One cannot fault Tunisian clubs for seeking perfection but you’d think a little more patience is needed if they are ever going to achieve their dream of continental dominance.

Take the case of Etoile Sahel. They have just fired their Swiss coach Michel Decastel for “indifferent results”.

Indifferent by their definition, is second place in the league and qualification for the final of the African Confederation Cup, the continent’s equivalent of the UEFA Cup. (more…)

This week we had the nominations for FIFA world player of the year, discovered the winner of the FIFPro world player of the year and mulled the contenders for the Ballon d’Or.

Exactly how many gongs do we need? In the recent past the situation was a bit clearer.

The Ballon d’Or was originally just for Europeans (hence the foreign language-challenged English calling it the European player of the year). In 1995 magazine France Football, which runs the award, decided any player playing in Europe could win it and since 2007 any footballer in the world is eligible (although it will surely be rare for a player not playing with a European side to win). (more…)

The Premier League will always have its army of foreign players, some of whom are no better than English teenagers who make way for them, but the number of home-grown managers is at least growing.

Ex-Arsenal and England defender Tony Adams became the 10th English manager in the 20-team Premier League on Tuesday when he took over at Portsmouth, following Englishman Harry Redknapp’s move to Tottenham Hotspur days before. (more…)

If David Beckham’s loan move to AC Milan goes through, one of the options coach Carlo Ancelotti has in mind is to use him as an alternative to Andrea Pirlo as a deep midfield playmaker.

It’s an interesting possibility which could help Beckham edge towards Peter Shilton’s record of 125 England caps as a protagonist rather than the bit player he is at the moment.

Beckham certainly has the passing ability to take on Pirlo’s ‘quarterback’ role. If he adapted to it successfully, the switch might help him seize a regular place in Fabio Capello’s side because pace is less of a premium there than it is in his usual position on the wing. Indeed, Pirlo is no Asafa Powell.

Sceptics could counter that Beckham played in the centre of midfield for a while during his time at Real Madrid with mixed results.

But then it was more of a stop-gap measure than a full-blown career move that would require commitment from the player and patience from coaches and team mates as he acquires the vision to dictate from deep.

What’s more, a loan stint at Milan would give him the chance to learn from Pirlo, the game’s undisputed master quarterback. (more…)

Amid all the furore over Diego Maradona’s imminent appointment as Argentina coach, an equally surprising and significant development has been all but overlooked: the return of Carlos Bilardo to the national team set-up at the age of 69, and after an 18-year absence.

Affectionately known as Narigon (Big Nose), Bilardo is one of the most controversial figures in Argentine soccer.

In 1986, he coached them to their second and last World Cup victory with a side built around Maradona, who was at his peak at the time. Four years later, he led them to the runners-up spot in Italy.

The latter, however, was generally regarded as a shabby campaign, which included two penalty shootout wins, a lot of negative negative football, and ended with two sendings-off in the final against Germany, a match in which Argentina already had five players suspended.

Bilardo is often regarded as personifying the ugly side of Argentine football.

He played in the notorious Estudiantes side of the late 1960s, when he would famously take a needle on to the pitch, poking it into his opponents at inconvenient moments.

He once seemed to imply that he had offered Brazil contaminated water in a World Cup match — he later said it was all a misunderstanding — and there was a story about him giving players heat rub to smother into the eyes of their opponents.

Whether there’s any truth to those reports or not, Bilardo’s influence could mark a change in attitude by Argentina.

Since 1990, Argentina have largely concentrated on playing attacking, passing football and have been overtaken in the gamesmanship stakes by many European teams.

Unfortunately, the new approach has coincided with a dearth of titles, their last coming at the 1993 Copa America under Alfio Basile.

With Brazil having already abandoned their traditional style for a counter-attacking game which also involves systematic fouling in midfield, the return of Bilardo, in whatever capacity, is a somewhat depressing prospect.

Brian Homewood, Buenos Aires

FILE PHOTO: Carlos Bilardo receives the Honor Trajectory award at the third annual Fox Sport Awards in Miami Beach, Dec. 05, 2005. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Watching Villarreal’s Robert Pires bustling around the pitch during Sunday’s match against Atletico Madrid, you would think he was in his mid twenties rather than his mid thirties.

The former Arsenal midfielder, who spent six seasons in London before joining the Spanish Primera Liga side in 2006, turns 35 today and says he is playing some of the best football of his long career.

Villarreal were leading 10-man Atletico 4-2 when Pires was taken off and they immediately seemed to lose their shape, conceding two late goals to draw 4-4. Before his substitution, the Frenchman was the fulcrum of the team, launching attacks with good distribution and cleverly winning free kicks in key areas.

“In my head and above all in my body I feel young,” Pires said in an interview published in Wednesday’s Marca newspaper. “I have been playing football for more than 15 years and I am enjoying it like it was the first day and that’s the most important thing.”

Pires, a World Cup and European Championships winner with France, said two serious knee injuries had helped him prolong his career.

“Not playing for almost two years delayed the end of my career and helped me rest my body,” he said. “I will play until I am no longer physically able. It will be the day I wake up and I have no desire to go to training.”

Pires told Villarreal’s website he thinks he can carry on at the top level for one or two more years and then he hopes to become a pundit or sporting director at a soccer club.

