Psycho's England Can Draw Positives From Dutch Defeat

The inevitable nit-picking that follows any England defeat is sure to kick in over the next few days, after Holland ran out 3-2 winners on Wednesday night. In truth, England could well have won the game, and there would still be sections of the media looking to take the edge off things.

However it must be remembered that this game was only a friendly, and while that may sound like an excuse, it is the inescapable reality. If Steven Gerrard and Chris Smalling's injuries do not turn out to be as bad as some may first have feared, it will all have been a productive night for Stuart Pearce and his men.

Indeed, a lot can be taken from the game. First of all, it was clear that Holland meant business, fielding a side that was close to full strength, with a number of truly world class players like Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder all adding a formidable look to their starting line-up.

England, meanwhile, were only able to put out a side that was a mere shadow of the one fans will perhaps have been hoping to see at this summer's European Championships. Key players like Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Darren Bent were all missing – along with a whole host of others.

"... an English manager... and the gutsy midfield determination that comes in the form of Scott Parker."

In such circumstances, then, you could argue there was no better man to lead England on the night than the man who had been in charge of the under-21s team for the last five years. There would be no one better to guide a team filled with youngsters.

As it turned out, they put in the sort of shift that most fans will have been encouraged by. They often showed the sort of composure that belied their years, the sort of pace that England supporters had only seen the briefest of glimpses of in years gone by, and above all, the heart that the team seemed to be so desperately lacking during the Capello era.

Without wanting to draw too many conclusions, you would have to assume that the latter aspect of their performances all boiled down to two key reasons: the leadership of an English manager who had all the experience of playing at the highest level with his country, and the gutsy midfield determination that comes in the form of Scott Parker.

Parker's playing style has been much talked about this season, since his £8 million move from West Ham to Tottenham. While some players can sometimes be seen to hide when given the added pressure of the captain's armband, Parker seemed to thrive – much like his manager Pearce. There hardly seems a better candidate to lead the England team into this summer's tournament.

Another positive that can be taken from the game was the performance of Gary Cahill at the back. People will no doubt remember his goal, taken like a true striker, above all else, but defensively he was as solid as a rock. Chelsea clearly see him as the long-term replacement for John Terry – some might say he is already good enough to keep him out of both club and country teams.

Lastly, but by absolutely no means least, there was the contribution of Daniel Sturridge. Coming on as a replacement for Steven Gerrard in the first half, he appeared to be the first England player of the night really willing to take on the Dutch defence and cause them problems.

Until he was eventually taken off himself, he did that all night long and could almost have had a goal. Of the up-and-coming young England strikers, he certainly looks to be the best. He is a regular in the Chelsea team, and should go on to have a great international career. He was deservedly named the Vauxhall Man of the Match.

So while it is never nice to be on the losing side, there is certainly some solace to be taken in the fact that a hugely depleted England side took a full-strength team of World Cup finalists all the way in this game. There are signs of encouragement, so lets not jump on this young team's back just yet.

A full-time England manager probably will not be appointed until after the European Championships, but with Pearce in charge, you know the team will give it a real go.

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Debts Out of Control, Unhappy Fans and Michel Platini Having His Say - A Day in the Life of Modern Football

The UEFA busy-bodies at Nyon must have been rubbing their hands with delight when news of Aston Villa's £53.9 million annual loss filtered through this week. Yet another English club in a financial position concerning enough for their future in European competition to be cast hastily into doubt.

Their loss comes primarily due to the £24 million they invested in England international striker Darren Bent last year, but then again that seems to be just the sort of thing Michel Platini and his men want to completely rule out of the game.

It is not without just cause, perhaps, the clubs that are spending money they do not have are supposedly gaining an unfair advantage over their more economical opponents, and put that way you cannot help but agree with the principle idea that UEFA have laid out.

But the truth of the matter is that there are a concerning number of loop-holes that only the biggest clubs in Europe are going to be able to exploit. There is no way we are going to suddenly see the smaller spending clubs rising to the very top of the game.

"It is not so much 'selling the soul of the club'... but adapting to the new austerity measures..."

Newcastle United's well publicised re-naming of St James' Park as 'The Sports Direct Arena.com.org.co.uk....' or whatever it is now known as is a case point. There seemed to be a lot of dissent towards the club's owner, Mike Ashley at the time for doing so, but he was left in a catch-22 situation really.

Manchester City did exactly the same thing by naming their stadium after their sponsors in a record deal. It is not so much 'selling the soul of the club', as some supporters so smartly put it, but adapting to the new austerity measures that are coming into place.

