ENGLAND TO BID FOR 2018

The rotation policy is out the window opening the way for England to bid for the 2018 World Cup.

Gordon Brown is for it, the Government is for it and the fans are for it. But, there's always a but, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg have already formally tabled a joint bid.

So in my humble opinion why waste the money bidding for something that we are not going to get? Fair enough, we won the Olympic bid but how much has it already cost us? And they won't even let us field an English football team!

Use the money that will be put aside for the bid to improve grass roots football in this country, so enabling us to maybe win the damn World Cup sometime in the future!!

Gazza

The Top Ten

The Top Ten

P W D L F A GD Pts

1 Manchester United 11 8 2 1 19 4 15 26

2 Arsenal 9 8 1 0 21 6 15 25

3 Manchester City 11 7 1 3 15 13 2 22

4 Chelsea 11 6 3 2 16 8 8 21

5 Liverpool 9 5 4 0 16 5 11 19

6 Portsmouth 11 5 4 2 19 12 7 19

7 Blackburn Rovers 9 5 3 1 13 8 5 18

8 Newcastle United 10 5 2 3 17 13 4 17

9 West Ham United 10 4 2 4 12 9 3 14

10 Aston Villa 9 4 2 3 13 12 1 14

So Man Utd gain their rightfull place at the top of the league(until at least 6 o'clock today!) with a great result against Middlesborough. But the result of the day, as much as I hate to say it, was Chelsea's 6-0 drubbing of Man City. Good day all round then!!

A little mention for Leeds United. 4-2 winners at home to Millwall. That takes them 6th in the league, still unbeaten and with 15 points harshly deducted!! Brilliant !

Who Will Succeed Jol??

WHO WILL SUCCEED MARTIN JOL?

The overwhelming favourite to succeed Martin Jol is, of course Juande Ramos. The Sun reports that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy contacted Ramos after their 3-1 defeat to Newcastle on Monday, and told him it was 'now or never if he wanted to take over'.

Indeed, Ramos' technical director at Sevilla Ramon Rodriguez Monchi was in London, and at the game against Getafe on Thursday negotiating the switch. Gus Poyet is expected to be appointed as Ramos' assistant, largely because of the winning combination of being a former Spurs player, and being able to act as a translator for Ramos, whose English is apparently fairly basic.

But will Dennis Wise and Leeds let him go?

If for whatever reason Ramos doesn't take the job Mark Hughes has been widely touted as a potential replacement. However, Blackburn will be very reluctant to let him go, and after the way Jol was treated, Sparky will probabley think twice, or three times..or four times....!

Gazza

They finally got rid!!

Ha...They finally got rid of the man they never even wanted!!

Lets have a look at his stats while in charge At Spurs:

Martin Jol was in charge of Tottenham for 112 Premier League games, winning 47 times but, significantly, only once this season.
He spent £77.8 million and received £41.75m
Spurs drew 30 games and lost 35 times, giving Jol a final win ratio of 42 per cent, the best of any manager in the club's Premier League history.
Tottenham leaked 143 goals, with his team's worst defensive performance coming in his first match, a 5-4 home defeat by Arsenal.
Spurs scored 166 times, even outscoring the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, in 2007.
Tottenham accrued 65 points in the 2005-06 season, the best haul by Spurs in the Premier League era, and despite falling eight points short of that last season they finished fifth for the second year in succession.

Timeline of events
June 2004: Jol arrives as assistant manager from Waalwijk.
Nov 2004: Jacques Santini departs. Jol is made caretaker for one game, then head coach.
Dec 2004: Named Manager of the Month.
May 2005: Spurs finish ninth.
May 2006: Spurs go into final game needing a win to finish fourth. But players fall ill, and they are pipped by Arsenal.
July 2006: Michael Carrick sold to Manchester United for £18.6m. Dimitar Berbatov arrives for £10.9m.
April 2007: Spurs lose to Sevilla – and Juande Ramos – in Uefa Cup quarter-finals.
May 2007: Fifth in Premiership. Gareth Bale arrives.
June 2007: Spurs sign Darren Bent for £16.5m.
August 2007: Photographs of Spurs officials meeting Ramos appear in Seville newspaper.

