Argentina’s current plight has posed a very difficult question for me. What’s worse: for Argentina to miss the World Cup Finals in South Africa; or for them to qualify — thanks to Diego Maradona and Martin Palermo — and then fail miserably at the Finals?

Palermo’s (very) late goal versus Peru somehow put Argentina in control of their own destiny, as far as qualification was concerned. Unfortunately, it’s the worst possible team to control Argentina’s destiny. I’d feel safer if the whole thing was in the control of Bolivia or somebody else.

The Bolivians can at least assure themselves of one thing, they don’t lose at home, having beaten both the Argentines and Brazil there. In Argentina’s match against Peru, that was far from certain and only Palermo’s miraculous finish kept the Peruvians from exacting their revenge and reviving the ghosts of ‘78.

It would be terrible indeed for Argentina to miss out of their first World Cup Finals since 1970, but it’s hard to see how this team, under Diego Maradona, could possibly generate any kind of challenge in South Africa.

At first, when Maradona was given the job, I reasoned that perhaps he would raise the morale of the players and give them confidence, and that this would overcome any tactical peccadilloes on his part.

But the opposite has been true. Maradona has somehow managed to combine tactical inefficiency with confidence-destroying lineup shifts. In his 9 games in charge, he’s used more than 30 players and has never repeated his lineup once. Constant new callups together with banishments from the squad have put every player on shaky footing. And the 3 players he claims to be assured of a spot in the World Cup squad (should there be one) are three of the lowest performers, including two, Javier Mascherano and Lionel Messi who are world-class at their position (the third, Jonás Gutierrez, is hardly justifying his selection either with Argentina or the Championship’s Newcastle United).

I do want Argentina to qualify, no matter what. But if they do, they need to find a new manager. Allowing Maradona to fail to make him see that he is incapable of managing Argentina is too big a price to pay for the rest of us who love the albicelestes and want to go into every tournament we play with a chance to win.

Who would have thought that just three months ago Newcastle’s fans were crying into their Brown Ale, watching constant reruns of their 5–0 win over Manchester United in 1996 and shouting ‘Shearer, Shearer’ at the top of their tear–choked voices following relegation from the Premier League? The answer is not many when you witness the stunning way in which the Toon Army have taken to life in the Championship. Not only do they sit top of the table, they also make up 35% of the top 20 of the Actim Index with a staggering seven players making the transition from zero to hero quicker than you can say ‘Wor Kevin Keegan’. Shola Ameobi leads the way in fifth place, while Ryan Taylor (7) and Kevin Nolan (9) also make the top 10. Although Jonas Gutierrez has still to use the Spiderman mask that he dons when scoring a goal, he can settle for 19th place.

Elsewhere in the north–east, Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate had little to smile about last weekend as his men fell to their first defeat of the season at Bristol City. But he will have breathed a huge sigh of relief on Tuesday afternoon when the transfer window slammed shut with Adam Johnson still a Boro player. The England Under–21 winger has been in outstanding form this season and not only did he score his fifth goal of the term at Ashton Gate, he also picked up a further 19 points to move himself up into second place in the overall Index. He was eclipsed by City striker Nicky Maynard, though, whose double earned him 52 points, a place in the Team of the Week and moved him into sixth place overall. Make room for all those on your mantelpiece, Mrs Maynard.

Another to enjoy a profitable week was Sheffield Wednesday striker Marcus Tudgay, who also smashed the 50–point barrier with his two–goal salvo in the 3–1 win at ailing Plymouth. Burnley tried to tempt the pint–sized forward to the Premier League during the summer but he resisted their advances and signed a new four–year deal to stay in South Yorkshire before belatedly celebrating his new deal at Home Park, with his 53 points – the best score of the week – propelling him into third place overall.

Nottingham Forest’s players certainly had a lot to celebrate last weekend, with four of their players making it into the week’s top 20 players. Maybe that is why Nathan Tyson was waving a corner flag in the air after the 3–2 win over Derby. That aside, Tyson (34 points), was joined in the week’s elite by Radoslaw Majewski (37), Dexter Blackstock (32) and Chris Cohen (28). Cohen is Forest’s highest–ranked player in the overall Index, coming in at number 74 and while City Ground chief Billy Davies will have enjoyed getting one over on his former employers, he knows his men must keep on winning if they are to justify all the money he has spent on them over the summer.

