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Two La Liga titles, one UEFA Cup, one Champions League, one FA Cup and one Supercoppa Italiana; Rafael Benitez has a curriculum vitae that most managers dream of. Nonetheless, the Spaniard finds himself resigned to a self-enforced exile from football, after a turbulent and less than successful tenure at Inter Milan. In a matter of months, the Spaniard had surrendered Inter Milan’s 46 unbeaten home game streak and left Jose Mourinho’s treble winning side lumbering in sixth place in Serie A.

Throughout his managerial career, Benitez has suffered strained relationships with the boardroom. Rafa left Valencia after falling out with the club’s director of football over control of transfers, famously remarking “I was hoping for a sofa (a defender) and they’ve brought me a lamp (Fabián Canobbio)”. Furthermore, Benitez had a well-publicised falling out with Liverpool’s previous owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, again over transfer policy; tensions were high on Anfield and after a seventh place finish in the Premier League no-one was surprised to hear that Benitez had been sacked as Liverpool manager. True to form, Rafa’s downfall at Internazionale was orchestrated by his transfer demands and with owner Moratti refusing to publicly support him; Benitez ‘jumped’ before he was ‘pushed.’

Rafael Benitez has earned a reputation in English football as a hard man to please, with Steven Gerrard admitting that he longed for a “well done” after good performances. That, coupled with the fact that in less than four seasons Benitez had disposed of his Champions League winning side, apart from Anfield legends Gerrard and Carragher. Despite his ruthlessness, Rafa has often been praised for his tactical acumen, particularly on European nights. Despite this, the former Valencia man does have a tendency to accommodate his favoured 4-2-3-1 at the cost of players’ preferred positions, with Dirk Kuyt being deployed more as a right winger than the forward whom the club signed (and was clearly evident in the defeat of Man United a few weeks ago). This resilient defiance of anything other than his favoured formation can also be found in his love for zonal marking, which is constantly slated by pundits and was routinely suspect at times, especially during set-pieces.

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The Premier League this season has laid down new ground rules for each team’s 25 man squad, in order to help develop the use of ‘home-grown’ players in the top flight. If Benitez was to return to management in the Premier League he would have to alter his values to accommodate the new rules. During his time at Liverpool, Benitez was criticised by fans for failing to support and develop local players such as Stephen Warnock, Danny Guthrie and Adam Hammill, who he allowed to join smaller clubs, a trait Benitez will have to change if he is to rejoin and succeed again in the Premier League.

All this being said and done, if Benitez were to return to the Premier League, where would he go? Gerard Houllier’s job at Aston Villa is supposedly under threat and Benitez would probably be keen to replace Houllier at the helm, just like he did at Liverpool. Still, Houllier is very similar in management styles to Benitez and this has reportedly created a tangible friction between him and the players and staff at Villa Park, so Rafa’s ruthlessness and strict tactical formation may well not suit the Aston Villa set up.

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Overall, I think it is safe to say that there is only one manager the Premier League wants to see again and that is Jose Mourinho. Benitez left a bad taste in the mouths of those associated with Liverpool Football club and the Premier League after his reported £6 million pay off, a ludicrous amount even by modern day standards. The only positive this writer can personally see of Benitez’s ‘homecoming’ is to reignite his verbal sparring matches with Sir Alex Ferguson, because we all love a bit of manager ‘banter’ ahead of matches.

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Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson wants his side to ‘gain parity’ with the Champions League’s biggest names – beginning this season.United have reached the European Cup final on four occasions – winning three times – but other powerhouses across the continent easily eclipse the Red Devils for their number of final appearances, namely Real Madrid (12), AC Milan (11), Bayern Munich (eight) and Liverpool (seven).

The boys from Old Trafford take on Schalke in the first-leg of their semi-final on Tuesday and Ferguson believes it was time his side stood up to convert their final-four showing – United’s 12th time at the competition’s stage – into a final berth.

“This is where we should be (in the final). The expectation has always been high with regard to the European scene and you do get envious of other clubs’ great record in Europe,” Ferguson said.

“We are trying to gain parity with that. You look at Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Ajax and Liverpool.”

“We really need to progress quickly to get to that level and the present group have enough experience in Europe now.”

United’s trip to Gelsenkirchen will see the return of striker Wayne Rooney to the arena at which he was dismissed in the 2006 World Cup, but Ferguson said the 25-year-old was capable of putting the memory behind him.

“You have to put bad moments behind you. That is normal for any footballer,” he said.

“But good players create their own platforms in the sense of the importance of their performance.”

“Wayne, more than anyone, realises that performances are the thing that he will always be judged on.”

Ferguson said it was hard not to be nervous heading into the final-four stage of European football’s most illustrious competition.

“You always get apprehensive at this stage of the competition. Semi-finals are never easy,” he said.

“We had the same situation in 1999 when we played our semi-final against Juventus.”

“There was an apprehension in our first game at home that we released in the second leg.”

“When we played Barcelona in the first leg (three years ago) we got the result we wanted. But the last 20 minutes of the second leg were absolute agony.”

