Reckless spending of football clubs MUST stop

This week, it has emerged that West Ham United, a now Championship side, with debts reported to be in excess of £100m, are bidding to secure the services of Reading front-man, Shane Long for a staggering £8m.

It raises the question of how such a reckless move could ever be vetoed by The FA. There are a whole host of reasons why such a transfer should never be allowed to happen.

The first, and probably most obvious, is that when any company has such hefty debts, they should be looking to pay them back – not increasing them without any care in the world. Furthermore, such a move would seem to be dangerous for the future of the football club.

Secondly, and what probably riles most football fans, is the fact it creates an uneven playing field for all their rivals.

No Championship club could match the figures West Ham look to be paying out: QPR were one of the most wealthy clubs in the world, yet they never spent sums anything like that when they were in the league.

Leicester City have a healthy financial backing, but despite their mass summer recruitment, they have come nowhere near what West Ham will ultimately end up spending.

It seems an injustice. As an Ipswich Town supporter, I watch the club minding the pennies, scrapping around for free agents and bargains.

Yet the club's debt is dwarfed by West Ham's.

The Hammers are not the only club to blame, though – last season it was Portsmouth. They seemed to be in and out of court more often than a Geordie joy-rider, with their financial woes.

In fact, Portsmouth were a club on the brink of liquidation owing to the fact that they simply were unable to pay back their crippling debts.

Yet they still somehow managed to fund the arrivals of Liam Lawrence, Dave Kitson and a plethora of other proven Premier League stars.

Chester City had their financial problems a couple of seasons ago, and were forced to close. Their finances were nowhere near as bad as West Ham or Portsmoth's.

Surely there is a way to stop this. It is unfair on other Championship sides who are aiming for promotion – but doing it the sensible and honest way.

It is never nice to see a club have to close because of their finances – or to see a club docked points for going into administration. But it is time for the authorities to take action, and make an example of one or two clubs.

It is harsh, admittedly, but what does it say for the game in general if teams are unable to live within their means. There are starving children in Africa, for goodness sake.

The Champions League have a good system set up. In future, clubs who are unable to justify their spending, simply are not allowed to compete in the tournament.

Perhaps it is time for the Premier League and Football league to take a leaf out of that book.

England are back to where they belong

It is almost a month since FIFA came to the ridiculous conclusion that England were the fourth best team in the world, ahead of the likes of Brazil, Argentina and Portugal.

For a side that failed so miserably in the last world cup, has stuttered in recent friendlies and did not even qualify for the previous European Championships, it would be understandable if the national team failed to make the top 10.

Thanks to the Copa America (a competition that England fortunately don't get to humiliate themselves in), there has been a more sensible reorganisation of the rankings.

Uruguay and the aforementioned Brazil have both nipped in ahead of England, pushing them down to sixth.

For the sake of dampening overzealous English expectation, that is certainly for the better – indeed a reasonable conclusion, seeing as few people could make a case for England being amongst the world's top five international teams.

Fair enough, England can arguably pick from a host of world class footballing talent, but the fact that there is about as much chemistry and organisation among them as a pack of stampeding zebra, has often been commented on.

Uruguay can justify their position in the rankings, following their incredible Copa America win, and a stellar performance in the 2010 World Cup.

They, like Spain and Germany, just seem to have that ingredient that England don't.

Those sides seem to just click when it comes to kick-off – they function as a unit, and look as much a bunch of mates as a professional unit.

Sadly England do not.

An Indian summer of cricket

There are two big questions on the lips of cricket fans this week. When will Sachin Tendulkar reach his landmark one-hundredth international century? And, are England the finest Test side on the planet?

Tendulkar made his test début way back in 1989, aged 16, against Pakistan in Karachi. Coming into bat at number six, the youngster looked to have a tough job on his hands.

With Pakistan having been bowled out for a good first innings score of 409, the Indians were struggling at 41-4. To make matters worse, the Pakistan team of then had a formidable bowling attack which included both Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

It probably won't go down as one of Tendulkar's finest displays, as he was clean bowled by Younis for just 15 runs, and the game ended as a draw. What it was, however, was the beginning of an era.

It would probably be fate if The Little Master were to make his hundredth international century at some point in the coming series against England. It was the English who he scored his first century against at Old Trafford in 1990.

His first attempt will come on Thursday at Lords, the home of cricket. It is hard to believe that a man who has not only scored 100 against all of the test playing nations, but has scored 150 against them all too, does not have a Lord's century to his name.

