Football Americana Week 20: Cunningham doubles up

If I said not much had changed in the Major League Soccer table in the last seven days, I'd be doing Week 20 a terrible disservice. The action was thrilling, surprising and eventful, shaking things up even if the shock didn't quite register in the standings.

The week got underway in nauseatingly corporate fashion on Wednesday at Rio Tinto, where the MLS All-Star game 2009 saw Premier League side Everton go up against the league's hottest talents. Amid owner talk of the Designated Player rule and fan talk about whether the league's showpiece match still belongs, Louis Saha and Brad Davis scored as the teams finished one apiece. James Vaughan, Jo, Brad Davis, Davy Arnaud and Freddie Ljungberg missed from the spot, giving Everton all three points an historic victory the win.

More important matters began at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, where New England Revolution hosted - and shared the points with - Toronto FC. Chad Barrett's blocked shot fell for Dwayne DeRosario who thumped in an unstoppable half-volley to put the Reds in front. Shortly afterwards Barrett was booked for petulantly dragging down Kevin Alston, and in the 49th minute he put in a nasty, late challenge on the Revs defender to earn himself an early bath. With 15 minutes left, the Revolution equalised through Edgaras Jankauskas who turned the ball home off a Shalrie Joseph knockdown.

Houston Dynamo had a three-minute first-half blitzkrieg and the return of Brian Ching and Stuart Holden to thank for three points against DC United. Brad Davis beat Josh Wicks way too easily from distance in the 36th minute before Brian Ching added to the scoring in the 38th and 39th minutes, Wicks appalling on both occasions. Luciano Emilio came on for DC, scoring in the 49th minute with a deflected shot. Dejan Jakovic clearly won the ball from Dominic Oduro in the 64th minute, but the Dynamo striker launched himself to the ground and earned a penalty, converted by Holden for 4-1. DC continued to fight back, scoring through Fred and Emilio, but to no avail.

Huge shock number one came at Pizza Hut Park, where languid FC Dallas shook off their demons to demolish Kansas City Wizards. 6-0! Jeff Cunningham, starting the evening on four goals for the season, doubled his tally to take the edge off the sale of Kenny Cooper to 1860 Munich. The pick of the four was a sidefoot volley from an irresistible long ball from Brek Shea, and he had one disallowed for good measure. David Ferreira grabbed the other two with a helping hand from FCD's blonde bombshell Shea. Kansas City's Claudio Lopez was sent off at 3-0 for an elbow.

Things were a little more dignified at Chicago Fire, where the hosts triumphed over Real Salt Lake by the moderate-by-contrast scoreline of 1-0. Patrick Nyarko helped himself to the three points in the 76th minute with a simple header. But there was worse news for RSL - Yura Movsisyan picked up an early shoulder injury.

It was the same scoreline at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Eastern leaders Columbus Crew were in town to play Colorado Rapids and they got the job done with a goal from Chad Marshall. In the 39th minute Robbie Rogers touched a 30-yard free kick to Marshall, who drilled it into the bottom corner. Colorado's Ugo Ihemelu picked up a red card in the 84th minute for a second bookable offence.

And at Buck Shaw it was San Jose Earthquakes who caused the second emphatic surprise of the weekend. Their 4-0 victory over Seattle Sounders pulled them even further ahead of New York Red Bulls, now the worst team in the league by what would be described on da street as "mad distance". An Osvaldo Alonso own goal got the scoring underway early, and James Riley was sent off for the Sounders in the 33rd. Cornell Glen added the second, and Darren Huckerby a comical third. Chris Wondolowski sealed it in the 84th minute.

At the end of Week 20, Columbus lead the East with 33 points from Chicago with 32. Houston are top of the West with 35 ahead of the Sounders (29). DC United (East, 28), LA Galaxy (West, 28), Chivas USA and Colorado (both West, both 27) are the current best of the rest.

Full results and standings here.

For more great football writing by Chris Nee, visit TwoFootedTackle.com...

