Roy Hodgson: From Croydon to Wembley

Roy Hodgson, England manager.

It’s a sentence that even the 64-year-old son of a Croydon bus driver probably never thought he would hear.

Confirmation of Hodgson’s shock appointment by the Football Association on Tuesday has thrust the softly-spoken former Crystal Palace trainee firmly into the national spotlight. The ‘people’s favourite’ Harry Redknapp was surprisingly overlooked in favour of a man who grew up in a flat on Sydenham Road in the mid-1950s dreaming of one day representing his country as a player.

Back then, Hodgson and Steve Kember, who would later become a Palace player and manager, would invite their school friends over to spend hours kicking a ball around on the patch of grass in the back garden. Their fathers worked together on the buses and were friends and neighbours, with Bill Hodgson’s family living upstairs and the Kembers downstairs.

The young football fanatics were briefly separated when Steve’s father joined the police and was stationed in Balham, but his decision to ask for a transfer back to Croydon a couple of years later saw them reunited at John Ruskin Grammar School in Shirley. A year younger, Kember soon began showing signs of the talent that would lead Chelsea to pay a then club record £170,000 for his services in 1971 as he was selected to play alongside Hodgson for Ruskin’s Wednesday afternoon school side.

Palace’s assistant manager Lennie Lawrence was also in the same team, while Bobby Houghton – who would be so instrumental in Hodgson’s development as a manager years later – joined Ruskin in the sixth form.

But by the time Kember signed professional forms at Selhurst Park on his 17th birthday in 1965, Hodgson was already playing non-league football for Tonbridge Angels in Kent and thinking about a totally different career.

Having qualified as a teacher, he started working at Alleyn’s School in Dulwich and used to help coach the Park Hill United under-11s – the youth team started by Kember in 1968 that later became Shirley Saints.

The future England boss also took his first steps as a coach when he became assistant manager to Houghton at Maidstone United and continued to play for them in the Southern League, usually as a left back or central midfielder.

By 1974, Hodgson was teaching at Monks Hill Comprehensive (now Selsdon High School) and living in Farnborough Crescent, having returned from two years in South Africa. As his playing career wound down with Carshalton Athletic, a move into coaching beckoned thanks to the links forged with Houghton at Maidstone.

In 1976, Swedish club Halmstad were persuaded by his former Ruskin team-mate – by then in charge of Malmo – to give Hodgson a chance. The result has been a glittering career that has taken in 18 managerial posts around the globe and has now taken the boy from Croydon all the way to Wembley.        

 “From a local point of view, it’s great that Roy’s managed to get himself the most prestigious job in English football,” said Kember, who worked for Hodgson when he was at Fulham and is now Palace’s chief scout.

“I’m very pleased for him. He’s done very well over the years and deserves the chance. Apart from a couple of blips here and there, he’s been a success everywhere he has been. I can only wish him the best and I would like to think he would do a good job.

“It’s important he can get everybody on board and get the players and the fans to back him. Every manager who comes in deserves that to start with anyway so if he gets that then he can do the job.”

There’s certainly one corner of south London that will be giving Hodgson its full support this summer.

There’s still life in the old Drog

Many have tried to replace him but the last couple of weeks have proved one thing. There’s still life in the Old Drog.

After finally ending his ridiculous goal-drought on Sunday, Fernando Torres is the man making all the headlines at the moment. Yet it has been the return to form of the veteran Ivorian that has been the catalyst to the revived fortunes at Stamford Bridge. 

Now 34, Drogba’s Chelsea career looked as though it may be over just a few months ago with rumours that he was on his way to join Nicolas Anelka in China when his contract expires in the summer. But an explosive display of centre forward play in the epic Champions League comeback against Napoli last week to follow up the winning goal against Stoke a few days before gave an indication that the man voted as Chelsea’s best-ever foreign player in a recent poll by FourFourTwo magazine is far from finished in Europe.

It’s now nearly eight years since Drogba arrived in London having finished as top scorer in Ligue Un and fired Marseilles to the UEFA Cup Final. I remember seeing him play in only his second competitive match in England against a newly-promoted Crystal Palace side at Selhurst Park back in 2004 when he scored his first goal with the kind of towering header that has since become his trademark.

After spending much of his early career as a unremarkable journeyman in France, Drogba did his best to make up for lost time as Chelsea won back-to-back Premier League titles and established themselves as a major European force. He actually scored more goals the following year as Manchester United regained the championship but a succession of injuries meant it wasn’t until 2009 that he returned to his best form, scoring 29 goals as Chelsea were crowned champions under Carlo Ancelotti.

For a while, his success saw the return of English football’s fascination with the old-fashioned, physical style of centre forward and the race was on to find ‘the next Didier Drogba’. It’s no coincidence that Liverpool paid £35 million last year to buy Andy Carroll from Newcastle to provide exactly the same kind of battering ram approach that has served Abidjan’s finest so well, while Chelsea’s purchase of Romelu Lukaku from Anderlecht last summer also had the same idea.

Neither has worked out so far and it remains to be seen whether the latest young player to be given the tag will live up to the hype. Tottenham fended off interest from Real Madrid and Liverpool to sign 17-year-old Souleymane Coulibaly last year after he fired an astonishing nine goals in just four matches for Ivory Coast at the under 17 World Cup.

By all accounts, he has settled well into their set-up but at a couple of inches below six foot, it’s unlikely he will ever provide the same aerial threat as the original. The first African player to reach the milestone of 100 Premier League goals, Drogba has certainly recovered well from the crushing disappointment of missing a penalty in the African Nations Cup Final against Zambia last month but will now have his eyes on redemption at the 2013 edition in South Africa next year.

As for his future at Chelsea, Drogba insists ‘I am not a master of my fate, but I will stay as long as possible’. If Roman Abramovitch, John Terry or whoever makes the decision down at Stamford Bridge these days have any sense, they will make sure their Drog hasn’t had his day just yet.

