I loved AFCON. I hope ignorant critics embrace it now as well.

Stunning. The whole thing. And to think the competition is often derided - by people who should know better as well.

I’m talking AFCON of course. I thought it was brilliant from start to finish. We won’t forget the final in a hurry either. It was good, but the real drama was saved until the end. In some ways it reminded me of the 5-minute final all the way back in 1979 between Arsenal and United.

You can’t condone what happened in and around the 90th minute, but Sadio Mane emerged from the chaos with real class after bringing his team back onto the pitch for extra-time. And this following on from his mature reaction to his team’s semi-final win over Egypt.

He wanted calm on the whistle. He knew nothing had been achieved at that stage. He was right. Save it. The Celebration Police were proud of him. Wait until there really is something to get excited about.

It’s a bit like players celebrating the award of a pen. Celebrate the goal if it’s converted, but the award means nothing. Ask Brahmin Diaz. What was he thinking ffs? He got what he deserved.

For what it’s worth I thought it was a pen. You can’t do what El Hadji Malik Diouf did - haul a player down in the box. What made it a pen for me is the ball is dropping for Diaz. We see these wrestling matches every week in the PL and it would stop if officials penalised it.

Anyway - well done everybody associated with AFCON and hang your head in shame if you still don’t get it.

Once again, after all the hysteria about ‘dropped points’ by Arsenal after the Forest match, it turned out to be a very good weekend for them. That point stretched their lead. I keep saying it - there are so many twists and turns in a title chase we have to wait for a completed match week before judging results.

It was a pen mind you. I’m with Arteta. Aina controls the ball with his arm. He clearly moves it to the ball, and he later admitted he’d got away with one with that tweet - now deleted of course.

As good as United were - and they were - City were dreadful. To borrow a chant from Southampton fans ‘sideways and backwards wherever we go’. City were toothless.

Guardiola’s body language fascinated me at the end. He wasn’t coaching as he usually does. There were no words for the opposition nor battles with cameramen - just a mournful walk to City fans.

I mentioned this on air at beINSPORTS and immediately got a few messages from people who know him. People well connected in the NW.

I floated some of the well sourced info I was getting, suggesting Guardiola could leave City this week - phrasing what I said like this ‘probable? Yea. Possible? Definitely. Likely? Less so now, but 💯 he’s gone at the end of the season’.

In my view Guardiola has been checked out all season. He’s not the same. Of course he’s going to be disappointed about a defeat, but it all feels odd to me. I think his players know more than we do as well. I’m told the Manchester press corp do as well, but they won’t break ranks.

I’m more than a little surprised Palace have allowed Glasner to turn himself into a temporary manager. I’m sorry, but he’s got to go. Was he trying to get sacked when he blasted Steve Parrish over allowing Guehi and probably Mateta to leave?

If I’m Glasner I want out now. I’m told he’s top of United’s wish list, so why stay at Palace and run the risk of reputational damage if the second half of the season falls apart? Go - and wait. If it’s not United he’ll get a good one.

There is, of course, the chance United make the same mistake as they did with Solajkaer and make Carrick’s role permanent. I wouldn’t. I said it before - it’s time to break the obsession with all things Fergie. Carrick did well Saturday though, getting a performance out of United with a combination of common sense team selection and formation.

For me, there’s two men United’s brains trust should be hunting down - Tuchel and Xavi Alonso. And don’t tell me it can’t be Alonso because he played for Liverpool - so did Busby. And he also played for City.

All the drama in Manchester has taken the spotlight off Arne Lost. It shouldn’t. Liverpool are bang ordinary right now whatever Lost does.

The Toffees did a job on Villa didn’t they? I fancied them to as well. I know Emery was very flat after, but his team ARE top 5 material. They’re just not title contenders.

It’s good to see the subject of concussion subs on the agenda at IFAB’s meeting tomorrow (Tuesday). There is no good reason not to adopt Rugby’s protocol and allow 10-15 minute temporary subs while players are assessed off the pitch. Get on with it.

I really enjoyed Rory Smith’s piece in The Observer on the formation of Oceania’s first professional football league - the OFC Pro League. Why? Well read the piece for yourselves if you can, but briefly, it’s important because Oceania is a FIFA region - made up of New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and a whole lot of Pacific Island nations - in other words it’s going to be a cross-border competition.

Up until now FIFA have frowned upon cross border leagues, but not anymore. I’m sure movers and shakers in Holland and Belgium will have noticed the change and as Smith points out, Mexican sides who want to play MLS.

But more significantly Smith makes the point the A22 group, the people behind a proposed Euro Super League, will also be aware of this massive change. That project hasn’t gone away.

What are PGMOL talking about - ‘tolerance levels’?

Unbelievable. I was almost lost for words when I read the PGMOL’s excuse for their incompetence in allowing the Wirtz goal at Fulham. Happily I’ve found a few - so here goes.

Wirtz was off. We all saw it. He admitted it. So why was the goal given? In case you haven’t seen, it was because of a ‘little known tolerance level’. Little known? I’ll tell you how ‘little known’. No-one knew. There wasn’t one - until they fucked up at Fulham and in trying to cover up they’ve opened a real can of worms.

I’ve said since they introduced their semi-automated system it wasn’t accurate. Now they’ve admitted it. Apparently they’ve been operating this ‘tolerance’ system since they introduced it.

