Vernon Boothe

I live in Scotland. Or at least I do for the next five days, after which I shall be living the life of a landed aristocrat in the Norfolk broads as I move to a big old country thatched house with some land and a mooring for a boat. I've always loved Scotland and living […]

Liverpool fans are rightfully delighted with what Kenny Dalglish has done for the club since he replaced Roy Hodgson. An unbeaten run has seen them climb the league and perhaps just as important, Dalglish has imbued everyone with a sense of positivity and tradition. The whole place seems happier and Kenny is clearly loving every […]

I'm writing a piece for www.football365.com today about Barcelona which, in essence expresses how frustrating I find their football; how, though it is technically brilliant, it just doesn't stir my football passions. I find it quite clinical and cold while admittedly highly skilful. OK, it's the sort of football some people like but it just […]

So Roman Abramovich has decided its time to start spending money again, has he? About time too, many Chelsea fans might say. The press have seen this as indicative of him being prepared to rebuild Chelsea again. Seventy five million quid is certainly a big financial commitment but the problem is, it goes nowhere near […]

The sacking and resignation of Sky's Andy Gray and Richard Keys for what has been branded all across the media as 'sexist behaviour' raises many interesting questions. Reports of a culture of bullying and intimidation featuring Gray and Keys have been detailed by people who worked around them. They appear to have had no pool […]

Darren Bent is what I call a stupid English footballer. It's not a reflection on his intelligence per se, though I'm pretty sure he's no educated sophisticate. Here is a decent player, not exceptional but decent. But he has a small football brain. He hangs on the shoulder of the defender and hopes to get […]

Football can be a form of torture, seemingly designed to twist your blood into knots, defying any logic and contradicting even the wisest pundits and fans. If Roy Hodgson had just lost to Manchester United and Blackpool there would be a full-throated cry from most Liverpool fans to get him out and bring in King […]

Have you ever been to Blackburn? I have. It's like many old Lancashire mill towns, a little bit grim, a little bit run-down and definitely not like either Milan or the Brazilian resort of Florianopolis and it's certainly not a regular haunt for wealthy Brazilians. And yet the football club has been insisting this week […]

There are some footballers who we can all agree about. Lionel Messi, for example. There can't be any serious observer who would think he's over-rated. But such unanimity is very rare in football. Split opinion is much more common and when it comes to Dimitar Berbatov, rarely can a player have divided opinion with such […]

I heard a Manchester City fan on the radio the other day. He was saying he couldn't understand why Tevez wanted to leave City because, 'he's absolutely worshipped by the fans.' This guy says this as though this would mean anything to the Argentinean. I see this hero worshipping of players like Tevez as totally […]

There is almost unanimous outrage at the dismissal of Chris Hughton. From a football point of view it looks unsustainable, all the more so when instability and hysterical appointments have been the reasons behind the decline Newcastle over the past ten years but also because by any same measure Hughton was doing a great job. […]

Which of these records sounds the superior one to you? Played 14, Won 7, Drawn 7, lost 0 Or Played 14, Won 9, Drawn 1, Lost 4 Ok, those of you not drunk will have spotted that these two records amount to the same amount of points. But I think psychologically, the first record looks […]

As Chelsea lost at home to Sunderland, the commentator, Martin Tyler was incredulous, saying how this proved how brilliant the Premier League was; it was the best in the world because any side could beat any other side This struck me at the time as being a case of having your cake and eating it […]

Another England game and another torrent of outrage from much of the English press at how poor England is. Surprise surprise. There is a very vocal majority in the press who want to blame all this on Capello because it’s easier than thinking deeply about it and much more preferable than stating that players who […]

Will Blackpool, like Wolves before them, be facing the prospect of a fine for fielding a weakened side against Villa last night? Manager ian Holloway made wholesale changes to his side but so what? They played well and narrowly lost. The fact that the Premier League has given itself the power to make such judgements […]