The Great Capello?

So Capello is going to confront the Lamps/Gerrard challenge head on is he?

As a girl quite new to football I am still trying to make sense of one of the unfathomables of English football.

Namely that these two superstars can't play together.

So - fact or myth?

Well as I understand it, the problem is they are too similar. Gerrard is apparently the more versatile and so more likely to be played out of position. But Lampard does what he does really well and would be a loss to the team.

Yet although these reasons are cited, I don't hear comparisons with other similar pairings, past or present. It is almost as if everyone thinks it should be able to work and why it doesn't remains a mystery.

Presumably then, if The Great Capello can pull something out of the hat and succeed where all others have failed, he will be hailed as the greatest football magician in England's history.

We'd like that.

Not a lot.

But we'd like it.

Klose But No Cigar

Separated at birth?

Rubbing Salt In The Wounds

I was sad to learn today of Frank Lampard's loss.

I was pleased to learn that Mandaric has declared he has no intention of leaving Leicester City.

I was shocked to think that the perfect Ronaldo could possibly miss a penalty.

But I was completely gobsmacked by one piece of news.

For I have learned that the man many hold responsible for the England team failing to qualify for Europe this summer will be, at the licence payers' expense, offering his 'expertise' to BBC Radio during the tournament.

I'm sure I won't be the only one boycotting BBC Radio and their new pundit, Mr Steve McLaren during that period as a point of principle.

There's Nothing Like A Mother's Love

Happy Mother's Day!

They say, don't they, that no matter how ugly or awful someone is, their mother probably loves them. And in most cases I am sure that is true.

Despite the heartaches it is a real gift to be a mother. It is certainly one of the joys of my life.

It won't surprise you to know, therefore, that mothers are often an important feature in the lives of footballers.

For example, there is evidence to suggest that Arsene Wenger's mother is responsible for steering him towards the Gunners rather than any other team as a child. I mean look what she named him for goodness sake!

And even if they have not influenced them in a particular direction, footballer's mother's can sometimes provide us with an insight into what has inspired their offspring. Kevin Keegan will certainly be hoping Berbatov's mother's belief her son has Newcastle running through his heart will help him attract the Bulgarian player to the club in the summer.

And the theory that a love of football can be inherited seems to be proved by the fact that Frank Lampard's aunty is married to Harry Rednapp, and their son, Jamie, Frank's cousin, also has a career in the beautiful game.

Of course, the maternal influences have not all been good necessarily. There is a rumour, for instance, that Wayne Rooney's mother is responsible for his distinctive facial features because she fed him too many sprouts as a child. If that is the case, then maybe if I had put more pressure on my children to eat up their greens, one of them would now be a footballing god too. How we mothers let our children down!

And isn't it heartening to know that even one of the most famous football manager's in the world at the moment, Fabio Capello, is still the subject of his mum's worries, not least because she is concerned he may do so well that England triumph over Italy.

At the end of the day, there's nothing like a mother's love.