Everybody look at Jose - he's run out of ideas... Why Anthony Wordsworth is football's hardest man... where have all the Pompey fans gone... and does Wenger know anything about lower league players?
By ADRIAN DURHAM
I'm not looking forward to Jose Mourinho's return to the Premier League. Sir Alex Ferguson had completely outcoached Mourinho last week at the Bernabeu and Jose had run out of ideas.
His main tactic at Madrid has been to rely on some Ronaldo magic. That always works against inferior opposition, sometimes works against similar quality sides but rarely works against the best.
For Jose to beat the best he needs to get Pepe kicking people, or he can set to work himself, poking opposition coaches in the eye on the touchline.
Centre of attention: Jose Mourinho ended his team talk against Manchester United early during the interval before returning to the dugout
What now Jose? Mourinho must now mastermind a Real Madrid victory at Old Trafford to progress in the Champions League
CATCH UP ON ADRIAN DURHAM'S PREVIOUS SPORTSMAIL COLUMNS...
So with the score at 1-1, United were not going to let Ronaldo in again, and Jose was stuck for ideas.
He also knew he wouldn't be in the spotlight. The way he propelled himself back to the centre of attention was shameless.
He finished his half-time team talk early, and then decided to be alone for a few minutes. But he didn't go to the toilet, he didn't head to the sanctuary of his office, instead he left his team in the dressing room and went to the dugout, where he knew the cameras covering the biggest game of the season would focus on him. And they did.
Some saw it as clever management. I saw it as an ego out of control. Everybody look at Jose.
In July 2011 Arsenal paid £10.7million for Gervinho. A month later Reading paid £300,000 for Adam Le Fondre. Maybe Arsene Wenger should watch a few more lower division games rather than constantly going back to France to pay over the odds for overrated players.
Before Bradford knocked Arsenal out of the Capital One Cup, I wonder how much Wenger knew about the League Two side. Was he aware how Wells and Hanson worked together up front? Did he know that young Irish defender Carl McHugh was so hungry he took a 50 per cent pay cut to leave Reading for first-team football at Valley Parade?
On the lookout: Arsene Wenger watches his Arsenal team crash out of the FA Cup last weekend to Championship side Blackburn
Short changed: Wenger spent £10.7m on Gervinho but Reading only paid £300,000 for in-form Le Fondre (right)
Similarly, had Wenger even heard of Jake Kean, the goalkeeper who kept a clean sheet at the Emirates for Blackburn on Saturday? Did he know much about Jordan Rhodes or Colin
Kazim-Richards? Had he worked out that maybe a weakness would be right back Bradley Orr, recently sent to Ipswich on loan?
Kazim-Richards? Had he worked out that maybe a weakness would be right back Bradley Orr, recently sent to Ipswich on loan?
Perhaps Wenger knew all these things, but I’m left asking the question. I’ve never seen Wenger watching games from the stands in the way the camera has focused on Roberto Mancini and David Moyes at recent matches. Does he scout players in the lower divisions? I genuinely don't know.
Gulf in class: After a hard-fought penalty shootout Carling Cup win over Doncaster in 2005, Wenger tipped their players for the top... not one of them went on to play in the Premier League, however
I do know that Wenger reacted to a penalty shootout win at Doncaster in the League Cup in 2005 by saying he was surprised how well the home players had played.
He added: 'Doncaster have some players who have a future in the Premier League.'
Not one of those players went on to play in the Premier League.
When Portsmouth were flying and winning the FA Cup, the fans turned out in force on the south coast.
Thierry Henry wore a Portsmouth shirt at Fratton Park because he was so impressed with the Pompey fans. Yet on Saturday the stadium was half-full and the future of the club is still in doubt as they sit bottom of League One.
So where have all the fans gone? The club needs them now more than ever. The situation is so bad that after a 350-mile journey, Carlisle United were charged £20 to park the team coach at Fratton Park.
Happy days: In 2006, Thierry Henry praised Portsmouth for their brilliant atmosphere and wore their shirt
Troubled times: Portsmouth need their famous support now more than ever
The Football League chairman Greg Clarke insisted last month that Portsmouth will be thrown out of the Football League if they don't exit administration by the summer. That is a serious threat.
There are plenty of millionaires living in Hampshire, plenty of rich businessmen in the south east of England, so how come none of them have come forward to help Pompey?
I feel for the fans, of course, but maybe Portsmouth is only a hotbed of football when things are
going well.
going well.
BROKEN BACK... AND HE PLAYS ON!
Is Anthony Wordsworth the hardest man in football? The Ipswich midfielder broke his back during the win over Blackpool at the weekend – and carried on!
He collided with opposition goalkeeper Matt Gilks and cracked three vertebrae. Wordsworth tried to continue but couldn’t and was taken to hospital.
Wordsworth attempted to play on with a broken back
He was so high on the gas and air being given with him to deal with the pain that when he found out Ipswich had won the game 1-0 he smiled and said he was glad because it meant he would probably keep his place in the side for the next game.
Wordsworth will be out for at least 6 weeks, we wish him all the best.
They're not all diving cheats.
A manager walks into the club he has just taken charge of and meets a senior pro. He's an international who cost a sizeable chunk of money. He has been underperforming along with the rest of the squad and the club is struggling.
The new manager has a job on his hands. But he doesn't know how big that job really is until the senior pro starts talking. The player peels off a sock, points to his foot, and says he has a massive problem and can't train for the rest of the season. It's only January.
The player then tells the new boss that he wants him to fail, and all he's interested in is getting a pay off from the club. It's not a good start.
The new boss is equally unimpressed by the next player he meets. This defender is a well-respected figure in the game, yet instead of setting an example to the younger players and embracing the new manager's ideas, he decides to challenge everything and demands a debate about the finer details of tactics and strategies. This player could have helped the manager, but with one conversation on the training ground he chose to undermine him.
So he goes to a promising young player, who has just been given a contract on £3,000-a-week and asks him about his ambitions in football. The manager wants to see how hungry this lad is. The teenager replies by saying he's unsure if he wants a career in football.
The manager has only scratched the surface of the problems at the club.
All of the above is true, and it's why I always try to find out the true story behind a lower division manager's sacking before being too judgmental.
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