on alternate Friday nights. Someone somewhere gave someone at the club that Killler's album "Hot Fuss" and it's been played ever since. The line "I just don't know now baby please but all I want to do is try" continues to swirl around my head for days after the game and every week without fail someone in our party utters the words "that song is becoming something of an anthem around here now, isn't it". For me what the song loses in gloss, it makes up for in it's new found soul since first being played over the loudspeakers at the temporary or permanent home of Limerick FC.

Jackman Park is owned by the (LDMC) Limerick District League and technically the club itself is homeless. It wouldn't be the greatest stadium in the world by any stretch. There isn't any seating and one small covered stand wherein the hardcore Limerick supporters gather to sing about being "Limerick til I die", "Who are you?" to any visiting player who makes a mistake, "You fat bastard" usually at a portly referee or linesman and old favourites such as "you're just a small town near England" and "junkie scum" on those great occasions when teams from Dublin come to visit. I'm sure they have some songs for us too but I can't remember them.

More recently and rather misguidedly I think they have taken to singing "we're going to be promoted" and "there's only one Pat Scully".

Seen as there are no designated areas to the ground as such, except that you can either be in the small stand or outside it, it always surprises me that the away fans from every club stand in the exact same spot pretty much diagonally opposite the stand on the other side of the pitch. The away support varies from none up to a couple of hundred depending on who's in town.

For my part I stand near the away supporters behind the dugouts. I like to hear the abuse from the away fans and more importantly what the managers are saying. There is always a bit of drama on the bench and it's a good place to shout down any overly vocal travelling manager especially if he has a problem with a ref giving hometown decisions or the over-zealous tackling of any of our players. Like I say I enjoy those Friday nights at Jackman Park. It's a good opportunity to let off some steam.

Behind us the club flags are proudly displayed, telling us that the Super Blues were champions of Ireland in 1960 and 1980. Other than that, good ways to waste time are to hoof the ball into the bus station on one side or people's backyards on the other.

That's about it really. Last Friday night saw Pat Scully's third home game in charge. It came on the back of two good victories away to Wexford Youths and home to bottom club Kildare. Waterford were just ahead of Limerick in the league and it was a game which was seen as a good barometer of where we might finish up at the end of the season.

Waterford had barely missed out on promotion last year but Limerick had given them a lesson towards the end of last season when we beat them 5-1 at home. Limerick played great football for latter part of that season in particular. You came away from every game feeling entertained even if we didn't always get the result. That's important. Good football is all the supporters really want to see. It entertains us and puts us in a good mood. It allows us to endure the freezing cold evenings and driving rain with good humour because we know we are seeing good football.

I take no pleasure in reporting that there was no good football played last Friday night and Limerick were well and truly defeated. The 2-0 scoreline does not tell the full story. The pitch at Jackman Park is poor but all the same it is as though the ball has a life of it's own. It constantly bobbles and bounces away from the players who struggle vainly to get it under control before invariably belting it out for yet another throw in.

It's sad to see Limerick playing 4-5-1 at home to Waterford. It's sadder still to see them hoofing long balls every chance they got up to our lone and very isolated centre forward who is not exactly a Geoff Horsfield type player (though I'm sure one is on the way in the transfer window). We didn't have players who would put their foot on the ball and try to pass it. There was little attempt to find a player in space. Just some half arsed attempt at a percentages game by hoofing balls into apparent danger areas. The players were totally devoid of ideas and it was a very disappointing performance.

As Limerick chased the game, they became even more direct, thumping (I'm running out of ways to say long ball but there were a lot of them) long balls in on top of the goalkeeper at any opportunity. The ones that made it were easily dealt with but most of them ended up going out for throws or goal kicks. It was not what we had come to see.

I fear that the footballing philosophy which was so evident last season is being lost to a more pragmatic, ends justifying the means approach this year. That is simply not good enough. The least a Limerick football supporter should expect, considering what he puts up with off the field is good, flowing football on it. I can forgive the Waterford performance as an off-night. We were missing a few players, others were just coming back from injury but I hope it's not an indication of what is to come this season.

Limerick deserves a decent League of Ireland team, not a return to the bad old days when dull, boring 0-0 draws were about the best we could expect.

Come on, Pat Scully- entertain the fans. We suffer enough as it is.

Keane's Higher Standards Upset Lesser Beings.

Ricky Sbragia: That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.

Does anyone remember the interview with former Sunderland player Clive Clarke when he said that Roy Keane had no respect in the Sunderland dressing room, that he ruled by fear and never spoke to the players blah blah blah? One hears these sorts of criticisms of Keane quite often usually from disgruntled ex-players or colleagues. There are plenty of nameless anecdotes doing the rounds of players uttering the words "oh no" as Keane enters the players lounge and the previously jolly atmosphere turns positively glacial.

