Lord Ken Macdonald QC says prosecution is flailing with 'paper-thin' allegations against his client

There was nothing "even slightly sinister" about the payments totalling £189,000 that the former Portsmouth owner Milan Mandaric made to Harry Redknapp, the jury in the two men's tax evasion trial has heard.

Mandaric's barrister, Lord Ken Macdonald QC, told Southwark crown court that the prosecution was "really flailing" with "paper-thin" suggestions that his client had paid the money into Redknapp's Monaco account to avoid tax.

He said it was "really desperate stuff" for the prosecution to claim that the two payments at the heart of the case were intended as bonuses for the sale of Peter Crouch to Aston Villa or as a reward for Portsmouth beating Manchester United.

"We say the evidence against [Mandaric] is hopelessly weak," Macdonald said. "There's nothing even slightly sinister" about the money, which, he said, had been paid to provide Redknapp with investment opportunities.

"In Milan Mandaric's mind this was not money for Crouch, this was Milan Mandaric coming through on money he had promised months before, for a portfolio," the barrister said. As a "non-dom", it made no sense for Mandaric to pay the money into a UK account, the jury heard.

Lord Macdonald compared the two men to Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in the film The Odd Couple, saying they shared an "emotional relationship, at times a tempestuous relationship, at times a love-hate relationship".

He added: "An odd couple, different men, different backgrounds … but I would suggest a deep affection. Mr Mandaric had no fear describing his emotions towards Mr Redknapp, he said he loves [him]."

Redknapp, 64, of Poole, Dorset, and Mandaric, 73, of Oadby, Leicestershire, deny two counts of cheating the public revenue when Redknapp was manager of Portsmouth football club.

The first charge of cheating the public revenue alleges that between 1 April 2002 and 28 November 2007 Mandaric paid $145,000 (£93,100) into the account. The second charge for the same offence relates to a sum of $150,000 (£96,300) allegedly paid between 1 May 2004 and 28 November 2007.

Capello decided to speak out on Sunday and stated it was 'right that Terry should keep the captain's armband'

I hope no one reading this blog will disagree that the leadership of Football Association is in a right mess. The board of directors, which is made up of executives and non-executives from football clubs, made a decision last week that John Terry could continue to play for England but would not be the team's captain. So far so good – not a great decision, but a good decision.

Faced with five months of relentless press coverage during the build-up to the Euro 2012 championship, the FA board and most of the senior management could see that England's preparation and performance should not be overshadowed by equally relentless coverage of whether the team's captain would be found guilty of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand. The trial is set to take place after the championship and – after the furore that took place when the head of football's international body, FIFA, made some insensitive statements on racism – the FA itself could not avoid this issue. The board knew it had to protect the FA's brand as well as England's international reputation.

The difficulty is that one of the FA's employees, the line manager responsible for Terry's appointment, is too stubborn and unable to see the big picture. And, that line manager, Fabio Capello, has an annual salary of £8.5m, and has a contract that doesn't come to an end until after the European championships.

So after the board of directors of the FA made their decision about Terry, the FA chairman, David Bernstein, had to speak personally with Terry, rather than expect his employee, Capello, to break the bad news. Bernstein also spoke to Capello and acknowledged in his press releases that Capello did not agree with the board's decision. Still, Capello decided to speak out on Sunday and stated it was "right that Terry should keep the captain's armband".

Capello is often acknowledged for his stubborn determination, which has made him successful. But, his lack of real success as England manager is probably down to one key missing ingredient to truly great leadership: self-awareness. The team just scraped into the second round of the World Cup and then lost to Germany 4-1, with Capello blaming the poor performance on the Adidas-designed football for the tournament. The team has only qualified for the European championships after a 2-2 draw against Montenegro and a narrow win against Wales, when he said some of his players were mentally fragile. While we don't want the England manager to be publicly discussing his failures, one hopes he has the ability to reflect back on what he has done wrong and what he has done right. Right now, Capello seems to be more intent on encouraging divisions within the FA and his players than unifying the team with the fans. This is not a good omen for the European championship.

