If there’s one positive about David Sullivan’s outburst last week, such was the reaction to it, he’ll hopefully keep quiet until the end of the season. It’s a tricky situation when you’re a chairman of a club struggling at the wrong end of the table, but sometimes, you’ve got to keep quiet. In Sullivan’s case, that may be trickier than it sounds, such is his penchant for shouting about everything from the rooftops.

During his tenure at Birmingham City, Sullivan was quick to judge and had a constant battle with the fans of his ownership. The crowds were poor, even when Birmingham were chasing down the title last season, but having spoken to some Blues, I don’t think many people would pay £40 to watch your team play Scunthorpe in the second tier of English football.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Sullivan is certainly not to blame for West Ham’s current ills, but the rant last week simply confirmed for me that he doesn’t rate the current manager. Gianfranco Zola maybe one of the nicest men in football and a was a damn fine player in his time, but Sullivan, for me, clearly doesn’t rate him.

Of course, once Curbishley walked out due to the boardroom interference, the Hammers were always walking a tightrope. They are paying the price for splurging money on some very bad buys indeed and the Icelandic financial meltdown. It was always going to be tough for any manager and whilst eyebrows were raised at the time, the financial situation clearly scared most of the experienced candidates away from Upton Park.

That’s no offence to Zola, but it now seems certain in my mind that he was only given the job due to the lack of applicants. Managing a Premiership club, despite the financial implications, is a tantalising opportunity for anyone. Zola would have been mad to not take the job but he is beginning to resemble a dead man walking. The Hammers squad looks bereft of confidence and belief, two things you need in abundance when trying to get clear of a relegation scrap.

This is a side with youngsters being thrown in at the deep end and then left to drown, loan signings and journey men footballers bolted on to the players still remaining from the biscuit buyout. It is not a healthy mix for a squad and when you’re picking up strikers who have struggled in the top tier of France, you are always going to be in trouble. Zola seems unable to instill any fight in the side, though most teams would struggle to get anything out of a trio of games against Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

The defeat to Wolves left a bitter taste in most people’s mouths but it shouldn’t take anything away from the quality of Wolves’ performance. They were magnificent throughout the 90 minutes, despite West Ham’s problems. Of course, the one shining light throughout all the recent trouble has been the form of Scott Parker, who has continued to give 100% throughout his tenure. If only he could instill some of his grit and determination into some of his more experienced colleagues such as Matthew Upson or Mido.

Zola has been making do since he came to the club and I feel sorry for him and the West Ham fans. They expect better after seeing so much talent come through the club in the last 20 years, though sadly, none of it stayed for very long. The current crop of youngsters certainly have plenty of potential, but blooding them in a relegation scrap with chairman mentioning financial armageddon every other week doesn’t help any of them. Yet what can Zola do? His hands are clearly tied financially and with the players taking Sullivan’s words the wrong way, it doesn’t auger well for the fight that is yet to come.

With Hull suddenly finding a bit of form, and the gap to safety having stretched to four points, the Hammers have it all to do. A visit to Goodison on Sunday, with Chelsea and Manchester United already beaten there is a cause for concern. The final match of the season against Manchester City points to the irony of Carlos Tevez being in a position to relegate a side he kept up just 3 seasons ago.

So, if the only time you’ve ever come across this tournament is when certain Premiership managers whine about it, let me welcome to you to one of World Football’s best kept secrets. Over the years, the African Cup Of Nations has grown and grown to be one of the most respected tournaments in World Football. So, as the tournament kicks off in Angola on Sunday, welcome to an overview for the 27th competition.

The influx into European football of African players over the last 20 years has seen the profile of this once derided competition rise far above what even the most biased supporter of African football could have hoped for. My first experience of seeing an African side was Algeria’s incredible defeat of West Germany in 1982 and as I’ve watched football, its reputation has grown and grown. Now it’s a fantastic tournament and one you really need to catch so here’s who to look out for in my first article about it.

