Are you Dutch and Available?

Dick Advocaat’s last minute u-turn on his Socceroos coaching gig unfortunately did not come as a huge surprise last Friday. There were rumblings that the u-turn was on the cards for a few weeks before the news officially came out and the rumblings became louder when Advocaat’s current club, Zenit St. Petersburg, took out the Russian championship. The possibility of Coaching Zenit in the Champions League next year along with a reputed 4 million US dollar a year salary proved to be too big a lure. The fact that he had signed a contract to coach the Socceroos didn’t seem to bother him too much.

It is the way of the modern football world unfortunately that contracts often aren’t worth the paper they are written on. The FFA are rightly frustrated with the whole thing, as well as a little embarrassed I am sure; it is this embarrassment that will no doubt drive them to try to exact some revenge through legal avenues. Stay tuned on this, I have the feeling it will be a long drawn out process (please not as long as the Tevez saga from last year!) where a lot will be said/written, and ultimately not much gained.

There are of course serious football issues to write of now that Advocaat will not be the man to take over. Australia needs a new coach, and relatively quickly it seems, with the first game of World Cup qualifying campaign creeping ever so closer. The big question is who should that man be?

Having read a lot of Australian media over the past few days it seems pretty unanimous that it should be a foreigner (I do emphasise pretty unanimous. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Mike Cockerill somehow still puts Graham Arnold’s name forward as the best candidate for the role. I quote from a recent article of his: “The FFA's best choice has always been right under its nose. It's just it has been too blind to see it.” I don’t even know where to start with this, but as I’ve already written an article referring to his stupidity before, I’ll leave it there for the moment…).

So, what would be the ideal profile that the next Soccerros coach should have? I’ll go through what I think the desired attributes are point-by-point:

1) Be Dutch (or an equivalent nationality)

Having had great success with a Dutch manager in the past and having a Dutch technical director currently, this is a bit of a no-brainer. The Dutch footballing philosophy seems to be a good fit for Australia and is getting results, so, to use the marvellous quote that the monarchists used ad nauseum in the lead up to the Republic referendum in Australia “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” (shudder).

A final point on this, if a prospective candidate was not Dutch, they would preferably come from a country and/or come through a coaching system that was similarly as technically rigorous and impressive as the Dutch one that by design would subsequently add to the development of the game in Australia.

Unfortunately that rules out an English coach, as that particular footballing culture has had too big an influence on Australian football over the years and therefore having a coach from there does not fit in with the brave new direction Australia is taking to ensure it develops as a footballing nation. No offence to England on this, it is just time another philosophy was tried as we have had England as the major influence in a footballing sense for a long time and it is time we branch out as we must to develop further technically.


2) Have Asian experience

Australia found out the hard way in the Asian Cup that qualifying for the World Cup through Asia will be very tricky. The diversity of opponents, cultures and conditions is as extreme as it gets in World football and having a coach who has been there, done that and been successful would be a huge boost for the Socceroos.


3) Be willing to re-locate to Australia

Now that Australia is in the early stages of implementing it’s new National Football Development Plan, it is even more vital that whoever takes over the reins of the Socceroos lives here full-time. There will be a lot of work to do and oversee across all age-levels and the A-League. Quite simply, this will mean we should try and avoid a manager being based for the majority of his time in Europe or elsewhere.

4) Have a high profile/be charismatic

Football in Australia still has momentum built up from the last World Cup campaign that needs to be built on even further; the momentum and good-will won't last forever, though (in fact it has no doubt already decreased since the World Cup). What better way to build on this momentum than bringing in a high profile coach or one that is charismatic enough to feed the growth of the game even more?

Ideally the coach will act as an ambassador for the sport as a whole, we all know how competitive the market is for sport in Australia so this point is important as if the right person gets the job he could be successfully marketed as the public face of the new development plan.