And what of poor old Watford? Not only did they lose their manager to Reading over the summer, the Vicarage Road club have now lost some of their prized–assets in a deadline day scramble that almost reached Portsmouth proportions. Ironically, Pompey did take two of the Hornets marquee men, with Tommy Smith ending his association with the club to join the south coast side. The striker remains in fourth place in the Index, reminding the Watford faithful of what they have lost. If that was not enough, while they were peeling Smith’s name from the back of their replica shirts, defender Mike Williamson also headed off down the A3 to Fratton Park. Worry not, though, Hornets, he was only 112th in the Index. With summer signing Danny Graham sitting proudly in eighth, it is not all bad news.

Spare a though for the one man who did not even get to worry about the transfer window. Simon Davey became the first Championship manager to lose his job this season following Barnsley’s 3–1 loss to Reading last Saturday, but there is little surprise about the Tykes predicament as the Index perfectly illustrates. Their defence has been leaking goals like nobody’s business this season yet it is one of their defenders, old war–horse Darren Moore, who is their highest Index entrant in 157th place. Jon Macken is not far behind in 163rd while Stephen Foster (184) is their third and final player inside the top 200.

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Michael Chopra may have spent most of his wages on petrol travelling between Cardiff and Sunderland in the last couple of years but now the striker has finally settled in the Welsh capital he has began the season in great form. He bagged a hat-trick in last week’s 3-1 win at Plymouth and followed that up with another goal in the victory over Bristol City. Those exploits were enough to earn him 34 points and take him above Clinton Morrison to the number one spot in the overall Actim index.

Last January when Kevin Nolan swapped Phoenix Nights for Byker Grove, moving from Bolton to Newcastle, most people thought that it was a step up in his career. In truth, it couldn’t have gone much worse for Nolan as the Toon suffered a humiliating relegation but now the midfielder has found his feet at St James’s Park and hit the ground running this term. He netted his first goal in the 3-0 win at Crystal Palace and his overall performance in week three saw him become the top point earner, racking up 48 points, which was enough to send him into the top 10 in the overall index.

Newcastle have not seen such heady days in recent times and with an unbeaten start to the new campaign, three other players make the overall top 10. Shola Ameobi has finally managed to avoid injury long enough to grab some goals and he is the highest ranked Toon player at third, while Ryan Taylor and Jonas Gutierrez join Kevin Nolan in that list at sixth and ninth respectively.

When Congolese international Youssouf Mulumbu signed for West Brom earlier this year, many Baggies fans may very well have said “Youssouf Mulumbwho?”. But after earning a regular starting berth for Roberto Di Matteo’s men, he has already become a crowd favourite at The Hawthorns this term. He netted his first goal for the club in the 2-0 win over Ipswich and his 34 points this week sees him take his place in the team of the week.

Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Michael Gray has proved that being released by a number of Premier League clubs does not necessarily mean your career is over and he has found new life at the Owls. He may have a very generous Kevin Keegan to thank for earning an England international cap, but he is more than holding is own at Championship level and, aged 35, there is no-one older above him in the Index. Gray has played a big part in Wednesday’s positive start to the campaign and moves up five places to 16th in the index.

Australian sport has not had a good time of it in recent days with England regaining the Ashes and captain Ricky Ponting boarding his long-haul flight home with yet another scar on his face to remember his failures by. And the Australian contingent in the Index are not having much to shout about either, with all three players hailing from Down Under coming in outside the top 75. Middlesbrough’s Rhys Williams is the Ben Hilfenhaus equivalent, registering at a respectable 77th, Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici says “G’day” 101 places later and Nick Carle brings up the rear at 467th.

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Fresh from Argentina’s 3-2 friendly victory over Russia in Moscow, Diego Maradona confirmed a third member in what he considers his untouchables, players who are destined to start in the World Cup (should Argentina make it, which is looking increasingly less sure).

Was it Lisandro López, who set the pace in the second half and scored the second goal? Was it Jesús Dátolo who scored the third and celebrated it with a massive hug of Maradona? Was it Lavezzi, Agüero, Tevez, Diego Milito or any other host of attacking players from top European clubs.

