Today Liverpool FC went through a complicated court procedure to resolve their ownership. Their biggest rivals, Manchester United, have not had the problems that have engulfed the beleaguered Anfield club but nevertheless have issues with their ownership. The Glazer takeover of Manchester United has created friction between the club’s support who deride the Glazers and want them out (Love United, Hate Glazer) and the owners themselves.

Liverpool’s current (for now) owners were desperate to sell the club on their terms, for their own financial benefit and not the benefit of Liverpool Football Club. In Manchester and Florida the Glazers will be looking on in interest at how their national compatriots have floundered in the business of football ownership. Let me be clear, the Glazers like Hicks and Gilette have entered football for one purpose, profit. How they will achieve that profit though is important, having already turned down a 1.5 billion pound offer from a Middle East Consortium, just how will the Glazers leave United?

NB: A lot of the financial numbers etc contained below are garnered from the always excellent Swiss Ramble and his article on Manchester United’s recent results.

First and foremost we must understand how the Glazers got involved in Manchester United and what they hope to achieve through football ownership. Prior to the Glazer Ownership Manchester United was a publicly limited company trading on the LSE. Over the course of several years the Glazers bought Manchester United shares with the intention of one day buying the lot. They achieved this particular aim in June 2005, however to buy a company the size of Manchester United this particular transaction required a lot of money. More than the Glazers had, they put up 250m of their own money and 540m of loans, in what is technically described as a Leveraged Buy-Out (an LBO). The purpose of an LBO is to take a company you think is not being run well or has more value in it than is represented in the share price so that you can run it, trim it and then resell it later at a vast profit as you have made the company more valuable through actions which, if unpopular, could’ve been prevented by the shareholders.

True to LBO form this is precisely what the Glazers started to do. With the grim spectre of debt hanging over their ownership they set about trimming where necessary and increasing revenues where possible. It has not gone unnoticed that United’s ticket prices have sky rocketed since the takeover. In having a captive audience the Glazer’s realised they could increase match day revenues in the most base of ways. It is no surprise that having the biggest stadium would lead to Manchester United having the largest matchday turnover in the Premier League, it is surprising to see that they outstrip (considerably) the revenues of Barcelona and Inter Milan.

Though it is not only at the turnstile that the Glazer’s have turned the screws, a look at their profit trend on SwissRamble shows an increase in other areas that include Commercial Income and Media Income. Though the Premier League have helped with their increasingly profitable TV deals, United have struck out on their own with MUTV and according to SwissRamble:

“increased their stake in MUTV Limited to 66.7% “in order to have greater influence over the future strategy of the channel.” The ability to use technology to distribute live matches is definitely one of the attractions for overseas investors.”

The Glazers have helped United become a “veritable cash machine” but the problem with an LBO is what you are waiting for me to get to, the debt.

The debt loaded onto Manchester United dwarfs that which is crippling Liverpool and forcing the court case we see today, however United have continued to function properly and have not (yet) exhibited the decline which fell on Liverpool as the credit crunch hit. The story of their recent results though are the massive loss attributed to United’s ongoing debt concerns. Whilst the Club still retains large cash in it’s bank account (£164 Mil) the analysis at SwissRamble seems to indicate that when you include Red Football Joint Ventures PIK debt payments, which is secured against the clubs assets, the loss before tax was closer to £108m for Manchester United. For an excellent breakdown of United’s debt situation see SwissRambles article don’t be put off by the length or technical language it is as accessible as any blog post.

So to the question, how will the Glazers leave United? The strong revenues created are desirable but any purchase of United will have to clear up to £1.1 Billion of debt which seemingly the Middle East bid would have done but only would leave the Glazers personally receiving 400 million which whilst a profit would not make up for their default on their Malls or their ridiculously under budget Buccaneers. No, the Glazers would want more bang for their buck when leaving United and as far as I can tell there are only three ways to do so. They could sell to a mega-rich western consortium, who will probably be loaded with debt to be able to afford the club, they sell to a mega-rich eastern consortium who won’t need the debt but whose  or they return the club to the market. Of these I think this is the best for Manchester United.