So right now, Capello is due at the FA headquarters to speak with Bernstein. The FA board previously agreed Capello should stay as England manager even though he failed miserably to deliver the results at the World Cup. Many at the time suggested that his contractual arrangements with the FA meant it was too difficult to sack him, as the compensation Capello would earn from such a dismissal was too high. This time it might be different; either Capello agrees to work with his boss and for England or Bernstein asks him to step aside. A truly great decision might actually be the latter.

Peter Copeland, 29, admits two offences after tweeting racist comments in a row with a Newcastle fan

A football fan who caused outrage on Twitter by sending racist tweets has admitted two offences.

Sunderland fan Peter Copeland, 29, was arguing with a Newcastle United fan on the site when he made the remarks.

Copeland tweeted one comment about the Newcastle star striker Demba Ba's lips exploding.

Sunderland magistrates court heard that he followed it up with another which said: "With the number of darkies in your fucking team, you should be called the Coon Army."

Peter Anderson, prosecuting, said this was in reference to Newcastle United's Toon Army nickname.

The comments were made on 17 January and followed Newcastle signing Ba's Senegal teammate Papiss Cissé.

Unemployed Copeland, who lives with his parents in Benridge Bank, West Rainton, Durham, admitted two offences under the Malicious Communications Act and will be sentenced on 27 February.

Copeland said he was not racist and claimed a friendship with the black ex-Sunderland player Gary Bennett, the court heard.

He was arrested after the journalist Colin George, who works for the north-east-based Evening Chronicle and Journal titles, reported the tweets to Northumbria police, magistrates were told.

Anderson said: "His comment upon arrest was: 'All this because I called Demba Ba a black bastard?"'

Copeland told police there had been "banter" with a Newcastle supporter and his comments were an attempt to wind up the rival fan.

"He accepted he had gone way too far," Anderson said.

His tweets provoked 50 to 60 responses from other Twitter users unhappy with the remarks, the court heard.

"He decided thereafter to close down his Twitter account," Anderson said.

Copeland already had a conviction under the Malicious Communications Act, the court heard, but this concerned warning off an ex-partner's new boyfriend and was not of a similar nature to the racist tweeting.

Ruth Forster, defending, said: "From the outset Mr Copeland has been extremely remorseful.

"This case may act as a stark reminder that as soon as a comment is posted online it becomes available for the masses to see. He never intended his comments to reach a worldwide audience."

Forster said the Twitter row between Copeland and the Newcastle fan had started innocuously, but swiftly became nasty with the two trading insults before her client made his "stupid mistake".

After realising how widespread his remarks had become, he wrote a letter of apology to Newcastle United.

Forster urged magistrates not to link the case to football's other high-profile race issues.

She said: "I think you have to look at him as an individual who made the mistake of putting a tweet on a public site. These comments could have been made at any given stage when there was no media hype with high-profile players in high-profile cases."

She added: "Mr Copeland accepts these comments were outrageous and totally out of line."

The chairman of the bench, Thomas Eastick, adjourned the case for sentencing after indicating a "medium level community order" was being considered.

Moving Juan Mata out wide limits the influence of a player with the ability and brain to control the tempo of a match

It wasn't the brilliant volley just after the break that underlined Juan Mata's importance to Chelsea. It wasn't the late, curling free-kick that forced David De Gea into a full-length save either, or even the delivery from wide for the third Chelsea goal.

It was a 20-yard sideways pass to José Bosingwa in the 65th minute, with the score at 3-1, that slowed down a Chelsea attack. It annoyed Florent Malouda, who wanted a pass in front of him to attack Manchester United's new right-back Antonio Valencia, and it prompted an audible moan around Stamford Bridge.

But the pass demonstrated Mata's intelligence and awareness of the situation. Chelsea had gone 3-0 up without playing particularly good football, but had then allowed United back into the game. The second half was frantic, fast-paced and end-to-end. Chelsea, the side with the two-goal advantage, didn't want that – they needed to calm things down, kill the game, control the tempo.

Mata was the only one who understood that. His pass was unspectacular, underwhelming and lacking in ambition. But it was the right thing to do; it prompted a whole minute of pure Chelsea possession, something they struggled to recreate later on, at a time when United attack followed United attack and Chelsea made clearances when they could have played passes.

And what followed that minute of possession? A shot from Mata, controlled, precise and forcing De Gea into a smart stop down to his right. It was the perfect way to attack at that moment, to control the game, frustrate United, then pounce quickly.