Nope, it’s a winger from Newcastle United. Yes, that’s the Championship’s Newcastle United.

Now, obviously you can’t blame Jonás Gutierrez for Newcastle’s drop into English football’s second division, but it seems strange to confirm a player who, for the moment at least, is not exactly facing premium opposition. Nor has he exactly been a leading light in the Toon’s’ lineup.

So why did Diego fall in love?

It has a lot to do with the same reasons why Javier Mascherano is in the same group. Sure, there’s talent and physical presence, but they also have a huge amount of desire to be on the team and to win with Argentina. Whatever evils you can bring up about Maradona (and I can list a number of them), there are two things you can never deny: he was as talented as any other player in the game ever was (in my opinion, more than any other) and he was always ready to put on his national shirt and play for Argentina.

You can’t always say the same about other talented players. Sometimes national squad duty can seem more of a burden than a prize. And given some of the characters that have occupied the Argentina managerial seat, it’s no surprise some players chose to stay away rather than submit to a regime they didn’t care for (I’m looking at you Fernando Redondo and Daniel Passarella).

But Diego was different. He didn’t care. He just wanted to play and win for Argentina. And I think he sees the same kind of desire in those three players. Jonás has earned a spot not with showy performances on the pitch, but rather with a significant level of consistency (he’s not necessarily a game-breaker, but he’s never underperformed) and with the sheer desire to spend 90 minutes hawling his ass from one end of the pitch to the other and doing whatever it takes.

Time will tell whether these 3 are correct, but there’s no reason to detract from any of them. It’s really all more likely to depend on that final 8 (plus the 12 others who will support them) to determine what Argentina’s fate will be in the World Cup, assuming they get there.

Next up, Brazil at home. Uff.

Newcastle have settled a dispute over Jonas Gutierrez’s transfer fee and have grudgingly agreed to pay Real Mallorca £5.2million in compensation for the Argentine’s service.

Gutierrez had controversially left the Spanish side under FIFA Article 17, the so-called Webster ruling, which allows players under 28 to walk out on contracts after three years, by paying compensation.

The talented and hard-working winger had bought himself out of his contract with Mallorca to join the Geordies in the summer – and United were promptly hit with a £13.2million compensation bill from the Spaniards.

Newcastle were originally adamant that they owed his former club nothing, but now have agreed to pay a third of what the Islanders were looking for after the Dispute Resolution Chamber of FIFA’s transfer arbitration tribunal personally got involved in the matter.

“Gutierrez gave a lot for us and we gave a lot for him,” commented Mallorca sporting director Nando Pons in the local press.

“I think this is an agreement that is good for all parties.”

Mallorca will reportedly pass on half of their £5.2million fee to Gutierrez’s former club Velez Sarsfield and are still set to receive 20 per cent of any future fee should the Geordies ever choose to sell the player.’

Goal

Kedden és szerdán Európa-szerte válogatott mérkőzéseket játszottak, barátságosakat és téttel bírókat egyaránt.

Tegnapelőtt Steven Taylor csapatkapitányként végigjátszotta az angol U21-es csapat mérkőzését Malagán, ahol a britek 3-2-re kikaptak az ecuadori U21-esektől.

Szerdán Párizsban és Dublinban játszottak fiaink. Damien Duff és az ír válogatott a Croke Parkban (nyáron a stadiontól két percre laktam, lélegzetállító egy hely) fogadta Grúziát, az írek Robbie Keane duplájával 2-1-re nyertek, Duffot a 80. percben cserélte le Trapattoni.

A francia-argentín meccs 41. percében megszerezte élete első válogatott találatát Jonas Gutierrez, az argiek 2-0-ra nyertek. Pár kilométerrel arrébb Geremi 100. válogatottságát góllal ünnepelte, Kamerun 3-1-es győzelmet aratott Guinea felett.

The Argentineans defeated France in Marseille yesterday and it was Maradona’s 100th day on the job as the team’s coach.

Goals from Jonas Gutiérrez (courtesy of a sleek Aguero cross) and Messi (of course he had to score!) ensured a 2-0 victory in front of the packed stadium yesterday.

“My guys played well,” Maradona told TF1 in an interview at the end of the game. “I am very glad. I am happy with their performance.”

Why is Kun walking away from Maradona in the second photo below? Listen to dad!