This year’s tournament is being held in Angola for the first time and as such will give us the first glimpse of some of the teams who have also qualified for the World Cup in June this year.16 teams participate in the finals, drawn in to groups of four, with quarter finals, semi finals, a 3rd/4th play off and the final.Running over 20 days, this looks set to be the biggest African Cup of Nations yet.

The qualification for this years tournament also doubled up as qualification for the World Cup, which saw the odd spectacle of South Africa entered even though they’re the World Cup hosts along with Angola to try and earn a double qualification. Ironically, Angola haven’t qualified for the World Cup and South Africa failed to reach the African Cup of Nations.

Favourites for the second tournament in a row are of course Didier Drogba’s Ivory Coast but in 2008 they were humiliated in the semi final by Egypt 4-1. They’ll be desperate to try and add to their solitary title won in 1992.With a squad featuring the Toure brothers, Drogba, Eboue, Zakora and Dindane, they’ll certainly be there or there abouts, The Elephants will be certainly one of the teams to beat. Drawn in Group B they’ll be one of the two fancied teams in that group.

The other side in Group B with ambitions to win the tournament will be the Black Stars of Ghana. Ghana are a team that we should have seen so much more of over the last 20 years, especially as they gave us one of the greatest ever African players of all time, in Abedi Pele, who like George Weah of Liberia never made it to a World Cup. They finished 3rd last time, so they’ll be desperate to go at least one better but they lack a clinical striker.  With Michael Essien, John Mensah, Kingson, Addo and Amoah in the squad they’ll try and cope with the loss of talismanic captain Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari’s enforced passing over.

Group A should be a walk in the park for one of England’s forthcoming World Cup opponents, Algeria. With a fine international pedigree, they’ll be in with an outside shout of getting to the last four this time round. Since bursting on to the world stage in the 1982 World Cup, Algeria have lost their way a little since following it up with qualification for the 1986 World Cup and winning the A.C.O.N in 1990.

Since winning that title, they’ve been disqualified once, gone out in the first round three times and failed to qualify since 2004. Familiar names to watch out for in the Desert Foxes team are Hassan Yebda and Nadir Belhadj of Portsmouth, Kamel Ghilas of Hull City, Hamuer Bouazza formerly of Fulham and Madjid Bougherra of Rangers. They need a good tournament to reaffirm their place in African football.

Group C sees the power of African football, Egypt and the former star, Nigeria drawn together. Egypt who were pipped for World Cup qualification by Algeria, which saw such scenes of sportsmanship for them, have a lot to live up to . As defending champions since 2006, it remains to be seen just how much of a hangover they’ve retained from missing out on South Africa. Yet, without the injured Amr Zaki and the unpicked Mido, Egypt would seem to have it all to do to retain the trophy. Spurs fans will certainly remember Hossan Ghaly and Dortmunds Mohamed Zidan is one to watch for the Pharaohs.

Nigeria qualified for both Angola and South Africa, but they are not the side they once were. The Super Eagles were one of the key sides in African football’s modern growth but the generation that got them there are slowly retiring. Yet the squad is still packed with familiar names. Yobo, Yakubu, Kanu, Obi-Mikel, Martins, Shittu, Taiwo, Etuhu and Olofinjana will all be in the squad and will be looking to try and re-affirm their place at the head of modern African football. An outside chance of winning the title certainly.

Which leads us to another favourite, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon. Lead by one of the worlds greatest strikers, Samuel Eto’o, Cameroon have been one of Africa’s leading lights over the last two decades. After missing out for the 2006 World Cup, they were in danger of missing out on both tournaments this year, but after sacking the manager, former Rangers, Lyon and Paris Saint Germain manager Paul Le Guen rode to the rescue.

Surprisingly though, Le Guen has opted not to pick the impressive Sebastain Bassong for the tournament but joining Eto’o will be Rigobert Song, Geremi, Alexandre Song, Jean Makoun and Andre Bikey. If they can keep Eto’o up the field, then anything can happen and after the 2006 penalty shoot out marathon against Ivory Coast and losing the last A.C.O.N final on penalties, they’ll be hoping to avoid more shootout heartache.IN Carlos Kameni, they’ve probably got the best goalkeeper in Africa. He could be key.

