It looks as if UEFA are moving in the direction of changing the finals to twenty-four nations but not until 2016 at the earliest. I hate to see them move from 16 which is a perfect number.

Rob Bagchi asking if a player cannot get a game then why should he cost more?

Ian Herbert on a player who turned his career around – Richard Dunne.

Brian Reade tries taking a look at the Newcastle situation from the ordinary fan’s point of view.

Louise Taylor on the role being played by former Spurs director Paul Kemsley.

I missed this one from last Monday. Gabriele Marcotti on why Dave Kitson should care about the FA Cup. 
 
A class action claim against Dave Whelan’s JJB Sports over replica football shirts has been settled.

Roy Keane does not think much of the FAI’s search for a new manager – either that or he thinks a great deal of Big Brother. It seems surreal that Mick McCarthy’s name is even being mentioned let alone a strong second choice.

I know there were a number of questions asked last week on the response section and weekend preview that I was not able to get to. Although I try to chip in on the blog throughout the week the best time to get a response to your question is by posting to Monday's Speakers' Corner.

As always thanks to everyone who reads and posts.

Wigan’s Dave Whelan claims that six clubs are ready to sue the Premiership over the West Ham ruling. 

Bojan Krkic – remember the name says Jonathan Wilson.

Alyson Rudd on Steve Heighway’s reasons for quitting his post as head of Liverpool’s Youth Academy.

James Lawton on Wednesday’s Champions League game.

And now to the weekend action coming up.

Without any doubt the match of the weekend takes place at the Bernabeu. Real Madrid and Sevilla will slug it out with the winner designated as the main challenger to Barcelona with five games left.

Real were successful in appealing David Beckham’s yellow card for time wasting last week. He can now continue his attempt to leave the Bernabeu with at least one medal to show for his four year stay. The last two matches Beckham has set up defender Sergio Ramos for two goals and the big defender will be looking for more of the same when he faces his old club.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy is also enjoying a productive streak and has rattled in seven goals in the last eight league games. Sevilla’s Freddie Kanoute leads all scorers in Spain with 20 goals, two ahead of the Dutchman. Madrid has only beaten Sevilla once in their last five meetings although Sevilla’s away record of 5-5-6 is hardly intimidating.

In a week when Manchester United and Chelsea’s dreams of a treble (yes, Chelsea can still win three trophies but one would be the Carling Cup) have been shattered Sevilla are now the one club in Europe that retains the hope of completing a treble.

Based on league positions Barcelona’s trip to San Sebastian to play second from bottom Real Sociedad looks a certain away win. However, the side that came within a whisker of winning La Liga in 2003 has recently shown signs of life. With six games left Sociedad are three points from safety but Celta Vigo, Levante and Athletic Bilbao can all be caught. The Basque side has picked up nearly half of their 27 points over the last seven games and they have won their last three home games.

Sociedad may be the lowest scorers in La Liga with only 23 goals but they give relatively few away at the back – only thirty-eight in 32 games. Eleven of their seventeen losses have come by one goal and the other six by two. In other words this is a team which has yet to be blown out and is equipped to push the league leaders particularly when you consider Barcelona’s relatively poor away form.

Bottom of the table Gimnastic can improve their chances of staying up when they play fellow strugglers Levante.

Manchester United has a chance to banish the Champions League (and the City) blues when they visit City of Manchester Stadium to play Manchester City. City is a side that is redefining the word futile as it relates to goal scoring. It is now seven games since City has scored at home and that already exceeds the old record of five games set by Everton eight seasons ago. If City misfires again they will also set a new record for the lowest number of goals scored by a home team in the English top flight. Sunderland and Woolwich Arsenal jointly hold the record of 11 goals and to date City has scored ten. 

In all likelihood Chelsea will need to beat Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday if they want to take maintain any hope of retaining their Premiership title. For Arsenal and Arsene Wenger a win would mean a first over a Jose Mourinho led Chelsea side but it might also mean that Manchester United will arrive for Wednesday’s match at Stamford Bridge as Premiership champions.

