Weekend TV Preview: October 31st - November 2nd

(All times UK)

Friday 31st October

19:30 Bayer Leverkusen v Wolfsburg, Bundesliga, Setanta Sports 1
Decent game, this. Two teams in good form and banging in the goals. Star men for either side are Grafite for Wolves and Helmes for Bayer who could go top if they win.

Saturday 1st November

12:45 Everton v Fulham, Premier League, Sky Sports 1 & HD1
Hmmm. Interesting choice this one. Everton are on the up after a good point against Manchester United and Bolton (which in fairness is no great shakes). Fulham have Andy Johnson back in the goals and will be a threat until his knee cap pops out again. "Damn! why does that keep happening?"

17:20 Cardiff City v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Championship, Sky Sports 1 & HD1
Dave Jones welcomes one of his old clubs. Wolves are top and Cardiff are third. There should be a lively early-evening atmosphere at Ninian Park with a goal or two for good measure.

17:30 Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool, Premier League, Setanta Sports 1
Setanta have had some good fortune with their TD picks this season. They screened the Manchester City v Chelsea game just after all that stuff went down with Abu Dhabi. This weekend a humdrum top v bottom fixture is now a clash between the two teams of the hour. Tottenham's exuberance should be snuffed out by a ruthless Liverpool.

19:00 Malaga v Barcelona, La Liga, Sky Sports Xtra
It's Malaga's turn to run the gauntlet of playing the top teams in succession thereby ruining their form curve. Barcelona are said to be in fine form and the legends are already being cast in October.

19:30 Cork City v Glentoran, Setanta Sports Cup Final, Setanta Sports 2
The usual French fixture is set aside for Setanta's own cross-border knockout tournament between a team from the Republic and the North.

21:00 Valencia v Racing Santander, La Liga, Sky Sports Xtra
Valencia were dreadful last year. This season they have put their financial woes aside and are top by a point with David Villa back in the goals. Racing are struggling and could do with the upset and the points. They could probably do without a UEFA Cup clash against Schalke next week.

Sunday 2nd November

13:15 Derby County v Nottingham Forest, Championship, Sky Sports 1 & HD1
Brian Clough? Peter Taylor? The seventies? Jumpers for goalposts? Marvelous isn't it?

14:00 Hearts v Celtic, Scottish Premier League, Setanta Sports 1
The Jambos haven't won since September which is hardly the sort of form you want to bring to a game against the champions. A straight-forward away win for Celtic.

16:00 Bolton Wanderers v Manchester City, Premier League, Sky Sports 1 & HD1
City are a different team away from home, a poor team in fact. Bolton need this badly and Megson needs it even more. Not a fixture to whet the appetite.

20:00 Lyon v Le Mans, Ligue 1, Setanta Sports 1
Le Mans took a home beating against Auxerre on Wednesday and won't be feeling too good about themselves going into their Big One against the champs. Lyon are unlikely to be troubled.

Bundesbag Weeks 9 & 10: Der Bumper

They say that after ten games a league table starts to take shape. If that's true then Hoffenheim are due to be mentioned in the opening paragraphs of many a Bundesbag throughout the rest of the season. Last Sunday was The Big One as they traveled north to Hamburg for a first versus second clash. Not only did they win but they ran away with the game, leaving dust in the leaders faces. 3-0 was the final score and critics are becoming increasingly beguiled by their football. Fast, energetic, controlled, attractive and successful.

The Bundesbag has mentioned before about how the English media are paying more attention to matters German thanks to Ralf Rangnick's team. Indeed the first David Hasselhoff gags surfaced a couple of weeks ago. Ho-ho, they laughed, were it not for the fact that we were cracking them at the start of the season. That's not much to be proud of, mind, but there it is.

Anyhoo, Hoff II fetched up at Bochum Towers on Wednesday for their second road trip in four days and pretty much sent their hosts the way of Hamburg. Bochum did lose Christophe Dabrowski to a red card on 76 minutes but it was 3-1 by then and all over. So while the new leaders pinch themselves, the chasing pack gird their loins in an attempt to restore the natural order to the Bundesliga.

Let's start with Hamburg since we've already mentioned them. Their midweek fixture was another televised game against Stuttgart who, you feel, could genuinely challenge if they found some consistency. They went down 2-0 and are 9th in the league. Mind you, that's only two points behind Bayern who have abandoned some of Klinsie's more out-there practices and taken it back to the way things were when Hitzfeld was last in charge and they were winning the lot. At least that's what Rafael Honigstein reckons.

Two comeback victories for the champions have transformed their spirits and their prospects. Munich were 2-0 down on Saturday against Wolfsburg but a four-goal reply wiped the smile off ex-Bayern boss Felix Magath's chops. A Demichelis own goal gave Frankfurt an unexpected fillip until Klose and Ribery stuck it to them to win 2-1 on Wednesday. The return of the Frenchman from injury must also surely have a lot to do with Bayern's revival.

Meanwhile and not so quietly going about their business are Leverkusen in second. Four goals in two games without reply, the first against Koln, the second versus Bremen. Bayer are playing some sizzling stuff and should rightly be held up as one of the reasons why the Bundesliga has some of the best attacking football in Europe at present.

The bottom is as congested as the top with three points separating the final seven. Cottbuss prop everyone else up. They lost to Frankfurt who shot up the table as a consequence at the weekend. 'Gladbach welcomed new returning boss Hans Meyer back as coach and had a decidedly mixed week. Hurrah for winning 1-0 to Karlsruhe, hurroo for getting spanked 3-0 by Wolfsburg. As for Karlsruhe themsleves, their misery was compounded by Schalke who couldn't even beat Bielefeld at the weekend.