Mata is the one thinker in a Chelsea side being turned into an exciting team, but one based around pace and technique rather than thoughtfulness. Villas-Boas desires a "vertical" game, but yesterday they needed to be more horizontal. Raul Meireles and Michael Essien are both box-to-box players more than holders. Daniel Sturridge and Malouda moved high up and wanted to break quickly, while Fernando Torres was naturally hunting for the goal that seems destined never to arrive. Chelsea were playing too directly and they needed someone to soothe a side full of shuttlers and scurriers.

The most intelligent footballers adjust their game and make the correct decisions according to the situation. The former Real Madrid midfielder Fernando Redondo was a master of that, described by Fabio Capello as a "tactically perfect" player, able to defend and attack equally well by using the same strengths in different ways.

Being adaptable in this respect is the final part of José Mourinho's coaching regime. He devises drills based around "guided discovery", helping the players to arrive at their own conclusions. The ultimate aim is to make his players intelligent enough to adjust the shape and style of the side according to the tactical situation in the game, without the need for input from Mourinho. He likes an on-field leader, a central midfielder who carries out the instructions and sets the tone for the rest of the side. Esteban Cambiasso did that conspicuously at Inter, while Xabi Alonso was earmarked for the role at Real Madrid.

Villas-Boas is a disciple of Mourinho, of course, and his technical leader is unquestionably Mata. The Chelsea coach spends much of his time on the touchline dictating instructions to players. He is remarkably pedantic with regard to positioning, often whistling to a defender from his odd crouching position, then gesturing for them to move a couple of yards deeper, or a couple of yards narrower.

Mata is slightly different. Villas-Boas rarely shouts to him, but often calls him over for a much longer chat, as if discussing a full-blown change in manifesto rather than a modification in policy. Mata may never be the right kind of player to be Villas-Boas's captain – and this week of all weeks, you won't get many people at Chelsea wanting to discuss the subject of captaincy – but he is unquestionably the face of Villas-Boas's Chelsea. In fact, he is the face of Villas-Boas: the two look remarkably similar when discussing the game on the touchline, and the coach towering over the playmaker while lecturing him resembles a kid taking advice from his older brother midway through a school football trial.

Villas-Boas has had to change his strategy since he came to Chelsea, in two particular ways. The first was a move from a constant "high block" to a medium or low block – in other words, moving from heavy pressing towards more of a reserved position, and in some games (most notably the crucial win over Mata's former club Valencia) dangerously close to parking the bus. The second was restricting the attacking license of the holding midfielder, for Villas-Boas ideally likes a rotating midfield triangle, demonstrated by the movement and understanding his Porto side enjoyed in midfield. "We decided it doesn't work here, so that's one of the things I have adapted," he said. "You lose a little bit of balance in the Premier League if you play that way. Transitions here are much more direct, making the importance of the number six [the holder] to stay in position more decisive."

Both moves have been more cautious, more pragmatic than his initial philosophy dictated. The next change might be to become less vertical and more patient with the ball. In home games against big sides Chelsea have twice lost points late on, to Arsenal (5-3) and Liverpool (2-1). Now they've surrendered a three-goal lead to Manchester United. Villas-Boas will explain that by stressing his commitment to attack, but it's not just a question of how much the side attacks, it's a question of how they attack.

In fairness, Chelsea did snatch the points late on against Manchester City in another big home game. But that win was secured when City went down to 10 men, Roberto Mancini moved to a very narrow 4-3-1-1 system that allowed Chelsea space down the flanks, and the home side won the decisive penalty after an attack that crossed the pitch three times, flank to flank. Sideways can be equally effective as forwards.

It was a sideways move that Chelsea needed yesterday, but a sideways move of a different kind to the one made by Villas-Boas that ultimately cost them. His decision to move Mata out to the right meant his conductor had been pushed to the margins, and Chelsea were suddenly clueless with the ball. Oriel Romeu came on, played much deeper, and Chelsea conceded the midfield ground for the final 20 minutes.

Villas-Boas is largely trying to recreate his Porto side at Chelsea, though the biggest caveat is Mata, who is unlike anyone Villas-Boas coached in Portugal. It has been assumed that Mata would learn about the Premier League in a wide role before being gradually brought into the centre, but his adaptation to the league has been remarkably swift, and Sunday's showing might be the catalyst for the decision to play him centrally permanently.

