A look back at 2007 and the football boot highlights

With over 300 articles, numerous video’s and competitions this year on Footy Boots, we hope you have enjoyed the ride.

With 2008 fast approaching, we look back at some of the highlights this year.
2007 Footy Boots Review of the Year Part 1 of 4

January

Umbro launch the new 2007/9 England Home Shirt.

Umbro kicked off the International term with the launch of the new England home shirt.

Footy Boots were there in Manchester when the likes of John Terry, Michael Owen, Steve Gerrard, Paul Robinson and Owen Hargreaves stuck out their chests, proudly boasting the good things to come whilst wearing their England Shirt this year. As we all know too well, Croatia and Russia pipped England to the Euro 2008 finals. The good news was the inadequate Steve McClaren moved on.
Click Here to buy the England Home Shirt with 50% off!

February

Umbro X Boot Destroyer is unveiled - worn by England captain John Terry

The football boot said to help enhance the defensive skills of the wearer - if only it could have helped Terry avoid injury when England and Chelsea needed him….Click Here to buy the Umbro X Boot Destroyer

Michael Owen wears the Umbro X Boot III

Unlike the X Boot Destroyer this football boot was for attackers! Owen played 8 games for England scoring 4 goals in 2007, a goal every other game at international level is a good return, but like Terry he missed the crucial games for England.
Click Here to buy the Umbro X Boot III

Footy Boots reviews the Puma v.306

Puma kicked off with the Puma V.306, the little brother of their ‘pro boot’ the V.106. An astonishingly lightweight football boot in the mid priced bracket.
Click Here to buy the Puma v.306

March

Adidas launches the official matchball for the 2007 Champions League Final

They always seem to get their timing right at Adidas, manufacturing a new ball to coincide with a major final or championship…. Anyhow, AC Milan liked the ball and walked off with it in Athens, along with the Champions League trophy that is.
Click Here to buy the Adidas Finale Athens football

Owen Hargreaves signs for Nike and will wear the Nike Air Legend football boots

Formerly a major Puma football boot man, Hargreaves was one of the German brnad’s ‘big names’, but then he defected to Adidas and finally ended up with Nike. A true football boot journeyman.
Click Here to buy the Nike Air Legend

Diadora unveil the new Scotland Away football kit

Even a new away shirt was unable to rally the Scottish team through to the Euro 2008 finals. Unlike England, they seemed to punch well above their weight, beating the French both home and away.
Click Here to buy the Scotland football kit

April

Footy Boots reveal details of the new Nike Total 90 Laser

The Total 90 Laser was the major football boot launch for Nike in 2007, with many of their World Class stable of pro players opting for the football boot with a sweetspot. But, why did they launch with that bright yellow number? Was it to cleanse the stock of yellow before the decent colourways were launched?
Click Here to buy the Nike Total 90 Laser

Reebok Sprintfit Launched

The Sprintfit was launched to replace the hurried predecessor the Pro Rage, but was let down in 2007 by the form of its two main men. Both Thierry Henry and Andriy Shevchenko failed to perform this year.
Click Here to buy the Reebok Sprintfit

Read football boot review 2007 part 2, football boot review 2007 part 3, and football boot review 2007 part 4.

Mike Ashley is engaged in talks with Nike as the football boot brand tries to persuade the owner of football boot retailer Sports Direct not to block its agreed bid for Umbro.

The talks are the first positive sign that Ashley is willing to negotiate with Nike over its £285m takeover of Umbro, the Cheshire based football boot brand in which he owns a 29.9 per cent stake via Sports Direct, his retail empire.

Mr Ashley is not believed to have given any firm commitment to Nike to back its 195p a share offer ahead of the shareholder vote in January which requires 75 per cent to vote in favour of the takeover.

A further stumbling block in the prospective takeover is the presence of JJB Sports, the second biggest sports retailer in the country behind Sports Direct, which has accrued a 10 per cent stake to gain a “seat at the table” in deciding Umbro’s future.

Sports Direct and JJB Sports main worry is that they believe they will receive worse trading terms in dealing with a single Nike-Umbro supplier rather than two separate companies.

