Lord Coe, J-Mo, and Valdano

Lord Coe:

The former distance runner, Lord Sebastian Coe...or Seb Coe as he's called by the Brits, looks to be the favorite to replace Lord Triesman for the Chair of the 2018 World Cup Bid for England. 
Lord Coe has quite the sports credential in the Isles and has become a popular figure since helping London to secure the 2012 Olympics.
Hmmmmmmm.  I wonder if putting another person with the title of "Lord" would be a wise decision.  Although they're not bluebloods, the title seems to "entitle" those with high aspirations and no sense.  I'm not saying Lord Coe wouldn't be a good decision, I just think it might be wise to look outside the peerage when assigning jobs.  Surely Reginald the Kitman or Giles the Pitchmaster might know more about putting on a footy tourney...and cost a few quid less! *tongue in cheek*

J-Mo and Valdano:
I never thought these two would cross paths.  The former, Jose Mourinho, a ferocious manager who must have "High Voltage Stay Back" tattooed on his chest, stirred the transfer pot today after his club, Inter Milan, won their fifth-straight Scudetto (the Italian equivalent of the Prem League trophy).  The self-anointed Special One has insisted in recent weeks that he won't talk about his future (although he's being doing nothing BUT that for the past season).  First he waxed about missing the Premier League and their sexy footy, and how the Italians don't appreciate him (especially the press, whom he berates every week), and last week he dropped the bombshell that he will "eventually manage Real Madrid."  *gasps*  The same Real Madrid whose managers resemble the turnstile at the 57th Street subway station.  Today he tempered that statement with,

"At this point, I am not thinking of myself, my only thoughts are Inter and my players. After the final in Madrid, there will be time for me to be a little bit selfish for one, two or three days and I will think what makes me happier from a professional standpoint.

"But right now, I can say with 100% certainty that it's not true that I have one foot and a half at Real or that I am already the Real coach. In fact, I am very far away from being Real coach.  "Several times this season, I have thought that this was not my natural habitat," he said. "That this was not the country to work in and be happy.  It has been the most difficult scudetto," Mourinho said. "I was missing this, to win the league title in the last game in the last minute. In the past, I have won at home, in a hotel, watching TV, with four or five games to go until the end, but this experience is new and I do not want to repeat it."

Well I don't know about you, but that clears it up for me! I must say that I'm a fan of Jo Jo Mourinho.  He is a successful manager, and despite his self-serving rants, you can't argue with the fact that he loves football.  Could he make a go of things at Real Madrid?  That is the 8 million euro question (reportedly the fee that Real would have to pay to Milan to release MoMo from his job).  Many successful managers have gone through the turnstile at RM and regretted every moment.  They were successful to boot...current England boss, Fabio Capello, won La Liga with RM...and then was fired at the end of the season.  Does Jose really want to leave a successful club like Inter and move to a place where he might have a SOLD sign on his house and then a FOR SALE sign up the same year?

Jose Mourinho

Jorge Valdano of RM, who doubles as the Devil's Advocate, has a similar penchant for the limelight.  He is seen after every match giving his run-down on RM's play.  I can't remember David Gill of United ever being interviewed after a match in Manchester or anywhere else.  So why does Valdano, who holds the same title as Gill, feel the need to "fill us in?"  I'll tell you why.  Because the manager of RM is not really the manager of anything.  He is a puppet controlled by the front office and shareholders of RM Circus Enterprises.  Tweedledee Perez and Tweedledum Valdano stick their noses into every corner of the club.  And you can bet that poor Manuel Pellegrini, who holds the "title" of manager never had any control of his charges, and probably rues the day he ever left Villarreal.
Valdano was in rare form today as he left (head downtrodden) Malaga's stadium after RM saw their season end TROPHYLESS:

"We need to congratulate Barcelona, a worthy champion. With regards to the coach, now we will discuss this inside the club and we'll see what decision we take. Today is not the day to take decisions."

"The end of the season has arrived, now we have a lot of time ahead and we'll see what course we take next season. We aren't going to talk outside the club about something we haven't yet talked about inside."
"The team did themselves proud and I refuse to talk of failure, although it's true that we cannot finish the season without titles," Valdano said. The team has fought until the end and next season we will continue with this effort."

My bet?  Pellegrini's future has long been decided when RM were dumped out of the CL by Ligue 1's Lyon.  The sole reason they went on their vulgar spending spree last summer (250 million euros) was to win their 10th Champions League crown in front of their home fans at the Bernabeu.  Project FAIL.  Someone has to pay for it, and it won't be Tweedledee or Tweedledum.

Is Ronny even listening to Pellegrini?