Big Phil sizes up Chelsea challenge

So ‘Big’ Phil Scolari has taken up the hottest of managerial hotseats at Stamford Bridge.

Scolari was the obvious choice once Milan’s Carlo Ancelotti dropped out of the running, it seems the only surprise about the appointment of the Portugal boss was the timing.

With their usual disregard for other teams and other competitions the Stamford Bridge outfit chose the middle of a major tournament in which Scolari’s current charges are involved.

It can’t have been Big Phil’s choice and word has it that the news broke from London to pre-empt the event being leaked to the press.

The Blues claim they waited until Portugal were confirmed as being through to the last eight as group winners but it does seem hard to conceive that it would have all been quiet without Arda Turan’s late deflected goal for Turkey that sent Switzerland packing and Portugal through.

With no national team competing in Euro 2008 to occupy the British press, journalists will be framing every Portugal game as one featuring ‘the future Chelsea manager’.

Meanwhile every British-based player will be (if they haven’t already) quizzed on their relationship with the gaffer and how it could influence their future.

This can only cause a distraction and I hate to think how we would react if an England team and their manager were treated this way.

But we must look forward and so far the response has been almost exclusively positive to Big Phil’s imminent arrival in England.

There are doubts about the fact he has never managed a European club before and, more significantly, his minimal command of the English language.

But there is a general consensus that the one tiem England target is the man Chelsea need to bring the best out of big players and put his stamp on the scene.

My only worry is we’ve heard it all before. The coach who is an outsider, with a reputation for doing things his own way and a refusal to be intimidated by anyone – is this a case of The Special One mark Two?

Even If it is some Chelsea fans may say ‘bring it on’, after all Jose Mourinho won the Premiership title in his first few seasons.

But the whole reason the Mourinho era turned sour at the Bridge was because Jose became too much of his own boss and started to clash with the Abramovich and the club’s power brokers such as Avram Grant and Frank Arnesen.

Grant may have departed following a gutsy effort in a doomed managerial appointment but Arnesen is as influential as ever (if not exactly who was behind the transfer of Jose Bosingwa as Grant was leaving the club).

While Abramovich is seemingly becoming disillusioned judging by his more frequent matchday absences and is responding by taking more decisions upon himself and his close circle.

The question might well be will Big Phil prove too big for Stamford Bridge?

Richie not tempted by foriegn riches

It is often said that ‘money talks’ and in sport it is a phrase that seems to be borne out with added emphasis on a daily basis.

Cricketers are having their heads turned by the riches of the IPL and footballers are being offered ever higher wages as the dollar proves its pulling power.

This week All-Black legend Richie McCaw bucked the trend as he put pen to paper on contract that will keep him tied to the New Zealand Rugby Union.

Fellow Kiwi Daniel Carter is on the verge of a similar deal which, like McCaw’s includes a clause entitling him to a six-month sabbatical from New Zealand rugby.

While Carter is expected move to Europe next year, most likely to Tana Umaga’s Toulon in France, on a short-term contract that is expected to earn him over half a million pounds.

But flanker McCaw has made it clear he is not intending to take his leave of absence any time soon and when he does it is likely to be to recharge his batteries for the New Zealand cause, rather than to cash in by playing abroad.

The All Blacks skipper had made it clear that captaining the club where he came through the ranks and leading his national side to glory as he is hailed as one of the greats of the game is enough to satisfy him.

Strangely, it seems this type of decision is becoming increasingly rare these days as financial rewards seem to be the ultimate goal of most sportsmen.

It is easy for us to judge when we sit and watch as young men are offered wealth beyond our wildest dreams for possessing talents we do not possess and say dismissively ‘he only went for the money’.

Sportsmen are, after all, human but it seems, as with all humans, some individuals have a higher sense of what is important in life.

While Carter is the poster boy of New Zealand rugby, McCaw is a man of the people.

Without the flashy skills of his Canterbury colleague and lacking the build of some of the fierce Lomu-esque figures to have squeezed into an All Black shirt, McCaw brings a kind of honesty to the game that belies his superstar status.

