Scott had a disrupted season in 2007/08. He was originally intended to be a part of Jose Mourinho's first team squad, but the unexpected departure of the Portuguese manager and subsequent pressure on replacement Avram Grant to bring immediate success limited Scott to Carling Cup appearances, with just one Premiership substitute appearance. Loan spells at QPR and Charlton were equally disappointing, so it came as a surprise and a relief at the end of the season when he headed to South London and was a massively successful piece of Palace's run to the Playoff Semi-Finals.

Featuring in a front three with fellow teenager Victor Moses and Palace stalwart Clinton Morrison, he was one of The Championship's dynamic players, and certainly made an impression on Warnock. The ex-Sheffield United boss wants to use fewer loan players than he did last season, but wants Sinclair nonetheless:

"Loan deals are always an option and it's something I will look at, but ideally I want my squad to be players who are contracted to the club.

"The one player I am looking to bring in on loan is Scott Sinclair, but we will have to wait for him because Chelsea don't tend to let their youngsters leave on loan until they've played in the Carling Cup."

It leaves an interesting decision for both Scott and Chelsea to make. After two seasons with spells on loan in the second tier, logically the next step would be to try and stake a claim for a place amongst Luiz Felipe Scolari's regular squad next season, especially with the addition of two more substitutes to the Premier League matchdays. Chelsea's wing situation is weaker than it should be and lacks an explosive pace that Arjen Robben last provided. At the same time, numerous wingers have been targeted and linked, and Scott clearly still has some developing to do.

If Chelsea aren't prepared to follow the route Arsenal have taken with Theo Walcott - a very similar player - and have considerable patience with his development (and they're now reaping the rewards) a loan spell in the Premiership would still serve Scott better than The Championship. Portsmouth and Sunderland have been rumoured to have expressed interest, and it's clear that now aged 19 Scott needs a challenge like that instead of dipping down a level again. As well as he did with Palace (and with all due respect to the Eagles), he showed that at his best he's too good for that level, and for the sake of his own career, should be aiming for greater things.

Now, however, Morrison is on the look out of for a new club after Colin (aka Neil Warnock) has told him he is not an automatic choice to play in his 4-3-3 system. Apparently, according again to today's News of the World, in the queue to sign him is QPR, Reading and us.

You have to believe looking at those teams also chasing him, we would have little chance of signing him. However, it may well be that if Morrison is looking for guarenteed first team football, he may well see here as his best option.

That is, of course, assuming the rumours are correct and our interest is true.

Still, it's the sort of player we should be going in for - a good, solid Championship goal scoring record, with plenty of Championship experience and the strength and athleticisim that Roeder has identified as lacking in the current Norwich City squad.

The Manager of the Year award has always struck me as being a little, well, lop-sided. More often than not the person who wins won the league as is the case this year in the Championship this season after Tony Mowbray of West Bromwich Albion picked up the award, but is that the best measure?

What's to say that Mowbray has done a better job at West Brom than say, I don't know - Phil Brown at Hull, Neil Warnock at Palace, Gary Johnson at Bristol City or our very own Glenn Roeder?

I'm going to try and work it out.

To try and keep it manageable (and not at all because I'm a little on the lazy side) I'm just going to weigh up these five bosses and come to my own conclusion.

Straight off the bat you'll notice that I've left Tony Pulis off my list of "nominees". Let's not beat around the bush, he has done a tremendous job in getting Stoke into the Premier League but to quote Al Murray the Pub Landlord "my gaff my rules", so Pulis is disqualified on the grounds of being a 50 year old man who insists on wearing a baseball cap. Sorry Tony.

I'm going to use several measures to score the bosses, and we'll see who comes out on top. They will be:

1. Points scored per game.
2. Expectations.
3. That so-called "X" Factor (also known as the way I try to manipulate the figures "Labour Party" style to get Roeder to win).

The manager who tops the list will score 5 points; second-place will get 4 points and so on.

Let's get cracking.

