Having enjoyed contrasting fortunes over the past five years, the English and Irish national teams now find themselves in a similar, unsatisfying position. Not so much a crossroads, more of a dead end.

England’s loss of control of their own destiny has been well documented. Likewise Ireland’s Euro 2008 struggles have been hard to avoid such is the ignominy that accompanies a 6-2 aggregate qualifying loss to Cyprus and the earliest pre-tournament elimination in two decades.

If you’re to believe the knee jerk press coverage, blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the two Steves, McClaren and Staunton. The Irish press tore into the beleaguered Drogheda man and the English red tops treated his carrot topped counterpart with similar severity.

Both Martyn Herman on this blog and Ollie Irish at Who Ate All the Pies have stressed that the players should share the blame. But what about those sitting in the fancy seats behind the dug outs at the new Wembley and in the premium level at Croke Park?

Ultimately it’s the F.A. and F.A.I. who are responsible for hiring the coaches they hired. A revered player, Staunton’s only coaching experience was as assistant at lowly Walsall. McClaren’s only previous managerial post brought mixed success to Middlesbrough.

The English manager has received a vote of confidence. Ireland’s self styled ‘gaffer’ has not. Yet those who made the initial appointments are answerable to no one. Shouldn’t those seeking explanations be asking questions of Brian Barwick in London and John Delaney in Dublin?

And so read the most arresting headline of the day post-Cyprus back home. The Irish Times lead bluntly, “Enough. Enough. Bring us the head of John Delaney.”

PHOTO: Ireland’s Robbie Keane reacts during their Euro 2008 Group D qualifying soccer match against Cyprus at Croke Park, October 17, 2007. REUTERS/Patrick Bolger

Who needs a full Saturday afternoon of Premier League fixtures when you have the Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez show?

Alex Ferguson said it was only a matter of time before the goals flooded in and he was right as his Manchester United side let loose, scoring four times in the second half to crush Wigan 4-0.

But as Red Issue pointed out there’s no better tonic to sooth United’s goal shyness “than the appearance of Wigan Athletic as opponents”.

The champions had uncharacteristically won six of their last seven matches by one goal to nil, but had knocked 23 past the Lancastrian neighbours in their last six meetings. Put simply Red Rants said the goals had been “a long time coming”.

There are worries for United with Louis Saha (knee), Nemanja Vidic (concussion) and John O’Shea (dead leg) all picking up injuries but more concern will have registered with Premier League defences given the glorious link up play from the homes side’s thrilling trio.

Is this then a warning sign that United have re-acquired their scoring prowess of last season? And will many, if any, defences be able to deal with Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez in full flight?

And who else out there felt a bit lonely at 3 pm when only one game kicked off? (Villa beating West Ham 1-0 incidentally).

Certainly the Sky Sports afternoon team felt the pinch when Scunthorpe’s 3-1 home defeat to Watford was one of their featured studio games…

Padraic Halpin, London

PHOTO: Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo scores against Wigan Athletic during their English Premier League soccer match at Old Trafford in Manchester, northern England, October 6, 2007. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis.

When Saturday Comes, whether the inspiration for a dodgy Sean Bean movie or the self confessed ‘half decent football magazine’, is a phrase enshrined in the English football lexicon.

Not so anymore. Of this weekend’s full Premier League programme, only West Ham United’s trip to Aston Villa will kick off at the traditional 3pm time on Saturday.

Only one other game, Manchester United v Wigan Athletic, kicks off on Saturday lunchtime with the remaining eight being played on Sunday.

You could blame John Logie Baird but in Wednesday’s Guardian, Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the Premier League, played down television’s role in damaging tradition, saying:

“Out of the 10 matches only three have been displaced ostensibly for television… The remaining six have been moved due to participation in the Uefa Cup, transport issues and a combination of the police and Uefa.”

In response Malcolm Clarke, chair of the Football Supporters’ Federation, made the salient point that UEFA Cup participants only play on Sundays because they are scheduled on a Thursday to avoid clashes with televised Champions League games.