At the other end of the table and with the order of desperation in brackets – the higher the number the least desperate the club’s position – it is Wigan (6) vs. Middlesbrough (3), Aston Villa vs. Sheffield United (5), West Ham (2) vs. Bolton, Fulham (4) vs. Liverpool and on Monday Charlton (1) vs. Tottenham. Although at the start of the season I picked Fulham, Charlton and Watford to go down I can see the Cottagers surviving at the expense of West Ham. Given the ridiculous decision to fine West Ham rather than docking points such an outcome would only be delayed justice.

While the battle rages to maintain a Premiership position, the final three Premiership play off spots will be decided on Sunday. Birmingham and Sunderland are both automatically promoted and will sort out who will go up as Championship Champions while Derby County will finish third. After that five clubs are fighting for the other three spots. The teams in contention with position, opposition, points and goal difference in brackets are: West Brom (4, Barnsley, 73, 19) Wolves (5, Leicester, 73, 0) Southampton (6, Southend, 72, 21) Stoke (7, QPR, 72, 21) and Preston (8, Birmingham, 71, 10).

Up in Scotland Rangers plays Celtic is a largely meaningless affair but try telling that to Old Firm fans!  Kris Boyd will attempt to break his scoring duck against Celtic. Boyd may be a predator when he faces other sides, but up against Celtic his scoring powers evaporate. 

MLS Champions Houston Dynamo are still looking to get their new season in gear and have only scored one goal in four games so far. They travel to Denver to play the Rapids who have only lost one in four games and have former Manchester United and City player Terry Cooke in fine form with three assists in four games. Panamanian striker Roberto Brown has two game winning goals and a red card in his three games so far – never a dull moment for him.

Enjoy the weekend. 

It took Chelsea a replay before they managed to move past Spurs in the 6th round of the FA Cup and into the semi final. Both games were outstanding adverts for the FA Cup and as the old cliché goes, neither side deserved to lose.

Now Chelsea faces a Premiership side in consecutive rounds and this time it is at a neutral venue, Old Trafford. The opposition is a side that has won the trophy more times than the Pensioners although the last Blackburn Rovers win was back to 1928. Seventy-nine years is quite the barren stretch but the real glory days for the Rovers go back even further to the latter part of the 19th century.

In the eight seasons from 1884 to 1891 Blackburn Rovers won the FA Cup five times including three consecutive victories in the first three of these years. (Another Blackburn club the Olympic, won the Cup in 1883 and became the first team from outside of London to do so.)

The first two FA Cup wins by Blackburn Rovers were both against Scottish amateur side Queen’s Park. In 1884 the team from Glasgow came a cropper due to the application of a different offside rule. In Scotland only two attackers had to be between the attacker and the goal, while in England it was three. Queen’s Park had two goals disallowed and lost 2-1. The next season Queen’s Park lost 2-0 and a year later Rovers completed a straight hat trick of wins (the last team to do so) by beating West Bromwich Albion 2-0 in a replay after a scoreless draw.

In 1928, in only the sixth final played at Wembley, Huddersfield Town was shocked 3-1. Huddersfield Town finished as double runners-up that season as a Dixie Dean (59 goals) inspired Everton beat them to the League title. Since then the only other appearance for Blackburn Rovers in an FA Cup Final was in 1960 when Wolverhampton Wanderers won 3-0. The final was not considered memorable and when discussed it is usually the career ending injury to Rovers’ Dave Whelan that is remembered. Whelan after failing to cover finally took an insurance settlement, parlayed it into a fortune, and now owns Wigan Athletic.

A semi-final loss to Arsenal in 2005 is the furthest Blackburn had reached since 1960 and now they – along with Watford – they have a chance to upset what seems to most fans dream final of Chelsea against Manchester United. The road to what might be a first FA Cup Final in 47 years, started with an emphatic 4-1 away against Everton. In the 5th round it was another four goals scored away from home and this time Luton Town were the victims.