Round One: Points scored per game

In most cases the higher up the league you finish the better you're going to do in this one, but Warnock and Roeder joined their clubs mid-season, so that should even things out a little bit.

Tony Mowbray's West Brom side won the league, scoring 81 points in the process - an average of 1.76 points per game over the 46 league games he has been in charge this season.

Phil Brown at Hull finished third in the league, picking up 75 points - an average of 1.63 points per game.

Bristol City eventually finished fourth, scoring 74 points - an average of 1.61 points per game.

Neil Warnock didn't take over at Crystal Palace until 11th October, and during his time in charge the Eagles scored 61 points - an average of 1.69 per game.

Glenn Roeder took over the reigns of the good ship Norwich in October, and has since picked up 47 points in 33 games - an average of 1.42 per game.

So much for levelling things out, Round One to Mr. Mowbray...

1. Tony Mowbray (5pts)
2. Neil Warnock (4pts)
3. Phil Brown (3pts)
4. Gary Johnson (2pts)
5. Glenn Roeder (1pt)

Round Two: Expectations

It's all well and good racking up 81 points and winning the league, but if you had access to a relative fortune and were expected to win the league then what's the big deal?

Tony Mowbray was the only manager on the shortlist to have the benefit of parachute payments, and the Baggies were expected to mount a serious promotion challenge after last season's disappointment.

At the start of the season few would have expected Phil Brown to guide his Tigers into the play-offs - especially after finishing ?? last season. I would think a mid-table finish would have suited him just fine.

If Hull's target was mid-table mediocrity, then Gary Johnson and most people at Bristol City would surely have settled for surviving this year and looking to push on next.

Neil Warnock went to Selhurst Park with Palace struggling, and much like when Iain Dowie a few years ago managed to drag the Eagles into the play-offs. Again, exceeding expectation.

Glenn Roeder was given a simple brief when he took over - save us from relegation. This he duly delivered, and considering the Canaries' plight when he arrived, it was almost a minor miracle that he did so.

So Round Two goes to Gary Johnson, leaving the leader board looking like this heading into the final round...

1. Phil Brown (7pts)
2. Gary Johnson (7pts)
3. Tony Mowbray (6pts)
4. Neil Warnock (6pts)
5. Glenn Roeder (4pts)

Round Three: The X-Factor

Round three was supposed to be where I snuck Glenn Roeder into a last minute lead, but I can't bring myself to do it.

As well as winning the league Tony Mowbray took his Baggies to Wembley for a FA Cup Semi Final against Portsmouth that they were unfortunate to lose.

Phil Brown has a tendency to come across as arrogant to me in interviews, which has lost him some considerable points in this round. I like Dean Windass, but that's not enough.

Gary Johnson on the other hand comes across well in interviews and gets his team playing the "right way". You also have to

Neil Warnock has grown on me as the years have gone by. I used to think of him as a bit of an arrogant, pompous little northern monkey if I'm honest, but I think he loves playing the pantomime villain and he does actually talk a lot of sense when he wants to.

The fact that we were marooned at the bottom of the table on just 8 points when Roeder came in (which I wish Roeder would mention more often by the way) and escaped relegation with a week to spare was simply an almighty achievement. Yes we shouldn't have been there in the first place, but we were, he came in, and now we're not. A job very well done.

So I'm giving Round Three to Gary Johnson, just for showing that success stories in football still exist without spending millions of pounds, leaving the final standings looking like...

1. Gary Johnson (12pts)
2. Neil Warnock (9pts)
3. Tony Mowbray (8pts)
4. Phil Brown (8pts)
5. Glenn Roeder (8pts)

My Manager of the Year in the Coca-Cola Championship is therefore Gary Johnson of Bristol City. Well done sir.

Do you agree? Let me know, leave a comment...

