Former Liverpool Manager Benny Benitez Loses His Chelsea Rag

Poor old Benny Benitez has finally lost his rag! After suffering the slings and arrows of outraged Chelsea fans since his arrival, he has had enough and turned on his accusers, cataloguing the trophies he won in the long gone days of his youth.

With righteous indignation, the Spanish heifer fighter told it exactly how it was, but forgot to mention how he turned Liverpool from a great club to mid table also-rans and how Inter Milan were quick to show him the door when he it was evident that he was following his Liverpool blue print there.

And Benny dared to take on Abrovomich too, criticising the "Interim Manager" title and using this to account for his third managerial failure on the trot.

How much longer will he last? It would be a brave man that bets on him still being in place next Monday!

Pearson Rejects Leeds

So what has happened to discourage Adam Pearson from investing in Leeds United? Not so long ago, he was quoted as saying that we wanted to get back into football and identified Leeds as an ideal target, and with GFH Capital announcing that they were looking for investors, commentators rushed to put two and two together. But on this occasion it seems the answer they arrived at was five.

So, does Pearson not fancy the Arab bank built on sand as a partner? Or is the continued presence of Master Bates the issue? Or is the likelihood of at least one more year in the Championship putting him off?

Maybe the stay away fans are to blame.

Whatever the reason, it seems a sudden volte face following an interview in which he was reported to have said: “I will definitely get back into football. I would like to go in with a consortium with a club that has huge potential. The one that stands out is Leeds United.”

If Arsenal buy Watford's Vydra, who gets the money?

Now here's the rub. Arsenal are being linked with Vydra and, if he is sold, the question arises, who gets the money? Presumably, not Watford.

I have to be very careful here because it seems that Watford Football Club are prepared to take a litigious approach should anything vaguely contentious be said, but some people are still puzzled by the seemingly inconsistent rules which allow Watford to field so many players signed on loan, because, if I understand it correctly, loan signings from abroad count in some peculiar way as transfers. But if they are transfers, does that mean Watford would pocket the dosh in the event of Vydra being sold? Not as I understand it because Udinese still 'own' the player.

Another question arises. I am categorically not suggesting that rules would be broken, but hypothetically, if a deal was agreed for Vydra, might it not be in the theoretical interests of Udinese and the Pozzos to instruct Zola not to risk the Czech goal machine in a dead rubber game after promotion has been secured or conceded to avoid the possibility of an injury wrecking the transfer?

And if that possibility, all be it simply a hypothetical possibility, exists, does this not bring in to question the wisdom of allowing clubs owned by the same family to effectively share their playing personnel? West Ham were famously fined £6m because, in theory, IKEA could instruct the club not to play Tevez. The third party clause was never activated but West Ham were still held to be in breach of the rules.

Now we all accept that Watford are not breaking the rules as they are written but many of us are honestly puzzled by what appears to be, in the words of Holloway, a "loophole". Watford are now occupying a promotion place and it seems very unlikely that this would be the case had the club been obliged to trade in the transfer market in the same way as other clubs without the multiple club ownership of the Pozzos.

Holloway called for the rules to be looked at and others have subsequently joined the band waggon, but you have to wonder why it took so long for concerns to be expressed. Maybe, if a challenge had been made earlier, the FA might have been forced to reflect on the fairness of a rule which, seemingly, advantages one club against others.

But then, maybe the appointment of Zola was a PR master stroke? How can you object when such a thoroughly decent guy is managing the club?

I reiterate that I am not suggesting that rules have been broken. However, sometimes rule changes have to happen to secure the proverbial "level playing field" that is so highly valued in sport.

Would Leeds Consider Di Canio Now?

With PDC saying matters are in the hands of his lawyers, I'm not going to say anything too risky, but his account of his "return to the office" sounds unusual with a capital U. He didn't force entry. What a preposterous suggestion. But some damage was done during his brief visit to retrieve various personal items from his desk apparently, damage that Paolo is happy to pay for.

