Bobby vs the Bookies

In his first guest post for Pele Confidential, Bobby Hare makes his predictions for a selection of the weekend’s Premier League games.

Payday’s a couple of weeks away, I’m precariously close to the wrong end of my overdraft and Christmas presents for the family aren’t going to buy themselves.

Nonetheless, there’s a cracking weekend of Premier League football to come so it’s time to get down the bookies (or onto their websites). Feast your eyes on my tips and you’ll be quids in. Hopefully.

Aston Villa vs West Bromwich Albion

As soon as Martin O’Neill decided to leave Villa in the lurch just five days before the start of the new season, it was always likely that they were going to have a season of transition.

Whilst a lowly position of 16th looks precarious, any judgement of Gerard Houllier’s team needs to be placed into context.

The tightness of the Premier League means that whilst the pessimist will point out that Villa are only two points from the relegation zone, a (wo)man of a cheerier disposition will retort that they are a mere three points from mid-table security.

Albion have enjoyed a great return to the top league, with Roberto Di Matteo promoting a style of ‘carpet football’ that regularly delights the neutral observer.

In Chris Brunt, Somen Tchoyi and Peter Odemwingie, the Baggies have an attacking triumvirate that are capable of hitting the net and the general (understated) quality of their squad means that they’ll be more than comfortable this season.

That said, their away form is rather hit-and-miss at the moment (only one win in the past five), while Villa have only been beaten once at home in eight outings.

With Ashley Young back in the side, Villa will add some much needed attacking impetus to a line-up that looked severely deficient at the sharp end against Liverpool on Monday.

Emile Heskey is also likely to start, although I am still undecided as to whether this will be to Villa’s detriment or not.

Considering Villa’s poor form, 11/10 for them to win is a little skinny for my liking, but given both sides’ propensity to ship goals, betting on over three goals at 2/1 is money in the bank.

Everton vs Wigan Athletic

Casting a quick glance over the fixture list tells me that there aren’t many bankers in the Premier League over the coming days, but Everton’s weekend assignment against Wigan is probably as
straightforward a task as any side will have.

David Moyes’ boys have struggled thus far, but it should come as no surprise whatsoever. There are seemingly three certainties in life: taxes, death and Everton having half a season of hibernation before they start bothering.

It’s a mystery as to why the Toffees seem to begin each season in such lacklustre fashion, but if they could replicate their frequent post-Christmas surges in the first half of each campaign, they’d be bona fide Champions League contenders.

Despite indifferent form, they’ll be buoyed by their recent (fully deserved) point at Stamford Bridge and this is probably the point they will start to kick on.

Perhaps not coincidentally, their squad is beginning to assume a more familiar complexion, with a number of injured absentees slowly returning to the fray.

Wigan, meanwhile, are a poor side. They’re frightfully inept in front of goal (only 13 goals in 16 games) and astonishingly accommodative to opposition attackers (28 conceded).

Perhaps more concerning is that Roberto Martinez can’t seem to compute the fact that they’re in dire straits.

Wigan will probably be relegated this season. There won’t be much of a fight. It won’t be very exciting. And once they’re gone, no one will really care.

Tim Cahill is Everton’s top scorer this season with an impressive haul of eight league goals. I’m tempted by him to score first at 9/2 (whilst the more conservative punter might be attracted by Cahill anytime at 6/5). Such will be the Merseysiders’ superiority in this one, I’ll be getting on Everton to win both halves at 2/1.

West Ham United vs Manchester City

If we discount West Ham’s demolition of Man Utd in the Carling Cup (and I really would urge everyone to forget that particular result) then it’s fair to posit that the Hammers are a struggling outfit.

They’ve collected only four points from their last five games and are arguably a long-term Scott Parker injury away from going down, unless some of the supporting cast can come to the fore.

Victor Obinna has played a more influential role in recent weeks, whilst Avram Grant will be hoping he can coax more of the sort of performance that Carlton Cole produced when he terrorised Jonny Evans in the aforementioned cup win.