Bundesliga Preview: Dieter Hecking's Troubled Brow

The German football season actually kicked off two Saturdays ago as the Third Division (3-Liga) got underway. In fact two rounds had already been played before last weekend when the first round of the DFB Pokal (that's the German Cup to you and me) was played. In this round the minnows from the 2 Bundesliga, 3-Liga and the three Regionaliga try to catch the big boys off guard as they prepare themselves for the big kick off this weekend. It proved to be a weekend to forget for two Bundesliga teams. One would see their coach sacked before a ball is kicked in the League while the other has added an extra layer of furrow on one of Germany's finest pair of eyebrows.

Mainz coach Jorn Andersen must have known that life in the Bundesliga would be tough for his newly promoted side. The club's natural place in the League structure is in the 2 Bundesliga so they tend to struggle during their brief incursions in the top division. The club have hardly pulled up any transfer trees (unless you count Heinz Muller from Barnsley and most people wouldn't). Nevertheless, Andersen must have thought that he'd be given a bit of time work some managerial wizardry and emulate those heady days when his predecessor, Jurgen Klopp, led them to three consecutive 1 Bundesliga seasons earlier in the decade. It wasn't to be, however, as Andersen was sacked after last Saturday's extra time defeat at Regionaliga club Lubeck.

'A difference of opinion' was given as the reason for his sacking and while the Cup defeat was not named as the specific reason, there had been unrest in the dressing room regarding Andersen's training methods and concern regarding the number of injuries in pre-season. The club have promoted the Under-19 coach Thomas Tuchel as permanent replacement who says that he is "living my dream". The Bundesbag wishes him well but wonders if money and girls would make for better dreams rather than presiding over what could be an unpleasant season.

Dieter Hecking (he of the aforementioned eyebrows) has been in situ as coach at Hannover 96 for a good while longer the his counterpart at Mainz had been. If he survived the turgidity of last season without getting the boot then he could certainly survive a surprise cup defeat to a Regionaliga West team like, say, Eintracht Trier. This is just as well because that's exactly what happened.

Hecking was pretty angry with his players. He dragged them in for extra training and had a go at them to the press. "Some people are going to have to get off their backsides otherwise things are going to be difficult for us." Or more specifically, him.

The rest of the Bundesliga got through pretty comfortably in the end. Only Hamburg really struggled against Fortuna Dusseldorf of 2.Bundesliga who took the northern giants to penalties after a 3-3 draw. New boss Bruno Labbadia moved from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer to replace the Ajax-bound Martin Jol. Labbadia had already lost one of his strikers Ivica Olic to Bayern before he arrived. However, he has managed to secure the services of Ze Roberto from the Munich club. The flying Full Back-come-attacking midfielder is well into his thirties but was not lacking in dynamism last season so should be a good signing. Probably the biggest coup for Hamburg is the signature of Sweden Under-21 striker Marcus Berg who was the subject of much chin-strokage in the board rooms of more fashionable clubs in Europe. However, Hamburg have him and if he lives up to expectations it's going to be an exciting season for both himself and his club.

Labbadia had only been at Leverkusen for one season. Bayer might have hoped to keep such a promising young coach for a while longer. After he left, the club wasted little time in replacing him and opted for experience in the form of Jupp Heynckes who must be pinching himself. You will recall that it was Heynckes who returned to management after a two-year absence in unlikely fashion as the caretaker at Bayern following the dismissal of Jurgen Klinsmann. Well, his efforts were deemed sufficient evidence for Leverkusen to give him a contract at the newly redeveloped Bayarena. His job will be to instill some staying power into his young team so they don't drop off as dramatically as they did last season. They'll have to start without German international striker Patrick Helmes who tore his knee ligaments and will not be back until 2010. Bayer just scraped through to the next round with a 1-0 win at Babelsberg.

However, as one striker climbs onto the treatment table another jumps off raring to go, namely Hoffenheim's Vedad Ibisevic. The Bosnian scored 18 goals in the first half of last season before damaging his cruciate ligaments. He's now back and hopefully will have not lost that scoring touch. Hoffenheim's season went into a downward spiral after his injury. Hopefully a full season in the Bundesliga will yield more goals and a decent finish for the Hoff whose manager Ralf Rangnik continues to build his team on a steady and incremental basis. Hoffenheim are safely through to the second round of the cup after a comfortable 2-0 win over FC Oberneuland.

