By Shaun Orange

Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth, has spoken publicly of the club’s position regarding reports about its financial standing in a bid to stem growing alarm.

The Pompey boss was really trying to clarify a statement from the club which said that Portsmouth FC was not for sale, but added that “should the right offer be forthcoming, serious consideration would be given to the proposal”.

This whole scenario paints a picture of uncertainty at Fratton Park, and more so after reports emerged at the weekend that there could be a huge clear out of players, come the January transfer window. Of this, Redknapp said he was given assurances from the club’s owner, Alexandre Gaydamak that no such thing would happen.

The concerns were raised on the back of suggestions that the club had incurred big debts by paying hefty players’ salaries, most of whom were signed by Redknapp over the past couple of seasons. Redknapp’s response to this was …“show me any club that is not up for sale if they are offered fantastic money. I bet every club has a price on it, and nobody is making millions”.

Of course, the Pompey boss knows what he is talking about and is certainly not far off the mark. But even then, it does nothing to alter Portsmouth’s position. The club was called in last week to confirm whether or not Gaydamak was indeed the owner of the Premiership team, and not his father. This matter was put to rest when the Premier League’s management committee said they were satisfied to learn that the younger Gaydamak was at the helm.

Redknapp also revealed that he could “have sold Lassana Diarra for £15million on transfer deadline day” but chose not to, because he did not have to. This comes after Sulley Muntari was off loaded to Serie A side Inter Milan for a similar purse.

But as much Redknapp would like us to believe that all is not as bad as some say it is, things are nowhere near rosy at Pompey. The simmerings have going on for some time now and the club’s statement on their website was one that was used to merely pacify the jitters that have become more pronounced over the last few weeks. And even then Pompey are by no means the only club who find themselves laden with financial burden. Among the more troubled ones are Newcastle United, who have been put up for sale by owner Mike Ashley.

Coincidently, Redknapp was offered the Newcastle job before Kevin Keegan was appointed last January. Keegan, of course, has since left and things have gone from bad to worse at St James Park. One only hopes that it does not get that bad at Fratton Park.

By Shaun Orange

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill has said that in “terms of entertainment” they are “as strong as anyone in Britain”. The Irishman passed the remark after watching his team coming from a goal down to beat Roy Keane’s Sunderland in the Premiership over the weekend.

His observation might get a second listening from some of those who have allegiances with the bigger outfits, but in the main the point made was an accurate one.

Under O’Neill, who took over in 2006, Villa have grown in stature and now have a very real chance of breaking into the top-four and becoming one of the elite themselves.

Villa do not have the financial resources that Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal have. But like the Gunners’ manager Arsene Wenger, O’Neill does not spend lavishly and the players that he has and those whom he has brought in to strengthen the side, come in with a specific role to play.

And the like those managers at the giants of the Premiership, O’Neill has his own methods of getting his players to perform the way he wants and adapt to his style of  play.

For a long time now O’Neill has been recognised as among the best coaches in Britain, and much of that has got to do with his track record that is only overshadowed by a handful of his peers.

With Aston Villa handily sitting in third place in the standings – only Chelsea and Liverpool are above them, O’Neill will be more than satisfied that the start to their campaign has been more or less just like how he would have wanted it to be.

They have lost just one match in their opening six, and that they are a mere one point off the top two, having picked up 13 from their four victories and a draw, Villa could hardly have asked for a better start.

After watching his go a goal down and then rally for the win at Villa Park, O’Neill said he was delighted with the result, but even more pleased with the doggedness of his squad.

This in part led to him declaring that they are as good as any in the land when it comes to entertainment. But notwithstanding this, it is abundantly clear that the team now well and truly has the traits of their manager instilled in their game.

Going forward, John Carew, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young, have looked assured and delivered the goals. Their strike rate of 12 goals in six matches in the Premiership is second to West Ham’s 13 and is as good as Chelsea and Arsenal.

Nigel Reo-Coker, Stiliyan Petrov and Gareth Barry have looked solid in midfield, while skipper Martin Laursen is leading the rearguard with some aplomb.

Their steadfastness has helped goalkeeper Brad Friedel in no small measure, and brought a sense of stability to the side as they continue to impress with their “entertaining” approach to the game.

By Shaun Orange

Hull registered the biggest upset of the Premiership’s weekend fixtures, consigning Arsenal to a defeat that marks the club’s best result yet.

