For those who haven’t heard, starting this May-June, readers of The Times and The Sunday Times online will be forced to pay a fee or subscription in order to read news from one of Britain’s biggest and most trusted news sources. Some 20 million monthly readers of the two sites will be effected by a change that analysts say will cause “almost all” of the online readers to look elsewhere for their daily dose.

Both sites, currently under the ownership of Rupert Murdoch’s News International, will soon have a £1 per day or £2 per week fee to access articles. Also launching this June is a new site called Times+ which will feature exclusive events, offers and extras and will cost £50 per year as a stand alone subscription.

The new roll out of both sites aren’t short of bells and whistles to tempt long time readers into taking the plunge and subscribing for the once free content. I was recently able to preview the revised sites, and it’s safe to say they definitely have an elegant, glossy design. This risky crossover surely has undergone countless hours of research, design and testing to assure the switch goes off without a snag. It’s safe to say that if there were massive problems, the already weary paying customer may be scared off for good.

One of the major selling points I’ve been able to discern from the new sites are the interactive features that are sure to be unique and informative. To name a few:

• Exclusive photo gallery and online video
• Daily live Q & A – quiz your favorite journalists
• Interactive graphics and more

Still though, are rivals the Guardian and the Telegraph chomping at the bit as one of their competitors enters into the forest of the unknown? In short, Yes. Both are sticking by their tried and true format of free online articles and news. The Daily Mail Online will also stick with their format of free articles saying, “A pay-wall MIGHT make a little money — we will make a lot.” So who will pay for news?

What Does This Mean for Readers of EPL Talk?

The answer to that question of course depends on how much you frequent the site itself for news and articles. Obviously, most readers of this site will peruse the articles from the football section of the Times Online which feature some of the best writers in the UK including, but not limited to Patrick Barclay, Oliver Kay, Gabriele Marcotti and more.

Will You Pay?

James Harding, editor of the Times, recently stated that the paper is “going to lose a lot of passing traffic”, yet also added that the pay basis was “less of a risk than just throwing away our journalism and giving it away for free”. Regardless of your opinion, Harding’s comments were definitely of an interesting perspective from a man who realizes the risk of the new format. But “throwing away our journalism” may be a step too far.

I can’t see myself paying for content when I can get similar and equally as good writing and reporting from other UK based sites. And what’s to become of the highly popular TheGame Podcast? Will the Times attempt to charge for the weekly show that features Nick Szczepanik and Marcotti? This and other variables, such as the impending success or failure of the change over to a paid format are still widely unknown.

I believe that if a paid format is to truly work, what’s being paid for must offer something that one couldn’t simply find elsewhere. In an age where not only every news outlet has a website, but also a mobile app, the market for instant and free information is so saturated it makes a paid format almost laughable.

What’s to become of the new Murdoch method of setting up a paywall for The Times? Will other news sources soon follow Murdoch’s lead? Will such a risky business model thrive or fail in these still volatile economic times?

We’ll all know in a few short months, but until we do, enjoy your free articles on The Times while you can.

Patrick Barclay, one of the top English football authors and journalists in the world, is the guest on the EPL Talk Vodcast. In part one of a five part interview series, Barclay discusses Jose Mourinho, which stadium is his spiritual home, the art of writing, the one match most recently that astounded him, what it was like to walk down the player’s tunnel at Maracana and much more.

Join EPL Talk’s Laurence McKenna for this private interview from inside the living room of Patrick Barclay. For an enhanced viewing experience, watch the HD version of the Patrick Barclay interview on YouTube.

Founded in 2006, the EPL Talk Podcast is the only Premier League interview podcast on the Internet. During each daily episode, we bring you intelligent interviews with some of the biggest names in football such as Mikel John Obi, Steve McClaren, Toby Charles, Graham Poll, John Terry, Gabriele Marcotti, Martin Tyler and many others. Subscribe to the EPL Talk Podcast today via iTunes.