As are their neighbours Stuttgart who, following the relegation of Karlsruhe, will look to their games with Hoffenheim for local bragging rights. The club had been at the centre of some pretty tasty transfer tittle-tattle this summer after losing Mario Gomez. Dutchman Klaas Jan Huntelaar very nearly joined from Real Madrid but the deal fell through at the last minute. Instead they signed Zenit St Petersburg striker and Russian international Pavel Pogrebnyak. It was his goals that helped Zenit lift the UEFA Cup in Manchester two years ago and the Bundesbag is looking forward to seeing what he can do.

Joining Pogrebnyak is Aleks Hleb who is returning to his old club for one year on loan from Barcelona. If these two new signings click then Markus Babbel's team will be well worth watching when they line up against champions Wolfsburg on Friday evening for the televised opening fixture.

Speaking of the champions, how the season unfolds for them will be one of the more intriguing stories. It is said that provincial clubs that win titles fall away dramatically the following season. However, Wolfsburg are a growing club with investors who are not afraid to splash the cash to sign or in this case, keep their best players. At the end of last season the Bundesbag confidently predicted that the Wolves attacking triumvirate of Edin Dzeko, Grafite and Zvjezdan Misimovic would be gone. Well guess what? the Bundesbag was wrong again. All three players are still there and have signed new contracts. In fact they were all on the scoresheet in their 4-1 cup victory over Wehen Wiesbaden. Dzeko came the closest to leaving but his club stood firm against Milan's offer to bring the Bosnian to the San Siro and seem to have persuaded him that his immediate future is better served where he is. They have been joined by Oberfemi Martins who couldn't get away from Newcastle quick enough.

In Armin Vey the Wolves have a safe pair of hands as a manager and while they may suffer from a lack of experience on the Champions League this season, they are well set for a vigourous defence of their championship or at the very least, qualification for Europe's top competition next season.

The architect of Wolfsburg's success was of course their coach and general manager Felix Magath. You'll recall he sensationally announced his decision to quit at the end of last season to join Schalke. Magath is charged with bringing lasting success to the club. His first job is to try and make sense of the fracture dressing room at Gelsenkirchen. At present he does not have much in the way of a transfer budget. However, on paper, he has a decent squad to work with and assuming he is given time, can whip the Royal Blues into shape. His target is the Bundesliga title in four years. We'll see.

Schalke's neighbours and rivals are Borussia Dortmund. Under new coach Jurgen Klopp BVB were within a gnat's whisker of qualifying for the Europa League last season. If the Kloppmeister can get his team going early doors then the Black and Golds may go one better. They said goodbye to Alex Frei during the summer who brushed off Dortmund to join Basel. However, they have signed Argentine Lucas Barrios from Chilean club Colo Colo for nearly four and a half million euros. He began payback last Saturday by scoring against Weiden in BVB's 3-1 cup victory. Other arrivals at the Westfalon are experienced Bundesliga forward Dimitar Rangelov from Energie Cottbus plus the German youngster Sven Bender from 1860 Munich. Yes that's right Sven Bender. What's so funny?

Staying in that part of the world, BVB and Schalke's smaller cousin is Bochum. Marcel Koller's team struggled last year and not much is known about the additions to his squad. Argentine Diego Klimowicz is a bit of a legend but it will take all their guile and determination to stay up this season. They're still in the Cup though thanks to Klimovitz's single goal against Sportfreunde Lotte.

Let's head south, then, and check in on Koln. Christophe Daum managed to keep this traditional yo-yo club out of trouble last season and finished a creditable if ho-hum mid-table. Daum has since left to rejoin Fenerbache in Turkey and the club have taken a punt on the inexperienced former Croatian international Zvonimir Soldo. The big news however, is the return of the prodigal son Lucas Podolski. Poldi is thrilled to be back, promising to wreck havoc on opposition defences and have his new coach tearing up his notes in despair. This is the man who was described by Raphael Honigstein as "tactically naive" and the Bundesbag can't wait to see him running riot with no thought of the consequences or strategy. Sensibly, Soldo has brought in the veteran Portuguese midfielder Maniche to try and maintain some sort of order. Lucas scored the third of three last weekend as Koln made short work of Kickers Emden.

