Count down to the World Cup

The last month of the season has flown by, we've had last day dramas across the domestic leagues, shock cup final results and of course who will ever forget the Madrid / Liverpool final! Hopefully Bales beauty will be remembered as the highlight and not the dreadful errors the Liverpool keeper made! I mean we've all had bad days at the office, but in such a crucial match, i will be surprised if he isn't out the door at Anfield before the Summer is up. Fair play to Klopp for not exploding during the post match interview but surely questions will now be asked of the German and his bottle in major finals! Thats 6 on the bounce now he as lost! Ouch!

So with the world cup only 17 days away we turn our attention to the confirmed international squads, and my word there are some big big names which have been left out! Starting with our home boys and the 3 Lions have decided to go with 3 inexperienced keepers, Hart had a bit of a shocker this season and its fair to say he was expected to be in the squad even if it was as the No3 choice, but to leave him out completely is a massive risk! Throw into the mix an absent Wilshere and thats two main stays of the national team left back on the sunny shores of England!

Next up is our Old enemy.. The Germans! Wow what a brave call from Loew! Gotze has had a few issues since his winner four years ago in Brazil, but surely that goal would of given him a free pass to be included in every German squad until he retires! Another player unlucky to miss out is Liverpool cult hero Emre Can, I know he got a bit of a knock before the end of the season but he was fit enough to be included in Liverpools CL final squad!

A short skip and a hop and we head over to sunny Spain! and my word have the Spanish been brave, no Morata, Fabregas or Alonso i mean don't get me wrong I'm not a fan of Chelsea either but leaving out Morata could end up haunting the Spanish when they are 1-0 down to Egypt in the semi-finals with only minutes left!

France meanwhile... Politics and football, a match made in heaven no one has ever said! How Benzema has still not been given a chance to redeem himself is pure madness, madness they call it madness. The French haven't really got an out and out striker, they've got loads of number 10's but not one of them would stick their head where it would hurt! Giroud is hardly going to scare Iran let alone Brazil!

Modern Day Football..... What's all the fuss about?

The world wide web has changed the way we view and interact with the greatest game on earth, from blogs to tweets, every man and his dog as an opinion. One great game for a player now makes him a superstar, from ex pros to pundits they all jump on that bandwagon. We're being told just how good players are compared to the old days, how the likes of Best and Pele wouldn't be able to keep up with todays pace, but is the quality of the football really as good as it was 40/50 years ago?  

Over the next few months we're gonna be dusting off the archives and plough through the statistics that will hopefully answer this long running debate, the only spillage here, will be that of the Midweeker spilling his pint down his bright orange shirt! 

We want goals!

First up in this series, we will be looking at the great art of goalscoring, We've all seen Harry Kane shin it from 5 yards out, Ryan Giggs missing an open goal and that classic Arsenal penalty routine that would be better suited on strictly ballroom! But over a full season how does the modern game measure up to its past? Are we getting more goals on average over a full season? or should we be getting a refund on the ever increasing ticket prices? 

Lets go back to 1958/59 season, A random choice i know!  - Just a few things to point out - The old first division had 22 teams in it, meaning that each team would end up playing 42 league games per season, and to even make it harder, teams couldn't even make substitutions!  The only thing players needed to get through a match back then was that half time cuppa! 

So Wolves had just won back to back titles, banging in over 200 goals in the process (110 during 58/59), whilst second place, Man United also managed to get into the 100's in terms of scoring goals, not a bad effort when you consider most teams ended up playing 10 a side! 

Now back to present times - The top two teams last season (Chelsea & Spurs) only managed to hit the 80's in terms of goals, yet players now days have better nutrition and each team can make unto three subs! 

This pattern continues into the 1960's, During the 60,61 season three teams in the top flight managed to hit the 100's, The champions Spurs, third place Wolves (once again) and fourth place Burnley. Even relegated Newcastle managed to score 86 goals throughout that season. If we head back to 2015/16 when The Foxes managed the impossible, they only managed to hit the 60's in terms of their goalscoring abilities... Now is that entertainment... really? 

When you consider Jimmy Greaves still holds the record of being the outright leading goalscorer in top flight matches in England, (lets not forget he fell out of love with the game at the tender age of 31) it hammers home even more that we are being blinded by fancy advertising and over the top pundits! 

Now don't get me wrong, Big Alan Shearer was top notch but he was still over 70 goals shy of Jimmy's record, and you have to remember he was at The Toon into his late 30's! 