The 2-1 victory over the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium was a sensational triumph for Phil Brown’s gallant side that have lost only one game in their first half-a-dozen in their debut season in the Premier League.

A deserved win and one that brought up the Tigers’ third in the championship race, this victory was nothing short of outstanding, and given that it came after Hull trailed, it clearly shows that they have the heart, if not the financial muscle to mix with the Premiership’s elite.

A win for any side over the “Big Four” in this league is considered a marvellous result. For a side that has just been promoted to the Premier league for the first time to do it within their first six matches has got to be taken in the context as being quite remarkable.

In an interview with Setanta 1, Hull’s skipper Ian Ashbee said they went for it (the victory) and that this was evident in them fielding an attacking side at the Emirates, which included playing “three strikers”.

Well, the captain was spot-on. Hull did play Marlon King and Daniel Cousin up front with Geovanni in close support. It was a tactic that worked out just fine, and left Cousin the hero after netting the winning goal.

Hull have shown great tenacity in the face of some unwarranted jibes, mostly from those who wrote them off as relegation material, even before the season started.

The fact of the matter is that Hull could well find themselves in a major struggle to stay up, come end of the season; and this despite their great start.

But as they bask in the limelight of sitting pretty in sixth place, and with wins over Fulham and Newcastle also on the board, no one should attempt to take away their dues.

Of course, Arsenal will be kicking themselves for doing better, but Hull just had more hunger and Arsene Wenger the Gunners boss conceded as much after the match.

The Frenchman said that their visitors were more “committed” and that the defeat was “good lesson” for his team. But when he added that if his squad had played with the “same level concentration as Hull” then they would have won was perhaps the biggest complimented he paid the victors.

But the last thing Hull will want to do now is get carried away. Instead, they should use this start to build an event greater resolve to retain their Premiership status. And if they think letting their guard down will not hurt, they will surely find out over the next few weeks, mores so when they host Chelsea and then travel to Manchester United in the space of four days (Oct 29 and Nov 1, respectively).

Their next assignment too, should prove a tough task. The Tigers are down to play Tottenham at White Hart Lane next Sunday.

But before then they will be forgiven for enjoying their moment of triumph over Arsenal and their sixth spot in the standings. They deserve it.

By Shaun Orange

For all his grumbling and grousing, Alex Ferguson remains the Premier League’s best and most successful manager. But this season he looks to have a real tough fight on his hands to fend off the challenges from more than just Chelsea for the championship crown.

Chelsea, with their great wealth in quality and depth appear the Old Trafford team’s main threat again this term. However, Arsenal and Liverpool have shown early signs that they could go a lot closer than last season. In fact, the indications are that the tussle between top four could be much closer than many expect.

Yet having said that Ferguson has made a couple of moves over the past few days that will have alerted their fans to changes which the boss thinks will serve them well in the future.

The use of Jonny Evans in the centre of defence against Villarreal in the European Champions League and Chelsea in the Premiership paid off handsomely for Ferguson. The 20-year-old Irish international came through unscathed, and if anything did himself proud with performance that left the Red Devils manager satisfied that he can hold his own in the side.

Indeed, speaking to Inside United, he gave the defender the thumbs-up by saying that he “will be a future centre-half for Manchester United”.

Ferguson really gave a glowing account of Evans, by adding that his displays were “vindication” of their belief in the lad and that what they were saying about the Irishman was right on the mark.

For those who know the manager well, this assurance is merely confirmation that while Ferguson does believe that Evans and make the grade, his confidence will have been boosted tremendously.

Ferguson has a way of getting the best out of budding prospects and then turning them into star players. It is one of his strengths as a manager and something that more than just a handful of household names have benefited from.

Ryan Giggs is one such player. And now at the age of 34, Ferguson has recognised the need to play the Welshman sparingly, yet maximising his impact on the game.

Conceding that Giggs is still a part of the backbone of the side, Ferguson said it was his quality that makes the difference and that Giggs would continue to feature as an integral part of the squad, which also includes influencing and helping nurture talents like Evans.

Knowing Ferguson, this is exactly what we will see in the coming months. And while Chelsea and company lay in wait, their bids for the league title will not be made any easier by the wily Scotsman.

By Shaun Orange

Newcastle United are stumbling from pillar to post, and there seems, at least this stage, no end in sight to their problems.