His immense work rate, brilliant anticipation, deceptive athleticism and reckless disregard for his own well physical being combine to make just about the perfect openside flanker.

His humble nature meant that, despite his success with Canterbury, he wasn’t the automatic choice to succeed Tana Umaga as All Blacks skipper and take up the kind of demi-god status that goes with it.

More doubts were raised when the red-hot World Cup favourites crashed out at the quarter-final stage in 2007.

But the 60-test veteran’s ridiculously consistent levels of performance and the respect he commands within the New Zealand camp mean he is likely to remain as captain for some time to come.

While McCaw has remained true to his roots other Kiwis such as Carl Haymans, Aaron Mauger, Luke McCalister and now Jerry Collins have abandoned the national team as they seek lucrative offers abroad.

The lure cash is also proving too much for many cricketers to resist as well as lucrative Twenty20 competitions begin to threaten the longer format of the game.

In football, if the rumours are to be believed, Brazilian Ronaldinho is preparing to signal the end desire for major trophies at club level by signing for Manchester City at the age of 28. Why? There are reportedly 200,000 reasons a week why.

Meanwhile Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo is being tempted with all the financial rewards he can dream of to join Real Madrid and leave the club where he has just one the Premiership, Champions League, Player of the Year and just about established himself as the best player on the planet.

I’m not saying talented athletes aren’t entitled to their share of the wealth as the money floods into professional sports, it’s just nice to see when the number size of the figure in a contract is not the only deciding factor when they take career-altering decisions.

Efficient Germans set the standard

Following a typically ridiculous opening ceremony Euro 2008 is underway.

The tournament hasn’t exactly burst onto the scene, it seems instead to have quietly poked its head around the corner to see if anyone is watching.

So far the general format has been for the underdogs to battle bravely but not quite have enough to cause an upset as the favourites, with their winning mentalities, have ground out victories.

The most impressive team so far has been the Germans, so far the only team to have come to the tournament who look like they are comfortable in the way they play and what they are trying to achieve.

'German efficiency' is a footballing analogy as old and overused as the 'magic of the FA Cup', but since Jurgen Klinsmann took over the reigns in 2004 that famous term seems to have taken on a new meaning.

While his successor Joachim Low seems to have slightly reduced the attacking emphasis of the side, thr principles still largely remain the same.

The side is a simple 4-4-2 with clear roles for each individual, whoever steps into the breach.

The midfield of Frings and Ballack, the former holding while the latter dictates the passing, flanked by two out and out wide men bears a more than passing resemblance to Manchester United’s `1999 treble winning quartet of Keane, Scholes, Giggs and Beckham.

Lukas Podolski may not be an natural wide man but he played that position with eagerness and no little discipline, although his striking instincts did enable him to pop at the right time to score two goals.

It is an ethos England could learn from. For years we have been obsessed with getting the best out of every player when the real question should be how do we get the most efficient team performance.

Wayne Rooney is a fantastic attacking talent but on several occasions last term, particularly on the big European nights, Sir Alex Ferguson did not shy away from playing him down the left flank as effectively a defensive midfield player when he felt Rooney’s energy in that position would benefit the team.

When he was first selected I doubt Frings was classed as the second best central midfield player in Germany but his sound technique, work rate and simple passing made him the ideal foil for Ballack.

Frings has grown and grown in that position and now it seems Bayern’s ambition and a slight history of injuries could be the only two things stopping a top club from Spain, Italy or England trying to tempt him away from the Allianz Arena.

Back to the tournament in general, it has hardly been free flowing feast of footballing entertainment, but after England’s performances at the 2006 World Cup we can’t exactly complain.

Football at this level is all about the winning, entertainment has always been secondary but nowadays - with so much money and national pride at stake – it seems like even less of a priority.

Every now and then we are blessed with a side that wins because it plays beautiful football and hence plays beautiful football because it leads to success.

Arsenal’s invincibles could certainly claim that status and last season, in the Premiership at least, Manchester United were a joy to watch.

