The Maestro Observes...

Since my literary ramblings back in June, observing the football season has been both absorbing and fascinating. The real world has been a very testing arena for all of us, but the football has once again been anything but predictable. With the brutally honest Gary Neville at Sky Sports as a new pundit and Match of the Day and Football Focus on the BBC now based in the North West with a swanky new studio, the coverage is refreshingly exciting. But let's talk about the real business: In my last blog in the middle of summer I said that Manchester City, after winning the F.A. Cup, were starting to look like and behave like a big club. They are right now top of the league; titles are not won in early December, ask Kevin Keegan and Carlo Ancelotti. It's hard to argue against the blues, given the way they are steaming through their league opponents. But, their poor Champions League results and probable demotion to the Europa League could potentially create big problems for them at the business end of the season. Those Thursday evening fixures, in my view, could have a damaging effect on critical weekend fixtures; look at Stoke City, they are struggled to beat teams that they routinely bullied last season. That said, their destruction of Manchester United in late October at Old Trafford was particularly pleasing for the neutral. If I was a Manchester City fan, the long term futures of Tevez, Adebayor and Bellamy would bother me. Despite the apparently deep pockets of the club, the money being spent on those three alone could probably solve the Pension crisis, our public sector workers were striking over. Had Mancini sent those three to Australia, all expenses paid to appear in ITV Television's "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here," he could solved all his pastoral problems in a short space of time; is it not the case that the celebrity partcipants re-emerge into the real world full of contrition declaring proudly about their new-found cleansing and therapeutic outlook on the wider world. We could have watched them nightly and, with Ant and Dec's witty narrative, learned to love and truly understand and forgive them. Joking aside, I have watched all of the said players close-up, and can earnestly attest for their superior quality on the field of play. However, the sooner City can permanently offload them, one way or the other, the sooner long-term success can be sought and achieved. Across the city, I'm pretty sure that whilst Alex Ferguson will not be losing too much sleep about Man Utd's Carling Cup exit to Crystal Palace this week, he will now know beyond any doubt that some of his so-called quality players can no longer be relied upon to do a shift for him at the Theatre of Dreams. The Crystal Palace side that defeated his team was a proud, well organised but dour mid-table unit of aspirational Championship players that grafted hard and rode their luck positively. Players like Dimitar Berbatov, Darron Gibson, Federico Macheda and Antonio Valencia should have put them to the sword and put the cup-tie clinically out of sight. That's what Sir Alex was expecting, it was their job to register a performance of superior excellence. I sense, their achievement will be employment elsewhere in January, or next summer. For Berbatov, particularly it was a spectacular disappointment, yes his appearances have been limited but Wednesday night should have been his opportunity to step from behind the shadow of Michael Owen and grab the headlines. Aside from the Carling Cup, Manchester United have had an eventful season so far; the highs have been dizzy and the low points have been seemingly devastating but Alex Ferguson has good sea legs and understands the roll of the waves beeter than most. More significantly, his two super-powers Rooney and Hernandez are still ticking along and the team are winning matches. I am still backing United to lift the Premier League despite Man City's form because as I said earlier the terrain of the Europa League, coupled with the intensity of the latter part of the season may prove to be too hot for them. That's my view. Harry Rednapp's Tottenham are behaving like a rampant Championship winning side; they must now be taken seriously as title contenders, period. But, I cannot stop wondering about what happens when Adebayor loses interest because we all know that history dictates that he will at some point go off the boil. Add Luca Modric to the mix, another of life's interesting characters. But, I'm being cynical! Let's live for the moment! Spurs, right now, are playing the type of irresistible, great flowing passing football with a great end-product. This is a huge season for Harry Rednapp, he is on the verge of creating another great football team, but this time the stakes and the stage are greater and more tangibly significant. In years to come, Spurs could eventually win the Premier League, if Harry can resist the temptation to succeed Fabio Capello. The clamour from the nation for him to lead the Engalnd team could be his greatest challenge. Chelsea are, for me, in transition. They