JayFSR - Would you consider The Rep. of Ireland a minnow team? Do you think they will be able to make it through with Italy? I Think Roy Keane should coach them. That would get some results!

Bobby – No. One of my criteria (and it is just how I separate countries in my mind) is to be a top class minnow a country must never have reached the Euro Championships or World Cup Finals.

A country can regain some sort of minnow status by not playing in major finals for the last 20 or 30 years. As it is the Republic fail to meet either criterion. 

I cannot see Italy not finishing first but the runners up spot is definitely up for grabs. You may think Roy Keane should coach the team but I doubt Roy does and I really doubt that the FAI does. You will need the entire group that was around in 2002 to be put out to pasture before Roy Keane is considered. What’s more an international team is no job for a very young coach.

Getz76 - What do you think of Sir Alex Ferguson resting C. Ronaldo for an EPL fixture and then losing?

Bobby – Understandable – Ronaldo played two international games with qualification at stake and these games would come with added pressure. United was also playing a team close to the foot of the league with only a single win.

If you are going to ignore these circumstances then you are never going to come up with a justifiable reason to give the player a break and he will just burn out. Ferguson is looking at a picture that is bigger than one game.

Yrusodull - Fergie looks like he may be in it for his comments to officials at the weekend, but I think the officials should be doing the explaining! Over the last 2 weeks bad or missed calls have ruined and / or decided the outcome of several matches. (Scotland vs. Italy, Canada vs. S. Africa, Tottenham vs. West Ham, etc.) Why are the governing bodies not held accountable for this? With the technology available today, some consistency in the calibre of officiating should be obtainable. What can be done to rectify this blight on the beautiful game!

Bobby – I’m not sure how you jumped from a Fergie rant (about Bolton being overly physical) to the issue of bad or missed calls but no matter. In the debate over the use of technology the proponents fail to explain the logistics of how and when it will be used and the longer term impact it will have.

From my perspective technology supporters focus on one off incidents to buttress their case but fail to acknowledge that once the cat is out of the bag then it will subsequently become open season on calling for replays. There is no doubt in my mind that the reviewing of refereeing decisions by replay would eventually lead to a substantial change in the character and quality of the game.

The logical conclusion of refereeing-by-replays– and supported by human nature – will be for the referee to call everything and wait for a replay to change it. Tackle in the penalty area – the referee’s normal response will become to award a penalty and then call for a replay to prove or disprove.

That option is far more palatable than the other which would be to let play go on and have the possibility o####oal at the other end. Then the potential is call back a goal at one end and award a “retroactive” penalty for the first incident. I can see that one going down well at Old Trafford in a scoreless draw with minutes left and United being on the wrong end of the decision!!

However, the best argument against decision by replay is the number of times that a television replay still fails to bring agreement on whether or not the referee was correct. 

Technology pushers tend to live in a world where if you just replay an incident then everyone will agree on the call. There is little evidence to support that. There are colour commentators (especially in the US) who operate on the basis that their primary job in the absence of analysis is to critique the referee’s decisions courtesy of replay.

Many times the referee is correct and the colour commentator is wrong and even though they’ve had the benefit of slow motion and time to think about the decision.

Finally you referred to the Spurs – West Ham game. I felt that Mike Riley got both penalty calls correct – you don’t (I assume), so how would technology help? We disagree after seeing the same incidents slowed down many times.

Craigy_f – 1) Who would a winter break in the Premier league benefit most? Is it likely to happen?
2) Do you blame the odd dodgy referee for Scotland’s exit or perhaps their failure to get anything in Georgia?
2a) Money aside - would you hazard a guess as to why top English players aren't a sought after export.
3) Care to have a stab at the next England manager? What do you make of the process to pick a new manager so far, Barwick aided by Brooking with input from 'a number of PL managers'?
4) My first and second best moments of the football weekend were 7-1 and Juventus giving Palermo an utter hiding, what are yours?
5) Just let us know how we can put you in a foul mood so we can see some more of that lovely stuff you produced the other day

Bobby 1) The players you would think. I saw some stats a couple of years ago that claimed that Bundesliga players suffered fewer injuries after the winter break than Premiership players. In order for it to work properly the Premiership would have to cut down to 18 teams from 20. Otherwise the same number of games will have to be packed into a smaller window. I don’t think you will see a winter break in the Premiership.