So in terms of putting the ball in the net over a course of a season, it seems the greats of the past found it easier than todays modern not so greats. 

                         

In a World of José

For weeks it's been a case of will he or won't he... Yesterday the news broke that The Special One was once again booted out the door @ Stamford Bridge and from a neutral point of view i'm gutted. Mourinho is the modern day icon. He is what the Premier League is about - The arrogance, flair, genius, outrageous, box office. Unfortunately for both him and the league he's management skills for now have come to an end. Depending what is written in his severance package it could be a hell of a long time until we see him managing back in the English top flight.

With so many clubs struggling to find their form this season it's outrageous that Chelsea felt they needed to sack arguably the greatest manager of the modern footballing era.

Ok a few results have gone a bit wrong and the league position isn't the greatest but they easily qualified for the knock out stages of the Champions League and face a winnable tie against PSG.

Have the board forgotten that winning the Champions League means your back in it the following season... It wasn't long ago Chelsea had a similar situation when they finished 6th yet won the CL.....

Now there is a slight ( i repeat slight) possibility that the board deep down were worried that Chelsea could end up getting relegated but in all fairness there is another transfer window about to open and on current form there are around 6/7 teams playing worse than Chelsea! But who's to say the new manager will turn the fortunes around this season???

Will big name players be up for a relegation scrap? Will their top transfer targets come or will the likes of Kane, Stones and co rather see out another few months at their current employers and see what unfolds in the summer?

Everyone has gone on record to say what a great leader John Terry is.. Well now the chips are down this is where the veteran defender will need to earn his keep!

We've got an interesting few months ahead of us.

Who will Chelsea have as their next manager???

Where will they finish come May???

What next for The Special One???

Two Men Walk into a Pub....

 The Mourinho Blues

Eight weeks in & those two old school pundits The Midweeker and The Weekender finally find a decent pub for a cheeky Sanchez burger and cup of tea/bottle of cider combo to sit down and chew the cud.

Midweeker - So what's going on with the British teams in Europe? Anyone would think that UKIP have branched out into football management!

Weekender - The Arse threw it away! Wenger showing his hands by dropping Cech or as some are saying 'resting' the big man! Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho is having much fun @ the Bridge! The way the Blues are playing they will be down @ the docks before the season has even really got going! Will it be a case of Costa coffee for Diego? If United & City don't pick up some points the Prem is in danger of losing a Champions League place!

MW - What about the Prem though? Chelsea have the blues, while those sly foxes have shocked us all and have ransacked the top of the table and even the Happy Hammers are Slaven away getting massive results near the top of the tree as well!

WE - It's pure madness! The way things are going Noble could be named in the next England squad (it's been overdue). The Foxes? Wow! Seven games in and they are practically safe already, who'd have thought of that from the Tinkerman?? Vardy is electric!

Not sure what's going on with Villa though? Thought Sherwood would be a hero for the Villains, he needs a new gillet and an Adebayour or Lerner will show him the Adebay-door!

MW -  Where has this Leicester striker appeared from? I'd Vardy heard of him last season?! Now he's an England striker??

What about Nolan & Big Sam @ the Boleyn Ground? An old school tough tackling bites yer legs midfielder and an even older school no nonsense football manager, surprised they haven't found new home already

WE - 'Arry to Newcastle? The Wally with the Brolly can't have much time left! The Looney Toons are in deep! Along with the Mackems, old Kaboul hasn't really done much! And Dick must be finding it hard with the amount of balls hitting the Sunderland net, could Big Sam end up @ the Stadium of Light??

MW - 'arry couldn't handle the commute! His old North London club are up & down like a hoe's drawers! Spurs threw it away against the Woolwich Wanderers playing Fazio in the back four when they were willing to pay his cab fare before the season started to ship him off to West Brom! It's was all doom and gloom with City due @ The Lane and Pochettino's men spank 'em 4-1!

WE - Yeah who saw that coming?! Even Kane scored! - I still think he won't hit double figures this season. Meanwhile Liverpool look proper w*&k! Rodgers must be glad Sturridge is back in the goals with rumours that Ancellotti is being lined up as the next boss of the Scousers

MW - Klop! Klop? Who's there? It's Jurgen the German banging on the Premiership door! Could he end up on Liverpool's doorstep?

Apparently Rodgers has lost the dressing room - he's been wandering around behind the scenes @ Anfield like a little lost sheep, surely it's signposted?? Someone point him in the right direct....

