Birmingham Mail

Painful thing the end of a relationship.
When a partner says, ‘right, that’s it, give me my Chris De Burgh CD’s back, I’ve found someone more attractive.’
Can leave a broken and forlorn heart blubbing into his/her pillow and wondering just how he/she will get through the night.
O-k then, that might be over-egging the pudding somewhat.
But so it was that winger Michael McIndoe was allowed to leave Wolves in the summer for Championship newcomers Bristol City.
McIndoe felt City were a better option, that they would produce more attractive football, play to his strengths.
And he probably wanted sole control of the Chris De Burgh CD's.
Meanwhile Mick McCarthy, certainly never one to be blubbing into his pillow, simply made sure Wolves got a decent price for a self-labelled ‘footballing gypsy’ who only stayed at Molineux for nine months and was then happy to send him on his way.
Of course the explanation wasn’t that simple, it never is.

It'll be a nostalgic trip back to Watford for Albion duo Paul Robinson and Kevin Phillips tomorrow.

Both players started their professional careers at Vicarage Road, with Robinson signing terms in 1996, just under a year before Phillips earned himself a career-defining move to Sunderland.

The two are good mates after being reunited at The Hawthorns - so much so that they both dyed their hair blond following a barbecue earlier this season.

Although Robinson reckons perhaps they are now getting a little too close..

Robbo explained: "I didn't know Kev too well then but we're getting to know each other too much now, like rubbing each other's heads (after we score).

"It's even more worrying, especially when our wives turn around during the game and see both our sons doing the same thing when we scored.

"It's all a bit of a concern."

Quite.

Still, Watford boss Ady Boothroyd might well be worried.

He's just won the Manager of the Month award for October. And we all know what that means...

THE cause of social harmony is done no service if Government ministers refuse to dip deep into Treasury coffers to provide the funds needed by councils and other public bodies to cope with the influx of immigrants.

Pressure mounts on crucial services such as schools, housing, hospitals and transport unless they are financed to handle the greater burden that an increase in population inevitably brings about.

THERE is a momentum growing in our campaign for a referendum to allow Birmingham's voters to decide if they want an elected mayor.

Names came in their thousands again when an action day was held last month and even more are expected to be added to the petition on a second day of action on Saturday, November 10.

Five things occured to me at Vicarage Road.

1. The groundstaff don't mess around after the final whistle - the football goals come up, the rugby posts are slotted in and the new lines are marked out by 5.05pm. Question is, can anyone tell the difference between Saracens and Watford, given the number of high, long balls the Hornets pumped down the channels during the first half?

2. Tony Mowbray is no slouch. The Vicarage Road press room is situated in a Portakabin next to the away end behind one of the goals. An Albion victory usually means that Mowbray is swift in coming out to speak to the press. On Saturday he was so quick that he was marching down towards the press room within a few minutes of the final whistle, while the assembled press pack were still making their way out of their seats from the main stand. The hacks, myself included, chased Mowbray down the touchline Benny Hill-style, hurdling over hoardings and being forced to show passes to stewards who consider a high visibility jacket as a licence to ask stupid questions ('Are you press are ya?'.... 'No, I bring a laptop to football matches for my health')
Anyhow, the Albion boss was completely oblivious to the 100-metre steeplechase behind him and merely took the plaudits from the remaining, yet happy, visiting fans who were still trying to leave the stadium. And rightly so.

3. I've been to VR four times now but I have yet to see Elton John. Has he lost interest now that Luther Blissett, Kenny Jackett and George Reilly have retired? Do Iveco still exist? And is Nigel Callaghan still DJ-ing in Ibiza?

4. To the owner of that Baby Bentley who almost caused a pile-up on the M1 northbound carriageway at around 6.40pm, near Milton Keynes, on Saturday night - people like you should be made to watch a DVD of Stoke City 'The Tony Pulis years' on a continuous loop...

5. Why has Keith Burkinshaw seemingly not aged since 1984?

IN THE jargon of officialdom, they are known as NEETs - standing for "not in education, employing or training".

