Has McClaren gone from being the Wally with the Brolly to the Man with the Plan?

Comment & analysis round-up

Quote of the Day: “Everyone knows Inter Milan made a bid for me. That was an option I had to look at. I’ve always had a great relationship with Jose Mourinho, and I’ll never forget what he brought to me as a player and as a person. But I made my decision for Frank Lampard. I want to do what is best for me, my family and my football. There was a time I had to consider where I wanted to be, whether in London or away from there for my own reasons. That was a huge decision. But the relationship I had with the club and the support I had, made me realise this is where I want to be. It’s been difficult but my family and I will always come first. They understood and backed me.” - Frank Lampard.

Runner-up: “The performance was poor but the result was good. It is always important not to concede away from home and with the second leg at Anfield there will have to be a massive difference. I didn’t need to say much to the players afterwards because they know it was a bad performance.” - Rafa Benitez.

Today’s overview: Despite neither Liverpool nor Arsenal losing in the Champions League last night, neither team emerged with too much credit from their performances.

Oliver Kay rips into Liverpool’s display, which “could not even be described as bog-standard”, while Robbie Keane’s Champions League debut for the Reds was chewed over by Tim Rich (”Keane’s debut did resemble that of a Liverpool No 7 but it was so anonymous as to be almost Harry Kewell-like.”)

Steve McClaren appears to have been the big winner in the Twente-Arsenal match. According to Henry Winter “McClaren impressed here, his tactics confusing Arsene Wenger’s side.” Such views are echoed by Mark Irwin, who believed McClaren went from “Wally with the Brolly to the Man with the Plan.” But in a supplementary article Irwin seemingly contradicted his own assessment saying “Steve McClaren showed new signs of delusion last night, insisting: I outwitted Arsene Wenger!”

Both Sachin Nakrani and Tony Banks report on Frank Lampard’s new contract with Chelsea. In more juicy transfer gossip, Russell Kempson claims that Gareth Barry may today commit to Astoin Villa if he plays in the UEFA Cup, and while Oliver Kay reports Spurs are already spending Dimitar Berbatov’s transfer fee on Andrei Arshavin, Peter Ferguson claims they are also targeting Freddy Kanoute. In separate news, Jason Burt reports that Mark Hughes has made a £12m bid for Roque Santa Cruz.

Continuing the Guardian’s club by club review, Rob Smyth looks at Stoke (”Stoke’s best hope is surely to foster a Crazy Gang spirit”) while Barney Ronay focuses attention on Sunderland. (”It’s hard to see Sunderland really struggling.”)

In the best of the rest, Brian Moore is already ticked off with the behaviour of footballers, Kevin McCarra looks at the problems facing Fabio Capello in selecting his England forward-line, Louise Taylor analyses how the credit crunch is effecting the composition of football fans, Nigel Morris exposes the poor salaries paid by Premier League clubs to “cleaners, catering staff and shop assistants” and Jack Bell slams Alexis Lalas on the New York Times blog.

Oliver Kay rips into Liverpool’s performance against Standard Liege in The Times. “The champions of Belgium came close to inflicting an embarrassing defeat on a Liverpool team whose performance could not even be described as bog-standard. Liverpool were awful, so wretched in every department that even Rafael Benítez, who prefers not to stray from the banal in post-match press conferences, described the display as ‘very bad’. Ring-rustiness of some kind is to be expected in the first competitive game of the campaign, but this, the manager admitted, was unexpectedly poor after a largely encouraging pre-season programme.”

Robbie Keane’s performance was far from memorable, as mocked by Tim Rich in the Telegraph. “When Robbie Keane achieved his boyhood ambition and became a Liverpool player, he commented that only a fan of the club would know what it was to wear the No 7 shirt that had graced the backs of Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish – men who won the European Cup in Rome… Keane’s debut did resemble that of a Liverpool No 7 but it was so anonymous as to be almost Harry Kewell-like. After 68 minutes his manager, Rafael Benitez, had seen enough and brought on a more tested Liverpool hero, Steven Gerrard, who in the 90th minute produced their only shot on target.”

