David James thinks football brands are affecting the beautiful game. Does he have a point, or is he just too old school for modern equipment?

Portsmouth and England goalkeeper David James has written in his weekly newspaper column about the negative impact football brands are having on the modern game.

Footballs

James rants at the different footballs which are continually changed for major tournaments and new seasons, stating that he thinks they are marketing gimmicks. He takes a swipe at the Adidas Teamgeist used in the 2006 World Cup and the Europass used in the Euro 2008 competition. During these two competitions, James claims that the football’s used are not improving the game and suggests that the footballs are to be blamed for a lack of converted ‘direct’ free kicks during these two tournaments.

Ballack’s free kick for Germany against Austria in Euro 2008 apart, perhaps he has a point. Official statistics state that there were no directly converted goals scored during Euro 2006, Ballack’s fantastic strike got a slight deflection, so is omitted from the numbers. When you think that 31 games were played in Euro 2008 and just the one (Ballack) direct free kick ended up in the net, perhaps James has a point?

The Premier League ball doesn’t get away lightly either. James questions the need to change from a white football to a yellow one in the winter. Officials will say its due to improved visibility, but James questions the need for the white one at all then. James intimated “Why not just stick with yellow all year round?”

Football Boots

Talking about football boots, James says that seasoned pro’s favour the Adidas Copa Mundial football boot. The Adidas Copa Mundial, hasn’t been changed for thirty years and in James’s view is “the best football boot in the world”, he goes further to say that “if this boot doesn’t need changing then why do all the others?”

Do the manufacturer’s have a lot to answer for, no less, do the Premier League players?  For according to James some of them “are lying through their teeth”  as long as the price is right. Maybe it’s all a case of “the Emperor’s new clothes”.

James is currently wearing Kelme football boots and by his own admission, has resorted to wearing alternative football boots and adding on the brand logo. He also wears the HO Soccer goalkeeping gloves, a brand he is happy wearing as he plays a big part in the development of the glove, which is currently the Black and Gold Pro Mega Negative.

But perhaps the most controversial aspect of DJ’s insight into professionals use of football boots is his question. “Are footballers becoming slaves - to use a Sepp Blatter term - to the manufacturers? Wearing the wrong boots, potentially hampering their performances, because the contract comes with a £1m price tag”.

Let us pose another question. “If football boot brands didn’t pay for endorsements, would players be wearing a ‘near’ retail priced football boot? Or would they have a football boot customised to their own foot shape and playing style?

There’s no doubt the majority of us are sold on hype, some read about what their heroes are wearing and see it on TV all the time and they want that brand . We’ve all been there, no matter what our age or status.

At least you can get informed advice here at Footy Boots, we’ll give you the manufacturer’s slant on it and if you have an informed view we’ll share that too.

Newcastle’s Michael Owen tops the British Football Rich List.

British football is still spending big. Foreign owners, TV deals and the popularity of the Premier League worldwide means that the credit crunch is not pinching at our footballers pockets.

Based on The Sunday Times Rich List of people in Britain under the age of 30, the list throws up a couple of surprises, like Harry Kewell!

Harry Kewell - Joint 9th - £13 million

A career blighted by injuries, led Harry to make just 93 appearances in five years for Liverpool. High salaries and a high profile in Australia has helped Harry into joint 9th place.

Harry slipped into this list as it was researched prior to his departure to Galatasaray.

Harry Kewell wears Nike Tiempo Air Legend II football boots

Didier Drogba - Joint 9th - £13 million

The Ivorian forward has been a huge success at Chelsea since his £24 million transfer from Marseille in 2004.

He expects to improve his £90 K per week salary, which along with a Nike endorsement agreement and a sponsorship deal with Samsung, makes a Didier a very wealthy young man.

Didier Drogba wears Nike Mercurial Vapor IV football boots

Damien Duff - 8th - £14 million

Starting his career at Blackburn, Duff moved to Chelsea in 2003 (£17 million) and then Newcastle in 2006 (£5 million). Along with the transfers, a Lucozade sponsorship deal and Adidas boot deal means Duff comes in at 8th in this survey.

Damien Duff wears Adidas adiPURE football boots

Cristiano Ronaldo - 7th - £15 million

Expect Ronaldo’s stock to rise. Said to be staying in Manchester now, his £120 K per week salary and deals galore, notably with Suzuki, Coca Cola and of course his Nike football boot agreement will without doubt grow.