This is what I’m reading in The Mail Online ‘Although manual VAR lines have been scrapped in favour of semi-automated (not true - they use them every week because the system fails somewhere) there is a small margin for error which is taken into consideration by the tech’. Why?

The piece reads on like this ‘While offside is given to the millimetre in other competitions such as the CL, the PL’s VAR system operates with a tolerance level of up to five centimetres - effectively the width of a green line’. So it’s not accurate. You’re either on or off. You can’t be ‘a little bit pregnant’ can you?

The system is a joke. It should be withdrawn immediately. Who decides which teams get ‘tolerance’? United? Liverpool? City? Arsenal? Which other decisions have been given with ‘tolerance’ this season? We need to know.

The cartoon images they offer are ridiculous. How is it possible to judge a call unless you can look straight along a line? And regulars will know I’ve been asking this same question since this Disney-like system was introduced.

What do images such as these tell us?

Teams could go down based on ‘tolerance levels’. Fulham have got every right to be angry about this, bearing in mind just about every big decision in their games went against them early season.

Enough of this nonsense. Howard Webb should either admit they got it wrong at Fulham - or withdraw the system until they can prove it’s accurate. Isn’t that why VAR was born?

We weren’t wrong about Inspector Clouseau at Celtic were we? Or Maresca, although in his case I think there are some extenuating circumstances.

Chelsea is a barm pot of a club. The people I talk to there tell me it’s a shambles behind the scenes. But when hasn’t it been since Abramovic left?

Todd Boehly is onto his sixth coach and he’s about to make another huge error. Leroy Rosenior? No. He’s a pound-shop Potter. If they give him the job Boehly will be looking for another coach in May. That dressing room will chew him up and spit him out.

Imagine WC winners like Fernandez being introduced to him. He won’t have a clue who he is. Working at Hull and Strasbourg is no way to prepare for a job like Chelsea if you haven’t been a decent player.

Chelsea should give the job to JT. Captain. Leader. Legend. A Chelsea warrior to the core. That’s enough to qualify him for me.

‘Ah, but he doesn’t have any experience’ I can hear you saying. Really? Doesn’t three years working as an assistant in the PL (I know he joined in a promotion season at Villa) count for anything? No? Well that’s all Arteta had when he got the job at Arsenal.

And don’t tell me Lampard failed. No he didn’t. It’s often forgotten in his first full season he finished fourth, despite the fact Chelsea were banned from signing players. His second spell doesn’t count. He was simply marking time.

Terry has stood by and watched all the madness unfold these past few seasons. He knows the club inside out. Which of the two - Rosenior or Terry - would excite Chelsea fans more?

It looks like Amorim is trying to get the sack again doesn’t it? What’s he talking about ‘I was employed as manager at this club’. Is he serious?Not by the Jim Reaper you weren’t. Little will anger him more than reading Amorim’s recent comments to the Press.

As one of the PGMOL’s off-side graphics might say ‘That’s All Folks’.

We made it - and survived dry Boxing Day.

So we all survived dry Boxing Day after all. What a relief. And what a lovely day I had. I’ve been advocating this change for years. In fact, I’d go further and take the same break as most of Europe. Why not? Coaches and managers are always complaining about players getting too may minutes on the grass. It would give us all time to draw breath.

It also puts the EFL front and centre, which is no bad thing. The Championship is a terrific product - curse free (sorry, VAR free). It makes such a lovely change to watch a match that isn’t governed by some clown in a Slough bunker. I love it.

VAR remains the worst thing football ever inflicted on itself. Has it made the game better? Has it hell. Seriously, what has it improved? Nothing is the answer. I hate it.

I’ve been in VAR rehab trying to embrace it over the past few weeks, looking to give the guys a break, but I’m afraid I’ve fallen off the wagon. It drives me mad.

Have we stopped arguing about decisions? No. Has it brought uniformity? No. Consistency? No. Has it raised standards? No. And that ridiculous automated off-side system we use is a joke. That is if it’s working. It’s nowhere near as good as the CL system and useless if you can’t look directly across the pitch. The angle we use simply can’t be accurate. It’s like some sort of cartoon action. Hopeless.

I mentioned on Twitter I was 100% behind Sean Dyche’s view after the game at Forest. Of course Dias has got to go after committing a second yellow card offence. He knew exactly what he was doing. What was the difference between that challenge and the one Danso was booked for at Palace last night? Only that Rob Jones was shit scared to get a card out again because he was reffing City.

And as for the winning goal - wow. I didn’t expect Jones to see the offence, but where was VAR? You see - useless. What’s the point?

I’ll be a tad kind to Jones here and admit he’s not the only one overawed by reffing City. All the guys are. They must be. I can’t think of another reason they freeze when they do. I mentioned this recently and I’ll do it again - Guardiola’s teams have always been masters of the dark arts. Always. So keep a closer eye on them guys and be honest.

Graham Poll admitted - in his book - he used to ref United differently. He said he was scared to make big calls against them because he didn’t want to fall out with Fergie. He knew if he did he wouldn’t get another big game at OT for six months or so after a row. Case closed. It happens.