5) Play an attractive style of football

Many would argue with me on this one but linked to the above point, Australia is a hugely competitive sports market and therefore we cannot afford to have a coach in place that burdens us with an un-attractive long-ball style of game, regardless of whether or not it gets results. The incumbent coach should carry on Hiddink's legacy in this regard and encourage the players to uphold the possession at all costs mantra that Hiddink instilled in his players so successfully and in such a short space of time.

6) Have been successful

Last but not least, the incumbent coach will have been successful at both club and national level as a coach (success in this case would mean winning titles). Any proven ability to have been successful in a country other than his own would be a merit as it would demonstrate an ability to have broken through the constraining and potentially hindering walls that exist when trying to succeed in an environment and culture foreign to your own.

Now let us first go through some of the names that have been bandied around over the past few days and see how they match the above criteria. The coaches that I am highlighting in detail below I classify as most likely to be hired due to their conceivable or real availability.


Pim Verbeek

Well he’s Dutch which means he gets a tick for the first desirable managerial attribute.

He has significant Asian experience having managed teams in Japan as well as been an assistant for Hiddink and Advocaat for South Korea and then taking over the reins himself to lead South Korea to 3rd place in the recent Asian Cup. I reckon he earns a tick for this desired managerial attribute also.

He has been quoted in this article as saying he’d be happy to re-locate to Australia and gave sound, logical reasons why it would be important for the coach of Australia to live in Australia. Another tick for this one.

He certainly doesn’t have the same high profile as a Hiddink or Advocaat. As for his charisma, from the little I have seen of him, it doesn’t seem to be a strength or a weakness. You would have to give him a cross for this desired attribute.

Not having been able to watch any of Korea’s games during the Asian Cup as I live in Europe I must plead ignorance on point 5. As he’s Dutch and was assistant to Hiddink I’ll give him a tick for this one (not very scientific reasons I know!).


Verbeek hasn’t had great success at club level, his most recent club managerial experience was with Kyoto Sanga F.C in the J-League in 2003 and from the stats (W 6 D 5 L19) it wasn’t a great year for Kim or Kyoto. Not taking into account the success of the Hiddink team he was an assistant for, his biggest success in management is undoubtedly from his most recent stint as a manager, leading Korea to 3rd place in the Asian Cup. So on balance as he hasn’t been a winner, probably a cross for this this desired attribute as well.

This leaves Pim Verbeek with a score of 4 out of 6.


Jorvan Viera

He’s not Dutch. He does though originate from an obviously strong footballing country and culture in Brazil having coached there early in his coaching career. Has a long coaching CV from many different places so he deserves a tick for the first desired attribute I think.

Asian experience is an obvious strength for Viera. He has vast Asian experience especially from the middle eastern part of the confederation. Manging Iraq to the Asian Cup under exteme adversity underlines that not only is he experienced in Asia, he is successful to boot (not to mention resourceful). Definite tick for attribute 2.

Like Verbeek, Viera has come out and said he would be willing to re-locate to Australia. Tick for desired attribute 3.

Not a high-profile choice. Somewhat of a journey-man of a coach. Haven’t seen enough of him in the media to now of his charisma but this point appears to be his weakness. Obviously an intelligent bloke as he apparently knows seven languages and has a doctorate in Sports Science, but I will give him a cross for this desired attribute.

Lack of seeing his teams in action again means I will presume that he plays attractive football as I haven’t heard anything to the contrary from the Asian Cup (I may be proved wrong on this point). I’ll give him a point for this as I did for Verbeek.

Viera has led a number of his club teams to titles in a number of countries over his career. As mentioned, he led Iraq to the Asian Cup which must go down as one of the greatest managerial feats ever due to the limited and disjointed preparations the team had. Another tick for how he scores for this desired attribute.

This leaves Jorvan Viera with a final score of 5 out of 6.


Martin Jol

He’s Dutch. Tick.

No Asian experience whatsoever as a coach. Cross.

No word on whether or not he’d be willing to re-locate to Australia but as he hasn’t said anything either way, I’ll give him a half score for this desired attribute.