Finally, Berlin's decent season continues. A point against Dortmund was followed by three at home to Hannover. Marko Pantelic was on the scoresheet for Hertha. The Serbian striker has been dropped recently and slagged off his general manager Dietar Hoeness. Next week, he plans to punch coach Lucian Favre on the nose before the game against Bremen. Whizz hatrick anyone?

The Friday List of Little or No Consequence #85

Masters of the Microphone
18 BBC 'Match Of The Day' Commentators Past And Present

1. Simon Brotherton (1999 - present)
2. Jon Champion (1995 - 2001)
3. David Coleman (1964 - 1981)
4. Barry Davies (1969 - 2004)
5. Tony Gubba (early-70's - present)
6. Stuart Hall (late-60's)
7. Des Lynam (early 80's)
8. John Motson (1971 - present)
9. Guy Mowbray (2004 - present)
10. Jacqui Oatley (2007 - present)
11. Dan O'Hagan (2004 - present)
12. Alan Parry (1973 - 1985)
13. Jonathan Pearce (2004 - present)
14. Gerald Sinstadt (mid-80's - late-90's)
15. Clive Tyldesley (1992 - 1996)
16. Alan Weeks (1964 - early 80's)
17. Kenneth Wolstenholme (1964 - 1971)
18. Steve Wilson (1998 - present)

Which of the above would you list as your favourites? Are there any you particularly dislike? Who would you add to the list? Leave us a comment and let us know...

All the Presidential Men (Part 7)

The penultimate part of our occasional series looking at the Presidents of FIFA throughout history.

The global game
In the early 1970's, Brazil were the true kings of world football. Crowned champions for a record third time and synonymous with the silky skills of players like Pele, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto, the Brazilians were the embodiment of everything that was good in the game. Brazil was also about to provide FIFA with its seventh President, Joao Havelange.

In 1974, Stanley Rous' leadership of football's world governing body came to an end. He'd overseen a modest expansion of the game in many countries around the world, but some of them now wanted recognition for the way they'd developed the game to a higher standard.

Under Rous, only European and South American teams were guaranteed a place at the 1970 World Cup Finals. He remained largely unconvinced by the quality of the football being played in Africa and Asia, leaving its member federations to qualify via a series of one-sided play-offs against stronger teams.

With a growing sense of frustration, many of the younger footballing nations turned to Joao Havelange for support and it was here that Havelange, head of the Brazilian football federation at the time, saw an opportunity to force a change for the better. In the two years leading up to the 1974 Presidential election, he actively canvassed for support by making 86 foreign trips to countries far and wide, and with money from the Brazilian FA, 36 African countries were offered an all expenses paid trip for two representatives to attend the all-important FIFA conference where the next President would be elected.

His efforts paid off - just. When the votes were counted on the day of the election, Havelange was seen to have beaten Rous by a narrow margin. With the backing of Africa and Asia, the Brazilian had taken control of FIFA and immediately set about the task of repaying them for their support. By the time of the 1982 World Cup, Africa would have two representatives and Asia one, but progress in the meantime would be frustratingly slow.

One area where Havelange clearly had greater success was in the embracing of commercial partners to create a better economic foundation for FIFA. Far more money was needed to improve the development of the game around the world, and Havelange knew how to get it. By engaging in multi-million dollar sponsorship deals with companies like Adidas (who supplied the match balls for every World Cup from 1970 onwards), Havelange was able to give FIFA the firm financial footing it required.

Yet for all that, Joao Havelange couldn't help but court controversy from time to time When a volcanic eruption in Colombia caused the deaths of 21,000 people in 1985, it effectively ended the country's chances of hosting the World Cup the following year. A replacement host therefore had to be found at short notice.

The United States and Canada submitted their bids for the 1986 World Cup, but Havelange instead sent a team of inspectors to Mexico. Later, when the presentations of all three countries were made for the hosting rights, Havelange was said to have asked FIFA's delegates "Do you accept the word of the inspection team?" before calling an end to the matter. The bids from Canada and the United States weren't even considered, and Mexico were duly instated as hosts for the 1986 World Cup.

In more recent times, Joao Havelange has been accused of financial irregularities involving FIFA's former marketing partner, ISL, and even made accusations of his own this year that the World Cups of 1966 and 1974 were fixed so that the hosts could win. Yet by the 1990's, it was matters on the pitch that were proving just as troubling for the Brazilian.

The Finals of the 1990 and 1994 World Cups had ended with no goals scored from open play, and though there was some undeniably great football to be seen in both tournaments, it was clear that the sport was going through a period of transformation, with changes both good and bad taking place.

Once again it was time for FIFA to look to someone with fresh ideas and a new approach to ensure football remained on course for a secure future. Just before the start of the 1998 World Cup finals, Sepp Blatter was elected as the man to carry out that task, thereby ending the twenty-four year reign of Jean-Marie Faustin Goedefroid de Havelange.

Blatter's predecessor had achieved much during this time. He'd seen the expansion of the World Cup Finals from sixteen teams to thirty-two, the arrival of fifty new member nations (including China who re-joined after a 25-year absence) and he'd created new World Cups for women players, junior players and the indoor version of the game.

All in all then, Joao Havelange will be looked back on as a President who turned football into the sport we know today. New opportunities were created for the less fortunate players, clubs and countries of the world, all underwritten by the finances he helped to generate.

Going into a new century, football had well and truly arrived in the modern era, and one that was undoubtedly brought about by the clever Brazilian. Whether it could retain its appeal, however, would lie in the hands of a man from Switzerland.