Wanted Man (In Carolina)

Wanted man in Alberquerque, Wanted man in Mexico, Wanted man in West Virginia, Wanted man by the FA

In a bizarre twist of fate life couldn’t get any better for ‘Appy ‘Arry Rednapp this week. In a week where he could have been done for tax evasion, potentially sent to pokey and effectively be cast out of the golden palace that is contemporary association football forever, Our ‘Arry has, to use his own vernacular, ‘Dun good’. Cleared of tax evasion, sent back to the dugout to watch his Spurs team absolutely hammer the plucky arrivistas of Newcastle, and suddenly presented with what looks like a clear route to his coronation as Engerland’s next manager when Fabio decided to call it a day, ‘Arry must believe that his luck is in. Not even Darren Bent could miss an open goal this wide.

Arry has what the likes of American presidential hopefuls Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney wish they had, the Big Mo and all the luck in the world. And, to be fair based on the last two years at Spurs, he seems to deserve it. When he took over, they were crawling along the bottom of the Prem like particularly ugly sea scavengers waiting for relegation. Now they are possibly the most exciting team in the Prem. Certainly their outstanding performances against both Liverpool and Newcastle are two of my highlights of the season (along with the 5 – 0 spanking they took from Man City earlier in the season).

And he doesn’t seem afraid of doing away with the big boys. Engerland wannabes Crouch, Defoe and Bent have all been mercilessly discarded as soon as Arry could get his hands on better players, while he seems to have got the most out of the likes of Modric, Scott Parker, the human sulk that was Adebayor, even previous goal drought Luis Saha seems to have flourished in the balmy paradise Arry has established in North London.

Like Dalglish at Liverpool, Arry appears to be a shoo-in, the compulsory purchase for the FA before anyone else can even be considered. All other candidates will be judged on the basis of how ‘Arry’ they are or are not. And absence of ‘Arry’ qualities will cause immediate concern in the overwhelmingly pro-‘Arry’ media. Sure the FA will spin out the process, if only to give themselves some tiny amount of bargaining room, but the job appears to be in the bag for the man who looks like his suitcases are already packed and stored underneath his eyes.

The Race(s) Are On

Prem table week 25

With only 13 games to go and in an unusual break from tradition,  there appear to be three genuinely competitive races going on in the Prem.

First, there appears to be a genuine title race. And unlike last season where Man U were pretty poor but still managed to romp their way to the title, this season there appears to be real competition. Man City have survived the glut of games in the Festive Season and emerged on top, but only just. And while they are grinding out wins with a sense of inevitability, they are starting to look vulnerable. Stop Silva and they really start looking average, stop Silva while Yaya Touré is away and they begin to look plodding and turgid. So much so that it would not be a surprise if there was some kind of bodged together rapprochement with wantaway Carleeto. Certainly they appear to be missing the sense of threat he brings (although they’re not missing his odious personality and behaviour).

Man U seem to have stepped up and they’re now a genuine threat. Rooney is playing well, along with Valencia and old boys Scholes and Giggs and the midfield is looking a little more stable. And right on the outside, Spurs are chasing hard looking to pick off any scraps should the Manchesters manage to mess it all up.

Second, there is a serious race on for fourth. Although it is sometimes hard to tell whether the four teams involved actually want that fourth spot, so keen do they seem to be to throw away matches. Right now, Arsenal appear to hold the position, albeit with the same points and goal difference as Chelsea – maybe it will be alphabetical order that counts in the end. Newcastle may challenge, but you sense it would be a step too far for them (although we’ve been saying that all season), while Liverpool need to step up if they are going to get back in the game.

Finally, there is the usual relegation dogfight. And with no one team being catastrophically worse than all the others, it’s going to be as tight as it’s ever been down among the dead men. Already Wolves and QPR have blinked and have dispensed with managers Warnock and McCarthy (not before time many would say). Both the Departed appear to be men capable of getting teams promoted, but unable to survive and prosper in the Prem. Both teams hope for the same results Sunderland had when they replaced the useless Steve Bruce with Martin O’Neill. Sadly for them I suspect there are no more O’Neills out there, as Warnock’s replacement Mark Hughes has shown. His dead cat bounce is already over. Right now Blackburn under Steve Kean and Wigan under Martinez look more likely to develop the team spirit necessary to survive than either Wolves or QPR. Still, with 13 games to go, I suspect that all the teams below 9th are going to be looking down rather than looking up.