So they’re the main 6 contenders, but there are two outsiders that may catch the eye. Imagine a team with a midfield of Seydou Keita of Barcelona, Real Madrid’s Mahamadou Diarra and Juventus’s Momo Sissoko with Freddie Kanoute upfront. Well, that’s Mali’s main foursome and with a squad with a wealth of European experience and the Eagles have a team with bags of potential still unfulfilled. Of course, Togo also qualified and whilst the side seem to lack quality overall, if a certain Emmanuel Adebayor fancies it, then the Sparrow Hawks could cause some real shocks.

So there you have it. Over here in Europe, Eurosport will be showing every match, with the BBC disappointingly only showing the semi finals and final this time. If you’ve never watched it before, I recommend it highly and it’ll give you a real taste of what’s to come in June this year when the World Cup gets underway. I’ll be dropping another more articles throughout the month for you to keep up to speed with the tournament, so feel free to leave me your comments and questions.

Jermain Defoe has had a fantastic start to the new season, with goals for England and Spurs; including his 50th for the club in the 2-1 win at West Ham. His hat trick and all round performance against Hull City was clearly his best performance in a Spurs shirt in either spell. When he rejoined Spurs in January this year, he was welcomed back with open arms as a disastrous season began to show the green shoots of recovery under Harry Redknapp.To be reunited with his mentor at a club that could finally match his talent was a win-win situation for all concerned.

Whilst I appreciate Defoe had already been at Tottenham prior to Redknapp’s appointment, he was always considered a luxury player. Under Santini and Jol, the Defoe and Keane partnership didn’t really seem to pay off. This saw Berbatov and Mido brought in 2006 and to this end, either Defoe or Keane would then partner the bigger man upfront. As time went by, the starting pair was consistently Keane and Berbatov and Defoe became 3rd choice.

Under the hellish reign of Juande Ramos, Defoe felt completely unloved, under rated and unwanted. Strikers, like the lead singers of a band, are in general, very precious, needing to be loved and told as much for them to perform. The chance to leave Spurs to link up with Redknapp at Portsmouth was too good a chance to turn down. In January 2008, Defoe moved to Fratton Park for £7.5 million.

17 goals in his 36 appearance for Pompey is some return, but with the financial difficulties beginning to bite on the South Coast last Christmas, Defoe made no secret of the chance to once again be reunited with Redknapp and return to White Hart Lane after 340 days away. Around the corner however, fate had a cruel twist awaiting Defoe.

After breaking his foot in a training ground accident, Defoe was laid up until April and had just returned to the squad on April 19th when his half brother, Jade was murdered. Defoe was devastated, he was close to Jade and his death hit him hard and given compassionate leave for two weeks by the club, on his return to playing, the Spurs fans gave him a rapturous welcome. He was clearly moved by the fans support that day.

Still finding his way back, fitness wise, Defoe managed to get a goal in the win over Manchester City and a brace for England against Andorra. It was a precursor of what this season had in store for him.

He has continued to find strength in the adversity that has happened to him in the last 6 months and along with his team mate, Wilson Palacios; whose brother was found murdered in May, 19 months after being kidnapped, the pitch is allowing them a place they can get away from it all. It has been to England and Tottenham’s benefit that Defoe is showing such character and feeding of the inspiring humilty of Palacios to deal with life correctly.

Defoe has spent the summer working on every aspect of his game, working on increasing his strength and changing his diet. He now realises he has a club manager that has always had faith in him and an international manager who now has a selection issue.For Tottenham and England fans, Defoe is showing signs of finally realising the potential that Redknapp spotted in him when he was at West Ham.

After Eriksson’s ludicrous decision not to take him to the 2006 World Cup, Defoe should be a shoe-in for South Africa and the only question for Fabio Capello is should he start him Wednesday night, his place in the World Cup Squad already assured. After all that’s happened to him this year, it’s the least he deserves.