With Rob Green enjoying a quietly effective season following his tortuous summer with England and Matt Upson slowly edging back to his best form, there is hope for the East Londoners.

Meanwhile Man City are besieged by infighting as Roberto Mancini (the third Roberto mentioned in this column!) apparently struggles to juggle the assortment of egos in the Eastlands dressing room.

If press rumours are to be believed (in this column, for the sake of a more interesting discourse, they will be) Carlos Tevez can’t stand his manager. But far from throwing a strop, the indefatigable Argentinean has channelled his frustrations postively – finding the net 10 times already.

And therein lies City’s problem. Tevez accounts for nearly half of all his side’s goals and he’s suspended on Saturday.

Shorn of their talisman and attacking inspiration, City could struggle to break their opponents down, while West Ham don’t exactly boast a galaxy of attacking riches either.

Something tells me that neither team will have enough firepower to win this one and I’ll be piling on the draw at a shade over twos.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea

Perhaps it’s the fact that he’s not speaking his native language, meaning he can’t suitably paint a picture of how he truly feels, but Carlo Ancelotti is magnificently understated every time he tells
us: “it’s not a good moment.”

It’d be far more apt to say: “it’s an absolute fucking crisis to be honest.” But Carlo is a nice man, with a superb eyebrow, so I’m prepared to let it slide.

Sometimes teams suffer a loss of form and it’s difficult to pinpoint quite what’s gone wrong. This is not one of those situations.

Roman Abramovich has been a bit of a silly bugger by interfering with a side that started the season as though they were intent on smashing the 100-goal barrier for a second consecutive year.

Meanwhile, Tottenham are chugging along beautifully as the neutrals’ second team, playing a brand of football that relies on a swashbuckling ‘you score three, we’ll score four’ approach.

They also consigned a particularly troubling ghost to its grave when they completed an unlikely comeback over Arsenal at the Emirates last month: They finally beat one of the big boys away from home.

Whilst it can be argued that this was only one isolated victory, it’s still likely that Spurs have smashed a key mental barrier and they’ll feel as though they are now fully paid up members of the league’s ‘Big Four.’

Chelsea are a big-game team, and there is a school of thought that consecutive fixtures against Spurs (away), Man Utd (home) and Arsenal (away) is just what they need to overcome their malaise.

But I play truant from that particular school. Whilst it’s arguable that 8/5 for ‘Chewsea’ is an inviting price, I tend to think it’s a bit skimpy considering they’ve mustered a paltry three goals in their last six league games and collected just five points.

Instead, I’ll be looking at the in-form Gareth Bale (who has goals
against Arsenal, Chelsea and Internazionale against his name this calendar year), playing against one of Chelsea’s rickety right backs, to score anytime at 11/4.

Manchester United vs Arsenal

Arsenal and United are positioned one and two going into this weekend. The former are genuine title contenders once more and for the first time in a while between these two clubs, there appears to be an undercurrent of animosity and needling.

United’s Patrice Evra, the loon of a left back, has fanned the flames by stating that Arsenal are a club in “crisis” having not troubled the trophy engravers for five years, whilst Arsene Wenger’s retort is that his fellow countryman has been disrespectful.

However, shorn of combustible characters like Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Martin Keown, the game itself is likely to go relatively incident free.

On the pitch, United-Arsenal games at Old Trafford have tended to be tight affairs of late. United have won two of the past three games 2-1, with the odd game being drawn 0-0.

Interestingly, in the two United wins, it was Arsenal who took the lead before being pegged back and eventually defeated. And that is pretty much an encapsulation of the current Arsenal crop: they beguile us at the beginning, teasing and tantalising us into thinking they can challenge, before they’re bought crashing down to the
ground by a grittier and more determined outfit.

Irrespective of the fact that both sides have conceded goals with alarming regularity, this game probably won’t be a goalfest. The stakes are far too high for an open exhibition of attacking football to
be displayed.

