Duncan Ferguson Returns and Hopefully For Good

Duncan Ferguson has return to his beloved Everton to help out with their academy team, while he continues to work towards gaining his UEFA coaching badges. 

In what are currently grim times for Evertonians, with the clubs much publicised financial problems starting to become a major issue, the return of Big Dunc is at least one positive for Blues fans. 

The Goodison faithful will be eager for Ferguson to remain on a permanent basis, with a hope that he might too inspire the first team during his time at Finch Farm, as they look to improve on recent performances.

During his time at Goodison, Ferguson wore his heart on his sleeve. He even played through injury, pushing his body to the limit and running himself into the ground for the club. If you were in the trenches and the whistle was blown, Big Dunc is the kind of man you would want by your side. In dark times for Everton, he was the shining light.

‘The Big Man’ had previously paid a visit to Goodison Park when the Toffees faced Manchester City in May. After an absence of five years, you might think he might have been forgotten. If you did, you were very wrong. As he stepped onto the pitch before kick-off he received a rapturous reception from the Everton fans, who have idolised him since his move from Rangers, which actually moved Ferguson near enough to tears. His appearance inspired Everton to a 2-1 victory with the supporters singing his name throughout the match.

Later that month, his legendary status was confirmed when he was awarded the Everton Giant award for 2011. Ferguson, a striker who at his peak was regarded as unplayable said:

“This is an unbelievable honour. I have been away for a few years and you think people have forgotten you. This Club has been a big part of my life and this city has been a big part of my life. You are a long time retired, I have been retired for five years and it feels like twenty five. So to the players that are here now, stay in football as long as you can and stay at this club as long as you can because there is only one way after leaving this club, and that is down.”

As a player, Ferguson truly fell in love with Everton and their fans and the love given back to him from the fans over his ten years at the club was something that has always stayed with him.

“The fans here have always been great towards me. They are unbelievable. They took me in and they are the best fans in the country, if not the world.”

England at Euro 2012 – Over already?

England have qualified for Euro 2012 after a 2-2 draw in their final qualifying match away against Montenegro. However, an unconvincing second half performance and a red card for talisman Wayne Rooney has left many of the country's football fans fearing that England’s tournament could be already be over.

England were reduced to ten men with just over 15 minutes to go when Rooney was sent off for needlessly kicking out at Miodrag Džudović. Rooney’s behaviour was inexcusable, even given the understandable stress he must be under following his father’s recent arrest in connection to betting irregularities. Rooney is a professional, he should act that way. He is undoubtedly England’s best hope for success in Poland and Ukraine but through his own immaturity he has hindered the tournament campaign before it has even begun.

His quality is unquestionable. England need him to play every game and to play well in those games if they are to have any chance of competing for the trophy. By stupidly getting himself sent off in the manner that he did, he has removed his own ability from the team causing it to painfully weaken.

The Manchester United striker is already guaranteed to miss at least one group game and that ban could be raised to two games by UEFA officials once they have received and viewed the referee’s match report. For Rooney to miss two group games would be a disaster. Without wanting to disrespect Darren Bent, Danny Welbeck or any other forwards hoping to make the England squad, they simply cannot fill the Wayne Rooney sized hole that will be left in England starting eleven. They are good players, but they are not that good.

Due to the level of ability at Fabio Capello’s disposal, England should qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament with relevant ease even with Rooney absent for possibly all but one group game. I say should, but after the disgraceful showing at last year’s World Cup in South Africa, that saw England only reach the last 16, I will not be holding my breath.

Should they progress into the quarter finals, there is every chance England will come face to face with one of Europe’s big guns such as Spain, Germany, Italy or the Netherlands. The entire squad, particularly Rooney, will need to perform to the peak of their ability if England are to stand any chance of reaching the semi-finals. There is just one problem; the feat has not been managed by an England team in a major tournament since 1990. So if history is to repeat itself, which it most likely will, the squad and travelling fans will be boarding their planes back to England sooner than later.

Club or Country?

As England prepares to face Montenegro in their final Euro 2012 qualifying match tomorrow with qualification all but ensured, you could ask ‘Does anybody actually care?’ and the answer from a lot of fans would be ‘Well, no.’

For a long time now fans and in some cases even the players themselves put their club before their country. Most recently, Manchester United legend Paul Scholes, who collected 66 England caps before his international retirement in 2004, said that strong rivalries at club level caused suspicion whenever the players met up for England fixtures, which in turn hampered the team on the pitch.

On the mistrust at international level Scholes said: ''We weren't just footballers, we actually loved the clubs we played for and the rivalry was always there. You can't build a team or a spirit when that rivalry is always close to the surface. It was always too big to get over.''

This was not the first time a player had spoken out on the issue. In his autobiography Carra, Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher confessed that he’d “rather miss a penalty for England than for Liverpool.”

He continued to say “defeats wearing an England shirt never hurt me in the same way as losing with my club. I wasn't uncaring or indifferent; I simply didn't put England's fortunes at the top of my priority list. Losing felt like a disappointment rather than a calamity.”

The way Scholes and Carragher describe their experiences gives the impression that it is true that club does comes before country, and I’m sure if you were to put the current England squad through a lie detector test a high majority of them would admit to similar feelings. So, if nobody cares then what is the point?

England failed to qualify for the last European Championship in 2008 and while there was initially a lot of screaming and shouting along with the removal of ‘the wally with the brolly’ after a few days you can bet the average Englishman got over it and returned to supporting his club team with as much undivided passion as before. Essentially for a lot of fans, the England team is second best. For me it is a case of ‘Oh, England are playing. Yeah, I’ll watch that.’ When really I only care about our performances it at World Cup which usually ends in let-down anyway.

Though not every English football fan is a ‘club before country’ person. There are those committed minority who follow England all over the globe, spending thousands of pounds in the process. But even with current England star Wayne Rooney questioning the loyalty of their support with his infamous rant after last year’s World Cup draw with Algeria, it must not be long before they too begin to lose interest.