So, the last two days Michael Owen was all over the British press making bold statements about his fitness, his England chances and the possibility of starting more games for Manchester United. 20 minutes in to the clash against Wolfsburg, Berbatov replaced him and it was a case of back to square one for Owen and I’m left scratching my head as to why he even started tonight’s match.

He didn’t train yesterday because of a groin injury, so as soon as I saw the interview with The Times today, I felt that perhaps Owen was tempting fate. I’m not pleased to say that he had indeed pushed his luck with cosmic karma. He wanted the opportunity to start a game for Manchester United and he got it. He wanted Fabio Capello to watch him play and he was at Old Trafford tonight. He wanted an opportunity to impress him but 15 minutes in, the groin went and with it, the chance to push for a place in the last two competitive match squads before the World Cup next Summer.

The interview with Owen intrigued me, mostly because he’s scored 2 goals as a substitute so for Manchester United this season. In the games he’s started he hasn’t scored, or played particularly well. 7 English strikers have scored more and are playing regularly, whilst Theo Walcott is just returning and Emile Heskey is not a goalscorer. Whilst no-one can argue that between 1998 and 2004, Owen was a class apart as a striker, since that point, he has endured an injury nightmare.

Regardless what his ridiculous brochure stated in the summer, Owen hasn’t played more than 30 games in a season for 5 years. He hasn’t hit more than 20 league goals since the 2002-03 season. Since Euro 2004, he’s scored 7 England goals in competitive games and 7 in friendlies, and regardless of what he was, it is clear that he is not the striker he was before Euro 2004.

Now, I’m a fan of Michael Owen, the footballer. Well I was a fan, but regardless of what Owen says, I am not convinced he will ever get back to the level of performance that he showed up until the European Championships of 2004. It is a case of people wearing rose tinted glasses and I do not understand why people are still falling for the hype in regards to recalling him to the England team. People will always recall the goal against Argentina in St Etienne but that was 11 years ago. 11 years!

This is the England team that put 9 goals past Croatia. This is the England team that has qualified for the World Cup winning 8 consecutive games. This is the England team that have scored 48 goals in the 18 matches under Fabio Capello. Can someone explain to me what the strikers aren’t currently doing that means England need Michael Owen? Having an average of 2.7 goals per game is a phenomenal record at international level, does it require an injury prone striker to add to it.

England do not need Michael Owen, Michael Owen needs England. If Owen was anywhere near the level of 2004, I’d have him in the squad in a heartbeat, but he isn’t. Owen is living on past glories and media buddies. England can win the World Cup without him and as he sits on the sidelines once again, people need to have more faith in Fabio Capello. The clamour for Owen’s inclusion does Capello a disservice and it’s about time we drew a line under Michael Owen’s England career and looked to the future.

Patrick Barclay is one of Britain’s best known and respected football journalists. With a career of over 30 years working for a variety of publications and numerous appearances on television talking about the game, Patrick is always worthy of attention.Currently writing for the Times, Patrick has a wide knowledge of the beautiful game and many insights to the nuances of football

I was lucky enough to have the chance to speak with him on behalf of EPLTalk and discuss a variety football issues with him. It was a thoroughly interesting conversation covering a wide range of topics, so much so we ended up chatting for a lot longer than either of us probably imagined. Throughout the conversation he was polite, friendly and it was a really warm discussion. I hope you enjoy it.

EPLTalk: Firstly Patrick, thank you for taking the time to speak to us today, we really appreciate it.

Patrick Barclay: My pleasure, I’d much rather have a conversation than e-mail back and forth.

EPLTalk: You’re currently working at The Times, was it a wrench to leave to The Telegraph after 12 years?

Patrick Barclay: Yes, I think it was 13 years but I was very used to the Sunday newspaper rhythm, so I was kind of nervous moving away from that. It does suit me better though, having the opportunity to write daily. There’s such a quality of writers at the paper, I feel that I have to fight for a shirt so I understand how Carlos Tevez felt last season at Manchester United. I had had enough of the Telegraph, there was few things going on that I didn’t agree with, so it was nice to have the opportunity to go to the Times.