Manchester United are a cash cow, they sit on vast revenues and cash. It seems that under the Glazer regime they have optimized their revenue streams and are now stuck clearing debt. An IPO of Manchester United would return ownership to the public and the sheer value of the business and hostility to private owners would worry potential investors. The club would be free of debt and with such a large cash position they could offer investable dividends. Whilst this is all dependent on future success the likelihood of United dropping out of the top 4 is so remote as to be negligible, especially given UEFA’s fair business guidelines. Something Manchester United would comfortably fall under. LBO’s often result in a return to market of the trimmed down spruced up company. The financial results prior to United’s takeover indicate that turnover was £169m (which is £192m adjusted for inflation) boosted by the sale of David Beckham, the most recent results indicate £286m boosted by the sale of Ben Foster. This is an increase of 49% in 5 years. 49%. Even if we roughly apply this to price the Glazer’s paid (adjusted for inflation) this would be £1.3Bn of course this doesn’t take into account the improved revenue streams, the increased length of commercial contracts, the youth available through the Glazers transfer policy and the continued expansion of the Global brand. The market will always value future money streams as well as those available now so I don’t think that this is a reflection on what United would get if floated on the market.

There are already several clubs which are publicly listed and with anyprospective market action it is appropriate to take account of your competitors already listed, so in that regard we would look at Arsenal Holdings. Arsenal are currently the poster child of good football financial management, they have debt but it’s interest does not cripple the balance sheet and most recently they announced profits before tax of £45m. If we take into account Arsenal’s current ‘value’ and apply the difference in the EBITDA between the two companies Manchester United are currently 40% ahead of their London rivals. If the Glazers were to IPO Manchester United, it would create a large influx of money as the shares are sold, this money would be put to use to clear the ridiculously high interest PIK debt thus scrubbing a significant amount of Interest payments off the books. They could also relieve some of the other debt to leave United with a manageable amount which would be Arsenal-esque . The Glazer’s would not have to give up 100% of the company to make this happen they could do a partial IPO where only 49.9% of the equity is available to the market allowing Red Football to maintain control of the company and reap the rewards of the dividends and cash value of their stake. The problem with this is that with only 49% trading the stock would not trade frequently which leaves the price vulnerable to large increases or decreases caused by trades when they do happen. Whilst an IPO would be best for Manchester United it doesn’t seem the best for the Glazers at this time.

Unfortunately given prevailing market conditions and the sheer size of Manchester United the Glazers cannot cash out now without either transferring the company to another debt loaded consortium or not getting the profits they crave for in a return to market. As long as Manchester United stay in the Glazer’s hands fans will continue to see large losses on the balance sheets and interesting coincidences in transfer policy to quote, once more, SwissRamble:

“It will not have escaped those observers who are good with figures that the annual interest payment of £42 million plus the once-off £41 million paid for the bond issue add up to a sum that is horribly similar to the £81 million received last year when Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid. Fancy footwork on the wing replaced by fancy footwork on the balance sheet – how do you like them apples?”

They may not be in court but the Glazers are playing a dangerous game in how long they are holding on to Manchester United – their goal get’s increasingly further away the longer they allow debts to increase whilst the match day revenues (the largest revenues on the books) peak. With another protest lined up for the Tottenham game on the 30th of October the pressure will continue on the owners to leave.

With the choice between another debt heavy private sale or a beneficial but not very profitable IPO, How will the Glazer’s leave United? Not well.

Finally on a personal note, if you enjoy my writing which has included the articles hotlinked to these words and you have the disposable time then could you vote for me on part 5 at the Not 100% Football Blogger Awards. You can also follow me @kipp9 on twitter.

In a refreshing change of events, former Birmingham City owners, David Gold and David Sullivan took control of the Hammers and admitted straightaway the mess that West Ham United have been battling with. Since the crashing collapse of the Icelandic banking system, West Ham had been financially stricken and the true extent of the footballing debt is now apparent. The Hammers owe £110 million out. One Hundred and Ten Million pounds.

Only in November did C.B. Holdings claim that the Hammers were in debt to the tune of £38 million, misleading the fans in to thinking that the situation was nowhere near as bad as some in the media had reported. In fact it was almost 3 times as bad as they made out and the new owners/controllers made clear exactly where they debts lay. They also confirmed that the club were going to have to sell players in this transfer window, contrary to the clubs previous stance. An immediate cash injection of £8 million was needed to keep the club going.

The list reads like a what not to do in football, or to put it another way, how to run a club like Leeds United. It’s as if someone wrote a business plan based on what went wrong at Elland Road and it was mistranslated into Icelandic to make it seem positive. It’s madness to see the debt and borrowing going on at West Ham over the last 3 years.