Concerns over the deal have led to a drop in the Umbro share price, currently at 148p, still 24 per cent short of the offer price. Analysts believe the shares could fall below 100p if the deal falls apart.

Meanwhile, Sports Direct has seen its half-year profits plunge by 70% amid torrid market conditions. Chief Executive Dave Forsey said Sports Direct was expecting a hit of £50m on underlying earnings as a result of England not qualifying, split between the second half of this financial year and the first half of next. He said the business was “completely different” when England did not qualify for a major football tournament.

“We are used to them qualifying for the major tournaments, and we really do gear up the stores. It’s been 14 years since we didn’t qualify for a major tournament and we are a completely different business when that happens,” he commented.

Introducing the new Puma V1.08 football

The Puma v.108 is the world’s first intelligent football, helping players get to the goal faster!

Puma and UK-based material developers, d3o, have collaborated to develop a revolutionary new football. The v1.08 ball is designed for players seeking the perfect blend of soft-feel, precision, stability and speed. The patented 24-panel design reduces the internal radii variance for unsurpassed roundness and the unique dimple outer casing reduces drag for a superb aerodynamic performance. However, the most exciting development is hidden beneath the surface. Sandwiched between the outer casing and the inner woven textile backing is layer of the revolutionary new cushioning material, d3o.

“The new v1.08 Puma match ball takes you into the future of football technology with its reactive foam cushioning that makes it the world’s first intelligent ball,” said Filip Trulsson, Business Unit Manager, Teamsport, Puma. “The harder you kick it, the faster it flies. The softer you touch it, the softer it feels.”

Richard Palmer (Founder and CEO, d3o lab) comments: “d3o Lab is focused on creating intelligent products that enable the athlete to do what they do, to their absolute maximum. The new Puma ball is truly ground breaking in its use of d3o giving the player more control and more power, exactly when they need it. This is the most exciting project the d3o team have ever worked on and we can’t wait to see it out of the lab and into the back of the net!”

When applied to the new Puma ball, the d3oTM layer provides fascinating performance benefits. The material’s sensitivity to impact speed means that the Puma v1.08 ball displays “intelligent” behaviour. At low impact speeds (i.e. dribbling) the cushioning layer retains its soft feel, but when impacted at speed (i.e. a powerful shot on goal) the d3o molecules lock together instantaneously to increase the ball’s acceleration off the foot. In comparative tests by Sheffield Hallam University, at high impact speeds, the new Puma v1.08 leaves the foot 6% quicker than previous Puma balls and quicker than all other brands’ leading match balls.

The ball’s materials include the same 24-panel Concept 45 construction as used in its predecessor, the v1.06, for the roundest ball ever. Each panel has round edges and is pre-shaped to minimize tension and folds on the material when the ball is being inflated. Together with the new Dimple II CW-System, you can count on the truest flight ever.

As with Puma’s past technologies, the v1.08 ball features Perimeter Balance Technology to balance out the weight of the air valve and PAL - Puma Air Lock to ensure the best protection against air leakage.

The Puma v1.08 ball is currently being used by Puma national teams including World Champions Italy and Euro 2008 hosts Austria and Switzerland, with other national teams and professional clubs - such as Bundesliga Champions VfB Stuttgart and Lazio - featuring the football in the new year.

Price: £60
Size: 5
Colours: Lumina White/Dark Shadow/ Puma Red
Available: January 2008

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles discusses his plans for Christmas.

Hi everyone, I’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and hope you all have an enjoyable time over the festive period.

The festive period is a bit strange as a footballer. We cannot really let our hair down and enjoy ourselves as much as other people as the matches come thick and fast. We got a good result as Nottingham Forest at the weekend and it would have been a great result had we been able to hang on and win. Hopefully that can be a turning point and we can start to move back up the table. With an away game to Doncaster on Boxing Day and a home game against Millwall on New Year’s Day, me and the rest of the lads certainly wont be indulging on Christmas Day or on New Year’s Eve!