And with that, burgers polished off tea drank and cider downed there's a flurry of movement as sheepskins are donned and trackie tops done up to the chin. They are off into the now autumnal night parting with a firm handshake and murmurs of doing a podcast, (it's what the kids listen to nowadays apparently) they'll be back in a few weeks to do it all again

Holidays, social media & Jon Stead

It's that time of the year when players are jetting off all around the world on their travels, and with the joy of twitter and Instagram we can feel as if we are taking that holiday with them!

Now we're big fans of young Harry Kane but dude.. Seriously you are on a bike on holiday - Why on earth would you need to take a selfie!

Imagine if moments after he took this, he came flying off the handlebars and a piece of the bike managed to lodge itself up young Kane's bum... Ouch! Remember the golden rule - Safety first then team work!

Anyway as we debate (over a cheeky Pimms and lemonade) who's gonna set the league a light this year, we wanna know who's your favourite one season hit wonder??

Cracking question the man in the flat cap shouts!

Personally we're loving the Jon Stead story.

Just over 11 years ago the big man was making back page news with some stella performances for The Terriers. It wasn't long before Blackburn (Yep the fallen giant of Premier League past) came calling and paid a cool £1million -  Stead was branded the next Alan Shearer.... unfortunately it didn't all go to plan! A move up north to Sunderland followed although he left his shooting boots back in Blackburn, the goals had all but dried up and it wasn't long before he was loaned out and on the move again.

After many moves and loans Stead had practally disappeared off the face of the planet, this one time future England international had been restricted to the archives of the footballing past! But the magic of the FA Cup was about to re-write Steads chapter in footballing folk law!

Last season Stead found himself shipped out on loan again - this time to Bradford. Things weren't going too well in the league -  failing to hit the net on a regular basis - it was if the goals had been sucked right out of him.

But then as if by magic......

We all say the FA Cup can make a grown mans dream come true! And it was the magic of the cup that put Jon Stead back on the footballing map! Scoring a hat fall of goals in Bradford's cup run to the Quarter finals! Including a peach of a goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge! A pure moment of magic! It's taken a while for Stead to make the back pages once more,  but hopefully at the ripe old age of 32 this charming man as many more headlines in him for his new club Notts County!

May day blues....

It's May the 16th, the sun has disappeared behind a grey cloud and Steve Bruce, along with a number of other managers can be seen sat with a cup of tea and a pack of hob nobs - wondering what on earth has gone wrong this season? With the news that one of his best players has now been suspended (the white stuff) for the remaining two games, realistically Bruce and Hull must be odd's on favourites to go down!

This time last year Bruce had guided Hull to the FA Cup final, they were safe from relegation and everything was coming up roses... a few months are a long time in football!

Likewise for the comedy club down South... 2 months ago Spurs were in the form of their lives, looking forward to a domestic cup Final, add in a Europa League match against an Italian team full of Premiership rejects and after a convincing 2-1 win over their rivals were Spurs finally going to live up to all the hype they have had thrown at them... In short No!

Spurs are now 6th in the league, drifting through the final few weeks and it looks as if they don't want another season of Europa League distraction.. in short If Steve Bruce can get his Hull team playing against Spurs then they will leave the Lane with a 2-0 win (Dawson double maybe!)


Meanwhile across the capital  Chelsea can afford to take their foot off the gas as they have nothing left to play for, title's in the bag and their out of Europe, Will Jose give youth a chance in the final 2 games?

And finally in the Championship playoff last night, Boro have managed to get to the final after beating a spirited Brentford team, Fair play to Brentford they have been a breathe of fresh air this season, playing some amazing football along the way on a shoe string budget! The Chairman needs a rethink about letting his manager leave in the summer! In short sign him up for next season! Who knows they could be 12 months away from playing top flight football!

FA Cup - Where's the magic gone??

April 19th 2015 - Liverpool v Villa in the second Semi final of the once prestigious FA Cup, theres no  double page pull outs in the papers, not much shouting about it on the box, and only a handful of people tweeting about it, mainly from the clubs involved. What on earth has happened to this ICON of the footballing world?

Theres more noise about this weekends Premier League games in the news than the two semi finals. Leicester City are off the Bottom - Chelsea grind out result against United thats all the back pages read, a small column in the bottom left hand corner mentions the result of the other semi final, theres no bells or whistles and no pun - Just the full time score.