Those of us who work hard at our jobs or studies have a different description for this hard-core of teenagers happy to do nothing - wasters.

DOESN'T it gladden your heart to hear about people like Steve Ford, who despite crippling arthritis has spent the past two decades making dreams come true for sick youngsters in local hospitals?

We are delighted that the 49-year-old ex-postman has been named our latest Local Hero.

Good news. Sources from the south-west suggest that Warwickshire's championship visit to Gloucestershire next season will not be at Bristol (the most charmless cricket ground in the history of the world, nay universe). Sadly, it's not Cheltenham the Bears will be heading for but Gloucester is still a lot groovier than Bristol.
Aye - grandparents. When my Nan used to visit she always used to bring me a banana. Like it was a real treat. She'd always beam as though she was handing over the biggest thrill in the world. I felt like saying "Nan - rationing finished decades ago yer silly old bird. Bananas are two-a penny". Never did though. Bless 'er - she kept her teeth in a half-pint glass at night.

All self-respecting football teams have a bogey team. One whom it seems they can never beat, regardless of form, fettle and fitness.

For Wolves, for a long time that team was Albion.

No no not that one. Albion of the Brighton and Hove variety.

Interesting to see that Andrew Johnson (not Andy) has signed a new five-year contract at Everton.

Had Blues and Crystal Palace not been on such bad terms, then AJ could have been penning that deal now at St Andrew's.

Not a lot tends to raise David Gold's hackles.

The Blues chairman is a mild-manered, equitable chap.

In business, he may well be ruthless and demanding. But with his Birmingham City hat on, he is even-minded and decent when dealing with, or speaking about, others.

But the 'pig in mud' affair has really got to him.

I read today, with some dismay, that those blaggards from White Hart Lane are considering taking over Wembley Stadium for key games if they redevelop their own stadium.

The plan would be to groundshare at, say Upton Park, and play the likes of Man United,

Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley - which would cost a lot to rent, but the near 90,000 attendances would more than make it worthwhile.

I've got three points to make here.

AT THE age of 14, Ryan Pettigrew and Jade Scarrott should have had their whole lives ahead of them.

But they never got the chance to realise their potential. Never got the chance to follow a career or raise families of their own.

NO-ONE was attacked or even threatened by the nine-year-old boy found to be hiding a knife at a Birmingham primary school.

But the very fact that he was carrying a blade will fill every right-thinking person with alarm.

THERE will be a great deal of sympathy for Lesley Wallace, the Birmingham grandmother so frustrated by the service her street receives from the city's binmen that she took drastic action.

Lesley bagged up the rubbish that had been spilled or ignored by the collection team in Yew Tree Avenue, Yardley, jumped on a bus to the city centre and then emptied it defiantly on the Council House doorstep.

THE might of foreign armies did not defeat them yet the threat of a few numbskulls who purport to be Blues or Villa fans is set to leave their plans in tatters.

How shameful that the Firs branch of the Royal British Legion has been forced to cancel its Remembrance Day parade because the police needed to provide roadblocks will instead be busy ensuring that afternoon's local derby passes free of trouble.

It was revealed today that Wolves owner/chairman Steve Morgan has something in common with the Queen.
Namely being misrepresented in a television documentary.
In Morgan’s case, it was all to do with ‘Millonaires Mansion’.
The Channel 4 series, screened in September and October, followed Morgan and seven other self-made millionaires as they went out to a remote part of Uganda to try and help the poverty-stricken villagers become more self-sufficient.
The key was to help them to help themselves rather than dish out charity, and while Morgan set about – with villagers’ assistance – trying to set up a water supply the other seven embarked on some potty scheme of building a hotel which would offer future volunteer helpers somewhere to stay.
Daft, Hare-brained. Ridiculous. But of course probably more entertaining telly than the far more sensible and ultimately life-changing notion of fresh and accessible water for 3,500 residents who otherwise faced hours carrying buckets up and down the valley.
So Morgan was then turned into the bad-guy for the purposes of TV, filmed constantly bickering with colleagues and supposedly storming off early.

