Gary Speed’s first competitive game in charge of Wales will provide an immediate chance for him to go down in Welsh managerial folklore. The locals will love nothing more than getting one over on their English counterparts and after the rugby team couldn’t send the English back over the border with their tails between their legs, it falls to Speed’s men to right the wrongs. The big question is can they actually pull off the unthinkable and beat the English?

The last two competitive meetings between the sides were in qualifying games for the 2006 World Cup. On those occasions England came out on top, winning 1-0 in Wales and 2-0 at Old Trafford. Form and history certainly are not on the Welsh side, but this is a derby after all. Wales have won just three of their last nine home games and have so far lost all three of their European Championship qualifiers. The odds were stacked even higher against them when Gareth Bale was ruled out through injury on Thursday, just a day after declaring himself fit to line up on Saturday afternoon. A full house at the Millennium Stadium will do no harm to Welsh chances, and after Gary Speed ordered the whole side to learn the national anthem, expect passions to be running high well before kick-off. The inclusion of Aaron Ramsey as captain may be a sign of intent by Speed, the future of Welsh football very much lies with him and Gareth Bale. Craig Bellamy will thrive on the atmosphere on Saturday afternoon and he could well be the key to unlock the English door in Cardiff.

England come into the game with the usual media circus, this time surrounding the reinstatement of John Terry as captain. Fabio Capello will be hoping that debacle is all forgotten about by 5pm tomorrow and England are crossing the border with all three points. If that doesn’t happen, Capello may well be on the next flight back to Italy. A defeat against their local rivals is simply unthinkable to the English especially after the events in South Africa in the summer.

The Welsh would love nothing more than to put the final nail in Fabio Capello’s coffin, but his record in qualifying campaigns is pretty impressive, and that is the reason why Wales will have to live in the English shadow for a little bit longer.

What do you think? Can Wales beat England in Cardiff? Vote in the poll below.

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On February 2nd 2009 there was a massive outcry in the media, from Liverpool fans and football fans in general at the return of one Robbie Keane to Spurs. This move was maybe not a surprise given the apparent unprofessional way that Rafa dealt with Keane. Benching him for key games even when Gerrard or Torres were injured and there was a position he could fulfill.

Even when playing him, he was typically placed up front on his own, a position that Keane is arguably not effective in, previously benefiting as a co-striker in behind the hole. The striker crisis is not a new problem for Liverpool, although this Keane move could arguably have cost Liverpool the title as Rafa shipped Keane out with no adequate replacement for an injured Torres.

This whole issue has been a problem for Liverpool ever since they solved the recent absence of a great striker with Fernando Torres. Since El Nino arrived at the club, Liverpool have been struggling to find him a partner. Perhaps playing Gerrard behind Torres, a partnership which has been so deadly, is the best way to go? Well, in that case it’s important to consider what happens when Gerrard is injured like he has been recently.

It is debatable that Keane would have been ready made for a Gerrard-esque role, although no one can say for sure as he was never given the chance. One possibility that has recently captured the eye of many is the recent form of Yossi Benayoun, the Israeli international has netted important goals for the reds recently alongside some talismanic performances; particularly those against Real Madrid away, Fulham away and at Anfield v Arsenal this past Tuesday.

Benayoun seems a highly underrated player as he was key for West Ham in his tenure there, earning him a move to Liverpool. Yossi is very effective when he comes off the bench, though he was even better on Tuesday when he started.

Maybe Benayoun could be cover for the Gerrard role in future and perhaps, as has been suggested by Barry Glendenning of the Guardian, Liverpool have been suffering due to the lack of playing time Benayoun has garnered this season. In the games which he has played he has been prolific, even chipping in with the occasional hat trick, such as the ones against Besiktas and Havant and Waterlooville last season respectively.

Though maybe this isn’t Liverpool’s key problem as Gerrard has been fit most of the season, most of their trouble this term has been with the fitness of Torres.

Perhaps with more appearances from Torres, Liverpool would have gained a few more points and not have been stuck with a collection of uninspiring draws. Particularly given that due to this, the deadly Torres and Gerrard combination has only played together twelve times this season.