2) I don’t blame the referee for Scotland’s failure. Going into the Georgia game I felt a win was needed – even a draw was not good enough. However, although it was a great effort the reality is that overall Italy and France have much better teams than Scotland.

3) The day before Martin O’Neill “declined” I suggested on the Team1040 radio program from Vancouver that I thought O’Neill would pass on the opportunity. It was a pure gut call. The problem is that after that my gut has taken a break and there are precious few other names that jump out at me.

I don’t think Capello will be offered the job; Louis Van Gaal – horrible media skills. I would be very shocked in Jose Mourinho was really interested let alone take the job. An interesting suggestion I read was Claudio Ranieri.

As for the process – I don’t think there is one. It sounds like another fly by the seat of your pants process. Barwick would give instill a great deal more confidence if he articulated a more formal process – even strike a three man advisory committee or something – and give timelines.

4) Dundee beating Hamilton Accies 1-0 to narrow the gap at the top of the Scottish First Division.

5) Good mood today – sorry.

amenina - 1. What has struck me about this is how huge this story is in the US and international football media. Do you think it'll be as huge if it were France/Germany/Italy/Spain who did not qualify? Somehow I think there wouldn't even be half as much coverage.

2. Do you agree with the following statements?
a. The EPL is the most watched league in the US; so naturally, many people support the England NT, 'cos they're familiar with all their players.
b. The British media is the most accessible (common language), so the US media report more on the England NT than other national teams.
c. Many US commentators are from Britain (you, Webster, Cohen at FSC, and a few folks at ESPN), so they talk more about the England NT 'cos that's what they're familiar with.
d. England is such a polarizing team (many love them, others can't stand them), and a "sexy" topic (Beckham, WAGs, all the business at the FA), that them failing is bigger news than many other teams succeeding. (kind of like the Yankees or Mets)

Bobby – 1. No there would not be as much coverage if France/Germany/Italy/Spain did not qualify.

2. a. Disagree – I would suggest that the Mexican league is the most watched league in the USA. I also disagree that you would support a country because you watch a domestic league. The might have a little bit more interest but “support” is too strong a term.

b. Part of the reason but there is much more to it than that. Political and economic ties for a start. Throw in US players playing in the league as well as well as players from a wide array of countries and it is difficult to find a part of the Premiership that someone can’t identify with.

c. I would suggest you have it the wrong way round. If there was more interest in the other domestic leagues then in all likelihood you would have commentators who are more representative of these leagues. In my case I’ve spent well over half my life and almost all my adult life in North America (and none of it in England) so I think your cause and effect is a bit suspect.

d. Who are the Yankees or Mets? Are they in the Conference?

Gregz - Q1. What’s up with Henry, he is really struggling in my opinion.
Q2. Tim Vickery seems to believe that Tevez may lose his place as first choice striker to Aguero for Argentina, any thoughts?

Bobby – 1. The season is only three months old. How is he struggling?

2. It’s strange that you should say that because I have never considered Tevez to be Argentina’s first choice striker. He wasn’t going into WC 2006 and certainly not during the tournament. Since then I have seen nothing to indicate that he was Argentina’s default choice to start up front. Aguero is going to become a fantastic player and from what I have seen he appears to be more adaptable to the style of the players – more so than Tevez.  

Redfan2000 - Looks like Alex McLeish just quit as Scotland manager Bobby, to take on Birmingham? Seems to me like a step down or is there more to this? What’s your take on this and who do you think will replace him?

Bobby – That is a big disappointment but understandable. International team management is not a career for younger managers more like a stepping stone to rebuild a career or to make a mark.

Either way a return to club management is normally the end result. As a Premiership team Birmingham can pay a lot more (a lot lot more) than Scotland can plus the position offers day-to-day involvement. (There again after picking up compensation payments for Walter Smith and Alex McLeish maybe the SFA will be in a position to pay more?) Plus it means Martin O’Neill and McLeish can again fight it out for city supremacy!