Cristiano Ronaldo wears Nike Mercurial SL football boots

John Terry - 6th - £16 million

Chelsea captain John Terry has a staggering £140 K per month salary. Topping that figure up are sponsorship deals with Sansung, Nationwide, Pro Evolution Soccer and an Umbro football boot deal.

John Terry wears Umbro SX Valor football boots

Steven Gerrard - joint 4th - £19 million

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard earns £120 K per month. He’s been at Liverpool all his career, so no transfer fee cut boosts his bank balance, but a book deal made up for that. He also has a major football boot deal with Adidas.

Steven Gerrard wears Adidas Predator PowerSwerve football boots

Frank Lampard - joint 4th - £19 million

Fat Frank, named because of his bank balance? Frank has just extended his Chelsea contract, putting him on £33 million over 5 years. When you add in his Pepsi and Gatorade deals, his autobiography back in 2006 and an Adidas football boot deal, Frank is unlikely to be hard up after hs carrer finishes.

Rio Ferdinand - 3rd -£28 million

Rio’s £120 K per month wages are supported by two large transfers, first from West Ham to Leeds (£18 million), then Leeds to Manchetser United (£30 million). His book deal, Ben Sherman modelling contract and Nike football boot endorsement agreement places Rio in 3rd spot.

Rio Ferdinand wears Nike Total 90 Laser II football boots

Wayne Rooney - 2nd - £35 million

Wozza at just 22 years old is in good financial health. Wages £115 K per month, deals a plenty with Nokia, Ford, Asda, and Coca Cola. Add in a £5 million advance book deal and a Nike football boots sponsorship deal and Coleen will be well pleased with her new hubby.

Wayne Rooney wears Nike Total 90 Laser II football boots

Michael Owen - 1st -£41 million

The little man who’s career started so brightly at Liverpool has made a small fortune thanks to having an ideal image for markting. Nestle, Persil, Pro Evolution Soccer, Tissot and Jaguar all pay to have Owen’s name associated with their brands. As does Umbro who pay him to wear heir football boots.

His moves from Liverpool to Real Madrid and then to Newcastle all helped Owen hit the top of the British Football Rich List.

Michael Owen wear Umbro Speciali football boots

With the Premier League season at an end, we thought it would be a good idea to look back at some of the best performing players and their football boots of the year.

Well, it makes a change from flicking through holiday brochures with the other half and persuading her that nice though a trekking holiday through the foothills of Tibet sounds, 6 million beers over a 2 week period in Ibiza might be the better option.

Of course, these are just the choices of the Footy Boots office. Don’t forget, you’ll get your chance to vote on your personal favourites later in the year in the ‘Footy Boots Awards’. We’ll bring you more details on that over the next few weeks. For now, you’ll have to make do with our picks.

Attackers boot of the year - Nike Mercurial Vapor IV

It’s pretty much impossible to go against the Mercurial Vapor IV after the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Manchester United star hit 41 goals this season in the Nike branded footwear, 31 of those coming in the top flight. Nike should also be proud of their achievements in keeping the Portuguese international more upright this season. Must be something to do with the patented Vapor Traction system. That or he just got a bit embarrassed falling over every time a butterfly flapped it’s wings in China. In what was a stellar campaign for Ronaldo, he won both the Footballers player of the year and PFA player of the year awards.

Midfielders boot of the year - Nike Tiempo Legend II

It’s another win for Nike after the great season enjoyed by Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas. OK, the campaign may have been half a dozen games too long for the young Spaniard but at times it was like he was carrying the entire Arsenal team on his own. In addition to his match turning exploits from the middle of the park, the PFA young player of the year also weighed in with 13 goals from 45 appearances.

Defenders boot of the year - Puma v-Konstrukt II

Despite injury problems, Manchester United stopper Nemanja Vidic played in 44 games this season and was instrumental in United conceding just 22 league goals all season, with just 7 of those coming at Old Trafford. The Serbian international only picked up 5 yellow cards as well, though he did manage to get himself booked in both internationals he played in this term. Not surprisingly, after helping United to the Premier league title and Champions League final, Vidic was named in the PFA’s Premier League team of the year.

