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    Spare a thought for long-suffering Coventry fans like ‘Simon’ who should have whole country backing them against Man Utd

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    THE NEXT time Simon from ­Surrey pours out his heart to talkSPORT about the woes of supporting Manchester United, spare a thought for ‘Steven’ from Coventry.‘Steven’ is not his real name. We are keeping his identity secret to spare the shame and indignity of being outed as a Coventry City supporter.Long-suffering Coventry fans should have the majority of other clubs backing them at WembleyCredit: PABecause unlike United in recent years who may have been a bit crap, the Sky Blues really have been to s***ville and back.Which is why there should be no debate about who I and the rest of the country should be rooting for on Sunday when the two teams meet at Wembley in their FA Cup semi-final.Being ‘sent to Coventry’ is a metaphorical punishment. But being temporarily ghosted by pals is nowhere near as extreme as having to stay there and support the city’s football team.‘Steven’ is just one of hundreds if not thousands of helpless victims unable to escape this miserable addiction — like eating toilet paper (yes, people do do it).READ MORE ON FOOTBALL‘Steven’ moved away and found a new life with a successful career but still couldn’t shake the drug of watching the Sky Blues.One day in 2016 he took a mate with him to see City play at Cambridge, appropriately in the FA Cup.‘Steven’ was hoping to turn his pal into a fan like him and imagined them enjoying memorable boy time together on road trips to and from games. Firming up their friendship by celebrating famous victories in the pub and on long car journeys with a mix tape blaring away.But things went wrong when League Two Cambridge stuck four goals past League One Cov, with Luke Berry scoring them all.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS‘Steven’ noticed a change in his mate, who seemed more distant, ­different somehow. Finally the ‘friend’ came clean and confessed that he would prefer to support Cambridge instead — and he still does.‘Steven’ also got done for speeding on the way home (three points is still three points, son) and Coventry were relegated to League Two at the end of the season.Shocking moment Coventry boss wildly celebrates in ball boy’s FACE after FA Cup winner – then accuses him of ‘smirking’Still the nightmare went on. The ­following season ‘Steven’ went with his dad to see City play Yeovil in League Two.He told me (in a disguised voice): “We were outclassed and outplayed. I had now seen City lose in the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two.  I made a point of going to the home game later that ­season as we had finally picked up form — we lost 6-2.”Coventry went 51 years without a promotion season between 1967 and 2018.Since winning the 1987 FA Cup courtesy of Gary Mabbutt’s knee, there have been three relegations, one administration, countless humiliations and years of frustration.Home games played in entirely ­different cities, ownership strife, fan ­protests and being forced to groundshare with London rugby club Wasps.After plummeting out of the Premier League in 2001, there have been 13 different full-time managers — but even Sky Blue diehards lose count when you ask.Coventry lifted the FA Cup at Wembley back in 1987Credit: GettyIn that same period Manchester United have won six Premier Leagues, two FA Cups, five League Cups, the Champions League, Europa League and Club World Cup.But they haven’t won the league for 11 years and have American owners they don’t particularly like. Heartbreaking.There are more like ‘Steven’. ‘Mark’ drove from home to Oldham one night and broke down on the M6 en route. He arrived at half-time with City 1-0 up. They lost 2-1.One of ‘David’s’ first dates with his new girlfriend was to see Coventry at home to non-league Worcester City in the FA Cup first round. What a way to impress a girl.City were knocked out by the Conference North side 2-1. ‘David’ and his new beau were two lovebirds among 8,000 devotees on a blustery Sunday in November 2014.There is at least a happy ending. ‘David’ is soon to wed that loyal lady who can see beyond his obvious weakness and will dedicate her life to ­caring for the man of her dreams.‘David’ tells me he will be at ­Wembley on Sunday cheering on the love of his life in full kit.Why FA Cup changes are GOOD NEWSBy Martin Lipton
    THE FA and Premier League should have done the deal to scrap FA Cup replays years ago.
    No doubt traditionalists will moan but it is right that the competition has finally been brought into the 21st century.
    Ending replays will bring extra sharpness and excitement to the ties, with the knowledge that there will be a winner, whether in 90 minutes, extra-time or penalties.
    If big guns have a bad day, they are more likely to pay the price. Replays after draws give them a fall-back they do not deserve.
    Giving the FA Cup total and absolute priority over four weekends – and ensuring there is no competing match on the day of the Final – will enhance the profile of a competition that was in danger of falling out of the spotlight.
    And as long as the FA ensures a better split of the prize money fund, weighting it more towards the earlier rounds, and potentially a similar move with  TV match money, there should be few losers.
    Read more on the FA Cup by clicking here.