As for Dyche, he’ll probably get into trouble for telling Forest fans what he really thought. But why should he? I’ve argued for years that coaches and players should be allowed to express reviews true feelings post match. Why not, if it’s done in a respectful and thoughtful way? Isn’t the PL played in a country that values free-speech? Isn’t it all part of the entertainment? It certainly is in other sports, so why not PL football? It’s a nonsense that we gag them. I’d love to see a coach take legal action when fined. He’d win.

I like Thomas Frank. I thought Spurs might just have got it right when they appointed him and I hope I’m proven correct, but if he thinks beating a Palace team out on their feet is something to get excited about he’s wrong. It was a good night out - and three points - but nothing more.

Here’s one for you - how many of Tottenham’s starting X1 last night would get into one of our top teams?

Arne Lost might just have found a team at last - a team that doesn’t include Mo Salah. But again, beating Wolves isn’t anything to get excited about. Wolves should be charged with brining the game into disrepute. They are hopeless. Two points? Eleven straight defeats? You’d say that was impossible if it hadn’t happened. I feel for their fans.

Bournemouth can’t buy a win at the moment either. Losing Semenyo might tip them over the edge. What did I tell you about his likely destination? It looks like we got another one right, but nobody remembers or likes it when I do that. 😂.

Bournemouth might be about to discover what the likes of Charlton and Southampton have found out the past - that you can’t keep going to the well and finding water. Eventually it runs dry. Brighton should take note of what’s happening along the south coast again.

What a run Villa are on. What an irony it would be if Emery doesn’t just stop Arsenal from winning the title, but nicks it off them. Right now Villa are in the race, but I think they’ll come up short, only because they don’t have the depth.

And I’m pleased to see Fulham in the top half. They were victims of some shocking decisions early season and have done well to recover. Good luck to them. Have a great new year. See you in 2026, when there’s going to be some really exciting things happening. Stay tuned.

What a brilliant cunning plan Celtic.

It’s incalculable how many times a journo like me has referred to Len Shakleton’s brilliant piss-take.

For younger readers lets me explain Shakleton was an England international in the 50’s, described as ‘The Clown Prince of Soccer’. A latter day Gazza if you like.

He was often at odds with the football establishment, including club directors of the England squad, who used to pick the team in those days.

When Shackleton penned his autobiography in 1956 he left a blank page under the heading ‘The Average Director’s Knowledge of Football’.

Time and again he’s been quoted - by me right here. He had a point. Brian Clough wasn’t the only one who agreed with Shackleton. Directors often run businesses very successfully, but completely lose their marbles when it comes to football.

It’s always been like that, so we make allowances for poor judgement and daft decisions. But nowadays we have professionals - full-time CEO’s and directors of football. The idea, of course, is to try avoid such issues, yet still it goes horribly wrong.

The most recent example of utter madness? Celtic. What on earth were they thinking when they stood Martin O’Neill down and replaced him with a cross between Inspector Clouseau and Russell Martin? And did so three games before a cup final?

Here’s my best guess. Somebody clearly thought O’Neill had done enough to settle things down post-Rodgers at Parkhead. Directors weren’t getting stick anymore and O’Neill had brought back a feel-good factor. The team were winning again.

So - tapping into the new mood of optimism, somebody cunningly thought they’d get their new man in to enjoy a win over leaders Hearts - a night out in Europe and then Clouseau could win a cup final. After all, he only had to beat St.Mirren in the final. Fans would love this and Clouseau would be an instant hit.

Wrong. In fact, it went horribly wrong in all three matches. Clouseau is now scrambling around talking absolute bollocks and Celtic are right back where they were after sacking Rodgers. It’s a shambles.

Who is Clouseau anyway? When I heard he’d got the job I messaged a friend in the States and asked about him. I got a one word answer back. I’ll let you work out what it might have been. A clue is - it wasn’t flattering.

Ok, it wasn’t the most exhaustive research, but the answer told me all I needed to know. I’m witnessing what I expected.

What was it the professionals at Celtic were told I wonder? The appointment makes no sense at all. Worse - the timing was horrendous.

Why didn’t they just let O’Neill finish what he’d started? Clearly the players loved him. He must’ve been a breath of fresh air. He spoke a simple language - common sense. Celtic were winning games and O’Neill was on fire in his pre and post-match interviews. It must’ve been fun being a Celtic fan again.

Not anymore. Doubtless the people responsible will escape censure. They always do, but they’ve created a massive problem for themselves.

So what next? Doubtless Clouseau will stumble on for a few more games before O’Neill is brought back out of the emergency cabinet. I’m having a cup of tea with him this week. I’ll find out. Incredible. You weren’t wrong Len.

Andy has often referred to ‘production line’ players down the years. What he means is every young player you see these days is an identikit. He reckons they’re all the same, brought up in academies and coached the same way. It’s not very often you see the sort of individuality that Gazza (I’ll use him as an example again) once entertained us with.

Of course there are the odd exceptions, but he’s got a point. The same goes with a coach these days.

If anyone knows what Clouseau (I’ll use him as an example again) was on about post match on Sunday please get in touch. I was completely baffled. He was trotting out all the nonsense he’s learned on the various coaching courses he’s been on.

I don’t want to be too unkind to Scott Parker, but he’s another one. Listen to him closely and you’ll hear him say everything the manuals preach. He always sounds like a ‘today’ coach and tries to look like one as well.

My advice would be ‘don’t’. Relax Scott. Take a leaf out of O’Neill’s book. Stop talking technical nonsense and have a little more understanding of what you are and where you are.

