Andre Villas-Clough

Let me start off by apologising to the fans of Derby County and Nottingham Forest. Brian Clough is an idol at both of these clubs and is a legendary football manager. Andre Villas-Boas is so far proving to be so inept at managing Chelsea that he could be out of a job in less time than any manager under Abramovich, and maybe should be so already. So I apologise for now going on to compare the legendary two-time European Cup winning manager to the Portuguese failure, but I can't help but see similarities between AVB and Clough during his nightmare 44 day tenure at Leeds United.

Player power is where the similarities are seen. Clough was virtually forced out by his players not wanting to play for him. They were Revie's men through and through and to see a young, cocky manager come in who had openly criticised them before, was not something they wanted to see. Villas-Boas did not walk into Chelsea in quite the same way, in fact his arrival seemed to create a buzz and sense of optimism around the club. This guy was the new Mourinho everyone seemed to think. It seems to have been proven however that simply managing the same club before Chelsea, is not a short-cut to the same type of success. This comparison to Mourinho may be AVB's ultimate downfall. Roman thought he was the new Jose, as did the players and fans and to put it bluntly, he's not. It is therefore no wonder the players have rebelled and refuse to play for him. He has treated some of the team's senior players in a disgraceful way. Frank Lampard may not be the player he once was but during the first-half of the season he was scoring when he played, but not playing every game. He can now barely get on the pitch. Didier Drogba may be getting on a bit, but in the last two seasons he has still been a major goalscoring force and one of the best strikers around. AVB has persisted with Torres all season to no avail and although leaving rhe Spaniard on the bench against Napoli may show he has finally lost faith in the former Liverpool man, it may be too late for Drogba to save his manager's job, and if he does then he will be sold.

As with Clough at Leeds, while showing rebellion against the manager, at no point have players stated that they want to leave the club. They have both, particularly Drogba who is desperately trying to secure a new two-year contracrt at the club, shown fierce loyalty to Chelsea, because they both love the club. It is the manager and his poor treatment of them that have caused their morale to drop. At no point during Clough's ill-fated regime did his loyal guard of players express any unhapiness at Leeds United itself, just the manager. Clough attempted to get rid of some of Revie's team so he could build his own, just as AVB is trying to do, but both's actions were wreckless and wrong. It was wrong for Clough to try and completely change a successful team, whether he liked them or not. Meanwhile, yes Chelsea do need rebuilding but why is Villas-Boas trying to get rid of Lampard and Drogba, when he has not found ideal replacements for either yet? Torres certainly cannot fill the Ivorian's boots and as for Raul Meireles who appears to be taking Fat Frank's place most of the time, well he has been woeful for his new club. Until the replacements are found and the foundations for a new team are there, AVB should not be thinking about throwing out the old guard completely.

The main similarities I see between the Clough and Villas-Boas regimes is the stark parallels between Leeds' Billy Bremner and Johnny Giles, and Chelsea's John Terry and the aforementioned Lampard. Bremner was Leeds captain, their rock and probably their best player. While Clough tried to change some of the other Leeds players, Bremner was not on his list of those to be removed. He wanted his new team built around Bremner, a figurehead of the Revie era and wanted Bremner to play as his player, not Revie's. The main problem was that the captain did not want to play for the new manager, the new regime and led the players in rebellion, meanwhile getting himself a long-term ban for punching Kevin Keegan in the Charity Sheild, meaning he was not even able to play for Clough  for the remainder of his short time in charge. Villas-Boas has had similar problems with Terry. The Chelsea captain has managed to lose himself the England captaincy with his racist comment to Anton Ferdinand, and currently has a pretty serious knee injury, meaning the manager cannot even build his defence around his captain at the moment (which is leading to hilarious consequences with Sideshow Bob and the world's best mid-table centre back Gary Cahill currently trying to hold together the back line). Terry has not openly criticised his manager, like Bremner, but it would be surprising if he was happy with Villas-Boas' treatment of the Chelsea Golden Era players, despite never being under threat of being sold himself.