Would any club now touch him with a barge pole? The guy is a walking time bomb and his predictably brief management career at Swindon was packed full of incendiary incidents with rages against officials, rages against the Swindon board, rages against his own players and rages against the whole god damn machine. There were even allegations of racism at one point.

His record in terms of winning games is outstanding but how many clubs would be brave enough to take him on now? He was linked with Leeds last week but Adkins seems a much safer pair of hands. And Warnock seems in no hurry to leave anyway.

I was sat watching Etna erupt from my hotel bedroom window the night before last with a plume climbing a kilometre into the air and the locals told me the volcano was not a patch on Di Canio!

Blackburn 0 Leeds United 0 Gung Ho Warnock Style

He asked for three games to change the world and promised a gung ho approach. Well, two games in, Leeds have scored twice, conceded none and picked up a decent 4 points. But is 4 points enough?

It's certainly an odd return for the promised gung ho approach. As solid at the back as Warnock after a ten egg omelet, and as goal shy up front as ever.

Today's result keeps both Blackburn and Leeds in the running for the final play off spot, courtesy of Boro's inability to beat anybody other than Leeds, but Forest's win at Charlton was ominous for both teams. Billy Davies is now putting together a nice little run with 7 points out of nine.

And then there is Brighton, winners again today, thereby widening the gap over Warnock's team to six points. That gap can be closed however so, all in all, it's been a decent day for Leeds. Win all the remaining home games and draw all the away fixtures and they will be there or there abouts come the end of the season!

Blackburn v Leeds. The Big Shoot Out For Last Play Off Place

Make no mistake, this game is huge. Warnock was cock a hoop after the Blackpool game as Leeds closed the gap on sixth placed Middlesbrough to six points, but the Smoggies are irrelevant: their form is so poor they won't finish in the top six regardless of current placings. The clubs potentially competing for the last available place are Brighton, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn and Leeds.

 

Of that quartet, Brighton are in the box seat, but as West Ham illustrated last season, the Seagulls have a soft underbelly and as the pressure mounts, so Poyet's boys will be found wanting. Forest under old warhorse Billy Davies will be well and truly charged up after their hammering of Huddersfield and could yet bully their way into sixth spot as style is sidelined in the name of pragmatism. But like Leeds, Forest have to learn how to win away from home if they are to mount a sustained challenge over the last third of the season.

 

Blackburn have the best squad but Appleton is a novice compared with Davies and Warnock, and with the distraction of the FA Cup, may struggle to keep his players focused.

 

Which suddenly brings Leeds into the equation. Warnock asked for three games to change the world and he won the first of them. Now comes a big test. Get a result at Blackburn - and if Brighton win, Leeds really need three points - and everybody will start to believe that a late charge could yet see the Whites into the play offs; lose and everybody will mutter about yet another false dawn and GFH Capital will face renewed pressure to jettison Warnock.

 

This has to be Leeds' biggest game of the season. Forget Everton, forget Spurs, forget Southampton, this is the big one. If Warnock pulls this off, he could yet earn his statue outside Elland Road!

West Ham Bete Noir Ince Starts With Blackpool Defeat At Leeds

There's a shame. Ince, who has never been forgiven down Green Street for appearing on the pitch in a Scum shirt before any transfer fee had been agreed, opened his Blackpool account with a defeat. Of course, Warnock versus Ince is a toss up in the tosser stakes as far as Hammers are concerned, but as I posted the day before yesterday, Old Big Gob is preferable to the self anointed guvnor.

Blackpool fans should be very worried. They are not clear of the drop yet and if Ince carries on his recent record as a manager, the Tangerine Dreamers could be in Division Three before they know it. As for Ince Junior, he is now in an utterly invidious position. How can he be one be of the lads when his Dad is managing the club? Frank Lampard Junior became the focus of the fans' ire when it was alleged that nepotism was behind his regular selection and, as promising as the young Ince is, he is unlikely to ever be as good as Fat Frank.

It's a really odd appointment and West Ham fans up and down the land will now be looking for Blackpool's results, hoping they lose every game. Shame. We used to like them, despite that four goal hammering in the Cup when Moore and Best went out boozing on the eve of the game.