Why don’t more managers come clean in the press about disruptive or unprofessional players? It seems that more and more in these sanitised and sponsorship heavy times that too many people keep quiet about the players who are taking the Michael. At least Steve Bruce has bucked the trend and come out in public with his frustration over Amr Zaki and his time keeping.

To most football fans, it’s been obvious that Zaki has been wanting to leave Wigan since mid November, such has been the fall off in his performances and attitude. Here’s a striker that scored 9 times in his first 13 Premiership matches but his last goal for Wigan was a penalty in a 1-0 win at Bolton on December 28th and you’ve actually got to go back to October 18th for his last goal in open play in the 3-2 defeat to Liverpool.

A classic case of someone who has decided he’s too big for the club that’s given him the chance to make a name for himself in 6 months and feels that he’s better off without them. Yet it comes to something when your behaviour makes Mido look like a model professional and Zaki is a long way short of that level of commitment to Wigan Athletic and their fans.

I can only assume that Wigan can’t terminate the loan deal they have with Zaki’s Egyptian side Zamalek, otherwise I think Bruce would have kicked him all the way to Manchester Airport and threw him on the next flight back to Cairo. It’s an absolute disgrace that this player feels he can muck Wigan Athletic, their management and the fans about as much as this. In fact it’s pathetic. No-one had heard of Zaki outside of Africa before he joined Wigan Athletic, they took a punt on a striker who was ranked as the worlds best in the FIFA rankings last summer and gave him an opportunity to shine in the Premiership.

As soon as rumours began to circulate that bigger clubs were after him, he just packed it in and put his feet up. Bruce’s comments on Wigan’s website are heartfelt and the frustration and anger drip from every word. This is apparently the 4th time this season he’s done a bunk after International duty which is why I mentioned earlier that I don’t think Wigan can cancel the deal without some kind of financial penalty clause kicking in to touch.

Too many times modern footballers get wrapped in cotton wool and protected from the real world that the fans need to see and hear about. They get paid fortunes in the Premier League and they treat their fans like this, on this form he’s in danger of knocking Ashley Cole off the perch of most idiotic footballer in Britain, which is some going on Cole’s form.

You have to question the reasons behind Zaki’s thinking that if any big clubs are interested, who in their right mind is going to take a chance on someone who quite clearly doesn’t give a damn about anyone else but himself. Good on Steve Bruce for coming clean about Zaki and I feel sorry for any manager that takes the plunge to give him another chance in the Summer. You can bet on one thing, he sure as hell won’t be at Wigan Athletic next season.

You never commit too soon.

Mike Pollitt did just that towards the end of the first half of Wigan’s home tie with Liverpool and paid the price. While Mido equalize late in the match, this was a game where Wigan seriously had a chance at getting all three points.

Yes it’s harsh to blame one person with regards to points lost, but on a night where Liverpool were far from their best this was a golden opportunity to get all three points. The game wasn’t all that entertaining, Wigan had huge stretches where they were on the ball. However, they didn’t do a thing with it.

Let’s be honest about Liverpool as well, they weren’t all that convincing as well. The goal in the forty-first minute came completely out of the blue. Pollitt’s decision to commit so soon left Yossi Benayoun an empty net to shoot at. Benayoun to his credit though, had the tightest of angles  after nearly running the ball out for a goal kick and did well to turn the ball in at the far post.

Liverpool though ended up shooting themselves in the foot and gave up their lead thanks to a ridiculous penalty that should see Lucas benched for the next match. Just giving Jason Koumas a right old kick in the penalty area has to go down as one of the candidates of dumb move of the season. Mido’s equalizer was deserved but it makes me wonder what would have happened had Pollitt not jumped the gun on Benayoun’s opener? Would Wigan have won it? They nearly did on their own merit at the end when Hugo Rodallega hit the wood work. I am just convinced that Wigan would have won it had Pollitt been wiser and stayed on his line.

Other Thoughts From Today’s Action
* Salamon Kalou’s two goals today were a welcomed sight as Chelsea beat Middlesbrough. However when you have 24 shots on goal, you should be scoring more than 2 goals. With all the time Boro spent in their own half, they should feel fortunate they only lost 2-0 and not by more.