Owner Mike Ashley, who has faced protests from the Toon Army, following the sudden departure of Kevin Keegan, has put the club up for sale, and the Magpies are anything but a stable unit right now.

In fact, they are like a rudderless ship, heading in no particular direction and with every chance of things going from bad to worse.

That the Tyneside team have had Terry Venables turn down the club’s offer to coach the Magpies is just further proof that this – one of England’s biggest club, is in serious trouble and do not look like coming out of it anytime soon. Indeed, if nothing materialises from the interest expressed in buying the cub by a consortium of Nigerians, and no-one else comes forward real soon to step in and bail out the St James Park side, Newcastle could be in real danger of going down this season.

Venables helped make the issues at Newcastle as clear as perhaps any one could when he said that he would love to charge of the Magpies but felt compelled to turn down the club because as things stood now it would have been done in an atmosphere of certainty.

Indeed, speaking to The Sun, he said that there was “one reason and one reason alone why he turned down the chance to take temporary charge at Newcastle – time”.

Venables, it was reported, was offered a deal to manage the magpies for some £100,000 a game, and now that he has withdrawn his interest, the club are considering bringing David O’Leary to take charge.

The former Aston Villa and Leeds manager is said to be interested in the job, in part, as a move to get back into managing a football team for the first time since his left Villa in 2006.

There is no guarantee that if O’Leary takes over and the club is then sold, he will still have a job at St James Park. However, it could pave the way for him to find another club after that and strengthen his hand in his comeback into the managerial world of top flight soccer.

But, it would not make Newcastle’s woes go away. Knocked out of the League Cup by Tottenham this week, Newcastle have had a terrible start to the season and are second-last in the standings.

They have won just one game in five - drawn one and lost the other three. And as long as they do not have a manager, the club remains up for sale and the fans up in arms, things are unlikely to get better. If anything, they look like they will get worse, and they might well find themselves in a position from which to come out of a relegation battle might be beyond them.

If that happens, and we hope not, it would be a real shame, indeed.

By Shaun Orange

The £200 million takeover of Manchester City by the Abu Dhabi United Group has been greeted with skepticism from some quarters in the Premier League. And among those are City’s neighbours and rivals Manchester United and Arsenal.

These are the two teams who dominated the Premiership before Chelsea won two league titles in a row, starting with the 2004/05 season. Both Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger shrugged off the arrival of the super-rich Middle East company at the City of Manchester Stadium as being nothing more than a bit of hot air.

However, the manner in which City tore Portsmouth apart over the weekend in the 6-0 humiliation will surely have given the Old Trafford and Emirates chiefs reason to have second thoughts about how they perceive the new order in the blue half of Manchester.

There have been several takeovers and near-takeovers of Premier League clubs in recent times, by billionaires who see buying into the world’s most visible football league as a viable business vehicle.

And the success of Chelsea, since Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich took over Stamford Bridge in 2003, has obviously led to others seeing and believing that this thing can really work in the Premiership.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and the man behind the Man City takeover, cleared the air somewhat with a statement over the weekend in which he said that their’s was a “long-term investment” and that Hughes was an integral part of their plans to make Man City “one of the top-four in England and a leading force in European football”.

But if Man United or Arsenal, or any other quarters needed any convincing that Man City are serious about breaking into the elite group of the Big Four in England, they surely should seen the first signs with the signing of Brazilian ace Robinho for a record British transfer fee of some £34 million.

The return to the club of Shaun Wright-Philips from Chelsea in an £8 million summer switch and the arrival of another Brazilian – 21-year-old striker Jo, in a £19 million deal move from CSKA Moscow should also have gone some way to converting the skeptics.

And now with the takeover of the club officially completed, there should be no stopping Man City in their pursuit to join Europe’s biggest and richest football clubs.

The Premiership can only gain from the takeover and if the new owners are true to their word about investing heavily and let things take their course as they move towards establishing the cub amongst the world’s elite, then we an expect some real interesting times ahead.

Perhaps no game would more exciting than to see Man City clash with their cross-town rivals and, English and European champions Man United on a “level playing field”; both fielding a galaxy of stars and both challenging for honours on four fronts, with every chance of winning.

That would be really great and it should, by then, have convinced the skeptics that Man City mean business.

By Shaun Orange

There was never any doubt that the clash at Stamford Bridge was going to be a hot-blooded confrontation between the two best teams in the English Premier League. That it turned out to be a draw was maybe the right result, given the circumstances and performances of the two giants.