Is Clarke right when he says the Premier League is “threatening its own future” and risks damaging “the whole football pyramid”?

Something has certainly been lost and not just at 3pm on a Saturdays. The Sunday brood, as perfectly captured in ‘Damned Utd’, David Peace’s fictional account of Brian Clough’s 44 day tenure at Leeds, is also no more.

Old Big ‘Ed called Sunday “the loneliest bloody day of the week for a football manager” if his team had lost the day before.

We can only wonder what the great man would make of it all now.

Padraic Halpin, London

Whip off the kilts and fetch the berets, Scotland have found their second home. First there was last month’s famous victory for the national football side in the capital’s Parc des Princes. In the same city on Sunday, this time at the Stade de France, the rugby team face Argentina as the Six Nations side best placed to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

In Lyon last night Rangers may have topped the lot with a 3-0 victory over the team who have held a monopoly on the Ligue 1 championship for the past six seasons.

In the newly baptised ‘Stade de GER Land’, the Daily Record called the victory “so spectacular, so utterly extraordinary that it may even have eclipsed the Scottish national side’s historic win in Paris”.

The Herald agreed, describing Walter Smith’s side’s efforts as a “dazzling encore,” while The Scotsman believed it to be the club’s ”finest away win in European competition since they defeated PSV Eindhoven 3-2 in Holland to reach the quarter-finals of the European Cup in 1978-79″.

Equally it could be seen as their finest moment since Smith led an unbeaten Rangers side to the verge of the maiden Champions League final in 1993.

That year, having memorably defeated Leeds in the second round ‘Battle of Britain’ tie, disgraced champions Marseille pipped them by a single point in the final group stage.

Fifteen competitions later, and still having to face Barcelona home and away, can Rangers maintain their advantage and reach the knockout stages? Or can they go even further.

There’s a poll running to predict their likely path on the Reuters football site. We reckon the 13% who currently see them going all the way might be logging on with sore heads somewhere in the east of France.

Padraic Halpin

PHOTO: Rangers fans celebrate after Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Olympique Lyon, at the Gerland stadium. REUTERS/Robert Pratta

The ‘cricket score’ cliche has never sat well with football. Even the greatest collapses in Test match history yield scores in double figures. Piling on a ‘tennis tie-break’ of a score may not be as catchy but it was more accurate across Europe this weekend.

Champions League newcomers Slavia Prague destroyed Zlin 7-1 in the Czech championship, Estonia’s Vaprus Pärnu beat Ajax Lasnamäe by the same score and in Georgia, Dinamo Tbilisi won their ‘tie break’ to love against Dinamo Batumi. Hugo Almeida’s 88th minute goal in Werder Bremen’s 8-1 humiliation of Armenia Bielefeld spoiled the sequence ever so slightly.

On Monday night we were treated to a remarkable Tottenham fightback in their 4-4 draw with Aston Villa but even that could not match Saturday’s 7-4 victory for Portsmouth against Reading. Setting a new Premier League record for goals scored in one match, it also began a debate on our football site in a poll to decide on the most memorable highest scoring game of the past fifteen seasons.

Manchester United 9 Ipswich Town 0, March 4 1995

Liverpool had eight different scorers when they beat Crystal Palace by the same margin in their championship winning season five years earlier but United needed just four. Led by five Andy Cole goals, the margin would have swung the title had it gone to goal difference. Instead Blackburn nicked it by a point.

Blackburn Rovers 7 Sheffield Wednesday 2, Aug 25 1997

A season later they would be relegated, but Blackburn led the league briefly in August 1997 after their 7-2 win over a Wednesday side who were top at a similar stage a season before. Despite the margin of victory, the game was best remembered for two spectacular Benito Carbone goals.

Nottingham Forest 1 Manchester United 8, Feb 6 1999

Only three goalscorers were needed this time as a brace each for Cole and Dwight Yorke and four in the last ten minutes from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave United the biggest victory of their treble winning season. Three months later Solskjaer would be called upon for an altogether more important last-minute strike.