It is something that Tendulkar has said would be a dream of his, but he is now down to his last attempt.

The second and third test matches are to be played at Nottinghamshire's Trent Bridge and Warwickshire's Edgbaston grounds. In 1996, Tendulkar enjoyed a fine summer against England which included centuries at both of those grounds.

The Oval, another ground he is yet to make a century on, is the venue for the fourth and final test.

Tendulkar has carved a reputation, down the years, for being the finest batsman of his generation – indeed, the most prolific run-maker and greatest cricketing icon of all time.

It has rightly been observed many times before, that he does not really have a weakness, with his balance, movement and precision stroke-play making him a truly terrifying opponent.

England off-spinner, Graeme Swann admitted this week that it would be wonderful to see Tendulkar reach the impressive 'century of centuries' milestone, but is determined not to let that happen in this series.

Fair enough, too. England have priorities of their own going into what is, aside from the Ashes, one of the most hyped Test series' of the Millennium.

As if winning a test match alone was not motivation enough, England have the added carrot of becoming the world number one test side should they win the series by a margin of two or more.

It is all very crowded at the top of the ICC World Rankings right now. India currently hold top spot, but South Africa and England are not far behind, and are looking to displace them.

No one can possibly predict the outcome of such an eagerly anticipated series, but one thing is for sure; over the next few weeks, cricket fans the world over are going to be in for a treat.

Video: Top five golf shots of all time

Woods celebrates with caddie after chipping in at Augusta.

It is something that is sure to start a debate among any true golf fans. What is the greatest shot of all time?

There are many candidates - far to many to mention in one blog, but here I will attempt to pick my top five. Not everyone will agree, but one thing is sure, they are all spectacular in their own right.

In such a list it would be so easy to pick out five stunning hole-in-ones - because that is the perfect shot, right?

But no, that would be too easy. For this exercise, it involved thinking outside the box a bit - not me, but the players.

They are shots where any average golfer who plays at his local course would not think to play. Shots which only the finest players the game has to offer could possibly dream of pulling off.

Admittedly two hole-in-ones have made this list - no list would be complete without at least one, so we've gone for two here.

So pour yourself a cup of tea, and sit back to enjoy some of the finest plays that the beautiful game of golf has served up down the years.

1. Miguel Ángel Jiménez - The Open Championship, St Andrews, 2010.

Maybe not the most technically brilliant shot of all time, but this effort from the quirky Spaniard deserves it's place in this list as much as any of the others. Having left his approach shot tight to the wall, Jiménez was left with no room to get his swing in. As the BBC commentary team began to ridicule him he turned the tables on them, reverting to mini-golf tactics by using the wall to his advantage, and pulling a truly sensational shot out of the bag.

2. Phil Mickelson – The Masters, Augusta National, 2010.

Every amateur golfer has done it – hooked their tee shot horribly wide of the fairway and landed up behind the local flora. It is a nightmare to get out of, and anyone with a level head on their shoulders would probably accept their fate and tap the ball back out onto the fairway. Phil Mickelson is different from everyone else though, he spotted a gap that even his caddy did not know existed, drawing the ball round the tree nicely to set up a putt for birdie.

3. Tiger Woods – The Masters, Augusta National, 2005.

It's easy to forget that Tiger Woods, currently sitting 20^th in the world, was actually once a candidate for 'greatest golfer of all time'. Year by year he would pull incredible shots out of the bag that surprised even his most avid fans. But this, at the 16^th hole in 2005, may well top the lot. Leaving the ball in a reasonably putt-able position would have been enough for any of the other players that day, but Tiger was no ordinary golfer and just had to go one better.

4. Fuzzy Zoeller – Allianz Championship, Glen Oaks Country Club, 2006.

A controversial character, to say the least, Fuzzy Zoeller was certainly someone who knew how to grab an audiences attention – not always for the right reasons. The first of two hole-in-ones in this list, this shot makes it in, not because it was the finest shot that day, but because of the truly ridiculous circumstances in which it occurred. What looks to be a distinctly average shot, suddenly turns into something much, much greater – did he mean it? Or was it just the crafty work of the devil?