Meanwhile Johnny Giles and Frank Lampard have similarities in that they were and are respectively, the number two players for their club. Bremner and Giles, Terry and Lampard, the figureheads of two successful teams and that was not something that should have been messed with. Yet Clough wanted rid of Giles, seeing him as a threat, despite being a genius player. He did not want him at the club but had to play him as he could work magic. He did not want to play for Clough and Clough did not want Giles playing for him but he was not able to get rid of him. What Giles did still want was to play for Leeds. This seems to be the same problem between AVB and Lampard. The manager doesn't want the player playing for him, nor does the player want to play for the manager, but Lampard does still want to be a Chelsea player, and as one of the figuerheads of Chelsea Football Club, no-one would want to see him go. He may be ageing but he still scores goals and however hard Villas-Boas tries, he will not be able to get rid of Lampard. At least not until he was found a replacement everyone is happy with, and Frank's time at Chelsea comes to its natural conclusion. If it ain't broke don't fix it, and Villas-Boas seems more intent on pursuing his own personal mission of removing a not broken Lampard, just as Clough wanted to force out the still very much working Giles.

So this is where I see similarities between Brian Clough and Andre Villas-Boas. They are very different managers in many regards, Clough being successful for a start, but there are no doubt striking similiarities between the former's Leeds days and those AVB is having at Chelsea. AVB may very well become a successful manager. Maybe he will be allowed to stay at Chelsea and rebuild the team over a decade, or maybe he will be successful somewhere else. It certainly looks more likely to be the latter, managers do not get the same chances these days as they used to (such as Ferguson for United between 1986 and 1990), and he will certainly not be given that chance while he does his best to desert the older side of the Chelsea dressing room. Clough did that, and very quickly he was gone.

Don't Do It Harry

Yesterday, my Twitter timeline revealed Henry Winter's latest tweet saying Fabio Capello had resigned. I froze in disbelief, could it be? "#capello" was not trending yet or anything of the sort and so I for a few minutes saw it as a piece of misinformation. I was wrong. I went on to the FA's website and there I saw the news that I had been desperate to arrive since June 2010, Capello was no longer England manager.

Now I am no huge England fan, of course I feel disappointment when we exit a major tournament but England winning a major trophy is not something I'd prioritise. To be completely honest I'd rather United won the FA Cup or beat City and Liverpool a couple of times each than England won the Euros or the World Cup. I may just be saying that as I have never experienced the joy of a successful English side, and if we were to maybe reach the semis or the final of a major competition in my lifetime, then I would feel different. I do admit to having patriotic images of leading a crowd through the streets singing Vindaloo during the last World Cup, but overall, and particularly since the Germany embarrassment in 2010, my affectionate feelings towards the national side have been lacking to say the least.

Yet in spite of this, when I saw the news yesterday I felt a sense of joy, the man who's awful management in 2010 had led to the demise of my support for England had now gone, another of England's evil forces has been eliminated (although this time it is by his own hand). I respect Capello in a way for not backing down, sticking to his principles and it is certainly unfair to an extent that he was not involved at all in the decision making process which saw John Terry's captaincy taken away. But the man has proved that while he may have been a great club manager, as far as leading a national side goes, he is not what the FA bargained for by paying £6million a year, and his lack of sensitivity and understanding towards the Terry issue proves he is not what we want for England. Maybe Fabio was just angry that the decision was taken out of his hands, but at the end of the day he was saying a man who may very well be proved as a racist within weeks of the Euros finishing, should be allowed to skipper his country. As an Italian, Capello was never going rto understand the issue in full, nor would another foreign coach, and this is why the next man who braves the English football throne must be English. But unlike the vast majority of the country, I do not think it should be Harry Redknapp.

Well, as an England fan, I do want Redknapp to be the manager, he is by far and away the best English manager around, arguably one of the best manager's in the world at the moment and he has Spurs playing phenomenal football most weeks, and on the weeks they don't play as well they still seem to grind out results (such as at Anfield on Monday). He has not had to spend big to do this, all he needed was a 40 year old goalkeeper, a 30 year old relegated midfielder and an unreliable, wayward striker. If it weren't for City's billions or United's astonishing resilience in challenging at the top with a fairly average team, then Spurs would be Champions. They are certainly not out of the title race and would be even closer to the top had Jermaine Defoe not missed that chance and Ledley King had not given away that penalty a few weeks ago. It is extraordinary what Redknapp has done with Spurs and with various financial fair play rules coming in that could limit City's spending power, I would not be surprised to see Spurs as title favourites next season if Redknapp is still at the helm. 