We had our Christmas party on Monday which was good fun, and we did a bit of a pub crawl around Northampton. We were thinking of having a Fancy Dress theme but in the end we didn’t, which was perhaps wise, given some of the costumes that players seem to wear at different football club’s Christmas parties!

I’ll be training on Christmas Day, although my family and I will be having a traditional Christmas Dinner. It will be my first year in Northampton with my daughter Nevaeh, and partner Hannah, and I’m really looking forward to it. I think both Hannah’s and my family are going to pop in on Christmas Day so it will be nice to have everyone around.

As far as New Year’s Resolutions go, mine is to play more football! After my ‘Annus Horriblis’ this year, I’m hoping to stay injury free in 2008. I had a double hernia op in Manchester two weeks ago and felt pretty sore for a few days afterwards but I’m feeling better now and really want to push myself into contention for the New Year’s Day fixture against Millwall.

Hardly a Resolution but I hope both Northampton and England have a successful year. With Jose Mourinho ruling himself out of the running for the England job, I think the FA has picked a winner in Fabio Capello. He certainly has a good pedigree. He’s won titles at every club he’s coached at so why not give him a chance.

Anyway I’ll speak to you all again in 2008 and once again hope you all have a happy and healthy festive period.

Nike Mercurial SL - Superlight..Superstrong..Supersonic

In 2004, Nike’s engineers and designers set out to create a ‘concept boot’ that would change the way football boots could be built. Removing every boundary that typically influences a football boot’s development, including time, budget and materials, the result was the Nike Mercurial SL.

The Nike Mercurial SL is a 185g carbon fibre football boot, the lightest, fastest boot ever, designed to cater for the fastest players on the planet, including Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo.

From the initial brief through to final construction, every aspect of the Mercurial SL football boot’s development was undertaken without the traditional limits and barriers which surround most other products. This ‘no limits’ spirit also informed the way that Nike tested the Mercurial SL. In addition to testing on the football pitch, Nike wanted to test this product in unconventional ways.

What better way to test super sonic speed than to have the world’s fastest man - Asafa Powell - see how fast he can run in the Mercurial SL boots? So, Nike asked Asafa to trade in his world record setting track spikes for a pair of the Mercurial SL boots to see how fast he could run the length of a football pitch. In the Nike Mercurial SL video viral which you can see on Football Boots TV now, Asafa clearly receives the benefit of these boots and clocks a supersonic time. Asafa then sends a message with the boots as they are transported across the Atlantic to Chelsea striker Didier Drogba at home.

Click here to view related articles on the Nike Mercurial SL.

2008 Launch date for Japan and South Korea

Italian football boot brand Pantofola d’Oro has announced its plans to launch its range of football boots into the Asian market.

The ‘Golden Slipper’ or ‘Pantofola d’Oro’, is produced in the central Italian town of Ascoli Piceno in the province of Marche, and is to be launched in Japan and South Korea in 2008.

Pantofola d’Oro produces five million pair of football boots a year, with over half the football boot brands’s revenues coming from sales outside of Italy. This year alone Pantofola d’Oro has experienced a 40% rise in sales. With an expansion of its clothing and leisure footwear ranges, the brand estimates it will achieve a turnover of 10 million euros by 2010.

The brand was founded in 1886 when the Lazzarini family opened a cobbler’s workshop in a small street in the heart of Ascoli, Via Vidacilio. During the 1950’s Emidio Lazzarini took over the business from his father. As a wrestler, Lazzarini found the shoes he wore to be uncomfortable and unsuitable for grappling. After deciding to make his own wrestling shoes, word spread that the shoes were much softer and more comfortable than the other shoes on the market. Lazzarini began to produce bespoke wrestling shoes for other wrestlers, before contacting the local football team A.S. Ascoli (now known as Ascoli Calcio 1898), subsequently making customised football boots for the players.

The ‘Golden Slipper’ became renowned for its exceptional softness, allowing the player’s foot room to move, whilst giving outstanding ball control. Emidio Lazzarini’s secret lay in the soft calf-leather he used for the sole plate, rather than the more common heavier leather, and the boot’s ergonomic form, which perfectly followed the contours of the foot.