    THE END OF THE MAGICTHE dear old FA Cup is being forced to make room for boring group stage European matches.Sorry, that should read, boring ‘Swiss-style format’ European matches.There’s a difference apparently.I love the third-round replays because I am a bit of a dinosaur and watching the big clubs cock it up at home then lose away is cracking entertainment. But that’s not the issue.Bringing forward the FA Cup final to the penultimate weekend of the domestic season means the oldest cup competition in the world is now robbed of its grand finale place in the calendar.Yes, it has happened before but that doesn’t mean it’s OK.Even though the Cup is normally dominated by the elite teams, the likes of Crystal Palace and Hull can enjoy a huge day out and a puncher’s chance of victory.The Premier League is scrapping games the night before to allow build-up to the big occasion next season. But there might be some the day after.Thus making the FA Cup final merely a bridging tournament as the title race hots up.RIP FA CUP.Gabriel Jesus is shown a yellow card by referee Danny Makkelie against Bayern MunichCredit: ReutersCLOCK UPWATCHING Gabriel Jesus petulantly toss the ball away and mouth off to the referee in the final, frantic few minutes of Arsenal’s 1-0 Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich, something struck me.Instead of booking tetchy footballers for such unsportsmanlike acts, why don’t refs just knock 30 seconds off whatever stoppage time is left?The Gunners were desperate for an equaliser on Wednesday night and every second was precious.If the losing team knows that any outburst like that will cost them on the clock, it will soon put an end to it.ALL DUN?THE goalless draw for Rangers at Dundee means they are now without a win in three games.It has blown the Scottish title race wide open.READ MORE SUN STORIESSuch drama north of the border.Who on earth do you think might win the Premiership instead of them? More

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      Justin Allen: Shelf-ish West Ham chief Sullivan shows he doesn’t live in real world with bizarre EFL supermarket analogy

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      DAVID SULLIVAN likened the Premier League to Tesco and the EFL as a small supermarket chain.And the West Ham owner argued that the retail giants don’t pay out a subsidy to the little shops. he questions why should the top flight pour more money into the three lower divisions?David Sullivan does not back the Premier League paying more to the EFLCredit: GettyI don’t know if Sullivan ventures much into our high streets.But if he does, he will see that they have mostly been destroyed by retail giants. He will see boarded-up windows all over the place.Little shops were, and still should be, at the heart of communities… as should our EFL clubs.Sullivan can afford to shop at Harrods and Selfridges while most of us have to scour the shelves for bargains at Aldi or Lidl.READ MORE ON EFLJust like West Ham can afford to pay more than £50million for Brazil international Lucas Paqueta while the EFL’s bottom club Sutton United are a team packed of freebies.The Hammers chief does not seem to live in the real world – or appears at least detached from it.Does he care much about the loss of things such as our independent greengrocers, butchers and bakers?And does he give a damn about what has happened to clubs like Bury and Macclesfield as well as what is unfolding at Reading?Most read in EFLBEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERIf he does, Sullivan should be front and centre of a Premier League campaign to safeguard the EFL for generations to come.He should be sticking up for the little guys because once upon a time he himself heralded from humble beginnings.Sky Sports Soccer Saturday crew burst out laughing after mascot’s hilarious reaction to being shoved in EFL clashSullivan was brought up in a council house and should understand the value of things.The West Ham owner has rightly been receiving widespread stick for his ridiculous comments and has been accused of being selfish.His remarks smacked of “I’m alright Jack, pull up the ladder”.What Sullivan failed to mention is that EFL clubs, and non-league ones for that matter, are vital to the health of the Premier League.I wonder if it dawned on him in Prague in May when West Ham lifted the Europa Conference League trophy that matchwinner Jarrod Bowen started his career in non-league with Hereford and then honed his skills in the EFL at Hull City.And key frontman Michail Antonio also did the non-league yards with Tooting and Mitcham before touring the EFL with the likes of Reading, Cheltenham, Southampton when they were in League One, Colchester, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest.Without these clubs and lower divisions, neither player would have developed to become Premier League household names.Sullivan’s central argument is against introducing an independent football regulator to clean up our national game – and oversee a fairer distribution of funds across all levels of football.He believes that redistributing more funds out of the Premier League clubs’ ever-expanding coffers would threaten its status as the best football division on the planet.EFL chief executive Rick Parry pointed out clubs dining at English football’s top table pay more than £2BILLION more in wages than the four other major European leagues.Jarrod Bowen with the Conference League Trophy he won with West HamWest Ham’s Jarrod Bowen started in non-league with HerefordMichail Antonio also started his career in non-league and the EFL before West HamSo the notion that the Premier League will somehow be overtaken by other countries is fanciful and for the birds.What peeves me about the likes of Sullivan is his seemingly complete ignorance to the fact that the Premier League do not OWN our national gameThey are simply top of a highly-successful English football pyramid system that has been around for more than a century,Nowhere else in the world do you see a fourth-tier club like Bradford pulling in average gates of almost 18,000, apart from when Rangers were booted down to Scotland’s bottom division in 2012 of course.Or do you see elsewhere a cup competition for third and fourth-division clubs (the EFL Trophy) that in recent years have seen attendances at Wembley finals of 85,021 in 2019 for Charlton v Portsmouth and 79,839 for Bolton v Plymouth last April?Since the Premier League was formed in 1992, West Ham have only spent four seasons of the 32 in the second tier.Sullivan has experienced relegation from the top flight in East London and twice while he co-owned Birmingham with the late David Gold.So he knows first-hand how huge the disparity is between the Championship and Premier League.Sullivan does not want the parachute payment system to stop.Simple solution, David: manage your finances and contracts better then.But something has got to give. It is not right that clubs like Leeds, Leicester and Southampton should this season have received around £55m each while the other Championship clubs, apart from those still getting parachutes, receive just £8.2million. The West Ham owner does not think it is right for clubs like his to help those lower down the food chain who have mismanaged their finances.But then he contradicts himself by saying parachute payments are “not big enough” to help support teams that get relegated. He argues going down to the Championship would be “horrendous”.Well, simple solution, David: manage your finances and contracts better then.All deals should have relegation clauses in them where wages MUST drop as a result. I’m afraid Premier League footballers should also start living in the real world.If you fail, your wages must be cut accordingly.The Premier League right now have an opportunity to avoid a regulator coming in – but they want to play with the ball all to themselves.READ MORE SUN STORIESSo I am afraid it’s time for an adult to enter the room, crack their heads together and tell them to play fairly with the others.That will be the best way to make sure the EFL doesn’t turn into a little shop of horrors.Bury fans during the run-up of the Shakers being booted out of the EFL in 2019Macclesfield supporter protests about his club’s woesThe future of Reading is under threat More