Having led the Robins to promotion from League One, a season of consolidation would have been deemed a success at Ashton Gate. But Johnson has masterminded a remarkable campaign, where they have spent their time challenging at the top of the league. They had spent time in the top two but eventually had to settle for a place in the play offs, which is no mean feat when you consider clubs such as Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic, who were relegated from the Premiership last term, missed out.

On Saturday, they travelled to London to take on Neil Warnock's Crystal Palace side in their play off semi final first leg, and returned with a crucial 2-1 victory. A last gasp strike from David Noble sealed it for the Robins, and Warnock was not happy at the end of the match.

""I think you could see from their celebrations that they were already at Wembley," he commented. Warnock is always forthright in his views and he cranked up the tension ahead of last night's second meeting. 

And Palace gave as good as they got. Ben Watson opened the scoring for the visitors after 24 minutes, but had a second half penalty saved which would have sent them through. So the score was level at 2-2 on aggregate, so it went to extra time and City went in front through former Swansea man Lee Trundle, with a beautiful curling shot into the top corner.

Palace had to go for it but a free-kick 10 minutes from the end of extra time from Scot Michael McIndone ended Warnock's dreams as he suffered his first play off semi final defeat and sent Johnson's team to Wembley.

They have an excellent chance of going up again and it is ample reward for a fine season. There, they will meet the winner of tonight's second semi final between Hull and Watford at the KC Stadium, with Hull 2-0 up from the first leg. I'd tip Hull to go through to meet Bristol City, with one of them earning Premier League football for the first time.

If Johnson's team go up, then he deserves a lot of recognition.

I know I probably shouldn't admit this, but lately I've found myself liking Neil Warnock more and more. Help me.

There are few things worse than imagining him:

1. Playing for somebody else in England.
2. Playing for a club against us next season.

If Hucks were to leave us at the end of the season to play in the MLS then you'd have to say good luck to him, but if he turned up at somewhere like Selhurst Park I for one would be absolutely gutted.

It's hard not to wonder how much of this is his agent (Phil Smith) doing his job and trying to stir up some interest. He was quoted in the Pink'un yesterday as saying:

He was always going to be playing the season through at Norwich and nothing has changed really. Until the die is cast and we know where we're going to be, it's a case of waiting to hear from the club about what they have decided.

That (a move to the MLS in America) was put in a while back but until we know what's happening at Norwich, there's nothing to say. It's still too early, but very soon we'll know.

That screams out to me that the ball is well and truly in the club's court, and that his man wants to stay. The waiting continues...

Neil Warnock took over Palace in Oct 2007 when they was in 19th place, now they are in the 6th place after beating table topping Stoke 2-1 at home last night, and actualy i am quite pleased for 2 reasons:

1. It will upset Sheffield United so much.
2. I want Palace to get back to the Premiership, so we can have great pleasure in watching Warnock face when they get relegated at end of the season.

Speaking to Setanta Warnock said:

"The games against Watford and Hull will be the same as the one against Stoke – they’re going to expect to beat us and will have to beat us to get into the automatic promotion places.
“So, we don’t feel any pressure. Honestly, Scunthorpe will be the hardest game. We’ve not played as well at home and they’re fighting for their lives. We need to win on Saturday, there’s no point in saying otherwise.”

Warnock also found time to aim yet another sly dig at West Ham's fielding of Carlos Tevez last season which, he feels, should have led to a points deduction which would have ensured his Sheffield United side remained in The Premier League.

“Everyone knows what happened with the West Ham fiasco, and I think anyone anywhere else in the country would have got points deducted, but if i get Palace in the Premier League, then Justice will prevail”

Even a person with half a brain would learn when to shut his mouth, If Palace are promoted, then Warnock will be looking to buy new players, after his little outburst, do you think Curbs would sell him any?

[poll=2]

Marques, who's current contract runs out at the end of the season has been at the centre of transfer speculation lately, with newspapers suggesting he may be heading for Crystal Palace. However, Palace boss Neil Warnock told the Yorkshire Evening Post that there's been no approach from himself so far, and it was merely speculation created by agents.

