James Barclay – fantasy author

Stuart Pearce among many others is standing in support of Steve Maclaren. And, amazed though I am given my stance earlier in his tenure, I am too. We desperately need long-term continuity in the England set up. We’ve cast off the dull tired and negative tactics of Sven and have in recent games looked a decent side. Five straight 3-0 wins is good. Yes, losing to Russia was very disappointing but we look a side playing with some definable shape and purpose now. And we are scoring plenty of goals.

It is traditional to call for the manager’s head at times like this and Mac did have a slow start. But he’s into his stride now and dumping him will not help anyone. And who will do a better job? Martin O’Neill. Well, possibly but does he want it? And it isnn’t like Villa are challenging for the title. And don’t anybody say ‘well he doesn’t have the players’ because it is exactly that situation he will face with England. Jose Mourinho? Dear God, no. I do not want that strutting peacock in charge of my national side. Just because a man can win championships by spending piles of cash does not make him good international material. National managers have a limited pool of talent. You cannot buy in any more. Unless you’re Irish and keen on geneaology perhaps. That’s why Bobby Robson was such a good manager. He never had the money to spend at Ipswich and so had to know how to get the best out of the squad available to him. Think about it.

Anyone else? Errrm. Not a host of names are there? Hiddink is too old and cynical, Klinsmann is a German and Wenger doesn’t even know that the English have football players of their own. A knee-jerk sacking only benefits the appetite of the press for blood. If they wanted him sacked, they should have shouted louder after the 0-0 against Macedonia at home. That was where this campaign went wrong. And if he goes and the ‘best man’ whoever he is, tells the FA to go forth, what then? Another bloody shambles.

Leave it be. Let him take on the next World Cup campaign and please, please, remember this. England aren’t that great. Good on their day but no strength in depth and a confidence that is wafer thin.

Brian Barwick is not always known for smart talking but this is just supreme common sense. The FA are going to pilot a scheme at grass roots level in which only the captain of a side can talk to the referee… just like in Rugby Union. Hallelujah. RU has so many intelligent rules that aid discipline and leave players in no doubt as to the correct course of action and the consequences for not taking that course. And communicating with the ref is one of the best.

Witness the Rugby World Cup. As much fire and passion (in most games anyway but that’s another story) yet any decision that is questioned is not done so by 15 men clustering round the ref and shouting. It is done by the captain, on his own and is hence sorted out very quickly and respectfully. Only once have I seen another player question a reffing decision. A Georgian prop was about to make a noise but the ref, perhaps half his size, merely put a finger to his lips and shook his head. Problem solved.

I pray this pilot works. One of the central blights of football the world over is the normally unfounded screeching injustice of players when they believe a decision has gone against them. Ally this to the sin bin and wave good-bye to foul-mouthed abuse from Old Trafford to Hackney Marshes. Say hello to better referees too. This has no downside, only goodness.

Jose Mourinho’s rather sudden departure from Chelsea probably sould not come as too much of a shock. Clearly unhappy at the end of last season and utterly miserable and given to even more confused press conferences this season, he has looked checked out for some weeks.

More of a shock is the extraordinary coverage. Top headline on FiveLive and BBC Breakfast TV, the subject of the FiveLive phone in as well and no doubt there is blanket coverage on many sports websites, radio and TV stations. I daren’t turn on Sky Sports News. He has had the British media in thrall ever since he turned up. They drool at the prospect of a Jose comment and can find no wrong in him despite his often daft comments. Who will win the adulation now?

While I have some sympathy for the way Jose was treated in the last few months… having a director of football put in place, forced into playing has-been strikers etc, I will not miss him at all and rather hope he disappears off to manage in Italy (where he says he would like to go), Spain or, oh I don’t know, Luxembourg.