Moses headed for promised land with Nigeria

You wouldn’t expect that making an appearance in the 22,000 capacity Stade Régional de Nyamirambo in the Rwandan capital of Kigali is on the wish-list of most Premier League footballers. But when Wigan Athletic winger Victor Moses steps out there to play for Nigeria in next week’s 2013 African Nations Cup qualifier, it will represent a home-coming of sorts for the 21-year-old.
It’s now a decade since Moses arrived in the UK as an asylum-seeker after his parents – both Christian missionaries - were killed in religious riots in his home town of Kaduna in the north of the country. His father Austin had run his own church and was targeted by Muslim extremists determined to enforce Sharia Law after it was introduced to the region the previous year.
Moses was reportedly playing football with friends when his uncle rushed to inform him that rioters had broken into their home and murdered Austin and his mother, Josephine. With his family fearing for his safety, the 11-year-old was hidden at a friend’s house and arrangements were made for him to move to England a week later.
According to legend, Moses was eventually spotted playing in a local park by scouts from Crystal Palace and joined their youth team at the age of 14. Having initially enrolled a local comprehensive in Croydon, south London, he was then given the opportunity to attend a prestigious public school called Whitgift and scored all five goals for them in a national youth cup final in 2005, with his exploits featuring in an article by Guardian writer Paul Kelso.
The skilful forward went on to represent England at several junior levels as he broke into the Palace first team under Neil Warnock and was sold to Wigan for £2.5 million in January 2010 as the club battled against administration. It was then that Nigerian officials first contacted his agent to see if there would be any chance of Moses considering switching allegiances to the land of his birth - despite his recent inclusion in Stuart Pearce’s under 21 squad.
At the time, Pearce expressed his regret that a change in FIFA’s rules meant appearances for junior sides no longer restricted players from switching to a different country at senior level. Now, after nearly two years of soul-searching, it seems Moses has finally made up his mind.
Despite a last-minute wobble when he was called up by the Super Eagles for two friendlies at the end of 2011 and then failed to turn up, a series of discussions with friends and family back home seem to have finally convinced the player Wigan boss Roberto Martinez last week compared to Lionel Messi. Fellow members of the Nigeria squad who are based in the Premier League including West Brom’s Peter Odemwingie and Yakubu from Blackburn have also played their part in persuading Moses to shelve his ambitions of playing for England as new coach Stephen Keshi tries to rebuild the morale of a damaged nation.
The failure to reach the 2012 African Nations Cup Finals in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea marked a new nadir for Super Eagles fans, but with an in-form Yakubu and Moses joining the likes of CSKA Moscow winger Ahmed Musa and Inter Milan’s Joel Obi, their future seems bright. Yet in the week that England also lost promising Blackpool winger Matt Phillips to Scotland, perhaps the FA will one day end up regretting not having done more to keep hold of Wigan’s star player?

'Mbazo' prepares to leave sinking ship

Tuesday night was a tough one for Portsmouth supporters. Faced with the prospect of entering administration for the second time, a cruelly disallowed goal by the aptly-named referee Darren Deadman denied them a point against Ipswich Town and leaves the south coast club facing an uphill battle to remain in the Championship.

Watching on from the bench at Fratton Park was former Bafana Bafana captain Aaron Mokoena. He was one of the first players to emerge from the home dressing room after the final whistle to clap around 2,000 Portsmouth fans who had stayed behind to stage an hour-long protest that illustrated their anger that the club should find itself in such peril again.

Fighting for his place in the side after returning from a hamstring injury, 'Mbazo' has developed a close bond with the club since moving there from Blackburn in 2009 and told me in an interview last year that he chooses to lives in the city centre because he 'loves being able to have a conversation with the people who pay to watch you every week'. The man who won a record 107 caps for his country has certainly seen a lot in his distinguished career, but nothing could have prepared him for this situation.

An expected 10-point deduction at Friday's High Court hearing will leave Portsmouth just outside the relegation zone on goal difference. With a transfer embargo likely to be enforced and manager Michael Appleton's squad down to the bare bones, they will need every ounce of Mokoena's vast experience to help them steady the ship.

Yet with the administrators set to be tasked with fulfilling the demands of the club's many creditors (including a massive electricity bill), there is every chance that their first move will be to try and move on several players on big salaries. That could spell the end for the 31-year-old defender who began his career at Jomo Cosmos and went on to play in Germany, Belgium and Holland - as well as the likes of Tal Ben Haim, fellow Cosmos graduate Benjani and captain Liam Lawrence.

Back in November, Mokoena stated in our interview that he would like to end his career in a different country, specifically mentioning USA, China and the United Arab Emirates. In line with his ambition to build his own professional side back home in South Africa when he finally calls it a day, it seems a lucrative final contract could well be on the cards after Chinese team Dalian Shide were linked.

Leaving Portsmouth and England behind would certainly be a wrench for a player who has been in Europe since moving to Bayer Leverkusen as an 18-year-old in 1998. But with the club desperate to survive the choppy seas of administration once more, Mokoena may see now as the perfect opportunity to jump ship.

Knowing me, Knowing you: Zaha!

His name may have been new to those BBC pundits who are usually halfway back to their mansions by the time Crystal Palace make their weekly appearance on The Football League show but Wilfried Zaha has been earmarked for greatness ever since he signed a youth team contract at Selhurst Park in 2007.

That famous Carling Cup quarter-final victory over Manchester United back in December was the first time most  supporters outside the Championship had seen for themselves exactly what the 19-year-old from Abidjan in Ivory Coast was capable of. A series of bamboozling runs on a wet night at Old Trafford sparked a surge of interest from Premier League clubs in the January transfer window, with Palace's owners having to fend off a firm bid from Bolton on transfer deadline day to keep their talented forward.

Zaha's decision to sign a new five year deal just a week after his scintillating display in Manchester was a real coup for boss Dougie Freedman, although most Palace fans will tell you that he is still far from the finished article. A return of just two league goals this season is disappointing from a player with such an abundance of talent but another season of Championship football under his belt should see that potential transformed into reality.