While Koln celebrate the arrival of a new forward, in Berlin they are pondering the departure of their talisman from the last campaign. Andrei Voronin is back at Liverpool after his extended loan spell at Hertha last season, which proved to be a master stroke by coach Lucien Favre. While the Berliners fell short of winning the title they still had a fantastic season. However, they will have to go some to repeat that success. Perhaps the re-signing of King Artur Wichniarek will prove as successfull? Hertha were taken to extra time by SC Preußen 06 Münster last weekend before finally pulling through as 3-1 winners.

Elsewhere in the capital, a once great club is re-emerging in the shape of Union Berlin who were promoted into the 2 Bundesliga. This former East German club stadium was completely redeveloped with labour and material donated by their supporters in the Iron Union are becoming the feel good story of German football. They may find the going tough, though, and won't have drawn much confidence by the 5-0 thrashing they took at the hands of Werder Bremen. Thomas Schaaf's men may have lost Diego but they have still got Mesut Ozil who will step into the Brazilians boots. Also, they have secured the services of young Marko Marin from Borussia Monchengladbach. The exciting winger was a star in a struggling team and is one of the reasons why Bremen will be a club to watch in the upcoming season.

However, the time has come to address the vexed question of 'Gladbach. Survivors last season under unlikely circumstances, their coach Hans Meyer stood aside to let a younger man in with a new plan and a strategy for creating a platform for this famous old club to grow. The club ended up hiring Michael Frontzeck who had just finished relegating Armenia Bielefeld in May. With the squad's playmakers, Marin and Alexander Baumjohann now departed (the latter to Bayern), the club will be looking to new signing Juan Arango, a Venezuelan international from Mallorca to fill the gap. Arango was among the scorers on Saturday as 'Gladbach beat ten man FSV Frankfurt 2-1.

And while we're in Frankfurt we may as well pop in on Eintracht. They have a new coach in Michael Skibbe who has a lot of work to do after their dreadful season. Skibbe has signed a couple of centre backs which seems as good a place as any to start. They made pretty short work of Kickers Offenbach in the Cup.

Of the two other promoted teams along with Mainz, Freiburg seem the most vulnerable. Apparently they have a very open style but I didn't see much evidence of that when I saw them at Aachen last year. New signing Stefan Reisinger from Greuther Furth scored against Elversburg.

Nurnburg are the final promoted club via the play-offs. There most recent spell in 2 Bundesliga was for just one season and they are expected to stay up. Marek Mintal was their top scorer last season and a good portion of their squad played the last time they were in the Bundelsiga. Arguably they were too good to go down and should therefore fancy their chances of staying up. They beat Dynamo Dresden 3-0 in the Cup.

All of which finds us in Bavaria. Home of Nurnburg and of course Bayern Munich. Despite the criticism and chaos at the Allianz last season, Bayern were still in the title race to the very end. A few saved points here and there wold have handed the Championship to Klinnsy and his players with time to spare. So with new boss Louis Van Gaal instilling some fresh discipline and organisation throughout the team, plus a dazzling array of new and existing attacking options (Ivica Olic, Mario Gomez, Luca Toni, Miro Klose and of course Franck) Bayern have been installed as favorites to be crowned champions in May. Having said that, they have lost Centre Half Lucio to Inter and looked decidedly shaky at the back last season. Ideally, Van Gaal should consider making an intervention in the transfer market before the window closes. Apart from that and assuming Ribery stays, the Bundesbag is tipping Bayern for Bundesliga glory this season. But then the Bundesbag always tips Bayern.

Oh and by the way, they beat Neckerelz in the Cup. Gomez bagged a brace.

That's it, the Bundesbag will return with weekly updates of the Bundesliga from next week. Enjoy the season. If you like your updates 140 characters long you can follow the Bundesbag on Twitter.

Jeu du Jour: Ligue 1 Season Preview 2009/10

Never say we don't keep you up-to-date with football news from around the world... Here's another new feature for SPAOTP - Jeu du Jour, a weekly round-up of all that's happening in French football. The new season starts this Saturday, so here's our preview of what to expect from each of the twenty participating clubs in 2009/10.