Goalkeepers boot of the year - Umbro SX Flare

David James was a shoe-in (see what we’ve done there) for this award but there’s been a fair bit of confusion over his Kelme boots this season. James has been seen wearing blacked out boots with Kelme stickers as he’s currently working on the design of new boots with the Spanish company. So instead, we’ve gone for the Manchester City keeper Joe Hart. In a meteoric season, Hart became the City number 1 and got himself in to Fabio Capello’s England squad for the upcoming games against the USA and Trinidad & Tobago. Despite the off the field distractions surrounding Sven Goran Eriksson, Hart was instrumental in helping City to 9th place in the table. And brilliantly, he wasn’t in goal when they got creamed 8 - 1 by Boro on the final day of the season.

Best looking kit of the year - Adidas & Liverpool 2008 / 09

The new kit is in classic Liverpool red. An embroidered Liver Bird is positioned on the back of the shirt and the inner neck of the shirt has a red chequered area inspired by the flags of The Kop. The shirt also carries a “This is Anfield” inscription, inspired by the famous Anfield sign. Clean and simple - a bit like Jermaine Pennant before he starts a game.

Footy Boots Non Premier League choice - Diadora LX K-Pro

The choice for this honour was enormous but in the end, sentimentality won the day as we went with the Italian war horse Francesco Totti. Roma have been excellent domestically and pushed Inter all the way for the Scudetto before finally falling at the last hurdle. Totti managed 14 goals from 25 league appearances (that’s a goal every 1.78 games) which isn’t bad for a 31 year old. He scored his 200th Roma goal in January and later that month was named as Italy’s player of the year for a fifth time.

Don’t forget to watch this space for details of the Footy Boots Awards 2008.

Ryan Giggs helped Manchester United reclaim the Premier League trophy. Having won 10 title medals in his illustrious career, should he also get the accolade as the best player the Premier League has ever seen?

It was the 29th November 1987, when Alex Ferguson made one of the best signings of his managerial career. Ferguson signed a 14 year old boy onto the Manchester United’s books. On the 9th July 1990, Ryan Giggs was given a Manchester United contract - almost 18 years ago.

Ryan Giggs made his first team début for Manchester United against Everton, on the 2nd March 1991. That was 758 games ago, now Ryan Giggs has equalled Bobby Charlton’s appearance record for the club and may well surpass it when Manchester United face Chelsea in the Champions League final in Moscow next week.

The Greatest

When people think about the best player to grace the Premier League, a few names always crop up; Cantona, Henry, Zola, Bergkamp, Shearer, Cech, Adams and there are others, but few can dispute that Giggs is amongst the list.

Honours

Looking at his unrivalled war chest of honours (right hand side), nobody comes close to the Welsh Wizard, but its not just his medals that make Giggs the best the Premier League has seen…..

Talent

Giggs started his career as a left winger. His pace, control, balance and skill frightened full backs all over the world. It drew comparisons with another footballing legend, George Best and he was awarded the U-21 European Footballer of the Year.

Aged 17 he became the youngest player to represent Wales internationally. He went on to gain 64 caps before retiring from international football in 2007.

Consistency

Giggs has maintained his form throughout his career at Manchester United, at the top level of football, never making fewer than 30 appearances in a season. A formidable record considering the competition for places and the standard of the game he has played.

Loyalty

In an age where moving clubs every few years is so commonplace, it’s rare to see a player stay at a club as long as Giggs has. He could have earned millions in transfer fee’s over the years, instead he focused on his football.

Off the Field

Giggs is a great role model for children. He now refrains from over publicising himself, something he was perhaps guilty of when he first came on the scene. Even his football boot sponsor has been consistent, Giggs has been with Reebok for several years now and currently wears the Reebok SprintFit football boots.

Versatility

Of late Giggs has demonstrated that he is not a one trick pony. As the years have crept up on him, he has had to adapt his game as he has lost a little of his pace.

Giggs started out as a pacey winger, before adapting to play as a central striker and more recently he has been used as a central midfielder.

Ryan Giggs

Few can contest the ability of Ryan Giggs, he’s performed at the very top level for almost two decades and his attitude has been exemplary. Look at the all round player and person Ryan Giggs is, he’s the greatest the Premier League has ever seen.758

You know how it is. There you are, sitting on your PC or laptop, beavering away on a much needed work related document, paying a bill via electronic banking or just emailing a mate then…ping…up pops a message on Facebook or Skype from an old acquaintance, an ex partner or some geezer in Nigeria who says you’ve won 50 grand on their national lottery and all you need to do to collect the cash is send him £1000 to sort it out for you. Yeah right.

At Footy Boots, we rarely have time for social networking, so busy are we researching and sourcing the latest products and new developments in the football boot world.

But that may be about to change.