• £50 million owed to banks.
• £40 million owed to other clubs for transfers.
• The £40 million owed to other clubs, includes £20 million compensation to Sheffield United.
• Alan Curbishley is still owed his severance deal after winning his case for constructive dismissal
• No-one owes West Ham any money, all player transfer fees that were received paid the bank debt immediately
• C.B. Holdings had borrowed money against the next two seasons season ticket revenue
• There is no money for strengthening the squad.

Now this paints a completely different figure to what the West Ham fans believed, rightly or wrongly what the were being told. The previous regime were filling there heads with nonsense. It is a very real prospect that relegation would have seen West Ham implode financially. No ifs, no buts, they were immediately into administration. After all the information about Leeds United, C.B. Holdings were following exactly the same route.

It seems like absolute madness that not one lesson from the Yorkshire clubs demise has served to teach anyone anything it seems, as we see with the issues at Manchester United, Portsmouth and Liverpool in the last week. Regardless of the riches awash for the Premiership clubs, you still have to cut your cloth accordingly. Someone sooner or later is going to fall over the edge, which is a subject I’m going to be looking at in more depth for EPLtalk.com next week.

Gold and Sullivan have acted quickly in bringing in their trusted lieutenant, Karen Brady as vice chairman and she’ll be quick to install some much needed pragmatism at Upton Park. They are now going to talk to Newham council about moving to the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Olympics. That could be  a challenge as Tottenham enquired about taking it over and were plainly told it was not available. The Olympic stadium is set to be reduced from its 80,000 capacity down to a pointless 30,000, for which there is neither the use nor the need.

The NFL could still play a part in the stadium’s future use that could play into West Ham’s hands. The NFL have earmarked that the often mooted London franchise’s potential base could be there. It would certainly make more sense to use it as a dual sport stadium than a white elephant for athletics, which is the current plan. There is neither the inclination or support for that size of athletics venue in London, they should sell it and use the money to redevelop Crystal Palace Athletic Stadium.

So now, West Ham have to focus on the future and the fans will be thankful that regardless of the criticisms that could be placed at Gold and Sullivan’s door during their tenure at Birmingham City, they still have a club to support. The work is now on to bring in fresh investment to try and work off the remaining debt and crucial to that is the fact that West Ham United need to stay up.

Gianfranco Zola has been nothing but a gentlemen throughout this difficult period for him and he needs to make sure that he can keep his side together for one almighty relegation scrap. For a first job, he has certainly been earning his money, of that there is no doubt. In the next six games, West Ham face Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley, Birmingham City and Hull City. Come the end of February, Gold, Sullivan and Zola will know exactly the size of the task to keep West Ham United in the Premier League.

This weekend sees the entrance of the Premiership and Championship clubs in to the F.A. Cup as the worlds oldest domestic cup competition continues in its 128th year. It’s one of those weekends that gets football fans excited, throwing up all kinds of memories for fans of every club from every level of the domestic game. For fans of all clubs, the F.A. Cup offers us all the chance to dream that this could be our year.

This weekend the fans of Barrow, York City Luton Town and Forest Green Rovers will be bursting with pride as the take on league opposition. Disappointingly for the fan in me, only four non-league sides have made it through to the third round this season but there are still some tasty ties for this years game.

Stoke City, Sunderland, Southampton and Notts County will be the clubs trying to avoid the ignominy of a defeat to a non-league side, but with all three of the bigger clubs at home, I don’t think we’ll see any shocks in those particular ties. There are several ties that are eye opening for several reasons though and of those, Manchester United entertaining Leeds on Sunday is the pick of round. Leeds’ fall down the leagues has been spectacular, but they currently sit on top of Division One, looking certainties to return to the Championship.

It’ll be interesting to see how this resumption of the cross pennine rivalry will be played out, with no love love lost between either side. Of the top four sides in the Premiership, Arsenal certainly have the most difficult tie, with a London derby trip to West Ham United on Sunday as well. Chelsea and Liverpool should make light work of Watford and Reading respectively whilst Tottenham should win easily against Peterborough United.

Overall though, the chances of any Premiership clubs getting knocked out by lower league opponents look slim to be honest but there are a couple of tricky ties. Portsmouth will be hoping Coventry City won’t bring their recent good form to Fratton Park, whilst Birmingham City face a dangerous trip to Nottingham Forest. Manchester City visit Middlesbrough who have been bang out of form since they sacked Gareth Southgate but should be too strong.