5. Miguel Ángel Jiménez – Dubai Desert Classic, Emirates Golf Club, 2008.

Last, but by no means least, it must be such an honour for Jiménez to make it onto this list twice. If his earlier shot made it on for being inventive, this one makes it on for being truly sublime. It is rare to see a hole-in-one anyway, but hitting it so accurately that it drops straight into the hole without even so much as a bounce is pretty much unheard of. It takes you a moment to realise that the ball has actually gone in at first, but when you do, it leaves you astounded.

Clarke win highlights Northern Irish dominance in golf

New Open Champion, Darren Clarke.

Lets just suppose you had walked into a bookmakers at the beginning of last week and asked to place a tenner on world number 111, Darren Clarke winning the first major of his career on Sunday. Most punters probably would have given you a strange sort of sidewards look. The bookies on the other hand, would have been more than happy to oblige, offering you odds of 150/1, and thus a potential windfall of £1,500.

But who would have been stupid enough to have done that, right?

Well no doubt there is someone out there who decided to take a punt on the 42 year old Northern Irishman, and is probably right now counting their lucky stars – if not their winnings.

In the same week that a Scottish couple bagged the £161m jackpot in the Euromillions, Clarke overcame the odds to scoop the £900,000 winners' cheque as well as having his name engraved upon the famous old Claret Jug.

Clarke's win caps a remarkable couple of years for golf in the tiny country of Northern Ireland, with his countrymen, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell both winning majors of their own.

Some may call it a coincidence that such a thing could happen; after all, how could a country with a population of less than two million ever produce three of the top players in what is truly a global game?

Indeed, golf is not a particularly big sport in Northern Ireland – with football and a plethora of Gaelic sports favoured.

But the truth is, that little country seems to have made a habit of churning out great sports men and women down the years. Does anyone remember a certain footballer by the name of George Best?

It is hard to pinpoint exactly the reasons why Northern Ireland is enjoying such a purple patch in the world of golf at the moment, but there certainly are a number of factors that in their own small way will have served to play their part.

The Royal County Down Golf Club boasts the fourth best golf course outside of the United States, according to Golf Digest magazine's 2007 listing.

The ninth at County Down is one of the most spectacular links holes in world golf.

Furthermore, the fourth and ninth holes at that very course both made it into a book about the 500 greatest golf holes in the world.

But having great golf courses doesn't instantly guarantee great players, although the type of courses arguably could.

Links golf is the main form of the sport in Northern Ireland, so it is perhaps no wonder that in the adverse conditions at Royal St Georges, it was a hardy Northern Irishman who came out victorious anyway.

US Open champion, Rory McIlroy credits the challenging nature of Northern Ireland's courses, in particular the Holywood Golf Club where he learnt his trade, as one of the main reasons he has made it so far in the game.

As for Graeme McDowell, he chose to take advantage of the college system in the United States to learn his game.

Although just recently, success for American golf has cooled slightly, there is no doubt that it is there that the finest coaching and facilities can be found. McIlroy, too, has benefited from them in the past.

Regardless of how these men have risen to the top of their game, it remains clear that in Northern Ireland golf is a sport on the up. Who knows, it might not be too long before another Major Champion emerges from that wild and rugged land.

Why do English players continue to struggle in The Open Championship?

World number one, Luke Donald missed the cut.

European golf looks to be at it's strongest point for a long time. Four of the last five Ryder Cups have been won by the continent, including the triumph at Celtic Manor in 2010. Furthermore, five of the top ten players in the world now are Europeans.

Closer to home, English golfers are doing even better. Not only are five of the world's top 40 players from this green and pleasant land, but in Luke Donald and Lee Westwood the country boasts the two finest golfers on the planet right now.

True enough, world number 19, Tiger Woods may still be regarded the most talented player of a generation; but truer still, neither Westwood nor Donald have won even a single Major championship between them.

Indeed, that latter point has a certain degree of veracity to it – something that is painfully highlighted when looking at the results of recent Open Championships.

Not since 1992 has an Englishman won the famous tournament (Nick Faldo), and more shocking still, an Englishman has not won the tournament on English soil since 1969 when Tony Jacklin took home the Claret Jug.

Going into today's third round at Royal St Georges, the highest ranked English player is, remarkably, the amateur Tom Lewis. He sits tied 14^th in amongst a posse of world class talent, including former Masters champion, Phil Mickelson.

As for the aforementioned talented duo of Donald and Westwood, well, astonishingly they both missed the cut.

So why is there such a distinct lack of success for English players in this competition?