Whether he can go on to emulate the exploits of some of the players produced by his real hometown club is another matter. Asec Mimosas is Ivory Coast's most successful side and was where Zaha spent the formative years of his career until moving with his family to south London.

Since the early 1990s, their academy has produced a number of top-class internationals, with many of them currently starring for 'Les Elephants' in the African Nations Cup in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure is the jewel in the crown of the youth system that was first established by lawyer Roger Ouegnin.

After surprisingly beating Tunisian giants Esperance to win the African Champions League in 1999, Asec exported most of their team to Europe, with the likes of Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Didier Zokora all ending up in the UK eventually. Their success has since opened the floodgates for Ivorian footballers, although Zaha could end up being the one that got away.  

His appearance for English youth sides apparently illustrates a desire to turn his back on the land of his birth but time will tell. So far, though, Asec's loss has been to Palace's gain.

Peanut is back as Schillo comes full circle

A year can be a very long time in football. Just ask Steven Pienaar.
The man they call ‘Schillo’ back home in South Africa found himself in welcoming surroundings on Thursday afternoon as he faced the media at Everton’s Finch Farm training ground following his last-ditch loan move from Spurs.
A little over 12 months have passed since Harry Redknapp won the race to sign him on a four-year contract worth an estimated £16 million in total, yet Pienaar must have contemplated how things have changed since then as he made the familiar journey up the M6 the day before. Back then, the future seemed so rosy for a player who had finally lived up to the promise he showed as a youngster for Ajax Amsterdam as he prepared to join a club in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Yet despite starting in the memorable 1-0 victory against AC Milan in the San Siro, that was as it got for Pienaar in a Spurs shirt as first a persistent groin injury and then a lack of first-team opportunities finally got the better of him. But what was most revealing was hearing just how desperate he was to leave north London, with Redknapp apparently keen to hold on to the 29-year-old right up until Tuesday night’s transfer deadline.
“At first he said no, I can’t go. It was the most stressful moment,” said Pienaar at the press conference to unveil him as an Everton player for the second time.
“I had to push him to get him to say yes, and eventually it happened just 10 minutes before time.”
News of the return of the player known as ‘Peanut’ in the blue corner of Merseyside was understandably greeted with great excitement, while Bafana Bafana boss Pitso Mosimane also wasted no time giving his captain the seal of approval after a year of frustration. And with his 30th birthday looming large in just over a month’s time, there is little doubt that Pienaar needs to be playing regularly and a return to the ground where he has arguably produced the best football of his career seems to suit all parties.
Now back home in his home in Woolton in the outskirts of Liverpool that had been up for sale since his departure for London, everything appears rosy. But quite where this leaves Pienaar’s future with Spurs remains to be seen.
Details of the season-long loan have yet to emerge, although it’s unlikely Everton will have been able to finance his weekly wages of around £60,000 – meaning Redknapp’s side are paying a large slice of that figure. Unless he is prepared to take a hefty pay-cut on the remaining three years of that contract, a permanent return to Goodison Park seems impossible.
That leaves just handful of clubs who may be prepared to offer Pienaar an escape route from White Hart Lane, assuming he remains surplus to requirements on his return to north London at the end of the season. But for the player who was given his original nickname in the tough Westbury township in Johannesburg after watching Italy’s Toto Schillachi at the 1990 World Cup, it is hard to underestimate the relief he will be feelling now he finds himself back in the company of old friends in the city he now considers a second home.

South Africa Road is calling for Bafana Bafana stars

It seems unlikely given that new QPR boss Mark Hughes has been linked to every player and their sister in this transfer window, yet should any of Steven Pienaar, Daylon Claasen or Katlego Mphela end up at Loftus Road they will find themselves in surroundings that sound strangely familiar.

Of the Bafana Bafana trio, Pienaar seems most likely to be taking a stroll down South Africa Road in London W12 over the next five days, perhaps even having time to pop into the General Smuts pub around the corner on Bloemfontein Road for a swift pint before he signs?

Unsubstantiated rumours also claim that Loftus Road is named after Robert Owen Loftus Versfeld - acknowledged as the founder of organised sport in Pretoria, where the famous stadium bearing his name played host to the 2010 World Cup. The area around the stadium is thought to have been named after the South Africa Pavilion in the old Exhibition Grounds, built in 1908 for the Franco-British exhibition, with many of the other roads in the area also bearing names from other parts of the Commonwealth.

As things stand, however, there's a long way to go until QPR fans will be firing up the braai to welcome any new signings from South Africa. Spurs have slapped a price-tag of around £6 million on Pienaar's head and confirmation that Hughes also has his eye on Wigan's Victor Moses - at 21, eight years Schillo's junior - is a worrying development for the Bafana captain.

With his path to regular first-team football blocked by the Premier League's best midfield combination, Pienaar is itching to make the most of the time he has left at the top and would probably jump at the chance of a move - if another club can match his estimated £60,000 a week wages. Nouveau-riche QPR are one of the few who can, although it remains to be seen how far the finances of Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandes will stretch after the signing of Manchester City defender on a whopping £4 million a year contract.

For FC Lierse midfielder Claasen, wages would not be a problem. He was a star of the 2009 under 20 World Cup alongside Kermit Erasmus and has been attracting interest from big clubs in Holland and Scotland as well. But issues over whether Claasen would be granted a work permit given his lack of international caps and the galaxy of stars likely to be ahead of him in the pecking order at Loftus Road make a summer transfer the most likely scenario.

That leaves Mphela, who boasts a better goalscoring ratio at international level than Lionel Messi with 22 goals in 42 matches for Bafana. His failed trial at Celtic back in July looked like being 'Killer's' last opportunity to return to Europe after a spell in France when he was a teenager but news of QPR's interest may give him some hope.

A natural predator in front of goal, astonishingly Mphela still has his detractors in his homeland but has shown his ability to find the net at any level. He may not end up being the man to entrusted with the job of keeping Rangers up, although there would be a great photo opportunity if any of the Bafana stars do end up at South Africa Road this January.