Turning to the Twente-Arsenal match, Henry Winter (Telegraph) believes that Steve McClaren earned credit from his team’s performance. “After walking through a storm with England, McClaren seems to have found some friends here. Even in defeat, McClaren and his purposeful players were applauded from the field. England coaches rarely find life easy after leaving the Impossible Job, but McClaren impressed here, his tactics confusing Arsene Wenger’s side until midway through the second half when Gallas and Adebaylor rendered the second leg largely insignificant.”

Even The Sun’s Mark Irwin found reasons to give credit to Steve McClaren. “Chased out of the country after 15 miserable months as England boss, McClaren is now looking to rebuild his battered reputation in Holland. But even he could not have imagined it would take him just one match to go from the Wally with the Brolly to the Man with the Plan.”

However in a supplementary article, Mark Irwin picks up the favourite pastime of English journalists - McClaren bashing. “OH NO! Steve McClaren showed new signs of delusion last night, insisting: I outwitted Arsene Wenger! His astonishing claim came after the former England boss watched his new side FC Twente LOSE 2-0 to Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier.”

With Frank Lampard penning a new contract with Chelsea making him the richest player in the league, Sachin Nakrani looks at the deal in the Guardian. “Frank Lampard became the highest paid player in the Premier League yesterday after signing a new five-year contract with Chelsea. The England midfielder will earn close to £140,000 a week, some £9,000 more than the previous top earner, his club-mate John Terry, who extended his stay at Stamford Bridge last year. It is believed Lampard’s wages will drop slightly in the final 12 months of his deal, though, a compromise he accepted in return for such a lengthy contract.

The Daily Express’s Tony Banks reports on Lampard’s new contact, going totally overboard in his description of how the deal finally came to be reached. “The England midfielder midway through last season was committed to leaving Chelsea. He felt his career at Stamford Bridge, after nearly seven years, had gone as far as it could. His mentor Mourinho had gone, the glory and glamour had faded, the love affair with the club withered. But then his mother Pat, without question the driving force in Lampard’s career, died after contracting pneumonia on April 24 this year – and everything changed. As the Daily Express has revealed, Lampard was understandably thrown into mental turmoil. The support that Chelsea and his team-mates showed him during that awful time in his life became a crucial factor in turning Lampard towards staying.”

According to Russell Kempson (The Times), Gareth Barry may follow in Lampard’s footsteps, ending his protected transfer saga by committing his future to Aston Villa tonight. “It may appear a shade incongruous, bizarre even, but one of the most protracted, most talked about and, potentially, most expensive transfer deals of the summer should reach a conclusion in this small football outpost tonight. If, as expected, Gareth Barry sets foot on the pitch at the Laugardalsvöllur Stadium, the possible move of the Aston Villa midfield player to Liverpool is likely to be off. Should Barry play… he will become ineligible to take part in the Champions League until the knockout stages in February.”

Over at the Telegraph, Oliver Kay is already spending Dimitar Berbatov’s transfer fee on Andrei Arshavin. “It is expected that the Bulgarian will arrive at United’s Carrington training ground as early as Thursday to finalise personal terms and undergo a medical. He is set to be presented as a United player before Sunday’s match against Newcastle, as Sir Alex Ferguson looks to cement the final link in his squad to challenge for a third straight Premier League title… Tottenham have hastened the search for a replacement. Although Monaco forward Nene claims to have been approached by Spurs coach Juande Ramos, Arshavin is the prime target. Tottenham are believed to have cooled on plans to sign Roman Pavlyuchenko, Arshavin’s international team-mate, and Ramos could yet be forced to deploy Darren Bent as a lone striker.”

Staying with Tottenham, the Daily Mail’s Peter Ferguson comes straight out of left-field with the claim that Spurs are targeting Freddy Kanoute. “The wheels are turning slowly on their move for Andrei Arshavin - Tottenham’s £17m offer for the Russian Euro2008 star turn is still a couple of million short of Zenit St Petersburg’s valuation of their prize asset. In the meantime, Juande Ramos is exploring the possibility of bringing back Kanoute from his former club Sevilla in an effort to bring Tottenham up to scratch and provide serious competition for Darren Bent.”

