When Sir Alex Ferguson finally decides to close the curtains on his long and glorious career there will certainly be more than a few managers in line to replace him. Below are the Sky Bet current favourites:

1. Jose Mourinho 2/1

Will the special one end up at Old Trafford when Sir Alex Ferguson decides to call it a day? Manchester United is not just a club, but a global brand. The current Premier League Champions need a big personality at the helm. Mourinho has a bigger personality than nearly anyone in football and this is a great opportunity to prove himself as the World’s best manager. There will be plenty of pressure on whoever takes the United job, with Sir Alex leaving some big shoes to fill, it will not only take a very talented manager to replace him, but also someone with great confidence. The Mourinho looks likely to give Real Madrid one more season, however he would see it as the ultimate accolade to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson, a manager he admires immensely.

2. David Moyes 5/1

Moyes has done a great job at Goodison Park. If offered the United job he would almost certainly accept the position. People claim the likes of the Everton manager would not be able to play the attractive football demanded by United. Why not? What he has done at Everton is get the best from what he has had and been able to acquire. With better players he would play better football. It’s a major decision for United but in Moyes lies the potential for Ferguson’s successor. David Moyes is the best of the British at the moment, although he has done a great job at Everton he would appear to be a bit of an underwhelming choice to follow the great reign of Sir Alex

3. Ole Solskjaer 6/1

The former Manchester United winger is highly respected by the fans and the club. Solskjaer is currently manager of Norwegian Premier League Side Molde. When the Ferguson era comes to an end at Old Trafford, the club would ideally turn over the team to a young manager with a future bright enough to have another 25-year reign as boss. Solskjaer possesses the necessary qualities to do just that, and when the Super Scot steps down, he would be smart to hand the job over to the super-sub.

3. Pep Guardiola 7/1

Pep Guardiola would be a good choice for Manchester United. He has achieved a great deal with Barcelona but it remains to be seen what he will do with a less talented group of players (even one not too far off Barcelona like Man United. Ferguson has indicated the Barcelona coach is the right man to take charge at Old Trafford when he finally decides to retire. The outgoing Barca coach should easily be able to handle the transition to the Premier League.

5. Ryan Giggs 10/1

 A Manchester United legend. Currently approaching an amazing 900 appearances. It’s not difficult to see him becoming manager at the club in the future.

6. Martin O’Neill 12/1

It’s no secret that Martin O’Neill is desperate to manage Man United when Alex Ferguson retires. Sunderland’s current manager is experiencing a good run of form with his new team. After previous success with Celtic in the Scottish Premier League, he’s used to being in control of a countries dominant team.

7. Laurent Blanc 16/1

Currently at the helm of the French national team, depending on how Les Bleus perform at the European Championship the timing could be perfect.

8. Mark Hughes 20/1

Having been dismissed by City, Hughes could find himself crossing the city to succeed Ferguson. However, in the past he has made a few comments regarding United which will not endear him to the fans.

9. Mike Phelan 20/1

Sir Alex Ferguson’s current assistant manager. He’ll know the way Ferguson thinks through and through. He’s also a former player who has won the Premier League, the European cup winners’ cup, The FA cup, The League cup and the community shield with the club. He has had a lot of success under Sir Alex Ferguson at United. If the fans want to see the survival of Fergie’s ideas and tactics, then Phelan would be the ideal replacement.

10. Brendan Rodgers 25/1

The current Swansea manager has enjoyed a brilliant first Premier League season with Swansea. His teams play very attractive, passing football. Perhaps it’s too soon to judge his performance as a manager at the moment. But in a few season’s time he could definitely be an option for United when Sir Alex retires.

11. Joachim Loew – German National Team 25/1

12. Fabio Capello 25/1

13. Steve Bruce 25/1

14. Paul Lambert – Norwich 25/1

15. Chris Hughton – Birmingham 33/1

16. Roy Keane 33/1

17. Carlos Queiroz – Iranian National Team 33/1

18. Ottmar Hitzfeld – Swiss National Team 33/1

19. Gus Hiddink – FC Anzhi Makhachkala 33/1

20. Eric Cantona – New York Cosmos 33/1

21. Paul Scholes – Current Manchester United Player 33/1

22. Gary Neville 33/1

23. Alex McLeish – Aston Villa 33/1

24. Martin Jol – Fulham 33/1

25. Darren Ferguson – Peterborough United 33/1

Please comment with your opinions!

Feel free to visit my independent blog for similar articles http://chrisslinnell.wordpress.com/

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

For the second season in succession, Fulham find themselves in the difficult situation of searching for a new manager through no volition of their own. Little more than eleven months after Roy Hodgson left the club for his ill-fated stint at the helm of Liverpool, Mark Hughes has decided to activate a clause in his contract meaning that he will depart at the end of the month. I think he’s made the wrong decision.

Yes, Fulham’s start to the season was fairly calamitous. Too many draws and not enough wins left the club in the lower reaches of the league at the turn of the year. However, once Hughes had got settled at Craven Cottage, and once their injury stricken strikeforce returned to fitness, their second half of the season was very impressive. 33 points from 20 games is a very good return for any side outside the top 4. Hughes was at the helm of a team who were starting to show that they could regularly challenge for the top eight. Fulham also have European football to look forward to next year. For a man who is still establishing himself in club management, this is a fantastic platform.