Of the other recently promoted sides, Burnley and Wolves both face potential banana skin games at Milton Keynes Dons and Tranmere Rovers and may view the match as a chance to give secondary players a run out. Bolton Wanderers fans will probably be viewing the clash with Lincoln City, now managed by Blackburn Rovers old boy Chris Sutton, with renewed optimism following Gary Megson’s sacking earlier today.

What ever happens, 3 Premiership clubs will be out of the competition no matter what with three all Premiership ties in the third round. Aston Villa welcome Blackburn Rovers, whilst Wigan will be trying to put tonight’s thrashing at Old Trafford out of their minds as Hull City visit the D.W. Stadium and Arsenal travelling to West Ham United.

Overall though, this isn’t really a weekend for shocks, but the F.A.Cup has a reputation for shocking you when you least expect it and that’s why it’s still the best cup competition in the world. Here’s to a great weekend of cup football before we get back to the Premiership.

For every Ronaldo, there’s a Shevchenko. Sometimes, great reputations come at a great cost yet fail to deliver. Shevchenko is a great player to start with. Feared throughout Europe, his performances for Dynamo Kiev and A.C. Milan saw him become one of the most lethal strikers in the world. Once he arrived at Stamford Bridge, his reputation began to fall apart.

Yet these things happen. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, some players cannot settle. Yet others flourish when they were expected to fail. Now we look at some of the worst signings in the last ten years and ask ourselves, did Juan Sebastian Veron really cost £43 million for English clubs alone!!

Well over the years, especially as the Premiership’s international appeal has grown, we now find ourselves in a situation were probably as case can be made for a large chunk of the best players in the world currently ply their trade in England. From Rooney to Torres, Essien to Mascherano, every team offers us a plethora of international flavour. Now let’s cast our eyes over some of my selections for the worst signings this decade in no particular order.

1. Juan Sebastian Veron £43.6 million

Now Veron’s failure to cope with the Premiership is something I still can’t get to grips with. His international pedigree was assured, he’d pulled the strings for Lazio and Parma during a 5 year spell in Italy, he was a top player. The failure of the Little Witch to adapt to the Premiership still astounds me. Manchester United paid £28.1 million for him, but off loaded him 2 years later to Chelsea, were he continued to under-perform. A return to Italy at Inter Milan never saw him recapture his form and he has now returned to Argentinian football.

2. Andrey Shevchenko £30.8 million

As I’ve mentioned earlier, a striker with one of the most feared reputations in Europe caused Chelsea to change their system and lose their way a little under Jose Mourinho. Rumours abound that the Special One never wanted him at Stamford Bridge but since he joined Chelsea, his career has taken a nose dive. Even a return to A.C. Milan couldn’t recapture his glory days and he has now returned to Kiev. It was like watching a different player when he was at Chelsea, he just couldn’t cope with the game.

3. Sergei Rebrov £11 million

Oddly, Shevchenko’s strike partner failed to adapt to the English game also, but his refusal to accept black players as team mates meant that he was always going to struggle. Perhaps a little more digging in to his personal life would have avoided an £11 million mistake for Tottenham Hotspur in 2000.  Made a return to publicity when Spurs signed Roman Pavlychenko, warning him about the amount of “Non-whites” in the Tottenham area. A thoroughly horrible man, the Premiership is better for his absence.

4. Fernando Morientes £6.5 million

Another striker with a fearsome reputation who looked as if he’d been kidnapped and replaced by a stand in when he joined Liverpool in January 2005. It was especially strange as the season before, he’d had a marvelous campaign in the Champions League with Monaco and a solid reputation forged for Real Madrid and Spain. He just never got going at Anfield and returned to Spain after just 18 months.

5. David Bentley £15 million

Bentley had forged an excellent reputation under Mark Hughes at Blackburn Rovers but his spell at Tottenham has seen him under perform constantly. That goal against Arsenal was expected to be the catalyst but Aaron Lennon’s continued excellent form has seen him become a peripheral player at his beloved Tottenham. It’s simply not worked for him and the problem is no one can work out why.

6. Jean Alain Boumsong £8.2 million

This transfer still makes me laugh, as it was a ludicrous amount of money for a centre half who struggled to cope with Scottish football during his spell at Rangers. Yet, if you want someone to pay over the odds, who better than Graeme Souness to come to your rescue. Never coped while he was at St James’ Park, he was moved on to Juventus and struggled in Serie B before joining Lyon.