So I ask on this basis, why on earth would he leave? The England job is something that all English managers probably aspire to and it can be quite painful if they do not get it, Brian Clough remains the greatest manager England never had and Redknapp could certainly challenge for that crown if he does not take on the job. But Champions League football is all but assured for next season, and with that there will be a feeling of "don't stop us now" around Tottenham. Luka Modric and Gareth Bale are bound to be linked with moves away again, but where would they go? Modric flirted with Chelsea last summer, but I am sure he will feel satisfied as he watches the Roman empire crumble while he is playing for the best Spurs team in decades. Bale is more likely to be linked with a move abroad and although this may be tempting one day, I do not see him leaving Spurs while they are challenging in Europe and on the home front. Champions League football, another crack at the title, and a strong likelihood that their best players will stay and better ones will come in too, Redknapp simply should not leave the haven and safety of Tottenham and make his way down Wembley Way.

'Arry may just be successful for England, he may take us to a final, he may even win something and if this happens then he will have made the right decision. He will bring the team together, with Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand already tweeting their support for him (of course they may just want him away from Spurs before they climb above United in the table), but it does seem to that Redknapp is genuinely the man everyone wants. What if it doesn't work out though? Capello was sacked for speaking his mind and Harry isn't one to mince his words, if has has an opinion he will say it. Will he be given the same freedom in picking his backroom staff and his squads as Capello was? English managers have never seemed to have too much. As for his salary, that will almost certainly be less than Capello's, but he is already earning £4million a year at Spurs so the wage cut compared to Fabio will not doubt have to be less than the FA will have wanted. The other major problem would be possibly tarnishing the fantastic reputation Redknapp has built for himself. Southampton aside, he has been a success wherever he has been and if he became an England flop then it could ruin the image of a manager the whole country respects. His innocence in his tax evasion trial has only consolidated his popularity, and if the risk of being found guilty did not compromise his support, then not much will. One thing that will always hurt the reputation of great managers is the England job. Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan are now bit part pundits on ESPN, Sven has recently been sacked from Championship club Leicester City, and Capello will now forever be remembered as a failure. But the most striking example of a great manager humbled by England is Steve McClaren. The man was a Treble winner as assistant to Fergie in 1999, he won the League Cup with Middlesbrough and took them to a UEFA Cup final, very similar to the achievements of Redknapp with Portsmouth. But since his ill-fated spell in charge of the national side, his previous achievements have been wiped out. He is (unfairly) a laughing stock in this country thanks to his title of the "Wally with a Brolly" and that tremendous Dutch accent on his arrival at FC Twente. Although he has been a success in Holland, failures with Wolfsburg and Nottingham Forest have damaged him further. Redknapp is a better manager than McClaren, but their achievements are similar and if 'Arry was to have the same failures as the latter, he would not be remembered as the man who won the FA Cup with Portsmouth and built one of the greatest Tottenham sides ever, but as another failed England manager.

I am not saying Harry will fail, and he is certainly more likely to succeed than anyone else and for this reason it is right that the FA chase him for the job for as long as they can. If he takes it, then it could be a great victory for both parties. Even Spurs could benefit, with Jose Mourinho on the brink of leaving the Bernabeu, Champions League football back in England with Tottenham would no doubt tempt him. But it is for the same reasons Redknapp should stay, he has a comfortable job with Spurs and his team are going to get a lot better before they get worse. His reputation is impeccable at the moment, and if he were to fend off the FA, although disappointing for the national side it may be, he will have earned further respect. Not many managers would turn down the job with their national side, for what could potentially be the last time it is on offer in their career. Staying at Tottenham would be a mark of respect to the board who have always backed him, particularly during his trial, and to the fans and players who adore him. It would be such a great morale boost for Spurs too and success would be ready for Harry to take with both hands. England may be a fascinating and rewarding challenge, but the turmoil that goes with the job and the potential blows to any manager's reputation, make it a much less desirable one to take.

So my message to the FA, please fight, please do all you can to get this man to take the job, he is at the moment, one of the only chances this country has of success. My message to Harry Redknapp? Say no. There is too much at stake by taking the job. At Spurs he has nothing to lose and everything to gain, at England he also will have everything to gain, but everything to lose too.

What next for England?

Ding dong the witch is dead
Which old witch?
The (allegedly) racist witch

Finally, the moment has arrived. John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy, and if he is found guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand on July 9th, then it will be for good.

I am being harsh here, Terry is a great captain. particularly for his club, a natural leader and one of the best centre-backs of the Premier League era, however he has absolutely no right leading his country into Euro 2012. In the extremely unlikely event of England lifting the trophy, a man who cheated on his wife with a team-mate's girlfriend and (allegedly) racially abused Anton Ferdinand should not be the face of English football for future generations, alongside Bobby Moore on the shoulders of his team-mates. Within two weeks of the final, the alleged comment to Ferdinand may be proved to be true and forever England will be remembered as a team who won the Euros with a racist as captain. A lovely example to the rest of the world.

