LGB – 1. Do you think the "conference" format hurts or helps the MLS? 2. I went to Bill Turianski's website and it showed United having 9 European titles. Am I missing something? 3. Do you have numbers on the FA Cup Semifinal viewership? 4. Gabriele Marcotti's article was interesting. I've been trying to put a finger on United's "rotating attack" system. Marcotti was very vague on trying to describe it, how would you describe it?

Bobby – 1. I would prefer to see one division.
2. I did as well and saw 2 European titles.
3. In the UK - “Cardiff City and Barnsley drew 1.54 million and a 10.9% multichannel share between 3.30pm and 6.30pm, peaking at 2.09 million and 13.2% in the 15 minutes from 5.30 pm.” – Could not track down WBA and Portsmouth numbers. I don’t think FSC subscribes to ratings.
4. It’s based on speed, mobility and a fair amount of position swapping. It’s a variation of the Dutch system but limited to fewer players.

Gers4Lyfe - As an aside I would say your pithy analysis of Lauren Robert reveals perhaps an underappreciated expertise of the Auld Alliance. Dundee United gave Rangers a great run yet again. If as some would have you believe and Celtic supporters have their way running wee Gordon Strachan out of town, do you see them making a play for Craig Levein?

Bobby – I had to look up pithy – I thought that you had replaced “ss” with “th”. I don’t think Celtic will go after Levein. Very limited European experience.

Redfan4ever - Of the clubs in danger of the drop from the EPL what is your thoughts on the likely changes of managers at Bolton, Fulham, Derby? The press has reported that Megson and Jewell will both keep their jobs if their clubs go down. Will Al Fayed sack Hodgson do you think? Who else do you think (manager wise) might move clubs in the EPL this summer? Could Big Sam replace Curbs?

Bobby – Derby won’t change. My sense was that Hodgson was hired to keep Fulham in the Premiership – if he fails he will not be managing them in the Championship. I didn’t think Megson was an inspired choice and still don’t. As for the others – we will have to wait and see although Allardyce to West Ham I would consider to be a long shot.

Neophyte - This might be a different comment but here it goes. On a successful U-10 team there is this tall, lanky kid. He has great skills with his feet. Sees the pitch better than most. Crosses with left and right feet. He can score but is unselfish and so typically plays on the wings. He looked absolutely wonderful this last game. His glaring weakness is he lacks aggressiveness with the loose balls (50/50 balls) etc...His coach keeps him on a tight rein. If he loses a ball the coach will pull him even though he is obviously the most skilled at his position. They have talked about getting rid of the boy. That was why I was there. I told the coach that it looks like the kid suffers from the Peter Crouch syndrome: He looks awkward due to his height so he is critized but is effective on the pitch. Assuming my analysis of the boy’s abilities and weaknesses are correct how do you handle this?

Bobby –I can’t fathom getting rid of an under-10 player because he lacks aggression on 50/50 balls. Keep the kid, dump the coach.

MasMaz - I agree that the 4-4-2 is out of fashion. I am a proponent of the 4-2-3-1. What do you think of 4-2-3-1? What formation does Man Utd use? I can't figure it out.

Bobby – I like 4-2-3-1 as it seems to be a nice balance between defence and attack and allows the bank of three players to push on and attack. But if you don't have two intelligent defensive midfield players then it will not work. United does not use one formation.

Neophyte - I heard Capello say at a coaches clinic that formation means little in the top leagues. Formation won't win games, players win games. He was talking mainly to coaches about player development so his comments could have been made for affect rather than stating his true beliefs. He seems partial to the 4-2-3-1. I've heard Brazilian trainers say the same thing about formation and players and yet the national team seems to like 4-2-2-2. So what is it? Formation? Players? Both?

Bobby – Formation has to be built around player skills.

TimC2412 - Wouldn't you regard Skrtel as a pretty strong January pickup for Liverpool?

Bobby – He looked good against average teams but was hardly impressive against Manchester United. I would say that it is a bit early to sing his praises.

Flashman - What do think of Dave Jones' chances of getting back into the Prem? He's done a good job at Cardiff, grappled as best anyone could with the comatose giant of Wolves and has evolved quite nicely since his playing days. Could you see him a candidate for Blackburn if Hughes hops over to Celtic? West Ham? Citeh!? Or is he doomed to be the best tier two manager in England? He would have the derby with Swansea to look forward to next year if he stays. And tell us what you thought about the Dees-Gers game.

Bobby – Very slim. You have to remember that he was close to getting fired earlier in the season so although the FA Cup Final is a great achievement I think the only way David Jones back to the Premiership will be through promotion. I don’t think Dundee United like leads or Kris Boyd.

