Neville's United-tinted punditry will divide opinion among Sky viewers

He hates Scousers: Neville's United connections could deny him new fans on the TV screens

Next season the footballer that everyone except Manchester United fans loves to hate will be on our screens every week giving us his informed view on Premier League Football.

This week’s confirmation of Gary Neville’s appointment as Sky’s premier pundit is bound to be a talking point. To the red half of Manchester and the pockets of glory-hunting twenty somethings scattered around the land he is a hero, a man who personified the spirit and drive that led United to such success throughout his career.

To everybody else he is a rat-faced scary little man who’s dad’s first name is the same as his surname and while staying loyal, was an ordinary player who goaded supporters, provoked hate and in reality they all prefer Phil because he left Man United and went to a nice club like Everton.

You can guess which side I’m on. But nevertheless we are going to see Neville playing Jamie Redkanpp’s role when Harry’s son is playing on his Wii, filming A League of Their Own or walking through sprinklers in Marks and Spencer adverts. He will be the Manc to Jamie’s Liverpool, the solid black Primark suit to Jamie’s shiny silver M&S freebie and the ugly truth to Jamie’s beautiful features.

At least Neville’s face will be one that most fans under 30 will recognise on the pitch. Before “linogate” Andy Gray was becoming part of the furniture and was more known for his “take a bow son” and “yoouuu beauty” comments than he was for his days with the likes of Wolves, Everton and Aston Villa. With Neville you get someone else who has lived the modern game, a far cry from ‘70s and ‘80s football, and been at the forefront of title challenges and Champions League campaigns during the last ten years. In that respect viewers can trust what he says.

And he is a Manchester United fan. If we didn’t know it already from his attitude on the pitch, he showed the same, rather scary, facial expressions sitting in the stands watching his old team mates rather than the comfort of an executive box.

Neville will also provide opinions. An outspoken bloke with a widespread reputation for Scouser-hating, what he thinks is bound to get up people’s noses but that gets football fans talking. Prepare for a truck-load of pub conversations starting with: “Did you hear what that prick Neville said on Sky yesterday ….”

There is no doubt that he is not as loveable as Jamie, or maybe as Andy Gray. Jamie was not a one-club man so does not attract such a partisan following whereas Neville gives the impression that he sweats United and hates everyone else, so why would anyone else listen to him?

Neville’s chance to succeed and win over the viewing public will be to provide not just interesting punditry but memorable quotes and dodgy clothes. At least the curtains hair style and scraggly goatee stands him in good stead and who knows, in ten year’s time he could be a national treasure. Except in Liverpool.

Wigan match could make or break Torres' (and Ancelotti's) Chelsea season

Weight on his shoulders: Will Torres come good for Chelsea before it is too late for his manager?

So it has been ten games now, and if you hadn’t already realised it, Fernando Torres still hasn’t scored for Chelsea.

The Spaniard cannot be blamed for all of The Blues’ problems in the last two games. Judging by their performances a sniff at the league with a win at Stoke and later a one-and-only chance of silverware this year at home to Manchester United are still not enough motivation.

But it is the £50million man that everyone is talking about, as he has not nearly managed a shot on target since his move to the capital. Torres’ success in these remaining games, in particular at Old Trafford – if Carlo Ancelotti chooses to play him, will not just define his price tag, but definitely Chelsea’s season and possibly his manager’s future.

After the mid-winter disaster, which saw one win in seven games, the Premier League title was always going to be slightly out of reach, not to mention exits from the League Cup and FA Cup, and the former Liverpool man had not even joined at the point. But when Abramovich put his hand in his pocket for the deadline day move to smash the British transfer record, he was pretty much saying to Carlo: “Here are your tools to succeed, now win me something.”

A good workman should never blame his tools, but it is not as if Ancelotti hasn’t given Torres a run-out, in fact he played 90 minutes on Wednesday when the more effective striker, Drogba, was substituted. Ancelotti shouldn’t have to show Torres how to score goals, his record shows he can do that already – although apparently not in a blue shirt.