7. Albert Luque £9.5 million

Another one of Souness’ signings during his awful spell as Newcastle manager, Luque came highly rated but never saw his career take off at all in the North East. He’d had three excellent seasons at Deportivo but since his two year hell at Newcastle his career has collapsed. Another dreadful Souness signing that never recovered to show his early potential.

8. Bosko Balaban £6 million

Was highly rated when John Gregory signed him for Aston Villa but in his 30 month spell he never started a game or scored a goal. The long running joke amongst Villa fans was that they’d actually signed the wrong player but he was signed as a goal getting striker. On leaving Villa he continued to score goals but will always be remembered for the goalless spell at Villa Park.

9. Steve Marlet £11.5 million

The signing that brought the end to Jean Tigana’s reign as Fulham manager and caused a legal battle with the chairman of Fulham, Marlet was an unmitigated disaster. 11 goals in 4 years says it all and he is currently without a club. Though how he was ever valued at £11.5 million after scoring just 13 goals in 2 seasons at Lyon still mystifies me.

10. Robbie Keane £20 million

Poor old Robbie Keane thought he’d gone to heaven when Spurs grudgingly accepted a hefty bid for the Liverpool supporting Irishman. Yet, unbeknown to Keane, Benitez didn’t want him and he became a pawn in an internal battle between Rick Parry and Rafa Benitez. 6 months later he was on his way back to White Hart Lane for the remainder of the fee that Liverpool owed Spurs, so effectively the Reds paid £8 million for a 6 month loan deal. Has never looked the same player since he returned either.

11. Francis Jeffers £8 million

Arsene Wengers most expensive mistake, Jeffers was supposedly the fox in the box the Gunners needed as the long term replacement for Ian Wright. Yet Jeffers’ attitude had caused him to be gladly sold by Everton and his career has seen him fall down the leagues, failing to score or stay fit for than a month a time. A shining example of wasted potential, he scored on his England debut in 2001 and it was all down hill from there. Is frighteningly still 28, currently injured at Sheffield Wednesday.

So, any thoughts on who you feel was the worst Premiership signing of the last 10 years? Please leave your comments below.

This decade has seen the Premiership continue to grow and attract some of the worlds greatest players throughout the last ten years. By continuing to attract some of the biggest stars in the world, only La Liga can truly consider itself a rival for the quality of the players on show throughout the league. Yet who would make the best Premiership team of the decade?

Which players have consistently delivered year in, year out, or given years of sterling service throughout the decade? Well I present you with my best 11 of the last ten years, from goalkeeper to striker and I think you may be surprised with some of my choices. Once you’ve glanced through the team, let me know who you think should have been in or your best 11 of the decade.

1. Shay Given

The most consistent goalkeeper of the last ten years, with only the criminally underrated Jussi Jaaskelainen coming close for me. Seemingly trying to keep Newcastle up on his own, he served under 9 managers at St James Park this decade until he finally ran out of patience with the chaos in the boardroom and accepted a move to Manchester City. Since joining City in January, along with Craig Bellamy, he’s easily been head and shoulders above the other high profile signings at Eastlands.

2. Gary Neville

England’s most underrated player of the last 15 years and one of the best fullbacks this country has ever produced. Solid, dependable and wholly committed to Manchester United, Neville has often been in the shadow of higher profile players at United. For all the plaudits that Scholes, Giggs and Beckham received, without Gary Neville, it would have been a very different period without his consistent quality for club and country.Was clearly the best full back in Europe for a while along with Michel Salgado.

3. Ashley Cole

Yes, he’s got the personality that gets on your nerves and his autobiography was beyond deluded, but he’s been head and shoulders above most other left backs in the last ten years. Despite his issues, Cole is a fabulous full back and his duels with Ronaldo for both club and country have been more exciting than they should be. Only Patrice Evra can come close to him over the last few years. If only he could score more goals!

4. Roy Keane

Love him or hate him, Keane was the ultimate midfield enforcer over the first half of the decade in the Premiership. When Arsenal and Manchester United clashed, Keane vs Vieira was always worth the waiting for. Yet, he scored more than his fair share of important goals than Vieira and Makelele who were the other two key players in a similar position. Controversial until the end, Keane has always spoke his mind, but as a player, for me he was peerless.