Imagine that you could interact, via the wonders of the Net with six of the biggest names in football on the planet.

With social networking now no longer solely in the domain of computer geeks, people who can’t get a boyfriend or girlfriend or individuals who really should get out more, drinks company Pepsi have embraced the phenomenon and have announced details of a new website that will allow users to set up their own profile and compare their interests with the likes of David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho.

The sextet is completed by Cesc Fabregas, Lionel Messi and Frank Lampard.

All six players will star in a multi million pound TV advertisement campaign which is due to be launched next month.

The new website, www.pepsiyouniverse.com features a section called ‘Youniverse’ where users can design their profile as well as taking a look at a behind-the-scenes video of the making of the ad, with commentary from all six players.

Duly enthused by this initiative, at Footy Boots we’ve already signed up, being keen to know if any of the ‘Sexy Six’ share a passion for our great interests outside of newly designed football boots - those being pigeon fancying, German films of the 1950’s and Haribo Sour Mix. C’mon Beck, lets be hearing from you.

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles talks about his hopes for Arsenal (his boyhood team) and what he plans to do when he retires from football.

Hi everyone, we’ve had a good start to 2008 at Northampton. A six match unbeaten run was ended by a 1-0 defeat to Yeovil in a poor, scrappy game last week in which the home side scored the winner in the 94th minute. We didn’t get the ball down and play and it was a sad way to end our undefeated run and the manager was rightly unhappy with our performance. We bounced back from defeat at the weekend to beat Gillingham 4-0. I came off the bench to score - my goal took a deflection and looped over the keeper, but they all count! Gillingham weren’t really at the races and I think 4-0 could have quite easily been six or seven. Our new striker Adebayo Akinfenwa also scored a couple, which I’m sure would have been good for his confidence. He’s now scored 4 since he joined us. Adebayo is a good player from what I’ve seen so far. He has a good touch, holds the ball up well, and gets in the box and scores goals, so I’m sure he’ll be an asset as we try and finish as high as possible this season.

I’m going to watch the Arsenal v AC Milan Champions League game at the Emirates tonight. I can’t wait! I have been an Arsenal fan for as long as I can remember and I used to love Ian Wright, he scored so many goals. Once I went to one of his signing sessions at Covent Garden as a kid and he sort of stuck as my Arsenal hero after that. I was also a big fan of Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Dennis Bergkamp, and the speedy winger Mark Overmars. In the current crop of players, I really like Cesc Fabregas. I’m also really looking forward to watching Kaka. What a player! I always try and learn from players playing in a similar position to me, looking at their passing and movement, but sometimes I just watch some of the things they do and say wow! I suppose that’s why they amongst the best players in the world.

A lot of people seemed to think Arsenal would struggle this season without Thierry Henry. I think if anything, losing Henry has made Arsenal a stronger group of players. They are certainly playing well, and I really do think they can win the League. The FA Cup defeat at Manchester United was disappointing. I don’t know whether Wenger and the players maybe had one eye on tonight’s match. I’m hoping we can maybe sneak a 1-0 victory tonight and then hold on in Milan in a few weeks time.

It’s a long, long way off but people do ask me if I’ve ever had any thoughts on what I’d like to do when I retire. A footballer’s career is short compared to other industries, often less than fifteen years, so it is important to think about your post career objectives. I definitely want to stay in sport following my football career. My brother Jon coaches Under 10s football and it is something he is really passionate about. Maybe I will look to follow in his footsteps when I retire and do a bit of coaching!

I’ve got a game away at Hartlepool on Friday night so hopefully we can get a result there.

And up the Arsenal tonight!

Egypt retained the Africa Cup of Nations, Eto’o scored highest and Puma won as far as football boot brands go.

The Africa Cup of Nations has come of age and is now a tournament that stands up with the best. The standard of the game is very high, as is the excitement that is produced from the continents best footballing nations.

A record 99 goals were scored in the 3 weeks, there was not one penalty shoot out and extra time was used but once, a testament to the attacking tactics employed in Ghana.

Egypt took the trophy when they beat Cameroon 1 - 0 in the Ghanaian capital, Accra. Making it a record 6 wins for the Pharaoh’s.

Also for the 6th time, Puma sponsored a winning Africa Cup of Nations team. Puma have invested heavily in African nations, 2 in total, perhaps wiseley based on the improvement African teams have made in world football. In 28 out of the 32 games, at least one Puma team was present.

