Tom Jordan, son of Joe, helped Havant & Waterlooville to a glamour FA Cup match-up with Liverpool. I wonder if he has his father’s teeth - possibly in a jar.

John Inverdale on the controversy over how to mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. Perhaps some Manchester City supporters don’t realize that the crash also took the life of a once great City player as well. After a spectacular career for both Manchester City and England Frank Swift retired at the end of the 1950 season. He became a journalist working for the News of the World and covered the fateful game in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. 

Seven times a non-league club has knocked off a top flight opponent.

The possibility of a return of Scotland against England seems to be getting stronger.

The wit of Gordon Strachan........ and he could play at bit - this from early in his career. The game was at Arbroath's ground called ####field. It is perched on what is really the North Sea and the ball is always only a Titus Bramble sliced clearance and a gust of wind away from heading to Norway. One of the coldest places you could ever watch a game - but because it is so close to the water games are rarely postponed.  

This might top Eileen Drewery.

With Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea all facing Premiership opposition this weekend what chance that we will lose one of the current top three in the league?

Both Arsenal and Newcastle have enjoyed FA Cup success in the past especially when they have played each other along the way. With the  exception of their very first FA Cup meeting in the 1901/02 season Newcastle and Arsenal have either met in the final or the winner of an earlier round match-up has gone onto the final.

Here is the rundown.
1901/02 Newcastle put Arsenal out in first round but were knocked out in the last 8 to the eventual winners Sheffield United.

1905/06 Newcastle beat Arsenal 2-0 in the semi final but lost 1-0 to Everton in the final.

1931/32 Newcastle beat Arsenal 2-1 in the final.

1935/36 Arsenal beat Newcastle 3-0 on the way to the final and won the Cup beating beat Sheffield United 1-0.

1951/52 Newcastle beat Arsenal 1-0 in the final (one of three Newcastle wins in the early 50s).

1997/98 Arsenal beat Newcastle in the final and completed their second domestic double.

2001/02 Arsenal knocked Newcastle out after a replay and went on to win the Cup and Premiership for their third domestic double.

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are another two Cup giants. United have been to the final eighteen times and have won the trophy eleven times while Spurs can look to eight wins out of nine trips with a 1987 loss to Coventry City the only blemish.

You would think that with twenty-seven final appearance between them that at some point they would have contested a final. But that has never happened and it certainly won’t this season.  The nearest they ever came was in 1962 when Spurs beat United in the semi-final. Other than that their meetings have been limited to the early rounds.

Robbie Keane last week notched his 100th goal in all competitions for Spurs but there is one team he has yet to score against in English football. Will this be the weekend that he breaks his duck against Manchester United?

There is a gulf between Wigan and Chelsea in the Premiership and there is a similar gulf in the FA Cup. While Chelsea have not been eliminated before the 5th round since 1998 this is only the second time in the last two decades that Wigan have made it this far. 

There have been so many good articles this week I thought I would throw a few up as part of the weekend preview.

A piece on the politically active Barcelona defender Oleguer Presas.

Paul Gardner on the MLS and his oft repeated plea to look more towards South American players.

David Conn – Premiership shares sold and money made.

A piece from Graeme LeSaux’s autobiography – worth reading just for the last paragraph.

The Times top 50 managers. Sure to generate some debate. I find some of the selections strange but I can’t disagree on the top two.

The always interesting Simon Kuper on Northern Ireland. This was written before Gillespie and McCartney started to scrap about who was getting the window seat.

Sir Alex Ferguson names his heroes for Robert Philip.

And to the weekend action.

The North London derby pits two managers "enjoying" vastly different degrees of job security. While Arsene Wenger has just signed a new contract that should keep him with Arsenal for four more seasons, his opposite number Martin Jol isn’t sure that he will be around for four more games. As far as this game is concerned history is not on Jol’s side. Spurs last win against Arsenal was at White Hart Lane in November 1999 under George Graham and since then David Pleat, Glenn Hoddle, Jacques Santini and the present incumbent have all failed to put one over on Wenger’s Arsenal.

However, draws and late equalizers have been par for the last seven North London derby games at White Hart Lane. Six of the last seven Premiership games between these two teams at White Hart Lane have finished as draws and four of the six have seen equalizing goals coming in the 89th minute or later. Spurs have pulled a rabbit out of the hat three times and Arsenal once.

If you are looking for likely scorers then Robbie Keane might be the man – four goals in 12 appearances against Arsenal. On the other hand Robin van Persie has yet to score against Spurs in five matches. 

With a disappointing start and the prospect of Chelsea visiting Old Trafford next weekend three points is a priority for Manchester United when they play Everton at Goodison. Goals – or the lack of goals – have been the major problem for United but they face an Everton side that traditionally does poorly against them.

