Mark Noble For England?

West Ham's Mark Noble was brilliant last season for the Hammers and has continued that into this Premier League campaign. After an array of excellent performances he is beginning to attract some attention, some are calling for him to get an England call up, the question is - does he deserve one?

After again starring for the Hammers in their home draw against Manchester City recently in the presence of England manager Roy Hodgson, many tipped Noble for a call up. His battling performances have been a main feature in most of West Ham's games for the last year now. Since the departure of former talisman Scott Parker, Noble has really come along. He is the first name on the teamsheet and you can see why. 

Mark Hughes - The Most Deluded Man in Football?

A quick glance at Tony Fernandes’s twitter bio sees the internationally renowned entrepreneur and Queens Park Rangers chairman describe himself as a dreamer.  Scroll a little further down and you will find him once again urging QPR supporters for patience; the message: “keep calm, we will come good.”  It will seem all too familiar to fans, who, with more than a quarter of the season played and still no wins, are left wondering when Fernandes will wake up and bring the nightmare reign of Mark Hughes to an end.

The problem with the influx of wealthy outsiders into the game’s highest positions is that they are not footballing men, they do not have the knowledge and understanding of the sport that past owners had, and rely heavily on advisers whose motives do not always match up with their own or those of the fans.

Despite spending the summer assembling a team of mercenaries akin to the latest Expendables blockbuster, Fernandes finds his team 7 league positions worse off than at this stage last season, and must be scratching his head as to where he has gone wrong.

Fernandes is just the latest in a line of foreign owners to be disappointed by Hughes, and it is hard not to feel a tinge of sympathy towards him (as much sympathy as one can have for a multimillionaire).

Chelsea - Can They Win The League?

Chelsea have started the season very well and at the time of writing sit at the top of the Premier League with 22 points from 9 games, just 1 ahead of the Manchester clubs. They spent big in the Summer, investing just over £75m in players that they hope will bring success to West London. They look very strong at the top right now but are known to have a poor run around in the Winter, the question is - can they avoid it this season and go on to win the league?

Chelsea began their campaign with 3 wins from 3 after beating Wigan, Reading and most impressively Newcastle. This showed that it hadn't taken long for Roberto Di Matteo to continue where he had left off from last season. They then had a slight blip at QPR where they were rather lacklustre and limped to a 0-0 draw in a game that was overshadowed by the off the pitch affairs. After this they struggled to a 1-0 win against Stoke thanks to a late winner, again they were unimpressive. Since then they have been very impressive however with a 6-0 demolishing of Wolves in the League Cup and a great 2-1 win at the Emirates. These results were followed  by a 4-1 win over Norwich and then a spirited 4-2 win at White Hart Lane.

Neymar - Will He Make It In Europe?

You'd be forgiven for thinking Neymar had been around for ages having recently made his 200th appearance for Brazilian side Santos however the pacy forward is just 20. He is currently a one club man and insists his loyalty remains with Santos for the near future as he isn't ready to leave Brazil yet. Tipped to be one of the hottest prospects around, Barcelona and Real Madrid are said to be fighting over his signature however having only played in one league it begs the question - will he make it on the big stage?

Neymar joined Santos in 2003 but when he was just 14 he travelled to Spain to trial with Real Madrid, he succeeded however it is said that Santos were so desperate to keep him they paid him 1m Reals which is the equivalent to around £300,000. He took this offer and remained at the Brazilian outfit until he signed a professional contract at the age of 17. His talents were obvious even at a young age and he rose through the ranks to make his debut as a 17 year old. It didn't take him long to fit in as the week following his debut he scored his first professional goal for the club. By the end of his first season he had managed 14 goals.

The Ballon D'or Award

Only announced yesterday was the shortlist for the 2012 Ballon D'or Award, widely regarded as the highest personal accolade for any individual to acquire. Last year Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina took the award for a 3rd time in 3 years, an astonishing feat. Although he is arguably the favourite for the crown he does have quite a lot of competition this year. Here is the official shortlist:

Sergio Agüero (Argentina & Manchester City)
Mario Balotelli (Italy & Manchester City)
Karim Benzema (France & Real Madrid)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy & Juventus)
Sergio Busquets (Spain & Barcelona)
Iker Casillas (Spain & Real Madrid)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea & Shanghai Shenhua)
Radamel Falcao (Colombia & Atlético Madrid)
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden, AC Milan & Paris St Germain)
Andrés Iniesta (Spain & Barcelona)
Lionel Messi (Argentina & Barcelona)
Manuel Neuer (Germany & Bayern Munich)
Neymar (Brazil & Santos)
Mesut Özil (Germany, Real Madrid)
Gerard Piqué (Spain & Barcelona)
Andrea Pirlo (Italy & Juventus)
Sergio Ramos (Spain & Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal & Real Madrid)
Wayne Rooney (England & Manchester United)
Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast & Manchester City)
Robin van Persie (Holland, Arsenal & Manchester United)
Xabi Alonso (Spain & Real Madrid)
Xavi Hernández (Spain & Barcelona)

Youth Players in Scotland - What's the point?

Scotland is a small country that somehow manages to produce great football players that go on to play in Europe's finest leagues and become legends in their own right at their respective clubs. However, there's a concern in Scotland in modern times due to the sheer uselessness of the national team. One could be forgiven for arguing that Scotland has nothing to worry about as it has produced some fine players in recent times such as Charlie Adam,
Darren Fletcher and Steven Fletcher and that this will continue.