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All of the connotations associated with West Ham’s history of football over the years were brought into disrepute this summer as notorious long ball merchant Sam Allardyce arrived at Upton Park. However, surely the ‘academy of football’ tag can be forgotten for a while as the club look to bounce back immediately from its relegation from the Premier League last season.

After Avram Grant’s horrific spell in charge last year, things could only get better for the East End club who currently sit second in the Championship after missing a chance to go top last weekend. Allardyce has definitely brought his own style to Upton Park along with pals Kevin Nolan, Joey O’Brien and Abdoulaye Faye.

A large number of Hammers fans were sceptical over the appointment of Allardyce and his perceived negative tactics. Over the years an Allardyce side has been very quick to play the long ball and defensive, but in my opinion he was just utilising what he had at his disposal. Each club he has been at have had players in their side that suit the aerial game, and so it has been successful when used.

Allardyce performed wonders at Bolton and Blackburn and wasn’t given enough time at St James Park (Sports Direct Arena); where it is notoriously a tough place to be a manager. To say that because Big Sam is in charge, then West Ham will become a dull, physical team is extremely harsh. Playing to their strengths West Ham will keep the ball and use their width, not lump the ball up to 5ft7 Sam Baldock. Talented footballers Jack Collison, Mark Noble and Henri Lansbury defy any Allardyce tradition and the fact that the clubs tallest player; Carlton Cole; cant head the ball anyway, the long ball has rarely been successful.

One thing that Big Sam has given to the Hammers is a tougher mentality and more of a will to win. Last season if West Ham went one nil down, they lost the game. Away from home they were unable to win and rarely scored a goal. Scoring 33 goals in 38 games at the highest level is just unacceptable. However, yes they are playing weaker opposition, but the Hammers have already scored 36 goals this season and have won more than last year, and it’s not even Christmas yet.

Since Alan Pardew left Upton Park in 2006 West Ham have not had the squad to be able to play silky football, as is equally pleasing on the eye as it is on the league table. West Ham fans can’t possibly suggest they were happy with the results over the past 18 months or so and the football has not been much better.

With Allardyce now in charge the Irons will play to their strengths; which is a necessity in the Championship, and will more than likely earn promotion back to top flight as they will go from strength to strength in the second half of the season. With Big Sam one of the favourites with some people to become the next England manager (no thank you) it is in everybody’s interest to sit and watch a few West Ham games this season as his style of football may surprise you, but the impressive results shouldn’t.

Managers such as Ron Greenwood and John Lyall, who sadly past away in recent years, have left a long legacy at Upton Park but West Ham are a very different club to that at the moment and Allardyce will be looking to make a similar successful time during his stay in East London. Given a chance Allardyce will get the Hammers promoted and keep them in the Premier League.

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Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini does not regret bringing striker Mario Balotelli to England despite his recent bad behaviour.The Italy forward was recently left out by his national team after reportedly throwing a dart at a City youth team player.

This was far from Balotelli’s first offence as the 23-million-pound man has also received two red cards this season – one as City crashed out of the UEFA Europa League.

Balotelli was also left out by Mancini for City’s last game but the manager has drawn a line under the incident ahead of Monday’s game with Sunderland.

“He lost the national team for two games, which is not a good thing for a young player,” Mancini said.

“I think his behaviour will be better in the future. I do not regret bringing him here, Mario is a fantastic player.”

“At the moment everything Mario does will be massive. If Mario went to a restaurant and spoke with a woman, people would say he spoke to five.”

“He played 15 games at the start of the season and scored 10 goals. In the last two months he has shown he wants to change his behaviour.”

Inconsistent form has seen City fall away slightly after leading the pack but Mancini said they still have high aspirations.

“We want to try to get back to the top of the table,” he said.

“We have the same target as we did at the start of the season – to qualify for next season’s Champions League and get to a cup final.”

“I think we have a chance.”

And Mancini needed no prompting to recognise the strength of the Sunderland side his charges will come up against.

“Sunderland are a good team, they play nice football and have a good manager,” Mancini said.

“Steve Bruce knows the Premier League well and Asamoah Gyan is a fantastic player, as is Danny Welbeck.”