Given Arsenal’s penchant for a collapse, I’m tempted to have a flutter on Arsenal half-time, Man Utd full-time at a meaty 22-1.

Finally, if you like your doubles, why not get on Man Utd and Tottenham at over 4s?

Good luck and Merry Crimbo!

(All odds are from Bet365.com)

Premier League Round-Up 02/11/10

It has reached that point in the season when the Premier League table starts to take shape, with those teams at the top eking out hard-fought victories over those at the bottom.

Nowhere was this more true than at Ewood Park, where Chelsea came from behind to snatch a 2-1 win through a late header from Branislav Ivanovic.

In the same fixture last season, Carlo Ancelotti’s side limped to an unconvincing 1-1 draw – seen then as a sign of their title aspirations fading – and the three points earned on Saturdaywill represent a huge morale boost for a team whose flying start to the campaign has been long forgotten.

The key to any title contender’s season is the way they perform without their best players. While Frank Lampard’s absence has triggered a slight downturn in form, the Blues have responding well to September’s defeat at Manchester City with three wins from four league games.

Alex Song

Arsenal also left it late to grab all three points at home to West Ham, in a game which was beginning to look very reminiscent of Arsene Wenger’s first league defeat at the Emirates Stadium three-and-a-half years ago.

Some resolute defending and an inspired performance from Rob Green almost earned West Ham their first away shut-out of the season, but Alex Song popped up to turn in a pinpoint Gael Clichy delivery two minutes from time.

These are not the games which will determine West Ham’s survival, but they are the games which will shape Arsenal’s title challenge, and Song’s winner could prove crucial in terms of momentum.

Manchester United remain third after seeing off the surprisingly-weak challenge of Tottenham at Old Trafford, although the clinching goal will be talked about for some time.

Mark Clattenburg has previous with Spurs, of course, but that in itself would have been no reason for him to disallow Nani’s effort. He simply made a hash of the initial decision and seemed almost afraid to admit the original error, even if in retrospect it seems like the only logical course of action.

At least Harry Redknapp can use that flashpoint to avoid a bigger problem – the complete lack of a cutting edge in the absence of Spurs’ attacking triumvirate of Crouch, Defoe and van der Vaart.

Manchester City have clung onto fourth spot despite slipping to a 2-1 defeat at an impressive Wolves side far removed from the negativity of last season.

Nenad Milijas

Nenad Milijas and Dave Edwards scored the goals after Emmanuel Adebayor had given City the lead from the penalty spot, but the hosts had plenty of other chances to score and could have really embarrassed their opponents had they been more clinical.

There has been talk this week of Antonio Cassano moving to City after his shock release by Sampdoria, but Roberto Mancini should be looking at solidifying his back four rather than bringing in another forward.

West Bromwich Albion missed the chance to leapfrog Mancini’s side on Monday night, giving themselves a mountain to climb by going down to nine men within half an hour against Blackpool.

As harsh as Pablo Ibanez’s 9th-minute dismissal was, Gonzalo Jara can have no excuses after leaping two-footed into a challenge with Luke Varney, and that should have been that.

But after Varney added to Charlie Adam’s early penalty, Blackpool almost let the visitors snatch an unlikely point. Youssuf Mulumbu’s sweet strike halved the deficit, and the game might have ended 2-2 had a late, late chance fallen to anyone but Steven Reid, but the Irishman failed to add to his 6 goals in over 100 Premier League games.

Newcastle are now a mere point behind the side they beat to the Championship title last season, courtesy of a crushing 5-1 victory over Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby.

After conceding only seven goals in their nine previous games, Steve Bruce could be forgiven for thinking his defence was doing a reasonable job, but the Black Cats’ back-line was conspicuous in its absence as Shola Ameobi netted twice and Kevin Nolan fired home his first Premier League hat-trick in more than 10 years of asking.

Steve Brucs

Everton continued their good form of late with a 1-0 win against Stoke, Yakubu scoring the only goal when he reacted quickest after Tim Cahill struck the post.