You have to feel some sympathy for Tony Mowbray. Not only does he lose Martin Albrechtsen for six weeks but Kevin Phillips is also ruled out for x-number of weeks, maybe even months, with a horrible knee injury (that picture of his contorted face on the back page of Thursday night's Black Country Mail was quite unnerving).

Throw in Craig Beattie's calf strain along with Mowbray's FA charge for 'improper conduct and using abusive and insulting words' to referee Nigel Miller and, all in all, it's not been a vintage week for our Tone.

However, the future is bright, the future is orange. Or even white and red. Or even white, red and blue.

Dutch youngster Sherjill MacDonald, Pole Bartek Slusarski and Roman Bednar of the Czech Republic have scored 17 goals between them in the last half a dozen or so reserve games.

Bednar has hit six in three second-string games, MacDonald six in six and Slusarski got five in six (after also scoring one earlier in the campaign)

Mowbray is simply spoilt for choice.

And let's not forget John Hartson, fresh from his shortened loan spell at Norwich...

No, surely not?

NO-ONE other than Lynton Fletcher will know just why he walked back from his getaway car so he could take the life of a man who posed no threat to him.

This was the sort of cold, calculating crime that would be beyond our comprehension were it not for the grainy images that captured this terrible, tragic incident on February 9, 2004.

THEY have the better skill almost to a man, the more experience, they have all the local lads, and they have players who have played in this game before.
Despite a couple of average performances and a horrid 45minutes against Man United, everyone seems to be bubbling.
Everyone, yes everyone, seems to be pointing to a Villa win in the derby at Blues.
"Yes, but Blues are at home and the roar will scare the living daylights out of 'em", I hear some of you say.
Don't make me laugh.
The last time Villa were at Blues their supporters left their voices in the midday pub.
You could have heard a pin drop when Kevin Phillips scored that goal and it rarely got louder.
Villa's players play infront of 40,000 most weeks, and sometimes 50,000. So 26,000 Brummies shouldn't upset their apple carts.
Furthermore, Villa also head into the game with pretty much a clean bill of health. Ashley Young should shake off a groin niggle, and John Carew has been training all week.
So no wonder I've spent the last few days surrounded by heaps of Villa optimism ahead of the biggest game of Martin O'Neill's 15 month reign.
And that's where my worry comes in. And it is a major concern to me.
Back in September 2002 I just couldn't see Blues getting near to Villa.
I thought Alpay and Olof Mellberg would swallow up every attack, and I thought the likes of Gareth Barry, Darius Vassell and Juan Pablo Angel would have too much for Blues.
How wrong I was.
Then the return at Villa Park, again I thought Villa would be too good. Wrong, big style.
Robbie Savage won't be there tomorrow, which helps, but my fear is that like that first time in that very first season Villa appear to be heading into the contest with overwhelming confidence.
Still, at least no one- bar General Krulak- wound Blues up in the papers in the run-up to this one.
I remember Mellberg was 'stitched up' good and proper five years ago by a national newspaper for saying he hadn't heard of the Blues players. He never meant it at all like the way it came out. He never watched any footie on the TV at the time, the press had known that at the time, and how was he supposed to run through the list of a promoted club, one to eleven? But queue big headlines and Steve Bruce's team-talk was done for him.
It was Mellberg again a few years ago who made the mistake of saying he didn't like Blues as a club and could never see himself playing for them. Honest, true, but not so wise. Not at all.
Villa boss O'Neill took the decision this week that none of his players would speak at all to the media, apart from Barry and Agbonlahor to the club's own media department. Good idea that. No way the wrong message could come out.
A few others: Petrov and Mellberg had spoken to some press at the end of the Derby County game.
Even Blues have been cagey this time. Liam Ridgewell has been wrapped in cotton wool and saved from a spell infront of the cameras. Good for him. I like the guy and hope he has a good afternoon.
So O'Neill's softly-softly approach should help Villa.
There couldn't have been any worries from Villa in the build up to this most important of weeks as Villa's media officer has kept a low key approach. Very low key. So low key he was up in Cumbria on a training course and his one call to me in four weeks has been over the West Midlands Fire Service.
Never heard from him, not even when David Gold came out with a flurry of punches to Krulak's jaw, so to speak, over an apology that never was.
Fair play to the supporters paying £45. That's 50p a minute. Outrageously steep.
But as for the outcome, I am going to have to sit on the fence.
1-1 seems about right. Blues impressed O'Neill against Wigan and the game, I think, means slightly more to them at this point in time.
For Villa the end game is to try to pip one of Manchester City, Portsmouth or Blackburn into the top seven and that ain't gonna be easy.