Tshabalala forced to play the waiting game

For anyone interested in whether Siphiwe Tshabalala is actually going to end up at Crystal Palace, the last few days have been confusing to say the least.

The Bafana Bafana midfielder spent a week at Palace's training ground in Beckenham earlier this month in the hope of impressing Dougie Freedman enough to win a move to the UK. According to his agent Jazzman Mahlakgane, 'Shabba' was informed that Freedman was very interested in signing him on a free transfer before he returned to South Africa.

A week later and with no news from Palace, though, Tshabalala's club Kaizer Chiefs issued a statement that said he would be signing a new three-year deal with them after the weekend that has just passed - a claim that was strongly refuted by Mahlakgane in the South African media. Sure enough, at the time of writing, no new contract has been signed after Freedman admitted in a press conference this morning that any move to sign him may rest on other players leaving the club.

All of which leaves Tshabalala in a bit of a dilemma. Having opened up a series of fish and chip shops (a venture that has included appearances on billboards around Johannesburg), he's not short of a few bob already and any offer of a new contract from Chiefs is likely to involve a hefty signing-on fee and substantial salary.

Unless they reach the Carling Cup Final or accept an offer for one of the club's coveted young stars like Nathaniel Clyne or Wilfried Zaha, that is likely to be more than Palace are willing to offer. As a top-earner in the South African PSL, Tshabalala could command wages of at least £6,000 a month (paying only 40% tax), with the signing on fee for such a crucial contract in his career ensuring he could expand the takeaway empire across South Africa and beyond.

Yet his willingness to attend trials at Forest last year and brave the English winter in south London suggest that he has bigger fish to fry. Seeing the success of compatriot Kagisho Dikgacoi in English football's second tier has given Tshabalala the appetite to prove himself on a foreign stage and he knows this may be his last chance to do that.

European clubs are unlikely to pay a transfer fee for a player who is tied into such an expensive contract and, at 27, is entering the final stage of his career, meaning Mahlakgane has been forced to play a dangerous waiting game. The whole saga should unfold over the next few days but Tshabalala will have his fingers crossed that his time has finally arrived.  

Shabba and Spider set for Palace's Bafana revolution?

They say all good news comes in pairs but if things go to plan, Crystal Palace could have three Bafana Bafana internationals on their books before too long.

Destined to be forever known as the player who scored the first goal of 2010 World Cup after a slide-rule pass from Kagisho Dikgacoi, Siphiwe Tshabalala arrived in the UK on Wednesday in the hope of resuming the partnership permanently in south London.

So far, all parties have maintained their silence since the news was broken by a statement from the 27-year-old's club Kaizer Chiefs earlier this week. But a conversation with Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune - also said to be wanted on trial by Dougie Freedman in the statement - confirmed that 'Shabba' will begin his 10-day trial on Thursday morning.

He could hardly have picked a better time to arrive. With the Carling Cup semi-final against Cardiff City to come and rumours linking prized assets Wilfried Zaha and Nathaniel Clyne with moves in the January transfer window, Tshabalala has a real opportunity to show he is worth the risk of a tranfser fee that is likely to be considerably less than the 1.5 million euros Chiefs had previously been holding out for.

A failed trial at Nottingham Forest last year will certainly have lessened expectations, while persistent injury problems are also a big problem. On his day, though, Tshabalala is capable of unlocking the best of defences with his pace and trickery and possesses excellent delivery from set-pieces thanks to that famous left foot.

Bafana team-mate Morgan Gould also had a chance to join Palace in the summer but was undone by his lack of experience. That shouldn't be a problem for a player who has captained his country several times and amassed more than 70 caps already, yet a lack of physical strength may be found out in the rough and tumble of the Championship.

Remarkably, there's even the prospect of another Bafana player joining Tshabalala and Dikgacoi in south London. Khune seemed in the dark about any details of his proposed trial but admitted he had been following Palace's progress this season because of Dikgacoi, saying he had particularly enjoyed the win over Manchester United in the Carling Cup quarter-final.

Whether he gets the opportunity remains to be seen, especially given Julian Speroni's untouchable status as Freedman's first-choice. At 24, 'Spiderkid' still has plenty of time to make a move to Europe and prove he is capable of living up to the praise of Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel lavished on him after last summer's tour to South Africa.

"He’s not that tall but you can see the spring he has in his legs, that makes up for it and I think he can be able to manoeuvre himself around the goal just fine," said the US veteran.

"The thing that stands out is his distribution. It’s outstanding for such a young guy - at 24, he is still very young for a goalkeeper and as long as he keeps working hard he can only get better and better." 

And after beating Chiefs 3-2 as they became the first foreign club to play in South Africa following their readmittance to Fifa in July 1992, it would be apt for another two of the country's most popular current players to end up in the red and blue of Crystal Palace.

Somma-time is on the horizon

Things haven't exactly gone to plan for Bafana Bafana since Davide Somma was dealt the cruellest of blows in pre-season training back in July.

An anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained three weeks before the opening Champonship fixture has kept the Leeds United striker on the sidelines ever since, while his country spectacularly failed to the reach the African Nations Cup finals. So this week's news that Somma has started light training is most welcome for both Bafana and Leeds fans everywhere.

After a stuttering start, Simon Grayson's side have moved into the Championship's top six as they seek a return to the top flight for the first time since 2004. Somma scored 11 league goals last season - several after coming on as a sub - and that looks likely to be his role again when he finally makes his return with Ross McCormack, Lucciano Becchio, Mikael Forssell and Andy Keogh also at the club.

Yet his proven goalscoring ability could give Leeds a real edge during the final months of the season and how Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane would love to have another striker to call on when South Africa begin their 2014 World Cup qualification campaign next year.

The 0-0 draw with Sierra Leone that confirmed they would miss the African Nations Cup finals for the second time in succession illustrated a pitiful lack of attacking options. Who knows if things may have been different if Somma had been on the bench?

But that's not to say that the jury isn't still out on the player who left his country of birth as a five-year-old. A debut international goal after only 64 seconds of his second cap against Kenya earlier this year promised much but a lack of appearances for his club meant he has yet to really establish himself in the squad.