Of course it is much more complicated than that, but put simply, football club owners are having to come up with new and innovative ways of ploughing their endless sums of money into the club without upsetting UEFA. By doing it in the form of a sponsorship deal, they are keeping Mr Platini quiet, at least for the time being.

Being an Ipswich Town fan myself, I have noticed the same thing happening lower down the football league pyramid. A few years ago, Town agreed a record shirt sponsorship deal with the Marcus Evans Group – it is no coincidence that Mr Evans just happens to be the owner of the football club too.

Ipswich chief executive Simon Clegg is another football club boardroom member to have been vilified by the fans for seemingly not being able to agree contracts with players who the manager has identified as possible signings.

Now, of course, it is all becoming clear. Ipswich Town are refusing to be held to ransom by their rivals simply to bring in a new player. Instead, the club are going to be ready for when the new regulations kick in at the start of the new season.

For the fans, struggling to afford tickets in this day and age, it all looks rather ugly, and it is easy to see why so many are angry when their club seem to be tightening the belt when it comes to their expenditure, yet steadily increasing season ticket prices year on year.

True, it is very ugly indeed. But that is arguably what football has become, with greed overtaking the beautiful simplicity that existed in the game 40 or 50 years ago.

These are tough economic times globally, let alone for football, so for now, maybe it is just best we sit back and let the clubs get on with bringing their finances back into line. Otherwise, one of these days everything is all just going to come crashing down in an apocalyptic mess.

Villas-Boas Is Still The Man For Chelsea

Recent poor form combined with last night's crushing 3-1 defeat to Napoli has left many wondering how much longer Andre Villas-Boas is going to be in a job for. As is always the case at Chelsea, there has been no public backing for the manager from their very silent owner.

Indeed, the night started so well for Villas-Boas and his men – Juan Mata toe-poking a close range volley past the Napoli keeper to give them a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. But by half-time the home side had over-turned the deficit and it was 2-1.

The second half saw relentless pressure from Chelsea, but as was the case with Manchester City merely a few months ago, they were simply unable to break down their opponent's defence and were inevitably hit on the counter attack to give the score a more convincing look.

"Look at Fernando Torres – no one is talking of sacking him with his £50 million price tag."

Many will now be questioning whether Villas-Boas can continue in his job, with talk of him having lost the support of a number of players, but the fact is, it would be simply foolish to sack him now.

The first and, in my opinion, the most abundantly obvious reason not to call time on the Portuguese's time in charge is the quite staggering amount of money Roman Abramovich lavished in trying to bring him to the club. After all his success with Porto, the Russian oligarch shelled out £15 million, no less.

It broke all records for compensation paid for a manager. At that cost, you do not want to be pulling the trigger less than 12 months later. Look at Fernando Torres – no one is talking of sacking him with his £50 million price tag.

Of course, money is not the only reason Villas-Boas should keep his job. Whatever anyone says, he is a very good young manager who undoubtedly has a bright future in the game. He was the man all Chelsea fans wanted in charge, so make the most of having him.

It is true, Chelsea's Champions' League hopes hang in tatters right now, but unlike Arsenal, the situation is still salvageable. Likewise, their current standing of fifth in the Premier League does not make good viewing for fans, but they must accept this is a transitional phase for their side.

Many of the players who were such a big part of their success four or five seasons ago have either left or are now well over 30. The Frank Lampards, the Didier Drogbas, the Ashley Coles are simply not the players who can bring success back to Chelsea.

Villas-Boas' transfer policy, therefore, has been shrewd. He has brought in the likes of Juan Mata, Gary Cahill and Romelu Lukaku in an attempt to add a bit of youth to his ageing side. Furthermore, adopted a more inclusive approach to young players like Daniel Sturridge who were already at the club.

The final point I will make, though, is success takes time – whatever Manchester City and Chelsea fans of old will tell you. Villas-Boas simply cannot walk into Chelsea and undo all the problems that were already there. He is a good manager, but he is not a magician.

Just one look at the team he fielded against Napoli last night proves that this is not 'his team', most of the players were already at the club and the manager cannot be blamed for their mistakes. In 18 months time perhaps we will be able to look at the Chelsea team and say whether Villas-Boas is doing a good job.

Until then, he must absolutely keep his job. It would be a mistake to let him go, and I could really see it coming back to bite Chelsea one day. The club need some solidarity and some structure, the chairman needs to back his manager.

If they do that, maybe, just maybe, success for Chelsea is not too far around the corner.

Slapping, Spitting and Scuffling: The Night British Boxing Will Want To Forget

Described by many as an 'embarrassment to British boxing', the post-bout clash between Dereck Chisora and David Haye has thrust heavyweight boxing back into the limelight for less than savoury reasons.