It strikes me that Ricky Sbragia in particular gives Roy plenty of backhanded complements. "I've just changed a few things" he says to give the players more freedom and make them more relaxed. "The players are now free to think for themselves. It had gotten boring around here."

Among the things Sbragia changed was to refund all the player's fines they received this season under Keane and they no longer stay in a hotel on the night before games. Ricky has apparently freed up the Sunderland players to play to their potential and in fairness they are currently in 15th position, four points clear of the drop with five games to go so he must be doing something right. Under Ricky's new liberal regime, Sunderland have indeed reached whole new levels of mediocrity and in five short months he has managed to transform the club into one which is dull, boring and utterly irrelevant to the excitement of the Premier League.

At least the players will be happy. They will still receive their massive pay cheques but more importantly they can also relax. Sbragia has saved Sunderland from the pressures of succeeding. He asks only that they be themselves. The very idea that Sunderland would be a great club built by players of great character left with Keane and they have quickly reverted to being a club that see being in the Premier League at all as a bonus.

I think the reason Keane is criticised by these people, people like Tony Cascarino, Clive Clarke and Ricky Sbragia is because they do not share his desire to succeed. In fact I would their only desire is to survive. In their minds that alone is success.

For Keane, success is achieving more than was thought possible. It's probably more than that but it's a good start. He sets the bar to the highest level, not the lowest acceptable one.

He said in his press conference yesterday that all he expects of players is that they turn up on time and give 100%. The truth I would say is that this is exactly what Keane demands and nothing more. The problem for Roy I suspect, is finding players who are as professional as he is. I've spoken Paul McShane about Roy. Paul said "Roy Keane is a good man and a good manager". Andy Reid said something similar on that recent TV3 documentary.

Keane might well sign McShane in the summer. He is the type of player that could get you out of the Championship and he will bring the standards to Ipswich which Keane will demand of all players. I'm not sure why players would be upset by Keane. They only train for a couple of hours a day. It's hardly asking too much that they work extremely hard and make sure they're in peak physical condition for games.

Roy made mistakes at Sunderland such as constantly chopping and changing the team, never giving players a chance to settle in any one position but this might well have been borne out of the frustration of not having the right players to compete in the Premier League. All the same, he will have to put more faith in his players at Ipswich. Maybe this is what he spoke of when he talked about learning from the mistakes at Sunderland but he shouldn't do that (and I don't believe he will) at the expense of the standards he sets for himself and everyone else, regardless of who he might upset along the way.

Keane at Ipswich- From a Carousel to Rollercoaster

Roy Keane at Ipswich Town. That will take a bit of getting used to. The two are not exactly synonymous. The first thing to say is that he is right to take the job. Ipswich are currently in eighth place in the Championship, eight points short of a play-off place with 2 games to go. For the most part they have a young team who play football and a passionate, patient support. It is a good club to be taking over. There is room for improvement but more importantly the potential is there to achieve that. Ipswich Town are a club going in the right direction.

Ipswich fans will undoubtedly be delighted to have Roy Keane at the club but this does not mean that the treatment of Jim Magilton will rest easy with them. As far as I know a good season for Ipswich fans is finishing ahead of Norwich in the league and beating them in the derby. They are not Newcastle United. They don't demand the impossible and I think they were comfortable with the fact that a long time servant of the club had been doing the job. Magilton was given three years at Ipswich and they did OK. They finished ahead of Norwich and beat them most of the time but that was the problem. It was all just a bit too comfortable.

Maybe under Big Jim, Ipswich had found a level with which the fans and players were happy. They pushed for a play-off place but it wasn't the end of the world if they didn't get it. It's no surprise then that they spent most of Magilton's tenure in mid-table. Ipswich are a good club though. They have a great tradition of good football and giving young players a chance, it's just that it feels strange to be talking about them with Roy Keane at the helm because for better or worse he will shake them up.

He has been given a very clear task at Ipswich. A two year contract with the aim of winning promotion within that time. I don't think Roy is there for the long haul as Magilton no doubt hoped he would be. Roy is a man on a mission and the days of sleepy 1-1 draws with Charlton are over.

It is the perfect club for Keane to return to football because the ambitions of the owners match his own. They too demand promotion and surely transfer budgets have already been discussed and agreed. Apparently the deal was dependent on Keane agreeing to move to Ipswich and I think the inclusion of this condition is a wise move by the owners.

You don't really want someone as dark and introspective as Keane to be spending too much time by himself. Seriously. I think he became increasing isolated towards the end at Sunderland and he certainly gave the impression of a man who was unsettled or restless there.