Auxerre
The only top-flight team in France never to have been relegated, AJA (as they’re known to their fans) typically struggle against the best teams in Ligue 1 but generally give everyone else a run for their money. If their Player of the Season for 2008/09, Ireneusz Jeleń, can avoid injury this season, they’ll get plenty of goals and should be good for a Europa League spot come May 2010.

Bordeaux
Worthy winners of last season’s Ligue 1 championship ending Lyon’s seven-year domination thanks to a run of eleven straight victories from mid-March to the end of the season. Much of Bordeaux’s success in the last campaign was put down to Ligue 1 Player of the Year Yoann Gourcuff who scored 12 times from midfield in 37 appearances. His loan spell from Milan has now been made permanent for around £12 million which should see him at the Stade Chaban Delmas for four more years. He’s also the son of Lorient coach Christian Gourcuff, should you be that interested.

Boulogne
or Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale, to give them their full name. Boulogne have finally arrived in the top flight of French football after 101 years of unrelenting anonymity. Whether this will be a short stay remains to be seen following the departure of coach Philippe Montanier who at the end of last season took over the reins at Valenciennes. Incoming replacement Laurent Guyot (previously a member of Nantes’ 1995 championship-winning side) will surely settle for 17th spot when the new campaign draws to a close.

Grenoble
The team from the Alps were languishing in the fourth tier of French football ten years ago but finally reached Ligue 1 last season where they finished a commendable 13th. The trouble is all their victories came against lower-half-of-the-table teams and this time they won't be an unknown quantity either. Grenoble were formerly managed in the early 80's by Jean Djorkaeff, father of Youri. There… bet you didn't know that.

Le Mans
Putting aside its connections with 24-hour motor racing, Le Mans are another team that have only recently reached the top flight after years of struggling. Their best ever finish was 9th the season before last but 2008/09 saw them flirting with relegation after a poor finish in which they failed to win any of their last six games. Much hope will be pinned on star striker and Emmanuel Petit-lookalike Thorstein Helstad who stumped up ten goals last season.

Lens
Last year's Ligue 2 champions return to the top table following their shock relegation in 2007/08 under the guidance of Jean-Pierre Papin, no less. It was a shock in the sense that they were Ligue 1 runners-up in 2002 and won it outright in 1998, yet for all that 'The Blood and Gold' have been reborn under the guidance of little-known coach Jean-Guy Wallemme. Missing all the fun was former Liverpool defender Grégory Vignal who signed for Lens in 2006 but has since been on loan at Kaiserslautern, Southampton and currently QPR. We'll leave it up to you to decide whether that's a good thing or not.

Lille
The local rivals to Lens, Lille have been dark horses in recent years, putting in at worst a top ten finish or at best (as in 2005) getting as high as second. Lille have already started their 2009/10 campaign with a 2-0 away win against Serbian team Sevojno in the first leg of the Europa League Third Qualifying Round, and if they get a draw at home this Thursday, they'll be through to the group stage where glory and Aston Villa await (possibly).

Lorient
They play in orange shirts, they're Ligue 1's most westerly-located team and their nickname is The Haddocks. What's not to like? Jeez, even their club badge has a football-playing fish on it. If anyone from Grimsby Town are reading this - THAT'S how to market yourself. Another mid-table finish looks on the cards for the men led by Christian Gourcuff who, incidentally, is the father of... oh, I see.

Lyon
Claude Puel's first season in charge of OL happened to be their first since 2000/01 where they didn't win the league title. *Slightly* embarrassing. Still, it wasn't for the want of trying as Lyon had a seven-point lead over Marseille back in late-February and weren't knocked off the top until April 12th. Lyon's wake-up call was made worse by Karim Benzema's £30 million move to Real Madrid in the summer, but he's been replaced by Argentinean striker Lisandro Lopez who's been banging goals in left, right and centre for Porto of late. Could be an expensive gamble, but we think he'll be one of the big name stars this season, just you see.

Marseille
Close but no cigar - that was the summary of Marseille's season just ended. Having put in a finishing run that almost matched that of record-breakers Bordeaux, they had to settle for second place, just three points short of winning the title. With that, coach Eric Gerets made his excuses and left, only to be replaced by Didier Deschamps who's had a two-year break from coaching since resigning from Juventus. Still yet to convince many fans of his managerial skills, he did take Monaco to the 2004 Champions League Final so we'll wait and see what happens this season. As for their transfer activity, here's a summary: IN - Heinze and Morientes, OUT - Mears, Wiltord and Zenden.