Standing on the touch-line in a variety of Thom Browne clothing isn’t a good look. It was a really bad idea this weekend to wear a £2000 Browne cardigan, in the pissing rain, whilst your team were getting pumped again - to make it seven straight defeats.

I wonder how many of the Turf Moor faithful own such an item? Parker needs all the help he can get right now and I would’ve thought a little more empathy with the people he’s working for might not be a bad idea. What’s wrong with a track suit Scott?

Top marks again Sunderland. I loved the shit-housery posing for the team pic at the end. Very funny.

I’ll share with you what a lot of my Arabic colleagues are telling me about Salah. The smart money is on a return to the fold post AFCON, and a move in the summer - to America.

What’s happened to Calvert-Lewin? He’s on fire. I’ve always thought there was a player in him, but he’s kept it hidden really well. Perhaps he’s found a home at Leeds?

It’s a pity for Everton he couldn’t have found this form in their jersey. They played really well at Chelsea. Their performance missed only one thing - a centre-forward. They’ve got to find one in January. If they do Europe isn’t out of the question.

How West Ham must be missing the Moyes days - top half finishes and trophies. As we often say - be careful what you wish for.

Main-nooooo. Don’t sell. But they will.

Everybody is talking about Salah, so I’ve decided we’ll start elsewhere. We’ll get round to Mo later.

I learned at the weekend why Amorim won’t play Mainoo, who sadly will leave United now - probably in January.

Amorim believes he can’t get round the pitch - that Mainoo isn’t mobile enough. I’ve heard some baffling nonsense from this generation of coaches (I give you Wilfried Nancy after Celtic’s defeat to Hearts) and this is right up there. Not mobile enough? So Amorim picks Casemiro instead? If it wasn’t so sad it would be laughable.

Mainoo, a United product, will leave the club now because it looks likely his advisors’ game plan has failed - that Mainoo would be at United beyond Amorim.

Paul Scholes is right. It’s criminal. Mainoo’s likely destination is Europe. I’ll narrow it down - if Napoli come up with the money he’ll join Scott McTominay, who should never have been allowed to leave Old Trafford either.

United will immediately move for Joao Gomes if Wolves accept their fate. They’d rather sell as a PL club than have a fire sale when they’re officially relegated, so a deal has got to be done in January.

And another one you can put a few bob on - Semenyo to leave Bournemouth. That will get done early because there’s a few clubs circling and there’s a clause in his deal running the price down the longer he stays at the Vitality.

I make City favourites because they ride roughshod over FFP as we know. Anybody got any news on the 135 charges yet?

Speaking of gambling - keep your eyes on developments at the Amex. The Guardian revealed last week that Bloom is being sued in a lawsuit that alleges ‘frontmen’ are being used to place big bets on sports events. Details have been set out in a public document at the high The Guardian is also claiming Bloom could be the anonymous gambler behind $70m in winnings - which allegedly included bets on his own teams. Bloom denies the suggestion. MP’s have raised questions.

Meanwhile Brighton have banned Guardian reporters from the Amex. Watch this space.

And what a revelation this is from The Telegraph - that John Textor, shareholder at Palace and the Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, adjusted transfer fees to suit a ‘mutual trading agreement’ when players moved between their clubs. Textor has suggested the agreement affected nine deals. It looks like UEFA were right after all, so why didn’t they say?

What an embarrassment the WC draw was. Admittedly, I can’t remember too many draws I’ve enjoyed, but this one was toe-curlingly, stomach churningly bad. Infantino is out of control.

It’s funny how travel in the US, temperatures and prices are an issue all of a sudden. What did I say when the circus left Qatar, where nobody had to travel and temperatures were glorious?

And they’re going to be using VAR at corners. Why? Of course errors can be made when decisions are taken, but this is going too far. What next? Throw-ins? AI? No refs at all?

I’m with The Mirror’s Andy Dunn - who argues games can be decided by teams not defending corners well enough, not by the decision leading to a corner. He adds ‘teams are as likely to score from an attacking free-kick as they are a corner, so should VAR get involved in every free-kick?’ Exactly.

We can’t get it right using the tech how we currently do. Newcastle’s first should’ve been disallowed because Anthony Gordon is clearly impeding Burnley’s keeper. Of course Brighton’s equaliser was preceded by a clear handball and why did Antony Taylor need VAR to give Leeds a clear pen? Doesn’t he see anything? It’s two weeks in a row now he’s needed the tech to clear up something we all saw.

Good-bye Yves Bissouma. Idiot. But he’s not alone.

The staff at West Ham have made a good decision. They’ve cancelled the Christmas party. I hope the word ‘staff’ includes the players. Nobody at West Ham should be celebrating anything at present.

And finally a word on Mo. Well done. We in the Press are always looking for stories - then when one drops for free we complain? Why? Salah has been nothing but honest. He’s earned the right to have his say.

It was always Liverpool’s intention to sell this season anyway. They teased him in - got him to sign a new deal and they’re desperate to sell. It’s a pity they can’t be as honest about it as Salah has been. He’s only going to be worth £50m+ for a short while longer. They’ve got to sell now if they want to cash in.

It’s a shambles at Anfield. Salah is not the only senior pro pissed off. Arne Lost is on shaky ground for sure. My best guess? If Lost is sacked, Stevie G gets it for the remainder of the season as Liverpool try to get Luis Enrique out of Paris - if Klopp says ‘no’.

