I really do not know what to make of this. On a weekend when I don’t write a preview the blog gets two hundred plus postings!!! I don’t ever remember hitting a number as high as that even during the World Cup. Am I really needed? Thanks for all the contributions over the last three days – fantastic stuff.

Jonathan Northcroft on changing formations.

The Times republished an extract from Paul Gascoigne’s autobiography.

And Ian Bell provides some thoughts on Gazza.

The Gretna fairytale has turned into something much darker as reality set in.

Before step-overs in English football there were comb-overs and Ralph Coates had one of the most famous. 

Spurs had some of their legendary players in attendance at the Carling Cup Final. But one legend was tragically struck down in his prime. As a youngster John White’s death was a “Kennedy moment” for me only months after  the original “Kennedy moment.”

A piece on Sky’s Jeff Stelling who we see from time to time in North America.

Paul Dalglish swaps Houston for Killie.

And finally coverage of Newcastle’s big win this past weekend – just as predicted at the end of Friday’s FSR!

Monday Topic
This goes back to the sending off of Marco Materazzi on Tuesday for Inter against Liverpool after receiving two yellow cards.  There seems to be a general consensus that by the rules the referee was probably correct but that the eventual punishment seemed harsh.

The “two soft yellow cards and you are off” predicament has been bothering me for a while. On one level tugging on a shirt or holding a player back is cheating and robbing the fans of excitement and entertainment. Same thing goes for time wasting. On another level does the punishment really fit the crime?

And then I found myself reading the latest copy of Champions. The final article is an interview with 1970 World Cup winner Tostao. One of the questions that he was asked was whether he saw the need for drastic rule changes in the game.

He suggested three areas. The first was am electronic chip in the ball to indicate whether or not the ball crossed the line. The second was that it should be forbidden to pass the ball back to the goalkeeper – not just with the feet.

The third suggestion I thought was the most interesting. He said, “I would limit the number of fouls by a player and by a team with a light punishment – perhaps forcing the offending player to be substituted.”

Perhaps that is an option in the case of “two soft yellow cards and you are off” predicament. Why not have the offending player substituted? He’s out of the game and the coach loses a possible substitution – but the team still has 11 men on the field.

If all the substitutions have been made then the team is forced to play with one less player.
What do you think or do you have some other creative options?

We will start off with a few articles that caught my eye over the weekend.

Paul Kelso on the mechanics of the Burns recommendations.

Kevin McCarra on acceptance of the Burns Report by the FA.

John Carlin reckons that David Beckham’s time at Real Madrid is drawing to an end despite talk of a new contract.

Meanwhile Roddy Forsyth believes that Beckham could be Parkhead bound.

Gabriele Marcotti tells us why the reduction in the suspensions of three Italian teams was “inevitable”. His point about this being only the tip of an iceberg is well taken. Governance – FIFA, the Federations, the Associations, the Clubs – is going to be one of the most contentious issues of the next ten years and the relationship of international sport – not just football – and domestic legal systems is going to provide a lot of lawyers with a lot of work.

The Milan derby was an incredible game of football. Inter played Milan off the park in the first half and by the time Materazzi put Inter 4-1 ahead it looked as if Inter was on easy street. However, the Matrix and controversy are closely acquainted and his second yellow card for excessive celebration meant Inter was reduced to 10 men. Milan then piled forward and came ever so close to pulling level.

Before the FSWR on Friday we started messing around with unlikely book or DVD titles and the authors, or other improbable associations.
Some examples might be:
“The Jack Warner School for Ethics and Transparency in Football.”
Landon Donovan – “How to Land a Job in Europe and Prosper.”
“The Kieron Dyer Book of Fitness”
Filippo Inzaghe “Balancing in the Penalty Box – I Can Show You How.”
“The North, South, East and West Beach Diet” by Ronaldo.
Sam and Craig Allardyce – “Family Business – the Secret of Our Success.’

Can you come up with any others?

FIFA has dished out suspensions to both Zidane and Materazzi . At the risk of reopening the can of worms I am astounded that Materazzi received one game less than Zidane. In fact, I'm shocked that Materazzi was suspended at all.

As FIFA stated in the FSC story  "both players stressed that Materazzi's comments had been defamatory but not of a racist nature."

It seems that FIFA has now set a very dangerous precedent in the case of the Italian. What's to stop a player who has been sent off for violent behaviour claiming he did it because he had been insulted and how will the disciplinary bodies now deal with these accusations?

We are regressing to the school playground. Forget an additional referee, perhaps FIFA should opt for monitors who can tell the referee if any of the players say bad words!

What's the line between defamatory comments and gamesmanship?

Or take Roy Keane infamous "tackle" on Alfe Inge Haarland. Keane claimed it was pay back for an earlier game when Haarland berated Keane for faking an injury when Keane went down with damage to an ACL.

I am not defending Keane's action it just seems that FIFA  have gone where there was no need to go.  

There were no racists comments from Materazzi but he gets two games for defamatory comments and being on the receiving end of an assault. Interesting logic from FIFA for sure.

The Final did well on television in the USA, and this is just the ABC numbers.

A National Post article on how women have embraced the World Cup.

The Independent claims to know what Materazzi said.

Graeme Le Saux ,who sufferred more than his share of taunting, has put together a very interesting article.

The Independent has also put together quotes from the World Cup - some of them are very funny.

The Daily Telegraph panel of experts give their views on the 2006 World Cup Finals.

I don't know if Materazzi made contact with Malouda.

Cheeky chip from Zidane.

Camoranesi has been on the ball a lot.

I couldn't blame Barthez for Italy's goal. It would have been foolhardy to come out on that type of corner - Materazzi did a terric job with his header.

Italy is having the better of the play.

France is having trouble defendin corners from the right side - everytime one comes in it is causing problems.

Makelele is neutralizing Totti but Pirlo is a different problem. He plays so deep that he is difficult to mark.

Totti and Toni have taken to exchanging positions to try and disrupt French marking.

A good first half - here's hoping that France and Italy can keep it up.

Italy is having the better of this one although they are far from dominating.

Zambrotta is back in Italy's line-up at right back but we haven't not seen him push forward to often. Maybe he is playing himself into this one - more adventurous in the second half perhaps.

Cannavaro and "the Matrix" are handling Viduka who is badly in need of support.

Del Piero has been quite up to now and Italy has been dangerous with longer balls fed into Toni from midfield rather than from any link play.

It is always facinating to try and work out what system Guus Hiddink is playing. It looks like three at the back but sometimes four. Three in central midfield with a couple of wide midfielders but sometimes only three with the wide players droping back depending on the Italian attack. What is clear is Viduka is the lone striker. He needs to either hold the ball longer for support to arrive or to have someone up there to support him.

No doubt Hiddink will make adjustments as he always does. If Italy do not get a goal in the first 20 minutes of the second half I can see Hiddink pushing on and trying to win this one.

Michael #### on Australia’s self-belief.

A special piece for Ibrox. Natasha Woods on Rangers new manger Paul LeGuen.

Is the World Cup too big? Michael Grant asks that question.

Gabriele Marcotti has a look at Marcello Lippi and has some interesting background on Marco “The Matrix” Materazzi.

Marcotti again – this time on Portugal versus the Netherlands.