"The flowers left thick at nightfall in the wood
This Eastertide call into mind the men,
Now far from home, who, with their sweethearts, should
Have gathered them and will do never again."

'In Memoriam (Easter 1915)'. Edward Thomas.

In the big picture, sport - football, cricket, the Ashes, trophies, leagues, Bears, Pears, Blues, Villa, any of it - doesn't really matter very much does it?

When you are down at the bottom, it never rains . . .

The Second City derby ended in heartache for Blues and showed that they are so near, yet so far.

A few things I learned about Coventry:

1. Michael Mifsud. What was he complaining about? Okay so Phil Dowd took a while making his decision and seemed to have an incredible urge to keep sticking his fingers into his ears (was it me, or was there a cable leading from it....?) but Mosquito Boy, you were guilty. An elbow is an elbow, regardless of how Dowd reached his decision.
Mifsud will now serve a three match ban - his next game? At The Hawthorns on December 4.

2. It was good to see Iain Dowie being a little more gracious in defeat than predecessor Micky Adams. My mind goes back to last season's 5-0 defeat at The Hawthorns. For those who didn't go, the game was not only notable for Albion's rout but for the rousing Beatles medley from the Cov fans, who kept faith with their club by singing non-stop throughout the game. It was gallows humour at its very best.
Yet what those poor fans don't know is how little their manager at the time thought of them. When Adams was asked about his reaction to the Coventry fans' support he gave two answers. The one he gave on the record, spoke of his admiration for their support. Yeah right.
The second answer, once the microphones were switched off, saw Adams offering a different opinion. He claimed the visiting fans were condescending and insulting to him and his team. Charming.

3. A new stadium yet I had to pay £10 to park my car in a scrap yard, next to a burnt out Mini and Portakabin being patrolled by a guard dog and a man who looked remarkably like Cain Dingle. It seems they forgot to build enough car parking space at the Ricoh. And they don't even do receipts...how do I get that through expenses? Even the 'soft lad' in Liverpool managed to provide me with a receipt, albeit on a ripped-up piece of a B&H fag packet, when I parked by an OAP home next to Anfield three years ago.

4. They have a massive casino underneath the Ricoh Arena, exclusive to members only. Naturally, being a nosey so and so, I had to check it out myself. Very impressive too. Perhaps if Coventry owned that and the rest of the Ricoh they wouldn't find themselves in the financial peril they find themselves now.

Thanks to my former Uni housemate and current Sky producer John for getting me in - see you next month pal.

TUNE into television to watch proceedings in the House of Commons and you see benches predominantly occupied by white, male MPs.

A few women are dotted here and there, some occupying front bench seats. Likewise a few dark faces.

PITY our poor farmers as they come to terms with yet another threat to their livelihoods.

A year that had already seen outbreaks of foot and mouth disease, bluetongue and flooding has now witnessed an outbreak of a deadly form of bird flu.

A few thoughts on the 2008 fixtures.
1. Five Twenty20 games away then five at home. Only in cricket....
2. With respect to the Oval, Old Trafford etc., nice to see back in the Bears' itinerary more of Northampton, Leicester and Derby again. Venues just as historic and more charming than many of the bigger ones.
3. Oakham, Milton Keynes and (probably) Southgate will be appealing for travelling Bears fans. Big shame - an outrage, some would say - that Warwickshire continue to ignore their own outgrounds.
4. Glad to be going back to Chelmsford. I can collect the underpants I left hanging out to dry on the hotel balcony there but then forgot about in 2001.
5. Season ends on September 27. Are we inching inexorably towards Christmas cricket?