Torres’ influence could have more impact next year, when he comes into a Chelsea team with everything to play for once again, but that could be too late for Ancelotti. If Chelsea win nothing, he could go and if he doesn’t make the most of a £50million striker he could go. At the moment, the two do not necessarily go hand in hand.

Which is why tomorrow’s home clash against Wigan is pivotal – not for Chelsea’s chances at the title – that’s gone, possibly for securing a Champions League spot, but without doubt for Torres. In Chelsea’s last two games against the league’s bottom side, the Blues have managed 14 goals without reply, and last season’s home fixture won them the league with an 8-0 victory.

If Torres can’t score against this lot with his home fans cheering him on, a lot will wonder when exactly he will score.

Blue romanticists will say twice at Old Trafford on Tuesday night, which will instantly banish the ghost of the last ten games, get Abramovich and Chelsea fans smiling again and maybe keep Carlo in his job.

Dropping Associate Nations from World Cups is just not cricket

We have just finished one of the great Cricket World Cups that saw deserving winners, exciting matches and left a legacy that has done wonders for this waning format of the international game.

Yet the suits in charge, the ICC, want to change it all next time around. Confirming a decision made before this World Cup started, the smaller nations are to be left out when the tournament heads to Australia and New Zealand in 2015. Instead of including four smaller, associate countries, who in 2011 were Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands and Kenya, the 2015 World Cup will only have the nine Test-playing countries and Zimbabwe.

An ICC press release said: "The Executive Board confirmed their decision made in October 2010 that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand and the ICC Cricket World Cup in England in 2019 will be a ten-team event.”
"The Board agreed that the 2015 World Cup will comprise the existing ten full members."

There is a sense of injustice in this, particularly around the Shamrock nation. Ireland were everyone’s second team, except England’s, last month when Kevin O’Brien hit a match-winning century against the team that has stolen some of his country’s best players.

Fighting a losing battle: Kevin O'Brien smashes a match wining hundred for Ireland against England

That historic win made for an exciting Group B that was open well into the end of the group stages and also earned Ireland a one-day ranking above Zimbabwe.

So, ICC, if you are going to drop the tournament to ten teams then fine, but why not give it a few years and see how everyone has been playing before you decide who they are going to be. Zimbabwe are already falling behind and it is only their cricketing history that has kept them in the tournament, and the West Indies aren’t exactly heading in the right direction either.

In football, apart from the host nation, every nation has a fair chance of qualifying. If the sport adopted cricket’s ideals then it would probably just be the European countries plus Brazil and Argentina contesting the tournament every four years. We may well have not seen the North Korean tears, Ghana’s colourful climb to the quarter finals or, for that matter a World Cup in South Africa.

Some may argue that this is not a fair comparison because hundreds of countries play football professionally, but there are 95 associate cricketing nations who are going to stay as simply associate nations without a fair chance. And if you want a fair comparison, look at rugby. There have only been four different winners in World Cup history but the likes of Portugal, Romania and Canada get to have a go to fight for the Webb Ellis Trophy.

Back to cricket, you may argue that all four of these nations left at the group stage, so in the end we got the tournament we wanted and dropping the numbers will get us there much quicker. But we got there after enjoying some moments for the little men, which is what sport is all about. And why should we defy them these moments if the cricketers in those countries are willing to put in the hard yards under the radar for a slim chance of success every four years.

There were grumbles that the tournament went on too long and dropping the numbers would keep the TV audiences interested, but over a billion people watched the final – and not just Indians, so people weren’t exactly bored of it by last Saturday.

Anyway, the amount of games won’t change because a TV deal for 2015 has a minimum number of matches and the format will change to suit broadcasters. Maybe the smaller countries don’t bring in those sort of viewers that the TV companies want but they are never going to without a fair chance. That’s not in the spirit of cricket.