British football is now dominated by the riches of the Premier League. Clubs would rather finish 4th than win the cup... how times have changed. In five years time no one will remember who won the FA Cup in 2015, yet they will remember who finished fourth that season! Just look at Spurs and Everton they have spent so long trying to break back into the monopoly of the top 4, yet if they had just given that extra push in the cups they would have surly won a few medals instead of having an empty trophy room!

One of the games greats - Gerrard is calling time on his Liverpool career to move over to the MLS, if you ask him right now what would he rather achieve in his final season with the club - a top four finish or a FA Cup medal, I bet he would be undecided! Yet years ago players like Gazza, Adams, Ginola, Gray, Rush would of laughed at that question, in fact that question wouldn't off even existed.

Something needs to change for the love & the future of the game! Maybe just maybe when the money dries up  the Premier League may fall from grace just like the FA Cup.

Tea Stories

A new feature for 2013, is tea stories, a lighter look at the latest headlines making the news! So with Rafa under more pressure than a Catholic priest stuck in a room full of school boys, Martin Tyler decided to ask AVB about the on-goings at his previous club!

The Midweeker

The Midweeker is back and he does like to stick the boot in! "No sugar in my tea love, im sweet enough!" It's all gone a bit wrong for Chelsea over the last few weeks, out goes Robbie and in came Rafa, but after boring draws at home to City & Fulham it was last weekends defeat to the Hammers that really took toll! I can't see him turning it around, they are gonna crash out of Europe and i fear that Rafa will be collecting his P45 a lot earlier than expected!

As for the rest of the British connection in Europe it's gonna be a long week, the best i can see for Wengers boys is a one nil defeat, i can't believe the bloke is under pressure, i mean a few weeks back they smashed their North London rivals 5-2! and now some fans are calling for him to get the chop! Pure madness. What kinda world are we living in at the moment?

The Midweeker

It's that time of the week... the midweeker has entered the building, covered in what can only be described as a manly musky smell! after a bit of banter with Edison the tea boy, he heads to his desk which has been covered in post-it notes and betting slips since the day we opened!

I'm only predicting the League Cup this week lads, and i can see Swindon doing Villa and Norwich getting the better of Spurs, as for Chelsea they need to man up, who reports a ref for swearing? bunch of kids!

Seasons to be cheerful....

Is the break between seasons getting longer and longer or is it just our imagination? We here @ It's a Football Thing have been chomping @ the bit from the second Man City's injury time winner hit the back of the net!
Throughout the league's last season will take some beating, but even if 2011/12 was named 'best Premiership season....... EVER!!' we've come up with a few good reason's why next term will knock it bandy....

The Summer of Sport

Ok, so England didn't win the Euros. But did we expect them too?? They did better than some thought though and while Woy's Boys wasn't everyone's cup of tea (with chocolate Hob Nob) Spain's 'tika taka' possession style of play would have had many a Football League manager reaching for the tactics board with new found zeal.....will it catch on over here we wonder?
While Euro 2012 extended our football watching pleasure for a couple more weeks, the exploits of a Brit from Scotland, a Mod in Paris and some event in Stratford will mean more interest in sport for the remainder or this and the rest of next year are guaranteed and while the price of watching a game has once again become an issue we will see once again record crowds @ football.

The heat is on!

We never thought it would happen, we'd seen the last of them.......or so we thought. This group from the North with a loyal following were about to achieve the greatest comeback since Lazarus to a joyous reception, that's right The Ston....er....sorry Manchester City were once again a force in English Football.! Maybe not the biggest of shocks once the billionaire owners had dipped their toes in the murky waters of Premiership football but those ripples will be felt well into next season with a wake up call reverberating amongst the chasing pack that will see them all reach for their wallets. Good news for fans as more top names head to our shores with Chelsea being fastest out the blocks to secure Hazard, Marin and Oscar to mount a challenge and consolidate their Champions League triumph, even Mr Scrooge Wenger @ The Emirates has dug into those deep pockets of his and got spending!


Under new Management


Round and round they go where they stop nobody knows. Yep the managerial merry go round has been spinning into overdrive this Summer! From what turned into a mini soap opera @ Spurs to the once again revolving door policy @ Villa, there have been more ins n' outs than Russell Brand on the rebound. But with these comings and goings brings new drama, pressure and interest around the country.
Can AVB now @ Tottenham put his Chelsea nightmare behind him and build upon the potential shown @ Porto? Chris Hughton once the people's favourite at The Toon - who were universally derided for giving him the tin tack, will be keen to bounce back with Norwich where former boss Lambert has jumped into the very hot seat at Villa Park. While another popular manager RDM @ Chelsea will have many people itching to see how long he lasts even after last season heroics with a certain ex-Barca manager watching from the wings.
Arguably though all eyes will be on Brendan Rogers, after King Kenny was ousted from his throne the Welshman - though having shown his pedigree with The Swans, may have gone too early to a 'big' club - only time will tell.......