Remarkably, Hughes has gone and turned his back on this. So let’s have a look at his options. He has been heavily linked with the post at Aston Villa. I think there are two main issues here. Firstly, I think that Villa would be very dubious about hiring a man who has always got his eye on how to get further up the managerial food chain. Hughes has not shown that he is one to stick around at any club for long, and as managerial stability is crucial to the success of any team, Villa might be discouraged by his track record.

Secondly, I don’t believe that Aston Villa are in a much better position than Fulham. Both clubs will be aiming for the top eight next year, and Fulham have European football on offer. Villa’s star turns, Stewart Downing and Ashley Young, are being linked daily with moves away from Villa Park, and Brad Friedel has already left for pastures new. If Hughes wants to establish himself as a top manager, he could have achieved his aims just as easily at Fulham, keeping the spine of his side together. Besides, who knows if he’s on Villa’s managerial shortlist anyway?

If he’s pinning his hopes on getting the Chelsea job, I think he’s in for a massive disappointment. Roman Abramovich generally likes to appoint big name managers, and if Guus Hiddink is available and interested, I really don’t see Hughes being chosen over him.

Also, Hughes has already had a stint at a club with a huge budget chasing Champions League football, and his record at Manchester City was mixed at best. Results were poor, particularly away from home, and Abramovich would not be happy if his cash were to be frittered on expensive flops such as Jo and Roque Santa Cruz.

Even if Hughes were to get the post, he would have to succeed instantly. Trophies in the first season (and every season after that) are a must, and I doubt he would be able to deliver success quickly enough to avoid Abramovich’s twitchy trigger finger.

One of the strangest things is that it is a colossal gamble he did not need to take. For an up and coming manager, being in a job and being successful is the most likely way to attract attention from a bigger club, which is seemingly Hughes’ aim. At Fulham, he was in the perfect place to do just that. He was putting together a strong side, built on rocks such as Schwarzer and Hangeland. He was at no risk of being sacked, and could have continued to impress and forge a reputation that might attract the interest of the clubs of the ilk he wants to take charge of. Being in the managerial wilderness for any length of time means your managerial stock depreciates, especially for a manager who is not a proven name yet.

I think overambition has got the better of the man. I hope this is not the case, but at this point in time, it looks like Mark Hughes has got this decision wrong.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Who will be the next manager to get the sack in the English Premier League? Are Avram Grant’s days numbered? Does Wenger have to win a trophy? Can Roy Hodgson turn Liverpool around?

You wait around all season for the first EPL manager to be sacked and then two happen within the space of a week.

Chris Hughton’s and Sam Allardyce’s removals were both strange to say the least, as neither man was doing what would normally be considered as a bad job.

Whichever way you look at it, the money is the owners at the end of the day and they have the right to decide upon who takes the key roles in their organisation.

In the end, they make their own beds and have to lie in them…

Here we take a look at the odds for each manager and assess whose job is safe, or not.

Arsenal: Arsene Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger

The Arsenal manager is almost as safe as his great rival Alex Ferguson, but not quite.

Over the past 24 months there has been a growing faction of unhappy fans at the library that is the Emirates and the great man is now under real pressure to bring home a trophy after five baron years.

The Carling Cup has never been so important to the Frenchman.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 66/1

Aston Villa: Gerard Houllier

Gerard Houllier

Never one to blow his own trumpet…The greatest… Liverpool manager of all time has made many friends in Birmingham by giving youth a chance.

However, Villa have started slipping towards the bottom of the table and the ex-Liverpool managers comments following the Reds 3-0 win over his new team went down like a lead balloon.

Considering that he is only in the job since September 8 and that he has already alienated players like Richard Dunne he is nowhere near as safe as he thinks.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 20/1

Birmingham City: Alex McLeish

Alex McLeish

Alex Ferguson’s number one student continues to do great work under a tight budget at Birmingham.

While they may only be two points above the drop zone at the moment, the Blues have proved a tough side to beat and their achilles heel is the lack of fire power up front. With players like Robbie Keane and Michael Owen available in January McLeish will almost definitely look to add some much needed quality.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 25/1

Blackburn Rovers: ???

Big Sam’s sacking has been one of the most controversial moves of the season. Quite what Rovers owners were thinking I’m not sure but the move leaves Blackburn in a very precarious position as we turn into the Festive season.

Venky’s have already suggested that the hunt for a new owner could take months, but in reality they don’t have that long. If Blackburn stand still in January they will be relegated.

Anuradha Desai, chairwoman of the club’s Venky Group owners, told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph amongst other things:

“We do not mean anything bad for Sam Allardyce but we feel that we need to take the club up in the league and grow.”

“We want Blackburn to be fourth or fifth in the league or even better. It is not about the Bolton match. It has been a long time in our minds.”

How Anuradha expects Rovers to challenge for the league is beyond conventional thinking but if she thinks she will get a manager to do a better job that Allardyce on the same budget she is in for a nasty surprise.