Roy will buy players in the summer with a view to getting Ipswich promoted. Giving youth a chance or playing pretty football will be far from his mind. It will be an exciting adventure for Ipswich fans but Keane will demand the highest of standards and the best results. For Ipswich fans, it will be a bit like going from a carousel to a roller coaster. Let's hope they can handle the change.

Dublin Should Be Included In Plans For Premier League 2.

Coming To A Dublin Near You Soon? I don't think so, Roy.

The Bolton Wanderers Chairman Phil Gartside has proposed a second tier to the English Premier League which would include Celtic and Rangers but why stop there? If any drastic changes are going to be made to the English league then they should include teams from Dublin and possibly Belfast as well. There is no satisfactory answer as to why Swansea and Cardiff are allowed to compete in the English league but the old firm are not. It is equally unsatisfactory that thousands of Irish people travel to England every week to support Premier League teams yet there is no team in Ireland. There is no logical reason for Ireland's exclusion from the Premier League.

All of our best players play in the Premier League. None of our best players play in the League of Ireland. Most of our best young players go to England as teenagers to try to earn professional contracts with English clubs. It would surely make sense if a Dublin-based team could provide this opportunity instead. The presence of a Dublin team in the Premier League would not be a threat to the League of Ireland because it would primarily cater for the thousands of fans who travel to Premier League matches in England and don't go to League of Ireland games anyway. For League of Ireland supporters, it would be the best of both worlds.

I think there is a perception among Irish football supporters that having a Dublin team playing in the Premier League would be a bit like allowing abortion in Ireland. While it's in England, people have access to it without the rest of us having to deal with the consequences such as falling attendances at Richmond Park, English football supporters on a weekend jolly, women going to matches on whim they might regret for the rest of their lives. If they're going to make such a big decision, at least force them to book tickets, get flights, hotels and make long trips to foreign countries where they can mull over it on the way. If they still feel like going to the game after all that, then fair enough.

Football of course is not like abortion. It is simply entertainment fuelled by a seemingly endless appetite by the public. The English Premier League is English only in name. It is already an international league involving players from all over the world.

Ireland is however in a special position in relation to the English Premier League. Ireland is too small to have a full time professional league therefore England represents the best possibility for our young players to play at the top level. Ireland already shares a common language with England and culturally Dublin is similar to Glasgow, Birmingham, Cardiff, Newcastle or Liverpool.

Dublin missed out in a big way when we let the opportunity to bring Wimbledon to Ireland pass us by. The new proposals for the Premier League 2 should see us get another chance. It is one we really should take. It would be worth a whole lot of money to the country increasing tourism and trade significantly, surely.

It would allow Irish people to support an Irish team and give Dublin a football team the city deserves. All great European Cities have great football teams, well most of them anyway and there is no reason why Dublin should be any different. A Dublin team has to be part of any PL2 proposal. It would be far too beneficial a union for everyone involved for it to be ignored.

Rugby Talk

A look backwards and forwards to the week in the world of rugby as heard first on West Limerick 102FM's Sunday Sport. Listen to Cian McGibney, Richie Jones and Eoin Casey discuss the Lions Selection, Munster versus Leinster and those cheats over at Harlequins.

It's Sports Talk at it's best....It's what radio is all about.

Rugby Talk.mp3

Pat Scully Interview

Exclusive Interview on West Limerick 102FM with new Limerick FC manager Pat Scully.

Pat Scully Interview.mp3

Almighty Munster

Listen to John O'Donnell's take on the Munster's brilliant recent form as he looks forward to the Heineken Cup semi final against Leinster at Croke Park.

VN350009_New.mp3

Lucas Leiva- Reminds of Myself Playing for Liverpool.

Sliding: It's about all he's good for.

What exactly does Lucas Leiva bring to the Liverpool set up. I feel bad criticising the guy because it's not his fault that he is patently not up to it. I'm sure if someone put me into the Liverpool team I'd look out of my depth as well and no doubt be the subject of ridicule by unscrupulous and talentless bloggers. It's more or less the same thing. Lucas neither looks nor plays like a professional footballer. If he has proven to be unpopular with the Liverpool supporters this season, it is only because he is useless and unfit to wear the shirt. Considering the amount of thrash that have worshipped the Kop since their last Championship win, it is fair to say that Liverpool supporters generally have a high tolerance for bad players. You actually need to be exceptional to incur their wrath.

One would have to assume that Rafa Benitez knows what he's doing by selecting him in the first place. It's just that I can't for the life see what his contribution is out on the field. Rafa seems to have warmed to the player in a big way. This might be just because Lucas is the type of player who keeps his head down and appears to work hard. He is a team player as long as no responsibility actually falls on his shoulders.

