Football Food For Thought / Tareq Quiroz / 12 December 2008 / 1

Busy festive periods, whether winning their Champions League group really matters and angry outbursts after defeat never seem to be too far away from Premiership manager's mouths, says Tareq Quiroz.

We have had a typically busy early December in the football world but it is nothing compared to the festive period programme that faces many of the English clubs. Those in European competition have spent the last couple of weeks jockeying for position in regards qualification for the next phase.

Why there is so much drama around whether you win the group or come second I really don't know. Losing is never good but the quality of runners up in the Champions League is no different to that of the winners. For me it is just another case of the usual suspects talking about the same old thing
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I am no different to any football fan in that I scour the net for comments from any person even associated with my club. As a Villa fan, if I see Martin O'Neill on the TV I immediately reach for the volume button to turn it up so that I can fully digest what he has to say. That is just natural for any die hard fan but if we are totally honest with each other, the topics don't change and most of the time we just get the same old diatribe.

Some managers are better than others and I may be biased but at least O'Neill is enthusiastic in his approach and is someone a neutral might want to listen to. He has certainly got the team playing and another popular topic at the moment centres on the possibility of whether anyone can break the top four stranglehold. O'Neill won't be drawn, but if you think they will, then you can back them at [4.5] in the Top Four Finish market.

It seems to me that many of the top flight managers are full of their own importance. Nobody can knock Sir Alex Ferguson's record in the game but he portrays himself as some sort of Godfather. He and his team can do what they like when they like. I wouldn't mind so much but when something doesn't go his way he throws his toys out of the pram.

Ferguson still refuses to do any interviews with the BBC following a documentary that they aired back in 2004. He is the manager of the most successful team in England and fans all over the country deserve to hear his comments on Match of the Day. There were also reports last month that Ferguson refused to speak to Sky after he was unhappy about comments by their pundits in regards to another Rooney incident.

Football was around long before these managers and will be around long after they have gone. The game has made them, not the other way around. Some managers are too stuck in their ways to realise that. I don't mind managers who are cagey or those who aren't great speakers but to react pettily to every comment made about their team is unacceptable for the fans.

Ferguson might think he is too important to give the public what they deserve but it certainly does nothing for the grand tradition of his club. A club that once again are purring along and look ready to strike in the Premier League. The [3.15] about them winning that league may look huge once the festive period is over.

There are far too many examples of managers talking the same old rubbish to even go there. Tell us something we don't know. I find that the new younger managers are on the whole a lot better at the communication side of things than the old guard. Something starkly highlighted by the recent return of Joe Kinnear. The Newcastle boss started his tenure at St. James' Park with a quite remarkable attack. His now infamous expletive laden outburst was ridiculous in any form of life. Did Kinnear really think those sort of comments were acceptable?

I am not a prude and I am more than happy for managers to speak their mind but surely only somebody who revels in their own importance would make such an astonishing outburst. Whatever his reason, it was needed and does nothing for the club or the game in general. Some say it was an attempt to deflect attention from his struggling players. If it was then it was at best ill-conceived.

Newcastle need to concentrate on matters on the field and not be distracted by the manager's constant irritating antics. Kinnear has got the job until the end of the season and the best they can hope for is to avoid relegation. If you think that they won't even manage that then you can back them in the Relegation market at [6.8].

With the festive period right on top of us now we can only hope that some of the festive cheer spreads to some of the more sullen faced managers in what is an exciting time for all football fans.

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