He would be a high-profile choice largely down to the fact that he has just finished a managing role in the Premier League which is undoubtedly the most watched league at the moment in Australia (and even the know-nothing sports journalists from the mainstream media in Australia have at least heard of the Premier League and Tottenham). A tick on this one purely because of that.

Tottenham were known for their attacking football under Jol, it was their defense that was the problem at times. On balance, a tick for this desired attribute.

Jol has had success at club level in the Netherlands winning silverware and did a good job at Spurs lifting them into European contention. As it hasn’t been sustained success (as in winning tiles and trophies regularly) over his managerial career, he deserves only a half score for this desired attribute.

Martin Jol finishes with 4 out of 6.


Johan Neeskens

He’s Dutch.

Has some Asian experience through his time as Hiddink’s assistant. Engineered an impressive Asian Cup qualifying win against Bahrain when Hiddink was away and the team was 1-0 down at half-time. He earns half a point for this one.

Would most likely to be willing to re-locate; he even more than Hiddink seemed to warm to Australia and Australians, so I will give him a point for this desired attribute.

A top former player who has scored in a World Cup final and current assistant at Barcelona give him a fairly high-profile, though his profile doesn’t necessarily stem from his management skills. Half a point.

Being Dutch and having spent all of his time since assisting Hiddink at the World Cup under Rijkaard at Barcelona there is a high likelihood that attractive football would be the norm under a Neeskens-led team. One point.

Unfortunately for Neeskens, previous managerial success (where he's the sole man in charge) wouldn’t be his strongest point. So for this he scores no point.

Johan Neeskens finishes with four out of 6.

While it is not an exhaustive list, I have a feeling the next manager will be one of the above due to their current employment circumstances meaning it more feasible that they would be able to take up the position quickly. I think that the man who scored highest from the above grading (Viera) is not the most likely though; to be honest none of them are, it is really difficult to know which way the FFA will go on this one. No one candidate sticks out for me.

That is why they should make enquiries after all Dutch managers coaching at the highest level in Europe. Frank Rijkaard, Louis van Gaal and Ronald Koeman would be a good place to start. Out of that trio, I think van Gaal would be the man Australia could most possibly get, the other two have more prestigious positions at big Spanish clubs while van Gaal is managing a less glamorous Dutch team (AZ Alkmaar and doing a pretty good job too!). Louis van Gaal would be the man I’d go after out of the above trio as he also has experience as a technical director at Ajax, which would mean he could offer Australia even more help in that area too. But van Gaal hasn’t been mentioned by anyone in the Australian media from what I see, so maybe it is my own private pipedream (one of many I assure you!).

The Big Names

Then there are those who I consider to be in what I would call "the big names but do we want them, or them us?" category. Jürgen Klinsmann, José Mourinho and Fabio Capello have been the main ones mentioned.

Klinsmann is highly unlikely in my book and coached even his native Germany from the US; what chance that he suddenly will want to move even further to coach a country he has had no previous connection to, Australia? Not much I reckon.

Mourinho is a huge name and gets trophies, no one would be stupid enough to argue otherwise. But he was let go by Chelsea for playing unattractive football and besides, can you really see the self-proclaimed “special one” deciding to take up a job such as this? The odds must be extremely long and I don’t know why some of the media are even wasting column space with the notion. No chance.

Capello has the same issues as Mourinho in that he wins trophies nearly everywhere he goes but also seems to turn off the fans with his style of football. Seems to be awfully keen on the England job too if you read this article.

There it is, I’m sure that the FFA will make a fool of me and appoint someone else not listed above but I think an exercise such as what I’ve just done demonstrates how tough the decision is going to be for them. Sure, there seem to be many candidates but many are unrealistic or just plain silly. At this vital time in the games history in Australia, the powers that be in Australian football need to make sure that the new coach has the necessary abilities to not only bring success on the pitch for Australia but also off the pitch.

Let’s hope they choose wisely.