EPLTalk: Well I first became aware of your writing when you worked at the Observer.

Patrick Barclay: Yes, Oh gosh! That was a great break, that was the first time I’d worked on a Sunday newspaper and the Observer at that time had a great writing tradition. Many great writers were there, especially sports writers led by Hugh McIlvanney. If you can’t learn anything working alongside McIlvanney, then you haven’t got much chance. So that was a great experience, I loved it and we had a great sports editor there, Simon Kelner and it was great fun.

EPLTalk: The other work I know you best from is doing the Sunday Supplement show on Sky Sports on Sunday mornings. So do you get fed as well as given all the coffee and croissants?

Patrick Barclay: I love it, when you get the chance to talk football, for an hour and a half with people you enjoy talking with, it’s great. You get a fee and you also get the chance to eat as much as you want! The only complaint I’ve got is when I’m eating my oranges, whenever I finish one, someone comes over and takes the peel away! (laughs) Someone is always tidying up!  It’s a great show though, I really enjoy doing it.

EPLTalk: So I’ve been reading that you’re a fan of Dundee, but I first saw it on Wikipedia, so I thought I’d better find a proper source!

Patrick Barclay: (laughs) Yes, I am very much a fan of Dundee Football Club. I started supporting the club in the 1950′s. My grandfather took me about 1955, when I was about 8 against Hibernian. I started going when I was old enough, about 11 or 12, to go on my own with friends. Within about 3 years we won the League, I went to the game that clinched it away at St. Johnstone in front of about 25-30,000 fans. I thought wow this is fantastic!! I doubt I’ll ever see them win the league again but I count myself very, very lucky to have seen that.

EPLTalk: Well I’m not holding my breath to see Tottenham win the league,the last time we managed it was 11 years before I was born!

Patrick Barclay: (laughs) Not another Yorkshire Spurs fan! Why do so many Yorkshire people support Spurs??

EPLTalk: I don’t know, my first game I really watched was the 81 Cup final and I was lucky enough to go to the F.A. Cup final the year after and it’s dogged me ever since.

Patrick Barclay: Spurs are a great club, there was a Dundee player who also played for Spurs who was a legend, but a little bit before your time, Alan Gilzean. Another one was John Duncan, the striker who went on to play for Derby.

EPLTalk: Ah, is that the John Duncan who managed Chesterfield?

Patrick Barclay: Yes, when they almost reached the cup final in 97, when they were denied by a strange refereeing decision.

EPLTalk: Ah yes, with the disallowed goal for a foul that no-one could work out what it was for.

Patrick Barclay: Exactly!I saw John the other day and he now works for the League Managers Association. He’s a lovely man. I still keep an eye out for Dundee’s results and I’m a member of a supporters club called the Dee’s Down South. In fact I’ve just renewed my membership but unfortunately I don’t get to see them much, the last time was probably about 3 years ago.

EPLtalk: I see you’ve a big game at the weekend against Annan Athletic in the cup?

Patrick Barclay: Yes, yes but they won on Saturday, 2-0 against Ross County with two goals from Leigh Griffiths and he scored the goal that also knocked Aberdeen out of the Co-op cup last week. So things are going well at the moment, though we’ve got Rangers in the next round. We’ve got a bit of money and the crowds are up to around 5,000 so it’s going well.

EPLtalk: Excellent, so I’ll be honest Patrick, I’ve only got one of your books, so please don’t think less of me! I’ve got the Mourinho one.

Patrick Barclay: Oh lovely, I’m glad you have. I’m currently writing one about Sir Alex Ferguson and that should be out this time next year. That’s what’s keeping me so busy at the moment.

EPLTalk: That’s great, I’ll look out for that one then. In the Mourinho book I just got a feeling of real admiration for him from yourself throughout it. Whenever I’ve read your articles or seen you on television when the conversation turns to Jose,  you do seem to have a lot of time for him.