The Pantafola d’Oro football boot soon attracted a starstudded client base. John Charles, the former Leeds United and Juventus utility player, was an early customer, giving the Lazzarini football boots their name. “These aren’t boots, they’re slippers - golden slippers”. The Italian for ‘golden slipper’ is Pantofola d’Oro.

Newly installed England manager Fabio Capello was one of the many players to have worn Lazzarini’s boots. Others include Garrincha, Johan Cruijff, Jurgen Klinsmann, Roberto Mancini, Marco Van Basten, Dino Zoff and Paolo Di Canio.

DJ-5 Sports - Skill Enhanced Football Boots

DJ-5 Sports is an english football boot company based in the Midlands, offering a range of skill enhanced football boots to help bend, control and swerve the ball.

The football boot company was founded in 1983 when Jack Danks designed the ‘Eagle football boot‘. The concept behind the ‘Eagle’ was to introduce a football boot which incorporated rubber in the instep and outside of the boot, enabling a player to have more control and the ability to bend and swerve a ball. An idea originally inspired by the idea of how a table tennis bat enables a player to bend and swerve a ping pong ball.

Twenty years later and under the tutelage of John Danks, Jack’s son, DJ-5 launched a new range of football boots based on the original ‘Eagle’ design concept. The range of DJ-5 football boots include the ‘Lightning’, ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Stealth’.

All three boot models are made from PU upper and incorporate rubber skill assistance pads which claim to help enhance a players performance enabling them to have more control and the ability to bend, control and swerve the ball. DJ-5 football boots are available in moulded, blades and screw in studs, as well as astroturf trainers, and are thus suitable for all conditions. DJ-5 football boots retail at £29.99 and therefore sit in the low end price bracket in the football boot market.

Adidas Teamgeist 2 : FIFA Club World Cup Official Matchball

Football boot brand Adidas has launched the Adidas Teamgeist 2 matchball, an updated model of the Adidas Teamgeist, originally used at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

The Adidas Teamgeist 2 debuts at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, running from December 7 to December 16, before officially launching in 2008. Formerly known as the FIFA World Club Championships, the competition attracts the continental champion club sides from around the globe and this year includes the likes of Champions League winners AC Milan and Copa Libertadores champions Boca Juniors.

The new 2008 Teamgeist comes in a white/red/black colour way to mirror that of the Adidas Predator football boot. The Teamgeist range of footballs are characterised by a 14-panel configuration reducing the amount of three-panel touch points by 60% and the total length of the panel lines by over 15%, forming a smooth and perfectly round exterior allowing players significant improvements in accuracy and control. The perfectly round, smooth surface react reliably and consistently when kicked. The name ‘Teamgeist’ is based on the single most decisive characteristic every team needs to have: team spirit.

The Adidas Teamgeist 2, features a new intelligent technology designed to assist the referee’s decision in determining when and if the ball has crossed the goal line, making it the most accurate football ever produced. The intelligent technology implemented in the Teamgeist 2 uses a magnetic field to provide real-time feedback to a central computer, which tracks the location of the ball on the field and sends the data directly to the referee. The trialling of the technology during the FIFA Club World Cup will allow Adidas to continue to refine the system until it is 100% accurate.

Adidas adiPURE - Introducing elegance to the pitch

The Adipure football boot is the latest offering from leading football boot brand Adidas. Unveiled by Brazilian midfield magician Kaka in Yokohama, the adiPURE will also be worn by England’s Frank Lampard and a host of Adidas footballers.

Adidas adiPURE

The Adidas adiPURE football boot is made from a 100% premium soft K-leather upper giving a glove like fit, incredible lightweight comfort and excellent feel for the ball, alongside added breath ability.

The newly designed last is ideal for both professionals and amateur league players and has a performance fit. The handcrafted details, which are the signature of the adiPURE, echo and are inspired by the Adidas classic models from the late 70’s. This can be identified in the heel tab that was originally used in the late 1970’s, the early year’s of modern football. The puffed area around the heel, enhances comfort and the collar flap holds a rivet which contains the name adiPURE.

