QPR enter the FIFA top 10

Sorry I forgot to say Iran nearly drew with Mexico which must put them about 9th in the world FIFA rankings and QPR beat Iran last July so that knocks Iran back to say 10 with Gary Waddock's Blue & White Army slotting in at 9. YOU R's!!!!!!!!!!

Please see photogaphic evidence

Also there is a quality panoramic picture of lovely Loftus Road so it won't be a wasted journey.

Oh What Joy - on a daily basis

The wallcharts are in place and the long awaited tournament is with us. Whilst all and sundry agonise over Sven's tactical nouse, I am just drinking in the joy of day after day of football, glamourous countries playing glamourous contries. Premier league and Football league players doing battle and who ever wins we are getting a real treat.

Just one thing though Ray Stubbs (oh and Mark Lawrenson, as ever) he does a really great job on snooker with Hazel Irving (her career really didn't dip after her denial of the holocaust) but when he is sat there with mogadon Mick McCarthy and the massively hyperactive Ian Dowie, he is really shown up as a bloke who really didn't quite make it Tranmere Rovers.

Least ways more later I'm off to fill in the scores from today and work out Sven's options for Thursday. Fiona Bruce feels 4-4-2 is just not working for him and Felicity Barr feels that Walcott was a huge gamble.

We all know that if we pick up that trophy the guy'll be a genius and we knew it all along. Fickle? Never!

NB Felicity Barr is currently 31 in Jules Lister all time top 32 favourite women chart

Christmas Come Early

Witness David Beckham's recent TV documentary and you can draw a line under any similarity between yourself and the world's most famous No 7, but when Beckham says that "waiting for the World Cup is like a child waiting for christmas" we can all echo some real sense of empathy. Yahoo!, McDonalds or Budweiser competition permitting I will be joining the majority of the world in watching the entire show on TV.

Three pointers for those who like to back their judgement with hard cash.

1. Greece Factor - pick a team that can genuinely upset the current world order. Gemany would be my bet, domestic scene deluged with non Germans, coach based in USA, Ballack the subject of envious stick, they are on home soil, they always do what is needed. Good at penalties too.

2. Pick a goal scorer who might not be in Berlin on the last day of the tournament - Pauleta is an absolute goal mine. He scores for fun in mediocre teams, his group matches include two unfancied countries with reputedly poor defences, Portugal's path to the the round of sixteen looks easier than anyone else's.

3. Check out the odds for a Steven Gerrard red card. Fifa love to introduce an element of "fun" into the refereeing directives at the earliest stage and Stevie is just the kind of wholehearted individual who falls foul of these petty bureaucrats.

Enjoy it when it comes.

I'm off to do a Yahoo! search for my nearest McDonalds or Budweiser oultet to see if I can prove myself to be not only a true fan but a lucky one.

In a world of role models and appropriate behaviour..........

Wasn't the 20- 30- man brawl at the Watford - Crystal Palace play off encounter just a thing a absolute beauty. Yes Boothroyd was childish, Fitz Hall petulant, but the resulting melee was the way a football team should approach resolving such issues. I have had enough of the big centre half running the length of the pitch to pull away the opposition antagonist. Let there be a free for all, don't limit the subs to just 3, all 5 and backroom staff.

Even the arrival of Ian Dowie into the fray (or is that affray) brought no sense of caution to Watford. It went a reasonable distance it seemed to release a lot of the usual play off tension. Just brilliant.

What a brilliant Game

You get the guff every year "watched all over the world" and "advert for footbal"l but this year's FA Cup was so special it was un real. Played in a terrific spirit and quality coming out at every twist and turn.

How brilliant that an evenly contested match between two teams that aren't Arsenal Chelsea or Manchester United should bring the curtain down on a great elite domestic season.

Roll on June and the fixtures coming out.

The Best (English)Man for the Job

Steve McClaren is the new England Manager. It is a huge mercy that this episode in our lives is now put to bed. We can get back to our everyday lives safe that Patriotic fervour has ruled over the task of finding the best man for the job. If you are looking for somebody to win the world cup it is always worth looking at those who have done it and would appear capable of doing it again.

If they are unavailable then let's try other avenues. Steve Mclaren has been part of the FA set up for long enough to undertsand the politics and the landscape and his knowledge of the players must be second to none. Presumabley Beckham and Neville have approved the appointment , so there will be no "player power" blind alleys further down the line.

Perhaps the biggest joy of his appointment, once we have put our crosses of St George down for a minute, comes in the shape of his ability to bring youth through, something that has served him well over the past season at Middlesborough. It brings a tear to my eye the amount and quality of young players that are filling those famous red shirts in the current glut of games they are encountering. Hopefully McClaren will show the same faith in the youngsters that regularly come up through the under 21 ranks and hit the starry glass ceiling.

We shall see. In the meantime let us all reflect on the biggest challenge that Mclaren faces and that will be the media who seem to believe that their job is served best by chipping away at human beings and that the effects of their undermining and harrying is somehow justified in our interest.

God Bless him and all who sail with him.

Come on England

Enemy of the People

He is a devil. The writings of the season's end were unanimous in their condemnation of Jose Mourinho.

He's won the championship and his response to that achievement is to highlight the scant respect he and his team are shown. How ungrateful can he be? What Jose has neglected to embrace his time in the UK is that nobody likes a show off, a rich show off they like less and to cap it all a successful rich show off really is taking the biscuit.

When Gary Lineker smirks "the special one" on Match of the Day you can see the soul of man who won very little in his career, uncomfortable with somebody doesn't do losing and knows just how good he is. Not that Gary doesn't enjoy George Benson's view on true love, he knows he's a special one too, he just doesn't need to say it himself, he has the Walkers Crisp corporation do the crowing for him.

But back to Jose and Media. Manager of the Month in 2 of the 20 he competed for the prestigious prize - Mourinho highlighted this point on his day of glory - when he should have been royally enjoying the media's two-faced praise of his "valueless" achievement. How very dare he.

But how can he not have been recognised during one month of this season. It is unbelievable.

Love him or hate him - personally I love him - he is the best thing to happen to sport media in the modern age, if he could just be tempted into a sexual dalliance with farm animal I feel certain he would be crowned the king of those who live, leach like, off the reporting of other peoples’ lives.

He will be a long time missed when he has gone. And long may he reign.