It seems sensitive little soul Jay Tabb was a little upset to hear those nasty Albion fans singing horrible songs about Coventry City on Monday.

So much so that the offended Sky Blues midfielder cannot wait until next month's return at The Hawthorns so he can blow a great, big raspberry at the Baggies faithful.

Having been born in the south London borough of Tooting you'd have thought Tabb would be more streetwise and used to the culture of football fans (having lived in Wolfie Smith Land as a student I can assure you that needing to keep your wits about you comes with the postcode).

And now, thanks to Tabb, Albion fans will need no more incentive than to crank up the volume against the Sky Blues.

Showing the kind of arrogance which underlines how out-of-step some younger footballers can be, and, which does little for the more mature, good guys in his profession, Tabb said: "The good thing is we have got them again in four games time and we will be well up for it.

"Their players did a good job and they weren't cocky about it but it is not nice when you hear their fans singing some of the songs they were singing.

"I know they are only football fans at the end of the day but it was a bit harsh on us because we had worked hard and, certainly, at half time those fans must have thought we were the better side."

Only football fans?

Oh dear Jay.

You never know when you might need some football fans - even if they are only football fans - to help or support you when your own career is on its final legs...

Someone ought to remind Jay that football fans have long memories and deserve more respect.

Power to the People, as they used to say in Tooting.

I have never known a player like Stiliyan Petrov.
Well, more accurately, I mean I have never known opinion so varied and so split down the middle about a player.
Football is a game about opinion.
Two blokes can see a game and argue throughout the night, even if they support the same team.
We all have favourites.
I still think David James was the best goalkeeper Villa have had since Rimmer and Spink, although I understand Mark Bosnich's claims.
I think Mark Delaney was a terrific right back... that George Boateng's exit to Middlesbrough was a huge dent to the side... that David Ginola was a waste of time...as was Peter Schmeichel...that Bosko Balaban could, just could have become a half-decent player- though never £6million worth- if he had scored that one-on-one at Southampton.
I thought James Milner was a lot of huff and puff but not always with an end produce, I thought Nobby Salano was lovely to watch at times but shouldn't really have been anywhere near a Villa shirt, particularly away from home... that Hassan Kachloul showed real promise.
We all thought Steven Davis was a real class home-grown player, as the majority of us still do about Gary Cahill.
I can't fathom how bad Marlon Harewood has become, even in the reserves, I wonder just why Martin O'Neill signed him or for that matter, Zat Knight, when Olof Mellberg and Martin Laursen would be my dream ticket.
I could go on and on but you probably get the message.
Back to Petrov.
Most, including manager and player himself, agree he has had a pretty torrid time of it in 15 months at Villa.
I remember his good games off the top of my head: Watford, West Ham, Sheffield United, Tottenham, Everton, Chelsea...don't think I've missed one.
He gets dropped after two and-a-half games this season, then what happens? He's back in at Bolton, keeps his place against Derby and wins huge plaudits in the derby win at Blues.
Now I saw all three of those games.
And I have to ask myself, am I now prejudiced to an extent, against him because of past faults?
I thought Petrov was poor at Blues. He didn't do much for me, he was presented with a few chances to dart into the box but elected a square or a backward pass.
And there was one shot that must have worried the nearby busses.
I sat next to another journalist last Sunday. And we were aghast at some of his decisions.
But I came away from the game and first heard Martin O'Neill singing his priases (well, he would, wouldn't he after spending £7million?) and that coloured my judgement to a degree.
I then walked into the press room where a very well-spoken Martin Keown was singing his praises big-style. "He is a total footballer", said Keown.
Garry Thompson, my old mate, was somewhere inbetween but more favouring the school of thought that Petrov could be some player.
I don't disagree. There must be something there as O'Neill, I admit, is some scout of talent.
But having spent the last few days since St Andrew's talking to fans and the like, I still can't get to grips with the differences of opinion that this one player can garner.
Somebody help!