He was worse than useless against Chelsea tonight. I couldn't believe he started. Surely Ryan Babel should have been in the team if Albert Reira was going to be left out. Lucas brings nothing to the table. It was after all a game Liverpool had to win, Babel is an attacking player and one of Liverpool's freshest going into the closing stages of the season. He has hardly played at all this year.

Forget tonight's game though, one incident from the first leg is significant too. To me at least. I suppose in reality players do this all the time and I complain but nobody seems to think it matters. Maybe it doesn't. I think it does. I think Roy Keane has spoken about it but then Roy is a bit mental so maybe we're both wrong. With the first leg finely poised at 1-1, Alonso played a pass to Lucas shortly before half time. He had time and space and was just outside the box in front of the goals. Alonso being Alonso, the pass was inch perfect. Lucas contrived to blast the ball high into the stands when simply hitting the target would have been a disappointing outcome.

I don't mind that because I wouldn't expect anything less from him. Sometimes my technique lets me down too. What annoyed me was that as he turned to jog back to the centre circle, he had a big happy smile on his face as if to say "what a klutz I am". He was actually laughing about wasting a golden opportunity in a game Chelsea were slowly taking control of.

At least that didn't cost them a goal. Tonight Lucas showed his worth by failing to block Nicolas Anelka's cross for Chelsea's opener. That delivery should never have been made. It looked innocuous enough when Anelka picked it up. Aurelio and Lucas appeared to have it covered. Aurelio pushed Anelka out to the touchline, Lucas failed to block the cross. Chelsea scored.

For Alex's goal, Chelsea's second Lucas was the first man in the Liverpool wall. He also turned his back on the shot as it whistled past him and into the centre of the Liverpool goal. It was hit with great power but Lucas should have blocked it, instead he got out of the way. I've done it myself from time to time. It's only a game at the end of the day and I have no intention of having my face rearranged over a game of five a side. Good old Lucas, it's like seeing yourself playing for Liverpool.

I don't know what was going through his mind when he nicked the ball away from Petr Cech after Kuyt's through ball. Whatever it was, I would have executed a U-turn in an arctic in the time it took him to turn around, get his head up and try to make hay of the situation.

He did manage to dispossess Ashley Cole at least at 3-2 down. He proceeded to put his head down and run in a straight line towards the Chelsea half. I'm not sure where he expected to end up but he didn't get very far before Frank Lampard came in and took the ball off him in much the same way as I'm sure Frank would take the ball off me if he ever joined our five-a-side.

I started taking notes of how bad he was in anticipation of writing this blog, then he threatened to prove me wrong by scoring Liverpool's third. It doesn't prove me wrong. It was a pathetic, weak shot which hit off Michael Essein, wrong footed Cech and bobbled into the corner. In fact I think Essein hit it with his arm when he should have just let it run back to his keeper. Maybe he thought it was a through ball. Maybe he knew the game was over and was just been mischievous. That's what it looked like anyway.

He looks like a decent chap and I hate to criticise him. I'm sure his benevolence has rescued thousands of street urchins from the Favella's of his native Brazil. The problem is that he just doesn't look up to playing for Liverpool. In my view, he cost them the game tonight and not for the first time either.

Player of the Year Nominations are a Joke.

The season is quickly drawing to a close. Am I the first person to say that? The evenings are getting longer and Luton have been relegated. Leicster are going up, Wolves have already secured a play-off place and are on the cusp of automatic promotion. It has all happened quite quickly and in a few weeks time we will be all sitting around bored out of our trees waiting for pre-season friendlies and the provisional rounds of the UEFA Cup to kick off.

First of all the annual Player of the Year Awards have to be decided. I was talking to Dave about this just last night. We were wondering who would be nominated in a year when there haven't really been too many outstanding performers. I was saying that maybe guys like Hangeland and Fellaini would be in with a shout, just for being outstanding performers this season. I can understand the list being dominated by the top four most years but has anyone REALLY stood out this year?

I would have thought that Martin Laursen would have been a shoe in if it wasn't for the fact that he got injured and Villa's season subsequently fell. His exclusion is understandable. Say what you like about the guy but Kevin Davies has simply been one of the most effective players in the Premier League this season. He has 12 league goals already this season and comparing his attitude to how the Berb, Martins or Zaki approach games, then if the powers that be are serious about cleaning up the game maybe they should start with Davies when it comes to giving out awards.

