Noisy Neighbours Trip On Title Challenge Road

Arsenal's convincing 3-0 win at Eastlands on Sunday could be seen as the start of the decline in City's early season form. Despite picking up points and staying with the early pace-setters, many armchair pundits were keen to stress them not having yet played "a proper team". Even though their record against the traditional "Top Four", now reads played three, won 2 and lost 1.

For any team with title ambitions you cannot ask for a better record. Admittedly, all three games have been at home for City and perhaps a real test of their credentials will come at the Emirates in the reverse of Sunday's fixture and their first visit to a "Top Four" side on the 5th of January.

Despite the result, there are still many positives to take from City's start to the season. It may have seemed like deja vu when they set about signing players who were arguably of the 'big fish, little pond' variety, much like Chelsea did when Mr Abramovich was getting his feet under table at Stamford Bridge. However, the signing of players like Carlos Tevez, Adam Johnson and David Silva, has given the blue half of Manchester their own "Champagne Trio" of attacking players.

All three have taken to life at City like the proverbial duck to water and they give Mancini's men a slightly lopsided look. While they have a top-class goalkeeper, everything in between Joe Hart and the frontmen falls is either barely average or simply awful.

Brian Clough famously believed in a spine of quality players running through the team like an iron rod. At City, that rod seems to fall limp in the middle. First and foremost, they need at least one world class centre-half. Any combination that includes Lescott and Toure is set for disaster. Boateng at full back is an exciting prospect and with Micah Richards and the injured Aleksandar Kolarov vying for the other two slots that seems to be sorted.

In midfield, James Milner, once he settles, could strike up a partnership with his ex-Villa team-mate Gareth Barry or Nigel De Jong. Perhaps we may see Michael Johnson make a reappearance after some fine performances under Sven Goran Eriksson. Finally, they need to get rid of Shaun Wright-Phillips and buy another decent winger and at least one other world-class striker; Emmanual Adebayor and Mario Balotelli simply appear to be expensive bench-warmers.

Mancini is a shrewd operator but he must ditch the driftwood if he is to construct a side truly capable of winning the title. Manchester United visit Eastlands in just over a fortnight. If they come through that and still have title aspirations, with visits to all of the "Top Four" teams to come, they'll have to do it the hard way.

(Picture: www.mcfc.co.uk)

Malcolm Allison: An Icon of a Golden Period

While Liverpool celebrate what they hope is the beginning of the end of their recent ownership troubles, it was the end of the line for one of English football's most iconic managers.

Malcolm Allison was half of the famous double act that presided over Manchester City's most successful period. Assistant to Joe Mercer then later manager at Maine Road, Allison was renowned for his flamboyance and infectious nature.

Take away the trademark Fedora hat and occasional glass of expensive champagne accompanied by a Monte Cristo cigar in one hand and a beautiful lady in the other and you find a brilliant tactician who loved football to his core. His views on player conditioning have lasted to this day with clubs' huge emphasis on a player's fitness. Under his tutelage players like Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee and Tony Book flourished as players and are idolised at Eastlands in their own right.

In his prime at Man City, Allison was up there with the George Bests of this world: footballers who lived their lives to the full. He appealed to the common man - something that is lacking in this day and age. People have described him as the original 'Special One' and his passing has reminded me of how few real characters there are in the game now. Blackpool's Ian Holloway is the only Premiership manager that keeps me glued to the post-match interviews on Match of the Day and the affect must have been similar with Big Mal.

For me, he was one of the icons of a golden era (and my particular favourite era) of English football. Sadly, with the weighty expectations of the modern game it is unlikely that we shall ever see his kind again.

(Picture: www.bbc.co.uk/sport)

Levein March To Mediocrity Accompanied By Skirl of Tartan Army Pipes

When Craig Levein was named manager of the Scottish national team, it was heralded by many as a step in right direction. A young, upcoming and above all, Scottish manager, he was seen as the ideal candidate to lead the Tartan Army further away from the doldrums of the Bertie Vogts years, away from which managers like Walter Smith had managed to drag the Scots kicking and screaming.

However, after their complete surrender to the Czech Republic in their Euro 2012 qualifier, many are spouting cliches like "rudderless ship" in their descriptions of the Scottish national side. Levein's ultra-negative 4-6-0 formation in Prague backfired spectacularly in front of approximately 10,000 away supporters, many of whom could hardly believe what was happening before them.