Not since Valery Karpin and Alexander Mostovoi were sweeping Villa aside in European competition for Celta Vigo, have I taken an interest in Russian football.
I've never had an interest in Israel football. Not even when Najwan Ghrayib was signed by John Gregory.
Ghrayib, of course, turned out to be hopeless.
Villa got close to signing a slighter better Israeli when Tal Ben Haim- now at Chelsea- was offered a trial but David O'Leary the Irishman didn't see anything in him.
He ended up at Bolton and the hopes of England rest on his broad shoulders today.
Karpin and Mostovoi were so impressive against Villa that there were two years of John Gregory fuelled speculation about multi-million pound bids.
That was at the time when I was continulally writing about their interest in Vigo team-mate Benni McCarthy.
£7million and £8 million speculation pieces at Villa were, in those days, nothing out of the ordinary.
Muzzy Izzet was undoubtedly on Gregory's shopping list at £8 million, no less.
Anyway, I get back to my original point.
I have only briefly and not too strongly had an interest in Russian or Israeli football.
I couldn't name any of the 22 players on view. Yes, I have heard of Benayoun at Liverpool, yes, I had heard of Oleg Blokhin and the keeper Dimitri Kharin. But that's the limit of my knowledge.
But tonight I will be glued to the box. Hoping, perhaps even offering up a small prayer, that Israel come through.
My summer depends on it.

AND you thought England's late, late reprieve might end speculation about Martin O'Neill leaving Villa? Wrong.
Just look at the morning papers. If you can just evade the glare of Alan Shearer publicity, then lurking behind the scenes are worrying tales about a 7-3 majority at the FA for appointing the Irishman, regardless of England's fate on Wednesday night.
Now I know there has been a little nonesence written over the past week.
There was one story that O'Neill had flown to New York for talks with Randy Lerner over how he could cut his ties with the club and smooth his passage to the national post.
O'Neill was in America shortly after the win at Blues, he was quite open in telling me why he was flying over there for a couple of days. It had nothing to do with England.
But I cannot rule him out of taking the biggest job in our game.
The FA, in my opinion, would have to come down on bended knee after rejecting him in favour of Steve McClaren last time around, even though he had undergone and interview which had gone well until, so the story goes, he stressed his allegiance to his coaching team of John Robertson and Steve Walford.
If England make it to Euro '08 on Wednesday night then perhaps all of this will be irrelevant. If they don't, then watch this space.
On the positive side, O'Neill has only once walked away from a club without finishing a job and that was his five months at Norwich after a fall-out with chairman Robert Chase.
At Wycombe he turned down bigger clubs, and he did the same at Leicester.
At Celtic we hear that he had met Leeds Chairman Peter Ridsdale to discuss taking over at Elland Road when he had six months remaining on a contract.
O'Neill though was quick to point out that Celtic knew of these talks at the time, and that he was fulfilling a clause in his contract allowing for such discussions. He had felt let down that no one at Celtic had offered him a new deal first. Within a month he had signed an extension.
So he is a man of honour and that will not allow him to walk away from Villa easily. Not after just 15 months.
Secondly, and just as importantly, O'Neill has a terrific relationship with Lerner.
They are not what I would call 'mates'. O'Neill is the elder by some years.
They talk reasonably frequently and get along fine. There has never been a cross word I am told.
But where O'Neill really benefits at Villa, and many lesser men would crumble, is his ability to drive the club single handedly. His backroom team scouts for new players, he decides who he signs, and when, at what price and what they shall be paid.
O'Neill is in charge of everything. From the training ground to Villa Park. He has absolute control.
Nobody at Boardroom level would dare to interfere.
It makes for a punishing schedule but that is the only way he will have it.
So would he walk away from that?
As I say, it would take a lot. An awful lot.
The derby win at Blues brought incredible joy to everyone at Villa Park, save from perhaps Tom the security guard at Bodymoor Heath who has held a lifetime affiliation, or should that be affliction, to Blues (although he now says he is more Villa).
The last week has been a shambles, a total and utter PR disaster.
The manager to quit, Olof Mellberg to quit, Martin Laursen to quit...
A mess.
Still, there were no calls, texts or e-mails from anyone at the club's press department. No change there then.
Perhaps O'Neill will have the answers at his press briefing on Tuesday?