In terms of prolific strikers, it could be argued that given his decent goalscoring record for Pompey and previously at Liverpool, they should have kept Crouch. He scored frequently when given the chance and performances such as his hat trick v Arsenal in the 06/07 season certainly back up this point (although Crouch only left due to not being guranteed first team football) Further it would appear Benitez never gave much of a go with a Torres and Crouch partnership, which may have clicked and been the best front two partnership at Anfield since the days of Owen and Heskey.

What is particularly baffling is why Rafa didn’t acquire adequate cover before selling off Keane. N’Gog is clearly too young and inexperienced to have stepped up to the plate in a title race, maybe Babel should be given more chances to prove himself a striker?

Andriy Voronin has been on good form on loan at Hertha Berlin, however he categorically ruled out any return to Liverpool. He has a better chance than the reds of acquiring a title this season (combined with first team football), so why return to them?

This may seem like a crazy shot, but sometimes moments of unexpected inspiration can prove a masterstroke. Why didn’t Rafa consider taking a chance and bring in Hernan Crespo on loan? Crespo is largely a reserve man at Inter Milan, now wanting to leave due to being snubbed by Mourinho. Why not bring him in as cover for Torres?a Sure he may not be a spring chicken, but with that comes years of experience, I would bet for him scoring rather than N’Gog anyday.

Though I understand maybe he doesn’t want to return to England, it is just a suggestion of what could have been done, I’m sure there’s other loan moves or frees Rafa could could have brought in as cover.

Of course this is all speculation from yours truly, but what is for sure is Liverpool maybe could have and should have done a bit better, in this season where they finally put up a decent title challenge.

However, this whistle stop tour of television Gazza has recently been on was largely positive, which gives the football world hope that the lost boy of English football has finally been found. Furthermore Newcastle fans finally have something to be happy about through these dark times.

Paul Gascoigne, the former England, Newcastle, Spurs, Lazio, Rangers, Everton and Middlesbrough legend was in trouble. This time last year he was on a self destruct mission, indulging in addictions to drugs, drink and prescription medications.  This great of the game was blighted by severe depression which ultimately manifested itself in psychotic episodes of paranoia, removal from reality and OCD.

This culminated in multiple apparent suicide attempts and twice being sectioned under the mental health act. The front pages of British tabloids were covered by pictures of Gazza being led out of hotels in Gateshead by police and paramedics. Some of the more bizarre stories about Gazza’s tormented lifestyle consisted of talking to robotic parrots, an addiction to the Nintendo Wii and repeatedly phoning his dad asking for help in chess matches v American presidents.

This all reached a climax in the hardest documentary ever to watch, Surviving Gazza broadcast in January on the UK’s channel 4. The documentary focused on Gazza’s relationship with his ex wife Cheryl and his step children Bianca and Mason also his son Regan. On the impact he had on their lives in the final scenes; under the advice of an apparent “expert” they were told to ditch Gazza out of their lives completely. One of the hardest scenes in it was Paul’s young son Regan saying he wished his dad was dead for the hurt he had brought to his family.

From that to his appearance on Sunday night, the difference is clear as day, sure Gazza looks skeletal at times and maybe is not all there occasionally but he appears to be in his best state for years. He is more cogent than ever and alleges he has been clean for fifteen months and sober for four. No longer is the former BBC sports personality of the year 1990 going on crazy drunken binges with Iron Maiden which were surely killing the England great.

In his appearance on Soccer AM, Gazza was on absolute top form which was brilliant to see. They bigged up his ego which sure might have seemed mad but was very heart warming. They included his goal, possibly the greatest ever scored against my nation in their flagship showboat sequence (highlights of the best bits of footballing skill that week).

The Birmingham fans in the studio repeatedly chanted the Geordie footballers name. In asking Gazza about his former team mates, they brought out the best in the man. He was very intelligent, clever and witty in his talk and produced the greatest responses to that regular line of Soccer AM questioning. This was apparently all thanks to the sporting chance clinic of Tony Adams which appears to have done a great job here.

It was brilliant to see this great of the game getting some sort of public rehabilitation. As he even said himself on his Match of the Day appearance it was to build up confidence. Confidence is vital for anyone in the public spotlight as much as himself and can arguably have just as great an effect on an individual as advice from doctors.

It’s also brilliant that the man is on his way to getting grounded, in his own words his schedule consists of training every morning then eating rice and pasta at his “mams”. Maybe living with his mother was what the man needed, the only person who can maybe fully forgive him for indiscretions and heal this tortured soul.