Patrick Barclay: Yes I do, but I hardly know him. I met him for only the second time recently the day before the Inter/Barcelona Champions league game. I rang him up because I wanted to talk to him about Ferguson for the book and he invited me over to spend a little time with him. That’s really kind of him, but when I was researching the book, I just kept getting anecdotes from people saying what a nice guy he was. I’d made a calculated decision to write the book, I was in a little bit of a hurry, I only had 5 months or so and I made a decision that I wouldn’t try and be clever about it and just write it based on other people’s experiences of the man and what I knew.

For example, I was Lisbon for a Sporting v Newcastle match a few years ago. I was checking out of the hotel and the guy at the counter must have seen something and said are you from England? So I answered yes, and he said Ah, the country of Mourinho. So we laughed and the man said I’m from Setubal, which is Mourinho’s home town. So I asked if he knew him and he said no, but that young lad does, pointing at chap working in the lobby.

So quick as a flash, I ran over to him and said “Do you know Mourinho” and he said yes, I was in his class when he was a teacher. He talked about him with such admiration and the way that he took such an interest in the boys lifestyles, encouraging them to concentrate on football and their studies and not spend all night partying. One particular boy had tremendous talent and Mourinho went out of his way to encourage the lad and kept on at him, but unfortunately, whilst he played for Portugal schoolboys, he didn’t quite make it.

Yet he continually put so much of his own time in to trying to help and develop everyone in his class, they all adored him. Then he said, Funnily enough I saw him last summer when I went home. The lad was in a chicken shop and you know how the Portuguese love their fried chicken. Imagine his surprise when Mourinho walked in. The lad walked over to him and said hello Mr Mourinho. Mourinho studied him and went I know you, you’re Andre and then spent the next 20 minutes asking about him, his family and how he was doing, wished him good luck shook hands at the end and off he went to get the chicken home for the family.

EPLTalk: That’s brilliant, that just shows what effect he has on people.

Patrick Barclay: When you hear stories like that about the guy, you can’t help but understand why players want to play for him. It was purely a chance encounter but it was very helpful. It did make me genuinely like him and I thought it was typical of him to give up his time to talk about Ferguson if I wanted to pop over and see him.The other side of him, and this is the thing I keep learning about football management is that it makes monsters out of you. It makes them do things you wouldn’t do to your family or friends, like all the hoohah in the Barcelona game with Franck Rijkaard and the referee. They can do and say some pretty nasty things that they probably regret, I’d say that about Mourinho and the same is probably true about Ferguson to some extent.

EPLTalk: Yes, just from my own perception as a fan looking in, when you hear those stories about his teaching career, it’s no wonder he seems to have an ability connect with people and get them to run through walls for him.

Patrick Barclay: Oh yes, very much so. He is a leader, no doubt.

EPLTalk: Now, this season’s Premiership. There seems to be goals flying in from everywhere at the moment, I was reading yesterday in either the Times or the Guardian that there have only been 4 games that have finished in a draw this season. Now I find that astounding.

Patrick Barclay: Yes, especially after, what are we, a sixth of the way through the season, it’s almost one every two rounds.

EPLTalk: What do you put it down to? It can’t surely just be bad defending?

Patrick Barclay: I knew you were going to ask me that, I knew you would. (laughs)I really don’t know. I think and it’s a guess, that progressively that the 3 points for a win has changed the psychology of football. It’s the simplest things make such a difference, I think it was the great Jimmy Hill that came up with the idea. I think ever since then, there has been less of a fear factor. I disagree with people who think teams are more fearful these days. The counter attack has become the main, teams try to defend against it but the counter attack is what everyone is trying to perfect.

There’s definitely less fear but that still doesn’t explain why there aren’t as many draws. After all, a lack of fear could mean a team battling for a draw away from home when they’re 2-1 down, there’s definitely a more go for it mentality. I also think that they ways teams are set up now, that may reflect why so many teams go for it now away from home and leave themselves open to late goals. The other thing and I think this is the more likely fact for it is that there is a general recognition of the arithmetic of the situation that a side can go a whole season unbeaten and still be relegated with 38 points.