Blackpool: Ian Holloway

Ian Holloway

With Chris Hughton’s sacking Ian Holloway is now the lowest paid manager in the EPL. But don’t let that put you off.

Football wise, Holloway has done a very good job in his first season in the Premier League. Blackpool are still far from safe and the second half of the season may yet prove to be a few miles too far for Holloway’s entertaining side.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 25/1

Bolton Wanderers: Owen Coyle

On the up? Owen Coyle

Snoods do not figure in the Bolton managers vocabulary as he regulary takes to the bench in shorts as he urges his team on.

A tough no nonsense player in his day has turned into a tough no nonsense footballing manager whose philosophy on the game has made perhaps the biggest impact on the league so far this term.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 66/1

Chelsea: Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti

Having won the double in his first season one would almost think that Carlo Ancelotti would be one of the safest men in football.

Not so in Roman Abramovich’s strange world.

Rumor has it that the Oligarch has tried to engineer the resignation of his manager on numerous occasion over the last six months and it is widely believed that Ancelotti will not be in the hotseat at Stamford Bridge next season.

One thing to watch in Ancelotti’s frequent press conferences is his left eyebrow. Yes you read that right.

The Italian served time under the potential clusterbomb that is Silvio Berlusconi and gives the most politically correct answers in football.

However, his eyebrow often reveals more than he is actually saying…

Next manager to be sacked odds: 5/1

Everton: David Moyes

David Moyes

If there is any manager that can match Roy Keane for a 1,000 yard stare then it is Everton’s David Moyes.

The Toffees boss must wonder what is wrong with the club he manages as nobody has ever come forward to buy what are realistically the only sleeping giant outside the current top five.

He has always worked with reduced budgets and consistantly manages his team to better finishes than the clubs finances should allow.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 20/1

Fulham: Mark Hughes

Mark Hughes

Hughes’ short time at Craven Cottage has been the most enjoyable of experiences. Without Roy Hodgson’s scientific style of management Fulham’s players have struggled to come to terms with Hughes’ different philosophy.

At the moment the Cottagers are only outside the relegation zone thanks to goal difference and that is with West Ham and Wigan having possibly the worst defences ever seen in the EPL.

Hughes isn’t in direct danger of being sacked in the near future but the players he brings into the club in January will be under immediate pressure to perform.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 28/1

Liverpool: Roy Hodgson

Roy Hodgson: Goodbye to Anfield?

Hodgson has aged since he took over at Liverpool in July and the pressure is growing daily.

Since then the manager has found himself pushed to one side as NESV brought Damien Comolli in to oversee transfers and now in the recent turn against Hodgson, John Henry has branded the clubs form under him as “unacceptable.”

January will be a key month in Hodgson’s future. Quite simply, if he is given money to spend he will be safe but if he receives nothing then his days are numbered…

Next manager to be sacked odds: 3/1

Manchester City: Roberto Mancini

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini

Like his fellow Italian in the EPL, Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Mancini’s future is on shaky ground. He has guided the club to third in the league but still boasts a very conservative outlook on the game.

The clubs ridiculous transfer policy is finally coming home to roost, which is really saying something when you consider that it only really started two years ago, as flakey players like Emmanuel Adebayor, Mario Balotelli, and now Carlos Tevez reek their havoc on the club.

In the end the manager will be the one to pay the price.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 10/1

Manchester United: Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson

The Scottish veteran is still one of the best managers in the game. There is not a situation that he does not know how to handle; from regularly besting Arsene Wenger to dealing with the Glazers to negotiating with Wayne Rooney, Ferguson’s vast experience allows him to handle any situation.

No chance of being sacked, retirement? Now that’s another question.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 100/1

Newcastle United: Alan Pardew

Alan Pardew

The only real shock about Chris Hughton’s sacking was that it took Mike Ashley so long to get around to removing the Irishman from the task that he had carried out so well.

In short, Hughton was not Ashley’s “cup of tea.” Around four months ago Hughton intimated that he wanted to bring in Brian Kerr as his Assistant Manager but Ashley vetoed the signing as Kerr was not high profile enough.

Now, if you believe everything you hear, he has brought in Pardew after meeting him out at a casino one night.

It is quite common for businessmen to become enthralled with sportsmen when they meet them and only time will tell whether this is the case with Ashley and Pardew or not.

Bookmakers would suggest “not.” Regardless of that piece of paper saying that Pardew has a job for five years says.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 16/1

Stoke City: Tony Pulis

Tony Pulis

The Potters haven’t enjoyed the best of starts to the season but they are always a tough proposition to play against. If anything, they have lost a little bit of that steel as Pulis looks to emulate Harry Redknapp and play two out and out wingers.

Pulis is looking to progress to the next step on the Premiership ladder with Stoke and is trying to make them less one dimensional through open play. They have gained going forward but have lost a little at the back and will rely heavily on not losing important players like Shawcross in January.

They won’t be relegated but may struggle to make mid-table.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 66/1

Sunderland: Steve Bruce

Steve Bruce

Niall Quinn must be delighted at having installed Steve Bruce as manager. Picking up the pieces after Roy Keane’s hasty exit was never going to be an easy task but the ex-United skipper has the Black Cats right up where they belong and chasing Europe.