Personally, even though by Spur's standards Jol has done well, I think that they couldn't wait to see him out the door. Martin Jol, an honourable man, has been treated disgracefully by the board, the fans and Tottenham Hotspur as a whole.

Anybody connected with Spurs should be bloody ashamed of themselves!!

Keep Smiling

Gazza

A Bit Of Gossip.....

This courtesy of http://Football365.com

SWP OUT OF CHELSKI
It all sounds a little tenuous to us but The Sun reckons that Shaun Wright-Phillips is 'considering his Chelsea future again last night following a shock Euro snub by Avram Grant'.
'The Chelsea winger was furious after boss Grant left him out of the 18-man squad that beat Germans Schalke. And this latest blow could signal the end of SWP's turbulent Blues career.' Blimey. A little strong, surely?
Not so, insists the Sun. According to the newspaper, 'Wright-Phillips, 26 today, was convinced he was going to START on the right all the way up to kick-off then found out he was not even on the seven-man bench.' Inevitably, Manchester City and Tottenham are touted as possible destinations.

BRADY WANTS IRELAND JOB
Liam Brady has emerged as David O'Leary's main competition for the vacant position of Republic of Ireland manager after reportedly telling Arsene Wenger that he wants to replace Steve Staunton.
Brady is the Gunners' head of youth development and has held the position for over ten years. 'Arsenal manager [Arsene Wenger] does not want to lose Brady, who has presided over a system that in recent years has produced Ashley Cole, David Bentley and Steve Sidwell among others,' reports The Guardian. 'But Wenger would not stand in Brady's way were he to be offered the chance to succeed Staunton.
It is thought unlikely that Brady would be able to combine his current job with that of Ireland manager because of the potential conflict of interest.'

Not a great night for the british!!

Not a great night in Europe for the british teams last night although Avram Grant and his Chelsea team seem to have found that fire in their bellies again. They ran out 2-0 winners at home to Schalke to stay top of their group. But Liverpool's woes in Europe continue. The former European giants went down 2-1 away to Turkish outfit Besiktas to go bottom of their group with only 1 point and a seemingly impossible task to qualify now.


Celtic continue to show us their dreadful away form in this competition by going down 1-0 to the Portugeuese giants, Benfica.

After Tuesday nights results it all came as a bit of a letdown last night didn't it?

Never mind, it's not all over yet (apart from Liverpool maybe) and there is still plenty to play for yet - keep cheering boys...and girls!!

Keep smiling

Gazza

The home boys did us proud!!

This morning I have got blisters on my thumb from flicking backwards and forwards between channels last night. No, not between Corrie and some other soap dross but the mighty Man Utd and Arsenal.

Two superb performances in Europe yet again.

All the more so as Utd have an untold amount of injuries at the moment and to add to them Evra and Scholes had to pull out at the last minute more or less. And what about the Rooney - Tevez partnership? Awesome I'd say, What do you think?

Keep Smiling

Gary

Football Gossip...or not!? (courtesy of http://www.football365.com/)

LYON IN FOR DROGBA

Lyon have confirmed they want to sign Didier Drogba. With the Chelski striker indicating that he is ready to leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the season as a result of Jose Mourinho's departure, the French champions have become the first club to express a firm interest in signing the Ivorian.

'Mourinho broke Chelsea's transfer record to sign Drogba from Marseilles three years ago, but Lyons, the French champions have targeted the forward on several occasions since. Jean-Michel Aulas, the Lyons president, has described it as a "dream" to sign him,' reports The Times.

'"Everything is possible in football," Aulas said. "Didier Drogba is an exceptional footballer who loves France. We had an asset [to make him come] here, Florent Malouda, who was playing for us. Unfortunately, he has left for Chelsea. If we had to sign both of them, it is maybe beyond our means."'

ARSENAL EYE £40m LYON DUO

Staying on the subject of Lyon, The Sun says that Arsene Wenger is targeting their £40m duo of Karim Benzema and Hatim Ben Arfa.

'The Gunners boss had both aces watched in Lyon's 3-1 win over Monaco at the weekend - Benzema found the net and Ben Arfa impressed,' it reports.