The two managers of the clubs – Luiz Felipe Scolari of Chelsea and Alex Ferguson of Manchester United retreated from the fire hole to express their disgust about two different issues.

The home team’s Scolari said he was pleased with their showing but berated the opposition for what he called “being disrespectful to the referee”. Man United had seven players shown the yellow card (Chelsea had one caution).

The Brazilian coach was understandably happy with the one point picked up at home. Firstly, because Man United should have won this one; they led at halftime and should not have let the Blues back into it. Nonetheless, they did; and for that Scolari was pleased. The other thing was Chelsea maintained their unbeaten run at home in the league that stretches back more than four years – quite a remarkable sequence of results.

Ferguson, on the other hand, bemoaned what he termed as wastefulness in front goal; his side spurning several chances that would certainly have left Chelsea beaten, and wounded in their own backyard. But it was not to be, and the Red Devils left London with just a point to show for their weekend’s work.

But Man United also left the capital a shaken side, following a brick being thrown through a window of their team bus. This cowardly act, if the FA (Football Association) have the guts to act on it without favouritism, should be punished with the sort of justice it deserves.

Chelsea will surely be called to book for it, and penalised. But the last thing the FA want to do is merely give them a slap over the wrists and hand down a meager fine.

No. The FA should come down hard on the home team - and any other club where such criminal acts are perpetrated. Chelsea should be docked something like 30 points and fined £250 million. That would teach them a good lesson in how to manage their fans and also send a message to the rest of the sport, which will be received loud and clear. Failure by the FA to do act promptly and properly will merely leave the game open to similar barbarianism in the future.

This sort of behaviour has no place in soccer; neither does it have a place in any sport for that matter, or society in general. Those guilty of these spineless deeds must be brought to book without delay and dealt with by the law; and their clubs.

Chelsea are a club big and wealthy enough to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on their team and players, but so too should they be treated like the rest of the world when their supporters fall foul of the law.

Nothing short of a 30-point deduction and £250 million fine will suffice in this matter (or maybe more). The authorities must draw the line on hooliganism and the sooner the better, and whether or not the team involved is Chelsea Football Club.

By Shaun Orange

The ownership issues of clubs in England’s Premier League continue to throw up surprises, almost by the day. And among the latest is that of Stan Kroenke at Arsenal. News has emerged from the London club that the American billionaire has now been appointed to the Gunners board of directors - as a non-executive director.

This one comes as perhaps a little more than just a surprise and only because Kroenke was not so long ago being frowned upon by the hierarchy at the Emirates Stadium.

Indeed, when the boss man of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, the proprietors of American sports teams St Louis Rams, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Rapids initially bought into the London club last year, Arsenal chairman, Peter Hill-Wood immediately made his concerns public. At the time Hill-Wood was quoted as having said that the Gunners did not want “his (Kroenke) sort” at the Emirates. But now things appear to have turned around and in the American’s favour.

The club said in a statement that Kroenke “fully supports the approach the board has taken in setting the direction of the club" and that includes staying far from following the models at some of the teams, which have been bought over by individuals.

However, there are some who believe that Hill-Wood and company would rather do business with Kroenke, holder of 12.4% shares of the club, as opposed to going to bed with Russian oil tycoon Alisher Usmanov.

The Uzbek billionaire has his hands on 24.9% of the club and is seen as one keen to take control of the Gunners, something bitterly opposed to by Hill-Wood and his backers. There are others who believe that Usmanov is readying for a possible takeover and that is why Hill-Wood and company have invited the American to come in as a non-executive director at the Emirates.

Apparently Kroenke and the board of directors have agreed that he cannot take his stake to beyond 29.9% in the next year. However, this condition would be wavered should a takeover bid be made, and therein lies the worry. Kroenke would receive the consent of Hill-Wood and his board to snap up more of the club if a takeover bid was received from Usmanov or anybody else.

It is this concern that is said to have prompted the board into “making peace” with Kroenke and further alienate Usmanov.

However, whether it works out for Hill-Wood and company or not, remains to be seen. So too is the possible takeover bid from Usmanov being looked for with much anticipation from the Emirates Stadium.

Whether or not either of these scenarios develops further; the change of ownership at clubs in the Premiership appears likely to continue unabated, at least for the foreseeable future.