Of course, England will not win, but the point stands and I for one do not want to see that man, who I would call "scum" whether he called Ferdinand a "black c***" or not, leading my country into Poland. There are not many men amongst the England team who I would like to see doing that (including Rio Ferdinand who has been so bad this season I do not see why he should play for England anymore, let alone captain them), but there are three stand-out candidates.

Steven Gerrard is of course one of them. Despite being a Man Utd fan I have a lot of respect for Gerrard and think he is one of the finest midfielders to ever wear an England shirt. Like Terry, he is a natural leader and is his club's captain. He has captained England before as vice to both Terry and Rio Ferdinand and is the type of player who deserves to lift a trophy for his national side. There cannot be any more inspiring sights than seeing Gerrard's headed goal in the Champions League final of 2005 when he made it 3-1 and ran straight back to the centre circle, lifting his arms up and down as if to say "come on, we can do this" and they did. At that moment, the country was behind Liverpool, I don't think even the most hardcore United fan could say they were upset at seeing Liverpool lift the trophy in the manner they did that night. Gerrard brought national solidarity, and this is something he would bring to England. On the other hand, he is ageing and has just returned from a serious injury. While this may not matter too much, it cannot be guaranteed how long Gerrard will play international football for, and if injuries continue to hit him then he may think about hanging up his boots, and the captaincy, sooner rather than later. The captain position has been rather unstable since David Beckham gave it up, and a long-term prospect may be what is required.

This is a problem with my second candidate, Scott Parker. At 31 he is no youngster, but unlike Gerrard who may be reaching the twilight years of his career, Parker is only just peaking. He is one of the key reasons for Tottenham's rise this season, being a natural leader, despite not actually being captain. How many of you thought he was West Ham's captain last season? I would assume a fair proportion, but you would all be wrong, it was Matthew Upson. Parker won player of the year last year and although that may have been unfair on many players who actually succeeded with their teams, if it weren't for Parker, the Hammers would have been gone before Christmas. He even managed to bring a lump to the throat of Carlton Cole with his half-time team talk in a comeback against West Brom last year. As for Spurs, he has proven his worth and that he was not just a big fish in a small pond, and has been a stand-out performer for them, probably only second to Gareth Bale. While Ledley King usually holds the captaincy, in the centre of the park he dictates the play and has been rewarded by becoming an England regular. Although he does not have a great number of caps, he is a leader at the peak of his powers and could easily inspire England to success. Not a long-term solution, but having just broken into the England team, he is unlikely to hang up his boots for a few years at least, especially if his current manager Harry Redknapp succeeds Capello. Parker would be my choice for now, and I would want him succeeded by my next candidate, who I wouldn't mind seeing as captain now either.

Wayne Rooney. The man is driven by success, it is as simple as that. Rooney always wants to do better and is the type of player who could single-handedly take England to glory.  He is the country's best player, he is United's best player and despite his knack of attracting trouble and attention, will drive his country to succeed whether he is captain or not. He wants to be a captain, he loves being the centre of things and captaining his country would be the pinnacle of that. Both England and United are centred around Rooney, when he is not fit or available, the fans panic. He may have still have a temperament and that of course needs to be harnessed, but when he turns it on he can beat anyone. It may be the case that the pressure is too much and he may crack, he may lash out at an opponent and may need to be stripped of the captaincy if the demands of the job take their toll, it may be that Wayne Rooney should be allowed to do what he does best, play football. If he feels like he is the type of player who needs to just be allowed to play and not be distracted by being the captain, then it is not the right job for him, but you do just get the feeling he is made for the role. No longer will he need to respond to the demands of players who are not as good as him, he will be the country's best player and their leader and he could thrive with that. He would also be a long-term solution, at 26 he could be playing as captain for up to ten years, only if he is successful of course. Wayne Rooney is born to lead and one day should be England captain, whether that is now is a different matter, but he should certainly be a candidate. Although considering he will miss England's first two games of Euro 2012, leading them into Poland could be a problem.

For me, Scott Parker has all the makings of an England captain. Passion, desire and natural leadership skills, he is also a decent bloke it seems, unlike many other players. He deserves to have a go in my opinion, he is a commanding presence and would be perfect for the job. He also has another 3 or 4 years in him and you would not expect controversy, so he could bring some stability to the role for a few years, before handing it over to Rooney.