It is hard to put a finger on precisely what it is, after all the conditions are more or less the same for everyone competing in the tournament. In fact it could be argued that English players should be more comfortable with conditions that they most likely would have grown up in.

Of course, The Open Championship does present a very different challenge to any of the other Major golf tournaments, for it is played out every year on links courses. Courses where, essentially, a player's biggest obstacle is not dense woodland, thick rough or tight fairways, but rather, the wind.

One argument, and very flawed it does seem, is that most of the top players – including England's top hopes – are high ball hitters. It has been suggested many times before that they struggle in the windy conditions. However, three time Open Championship winner, Jack Nicklaus was a notoriously high ball hitter, and as his record suggests, he never had any real difficulty adapting.

As for the argument that the creative 'feel' players struggle in such conditions? Nonsense. The late, great Seve Ballesteros built a career on such play, and he won the tournament three times as well.

There are many arguments out there, and it would take a lifetime to go into any great depth about them all, but it certainly does remain an enigma.

This year, though, it is Northern Irishman, Darren Clarke who leads the tournament going into the weekend, and it now appears he will be the one all British hopes are pinned to. His countryman, Rory McIlroy is still hanging in there too, after a solid round of 69 on Friday to take him to level par for the championship.

But despite all that, the facts remain. It appears to be more of the same old, same old, and it looks as though another year will pass without an Englishman winning the tournament, as the long wait creaks slowly into its third decade.

View leaderboard here.

Scotland Must Stay

A perpetual habit of Ipswich Town's always seems to be letting a good or promising player go each summer for relative peanuts. In recent seasons, especially, it appears to have become a worrying trend at Portman Road.

There are endless players that you could easily go into detail about, but the latest one to keep an eye on is Jason Scotland. Admittedly, the former Wigan striker did not exactly set the world alight in his first season with the club, but then again, nor did former manager, Roy Keane – he still got another half a season.

Reports this week suggest that the Blues and Swansea City have already begun negotiations which would pave the way for the Trinidadian to return to Wales, and indeed, Premier League football.

Now usually that would spark a certain degree of interest from the selling club with the potential for a big amount of money coming their way. Last season when Jon Walters went to Stoke, it seemed a mutually agreeable deal – Town picked up in excess of £3m for the player, and the Potters got their man.

This summer, in fact, Connor Wickham smashed all records with his £8.1m move to Sunderland. Sure, it was sad to see him go, but at least there was a tasty incentive for Ipswich Town fans at the end of the day.

With Scotland, however, all looks to be very different. He looks set to join a group of players such as Alan Lee, Jon Stead, and Jordan Rhodes, who despite doing what appeared to be a decent job, were unmercifully pushed out of the door.

Like those players, Jason Scotland is not a bad player – he has proven many times before that at Championship level he can score goals. Actually, a lot of goals.

When such a situation occurs, it looks a pretty safe bet that there is not going to be a lot of money involved. If Town even recoup what they paid for him it would be remarkable.

Of course, a lot of fans will argue that with the arrivals of Michael Chopra and Nathan Ellington, as well as Priskin offering an alternative option, Scotland will not exactly be the first choice at the club. Maybe too, there could soon be another arrival in the striking department with reports earlier in the week that bids had been placed for two unknown players.

The fact is, though, Scotland has been at the club for a season now. In that season, he did manage to notch 10 goals – more than any of the other strikers at the club, and only bettered by the now departed David Norris, a midfielder.

Supposing Michael Chopra was to bag 20 goals this season, Ellington a further 10 – wouldn't 10 more from Scotland be a welcome contribution?

It is also worth considering that he played much of last season as a lone striker. Early indications from this pre-season are that Paul Jewell is looking to play two up front, meaning that if Scotland were to play, there would be someone to share the work load with.

Furthermore, Jewell himself is even said to be happy with how the bulky forward is performing in pre-season so far.

It really does beg the question: how the hell could he ever be allowed to just slip out the back door?

Warning: Bad boy Bowyer is in Town

Some footballers ought to come with a warning sign attached to them when they sign for a new football club, especially those with a bit of a reputation.

One of those is Lee Bowyer, who has just signed a one-year deal with Ipswich Town this week. I'm sure I read somewhere that he was the most booked player in Premier League history, and we all know about his off-field shenanigans with Jonathan Woodgate whilst at Leeds United.

Furthermore, it is worth considering that one of Town's reported transfer targets of this summer just so happens to be Keiron Dyer. Could the ex-Newcastle 'buddies' be re-united at Portman Road?