I read some interesting comments from Waps and Ireland scrum-half Eoin Reddan recently ahead of last Saturday’s test against the All Blacks on the fact that the Irish oftened performed against the Kiwis, only to be denied victory.

He said: "Performance is a measure of success, but there is no measure of success like winning.

"That's why the trophies and the leagues are there in the first place; otherwise they would have a judging panel who could say who had played the best rugby at the end of the year."

An intriguing hypothetical concept and had it been played out as such in last season’s football Premiership, I doubt Chelsea would have pushed United to the final day of the campaign.

The problem for a club like Chelsea that is all substance over style come, as Avram Grant knows only too well, when you don’t win anything and have spent the whole season with this winner takes all attitude.

A cynical approach to Arsene Wenger’s artistic approach to the game is that, while placing such emphasis on the style of his teams and playing the right way, he is simply guarding himself against failure and that is why he has been able to remain at the helm for so long despite the Gunners’ barren run of late.

While Reddan’s notion is obviously just a bit of fun to play around with I did a bit of Sepp Blatter thinking while watching the first few Euro 2008 games and came up with my own outrageous Sepp-style suggestion – a rugby style bonus point for scoring three goals.

Like most of the FIFA supremos, it would probably never really get off the ground, but it might simply raise the debate as to what incentive teams have to push for a third goal when the game is safely won at 1-0 or 2-0.

While this may be a step too far I certainly think leagues and competitions that are abandoning goal difference as a way of separating teams that finish level on points are not encouraging the concept that every goal counts and a 4-0 win is better than a tense 1-0.

For now anyway the trick for the next few weeks is simply enjoy the dramatic and tense nature of the football, even as a neutral, and wait for the moment - and it will come - when two sides throw off the shackles and revel in a purists' game of football.

It's in Switzerland and we're the ones who are neutral

We've had heard keepers going on about the 'movement of the new balls', the papers have been tracking races for fitness and the office sweepstake has been drawn... it must be time for a major tournament to begin.

Only this year there is something missing. Where are the St George's crosses adorning white vans across the country? Where are the queues of people by the racks of 50 per cent off England shirts in Sports Soccer?

Of course, thanks to some bald Croatian bloke and a ginger chap with an umbrella, England will not be in Austria and Switzerland this summer.

As a result it seems the general public in England has greeted the return of Big Brother with more excitement than the tournament's opening weekend.

I'll admit this festival of football has somewhat crept up on me but I guarantee I will be watching hours of it over the coming four weeks.

The fact is major tournaments are what football is all about, they are what we will be look at many years from now - they are where the memories come from.

It's all very well being able to perform for club and country throughout a 15-year career but the moments that people remember, that they can still visualise, come from these grand occasions.

Cristiano Ronaldo may have been a superstar for Manchester United this season but say the name to a global audience and chances are the first image they will see in their minds is the 'winker' of Word Cup 2006.

His Brazilian namesake has hardly had the most consistent of careers with several injuries and weight problems, but 20 years from now he will be remembered as well as any player of our generation for his 15 goals across three world cups.

Ronaldo will forever be recalled scoring his two goals in the final in Japan with his infamous ‘crow’ haircut.

When we think of the footballing greats we picture their moments in the national shirt on the biggest stage, think of Pele, Maradona, Van Basten or Zidane.

It’s not just the mega stars who are defined by the big tournaments, Milan Baros has hardly been the most feared striker in his spells in the Premiership with Liverpool, Aston Villa and Portsmouth but he will still be remembered as the leading scorer of Euro 2004.

Try and think too of Toto Schillaci without thinking about Italia ‘90, Oliver Bierhoff without Euro ’96 and David Trezeguet without Euro 2000.

The fact is reputations will be made and stars will rise as people we have hardly heard of before will become household names in the space of four weeks (one of my tips is the Croatian Ivan Rakitic, a talented young attacking midfielder currently plying his trade with Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga).

The intensity of the football and the high stakes mean drama is inevitable and although there may be low points and, while we may not all be wildly excited about the prospect of Austria v Poland, there will be bags of entertainment.