The full TPU plate outsole increases durability whilst the traxion technology gives added grip and comfort and is ideal for superior performance on firm natural surfaces. The pre moulded EVA sockliner contains an adiprene insert in the heel for additional comfort.

At the heart of this new football boot made of fine, shiny leather is incredible elegance. The name “adiPURE” symbolizes the main features of the handcrafted football boot: simplicity, naturalness and elegance. The key benefits of this football boot are its fantastic fit, high-quality materials, soft leather, and pre-moulded sockliner which provide outstanding comfort as well as an excellent, natural feel for the ball.

The Adidas adiPURE football boot is available in a soft ground and firm ground option in the black/white and white/black colourways. The adiPURE is available in selected retailers from the 1st February at a price of £95.

Players: Kaka, Frank Lampard, Robin van Persie, Xabi Alonso
Retail Price: £95
Availability: February 2008
Colours: Black/White, White/Black
Sizes: 6-13

Adidas unveils the the new adiPURE football boot.

Football boot brand Adidas has unveiled the new adiPURE line of football boots in Yokohama. First to receive his adiPURE football boots was AC Milan and Brazilian midfielder Kaka. The extremely classic and highly elegant black & white handcrafted football boots were presented to Kaka in a bespoke black marble shoe box. Kaka’s personal advice for all passionate football players and the tag line for the adiPURE football boot “Only when you have a true feel for the ball can you truly make it do what you want” will be featured on all adiPURE shoe boxes.

At the heart of this new football boot made of fine, shiny leather is incredible elegance. The name “adiPURE” symbolizes the main features of the handcrafted football boot: simplicity, naturalness and elegance. The key benefits of this football boot are its fantastic fit, high-quality materials, soft leather, and pre-moulded sockliner which provide outstanding comfort as well as an excellent, natural feel for the ball. adiPURE football boots in black/white and white/black, together with matching apparel items, will be available at retail from the end of January.

The launch of the adiPURE line marks a further milestone in the Adidas football segment. Following the popular Adidas Predator models and the F50 football boots, Adidas is now extending its comprehensive range of innovative and highly functional football boots with the adiPURE. The adiPURE will feature on the feet of some of the world’s leading footballers in competitive matches immediately. Players wearing the adiPURE football boot include Kaka (AC Milan), Robin van Persie (Arsenal FC), Frank Lampard (Chelsea FC), Philipp Lahm (FC Bayern München), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool FC), Vicente (FC Valencia), Alessandro del Piero (Juventus Turin), Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyon), Christoph Leitgeb (Red Bull Salzburg), Yoann Gourcuff (AC Milan) and David Trézéguet (Juventus Turin).

Italian World Cup winner Francesco Totti has made a swift return from injury thanks to a specially made prototype football boot.

AS Roma striker Totti injured his ankle, whilst wearing his “Pro Line” Totti 10 versions of the Diadora Maximus RTX 14 football boots, during the Giallorossi’s 2-1 Champions League win against Sporting on 23 October. The 2006/7 Golden Boot winner, 31, was not expected to be out of action for long after scans revealed he had not fractured any bones. However a knock suffered in training aggravated the injury, leaving the striker on the sidelines for a total of 6 weeks.

Totti made a surprising comeback in the Serie A match against Cagliari last week, after the design team at Diadora created a specially made prototype football boot to help to ease the pain in his foot.

This is not the first time that Diadora Reseach Centre has enabled Totti to recover from an injury. In fact last year he made a return from injury prior to the 2006 World Cup thanks to a bespoke Diadora Gamma Carbonio shin guard. The self wrapping shell of this Diadora shin guard was composed of 7 layers of kevlar and fibreglass providing an extremely lightweight, low profile fit while ensuring maximum protection. The Coolmax fabric backing wipes away moisture keeping the lower leg cool during matches.

Totti is widely recognised as the symbol of Roma, having remained at Roma throughout his career despite being linked with leading clubs throughout Europe. Totti has become Roma’s top goalscorer and most capped player in the Serie A club’s history.

