Ahead of the Game

AHEAD OF THE GAME

Alpha mail. The only truly useful football e-mail

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Wednesday, November 28, 2007. 1600 GMT
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The news in 60 seconds

Mc£EISH QUIDS IN
Alex Mc£eish, who is rumoured to have signed a contract worth three times what he was on as Scotland manager, has said that he took the Birmingham City job because he missed the everyday thrill of working with players. "I really enjoyed my time in the Scotland job, it was a good period for me which was not day to day but allowed me to rekindle my appetite for the club scene again," Mc£eish said.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/birmingham/article2959596.ece

JEWELL IN DENIAL
Paul Jewell has been trying his best to sound like he hasn't given up before he's started. Speaking at this morning's press conference after he was appointed Derby County manager, he said: "It's going to be difficult, I am a realist, but I am not here to raise the white flag." Derby are bottom of the league and have won six points in 14 matches. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/derby/article2959208.ece

BIG SAM UPBEAT
Sam Allardyce has shrugged off the threat to his position as Newcastle United manager today and denied seeking reassurances over his future from Mike Ashley, the club's owner. "No, no, not at all, no. Why should I do that?" Because you are 7-1 to be the next Premier League manager to lose your job and your team have won only one point in four matches? Just a thought.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/newcastle/article2961654.ece

WENGER CHANGES HIS MIND
Arsene Wenger said yesterday that it was important for Arsenal to finish top of their Champions League group, but after watching his inexperienced team get trounced by Seville, he's changed his mind. "For me the unbeaten record in the Champions League is not important, what is important is to qualify," he said. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article2961490.ece

KEANE'S TONGUE-LASHING
Roy Keane has given himself the kind of verbal tongue-lashing that he normally saves for team-mates, WAGS, prawn sandwiches and Alfie Haaland after his team's 7-1 defeat by Everton. "I have to take full responsibility," he said. "That's what being a manager is about."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article2961490.ece

FIVE HELD ON CORRUPTION CHARGES
Police investigating claims of corruption in football arrested five men today as they launched a series of raids across the country. City of London Police said the five were being held on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting. It is not known whether the arrests are linked to the Stevens report.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2960090.ece

BENITEZ EYES PROGRESS
Will Rafael Benitez's rotation policy be shown the revolving door? Oliver Kay says defeat by Porto tonight would enable Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr to sack The Bearded One for footballing reasons - but the likelihood remains that unless his relationship with the Americans improves he will be on his way out for non-footballing reasons. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article2957288.ece

CHELSEA'S MOB RULE
The Normal One is sounding more and more like The Special One. Avram Grant has told his Chelsea players to carry on complaining after they swarmed over the referee like bees around a honey pot during the victory over Derby County on Saturday. Speaking before tonight's Champions League match against Rosenborg, he says Chelsea are being targeted by the men in black / green / yellow / whatever they wear these days.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article2957481.ece

STRACHAN CAUTIOUS
Everything to play for at Celtic Park. Gordon Strachan's team face Shakhtar Donetsk knowing that whoever wins tonight will hold the whip hand in the chase for the second qualifying spot - but he's warned Celtic to take nothing for granted. "We must keep the ball because technically, we are not as good as they are," Strachan said.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article2957280.ece

SOUNESS FOR SCOTLAND?
Graeme Souness has said he is interested in an international job - we're presuming he means the Scottish one - but Gordon Smith, the chief executive, has pledged that the SFA will not be rushed into a decision as to their next national manager.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article2960434.ece

THE LOST GENERATION
The Times' series about the plight of English grass-roots football has pulled in the kind of postbag normally reserved for the Blue Peter Christmas appeal. You're blaming everything from the quality of coaching, pushy parents, the sell-off of school playing fields and the demise of state education for England's Euro 2008 failure. Join the debate. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2955769.ece

LIVE COMMENTARY
Defeat against Porto tonight would not only end Liverpool's Champions League hopes for the season, it would pile the pressure on The Unshaven One. Rob Dineen will be leading the line for Times Online as he brings you every panicked pass and edgy tackle from the crucial match.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/sports_commentary/football/index.html
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>>>>>FANTASY FOOTBALL WITH BRAINS<<<<<
* Register today for PlayTheGame and join the managerial merry-go-round
* It's free and you can still enter
* Win monthly prizes and tickets to the Euro 2008 final
* http://www.timesonline.co.uk/playthegame
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If you've got another couple of minutes

MOURINHO'S ENGLAND STRIP TEASE
If the FA didn't already know it, proof that Jose Mourinho would be more high maintenance than Amy Winehouse on a night out in Brighton. The Special One has been flirting with the governing body by telling The Sun that he would be open to offers about the England job - but only if the FA makes the first move. "Tell the FA to come and get me," Mourinho purred before beckoning coyly to Brian Barwick. "We will have to wait and see. But I rule nothing out."
Admittedly, it's not exactly a Jodie Marsh-style come-on, more like a game of playground kiss chase - although AOTG finds the image of the Portuguese shouting "chase me, chase me" as Barwick is led a merry dance through the boardroom at Soho Square disturbingly hard to swallow. Unfortunately, and like the little tease Mourinho is, his ardour appears to have cooled now he knows it's for real. After all, even Times readers made the Special One their special choice for the England job, with 36.6 per cent of you voting for him in our online poll.
But Mourinho is backtracking faster than Gordon Brown can hand back those dodgy cheques and "sources" have distanced the former Chelsea manager from the quotes. Could it be that he was just using the England job to get a bit of publicity while he waits for a more enticing offer at a top European club? And if so, should the FA allow itself to be lured in by a siren on the rocks?
Send your comments to: sport@timesonline.co.uk

AND WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS...
The only thing AOTG has found more baffling than trying to understand why Alex Mc£eish would give up a nice job with Scotland to join Birmingham City (OK, that one's not so hard to figure) is trying to explain the managerial musical chairs. As far as we can work out, it went something like this: Paul Jewell left Wigan Athletic in the summer, which (after several short-term fixes) created a vacancy for Steve Bruce, who left Birmingham City to take the job. That opened a gap for McLeish, who ditched Scotland to take Bruce's old job at Birmingham. Meanwhile, Derby County got rid of Billy Davies leaving Jewell, who didn't want his old job back, to take Davies' former job at Pride Park. Davies, meanwhile, is well placed to take McLeish's old job at Scotland. Who have we missed?