* Fair play to Manchester City for beating Newcastle United at home. However the story to this one are the injuries to Michael Owen and Joey Barton. This is the last thing Joe Kinnear needs as they are only 2 points above the danger zone.

* Everton were robbed by Robin Van Persie’s injury time equalizer. However Arsenal have bigger problems on their hands as three of the top four got three points and there is a gap starting to widen between the Champions League spots. What ace does Wenger have up his sleeve to get his side back in the top four? I’m curious to find out what it is.

* How soon is it before we are talking about Hull City as relegation fodder? They look a side that right now are out of ideas. Phil Brown has a bigger job on his hands keeping this side safe than I think he will want to admit.

* Lucky for Sam Allardyce that Benni McCarthy made up for missing from the spot with grabbing a late equalizer. However, there’s still plenty of work to be done by both sides if they want to get out of the relegation mire.

* Numbers just for my own benefit. 1-4 are separated by just 3 points. The number of teams within three points of relegation, that number is 8.

I wonder if Manchester City are ready to cut their losses with Robinho at this time.  After the impromptu vacation he took last week, all Manchester City seem willing to do is fine him two weeks wages. To that I say ‘big deal’. Do you think Robinho cares about missing a couple hundred more thousand quid when he got to have his fun? Now granted Manchester City did not have a game last weekend, but to just take a hike from training is a joke. Sadly though, it doesn’t seem to scratch the surface with the trouble Robinho could possibly cause.

Tonight it is being reported that Robinho has been arrested and bailed over an alleged sexual assault charge. The incident happened a few weeks ago and the arrest was just recently made. The incident in question happened in a Leeds nightclub.

When does it get to a point where Manchester City just say to hell with it and cut their losses with this player? Just the allegation of a sexual assault is a pretty harsh one indeed, even if he isn’t guilty. It makes a club question if having a player of his caliber is worth all the trouble just to have around. For a club that is still not safe for next season this is the last thing they need. It’s another distraction that only takes away from survival in order to build for the future. At this point, it’s only in Manchester City’s best interest to sell Robinho in the summer, he just isn’t worth the headache he has caused this season.

Another guy who at this point isn’t worth the headache is Andrei Arshavin. Depending on who you want to believe, Zenit and Arshavin are at an impasse with regards to a bonus payment that came about from resigning his contract back in 2006. While at the same time, Wenger has come out and said no deal has been made over Arshavin and there are even some who are saying that Wenger isn’t all that bothered if this deal gets done or not.

And at this point, why would Wenger want to spend a few sleepless nights about it? For a transfer that has been talked about since before the January transfer window opened, it’s almost shocking at how slow this all has been. Wenger may have finally gotten to a point where he just threw his hands up and has gone ‘if it happens it does, if not, who cares’. If that is the case I applaud him. Wenger doesn’t need this headache to get in his way of guiding Arsenal back into the top four.

Other Stories
The Premier League has it’s sights on a favorite site of many football fans. The Premier League is going after myp2p.eu. Now if I’m myp2p.eu, I say screw it. All they do is link to games, not host them on their website. Go after the people behind the link, not the guy who links them, it’s counter productive. While I’m thinking about it, doesn’t this just seem like a repeat over what happened with 101greatgoals?

While Craig Bellamy is denying he went on strike at West Ham United, he makes mentions of the allure of helping to build the Manchester City project? You mean the project of staying in the top flight?

Speaking of Craig Bellamy, he could be the reason that West Ham United will never sell again to Tottenham. Or as long as Scott Duxberry is in charge of transfers.

It looks like the BBC is in a bidding group of one over the Premier League Highlights in the UK.

Good old ‘Butters’ as I call him (Mark Clattenburg) has been sacked as a referee due to a breech of contract.

More reason why the Sunday Times may not have to fork over any money to Roman Abramovich. A German investor is looking at forming a group to purchase Chelsea.