It was a timely strike for the forward, who has struggled for goals after a poor World Cup with Nigeria, but another shot-shy frontman felt he should also have put his name on the scoresheet.

Stoke’s Turkish frontman Tuncay found the net again one week after his stunner against Manchester United, but referee Lee Probert harshly ruled it out for a push.

The defeat at Goodison Park left Stoke 16th, two points behind Fulham after the Cottagers cruised to a 2-0 win against a lacklustre Wigan outfit.

Clint Dempsey scored both goals for the hosts, doubling his tally for the season, as Fulham opened up a gap between themselves and the bottom three.

They are one of five teams currently on 12 points, and Liverpool joined that group with a scrappy 1-0 win at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium.

Maxi Rodriguez

Maxi Rodriguez scored the only goal of the game to ease some of the pressure on Reds boss Roy Hodgson, but it will take more than the odd 1-0 win for him to win over the Anfield faithful.

The final game of the weekend was a surprisingly-tame second-city derby between Birmingham and Aston Villa.

An uneventful goalless draw hardly provided the best advert for the upcoming Carling Cup quarter-final between the two sides, with the stop-start nature of the game ensuring neither side could get a real rhythm going. Maybe the cup tie will be different.

Team of the week (4-2-3-1)

Green (West Ham); Ivanovic (Chelsea), Hughes (Fulham) Stearman (Wolves), Salcido (Fulham); Heitinga (Everton), Clark (Aston Villa); Nolan (Newcastle), Edwards (Wolves), Dempsey (Fulham); Benjani (Blackburn)

Premier League Round-up 27/09/2010

In a week of Premier League shocks, none were bigger than West Brom’s 3-2 triumph at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. Even more surprising than the result was the fact that the visitors were good value for the three points, turning over the hosts with a stirring second-half performance.

They could even afford to miss a penalty, with Chris Brunt firing his first-half effort too close to Manuel Almunia, before goals from Peter Odemwingie, Gonzalo Jara and former Gunners man Jerome Thomas sealed victory.

Gonzalo Jara

Two late Samir Nasri strikes not enough to rescue a point for Arsenal, who will be concerned by their lack of fight in the absence of Cesc Fabregas, Thomas Vermaelen and Robin van Persie (among others). The trio will still be missing for tomorrow’s trip to Belgrade to face Partizan, as will Almunia, and Arsene Wenger will expect big performances from some of his fringe players.

The fixture against West Brom had represented a chance for Arsenal to make up ground on league leaders Chelsea, who fell to a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City earlier on Saturday.

Carlos Tevez may have grabbed the headlines with his superb solo goal, but the plaudits should belong to City’s midfield duo Nigel de Jong and Yaya Toure. The pair bossed proceedings against Chelsea’s not-insubstantial pairing of Mikel and Essien, keeping the champions’ chances to a minimum and freeing space for their forwards to flourish on the break.

Despite his recent goalscoring run, Essien has been looking less of an asset since recovering from the knee problem which kept him out of the World Cup. Carlo Ancelotti will hope the return of Frank Lampard next month spurs the Ghanaian star into action in time for a testing run of fixtures.

With their rivals faltering, the stage seemed set for Manchester United to spring back into life against Bolton, but in truth the 2-2 scoreline at the Reebok Stadium flattered the visitors.

Michael Owen

There are positives to take from the game, though, not least Michael Owen’s return to goalscoring form. The England man, plagued by injuries last season, managed to build on a midweek double against Scunthorpe by deftly placing a header into the far corner of Jussi Jaaskelainen’s net, cancelling out Martin Petrov’s deflected strike within minutes.

2-2 was also the final score at the Stadium of Light, in a game which will be remembered more for one mystifying refereeing decision than for the hard-fought battle between Sunderland and Liverpool.