By Shaun Orange

The champions of Europe begin the defence of their title with a home clash against Villarreal and it is a game that has to be considered a tricky one. On any other day, this would have been deemed a tie that the home team would start with an edge - a cushion big enough to say that Manchester United should easily win.

However, that is not the case this week and as Alex Ferguson commences a campaign that he said they stood a good chance to emerge victoriously from for a third time in his tenure at Old Trafford, they run the risk of being embarrassed in front of the own crowd if they let their guard down.

Villarreal are by no means the strongest inSpain's La Liga, yet they arrive in the northwest of England with a decent chance of pulling a major turn up for the books.

There are not many who would bet against Manchester United losing the game, but there are also more than a just handful who believe that the visiting Spaniards could turn Group E of the European Champions League group stage on its head.

Manchester United started the continent’s premier club competition as favourites, given their success last season and the squad that Ferguson has at his disposal. But in these fixtures, as we have come to learn, upsets of many a kind have been thrown up and many a big team has been left to lick their wounds well after the dust has settled and the minnows returned to their homes.

Much of Villarreal’s planning and approach will target the form of the Old Trafford side. And they will have realized that maybe they have come to the Theatre of Dreams with as good an opportunity as any to win, if only because of the shaky form of their hosts.

Since the beginning of the new season, Manchester United have won just one game. And following their demise at archrivals Liverpool over the weekend when they were outplayed in every department and beaten after leading, this match might have come much sooner than they would have liked,.

It is this that the Spaniards will hoping they can cash-in on and further put the Red Devils on the back foot. Indeed, Villarreal are the last team to have taken a point off Manchester United in this competition at Old Trafford (a 0-0 in the 2005/06 season).

Yet despite this Ferguson was speaking up their chances ahead of the encounter. Perhaps trying to rally his troops with a bit of psychology; the Old Trafford boss said they were more than ready to emulate AC Milan’s feat of 1990 by winning the European Cup back-to-back. He did, however, concede that it would difficult,

Ferguson is likely to use Cristiano Ronaldo as a sutstitute on his return from injury. But he is also expected to be without Michael Carrick who left the field injured at Liverpool, and Paul Scholes who is suspended, following his red card in the Super Cup.

By Shaun Orange

In yet another twist to the now ever-changing landscape of Premier League club ownership Mika Ashley has said that he wants out at St James Park and put Newcastle United up for sale. The announcement comes in the wake of protests by the fans who were aggrieved by the sudden departure of Kevin Keegan about two weeks ago.

But Ashley’s public declaration that he wants to sell the club does not come as a surprise. Instead, that he took so long to make up his mind is a little more puzzling. The billionaire, one of several tycoons who have acquired ownership of a club in the English top-flight, was not readily accepted by the vociferous supporters ever since he took over the Magpies in a £134 million buy-out 16 months ago.

And after the parting of ways with Sam Allardyce and the walking out of crowd favourite Keegan, Ashley was always going to be seen as the man responsible and thus taunted and ridiculed by the Toon Army for his part in the fiasco. The last straw really came with the departure of Keegan, although the fans did get their way in calling for the ouster of “Big Sam”.

As things stand, Newcastle are rock bottom. They have had problems for sometime now, but have wobbled along and got along. However, now the boat really looks in danger of sinking, and with all those on it and all those who have helped put it in this predicament.

The fans are partly to blame, only because they have no right to choose who should and should not be coach of the club. They cannot do it; just the same as if one buys a carbonated drinkin the corner store, the buyer cannot appoint the chief executive officer who runs the company that makes the drink.

Of course, the fans of St James Park, for some reason seem to believe that because they pay their money to walk through the turnstiles they have the right to call the shots on who is coach. This is wrong and it has always been wrong. And if we really look the scenario at Newcastle one could say that because of this untoward attitude of the supporters, the club has suffered – and they have not won anything in decades.

It is quite a sad situation because Newcastle do have some serious following; they are among the best five supported teams in England. And what have they got to show for this? Nothing.

The Magpies will probably remain that way for a little while to come; or at least until some fellow walks into the club with the same kind of cash as Ashley and puts his foot down and puts the supporters in their place.

Newcastle’s shocking 2-1 defeat at the hands of Premiership debutants over the weekend clearly illustrated the state of affairs on Tyneside. Things are really bad right now, and one only hopes that Ashley can find a buyer - real quick; and then whoever takes over gets the whole lot sorted out without delay.