Guest article: A-League Round 12 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Here is another article from guest columnist Martin Cassidy that looked back on an eventful round of matches from a couple of weeks ago in the A-League. For the many international readers of this blog, the A-League is a two-and-a-bit year old football competition that is trying to establish itself in Australia. Football, or soccer as it is known by many in Australia, has had a difficult history and there is therefore much interest in how this young and promising football competition is performing in such a fanatical sporting country and market saturated by Australian Rules Football and the two Rugby codes. Articles such as this will give you a great insight into the trials and tribulations the game of football face in Australia every week.

Vincent

The four matches played across the weekend encapsulated all that is the A-League: the good, the bad and the ugly. The round opened Friday night with title contenders Newcastle hosting the winless Perth side who’s coach of the last two seasons was sacked after the previous weekend’s defeat. With the evenness of the competition this season, surely that would be one the tipsters could bank on.

That evenness was exemplified by Melbourne’s position, struggling in 6th but only a win from 2nd place. Melbourne hosted Sydney in the glamour clash of the round, in spite of the fact it was 5th vs 6th. As the champions of the first two seasons and each with Socceroos featuring, this would once again attract a big crowd and media attention. The other two games were a top of the table clash between Central Coast and the ever consistent Adelaide, 1st vs 2nd, while Queensland welcomed back skipper Craig Moore for their home game against Wellington.


The Good

The first good news arrived Friday when Perth managed a form reversal, as so often happens following a coaches’ sacking, producing a 4-1 away win in Newcastle. Having been poor for most of the last two seasons and lacking any real punch up front, they found a potent threat in 20 year old Nikita Rukavytsya. New coach and former Socceroo David Mitchell, assistant to now sacked Ron Smith, made some simple changes including returning Jamie Harnwell from his makeshift striker role to his preferred central defensive duties. Rukavytsya came in for his first start for five rounds and had a hand in all four Perth goals, scoring twice himself. So simple in hindsight.

Overall it was more guts and emotion than technical or tactical superiority that won the day. Mitchell’s post-match comments reflected that assessment, stating: “Before the game I said to the boys that they had to die for each other out on the park, nothing less would be tolerated”. It remains to be seen if this change in form can continue beyond the typical honeymoon period of a new coach, indeed beyond the emotion of the occasion but the result is good for the competition, for Perth fans and hopefully for the struggling crowd figures over there.

The best news of the round came Saturday afternoon courtesy of Socceroo John Aloisi. In the match between the top two teams in the competition, new recruit Aloisi managed his first goal in the A-League, converting a self-earned penalty. He capped a solid performance from himself and his team by scoring a second with a well judged volley from close range. Having always been a prolific goal scorer, most notably for Osasuna and Alaves in the Primera Liga as well as in England and internationally, it will be a very interesting indicator for the league to see how much influence he can exert and more importantly in how many goals he can score.

For promoters and naysayers alike of the A-League’s standard, a player of Aloisi’s quality and experience competing here at just 31 years old adds credibility and surely offers some guidance as to the competition’s standing in world football. He scored 11 goals in the 05/06 Spanish premier league season for a relegated team, scored in a Spanish Cup final, scored 4 goals against Germany and Argentina at the 05 Confederations Cup, and against Japan at both the World and Asian Cups. Australia always produces good goalkeepers and with the likes of Socceroos stars Craig Moore, Tony Popovic and Tony Vidmar among the defensive ranks of A-League clubs, the task for strikers here is not that easy. That said I would expect a player of Aloisi’s quality to average close to a goal a game in this competition. At that rate Central Coast would be clear favourites to take the championship this season.

I must make a passing comment on several good things happening at Queensland Roar. Now up to second in the league following a 3-0 win over Wellington, keeping them unbeaten in their last six games since un undeserved 0-2 defeat in Melbourne, Queensland welcomed back Craig Moore on the weekend but were without Danny Tiatto through injury. Since that Melbourne loss in which they were comprehensively the better and more attacking team on the night, coach Frank Farina has resolved the goal scoring problems most notably via teenagers Michael Zullo and Robbie Kruse. They both debuted the week following that loss and have played a huge role in the club’s success since. Credit to Farina for taking a gamble, indeed for selecting more than the minimum youth players required by A-League policy. I maintain he was not the right man to lead the Socceroos to the World Cup but the national team also had some great results under his stewardship. Having coaches of his experience is fantastic for the league and surely for youngsters like Zullo and Kruse.