Manchester City will be without goalkeeper Shay Given (shoulder) and defenders Jerome Boateng (knee) and Micah Richards (hamstring) for the clash.

In most industries, when someone leaves their position there is usually an overlap of time whereby they work in unison with their replacement, to usher them into their new role. The ‘handover’ is seen as sensible process to ensure the efficiency of the company and for 85 minutes at Villa Park on Saturday we were witness to a handover in the Villa midfield, as James Milner passed his baton on to Marc Albrighton.

Clearly, replacing Milner will be tough for anyone and it will take time, but making only his eighth competitive appearance for the club, the 20-year-oldAlbrighton was a catalyst in a liberated team. As good a manager as Martin O’Neill is, and as bad as West Ham were on Saturday, Villa looked at ease with a freer flowing game under caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald. The reserve team coach had no qualms about drafting in Albrighton from the reserves, where he has been a regular for MacDonald, as well as the defender Ciaran Clark who admirably stepped in for the injured James Collins, as both slotted in to the side seamlessly. Where O’Neill’s Villa were a potent counter-attacking side with the pace they have at their disposal, MacDonald ensured his team went out and suffocated a poor Hammers side with wave after wave of attacks – it should have been so much more than three, and maybe if John Carew hadn’t been still on holiday, it might have been.

Albrighton gave the likes of Herita Ilunga and new boy Winston Reid a brutal introduction to the new season as he ran them ragged all afternoon. Creator of Villa’s first and third goals, the winger played fearlessly in what has been a heady week for the club and its fans. The step up from reserve level has done little in the way of fazing Albrighton, and he looks more than ready to contribute regularly to the first-team’s midfield. While Kevin MacDonald rudders the ship on a temporary basis, it is more than likely that Albrighton will be given more chances to portray what he is capable of. Whoever is to take over the managerial position for the long term will surely be unable to ignore the talents of the young man.

Although Milner was booed with his early touches of Saturday’s games by some sections of the crowd, Villa fans put any grievances aside as they remembered how much they actually love Milner and what he has given to the club during his time there. When he was withdrawn five minutes from time, Villa Park was up on its feet with its impeding goodbye. Along with Ashley Young and Agbonlahor, Milner epitomises a type of player that has become synonymous with the club; full of pace and relentless energy. Albrighton looks as though he is of a similar ilk, hence his apparent effortless transition into their starting line-up.

If the Randy Learner and Martin O’Neill fall-out was based on financial headbutting, with the American owner trying to reign in the spending at the club, then the majority of the money recouped from the potential Milner transfer to Man City will have to be saved rather than spent. Going out and spending £15m on a replacement for Milner may not be on the cards for O’Neill’s replacement, we will have to wait and see. If this is the case, then it may not be the worst thing for the club, and based on what Albrighton showed this week, it appears they have a cut-price, ready-made, younger model, itching to be given the chance to prove his worth.

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Reports in the media on Tuesday morning indicate that under pressure Chelsea are ready to make a January move for Bolton defender Gary Cahill.

Andre Villas Boas’ men have lost their last three league fixtures, including defeats at home to Arsenal and Liverpool, and now find themselves 12 points behind current Premier League leaders Manchester City.

The Portuguese coach has stated that his side are still in the race for the title but must know that his team cannot afford to drop further points and risk the gap at the top widening.

Cahill is currently in the last year of his contract at the Reebok Stadium, and has not yet indicated whether his future lies with Owen Coyle’s men or elsewhere.

The England defender is a free agent come the summer, and although the struggling club will be keen to hold on to their star player, may feel a January sale would be preferable to losing him with no monetary reward.

Both The Telegraph and Mirror Football indicate that Chelsea are ready to offer a cut-price £7 million for the centre half, as they look to shore up their leaking backline.