For the record I have drawn the Germans in our office sweepstake – could be worse. I have also put a quid on Portugal to win at 9/1 at the bookies as well as a quid each way on Croatia at 16/1 and Russia at 22/1.

Good on ya Shiv

Some sportsmen thrive in adversity because it gives them a chance to see how good they really are.

It is easy to look impressive when you are riding on the coat tails of an all-conquering team, it is when the chips are down that the true champion comes out.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has made a career out of battling the odds in impossible situations and he seems to have taken it to a new level in the latest test series against Australia.

Chanderpaul has continued to defy the Aussies every time they looked like they might run through the Windies batting line-up and it is largely due to the Guyanese left-hander that the series is still alive going in to the final test in Bridgetown.

Two centuries and a battling 77 not out on the final day of the Antigua test may prove futile in the overall outcome in the series but he has certainly dented that infamous Australian confidence.

Ramnaresh Sarwan certainly played his part with a captain’s century in Antigua but not since Michael Vaughan’s lone crusade in the 2002/3 Ashes has one man troubled the Aussies over a series in the manner of Chanderpaul.

Vaughan was at the peak of his powers in that series and I don’t think I have ever got the same pleasure out of watching someone bat as I did witnessing the Yorkshireman that winter.

He was simply mesmeric, with a grace and confidence that was all the more impressive considering the fact that his side were being dominated for the whole series.

Chanderpaul is something of a different animal, he may not look such a flowing player and indeed he is in many ways the antithesis of the great West Indian batsman of his generation Brian Lara.

‘Shiv’ is all about defiance as he fiercely defends his wicket while at the same time appearing quite calm and under no pressure.

This is a man who has spent over 1,000 minutes at the crease between dismissals on three occasions (noone else has done it more than once).

His un-West Indian approach has often seen him treated as something of an outsider by the cricketing establishment in his homeland but that has hardly seemed to affect him as he goes into his own single-minded world when he goes out to bat.

This has also led to accusations of selfishness but if every player showed such a focused desire to protect their own wicket, the team would reap the benefits.

Chanderpaul’s test record of 7795 runs in 111 matches at an average of over 48 is up there with the greats of the game but this is also a man who saves his best performances for the really tough times.

Call me old fashioned, but for all the glitz and glamour, sixes and cheerleaders of the IPL nothing in cricket has given me more entertainment in cricket over recent weeks than the stoic defiance of Chanderpaul, particularly because it was against the Aussies.

Gazza's tragic tale

"My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and talents and
I lay them both at his feet" (Mahatma Gandhi)


We often refer to the ‘theatre of sport’ and this could be because at the heart of it we endlessly come across characters who define dramatic conventions.

One of the most fascinating theatrical characters, particularly prominent in Shakespearean drama, is the notion of the tragic hero.

The idea of the great man with a tragic flaw that ultimately proves his downfall, but has so much to admire and – dare we say it – to identify with.

In sport we are equally intrigued, even obsessed, with the idea of the flawed genius.

Yes we can respect the likes of Michael Schumacher, Pete Sampras and Steve Waugh with their winning-is-everything mantra, but it is all too easy to lose interest after a while as these characters become somewhat one-dimensional.

What we really want to see are the Cantonas, the Maradonas or the Ronnie O’Sullivans, seemingly masters of their trade and all they survey yet, at the same time, constantly brimming on the edge of self-destruction.

These are the real heroes, the rounded characters, the people who make the best stories.

It is hard not to feel a sense of guilt then when we hear this reckless nature, the artistic temperament that we once so admired, has taken over a sportsman when his playing days are over.

Paul Gascoigne, forever Gazza, was one of those sportsmen who just didn’t ‘do’ predictable.

His career fluctuated constantly between soaring highs and plummeting lows, we never knew when one chapter would end and the next rebirth or fall would occur.

We loved his wild, irascible nature but we never questioned it, it was so hard to think about where it would take him when his career was over.

Gazza’s famous tears in Italia ’90 was not just a sign of a man who wore his heart on his sleeve and cared about the game, it was the sign of a man who cared about nothing else.