Monaco
Once upon a time not so long ago, Monaco were a member of French football's elite - and we're not just talking about the time Glenn Hoddle played there. Nowadays, however, they've settled for mid-table mediocrity and have a tendency to change their coach more times than a National Express driver. This season's new arrival is Guy Lacombe who did a good job in guiding Rennes to a couple of top-7 finishes over the last couple of seasons. He also has Portsmouth's Djimi Traore for company who, ironically, played under Lacombe while on loan at Rennes in 2008. Which was nice.

Montpellier
It's been five long seasons, but Montpellier's banishment to Ligue 2 is finally over. Yet as elsewhere, the man that led the team to promotion (Rolland Courbis) has been ushered out in favour of a new man, namely the French Under-21 coach Rene Girard. All very well, except the team didn't achieve a great deal under his leadership which may mean a tough season ahead for Montpellier.

Nancy
The north-easterners can owe their recent (comparative) success to Uruguayan coach Pablo Correa. He joined Nancy as a striker in 1995 and at one time played alongside Tony Cascarino before retiring in 2000 (the two events being largely unconnected, we think.) In 2002, he rocked up to the Stade Marcel Picot and a few years later secured promotion to Ligue 1 where they've been ever since. They even finished fourth in 2007/08, but they tend to be a bottom-half-of-the-table club if truth be known. Curiously, they've offloaded two of their best players - Marc-Antoine Fortuné and Landry N'Guémo - to Celtic this season, but they've bought a shed-load from elsewhere so they shouldn't be too affected.

Nice
Monaco's near neighbours have carved out a reputation as an above-average team since gaining promotion in 2002. The next step is for them to push on and seek a Europa League place, but it may prove a little out of their reach as new coach Didier Ollé-Nicolle only has experience with sub-Ligue 1 clubs. Also if talented striker Loïc Rémy gets snapped up by Galatasaray as is feared, there could be worrying times ahead. At least they'll always have the biscuit-making business to fall back on.

Paris Saint-Germain
PSG appear to have turned a corner last season, putting in a decent showing to finish sixth. They have bags of talent in the squad including new purchase Grégory Coupet (second-choice 'keeper for the national team), captain Claude Makélélé and Guillaume Hoarau, second-highest goalscorer in Ligue 1 during 2008/09. They also, like virtually every other Ligue 1 club this season, have a new coach in the form of Antoine Kombouaré who knows that feeling of being up against it - he spent two seasons playing for Aberdeen in the late-1990's. Could go one better and reach Europe next season.

Rennes
Stade Rennais, as they're properly known, are one of Ligue 1's great teams that always put up a decent fight. They haven't finished any lower than 7th in the last five seasons and if they can just convert some of their many draws into wins, European competition shouldn't be far away. This season they welcome a new coach (naturally) - Frédéric Antonetti from Nice - and Junichi Inamoto from Eintracht Frankfurt. Elsewhere in the squad you'll find Carlos Bocanegra in defence alongside the improbably named Rod Fanni and the not-at-all-Waltons-related John Boye. One of the more interesting teams to follow, as a result of the above.

Saint-Etienne
Les Verts had to suffer a nail-biting end to last season, avoiding the relegation trapdoor only on the last day with a 4-0 trouncing of Valenciennes. This time around they'll be hoping their players aren't so racked with injuries as they strive to repeat their fifth-place finish of 2007/08. Alain Perrin's the man in charge and as a title winner with Lyon in the same season, he knows what it takes to get the best out of his squad. He's also a former manager of Portsmouth which explained what happened last season pretty well. Expect an improvement this season, but not much of one.

Sochaux
A club that relies heavily on developing their young players, Sochaux are sadly well shot of their heyday in the 1930's when they were a force to be reckoned with. Nowadays The Lion Cubs have little money with which to buy new players although US striker Charlie Davies arrived from Hammarby in the summer. More water-treading looks set to be on the cards and now their best player, Mevlüt Erdin, has gone to PSG, a fight to avoid relegation can't be ruled out either.