"It's agent talk. Agents are ringing people all the time and lots of names are being mentioned to me. So I'm not commenting on anyone. It's all annoying me now, to be honest."

Rui Marques, and his family are known to have settled in Leeds, but Dennis Wise's failure to tie up Marques' contract may cost the club. Marques was an ever-present figure in Wise's squad before leaving to join Angola in the African Cup of Nations. On his return to Elland Road, Dennis had left and been replaced by Gary McAllister.

McAllister was immediately alerted to Rui's abilities and current situation, and moved quickly to start negotiations about extending his deal.

"Talks are ongoing – that's all I can say. There's agents and stuff involved and I don't think agents are the best friends of this club at the moment."But we're still very hopeful. In my court, I've only signed a three-and-a-bit-month contract here, but I've been saying to the club that I think it's in their interests to get it sorted."Things are going along, but it's slow. But it's going in the right direction."

Attempts by Manchester United Football Club to sign Argentina's Carlos Tevez have been described as in a stalemate. Did complicated legal issues make this inevitable? Or in hindsight, might more creative leadership actions have avoided this impasse? And if so, by whom?

This has not been the happiest week in the footballing life of Carlos Tevez. A week ago he was a leading member of the Argentinian team favored to win the prestigious Copa America competition. In addition, Manchester United Football Club had announced that a transfer deal of the star from West Ham United was all but complete.

Over the weekend, Brazil recaptured enough of their brilliant skills in the final to sweep aside bitter rivals Argentina. Tevez headed for Europe, final destination Manchester, for a pre-transfer medical check-up with the club of his dreams. Personal terms had been agreed with his agent.

No so fast, Senor

Even as he was completing the last leg of the flight, the story took on a new turn. There had been delays in sorting out the contract, and now last-minute talks between West Ham and MUFC had broken down. Tevez arrived in Manchester, but he had not been granted permission by West Ham to put himself forward for a medical examination.

What’s going on?

English football fans were familiar to the background of a rather complicated story. I will try to capture the various inter-related threads, from the various press reports.

Where does a story start? We have to go back at least as far as the time that West Ham became involved in a very unusual transfer deal involving two Argentine footballers, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

The deal in Auguest 2006 was unusual because unlike other contracts agreed through the FA and The Premier league, the players were still, in some unrevealed way, not fully contracted as West Ham players at the outset of the deal. The arrangement was not with their former club (Corinthians) but with an agant, Kai Joorabchian on behalf of a shadowy background organization Media Sports Investments (MSI).

According to BBC reports

MSI were headed until June by Kia Joorabchian, who resigned but retained an investment in the two Argentines. MSI were linked with a takeover of West Ham last season but eventually pulled out.

While the contract was unusual, there have been other abnormal contractual arrangements permitting players to move on loan to and between Premier League clubs, with small-print not made public. The Premier League and The Football Association accepted reassurances from West Ham that satisfied them enough to sanction the arrangement. This was later to become one of the contested areas in the matter.

At the time of the contract, West Ham appeared to be struggling to survive in The Premiership. Financial limitations prevented them investing in top-flight players. Within considerable turmoil on and off the pitch, performances remained bad.

Enter The Egg

It was with some sense of relief that the club passed to new ownership with deeper pockets. The new owner quickly caught the public imagination. Eggert Magnusson (The Egg) is a wealthy Icelandic businessman who had already been involved in football as President of the Football Association of Iceland
His somewhat quirky appearance and enthusiasm and commitment to West Ham seemed to silence even the more extreme xenophobic reactions from the Alf Garnet faction still active among the club’s supporters.

West Ham’s problems persist

The club’s fortunes continued to decline until demotion was almost inevitable. Tevez had failed to live up to the reputation mainly earned through his World Cup performances. Magnússon sacked manager Alan Pardew in December 2006 replacing him with Alan Curbishley. The question of Tevez’ contractual position was again raised. A lengthy enquiry began.