It's galling as editor of this fine city's evening newspaper to believe that we've got to this... Bruce is now 99% certain to leave Birmingham City FC for.... WIGAN???!!
I mean, if he were destined for Newcastle, Manchester City or even the likes of Everton or Tottenham, it would feel different. But Wigan?
Just what does that say about how bad it's got at BCFC. Shakey takeover close to collapse, current owners appearing to some to be keen to move on, Karren B, bless her, herself not sounding like the defiant, confident and assured woamn that was always her strength.

The most often asked question of the past few days? Easy - what on earth is going on?

The most likely scenario is that Steve Bruce, fed up with his lot at Blues (those who read Saturday's Birmingham Mail will know why) joins Wigan Athletic.

I'm sure you've all read the speculation linking Martin Laursen with Tottenham.
This at the same time that Olof Mellberg is being apparently courted by Juventus and AC Milan.
Both are into the final seven months of their contracts and can speak to foreign clubs and sign a pre-contract agreement in six weeks.
I just hope this isn't why Zat Knight and Curtis Davies were brought to the club.
If they were to go, that'd be another £8.6 million down the drain for Villa, a club who can sign Stan Collymore, Bosko Balaban, Alpay and Juan Pablo Angel for £28.1million and sell them for £250,000.
I still think either, or both, could stay. But I'd like to know the reasoning behind leaving their contracts to run down quite so much.
It has handed a heap of power towards the two players.
Mellberg will ineviteably be offered contracts in Spain, having played there before, and Italy.
He won't be too bothered about staying beyond this season if he spends more time out at right-back- a position he refused to play outright when asked by David O'Leary, so the Irishman once told me.
Mellberg would be a loss. He is a much more accomplished central defender than, say, Knight, but can Villa afford to offer him a substantial increase?
Mellberg, and his agent, will want to be handsomely compensated for him losing out on the potetial for moving abroad on a free. He would surely have to overtake Gareth Barry as the club's highest earner and that could cause problems further down the line.
Laursen, on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish.
Until this season he had barely kicked a ball in anger, and it wasn't too long ago that he spent a full season in Bolgna, following an operation in America, recuperating.
Now, after just three months of excellent football- and he has been good, very good in fact- the Premier League vultures are said to be circling.
And it has got me riled. Because I believe Laursen, who seemed to be complaining this week that he had yet to hear anything from the club, owes Villa big style.
I'm sure Tottenham are keen, just like a good dozen top flight teams would be on a free.
Time will tell, and I still think he will sign on for another couple of years, but this is a tricky one for Martin O'Neill.
Villa cannot leave things too much longer.

A SEASON that promised so much for Blues is threatening to end in chaos and disappointment.

The team, newly back in the Premier League, had not set the world alight with their results so far this campaign.

Excuse me for moving away from Albion but I've been riled tonight.

I'll hold my hands up now - I had half an eye on Group A tonight as I did on England's game against Croatia.

In truth, Poland had already qualified, by beating Belgium on Saturday. Tonight they clinched top spot after drawing with Serbia and thanks to Portugal failure to beat Finland.

And there ends the good news.

England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 leaves me thinking back to 1994. Not so much Graham Taylor's England but more Gerard Houllier's France team, which failed to make the USA World Cup. This was the so-called Golden generation of players like David Ginola, Jean-Pierre Papin, Youri Djorkaeff, Laurent Blanc, Emmanuel Petit and, of course, Eric Cantona. Les Bleus failed to qualify as a result of a home defeat to Bulgaria in the final game.