After ruling that Sunderland had taken a free-kick from the wrong place, Stuart Attwell somehow convinced himself Michael Turner backheeling the ball to the correct spot constituted the taking of the kick. In a scenario not dissimilar to Marc Overmars’ goal for Arsenal against Sheffield United a few years ago, Dirk Kuyt scored the opener with Black Cats ‘keeper Simon Mignolet static and bemused.

With all this controversy hogging the headlines, it is easy to ignore a well-taken brace from the impressive Darren Bent, or even the headed equaliser from Steven Gerrard (a strike which I refuse to dub a ‘captain’s goal’), but 2-2 it ended and Liverpool remain at the wrong end of the Premier League table.

Hot on the heels of Roy Hodgson’s side are West Ham, who moved off the bottom of the table with a surprise 1-0 victory over Tottenham at Upton Park.

Frederic Piquionne scored the only goal, but the hosts owe the three points to a rare display of defensive solidity, epitomised by Robert Green’s world-class save from Luka Modric.

Robert Green

The Irons will hope to build on that result next week when they face Fulham, one of two sides still unbeaten in the league this season.

Mark Hughes’ men ensured their fifth draw in six games after holding basement side Everton to a stalemate at Craven Cottage. Again the goalkeepers were the stars, with Fulham’s Australian stopper Mark Schwarzer edging Everton’s American ‘keeper Tim Howard in the performance stakes.

That was not the only goalless draw of the weekend, with Birmingham and Wigan also cancelling each other out in a game of few clear-cut chances at St Andrew’s.

Tempers began to flare in the first half, Hugo Rodallega tangling with Roger Johnson, and things finally boiled over in stoppage time when Craig Gardner was dismissed for a nasty challenge which left Wigan sub Franco di Santo requiring treatment.

The final game on Saturday was also far from the prettiest, but Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce will not be complaining. Brett Emerton’s stoppage-time strike saw off a spirited Blackpool side, who looked to have salvaged a point when debutant Matt Phillips found a way past Paul Robinson.

Emerton’s goal was his first in the league since November 2007, and the Australian international will be looking to use it as a springboard to reignite his career at Ewood Park after losing his starting place to Michel Salgado.

Brett Emerton

The award for comedy own-goal of the week was a close-call, with Blackpool’s Charlie Adam just pipped by Newcastle right-back James Perch. The former Nottingham Forest man powered a diving header beyond Tim Krul to gift opponents Stoke all three points at St James’ Park.

It was a game which Newcastle should have won, given their visitors’ apparent decision not to start playing until the second half, but a one-goal advantage was not enough once Rory Delap and his missile of a throw-in entered the fray, and a Kenwyne Jones header drew Stoke level before Perch’s aberration.

The final game of the weekend saw something almost as rare as a Brett Emerton goal: a second in successive games for Emile Heskey.

The Aston Villa striker, seemingly enjoying a new lease of life under former mentor Gerard Houllier, headed in Stephen Warnock’s 88^th-minute cross to see off Wolves, just four days after equalising in the Carling Cup win over Blackburn.

Wolves will be disappointed to lose the derby game, especially considering Warnock was lucky to still be on the pitch when he delivered the match-winning cross, but they will be more concerned with the broken leg suffered by young midfielder Adlene Guedioura.

Team of the week (4-2-3-1):

Green (West Ham); Jara (West Brom), Cuellar (Aston Villa), Da Costa (West Ham), Givet (Blackburn); De Jong (Man City), Yaya Toure (Man City); El-Hadji Diouf (Blackburn) Petrov (Bolton), Nani (Man Utd); Jones (Stoke)

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Welcome back Premier League, we missed you

Last week I brought you a round-up of the opening weekend’s of the football league, but many fans will have seen that action as nothing more than a warm-up for the big one: the Premier League kick-off.

Almost every club has been busy in the transfer market, and supporters have been eager to see how their side’s new recruits coped with the demands of top-flight football. But it was an uncharacteristically familiar Chelsea side who took the plaudits after an exciting start to the season up and down the country.