There is now a recognition that teams now say what the hell and go for it. If you go and win 13 or 14 games in a season, even if they lose the rest, you’ll probably stay up. The majority of teams in the Premierships main target at the start of a season is to get 40,41, 42 points so they go for it knowing if they win 14 games they’ll be safe. So for me, that’s the most likely factor, gradually the mathematics of the situation is coming to the fore.

EPLTalk: Yes, I watched the Sunderland v Wolves on Sunday and that was never a 5-2 game. Yet the fact that Wolves kept going at them desperately and managed to pull it back to 2-2  rather fortunately I thought, but they hadn’t had much luck in the first half. Yet, because they kept going for it, they got picked off everytime they lost the ball.

Patrick Barclay: It was smashing game, what we can find this season, last weekend most games went the way we expected apart from the Wigan Chelsea game yet even the one sided games were really good. Watching Liverpool mince Hull was quite good fun, but Burnley played some decent football even though they lost heavily at Spurs and but for an unfortunate rub of the green with the offside decision when it was 1-0, they may have equalised and made a real go of it. The 5-2 game was an outstanding thriller but someone will still complain about the defending! No doubt these people would have complained if they’d been at Hampden Park for the Real Madrid 7 Eintracht Frankfurt 3 game. They’d have said Ah, terrible defending (laughs)

EPLTalk: Yes you saw that last season, with the Arsenal v Liverpool game at Anfield

Patrick Barclay: The one when Arshavin scored 4?

EPLTalk: Yes and people were complaining it wasn’t a classic, the defending was dreadful, it was woeful. I thought it was an astounding game of football.

Patrick Barclay: So did I, some of the play by Arshavin was unbelievable. One of his goals, when he bent the ball late. Reina thought the ball was about to lodge in his midriff and probably had half a mind on where he was going to throw the ball. Then it suddenly veered away from him and went in to the corner of the net, to beat a goalkeeper of that quality with sheer craft was something memorable. It was just a great, great game of football.

EPLTalk: There have certainly been some fantastic games this season already that I think will be up there at the end of the season in any list of the games of the season. The Manchester derby was a great match and even the Tottenham Liverpool match was a really great game.

Patrick Barclay: Yes, especially when you think how far we are in to the season, there have already been some great games.

EPLTalk: Now you’ve been very complementary about England under Fabio Capello. Originating from Scotland, you manage to avoid all the jingoism that seems to afflict all Englishmen during a World Cup (laughs), but surely they can have a good World Cup. I don’t mean to win it, but have a good tournament nonetheless.

Patrick Barclay: Well, I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t win it but I was talking to Gerard Houillier the other day and he said England wouldn’t win it unless they get a goalkeeper. I can understand that point of view, but my belief that they can win the World Cup is based on either James or Green or Ben Foster even who has had an impossibly patchy month will come good. You only need a goalie to have a good month. Brazil managed to win a World Cup with Tafferel who wasn’t brilliant or even Marcos who I’d never even heard of before 2002.

But they need avoid bad luck such as Robinson missing in Zagreb, or Carson letting one squirm under him at Wembley or even James messing up in that friendly in Denmark 4 years ago. It may go like that, but I still think England will win. They also have to find a right back, I’m not convinced about Glen Johnson, although he’s a wonderful attacking player, that he can defend and England will have to watch the space behind him.

So now you say, well if they need a right back and goalkeeper Patrick how on earth can England win the World Cup? The answer is that the other 9 positions pick themselves and you have really great back up players. Oh and one more thing, make sure that Rio Ferdinand’s injury problems are behind him, because I’m not convinced they are.

EPLTalk: Yes I agree, I think that’s one of the problems that Ben Foster has had. With both Vidic and Ferdinand struggling this season with injuries, that can’t have helped him. In fact,  in the Manchester derby, that was one of the worst games I’ve ever seen Rio Ferdinand have.