Reading the morning papers, anyone unfortunate enough to have missed the actual fight could be forgiven for thinking that the match had been between Chisora and Haye, with what should have been the story of the night becoming somewhat overshadowed.

Chisora was actually in Germany to fight the Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko for the WBC Heavyweight championship, and if truth be told, he put up a brave fight that should have endeared him not only to British boxing fans, but the world.

He went down fighting, and despite Chisora's defeat it was clear that the 40-year-old Klitschko knew he had been in a proper fight. So often he and his brother appear to demolish their opponents with a frightening level of ease. This was certainly not the case in this one.

But if sportsmanship and humility are two of the most admired traits in British sportsmen and women, the Zimbabwe-born 28-year-old displayed neither of them.

"Considering this is now Chisora's third defeat on the bounce... it seems only right that he must now join the queue."

Barely a minute after the final bell had sounded, Chisora was already goading his opponent and brother Wladimir, squaring up to them and calling for a rematch.

A rematch would certainly be a spectacle, but considering this is now Chisora's third defeat on the bounce, combined with the fact that Vitali Klitschko was the clear and deserved winner of the fight, it seems only right that he must now join the queue.

Having already slapped Vitali at the weigh-in, Chisora then proceeded to spit a mouthful of water into Wladimir's face just moments before the fight was to begin.

At the post-fight press conference he brought further shame upon himself by getting involved in that tussle with David Haye.

Some will argue that this raises the profile of British heavyweight boxing, and the sensible money would surely now have to go on the summer's big fight being between Chisora and Haye.

If this were to come to fruition, promoters would be sure to have no problem selling tickets, while Sky TV would be desperate to book it for one of their pay-per-view channels.

It would be a spectacle that few will want to miss, and quite possibly the most hyped all British heavyweight fight since the 'Battle of Britain' between Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno back in 1993.

With both fighters renowned for their pre-fight publicity stunts, there would no doubt be plenty of drama and controversy leading up to it.

For now though, the inquest into how damaging Chisora's recent antics have been for the reputation of British boxing will surely rumble on for weeks to come.

Can Ipswich Still Make The Play-Offs?

This week marked a year since Town's famous 6-0 hammering of Doncaster Rovers in the Championship last season, when Connor Wickham notched an impressive hat-trick. The win moved Ipswich on to 41 points from their first 30 games, igniting hopes of a late push for the play-offs.

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Ultimately, it was not to be. From the remaining 16 games, Town only managed to put a further 20 points on the board, finishing in a disappointing 13^th place.

So it was interesting for me to read comments from Michael Chopra this week, suggesting that a late push for the play-offs would not be entirely out of the equation for Ipswich. Being the optimist I am, I was inevitably lured in by the notion and have already started dreaming.

But what would it require for us to finish in the top six this campaign? Well, one of the best ways to work it out is to look at what it has taken in the past for a team to finish sixth.

Nottingham Forest occupied the final play-off position last season with a total of 75 points – higher than it has been in a number of previous seasons.

Reaching that points total would be a tough task as it would require Ipswich (currently sitting on 37 points) to take no less than 38 points from the remaining 16 games. That is at a rate of almost 2.4 points per game – significantly better than the title winning form of Queens Park Rangers last season.

In real terms, however, that would basically require Ipswich to win almost thirteen of their remaining games in a fixture list that still includes Cardiff, Southampton, Hull, Burnley and Middlesbrough, as well as many other tough games. Essentially, it would be a fool who bet on Ipswich reaching 75 points.

Maybe then, we should turn to the table this season and see if there is any chance of the bar being lowered somewhat.

It is Reading who currently occupy sixth place in the Championship on 51 points from their 30 games. That is at a rate of exactly 1.7 points per game. In turn, that points to them finishing on approximately 78 points if they were to continue at their current rate of point accumulation. Definitely out of the question for Ipswich, as it would require 14 wins from the remaining 16 to finish above them.

Finally then, we should look at what other recent seasons have required. In 2009-10, Swansea took sixth place with just 70 points – to obtain that, Town would need 11 wins from 16.

In 2008-09, Preston finished on 74 – just over 12 from 16 for Ipswich, then. In 2007-08, Watford, like Swansea two years ago, also achieved 70 points; while in 2006-07, Southampton managed the 75 that Forest got last year.

Therefore, it would seem, Ipswich would, at the absolute minimum, have to win between 10 and 12 of the 16 games that remain in the Championship this season.

Do I honestly believe that is attainable? Lets just say we are now building for next season.