Hamilton kept their slim hopes of avoiding relegation alive with a 1-0 win over St Mirren in the Scottish Premier League.Billy Reid’s team moved within six points of safety thanks to a 75th-minute header from Frenchman Mickael Antoine-Curier on Monday.

St Mirren were on the back foot early on when full-back Jure Travner picked up two yellow cards in the opening 24 minutes.

Visiting Hamilton should have had the lead on the stroke of half time, but goalkeeper Paul Gallacher produced a superb save to deny forward Nigel Hasselbaink.

But they did go ahead 16 minutes from time when a Dougie Imrie cross was met by the head of Antoine-Curier.

Hamilton midfielder Alex Neil picked up his second yellow card 10 minutes from the end to make for a nervous finish, but they held on to their narrow advantage.

It was a vital three points for bottom-side Hamilton, with St Mirren only six points clear in second-last spot with three matches remaining.

There are certain fads among the celebrity elite that seem to come and go quicker than a Manchester City title challenge. Taking up yoga, vegetarianism adopting babies from Africa have all been popular among the special famous people that don’t have to wait inline at the bar like the rest of us. The latest in vogue activity for the rich and famous is supporting a football team.

When I say ‘supporting’ I mean it in the prawn sandwich eating loosest term of the word, not attending matches or actually giving a toss, just affiliating themselves with the most popular team they can think of or the one that’s going to get them more followers on twitter. The past few years have seen an increase in so-called celebs letting everyone who’ll listen, and even those who won’t, which team they ‘love’ and cannot bear to see lose, well at least feel a trifle tad disappointed when those beastly other teams beat them, so much so they have to have another glass of Moet to ease the pain.

I’m sure I can’t be the only fan sick of hearing part-time celebrity tosspots getting involved in the game we all love just because it seems like the ‘cool’ thing to do. Don’t get me wrong there are exceptions – Alastair Campbell is arguably as big a Burnley fan as anyone and certainly hasn’t started following them to tap into any zeitgeist. The problem is for many celebrity fans hating United also becomes a populist trait they quickly adopt, regardless of which team it is they’re supposed to be following.

Here’s my top ten list of celebrity fans who should stick to following the cricket, and remember, this was compiled by a Man United fan, so leave your suggestions for annoying celebrity United supporters below…

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Click on Lord Sugar below to see the Top TEN

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List compiled by Justin at the excellent Red Flag Flying High

There are many factors that affect a clubs performance in the English Premier League. Fitness, fortune, referees, management and chemistry are a few. Regardless, almost every season, the true class of the league rise to the top and those that can’t get it together are “hammered” into their rightful location. Sorry for the unnecessary pun, but generally speaking, a club’s position at the end of the league is indicative of the level of football your club played through the year. But is this the case with Arsenal?

With the growing popularity of Twitter and in general the online community, Arsenal supporters are often blanketed with details on the club…some they want…and some they don’t. Though the Arsenal are likely to finish 4th and be subject to a qualifier for entry into the Champion’s League, many Arsenal supporters believe a string of bad-luck has left them in this situation. The recent draw with Liverpool is at the top of many fans minds, dropping two points on a questionable penalty called on Eboue. Supporters no doubt have been unable to wipe their minds clean of the disaster at St. James’s Park where after a straight red was issued to Abou Diaby and the flood walls came tumbling down. That is just 2 examples of the many injustices supporters could be pointing to. The players see it, the fans see it, and the coach sees it.

To be clear, however, that is not the reason we aren’t going to be win the Premier League this season. However many and whichever excuses we want to use to justify another trophy-less season for the Gunners, the reason we’re not celebrating glory is a lack of mental strength. Gunners on both sides argue whether Fabregas “really” wanted to be here this season or if his head is already in Barcelona. Fans have discuss our goalkeeping woes, inability to score goals, a weak back-line, injury problems across the board, match tactics, etc. All of these things have played a role in this season’s frustration, but some choose to look at the team and point to the man in charge.

There is no bigger supporter of what Arsene Wenger has done for the Arsenal…not just as a squad…but as an organization. There is a positive financial future on the Red & White side of North London; that cannot be said for many if not most clubs in world football. I believe in Arsene Wenger and I believe in Arsenal Football Club.

That being said, sometimes you need a shakeup in style to find out how the individuals on your team prefer to be managed. This 2011/2012 season will be the indicator of if that shake up is necessary.

There’s a large group within the online community calling for Wenger’s head. They cite his unwillingness to purchase quality players and a general inability to motivate the team that, to be fair, collapsed after the loss in the final to Birmingham. Is that on the player or the coach? Scoreless draws on the road can be acceptable in some instances, but never at home in front of the fans who pay more to see their team than anywhere else in the world…(+6%). Are fans entitled to see trophies won? Probably not. Are they entitled to see quality performances AND quality effort? Very much so. But do all those trips to the Champions League mean nothing?

