Overseeing qualification for the World Cup via a blatant handball is unlikely to do much for the popularity of French coach Raymond Domenech, either at home or abroad (his Wikipedia page is currently saying some very nasty things about him, but it will doubtless be put back to its less offensive version soon).

The 57-year-old former defender, whose name is booed at every match, has never made any effort to make himself popular, but here are 10 reasons (or nearly 10) why football fans may want to reconsider their view:

1. He has never won anything as a coach, a characteristic shared by most soccer fans, which makes him less intimidating than, say, Giovanni Trapattoni.

2. He was a workaholic defender with limited skills in his playing days, with makes a nice change in a country full of retired magicians.

3. He is more successful as a coach than the great Michel Platini, under the guidance of whom France failed to win a single match at Euro 92.

4. He convinced Zinedine Zidane, Lilian Thuram and Claude Makelele to come out of retirement and guide France all the way to the 2006 World Cup final.

5. He made Yoann Gourcuff his playmaker when others doubted he even had a place in the starting line-up.

6. He made sure Loic Remy, Andre-Pierre Gignac and Bafetimbi Gomis became famous outside their regions.

7. He is an incurable romantic, asking his partner to marry him rather than apologising to the fans after France lost a World Cup final largely because of Zidane’s infamous headbutt.

8. He is not obsessed with television, being the only Frenchman not to have watched the replay of Wednesday’s controversial goal.

9. Most people don’t like him, so being a fan of Domenech is more original than liking Nelson Mandela, the Beatles or chocolate ice cream.

10. OK, that’s only nine. Anyone care to nominate a 10th?

PHOTO: France team coach Raymond Domenech (C) celebrates their win against Ireland in their World Cup qualifying playoff return leg match at the Stade de France stadium in Saint Denis near Paris November 18, 2009. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

France’s decisive goal against Ireland in their World Cup play-off will only add further weight to the case for using a video ref, or extra goal-line officials, at least in the biggest matches.

The controversial extra-time strike from William Gallas took France through to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, while leaving the Irish barely able to contain a sense of frustration and injustice.

It was goal which should not have stood, as TV pictures made plain. French captain Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball, not once, but twice before crossing for Gallas to score from close range.

Once again, fans are wondering how a mistake of such magnitude, in such a high-stakes game,  could be allowed to happen.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA chief Michel Platini both disagree with the use of video referees but their case would have been a hard one to make in front of Irish fans on Wednesday. Soccer’s top officials say a video referee will only slow down the game. True enough, but would it not be better to stop the game and get the right decision rather than continue and see a faulty decision stand?

Platini, for his part, has managed to push through the idea of an extra official behind both goals with an eye on spotting such infringements. Currently the idea is being piloted in UEFA’s second-tier Europa League, but it may now be time to take the brave decision to introduce this across the board.

If we see another “Hand of God” moment in South Africa, perhaps one that decides the final, will football’s reputation survive it?

TO: France’s team captain Thierry Henry reacts in their World Cup qualifying playoff return leg match against Ireland at the Stade de France stadium in Saint Denis near Paris November 18, 2009. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

After a foray into the mix zone after the English League Cup final, the injured Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe replied to one journalist who asked him why he had cut all his hair off.

“I had to, I only ever seem to get injured when I have longer hair,” he said.

I am neither a hairdresser nor a medical man but I thought this was a bizarre theory, but perhaps a lengthy spell on the sidelines makes you think this way?

Defoe’s superstition was the second recent football oddity to have grabbed my attention after Arsenal’s Kolo Toure received an unnecessary yellow card in the Champions League tie against Roma.

The Ivory Coast defender failed to ask the referee for permission to enter the pitch after missing the kick-off at the start of the second half.

Toure’s delayed entrance was because he waited for team mate William Gallas to finish receiving treatment so he could maintain his routine of being the last man to leave the dressing room.

Despite this odd behaviour from the two Premier League players, my favourite football superstition remains Laurent Blanc’s serial smooching of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez’s head prior to each match in France’s victorious 1998 World Cup run.

Unless you can come up with another to change my mind?

PHOTO: Tottenham Hotspur’s Jermain Defoe celebrates scoring against Portsmouth during their English Premier League match at White Hart Lane in London Jan. 18, 2009. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty

The William Gallas saga behind them, Arsenal have reached the last 16 of the Champions League after a 1-0 win over Dynamo Kiev.

A late winner from substitute Nicklas Bendtner was enough to send the Gunners through with a game to spare but will Arsene Wenger have to change things if his young side are to progress further in the competition?

Vlogonthepitch regular Owen Wyatt discusses Arsenal’s chances with Joe Brock in the video above. Let us know your views.

“There’s a lot of cover-ups sometimes and players need to stand up and be counted. I’m not sure that happens a lot at this club.” — Roy Keane, May 7, 2002.

“When you play for Manchester United nothing should interfere with what you are doing during the week and during a match. I have felt that one or two of the younger players have slackened off in training. I have not been happy about it. I have said it to them but maybe I have had to say it in public for them to sit up and take notice.” — Roy Keane, Feb 19, 2004.

And he did it again in 2005.

So what’s new about William Gallas revealing ’secrets’ from Arsenal’s dressing room? Nothing. And what’s so terrible about a captain hitting out at his team mates when they fail to deliver?

Gallas was doing the job of a captain at a club without a trophy since 2005.

Alright, Gallas is no Keano, but we cannot blame him for trying.

After all, it can get a lot worse in Germany. I remember in 1999 Bixente Lizarazu reportedly slapping Lothar Matthaeus in the face during a training session at Bayern Munich.

Perhaps some people will see a pattern emerging, and seek to blame the French, but then you may also remember the Italian Giovanni Trapattoni criticising players by name.

PHOTO: William Gallas trains with Arsenal, November 24, 2008. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh

For 12 years, Arsenal fans have been used to a manager so loyal it borders on the belligerent, but that quality appears to be lost on the team’s captain, William Gallas.

According to reports this morning, Gallas has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy. For the sake of the club’s future, the manager may have to go even further and boot him out altogether. (more…)