Round 5 brought a hard-earned scoreless draw against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium followed by an 87th minute winner that flew off the boot of substitute Benni McCarthy to take the replay. Manchester City fell in the last round this time by a score of 2-0. So after playing four rounds and five games Blackburn has still only conceded one goal – scored by Everton’s Andy Johnson. 
The line-up of officials for Sunday’s game at Old Trafford is as follows; Referee – Alan Wiley, Assistant Referees – Cann and Ward, Fourth Official – Mark Clattenburg.

Here is a link to the latest news from the official FA Cup website and FA Cup payments that the clubs will receive.

Past Featured Games
Extra Preliminary Round         Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A.   5-2     Billingham Synthonia.
Preliminary Round                  Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A    5-4     Thackley F.C
First Qualifying Round            Fleetwood Town                     3-0     Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A. 
Second Qualifying Round      Fleetwood Town                     4-2     Goole AFC 
Third Qualifying Round          Fleetwood Town                     2-0     Warrington Town
Fourth Qualifying Round        Fleetwood Town                     2-0     Wisbech Town
First Round                             Salisbury City                          3-0     Fleetwood Town
Second Round                       Salisbury City                          1-1     Nottingham Forest
Second Round Replay           Nottingham Forest                   2-0     Salisbury City
Third Round                           Nottingham Forest                   2-0     Charlton 
Fourth Round                         Chelsea                                  3-0     Nottingham Forest
Fifth Round                            Chelsea                                  4-0     Norwich City
Sixth Round                           Chelsea                                  3-3     Tottenham Hotspur
Sixth Round Replay               Tottenham Hotspur                 1-2      Chelsea

Gunner 44 - 1. Race between Man U and Chelsea will come down to the wire. Arsenal might play the biggest part in deciding who gets to lift that title with that game just before Chelsea faces Man U.

2. Race for Player of the Year will come down to what Drogba and C. Ronaldo do in these last games. Right now Ronaldo has the upper hand.

3. Arsenal better wake up or they will be competing for 4th with The Coldspurs again, who will finish 5 above Bolton.

4. Relegation battle might also come down to the last games also. Charlton have a chance of surviving but I don's see West Ham surviving.

What do you think of these 4 issues?

Bobby –1. It is going to come down to more than Chelsea beating or losing to Arsenal. Although the gap is currently six points United have a much better goal difference which is the equivalent of an extra point. For the Arsenal game to mean something then United has to drop points somewhere.

2. Ronaldo gets my vote at the moment.

3. Arsenal cannot afford to be complacent but I cannot see them finishing lower than fourth. They have Bolton and Spurs coming up on April 14 and 21.

4. I agree, it looks as if West Ham have dug to deep a hole. All they can do is to focus on getting some points and hope somehow that the other results go their way.

Foxcube - I find the BBC (Lineker)/FA row fascinating. Would you add some comments? Plus what do you think of the new deal?

Bobby – 1. As someone wrote – only the FA can take a good story (a record TV deal) and turn it into a bad story. I think the BBC is trying to save face while the FA should have just said nothing. As for the new deal it only applies to the UK so in the short term it won’t affect us on this side of the pond.

oldcoach - Is it just me or do others view England's quest for a second WC as the greatest, longest running soap opera in sports? I know that Scotland must be enjoying it. Fergie defended McClaren but then added he wished they were playing Scotland next. From an objective point of view, do you think McClaren has what it takes? If not, would you run off McClaren now and give it to Venables for the Estonia game?

Should Man U be concerned about Rooney's form?

Bobby – Scotland has nothing to enjoy unfortunately. Not qualifying for the knock out stage of the World Cup in 8 attempts is an atrocious record. The FA will not get rid of McClaren because it would call into question their collective judgment to an even greater degree than it is at the moment. I thought at the time McClaren was a bad choice and that opinion remains. If the FA wanted to appoint Venables they could have done it on a couple of occasions since he resigned in 1996 but his past is still a factor. If United and Rooney were struggling then I think it would be a worry but as it is they are still getting good results and Rooney is bound to come good.