Arteta's passes earn Arsenal points

On the subject of Spanish midfielders who control the game, Mikel Arteta's importance to Arsenal shouldn't be overlooked. The departure of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fábregas means Arsenal attack less frequently through the centre and more often down the flanks, with Theo Walcott, Gervinho and increasingly Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain the key attacking components.

Arteta's job from deep is simple: to spread the play from flank to flank with calm passes. He completes around 79 passes per game, more than any other player in the Premier League, and his presence in the side certainly makes Arsenal more efficient. In the 19 games he's started this season, Arsenal have picked up 68% of points on offer – in the five he's missed, they've gained just 7% of the maximum.

Did the cold cause so many casualties?

An unusual feature of the Premier League weekend was that three sides had to make multiple substitutions before half-time. Norwich manager Paul Lambert had to replace his centre-backs Zak Whitbread and Daniel Ayala through injury, Newcastle saw both Leon Best and Ryan Taylor depart, while Stoke's Cameron Jerome and Andy Wilkinson went off, and then Robert Huth's red card forced Tony Pulis to substitute Jermaine Pennant and send on an extra centre-back.

These three incidents may have been a complete coincidence, and Taylor's was an injury due to a high tackle rather than poor conditioning, but the coldest weekend of the Premier League season coming after a rare full midweek round of fixtures probably didn't help players' muscles.

• Capello openly criticised decision to strip Terry of captaincy
• David Davies says FA is taking comments 'very seriously'

The former Football Association chief executive David Davies believes that Fabio Capello may be in breach of contract after the England manager openly challenged the decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy.

Speaking to the BBC's Breakfast Time show on Monday morning, Davies said that Capello, who reportedly earns £6m a year as manager of the national side, may have breached his contract with his comments and could face action from the FA.

"It is being taken very seriously by the FA," Davies said. "You have to ask what his motive is. You have to suspect he wants to prevent John Terry retiring as a player before Euro 2012, but there are wider issues.

"You could have what some of the media are calling a morality circus while England are trying to win the second major tournament in football.

"A contract may have been breached, there is strong leadership now at the FA from David Bernstein. Last week he wasn't slow to take things forward and he may not be slow to do so now."

Capello said he "completely disagreed" with Bernstein's decision during an interview with the Italian broadcaster Rai 1 on Sunday.

"I spoke to the chairman and I told him that I don't think someone can be punished until it becomes official," the Italian said. "The court will decide. It's going to be civil justice, not sports justice, to decide if John Terry committed the crime he is accused of. I thought it fair that John Terry keeps the captain's armband."

The FA opted to remove Terry as captain once it was known the Chelsea defender would not face trial over allegations he used racist language towards Anton Ferdinand until 9 July, eight days after the Euro 2012 final. Terry denies the charge.

Today's fluff senses rancour

Incredible work from today's Mirror, which has managed to extract a rare hibernation-period transfer EXCLUSIVE: "City fear losing Touré to mega-rich Russians". Yes, it's the disorientating effects of the international mega-rich, this time pillaging the carefully tended talent stocks of Manchester City's non-playing reserves for their own carbon-crazed ends. And yes, it's Kolo not Yaya. And yes it's Dagestan-based Roger Moore-era cartoon bond villains Anzhi Makhachkala. Plus it's also only a loan. Albeit Anzhi, who currently represent a kind of central European friendship stop for every disillusioned multi-millionaire outcast in European football's elite playground, would pay "a substantial loan fee".

Owen Coyle is preparing to tie Paul Robinson, Sean Davis and Robbie Blake up in a coarse hemp sack and leave them mewling on the steps of the local cat rescue home. The Mill smells pre-emptive wage bill trimming ahead of the summer. Stephen Dobbie, who also played Mark's on-off girlfriend in Peep show, has "begged" Brendan Rodgers to let him leave Swansea. And Steve Kean will seek legal advice over Christopher Samba not wanting to play for Blackburn any more and "effectively going on strike" in January. "I'm not a legal expert," Kean admitted yesterday, no doubt to howls of enraged disappointment from Blackburn fans who will now demand he be replaced by a leading QC.