In being back home he is away from such tomfoolery of the past, possibly harder to associate with idiot drinking buddies like Chris Evans and Danny Baker. The man is never going to live a normal life certainly, but he is on his way to something stable and healthy. Let’s hope the Gascoigne line will get redemption, as there is new hope for that and the revival of Newcastle.

That hope comes in the form of one Cameron Gascoigne, aged seven, nephew of Paul who recently signed a contract with Newcastle United after scoring an incredible magpie (the new term for 22 goals in a single match) in just 30 minutes in a junior game. Redemption for the Gascoigne name, and who knows Geordie’s maybe in a few years this young lad could be your third messiah.

A very happy Moyes

Reaching the FA Cup final was a long overdue reward for Everton manager David Moyes.  As the Premierships’ third longest serving manager, Moyes has brought consistent performances for a low budget club.  It is worth considering that at Everton he has been subject to budgetary constraints that perhaps much of his fellow managers at clubs of such stature do not have to endure. He has been lucky if given more than £20m in one season in much of his seven years to date at Everton.

The 2009 FA cup final will be an occasion as it may be the chance for a great, and potentially one day legendary manager to gain his first major trophy. In getting to the FA cup final maybe he has already achieved greatness. In that he has beaten what you could say was his target, what he is aiming for. What do you mean I ask?

Well Scottish managers have been a major force in the EPL, this victory for Moyes albeit it against a reservist Utd could be a metaphor. That the greatest Scottish manager of all time has been beaten by his successor in the line of great Scottish leaders; passing the torch onto the next generation. Sure it was an absolute dirge of a match, but it was perhaps symbolic in this way.

Maybe too much a big thing of this is being made? Well no I don’t think so, as if you really look at it some of the greatest English League managers of all time are Scots. Fergie is in fine company alongside the likes of; George Graham, Jock Stein (briefly managing Leeds but deserving an honourable mention for making Celtic a European force), Sir Matt Busby and Bill Shankly.

Why is it that this small nation produces so many great managers? Well there could be many reasons but there is one thing to be sure of; Moyes is going the right way about getting into this privileged company; he has what you might call the “power of Scotland” within him. So what specifically is it that has put Moyes on this road?

Well, to analyse this maybe it may be best to look at the start of Moyes’ reign at Everton. He didn’t walk in to a guaranteed top 6 team, experiencing hard times at Everton with relegation battles in his two of his first three seasons; arguably his toughest so far, certainly a considerable challenge and arguably vital experience. However these initial yo-yo seasons came to an end and the Everton Board, showing patience and likely realising the potential of this young Scot, wisely stuck by his charge.

Like Alex Ferguson and other management greats, Moyes has been given time and patience to stabilise and create Everton into a great force. He seems to carry the right traits for a club in Everton’s comparatively meagre financial position that is almost required in the modern day for success in the English Premier League.   It may also be argued that without superstars, certainly the signing of world class stars (he has developed or will develop some); Moyes has created a brilliant squad based on a key principle: Hard Work.

This principle is perhaps best shown by David Unsworth describing the stabilising force Moyes brought to Everton in his first season: “He has come in and turned the club around. He’s brought in players like Richard Wright and Joseph Yobo to add quality and works us very hard in training. We train as we play. We pass the ball and the atmosphere is fantastic.” Alongside hard work, the initial signings of Richard Wright and Joseph Yobo to his latest acquisition; the shrewd loan of Jo, display another of Moyes’ qualities: his ability in the transfer market.

Under the tight budget of Everton he has found real gems, take Joseph Yobo . At £4m Yobo being a continual stalwart in the Moyes era, alongside other great findings who have more than repaid their transfer fees and their managers’ faith. Amongst these, Tim Cahill; who, purchased from Championship club Millwall for £1.5m, would now be seen as a steal at £15m and arguably a world class midfielder.  Although it is questionable given the problems Mark Hughes has Man City, it is very fair to ask how good would Moyes be at a “super” club? You can’t really be sure but one thing is that he does deserve a go someday. The most likely being Man Utd, perhaps as Fergie’s successor. Very ironic given recent news that he applied to be Sir Alex’s assistant, but was completely overlooked. Will he be disregarded by them again?  Could they make the same mistake twice?