Tottenham and Arsenal both tried to sign Cahill during the summer window, and will watch as event unfold in the new year.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola believes Getafe must not be taken lightly ahead of their visit to the Camp Nou on Saturday.Reigning Spanish champions Barca are clear at the top of the La Liga table, but saw their lead cut to five points over Real Madrid following a 1-1 draw away to Sevilla last Sunday.And Guardiola realises the importance of taking maximum points at home to mid-table Getafe in order to maintain their grip on first place. “It is one of those games that can cause you to lose the league,” Guardiola said.”Three points won’t win us the title, but if we don’t get them, things get much more difficult.” “We are entering the all or nothing stage of the season and we need to stay in shape and form for the final stage of the campaign.””A lot has happened this week and the game comes before a break in the fixture list.” Guardiola was referring to two incidents – the hospitalisation of key defender Eric Abidal and allegations of systematic doping within the club. Frenchman Abidal underwent surgery to remove a liver tumour on Thursday and is now expected to be sidelined for months. “As far as we know, the operation went very well and Abidal is developing correctly,” Guardiola said.”We must thank the doctors for their good work and hope people respect the privacy that his family has asked for.””Sports issues are secondary, what really matters is the person ? Abidal is a very likable man and has been with us for some time. We will try to be positive about the situation and hope it has the minimum possible effect.”Guardiola was also quizzed on the allegations made by broadcaster Cadena COPE, which published a story suggesting sources at Real Madrid believed both Valencia and Barca had been guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs in recent seasons.Both Valencia and Barca deny the allegations and have begun legal proceedings to sue Cadena COPE for defamation. “Ask Cadena COPE and (Real President) Florentino Perez,” Guardiola said.”When those two decide who is right, they’ll let you know ? the club (Barca) has done what is right and left things quite clear.” “An announcement was made and a claim has been presented, things couldn’t be more clear.”Barcelona drew Shakhtar Donetsk in the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League on Friday, meaning they’ll face a tough trip to the Ukraine if they are to face either Real or English Premier League outfit Tottenham in the semi-finals.”We know (Shakhtar) well (having met in the 2008/09 Champions League), they know us well and they have the same manager as before,” Guardiola said.”They will continue playing basically the same, as will we. They are former UEFA Cup champions, they have competed in the Super Cup and games against them have been very close.””They have only lost against Arsenal in this year’s Champions League, and would be top of any theoretical league of results in Europe this year. They are very physical and have good players, plus an experienced coach. It is a handicap, but the draw throws these things out there. We will try to play our best against whichever team, and I hope to get through.”

Referee Howard Webb claims he has no regrets about the way he handled Sunday's World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands.

Webb booked 13 players and sent off Dutch defender John Heitinga as Spain won an ill-tempered game 1-0 in extra-time.

The Premier League official was heavily criticised by Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk after the game, while Spaniards have been quick to come out in support of Webb after slamming the heavy-handed approach of their opponents.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has also lent his support to Webb, who has released a statement through the Premier League explaining the difficult situation he tried to manage.

"Whatever the match, you always hope that the officials won't need to be heavily involved. However, we had to raise our profile in order to keep control," Webb said.

"We don't feel that we had much choice except to manage the game in the way we did.

"From early on in the match we had to make decisions that were clear yellow cards.

"We tried to apply some common sense officiating given the magnitude of the occasion for both sides – advising players early on for some of their tackling, sending players away when they were surrounding the officials and speaking to their senior colleagues to try to calm them down.

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"It is one of the toughest games we will ever be involved in and we feel that we worked hard to keep the focus on the football as much as possible."

Webb, who was assisted by Darren Cann and Michael Mullarkey, was the first Englishman since Jack Taylor in 1974 to referee the World Cup final.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Harry Redknapp admits that he has a selection dilemma on his hands due to Rafael van der Vaart’s preference to play as a second striker and reluctance to play on the wing.

The Spurs boss used the Netherlands international on the right flank against Arsenal in the London outfit’s last outing, but Van der Vaart does not enjoy the defensive responsibility of playing in midfield.

With England striker Jermain Defoe in good form, and playing well alongside Emmanuel Adebayor, Redknapp is struggling to fit all his top players into his first team.

“Yes, it does seem to be a problem. Rafa can’t run back and chase the full-back. Against the better teams it is a problem,” he told The Sun.

“Rafa’s best position is in the middle, playing just behind the front man. The only problem is that Jermain Defoe plays there too and Jermain is playing very, very well at the moment.

“So, I guess I have got a decision to make, haven’t I? I suppose it’s now between Rafa and Jermain over who plays in the team.”

“Rafa is a terrific footballer. He has great skill. But if you’re in the team and asked to do a job, really, you should just do it,” he concluded.