No chance of Bruce seeing the exit door at the Stadium of Light and they look a very good bet for an FA Cup run if the draw is kind in January.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 50/1

Tottenham Hotspur: Harry Redknapp

Harry Redknapp

Next to Sir Alex Ferguson, Harry Redknapp is on the safest job in the Premier League. 20 months after taking over a Spurs side in freefall and the relegation zone, the Lilywhites are now one of the most exciting teams in Europe.

Spurs are going from strength to strength under Redknapp and Levy and it will be interesting see how the club reacts in January.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 100/1

West Ham: Avram Grant

Avram Grant

Irons’ fans must have thought they had slipped into an alternative reality when their new owners sacked the likeable Gianfranco Zola and replaced him with Avram Grant.

There is no two ways of looking at it but Grant definitely looks out of his depth as a manager in the EPL. He has been flirting with the sack for sometime now and with Sam Allardyce and Blackburn having parted ways it looks like Grant may be put out of his misery soon.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 5/4

West Brom: Roberto Di Matteo

Roberto Di Matteo

Sitting exactly in mid-table, West Brom, like Blackpool, have won many admirers with their attacking style of football. The ambition that the two promoted sides show is a breath of fresh air to the EPL with Di Matteo winning extra kudos for his calm management stylr and easy way he deals with the media.

Regardless of how the Baggies do this year, even if they are relegated, Di Matteo will not be sacked and the Birmingham side are getting closer to becoming a Premier League team every year rather than the yo-yo club they are at the moment.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 80/1

Wigan: Roberto Martinez

Roberto Martinez

The odds of a team beginning with “W” being relegated are very high. The odds of a manager of a “W” team being sacked is even higher.

Roberto Martinez’s team have shown an uncanny inability to defend and leak goals at a ferocious rate. The plus side is that they score a few goals too and are capable of upsetting teams as much as being hammered 8-0.

The ex-Swansea boss has to plug the holes in his defence soon or he will definitely find the locks at the JJB changed.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 14/1

Wolves: Mick McCarthy

Mick McCarthy

Last season Wolves used a defensive 4-5-1 style formation which proved very difficult to break down. This year he has utilised a 4-4-2 as they look to consolidate their position in the league but everything has conspired against them.

A lack of goals, injuries, bad luck, and most importantly; their rivals are far more ambitious than before. McCarthy has badly underestimated the likes of West Brom, Blackpool, Newcastle, and Bolton and they find themselves in real danger of being relegated.

The very thought of relegation is unthinkable for the Wolves board and McCarthy needs to pull out of this nose dive quickly or face the axe.

Next manager to be sacked odds: 6/1

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

With Manchester City currently ‘wallowing’ down in fourth place after only 13 Premier League games, the fact that manager Roberto Mancini has been having to justify his position for the past weeks is fairly ludicrous – yet equally indicative of the anabolic swell that the club’s pretensions have undergone during the past couple of years.

City travel to Craven Cottage tomorrow in the hope of raiding three vital points from a Fulham side currently headed up by Mancini’s predecessor Mark Hughes, who was freed from his duties at Eastlands in barbaric fashion after failing to meet his oligarchical superiors’ similarly protracted targets.

In an attempt to vindicate the club’s decision to sack Hughes, chief executive Garry Cook did so citing ‘the trajectory of recent results’, describing how the Welshman had fallen behind necessary pace required to meet City’s target of a 70-point total for the season – though a resolute subservience toward his supposed new ‘rivals’ Manchester United and Chelsea hardly helped Hughes cause either.

Skip forward 11 months and (to date) the pricey side being piloted by Mancini, the incrementally ‘bigger name’ bought in to replace Hughes at City, have ironically accrued the exact same number of points (22) and, here’s the twist, a two-goal deficiency in the +/- column.

For the record, Hughes’ side lay in sixth but, arguably, within a more competitive field and were displaying some much more expansive football into the bargain.

In short, should Mancini fail to win on Sunday, he will have a worse record than Hughes did at the corresponding stage last season – a record which, incidentally, left Hughes within a fortnight of receiving his marching orders.

Hughes himself has topped-up the acrimony between the two camps by insisting that City’s £multi-million folly will continue to stall if they insist on ‘accelerating the process of gaining success’ without attempting to build on any kind of stable foundations – insisting that his former employers have made no tangible progress with Mancini at the helm:

“They [sacked me] with the view that they wanted to accelerate the process of getting success. That doesn’t seem to have happened. I know what I left behind, that the club and the group of players I had there was good enough to hit the targets I was given.

I knew they had to spend significantly more money last summer – that opportunity was going to be given to myself. It wasn’t. If I had still been there I would have been there two and a half years so that I think would have helped.”

Mancini was quick to retort:

“We have improved a lot, we have won a lot of away games. We are in fourth position, two points behind Manchester United. We must check again at the end of the season but I think we will get into the Champions League and probably win something.”

The current City incumbent also jibed Hughes with the admission that he had been coveting the Welshman’s job, and had spoken with the club before he was sacked on December 19th.