The way things are going in South Africa, it might not be long until he's back in the fold. The contenders to provide back-up to number one striker Katlego Mphela have hardly covered themselves in glory, with Bernard Parker having scored just once for Kaizer Chiefs this season.

Even Mphela - with 22 international goals to his name - was subjected to booing in last month's friendly against Ivory Coast so Somma's availability will help take the pressure off his shoulders slightly. That will have to wait for now though as he continues to rehabilitate from a very serious injury that can take up to a year to heal fully.

But the prospect of firing Leeds into the Premier League and helping Bafana make it to Brazil in 2014 give him plenty of reasons to be cheerful after a depressing six months.       

Africa awaits Adomah's return

If you believe the hype, then it may not be long until Albert Adomah's journey from trainee painter/decorator to Premier League footballer is finally completed.

Now 23, Bristol City's flying winger has been linked with a move away from Ashton Gate in the January transfer window after some impressive displays in the Championship for Derek McInnes' side. Fulham, West Brom and Everton are just some of the names reportedly in the frame to sign the player who was born in Hammersmith to Ghanaian parents and won his first international cap for The Black Stars earlier this year against Brazil.

As footballing fairytales go, Adomah's story is hard to beat. Aged 15, he joined a youth project being run by his local council and - via youth side Old Meadonians - was eventually picked up by non-league Harrow Borough.

Almost 100 appearances in the hard-knock school of the Ryman Premier Division (7th tier) followed as Adomah supplemented his football by enrolling in a course to study Decorative Finishing and Industrial Painting at the College of North West London - incidentally also where former England international Stuart Pearce studied as an electrician in the days when it was simply known as Willesden College. 

Having caught the eye of then-Barnet manager Paul Fairclough at the end of 2007, Adomah signed a first professional contract in January 2008 and proceeded to score on his League 2 debut against Hereford United. In the two and a half years that followed, he became so popular at Underhill that legendary BBC commentator John Motson - a lifelong Bs fan - became his matchday sponsor

A move to a higher level was almost inevitable and Adomah eventually signed for Bristol City at the end of his contract in May 2010. A stunning debut season saw him voted as the club's Player of the Year and the reward was an improved three-deal to keep potential suitors at bay, plus the realisation of a boyhood dream to play for his parent's homeland.

Swansea City were among the clubs to try and tempt City over the summer but their resolve to keep him will be severely tested over the next six weeks or so. Given the club's well-documented financial problems (they reported losses of an estimated £11 million last year), boss Derek McInnes may demand a fee of around £5 million to prise him away, although a starring role for Ghana at the African Nations Cup in January may push the price up even further.

The international retirement of AC Milan's Kevin Prince-Boateng has certainly increased the likelihod that Adomah may be selected for the tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. That would create a major dilemma for a player who admitted that he couldn't stop grinning to himself when he made his debut for The Black Stars against the Selecao at Craven Cottage in September.

But with The Robins now beginning to draw clear of the Championship relegation zone, they may have to get used to being without Adomah's services for longer than just a month.

Stevie P's White Hurt Lane

Life couldn't be any sweeter for Tottenham fans right now. Sitting pretty in third spot in the Premier League and with a midfield quartet that is the envy of every manager in the land, some are even suggesting that the north Londoners could become champions for the first time in more than half a century.

However, not everyone at White Hart Lane is enjoying the ride. It's now been eight months since Steven Pienaar made his last appearance for Spurs in the Premier League as he has been relegated to a largely peripheral role at the club thanks to a combination of injuries and the superb form of his team-mates.

Defeats in both Europa League matches that the 29-year-old South African captain has started since returning from a groin operation have certainly not helped his cause, yet there is already a sense that Pienaar may have made a serious error in deciding to join a club where he was always going to struggle to hold down a regular starting spot at such an important stage of his career.

Known as more of a tricky winger in his youth at Ajax Amsterdam, the player that won Everton's Player of the Season in 2009/10 was renowned for his phenomenal work-rate from his starting position on the left flank. His combination with full-back Leighton Baines was invaluable to David Moyes's side and made Pienaar an attractive prospect for several suitors - especially when he refused to sign a new contract at Goodison Park.

The decision to join Spurs when they already possessed a player as supremely talented as Gareth Bale in his position was therefore a risky strategy to say the least. With the superb Luka Modric pulling the strings in the centre, Aaron Lennon's pace and trickery on the right and now Scott Parker's calm assuredness at the base of the midfield diamond, the best 'Schillo' can hope for is a place on the bench.

How that situation may change in the near future is hard to envisage. Brazilian Sandro is still ahead of Pienaar in the pecking order, while even youngster Jake Livermore has been preferred by Harry Redknapp in recent matches.

Of course, it would be ridiculous to suggest that it's time for him to move on just yet. Rumours of a loan move in January are unlikely to materialise given the trouble Spurs took to sign him and there is every chance that a couple of injuries may end a situation he described as 'depressing' last month.

But with his 30th birthday just around the corner, Pienaar cannot wait forever.
   

Mbazo set for pastures new?

If sitting on the bench every week wasn't bad enough for a player with 107 caps for his country, the news that the company who own Portsmouth have gone into administration must have made up Aaron Mokoena's mind for good.


Following last week's arrest of Vladimir Antonov - the main shareholder of Convers Sports Initiatives - the 2008 FA Cup winners find themselves in deep financial trouble once again and face the prospect of a 10-point deduction as well. Manager Michael Appleton says that wages are 'OK in the short and medium term' but with a shortage of prospective new owners on the horizon, there is no telling how long that will be the case.

His club's perilous position makes it even more likely that Bafana Bafana's former captain will be leaving the south coast very soon. For Saturday's 1-1 draw with Leicester City, Mokoena warmed the bench alongside fellow Africans Benjani and Nwankwo Kanu, with Israeli Tal Ben Haim - all big-wage earners who can expect to be the first to be off-loaded by the administrators.