The loveable Geordie’s puerile nature simply lived off the rush of adulation he received when he went out to strut his stuff, as with so many former pros, he has found nothing to replace it.

It was not just the good times that he seemed to enjoy but he appeared a man who relished the hard times, when people doubted him and he had to prove himself all over again (never was this more gloriously emphasised than that goal and celebration in Euro ’96).

Ian Wright was another footballer with a similar childlike nature who lived for the hero worship from his fans. It appears he had just enough savvy about him to carve out a career in television that has gone some way to replacing that feeling.

Poor Gazza, being less articulate and with several more demons in his closet, couldn’t make it work.

He also found that managing was no substitute for the adrenaline rush he got from playing, something he clung onto as long as possible with spells at the likes of Burnley, Boston and Gansu Tainma in China.

In his hour of need Gazza’s many friends in the game seem to be taking it in turns to pledge their support to our fallen hero.

The tragedy here is that none of them seem to be able to offer what Gazza needs.

The best of enemies

THERE is nothing in sport quite like two champions battling it out in a winner-takes-all clash.

English rugby union’s end of season play-off system has struggled for universal acceptance but on Saturday it served up the showpiece final it was designed to create.

With the greatest of respect to west country duo Gloucester and Bath, who have been setting the pace in the Guiness Premiership for most of the season, Wasps versus Leicester was the final everybody wanted to see.

The two modern day rugby powerhouses may have had their troubles this season but, true to form, they produced enough in the final stages of the season to ensure they were again scrapping for a major trophy.

The Tigers have been struggling for form all season and only squeezed into the play-offs courtesy of a last day win against Harlequins before Andy Goode’s late drop goal in the semi-final saw them edge out Gloucester.

Wasps had a shocking start to the season and were 10th in the table in December, but a late-season surge saw them ease into the play-offs and now they are officially champions of England.

Their routes to Twickenham were forgotten as the giants took to the stage to contest another major prize.

Wasps had triumphed in the 2005 domestic final and the 2007 Heineken Cup final, when just like this season’s Champions League Final England’s two biggest clubs fought for Europe’s top prize.

The London side tasted success yet again today but Leicester will almost certainly have a chance for revenge in the near future.

Apart from a brilliantly incisive run and try by Josh Lewsey, the game may have been short in crowd pleasing skills and flash back play to charm the neutrals, but the ferocity of the fierce rivalry was apparent from the outset and was always going to be settled up front.

Leicester fought bravely but the Wasps pack, marshalled by the titanic Simon Shaw, played like men possessed as the Tigers threatened a late comeback, their sheer strength of will saw them through.

Three years ago Wasps had ruined Martin Johnson’s final game for Leicester but this time Lawrence Dallaglio was not to be denied a final trophy.

Dallaglio does seem to divide opinion amongst rugby fans and the outspoken number eight may have been more popular amongst England fans had he resisted the temptation to return to the international stage after retiring in 2004.

But nobody can question his commitment to Wasps and the undying loyalty he has shown to the club throughout his 18-year career.

With Dallaglio now a thing of the past, the final also gave an exciting glimpse of the future as his two young back-row colleagues produced fine displays.

James Haskell is the kind of bullocking, body-on-the-line player who fans love and all players want in their team.

Against Leicester he also showed good judgement and a tireless workrate and if he continues to show these attributes he can go right to the top of the game.

Tom Rees has been a star in the making for a while now but a combination of high expectations and unfortunate injuries have hampered his progress.

This final was tailor-made for him to show off his skills and he took the opportunity with hands to deliver a classic openside display.

These sides will undoubtedly meet again as they have shown time and time again throughout the years that they can produce the goods when it matters and that is what gets teams into finals.

It is an attribute shared by this year’s Heineken Cup winners Munster.

A decent, but not outstanding group of players seem to save their best for the competition and the bigger the stakes the more they seem to raise their game, resulting in success far beyond what the club’s resources warrant.

In all sports we have these champions who have the curious ability to find another gear when it really matters and these are the people who are often left with the biggest prizes.

To quote one of the most used cliches in sport: form is temporary, class is permanent.