Fulham's incumbent manager Mark Hughes

However, Mancini denied that he should be remorseful over that manner in which Hughes was dispatched, insisting that such methods are merely a part of the cut-throat world of high-enterprise football management:

“No. This is life. This is the manager’s life. Today you can stay here, tomorrow you can be at another club. When one manager doesn’t work there is another manager.

The world is full of football managers. It’s not my problem. If the manager doesn’t accept this, he doesn’t do this job.”

Unsurprisingly, Hughes has a slightly less laissez-faire approach:

“It is not something that sits comfortably with me or something I’ve ever done. I have respect for people’s position. If clubs come to you and ask ‘are you interested?’ I would say I wasn’t aware there was a vacancy.

But, when the wheels are set in motion, these things happen. I’m not naive enough to think it doesn’t happen. I’m big enough to understand.

It was disrespectful towards me, the way I was treated in the end. In fairness I had all the support on occasions when I needed it.

There were occasions when there was not a lot of support. Towards the end, when I needed support, it was absent. So read into that what you want.”

Good grief. With all this senior management-level sniping, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you were listening in on the arse-end of an episode of the Apprentice rather than the preamble of what should, by rights, be a fairly inconsequential football match.

That said, a surprise defeat for City on Sunday and who knows what lengths chief exec. Cook and his erstwhile crony Brian Marwood will go to in seeking to justify their stupefying salaries at Eastlands.

You can be as sure as sh*t that they’d advocate the sacking of another manager before they admitted to their own short-comings – but, hey, that’s just business.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Reports are swirling today (notably in The Sun, who have run with the typically subtle headline ‘Dead Manc Walking’) that Manchester City’s evil band of profligate mercenaries, nefarious chancers and horrid foreign greed-hounds are becoming increasingly keen for the club to sack coach Roberto Mancini, who they believe is the last obstacle in their way to world domination – or the Premier League title, whichever comes first.

Despite flirting with second place for most of this month, City are now wallowing (eight points behind pace-setters Chelsea) in fourth after two disparaging defeats at the hands of Arsenal and, more recently, Wolves and such failure will not be tolerated.

The tabloid are running quotes from a highly tenuous ‘City insider’, who is claiming that all is not well at Eastlands of late:

“There is hardly a player in the dressing room who has any time for Mancini, the place is a complete mess. There are times when he tries to be a hard man but no one takes any notice.

Team spirit is falling apart because there is no respect for the manager and some players are even guessing when he could go.

They don’t know who they want in, they just want Mancini out.”

…with a second anonymous source adding:

“They’re also baffled by him tactically and he players don’t like his confrontational style.”

Mancini must find it difficult to mask this ‘confrontational style’ during every waking second that he isn’t in the City dressing room, as he always seems to be firmly stuck in his languid gentiluomo mode when facing the media or patrolling the touchlines etc…etc.

Far be it from me to suggest that the gutter press should go about fabricating quotes on an otherwise slow news day, but the vague miasma of desperation is certainly becoming detectable with this batch.

Wolve's David Edwards celebrates his goal against Man City

Regardless of the validity of The Sun‘s claims, City’s former captain Kolo Toure has been quick to dispel rumours of a coup, telling BBC Manchester that there is no disharmony in the squad despite Vincent Kompany and Emmanuel Adebayor bickering like teething toddlers on the pitch during the 2-1 defeat at Molineux yesterday and James Milner and Yaya Toure squabbling in the Eastlands tunnel the week previous:

“No, [there's no problem] at all. We are a team and in any team there are problems. But the important thing is to try to resolve them in the dressing room and the training camp.

We know we are a big team now. Everyone expects us to be at the top. We need to take more responsibility.

When you play for one of the richest clubs in the world, you just need to deliver on the pitch. The criticism is good because that will makes us work harder.”

There is obviously good reason to be sceptical when it comes to such reports, but a fact that shouldn’t escape a mention is that Mancini’s predecessor, Mark Hughes, was jettisoned last December as the aspirant board believed he wasn’t on course to meet their target of a top-four finish.

Though last year’s opening schedule was arguably a little kinder, they are still currently two points worse off now than they were at this stage last season, and it’s safe to assume that, after fluffing £500-odd bajillion over the summer, the Sheik’s expectations may have swollen slightly as well.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Given his recent extra-marital misdemeanours, it should come as little surprise that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney‘s intrinsic commercial value has – if you’ll excuse the unavoidable pun – waned of late.

His recurring inability to regulate which orifices he crams his junk into has already cost Rooney one of his high-profile sponsors, after Coca-Cola chose to withdraw his gummy smirk from their ‘Coke Zero’ products – claiming that they felt it was ‘no longer appropriate’ to run a promotional campaign that was endorsed by a man with less respect for the sanctity of marriage vows than Errol Flynn.

According to the new (Anglo-centric) ‘footballing rich list’ commissioned and published by FourFourTwo.com, Rooney has seen his market worth drop by a staggering £12 million in the few short weeks since the allegations over his private perfidities were made so very public – thus seeing him fall from 3rd to 6th in the individual footballers’ rankings and from 65th to 89th overall.