In the David Unsworth quote from 2002 he refers to the atmosphere at Everton being “fantastic”. This is something that hasn’t changed since, with Everton and like Stein, Shankly, Busby and Fergie before him, he has built a brotherhood of team spirit at Everton. This is perhaps why he has this “power of Scotland” as the great Scottish managers’ teams in the English League have always been ones that contain great team spirit.

This was proven true very much recently with the Everton striker crisis. In the situation of an Everton without a recognised striker the team mucked in and still won matches, without team spirit how many clubs would have been able to cope with this?  Would a team with “world class” players who refuse to play out of position for the good of the team have coped as well? The number would be minimal, Everton have shown they are a club that can cope with the bare essentials at all times.

This is another key strength behind Moyes. A man of realism completely, you have never seen him get carried away, never overconfident but never too pessimistic; a realist. This is very evident in the testament from his chairman (Bill Kenwright) ahead of his match against Ferguson showing that the former Celtic man never panicked: “They will tell you there was a day when Fergie was nearly gone and they tell you here there was a time when David Moyes was struggling. I bet Fergie didn’t feel that way and honestly I never did. If you’re doing the job right, you know in the end you’ll get there.”

The torch has been passed even if Fergie is not done yet, because it seems his place in the game might be now the level for Moyes. Something Fergie would maybe agree with, as there is evidentially a mutual respect there. Look at how easily Moyes has brought across Saha, Howard and Phil Neville.

Who knows, five years down the line in a Premiership without Ferguson; he might still be at Everton, maybe with an increase in money, perhaps Goodison Park will once again return its glory days. In this Moyes may even be overtaking Fergie in one aspect made much of in the media: great assistants.

Fergies’ apprentices; brilliant managers like Strachan, Bruce and Hughes. Well Moyes has one of his very own who might come to attention next season. His former assistant manager at Everton, Alan Irvine took reigns at Preston North End in 2007. With the Lancashire club in the hunt for the play-off spots, Moyes could be facing off against his former right hand man come August. This would be yet another compliment to a brilliant manager who arguably deserves more.

So for a saturday in May, alongside many other neutrals I expect, I will be cheering on Everton against Chelsea. For this great manager whose appearance in a final is certainly long overdue, here’s hoping it starts his road to true greatness. Who knows, maybe one day we can look at the greatest managers ever and instead of including just four great Scots:  Stein, Shankly, Ferguson and Busby, we will be able to add another, David William Moyes of Bearsden, Dumbartonshire.

As an interesting aside much is made of  1990 FA cup win by Ferguson. One which many believe saved his Old Trafford career, and started his path to greatness. Well it could happen again though this time to Moyes, although he doesn’t need saved it could kick him off on a trophy run.

If Moyes doesn’t live up to expectations, then this may prove for fans of great football and Everton F.C, a tough toffee to chew on, considering the potential on display.
There is one thing that we can all be sure of; In May, a blue team will lift the FA Cup and, Chelsea fans (and the odd Liverpool fan, although many wouldn’t begrudge their neighbours having some success, considering who would be in the final otherwise and their admirable support of the Hillsborough campaign) aside; let’s hope it’s the one up north.

It is around 3.45pm on April 13th 1996 on the South Coast at the Dell. Southampton are hosting Manchester United, the hosts are 3-0 up. The Man Utd squad clad in grey enter the changing room to an apparent furious Alex Ferguson. The fiery Scot is annoyed and in one of his more bizarre moves in football forces Man Utd to change their kit.

They had been wearing a grey kit, a kit in which they had never won a match. Man Utd go out and get a consolation goal in the second half. Sure they didn’t win but Fergie believes they were better in the second half, due to changing their strips to blue.

This may to an impartial observer seem a trivial matter but if it was your team you would definitely care. This is the time of year when photos, genuine or not, are leaked onto the internet, fans get the first opportunity to see their club’s strips for the forthcoming season.

It can be a lottery: a brilliant kit will have you running to the shops to buy it, perhaps with your great new south American striker’s name across the back, and looking to the new season with enthusiasm and high expectations; an absolute dirge and you may lose interest in the season before it starts.

This may seem capitalism at its highest but it’s a piece of football I love, I find football kits fascinating and own ten, which I wear on a regular basis. This is the phenomenon that this article will explore: kits and what impact they can have.Firstly lets fade to grey again, grey has been perhaps the most notable choice of kit colour. Other than the aforementioned Man Utd kit; is the equally infamous and grey Euro 96 England kit (modelled by Gareth Southgate, see picture) and the current Liverpool away kit. Grey is seen by superstitious fans as a terrible colour of kit to have, and the Euro 96 semi final is a case in point.