Another change in fortunes for the mad house of millionaires

Manchester City are boring, they are underachievers, they have got millions of pounds worth of talent and they don’t know how to use it.
These are the topics of conversation about the blue side of Manchester that have gone on between most football-loving pub goers across the country.
And they have every right to think like that. Before the international break, City had lost to Chelsea in a display where they never tried to win the game , and that dismal performance came two days after they were knocked out of the Europa League.
Yet this week they leapfrogged Chelsea after yesterday’s 5-0 win over Sunderland, are eyeing second place in the league and have the momentum going into their FA Cup semi final with their bitter rivals.
A lot changes in this mad house of millionaires, towards the end of this topsy turvy season these overpaid disappointments could be cemented into a coveted Champions League place and be on the verge of their first trophy since the League Cup in 1976.
This change in fortunes could be personified in the attitude of Mario Balotelli. Last week he couldn’t put a bib on and was throwing darts at youth team players. Yesterday the final whistle went to the sight of the first beaming smile I have seen since I started watching him play. Not quite the “perfect” Mancini described him as but a damn site better than a moaning child who has attracted criticism everywhere he goes.



Even manager Roberto Mancini was surprised at the result, but it could prove the catalyst towards the success that these long-suffering fans deserve. City’s last seven league games include two big games against Liverpool and Tottenham but five others where they would fancy their chances, including the likes of Blackburn away and West Ham and Stoke at home.
To achieve the Champions League spot they have to do what Tottenham have not done, and win these kinds of games. They are ahead of Spurs because the North Londoners have dropped points against the struggling Ws and that separates Champions League material from the Europa League Thursday nighters.
The team that last month were accused of being over defensive will take satisfaction of winning 5-0 with five different goalscorers. Just to clarify, even without Tevez they would still have won 4-0, which is unusual for City. The question is, can they take the encouragement from this result and turn it into a: dramatic win over United, a 100 per cent from their run in and a top four finish?

American rules could increase black manager quota in England

This week English football has heard a lot about ‘The Rooney Rule,’ and no it does not mean that if you score a hat-trick you are allowed to swear on live television before the watershed.

The rule is in fact a concept introduced across the pond in America in 2003 by NFL outfit the Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney. It says that a candidate from a minority group should be guaranteed an interview for any available coaching role – and there are hefty fines for anyone who doesn’t adhere to the rules.

With only two black English managers currently plying their trade in the English Football League – Paul Ince at Notts County and Chris Powell at Charlton – PFA Chief Gordon Taylor thinks that this rule could help reinforce black coaching talent and reflect the diversity in modern football.



Taylor was quoted this week saying: "We have got to learn from other sports and other countries, and we saw how many top quality black gridiron players there were and how few black coaches.
"But they came in with that rule and it's made a difference, and now it's become assimilated into the culture of the NFL."

He said that introducing the rule in England would encourage the many black players out there to take up coaching qualifications at the end of their career because they would be given an opportunity?

In fulfilling the aim of attracting black coaches, the Rooney Rule has done its job. In the 2011 season there were seven African American coaches including Mike Tomlin at the Steelers who, as well as being pioneers in the rule, were runners up in the Superbowl.

However there are no guarantees that this idea would be equally as successful in England. Playing the game has not taken off with the Asian community, only one footballer in England came out as gay and he committed suicide and as recently as last week a banana was thrown onto the pitch in an international fixture.

It’s true that racism is incredibly rare in football these days, given how black players, both English and foreign, are key men for so many of our clubs, but football has a history of being one of the last sports to accept people from minority groups.

Away from that view, it could simply be a question of talent. I am not in a position to know how many black people have gone for Football League coaching roles but it could simply be a coincidence. If a black candidate is guaranteed an interview for a job, does that mean an equally credible white candidate misses out? Out of the two black managers currently working, Ince was sacked in charge of Blackburn when he was given a Premier League opportunity and yesterday was the first time Powell’s Charlton won in 12 games – so neither has set the world alight yet.



One black manager who was doing wonders for the reputation of black managers was Chris Hughton at Newcastle, but he was sacked earlier in the season in bizarre circumstances. At least the Rooney Rule could see him back in management a lot sooner.

If this rule is introduced I believe it will take a lot longer for us to see the results in England. The big clubs with big money will nearly always go for tried and tested managers and coaches in the lower leagues often move from one club to another, as indeed Paul Ince did. But it could only take one club to take a punt and start the ball rolling.