The 24-year-old now finds himself behind his United teammates Ryan Giggs, Michael Owen and Rio Ferdinand in the pecking order, with veteran Newcastle defender Sol Campbell (a re-entry thanks to his lucrative, short-term contracts at Notts County and Arsenal) also coming in two places above him in fourth spot.

LA Galaxy’s walking billboard David Beckham has unsurprisingly retained his position at the top of the individual pile, despite his value dropping by 20% from £125 million to £100 million due to him missing the World Cup through injury as well as his ‘advancing years’ -as Hugh Sleight, the editor-in-chief of ­FourFourTwo.com, explains;

“For Beckham, missing the World Cup and approaching retirement have had an effect and we’ve cut his value by a fifth to £100m. As you’d expect, Brand Beckham™ have a cunning business plan to ensure their financial power continues even after Becks hangs up his boots, but that’s still in its early stages.

Wayne Rooney’s flirtations with the front pages have clearly affected his value to sponsors and we ­correspondingly cut his value by a third. He’s young and he has time to bounce back, on and off the pitch, but for the time being, his reputation has been seriously tarnished.”

LA Galaxy's David Beckham tops the list yet again

The various FourFourTwo.com Football Rich Lists read thusly, firstly the individual player rankings:

• 1) David Beckham, aged 35/36, LA Galaxy, £100m (last year: £125m, 1st)

• 2) Michael Owen, aged 30, Manchester United, £40m (last year: £38m, 2nd)

• 3) Rio Ferdinand, aged 31, Manchester United, £34m (last year £30m, 4th)

• 4) Sol Campbell, aged 36, Newcastle United, £31m (re-entry)

• 5) Ryan Giggs, aged 36, Manchester United, £27m (last year £24m, 5th)

• 6) Wayne Rooney, aged 24, Manchester United, £25m (last year £37m, 3rd)

• 7=) Steven Gerrard, aged 30, Liverpool, £22m (last year £20m, 8th)

• 7=) Frank Lampard, aged 32, Chelsea, £22m (last year £21m, 7th)

• 9) John Terry, aged 29, Chelsea, £19m (last year £18m, 9th)

• 10=) Didier Drogba, aged 32, Chelsea, £18m (last year £16m, 10th)

• 10= ) Patrick Vieira, aged 34, Manchester City, £18m (new entry)

The individual manager rankings offer little in the way of surprises, except for the inclusion of Ipswich Town manager Roy Keane in second place, one position (and a full £2 million) above his former manager at Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson – although his career earnings as a player are obviously also taken into consideration:

• 1) Fabio Capello, aged 64, England, £36m (last year: £30m)

• 2) Roy Keane, aged 39, Ipswich, £28m (last year: £27m)

• 3) Sir Alex Ferguson, aged 68, Manchester United, £26m (last year: £22m)

• 4) Carlo Ancelotti, aged 51, Chelsea, £21m (last year: £17m)

• 5) Arsene Wenger, aged 61, Arsenal, £17m (last year: £15m)

• 6=) Sven-Goran Eriksson, aged 62, Leicester City, £15m (last year: £15m)

• 6=) Roberto Mancini, aged 46, Manchester City, £15m (new entry)

• 8=) Mark Hughes, aged 46, Fulham, £10m (last year: £8m)

• 8=) Harry Redknapp, aged 63, Tottenham, £10m (last year: £10m)

• 8= ) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, aged 37, Manchester United Reserves, £10m (new entry)

And lastly, the individual owners and major shareholders rankings:

• 1) Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nayan, aged 40, Manchester City,  £20bn (last year £17bn, 2nd)

• 2) Lakshmi Mittal and family, aged 60, QPR, £17bn (last year £18.4bn, 1st)

• 3) Alisher Usmanov, aged 57, Arsenal, £8bn (last year £1.3bn, 9th)

• 4) Roman Abramovich, aged 43, Chelsea, £7.4bn (last year £7.8bn, 3rd)

• 5) The Liebherr Family, Southampton, £3bn (new entry)

• 6) Joe Lewis, aged 63, Tottenham, £2.7bn (last year £2.5bn, 4th)

• 7) Denis O’Brien, aged 52, Celtic, £1.87bn ( last year £1.73bn, 6th)

• 8)  Stanley Kroenke, aged 62, Arsenal, £1.85bn (last year £2.079bn, 5th)

• 9) Malcolm Glazer and family, Manchester United, £1.53bn (last year £1.5bn, 7th)

• 10) Bernie Ecclestone, aged 79, QPR, £1.4bn (last year £1.466bn, 8th)

The full range of lists and an explanation as to how they are calculated can be found on the FourFourTwo website.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

New Fulham manager Mark Hughes

So, Mark Hughes has returned from his premature managerial wilderness to take over from Roy Hodgson at Fulham. If this career move had happened eighteen months ago, it would not have been nearly as interesting a choice of club as it is now.

Following the growth of Fulham to that of Europa League finalists, replacing Hodgson is an exceptionally hard act to follow. Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill follows a rule that Brian Clough followed (apart from his disastrous forty-four day spell in charge of Leeds United); always take a club that is struggling.