I met up with Mokoena last week before the news of Antonov's arrest had broken and he seemed determined to fight for his place in the first team under new boss Appleton. But he also hinted that his future may lie elsewhere if things didn't work out at Portsmouth, although he ruled out a return to South Africa like his old Blackburn Rovers team-mate Benni McCarthy.

The Middle East, USA and China are all potential destinations for a player who received widespread media exposure as the captain of the first African hosts of the World Cup last year. A short spell in any of those leagues would no doubt also help to boost the coffers of the thriving Aaron Mokoena Foundation - now supporting three youth teams in his home township of Boipatong.

That would probably be the end of his hopes of representing his country again but coach Pitso Mosimane had effectively brought the curtain down by dropping his skipper ahead of the crucial African Nations Cup qualifier against Egypt in March.

Mokoena's charity work has already seen him awarded the Freedom of the City of London - only the second South African after a certain Nelson Mandela. Thanks to an ancient bylaw, that means he is permitted to drive sheep across London Bridge, although 'Mbazo' admitted he has yet to take the opportunity.

The way things are going, he'd better get a move on.

Africa's gold rush relies on supporting cast

The start of the CAF qualifying tournament in Morocco this weekend is the latest step on the road to London 2012. At present, six countries have secured their places at next year's Olympic football competition and another eight teams will battle it out over the next fortnight for the right to represent Africa next year.

But while the continent has enjoyed enormous success in a competition that is viewed with contempt by many fans in the UK (especially Welsh 400 metre hurdle champion Dai Greene), the reluctance of European clubs to allow their players to compete in the qualifiers could mean the strongest countries don't even make it this time.

Since it became an under 23 competition in 1992, Olympic football has been used by many countries as a useful stepping stone to full international football. Africa's record of two golds and a silver in the last four tournaments is second only to South America in the same period as the exposure on a global stage helped launch the careers of numerous superstars including Nigeria's Nwankwo Kanu and Samuel Eto'o from Cameroon.

This time, 2004 and 2008 gold medal winners Argentina have already failed to make to London as Brazil and Uruguay beat them to it but the weakened sides that will line up next week in Morocco may mean Africa's best chance of redressing the balance is lost.

Whereas Brazil could call on the ability of Santos striker Neymar and several European-based stars as they thrashed Uruguay 6-0 booked their place in the 2011 South American Youth Championship that doubles as the Olympic qualifier, Nigeria were denied permission to use several key performers like VVV Venlo winger Ahmed Musa and captain Lukman Haruna from Dynamo Kiev.

Likewise, South Africa will attempt to emulate their only appearance at the Olympic football tournament at Sydney 2000 without the likes of Thulani Serero, Andile Jali and new Swedish Player of the year May Mahlangu. The stumbling block is that the tournament falls outside Fifa's international dates and coaches are left with little choice but to try their luck with the best they can muster.

It wasn't always like that. Nearly 12 years ago, Benni McCarthy and Aaron Mokoena - then of Celta Vigo and Ajax Amsterdam respectively - helped the South African side known as 'Amaglug-glug' famously beat Brazil in the group stages but still failed to make it out of their group.

Making it that far this may be a tall order for a squad that contains limited experience of playing overseas. Egypt and hosts Morocco will probably be the teams to beat, although the team that finishes fourth overall gets another chance to qualify in a playoff against an Asian side next year.  

Whether anyone of Africa's best will be good enough to challenge favourites Brazil and Spain this time will depend on the strength of the supporting cast.  
     

Blatter: You're Fired

That Sepp Blatter doesn't half know how to makes things worse for himself. The day after the esteemed Fifa President's ill-judged comments that suggested victims of racial abuse on the football field should simply shake hands and forget about it, the Twitter feud with Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand on Thursday dragged ex-Robben Island prisoner Tokyo Sexwale into the debate.

Tipped as a candidate to take on President Jacob Zuma for the leadership of the ANC at next year's centenary conference, the man who can trace his unusual first name back to a childhood love of karate films now finds himself a central character in a real tragi-comedy.

Sexwale is well used to the limelight having appeared in the Sir Alan Sugar role in South Africa's version of The Apprentice (he famously refused to say the 'you're fired' catchphrase because he argued he hadn't hired them in the first place...) but nothing could have prepared him for this kind of situation.

The former head of the Valaisan Tourist Board has used plenty of dirty tricks in the past to cover his back but using his supposed friendship with a man who was instrumental in the struggle against apartheid is about as low as it gets. And having risen to Ferdinand's bait by even suggesting the son of St Lucian and English parents (and someone who went to school with murdered black teeenager Stephen Lawrence) was the racist for using the phrase 'black man' in his tweet, Blatter dug the hole even deeper.

Respected SABC broadcaster Velile Mbuli summed up how black South Africans felts about the situation with his message to Blatter on Twitter yesterday: "Given our background of being colonized here in Africa & incidents we've suffered we very disappointed at your statement Sir!" He's certainly not the only one who feels like that around the world - black or white.

Incredibly given the number of respected figures from football and beyond who have expressed their utter dismay at Blatter's comments, there's no reason to suspect that he actually be held to account for his actions. L'Equipe's decision to relegate the story down to a few paragraphs on page seven of today's paper and a similar attitude across much of mainland Europe's media means that Fifa can maintain their holier-than-thou attitude from the safety of their offices in Zurich and Sepp will remain in situ.

But surely there could be another way? If all of Fifa's member associations publicly stated their opposition to Blatter's comments and demand that he resigns immediately, then perhaps the weight of pressure would finally see the old man fall on his sword?

Or maybe we could just call in Sir Alan Sugar instead.

Lure of Three Lions too much for Africa's displaced pride

Home is where the heart is but it seems Victor Moses is also using his head before deciding whether to represent England or Nigeria.

The Wigan Athletic player was conspicuous by his absence from the Super Eagles squad that assembled to play friendlies against Botswana and Zambia last week, despite being given clearance by Fifa to be included by coach Stephen Keshi.