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      Jos Verstappen dodged jail for assault before running Max’s F1 career with iron fist, now he’s fighting Christian Horner

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      IT can be hard to stand up to family.But that’s exactly what Max Verstappen has to do.Ex-F1 star Jos Verstappen has managed his son’s careerCredit: PABut Max Verstappen has a decision to make about his futureCredit: GettyHis father Jos has ruled over his son’s career with an iron fist.A former F1 driver himself, his private life has also been the subject of some scrutiny.After an incident in 1998 at a karting track where another man suffered a fractured skull, he avoided a suspended jail sentence after agreeing an out-of-court settlement with the victim.In 2008 he appeared in court, charged with assaulting his wife, Sophie Kumpen and while he was found not guilty of assault, he was found guilty of threatening Kumpen in text messages and of violating a previously-issued restraining order.READ MORE IN F1And in January 2012, he was arrested following accusations that he drove a car into his ex-girlfriend but was released two weeks later after the charge was withdrawn.Verstappen Snr had been plotting his son’s rise to the top alongside his chum Raymond Vermeulen, who acts as the F1 star’s manager.Assisted in no small part by his son’s skill behind the wheel, Verstappen became the youngest ever F1 driver when he made his debut in 2015 at the age of 17 years and 166 days old.Integrated in the Red Bull family who control four seats in F1, together they accelerated his career path.Most read in MotorsportThere are growing tensions between Horner and Verstappen SnrCredit: SplashBut now, though, as a three time world champion – perhaps four by the end of this season – the 26-year-old simply must now go it alone.He’s become embroiled in the toxic battle between his father and his team boss Christian Horner after his dad told reporters his son would quit the all-conquering team if he had to.Geri Halliwell breaks cover to stand by her scandal-hit husband Christian Horner at F1 as couple rocked by sext stormThe row comes after Horner was cleared of inappropriate behaviour following an internal investigation by Red Bull.And then a smear campaign of leaked WhatsApp messages designed to take him down.It’s not known if Verstappen Snr had a role in the murky plot to force Horner to quit. Or indeed why he decided to call for his head in the first place.Toppling Horner, who has the support of the race team, also threatens the position of his close ally, F1’s greatest-ever car designer, Adrian Newey.Insiders say that Max has privately offered his support to Horner but is unwilling to do so in public given his father’s stance.This week he will face a grilling in Jeddah about his position, putting him awkwardly in the spotlight, when incidentally his dad won’t be there to front up to his own words, having scurried back home.Like others before him, most notably Lewis Hamilton, who famously cut paternal ties with his dad Anthony in 2010, now is the time for Max to go it alone. Be his own man and make his own decisions.Whatever you think of Horner, his alleged behaviour, or Red Bull HQ’s failure to disclose the report, Max has been thrust into a difficult choice.Whether he stays with Red Bull – against his father’s wishes, or choses to jump ship – presumably to Mercedes.It is the biggest decision of his career however, he must be allowed to make it on his own.***TALK about being tone deaf. Amid all the accusations of inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem posted an image on his Instagram account during the Bahrain GP weekend. It was taken in 2004 at the inauguration of the Bahrain circuit where he sat next to Prince Andrew and with Max Mosely. The caption read: “Bahrain GP memories”.***F1 Academy launches in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this weekCredit: GettyF1 will launch their F1 Academy this week at the Saudi GP, aimed at helping young women racers reach F1.I think the series is a brilliant idea and has the backing of all the F1 teams and F2 and F3 team, Rodin.A total of 15 drivers will race  in identical cars powered by a 165-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine.Brits Abbi Pulling and Jessica Edgar will drive for Rodin while the daughter of motorsport legend Ken Block, Lia Block, also stars.The series comes after the excellent W Series ran into financial troubles and went into administration.***THE leaked messages claiming to be evidence from the Horner investigation were all sent via WhatsApp. Ironically, the social media app owned by Meta – which was formerly named as Facebook – have recently started sponsoring Red Bull’s rivals, Mercedes, with the logo plastered across their race car.***FIA chiefs have urged F1 staff not to post images of their accreditation on social media through fear it could be used by counterfeiters to make bogus paddock passes***Alpine struggled badly in BahrainCredit: RexIT was not just Red Bull going into a meltdown in Bahrain. Alpine – the former Renault team – saw their drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finish in 19th and 20th place respectively.A dreadful start to the season and to make matters worse, it emerged that technical director, Matt Harman, and head of aerodynamics, Dirk de Beer, both resigned before the race team flew out to Bahrain.***NOT to be out-done by their bigger-brother, the drivers at the Red Bull B-term – Racing Bulls (formerly AlphaTauri) also had a spat in Bahrain.Daniel Ricciardo took issue with his teammate Yuki Tusnoda at one point and said over the team’s radio: “What the f***! I’ll save it… he’s a f***ing helmet!”The Aussie later said: “I came on the radio and was trying to stay cool. READ MORE SUN STORIES”A bit of immaturity, let’s say. I’m being very sensible right out but let’s call it immaturity.”Meow.🏁 Complete F1 2024 race calendar – details on every Grand Prix and start time this year 🏁  More