O’Neill has done this successfully at Leicester, Celtic and now Villa.  With no disrespect towards Fulham, unless they were to receive ‘Abramovichesque’ funding from elsewhere, are as good as they are ever going to be. Sadly, I worry for Hughes that at Fulham, the only way is down.

I could be wrong of course; Hughes has in the past done well when he has had he opportunity to build a squad from roughly scratch, for instance his successful spell at Blackburn Rovers. At the same time, he has also done well where his resources are not as vast as preferred, which is what happened when he almost took Wales to the brink of major tournaments. Perhaps the situation at Fulham well suit him more than that of Manchester City, where he had player egos as well as a big budget to deal with at Eastlands.

British managers are often criticized for their lack of experience away from these shores and for Hughes to become a better manager, a stint with a team in Europe could of been a good route to follow. This cultured route has been taken by a surprisingly few coaches, and it should be further explored. It has done wonders for Steve MacLaren’s career and in the past Bobby Robson and, ironically, Roy Hodgson.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

After a brief but ultimately fruitless dalliance with Ajax manager Martin Jol, it would now appear that Fulham are within hours of appointing Mark Hughes as their new manager, with many reports suggesting that he could be unveiled at Craven Cottage as early as this afternoon.

It is thought that Hughes has already accepted chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed‘s contract offer, and is currently travelling to London from his home in Cheshire before being formally presented to the media either later this evening or first thing tomorrow.

Fulham have understandably taken their time in appointing an able  successor to previous incumbent Roy Hodgson (who left to join Liverpool at the turn of the month) after enjoying a season of unprecedented success under his stewardship last term.

Hodgson’s close-knit side enjoyed a glorious run in last season’s Europa League, a resolute campaign that saw them advance past European footballing luminaries such as Roma, Juventus and reigning champions Shakhtar Donetsk, before narrowly losing out to Atletico Madrid during extra-time in the final.

Their showing on the domestic front was more solid than spectacular but a 12th place Premier League finish is far from derisory, especially once you take into account the inevitable physical toll that the rigours of a prolonged European run must have taken on what was essentially a very thin squad.

Fulham triumph over Juventus

As a result of the club’s various exertions and laudable over-achievements last season, the level of expectation at Craven Cottage has inescapably risen – but the loss of their veteran manager, the man at the hub of the success, served to deflate that buoyant optimism almost immediately.

Supporters of any club tend to demand a certain degree of visible progress in order to sate their perpetually simmering frustrations and the loss of Hodgson to Liverpool therefore naturally represented a step backward for the Fulham faithful.

There was no bad blood and no acrimony between the two parties, but to see the architect of the club’s fledgling gestalt pulled from the heart of proceedings must have been a decidedly bitter pill to swallow for everybody involved including, I suspect, Hodgson himself.

Robinho and Mark Hughes at Man City

So here we are, a month down the line and a new name (almost) installed at the helm. He may have been many of their second choice, but the appointment of ‘Sparky’ is still being greeted with a distinct air of positivity by many of the Fulham contingent.

During his spells in charge at Blackburn and Manchester City, Hughes proved himself to be a stern operator of sorts.

He demonstrated the disdain in which he holds players with overly-precious egos on numerous occasions by refusing to pander to their various whims (his willingness to drop wayward Brazilian winger Robinho being a prime example) and developed a sturdy, if not a little limited, tactical system which proved (especially at Blackburn) to be considerably difficult to play against.

These two simple factors seem to bode well for his immediate future, as it isn’t particularly difficult to foresee how both elements will integrate into the current set-up at Fulham – a team that is often lauded for it’s lack of conceit and it’s propensity to work like dogs for one-another.

Fulham new-boy Philippe Senderos

With Fulham’s only summer acquisitions made so far being erstwhile (to put it politely) centre-back Philippe Senderos from Arsenal and Jonathan Greening (who spent last year on loan at Craven Cottage anyway) from West Brom, Hughes is going to have to work diligently during the remainder of the transfer window in order to bolster his squad with the kind of players that can seriously aid the club consolidate it’s position – and not just ‘make up the numbers’.

However, I believe that the biggest challenge Hughes will face is to balance the remnants of the club’s burgeoning ambition that blossomed under Hodgson, with the reality that Fulham are still a mid-table club with a mid-table squad – regardless of the feats that may have gone before.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Manchester City have stopped newspapers from being delivered to the club’s training ground, according to The Daily Express.

It is claimed that new boss Roberto Mancini is trying to shield his players from the ongoing saga surrounding the sacking of Mark Hughes, which has thrown the City camp into chaos.

The Italian was allegedly given a cold reception following his opening address to his charges, as some players remain disgruntled concerning the ‘Sparky’ dismissal.

Speculation has been rife that Craig Bellamy and Shay Given – who reportedly led a six-man delegation to oppose Hughes’ sacking – could quit the club in protest.

Thus, the Citizens are said to have attempted a news black-out in an attempt to both ease the tension among the players and reduce the mounting pressure on Mancini.

Also See: Hughes lost the City dressing room

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Manchester City fired Mark Hughes because the marquee signings didn’t support him – and they have now hired a manager who was dismissed because he could not get his expensively assembled squad at Inter to do his bidding.