Redknapp’s headache is due to a team performing well, with Spurs winning their last four Premier League games in a row and looking to challenge for a Champions League qualification finish this campaign.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Tottenham’s Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes’ nervy performance against AC Milan last Wednesday has again set alarm bells ringing among much of the club’s faithful support once more. It’s difficult to question the undoubted improvements the ‘keeper has made to his game over the last year or so, but despite this improvement, will it be enough to ensure his prolonged stay between the sticks?

Gomes appears to be a goalkeeper capable of producing the sublime and the ridiculous only minutes apart. He’s as error-prone as they come in the Premier League, yet he’s a key player for Spurs and they miss his presence when he’s not in the side. Quite the contradiction.

It’s clear that good goalkeepers don’t grow on trees, sometimes you have to persevere with one until they’ve developed, matured and combined their promise with their performance. A goalkeeper’s peak years are thought to be between the ages of 32-36; and such is the nature and importance of a goalkeeper’s decision-making to the position, it is thought that as a goalkeeper matures, so will his decision-making.

It’s safe to say that Gomes at the age of 30 hasn’t quite reached this point or his peak just yet. He’s both eccentric and inconsistent. His main strengths lie in his reflexes and his ability to make himself big (not a tough ask I’ll grant you) in one on one situations.

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However, he can look particularly suspect when asked to rely on his decision-making ability as opposed to his instincts. He looks extremely susceptible to high balls into the box and his handling ability and communication skills can often be called into question.

It’s rare for a goalkeeper to have such big flaws yet still be capable of producing such outstanding performances while being integral to their own side. Being a goalkeeper is a tough ask in the modern day game, and with footballs being made lighter than ever before, it’s worth mentioning that this is not a game designed for goalkeeping excellence anymore – the movement that modern day balls have through the air must mean that it becomes difficult for ‘keepers to do anything with any real conviction nowadays.

I do retain a degree of sympathy for the goalkeeping fraternity. It’s a position where one’s errors are magnified tenfold in comparison to their saves. The do-or-die nature of the position means that they are often castigated for a player’s errors further up the pitch, yet despite all of this, Gomes does stick out as being particularly prone to errors of the game-changing variety.

There is no question that Gomes has his plus points though. He is a dominant and at times overwhelming physical presence. He is capable of keeping Spurs in a game almost single-handedly at times and due to his sheer size, he can reach things most other goalkeepers can only dream about.

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It’s also worth attaching some perspective to this too and a frame of reference – Gomes is not the first goalkeeper, nor will he be the last either to make high-profile errors. Pepe Reina, the best ‘keeper in the league to my knowledge, regularly delves into the depths of a Nick Hancock blooper reel and finds something to top even the most horrific of mistakes on those terrible compilation clips. The song ‘Reina drops keep fallin’ on my head’ will live long in the memory for most Everton fans.

The most important thing with a goalkeeper prone to the odd gaffe though, is that that they go onto atone for these errors with games where they become almost impossible to breach – Reina most certainly does this for Liverpool.

There is a school of thought that subscribes to the view that as long as a goalkeeper’s gaffes aren’t as regular as their match-winning performances, then they balance themselves out. The only time when this becomes an apparent problem is when the defence begins to lose trust in the man between the sticks and the lines of communication break down more often than not.

Petr Cech treads the line very carefully at Chelsea yet retains an influence that’s hard to match over his team mates and his presence is much-needed – I think that it’s safe to say the same for Gomes at White Hart Lane. Most Spurs fans accept that humiliating errors are just par for the course with Gomes now. He will make them in the future, in the most unfathomably awful ways imaginable I‘m sure, however the next minute he’ll make a game-defining save, and with that you get the balancing act of picking and sticking with a number one.

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A microcosm of Gomes’ Spurs career came this December in the away league game at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, where the Brazilian turned from villain to hero in a matter of moments. After letting a rasping drive all too easily pass him for Didier Drogba’s equaliser, Gomes then proceeded to give away a penalty, only to then save Drogba’s resulting injury time spot-kick and earn himself a shot at redemption and with it, Spurs a point in the process.