Introducing the Nike Mercurial 98, celebrating 10 years of the Nike Mercurial football boot

Marking the 10-year anniversary of the first Mercurial, football boot brand Nike has created a special version of the iconic football boot. The Nike Mercurial 98 represents the history that has joined Ronaldo and Nike - a history marked by tradition and innovation. This 10th anniversary football boot keeps to the same colour and materials of the first Mercurial, but incorporates the technical features of the current Nike Mercurial Vapor III.

The AC Milan striker will debut the Nike Mercurial 98 football boots in the Italian Serie A on his return from injury.

Throughout Ronaldo’s partnership with Nike, the Brazilian striker has worn the same football boots - the Nike Mercurial Vapor. The four goals for Brazil in France in 1998. The eight goals to fuel the World Cup victory in 2002. The 68 goals in his first three seasons with Real Madrid. The record-setting 15th World Cup goal in 2006. Over the last ten years, Ronaldo has become an icon in world football. The all time highest world cup goal scorer, two times World Cup winner, and three times FIFA World Player of the Year has revolutionised the way football is played; the way strikers play and score. He has run faster with the ball than anyone else and he has made goals a habit. Ronaldo’s speed, exceptional talent, technique, strength and clinical finishing has been one long goal-scoring masterclass.

Ronaldo was the first player to wear the first Nike Mercurial Vapor, which was a new direction for football boot design. Using Teijin synthetic micro fibre uppers with ball control coating they were the lightest football boots Nike had ever made. These boots were also the very first to personify a new kind of design direction and aesthetic, through materials, colours and shape.

Ronaldo commented: “I can’t wait to wear these football boots. I’ve enjoyed every single goal that I’ve scored so far and I look forward to scoring more in these special boots. Speed and acceleration are key to my game and I have worked closely with Nike to develop football boots that help me perform to the highest level that I can, but also look really cool.”

Only one thousand pairs of the Mercurial 98 football boots have been produced worldwide and will be on sale from December at selected football retailers.

Price: £120
Sizes: 6-12
Available: December 2007

Shares in German football boot brand Adidas rose this week amidst talk of a possible joint takeover bid between U.S. rival Nike and Japanese sports brand Asics.

Speculation has mounted that the two sports companies would together bid $15.28 billion for Adidas, after its shares rose on Monday by 3.4 percent to 47.00 euros. The football boot brand is the world’s second largest sporting goods maker, with a market capitalisation of $13.5 billion.

Although Nike has recently agreed a deal to buy English football boot brand Umbro for £285 million (see article) a takeover of the German football giant could prove highly problematic. Any potential buy out of Adidas would most likely not get a green light from the relevant authorities, as the result would be a sporting goods giant with few if any competitors.

Adidas’s CEO Herbert Hainer has poured cold water on such speculation saying it was “pure nonsense”, adding that “nobody had approached Adidas.” He said anti-trust agencies would never approve a merger with the rivals because they would control nearly 80 percent of the world’s market or even more in certain parts. Hainer also said an industry outsider was unlikely to buy Adidas because of a lack of cost synergies, while Nike, the industry’s number one, would not be allowed to do so.

Nike Chief Executive Mark Parker has said the company, based in Oregon, USA, wants to grow revenues from $16.3 billion last year to $23 billion by 2011 and will do so through strategic acquisitions. But the purchase of Adidas, would catapult Nike well beyond that sales figure. Adidas’s revenues exceeded $13.2 billion last year following its purchase of Reebok. The company has a market value of about $13.8 billion.

Asics was established in 1949 in Kobe, Japan as Onitsuka Co. Ltd. being involved predominantly in the manufacture of basketball and athletics shoes. In 1977, the company was rebranded as Asics Corporation. In March 2005, Asics posted annual sales figures of 144,600 million yen ($1.3 billion)

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles discusses England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008, who he thinks the next England manager should be, and his latest injury setback.

Hi everyone, the last two weeks have certainly not been the happiest for me on a footballing level both as a player and a football fan.