Born in Nigeria but having moved to London at the age of 11 and represented England at every junior level, his no-show had been predicted by his agent Tony Finnigan when I spoke to him on the day the squad was announced.

“I don’t know what Victor will do but if I was a betting man I wouldn’t bet he will be going to Nigeria,” he told me.

“We’ll discuss it but I know he is still hoping to get a call-up for England in the future. Because we’re at delicate stage in his career, he has to maintain the form that he is showing and there is no way I would encourage him to go and play for Nigeria. He could get badly injured and end up not playing for six months so he has to think carefully about what to do.”

Unfortunately for me, no one at the UK nationals wanted the story at the time but, 10 days later, Finnigan has now repeated his views and admitted that Moses is stillharbouring hopes of a call-up from Fabio Capello. As he acknowledges, that is an unlikely scenario given Wigan's perilous position in the Premier League at present but the possibility remains a tantalising one given the exposure playing for England would give his career.

Moses knows that a single appearance for his adopted country would draw the attention of some of the Premier League's bigger clubs and perhaps earn him a move up the ladder, whereas committing his future to Nigeria at this stage would do nothing for his status in the UK. The situation might have been different had his homeland qualified for the African Nations Cup in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in a couple of months but their failure means he now has until World Cup qualification begins next June to decide.

Should he eventually appear for England, Moses would become only the second Nigerian-born player to represent the Three Lions after John Salako - another alumni from Crystal Palace. But while other countries have embraced the naturalisation of players in recent years (think Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose for Germany or Marcel Desailly and Patrick Vieira for France), England's national team has not been so quick to follow suit.

That could be set to change with a number of African-born players currently involved in the youth set-up, including Crystal Palace's Ivorian born Wilfried Zaha and West Brom's highly-rated striker Saido Berahino, who arrived in Birmingham as a 12-year-old asylum seeker from war-torn Burundi. Meanwhile, Feruz Islam will join Chelsea in the summer having been groomed by Celtic's youth academy and the Somalian-born midfielder is expected to become the first African-born player to represent Scotland.

So while his decision to turn his back on the country of his birth for now was a risky one, Moses may end up being the trail-blazer for a new generation of immigrant footballers.

Follow me on Twitter @ed_aarons

Boo-boys no match for Killer instinct

Katlego Mphela must be wondering what more he has to do to capture the hearts of Bafana Bafana fans.

Taunted by some sections of the Port Elizabeth crowd who demanded his substitution in the first half of the Nelson Mandela Challenge against Ivory Coast on Saturday, ‘Killer’ responded by scoring with a brilliant free kick from 25 yards out to take his international tally to 22 goals in just 42 appearances.

Clearly with the emotions running high, Mphela’s reaction afterwards as he cupped his ear towards supporters and then appeared to push his team-mates away as they attempted to congratulate him told its own story. That Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane was forced to issue a plea to call on the nation to support a player who has scored more international goals than Lionel Messi actually beggars belief, especially when the 26-year-old product of Jomo Cosmos is the only South African who ever looks like scoring these days.

The lack of creativity in a side still clearly reeling from the disappointment of failing to qualify for the African Nations Cup should certainly be of more concern, with the return of captain Steven Pienaar failing to provide Mphela with enough ammunition in front of goal. A midfield of him, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Daylon Classen, Kagisho Dikgacoi and Reneilwe Letsholonyane was full of effort but ultimately lacking the crucial link in the final third. How Mosimane must have wished Ajax Amsterdam’s Thulani Serero had been fit enough to play.

But having found the net against teams like Spain, Serbia, France, Ghana and Egypt, Mphela now finds himself third on South Africa’s top-scorers’ list behind Shaun Bartlett and Benni McCarthy. Yet the fact he remains unappreciated by so many fans remains a mystery.

The equally spectacular free kick against Vicente del Bosque's side in the 2009 Confederations Cup announced his arrival on the international scene more than four years after his debut and Mphela has since 17 goals in just over three years – not bad in a team that has consistently struggled to create chances in that period.  

Granted, some of his tally may have been against lesser lights like Thailand and Guatemala but McCarthy’s record of 32 goals from 79 games also included several against minnows and to be in with a chance of overhauling that total is an indication of just how good a player Killer is. And with him only turning 27 later this month, Mphela can write his own piece of history just by letting his feet do the talking.   

Teen sensations should heed the tale of Michael Woods

Besides being born seven years apart, Oluwaseyi Ojo and Michael Woods have plenty in common.  Both were hailed as the future of English football after starring for their respective youth teams and attracted the attention of Chelsea’s scouts.

But while 14-year-old MK Dons midfielder Ojo is on the verge of moving to Stamford Bridge (for a deal that could eventually be worth up to £2 million if you believe the newspapers), Woods is now contemplating a future away from football after being forced to retire at the tender age of 21.

The midfielder is the grandson of former Tottenham, Swansea and York player Alan who, along with current Carlisle United defender Tom Taiwo, famously turned down a scholarship with Leeds United in 2006 to move to Chelsea at the age of 16. Roman Abramovic eventually had to pay around £5 million in compensation for the duo in one of the biggest deals involving teenagers in British football history.

A few months later at the age of 16 and 275 days, Woods became the fourth youngest player ever to play for Chelsea but subsequently found his route to the first-team blocked by injury and lack of opportunity. While Taiwo went out on loan and eventually joined Carlisle in January 2010, Woods stuck it out in the reserves until his contract ran out in the summer.

Moves to Brighton and Aberdeen fell through due to persistent fitness problems, as did a last-ditch trial with League One Walsall last month. Now Woods has decided to officially announce his retirement from the game and is reportedly concentrating his efforts on a Sports Science degree in Glasgow.

His story shows Ojo just how fickle the game of football can be but Woods is certainly not the first highly-rated teenager who has failed to live up to his billing. Liverpool fans of a certain age may remember Wayne Harrison, who became the most expensive teenager in the world when he was signed from Oldham for a fee of £250,000 in 1985 and then never made a first-team appearance.