He is most certainly mad, sometimes bad, but often brilliant. Gomes retains the club’s number one jersey for now, but such indecisiveness will not serve Spurs well going forward as they hope to capitalise on a potentially bright period in their recent history with some silverware – something that I’m sure the player and his manager are acutely aware of.

Whether they place their trust in a player capable of destroying months of work in a moment of madness remains to be seen. With other areas of the team in more urgent need of strengthening if Spurs are to make this season’s Champions League appearance a regular occurrence as opposed to a brief soirée, Gomes is likely to retain his place in the starting eleven for the foreseeable future, at least going into next season.

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As the dust began to settle in Johannesburg last night after a stupendously dramatic quarter final encounter between Ghana and Uruguay, a vitriolic opinion began to emerge from betwixt the cloud of genuine sympathy and endearment and cringingly embarrassing bias (I’m looking at you iTV) for a welcoming and deserving continent – Africa was robbed.

Apparently, the one feeling all true warm-hearted non-reptilian individuals were supposed to feel was indignation. Luis Suarez diabolically cheated the plucky Ghanaian heroes out of a semi final place they had righteously earned. By punching away a clearly goal bound headed effort from a free kick in the last minute, Suarez unfairly altered the inevitable course of the game through a sheer, brazen act of gamesmanship. The resulting penalty and sending off wasn’t acceptable recompense for a goal clearing punch. A penalty doesn’t (and didn’t) substitute adequately for a certain goal. Already last night people were calling for penalty goals to be given in such circumstances a la Rugby, to prevent such injustices ever happening again. It just wasn’t fair. They was robbed. Suarez should pay the filthy swine.

Except this is all rubbish really. Yes Suarez prevented Uruguay definitely going out by illegally preventing the goal, but his action was penalized, and he was punished. There was no unnoticed action here. There was no deceiving the officials. Everything that happened was dealt with how it should have been, and always has. In fact if we’re talking about injustices, the free kick that lead to the goal bound header in the first place was never a just one to begin with AND there were two Ghanaian players offside from the flick on anyway. How far back should we be going to damn injustices? One minute or two? And how selective should we be? Should it only apply to the teams we’re rooting for? Give over. Uruguay weren’t given the chance to amend these bad calls as Ghana were. So who actually got the rawer deal here? In truth you could quite easily claim it was just as fair in the scheme of things for the penalty to have been missed.

The shamefully partisan commentators on iTV had even announced quite ironically that it would be hugely controversial should Ghana score from the free kick they were awarded when one of their players tripped over himself. But low and behold, a full minute later, all that was forgotten in haze of even greater controversy.

The world is understandably getting carried away with it’s newfound love and good will for Africa, but getting carried away it never the less is. I’d been in South Africa from the beginning of the tournament until last Friday, and I’d been staying – as chance would have it – in the same bizarre casino hotel thingy-ma-gig as the Ghanaian team. No non-African wanted Ghana to prevail last night more than me, I can assure you, but what Luis Suarez did was not a heinous unjustifiable act that needs new rules to stamp out. It’s merely what many players would’ve done in such desperate circumstances and what many have. And he was caught. The fault for defeat – unfortunately, and tragically for all his bravery – lies with Asamoah Gyan for failing to convert the resulting awarded penalty. Gyan shouldn’t be blamed of course – the man has done more than almost any other player in getting Ghana where they were – but neither, particularly, should Suarez.

Imagine if Suarez had been English, or even Ghanaian. His “sacrifice” would most likely have been lauded, as it was by Manchester United fans when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scythed down Robert Lee in the penultimate game of the 1997/98 season. In that instance, United needed to avoid defeat and Lee was clear through on goal. Solskjaer was applauded off the pitch – as he likely would have been at any home ground – and relayed simply to his teammates; “I had to do it”. Was it the most noble of actions? No, of course not, but he was simply doing all he felt he could for his team to keep them in it. As every goalkeeper whose ever brought down a player who’s rounded him for an empty net has done. It’s called a professional foul. Are they vilified? Are there automatic penalty goals proposed in that almost weekly scenario? No. Put your handbags and pitchforks away people, there’s nothing to see here but brilliant drama.