Also wondering who exactly they are? Well, The Sun helpfully asserts that 'Striker Benzema, 19, has taken the French league by storm with 11 goals in as many games' while 'Left-winger Ben Arfa, 20, has also broken into the France senior team.' However, Lyon will be reluctant sellers and 'The French champs are notorious for hiking up prices and they know Wenger has a £70m war chest.'

They do? Since when did anyone think that Wenger had a £70m war chest?

Super Leeds United - The Forgotton Club!!

Played - 12

Won - 10

Drawn - 2 Points - 17

Lost - 0 Position - 12

What an amazing story at Elland Road! The Forgotton Club!

After being ludicrously deducted 15 points before the start of the new season, Leeds United have quietly got on with what they are paid to do...play football. It's not been pretty at times but when you have so much ground to make up who cares? 3 points are 3 points and we have seen the grand old dame of football slowly but surely climb the table. Hell, if the table was how it should be then Leeds would be 9 points clear, and at such an early stage of the season.

Most of the credit must go to Dennis Wise And Gus Poyet and their 'never say die' attitude and of course the now outdated, or seems to be, work ethic of their players.

Leeds to win their league? Don't bet against it!!

Berbatov - Jol Rift??

OOPS WE'VE DONE IT AGAIN!!

Martin Jol's unstable standing as Tottenham boss was further eroded on Monday night when a 3-1 defeat at Newcastle was compounded by an apparent rift with a dissenting Dimitar Berbatov.
The striker, demoted to the substitutes' bench due to a 'slight injury', was seen to ignore Jol on three occasions when his manager ordered him to warm up. The Bulgarian eventually heeded the command to replace Steed Malbranque.
"I've heard about this and it's rubbish - there was no problem," Jol insisted afterwards. "Dimitar knows exactly what the schedule is for him and he is fine. I don't know who this rubbish is coming from."
But according to The Guardian, 'Jol's words were somewhat undermined by the actions of Tottenham's press officer, who, clearly nervous about the subject, attempted to block questions on Berbatov before Jol overrode him and answered regardless.'
The Dutchman has plenty of questions to answer about Spurs' early-season form, too. After a fifth league defeat of the season, they remain rooted in the relegation zone.
Asked if confidence was a problem, he said: "You could say that was from the start of the season, but I cannot agree with that because if you lack confidence, you cannot lead 2-1 against Liverpool, come back from 4-1 down to 4-4 (against Aston Villa), be 3-1 up against Fulham and could have scored five.
"I feel if we get one result, the confidence will be there. But after the Liverpool game, they all went away on international duty and then we had to come to Newcastle, so the schedule doesn't help."

Bit of advice Martin...If international matches bug you then don't sign international players!!

What the Papers Say Today

Not a lot of football in the headlines so here's what there is.....


THE SUN: Lewis Hamilton brushed aside his world title misery and vowed: "I'll bounce back even stronger.'' The Formula One whizkid made it a hat-trick of heartache for England after our rugby pain in Paris and soccer misery in Moscow. Brian Ashton's job is in the balance despite taking England to the World Cup final.

DAILY MIRROR: Lewis Hamilton revealed the agony of another sporting dream slipping away after a day of drama here in Brazil. Brian Ashton returns home to an uncertain future today despite leading England to the Rugby World Cup final.

DAILY MAIL: Lewis Hamilton suffered world championship heartbreak at yesterday's Brazilian Grand Prix to complete a miserable weekend for England. Australian Stuart Dickinson, the video judge at the centre of the Rugby World Cup final controversy over Mark Cueto's disallowed try, yesterday defended his decision.

THE GUARDIAN: An inquiry into the temperature of the petrol in the cars that finished fourth, fifth and sixth in yesterday's Brazilian grand prix briefly threw the outcome of the race and the final world championship standings into doubt late last night, opening the possibility that Lewis Hamilton might yet be handed the 2007 world championship. Brian Ashton will have to wait several weeks to learn if he is to remain as England's head coach, despite steering his country to a Rugby World Cup final within 10 months of taking the job.

