Paul Bestall

Will Mike Ashley never learn? It seems that Ashley is attempting a Emperors New Clothes scenario at Newcastle by banning anyone who dares to speculate on the future of Joe Kinnear. Celebrated Geordie journalist, Alan Oliver, has been banned from entering St James' Park by Newcastle United after writing an article about Joe Kinnear's health. Oliver […]

Well, can things get any worse for Newcastle United than they currently are? One win in the league in 3 months, the manager still recovering from his triple heart bypass operation, crowds are falling, the caretakers pointing out, in case you've missed it, that Newcastle find themselves in a relegation battle and then today the […]

Why can everyone else see Middlesbrough's problems but Steve Gibson? Whilst his support for Southgate is edifying, it worries me that the Chairman seems so detached from the situation Boro are in by continuing to back Southgate over the evidence of results, performances and the fans. Yet by backing Southgate, Steve Gibson is in danger […]

Could Manchester City finally put their 33 year major trophy drought to bed this season by winning the UEFA Cup this season? Why not, what with Ajax crashing out last night at the hands of Marseille and Zenit St Petersburg and CSKA Moscow losing today, the competition for the trophy is getting into the nitty […]

Where does this idea of a European Super League keep coming from? Scratch that, WE know where the idea comes from, The European Club Association, the collective of 135 clubs dotted around Europe, keeps trying to push for this dreadful idea to come into fruition. I can't think of anything I'd rather watch less than […]

Well this may come as some surprise, but a film about a manager that only had one season in the Premiership may not garner the most interest outside of the United Kingdom but Brian Clough is a legend in European football. Today sees the film version of David Peace's tome have its World Premier in […]

It seems like yesterday for some football fans, a day burned in to the memories of English footballs collective consciousness. The 1980's saw three major footballing disasters hit English football, The dreadful fire at Bradford City's title party which claimed the lives of 56 fans on May 11th 1985, 18 days later we then witnessed […]

Anyone who's caught Tottenham in action recently will not fail to have been impressed by Aaron Lennon's recent form on the right hand side of Spurs' midfield. For me, it'll be a major surprise if he's not in Fabio Capello's next England squad for the Friendly against Slovakia and the qualifier in Kiev against the […]

Why is Michael Essien so underrated is a mystery to me. I must admit that I was nonplussed about him as a player, knowing next to nothing about him when he signed for Chelsea from Lyon in August 2005 for £24 million. That was in the dark days before I had Setanta and could immerse […]

What on earth is happening at Liverpool this week? There seems to some major leaking going on behind the scenes that seem to point to two camps eager to try and score points against each other. News has begun to circulate this morning that the chief executive, Rick Parry is to leave his position at Liverpool […]

Why doesn't Roy Hodgson get the credit he deserves in the United Kingdom? As I've mentioned before, In Scandinavia and Italy, he's held in high regard, in Britain people point to his sacking at Blackburn Rovers back in1997. With 33 points gained so far this season, Fulham are one win away from emulating their points […]

So the countdown to this years Carling Cup Final enters the final week of tension as Tottenham fans nervously await Sundays final, whilst Manchester United's supporters will be as calm as anything. This year though, Carling have decided to give up 32 minutes of digital perimeter board advertising to allow supporters to create their own banners to be […]

Tomorrow night sees a meeting between two of Europe's best coaches in the Champions League when Alex Ferguson's Manchester United travel to Milan to face Jose Mourinho's Inter side. Mourinho's magic touch is still continuing in his current spell in Italy, with one trophy already safely stashed away with the SuperCoppa and 3 more on the horizon […]

So Kevin Nolan will now face a three match ban for violent conduct, after his dreadful tackle on Victor Anichebe in today's match, but I don't think it's sufficient punishment for such a bad challenge. It's about time that the Premier League and the F.A. clamped down on such challenges more often. His team mate […]

358 days have passed since one of the worst injuries I've ever seen in a live game was sustained by Eduardo Da Silva against Birmingham City on February 23rd 2008. It make me cringe, I was shocked and stunned and urged the medical staff on to help him as quickly as they could. The players […]