Manchester City have defended their sacking of Mark Hughes by claiming that they saw no signs of the Welshman being able to change things around to meet targets at the club.

70 points is an ambitious target, 6th place is realistic and builds on what the club needs. 4th place is something you’d pitch as the ideal scenario if everything went your way.

Clearly, everything hasn’t gone City’s way. 70 points is still achievable but 60 are far more likely. 6th is still in reach, although with Villa and Spurs in better form and Liverpool likely to bounce back, 6th could be a battle as well.

But the biggest problem for City hasn’t been the manager they inherited but the players they’ve bought since they came to the club.

Buying a superstar footballer has hidden costs – you’re also bringing in a super-sized ego into the dressing room. Put too many super-sized egos in the same dressing room and you have a discipline problem, which then requires a special type of manager to deal with it.

Manchester City, like Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, have spent a lot of money to build a star-studded squad. And like these clubs, some of their managers have failed to assert their authority over their dressing rooms. When you’ve spent 200m on putting together a team, it’s easier to pay 3m, 5m or 10m to a manager for sacking him than it is to spend another 100m or so changing the team according to how your manager wants it to be.

Sir Alex Ferguson has often said that the manager must be the one making the decisions at the club, not the fans, not the players and not the board. For that to happen the club and the fans need to give the manager time and support to bring in the players he wants and gel them into a strong fighting unit that can then challenge for titles in the long run.

If you have the money though, star players are quickly brought in with the hope that the club will take a shortcut to success. Sometimes, with the right manager, it works. Sometimes, even with the right manager, you bring in the wrong players and it doesn’t work.

With public statements, what’s left out is more interesting than what’s said.

The club pointedly said that they didn’t feel that Hughes could reverse the current situation, but they didn’t say what they felt was the root cause of this ‘current’ situation. It’s not of Hughes’ making – he was as surprised as anyone else when he found out about the takeover and the last minute signing of Robinho. He was not behind the much publicised attempted acquisitions of Kaka, Terry and Berbatov. He wasn’t behind the deal for Tevez either.

In fact it’s debatable how many players he signed himself and how many were thrust upon him, but one thing we know for sure is that he wanted Bellamy, Roque Santa Cruz and Lescott, and he probably wanted Barry, Bridge and Given as well.

If Hughes had no / limited input in transfers, what role did he have to play? Manage the players given to him?

Manchester City’s Big Egos

• Robinho – a player who doesn’t want to be at the club. plus he wants to be the center of attention at any club he’s at, and reacts like a spoilt brat when he isn’t.
• Adebayor – another ‘statement of intent’ by City but also another ego-maniac who, on his day, can cause havoc but doesn’t really enjoy working hard when the going gets tough.
• Tevez – The price tag brings enormous expectations, but he’s not the most clinical of finishers and can be a luxury in a team that desperately needs goals. Is a great fighter though, so even if he wants to be the darling, he can still play for the team when it counts.
• Toure – bought alongside Adebayor to replace Richard Dunne who wasn’t happy with the direction the club had taken in recent times. Has struggled for form and with injuries and may not be the best choice as captain or first-choice center-back to lead City to the holy land of Champions League football.

Robinho has a clique. Toure and Adebayor come with existing baggage – they were the source of dressing room unrest at Arsenal. Tevez has come in expecting to play more football than he got to at United, and is now faced with the same situation – too many strikers vying for the same positions.

I wouldn’t say that Barry is a disruptive influence – if anything he is the consummate team player on and off the pitch – but his influence also has an impact on the team, especially the existing players who will now be sharing the leadership responsibilities on the pitch.

In a squad with these many egos, it becomes difficult for a manager to mould them into a fighting unit on his terms. When players don’t respect their manager, it becomes a lot harder.

Hughes v Mancini

Of all the statements given by managers about Hughes in the last couple of days (support and praise coming from Redknapp and Wenger amongst others), the most interesting one is the quote from Ferguson from a few days before the incident, when he said that ‘we never thought Hughes would make a manager, not in a million years. And then again, we thought Bryan Robson would be a world-class manager.’

Maybe what Hughes lacks is the ability to manage a team of existing superstars and is great only when he has full freedom to create his own team. Maybe Hughes demanded respect as a pre-requisite instead of working to earn it. In this case he would do well to learn from the likes of Wenger and Ferguson, who came as unknown quantities to historically massive clubs with star players and turned them into world-beaters – but by earning respect, not demanding it.

Perhaps Manchester City owners just thought that if their most expensive players didn’t like Hughes, it was easier to replace him than to replace the players. But the sad thing is that if they’ve brought in Mancini for his title-winning pedigree or his ability to manage top-level players, consider this:

Inter’s first two league titles under Mancini came as a direct result of Calciopoli – they were awarded the first title and won the second title with no Juventus in the league and Milan hit by a points penalty. The third title was almost blown thanks to Mancini losing control over the dressing room and as a result he was dismissed at the end of that third title-winning season.

Great man-manager? Great managerial record? Someone needs to give the City owners a lesson in modern footballing history. Hughes has been punished for the mistakes made by the owners – but then again, as Mancini said, that’s the life of a modern football manager.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News