In the Daily Mail there's some talk of Cristiano Ronaldo "putting the Premier League on red alert" by being unsettled and sulky and snarlingly dissatisfied with life. In which case, the Mill can only pity the Premier League an existence blighted by the near-constant bleeping of its Ronaldo red alert klaxon at each fresh whimper and hissy-fit. Ronaldo is apparently "considering a stunning return to the Premier League after growling [sic] disillusioned with life at Real Madrid."

Sadly the Mill fears "whining" might be more appropriate, even if growling would be an interesting departure. As the Mail points out City would be a favoured destination. The Mill can already hear the gloating, the booing, the acrimony, the furore over ill-conceived poster campaigns.

Madrid, Cristiano! Stay in Madrid. Warm weather! Nice food!

Someone else has blurted something out on Twitter. This time around it's Aston Villa's itinerant scurrying wing disappointment Charles N'Zogbia complaining about being subbed against Newcastle.

"The France international, who was returning to play in front of his former club at St James' Park, was furious after being substituted for Emile Heskey with one quarter of the game still to play".

Which also seems like a slightly gratuitous and undeserved slur on Heskey, who's just doing his job and always gives you 2,000% and even at the age of 47 can still induce a brief yawn of panic in even the least-drilled defence.

"'For the first time in my life I'm not happy playing football," N'Zogbia concluded. Really? But … Er … Oh never mind.

In slightly less turgid news Daniele De Rossi has "ignored" Chelsea and Manchester United and signed a five-year contract extension at Roma instead. This is perhaps unfair on De Rossi, who may have simply considered but then decided against Chelsea and Manchester United, or thought of them fondly for a moment, as a man might consider wistfully a favourite ex-girlfriend, or briefly ponder the charms of Debbie from work who always seems so friendly, even as he's trudging dutifully down the carpeted central aisle of the register office. It means that De Rossi, who is 28, will probably not come and play in the Premier League after all, or if he does it will only be for some briefly rich minor power intent on handing out last paydays to fading stars, in the manner of mid-1990s Middlesbrough.

According to today's Sun Carlos Tevez has become a "payroll pariah", unfairly marginalised in elite footballing society by his own risibly disproportionate, fiercely-wheedled, voraciously-hoovered up, hand-cupped-to-the-ear-induced, itinerantly-hiked, cynically-prioritised weekly wages.

"PSG technical director Leonardo last night revealed moneybags PSG could have signed Tevez but were not prepared to pay his £10million-a-year wages."

The Mill is distraught. If only there were some way around this situation.

Some middle ground, like taking a de facto negligible pay-cut on his already excessive earnings. Or just saying sorry to his manager. But obviously both of those are impossible so "payroll pariah" it is. Poor, poor Carlos.

Meanwhile likable waddling goal-divinity Robbie Fowler is still waiting with bated sort code for further news on his possible move to Howrah Calcutta of the Indian Premier League. "I get a few texts about what is happening but other than that I couldn't tell you," Fowler said, struggling manfully to contain his excitement and, on balance, just about managing it.

Russia and India will record the strongest growth in advertising spend over the coming year, according to the latest Warc international ad forecast.

It predicts that Russia will increase expenditure by 16.5%, followed by India (14.0%), China (11.5%) and Brazil (8.5%).

The picture is very different outside the BRIC quartet, especially in Europe, where three countries - Germany (1%), France (0.8%) and Italy (-0.2%) - are now expected to record the worst year-on-year performances.

All three economies are facing the possibility of renewed recession due to the eurozone debt crisis.

Taking into account the likelihood of inflation, all three countries are likely to see a decline in advertising spend in 2012.

The forecast for the UK is more positive, with predicted growth of 4.2%. But Warc, the marketing intelligence service, points out that the figure will be boosted by two sporting events - the London Olympics and European football championships.

As for the United States, which is forecast to see a 4.1% increase in ad spend, its TV broadcasters will undoubtedly benefit from the presidential election.

Indeed, across all 12 countries covered by the survey, TV is predicted to increase its share of main media advertising, growing by 5.3% compared to the overall media total of 4.5%.

As for online advertising, the pace of expansion is expected to slow to 12.6% this year, down from an estimated 16.6% in 2011.