England the home team were forced to wear their grey away kit, in contrast to Germany in their (and England’s) traditional white. England played well but went out on penalties to Germany once again, missing out on arguably their greatest chance for a major honour since 1966. Many fans say the kit put a depression into the team and this was the reason why Southgate missed his crucial penalty.

Needless to say this may no longer be the case soon as another grey kit could gain mythical status come the end of May. The grey kit of Liverpool could be regarded as a lucky kit, as the one that Liverpool were wearing for their famous 4-1 victory over Man Utd. A victory which could help immeasurably in finally ending their long wait for premiership glory. This is important in illustrating the superstitious and near-religious emphasis fans place on kits.

This could not be simple football voodoo or mumbo jumbo. There is a scientific basis for kit phenomena, a study published in the journal of sport sciences in 2008 suggests such a fact. Scientists from Durham and Plymouth universities examined the results of 68 top sides in the post war era. Their findings were that teams wearing red as a home kit won more home games than those that didn’t. In addition to this, Olympic competitors wearing red won substantially more gold medals.

When looked at logically, this may make sense; three of the top four wear red kits. Sounds more convincing now doesn’t it? Also the reason Liverpool wear all red is that Bill Shankly, in turning Liverpool into a footballing giant, decided they would look more intimidating clad in all red. Red also reflects the natural colours of aggression, suggesting high levels of male testosterone.

So this summer, if your team bring out an all red kit, you could well be in for a memorable, if not interesting season. Shankly isn’t alone in his interference in kits; with Don Revie changing the Leeds United kit to all white in an attempt to emulate Real Madrid.

Another idea is that kits take on a life of their own and become synonymous with ideas, events and matches. This is evident from my own team Greenock Morton, from their experience in the 1995-96 season. The story goes that their kit was originally intended to be the traditional royal blue with white in horizontal stripes. This didn’t happen as the team took to the field for the first game of the season with the stripes in sky blue.

Apparently the makers had messed it up. The club apologised and said they would change it back but this never happened and the team went on and won the game. The fans loved what they dubbed the “Argentina kit”. The team were champions of the Scottish 2nd division that season and it is believed that any season in which the Ton wear stripes, they will do better.

This belief also exists in the current premiership crop. If Hull City go down this season the fans may irrationally blame superstition and blame the strip. Hull have an interesting history with strips, and not just the crazy tiger print design that they carried in the early nineties. Their belief that a kit that has just a plain amber shirt equals success held true last season , their greatest ever. It was an all amber top Dean Windass wore, with peroxide hair, when he lashed in the most important goal in the club’s history, last May at Wembley.

As we head towards another crazy season and the new kits are released,  I hope your team gets a good one. But, don’t place too much emphasis on the significance of your traditonal colours as they could be down to convenience. Particularly West Ham fans; the reason for their claret and blue simply comes down to a wager which took place with the league champions of 1899, one Aston Villa.

Leeds, Charlton, Southampton, Watford etc. The list is continuous, the list of clubs that in recent years have fallen from the Premiership and now battle relegation at the bottom of the championship. Or in the case of Leeds, Leicester, and come Saturday Charlton have dropped into League One.

This is the fate that might await Newcastle if they do not stay up. The average Geordie would argue they are too big a club, but look at Leeds and Leicester stalwarts of the top tier in England. Leeds are even bigger than Newcastle in terms of success; having won many trophies in more recent times than the Magpies 1968/69 Europe League (then the Fairs Cup) victory. So the argument that they are too big to go down and not yo-yo up again does not hold water. This is given further emphasis when you mention that fact that Man City, arguably a bigger club, were second tier residents as recent as 2002.

Certainly it is important to identify that unlike a Leeds, Charlton or Southampton (who have debts of £27.5m). Newcastle would not necessarily be in financial trouble, however their crippling wage bill with the likes of Viduka and Owen cannot be helpful. In having to ease their wage bill they would have to trim down their squad radically. One plus is Newcastle have a brilliant asset in St James Park which they own. This means that unlike Southampton who have reeled from debts to St Marys (forcing them to sell Kenwyne Jones, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott), Newcastle would have stable foundation.