Other players I thought might be in the running from outside the top four are Shay Given (not that I agree with giving it to goalkeepers), Stephen Ireland, maybe even someone like Matt Upson. There might be a few more but like I say, so far at least it's been a season where outstanding individual performances have been thin on the ground.

It just so happens that the nominations were announced today. To me at least they are baffling. Three of the Manchester United back five have been nominated. They went on a good run and they should be applauded for that but that run has now ended so spectacularly as to kind of render it irrelevant.

It is crazy that Edwin Van Der Saar has been nominated. He been far from infallible this season and indeed it was his mistake at Newcastle which brought their record breaking run to an end. He is still a good goalkeeper but he is a weakness in the United team and one of the top six players in the league he most certainly is not.

Vidic has been touted as player of the year for much of this season. I don't like the idea of giving it to a defender because let's face it, their job is much easier than strikers. Strikers put their reputation on the line every time they play, defenders simply put their bodies there. Anyone can do that. In a season short on quality Vidic's inclusion would have been justified had it not been his performance against Liverpool at Old Trafford. The player of the Year doesn't perform like that in the biggest game of the year. The Player of the Year is supposed to play more like Fernando Torres did that day.

If I absolutely had to give it to a defender, Rio Ferdinand would be deserving. He has been at his consistent brilliant best for most of this season and he might well end up taking the award. He has been injured recently though and this is the business end of the season.

Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs complete the only quintet United are likely to win this season. Will it be accepted as an error if United end up only with the Carling Cup to show for their efforts this season? I can just about stomach Giggs getting the nod even if it does smack of giving a old man a watch upon his retirement. Giggs has played well this season though and if there was greater realism to the rest of the list, I might be able to look upon his inclusion without such cynicism.

I'm not so sure about Ronaldo. He has missed a chunk of the season with injury but so has Torres and he was left out. Ronaldo has rescued United on a number of occasions, not least against the Villa a couple of weeks ago but he has more often been missing. A player's character should also be a consideration when being considered for these awards. Ronaldo is a diver and he constantly tries to gain an advantage by getting a player booked or sent off. That's all very well and by doing so he runs the risk of being booked himself but it's not the sort of thing which should be rewarded when coupled with mainly average performances this season.

Steven Gerrard is the only non-United player to be nominated though I'm sure if he had his way, he would be playing for United. Gerrard has been his usual undisciplined self this season, giving the ball away a lot and running around after it trying to get it back. He is another who has been inauspicious in big games, not least last week against Chelsea last week in the Champions League. Gerrard has not been in the same class as Alonso, Mascherano or Torres this season and spectacular last minute goals alone do not good players make but it's obviously enough to be considered a great player.

Frank Lampard should get an honourable mention. He deserves to be on that list ahead of Gerrard, Ronaldo or Giggs. He offers a lot more than just Gerrard's goals and the "Fat Frank" jibes aside, he has never been fully gotten the attention he deserved. He probably doesn't help himself by being such a media whore. It's like everything he does off the pitch is part of an interview with "Hello" magazine. Get a grip Frank, in fairness.

In the Young Player category, the stand out nominee for me is Selfish Stephen Ireland. It beggars belief that this Rafael guy from United was nominated. Aaron Lennon is also in the running. Lennon has potential but I think he's more of a Jermaine Pennant than David Ginola. The Villa pair of Young and Agbonlahor have let their performance levels drop too far in my opinion while Johnny Evans has been good and deserves it in so far as defenders deserve to be there at all. I'm just shocked that Fellaini has been over looked. The guy is top class unlike most of the players on these lists.

These are the PFA Player of the Year awards which apparently the players start voting on in September and the voting for nominations closed on March 14th which was actually before the Manchester United- Liverpool game. If that's the way they are going to select the candidates, they really shouldn't bother.

Roy Hodgson - Just a Great Manager.

It is difficult not to admire Roy Hodgson not only for the job he has done at Fulham but also the manner in which he has gone about doing it. He took over at Craven Cottage last year with a squad which looked destined to be relegated. The personnel were not much better (or different) than Northern Ireland's which is fine when the height of your ambition is to finish fourth in a qualifying group for the Euro's but it's not exactly a guaranteed formula for securing your Premier League future.

Roy Hodgson managed Fulham's predicament brilliantly last season. He used the January transfer window to clear out the players who weren't up to it and bring in players who were. Some of these were unknowns who Roy felt could do the job for him in the Premier League and others were players he knew had more to offer. No one had ever heard of Brede Hangeland until Roy made him the rock at the centre of Fulham's defence. It should have been too much of a risk to bring such a player from a Scandinavian league with so much at stake but it worked mainly I would say because Roy knows what he's doing. Even the players who haven't been so emphatically successful such as Zolton Gera or Eric Nevland have played a part chipping in with a few goals and being very solid squad players.