“I always knew that I wasn’t just coming (to Spain) to enjoy the sun and eat paella,” he said. “And I have proved it.”

PHOTO: Villarreal’s Robert Pires is challenged by Celtic’s Aiden McGeady during their Champions League match at the Madrigal stadium in Villarreal, September 30, 2008. REUTERS/Heino Kalis

Incredible but apparently true — Diego Maradona is to be the new coach of the Argentine national team.

That is according to reports running on Argentine TV at the moment and the news has apparently been confirmed by the 1986 World Cup winning coach Carlos Bilardo, who may be signing up as part of Maradona’s staff.

Maradona, as we all know, has had a colourful past (to put it mildly) and if true it must go down as one of the biggest gambles taken by a major national association.

Will it work? As a player, Maradona inspired an otherwise rather modest Argentina squad to their World Cup victory in 1986 and perhaps he can work the same sort of magic as a coach.

What do you think? Please let us know in the comments…

PHOTO: Diego Maradona attends a news conference in Tbilisi, Oct. 23, 2008. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili

Imagine the scenario. FIFA decides to use post-match video evidence at the 1986 World Cup. After Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in the quarter-final, the Argentinian is banned for two matches and the course of football history changes.

Belgium beat West Germany in the final in Mexico City.

A two-game ban is exactly what Alberto Gilardino has received for deliberately scoring the opener with his arm in Fiorentina’s 3-1 win at Palermo on Sunday.

The Italy striker, top scorer in Serie A because of that goal, even ran away to celebrate which angered the Sicilians even more.

Post-game video evidence has often led to players being banned for violent conduct, but the Italian league’s decision to sanction Gilardino for “serious unsporting conduct” following the handball opens up a real can of worms.

If the referee had spotted Gilardino using his arm he would only have got a yellow card. Yet a review after the match leads to a two-match suspension. Why the difference?

If Gilardino deserves such punishment then why should the goal be able to stand? It doesn’t help Palermo much that he misses games against Inter Milan and Siena. If his opening goal had been ruled out, Palermo could have gone on to win the match.

Isn’t a replay a better way of settling this?

PHOTO: Fiorentina’s Alberto Gilardino (L) reacts after missing a chance against Bayern Munich, Oct 21. REUTERS/Michael Dalder. A statue of Diego Maradona (R) stands in the Hand of God church in Buenos Aires. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

It seems even the most experienced players can forget that criticising your coach in the media pretty much always backfires.

Germany captain Michael Ballack has backed down and offered an apology after he angered coach Joachim Loew by suggesting in a newspaper interview that senior players were not being treated with enough respect.

“I will sit down with Loew as soon as my injury permits and apologise for my behaviour,” the Chelsea midfielder said on Sunday.

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos spent Sunday evening “sucking the bench” (as they say in Spain) after he used an interview with As newspaper to express his dissatisfaction with coach Bernd Schuster and said the club lacked a truly influential player. (more…)

A seismic weekend at Tottenham resulted in the ruthless cull of Juande Ramos and his coaching team and the sacking of director of football Damien Comolli.

Harry Redknapp was then hired as the club’s new manager just hours before the north London club claimed a first league victory of the season against Bolton.

However, their league position is still precarious (they are bottom, a point worse off than Newcastle) and there are many Spurs fans who are uncomfortable with the appointment

Not just because Redknapp has strong connections with West Ham United, but because his main attribute appears to be guiding average sides away from relegation.

Apart from last year’s FA Cup victory with Portsmouth, the 61-year-old Redknapp’s CV highlights are none too impressive.

Sure, he saved Portsmouth from relegation a few years ago and will probably have enough tricks up his sleeve to get Tottenham into mid-table by the end of the season.

But, what then? Is Redknapp really the man that can make Tottenham a force again? Can anybody?

It is a stark admission of failure by chairman Daniel Levy that he has gone back to basics after several unsuccessful attempts to discover Tottenham’s own “Arsene Wenger”.

Since Wenger took charge of Arsenal in 1996, Spurs have entrusted Swiss Christian Gross, Frenchman Jacques Santini, Dutchman Martin Jol and Spaniard Juande Ramos with trying to close the gap on their north London rivals.

Quite frankly, apart from Jol who turned Tottenham into a serious league force and came within 90 minutes of taking the club into the Champions League, the flirtations with European coaches have been a disaster.

The appointment of Redknapp also spells the end of Levy’s preference for a European-style management structure. There will be no director of football and Redknapp has made it clear that only players he wants will be in the squad.

What many fans cannot understand is why Jol, who guided Spurs to consecutive fifth-placed finishes, was not allowed the same responsibility.

Instead, he was undermined by Comolli and eventually sacked — a decision that now appears to have put the club back years.

Tottenham play Arsenal at the Emirates on Wednesday and thousands of Spurs fans, whether they admit it or not, will be looking on with envy and asking the nagging question, “What if Wenger had chosen the other half of north London?”

Redknapp may provide some instant comfort but sadly, Tottenham fans seem destined for many more years of pain.

PHOTO:  New Spurs boss Redknapp comes out of the tunnel ahead of his side’s game against Bolton Wanderers. Oct.26 REUTERS/Kieran Doherty