5. John Terry

Mr Chelsea, 100% no nonsense defending, Terry epitomises everything that defenders represent. Tough, uncompromising and occasionally has too much to say on the pitch but as captain of club and country, Terry has given everything for the cause at domestic and international level. When he retires, Chelsea will have a major job on replacing him.

6. Rio Ferdinand

Another player who’s off field antics can sometimes grate with the followers of football, but there is no doubting the quality he has as a player. The silk to Terry’s steel for England and Vidic for Manchester United, Ferdinand is the best centre half of his generation. He’s had a ropey few months struggling with injuries and the scandal that the missed drug test caused unfairly tainted his reputation for a while but only Ledley King can come close as a footballing centre half over the last decade.

7. Christiano Ronaldo

Love him or hate him, Ronaldo’s 2007-2008 season was something magical. Quite how he kept scoring at the rate he did can’t really be explained and the following season was always going to disappoint but even though his head had been turned, he still kept scoring marvelous goals throughout the season. If he can replicate his domestic form internationally, then he will be remembered as one of the greats, but he has yet to deliver for Portugal. He needs a great World Cup to cement his reputation. Pace, trickery and explosive finishing that belies his size.

8. Frank Lampard

There is a hair’s breadth between Lampard and Steven Gerrard for me but Lampard gets my nod because he creates more chances for his team mates and doesn’t have the nasty streak that Gerrard can fall back in to on the pitch. A fabulous finisher and a master of the late run, Lampard has consistently delivered season after season for club and country. Has struggled a little this season with the new system that Ancelotti has implemented at Stamford Bridge this year, but I wouldn’t back against him to score another 20 goals this season.

9. Thierry Henry

Well, at least he didn’t have as bad a year as Tiger Woods, his fellow Gillette endorsed scandal buddy but that handball has certainly tainted his reputation almost as much as his whining after Arsenal lost the 2006 Champions League. That aside, Henry was immense for the majority of the decade, even suffering from sciatica for the last few years. His partnership with Bergkamp left defenders dizzy during the Gunners pomp. Failings aside, a damn fine player and terrifying sight in full flight.

10. Didier Drogba

When Jose Mourniho signed him for £24 million from Marseille back in 2004, eyebrows were raised all over England, but he has made the critics more than eat their words. On his day, he is simply unplayable and is once again banging the goals in for Chelsea. His form dipped under Scolari and he flirted with leaving the club, but he’s still at Stamford Bridge and the Blues are far more formidable for his continued presence.

11. Ryan Giggs

What is there to say about Ryan Giggs that hasn’t been said? How good would England have been if he’d stayed true to his schoolboy football roots instead of choosing to represent Wales. Clearly in the category of the greatest players never to have made it to a World Cup, he has scored and created more goals for Manchester United than you can think of. Even now, with Ferguson wrapping him in cotton wool he still delivers. A truly remarkable player.

Notable mentions must go to the following players: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Patrice Evra, Jamie Carragher, Ledley King, Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas,Michael Essien, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres and Dennis Bergkamp. I don’t think anyone would come up with a similar starting 11, so comments please!

He has a record of 1 goal in every 3 games and has captained his country in a career spanning over a decade and eight different clubs, but this season Manchester City finally brought the very best out of Craig Bellamy. Bellamy has a record of 7 goals in 15 for the Northerners and is in the form of his life.

Whilst playing for his ex Wales teammate Mark Hughes at Eastlands, Bellamy has put in match-winning performances against Arsenal and Sunderland and was also devastating in this season’s unforgettable Manchester derby. Hughes’ abrupt sacking straight after his team’s 4-3 win at home to Sunderland may not benefit certain players such as Bellamy. The Welshman was playing with a freedom which he didn’t have before and Hughes had got the team playing attractive football. With likes of Bellamy, Carlos Tevez and Shaun Wright-Phillips breaking from midfield at extreme velocity feeding Emmanuel Adeabyor upfront, City were a force to be reckoned with. There were suggestions that a number of first team players were unhappy with Hughes’ sacking and that they voiced their complaints afterwards and I for one would not be surprised if Bellamy was in that minority. The good relationship between Bellamy and Hughes is something which shows the beauty of football. So many times we have seen a good on field relationship continue when a player turns to management and this one of them.