The funny thing is that on the face of it, it doesn't look like he is doing all that much. He plays 4-4-2 every week and almost the very same players whenever he can. He has Danny Murphy playing like a top-notch centre midfield player because that's simply what he is, not that too many of his other managers have had the nous to pick up on that.

Simon Davies plays on the right side of midfield and puts dangerous crosses into the box. He plays Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora as two centre forwards, the idea being I would think that it will give midfielders another option when they are looking to attack plus having two attackers doubles your chances of scoring. It might be a bit of a risk but surely the eight players behind them should be able to handle the defence. They haven't been prolific but then Fulham strikers never are. All the same they have scored more than a few important goals and set up plenty others. They are improving all the time and I don't think anyone could argue that the partnership hasn't been a success. Simple really isn't it?

I could go on about the genius involved in the signing of Mark Schwarzer on a free or thrash out the old lines about the team being greater than the sum of the parts but there is a whole lot more to Roy Hodgson than that. I remember watching his Switzerland team at USA '94. I was only 12 at the time but I remember thinking "Switzerland- they are shit". My instinct was validated by the RTE panel's match analysis which concluded something similar having watched them draw 1-1 with the hosts in their first game.

At the same time, in the back of my simple little I was thinking, how in in the name of God did the Swiss qualify in the first place and why don't they go for the jugular a bit more? They seemed boring and conservative.

The answer to the first part of that question is that Switzerland qualified for USA 94 because of Roy Hodgson. They didn't go for the jugular because Roy knew that if they did that they would leave gaps at the back which would be exploited and they would be quickly shown up as a second rate team again. John Giles along with most other pundits (i.e. failed managers) cannot understand this approach to management and thus the achievements of such teams are usually overlooked. In spite of their limitations that Swiss team still qualified out of their group.

That Swiss team wasn't the most exciting but as Trapatonni would say, if I want entertainment I'll go to the opera. Hodgson's Swiss team was very effective and qualified for Euro 96 as well. Fulham don't play swashbuckling football but they are effective and I think the quality of their play has improved as their results have gotten better and maybe the players have become more comfortable with the system having eventually learned to do the simple things right.

Things haven't always gone right for Roy Hodgson and even when they do, he still gets criticised. As Finland manager, it was thought that the team weren't attacking enough which was borne out by five 0-0 draws in their group. They still managed to get 24 points though. As Steve Staunton proved with Ireland, small countries and even the idea of purely entertaining football are a disastrous combination.

At Blackburn Roy was sacked. He signed Kevin Davies that summer and it didn't really happen for the guy but I think it's fair to say that Davies has since proved himself a top Premier League striker. He's no Fernando Torres but he has scored more league goals than him this season. Roy didn't lose focus or faith in his methods at that point.

He returned to the Premier League via coaching Grasshoppers of Switzerland, winning a Danish Championship with FC Copenhagen, coaching the UAE and one or two other equally random stops along the way. Roy's management style has been consistently successful yet he hasn't been given the time or the opportunity at a club that might actually win something. Those clubs are few and far between of course and if the revolution at Fulham continues he might yet get a chance.

Roy says he doesn't give motivational talks. He just instructs the team on what he wants them to do. He was linked with the Ireland job. If he had gotten it, I think we would be in just as healthy a position but Roy's position would be tenuous because maybe he lacks the force of personality that Jack Charlton had or the reputation and successes of Trapatonni. That would appear to be the only way to defeat the bully boys at RTE.

Roy goes about his job effectively and logically and this is reflected in his the performances of his teams. He doesn't complain, he just works with what he has and plays the percentages to ensure get the best results they can achieve. You could say that Roy is a successful Brian Kerr.

For me the moment which summed him up was when he was shown on Match of the Day 2 giving an interview in Norwegian to Norwegian television. For a guy who failed to break into the Crystal Palace first team before playing for the likes of Gravesend & Ebbsfleet (they are actually just one club), he is simply a class apart. And I haven't even mentioned Clint Dempsey.

Why Can't We Just Have One Football Team?

I love when Ireland qualify for major tournaments in soccer. It makes life feel very important. It just doesn't happen enough. We haven't qualified for anything since the World Cup in 2002 while our Northern brethren have to go back as far as 1986 since they last had anything meaningful to shout about. Looking on with envy at the success of the Irish Rugby team but not really being able to join because I feel no affinity with the game, it got me wondering why they can play together as one team yet we in the footballing fraternity have two.