Tottenham Hotspur 7 Southampton 2, March 11 2000

Seven years ago Glenn Hoddle endured a horrific return to White Hart Lane as Southampton boss. His side took the lead twice, mind. It was just that they gave it up rather spectacularly the second time around.

How Martin Jol would love a 7-2 victory over the next week or two. We know now they can score a lot of goals…

Padraic Halpin, London

Photo: Tottenham Hotspur’s Robbie Keane celebrates after scoring against Aston Villa during their 4-4 draw, October 1, 2007. REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico

Who needs the Eastenders omnibus when the weekend’s best soap opera remains at Stamford Bridge? Portsmouth and Reading fans may have enjoyed most of Saturday’s goalmouth action, but the best drama was still at Chelsea.

A broken cheekbone for the captain, a red card for the star striker, a chairman sitting among his increasingly apathetic people and a new manager suffering a scattering of anti-semitic home crowd abuse.

Chelsea fans’ spirits appear utterly crushed, something Tony Jimenez predicted in a blog posted in April that was sadly predictable and wretchedly familiar.

More tellingly for Chelsea’s season, team morale is reported to be reaching a new low, with Chelsea Blog summing it up like this:

    “The spirit of the team has gone, no-one is fighting for the badge and confidence is non-existent.”

The obvious problems make a title challenge more insurmountable by the week. Should this indifferent form continue, could Chelsea ultimately even find themselves in a fight for a Champions League place with, say, a radically rejuvenated Manchester City?

Jose Mourinho refined the Alex Ferguson patented art of the siege mentality in his three years in charge but does sufficient harmony exist for Avram Grant to do the same? If not, will Roman Abramovich be back at the Shed end at the start of next season’s UEFA Cup campaign?

Padraic Halpin, London

Photo: Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich shakes hands with a supporter during their game against Fulham at Stamford Bridge, September 29, 2007. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty

So it’s been confirmed, a torn groin muscle will keep Michael Owen out of England’s Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia next month. It will be small comfort for England manager Steve McClaren but it will at least relieve him of a selection headache.

After England’s comprehensive 3-0 victory over Russia, Owen and his reinstated strike partner Emile Heskey became undroppable, leaving Who Ate All the Pies to ask, “Do we leave Wayne Rooney on the sidelines when he’s fit again?

Now that both Owen and Heskey are injured, we’re left in the dark as to how courageous McClaren might have been.

While Rooney’s talents are unquestionable, one goal in his last 10 England appearance has raised doubts over where he fits into the side and particularly how effectively Owen can perform beside him.

While West Ham’s Dean Ashton may now get an injury delayed first cap, it is likely to be as a substitute, with Rooney certain to be joined by the far more Three Lions productive Peter Crouch (himself full of praise for England’s striking riches just this week).

But what then if Rooney and Crouch prove a similarly irresistible big man/small man hit in Moscow and ease England’s qualification? Who’ll be starting up front at Euro 2008?

And before McClaren faces that conundrum, he has a few more pressing issues to solve. Do Micah Richards and Shaun Wright-Phillips continue on the right ahead of Gary Neville and David Beckham? And should Frank Lampard or Owen Hargreaves displace Gareth Barry in the middle?

But then, even amid injuries, selection problems are nice problems, right?

Padraic Halpin, London

Photo: Michael Owen celebrates after scoring his second goal in England’s Euro 2008 Group E qualifier against Russia at Wembley, September 12, 2007. Kieran Doherty / Reuters

The Chelsea job is Avram Grants to lose, according to reports, with the Israeli handed the brief of matching his Portuguese predecessors success while adding the style their Russian owner demands. First stop Old Trafford on Sunday.

Events at another stadium resonate here. For Stamford Bridge, September 2007 see the Bernabeu summer 2007, or just about any summer for that matter.

