Henry's Reputation Tarnished?

Likeable, genuine and probably the best player the Premier League has seen. These are the words I would have used to describe Thierry Henry before Wednesday night's crucial World Cup play-off between France and Republic Of Ireland.

Now he is been branded a cheat after blatantly handling the ball before teeing up William Gallas to score in extra time to send France to the World Cup and break Irish hearts.

Looking at the incident myself I would have to say it was deliberate, there was a definite move towards and then control of the ball by Henry's hand. It may have been instinctive though. The ball would have gone out for a goal kick and with time running out, this was a desperate move by a player desperate to appear at the World Cup, possibly his last.

I am not saying it was right, of course not, it was cheating because it's against the rules. If it had happened against England I'm sure I'd be outraged. The Irish have every right to feel aggrieved. I don't feel the referee can be blamed either. It happened so fast and nobody knew until they saw the replays afterwards. In fact the referee had earlier spotted Nicolas Anelka's dive although not deciding to book the player.

There have also been suggestions that Henry should have gone over to the ref to admit what he had done. Would this have not risked the wrath of the French, especially if they had gone on to lose? And would the referee even have changed his mind? I seem to remember Robbie Fowler once saying he hadn't been touched by David Seaman after a penalty had been given during a game at Highbury. The referee refused to admit he was wrong and Fowler went on to miss the penalty.

It looks like calls for a replay, which is the least Ireland deserve, have been turned away and in truth this was never going to happen. Every time there was an incident in a game that a referee didn't spot, teams would call for a replay because Ireland were given one. Indeed Birmingham could ask for a replay at Anfield after David N'Gog's dive (though I'm sure they would settle for a point).

Thierry Henry is still a very talented player and always will be remembered for what he did for Arsenal over the first half of this decade, but you sense that he won't be quite seen in the same light by many which is a great shame.

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Big Game For Both Clubs At Anfield

The Premier League makes a welcome return tomorrow after yet another international break, as eventful as it turned out to be. The biggest game of the weekend is first up, a Saturday lunch time duel between an out of sorts Liverpool and Manchester City.

For Liverpool a win is surely a must if any lingering title hopes are to be kept alive, especially with both Chelsea and Manchester United both playing at home and expected to take maximum points. Liverpool have won just one of their last five Premier League games and currently sit in seventh. Rafa Benitez may also have one eye on Tuesday night's must win Champions League match against Debrecen.

As for Manchester City, they need to prove they have what it takes to compete with the big boys. Of course, they don't have to win at Anfield to prove they are a good side. Current champions Manchester United lost twice against Liverpool last season and have already once this.

But after the feeling of injustice City felt at Old Trafford after that late, late Michael Owen winner, here is a chance for City to take advantage of Liverpool's uncharacteristically leaky defence. City themselves have gone off the boil of late, drawing their last five league games. If Mark Hughes' men are serious about finishing in the top four, here lies the perfect opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the reds.

It's a close one to call, but I would sit on the fence and call a draw. I think right now Hughes would take that.

Scots Call Time On Burley

After a disappointing World Cup qualifying campaign, Scotland's 3-0 defeat to Wales on Saturday proved to be the final straw as The SFA decided to wield the axe. George Burley's reign just short of two years was over.

This came just two months after Burley was given the backing to take them into Euro 2012 qualification. Ok, you could argue that if The SFA thought they had made a mistake, now was the time to make the decision, but it does seem a bit puzzling after Burley thought he had the chance to build on what he had already put together.

Burley's record does not make good reading with just three wins from 14 games. Let's remember that on paper Scotland were given a good chance to finish second in their group behind Holland. Other than the Dutch they were up against Norway, Macedonia and Iceland. This didn't materialise though as the Scots finished third with just ten points from eight games.

Can anyone do better though? It will be mostly the same players there, but perhaps a new man with fresh ideas can come in. We've seen England improve under Capello, The Republic of Ireland under Trapottoni and Nigel Worthington do an excellent job with Northern Ireland.

Walter Smith and Alex Mcleish had previously fared well as Scotland bosses before being tempted back into club management. This is part of the problem; every time someone does well they are tempted elsewhere.

Scotland need somebody who is going to win matches and then stick around and see it through. The games against the smaller teams at Hampden Park must be won, and then see what they can get away. In international football there is arguably nobody more passionate than the Scots. They now need someone to deliver and steer them towards Euro 2012.

Burley had his chance, whether it was long enough or not, and results were not good enough. Now was the best time to change it, the latest The SFA could leave it. The new man now has just short of a year to find his best team before qualification begins in September.

When the players and fans are not with you, it's time to change. In the interests of Scotland it was the best thing to do.

England brought back down to earth

After nine wins from nine in World Cup qualification and their place at next summer's showpiece booked with two games to spare, expectations had heightened that Fabio Capello was the man to bring the coveted trophy back to England. However, two consecutive defeats against Ukraine and Brazil later and doubts are beginning to creep in about England's chances.

A poor performance yesterday by what was mainly England's second string in a 1-0 defeat which in truth flattered England following on from an equally disappointing showing in Dnipro last month.

Of course, it could be argued that England took their foot off the gas in both games as they had already qualified when meeting Ukraine and yesterday's game was just a friendly with many key players missing. There was no sign of the Brazilians doing the same though, they oozed class, goalscorer Nilmar particularly catching the eye and one sensed that they could have played better if they'd needed to.

Looking at England's record under Capello, four defeats from 21 games may not seem so bad. Three of those teams though were France, Spain and Brazil. If we are to win the World Cup next summer it's likely we are going to come across one of these teams, Spain and Brazil being the best in the world at the moment.

I am not saying Capello hasn't done well, there has been definite progression and at least we have qualified for World Cup 2010 after the disaster of missing out on Euro 2008. I just urge fans not to expect too much as there are some quality teams around in the world at the moment getting to the semi-finals would be a success. For me at the moment though you can look no further than Brazil and Spain.

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There was disappointment also over in Dublin as The Republic Of Ireland's chances of qualification hang by a thread as they lost the home leg of their World Cup play-off against France 1-0.

It is a huge ask of the Irish now to go to Paris and win by two goals (or do it on penalties). I said on Friday that I felt The Republic had to win last night's game and I stand by that. You never know what can happen in football though and all is not yet lost.

If indeed qualification failure is confirmed on Wednesday, this should not mask what strides Ireland have made under Giovanni Trapattoni. Drawn into a group also containing world champions Italy it was always likely that their only chance of qualification would come through the play-offs.

Ireland actually remained unbeaten in the group, though it was too many draws that ultimately denied them challenging the Italians for top spot in group 8. Then lady luck didn't smile on them again as they were drawn against France, thanks partly to FIFA's decision to seed the play-offs after noticing the possibility of two big nations meeting each other.

Trapattoni has indeed done a fabulous job and The Republic Of Ireland are in with a great shout of reaching Euro 2012. They just need to hope for a bit more luck when the draw is made.