Everton has only recorded three wins in thirty Premiership matches against United and last seasons collapse must still be a fresh memory. Leading 2-0 and with Ian Turner starting in goal for Tim Howard, Everton gave up four unanswered goals on a day that all but sealed the title for the Red Devils. Ronaldo was thrown into the match with the Everton leading 2-1 and he contributed two helpers to turn the game around. After serving his suspension for a red card against Portsmouth Ferguson will look to Ronaldo once more.

Tim Howard’s availability will depend upon the finger injury he picked up against Brazil last Sunday. Howard has yet to record a shut out this season as Everton has conceded a goal in each of their five matches. In attack the Toffees have scored eight goals but none have come from the normally reliable Andy Johnson. Johnson has now gone ten Premiership games without a goal – his longest unproductive spell in the top league.

When Johnson signed from Crystal Palace Everton fans were hopeful that he would be their first 20 a season goal scorer since Peter Beardsley in the 1991-92 season. The hope may now be shared with new signing Yakubu Aiyegbeni. Twenty a season may be a bit much to hope for (his scoring per season has been 16, 12, 13, and 12) but as the stats show Yakubu has been a consistent scorer since he arrived at Portsmouth for the 2004 season. Fifty-three goals in 138 appearances gives him an average o####oal every 2.60 games.

The Chicago Fire has been blazing a trail to MLS play-offs lately with four wins and a draw in their last seven matches. A haul of 13 points contrasts with only six points picked up in the previous 12 games and it is difficult not to trace the improvement to the arrival of Blanco. However, one of the recent losses did come against the inconsistent New York Red Bulls at the beginning of September in New York. The Red Bulls have not won away from home since July 8 when they beat Colorado and overall their away record is almost a perfect inverse of their home record. At home 12 games, 8 wins, 3 losses and a draw, for 24 against 11; Away record 12 games, 3 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws, for 13 against 24.
 
In Serie A the visit of Roma to Reggina catches the eye. After only two matches only Roma and Juventus can boast of perfect records.  Roma has won only once on their last four trips to Reggina and lost twice. What's more they have been held scoreless in three of those games. However, it will be a different looking Reggina squad that did well to overcome an 11-point penalty last season and survive courtesy of a last day win over Milan. Rolando Bianchi, a source of 18 goals last season, left to sign for Manchester City. Also gone are Coach Walter Mazzarri (Sampdoria), Giacomo Tedesco (Catania), Alessandro Lucarelli (Siena), and Mesto (Udinese).

To compensate Francesco Cozza has returned to the club for his third stint after a short spell with Siena and Icelandic midfielder Emil Hallfredsson took a circuitous route to Reggina. Hallfredsson was sold by Spurs to Lyn of Norway only to be moved to Reggina only two weeks later. It was Hallfredsson who scored against Spain for Iceland last Saturday in a 1-1 draw. Roma’s Alberto Aquilani so far has scored two stunning goals from distance and will be looking to make it three in three games. Roma faces a tough schedule in the next few weeks with games against Juventus, Fiorentina, Inter, Parma, Napoli, Milan and Lazio in succession. Plus they have the Champions League as well. 

The shock result of round two in Serie A was Napoli’s 5-0 away hammering of Udinese. Napoli hadn't scored five away from home in Serie A since 1929 and they did it against a team that had played well while drawing with champions Inter Milan the week before. The star for Napoli was Ezequiel Lavezzi with a goal and two assists. He was signed from San Lorenzo for around $4M this past summer and he has of course been annointed the new “Maradona”. Also prominent against Udinese was former Juventus striker Marcelo Zalayeta who scored twice.   Sampdoria is still with Antonio Cassano and he is expected to be out for a month with a left thigh injury. Cassano was hurt during a friendly with Swiss team that was arranged in order to help get Cassano fit!

In Spain newly promoted side Almeria started with a 3-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna before losing at home to Valencia 2-1. This weekend they travel to the capital to play last season’s champions Real Madrid. Almeria, who finished as runners-up in the second division last year, are in the top flight for only the third time and most pundits have them marked down for one of the three relegation spots. They will not be helped by the fact that striker Alvaro Negredo (a goal in each of the first two games) cannot play as Real Madrid retained an option on his future services before allowing him to join the newly promoted club.

The Bundesliga has the two remaining undefeated teams facing each other this weekend. However, Bayern Munich has won three and drawn the other of their four games; Schalke has drawn three and only won one. What’s more Bayern has yet to concede a goal at home and are the only side to notch double figures in goals scored. After finishing fourth last season - their worst position for 12 years – Bayern has left no doubt that they plan to retake the Bundesliga title by uncharacteristically spending a lot of money.