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      Troy Deeney: Liverpool fans should make the most of this Wembley trip… finals will be a lot rarer when Klopp leaves

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      FOR everyone involved with Liverpool this is probably as good as it will get for some time — and I think they all know it.Next season the Reds will be without Jurgen Klopp and they could be without Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk too.
      Matching the golden era under Jurgen Klopp will be so toughCredit: PA
      Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk have also been pivotal for LiverpoolCredit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
      Trying to replace Salah will be like replacing three players. Meanwhile Van Dijk is not just one of the best central defenders in the world but an outstanding leader, too.
      With just a year left on his contract, Van Dijk could be off and he will be almost impossible to replace.
      I don’t think Liverpool will be able to tempt Xabi Alonso to Anfield either.
      Alonso has a choice of Bayern Munich or Liverpool and I reckon he will choose Bayern because he will have greater financial clout there and will not face such a major rebuild.
      READ MORE TOP STORIES
      Liverpool don’t have the money or pulling power to attract the very best in the world. Klopp wanted Jude Bellingham last summer but didn’t get him.
      That kind of thing might be one reason why Klopp has decided to call it a day this season.
      It must be exhausting trying to compete with Manchester City year in, year out when you don’t have the same level of finances.
      It was the same for Klopp when he was Borussia Dortmund boss, trying to compete with Bayern. You can only keep trying for so long.
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      Still, it feels as though Klopp’s announcement that he will be leaving at the end of the season is having a galvanising effect.
      The amount of injuries they have suffered recently is phenomenal and the way they have kept winning is extraordinary.
      Mauricio Pochettino targets first trophy under Todd Boehly with Chelsea facing Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final
      It feels as if this is a squad of players who know this is the end of an era and are determined to squeeze every last drop out of the season.
      Klopp’s side are chasing four trophies and the first one is up for grabs against Chelsea in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
      Ask me for a prediction and I’ll want to see the Liverpool starting line-up first.
      Unless Klopp has two or three of his best players back from injury, I fancy Chelsea to sneak it.
      Those injuries will be causing serious concern at Anfield. In this age of sports science, there has to be a reason for everything.
      Nobody wants to believe that anything can just be a coincidence. Nobody in football wants to believe in luck — good or bad. Elite clubs employ so many people, they think that they can eradicate luck.
      Klopp will be demanding answers from his medical department.
      There is an ‘us against the world’ mentality at Anfield — and it is working.
      He will want to know if there are any small changes in training schedules, preparation, diet, anything that might be a reason for so many players being on the treatment table.
      It’s hard enough having Liverpool players in your fantasy football team at the moment, so imagine being Klopp. There is an ‘us against the world’ mentality at Anfield — and it is working.
      It also helps that Liverpool’s academy is so strong and that Klopp is never afraid to blood youngsters.
      Conor Bradley has really emerged in the past few weeks, while Bobby Clark looks a good player. But in a Wembley final, the Liverpool boss will not want to rely on kids.
      I like Chelsea. If they add Ivan Toney up front in the summer and a commanding centre-half to replace Thiago Silva then they could be real contenders next term.
      READ MORE SUN STORIES
      Winning the Carabao Cup would be a big step for Mauricio Pochettino as he looks to build a young team.
      But every Liverpool player and supporter must suspect that Wembley finals could be very hard to come by once Klopp has gone. More