For this to be a stable foundation they would need healthy attendances every week. This is a major problem as Newcastle would need to be doing well on the pitch. Which is not a good prospect give the last time, Newcastle were in the second tier in the eighties their average attendances were 20,000. Not exactly record breaking for the Championship, these debunk the myth of Geordie loyalty. How many of the capacity crowd that turned up for Shearers first match will be there for, say their first match against Doncaster? Furthermore Ashley would struggle to sell the club as their return to the EPL would not be guaranteed as Leeds have found out.

Certainly even if Newcastle don’t have financial troubles, that is not to say they wouldn’t be in trouble. Leicester got relegated to the third tier for the first time in their history last season. They are wealthy under the ownership of Milan Mandaric (formerly of Portsmouth) but due to the bad management of Ian Holloway they were subsequently relegated. A further example of this would be Derby who, until the arrival of Nigel Clough, were involved in back to back relegation battles.

So the Tyneside this time next year might find themselves in a second relegation battle. Yes seriously, they very well could be as they would have their squad ripped apart getting rid of their uncommitted greedy mercenaries. Players such as Geremi, Beye, Gutierrez and sorry England fans your golden boy Owen.

The list of people getting on the first trains, planes and Porsche traffic jams heading South in late May would be long. I will give this potentially comprehensive list a go: Colocini, Gutierrez, Geremi, Beye, Duff, Owen, Martins, Geremi, Viduka, Butt, Guthrie, Barton, Cacapa. This is just a quick attempt; the real list could be more extensive. Do you really think, despite headlines in the English press to the contrary, that people like Barton and Owen are going to stick around because they love the Geordie public? I think not.

It seems clear that Newcastle will find themselves in desperate trouble down in the Championship. The club wouldn’t suddenly become a mess, they already are a mess. Badly run and badly managed; they have had, since the well run period of Bobby Robson (a brilliant manager and the closest thing English football has to an elder statesman) six managers.

Something is rotten up north. As soon as players slip on that black and white shirt they instantly become injury magnets and can’t defend for toffee. Their signing policy reflects crazy panic buys with any clever buys coming in over priced and unfit. Maybe this might be a good thing if they get relegated; come summer sky sports news won’t have their Toon army specials, with panic buying of shirts emblazoned with names like Luque.

Newcastle are covered in magpie excrement at the moment. The only hope I think they have if they don’t survive is that maybe they need this. Maybe this club need to get rid of all their deadwood players. Have a new reincarnation based on the back of good management, and on a new dynasty led by the charge of Andy Carroll up front.

Despite reports to the contrary Shearer shocked at what his club have become may stick around.

Who knows? Shearer might turn out to be the messiah leading his people out of the desert of the championship and back to their promised land.

This is speculative at the moment however, what is abundantly clear is this season could be terminal for the soap opera that is Newcastle United. You can’t be sure as at the moment the Fog on Tyne is very thick. However the good news for Dave from Newcastle is Ameobi is staying, and he will probably be a star striker in the championship next season. So I suppose that is something, it really is.

In the 1996 movie Independence Day, upon finding out the best way to tackle the alien mother ships, the general orders “Get on the wire, tell them how to bring those sons of b*****s down..” In the film they had spent countless hours searching for the strategy to bring down a seemingly invincible opponent until, eventually, they found an effective offense against them.

This is the situation in Man United’s quest for the hallowed quintuple, seemingly appearing invincible, in imperious form since taking the title of World Club champions in Japan. On the back of unconvincing performances, particularly against Liverpool, Fulham, Villa and Porto respectively, Fergie’s boys seem to have hit a malaise in their apparent “historic season”.

This article sets out to explain how Man United have hit this dip in their form and much like those relentless Americans in Independence day, the emergence of a new found opportunity and confidence when taking on the “indestructible”: the champions of England. A task which appeared impossible before Blackburn took on the Red Devils.

As evidenced in the aforementioned recent convincing performances the best way to bring Man Utd down is, put in simple terms, one word: Attack!

Since the 2-1 defeat of Blackburn, a game blighted by controversial refereeing decisions, with a scoreline that unfairly represented the attacking Blackburn, the world champions have been on the decline. This was a refreshing new approach to playing Man United. In complete contrast to the game versus Everton, where Moyes side sat back letting the Red Devils attack and win.