By Shaun Orange

Slaven Bilic was talking big before the game, brazenly predicting that they would beat England for a third time on the trot and take their unbeaten home run at the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb closer to forty matches.

Well, the Croatian manager was left a desolate and shaken man after Fabio Capello’s team thumped the side who scuppered their chances of going to Euro 2008 with a performance that will have left no one in doubt that the Italian is as good as many say he is.

Croatia beat England home and away in the European Championships qualifiers and were on track to extend their superiority over the visitors. However, Bilic might have inadvertently helped his lose after all his rhetoric about how predictable England were and how they would defeat the Three Lions.

And if there was one lesson he should have, and hopefully will have, learnt from this fixture is to refrain from being too cocky.

A little spice added to the hype in the build-up to a big game – like this, is always welcome. But Bilic, the former West Ham player, took it over the top and paid a heavy price for it. The home team was vanquished 4-1 and in that was a superb first hat-trick for his country by teenager Theo Walcott.

Ever since his surprise inclusion to the squad that travelled to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where he did not feature in a single match, Walcott has been known to be just waiting to make his mark in a side that has terribly disappointed in recent times.

With the takeover of the team by Capello, many expect great things from England and Walcott, and youngster with electric pace and fine finishing touch, delivered in some style when given the chance by the Italian coach.

The Arsenal winger will forever remember this game and so will many of England’s fans. But the match will also go down as one of England’s best performances in a long, long time, and this was down to the manner in which Capello approached it.

England were always sharper than Bilic’s highly-rated Croatia, as the visitors were undaunted and played with much composure and purpose.

It was also pleasing to see Wayne Rooney get the other goal, more so after all the stick he’s taken in the lead-up to the game - he had not scored for England since 2006; with all of Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard having equalled or bettered his strike rate coming into the Zagreb game.

Now, what England should do, and that includes their often negative media, is remain positive and build on this triumph. They certainly have the platform to do that, and one has to believe that with Capello in charge, rather than Steve McClaren or Sven-Goran Eriksson, that is what they will indeed do.

For his part, Walcott can sit back and soak in the moment, he deserves it; and so does Bilic deserve what he will get after this.

By Shaun Orange

Following the resignations of Kevin Keegan and Alan Curbishley last week, there has been a great debate raging about how shoddily the men put in charge to run clubs are being treated.

The two subjects at the centre of this storm have themselves said that they quit Newcastle United and West Ham, respectively, because of not being able to oversee the transfer of players on their own. In some cases it has been alleged that there were comings and goings of players without the knowledge of the managers.

Well, that may well be the case, but the underlining factor is that soccer as we know it today has become a billion-dollar industry, with its own set of rules.

And the more we get people like Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who bought Chelsea in 2003 and went on to pump more than a half-a-billion dollars into assembling a world-class line-up of stars at Stamford Bridge, the managers will just have to toe the line. Or, they could just thrown in the towel and walk away with a handsome compensation payoff as some have done.

Keegan’s case in particular makes one wonder. Reports had it before he resigned in a huff from the post he took up only in January this year that he could bank as much as £8 million in compensation. Well, whether he got that much is another matter.

However, Keegan was never going to do anything remotely close to winning silverware at a club that has under-achieved for decades. Bigger-name managers came and left before the former Liverpool and Hamburg star, and they never won anything of note. So why would he be so different?

To make matters worse, he spent nearly five years there in the 90s (Feb 92 to Jan 97) and did not win a thing (in the top flight). So why would he now? Keegan only got the job eight months ago (what about the £8 million?) after Sam Allardyce was sacked because no-one wanted it and because the fans love him – not for his managerial skills, but rather because he was their hero 25 years ago.

Curbishley’s lot is not much different, apart from the fact that they are a much smaller outfit than Newcastle, who in turn are smaller than the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool. And if you got problems dealing with a club like West Ham, then perhaps it is better that you just hop on your bike and get going.

The moaning about why managers should get the last say in the transfer of players doesn’t hold much water these days - not when so much money is changing hands. They alone cannot, and surely should not, be the sole say-so on who comes and who goes.

This is not to imply that they should not have any say in the transfers, but rather that it cannot be left up to them alone. Maybe, in a perfect world that is how it works, but with people like Abramovich spending hundreds of millions of dollars on players, it just does not make sense for the manager by himself to take care of the whole the issue.