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      Karren Brady: Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappe out for Man City’s title of ‘world’s best’… but Guardiola won’t be scared

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      HAVING already captured one crown jewel in Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid are set to acquire another in French super-scorer Kylian Mbappe.Spain’s most revered club’s ambition is to rule the Champions League for a long time. At the Bernabeu, they crave to change popular opinion that Manchester City are the finest team in the world.
      Kylian Mbappe could form an electric pairing at Real with Vinicius JrCredit: Getty
      Man City have their own lethal striker in Erling HaalandCredit: AFP
      It may happen soon enough on the field, but it might also eventually be aided if City fall foul of alleged financial offences and face a near-unbridgeable barrier to buying ultra-expensive players.
      You can be sure Pep Guardiola will have much to say in football language whether or not his bargaining position is weakened.
      But no matter who wins Europe’s major competition this June, in Mbappe, Real have another ace to play.
      Pep, proud of his Catalan background, has won the Champions League three times as a manager, twice at Barcelona where previously he had played for 15 years.
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      His latest triumph came last season with City’s first, 12 months after Real’s 14th.
      So a claim to be ‘the Greatest’ is paper-thin and Guardiola would not be silly enough to use it. Still, it’s the sort of plaudits supporters love and, after all, they are the people who matter.
      The passion of the Barca-Real rivalry is replicated to a degree in City-United.
      But there is no doubt in my mind that while Pep would be unhappy at United becoming top dogs in the Premier League, there is one real — and Real — lasting challenge for any aspiring team.
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      City were never likely to chase Mbappe’s signature. The oil money is there but not the circumstances.
      Anyway, for all the threat of Mbappe, Pep has just as potent a scorer in Erling Haaland.
      Pep Guardiola believes his side are going to be remembered for many years to come
      There is also a warning to Real boss Carlo Ancelotti in the fate of Paris Saint-Germain’s bank-shaking bid for greatness in buying three of the best forwards in the game and stepping back to watch it happen. It never did.
      The trio of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe were never able to capture Europe’s top trophy.
      And this season at Bayern Munich the costly addition of Harry Kane was supposed to guarantee their 12th consecutive Bundesliga title. How the mighty are kicked in the pants.
      In fairness to PSG, they are still in this season’s Champions League and their prospects of winning the trophy were kept active this week by a 2-0 home win in the last 16 against Real Sociedad. Guess who scored the opening goal?
      Over at Real, Mbappe — with Vinicius Junior alongside him — are powerful reasons for manager Ancelotti to believe his side will be stronger next season.
      But the loss of Luka Modric and the ageing of Tony Kroos suggests that his midfield may not be quite so overwhelming.
      Ancelotti led teams to four Champions Leagues and was sacked by Chelsea a year after his side won the Premier League and FA Cup.There was madness as well as greatness in the days of Roman Abramovich.
      Mbappe was always likely to join Real, his favourites even as a lad in Paris.
      Maybe several English clubs thought about bidding but it became less likely as the effects of the £105million rule that cost Everton ten points became clear.
      Even the richest will have to balance purchases against sales and City themselves are selling fine young players such as Cole Palmer to Chelsea.
      READ MORE SUN STORIES
      Guardiola will work his way through this problem, no doubt. He has a classic team and, in Haaland and Phil Foden, two young forwards to match any.
      Neither will City, the first club to win the Treble of Prem, FA Cup and Champions League, be frightened of any side. More

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      Roy Hodgson shouldn’t have stayed on at Crystal Palace – bowing out last summer would have been perfect curtain call