AlexMorph - Who is 1. your pick, 2. who you think will win PFA young player of the year. At first I might have thought Ces was a shoe in, except for a couple things. First, I thought it was a 21- award when infect it's 23-. Second, in yesterday's game it was said that Cesc has 0 goals in 56 goal attempts, a rather poor return for an offensive midfielder. His contribution in assists and overall play is not to be denied, but his competition is greater than it seems.......Martins, Rooney, Doyle, even Kalou for what little he plays, all having pretty big impacts on their teams this year.

Bobby – You have not included Ronaldo as an option. If he doesn’t win the Player of the Year he could still win the Young Player of the Year Award. If he doesn’t win the big one then he will get the Young Player, if he does then Fabregas will likely win. 

Henry 14 – Q1 Do you know how many goals Baptista score from open play from his 38 in 50 appearances, l would want to believe 95% were set plays?
Q2 - Now that Tevez seems to have settled in the Prem do you change your mind to see one of the big four going for him
Q3 - l am a big Lampard fan, l feel for the past three season he has been the outstanding midfielder in the Prem bar none, and still feel this season as no exception how would you solve the Gerrard Lampard conundrum

Q4 - l saw that you are showing UEFA cup why don't you do the same with CL

Q5 - As an Arsenal fan l am worried about Tottenham's form and since we have to go to the lane do you see them nicking fourth place

Bobby – Q1, I can’t say for sure but I don’t remember seeing an inordinate number of his goals for Sevilla coming from free kicks or penalties.
Q2 – No.
Q3 – If the feeling is that they can’t play together then one of them just has to be dropped. It is pointless simply hoping that they will gel. If you go back to the days of Alf Ramsey then you can find numerous examples of players who were regarded as better players being overlooked in favour of lesser players because the coach believed that it was more important for a player to fit into the team.  If it was me I would be playing Gerrard and leaving Lampard on the bench.
Q4 – ESPN hold the English language rights in North America.
Q5 – I don’t think Arsenal will finish lower than 4th and 3rd is still a very real possibility.

Foxcube - Regarding the booing fans, I don't think there is anything wrong with booing itself since I believe fans are bigger than clubs and teams and players so they are entitled to their actions. Have the England fans not suffered enough?

Bobby – McIlvanney’s piece was not about fans booing it was about obscene behaviour. 

RINGO - Do you think the rise of Gretna FC, from the English northern league to the SPL (almost), is the greatest footballing fairytale?

Bobby – It is a great story but you also have to place it into a context. It is doubtful if Gretna would have achieved what they have so far if it was not for the largesse of multi-millionaire philanthropist Brooks Mileson – the "Roman Abramovich of the Borders". Wigan is also a great story but would they have done it without Dave Whelan and his investment? That's why I think Wimbledon takes pride of place. Their run to the FA Cup Final and win over Liverpool should really be made into a movie but I am not sure who would play the part of Vinnie Jones!

atleti_female - I wonder why the English media don't rate Totti. Any ideas anyone?

Bobby – Although Serie A was shown for a number of years in the UK it only attracted a niche viewership. I think it is simply a case that many of his UK critics have never taken the time to watch him.  I have mates back home that have hardly see hm play.

Gongatore - How silly is it that people are calling for Wenger's head? Why would he leave Arsenal? IMHO he has done a fantastic job (this year, they have slipped, it happens to the best sides) and arguably one of the architects of why the EPL has become an exciting league.

How do you rate Mexes? Panucci? Taddei?

Bobby – Mexes - the French Rio Ferdinand. Panucci - the Italian Philip Neville. I should probably add that Mexes obviously has a lot of talent but he seems short on application. I can’t really explain my opinion of Panucci.

I like watching Taddei. He has been a great acquisition for Roma over the last couple of seasons.