Then there’s Nii Lamptey, the Ghanaian protégé who starred for Anderlecht before suffering a series of flops across the European leagues. Or what about Freddy Adu, another player of Ghanaian heritage who was born in the USA and became a favourite of the Championship Manager generation but never really fulfilled his massive potential?

Of course, as Gareth Bale, Jermain Defoe, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wayne Rooney have proved, there are those who have not cracked under the pressure of a huge price-tag. But the experiences of of John Bostock (Crystal Palace – Spurs up to £1.25 million), Sloban Rajkovic (OFK Beograd – Chelsea £3.8 million) and Scott Sinclair (Bristol Rovers to Chelsea £1 million before being sold to Swansea City for £750,000) act as a warning to the next generation of super-kids.

Ojo may be the youngest of the current crop but there are plenty more youngsters in the academy system with massive price-tags already around their necks. Raheem Sterling joined Liverpool from QPR in February last year for a deal that could eventually be worth £5 million, while Bradford City’s George Green signed a deal to join Everton next season for a reported £2 million.

Chelsea have lured Somali-born but Scottish-raised Islam Feruz from Celtic, with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur also having spent big on John Cofie and Dean Parrett respectively. Only time will tell whether it has been money well spent but they would all be wise to learn from the experience of Michael Woods.

Swede taste of success for Mahlangu

The exploits of May Mahlangu in Sweden this week have got me thinking. Why do so many South Africans usually struggle when they go overseas?

The 22-year-old midfielder from the Mpumalanga province was the toast of the Allsvenskam after inspiring Helsingborgs to the league and cup double and picked up the Swedish Player of the Year Award on Monday night. Yet he was one of just a handful of the more than 20 eligible for Bafana Bafana selection who saw any action in Europe this past weekend.

Mahlangu's rise has gone under the radar for most observers after moving to Sweden nearly three years ago from the Stars of Africa academy in Johannesburg. But he has made a name for himself thousands of kilometres from home in a league that - although it may not be the most fashionable - will certainly attract the attention of bigger clubs.

It wasn't enough for him to be included in the latest Bafana Bafana squad to play Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe, even if Safa did cover their tracks by selecting him for the under 23 squad this week. Of the nine foreign-based players who did make Pitso Mosimane's squad, only Bevan Fransman, Anele Ngcongca, Daylon Claasen and Siboniso Gaxa have started more than 80 percent of their respective clubs' games this season in Israel and Belgium.

Again, neither league is rated among the elite and suggest that perhaps moving directly from the PSL to one of Europe's top leagues remains a bridge too far. Recent evidence in the cases of Bongani Khumalo and Thulani Serero seem to back this theory up given that both were outstanding performers in the domestic league before their high-profile switches to Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax Amsterdam respectively.

Khumalo spent his first two months in England training with superstars like Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale at the Spurs training ground before going on loan to struggling Preston North End. Injury curtailed a promising spell after the former SuperSport United captain looked like he had been finding his feet in the Championship and big things were expected of him when he joined Reading at the start of this season.

Yet he has failed to appear since the end of August, while Serero has seen his opportunities limited to cameos off the bench since moving to Holland in July. Injuries have not helped either player settle in but  there's no doubt the transition has been very tough for both.

Before Khumalo's move, Kagisho Dikgacoi proved just how hard it can be to make the leap as he spent two frustrating seasons with Fulham before moving to Crystal Palace. The midfielder now appears much more at home in south London but would be the first to admit the difficulties he has faced settling in.

Perhaps the examples of Mahlangu, Ngcongca and Lokeren's Ayanda Patosi - who all bypassed the PSL and headed straight for Europe as teenagers - gives players the best opportunity to succeed where so many have failed?

Eto'o stands alone for Africa

The release of the shortlist for the 2011 Fifa Ballon D'Or this week made for interesting reading if you're a follower of African football. Out of 22 nominees, Samuel Eto'o is the only player from the continent to be in contention for the sport's biggest individual award - an indication of what a poor year it has been for some of Africa's traditional superstars.

Of course, with Lionel Messi around, Eto'o stands little chance of following in the footsteps of George Weah back in 1995 and actually winning the coveted title. That was the first year non-Europeans were eligible and the former AC Milan striker from Liberia remains the only African player to have even finished in the top three of voting.

Nonetheless, the continent has provided a consistently high number of nominees over the past decade, with the likes Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Yaya Toure all having been regularly included. This year's total is actually the lowest since Eto'o was again Africa's only representative back in 2003 and the Cameroonian has been an ever-present since then.
The same had been true of Drogba since 2004, but the Ivorian's frustrations at Stamford Bridge that culminated with the reckless red card against QPR last week hint that age is finally catching up with him. A series of injuries have also denied Ghana's Michael Essien - a four-time nominee but not since 2009 - his place on the list, while other previous nominees like Kolo Toure and Freddie Kanoute have dropped out of the limelight.

Only Yaya Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor may feel hard done by to have been omitted from this year's selection given their performances this year, with the latter playing a major role in Manchester City's FA Cup triumph. Otherwise there's not been much to get excited about, although the performances of some of Africa's emerging generation of stars promise much for the future.

Players like Demba Ba of Newcastle United, Lille striker Moussa Sow and Freiburg's Papiss Dembe Cisse look the most likely candidates to make the ascent to superstardom in the next few years. A second hat-trick of the season took Senegal marksman Ba to 10 goals in his last 11 Premier League appearances - and fourth spot in the top scorers' list.

Compatriot Sow hasn't enjoyed such a prolific season in Ligue 1 but the pair will form a lethal partnership for their country at January's African Nations Cup finals, while Congo's Cisse is destined for bigger and better things with his current club struggling in the Bundesliga. Andre Ayew, Gervinho and Kevin Prince-Boateng may also have a chance of making the list one day but after the heady days of 2006 and 2007 that saw five Africans among the Ballon D'Or nominees, there certainly seems to have been a decline in their prominence.

And with 2010 nominee Asamoah Gyan having followed Eto'o's example by taking the money on offer away from the game's traditional powerbases, it may be some time until Africa is truly represented at football's highest table.