Fabio & The Big Two

Prem Title Race

Just when Man U were looking ominous for the title, they lost at Upton Park. Could Ronaldo's missed pen at 1-0 up prove to be a turning point ? Arsenal were flattered by a 4-1 away win at Everton, who were let down by defensive blunders. Surprisingly for a team known for their passing football, three of the Gunners' goals came from long punts into the penalty box.
Although Chelsea & Liverpool still have faint hopes, the title looks now to be a two-way fight between Wenger & Ferguson, whose teams who've dominated the Premier League, winning 12 of the 15 titles since the Prem was formed. United are still the bookies favourites for the title, and Arsenal will have to cope with losing three first team players to the African Nations Cup (Toure, Eboue & Adebayor). Man U don't have any African players so will be unaffected. Chelsea looked like they badly mised Lampard against Newcastle, and will lose Essien, Mikel, Kalou & of course the Drog to the African Cup.

Capello

Fabio Capello's appointment to the England job looks like a good move by the FA for once. He was the best qualified available candidate for the job. A serial winner of league titles, it is to be hoped he can bring success to the national team. Capello is known for being a pragmatist who favours results over playing attractive football, in this respect he is similar to Eriksson. Perhaps he differs from Sven in not picking players on their reputations, which was something the Swede was accused of during his time as England coach. Capello famously castigated Ronaldo at Real Madrid for being overweight. He also dropped Beckham, although in a recent interview in The Observer, Roberto Carlos expressed his belief that this decision had been made by the chairman rather than Capello. In any case, if Capello cannot choose the players & formation to make England successful, then no-one can.

The Rocket

Ronnie O'Sullivan won the UK Championhip two weeks ago. Surprisingly, it was his first ranking tournament win for 32 months, although he had won the Masters in the intervening time. The Masters, being an invitational, doesnt count as a ranking tournament. Many fans, including me, empathise with The Rocket for his sublime talent, which is sometimes undermined by his temperament. Last year he walked out of the same tournament when trailing Hendry 4-1. The highlight of his tournament win has to be the 147 maximum he produced in the final frame decider (!) of the semi with Mark Selby.