For all his current travails with Sunderland, Martin O’Neill must have allowed himself a wry smile when former club Celtic were paired with Italian giants Juventus in the Champions League draw this week.
This may be the most unsurprising statement I will ever have the pleasure of making: This week Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli made the headlines for his actions away from a football field. Shock, horror.
Do you think that Roberto Mancini would be allowed 7 trophy-less years at the helm of Manchester City? Same question of Josè Mourinho, would the temperamental Real Madrid hierarchy keep faith if he wasn’t winning silverware on a regular basis?
So, here we are, December, the festive season is truly upon us. Even though this country’s retail sector would have you believe that this has been the case since September! But now that the first few windows have been opened on your advent calendar (the one on your fireplace with the club badge on the front) there can be no doubt, Christmas is here.
The names of the three players who have made the final short-list for Fifa’s much-coveted Ballon d’Or world player of the year award will have come as a surprise to very few devotees of the beautiful game...