Coaching For The Brave

Psst. Do you want to know who's going to win the world Cup? Would you like a sure fire way of beating the Bookies? Read on you lucky man... Every bookmaker currently has Brazil as their favourite to win the World Cup. You can get 3 to 1 if you hurry. Why are they favourites though? What makes them so special? I've delved into the World Cup statistics to find the factors that really matter. The ones that over the last 19 World Cups have made a difference. They are fascinating and do lead you to a clear winner. Is it Brazil though? From a statistical point of view the following factors provide the best indicator of a World  Cup Winner. The Continent where the tournament is played, FIFA Rankings from just before the tournament and the average age of the team. Continent By far, this has been the biggest indicator. you can pretty much guarantee that the winner will come from South America. 15 out of the 19 World Cups have been won by a team from the continent tha...

Ryan Giggs has finally given up the ghost and hung up his Reeboks. Great news for defenders everywhere. The announcement has thrown up stats galore. One stuck with me as probably the greatest stat I've ever seen. It's simply mind boggling. Here it is: Ryan Giggs has played at the top level for so long that if George Best had played for the same amount of time he'd have played under Alex Ferguson. That is an amazing piece of information. Do you agree or can you top that? Enjoy your retirement Ryan. Although I think you've got a very busy season around the corner.

Things don't always turn out as you wish. It's a shame really. The boy with the world at his feet has taken more backward steps recently. It just goes to show that pace, skill and a big head aren't all that's required to make it as a top level professional footballer.  After announcing to the world that he was the next great thing Wilfred Zaha has gone backwards. It was never meant to be this way... After Fergie mindlessly blew £15 million on the self appointed teenage protege, Wilfred must have thought he'd made it. The biggest club in Britain wanted him. Unfortunately, no one told him Fergie was retiring and handing over to Mr Moyes. After bit parts in early games Zaha was shipped off to lowly Cardiff.  This is the guy who wanted to show Premiership defenders how good he was. So, how did he do? Well he only managed to play 15 games all season netting...never. This gives him an awesome career of 138 games in total and 18 goals. Yep 18. Defences every...

What will Zlatan be doing next summer? So, after being beaten by Ronaldo in the World Cup Play-off, Zlatan Ibrahimovic reckons "the World Cup will be nothing without him." Most impartial fans would probably agree and it's a shame that both Sweden and Portugal couldn't both be there next year. However, I think he's missed the point. If he was that good we would be seeing him next year.  Ibrahimovic had the tag of "Flat Track Bully" way before Ronaldo did and his Portuguese counterpart seems to be doing all he can to ditch that tag. Zlatan's scoring record is an impressive one in two but his career has a major glitch. He could have played in 3 World Cups already but Sweden only qualified for 2 and guess what. He failed to score at either of them. In fact, in one he was blamed for being greedy and missing when he could have squared the ball for a simple tap in. This led to Sweden's early elimination. So, on the gre...

Earlier this week I posted about how foolish Wilfried Zaha had been with his comments after being selected for the full England squad. After watching the game last night I think Zaha should learn from 2 glaring lessons. 1. Take a good long look at Leon Osman. Although 31, he took his call up with humility, determination and a fair amount of capability. No mouthing off from him. Osman applied himself well and was a plus point for England. Will he get another game? Maybe not but you could tell he deserved his chance and was incredibly proud. 2. If you can't be humble and proud to represent England then you need to be able to back up your mouth. Ibrahimovich has a massive ego but his brilliance matches it. Zaha had a small cameo role but looked so out of place I felt sorry for him. Time is on Zaha side and maybe not on Osman's so let's hope he can learn some lessons. If he can't or won't, I'm more than happy for him to take his other option and chose the I...

Our new Saviour? It's great to see Roy blooding some new talent in this weeks friendly against Sweden. Our "Golden Generation" needs replacing. However, I have a couple of problems with one of those about to be blooded. Step forward Mr Wilfried Zaha. Our new, self appointed saviour. Zaha is indeed a very exciting prospect and one who I hope goes on to fulfil his potential and I love a player who is confident in his ability but who on earth does he think he is? Rather than accepting his call up with humility, his first act is to let everyone know how good he feels he is.  "I want to come up against defenders who will properly test me," he said to the Guardian. Well he already is being tested week in week out. After his 17 starts this season he's scored a measly 4 goals. Maybe he should try to test himself first. "I'd never look at someone and think he's better than me, unless it's Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. When I ...

An Independent Regulatory Commission has today [Thursday 27 September 2012] found a charge of misconduct against John Terry proven and has issued a suspension for a period of four matches and a fine of £220,000, pending appeal. The Football Association charged Mr Terry on Friday 27 July 2012 with using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand and which included a reference to colour and/or race contrary to FA Rule E3[2] in relation to the Queens Park Rangers FC versus Chelsea FC fixture at Loftus Road on 23 October 2011. The charge was the result of The FA’s long-standing investigation into this matter, which was placed on hold at the request of the Crown Prosecution Service and Mr Terry’s representatives pending the outcome of the criminal trial. A hearing took place from 24-27 September 2012 before an Independent Regulatory Commission of The FA to consider the charge. The decision of the Independent Regulatory Commission...