Coming up?


Once again for some clubs and supporters it will be about getting up or staying up. In The Premiership Reading, Southampton and West Ham have made the leap. The Upton Park outfit have become a bit of a yo yo side in recent times and under Big Sam will be looking to consolidate on there Play Off Final win which the club itself has been treating like some kind of Champions League victory and I guess revenue wise it almost is.
The promoted clubs will bring a fresh batch of players for us to feast our eyes on as well, with Rickie Lambert @ The Saints and Alfie Le Fronde with Reading looking to make their mark at the top table.
In the lower leagues the long journey to riches starts all over again and added to the mix will be those dropped down looking to bounce back up at the first time of asking. Once the Premiership settles down to it's usual three horse race, it's in the outer reaches of the countries leagues where all the drama and action actually happens, along with some teams under new management it's worth gazing further down the tables to see where the proper footballing stories unfold.

Footballing & money

Can the real footballer stand up please?

There's no doubt it football has grown into a sponsorship nightmare. Some people are more interested in what the players are wearing than how the team performs on the pitch. Today for example the F.A show cased the latest nike ball to be used for next season, who really cares? a balls a ball! it's what the players do with it that counts, like sticking it in the back of the net, or produce a world class save thats what people should be talking about! 

The media along with advertising campaigns have created a bubble which allows players to believe they walk on water, average players that 30 years ago wouldn't of even been picked to play sunday league find themselves on drinks bottles, or sandwich packs! Take Bendtner or Gomes for example. Some even find the need in tweeting pictures of themselves while on holiday in a 5 star resort, the kind of place no working man can afford to go to, "Cheers mate while i'm earning £10 per hour struggling for ends meat your out drinking champaign" yeah thanks for sharing that! they need to come back to the real world and be part of the living! 

I remember growing up, and players would live down the same road, eat at the same places and shop at local supermarkets! I mean even Gazza who was a superstar at the time, would think nothing more than popping to the local shops for a loaf of bread. Could you imaging Terry or Rooney doing that? 

As soon as the season ends, its who's leaving and who's handed in a transfer request, Sky almost invent rumours on a daily basis, after all they were to blame for 'Arry losing his job at Spurs, by banging on about the England job and how or why he is the next boss... we all know what happened there don't we! So what has happened to the one club player? with only a handful about it's a dying breed. Hat's off to Giggs, Scholes, King and co *RVP and Modric take note! 

So with all this money, hype and hysteria flying about now in the footballing world, how long will it be until we have time-outs or even extra time multi-ball? We may laugh about it, but the way things are going its closer than you think. Just ask Cardiff fans. They are now the famous blue birds that play in red! 

....and the Award goes to.

We've reached that time of year, when people (the media & public alike) look back on the year and dish out their annual awards...Man of the Year, Award for the Best Award Award......you know the sort of thing. Well we've already unveiled our team of the year (to rapturous silence) so we thought why not go the whole hog, clamber unsteadily up onto the bandwagon and give out some awards of our own, starting with......

Cult Hero of the Year

To me the term "Cult Hero" means one of those players that maybe doesn't stand out for his footballing ability, they provoke as much hate (if not more) as they do love from the terraces, there is a rapport though with the supporters and his off the field antics are followed just as closely as his on the pitch movement. There have been a few to chose from this year, players that unite the fans even of rival teams. Honorary mentions should go to David Luiz @ Chelsea maybe not up to the defensive duties all the time, but with hair like that kid out of Outnumbered and his  CFTV appearances he has brought a smile to fans faces since arriving from Brazil, Joey Barton divides opinion but taking to Twitter to vent his spleen against the 'Cockney Mafia' @ St James Park and in the process sticking up for the fans proved the way forward for all aspiring members of football's Twitterati.
But the winner is Mario Balotelli, sure he has scored a few goals (one with an arrogant shoulder) but it's his larger than life persona and eccentric behaviour off the pitch that have engaged the fans & media alike, whether it's driving into a woman's prison 'just to have a look round' or handing wads of cash out to tramps one things for sure we could do with a lot more like him...and all three have that magic ingredient that's lacking in some.........a personality.