The internet is expected to account for 20% of all media spend by the end of 2012.

Warc's data editor, Suzy Young, said: "With continuing debt worries affecting mature markets and knocking business and consumer sentiment, it is no surprise that 2012 adspend growth will come from emerging markets.

"Without the support from the presidential election and major sports tournaments, the outlook would have been even worse. But there are some bright spots in the data, with TV's performance looking particularly encouraging."

Source: Warc

The Premier League needs orange balls; the power of lower leagues; QPR are their own worst enemy; Houllier was right; and incompetence is back

The Premier League needs an orange ball

The list of things the Premier League has done to suck the fun out of football is only a slightly less depressing read than your average Cormac McCarthy novel. But one of the most daft and pointless is the introduction of yellow balls. Seven years ago they were brought into use between November and March with the promise of better visibility in the winter months. For all Britain's faults since the millennium, a shortage of electricity has not been one of them.

Floodlights still work (when shady betting syndicates are not extending their claws to these shores, at least) and a white ball can clearly be seen beneath them just as it is when matches are played in the evening during the late summer, early autumn and spring months. So the yellow ball's raison d'être – if it was not to make a few extra quid out of flogging replicas, of course – must have been for the few occasions when snow is so insistent it settles despite modern undersoil heating. But, as was proved again this weekend, it is not any good in that scenario. Any dehydrated drunk who has ever emptied his bladder into a dirty dusting will tell you the colour does not stand out as much as yellow-snow jokes suggest. And the same can be said for the top-flight's "hi-vis" balls that would work just fine as accessories for cyclists but are not up to the task when Britain resembles Greenland.

Last season the Championship saw sense when Ipswich beat Leicester City 3-0 and the yellow ball was ditched for an old-school orange one. The match resembled an episode of You've Been Framed (in a good way, come on, we've all had a snigger, much as we might not admit it) with players stumbling around like Drunken Joe Average from the Dog and Duck XI. It was a retro moment to savour. After last year's health and safety lock-down it was refreshing to see top-flight matches played out with a wintry backdrop. Now if only the Premier League killjoys would give us our orange ball back, for one or two days each year, we could all kid ourselves that the top-flight is not the fun-free, sterile place we think it is. GR

Swansea and Norwich prove the power of the lower leagues

A popular theory at the moment is that it is better to be chasing promotion from the Championship than to achieve it, go up and find yourself on the end of thrashings in the Premier League. There is a certain logic there, that like a relationship, the chase is more thrilling than the prize itself. We've got what we want: now what? Yet that can be taken only so far; after all, without a reward at the end of all the hard work, there is no point trying in the first place. Football needs dreams, however hopeless they might turn out to be, or else every side might as well while away life in mid-table obscurity.

Before the start of a season promoted sides are usually tipped to go straight back down but they often end up well away from danger. The only surprise is the surprise itself. You would think we would have learned by now. Part of the gloomy predictions are down to a lack of knowledge about the sides coming up, an assumption that there is no way Scott Sinclair, to pick a name at random, could make it in the top flight because he failed to at Chelsea.

Norwich and Swansea must be wondering what all the fuss was about and, although there is still plenty of work to do, neither side looks like going the way of Blackpool. Both sides have young, progressive managers in Paul Lambert and Brendan Rodgers, both play football that is easy on the eye, neither have spent millions and they do not possess household names. But they do not need them. Too often in the Premier League there is a focus on the name rather than the man behind it, allowing cannier managers to pick up an unknown quantity from the lower leagues for a pittance.

For Norwich Grant Holt and Steve Morison, neither of whom had played a minute in the top flight before this season, have shone in attack, despite low expectations. Andrew Surman, another one out of the Southampton academy, has shown he can play at this level. Wes Hoolahan is a fine player and Anthony Pilkington, signed from Huddersfield Town, is one of the finds of the season. As for Swansea, Nathan Dyer and Sinclair have terrorised full-backs, Leon Britton is reminiscent of Xavi, Gylfi Sigurdsson is a superb signing, Ashley Williams is dominant in defence and Danny Graham, a clever and clinical forward, could be worth a look for England. Signed from Watford for £3.5m in the summer, he has scored 10 goals already, more than Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll put together.