The last of the good news was the continued public support for Melbourne Victory. The Melbourne – Sydney contest Saturday night attracted the largest crowd of the A-League thus far this season. On the final day of the VRC Melbourne Cup carnival, with more than 80,000 at the races on the day, Victory pulled a crowd of 31,884. Each of Victory’s six home games this season has attracted more than 25,500 at an average of 28,187. These figures are impressive compared with most leagues throughout the world but quite remarkable in comparison to the next best supported team here, with Sydney averaging just over 15,000 and their largest crowd is 18,457.

The Bad

The various bad aspects of the A-League came under the spotlight in round 12 and can be best described by one term – ill-discipline. Ahmad Elrich has returned to Australia during this season to be Wellington’s marquee player. He has played for the Socceroos, the Olyroos at the Athens Olympics and has returned from an injury-plagued period in the English Premier League. At the peak of his career he should be able to produce the style and quality worthy of that record but his notable contribution last weekend was a straight red for an elbow on his opponent. This follows Craig Moore being sent off in his A-League debut, Danny Tiatto producing numerous mistimed tackles, kicks and stray forearms, and the trend continues among other high profile players including a straight red for Steve Corica when Sydney hosted Melbourne. Better should be expected from current and former Socceroos. Meanwhile Melbourne recently had three players red carded in two matches, each receiving further penalty from the competition judiciary. With Kevin Muscat suspended for the coming weekend that makes four in as many weeks for a struggling defending champion.

Elsewhere, despite my earlier praise for Melbourne crowds, there is some concern in the drop in numbers from the corresponding Melbourne – Sydney fixture last season. Given the nature of this 21-round competition, last season Melbourne hosted Sydney twice, drawing crowds of 39,730 and a non-finals record 50,333. In the only home fixture against Sydney this season, the Saturday night crowd of 31,884 is disappointing in that context and follows a slight decline in Sydney earlier this season between the competition heavyweights. This match on the weekend was an exciting and eventful 0-0 draw but mainstream media here is still more comfortable with higher scoring sports. The coverage of the match the following day centred primarily on incidents of crowd violence and the small time afforded to the on-field coverage included a description of “a dull goalless draw”. The game still has a long way to go to convert some in the media which unfortunately is necessary for continued growth and prosperity.

The Ugly

It is debatable as to how bad the “riots” and “violence” were at the Melbourne – Sydney match but it certainly attracted the attention of the media and the Football Federation. I recall there being four arrests last season among the 50,333 attending this fixture and the media played it up for much more than it was worth. I was unaware at the game that night of any incidents, that is until the news headlines the next day. It is amazing how poor picture and audio quality on a video phone can be made to distort a situation. Suddenly Victory supporters making the same chant as any other week becomes a primitive sounding roar that could frighten a hoard of Vikings.

I do not wish to trivialise Saturday’s situation nor make any excuse for what are essentially dickheads with no real interest in the game. But it is not as bad as reported. I understand a group of Sydney supporters caused mayhem on the way to the ground and that should not be tolerated. There were apparently incidents of that same group pulling stadium seating out and throwing them from the second level onto opposition fans. Again, this is anti-social behaviour at best, criminal more likely and should be dealt with accordingly. I could have identified several groups of young male Victory “supporters” at recent games who do the equivalent of driving up and down Chapel Street and I bet this is the younger brothers who haven’t yet got their license. At the games however, they walk back and forth around the wing, calling out to young girls and taking no interest in the on-field action. Some of these people are among the ugly element that still haunts Australian football – what FFA have tried to leave behind with the “old soccer, new football” slogan. There is obviously still work to be done but make no mistake, this type of behaviour will not be tolerated in new football.