The great escape

Then a great escape occurred. Tevez began to score match-winning goals. West Ham began a remarkable winning streak. Survival was still a possibility. Eggert had a contagious belief in his new players.

But other clubs facing relegation began to speak out against the arrangements that had brought Tevez to West Ham. Legal action was threatened. Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock, anticipating a close finish, was particularly vociferous, arguing that West Ham should be punished by losing points. This would help Sheffield United but effectively condemn West Ham to demotion.

An independent enquiry found that the club had initially been technically wrong in their contractual arrangement. The punishment was a fine, but no point deductions. During this period, one concern regarding the outcome of a future transfer of Tevez. The club claimed to have ‘ripped up’ an agreement [presumed to be Joorabchian and partners]. This was seen as protecting West Ham from the charge that future transfers might also be unconventional and taken as possible evidence of the club’s further illegal arrangements with Tevez’ agents.

In a gripping climax to the season, other struggling clubs (including Sheffield United) stumbled. West Ham avoided relegation when they won the last game of the season against Manchester United who had already won the League. Desperation triumphed over classy complacency. Tevez impressed enormously and scored a fine goal.

The legal challenges to West Ham petered out.

Manchester United bid for Tevez

The close season in the English Premier league is also a transfer window (the other window is in January). After their League triumph, MUFC revealed their recruitment plans for the new season. Unlike West Ham, they were able to compete for the best players.

Apparently, Tevez is a player whom Manager Sir Alex Ferguson had admired for some while. His admiration must have been reinforced by the performance of Tevez in the last game of the season.

In a recent press conference, AF announced that a deal to secure Tevez was nearly complete, subject to some details to be agreed with the League. He sounded confident, revealing that the final details would be sorted out by Club lawyer and former director Maurice Watkins. He added that Club Chairman David Gill had been working on the matter for a while, but he and Gill were shortly leaving with the squad on a pre-season tour in Asia.

Confidence at Old Trafford in clinching the deal began to drain away, after an emphatic statement from West Ham to the effect that they still held the rights to the player, and that he was not up for transfer.

From Japan, David Dill announces that FIFA has been called in to ‘expedite a resolution’ of a dispute between player and West Ham, and that he expects the resolution to find ‘in favor of the player’. He still expects Carlos Tevez to be playing for MUFC at the start of the new season.

Leadership lessons

The stalemate metaphor is only of limited application. Stalemate in chess occurs when the player to move has no legal move available. This is invariably the player who would otherwise lose. The stalemate is the result of a previous careless move from the player who was in the stronger position. In this case, it seems as if MUFC had the stronger position, but West Ham had been able to avoid accepting defeat. MUFC has to set up arrangements for another more conclusive battle.

In fact, you can see how chess metaphor as a source of strategy insights can be taken a bit further. The MU leadership may have taken for granted that their position was so strong as to require no deep risk analysis. This is suggested by the way that David Gill had delegated the case to solicitor Maurice Watkins, while Magnus Magnusson remained very much on the case at West Ham.

One of the special features of the business is the potential for blame to be attached to various parties, including the Premier league. The blame may have serious financial and legal consequences.

These were the 'events' that turned the matter of completing a football transfer into a complex problem.

Don't hold your breath on this one...

Update

There were a few more twists and turns. Eventually a contract was signed and Tevez joined MUFC on loan for two years. On loan from whom? Not West Ham, although the club received a payment from the Joorabchian camp in a deal which confirmed it was not West Ham.

Everton foreplay
Johnson comes through in the end
Size doesn't matter

Boro drop a deuce
Not Warnock conspiracy
Just lightening load

First place in Group B
Scotland the World Champion
Avenge Culloden

Spinning in circle
Dizzy Frank hits open net
But not for England

Five one, One in Five
No one here gets out alive
Except McClaren

Square pegs in round holes
A freaky acid trip? No.
McClaren's mind man

Waz McClaren spat
One hundred percent support
Short pants on fire

Bright blonde adonis
The key to England success
Crouchy's nose can wait