Bellamy has exploited his searing pace whilst occasionally playing on the wing this season. His centre forward instincts are an advantage as well as he is rarely caught offside and times his runs to perfection. The dynamic, beautifully weighted passes from Tevez and the shrewd, clever movement from Bellamy had been very productive for Hughes and City this season. Hughes’ side were always potent going forward but of course they were dreadful at the back. For us neutrals however, this means a wealth of goal-mouth action. City have had two 4-2s, two 3-3s and one 4-3 this season. The sky blues have conceded a shocking 9 goals in their last 3 games which is an ominous statistic and makes Hughes’ sacking seem justified. However, City have beaten Arsenal twice this season and are still well in contention for the Champions’ League places, more so than last season anyway. Hughes has a right to feel a little hard done by and had a hard job seeing as he cut his teeth managing at Blackburn, a club with wildly different aspirations to City.

Despite his hoards of technical ability, Bellamy’s negative side is his erratic personality. His former Newcastle manager Bobby Robson described him as “a volatile character.” This season alone the 30 year old has been given a second yellow card and a red for diving, has shoved a camera in the boisterous, yet short-lived elation in the Manchester derby and raised a hand to a Manchester United fan on the pitch after the match. The former West Ham striker is almost unplayable when on form it will be interesting to see how he gels with his new manager Roberto Mancini. Mancini won Serie A three times in a row with Inter Milan in Italy in a defensive league, but he has more experience of managing big players than Hughes, so maybe the supposed love hate relationship Robinho has with City will improve. Mancini has a huge weight on his shoulders from the off and Bellamy will be key to any success the Mancunians have this season.

How long does he have left?

With Portugal on the verge of non-qualification for the World Cup in 2010, manager Carlos Queiroz is under extreme pressure and has the very real possibility of unemployment looming over him. Given this threat, and inevitability that this will occur, I ask you… How long before we see the Portuguese back in the Manchester United dugout alongside Sir Alex Ferguson?

With Portugal lying fourth in their World Cup qualifying group with only ten points from seven matches. Going into the qualification group as favourites, the current state of affairs comes as a real shock for the Euro 2008 quarter-finalists.

Denmark have more or less qualified for the World Cup with Hungary and Sweden in equally strong positions. It was imperative the Portuguese overcame Hungary in the last match, but even still, the jobcentre still looms large for Queiroz.

With Portugal lying third in Group A, level on points with fourth placed Hungary and two points behind Sweden who lie second. With two games remaining Portugal face Hungary and Malta, both in Portugal, nothing less than six points from these games will do. But Sweden do have a relatively straightforward fixture with Albania, before which, they play Denmark, a game that will decide the fate of Carlos.

Queiroz therefore may be looking for new employment sooner rather than later and the Old Trafford bench is a familiar environment, one where he has had success in the past as well.

During his first reign sat beside Ferguson for only one year but managed to help the Old Trafford side win the Premier League title on season 02/03, before being poached by Real Madrid. It was after an unsuccessful year in Madrid that he was brought back to Old Trafford by Ferguson to begin an extremely successful four-year reign as assistant manager.

As a number one, Queiroz is terrible, making mistake after mistake. He is also accountable for Portugal’s failure to qualify for Euro ’92 and after taking over a very talented Sporting Lisbon team, led them to three seasons of failure and was promptly dismissed. After his first stint at Old Trafford, Real Madrid offered him a dream job, one that he could not turn down, and one that was a veritable disaster.

Sir Alex Ferguson welcomed the failed coach back to Old Trafford as his number two in July 2004 and so began a fruitful relationship. A number of trophies became housed at Old Trafford, including the 2008 Champions League trophy. Queiroz was seen as instrumental in United’s success, introducing new training methods and tactical plans that underpinned the Manchester United side of a few years back.

He also has an eye for talent spotting; he famously discovered Portugal’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’ and also had a hand in bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford. But these positives have not transpired into the managerial stage and who knows, he may be back sharing a glass or two of Chianti with Sir Alex before the year is out.

The Midfield Magician

Cast your mind back to May 2009, Manchester United were comprehensively and soundly trounced in Rome by a magical Barcelona side, inspired by Xavi and Iniesta. For many, the lack of quality in the centre of the park was plain to see, Carrick looked lethargic and unsure of himself, Fletcher was missed, this, a surprise in itself. Club legends, Giggs and Scholes were ineffective and nowhere to be seen.

The class of the Manchester United midfield is weak in comparison their Premier League rivals, Chelsea with Essien, Lampard, Ballack and Liverpool have Mascherano, Aquilani and Gerrard respectively. Carrick, Fletcher and Scholes just do not compare.