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      IT’S been 7½ years since an FA suit called Martin Glenn sat beside Roy Hodgson and clumsily declared: “Iceland will not be your epitaph.”That was the day after Hodgson quit the England job — the most high-profile of his 22 managerial appointments — in the aftermath of Euro 2016 humiliation by Iceland.
      Roy Hodgson has won titles in a variety of countriesCredit: Rex
      Despite his advancing age he could never say no when Crystal Palace came callingCredit: PA
      But his words were not appreciated by Hodgson, a fiercely proud man and one of the most respected coaches in world football.
      Hodgson had won titles in Scandinavia, managed Inter Milan, led Switzerland to third in the world rankings and been named LMA Manager of the Year after guiding Fulham to a European final.
      In 2016, approaching his 69th birthday, he never doubted he would manage again.
      Glenn, a former fishfinger salesman, has faded back into obscurity since his stint as FA chief executive.
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      But Hodgson has spent the vast majority of the intervening time managing in the Premier League, with three largely successful spells at Crystal Palace and one failed attempt at saving Watford from relegation.
      At 76, Hodgson’s 48-year career in management may well be at an end now.
      His collapse at Palace’s Beckenham training ground yesterday was first and foremost a worrying turn on a human level, though he was described as being “stable” in hospital last night.
      It was also especially horrible timing for Palace, who are believed to have reached an agreement with former Eintracht Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner to succeed Hodgson.
      Most read in Football
      The club are being widely accused of treating this grand old statesman shabbily ­— by allowing him to limp on while a new manager was lined up, only for his health to fail him.
      Such talk gained greater credence a fortnight ago, after the furore over Michael Olise being sent on as a substitute when Palace were 3-0 down to arch-rivals Brighton, only to suffer a recurrence of a hamstring injury.
      Roy Hodgson ‘very grateful’ to be honoured with CBE
      Hodgson’s comments, that he had followed the advice of Palace’s medical department, did not go down well internally.
      But the idea Palace have somehow been taking advantage of Hodgson is a simplistic take, and patronising to the man himself.
      Sources close to Hodgson said last week that he was surprised to still be in a job and was fully aware that Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish and the club’s ownership group had been touting for a successor for some time.
      Yet potential candidates, including former Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper, ex-Wolves chief Julen Lopetegui and current Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna, had all been reluctant to take the job now.
      Especially as Palace have several of their best players out injured and are still in relegation danger after three wins from 19. 
      Just five points separate them from the drop zone, with Everton and Burnley up next.
      But Hodgson is old-fashioned enough to respect a contract, dedicated enough to work until told otherwise. There is a sense of duty about him.
      He also remains a hands-on coach, at his happiest on the training pitch, drilling men young enough to be his grandsons to stay in two defensive banks of four.
      Despite this age gap, the vast majority of those who have played under him in recent years like and respect the man.
      And besides, Hodgson is earning £3million for his year at Palace — however much you’ve banked, that is a tidy sum to walk away from.
      Those who know Hodgson well will tell you he has given short shrift to well-meaning suggestions that he might be too old to cope with the stresses of managing at the highest level, even after he was taken ill and unable to make the dugout on a trip to Aston Villa in September.
      No pipe-and-slippers man
      Despite his well-earned reputation as a bookish intellectual, Hodgson is very capable of meeting talk of his advancing years by swearing like a Tilbury docker.
      He is no pipe-and-slippers man, especially as he gave up smoking cigars on medical advice some years ago.
      Yet, as one associate told me recently, Hodgson is five years younger than Joe Biden — the leader of the free world with his finger on the nuclear button.
      By contrast, Hodgson instructing Jeffrey Schlupp on how to cross a football is no onerous responsibility.
      Like anyone who has survived in football for so long, Hodgson has an ego and can be quick to mention his CV.
      Once, while managing Fulham, he was asked if he’d ever managed a better left-back than Paul Konchesky.
      He replied: “Well, I did have a fella at Internazionale called Roberto Carlos.” 
      Croydon-born Hodgson is a contradictory figure. On the one hand, a workaholic coach and a football addict, who couldn’t say “no” every time Palace came calling.
      Yet he is also rare among long-serving managers in having a vast array of interests — an ever-curious traveller, an avid reader and a talented linguist, who knows more than most that there is far more to life than football.

      In hindsight, bowing out after last season’s excellent short-term stint at Palace, his boyhood club, would have been a fitting curtain call.But football isn’t an ideal world.
      And, even for the brightest men, knowing the right time to call it a day is the toughest call of all. More

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      Troy Deeney: I was offered mega money to play in Saudi Arabia… but they wouldn’t let me live with my partner and kids

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      JORDAN HENDERSON is taking some serious stick after the end of his brief stint in Saudi Arabia.But I would like to know how many critics would dismiss out of hand the chance to earn a net salary of £20million.
      Jordan Henderson has left Saudi Arabia just six months after arrivingCredit: Getty
      Troy Deeney is due to marry partner Alisha Hosannah this summer but would not have been able to live with her in Saudi ArabiaCredit: Getty
      I was offered an eye-watering sum last summer to play in the Saudi Pro League — and thought long and hard about it.
      At the age of 35, knowing my playing days were numbered, I received a pay offer which — although not on Hendo’s scale — would have been comfortably the most money I’d ever earned.
      It far exceeded anything I took home captaining Watford in the Premier League.
      It was sorely tempting but I had my own reasons for turning down the move.