Drogba: hat-trick

Carlo Ancelotti has only made two senior signings this summer, and with neither Ramires or Yossi Benayoun ready to start it was left to Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda to fire a warning shot to the rest of the league. Hat-trick hero Drogba looks to be on worryingly good form already, and the champions are in no danger of stumbling out of the starting blocks

But it would take more than that 6-0 demolition of West Brom to take the shine of the performance of Premier League newcomers Blackpool. The Seasiders coasted (pun intended) to victory at Wigan, with the 4-0 scoreline putting them second in the table, their inexperienced side showing no signs of stagefright.

‘Pool manager Ian Holloway has had limited success in the transfer market so far, but in French under-21 international Elliot Grandin he seems to have found a bargain. The former Marseille and CSKA Sofia youngster ripped the Wigan defence to shreds, creating the third goal for Marlon Harewood when his shot was saved, and could provide the creativity Holloway’s team will need if they are to continue surprising their opponents.

Albrighton: unplayable

Another future star of the game announced himself at Villa Park. Marc Albrighton may be called upon more frequently if James Milner moves to Manchester, but on the kind of form he showed against West Ham there are many who would argue he deserves to start ahead of the England utility man. The young winger created two goals and ran the Hammers’ full-backs ragged as he switched wings with Ashley Young over the 90 minutes.

Avram Grant’s side, like fellow bottom-three residents West Brom and Wigan, were worryingly toothless, demonstrating that an unbeaten pre-season counts for nothing. The return of Manuel da Costa and Thomas Hitzlsperger will help, but Grant may need to bring in more new faces.

Elsewhere, several goalkeepers hit the headlines, none more than Manchester City’s Joe Hart. After an accomplished if unremarkable performance at Wembley on Wednesday, Hart was a one-man barrier between Spurs and the City goal after his back four decided to take the day off. At least half a dozen top-class saves meant the score stayed 0-0, and Hart’s form may well see Shay Given decide he needs to find a new club.

That club could be Arsenal, for whom Manuel Almunia faltered once again. Beaten at his near post by David N’Gog, Almunia’s days at Arsenal must surely be numbered. With his every move under close scrutiny, the Spaniard could not afford to make any mistakes.

Reina: howler

At the opposite end of the Anfield pitch, Pepe Reina looked to be enjoying a more fruitful 90 minutes, with a world-class stop from Tomas Rosicky set to round off a stirring performance. That was until, just minutes after flapping at a cross to nearly let Theo Walcott in for a late equaliser, Reina somehow contrived to scoop the ball into his own net in the last minute of normal time.

With Rob Green and Ben Foster doing little to enhance their international prospects this weekend, Fulham’s David Stockdale staked his claim for inclusion in Fabio Capello’s next squad. Called upon as an eleventh-hour replacement for Mark Schwarzer, Stockdale denied Bolton victory with a number of impressive saves. The Trotters already look more of an attacking force under Owen Coyle than they ever did during Gary Megson’s tenure, with even Johan Elmander starting to find some form.

Cattermole: predictable

At the Stadium of Light, Lee Cattermole surprised no one by becoming the first player to be sent off this season. Failing to recognise the line between reasonable aggression and persistent fouling, the Sunderland captain picked up two yellow cards before the half-time interval. Opposite number Stephen Carr attempted to match Cattermole in the embarrassment stakes with a comical own goal, but he was ultimately bailed out by his team-mates, with two scrappy goals seeing the Blues overturn a two-goal deficit.

The remaining two games both – perhaps surprisingly – ended in home victories. Wolves eased past Stoke after scoring twice in the same game for the first time this century* while yet another goalkeeping howler (this time from Tim Howard) saw Blackburn’s Nikola Kalinic score the only goal against Everton.

Mick McCarthy’s Wolves side have made the necessary improvements to their squad this season, and know they will need to turn Molineux into a fortress if they are to prolong their stay in the top flight. And they can do far worse than look at Blackburn for inspiration, the Ewood Park side picking up 36 of their 50 points last season on home soil.

