SENTINELCELTS

Well blow me down but old Engerland has actually went and produced a couple of good uns. Their biannual announcement of impending victory at whatever tournament is about to start may actually have a bit of merit this next time or two . The law of averages said it had to happen at some stage , but there looks to be a bit more involved here , dedication for a start , and a bit of humility which I hope catches on over there .

I believe its acknowledged that the class of 92 were not used as much or as well as they should have been by their national setup .  Scholes is probably the most gifted English midfielder of the last 30 years , yet time and again was not used correctly and thus never shone internationally , and he had the quality to .

At club level he had fantastic movement around him with plenty pace to run into empty spaces for Scholes to hit . England seen him in a static setup with a Shearer that preferred a cross , and didnt work space at all . Later Rooney preferred to come deep , right into the space Paul would be asked to play in . They misused the best they had . Surprise surprise.

Students of the beautiful game will not be surprised though to see decent numbers of native talent emerging by dint of being surrounded by some of the worlds best in their domestic league , and it should rub off after a while in fairness.

The league could probably claim to have some of the best coaches / managers also and this cannot be understated as a help not hindrance .

Thus the English have in their arsenal two of the best attackers about right now .

Harry Kane is to me the player Alan Shearer could have been , if he had went abroad and been properly coached .  Kane is the real deal , hitting great numbers season after season now , and is improving . For once I actually believe the hype around this guy is justified , I just cant see him blowing his talent ala Gazza , or being content to be a local big shot ala Shearer .

He could honestly grace probably any team .

Raheem Sterling looked like a petulant wee lip when I first saw him , and acting a big shot to Brendan on the training ground giving it back never helped my image of him .  His leaving of a Pool team that are on the rise was strange and brought him even more grief . None of these things have held him back at all as he has emerged as one of the best attackers going and shows little sign of stopping improving . If anything he looks destined to surpass Harry in terms of silverware and caps and looks the likeliest  of the two to try his hand abroad .

The guy regarded as the best manager around has him an automatic choice and key player , high praise indeed .

Gareth Southgate ,, he has brought back the waistcoat single handedly and that alone will get him a knighthood ( stick as much as youve got to spare on him kneeling one day mark my words ).

Hes never really stood out which I guess is a good thing and had a solid if not spectacular career . But it really does look as if he has something between the ears when it comes to reading the game and setting his team up .

His philosophy of setting up the best team , not the best individuals is to be admired ,, and he has already been bringing in changes to a team that done very well for him,, which shows a strong spine and some conviction .  Defenders do tend to make managers more regular having read the game more than the average player , and its showing through . Being linked with the job at Old Trafford is only further validation of an impressive start to his management career . I expect we shall see a lot more of his name in the future .

The lessons we as fans of the sport should take away here are that things are cyclical . It would have been hard to see it going soo well the day Big Sam got sacked after a solo outing ,, certainly no one was saying to me Im telling you what Mahe watch the English in a few years there are looking good .  The right set of circumstances came about ,, and they now have three people ( at least ) at the top of their game , giving it all for the team . I can see another semi final ahead .

Another lesson is the right man , right time , right place factor . It cannot be underestimated , and I have actually found myself in that position in real life when the people hiring you cant believe their luck , and youre thinking was the last guy that  crap as just by doing the job youre paid to do I look great and theyre fawning over me . Well maybe you are anyway . Theres no guide to picking the right guy , or stereotype you could copy , it just happens , and when it does you jump aboard and ride the train as far as its going .

That was Brendan not long ago , Midas , just like we called Martin all those years ago .

It was inevitable things were gonna slow down at some stage ,, he couldnt just keep on the rise forever . No one can or does . At some stage the ascension must level out , and it has .  

Thats its came at a time of a mismatched squad needing surgery isnt lost on everyone . But make no mistake he has earned our loyalty and our trust . And he will get it .

Someone who might actually be fancying themselves as another Midas is young Stevie Gee. He is in the position , at the moment , to think he is on track for a winning debut to help that notion along .

Speaking of cyclical it would have been hard to imagine being in a title race with them when looking back , but thats were we are .

Now yes he’s in a decent spot , and theres even been talk of “ got Brendan on the run “ ffs.  

He needed help to stay in touch and would be down the leagues top scorer if the suits running the farce had any cajones . Two veterans brought in are being lauded , they will love this last hurrah and the pay check that comes with it .  

After Pedro anyone half decent was gonna look good , and even quarter decent would have done it .  

However his team simply must stick the pace , they cant afford to drop points .

And that is why he should be looking at this next month of fixtures with trepidation .

If the footballing Gods were smiling upon them he would have four bottom half teams next with three of those at home , and then a medium size test to give a good gauge of things .

Sorry Stevie , no such luck. Its not an easy month coming up at all .

The Dons in a few weeks will be a huge test . Theres no doubt whatsoever Derek will want to show Jabba and King exactly what they missed out on and will probably never have due to their below the belt smear on him after turning down the hotseat .

A hostile Wednesday night game up at Pittodrie and all just to help affairs .

Eight days time see Killie host the Hun in another you will be doing well to get out with anything tie .  Another nice wee hostile away trip on a hopefully freezing night . Plastic pitch leveler ? And those new signings , are you really going to throw them in up at Cowdenbeath ? Cant see it , why risk them  , so they are hitting the ground against the teams around you , not ideal at all .

I reckon any pretentions of being Midas end for him and the fans within a  month or thereabouts.

One things for sure though , they try to play the dirty ref card to help him out in those two ties against rivals , and all hell will break loose . He’s  the ref down after the latest malarkey . Thats gotta irk .

Just one more wee reason I reckon he might slip up ( again ) and wont be arriving in March on our coattails .

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