Signing of the Year

A decent signing should do what he's been bought in to do, make an impact, fill a gap and ultimately improve the squad. There's many a risk involved, agents hounding managers trying to get him to buy his star player that he's only ever seen on YouTube, trying to get that skin flint Chairman to stump up the cash, only 'a couple more players away from a Championship winning team' and every fan knowing exactly what's needed to make the team better!

Luiz Suarez, Scott Parker, Sergio Augero have all been banded about as the most deserving winner, but for me it's Demba Ba. Signed initially @ West Ham on a pay as play deal his first steps into the Premiership were not ideal with the team ending the season on the way to The Championship, he managed seven goals in twelve though, not bad for a team hanging on for most of the season and once The Hammers fell through the Premiership trap door his release clause was triggered and in stepped Newcastle Utd!

There was interest from other parties and Alan Pardew (for the money paid) for me has the signing of the season, what a coup selling Andy Carroll for £30-odd million and replacing him successfully with someone on a freebie. With two hat-tricks already this season The Toon will miss Ba while he's @ The African Nations Cup and when he gets back how long will they be able to keep hold of him once the bigger boys come calling?

Rising Star

With more and more foreigners in the Premiership young players coming through the ranks at your club are in danger of becoming as rare as rocking horse shit! Obviously lack of money @ some teams means they rely on rising stars that much more. The usual route to stardom used to revolve around polishing boots & cleaning toilets as life as an apprentice, but nowadays it's any number of loan moves to the lower leagues to get that valuable experience. With the promise of money and fame ever more present in the game today some of these young upstarts get too big for their boots though, with agents whispering in their ears and the chance to make a quick buck for all parties, they're off........not always to better things.

Young players that have made it through have finally come to fruition this year with the likes of Scott Sinclair, Kyle Walker & Daniel Sturridge all going out on lower league loans before being deemed worthy or finding a club that will play them.

But for rising star I'm going for Phil Jones who after impressing @ Blackburn has gone on to bigger things at Old Trafford and has a bright future as one of England's new Young Lions with his versatility making him a cert for the Euro 2012 squad.

Those are my awards then, I'm sure we could have come up with other categories, maybe you can? What's you opinion? Let us know by commenting below or have your say on our Facebook page....

Scout and about - Shaun Wright Phillips

When our resident Scout comes into the office on a Monday morning, he usually brings with him tales of young, new, little known players he has seen on his weekends away.  Royston Drenthe @ Everton, Rubén Rochina with Blackburn or Paul Pogba @ Old Trafford amongst others have all had him salivating into his first hot cuppa and cheeky Hob Nob of the day.
So this week when the name Shaun Wright-Phillips was on every one's lips we thought we'd heard it all before. But with his early season form and promise of regular first team football, SWP could about to be a player revitalised.

Arriving @ Loftus Road as the transfer window had started to creak to a close, Shaun faced an on the spot interview from the Sky Sports Reporter who had taken up squatting rights there that particular evening and it was clear for all to see that he really didn't want to leave Manchester, but with the only other option that of getting splinters on his bum from warming the City bench, he decided the time was right to leave the club he loved and played for twice for a new life in West London.

Now 29 years of age it's fair to say that he wasn't helped in his first few seasons at Maine Road by lack of stability at the club, going through managers like a dose of salts and the added bonus of relegation probably didn't help.
But after breaking into the side under Kevin Keegan he became a fans favourite winning the 'Young Player of the Year' award on four successive occasions. It was then that he first appeared in an England shirt and attracted the attention of Chelsea, who paid £21m for his services.

Once again managerial turmoil at a club hindered his career, add to that this time the owners need for instant success and SWP was once again on the periphery of things. During his time he did however continue to appear and score for his country.
Inevitably really after one managerial shake up too many he fell out of favour completely and was granted a return to the Sky Blues.

Without taking anything away from QPR something SWP is more likely to get now is first team football and of course if a player is playing week in week out their confidence and form improves. This could lead to a return to the England set up where his bustling, energetic approach has earned him praise on International Duty in the past.
England have had their fair share of wingers trying to stake a claim for a regular spot in the team, but even if the early season form of Ashley Young has made him a first choice, there is still a place on the other flank there for the taking.
Let's hope for Shaun's sake that the recent  takeover @ The Hoops doesn't mean a case of history repeating and that this new start isn't another false dawn.