The Saddler Column

Well well, England are on form. I want to start off by talking about that performance, which was about as creative as a bowl of custard. Rooney was on form with his usual arm waving and jumping self, so much so, a plane nearly landed on the Old Trafford turf. It was a typical performance from Peter Crouch, who should have had a hat-trick, but chose to put all of his headers wide, apart from the one where Gary Neville hit the Wembly arch, which is impressive considering the game was in Manchester. It was all a load of rubbish. It all comes down to one thing; Steve McClaren. With Middlesbrough, they would get thrashed at home to Villa and then beat Chelsea. England have been no different, only they beat Macedonia in their hostile backyard and then failed to beat them on their own hostile backyard. Oh, and I can`t forget to mention the legendary Stuart Downing. He is a good player, was a good play?ok he`s rubbish. Again, all down to the Middlesbrough and McClaren link. If Joe Cole and Michael Owen had played it may all be different and we would all be saying that Steve McClaren is a fantastic manager. Thing is, he is. But the result doesn`t lie, and neither did the performance. It was all twaddle, so let`s get on with trying to win football matches instead of trying to be the best team in the world, which we are most certainly not and probably never will be. Just get on with it!

Walsall in the last week have proved that when you get carried away, well, you nearly get carried away by the opposition and then dumped in a rubbish heap. Thank the stars that there was one Frenchman that simply blew everybody away with a solid and point winning display. ‘Dickie` mate, you`ve done well so far, if it all goes fits up then the only people to blame are the players. He always seems to know what he is doing and he has proved us all right again by assuring that Walsall remain unbeaten in six games with a good signing in Bossu. Speaking of goalkeepers, FIFA are a bunch of nosy people, who don`t know left from right. Why have they banned Clayton Ince; he`s injured! That is why Walsall will not release him, so FIFA have banned him for three matches, even though he probably will be out for those matches anyway. It is all ridiculous, so much so, you can`t hesitate to call it all a farce. Football is getting stupid with all its rubbish rules, so I call for reform. Offside, what is the actual rule? Women are now the ones explaining the rule to us blokes because it`s so confusing. Sort it out Mr Blatter, it`s like a circus.