need to keep their manager, back him, clear out the old guard John Terry, Frank Lampard and the other familiar faces and build a new team for the future. I like the look of the new manager, Andre Villas-Boas, he understands the requirements for the job, knows the politics and is brilliant in front of the media. But, somehow with a man like Ambramovich, he has to win football matches too. The world of football is, like the wider world, an unforgiving place; I like many footballl fans fear for him because he is trying to survive in a melting pot with vastly improved teams. Arsenal are looking less fragile, Liverpool are finding their feet, Man City and Tottenham, as discussed earlier, have gate-crashed the exclusive top end club. These are challenging times for the Chelsea as a whole, and I am intrigued to see how they will negotiate their way through this season. The match on Tuesday at home to Valencia is their Cup-Final, defeat is unthinkable. Earlier in the season, some of the copy I was reading about Arsene Wenger was becoming hysterical. Thankfully, unlike other clubs, he is backed by his board and allowed to do his job with interference. But, as I keep saying, the climate has changed, and his rivals have bulked up their resources and are providing stern opposition. Losing Cesc Fabregas was a major blow, but in truth, he had to move on because the balance of Arsenal's transfers has shifted. In the past, players who were drifting out of their prime were sold; Patrick Vierra, Thierry Henry and Paul Merson were players who were sold on when their best days were behind them. That dynamic has changed, since Ashley Cole left for Chelsea, I feel that any Arsenal player is now a realistic possible target for any of the major clubs; that has made the playing staff appear vulnerable. Failure to win the Carling Cup last season was a major blow because since moving to the Emirates, the trophy cabinet is remained bare and as long as that continues, keeping a player like Robin Van Persie never mind signing any marquee names will be a major challenge, especially if the wage bill remains as stingy. The F.A. Cup is a must win for Arsenal, this season. Kenny Daglish has transformed Liverpool by returning them into a team that are hard to beat. Victories at Chelsea, in the league and the Carling Cup are significant and I believe that Liverpool will lift that trophy. I expect the reds to defeat Man City in the semi-finals and destroy ruthlessly whichever Championship side they meet at Wembley. Kenny is a winner, and understands the journey to success. His greatest challenge is to develop Andy Carroll into a great all-round footballer in the Liverpool way, and dissuade him from nights out and pints of beer. If he succeeds, then expect Liverpool to be a major force in all competitions next season. The bottom of the table is proving to be another fascinating area to observe as the season progresses. I just cannot see how Blackburn Rovers can survive. They are a badly run club with absent owners, a manager who is fire-fighting and a porous defence. Bolton just seem to be in free-fall; they are an excellent footballing side who have just lost that special 'je ne sais crois' belief that Sam Allardyce is now instilling into West Ham United in the Championship. After that, any of the bottom 10 could slip through the trap door. Despite their lowly position, I still believe that Roberto Martinez and Wigan will survive because they, as a club, have real stability. Out of the others, Fulham and Wolves are looking very shaky, but on their day, all of those teams can put together a run that will lift them rapidly. We now know that the England team will play the host nation Ukraine, France and Sweden at the Euro 2012 tournament next summer. Following the shameful performance of the England Rugby Squad at the World Cup, I am hoping that the Football team take this opportunity to make the nation very proud and conduct themselves in an honourable way. I will speculate on the tournament and who we might select closer to June 2012. Closer to home, I am happy to report that my team Middlesbrough are sitting comfortably near the top of the Championship table and are at last displaying the type of solid performances that could return us back to the heady heights of Premiership Football. But I won't get ahead of myself, Manager Tony Mowbray has been here before with the Baggies (West Bromwich Albion) and is the perfect man in the box seat to weather this storm. Even closer to home, the Cobblers (Northampton Town) have appointed a new manager Aidy Boothroyd this week. For the Cobblers, it has been a disastrous period with the previous manager Gary Johnson and then the Caretakers, who suffuered heavy defeats. I pray for an upturn in fortunes for both my teams during the challenging months of December and January. The sudden death of Gary Speed has been a shock to all of us; whether we follow the game of football or not. My thoughts go out to his family and friends; we have lost a great and faithful servant of the great game we call football, they have lost so much more.