Football Chat: Manchester rivals, Gary Cook, Fabio Capello and why Kenny Dalglish is wrong

Rooney scored his second hat-trick in as many games at the weekend

Surely the title is heading to Manchester. But which half?

Sure the season is a long one and the Premier League is only four matches old but would you really want to bet against one of the Manchester clubs not winning the title? It’s a case at present in the Premier League of ‘what ever you can do – I can do better’. City win all their matches; so do United. City score 15 goals; United score 18. City concede only three; so do United! City players score two successive hat-tricks; so does Wayne Rooney!

Next Sunday United play at home to Chelsea on Sky Sports at 4pm. City travel to Fulham. In the mid-week Champions League openers both play on Wednesday; City at home to Napoli in Group A; United are away to Benfica in Group C.

Garry Cook – will those in the public eye ever learn?

Manchester City’s Garry Cook has gone after his crass and bad taste email, the details of which have been well documented in the press.

Times have changed dramatically and mostly for the better. When will people in front and behind microphones or the public eye ever completely learn? Why do they think they can survive it in modern times?

Capello will get England to Euro 2012, but that’s no great achievement

I never thought Fabio Capello was a good appointment, particularly at his age and with his lack of the English language. There are English managers who would have done a better job than Sven-Goran Eriksson or Capello. The FA wouldn’t believe it after one of two English appointments failed to work out.

Capello’s England were again given an easy qualifying group. So getting to the finals is no big deal; winning it or at least getting to the semi-finals is the trick! The display against Wales was nearly as woeful as some of the statements made by Capello. His reported salary of £6m tax-free means he is responsible for all of it. Harry Redknapp has been many people’s choice for a long time. He may have to hurdle some personal issues but we will never know if Harry doesn’t get the chance. He would handle the players better by most accounts.

Kenny Dalglish is wrong to blame referees

Kenny Dalglish is a great football man both as a player in his time and as a manager. The argument that you should never go back (one I normally subscribe to) has not applied to his return as Liverpool’s manager after a long absence.

I was however disappointed when he joined the bandwagon and claimed the refs were against his team. Managers rarely blame players. I watched the Stoke match live on Irish TV in Dublin (they get a Premier League match on Setanta Sports there every Saturday afternoon) and there were several times both sides could have scored – the referee did not miss any of those!

Dubious incidents should be analysed

One or two bad clashes over the weekend. Some accidental; some iffy.

You will always get a bit of that in the physical British game. With every match covered by TV these days the disciplinary bodies should study dubious incidents that warrant punishment more often than they do. I suggest clarification on the more important refereeing decisions such as the dubious goals. Players careers are sometimes at stake.

For more from Gary Newbon, visit his official site at garynewbon.com.

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