This Blackburn approach wasn’t surprising as under previous manager Mark Hughes they were a regular thorn in the side of Ferguson. Who is a proponent of this approach citing in the Times Game Podcast in 2008 that “you have to be brave against Man Utd. With tactics like three up front you are more likely to gain a result”.

This was the very approach that Porto took so very effectively on Tuesday night. One which severely damaged Fergie’s Champions League defence, which now hinges on trying to gain an unlikely win at the fortress that is the Dragao. Porto took a positive approach playing 4-3-3, with the effective strike force of Rodriguez, Lissandro and Hulk. The aptly named Hulk providing a battering ram to the back four of Man Utd.

Hulks inclusion was a tactical master-stroke from manager Jesualdo Ferreira with the big man drawing Vidic onto him. This allowed the pacey Lissandro, Rodriguez and later Mariano to torture Evans who was later substituted for a slow Gary Neville (not Ferguson’s ideal move). If not for a error from Bruno Alves gifting Rooney a goal then Man United could be in a terminal situation in Europe rather than a bad one. All down to one primary reason; Porto attacked United, they weren’t afraid. Manchester United don’t like it coming at them.

It has been suggested in the media that was probably a idea given to Porto by Liverpool, as it seems likely that the 14th April 4-1 drubbing of Man United was in the Porto players DVD collection the past few weeks. This was the zenith of what could be regarded as the growing trend of attack versus Man United. This match showed clear vulnerability on the part of defence which in matches can be exposed.

This was corroborated by Rafa Benitez who suggests “We knew their defence had weaknesses”. In this strategy Benitez identified that the Old Trafford club key tactic was to deploy penetrating passes between the lines. Under this Benitez adopted a more attacking approach putting their midfield under pressure every time in ball possession thus nullifying this tactic. Under this Liverpool employed fast break away attacks, working as a result of Man Utd’s perhaps heavy focus on attacking. Through this habit united are always high up the pitch, but by counter attacking Liverpool relieved the pressure on their defence something Fulham also managed, notably making Ronaldo work back, something he clearly does not like doing as evidenced by his petulant nature at Craven Cottage.

In the Blackburn game with Santa Cruz, Lovenkrands for Newcastle, Rodriguez for Porto and Torres (Liverpool) they (united) are extremely prone to counter attacks with pace. The textbook example of this was Torres for Liverpool on the turn causing Vidic to make a mistake and scoring a key equaliser. Benitez afterwards made no secret that this was the tactic he used stating “We knew with Torres movement that we could cause problems for defence”.

There is certainly weaknesses to be found in the back line of Man Utd, certainly at the moment with the injury to Ferdinand. It has been proven that with the right tactics Vidic can be vulnerable, and as proved by Carew on Sunday for Villa that Gary Neville isn’t the player he was in 1999.

Of course employing an attacking tactic does not ensure victory against Man Utd but they can certainly take the game to them and force Sir Alex to think on his feet. As with playing any world class team, the opponent must have an organised and way defence, but they can’t be intimidated by the counter-attacking prowess of the strike force, as this tactic works for the very reason of the attacking wealth of Man Utd.

As was the case with Hull at Old Trafford, Man Utd will score more than you if you simply go “all out attack” and play on belief. An industrious midfield definitely helps to push the Red Devils line back. The prime example of this was Mascherano and Gerrard for Liverpool. Next you need a big physical striker to take away the attentions of Vidic such as Hulk showed on Tuesday or Carew on Sunday. Lastly and most importantly to expose the weaknesses in their defence you need a striker of some pace.

This is the approach the teams playing against them need to take starting this weekend with Sunderland. Sbragia should be considering the physical abilities of Kenwyne Jones to draw the attention of Vidic and Cisse’s pace, alongside Reid and Malbranque in the middle to pressurise their possession of the ball.

Sir Alex will need to find ways to amend these frailties or their quest for the quintuple could end up a disaster. Looking at recent performances, Arsene Wenger’s rampant Arsenal side are bound to fancy their chances, still to face United in the league and potentially the Champion’s League if they manage to get past Porto, Ferguson will need to be extremely wary of The Gunners style of play. That isn’t mentioning the influence the recent run of results for Manchester United will have in terms of confidence and tactics on the remaining Premiership teams still to play.

For the neutral, this is going to be an exciting run in, for the fan; a nerve-racking one. Who knows what will happen in the last 2 months in English football!? One thing is for certain, it would take a brave man to predict it correctly.