Ze Roberto is back for a second spell with Bayern Munich and although he used to play on the left side of midfield his is now playing in front of the defense.  Other signings Franck Ribery, Luca Toni, Hamit Altintop and Miroslav Klose have also started well as has Hamit Altintop. Altintop will line-up playing against his former club after making a Bosman move this summer. Bayern’s home record against Schalke in Bundesliga play at home is an impressive 27-5-5.

Last but not least the Old Timers play-offs get underway Saturday. It is going to be a painful Sunday and Monday.

Flashman - A lot of Toronto FC fans, many still waiting to commit their first dollar, are hoping the club can attract big-name Canadian players and bring in quality opponents for international friendlies. But the club plan to play on plastic turf - they and FIFA claim it's very special stuff - but many reactions to that have been negative. I thought the Spartak-Inter CL game, played on this turf, was a very sterile affair. Paul Stalteri and Dwayne De Rosario have trashed it, as has Charmaine Hooper. Since we're still golfing in mid-November on pretty decent grass an hour north of Toronto, it makes the club's claim that grass won't work sound like the accountants are running Mo's show. This is a team that isn't likely to see a home playoff game for many years. And its playing style is likely to be more shillelagh than stiletto, so wouldn't grass suit the sort of game they'll need to play in the early going, attract quality clubs for friendlies, and keep fans interested? Also, the playing surface is not likely to see, in the short term, heavy multi-purpose usage, such as the CFL, though rugby would be a nice event to add. This seems like a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach in their early going. A warming climate is hardly hurting the southern Ontario sod industry. What's your take on it?

Bobby – Up to now MLSE have shown that they are good business people but they are not in the trophy winning business – the Maple Leafs a prime example. However, I would not be blaming MLSE for choosing the artificial surface – that was a CSA decision that was made from the outset. The CSA has been a proponent – despite players’ objections – for a long time now. Over eight years ago a member of the Canadian Soccer Association told me that FIFA would approve artificial surfaces within a month and that Winnipeg should spend over a million dollars installing the to-be-approved artificial surface in Winnipeg Stadium for the Pan American Games soccer tournament. The same person also told me that the Pan Am soccer tournament would attract crowds of 40,000. The approval did not come until many years later, the surface wasn’t installed and the average crowd for the soccer tournament was 2,500. I mention it as an illustration that major assumptions –international friendlies is a good one – sometimes are flawed and just don’t pan out.

Henry 14 - Bobby what do you make of Pompey and lastly how do you rate Hleb amongst Wenger's best midfielders at Arsenal?

What do you make of Spurs striking combinations, Martin Jol just spend $20m on a 20 goal a season striker, he has Keane who averages 16 goals a season and l do not see why he does not make them his first choice pairing, what do you make of the basic Martin Jol team selection?

Bobby – I think Portsmouth will settle into an upper mid table position with a reasonably good chance of grabbing a UEFA Cup spot. But I think a Champions League spot might be beyond their reach. Hleb is improving every game and based on what I saw while he was at Stuttgart we have still not seen the best of him.

Obviously Jol believes that rotation is the best policy and I think it is too early to say that he is wrong. He has to keep all four happy at some level because he will need all four during the rest of the season. Spurs are facing a much heavier load than last season – only 40 games – with an extended and deep UEFA Cup run a strong possibility plus the FA Cup starting in January. Managers need to look at the larger picture and cannot just pick the best team for every game. Whether Jol is right or wrong will be judged at seasons end rather that after a 1-1 draw with Blackburn.

Neophyte - Pressley is getting such a raw deal. Watching the happenings at Hearts is the equivalent of a manly soap opera. Where do you see him going?
What did you think of Giggs' service into the box? He looked rushed and completely off target---to much confidence? Poor form? Lack of patience? What do you think?

Bobby – There has been talk of Pressley going back to Dundee United where he spent some time after moving back to Scotland from Coventry. With Craig Levein now in charge at Tannadice it is a move that makes some sense given that Pressley is now 33 and apparently interested in a coaching career. However, what might be a good move for Pressley and Dundee United might not be a good move for Hearts and the supporters. As for Giggs, I didn’t think he had a particularly poor game against Sheffield United.

Bmax14 - I had a question and comment on the article from Marcotti on formation of new leagues. I know his article is not about any "super league" but over the years I've heard speculation on the "Super league" and Uefa's ongoing fight against such a proposal. Do you think something of this nature (Euro league with 20 biggest clubs) will ever come to fruition and if so, do you think it's good or bad for the game? From a fans perspective, it seems the most anticipated games of the year are the occasional great matches in the Champions league so I would expect a weekly slate of games between the likes of Man U v. Barca or Chelsea v. AC Milan would be great. All of the top leagues are dominated by 2-3 teams anyways so I see this Euro league as natural progression of the game. Ideally, I'd like to see the domestic leagues more competitive but under the current system I don't see this happening. I also don't mind Marcotti's proposal to try and get the smaller leagues up to par with the Big 5. It is a bit ironic though that as Europe becomes more integrated politically and economically that Uefa seems to want to stick with the domestic approach.