This position could be likened to any other job for that matter, be it whatever industry you like -  if you cannot get along with the boss, you leave (or are forced to leave) and go out to get another job elsewhere.

Sadly, it’s as simple as that.

By Shaun Orange

As would be expected, Mark Hughes has expressed great delight with the new developments at Manchester City. Such is his enthusiasm since the announcement this week that the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) for Development and Investment have acquired the City of Manchester Stadium team that he has rubbished talk of a possible unsettledness that big-name players like Robinho look likely to cuase - big stars play for big bucks.

Man City set a new British transfer fee record by paying Real Madrid £32.5million for the Brazilian striker on the last day of the transfer window last Sunday. And while no figure has been mentioned about the salary that the striker will earn, it will obviously be much more than any of the other players whom he found in the squad when he switched to the Premier League.

Hughes said that the dressing is his “domain” and thus, he would not let any “jealousy” get in the way of his plans to make Citeh a successful side again and challenge the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, their neighbours Manchester United and Chelsea in the transfer market. Already the new owners have name-dropped players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres and David Villa as future targets. And this has only served to intensify the excitement in and around the City of Manchester Stadium.

The blue half of Manchester, with the bottomless pocket to use for bringing in world-class stars, has every right to be energized. The instant success of Chelsea, after Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought Stamford Bridge in 2003, is an example that they will draw inspiration from. Under Jose Mourinho, Chelsea won two successive Premiership titles in his first two seasons at the Bridge, he also won the FA Cup and English League Cup, for good measure.

But the Portuguese coach failed in his three seasons to land the coveted European Champions League trophy and for that he paid dearly. He was duly shown the Stamford Bridge exit, and now coaches Inter Milan in the Serie A.

Hughes has said that he is confident he has the backing of the new Man City owners, who themselves have indicated that the Welshman’s job is safe. But he should be warned that if he fails to deliver silverware “quickly” then he faces the chop. That is the fact of the matter. Even if he wins the Premiership but not the biggest and most sought-after trophy in world club football – the European Cup, then he will be looking for a new job in the not too distant future.

My guess is that Hughes will not get anywhere near challenging for the Premiership title this season, and come next term, Man City will have a new, high profile manager in placd at the City of Manchester Stadium. The oil-rich Abu Dhabi-based tycoons will still be there, of course.

By Shaun Orange

There is no Premier League football this weekend because of the World Cup qualifiers, but there is still a great deal happening in the domestic game. And perhaps the most notable is at West Ham and Newcastle, both clubs without a manager.

Alan Curbishley quit the Hammers and Kevin Keegan walked out on the Magpies. The latter’s decision to suddenly leave the Tyneside club in the lurch is not entirely surprising, at least not as unexpected as Curbishley’s decision to resign from the Upton Park job.

Keegan, we all know, was one of England’s best ever players and to this day is he is still adored by the fans. But as a manager, and he had chances to manage the best teams around, he’s failed dismally. And given the latest scenario, it is quite likely that he might never return to a managerial post, at least not a Premiership team, or anything like it.

There will be many fans of Newcastle will be highly upset at his departure, but in some ways, maybe the club stands to benefit from him leaving. He never really did anything of note in either of his two stints at St James Park, who now need someone with guile to take the club forward.

This is among Europe’s biggest clubs and they deserve better – a better qualified and better organised manager who has the capacity to win things.

Curbishley’s decision to head for the exit was based on interference from the board in his dealings in the transfer market and the sale of players whom he wanted to keep at the club. That is what he claims.

However, the club has a different view and said the former Charlton boss was in the know of what was talking place with regards to the transfer market, so they taken aback by his sudden departure.

There might, of course, be some substance in Curbishley’s claim (because we cannot be sure that either side is not absolutely correct). But the timing of Curbishley’s decision to leave is what is mind-boggling. They had a fairly good start to the season so for him to just up and out doesn’t really make much sense. And this applies, even if the board did go against his wishes. This sort of thing happens nearly everyday, yet the other managers (Keegan aside) do not walk out on the club, players and fans.

There might just something else in the West Ham issue that prompted Curbishley to leave; something that we don’t know about.

If indeed it is what he says happened, and then I would say he still did not have enough to quit. The excuse is really not good enough.

But this, and Keegan’s lot, all make for attention to be drawn to the Premiership even if there is no Premier League this weekend.