Saturday, February 7 2009 may well have been the most significant day in the modern history of Portsmouth FC when the Portsmouth of Tony Adams had succumbed to a 3-2 defeat at home to Liverpool despite having taken the lead twice. This was the lowest point and the final straw in Adam’s reign as Portsmouth boss, one with only four wins in twenty one games.

The Fratton Park club were in trouble, having been camped in the bottom three for the past few weeks. To words of many, particularly Kevin Ryan (secretary of Portsmouth supporters club), the FA cup holders were “paying the eternal price for chasing the dream”. Eventually leading to December 2008 when owner Alexandre Gaydamak placed the club up for sale, citing the credit crunch as the primary cause. This was inevitable with the lack of transfer funds the primary reason for the defection of Harry Redknapp to Tottenham.

Since the sacking of Tony Adams a new era of realism has dawned. Under Paul Hart results have steadily improved with Pompey looking able to avoid the drop. This would seem a deserving fate for a club who has taken a more considered approach to the fast buck culture of the premiership. Many would deem this move as lacking ambition, however the Paul Hart reign has brought fresh optimism. This positivity has been built on realistic foundations, stabilizing a club which was starring into the abyss of relegation.

This was in stark contrast to the dourness of Tony Adams, a man who as a recovered addict brought a strange psychology and mentality to management. Which to many, including midfielder Richard Hughes, concluded a “stark honesty criticized from some quarters”.

Certainly honesty is an admirable trait in football. However in the light of the Tony Adams sporting chance clinic it may be perceived as being detrimental to team morale. In a situation where admitting everything was the key to his very being, Adams found it difficult to throw in a white lie. This was damaging as motivation was the cornerstone of the Redknapp era. This was also reflected in his behavior in December, where following a defeat it was claimed by an unnamed Portsmouth player that Adams had failed to even visit the changing room.

This is an elaborate claim but seems very useful in explaining Portsmouth’s latest run of good form. In contrast to Adams, Paul Hart seems the right man at the right time for Portsmouth, helping the club move up to fifteenth in the table. Rather than taking a massive risk financially in a big name such as Sven Goran Eriksson, the south coast club promoted from inside. In youth boss Hart they promoted a man they could trust, whom with experience of the lower leagues knows the harsher side of the game, not too dissimilar to a certain Mr Redknapp.

The seasoned approach of Hart and his number two Brian Kidd, (arguably the best assistant in the business, formerly of Premiership trumping Man United and Blackburn teams respectively) has been inspirational to the players of Portsmouth, particularly England international Peter Crouch. This was plainly evident in the manner they put an in-form Everton side to the sword on March 21st, further reinforcing the importance of a realistic but confident approach to run a club in crisis with stability.

It is this focus on confidence, verging on arrogance, that has worked for the Cloughs and the Fergusons in the past at clubs said to be punching above their weight and Hart is wisely following with strong statements of intent:

“The other week I heard a manager say he didn’t expect to beat Manchester United. We haven’t got that luxury, we expect our team to get points out of every game and that includes Manchester United.”

Whilst they probably won’t beat United it illustrates the realistic positivity Hart has brought to the club. Thanks to this, Portsmouth will likely stay up, Crouch is in fine scoring form and the team are playing with real belief. Survival being a deserved reward for a club who have come to terms with reality.

In this they have abandoned costly plans for a new stadium, instead opting to redevelop Fratton Park. Furthermore alongside survival the club looks likely to be sold, with Gaydamak cutting the price to an alleged £35m.

This summer, thanks to Hart and Kidd, signings look to be more conservative than previous years with the focus likely to be on youth development. Despite being rejected academy status in 2008, this would be the right move for a more realistic Portsmouth. A smooth ride through the credit crunch will be the reward for embracing a better attitude. Which from personal experience would certainly be one their youth team could embrace.

Portsmouth’s refusal to give in to the big bucks approach on and off the field may not give the fans or the media the instant news they crave, but what it may just provide this club is something that seems so distant at most football grounds in the modern age; A manager who understands the importance of building a foundation of confidence and self-belief alongside a strong youth set up, before the big money signings come and the fans demand success.

For Hart and Kidd, survival is only the first step on what is beginning to look like an exciting journey and we, the spectators, can only sit back and enjoy the ride.