Been a busy day for Kenwyne Jones. First he signs a four year deal with Sunderland, then hits the game winner against Fulham.

The fine for calling Martin Atkinson a ‘Mickey Mouse referee’, 500 quid. Joe Kinnear must have that in petty cash.

For someone who hasn’t had the best relationship with Amr Zaki, Mido seems a little too excited about having an all Egyptian partnership at Wigan.

Will the Robbie Keane saga ever end this season? If FIFA will allow it, Manchester City and Tottenham lead the chase to pick up the Liverpool striker.

When the season began, few people would have given Wigan Athletic a snowball’s chance in hell of finishing in the top ten, never mind pushing on the brink of European Football as January almost comes to a close. After a fantastic first season under Paul Jewell in 2005-2006, which saw them finish in 10th place and then a nerve wracking final day survival by winning at Sheffield United to stay up on goal difference. Last season saw them struggle to cope after Paul Jewell walked away and Chris Hutchings paid the ultimate price after trying to fill his mentors boots again after unsuccessfully trying to follow him at Bradford City and Dave Whelan was left facing a major decision in who to turn to in order to keep Wigan Athletic in the Premiership. Thankfully for Dave Whelan, Steve Bruce was having a terrible time at Birmingham City and desperate to get away from the boardroom infighting and aborted takeover from Carson Yeung. It was in no small part to the laughable attempt at a takeover from Yeung that benefited Wigan Athletic but also, in my opinion, saw Birmingham relegated. Yeung’s statements that he wanted to get Birmingham into the Champions League certainly raised a smile on most football fans faces, especially Wigan Athletic’s once Bruce came back to the JJB Stadium in November 2007.

In the 14 months since Bruce returned for his second spell in Lancashire, Wigan have stabilised, survived and pushed on as Bruce looked to add some flair to the qualities that Wigan already had in their squad with players like Chris Kirkland, Emile Heske, Antonio Valencia and Mario Melchiot giving him an experienced and talented spine to add to. His two signings last January,Palacios and Figueroa certainly raised some eyebrows, but now no-one is in any doubt about the qualities of those two players. The duo certainly began to make certain other clubs wonder why their scouting networks couldn’t pick up these bargains and now with the sale of Palacios to Tottenham for £13 million, a fantastic piece of business for Bruce and Wigan. For whatever reasons Bruce has excelled at picking up some fantastic players for peanuts in his time at the JJB Stadium.

The fee for Palacios, coupled with the the money raised from the sales of Heskey and Kilbane has begun to allow Bruce a chance to build his Wigan Athletic. Crucial to this is the intriguing signing of Mido from Middlesborough and Bruce’s options of playing the Egyptian national side’s striking superstars week in, week out. Mido is a player so frustratingly talented, yet wildly inconsistent that Bruce is going to need every ounce of managerial nous to deal with him but Mido finally needs to stop acting like a primadonna to finally deliver on his natural talent.

At 25 years of age, he is now with his 9th club which should tell you all you need to know about his motivation issues and with a career that has seen him play in 7 different countries, banned from his national side after an amazing touchline argument with his national manager in the Semi Final of the African Nations Cup in 2006, numerous red cards, driving bans, alleged scissor throwing incidents at Ajax and so on. Wigan have made steady progress this year and Bruce tried to sign Mido whilst he was still at Birmingham City so he certainly seems to be keen on the striker. Perhaps Bruce is banking on Mido’s compatriot, Amr Zaki, to assist in getting the best out of the talismanic striker and if it pays off, Wigan Athletic will be a very different prospect to the one that faced sides prior to the transfer window opening.It is certainly an interesting replacement for Emile Heskey.

It’s taken me a little while to catch up on the goings on this week as I was away over the weekend. My wife and I took a camping trip and got away from the hustle and bustle of the city for a while. We ended up with some rainy weather but made the best of it, very similar to the Boro game this past Saturday.