While Scotland may not enjoy a reputation on the world stage like the bigger nations they still boast a proud footballing legacy. The Glasgow giants Celtic and Rangers are two of the biggest clubs in the world; Celtic alone claiming over 9 million REGISTERED fans and who knows how many millions more world-wide. On the other side of the whitewash, there are a whole host of Scottish managers who have had tremendous success at club level. Somewhere down the line, the combination of passion for the game and managerial guile seem to have avoided each other, leaving the Scots in a vacuum of footballing mediocrity. They may never again savour the heady days of the 1960s and 70s when Scotland's pool of players was vast in its range of talent. Since my first experience of Scotland at Euro '96 and at France '98, they have slipped unceremoniously down the world rankings and into football oblivion.

Returning to Friday's fiasco in Prague, I have two questions in mind: Is Levein the right man for the job? or is it quite simply that Scotland are not producing the same calibre of players as 10-15 years ago?

On paper you would certainly think so. Darren Fletcher aside, there are few players that can stake a claim at any of England's "top 4" Premier League clubs. Levein's decision to include Jamie Mackie in the starting line-up is proof of how far down the pecking order Scottish talent has sunk. Queen's Park Rangers may be flying high in the Championship but the manager took a huge gamble on his selection. By all accounts, Mackie didn't impress, which begs the question; why start him when Kenny Miller is in the form of his life yet had to be content warming the substitutes bench.

If Levein was picking players purely on their club form then why not start with Blackpool's Charlie Adam alongside Graham Dorrans? The midfielder ran the show for the Seasiders at Anfield last weekend and has been key to everything good about them this season. Surely he deserves a place above a striker who has been scoring goals albeit at an inferior standard of football. The same applies for Barry Robson, part of a struggling Middlesborough side, was brought on in search of a goal when both Adam and Shaun Maloney, arguably two far more creative players, were overlooked.

This then prompts the question of Levein perhaps feeling the pressure of such a high-profile position where every decision is analysed to the last detail. One thing is for certain: Scotland will find it ten times as hard against Spain next time out. Prague presented an opportunity for Scotland to distance themselves from the Czechs and firmly establish themselves as contenders for qualification. After three abject performances and a home tie against the World Champions to come, it will be interesting to see how far the blazers at SFA allow their patience to be tested before considering Levein's position as Scotland manager.

(picture taken from www.bbc.co.uk/sport)

Rise of the Trequartista

Jack Wilshere's recent run in Arsenal's first team has highlighted his potential importance to any success enjoyed by both the Gunners and England in years to come. Seen as the long-term replacement for Cesc Fabregas in an Arsenal shirt, his last few performances have impressed both fans and pundits alike.

His performance in the Carling Cup against Tottenham Hotspur was nothing short of magical and it was hard to come to terms with the fact that the boy is in fact just that: only 18 years old. Even against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon he hardly put a foot wrong. Although he didn't make the impact he perhaps would have liked against the champions, he didn't look out of place in an Arsenal side that just couldn't penetrate an iron Chelsea defence.

Analysing Wilshere's game from the few games in which I've seen him play, he is quite simply a delight to watch. There have been many great passers of the football down the years and there is no reason why this boy can't be up there with the best of them. Undoubtedly there are aspects of his game that could be improved: clearly he's not yet an accomplished ball winner. However, when he has the ball at his feet then his skill is a joy to behold. His technique and range of passing is not far off the standards enjoyed by Barcelona and their supporters. Coupled with the vision and eye for a pass, it's no wonder that Arsene Wenger is playing him regularly in the first team.

For many years the FA's proposed football centre at Burton has been shelved countless times while money has been thrown at a host of expensive short term solutions that have failed. One of the reasons why Germany were so successful at the World Cup in South Africa was a heavy investment in youth over a decade ago. Mesut Ozil was the star of their run to the semi-finals and his example (along with the academies championed by Barcelona and Wenger at Arsenal) proves once and for all that the cultivation of talented youth is the only way forward for this country.

Whilst Wilshere may not be the next Messi/Pele/Maradona, surely people can see how this young player has been developed and how Arsenal are reaping the rewards. It's high time the blazers at the FA took a long hard look at themselves and made a decision: investment in youth for a stable future? Or wheeling out old, past-it players headed by yet another expensive, ineffective foreign import.