Since becoming a professional club in 1936, Ipswich Town has forged itself at reputation as a friendly, welcoming family club. A club that, essentially, signs nice players who play nice football.

The managers have been quite mellow too – the kind gentleman that was Sir Bobby Robson, the humble Scot, George Burley and the unobtrusive tactician, Sir Alf Ramsey.

Yet in recent times that all seems to have changed.

Roy Keane's arrival in 2009 reflected that change dramatically. The former Manchester United hard-man came in to replace Jim Magilton. Everyone said it could not work – the two were not compatible. Ipswich Town and Roy Keane could never work...

They were right.

The arrival of Lee Bowyer does seem to be of the same mould, if you like. Michael Chopra did not exactly represent the coming of a moral guardian either.

Somehow, though, both seem like fantastic signings for the club. Bowyer will bring a tenacity to the midfield, whilst also chipping in with goals. Chopra, meanwhile, is a poacher – a striker hungry for goals, someone who knows better than most in the division where the net is.

When the season finished back in May, Town were facing a crisis. It seemed as though half the squad were out of contract and would not be signing new deals.

Add to that the fact that the club's player of the season, Jimmy Bullard, had only been a loanee, and the reality of the situation was that the club was never going to be able to afford his wages. Paul Jewell had an almighty job on his hands.

He has done well though. The addition of Bowyer to the team instantly replaces the work ethic and steel that was ripped from the core of the team when David Norris left for Portsmouth. Ivar Ingimarsson adds the experience and quality at the heart of the defence in the position that was vacated by Gareth McAuley.

Aaron Cresswell, a player courted by many Premier League and Championship clubs, brings the enthusiasm of youth, and could turn out to be a gem from the lower leagues. Nathan Ellington arrived off the back of a disappointing few seasons with Watford – but his most successful years were under Jewell at Wigan.

In total five new players have arrived at the club – better still, they have arrived before the team has even played a single pre-season game. Fans have grown accustomed to no one signing before July, only for a mad rush in late August, leaving the squad imbalanced and the supporters underwhelmed.

Indeed, it looks as though there is more to come, too. This week Jewell has admitted that he is waiting to hear back from clubs regarding bids placed for a further two players – reportedly a winger and a forward.

It is nice to see the attacking options being addressed. For a number of seasons now, the options in those areas have looked depleted at best. Not since Shefki Kuqi six years ago has any player scored more than 20 goals for the club in a season. In fact, few have scored that many in their time with the Blues.

One concern for me, though, still remains defensively. Unlike some fans, I am reasonably contented with the goalkeeping options at the club, but I am still worried about the lack of a recognised right-back at the club – even if Carlos Edwards filled the position well towards the end of last season.

Moreover, there are only three recognised centre-backs in the squad. Ingimarsson is the only right-footer among them, and a man of his age surely cannot be expected to play all 46 games. Damien Delaney is prone to spells of catastrophically bad form, while Tommy Smith, despite having played at a World Cup is still only 21.

Leicester snapped up the main transfer target for that position, Sean St Ledger, so it is back to the drawing board there, unfortunately.

More money will have to be spent. Jewell has done well so far, getting in a raft of players on frees, while only paying half of the figure the club were quoted last summer for Michael Chopra (£1.5m).

And there should be money available. The Connor Wickham sale looks to be a blessing in disguise. At 18, he was never going to tear the Championship apart single handedly, but the £8m transfer fee (potentially rising to over £12m) will give the club a better chance of doing so.

It remains to be seen what Jewell still has in store for the club. So far he is doing well, and if he keeps that up, who knows, this time next year, he could be the toast of Ipswich.

News of the World gone, but sadly not forgotten for a long time yet

When asked by people what I am training to become, I often have to grit my teeth and bear the inevitable mocking of my profession. Telling people that I wish to be a journalist in the not too distant future always sparks the same reaction. I find my very own morals and ethics being questioned.

In the last decade things have changed in the world of journalism – the press complaints commission now strictly moderates ethics in the industry and the sanctions imposed on anyone stepping out of line can be crippling.

Such issues have not entirely disappeared, though. Stories emerging this week about further phone hacking by the News of the World have plunged the reputation of journalists right back down to the depths they thought they had long since managed to rise from.