I had thought the match againt Stoke City would be a comfortable three points considering the way the lads had performed against Tottenham and Liverpool. The effort still needed to be there but talent-wise I thought the Boro were just better. It was a little disappointing to see us struggle along to a 2-1 win. The obvious turning point in this one was Amdy Faye’s reckless, two-footed challenge on Shawky, for which he was sent off. Stoke lost any momentum that they had developed during that opening 30+ minutes and as one would expect Middlesbrough were dominant from that point on. One has to wonder how the game would have gone had Faye not gotten himself sent off. (Picture courtesy of the Daily Mail match report)

There was yet another own goal in this game — that’s now three in three league matches. A very worrying trend and one that I hope will end soon. Downing’s penalty miss was another lowlight but it’s far from doom and gloom at the Riverside. The three points on Saturday made it Middlesbrough’s best start for nine years and Alves’ goal was pure class. Great to see him get off the mark after looking so clueless in front of goal up to that point.

A few other notes from the week to pass on.

I had been scouring eBay for a Boro jersey and I kept noticing listings for XXL or XXXL Viduka and Yakubu shirts and was wondering……….Nah, you know what I’m not going to go there, it’s too easy!

I was glad to see that unlike other EPL clubs, Boro did not panic buy at the deadline. We’ve got a decent squad, a bit small but at least there should not be too many complaints about not starting or being in the squad. Also glad to see that Mido was not sold as we’re not too deep up front and he’ll be needed over the course of the season. As it turns out Southgate spent his “summer money” in January. The club record fee of £12.7m for Afonso Alves apparently came from the summer budget and it looks like it will be money well spent.

It was good to see a number of the squad involved in internationals this weekend. Downing has gotten another call up for England while Egyptian duo Mido and Shawky, Austrian defender Emanuel Pogatetz and Turkish striker Tuncay will all be in their national team squads. A special mention for defender prospect Rhys Williams, who has got his first senior Welsh squad callup.

I had mixed feelings about the Carling Cup draw. It’ll be fun to have my new team pitted against my old team but it would have been nicer had that happened later in the competition — like the final ! I think we have a good chance to go through if United choose to blood some youngsters in the match and we go in with a strong squad. Southgate has made mention of taking the Cups seriously this season and this will be a test of that conviction.

Until next time, COME ON BORO !

This week’s match was against Liverpool. Though I had to work, I managed to keep an eye on the game (gotta love Slingbox and P2P technology) and saw Boro forced into a late change to the line-up as keeper Brad Jones injured a hand in the warm-up and Ross Turnbull took his place between the sticks.Boro were good value for the money and more than held their own for the bulk of the match. The first half ended scoreless but was uptempo and entertaining. On the hour Mido, last week’s hero, came on for Alfonso Alves who again struggled to make an impression on the game. Just 10 minutes later Mido made his presence known as Aliadiere fed a short ball to his feet and the Egyptian drilled in a low, accurate shot that Pepe Reina could not reach at the foot of the right hand post. 1-0 Boro !

I felt the turning point in the match came on 75 minutes when new signing Justin Hoyte debuted. I found it odd though that he was put in at left back in place of Taylor as that is not his natural position. In the final minutes Boro started defending too deep and inviting shots at goal. The back four had been solid and I’m not sure a change was warranted.

Liverpool got back into the match at the 85 minute mark as Jamie Carragher, the most unlikely of threats, launched a shot from just outside the box that deflected off Pogatetz and past Turnbull.

Gareth Southgate then put on Didier Digard for Tuncay on 87 minutes to try and firm up the midfield and hold on to at least a point. The signs were pointing towards a Liverpool late miracle as Turnbull was forced into making a brilliant save, going full-out to palm away a Gerrard free-kick that was heading towards the far top corner. I thought maybe we’ve done it….maybe that was Liverpool’s last chance. But in the closing seconds Reina’s long free-kick was not strongly cleared and it fell to Gerrard. Of course he belted in an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box leaving Boro empty handed and taking all three points for the Reds.

A scrappy win and a good sign for Liverpool who in previous seasons would have found a way to drop points. If they can continue to put points up while they struggle for form, they could make the title race a three-team affair.