At Queens Park Rangers, the other promoted side, there has been a focus on big-money players, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joey Barton brought in by Neil Warnock during the summer, followed by Djibril Cissé and Bobby Zamora in January. But while they are one point above the bottom three, Norwich and Swansea are ninth and 10th respectively. Lambert and Rodgers appear to have worked out that the Premier League is not as good as we like to think. Or maybe the lower leagues are not as bad. JS

QPR are their own worst enemy

But for Djibril Cissé's red card, the likelihood is that Mick McCarthy would have been left standing awkwardly alongside Steve Morgan in the away dressing room, while the Wolves owner tore into his players again. For much of the first half QPR threatened to run away with the match, yet they had only Zamora's debut goal to show for their superiority and, when Cissé was sent off, Wolves were handed a new lease of life. Admittedly Roger Johnson's tackle on a player who has had two broken legs in his career was probably worse than Cissé's moronic rather than malicious reaction, grabbing the Wolves captain by the throat to earn himself his red.

Regardless of whether Cissé should have been sent off, at the very least he gave the referee something to think about and with QPR down to 10 men, Wolves were able to come back in the second half and win 2-1. It is not the first time QPR have shot themselves in the foot in this manner – last month Joey Barton was sent off for an identical offence in the home match against Norwich. QPR were winning 1-0 when he departed and they eventually lost 2-1. Once could be counted as unfortunate; twice is unforgivable.

With 11 men QPR would probably have beaten both Norwich and Wolves and the six points would have had them seven points clear of danger. How costly such indiscipline could prove. There is plenty of talent in Mark Hughes's squad but he must surely be concerned about their inability to keep their cool under pressure; beating the drop might hinge on it. JS

Houllier was right about Warnock

Gérard Houllier may have been wrong about many things in his short-lived spell at Villa but he appears he was right about one: Stephen Warnock is a liability. After heading into his own goal under absolutely no pressure during Aston Villa's 2-2 draw with QPR, against Newcastle the left-back needed to start trying to salvage a reputation that has descended into farce in the past 18 months. It is hard to imagine that some people once considered Warnock to be the best English left-back after Ashley Cole (Leighton Baines probably was not among these, mind).

Misplaced passes, a tendency to dawdle in possession and overly aggressive tackles to atone for his mistakes (viz the lunge that ended Ryan Taylor's game prior to Demba Ba's opener) have become the defender's stock in trade these days. He may have played no part in England's diabolical World Cup 2010 campaign but he, more than any other player in the 23-man squad, appears to have brought its stench home with him. He made Gabriel Obertan look like a world-beater at times on Sunday – a staggering feat. And he looked panicked in possession. At 30 years of age, and with hundreds of Premier League games behind him, he should at least look assured on the ball. He does not. Alex McLeish needs to make a populist decision or two to win over disgruntled Villa fans. Dropping Warnock would be a start. GR

Incompetence is back. Rejoice

At some point in the previous century Britain had a cultural awakening in the kitchen and suddenly everybody knew how to cook scallops, what olive oil is for and the secret to making your own bread. The inevitable consequence was MasterChef and Come Dine With Me on television on every single channel, though that is arguably a small price to pay if it means your steak is cooked properly. Similarly English football went through its own reinvention in the noughties, embracing Arsène Wenger's appreciation of broccoli, 4-2-3-1 and zonal marking. The end result was Rafael Benítez and José Mourinho serving up some right dog's dinners whenever Liverpool and Chelsea met, but still, just look at the tactics! We were so sophisticated, darling.

Not any more. Now it would appear the meat and potatoes are back on the menu, with games between the top sides this season defined by defensive incompetence instead of strategic elegance. The '90s are back, which is not necessarily a bad turn of events. The football might be farcical, but at least it is entertaining, as the Liverpool v Newcastle tribute match between Chelsea and Manchester United proved. Already this season Arsenal have put five past Chelsea, Manchester City have scored five and six against Tottenham and United, who in turn beat Arsenal 8-2. Asked about Arsenal beating Spurs 5-4 in November 2004, Mourinho cocked an eyebrow, smirked and said: "5-4 is not a football score. It is a hockey score." Sure, but this retro-football is better than a dour tactical 1-0. Dig in. JS