Guest Article: Preparing for South Africa 2010

Here is the first of hopefully many contributions to Whenballmeetsfoot from Martin Cassidy, who will be writing on all things related to Australian football. As I live in Europe it is difficult to keep fully up to date with all of the happenings in the Australian league (thank god for the internet and SBS!) whereas Martin still has his finger on the pulse living in Melbourne and sitting in our old seat at Melbourne Victory games on the half-way line. Likewise with the national team. Martin's knowledge of Australian football is second-to-none in my experience so sit back and enjoy this, the first of many articles!

Vincent


Two matches played tonight, on opposite sides of the world, will pose some very serious questions for Australia’s credentials to qualify for South Africa 2010. In London an under-strength Socceroos squad faces a near full-strength and world-class Nigeria. The Socceroos go into this friendly with no fewer than ten possible first team players unavailable. Meanwhile in Gosford on the central coast of NSW, the Olyroos host Iraq in a must-win fixture to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

While Viduka remains uncommitted to the upcoming qualification campaign, the others unavailable for the Socceroos include Bresciano, Grella, Culina and late withdrawal Cahill, all of whom would feature in our best national team. Moore, Aloisi and Thompson were overlooked because the A-League does not adhere to the FIFA calendar, ironic considering the years of hardship endured for Australian teams struggling to have players released by their big European clubs; more so considering we need those clubs to release players outside FIFA dates due to the nature of Asia’s world cup qualification schedule. But that’s for another time. Therefore, Viduka’s natural replacement Aloisi again misses out, Thompson cannot fill the void and Kewell is just returning from injury. The positive aspect is a chance presented to Celtic striker Scott McDonald, having missed the Asian Cup and Argentina friendly, while Josh Kennedy has another opportunity to impress.

The midfield stocks are badly depleted with our best four all missing this match. Add to that the absence of Holman who has played in the hole behind the strikers, Cahill or Bresciano could have taken that role tonight, a fully fit Kewell would be the first choice there but instead that position, if utilised, will be filled by Nick Carle. Defensively, Moore has not played for the national team since this equivalent game against Ghana at the same ground last November. He would most likely still play as the second central defender if available but as was the case against Argentina, Michael Beauchamp will play alongside Lucas Neill. The other key absentee is Mark Milligan who is playing for the U/23 side and he would have had some chance of playing for the Socceroos tonight, even with all players available.

The Socceroos are further tested by the fact Rob Baan, FFA technical director, is taking charge of the group for the first and only time. Graham Arnold is now the Olyroos boss and Dick Advocaat was expected to be the incoming Socceroos coach, although that deal has today collapsed. Again, that’s for another time. Given the absentees, the confusion no doubt felt by the players over the Advocaat decision, and the quality of our opponent, it will be very interesting to witness how the experienced Dutchman Baan sets the team out. The 4-3-3 system normally used since Hiddink took charge may need to be tinkered with to accommodate the tall and short of Kennedy and McDonald. Assuming Kewell cannot start the game, I would expect a variation of 4-4-2 with Valeri behind and Carle in front of midfield. With an abundance of left sided players, Baan has an interesting dilemma in which of Chipperfield or Carney play defender and attacker, again assuming Kewell’s role is as substitute.

Regardless of pre-game speculation, Nigeria poses a massive challenge to the Socceroos. Among the four truly world-class African nations, they have incredible talent up front, combining skill, speed and strength. Late withdrawals Kanu and Utaka leave no problems for Berti Vogts who has Martins, Yakubu, Anichebe, Makinwa, Odemwingie and Ikechukwu to choose from. That’s a somewhat different selection headache than for Baan. John Obi Mikel adds further goal scoring potential from midfield and defensively they are solid, notably with Yobo and Taiwo.