Some of you may cry, “You forgot about Owen Hargreaves!” Indeed I did, mainly due to the length of time he has been injured and latest estimates say he will return around Christmas.

With the transfer window almost closed there are no centre midfielders in sight. So I put it to you that, Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira or just plain Anderson will flourish this season.

In my opinion, Anderson possesses all the qualities to become a top class midfielder, he has pace, acceleration, strength, a strong positional sense coupled with the ability to thread through a match winning final ball. He is a combatitive all action midfielder, beginning his career further up the park, he has since developed a very useful defensive side to an already impressive array of attacking talents.

Anderson reminds me a little of Kaka but with a hint of Roy Keane, obviously these are massively talented players, whose level of ability he has not yet reached, but I think he can and has to an extent combined the best parts of their respective games.

He can sit in front of the defence and play a disciplined role, spreading passes to his teammates further up the field. He can also play as an attacking midfielder, a place where he is most comfortable. In this position he offers all the samba skills you can want – just ask Cesc Fabregas – he has vision, dribbling skills and an eye for goal.

The single shortfall of Anderson’s game, and it is a rather large one, is his uncanny ability to do everything right in the lead up to a shot then fluff the final act, footballs have been found as far away as China. Seemingly he did not bring his shooting boots to Old Trafford.

But I have hopes he can eradicate this untimely habit throughout the forthcoming season, and if pre-season is anything to go by we are in for a few treats, as his sublime free-kick against Boca Juniors was a joy to behold.

I think this could be the season where stamps his authority on this Manchester United side, he has already shown in the past he can mix it up with the big boys dominating in games against Fabregas and Steven Gerrard during his first season with United. He may just prove that there is infact life after a certain Portuguese.

(Note: I incorrectly quoted a passage from the book that made it seem like the author had made light of a stabbing/slashing incident. It was my misreading of the passage. I’ve since re-written that section of the review. My sincerent apologies to Ian Hough and to you readers for my oversight.)

Perry Boys is a memoir written by Ian Hough and covers the ‘Casual’ gangs of Manchester and Salford. However, if you’re thinking that this is simply another book on hooligan culture, you’re quite wrong. Hough takes the reader on a journey into the subculture of fashion that defined many of the soccer gangs of the 80s as well as covering many other aspects of life in Britain at that time.

I’m not much of a fashion follower so this book was more than perhaps I had ever wanted to know about Fred Perry polo shirts (hence the Perry Boys name), Adidas runners (known in the UK as trainers) and all manner of hairstyles. At times I found it stupid that these “boys” would fight over what each other were wearing. I thanked my lucky stars that I grew up in a community where that did not happen. However, human nature being what it is, people always find something to disagree about so why not clothes?

Despite my lack of real interest in the fashion subject matter, Hough does a great job of keeping the book from droning on like a retro catalog or fashion mag. For example, Hough takes the reader on a hometown boy tour of the Greater Manchester area, giving an honest view of places like Salford, Oldham and Rochdale. He also gives some excellent background information on the cultural details behind the Manc-Scouse rivalry.

For me, the fashion was sort of a subplot (Manchester has a long history in the textile industry so it’s understandable that its citizens would be hyper-sensitive to fashion) and what keeps the core story (Perry Boy culture) going is not just the stories of drugs, or reminiscences of trips abroad to track down the latest designer duds but the fact that it became a movement and a cultural force.

Underneath the seeming shallow surface details of clothes and drugs, Hough reveals that a lot of the people involved in the Perry movement received a boost of self-confidence from creating their own scene rather than adopting something from TV. That aspect of the story I can and do respect.

Yes, let’s address what’s on your mind….there were gang/hooligan fights and Hough refers to “knockin about with nutters”.  Some hooligans started to carry utility knives (box cutters) and would slash up their opponents. Other weapons would also be used but Hough does not glamorize the subject or actions even if he does look back at that era with fondness. Hough addresses some of the stabbing/slashing incidents in more detail during an interview conducted by the Gaffer (EPL Talk Podcast 90).

Eventually, like a lot of cultural movements the Perry scene splintered and the people involved faded into normal lives though a number of them became gangsters or drug dealers that supplied the budding Manchester rave scene.

The book only uses football as a background color but it is a great read and I’d recommend it to anyone who has an interest in cultural movements or just wants to learn a bit more about the history of the Manchester area and some of its famous subculture.

For more information about Perrry Boys and to read extracts from the book visit the author’s blog at www.thenamelessthing.com