Admittedly, he was good fun in the beginning. Charming and disarming in his honesty. But it changed pretty rapidly and rather than the smile, we got the scowls and the tirades. Sure, he was under pressure but, hey, £5 million a year means you need to be able to handle it. And I don’t think he could. Ever blind to the crimes of his own players, he had the sharpest of eyes for offences committed against them sixty yards away and even resorted to a parody of Sir Alex, showing the fourth official his portable TV for a replay of a disallowed goal last weekend. He never understood about balance in football. Never understood that Chelsea could actually lose games or that officials could make mistakes. I got very bored of hearing how unfair it always was. How his team were singled out for bad treatment. But you know what, Jose? You needed to rise above that. You needed to be aware you had a very talented squad who shouldn’t have cared if one goal was disallowed because you’d already scored four or were going to during the 90 minutes.

We hear a great deal about what a brilliant manager he is. And his record is pretty damn good. But at the very top, if you’re told that you will be measured on winning the Champions League and you fail to do so, you can have few complaints if you are shown the door, or find it so AWFULLY hard that you have to take your leave. Whatever. Takes your money, pays your price.

For Chelsea, though, there are serious implications. If what we hear about interference is all true, then any other manager will be little more than a figurehead and that is the way to mediocrity. So, the door is clearly open for Graham Rix…

England 6-1 Argentina. Ah, wonderful. Now there is a scoreline to warm the cockles of your heart. And it could have been more. After their 11-0 thumping by Germany in their opening match, Argentina tightened their defence against Japan, losing by the only goal, and that in stoppage time. But England are a very strong side and showed it by thrashing Argentina to book their place in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2007 quarter finals where they are likely to be playing the USA should scores remain as they are right now.

Although they were helped by some diabolical goalkeeping and a stunning bullet header own goal, England have laid a marker for the rest of the tournament. Kelly Smith is an accomplished and seriously deadly striker and our midfield packed with hard tackling and good passing. We look dangerous down the flanks and through the middle and our defence appears sound against anything barring free kicks. What will have encouraged England so far is a hard fought clean sheet against a very strong German side, a good battle against a decent Japanese team (unlucky to concede the draw with the last kick of the match) and a confident demolition of a poor Argentinian team.

I’ve enjoyed the tournament so far. I’ve only watched bits and pieces of England matches but, having been a cynic of women’s football, I have to hold my hand up and admit that on this evidence, the chortling behind my hand at the mere mention was wrong. Skill, passion, energy, pace and a high level of excitement. Everything you want from any game of football, frankly. And what you don’t get are volleys of abuse, arguing every decision, surrounding the ref, play acting (well, not much) and utter cheating. You should watch a match if you can. You might be in for a very pleasant surprise.

Yes, I know Owen scored another two very good goals and Ferdinand managed a piece of country dancing before scoring the third, but the engine room of our 3-0 victory over Russia was our central midfield. Gerrard and Barry were absolutely outstanding from kick off to final whistle. Indeed, they were probably tackling back on the way to the dressing room at half time. We expect great things from Gerrard every game and in recent games, I don’t think we’ve seen them. But versus Israel and now against the far more accomplished (but not brilliant) Russians, the partnership of Gerrard and Barry looks like it has been in place forever.

The pair bossed the midfield to such an extent that the Russians had no answer in the first half and either played on the break or down the flanks in the second. This limiting of their attacking options made our back four’s job pretty easy. Even when they did threaten, what was really pleasing was the way one of Barry and Gerrard was there to break up the play and bring the ball clear. The link between back four and midfield was solid and meant that we were very seldom reduced to thumping the ball upfield to relieve pressure and hence immediately surrender possession.

In an earlier blog, I said we should play Barry on the left. OK, got that one wrong. He is a revalation to me in central midfield. Barely putting a pass astray, playing simply, enabling our strikers to cause heaps of trouble and of course, laying on Owen’s first goal. I sincerely hope that McClaren resists the temptation to include his ‘star’ players merely because they are fit. I’m talking about Lampard in particular who ought to be set for a good long spell on the bench as Gerrard’s understudy while Carrick, if he ever makes the team again, should be subbing for Barry.

It is interesting that in a game where neither Cole nor Wright-Phillips sparkled all that much, we were able to make a mess of a previously solid Russian defence (one goal conceded all group before Weds night) because our centre pairing could take the strain and maintain the required pressure. There is hope for this England team yet, and therefore hope for McClaren. But only if he pays attention to what is right in front of his face.