      I am not married to my partner — we are due to tie the knot this summer — and under Saudi law, I wouldn’t have been allowed to live in the same house as her and our kids.
      There are no exceptions for professional footballers and, if you agree to go and work in a country, you have to respect their culture and laws.
      My missus and kids would have probably lived in Dubai, while I lived in Saudi.
      I would not have coped well mentally with being away from them for the vast majority of the time — being left to my own devices isn’t good for me.
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      Hendo is married, so wouldn’t have had that dilemma, and a friend and former team-mate in Steven Gerrard was managing his club, Al-Ettifaq.
      Knowing he was no longer fully wanted at Liverpool, it seems Hendo made a rash knee-jerk decision and has now realised even a vast amount of money doesn’t ­necessarily make you happy.
      Henderson might not now earn a penny from his brief time in Saudi after ripping up his contract to join Ajax on a free.
      Like every other player who was offered a deal by the Saudis, he will have been well aware of the tax implications.
      I am not married to my partner — we are due to tie the knot this summer — and under Saudi law, I wouldn’t have been allowed to live in the same house as her and our kids.Troy Deeney
      That if you did not stay for two years, you’d be absolutely clobbered by the taxman when returning home.
      Had I struggled with the lifestyle as Henderson has done, I would have had to stick it out.
      Apparently a few other players who left the Premier League for Saudi also want to leave — and anyone offered huge amounts to move next summer will think longer and harder about making a similar move.
      Some will still go — it takes a brave man to turn down that sort of money, especially when you are nearing the end of your career.
      He swapped Liverpool for Al-Ettifaq in the summerCredit: Reuters
      Don’t fall into the trap of believing every Premier League player is seriously minted and financially set up for life.
      Many have had serious gambling problems, or made bad financial investments or had expensive divorces.
      Players might also be tempted to play against Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar — I know I liked the sound of that challenge — and to help grow an emerging league.
      Until you go and live in another country, with a very different way of life, it’s impossible to know whether you can handle it.
      I don’t know which club in the Saudi top flight I would have been playing for.
      I was made an offer by Michael Emenalo — the former Chelsea executive who is now sporting director of the Saudi Pro League — and if I had agreed, I would then have been allocated a club.
      I know some of the crowds in Saudi are very low but that wasn’t a consideration for me.
      For Henderson, it might have been. He could not have got anything like the same buzz playing for Al-Ettifaq, where the average gate is 8,000, as in front of a full house at Anfield.
      Don’t fall into the trap of believing every Premier League player is seriously minted and financially set up for life.Troy Deeney
      He is now joining Ajax — a massive club suffering a difficult season — and knows that he still has plenty to give.
      It will also help his chances of playing for England at the Euros next summer.
      If I am honest, I didn’t seriously consider human-rights issues when I thought about moving to Saudi.
      But for Henderson, this must have been a real issue because he had been such an outspoken advocate of LGBTQ rights and was moving to a country where homosexuality is illegal.
      I agree with Hendo’s views but because I didn’t have that same background in campaigning, I wouldn’t have received nearly as much stick.
      Hendo knew he’d be nailed to a cross for making his move to Saudi and I’m sure he accepts some of the criticism.
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      I know him well from being a fellow Premier League captain — especially during the pandemic. He is a really good man.
      Just because he has made one bad decision in life doesn’t mean everything he said or did previously was a lie.
      Henderson joined Dutch side Ajax this weekCredit: EPA More

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      Dave Kidd: VAR does NOT need to be reformed, it should be SCRAPPED… and Calvert-Lewin red was the breaking point

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      DCL, VAR, WTF! Sometimes one single incident is so absurd that it has the capacity to bring down an entire house of cards.And when Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin was handed a straight red card in Thursday’s FA Cup third-round clash with Crystal Palace, VAR might just have reached its breaking point.
      Dominic Calvert-Lewin was sent off by VAR for this challenge on ThursdayCredit: Getty
      Referee Chris Kavanagh was showed slow-motion footage when called over the the VAR screenCredit: AFP
      Calvert-Lewin executed an excellent tackle on Palace’s Nathaniel Clyne, top-flight referee Chris Kavanagh correctly judged that the challenge was not even a foul and yet, 30 seconds later, he was sent to his monitor and advised to dismiss the England forward.
      There was no ‘excessive force’ in the challenge, Calvert-Lewin was not ‘endangering an opponent’ and he actually won the ball with a neat piece of skill close to the Palace box.
      Yet not just one but TWO Premier League referees, in the VAR hub at Stockley Park, decided Kavanagh had made a ‘clear and obvious error’.
      Then the on-field ref — provoked by slow-motion replays — failed to trust his own judgment and refused to uphold his original decision.
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      To add to this farce, VAR is in operation for FA Cup matches played at Premier League stadiums and not for those hosted by EFL clubs.
      Yet for those games staged at top-flight clubs, such as Palace, ‘support VARs’ have also been appointed, meaning VAR Craig Pawson was assisted by Michael Salisbury.
      This undermines the often-stated lie by VAR cheerleaders that ‘it is not the technology but the personnel’ which is to blame for the system’s disastrous application.
      Because the fact is that the more human beings that are involved in any decision, the greater the capacity for human error.
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      VAR must now be scrapped, says Dave KiddCredit: Reuters