THE TIMES: Lewis Hamilton, the brilliant young British driver, who had led the Formula One world championship since June, endured a nightmarish afternoon on the baking tarmac of Interlagos yesterday and could finish only seventh in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

DAILY TELEGRAPH: It was not meant to be. Once the tears have dried and the sun comes up on another day, Lewis Hamilton will look back on a season of high achievement and dreadful luck when the chips were down. The Australian video referee who controversially ruled out Mark Cueto's try in England's World Cup final defeat by South Africa said yesterday he was "100% happy'' he had made the right decision, but admitted problems with French television producers had made it take time to call.

DAILY STAR: Lewis Hamilton's world title dream blew up in his face yesterday. A gearbox glitch in the Brazilian Grand Prix saw him miss out to Ferrari's race winner and new world champion Kimi Raikkonen. Mark Cueto last night insisted he had been "robbed'' of the try that could have won England the World Cup.

THE INDEPENDENT: History repeated itself in a classic Brazilian Grand Prix confrontation yesterday, as outsider Kimi Raikkonen came through to snatch the world championship from McLaren's grasp in a race when everything went right for Ferrari and everything went wrong for erstwhile series leader Lewis Hamilton.

DAILY EXPRESS: Lewis Hamilton drove down heartbreak avenue along with the England rugby team as car trouble wrecked his Formula One title dream.Australian TV official Stuart Dickinson made his fateful call to rule out Mark Cueto's World Cup final `try' without the freeze frame picture he needed because of language difficulties with French broadcasters.

Bit Late Now!!

Aston Villa striker John Carew has resumed light training after four weeks out injured and could be back in contention for Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash at Bolton.
The Norway international has been sidelined since suffering knee ligament damage during last month's home clash with Everton after scoring his first goal of the campaign earlier in the game.
Villa manager Martin O'Neill said: "John is on course with his comeback and he has been doing some light work already. At the very worst, I would imagine John would be back for the Derby game in two weeks but, if things progress nicely, then maybe he will be in contention for next week against Bolton."
He added: "The timing of his injury was unfortunate because John was showing signs of rediscovering the form he had shown last season and the goal against Everton would have been a real confidence boost."

His physical presence and power offers Villa an alternative to the pace of fellow frontmen Gabriel Agbonlahor, Luke Moore and Ashley Young.
Carew's return may be timely as O'Neill hinted he may decide to make changes following Saturday night's 4-1 home reversal by Manchester United.
The Irishman said: "I decided because we got the result against West Ham that we would go in against Manchester United with the same personnel.
"We might start to change things around a little bit now. We've not got that many to choose from but we will see."
O'Neill will have to make at least two changes for the trip to the Reebok Stadium as midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker and goalkeeper Scott Carson will be suspended after being sent off against United.

My Manchester United!!

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is preparing to hit Dynamo Kiev with a classic counter-attacking punch in his side's Champions League clash on Tuesday night.
United headed out to the Ukraine on Sunday in confident mood following their 4-1 triumph over Aston Villa, and have the upper hand following victories in their opening two Champions League encounters with Sporting Lisbon and Roma.
"Kiev's defeats mean they will have to beat us, which is good," Ferguson told Manchester United Radio. "It means we can set out our stall to play counter-attack. We expect a tough game but our two wins mean we are in a good position."
Once again, Louis Saha has been ruled out even though Ferguson was hopeful the injury-plagued French striker was in line to make the trip to the Ukraine despite missing the win at Villa Park with a long-term knee problem.
However, Saha has not made the Red Devils' travelling party, along with England duo Gary Neville and Owen Hargreaves.
There was some good news for United, though, with Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic fit to make the trip even though Ferguson remains unconvinced the former Spartak Moscow player will be available after suffering concussion during the Barclays Premier League win over Wigan immediately before the international break.
Ferguson is mindful of the fact United also won their opening three group games last season and were then forced to scramble through in their final match after losses against Copenhagen and Celtic.
And the Scot has not forgotten early exits in the previous three seasons, which is why he is determined the Red Devils should maintain their early momentum as they look to do better than their semi-final appearance last season.
"The name of the game is to win the group," he said. "We looked much like our usual selves in the second half against Roma last time and we will be looking to continue that in Kiev..
"Dynamo Kiev have always been a difficult side to beat," he said. "They have also always been a club that has produced good young players. We drew 0-0 against them there a few years ago and they will be a handful again, that's for sure."