After all the rumours of chaos at Manchester City, Jason Burt (Independent) reports that Mark Hughes has made a £12m for Roque Santa Cruz. “It could be that City will have to raise their bid to £14m for Santa Cruz. But given the crisis they face with strikers – following a thigh injury to Benjani Mwaruwari which rules him out of the first few months of the season and with Jo on Olympic duty – they may be willing to increase their offer. Hughes is desperate for Santa Cruz to arrive before Sunday’s league opener at Aston Villa, especially as Darius Vassell is also now injured and will be out for around 10 weeks after suffering ligament damage. Hughes, at present, has to choose between Valeri Bojinov, Ronaldo Bianchi and the youngsters Felipe Caicedo, Danny Sturridge and Ched Evans.”

Bad-boy Joey Barton is once again making the headlines for all the wrong reasons, Tom Wilkinson (Guardian) reporting on how the midfielder may be slapped with a 15-match ban for his assault on Ousmane Dabo. “With the FA running its Respect agenda, and public outrage growing at Newcastle’s refusal to sack Barton, sanctions threaten to be severe. Much will depend on how strongly the independent regulatory commission, which will hear Barton’s case, is influenced by public opinion. It remains to be seen whether the fact that the offence did not happen at Newcastle and that Barton was subsequently suspended by City will impact on the hearing.”

Continuing the Guardian’s club by club review, Rob Smyth looks at Stoke. “Stoke’s best hope is surely to foster a Crazy Gang spirit, aided by an intimidating home crowd, set-piece expertise and a load of hairy-arsed headless chickens with an unmatched work ethic. Indeed Pulis has already had the pitch shortened and narrowed. If he was allowed, he’d probably play Stoke’s home games in a phonebox.”

Fellow colleague Barney Ronay focuses attention on Sunderland. “It’s hard to see Sunderland really struggling. Partly because there are so many teams who are likely to be significantly weaker than them. Partly because they have a large, well-balanced, if not high quality squad. But mainly because of Keane and Quinn. Seventh from bottom (or perhaps eight) is unlikely to satisfy all their ambitions for now. But it’s probably where they’ll end up.”

With the new season still a few days away, the Telegraph’s Brian Moore is already ticked off with the behaviour of footballers. “By common consent, the beautiful game is scarred by the behaviour of players, managers, fans and directors. This is so commonplace, it is assumed to be insoluble. Is it not even possible that football adopt measures used by other sports to address this? These self-inflicted wounds could be rectified quite easily, but there is not the desire or courage, not just within the relevant ruling bodies, but also players, managers and fans.”

In the Guardian, Kevin McCarra looks at the problems facing Fabio Capello in selecting his England forward-line. “The old irritations have not been expelled. There are pre-season aches and pains to hinder England and Michael Owen, stricken by a calf strain and mumps, is due for his first practice game today, even if he nurses ambitions of being involved when Newcastle United go to Old Trafford on Sunday. Others, such as Wayne Rooney and Emile Heskey, are doubts as well.”

Taking a step back, Louise Taylor (Guardian) looks at the credit crunch affecting the composition of football fans, who are “turning the working man’s ballet into the preserve of the middle class and middle aged.” “With commercial departments at some clubs expressing private concerns that imminent recession will dramatically hit corporate-box and hospitality revenues, this refusal to turn a blind eye to economic gloom may yet prove impressively far-sighted.”

Nigel Morris (Independent) exposes the poor salaries paid by Premier League clubs to “cleaners, catering staff and shop assistants.” “Some employees receive only match tickets as recompense, or the promise of commission… The five London clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United – are paying staff at least £2 below the London Living Wage of £7.45, which the Mayor Boris Johnson says is the minimum to avoid living in poverty in the city. The FPN found Blackburn Rovers was offering one match ticket per month and possible commission for a part-time post selling lottery tickets.”

Heading Stateside, Jack Bell slams Alexis Lalas on the New York Times blog. “Wherever he has gone as a club executive, Lalas has left confusion and gutted teams in his wake. From San Jose to the MetroStars/Red Bulls to the Galaxy, the red-headed Lalas has been strong on the bombast side of things, but inept in nearly every facet of running a team. Perhaps Lalas’s best skill, if you want to call it that, is the constant churn of rosters as players (and coaches) come and go. Of course hindsight is wonderful, but one has to wonder what condition the MetroStars/Red Bulls would be in now if Lalas had not fired Bob Bradley as the team’s coach. Imagine a roster that might still include Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Marvell Wynne and several other promising players who were summarily dumped overboard.”