Who to replace him? Billy Davies will get a mention and probably has a shot at it – the name Graeme Souness will get press. I’ll throw in a couple of names and profiles that might fit – Jim Jeffries, George Burley and Bruce Rioch. Craig Levein at Dundee United will get a mention (although too young in my opinion) and Jimmy Calderwood at Aberdeen might be a good fit.

Sleeper000 – Do you think Modric is going anywhere in the winter or if Dinamo might keep him until the summer? Knowing how the Dinamo board functions, he's probably gone in the winter. Also, what club do you think he might end up at?

Bobby – I try as a rule to avoid comment on transfer speculation. Too many unknowns. One more caution, Daily Mail=Anything for a Headline. Also Daily Mail gets around 0.0005% of their transfer stories right.

RINGO - Have you been surprised by the results of the junior clubs on their first entry into the Scottish FA Cup? And when do you expect to see Tayport taking part?

Bobby - It has taken a long time for the juniors to be allowed into the Scottish Cup but I am not surprised at how well they did in the early stages of the Cup.

Only Linlithgow Rose is left and we have to wait until later this week to see who they draw next. However, from what I have been told there will be more than a few teams hoping to avoid Linlithgow in the next round.

The best run junior clubs have always been a step ahead of some of the teams in the lower reaches of the Scottish Football League – as have some non-league clubs. The decision to allow junior clubs entry into the full SFA Cup came a little too late for Tayport as last season they had a relatively poor season – the first in a long time. I’m confident that they will make it to the SFA Cup sometime soon and it might even encourage me to take a trip back for the game.

Tintagel - So, Bobby, just what was Benitez thinking of with his comments on the owners? How about another tack? It was a cry for help. Benitez's heavy workload increased when he restructured the Academy, and he took oversight responsibilities, and he still has not replaced Ayesteran. When you are overworked, you try to force the issues to shorten the time necessary to carry it out properly to make it fit your overly heavy schedule. Hicks and Gillett would be much farther ahead to get him help, i.e. a replacement for Ayesteran. I should be Rick Parry's job to sell this to the owners, so I hope that he is up to it, for Liverpool's sake.

Bobby - Interesting observation. Another possibility is that the real problem is between Benitez and Parry. I believe Benitez had a feud going with the Director of Football while at Valencia and perhaps something similar has erupted.

Samba 9 - In your opinion do you see Avram Grant delivering this so-called "attractive football"? Will he stand the test of time? As far as I'm concerned, this man has no pedigree and to compare himself to Arsene Wenger, when he took over at Arsenal, is laughable at the very least: they certainly are not birds of the same feather. Attractive football is in the eyes of the beholder, and I'd rather we just win whether its 1:0 or 5:0 "winning isn't everything; it's the only thing".

Secondly, which players do you see leaving Chelsea because of Mourinho's sudden departure? We know how much of a father figure Mourinho was to his players. His passion for the game and the genuine chemistry he had with most of his team translated into getting the very best out of them even under insurmountable circumstances. That is what Chelsea will miss most and that will severely affect results on the pitch unless they get another uniter. Who fits this bill; I just don't know. Finally, do you want to change you're season's predictions? I think you had Chelsea finishing first. If players do leave in January, even a Champions League spot will be huge task to ask.

Bobby –1. There is nothing in Grant’s background to indicate that he is up to the job. 2. I don’t see many players leaving Chelsea just because Mourinho has left. That kind of talk is generally knee jerk reaction from the media and there are very few examples of top-class players leaving a club on mass because the boss has been fired. 3. A prediction has to stay at prediction and isn’t something to change just because something unexpected happens. I think the doom and gloom around Chelsea is being overdone and people are forgetting that Claudio Ranieri made it into the Champions League with a team that was not as good as this Chelsea squad. The difference between Chelsea and the five placed team in the Premiership is far more than Jose Mourinho.

SynCrew - 1. Did you watch Juve-Roma; if so what did you think of the match? And how well do you think this Juve team will do both short and long term?
2 I missed the Friday's FSR and was told you mentioned Jose coaching Man Utd. Can you elaborate for me please? 3 What's your favorite Mourinho quote?