Patrick Barclay: Yes, yes, in the two years before that he’d been virtually flawless

EPLTalk: Indeed, he was even scoring last season. (laughs) Ok, well last question for you Patrick.

Patrick Barclay: No problems, fire away

EPLTalk: Bobby Robson passed away last month, it’s something that has surprisingly affected me deeply. He was my England manager and I’ve grown up with him all my football watching life. I wasn’t surprised about the outpouring of emotion from the football community towards him, but I was absolutely astonished by the emotional response the public showed outside of Newcastle and Ipswich. Were you surprised?

Patrick Barclay: I was actually, but I can tell even from talking to you for the first time, I’ve never spoken to you before today, that you are what I call a proper football fan.

EPLTalk: Well, thank you very much. (laughs)

Patrick Barclay: You obviously love the game and are curious about all the facets of it but so many football fans these days indulge in such childish and baby like behavior. They seem much more interested in hating rivals, such as Arsenal fans hate Tottenham and vice versa. You see people who bring their child up to indulge in offensive hand signals and swearing. There is a vindictiveness and a lack of dignity in the game so that said, I was very, very surprised that Bobby Robson seemed to bring  out a latent unity in people. That they do actually like football and they respect humanity, I mean Bobby Robson was no angel but he was enormously charismatic and a lovable man.

I think so many memories were stirred by his passing, I kept thinking back to when he was treated as a punchbag when he was England manager. It wouldn’t surprise me if Steve Mclaren used the same pragmatism to rise above it as Bobby did. I’m not saying Steve Mclaren is comparable to Bobby Robson, in a managerial sense but maybe Bobby showed him how to rise above it, you know? I think he just proved to be an inspiration to everybody, a unifying force in the game which is mind-blowing. Not only in Barcelona and everywhere in Portugal, but I even think that if you had a service for him in Scotland or a minutes silence in Scotland, you’d have the same reaction.

To the footballer lover, these people are immortal really. It wasn’t his ability as a player either, though he won 20 caps for England, but he wasn’t as good as Haynes and the like or his abilities as a manager as he probably wouldn’t rank above Ferguson or Clough but just his sheer admirable qualities and presence. He made everyone smile and that’s always a good thing.

EPLTalk:Well that’s it. Thank you for your time Patrick, it’s been great. I was terrified you’d be bored to tears!

Patrick Barclay: No I’ve really enjoyed it, we’ll do it again sometime, thank you.

You can read Patrick’s column with the Times online and I personally can’t recommend him highly enough.

More news seems to be filtering through over the continued rumours that Setanta Sports are in financial difficulty here in the UK and are desperately trying to find some finance to help them through after they only won one of the six Premier League Packages for the next deal that starts in 2010. A desperate attempt at going to the Premier League, OFCOM and the European Commission arguing that bidding less for the Monday night packages than Sky and therefore not winning them is unfair. No really.

Yet here in UK, you’ve got take these stories with a pinch of salt, due to the massive media influence that Sky have, sharing an owner with two of the UK’s biggest Newspapers, The Sun and The Times. It wouldn’t take much co-ordination to orchestrate a collective campaign to create worrying speculation over Sky’s rival, yet it’s a story that has dogged them for a while and not just from Sky’s media bedfellows.

With a major investment in British football, with deals for both the English and Scottish Premierships, England matches and the F.A. Cup, Setanta is a major investor in the sport but is now apparently trying to re-negotiate it’s deal with the Scottish Premiership down from £125 million to £100 million. It’s also said to be in talks with the PGA to do the same with its American golf coverage.

Personally, I think it’s done a pretty good job for a new player in the game, though its roster of analysts and presenters could do with an overhaul. Steve McManaman is an unusual choice as the main pundit, Craig Burley a poor commentator. Yes, I have to pay £13 a month more for football, but I love football and not just from England.It gives me German, French, Portuguese, Scottish and Dutch football every week, its preseason friendly coverage is fantastic in its depth and breadth but it is a distant third for quality behind Sky and the undisputed kings, the BBC. I like watching football from all over Europe and Setanta gives me a choice I never had previously apart from the awful Eurogoals on dreadfully inept Eurosport.