As I said in my last column, I thought England had performed poorly throughout the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign and I was slightly concerned about the way they were going to line up against Croatia. I thought tactics wise, Steve McClaren got it wrong and I’m unsure why he brought Scott Carson in for his first competitive start in a do or die game. I didn’t think England deserved to get anything out of the game and looking at the qualifying campaign as a whole we certainly didn’t deserve to qualify. It begs the question as to how do players who perform so well week in week out in the Premiership fail to reproduce that form in the national team. It’s a difficult one to put your finger on but I reckon the pressure to perform has a lot to do with it. Playing for your national team is the greatest honour to be bestowed on a player and each player is put under so much pressure by us all - the media, fans. I’m not using this as an excuse but it does seem that they are able to play without fear for their club sides but then it just doesn’t seem to happen at international level.

So who do I think can turn things around for England, motivate the players and try and get them to relax more when playing for England? I think the outstanding candidate is Jose Mourinho. He proved himself as being able to get the best out of his players at Chelsea and I think he would definitely command the respect of the England players. Plus he is a known quantity. Many of the players have worked for him before, know what he can do and what he has done. I would let him bring his own backroom staff in too. There is no point making him work with someone he doesn’t want to or hasn’t worked with before. In short, we need a manager and backroom team that are going to help make England a force in world football again.

If I had to go for an English manager to take charge of the national team, I would choose Harry Redknapp. He has done a fantastic job at Portsmouth, seems to get the best out of his players and is a straight talker.

Steve McClaren is of course not the only manager to lose his job in recent weeks. Billy Davies has obviously left Derby, and Chris Hutchings is no longer at Wigan. There’s also talk of Sam Allardyce being out of a job if Newcastle fail to beat Arsenal tonight and the possibility of Alan Shearer taking charge. That baffles me to be honest. Big Sam has only been at the club for a short time and he’s a very good manager. He worked wonders at Bolton and I think he needs to be given time to get the players to gel. I certainly don’t agree with all the talk of getting rid of him.

Northampton have been drawn against Millwall in the third round of the FA Cup. I’m expecting a difficult replay away at Walsall but I think if we get through that we’ve got a good chance of beating Millwall and progressing to the fourth round. Fingers crossed we can keep our cup run going but the league is obviously the priority so we need to turn things around and start winning.

I was hoping to be in the squad for the Walsall cup game last week however it was not to be. I played in a reserve game against Oxford and I was feeling much fitter, my touch was good and I was quite pleased with my performance. In the second half though I was struggling to sprint and was getting sharp pains in my hernia region. I’d been feeling problems in this area for a few weeks and was checking in regularly with the Doctor. I got taken off after 70 minutes of the match and after going to see the Doctor and Specialist it was decide I needed a hernia operation. As a result I have had to write the Coke Column at the beginning of this week. As you read this I will be in a hospital bed in Manchester recovering from the operation. I’ll be out a further two to three weeks but it’s better to get this sorted now rather than it get progressively worse if I came back and played with the problem.

Your questions:

Hi Giles, I can’t wait to see you in the first team shake up. I agree with you that Steve McLaren should never have been given the England job but do you think, considering players must be English, the managers should English as well. Also, please name the current League 1 Manager who you think would do the best job as McLaren’s replacement. From Jamie

To be honest I believe we should get the best man for the job whether he is English or not. It would be great if we had an outstanding candidate that was English but I think Jose Mourinho is the man that can turn the national team’s fortunes around. If I had to choose a League One Manager, I could only really consider our gaffer as I don’t know enough about the other managers. There are a lot of good young managers in League One but you get to know exactly how the manager’s work by being on the training ground with him every day and therefore I can’t really say how good other League One managers. All I know is Stuart Gray is a good manager, he commands the respect of the players and is supported by a good backroom staff.

Hi Giles, How far do you think you can go in football? For example, provided you stay injury free, do you think you could make Premiership standard, International? Good luck! From Paul

To be honest at the moment, I just want to get back on the pitch and play. Obviously every player wants to play at the highest level they possibly can and I’m no different. But it’s down to me to show that by performing well enough on the pitch and take the opportunities that come my way. It would be great to get into the Championship with Northampton over the next couple of years.

See you in two weeks!