Solskjaer  – and the endless plethora of rounded goalkeepers and last men – had far more time to think about their actions than Suarez, whose instinctive volleyball snap must have occurred to him a mere millisecond before he did it. He would also have known he’d face a red card, and probably not play in the tournament again, but while letting the ball float past him would’ve caused the same outcome for he, it allowed his teammates to progress. He took one for the team, and if it had’ve been John “Lion Heart” Terry performing such “bravery” he’d likely be praised by the rag tops – rightly or wrongly (probably wrongly) – for his epic sacrifice.

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It’s football, it happens, and it’ll happen again, and what happened after it is exactly what should always happen in such circumstances. The sending off of the player and the chance for the offended team to re-dress the balance. The fact that the offended team in this instance didn’t re-dress the balance is no fault of Suarez. They were given a free swing at him, and they punched air.

So the free kick was unfair. The offside call was unfair. The handball was unfair. The penalty was fair. Ghana were plucky but unlucky, and did themselves and their homeland proud, but are out because they can’t score penalties. End of. Now pick up your girly tissues and lipstick and get on with it people. There’s two more quarter finals to watch, time to man up.

Most fans, during the course of their lifetime, have had cause for complaint when it comes to feeling victimised by the powers that be. Whether it is the media, the FA, referees, or some other authoritative body: most fans, teams and managers have tried to argue that they’re getting the short end of the deal.

So as we reflect on Wayne Rooney’s undoubtedly rash actions against Montenegro, is there any evidence to suggest that his subsequent three-match ban is in any way an example of how UEFA are uniquely punitive when it comes to England?

Platini

Whilst Michel Platini may not have been part of the committee that decided Rooney’s fate last week his influence within UEFA is significant enough for some to believe that he could have played a role in any decision made. If we couple this with his comments from 2008 about English teams financially cheating in European football then we can already hear the conspirators among us accusing UEFA and its president of Anglophobia.

And it is true to an extent that Platini is not English football’s biggest fan. His comments about our clubs in the past have been abrasive at best and I’m sure many will remember the enormous smile on his face as Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona in 2009.

However, can we really suggest that these are English specific qualities that Platini resents? Are they not merely universal problems that exist within football and most of us complain about anyway? Who, apart from Manchester City fans, is pleased to have a club who can outbid every other on the planet? Not me.

And so whilst Platini’s attacks on English clubs have been hard to take would we react as unsympathetically towards them if an English head of UEFA touted them? Or are we simply unhappy that someone has dared to criticise ‘the best league in the world’?

I am afraid this is rather the point too. Nobody likes criticism, least of all people who already feel as though their neighbours dislike them (as we do in the football). And, whilst Platini definitely has his moments as an insufferably arrogant man he does make a fair point. Financial domination is cheating. Many will disagree with Platini, insisting that he appears too eager to put England down, but as the man himself says says: ‘he’s just doing his job’.

FIFA

The vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups also left a bitter taste in the mouth of English football fans. The suspected corruption within FIFA has grown in to a worldwide mistrust of the organisation and several nations, including England, feel as though they have been let down. England had arguably the best bid; the infrastructure and stadiums on offer were second to none and the World Cup would have been the most profitable were it to be held in the UK. This too has fuelled the suspicions of many that England is often held at a disadvantage.

Rooney

Ultimately there is no real proof of any anti-English agenda and we must face up to the fact the Wayne Rooney was punished for his actions within the means of the law. There may be a debate as to whether the ban would have occurred for a striker from another country but it has happened before to other players such as Arshavin in 2008 and Vidic in 2006. At the end of the day Rooney knew the potential outcome and he has been dealt with accordingly.

The truth

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Yes, it may seem unfair, but we must accept it with grace. If we don’t then we run the risk of sounding like a plethora of bitter robots. Unable to accept accountability for our actions, constantly complaining and making ourselves even fewer friends in the process.

England’s faults and failures are a result of nobody’s doing but our own. The suspect behaviour of UEFA and FIFA may or may not be a figment of our imagination. But, in the end, even though Rooney’s suspension will continue to consume England fans’ predictions for our performance this summer we must remain aware that when the Euros arrive England’s attitude and inherent sense of entitlement to success (perpetrated by media and fans alike) will be the real enemy, not UEFA.

Written by Hamish Mackay