Now Guardiola goes all Big Sam.

Here’s a quote that will blow your mind.
‘Maybe we can learn to win these type of games, to bring the balls quicker to the box. These are not tactics, strategies, it’s just put the ball in there for the chaos and you score. Pep Lijnders is now with me (as my assistant) and how many times did Liverpool [where Lijnders came from] win these games?

No. Not Big Sam. Nor Tony Pulis. Not even Sean Dyche, but Pep Guardiola. Amazing eh?

Something is changing at City and for the first time in his coaching career Guardiola is being led by football evolution. Thank goodness.

I wondered when I saw the quote if he was being facetious, but then I remembered how City kicked-off v Leeds. Did you see it? The ball was rolled back to Donnarumma, who planted it into opposition territory - just like every other team is doing now. Perhaps we really are through the ‘tippy tappy’ (yes, I did give Big Sam the name of his Podcast) years?

I don’t think City are entirely comfortable with getting the ball from back to front more quickly just yet, which is why Guardiola had Donnarumma feign injury in the second-half so he could get his team together on the side-lines for instructions.

Daniel Farke was right to call Guardiola out on that little bit of gamesmanship. It’s wrong. Agreed - it’s allowed and very difficult to stop, but this from a man who’s spent more time complaining about time-wasting by other teams than anything else since coming to the PL.

Why did Antony Taylor need VAR for to send Caicedo off? That was a shocking challenge. Everybody in the stadium saw it - except one of our supposed top refs, who was 5 metres away. Is it a lack of confidence with these guys now? They don’t make big calls because the tech is there to save them? If that’s the case it’s another erosion.

What on earth was Paqueta doing at West Ham? Surely he’s been through enough not invite more suspicion about his behaviour on a football pitch? Madness utter madness. And he’ll have to live with the consequences and questions that are bound to follow.

You’ve got to hand it to Sunderland and their fans. Both were fantastic again at the weekend. They had a real problem when Bournemouth swept into a 2-goal lead, but they didn’t panic, they drew breath and set about their job with real gusto. It was a terrific game to watch.

I was desperately sad to read about the problems at Exeter in The Times today. They’re the club owned by fans and run by volunteers.

Older readers will remember them going out of business in 2003, but reforming under a Supporters Trust. I won’t go into all the details, but the once ‘utopic model’ (as The Times refers to them as) has stalled. Badly stalled. And they’re on the brink again. If you can find a copy of The Times have a read. I’d post a link but they operate behind a paywall.

According to Martin Zeigler in the same paper (Saturday) the BBC aren’t sending commentators or co-comms to the early stages of the WC. They’ll be based in Salford doing the games ‘off-tube’ - off a tv set.

I don’t know why the fuss. Most CL games are done the that way. I don’t know why they send studio teams to cover the games on-site either I’ve never understood that. There really is no need. They’ve spent fortunes on studios so why not use those - generating backgrounds?

What about that stadium B’ham have got plans for? Think again guys - it’s awful.

On the subject of the WC I can’t wait to see who wins FIFA’s inaugural ‘Peace Award’ at the draw this week. I wonder who it’ll be? Well - we all know who it will be. This is an another pathetic stunt by Infantino.

Mike Ashley to Sheffield Weds? I’d be delighted if I were a Weds fan.

And finally - a word on Billy Bonds. What a legend. A proper player and lovely, lovely man. As honest as the day is long. He was one of the first real enforcers on the pitch and you couldn’t help but admire his approach to the game. He was West Ham to the core.

Sadly his time as manager at the club was brought to an abrupt end and he never spoke of why. He didn’t have to. We all knew. I’ll bet his family don’t invite ‘Arry to the funeral. RIP Bill.

They thought it was all over. It is now Liverpool.

We might as well start where we left off a fortnight ago when I said Liverpool were out of the title race. They’d lost five games when we took the international break. I said in my last blog they’d need to be close to perfection if they were going to prove me wrong. They haven’t. They won’t. Six defeats is too many. It is definitely all over now.

Everybody is looking for reasons why. Regular readers of this blog know why. I’ve been talking about the reasons all season so I’m not going into them again. Incidentally, that’s six defeats from their last seven home games as well. This is a genuine crisis. Arne Lost has got deep problems to sort out.

Liverpool’s is turning into the worst title defence of all time. After 12 games they’ve now got a record to rival the worst ever - Blackburn’s in 95/96, Chelsea’s in 2015/16 and Leicester’s in 2016/17.

Someone else in trouble is Daniel Farke. I wonder if any of the decision makers at Leeds are thinking back to the start of the campaign when they considered firing Farke, despite the fact he’d won promotion? They should’ve done. And I’m not being smart now. I said so then.

Farke has got a terrific record getting teams out of the C’ship. He’s done it three times, but he can’t keep a team in the PL.

His record in the big league is awful - just six wins from 49 games at Norwich. And he lost 35 of the 49. You can add three more now from the 12 Leeds have played, but it’s still shocking. It really is. I don’t see how he survives.

Before a ball was kicked I said they’d need to be really good at home to stand a chance of staying up. That’s still the case and Farke might be the man to do it if Leeds decide to stick not twist, but it’s a big call.