Toulouse
Our Team of the Season last season, Toulouse finished fourth after battling against relegation the campaign before. A team that's historically struggled to keep its footing in the top flight, Toulouse deservedly take their place in the Europa League where last season's top scorer André-Pierre Gignac (24 goals) should give opposition defences plenty to worry about. Only a few minor tweaks have been made to the squad during the summer and more importantly they've retained the services of their coach, Alain Casanova, all of which should make for further success this time around.

Valenciennes
A relative newcomer to Ligue 1, survival is still the name of the game - none more so than this season which brings in Boulogne's promotion-winning coach Philippe Montanier. His first target will be to improve the team's performance away from home after Valenciennes failed to pick up a win on their travels in 2008/09. It shouldn't be too difficult for a man of his calibre to achieve, and this season he'll be able to call on the services of former Reading midfielder Tae-Hee Nam among others.

Sir Bobby Robson (1933 - 2009)

Sir Bobby Robson's name will never diminish with the passing years of British football history. He achieved more in his homeland and in Europe than most people could ever hope to, and he did so with an approachable manner and a respect for his peers that gave him a special distinction in the sport.

As a player, Robson was a great talent. He spent six seasons at Fulham honing his goalscoring skills before moving onto West Bromwich Albion where he was an important part of their successful team of the late-1950's and early-1960's.

It was while playing for West Brom that Robson was first selected to play for England and he was a key part of the squad that participated in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. He made twenty appearances for the national team in all, and though his name was on the list for the World Cup squad four years later, he never played through injury.

Another five year stint at Fulham began in 1962 but as his playing career drew to a close he was already considering his future in a different role. A chance to be player-manager with Vancouver Royals in the NASL arrived in 1967, but his career in management began in earnest two years later at Ipswich Town after a short trial at Fulham.

Robson's first job at Portman Road was to establish a team that was able to retain its footing in the top flight and he achieved this after an uncertain start when Ipswich finished third in Division One in 1975. His next target was to win some silverware for the fans, and naturally enough Robson did this too with his usual understated sense of efficiency. While other managers were spending fortunes on foreign players to no great effect, Robson bought talented prospects like Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen and brought out the very best in them.

A win in the 1978 FA Cup Final showed Robson and Ipswich were moving in the right direction and in 1981 this was underlined by a narrow but nonetheless hard fought victory in the UEFA Cup Final. Having saved his small band of East Anglian lightweights from relegation to the Second Division in 1969, Robson had transformed Ipswich into one of the biggest names in European football.

It was hardly surprising that such exploits brought Bobby Robson's name to the attention of others desperately seeking success. Shortly after Ipswich had finished second in Division One for a second successive season in 1981-82, the FA came calling. With the 1982 World Cup barely over and done with, Bobby Robson was appointed manager of the England national team.

Though it was a position he took on with great pride, it was one that garnered some of the fiercest criticism he'd ever receive in all his days of football management. Initially missing out on qualification for the 1984 European Championships, Robson brought out the worst in the tabloid press, but a place in the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico soon changed all that - initially.

England's slow start to the tournament (which included a 1-0 defeat to Portugal and a 0-0 draw to Morocco) left many fans thinking their team would soon be on its way home. The outcry back home was considerable with many questioning Robson's apparent inability to instil a winning mentality into his team. The flak he received from all corners of the media was enormous and one wondered if he'd remain in post much beyond the end of the tournament.

Finally however, success was achieved in England's third group game as Gary Lineker's hat-trick gave Robson's side a 3-0 win that saw them reach the knock-out stages by the skin of their teeth. Having brought the smile back to English football, Robson showed great humility by listening to his own players and switching to the sweeper system they felt happier playing in. England duly went on to reach the quarter-final stage where they were knocked out famously by the skill and cunning of Diego Maradona. No matter - Bobby Robson's England side returned home to a grateful nation that didn't think a quarter-final finish was possible, having played some great football along the way.

Four years later and with an improved team, Robson took England to the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Qualifying from a tough First Round group, England then struggled against Belgium in the Second Round and were only saved by a last-minute goal by David Platt. Cameroon were even more of a challenge in the next round, but another extra time win was achieved to earn a place in the last four of the World Cup for the first time since 1966.

