Here is a piece on Levante  finally being awarded their rightful honour as the Spanish Cup Winners from 1937. "When Saturday Comes" had a good article on this back in May 2007. 

Blatter and foreign players - here we go again.

'My name is Benjie and I'm addicted to fantasy football'  Many will recognize themselves here. 
 
Last week there was a question about the value of a UEFA Cup run to a club. Here is how Aberdeen’s manager thinks it will impact on their financial position.

Nick Harris believes that ironically money problems are the reason that Scottish football is undergoing a renaissance. Personally, I'm not convinced that it can yet be described as a renaissance. Just because it is not as bad as it use to be doesn't make it a renaissance.

Simon Kuper on sport and national identity.

Gunner44 - Luis Aragonés the Spanish coach should be fired. With the disposal of players he has Spain should be killing teams like Iceland. What do you think of Aragonés as the Spanish Coach?

Bobby – On one hand I am astounded that he is still holding the job - on the other hand Spain has only lost only lost 4 games out of 39 with 25 wins and 10 draws.

SynCrew - What do you think of Bernd and his Madrid team? Do you think he has the right mix of players and the managerial knowledge to guide Madrid to winning La Liga?
Secondly how do you see Martin Jol (if he stays) keeping all 4 of his strikers happy? I think he should keep 3-rotate them and use a 5 man midfield in case of injury - your thoughts?

Bobby – It is well known that Real Madrid fans want to not only win but to win with style. Hence, the demise of the almost perpetually successful Fabio Capello. However, there is nothing in Bernd Schuster’s managerial background to indicate that he is anything different than Capello. (Schuster is rumoured to have applied to have managed Dundee at the turn of the century but didn’t get an interview!) His record as a coach is spotted at best – Levante was relegated with him in charge – and his appointment seems to be down to his Madrid roots and two seasons of over achievement at Getafe.

His teams have not be known for playing attractive football but the counter argument would be that he has not had the players or the resources at his disposal up until now. After picking Real to win La Liga last season my thought is that they will not repeat.

The premise of keeping four strikers happy is based on four strikers always being fit and available – something that often not the case. If you are suggesting using 2 up front with a 5 man midfield and three at the back then I don’t think that is a very good idea. If your suggestion is playing one up front and rotating the three, does not that mean that on average each of the strikers will appear 1 game in three? That would be less playing time than having four strikers competing for two spots – an average on 1 appearance every two games.  

CIAO - 1. Turkey... What do you make of their chances to directly qualify after the mess they made in Malta? They currently have a game in hand, so they are not in that bad of a spot. However, they still need to play Greece, Norway and Bosnia-Herzegovina. So I think they lost their safety points now and they created a situation where they have to win every game. I think they have a very difficult time ahead, would you agree?

2. Italy. Currently in third place, but by the end of the week could be moving on up... Italy will play Ukraine which is always a tough game. But I have a feeling Inzaghi will come up big. Then they have to play Scotland. How do you see Italy's chances of making it to EURO 2008?

Bobby – Turkey’s performance has been beyond belief. They won their first four games (including a 4-1 away thumping of Greece) while scoring 12 and conceding 1. Then they have to come from behind to draw with Norway; blow a 2-1 lead and lose to a last second goal from Bosnia; then have to fight back twice to tie Malta. I’m not close enough to their situation to know what might have gone wrong but it might be a case that a surge of over confidence (thrashing Greece) has given way to rampant nerves and second guessing. The game on Wednesday (home against Hungary) is a chance to get things moving forward again and then it is Moldova away in a month’s time. Two wins in these two games would put them back in a strong position considering that Greece has Norway away on Wednesday and then Bosnia. Out of Turkey’s last three games Greece and Bosnia are both at home so all is not lost – yet!

Italy almost always seems to find a way to get through in qualifying tournaments – although they did fail in 84 after their 82 WC win. A point in Kiev tomorrow would not be that bad a result considering that they have slam dunk games against Georgia and Faroe Islands to come 9both home) and Ukraine and Scotland have to still play each other. I can see a scenario where a draw at Hampden in November would almost certainly put Italy through.

Gregz - I didn't get to hear what your predictions on La Liga. With the expectations so high, what do you think the top 10 will look like at the end of the season?

Bobby – I didn’t get a chance so here is my belated prediction for La Liga – last season's finish in brackets. 1. Barcelona (2); 2. Sevilla (3); 3. Real Madrid (Champions);4. Valencia  (4); 5. Atletico Madrid (7);6. Villarreal (5);7. Real Zaragoza (6); 8. Real Mallorca (12);9. Espanyol (11);10. Deportivo La Coruna (13); 11. Valladolid (Promoted); 12. Real Santander (10); 13. Real Betis (16);14. Osasuna (14); 15. Athletic Bilbao (17); 16. Getafe (9); 17. Recreativo Huelva (8); 18.Murcia (Promoted);19. Levante (15); 20. Almeria (Promoted)

SDGooner - I didn’t catch the France and Italy game, although I wanted to. I was wondering if you had watched it and if so how did Lassana Diarra and Thierry Henry do? I heard from other forums that Diarra played a great game and that Thierry was the worst player on the pitch.

Bobby – I thought Diarra stuck to his job well – competent rather than spectacular. Italy seemed to focus on making sure Ribery was contained and so they did not go after Diarra. Henry was almost non-existent and it was a surprise that he stayed on the field for the full game.

WorkingtonRED - What do you think of the thought of owning your own Football Club. Now you can. www.myfootballclub.co.uk Can you imagine the Manager consulted by 50,000 Share Holders.

Bobby – There have been a couple of articles posted on the blog about this over the summer. An off-the-wall idea but ultimately not the way to properly run a football club. 

Henry14 - What do you think about the additional game of suspension if you lose an appeal for unsportmanship? l think it’s crazy you should be able to appeal because it is a right but, it is not an expense and there are no detectives sent out of the FA, why should they add an additional game, isn't this what they are paid for?

Bobby – The extra suspension is invoked in the case of a frivolous appeal and it a bloody good idea. If that threat of an additional suspension was not there then the incentive – actually would be more than an incentive you be daft not to – is to appeal every suspension. In that case the system grinds to a standstill. Nobody is suggesting that there should not be a right of appeal – all that is happening is that players and clubs need to make sure that the appeal has some merit. You also have to consider the additional suspension sanction is rarely invoked.

Ohphuque  - Get fsc to get you a proper chair on the set! There is no way that gumba St Louis should tower over you as he did on the report Monday night. If they don’t have another switch with St Louis so you are sitting better ;)

Bobby – I forgot to negotiate a chair clause into my multi-cent contract. I’ll make a note of it for next year.

Craigy f - Do you know why the Italians are wearing St George crosses on their football kit, Sampdoria have a badge on their home kit and Inter have an away kit that England would be happy to wear?

Bobby – St. George is the patron saint of a number of countries and cities. I’m guessing that it has something to do with the fact that the game was played in Milan. 

Call my Agent - From an AP article today: "Hargreaves sat out Saturday's match and, although the injury is not serious, failed a fitness test Monday." What, exactly, makes up these fitness tests? Do they measure things and compare to objective standards (e.g. recovery time, strength, flex range, etc)? Or is it just a "how does the ol' knee feel today" sort of thing?

Bobby – Years ago it used to mean “can you run without the opposition knowing which part they should kick". It is a lot more sophisticated now and measurements would be made against benchmarks that would have been established when a player is considered fully fit. Having said that I’m sure that on a lot of occasions it is still left up to the player to let the coach know whether or not he feels up to it.

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.