A little late, but so was Roy Keane

(The language is a little colorful, so cover your ears, oh wait...)


So Roy Keane is back in the game. Good luck to Martin O'Neill as he'll have a few run-ins with his assistant boss at some stage as they try and get the Republic of Ireland back on track.

Hopefully Roy will be in charge of arranging the facilities and preparations for the Irish, as we all know what happens when he doesn't - and for those of you who don't, here's his rant at Mick McCarthy before the 2002 World Cup...

 "Mick, you're a liar … you're a fucking wanker. I didn't rate you as a player, I don't rate you as a manager, and I don't rate you as a person. You're a fucking wanker and you can stick your World Cup up your arse. The only reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are the manager of my country! You can stick it up your bollocks.

And then there's the incident with Alf-Inge Haaland...

After which he stood over the Norweigan and said...

I'd waited long enough. I fucking hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c**t. And don't ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries.

So welcome back Roy. We've missed you. Great player, not sure he's a great manager, or assistant, but I'm not telling him that to his face!

Mexico crowns cup champs

Morelia takes Copa MX title in penalty kicks

In the midst of Champions League football and MLS playoffs was Mexico's Copa MX final last night between Morelia and Atlas, two sides whose trophy cases aren't exactly full.

It was a thrilling 3-3 match that eventually went to penalty kicks but Morelia's Argentine veteran keeper Federico Vilar fended off three shots to give his side its first trophy since the 2001 campaign when they took the league winter title and its first Copa MX trophy.

Meanwhile, Atlas' 45-year dry spell continues. It last participated in a final in 1999 for the winter league championship but lost to Toluca.

Getting a little friendly celebrating that qualification

So Man City are into the knockout phases, along with Bayern, PSG and probably Real Madrid.

Don't get too carried away, no one wants to finish second, because beating Viktoria Plzen isn't that big a deal!

Champions League needs these...

The Champions League returns today after a small break, and who can deny that we need it. It's not just to showcase the best of the talent in Europe, it's also useful to remind us that the players are only human, and make the same mistakes we do.

We just don't get paid the same money, or face the same ridicule!

Liverpool out of the running, Roma disaster...

You'd think Liverpool had lost the league after their 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday. They were away, against the league leaders, and didn't play well. Realistically, people shouldn't have been talking them up as title contenders anyway. Brendan Rodgers has done well to develop a team worthy of competing, but they are weak at the back and are not quite ready to compete with Arsenal, Chelsea or the Manchesters. They may be able to contend for that 4th spot, but they didn't force the pace against Arsenal and stood off when they needed to start dominating the game - with the second goal a key example.

Arsenal were good, and will contend. They haven't won anything yet.

Chelsea were bad, but will contend. Don't rule them out yet.

And Manchester United and City won games easily that they should when they spend the money they do. Let's not get carried away with that. Just be thankful you don't support Norwich.

***

Roma didn't win their 11th straight Serie A game. Most people probably thought they'd only win about 10 all year after finishing 7th last year, not qualifying for Europe and selling 3 of their best players. They are still top, although Napoli and Juventus are both looking good.

AC Milan are 19 points behind Roma, and just 3 above the relegation places. Mario Balotelli to Chelsea in January? Unlikely, but why not? He's going to lose his mind at some point, and maybe a few months away from Italy ahead of the World Cup will benefit him.

***

Zlatan didn't play, Monaco lost...not much else to say there! ...Bayern are now 36 games unbeaten in the Bundesliga - don't pretend there is anyone who can compete with them at the moment. A great side, and one that must still be favorites to win the Champions League too....Messi hasn't scored in 4, the world is going to end. Barcelona are still top, Atletico are holding on and Real Madrid are still a close third - but after that, the 4th placed Villareal are miles back - 14 points behind Barca with only a quarter of the season gone. Fair to say that La Liga isn't very competitive.

Put your foot through it - the ball, not his head!

The Monday morning feeling of coming back to work....

That will get you going better than a coffee.

What do we expect from referees?

Quite simply, we expect referees to get things right - and we worry less about a throw-in or time-wasting, but they can't get the big decisions wrong and not expect criticism.

Geezer watched the New York Red Bulls draw 2-2 in the playoffs with the Houston Dynamo on Sunday. New York bossed the first half and went in 2-0 up. Then Ricardo Salazar sent off Jamison Olave for a slightly reckless tackle near the halfway line. It was a judgment call, but seemed harsh on Olave. What bugged me more was that Salazar had the red card in his hand less than a second after he blew for the foul. Take your time, have a think if that tackle was really dangerous play. It wasn't, it was a yellow, but by no means worthy of a red.

Now some people will say that it was a red, and that's the beauty of soccer. There are human errors and debates rage for days, weeks and years over decisions.

But then Salazar didn't give Houston a penalty in the last minute (just after they equalized), probably because he didn't want to give another decision against New York. It was a foul, and should have been a penalty, but every football fan has seen officials try and even things up when they know they have got a decision wrong earlier in the game.

Salazar is by no means alone. We see poor decisions all the time, bad calls, missed calls and things that make no sense to anyone but the referee.

We don't need or want technology taking over. All the excitement and momentum that used to be in other sports is dwindling due to delays in refereeing/umpiring decisions.

Let's just give the officials we have better training and more respect and in exchange for some consistency and common sense.