*statistic may or may not be exaggerrated for comic effect

Team of the week (4-5-1):

Hart (Man City); Onuoha (Sunderland), Samba (Blackburn), Dunne (Aston Villa), Agger (Liverpool); Albrighton (Aston Villa), Jones (Wolves), Grandin (Blackpool), Huddlestone (Tottenham), Malouda (Chelsea); Drogba (Chelsea)

England v Hungary – the same old story

Just over one month ago, England showed plenty of attacking intent and a worrying amount of defensive ineptitude as they crashed out of the World Cup to Germany. Last night against Hungary it was a similar story, but thankfully for under-pressure manager Fabio Capello the opponents at Wembley were not clinical enough to capitalise on his own team’s shortcomings.

It is crazy to overlook obvious failings based on the result of a single game, but that did not stop the chorus of half-time boos disappearing when the curtain fell on an unconvincing victory. Similarly, captain Steven Gerrard, uninvolved and uninspiring in the first half, was hailed as a hero after his match-winning brace.

Personally, I am not one to boo my team, especially when I have paid good money to watch them play. But for those who are so inclined, England’s first-half display provided a decent excuse for expressing dissatisfaction in such a way. Shaky in defence, bland in midfield and toothless in attack, the only bright spark for Capello’s team was the energy of a rejuvenated Theo Walcott.

Walcott was one of England's best performers

The Arsenal wide-man is at his best when given space to run at defences, and he looked free from the hesitation which plagued Aaron Lennon’s displays in South Africa and Walcott’s own disappointing World Cup warm up. There are those who say his impact will be limited against the top teams when he has less space with which to work, but in 45 minutes against Hungary the former Southampton player demonstrated what England lacked against mediocre opposition in the group stage.

Walcott was among several players absent from the World Cup squad who were given a chance to impress last night, but few grasped the opportunity. His club team-mate Kieran Gibbs showed some good touches after replacing Ashley Cole at the interval, while Bobby Zamora’s creative movement and well-saved long-range effort were about as much as we can expect from a striker who has plenty of willing but little in the way of international class.

During England’s World Cup campaign, much was made of the lack of pace and conviction at centre-back. While improving somewhat on Terry and Upson’s lack of mobility, both Michael Dawson and Phil Jagielka looked uncomfortable at the back, culminating in the comedy of errors which led to the opener for Hungary. One might expect the duo, both established first-team players at their respective clubs, not to be overawed by the situation, but that was not the case.

Among the other new (or new-ish) faces, only Adam Johnson was given the full 90 minutes to impress. The Manchester City winger cannot be accused of shying away from the opportunity, but those watching will have got the impression he was striving too hard to impress after being left out of the World Cup 23. A criminal miss in the first half, the like of which would have seen more established team mates panned, summed up Johnson’s over-eagerness to impress.

Cahill is still waiting for his full England debut

While Capello was more open to change than some of his predecessors have been, many players will feel disappointed not to have been given a chance to take to the field. Gary Cahill and Carlton Cole, the only outfield players to remain on the bench, must be wondering what they need to do to get an extended run-out for the national team. And while others retained their place in spite of a poor World Cup, Peter Crouch was not given the opportunity to add to the 15-or-so minutes he played in South Africa.

At least it was not all doom and gloom, though. Joe Hart put in an assured performance in goal, giving the impression he may be able to fill the position for years to come. That is, providing fans do not jump on any mistake he makes, as has been the case with Green and Robinson before him. A rare glimmer of promise on a night which showed a lot of work needs to be done.

***

Before I leave you for this week, I would like to take a minute to remember Adam Stansfield, the Exeter City striker who lost his battle with cancer at the age of just 31.

Stansfield was a rare commodity, a footballer who no one had a bad word to say about, and he will be sorely missed. For those who want to know a little more about him, I recommend you read this sensitive tribute from Gary Andrews.