Samuel Eto’o was the top goal scorer of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, he scored five goals during the tournament. At just 26 years of age, Eto’o became the Africa Cup of Nations all time record goalscorer. He has scored 16 goals in five competitions.

Puma triumphed again, as Samuel Eto’o wears Puma’s football boots, the Puma V1.08.

The Manchester United kit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.

The commemorative kit will be worn during Manchester United’s derby on Saturday 9th February, with Manchester City.

The kit is styled in a 1950’s fashion. It will not feature the logo’s of sponsors, or the league and will be worn without the names of players. Kit sponsor Nike have made the kit and along with their main sponsor AIG, both firms have agreed to give up their branding. A replica kit will not be sold, the kits used on the day will be given away to survivors of the disaster and associated guests.

In another mark of respect, the players have also approached their football boot sponsors and will be wearing black football boots during the game, as previously reported in our article Black Football Boots Commemorate Munich Disaster.

Munich on the 6th February 1958, a plane carrying journalists, supporters and the Manchester United football team, known as the Busby Babes, crashed on its third attempt to take off. Twenty-three of the 44 passengers on board the aircraft died in the disaster, including eight United players and one former Manchester City player.

At Old Trafford, their clock remains frozen at 3:04 p.m. on Feb. 6, 1958. With the word Munich beneath it. The time and date when the plane carrying the Manchester United team crashed on take off from Munich’s airport.

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles talks about scoring his first goal for Northampton and the romance of the FA Cup.

Hi everyone, I’m pleased with the way the last few games have gone. We got a 1-0 away win against Gillingham last week and then on Friday beat Leyton Orient 2-0 at home. Orient were flying at the start of the season and they’re still in the play off mix so it was a good result for us. I also scored my first goal for the club in my second home game. I felt unlucky not to score against Hartlepool a few weeks back so I was pleased to get off the mark against Orient. Poul Hubertz flicked on a header about 35 yards out and I pushed it on with my left foot to knock it past the defenders into the area, before flicking it past the keeper with my right foot from just inside the box.

That goal was for the gaffer and the physios really. I’m very grateful to Stuart Gray for giving me the opportunity to step up a level and putting his faith in me, and also to the physios for all their help in getting me back from injury. It was good to get off the mark, and I thought we played well as a team.

Our next home game is against Brighton and I don’t see why we can’t go out there, play with confidence, and pick up another three points. My fitness is improving match by match and I’m only going to improve my sharpness by getting out on the pitch and playing.

Who says the romance of the FA Cup is dead?!

With playing on Friday, I was able to watch the live FA Cup games over the weekend, including my old team Mansfield take on Middlesbrough. Mansfield did well, playing like that it’s amazing to think they’re at the bottom of League Two. They dominated play in patches, especially at the beginning of the second half and Mickey Boulding hit the bar. On another day, it could have been a different result.

I was really chuffed for my mate Richard Pacquette. I played with him at QPR when I was younger and he now plays for Havant and Waterlooville. He scored to put the non league side 1-0 up at Anfield and he called me straight after the game. What an amazing performance it was by the part timers, in the first half it seems with a bit more luck they could have gone 2-0 up, then it would have been interesting! But ultimately, in the second half, Premiership class told and Liverpool ran out 5-2 winners. Richard was certainly buzzing though, and the team rounded the weekend off by going to the Man Utd v Spurs game at Old Trafford.

Your questions:

Hi Giles, What do you think of the situation at Newcastle? Do you think it is a good move for Keegan to go back there and to bring in Dennis Wise? From Danny P

I think if anyone can turn the situation round at Newcastle, Kevin Keegan can. He did a good job last time, and he certainly knows the club inside out. I was a bit surprised when I heard Dennis Wise was going there. He seemed to be building something at Leeds and has brought quite a few players in during the transfer window, including Brad Johnson from Northampton. I guess the opportunity was far too good to turn down. I’m not sure exactly what role he will have, but I reckon the fans will appreciate him and the players will respect him, due to what he did at Leeds and the combative, never say die attitude he had as a player.

See you in 2 weeks!

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles talks about his return to first team football.

Hi everyone, well after a year out with injury, I’ve finally returned to playing first team football. I must admit it’s been one of the most frustrating year’s of my life, especially as I’ve been close to coming back on several occasions only to suffer a new setback. My year out of competitive football has had one positive however, in allowing me to spend time with my baby daughter, who had her 1st birthday last week.