The Socceroos of the 2006 World Cup were heavily influenced by the 2000 Olympic squad – Emerton, Grella, Bresciano, Neill and Kewell had he been fit, were all of that generation. In addition, Viduka came in as an overage player. The 2004 Olympians who reached the quarter finals included Wilkshire, Valeri and Holman, Carle was not selected while McDonald, Kennedy and Kisnorbo are also of that era, rising through the national youth teams. Their World Cup is 2010 and while all the missing midfielders from tonight’s Socceroos will be still in their prime for 2010, the opportunity for the generation following is tonight in those absences.

The next generation have their chance to stand up in Gosford. Entering this penultimate round of Olympic qualifiers, with only the group winner advancing, Australia trail Iraq on goal difference alone. Having already seen off Iran, this group of Olyroos has real potential and are worthy of an Olympic campaign. Unfortunately, so too is this Iraq side, featuring seven of the squad that won this year’s Asian Cup. That these two teams met in the quarter finals of the last Olympics demonstrates the difficulty facing Australia since the move to the Asian confederation. That Iraq defeated us in that match, as well as at the Asian Cup, presents a bad omen and a daunting task.

Australia faces two difficult matches tonight, one a must win, the other a game in which a strong performance is a minimum requirement. Fingers crossed it all works out.

Pondering on a Poster Boy for Passion: Ginger Mourinho

What on the surface seemed one of the more bizarre managerial appointments in the Premiership for as long as I can remember (a poll in a Bolton newspaper quoted a staggeringly low 1.7% of fans approved) seemed like a masterstroke last Thursday night at Allianz Arena when Bolton came away with a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup. I must admit that along with almost everybody else I was perplexed when the man ironically dubbed by Leicester fans the “Ginger Mourinho”, Gary Megson, was appointed manager of Bolton. Probably the strangest thought I had after the appointment was that Megson would be in charge of a team playing in a European competition. Even a few months ago if someone had told me that I would have offered them odds of 100 to 1 on it coming true.

Even Megson must be secretly pinching himself at the way it has all turned around for him. What at one stage looked a promising managerial career while in charge of West Bromwich Albion (it must be said he is still a popular figure for many WBA supporters) had gone decidedly pear-shaped at Nottingham Forest.

It was in fact at Forest where Megson pulled one of the more original and downright strange managerial moves I have heard of when he invited angry Forest supporters into the changing rooms after an insipid loss so that the supporters could tell the players exactly what they thought of them. I’m all for managers explaining to their players the importance of the role that fans play but this was taking it a bit far. His failure at Forest meant an extended break from having the top job at a club, until Leicester came knocking earlier this year. Then after a few fairly modest performances with Leicester came the extraordinary news that newly manager-less Bolton were actually chasing him to be their next manager.

It can’t be right, we all thought.

Nicolas Anelka and Megson together would be like oil and water, the former a sublimely skilled mercenary, the latter a fire and brimstone poster boy for those that believe “passion” is the most important attribute a coach/player/team can possess. But for once the tabloids had it spot-on and, after Bolton paid Leicester (?!) a reported £300,000, they had their man!

From all reports Megson is quite the old-school manager. He doesn’t like the flashy cars and lifestyles modern players have so they say. I say if he feels this way he should get as far away from the “modern game” as he possibly can! It’s a fact of life that footballers, especially in the Premiership, have bucketloads more money today than they did when Megson was plying his trade. It’s a fair enough opinion he has (for what it’s worth I actually agree with him), but as a manger having to deal with these players on a daily basis it is probably a bit of a counter-productive opinion to have. To top it off, his teams don’t exactly have a reputation for exciting football either by the way. But Bolton supporters would be used to that I guess….

Maybe Megson will show us all up and lead Bolton to the promised land of Premiership safety and a decent run in Europe. I fear for Bolton’s sake that the result on the Sunday after their triumphant Munich adventure will be all too common for the rest of the year.

What was the result against Middlesbrough on Sunday, I hear you ask?

0-0.

At home.

Against a fellow relegation contender.

That’s not to say he won’t lead them to safety, just that if he does, he will do it without a lot of scoring or panache. Let us hope for everyone’s sake that during his time in charge of Bolton, however successful or otherwise it is, he does everyone a favour and keeps the fans out of the dressing room.