Its proof of just how far Chelsea have been transformed in three years that now Galactico styled success, and not laboured achievement, is now required. Revisiting Simon Basketts analysis of Fabio Capellos exit from Real in June, parallels are impossible to ignore.

“The problem for Capello’s successor is that he will have to match the Italian’s effectiveness in terms of winning titles and do it by playing the sort of crowd-pleasing football demanded by the Bernabeu.”

Or as Chelsea Pies put it on a frantic day of blogging: ”Abramovich wanted fantasy football, but Jose was never going to fit into that mould. Trophies weren’t enough for the big boss”

When Bernd Schuster took to his task, Reals players were still dizzy from seven managerial changes in four years. Grant must attempt to bring attractive football to the Bridge by deploying players who remain fiercely loyal to the previous regime.

Such a conundrum has been the undoing of other clubs (think of the problems after Louis van Gaal was sacked at Barcelona, or after Arrigo Sacchi was shown the door at Atletico) and already there are rumblings of discontent. The Sun say Didier Drogbas off, while the Daily Mirror believe Michael Essien and Florent Malouda and Ricardo Carvalho could follow.

So Chelsea fans, is the remainder of the season just a disaster waiting to happen? Does mediocrity beckon? Or can Abramovichs vision of fantasy football begin in earnest with a 5-3 victory on Sunday?

Padraic Halpin, London

* This post was edited at 1256 GMT to correct a couple of spelling mistakes

England’s comfortable home win over Israel did something that looked impossible a few short months ago, and put Steve McClaren, his England team, their fans and the bookies back on good terms.

Specifically for McClaren, it’s kept his mug off the back pages for a couple of days. Where last week they tore him to shreds, today’s Sun carries ‘A message to Russians’ from Steven Gerrard that ‘This Lot are our best EVER’.

When allowed to finish his sentence, the Liverpool midfielder did admit to the underachievements of ‘this lot’, but his optimism has been reflected in the betting shops, where England’s odds have fallen to 8-1, making them fifth favourites to win Euro 2008.

Most surprising of all has been the fans’ reaction. McClaren’s status as lame duck manager has been suspended, it seems, with the BBC’s online 606 forum now carrying threads entitled ‘New era for England’ and ‘Macca’s finally got it’.

But is this renewed spirit of optimism not all a bit premature? Aren’t England still facing their hardest qualification battle in years? (See here for the standings and fixtures.)

Even if England secure a victory on Wednesday, Russia will be left just needing to match the result in the return fixture in Moscow in October and then beat Israel to leave McClaren’s team as good as eliminated.

If, as expected, Croatia win their next three games they would arrive as group winners for a November 21 final qualification match at Wembley and leave England relying on Andorra to upset second-placed Russia.

Optimistic now? Wednesday is a must win, but the hard work only starts there.

Padraic Halpin, London

Saturday’s Madrid derby between nine-times European champions Real and 1974 runners-up Atletico was not the only meeting of two former European Cup finalists to take place over the weekend.

In England’s third division, where Leyton Orient top the table and Carlisle United follow close by, bottom of the table Leeds United visited 18th place Nottingham Forest in a match that pitted the European champions of 1979 and 1980 against the runners up of 1975.

A late winner from Jermaine Beckford gave Leeds a 2-1 victory over the double champions to maintain their perfect start to the season as they claw back a 15-point deduction.

The match created a footnote in European football history, as it was the first to be contested by two former finalists at such a lowly domestic level.

For Leeds in particular, it marks a sharp contrast not only to the 1975  team of Giles, Hunter and Bremner who lost 2-0 to Bayern Munich, but also to David OLearys side who reached the Champions League semi-final six years ago.

With both sides still commanding crowds of over 20,000 (on Saturday at the City Ground it was 25,237) and Forest planning to move to a new 50,000 capacity stadium by 2014, there is certainly hope that the two teams might reclaim past glories.

Or like Stade Reims, the French side who contested the first European Cup final in 1956 will they become all-but-forgotten postscripts in footballs history books?

Padraic Halpin, London