Bobby – 1. I watched the game on Sunday and enjoyed it.  In the short term, Juventus can certainly finish in the top four particularly given they do not have to worry about Europe this season. Beyond this season, they will have to spend some money if they want to be a force in Italy and Europe. 2. I said on Friday that I could see Jose Mourinho, taking charge at Old Trafford, one-day. 3. “There is no pressure at the top. The pressure's being second or third.”

Gabemar - A couple of years ago there was a club owner in Spain a Mr. Piterman coincidentally of Russian descent who bought Alaves. And announced that he had big dreams for the small club. He hired a manager and bought some players. The manager managed to put together a decent team who were competitive enough to avoid relegation from La Liga. But obviously to do so they played a cautious and tactically organized type of football.

Unfortunately Mr. Mr. Piterman did not like this, he wanted his team to play attacking and exciting brand of football. A tug of war for the control of the team ensued and just like in Chelsea the owner won. The manager left and another manager was brought in who was more receptive to the owner ideas.

Obviously the team started to lose more games with this new approach. The owner blamed the new manager because in his mind the manager was not doing enough to win while playing attacking football.

So Mr. Mr. Piterman decided to hire himself to the staff of his club so he could sit on the bench and tell the manager what he wanted done during the game.

I still remember a game against Real when Alaves fielded an ultra attacking 4-3-3 formation. The Owner in one end of the bench and the manager at the other end. Obviously Real routed them. Alaves went down, the fans rebelled against the owner forcing him to disengage from the ownership of the club. I wonder if we'll see Mr. Abramovich on the Chelsea bench sometime before the end of the season.

Bobby – Piterman was involved with Racing Santander before Alaves. I remember writing a story about his involvement. The Spanish Football Association would not grant him a license to be on the bench so he self accredited himself as a photographer and positioned himself next to the dugout so he could shout instructions to the official coach. Unless Abramovich starts taking his coaching qualifications unbelievably quickly he will not get any place near the Chelsea bench. I wonder if he can handle a camera?

Henry14 - q1. Can people blame Benitez for not playing Torres, if they fail to beat Birmingham with Gerrard, Mascherano, Pennant and other quality players, do you think Benitez is to blame?
q2. What do you make of Roman, being a tactical guru?
q3. What did you make of Tevez and Rooney on their first outing together?

Bobby – 1. Fans find it difficult to understand how you can spend so much money on a player and then not start him two straight weeks against teams that Liverpool should be beating comfortably. Benitez didn’t help his case by claiming that Torres would not have helped the Liverpool cause. As for who is to blame – if it is not Benitez who is it? 2. About the same as me being a billionaire. 3. That’s like asking a couple if they are going to get married when they’ve just gone out for their first cup of coffee.

Ringo - You used to mention on the report which teams had the highest average attendances in Europe. Could you give us an update?

Bobby – Some of the websites I used to get the information from either have stopped quoting attendance or the information is a bit suspect. The best information I  could find was from wikipedia and it lists the average attendances from last season.

CIAO - 1. Regarding Arsenal's profits from each game... Are they selling out each game?
2. What do you think of Mourinho taking over at Inter considering the dive in performance in Milan? I think Moratti’s could jump the gun knowing Mourinho is available now. If not, do you think Mourinho might take the post at Spurs?
3. Knowing Arsenal have a large sum for transfers, and Wenger's tight purse, do you think he may consider splurging for a top or up and coming keeper [i.e. Marco Amelia (age 25, Livorno), Igor Akinfeev (age 21, CSKA Moscow) or Veniamin Madrykin (age 26, CSKA Moscow)]? Can you think of any other goalkeepers that might be interesting choices? I think the two keepers from CSKA should be considered by most every top side as they are doing very good in European competitions.
4. Who do you think should be the next manager at Chelsea? I think Hiddink would be able to make out the mess and put RA in his place.
5. There is a lot of talk regarding United bringing in another striker. I think this would be wrong without giving Tevez the opportunity to build on a partnership with Saha and Rooney. What do you think?
6. Today Hierro was made the Sporting Director for the RFEF. Essentially does he now oversee the direction that the national side is headed and if the current manager is fired would he be the interim caretaker?
7. I watched some highlights of Giuseppe Rossi. He seems to be very skilled and creative player. I have never watched one of his games. How do you rate him? Why didn't other big clubs didn't make a move for him?