      Too many cooks spoil the broth. Too many referees spoil a football match. Now Palace v Everton was a stinker, which ended 0-0 despite Sean Dyche’s side being reduced to ten men.
      And presumably Calvert-Lewin’s three-match ban for a straight red will be rescinded on appeal.
      But while minimal harm was done, this was the clearest possible case of VAR not just failing to improve decision-making but making it actively worse.
      The Luis Diaz offside decision which sentenced Liverpool to their only Premier League defeat of the season at Tottenham in October was more damaging and more ridiculous.
      Too many cooks spoil the broth. Too many referees spoil a football match. Dave Kidd
      But that was a catastrophic one-off failure of process from VAR Darren England, which led to an incorrect on-field decision being upheld.
      The Calvert-Lewin incident was a glaring example of how slow-motion replays persuade highly experienced referees to disbelieve their own eyes.
      And of how the procedure of a VAR sending a referee to his monitor is a charade, given that 99 per cent of the time, this leads to an on-field official overturning his decision.
      Perhaps the Calvert-Lewin incident will lessen, or even end, the use of slo-mo replays.
      But what we really need is for pundits and prominent journalists to stop parroting the phrase ‘VAR will never be scrapped’.
      These are invariably people who never pay to attend matches and fail to fully comprehend how VAR interferes with the joyful spontaneity of football — a sport in which so many refereeing decisions are subjective, meaning the idea of absolute justice will always be impossible.
      Why can’t VAR be scrapped?
      And how is it helpful to keep saying ‘VAR will never be scrapped’, when most people want it scrapped and it absolutely could be scrapped.
      Arguing against technology does not automatically make you a member of the Flat Earth Society howling at the moon.Dave Kidd
      This is an extension of a dangerous ‘computer says no’ culture.
      Just watch ITV1’s brilliant drama Mr Bates v The Post Office to understand the extraordinary scale of human misery caused by a faulty computer system — and by the inability of apparently sensible people to believe that technology can possibly be wrong.
      Likewise, try to get some common sense out of Barclays Bank over their draconian mortgage policies.
      Organisations like the Post Office and Barclays destroy people’s lives by following a ‘computer says no’ mantra.
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      VAR only destroys football matches. But the principle is the same.
      Until we realise that arguing against technology does not automatically make you a member of the Flat Earth Society howling at the moon, then we will never reach the blindingly obvious conclusion that VAR does not need to be reformed, it must be scrapped. More

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      Karren Brady: It’s a case of Deja Roo as Wayne Rooney follows England pals Gerrard and Lampard onto managerial scrapheap

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      WITHOUT question the most important item on a football club agenda is the choice of manager, more fashionably a head coach.The team will stand or fall by this decision. Wayne Rooney at Birmingham was the latest to confirm that getting the chop could also be as brutally swift as the slide of the guillotine.
      Wayne Rooney was given the boot by Birmingham after a horror run of formCredit: Reuters
      He must have been aware that it might. After all, it had happened to two of his former England team-mates, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, who found that being great footballers was no defence against managerial botch-ups.
      Rooney was the last of the turn-of-century Three Musketeers to slip off the manager’s saddle, after only two wins in 15 Championship games.
      Vastly popular at Everton and Manchester United, the rest of the country wasn’t far behind in delight at his ability to score stacks of goals combined with thrilling ball skills.
      Birmingham fans were just as admiring, at least until the new American owners accompanied his appointment by ruthlessly sacking the relatively successful John Eustace, a local boy, after he led them to sixth in the Championship.
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      There can be fewer jobs as stressful, unpredictable and unrelenting than being a football boss where only two things are guaranteed — the sack or a move to a bigger club.
      The man in charge must be trusted by players, staff and chairman. He has to be deeply knowledgeable in all things football. And most of all he must be a leader.
      The fact that he was a great footballer hardly matters.
      So where did our golden boys go wrong? My guess is that, above all, the players didn’t get it. Simply weren’t on the same wavelength.
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      Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is feeling the heat – managing out in SaudiCredit: Getty
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      I remember an England player telling me that in training their star man was challenged by the coach to hit the bar from 15 yards out.
      He tried twice and failed.
      The coach placed the ball in the same spot and struck the bar first time. “Easy as that,” he said, striding away.
      The victim was undermined. And the coach didn’t last too long.
      Is it fair to say that Rooney seemed the most unlikely of the three to make an outstanding manager? But you never know.
      Did mouthy Brian Clough strike many people as a possible double European Cup winner?
      I am told by football oracles that Rooney did a sound job at Derby and his trouble at St Andrew’s was introducing a fresh style too quickly.
      Birmingham City have enormous potential. The way forward is by meticulous planning and an ambitious boss of humbler origin is crucial, unless Pep Guardiola is up for a new challenge.
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      Had they studied a list of previous appointments, they would have been aware of a similar farce at the club when Gary Rowett was axed for Gianfranco Zola in 2016.
      The Italian star lasted slightly longer than Rooney. Not so much ‘deja vu’ as ‘deja Blues’.
      Frank Lampard has not found managing as easy as he seemed to make playingCredit: Getty More