The Twickenham experience

While I am partial to watching the odd rugby fixture, paying over £70 for a ticket to an international is not always top of my agenda. But thanks to my dad (and his wallet) I spent the weekend on a flying visit to the capital for only my second experience of Twickenham and my first to see the mighty All Blacks.

Although it is well documented that New Zealand haven’t won a World Cup in God knows how long, it was a chance to tick the box that I have seen the most famous team in world rugby ply their trade, and I was very excited. Watching New Zealand rugby is like being able to watch Australia at cricket, Brazil at football or USA’s Dream Team at Basketball, although they may not be world champions or the best at that time, they carry an aura of class about them that everyone wants to see at some point.

Our day began at 5am on the Saturday morning and five trains and a quick hello to my girlfriend in London later we arrived in Twickenham for the match. Keeping a close eye on the time, Dad and I searched for a pub in the area but to no avail so opted, like the thousands of others, for a quick tinny from the off-licence to quench our pre-match thirst. Then into the ground to take some keepsake photos, pick up a programme and find our seats.



Normally a visitor to football grounds where you can’t drink alcohol in your seat, I was determined to enjoy the rare treat and queued up to pay for four £4.10 lagers, which would do us for the game. We weren’t the only fans with that in mind and cut it fine to catch the national anthems and the haka, which in truth I had been looking forward to more than the match itself. Although I did get chatting to some Kiwis at the bar which allowed to me to put some of the rugby knowledge I had acquired reading the paper during the train journey to good use.

Rushing to our seats and squeezing past the people in our row, we were just in time for the national anthems and bellowed out God Save the Queen. Despite this I wasn’t feeling too patriotic and felt like a neutral, just determined to enjoy the occasion and not really worry about the result. That was why I was a bit saddened that the haka was drowned out by Swing Low Sweet Chariot, but I soon got over that as the match kicked off.



After 20 minutes it seemed a good job that I wasn’t worried about the result, as New Zealand scored two tries in front of us. Although video technology is full proof, it doesn’t always seem so from the stand and combined with not being entirely in touch with the rules, I had to wait until watching Sunday’s highlights before confirming in my own mind why the first try was given.

But after that nightmare start England improved and I was slowly becoming more patriotic and started to join in Swing Low . . . I went into half time busting for the toilet and thinking that England had half a chance at getting back into it.

The second half I was in full voice and instead of being overwhelmed by watching the All Blacks I was cheering on England and complaining at their silly errors that ultimately lost them the chance to make up ground on the match. I cheered at Hartley’s try and complained that Hape’s wasn’t given, although I didn’t know why until the next day.



I came out of the event very pleased that the day had exceeded all expectations, even if England did not.

My second taste of professional rugby (I went to England Argentina last year but it was widely regarded as a dull game) was fantastic and I would go again, although New Zealand set the bar very high.

Does anyone else find international weekend boring?

Does anyone else feel a bit bored when qualifier international weeks come along?

All week I look forward to the fixtures ahead, go and do my accumulator, check my fantasy football team and set the Sky Plus for Match of the Day. Saturday I settle down to the end of Soccer Saturday to watch the scores come in and on Sunday I have the boys round for the double header. Normally a great weekend.

But this weekend I have found myself with much more time to twiddle my thumbs, maybe that's a good thing because I am not sitting around a computer or a television watching football, although I have found my way to the computer again to write this blog!

The reason for this feeling of emptiness of course is because it is international weekend. And worse still a weekend when England aren't even playing.

Fixtures have been moved to Friday nights and Tuesday nights and I think the Friday nights is a bad move because we football fans are creatures of habit, and it has taken us out of the comfort zone of our Saturday routine. What's more the qualifying campaigns very rarely bring out the tasty fixtures that a weekly league programme do, so with NI v Italy aside, you can successfully predict half the scores and it takes the excitement away.

It never used to be quite so bad because at least we had an England performance to dissect and while we can look forward to that on Tuesday, it was missing from Saturday afternoon.

On the other hand, international weekend probably boosted the ratings for lower league football, and Leagues One and Two carried a lot more excitement than the international programme.

It comes along every now and again and when groups get tighter and the end gets nearer it will no doubt be more exciting. But for now I'm glad the international weekend is over and after Tuesday we can all get back into the routine.