It’s not as though they didn’t back the coach last summer - 10 new faces at a cost of £100m plus was a big investment.

Wolves look dead in the water - despite changing coaches, which is why it’s always a tricky decision to make. I think they’re too far back. They needed to beat Palace to have a sniff of a chance and capitalise on the ‘feel good’ factor Rob Edwards arrived with.

A year ago Saints were bottom with four points and never looked like getting out of trouble. I like Edwards and I wish him well but he’s got a job and a half on at Molineux.

Would you pay £100m plus for Elliott Anderson? I’m not sure. Clearly he’s a good player and Forest did a terrific piece of business when they nicked him from Newcastle for £35m. But £100m plus now?

Consider some of the players that have cost that sort of money. Would Liverpool spend like that again on Isak or Wirtz? Ok - there’s time yet for both signings to work out and I’m a fan of Isak, but right now it looks like a lot of money for not very much on both players.

What about Declan Rice? Would Arsenal spend the same money again? Definitely. Now he’s Rice and not Nice - damaging teams higher up the pitch. He’s not the same impactful player when he sits doing ‘Nice’ things.

What about Caicedo and Fernandez at Chelsea? Do you remember Jurgen Klopp stating he thought Liverpool had dodged bullets when they signed for Chelsea? At that time he was probably right - but not now. Well - in Caicedo’s case at least. He’s been fantastic for Chelsea this season. Andy reckons he’s the best in his position now. It’s hard to disagree, but Fernandez is not much more than ordinary.

What about Jack Grealish? Was he ever worth £100m? Not for me. Only 12 goals and 12 assists make that an expensive £100m. And it doesn’t look as though City are getting much back on the deal.

Let’s be honest, there are never guarantees when a club signs a player, but when you’re investing as somebody is going to in Elliott Anderson you’ve got to be careful. Isak and Wirtz prove that.

The title is already Lost Arne

I’m reading Arne Lost fears Liverpool have already blown their title chances. I’ve got news for you Arne. You have. You can’t win it now. Not after losing five games already.

It’s been a pathetic defence, but we shouldn’t be surprised really. I said all last season Liverpool weren’t great champions. Of course they take credit for having won it, but there wasn’t really a challenge.

They stumbled over the line, almost like a tired marathon runner. Changes had to be made, but they didn’t do surgery where it was really needed. Van Dijk is fading fast. His powers aren’t what they once were. He’s past his sell-by date and should really have been moved on, but Liverpool didn’t sign a replacement. They spent all their money on forwards, some of whom look as lost as their coach.

Those signings only really confused Lost. He still doesn’t know his best team and Arsene Wenger was right when he told us on BeINSPORTS last week Lost blew his own midfield up by bringing in Wirtz.

Wirtz wants to play as a 10. Apparently Lost told him he could. That meant a complete change in system and it hasn’t worked. In recent games Lost has gone back to a more familiar system and line-up - squeezing Wirtz in on the left-side, but that hasn’t worked either. Wirtz shouldn’t have played at City. But Lost has got to play him. He’s got to back him. But that decision is costing Liverpool.

United, City and Chelsea have all won the title at different times losing six games. Blackburn won it after losing seven, but that was in a different era. Six is the maximum now, which means Liverpool would have to be nearly perfect for the remaining 27 games. Can you see that? No. Nor can I.

It’s only a week since Guardiola was complaining City don’t get decisions from officials. I said that was bollocks last week - and seven days on we got the evidence.

Ok. I can see an argument why VVD’s header was disallowed. But it shouldn’t have been really should it? Robertson wasn’t interfering with Donnarumma’s line of sight. If he had been the keeper wouldn’t have nearly saved it. Of course he saw it.
Not that Chris Kavanagh had a clue. No ref has changed his mind more often when told what to do by his colleagues - usually Michael Oliver.

As regulars know I keep an ever growing list of refereeing howlers now and I’ll give you two examples of goals given in similar circumstances to the one Liverpool had disallowed - both to City!

1. City at Wolves last season. John Stones scored late - Bernardo Silva was standing on the keeper clearly impeding him. Goal was given - by Kavanagh.

2. Ake scored in a win over Fulham the season before. Fulham rightly felt Akanji had interfered in play by going for a ball whilst he was offside. VAR didn’t dare get involved because the ref was - Michael Oliver. You couldn’t make it up. I don’t need to mention both men were on duty at The Etihad do I?

Whilst we’re on the subject - did you see the two refereeing shockers at Brentford?

Of course Brentford should’ve had a pen when Dan Burn (what a good lad he seems to be) fouled Ouattara in the box. Burn knew he had, but Stuart Attwell booked Ouattara for diving. VAR confirmed the decision saying there was ‘minimal contact’. What nonsense. Nowhere in law 12 (which covers fouls and misconduct) does it speak of ‘minimal contact’. Paul Tierney was the hapless individual in the bunker.

Attwell and Tierney compounded their error by then giving Brentford a pen - and sending Burn off - when Ouattara went down again. This time there was no contact, but the pair knew they’d fucked up so they gave this one.

On the subject of ‘minimal contact’ there was less contact on Doku when Oliver gave City a pen. Week after week this nonsense goes on. One excuse and lie follows another - exposed by those of us who monitor these things.

Good luck to the former City centre- half Dave Watson in his battle to have his brain condition recognised as being the result of football-related injuries.