No one can doubt the heinous nature of The News of the World’s latest actions. What they have done goes way beyond the line of day-to-day ethics, and right into the heart of serious crime.

Whether or not the life of school-girl, Milly Dowler could have been saved, had the News of the World not deleted messages from her inbox, does seem questionable at the very least. But what is not questionable, is how wrong and utterly immoral it was for someone to do such a thing.

In the latest development to the story, it has now been announced that this coming Sunday’s edition of the tabloid newspaper will be it’s last. For some it is the end of an era, but for most it is good riddance.

For, it seems, every blotch on the good reputation of journalism in the last five years seems to have been associated with them.

Rebekah Brooks, Chief Executive of News International has claimed that the Guardian newspaper that exposed the latest phone hacking scandal, were ‘out to get us, and got us.’

It seems remarkable that she could ever have hoped that hacking the phone of a murdered school-girl was going to remain secret. Furthermore, how on earth could she have ever expected further developments, such as the hacking of 7/7 victims’ families, to go un-noticed?

The world of journalism has now been left to pick itself up from one of the biggest blows it has taken in years. Who can say if it will ever fully recover? A long road lies ahead, and many challenges await. However, with improved levels of training, and stricter regulation, maybe some public faith can be restored.

William Taylor

Haye has a tough fight on his hands

By the time David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko step into the ring tonight, it will be the culmination of months of relentless promotion and hype. The talking will be over, and the two protagonists will get down to what they really are good at – boxing. It will be one man against another, there will be no mercy, and for the loser it will be heartbreak.

For some years now, there hasn’t been the same level of interest in a heavyweight boxing fight, most likely because this was the one everyone had been waiting for. Haye and Klitschko nearly fought a few years back, but when the Hayemaker pulled out through injury, it was cancelled.

In the meantime, there is no doubt that a lot of talking has happened. In Haye’s case, a lot of publicity stunts, reaching a crescendo of tastelessness. Both men have taken on mediocre opposition – none more so than the pathetically one sided encounter between Haye and Audley Harrison. One can only hope that tonight’s meeting does not follow the same path.

When two of the best heavyweight boxers of a certain era come together for a world title bout, there is little to match the excitement, the buzz and sense of expectation that it generates. You know that months of preparation and fighting talk will all boil down to a mere 12 rounds – or even less in most cases.

Everyone with even so much as a passing interest will attempt to make their prediction of what might happen on the night, and the Haye v Klitschko fight is proving to be no different. It is amazing; there is no other sport on the planet that draws such differences in opinion from so many people. Even the experts cannot seem to agree on who will come out on top.

One argument is that Haye’s speed and agility will see him to victory, while others argue that Klitschko’s height and weight advantage will be too much for the Brit to handle. It is impossible to guess who truly will come out on top in the end.

Indeed, who would have said Ruslan Chagaev would have overcome a 1’1” height difference to beat Nicolay Valuev? Surely no one would have fancied a 45 year old George Foreman to beat Michael Moorer, 19 years his junior. The fantastic thing is, however, those things did happen.

My personal viewpoint is that Klitschko will just about have too much for Haye. For all Haye can talk the talk, I sincerely doubt he can follow that up with a win tonight. Wladimir Klitschko doesn’t hold three world title belts for no reason – he will be hungry to add a fourth to his collection, meaning the Klitschko brothers will have a monopoly of all the world heavyweight titles.

It won’t be a one sided encounter though – it might not even be particularly explosive. There is a lot on the line for these two men, so a cagey battle would appear to be on the cards. If this one doesn’t go the distance, it will be sure to still go a long way.

Haye has admitted he is not prepared to let the fight go 12 rounds, and so he shouldn’t. It would be safe to say that if it does, a notoriously biased judging panel in Hamburg will back the German based Ukranian. A Brit surely couldn’t hope to win on points, right?

To win, Haye will have to knock him out, and I’m not sure he has it in his locker. Sure, he is a big puncher – but so is Klitschko. Haye will have to be careful not to leave himself exposed. Equally he must not be too defensive, for Klitschko will dominate him.

He needs to strike a balance – something close to what Muhammed Ali went for to beat George Foreman in 1974. Ali won that with an eighth round KO, and if Haye is to win it may well be via similar route.

Sadly, or thankfully some cynics may argue, I do not see Haye stopping ‘Dr Sledgehammer’, he just does not quite have enough. For me, this certainly will go the distance, and when that happens, there will only be one winner… and he won’t be British.