Overall it was a wonderful showing for Boro as they matched Liverpool in many areas (passing, work rate, creativity) and I thought we controlled large sections of play. I also thought that Wheater and Huth were very solid in shutting Keane and Torres down. There are a lot of good feelings that can be taken from Saturday’s game. That doesn’t mean that my heart didn’t hit the floor when Gerrard scored….it was a very cruel ending to what had been an inspiring performance.

But there is still plenty of positivity to be had and ahead of the Carling Cup clash against Yeovil Southgate has expressed his desire to challenge for the trophy.

“Maybe we cannot win the Premier League, but we can win the Carling Cup. We have done it before, and we will be looking for a decent run in the competition. It is a competition that we can genuinely win. We have to believe that. It is a tournament we can go a long way in, and we have done that in the past. We need a good run in the Carling Cup. So much about cups is in the lap of the gods, but we have to maintain the form that we have shown already.”

I would compare Southgate to another ex-player turned manager, Chris Coleman, as someone who speaks honestly and intelligently about the game and does not make excuses for his side. I respected the job that Coleman did with Fulham and the two managers and millions of pounds spent since his departure have thus far produced little more than he did on a tighter budget. If Southgate can continue to grown and learn as a manager, good things should come soon for Boro.

On the community side of things, I introduced myself to the North American Boro Supporter’s group and have joined in their conversations. I was also directed to check out a couple of Boro-related websites: ComeOnBoro.com and the Evening Gazette (a Middlesbrough newspaper). Of note is the blog started by Anthony Vickers under the title “Untypical Boro”. Both sites are entertaining reads and are helping me to gain a sense of the general mindset and outlook of the Boro supporters. Thanks to Dave and Darren for the recommendations.

This week’s project (beyond following the Carling Cup match v Yeovil and the league game against Stoke) is to research the academy and reserve teams. I also need to find a good recipe for, and perhaps attempt to make, Parmo.

Come on Boro!

If Liverpool fans have dreams of winning the Premier League this season, they can kiss them goodbye. Today at Anfield, Liverpool escaped with a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough with a woeful performance that was rescued by an own goal and then an injury time goal by Steven Gerrard.

This was a cruel blow to Middlesbrough who played a strong defensive game for most of the match under a 4-5-1 formation. Despite creating far fewer chances in front of goal, Boro looked more dangerous after Tuncay spun around a Liverpool defender and his shot was saved by Reina. Then in the 70th minute, Middlesbrough took the lead after Mido struck the ball into the corner of the net.

Liverpool’s equalizer came later when Jamie Carragher’s shot took a wicked deflection off Pogatetz and into the Middlesbrough goal. Then, with the last strike of the ball, Gerrard popped up to rescue Liverpool by striking the ball into the back of the net to send the fans in The Kop into ecstasy.

While the result will go down as three points won for Liverpool, there were several major concerns about Liverpool’s performance today. After they were outplayed for portions of last week’s match against Sunderland, you would expect Liverpool to raise their standard of play for their first home league match of the new season. That was entirely not the case. Liverpool did create plenty of chances, but they were as wasteful as Arsenal are renowned for. Gerrard and Benayoun were practically invisible for most of the match, while Torres and Robbie Keane have still yet to strike up a good partnership.

But most of all, what was missing from Liverpool’s performance is their ability to strike the killer blow. For large portions of the match, especially in the first half, Liverpool almost put Anfield to sleep by playing at a slow tempo that was easy for Middlesbrough to defend against.

To me, that’s one of the major differences between Liverpool and Manchester United. With Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, you can often sense a goal when a goal is coming when they start their blistering attacks. With Liverpool, so far, they’re too predictable and will find it very difficult to outperform Man United, Chelsea or Arsenal this season.

Liverpool needs to improve considerably if they’re serious about trying to stay a top four club this season. Defensively they look strong as long as Hyypia stays on the bench, but they have issues in midfield and up front. The team is relying too much on Fernando Torres just as they did last season when they seemed to be waiting for Gerrard to create something magical.

This is going to be a long season for Liverpool based on their last two poor performances.