One memorial episode featured no commentary for 25 minutes until the noise of someone rushing through the door, slamming it shut and breathing heavily for two minutes before beginning to speak will live long in the mind. Every week the commentator clearly hadn’t seen the footage and was flying by the seat of their pants. It never started on time, it was either early or late but never at the advertised time.It was easily the most infuriating football show on television.

The argument that Setanta feels unfairly done to though just doesn’t hold water. It misread the market and believed that with the last deal, the TV rights market had peaked. They were wrong and under bid by 20% of the deal they went with in 2007, Sky bid more and won it. They didn’t want the Saturday evening game rights as they consistently get the lowest figures of all football shown here in the UK on digital TV. Setanta went for them and won.

They made a massive error of judgement and already under subscribed by the 500,000 viewers it needs to reach it’s break even figure of 1.9 million subscribers, now faces a real prospect of people leaving their service. If Setanta do fail, the Premier League would lose around £159 million in revenue over a 3 year period, which would see each Premier League club lose around 2.7 million per season. It would be doubtful that the BBC or even ITV wouldn’t find the money from somewhere to come up with a suitable replacement.The FA on the other hand have a fallback position with ITV who will have to pay an extra £20 million for the England games if Setanta can’t show them. The FA Cup coverage is another matter.

My only experience of Setanta abroad is when I holidayed in the States and watched Sky’s coverage with Setanta logo on. So would we really miss them that much apart from James Richardson, Rebecca Lowe and Special One TV?

When it comes to English football, the number one columnist is Martin Samuel who recently hung up his boots at The Times and is now writing for cross-town rival The Daily Mail.

In 2008, Samuel was named Sports Journalist of The Year in England. The seven times winner of Sports Writer of the Year award is the most successful sports journalist of his generation.

Many readers may remember Samuel for his strong but fair criticism of Steve McClaren’s reign as England manager, as well as his jabs at Major League Soccer and Beckham’s move to the LA Galaxy. A collection of Samuel’s columns still remains on The Times website, while his most recent columns can be found at The Daily Mail. Samuel kicked off his new column at The Daily Mail this past Sunday. According to one report, Samuel could be on a salary of £400,000 at The Mail.

So far, Samuel has written four columns for The Mail. One on the timely subject of clubs cashing in their superstars to help lessen the blows of the Credit Crunch. And another one on why history is stacked against Sir Alex Ferguson’s desire to win the Champions League this season as well as the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup.

The Daily Mail’s acquisition of Samuel is a huge coup for the newspaper. Its online presence has improved considerably in one year since it was named the fifth best online newspaper for football news. The site has undergone a website redesign. It’s still too busy but has come a long way, and the signing of Samuel will definitely increase its traffic.

Liverpool FC has sought the help of investment bank Merrill Lynch to find a buyer for the club, according to a report in The Times newspaper.

Out of the 20 clubs in the Premier League, Liverpool has been one of the hardest hit in the credit crunch due to the £350 million that American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks borrowed that has to be refinanced this January or next July at a time when their bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, may be unwilling to restructure the loan. The Royal Bank of Scotland was bailed out by the British government just last week.

The Times newspaper reported that auditors looked at Liverpool’s books last week as part of the beginning process of finding a buyer, but no buyer has been found thus far.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, was interested in buying Liverpool FC in the past but it’s believed that the American owners are now asking too much money for the club, reportedly up to £550 million.

The best thing for Liverpool, its players and fans would be for Dubai International Capital (DIC) or a similar business group to purchase the Merseyside club, ridding the club of the very unpopular American owners Hicks and Gillett, and moving on a course to build a new stadium in Stanley Park.

What do you think? Will DIC and the American owners be able to compromise and work out a deal? Or will the future of the club drag out until a new owner can be found?