It all goes back to a split in the Irish Football Association around 1921 obviously enough. To the uninitiated this is the year Ireland was split in two and has been divided ever since. The football associations followed the politicians (never a bright idea) and 90 odd years later, soccer is the only sport in this country which is played under two different flags. I can imagine there was quite a bit of aggro about it at the time. It was an emotional time and some things were said which we didn't mean, some shots fired which we'd take back if we could but those days are behind us, long since gone and all that is left behind are two struggling, moderately successful international football players continually at each others throats over the allegiances of very, very average players.

The Good Friday agreement was supported by about 95% of the population of the island so can we take it that officially at least there is no longer a dispute between the two states. We are not the Koreans by a long stretch. Since everything is now hunky dory between North and South and our public representatives head off on dirty weekends, I mean, political junkets, I mean, Trade Missions together surely our football teams can work together to give Irish people everywhere a bit more to celebrate.

If Ireland had one soccer team, the fact is that we would be more likely to qualify for major tournaments which to my mind would be a good thing. The historical reasons which initially caused the split in the organisations are no longer in existence and they need only look to their rugby counterparts to find a successful template on which to base their unity.

There is no point in both associations going on achieving hardly anything when if they united all Irishmen under one flag it might give everyone something to cheer about. It's makes sense commercially too. Both countries and the sport would be richer if we qualified for major tournaments. The compromise needn't be political. I'm sure both sides could agree on an anthem (why not play both) and a flag we could all play under. In spite of it's appearance to the contrary, international football is not tied up with national politics.

We could do with Johnny Evans and I'm sure they could use Given, Duffers, Robbie, Big Richard and a few more so everyone's a winner. When all is said and done, I'd rather Ireland qualified for the World Cup or the Euros than having everyone sitting at home watching them on TV safe in the knowledge that at least we didn't step on anyone's toes.

A Cautionary Tale

Paul Jewell must really regret quitting as Wigan boss. It is surely the cushtiest job in football. Low expectation, a great chairman with plenty of ambition, small crowds and virtually no media spotlight. The Newcastle United job it is not. Even if they had been relegated two seasons ago when David Unsworth's penalty kept them up and sent Sheffield United down, they would still have been in a decent position to get promoted again the following season as Birmingham and West Brom have done over the last number seasons.

Paul Jewell just couldn't hack it. Jewell quit at a time when money and jobs were as plentiful in football as everywhere else and with his stock still high, it was considered only a matter of time before he would land a top job somewhere else. He resurfaced at Derby County, who under his stewardship went on to become the worst team in Premier League history. They were already well on their way to that achieving that most unwanted of accolades when he took over but he made sure they stayed on course and they were duly relegated in March.

Jewell said he took the Derby job to reawaken a sleeping giant which had a large, passionate support and I suppose Paul thought he could recreate those heady days when they were successful. He had some reason having taken both Bradford and Wigan to the Premier League and keeping them there. Not insubstantial achievements whatever his backing. He is to be commended surely for seeking out this new challenge but in hindsight he must feel like he jumped ship at Wigan too soon.

Steve Bruce now enjoys that most comfortable of jobs. I would say that Wigan are a well run club but the reality is that they have snuck ahead because of how the shambles other clubs find themselves. Newcastle, Spurs, even Man City, Blackburn, Sunderland, Portsmouth have all arguably been the cause of their own undoing this season.

Even at Middlesborough I would have more sympathy for Gareth Southgate. He gives local players a chance and it has been his big signings who have really let him down. If Alfonso Alaves had taken a fraction of the chances he has been presented with this season, Boro would be sitting comfortably in mid-table now. Steve Bruce doesn't take chances with such inexperience and rightly so. His teams are full of seasoned professionals or tough South Americans for whom bedding in time isn't an issue. They just go out and play. Amr Zaki aside, there is little drama at Wigan, on or off the pitch.

Southgate is paying the price for his style at Boro but Steve Bruce is reaping the benefits of being a safe pair of hands. It would be difficult to have lofty ambitions at a club like Wigan and it is clear that Bruce has accepted their "at best mid-table status". Looking at Wigan, it sort of makes you wonder just how pointless the Premier League is after all. For ill-equipped clubs like Stoke, West Brom and Hull, it is a massive adventure in peril with nothing to lose except the amount they over-extended themselves by to compete. For the down around the bottom, they have been dragged into it by mismanagement or the withdrawal of investment while Steve Bruce's team have risen up the table just by doing the simple things right. A little bit like Roy Hodgson at Fulham.

Maybe I dislike Bruce because he makes it all look so simple but I never like Wigan have anything to play for meaning that everyone at the club is making a fortune just by providing opposition for the top four and a bit of competition for the relegation candidates. Maybe I'm just sentimental but I wistfully hope for a time when there would be a more competitive even league. This mid-table nonsense benefits noone.