Though they battled hard, England were eventually defeated by West Germany on penalties in the semi-finals. Robson felt the pain of defeat more than anyone that day, but once again the nation was proud - proud of the fact that he'd taken an England team so far having waited so long.

Before the tournament had even started, the FA and Bobby Robson knew this would be the latter's last hurrah before vacating his post. A new challenge awaited the former Ipswich man - the chance to manage some of the big names in European club football.

First there was PSV where he won two league titles, then a short, fractious spell at Sporting Lisbon before joining Porto where his assistant was Jose Mourinho. Before his arrival there, Porto were struggling to attract in excess of 10,000 fans to their home games. That soon changed as Robson helped them win two league titles and a Portuguese Cup before leaving for the bright lights of Barcelona.

It was 1996 and Bobby Robson was still a big name in football management, some fifteen years after winning the UEFA Cup with Ipswich. Barcelona needed someone with a track record of success to run the club short-term and do so he did. In the one season he was there and with Mourinho still under his wing, Barcelona won the Spanish Cup, Spanish Super Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup. He was voted European Manager of the Year for 1996-97 and was persuaded to became General Manager in order to allow Louis van Gaal to take over the hot seat.

It was not the role he craved, however, and a year later returned to PSV for a second spell in charge. Then came the call which, as someone that used to watch Jackie Milburn as a kid, he probably hoped to receive before he retired from management altogether - the call to become manager of Newcastle United.

Following the resignation of Ruud Gullit as The Magpies' head coach in 1999, Robson was brought in to quickly restore the title-challenging form of Kevin Keegan after Gullit and Kenny Dalglish had overseen a drop in standards. As at Ipswich, Robson needed a few seasons to bring about success, but when he did, Newcastle qualified for the Champions League in 2001-02 and 2002-03. When they qualified for the UEFA Cup in 2003-04, however, the club saw this as a sign of failure and promptly showed Robson the door.

And that, sadly, was the way Robson ended his managerial career. How ironic that a club now adrift and lacking direction in the second tier of English football should sack a man of Robson's stature because qualification for the UEFA Cup wasn't good enough.

Yet for all that, Sir Bobby Robson retained his respect and his dignity, not to mention the admiration of Newcastle fans and those from other clubs and countries. Diagnosed with cancer on five separate occasions, he battled on with such courage and strength that he even found the time and effort to set up The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, a charity that raises money to fund research into the early detection and treatment of cancer. Thanks to the selfless work carried out by Sir Bobby in the last few years of his life, the foundation has already raised more than twice the original target figure of £500,000 which itself was passed within eight weeks.

Sir Bobby Robson was knighted in 2002 for services to football and was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards. He was made a Freeman of the cities of Ipswich and Durham (his place of birth), and saw a statue erected in his honour outside Ipswich Town's Portman Road ground in 2002.

When you read all of the above, it's not difficult to understand that Sir Bobby Robson's death leaves an absolute chasm in British football. The news of his passing has prompted unprecedented coverage of his life and work in the press, and the list of players and managers that have given quotes about him reads like a World Football Hall of Fame.

Sir Alex Ferguson said: "In my 23 years working in England there is not a person I would put an inch above Bobby Robson. I mourn the passing of a great friend, a wonderful individual, a tremendous football man and somebody with passion and knowledge of the game that was unsurpassed."

Paul Gascoigne, a member of Robson's 1990 England World Cup team said: "I'm speechless. I'm devastated. Bobby was like my second dad. I was like a son to him. He gave me a chance to play in the World Cup. I can't really talk that much because I just want to cry, that's all."

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who worked under Robson at the Nou Camp during the 1996-97 season, said: "It was a pleasure to know him, not only as a coach but also as a person. It was a marvellous experience. It was a very difficult season, even though we won three trophies. Despite the problems of that year, he never lost his composure and always behaved like a gentleman."

It'd be easy enough for us to fill this page with many more quotes of the same kind, but quite honestly they all describe Sir Bobby Robson as someone that was excellent at his job, an exemplary ambassador of the game and above all else a gentleman. Having assessed the evidence, we can only agree wholeheartedly.