Yet France turned inevitable outpouring of anger and disappointment into a period of transformation. New coach Aime Jacquet restructured the team. The whole culture of French football changed. They stopped expecting, got over their self-importance, stopped eating themselves and started to rebuild from the very pits of despair. Some players survived the cull, others, more peripheral and less able players, didn't.

In 1998 France won the World Cup. Two years later they were European Champions. These days they count anything less than a semi-final as a failure.

Trouble is, will the big-wigs at the FA read the signals?

England have slipped behind. Ten years ago, England were struggling to keep pace with Italy, Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina and the Czech Republic. These days they are relying on handouts from Israel, Macedonia and, shame of all shames, Andorra.

Steve McClaren will probably lose his job in the next few days - perhaps even by the time you've read this. But don't rejoice too soon. Last night's England side proved there is a lot wrong with the game in this country. I wouldn't be surprised if Jose Mourinho, the popular choice, took one look at this side and turned his nose up at it. Who'd blame him?

So former Wolves and England captain Paul Ince is advocating the return of former Wolves and England boss Glenn Hoddle as national manager.
It’s a suggestion that will probably be open to ridicule, and at 100-1 the bookies are certainly not convinced.
But do you know what? From a purely footballing perspective, Ince may actually have a point.
There’s only ever been one England manager with a better “win-ratio” than Hoddle’s figure of 60.71%.
And that was a certain World Cup winner by the name of Alf Ramsey, with 61.06%.
For the record, in terms of recent history, Sven stands fourth (59.7), Steve McClaren sixth (50), Terry Venables ninth (47.82), Graham Taylor tenth (47.36), and Kevin Keegan 12th (38.88).
But beyond the mere stats, Hoddle’s three-year England tenure stands up to the fiercest scrutiny.
When it comes to qualification for major tournaments – the be-all and end-all for any international manager – he achieved his one and only target by reaching the1998 World Cup.
And lest we forget, his final crucial fixture was not at home to a Croatia side who had already qualified, it was away to the mighty Italy who needed all three points.
It was on that momentous night in Rome that Hoddle’s tactical acumen took England to one of their finest nights of the last decade, the eventual 0-0 draw almost overshadowing the fact that an ultra-professional and often-attacking performance probably deserved the win.
Then the tournament itself.
Yes there were question marks about his delay in using Michael Owen and David Beckham, perhaps understandably, but once more on the big stage England delivered, and despite being reduced to ten men would have seen off Argentina but for the ridiculous disallowing of Sol Campbell’s ‘winner’.
Of course a year later Hoddle was gone, and clearly the FA had no choice after some at the very least misconstrued and at worst incredibly insensitive views about people with disabilities.

It will be a blessed relief when the latest twist in the Blues soap revolves around nothing more than a football match on Saturday.

After a week when the boundaries of incredulity have been stretched to the limit, Portsmouth's visit to St Andrew's should provide some normality.

Or will it? There could be more hinging on the game than we might realise.

A few thoughts:

1. Leon Barnett's aunt Beverley voted off X Factor. Call it a coincidence, but I can't help wondering whether the fickle finger of fate is playing a part. A bad omen for Albion perhaps?

2. Beverley's singing - come to think of it, my singing - is better than Steve Bull's grasp of geography. Bully recycled his 'Sandwell Town' gag - he was talking about Albion - on TV a couple of days ago. Surely he should have learnt his lessons from last season when he said the same thing on the Molineux pitch before the play-off semi-final. A bad omen for Wolves perhaps? Bully, you're from Tipton...as in Tipton, in Sandwell.

3. Flicking through the Birmingham Mail's ever-popular weekly archive re-print, this time from December 1979, I couldn't help noticing that Albion and Wolves were 14 and 16-1 respectively to win the 1980 FA Cup Final, ahead of Everton, Leeds, Chelsea and Newcastle (the latter two at 66-1). Villa were 20-1 and Blues 66-1.

Call it a