jimmy two times

Paint it Black - Rolling Stones

Yes those old pitches were brutal. So were the tackles that flew in. The skilful players in that era had to be hard men as well. I watched the Big Match a few weeks ago on ITV4. They showed a game at Highbury from 1977. One of the things that struck me was that Peter Shilton wasn't wearing gloves and it was a freezing cold day. The other thing was that a couple of the coaches on the bench were smoking fags. There was a time when fag smoking on the bench was a pre-requisite of a coach, certainly the east european variety. The king of smoking was Cesar Luis Menotti the world cup winning Argentina coach. He chain smoked through every game.

Mind you..they were all p*ss artists as well.

Yep that's the one. I loved all those mavericks. Rodney Marsh, Stan Bowles, Tony Currie, Alan Hudson. All really skilful players who never got the credit they deserved or the opportunities with England.

Berbatov reminds me more of Frank Worthington. Another misunderstood maverick who never got the credit he deserved. I still remember a goal he scored for Bolton as one of the best I've ever seen. He chipped it over an onrushing defence who were trying to play an offside trap and then ran onto meet the ball as it dropped behind defence.

I think Berbatov is a class act. People bang on about his work rate, but he's an artist, not an artisan.

Thanks for that Steve. I was just getting over the assisted suicide thread. Someone put a smile on my fcuking face.

Far be it for me to question Fergie's nouse in the transfer market, but Tevez is an excellent striker. I agree that they are doing ok without him and Ronaldo. But he would definitely give them that extra edge going into the end-game of the season where every little bit extra counts. Having a player like him could be the difference between winning a cup final and losing one.

That's true. Then perhaps he should have been bought by United.

Perhaps. But was it a good decision going into a season relying on one striker who has always been injury prone?

I think they made a mistake selling Adebayor. Ok perhaps his attitude was poor at times, but he's exactly the type of centre forward / striker they are missing. He's excellent in the air and can hold up the ball when it's played out to him from defence so that the more mobile deep lying strikers / attacking midfielders can play off him. It is so obvious to me yet Wenger is rarely slagged off for selling him. The same could be said of Fergie's decision to sell Tevez as well looking at his current form.

I got stung by a Bee yesterday. ?20 for a jar of Honey !

Give her a kiss and say goodbye.

Well his Fed handlers obviously didn't do their homework cos now I know he's going to New Hampshire after flipping and ratting out his friends. Watch your back wiseguy. The Rat Protection Programme still won't stop you getting whacked.

Pointy Birds oh pointy pointy Anoint my head...anointy nointy

If my calculations are correct he made ?143.15 million on sales therefore bringing in a net profit of 91.5 million. Not bad business.

I can hear the grass grow - The Move

Benitez has certainly delivered more then Wenger over the last 5 years in terms of silverware.

Go your own way - Fleetwood Mac

Beautiful people - Barbara Tucker

Mourinho is lying in wait.

He must have been p*ssed when paid 30 million for Berbatov.

Absolutely fantastic hat-trick from Messi yesterday. It really was like looking at George Best.

Xavi and Iniesta should also be regarded as truly world class players who each have a shout as best player in the world. They don't score the goals that the others do, but their influence on games can be just as outstanding. Xavi is my favourite player right now and is a fantastic little midfielder. He is the fulcrum of an outstanding Barcelona team and really makes them tick. Iniesta is a world class dribbler and has great close control and a fantastically positive attitude, which you need to have if you want to take players on. Torres, when on form, is also a world class performer.

I always think it's a bit over the top when players get labelled the 'best in the world' on the back of half a season's worth of performances. Class is permanent and form is temporary. I'd have to say at the moment Ronaldo is the best player in the world. He is in scintillating form for Madrid and scores and/or creates goals for his teammates every week. And he has done this consistently for the past 3 seasons at least. Rooney and Messi are both in superb form and both young. It's hard to say who is the best because they play in different positions. Messi patrols the attacking third, usually coming in from the flanks, whereas Rooney is more central and doing most of his work in and around the box at the moment. The world cup will truly decide who is the real world class players are.