As for Rooney. Does he come back for Heskey? You know, that’s actually a tough one. Yes, if he will play in a defined role as support striker for Owen (because that is why Owen has looked so dangerous in the last two games). But brilliant though he is, he is prey to selfishness and over confidence and that leads to wasted chances. This is not about pandering to egos or having any player with a divine right to play. This is about England winning football matches, and in some style. Nothing else matters.

It is a rare day indeed when England win three important games in a single afternoon. But such a day was Saturday 8th September. We won important matches in Rugby, cricket and football… but how to score them in terms of quality?

As a fan, wishing to see all three matches and not being omnipresent was a problem. All three ought to have clashed at around 5pm. And because they did not, performance of the day has to go to England’s cricketers. Beating India in the decider of a seven match series was a terrific achievement. it really does look like brighter days are ahead for our one day side. We outplayed India throughout the day and won deservedly by seven wickets with 12 odd overs to spare. That is a resounding win against very good opposition. Great to see Freddy back but I worry about his long term fitness. Great to see KP score runs and keep concentration under pressure. And great to see Luke Wright opening the batting. I don’t care that it didn’t pay off this time. What the selectors did was make a brave decision based on form and that is the right way to go. Critically, the emphatic nature of the victory against a strong and passionate Indian team meant the game was done before 5pm… kick off time at Wembley and in France. Luvverly.

In second place, England’s beleagured footballers. Too often we’ve scratched out results against crap opposition. This time, against a very average Israel side, we went at them for 90 minutes, scored three, could have scored six and came away with poitives in every department. Special mention to Gareth Barry who was excellent in the centre of midfield. To Shaun Wright-Phillips who just gets better and better. To Micah Richards who is a mountain in defence and a genuine threat coming forward. And Michael Owen who looked sharp and scored a lovely goal. As for Heskey, well actually, he played well, spent less time on his arse than usual and gave the forward line balance. Oh, and Joe Cole. Great player, end of story. If I was the England coach, who cares who else is fit for Wednesday against Russia, you have to start with the same 11. Anything else is a betrayal of all the work, energy and belief. As for speculation making this the end of Beckham’s international career, well I doubt it. If SWP isn’t fit or doesn’t perform, who else would you play? Serious answers only.

Which leaves England’s rugby players. I saw bits and pieces of this match and it was a turgid affair. The US were all muscle and no style and England tried to be fancy and dropped the ball a lot. Yes, we won 28-10 but scored no bonus points while other sides playing the weaker teams in their groups have run up big scores. In the end, the win was everything, of course, but the manner was very disappointing. All we had to do was stick to a single game plan (probabaly sucking players in to rucks and mauls before using our wing pace to score tries would have done it. It’s simple after all) and we’d have scored 60 points. I just don’t think we gave the US enough respect for being organised and tough tacklers. We tried terribly clever moves which are unnecessary against lesser opposition and screwed them all up, more or less. Must try harder. Or we’ll get a sreous beating by South Africa next weekend.

Roll on Wednesday, the 20-20 World Cup and, sort of, the South African challenge.

Last night’s England v Germany friendly highlighted pretty much everything that is wrong with English international football. We are incapable of building on a bright start. We are incapable of closing down opposition midfield runners. We are incapable (unbelievably) of consistently defending crosses from either flank. We miss chance after chance after chance. And the international manager said ‘we shouldn’t have lost.’

Well you did, Steve. 1-2, at home in that new fortress of Wembley. And most of us could barely recognise half the German side because they have a worse injury crisis than we do. Will this be his post match chat after another premature tournament exit? That we can take positives from another defeat? Someone needs to remind him that after qualifying comes knock-out football. There is no second chance.

There were only two positives in the game as far as I was concerned. First, Micah Richards was superb at right back. All the more odd then, that he was switched to centre back when Wes Brown came on, thereby nullifying a key threat. And Joe Cole is a class player. He commits defenders, makes space and scares the opposition. Why he was subbed is a total mystery. I know big Frank scored and that is nice but he spent the rest of the time trying to score another rather than passing.