Steve Bruce once turned the Newcastle job if not, twice probably because he didn't want or couldn't the pressure. Why should he? He earns a fortune at Wigan for the minimum of stress. Maybe he looked at Paul Jewell and looked on it as a cautionary tale.

Are the Hunt Brothers Insane?

Noel Hunt trying to get in on the action.

Is Noel Hunt out of his mind or what? I mean, fair enough the pictures on the night were inconclusive although Robbie Keane's celebration suggested that he was the man who took the chance. The pictures on RTE put the matter to bed.


Here is the link to the RTE report:

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/0403/1n_soccer1_av.html


By the looks of it, Noel got nowhere near the ball. It is absolutely outrageous that he would later try to claim it. Meanwhile, Stephen tries to tell us that he can't remember any of the first half and that he only found out Ireland were a goal down when one of the other players told him at half time. Next they'll be telling us that Waterford beat Kilkenny in the All-Ireland Final last September. I wouldn't mind but having seen the RTE pictures, it's so obviously Robbie Keane's goal that it really makes you wonder what was going through Noel Hunt's mind when he came on WLR FM trying to claim the goal. It is mental.

It doesn't matter in the scheme of things and it is good that we have such selfish, if deluded strikers. It's a pity they can't be so ruthless on the pitch. Robbie handled it well by keeping quiet, if only he could have been as composed when that ball dropped over his shoulder in the last minute.

As ever, the main thing is we're still on course for qualification.

So Close & Yet So Far.

Noel Hunt about to kill Robbie Keane for Claiming his Goal.

Thank God for the equaliser in Bari. It was looking dodge there for about 75 minutes. Football is a funny old game. We might not have scored at all but we could just as easily have won it. Trap is right, games are won and lost on the little details. The only thing is that over the course of the campaign the best teams will come to the fore. What you will get away with in one game, you'll be caught out in another and in the end over the course of the 10 games all the oohs and aahs should stack up equally on all sides.

It would have been very harsh on Traps team if we had gotten only one point from six in the last two games. By drawing with the Italians we have kept them in check and within reach. It's a pity we didn't win though isn't it? If only we had been a little bit more composed in front of goal. I'm loathe to criticise Robbie Keane but was it just me or was he really milking it on the celebrations?I know it's football which is different and the players are more dramatic in all senses than our rugby or GAA players.

All the same I thought the hands out in a "worship me I am your saviour" sort of a way was a bit over the top. There is a theory in GAA circles at least and probably in Rugby as well that excessive celebrations can cause you to lose focus on the game. A bit like when a player has a barney with the referee and then makes a costly mistake 5 minutes later because he was still distracted.

I only say it because in spite of my unbridled joy at getting a point against the 10 man world champions in their own back yard, I'm very disappointed we didn't win the game. Robbie's chance at the death when he blazed over off his shin was a golden opportunity to win the game. It was a bit like his equaliser against Ze Germans all those years ago. Italy hadn't lost a home game in three years and then it was Denmark who did the business, last night it should have been us.

I wouldn't have even minded if Noel Hunt had celebrated like he was the Messiah for it would have been the height of the former Shamrock Rovers and Dunfermline strikers career but when Robbie does it, you sort of wonder when is he going to give the ball away next. Who knows, maybe a certain Rafael Benetiz was sitting at home sipping on his Napoleon Brandy nodding knowingly to himself as the ball ballooned into the stand and the Greasers got off the hook.

Robbie rushed the shot and our lack of composure in front of goal has been a constant since Trapatonni took over (and it should be said long before). It's as if whenever one of our players are faced with two choices in front of goal, we will invariably make the wrong one and the chance goes awry. It is only when we have no time to think about it that it might go in. Think about it, Hunt and Keane last night just took a swipe at it when it dropped, Big Richard against the Bulgars powered in, Robbie from a yard against Cyprus. The only really well taken goal we've scored was Doyle's against Georgia.

We've made a balls of any number of chances. Players getting in each others way. McGeady and Doyle were both culpable against the Bulgarians on Saturday. It's not a criticism of the individual players for their task is a great one but I wonder is it something Trap could address in training between all the drills on sitting back and defending.

Whether the goal was Robbie or Noel's last night, I don't really care. I suspect the Waterfordian is correct that it was his shot. Notice how the cameras followed Robbie for the celebration therefore leading us all the think it was him. That's not important though and I'm sure Rafa will agree with me when I say that what is absolutely vital is keeping your concentration for the remainder of the game so that just in case another chance presents itself in this extremely tight and difficult group that you will be in the right frame of mind to put it away.