Bobby – 1. Pretty much. 2. It is almost inconceivable that Chelsea would pay Mourinho off and then allow him to take over at Spurs. Inter Milan is a viable and very possible destination – particularly if results don’t go Inter’s way in the next few weeks. 3. Wenger will give all three keepers a chance before he dips into the transfer market. Don’t be surprised if Lehmann is back as #1 within a month. 4. Hiddink should be considered the favourite and the odds will shorten if Russia fails to make it to Euro 08. 5. I think you have been hearing talk that I haven’t been hearing. They can’t do anything until January anyway so it is a mute discussion. 6. From what I understand his position is a new one and he will take over from Aragones after Euro 08 as Spanish coach. 7. I was surprised that Fergie did not give him a look at Old Trafford this season. He is a bit on the small side but he looks to be a good player to me. 

Ummufan - SAF seems to have annointed Queiroz as his successor. Is this likely to happen? Why JM as a replacement?

Bobby – I think Fergie is saying what he has to say. I don’t think it would be wise to undermine your assistant if that is his goal. Personally, I don’t see Queiroz taking over from Fergie when the Scotsman retires. Mourinho and Old Trafford seems to be a fit to me.

Craigyf - I’ve looked at the FIFA rules and still can’t see why the ref gave Juve the throw in; that was originally a Roma throw in; if Cicinho was time wasting he should have got a yellow, but he got no card. I think the ref made a monumental blunder but I’m not sure can you clarify?

Bobby – Referee’s rarely give a foul throw for stealing yards and a yellow card. A yellow card might appear if the player maintains one position and delays but rarely for creeping.

RINGO - One question about the Gabriele Marcotti piece, who is Dave Worthington? Never heard of him.

Bobby – Former Bolton scout.

Danielgregg - Let's say no internal problems existed inside Chelsea, that Mourinho and Abramovich were the best of pals and Mourinho had the freedom and authority Wenger enjoys. How long do you think Mourinho would've stayed at Chelsea even under the best of circumstances? Certainly he would've stayed longer than he did, but how much longer? I ask this because everyone assumes he would've stayed on permanently for many years had it not been for Abramovich's and Kenyon's meddling. Mourinho has always struck me as a brilliant manager who burns brightly for a short while, gets bored and frustrated and leaves. It's interesting that in the tunnel of Porto's Dragao stadium--where there are photos and tributes all over the walls of the 2004 CL-winning team--there are no photos and tributes of Mourinho. Mourinho to me does not seem to be a builder of anything that lasts.

Bobby – It’s not something we are going to find out anytime soon but there is a definitely a view that Mourinho might be more effective in the short term rather than a decade plus manager like Ferguson or Wenger. There again when you look at the length of time that Prem managers have been in their jobs then it is clear that Ferguson and Wenger are exceptions. If I am not mistaken Steve Bruce is now the third longest serving Premiership manager with 5 years services.

RINGO - On last night’s report you mentioned all the intelligent discussion on the blog, I assume that was not including Verbal....or myself.

Bobby – It is all relative!

It is election day for Real Madrid on Sunday and  a new President will be installed.

Claudio Ranieri on England’s demise and the issue of three central midfield players.

Michael Grant takes a look at the life and times of Sven Goran Eriksson’s time in charge of England.  

Martin Jol has a look at the art of World Cup man management and he also provides some insight on the Ruud van Nistelrooy – Marco van Basten bust-up.

and a bit of fun...it might not be the best day to become a Brazilian but this website translates your name into “Brazilian”. I came out as # 5 - McMahisco. By using a couple of variables for my first name such as Bob I also got McMahildo and Robbiisco.

I will be watching the Good, the Bad and the Ugly tonight. The Clint Eastwood classic not today’s highlights.

Again thanks to all of you who take the time to visit the blog and to those of you who share your thoughts and opinions.