I made my Northampton debut against Leeds United at Elland Road last week. We lost the game 3-0 which was very disappointing but I thought I did ok when I came on for the last twenty or so minutes, when we were already 2-0 down. It was quite a high tempo game and unfortunately I picked up a yellow card within the first couple of minutes of being on the pitch. Leeds are a decent side, they’ve obviously got all the facilities and infrastructure to play at a much higher level again and I think they’ll definitely be in the mix to go up at the end of the season. My mate Brad Johnson has gone there, and he made his debut against Crewe on Monday. I was sad to see Brad go but I think it’s a very good move for him as it gives him a huge possibility of playing at a big club in a winning side, and most probably playing in the Championship next season.

Following ninety minutes of reserve team football against Southend last week in which I wasn’t too happy with my performance, I made my home debut against Hartlepool at the weekend, my first ninety minutes of first team football since New Year’s Day 2007! When Stuart Gray told me I would be starting I was absolutely buzzing, and couldn’t wait for the match. We ended up drawing the match 1-1 which I thought was a fair result. However we need to start turning the home draws into wins, so we don’t get sucked into the battle at the bottom, as there are several clubs behind us in the table who have games in hand.

As far as my performance went, I was fairly happy with the first half. My touch and passing weren’t bad, though I did give the ball away on occasion. In the second half I was holding back quite a lot and not pushing forward as much as normal. It’s going to take about six to eight games to get back to full fitness and sharpness, so I hope people are patient with me. My game is about being box to box, I like to come back and defend, but I also like to push forward a bit like Steven Gerrard does for Liverpool. I’m going to have to play intelligently over the next month or so to conserve my reserves of energy for the full ninety minutes; there is no point me pushing forward, then leaving us exposed at the back.

I half expected to only play around sixty minutes on Saturday, but I think playing the full ninety minutes will be very beneficial in the long run. I nearly won the game for us in the last ten minutes, having a diving header well saved by the keeper, from a free kick. I got a bit of a bash on the hip when I went in for the header, but I’ve been icing that and I should be fine for the match away at Gillingham on Saturday.

Fingers crossed by the next time I speak to you we will have a few good results under our belts.

See you in 2 weeks.

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles discusses the January Transfer Window and how he spent his festive period.

Hi everyone, firstly I’d like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope you had a very enjoyable Christmas.

I was training on Christmas Day, in fact we played a small game which was good fun. After training I drove back to London to have Christmas Lunch with my partner’s family before visiting my own family in the evening. My baby daughter got lots of presents and was really spoilt! She’s probably a bit young to know exactly what is going on at Christmas but it’s going to be fun spending this time of year with her over the next few years. I got some nice presents, one of which being the new Pro Evolution football game for the Playstation 3. I’m sure some of the players will be dropping in to have a game over the coming weeks. Due to the fixture pile up over the holiday season, New Year is quite a quiet affair for a footballer. Myself and my partner spent New Year’s Eve out for dinner with Ian Henderson and his girlfriend.

Over Christmas, football clubs often put on pantomines or comedy shows for the players. This year our youth team put on a nativity type pantomine where they had a bit of a joke at the other players expense! I escaped pretty much unscathed but some of the other players had a bit of mickey taking including the Manager!

We got a very good result at Huddersfield at the weekend but unfortunately couldn’t hold on for a win against Millwall yesterday. I’m back on track fitness wise and am hoping to be available for selection next week, possibly after featuring in a reserve match on Monday.

The January Transfer Window opened yesterday and there has been speculation over whether Bradley Johnson will stay or go, with a bid being put in for him from a Championship Club. Brad is one of my close mates and although it would be nice to play alongside him, if he does move on I’m sure he’ll do really well and I’ll certainly be keeping tabs on his progress.

I don’t actually agree with the concept of having Transfer Windows. I don’t know of any other industry where people are only allowed to move jobs at given times of year. It must really frustrate Managers. I’m sure this is why we see inflated prices, because numerous clubs end up scrapping for the same players. People say January is not always the best time to buy as the player needs to adjust to his new surroundings mid season. Some of the big clubs don’t seem to buy in January but it seems that Chelsea, Liverpool and Man United may all look to strengthen their ranks. The only possible argument I can see for having Transfer Windows is that clubs know exactly when they can and cannot buy players, and it means there is not disruption to squads throughout the year. To be honest though, I don’t know if that argument really stands up.

Hope you all have a great 2008 and I’ll see you again in 2 weeks!

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.

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!

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