Watson won the most recent stage of his claims after doctors said they believed Watson has probable Alzheimer’s and probable CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) which is a brain disease brought on by repetitive head injury.

Watson has won the right for a first-tier tribunal to have another look at his claim he should receive benefits as a result of industrial injuries suffered during his playing days.
He’ll be doing an awful lot of good for those fighting the same battle if he keeps going and wins.

To be frank Thomas - stop pissing about.

Question. Why did Tottenham employ Thomas Frank? Answer. Because he’d done really well at Brentford. Fair?

There might be other reasons, but predominantly it had to be because of what Daniel Levy had seen on the pitch. And what was that? Well, Frank had served up straight forward, no nonsense football. No tippy-tappy master classes. Brentford would get the ball from back to front quickly, inflicting as much damage as possible. And it worked beautifully. Levy wanted that.

When Spurs appointed Frank I remember writing here I thought they might just have got it right at last.

There were good signs early on. I also remember complimenting him on getting a free kick into the box, competing for the seconds and scoring in his opening home game v Burnley. Ange’s Tottenham would’ve passed sideways and backwards before wasting the chance. Tottenham fans loved it.

So what’s happened? Spurs were hopeless on Saturday - laborious, predictable and offered little or nothing. On the other hand Chelsea were vibrant. They hunted everything down, not giving Spurs a moment to think. They looked more like a Frank Brentford team.

Has Frank got the Spursy bug already? Has he become overawed by the tradition and history of Tottenham? I hope not because if he has he’ll go the same way as the 14 coaches Daniel Levy hired and fired before his departure. Just keep it simple Thomas. Do what you know best.

It was a satisfying win for Chelsea. Reece James was as good as I’ve seen him in a Chelsea jersey - both in midfield and at right back after half-time.

The problem with this Chelsea side is you can’t trust them to perform as they did on a regular basis. They’re too flimsy. I don’t see real commitment. They lack a DNA. They strike me more as a ‘trading post’ than a football club under the current ownership. They’re miles from the JT years.

One last thing. Maresca was smart leaving players on the half-way line on the occasions Spurs did launch a long throw, but he’s not a the genius I’ve been reading about. The X-Coventry boss Gordon Strachan would leave three up at set-pieces every time we played Wimbledon. There’s nothing new in the game really.

Shut up Guardiola. What was he talking about after City’s win v Bournemouth? What absolute bollocks it is for him to suggest City have been treated unfairly by officials for a decade.

Guardiola was upset because Antony Taylor didn’t rule out Bournemouth’s equaliser. He was right not to. Donnarumma made a complete mess of clearing the corner and was entirely to blame for the goal.

Ok. He was disturbed by Brooks momentarily holding his arm, but he was unimpeded when he came to punch the ball. He simply made an arse of it. It was all his own fault.

Donnarumma is a top shot stopper. He’s equally good at saving pens, but he’s hopeless when the ball is in the air. It’s one of the reasons Paris let him go.

City have had 9.9 out of every 10 decisions refs have made during Guardiola’s time in charge. I notice he made no mention of the pen Bournemouth should’ve had when Nunes pushed Brooks over in the box. Anywhere else on the pitch that’s a free-kick. It should’ve been a pen. Taylor shit it.

Things aren’t right at Newcastle are they? The Saudi project has clearly stalled and Eddie Howe looks tired to me. It wouldn’t surprise me if this is his last season with the Toon. Watch this space.

I’m sorry to see Will Still lose his job so quickly at Southampton. Our game needs bright young Brits (I know he was born in Belgium) making a go of the coaching opportunities they’ve been handed.

Having said that I think there’s a bit of the ‘Russel Martin’s’ about him. Don’t make his mistakes Will. Be your own man. And don’t be a slave to an era that passing.

Saints’ owners were always going to react when the heat was turned on them. There’s trouble at Leicester as well where Jon Rudkin’s sixth coach in two years is in trouble. When are DoF’s going to be held accountable for the shocking howlers they make? They’re currently getting away with murder - none more so than Rudkin.

Martin O’Neill is playing a blinder at Celtic. It’s great to see him back in the mix pretending he won’t take the job if it’s offered. Yes he will.

If O’Neill doesn’t get it full time my choice would be Robbie Keane. He’d be perfect. They can’t go back to Ange.

And I’m reading Rob Edwards is in the frame for the Wolves job? Regulars know how highly I rate him so I’m not surprised, but why would he leave Middlesbrough, where he works for a top bloke in Steve Gibson, to take over in a madhouse? I don’t see it. He’s not daft. And the chances are he’ll be passing Wolves at the end of the season anyway.

Memo to Sunderland fans. Of course it was fixed.

Of course it was a fix. And if it had been the other way round I’d have been furious as well. But it’s time to let it go now.

For the benefit of people who have no idea what I’m referring to let me explain.

We’ve got to go back to 1977. Yes. 1977. Sunderland, Coventry and Bristol City are all fighting for their lives in the old Division One. Sunderland were at Everton, on the same night we played Bristol City. If Sunderland lost, a draw would save both Coventry and Bristol City. These were the days when the season dribbled to a conclusion. Not every team played at the same time.

Sunderland did lose. Coventry and Bristol City finished 2-2. I would add that we’d led 2-0 at one stage, but I’m clutching at straws. Sunderland went down.