Bobby – A full European league will come – but it will not be anytime soon as long as things stay pretty much the same. UEFA has acted very astutely in how they have managed the G14 and the money on offer from the Champions League. As it is the G 14t eams in the big 5 leagues have the best of both worlds with big domestic TV deals (Bundesliga might be considered an exception to that) and a very good prospect of big Champions League pay days each season. The one thing that is on the horizon that might set off a rebellion and that is if Platini wins the UEFA Presidential race and cuts representation for the top three countries from four to three teams.

I came around to seeing the Atlantic League proposal as a positive one when it was suggested a few years ago and I think the idea of a series of super leagues is even better. As it is England, Italy, France, Spain and Germany have big enough domestic markets to generate significant television and ancillary revenue so these leagues can take care of themselves. It is the “big” teams in the small markets that need to be taken care of and it would seem to me that if larger league markets can be created then there is a better chance that the “second-tier” teams can compete on a more equal basis in the Champions League and that would make it an even better competition. The Champions League needs to remain as the “cherry-on-top” and not become a replacement for regional or national leagues. 

Davard - With the talk of super leagues and the EU and political integration, why not a Great Britain Premier League?

I was thinking about this the other day, considering a baseball team like the Seattle Mariners traveling 3,000 miles to play The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, for example. Celtic traveling to London is about 1/10th that. (give or take, for all you exacting readers)

Keep the cups in place (FA, Scottish, Irish [if there is one, I am ignorant of Irish football]) but unite the leagues into one super British Isles league! You can even keep the individual continental leagues for those who do not qualify. I'm sure there's been talk of this in the past - More Champions league places for the one league, less boring fixtures, No more Watford, Sheffield United, etc, unless they are truly a great team. AND it makes domestic football (for GB) even stronger, and more unified. I'm all about the political unity, we're all brothers on this planet - let's let football lead the way!

I want to know where you stand on an idea like this and why it would or would not work.

Bobby – Davard you are making some large assumptions here. More Champions League places? – do you really think that the rest of Europe would sit back and allow a GB league to just add the existing SPL and Premiership CL places together? Do you think the likes of Watford and Sheffield United are going to vote themselves into the Championship? How many turkeys think Christmas is a great idea?

USAenglandfan – I was speaking with a family friend and former editor-in-chief of a kid’s soccer magazine here in the US, and he had an interesting take on the potential for success here and in other parts of the world. A lot of what he said had to do with economics. He said that in many cases the more wealthy your country is, the harder it is going to be to compete in the world's sport. The discussion was much more detailed, but this was the general idea. There are obvious exceptions (Pirlo, who was raised upper class, comes to mind), but I think it makes sense. You have your Brazils of the world where kids cope with the harsh reality of the favelas and soccer is not only woven into the culture, but is also seen as a 'way out'. I'm sure some of you have heard/thought about this, but I'd like to know what you all think.

And finally, cast your votes: Rooney with beard or without beard? I vote 'with'

Bobby – I’m not sure that I would agree with entire notion that wealthy countries have a harder time competing in the world’s sport – I assume you are limiting this to soccer rather than world sport. Certainly the wealthier the economy then the more choices that kids are likely to have within a broader range of sports and that means – I would think – that more kids would be lost to other sports. However, if you flip the notion – poorer nations find it easier to compete in the world’s sport – few would agree.

As for Rooney - it is one thing to lick up to the owner, it is another thing to try and look like him.

Blueblades - Do you think Everton has any chance of finishing in the top four this season? It seems to me that the fourth spot is up for grabs especially with Liverpool be so inconsistent.

Bobby – A number of teams – Everton included – have a shot at fourth place. Despite their inconsistency I think Arsenal will slot in at number 3. Andy Johnson needs to get going again though – I think this is his driest spell in the Premiership. Cahill will be a big loss and if Arteta was to go down then all bets would be off.

Henry 14 - Did you see the Arsenal Champions League game, l have to say Hleb is a genius, a highly creative player. You were laughing at Gallas the other night l hope you would laugh at the Hamburg defense, because the guy went on a one man dribbling expedition that if he had score surely it would have been goal of the year for the last 3 years+

Bobby – I didn’t see the Arsenal game. I was laughing at Gallas – why would I be laughing at Gallas?

Hawkman14 - Do you see any current EPL players as top-flight future managers? If so, who?

Bobby – I did an article last season and suggested that Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher might be prime managerial candidates. Given the number of managers who have at one time or another come under the influence of SAF then existing United players would seem to be a potential pool of future recruits. Carragher is supposed to be a real student of the game and given the position that he plays it makes him another player who may choose the dug out after his playing days are over. Look for defenders and hard working midfield players to make the move.