I’m not going to join in the Robinson bashing. He made a bad mistake. End of. We don’t have a huge pool of great English keepers so let’s not destroy what remains of the confidence of one of our better ones. Owen looked short of match practice (which he is), Beckham was not 100% fit and had a poor game, Carrick was hopeless. It does not bode terribly well. No Hargreaves, Gerrard, Rooney etc and for the most part, we look really, really ordinary. And look, I know our star players make a big difference but there were no genuinely adequate replacements on show last night.

Oh, another question. When Barry came on, why did he play in the centre? He’s a left footed, left sided midfield player. That’s where hs is best. Play him there. Wright-Phillips is a speedy right winger. Play him there. Is this formula so difficult to understand?

Frustrating. Why must it always be so with England?

The 1-1 draw between Liverpool & Chelsea was in many respects a typical encounter. Some decent football interspersed with ridiculous amounts of moaning, whining and play acting. Ah, the beautiful game. But that’s not what I want to talk about. The penalty that gave Chelsea their equaliser was the central controversy in the game and raises an interesting issue.

Now I don’t care if Malouda made a lot of the contact or not. Actually, I’m not sure he did. Seemed to me both players tried to avoid a collision and the Chelsea player fell. Such is life. But the plain fact is that it should not have been given as a penalty and we saw Liverpool players making their feelings known very clearly. It was a poor decision but perhaps from Rob Styles’ angle, it was a clear cut foul.

It is unedifying to see packs of footballers surrounding a referee who will not change his decision, no matter how wrong it was. And nor should he under such pressure. However, an injustice was done. I feel very strongly that the captain of any football team should be allowed to appeal decisions his team feel are wrong. I’ve mentioned this before I know. Give each team three chances to appeal to ensure the system is not casually abused and let the video replay ref decide. In this case, a clear mistake was made. You might be able to argue an obstruction on behalf of Steve Finnan the defender but nothing else. The penalty would then be withdrawn. Importantly, the decision has to be final or we will merely substitute one pack of angry footballers for another in a different coloured strip. Check out rugby to see how this works.

If you allow appeals, you can so quickly remove the heat from the situation. The referee can even invite a team captain to appeal. He can then talk to the players involved and in seconds, make his judgement. You are also then free to make dissent at decisions a sin-binnable offence. After all, players should then be complaining to their captain and asking for an appeal, not raging at the ref. I know all this is laced with a little naivety but it makes good sense. It doesn’t stop post match pub chat but what it does do is, in these days when huge sums of money are at stake, make sure that match-changing decisions are correct. And surely we all want that.

I’ll return to this subject later in my series on ‘What should be done in football but won’t be…’

I fail to see how this can possibly succeed. I understand their bitterness and all that stuff but to want compensation from West Ham is being blind to reality. Do Sheff Utd really feel that West Ham, Tevez etc was the only reason they went down? Good grief, had they beaten Wigan on the last day of the season, they would have stayed up regardless. That in itself is evidence enough that there is no case for West Ham to answer.

Blades fans, try to understand, you went down because throughout the whole season, you did not score enough points. It has precious little to do with West Ham. There is no sense in this legal action. It cannot and must not succeed. The precedent is so dangerous. What next, sueing a ref for making a decision that cost a game and hence the points to stay up when the season was done? Sueing a player who broke your player’s leg because your man might have scored 20 goals and saved you?

Seriously, we need to worry about this. West Ham have been punished under the rules. Enough is enough.

So, we lost to the MK Dons on penalties. So what? Ipswich have a dismal record in the league cup in any sponsor guise you care to mention. We can do without extra games. The championship is going to be tough this year and given we have a chance of a play-off place, insignificant runs in half-hearted trophies are to be avoided. What we cannot afford are injuries to key players.

I mean, well done to the MK Dons for beating us. But I’m far more encouraged that we have scored seven goals in two games at the start of the season than I am disturbed that we lost to lesser opposition. Beating Plymouth away at the weekend is far, far more important.

Can I ask, does anyone care about this cup competition? Even if they reach the latter stages?