On the face of it, those are the facts. Except they’re not. You’ve got to factor in the back story.

Coventry’s chairman was Jimmy Hill. Jim, of course, had once managed Coventry. His old assistant, Alan Dicks, was now Bristol City boss. And his assistant was John Sillett, one of Jim’s first big signings when he got the job at Coventry. Sillett was later to deliver Coventry’s famous Cup win of 1987, but I digress.

I’m pretty sure both matches were scheduled 7.30 kick-offs. This is significant because Coventry’s match was delayed 15 minutes - on Police advice.

I wasn’t there so I’ve no idea what it was like outside Highfield Road, but the delay was on safety grounds. At least that’s what an FA inquiry later found when it cleared Hill and Coventry of any wrong doing. What were they thinking? How couldn’t they see it? Or perhaps they did. Jimmy had friends everywhere.

It wasn’t the delay that was the issue, but the fact it allowed Coventry and Bristol City to stop playing after Hill performed a ‘public service’ act and announced the score from Goodison 15 minutes before the end of our game.

I say ‘what were the FA thinking?’ because it didn’t need Colombo (a popular tv detective at the time) to work it out Of course it was fixed. How can I be sure? Let me tell you that as well.

Some time later - 1992/3 it must’ve been, I was hosting a talk show for Sky Sports called The Footballers’ Football Show. The modern day equivalent is The Overlap. Trust me, there are no new ideas in TV. They all come round again.

Anyway, I digress again. We were in front of an audience at Coventry. One of our four guests was Terry Yorath, who was our captain on the night in question. I loved Terry. He was the reason I got his daughter Gabby her job at Sky.

Terry told the story of the night in question - including a tale about a sub Bristol City put on. The kid apparently hadn’t been briefed, so went on, dribbled past half a dozen Coventry statues and smashed the ball against the bar. Yorath said everybody turned to the Bristol City bench, in blind panic, asking what the hell was going on? Oh how we laughed.

Except it wasn’t a laughing matter for Sunderland fans. Oh, I’ve got to add that I was with Graham Kelly a few weeks later. He was FA Secretary then and he set up the inquiry. He pulled me and said ‘I saw your programme. I was going to re-open the inquiry after hearing what I did, but I decided it was better to let the matter rest’. Phew.

Hill saw it as well. He called me to express his surprise - and annoyance- we’d even discussed it. If I remember correctly he wanted an apology as well. There was no chance of that. What had been said was true.

I can feel Sunderland fans coming to the boil at this point. Especially because it sort of happened again in 1997 when we went to Spurs and won to stay up. This one started 15 minutes late as well because of crowd issues, but I promise you this one was legit.

On this occasion I was in a Sky Sports studio watching. It was two from three on this occasion. Middlesboro could only draw at Leeds whilst Reidy’s Sunderland lost at Wimbledon. They both went down.

I was the only person involved
who saw the last 15 minutes at Spurs. They battered us. Steve Ogrizovic had a worldly and kept them at bay. They were desperate to beat us, perhaps remembering 1987?

The match was coming into the Sky building, but we couldn’t put it to air because we’d covered our allotted amount of games for that season. There was me, trying to conduct a sensible conversation with our studio guests, whilst glued to what was happening at White Hart Lane. We should’ve put it to air and argued about it with the PL later. Everyone was desperate to see it.
There was no skull-duggery this time though.

So let’s go back to the original reason why this animosity exists between Sunderland and Coventry - and why I’ve chosen to revisit this now.

As I said - it’s time to let it go. First - It isn’t the only game that’s ever been fixed. It happens every week somewhere in the world nowadays. Even WC matches have been fixed. Not that that’s an excuse for what happened at Coventry.

Second - Sunderland had their revenge beating us in the play-off semi-finals last season. We were better in the two games, but we lost. I think it’s fair to say Sheff Utd were better in the final, but they lost. So top marks to Sunderland. They earned the right to play PL football this season.

And I’m absolutely delighted to see them doing so well right now. They were fantastic at Chelsea and they sit fourth on merit. Keep it going guys.

Having said that, I feel as though I can point out the winner at Chelsea could easily have been disallowed. Geertruida was clearly offside and in the keeper’s line of sight, but Sanchez failed to make anything of it, so Talbi’s goal was given.

And Isidor’s equaliser should’ve been disallowed. Mukiele’s long throw was illegal. His back foot was off the ground when he released the ball. But who would expect the assistant, who was six metres away to spot that? Anyway - well played Sunderland. You made the most of it again.

Nothing was made of Sunderland’s winner, but Stuart Attwell (VAR) took it upon himself to disallow Everton’s equaliser v Spurs, for much the same reason I’m arguing Sunderland’s first was a little fortune The decision changed the whole game. It was a ridiculous call. Craig Pawson was weak and should’ve ignored Attwell, who’s trying like a bear to impress enough people to get a WC call up.

The Brentford pen was another daft call. Leave it. Don’t get involved. And how Antony Taylor and Michael Oliver decided United shouldn’t have had a pen when Amad was brought down is staggering. The fact the ball brushed off a defender’s heel is irrelevant. The foul had been committed. Taylor and Oliver are supposed to be our two tops refs. Well - they consider themselves to be. I’m still counting Howard.

Truce Sunderland? And please back off Jason McAteer. He didn’t mean any harm. He loved his time at Sunderland.