HENRY'S TOILET HUMOUR
The rumours that Thierry Henry's career has gone down the pan at Barcelona appear to be true, just not in the way we all thought. The forward has been caught with his trousers down in a new range of "caganers" - a traditional Catalan doll that is used in the nativity and features a peasant going to the toilet. The website http://www.caganer.com/index.php?cPath=25&language=en says that it is meant to be a compliment to the player - although we think a figurine of Henry on the job would also make an ideal Christmas gift for Tottenham fans. After all, he spent years doing something similar to their hopes.
The doll is available for 14 euros and you can also get models of Frank Rijkaard, Ronaldinho, Carles Puyol and Lionel Messi. It certainly puts a new twist on another Messi Christmas.

SAMUEL'S POSTBAG
Martin Samuel gets stuck into your comments in a Game Debate with a difference this week. He's abandoned the debate on grass-roots football - not because he doesn't care, but because this paper cares so much it's taken the debate to another level - and focused on whether Martin O'Neill has really ruled himself out of the England running. Some of you have accused him of trying to unsettle the Aston Villa manager, while others say there's no way he would want the job. Samuel begs to differ - and backs his case up with a 302-word transcript from O'Neill's press conference that is more confusing than dyslexia.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2007/11/the-martin-onei.html

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>>>>>THE TABLOID SCANDAL<<<<<
FANS PELT TELLY PERV AT FOOTIE - The Sun
What you need to know: 1) Chris Langham was pelted with boiled sweets when he went to see Arsenal play last weekend. 2) Fellow Gunners fans jeered: "We know where you sit" as the Thick of It actor watched Arsenal beat Wigan Athletic 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium. 3) Langham was attending the match having won early release from a ten-month sentence for downloading child porn.
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A quickie before you go, sir?

EXCLUSIVE: RAFA MAKES UP!
An AOTG exclusive: we can bring you secret footage of a rapprochement between Rafa Benitez and George Gillett Jr. After The Stubbly One's humble press conference yesterday, the two decided to make up and join each other, hand in hand, in a reprise of La Cucaracha.
http://www.jibjab.com/starring_you/receipt/3523415

VISIONARIES
This is either a Derby County training session or one of Steve McClaren's failed innovations. It's a group of Japanese guys playing football ... with binoculars. And it's harder than you'd think.
http://www.doubleviking.com/japanese-guys-playing-soccer-with-binoculars-on-7084-p.html

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10
Number of months (minus two days) Alex McLeish was in charge of Scotland - the shortest reign in the modern era.
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In TheGame

Martin Samuel is not the only one to have been answering his postbag. After this week's insightful edition of TheGame Podcast, Gabriele Marcotti has been getting to grips with your queries. Was he too soft on 'Arry Redknapp? And does the podcast have an anti-English bent? He fronts up to your questions.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/audio_video/podcasts/thegame/article2923970.ece
It's one of the game's great clichés: putting in a performance for the new manager. But Tom Dart has been looking at the numbers and the chances of Derby County turning their form around against Sunderland are not looking good. http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2007/11/clubs-who-fire.html
In Fanzine Fanzone , our Chelsea man is grateful for the three points from Derby County - even if he can't understand what they are complaining about. Why were they booing the England players? And why aren't they more upset about the departure of Billy Davies?
http://timesonline.typepad.com/fanzine_fanzone
The best of Everton's goal blitz, Davies's last match in charge of Derby County and Fulham throw away another lead. Highlights from last weekend's Premier League matches.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article2236741.ece

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>>>>>THE RIVALS<<<<<
* 'Worst refs I have ever seen': Wenger rages - Daily Mirror
* Fergie: give Jose job - The Sun
* Wenger in ref rage - Daily Express
* Benitez beats a retreat - Daily Mail
* McLeish and Jewell check in at Birmingham and Derby - The Independent
* Come and get me, Mourinho tells England - The Daily Telegraph
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Joe Bloggs' Soapbox

It's obvious, the new man should be an Englishman who manages the highest positioned Premiership team with the most English players in the side. These must be the best players available to play for England!
T. Elcock from Cambridge leaves us with a choice between 'Arry Redknapp, Alan Curbishley and Big Sam.

I cannot understand why all the comment on the Premier League is restricted to the lack of good quality English players and managers. Surely with the likes of Clattenburg and Riley spoiling game after game we need to attract some good quality foreign officials otherwise up-and-coming players will soon lose heart - not to mention the fans!
As if we don't have enough to worry about, P Neafsey of Harrogate raises another bone of contention.

Send your comments to: sport@timesonline.co.uk

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Tomorrow's news today

- Oliver Kay and Martin Samuel report from Anfield on a defining night for Rafa Benitez
- Graham Spiers on the next step for Scotland
- The Uefa Cup previews

And expect...

Expect Avram Grant to be pictured wearing an Armani overcoat while haranguing the officials.

Spread the word. It's like pyramid selling but without the hassle. Click on the following link if you (or your friends) want to subscribe to this newsletter:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2187217.ece