Paul Bestall

How do you stop the best player in the world, Lionel Messi will probably be keeping Guus Hiddink awake tonight as he prepares for his stiffest test yet as Chelsea's interim manager. Whilst I appreciate the bravado that Hiddink is giving in regards to his own players, he is right to dampen down the furore […]

When a team only wins 2 games out of 18, you'd fully expect them to be propping up the Premiership table, already planning for life in the Championship the following season. Thankfully for Hull City, their fantastic start to the season has kept them out of the bottom 3, hanging on by their fingernails to […]

When Roy Keane walked out of the Stadium of Light back in December, they had 15 points from 15 games. He'd become exasperated as his expensively recruited side simply hadn't gelled as quickly as he'd hoped and felt he couldn't inspire them from the insipid performances they'd shown, especially in his last game in charge, […]

Well its one of those strange things that football sometimes conjures up some little nugget that makes you check the facts fully before you really believe it could be true For example, Liverpool never lost when Ian Rush scored until the League Cup final of 1987 against Arsenal. 145 games Liverpool went without losing when […]

So the dust seems to be finally settling on the criticism about Berbatov's mishit penalty on Sunday in the semi-final defeat against Everton. There's no doubting it was a badly hit penalty, but it seems to have unpicked a scab over his performances for Manchester United as his time so far with the Red Devils. […]

So, 5 years after relegation, the famous Black and Gold strip of Wolverhampton Wanderers has made a belated return to the Premiership after Saturdays tense 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers at Molineux. It's an impressive return from a complete turn around from the side relegated from the Premiership under Dave Jones back in 2003-2004 […]

Well interesting news has appeared this morning as Bolton chairman, Phil Gartside's has put forward a proposal to increase the Premiership to two leagues of 18 teams with 14 clubs from the Championship and Rangers and Celtic. The proposal is to be put before the Premier League at their meeting this Thursday and it raises some interesting points. Gartside […]

If today's PFA Player of the Year shortlist shows us anything, announcing the player of the year with almost 6 weeks of the season left looks a stupid decision. With only Steven Gerrard not from Manchester United on the six player shortlist, it just shows how quickly things in football can change. What if Frank […]

So Chelsea have one foot in the semi-finals of the Champions League after the marvellous 3-1 win at Anfield last week and Saturdays 4-3 win against Bolton was probably the kick up the backside the Blues needed. It's easy to fall for the fallacy that Liverpool can't overturn the deficit that they've given themselves from […]

Why don't more managers come clean in the press about disruptive or unprofessional players? It seems that more and more in these sanitised and sponsorship heavy times that too many people keep quiet about the players who are taking the Michael. At least Steve Bruce has bucked the trend and come out in public with […]

Well, there's one thing you can't hold against Fabio Capello and that's that he keeps his cards close to his chest. Today he's announced that Peter Crouch will lead the England attack against Ukraine tomorrow night and deservedly so. Crouch has been the victim of some vicious criticism over the last few seasons, undeservedly so […]

So, the FA have finally come out and asked Arsenal to respond within 7 days to Hull City and their Assistant Manger, Brian Horton's, accusations that Cesc Fabregas spat at him in the tunnel. I'm amazed on several fronts, firstly the FA have managed to start an enquiry in the same month an actual incident […]

Why can't Stewart Downing show us the form that makes him such a sought after player when he pulls on the England shirt? There is no doubting that at Premier League level, Downing is one of the most dangerous and creative players in the country but after Saturdays performance against Slovakia, it's clear to see […]

Why are they bothering having a Young Player Of The Year vote this season is beyond me as Stephen Ireland is head and shoulders above every other candidate playing in the Premiership this season. Ireland has been in magnificent form since the season started and with everything going on at Manchester City on and off […]

Dave Whelan, the owner and chairman of Wigan Athletic has today been discussing his feelings that a Premiership club going bankrupt is only a matter of time due to the level of debts certain clubs are carrying. Whilst I think he may be overcooking the situation a little but if I'm honest, i'm surprised it's […]