Flashman - Do you think Spurs would get more selling Berbatov intact, or having his brain bottled and leased out for study to leading psychiatric institutes?

Bobby – Only leading psychiatric institutes?

Jahmikes - What are views on officiating in matches, I think too much games in recent times too much results are dependent on official calls, many that have been wrong, why doesn’t football give each team three appeals for video playback as in tennis or cricket, it would not take time because managers would use their appeals wisely and the time could be put back in injury time. These days refs give 10 mins sometimes of injury. Also is it me or are officials clamping down on handballs this season, I do not recall so much calls for handball in a season before.

Bobby – Results have always been dependent on officials – it is nothing new. Video replays will mean that we can disagree in slow motion – it is not the answer.

Thierry_Henry - Do you see a day when RANGERS and CELTIC would see too much profit by playing in the EPL and decide to join. Kind like CARDIFF, SWANSEA and WREXHAM, who decided it's not worth playing in the Welsh League. I think it would be cool to have the BIG 6 instead of 4.

Bobby – No, you are more likely to get a European League before Rangers and Celtic are allowed to join the Premiership. It is not the Old Firm’s choice just to get up and join a foreign league. Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham made that decision a long time ago in a much less regulated time.

ZUCO2 - A few weeks ago I heard a story about Spain's national team that could get suspended from Euro 2008 because of the Spanish government. What's that all about? It seems that Albania national team is facing a similar problem.

Bobby – This sort of thing blows up on a fairly regular basis and FIFA issue threats about withdrawing sanction from the domestic FA and therefore all teams would be banned from international play.

It usually stems from a real or imaginary threat that governments are interfering in football matters domestically. My understanding is that the Spanish FA refused to comply with a government directive that would have meant elections for national sport organizations would be synchronized. The Spanish FA refused and so there is no threat of a FIFA ban.

Jahmikes - About instant success in the Jan transfer window, there is one, Jermaine Defoe, 7 goals in 7 games so far, that looks to me like positives for Pompey. Also with all the injuries in my teams midfield, why would you say Wenger has not played the young Brazilian Denilson, I would think playing him would allow some of the fatigued players some well needed rest.

Bobby – Defoe would be one of the few. Denilson was injured for a good part of 2008 and so I would think that his match fitness would be a concern.

Catgotyourtongue - I find it disconcerning that mistakes by refs are ignored if the result ends fairly. i.e. Hleb's yellow against Milan. If he picks up another he could miss an important game. Mistakes are so prevalent that announcers give it the same commentary as a streaker. Flag happy offsides are also way too prevalent. The thought that this is part of football is part of the problem.

Bobby – So what are you suggesting? Every call is debated and put to a vote before the game can continue? Who makes more mistakes? Players or officials?

Thewobegonboy - My question concerns Dirk Kuyt. I know he scored bags of goals in Holland and had a great World Cup campaign, but he looks very ordinary in the Premiership. It's plain to see that he's a hard-working player, as his runs and defensive interventions were instrumental in helping secure Liverpool's 1-1 draw at the Emirates (yes, as was his goal, which was more about the run than anything).
His prolific tracking back got me wondering: is it possible that he's miscast as a striker? As a frontman, do you think he is out of his depth in England, or has serial rotater Rafa failed to get the best out of him? Could you name some players who flourished after switching positions? Thank you.

Bobby – I’m not sure I would have described Kuyt has having a great World Cup campaign. Rafa likes him - as would most managers – because he works incredibly hard. I would not necessarily say that he has been miscast as a striker given his scoring rate in Holland - just a striker that has had trouble stepping up to the next level. Kezman was the same.

There are many players who have successfully changed positions. Off the top of my head - Drogba was a midfield player. Gattusso played at right back for Rangers although that may have had more to do with #### Advocaat. Thierry Henry striker-winger-striker. A number of strikers have moved back to centre half. Kolo Toure was a midfield player I believe.

Although the original plan was for another midweek appearance on the FSR on Wednesday night that will not happen unfortunately.

 James Lawton who collaborated with Sir Bobby Charlton on his just-published autobiography.

Paul Doyle on France boss Raymond Domenech.

Steven Powell on EPL start times on October 6.

 

Bnei Sakhnin an Arab team playing in the Israeli league.

 

Eastern European specialist Jonathan Wilson with a preview of the England vs. Russia game this Wednesday. 

 

A piece on Russia's manager Guus Hiddink.

 

Hugh MacDonald looks at what Kris Boyd’s exceptional international goal scoring record is going to get him in Paris on Wednesday – a place on the bench.