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I found it interesting that Pat Rice has decided to stay “one more” season at the Emirates after the majority thought he would make his exit this summer. I also found it interesting that Arsene Wenger was quoted as saying he was “very excited Pat would be staying for one more year.” Since 1996 these two have worked closely to put a product on the field that would win the Premier League. They have done this while also adding an array of trophies to the case along the way. They have managed some of England’s best players of all-time and built the “Invincibles,” who everyone in Europe remembers. But is the decision for Pat Rice to stay “one more year” an indication of Arsene’s mindset? Is it possible that these two men have decided “it’s either now or never”?

Though many fans believe he would never believe Wenger would leave the Emirates, he has noticeably changed personas on the sideline. He looks like a man who doesn’t enjoy football anymore. Weekly, we see him slamming water bottles to the ground with a scowl on his face. The players have to have the guts to stand up for themselves if we want something other than dust in the trophy case. Yesterday’s performance at home to the Villains was far from that. Argue bad luck all you please, but at some point, excuses become irrelevant and Arsenal have reached that moment. Ideally, Arsenal wins the quadruple next season and this article will be moot. But for most Arsenal supporters, we are ready to see what/who the summer brings to the Emirates and personally, I hope it doesn’t bring the final episode of Arsene Wenger.

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Read more of Jason’s articles at Arsenal Insider

Retired Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes says the time was right for him to call a halt to his career at the end of last season.The 66-cap England international, who spent 17 seasons in the United first team, called an end to his time as a professional footballer after helping his side to a record-breaking 19th English league title last month.

Scholes, 36, said manager Sir Alex Ferguson had told him he could still contribute at Old Trafford, but he felt the time was right to finish up.

“I was struggling a little bit in my legs even with training and playing games. They didn’t feel great and I just felt the time was right,” Scholes told Sky Sports on Monday.

“I’m someone who likes to think that they can contribute every week and I think as a midfield player for this club you need to be doing everything – you need to be scoring goals, you need to be making goals and you need to be giving everything in defence as well.”

“So I just felt it was the right time and I wasn’t contributing as much as I think a midfield player for this club should be.”

Asked whether Ferguson had tried to convince him to play on, Scholes said: “Not really, no. He did say that he felt I had 10, 15, maybe 20 games in me next season and he’d like me to stay.”

“But I just told him I wasn’t feeling great and I’ll think about it again and I’ll get back to him towards the end of the season which I did do.”

Scholes, who is set to take up a coaching role at Old Trafford next season, was again forced to defend accusations he was a dirty player.

A red card for a crude challenge on Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta in the FA Cup semi-final loss in April was his last dismissal.

The midfielder collected 90 yellow cards in the English Premier League, the third most in history, but he said he was unlucky, rather than dirty.

“I have just been unlucky. I never had red mist against anybody,” Scholes said.

“The one against Zabaleta, I didn’t do on purpose. It was just bad timing. The ball was up there and the way your leg goes it has to come down and unfortunately it came down on his leg.”

“I would never intentionally try to hurt somebody. Nobody has ever had to go off following one of my tackles and nobody has broken their leg.”

“I have never been nasty.”

Scholes will play his testimonial against the New York Cosmos at Old Trafford on August 5, with Manchester United legend Eric Cantona set to make a return appearance.

have kickstart their spending this summer with a double deal for Phil Jones and Ashley Young. It is a real signal intent from Sir Alex Ferguson who is looking to build what will arguably be a strong youthful legacy at Old Trafford.

At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Manchester United blogs that includes 7 into 2 doesn’t work at Old Trafford; the solution to Nani problem, while Park Ji Sung is the consummate pro who needs to remain a United player.

We also look at the best Manchester United articles around the web this week.

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‘Suits you sir!’ – The Premier League club’s Kit collection for 2011/12 season

WAG Weekly – Man United new boy scores a beauty!

VIDEO: The GREATEST Premier League goal ever…you decide!

A credit to Manchester United and who must retained at Old Trafford

United Fans Could Be Given The Chance To Prove their Real Worth

Caption Competition: Fergie signs on the dotted line

7 into 2 doesn’t add up at Old Trafford

The ideal solution to the Nani problem?

Is Manchester United’s latest signing a victim of the hype machine?

Does Fergie’s transfer policy signify intentions?

Am I the only United fan happy with this signing?

1-0 to Sir Alex Ferguson in the transfer stakes

*Best of WEB*

Fergie’s ‘keepers: good, bad and ugly – United Rant

United Youth – How will they fare next season? – The Busby Way

Exactly Why Berbatov Has Not Fulfilled His United Promise – The United Religion

Squad Players: Moved On and Kept on for Squad – Expertise on United

Kiko Macheda Entering Last Chance Saloon – Red Flag Flying High

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Click below to see the latest addition to the WAG Arena

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Mohamed Bin Hammam has vowed to fight the life ban for corruption handed down to him by the FIFA ethics committee.Qatari Bin Hammam, formerly president of the Asian Football Confederation, was a challenger to Sepp Blatter in the FIFA Presidential elections before his withdrawal in May following corruption allegations.

He was suspended from FIFA activities after being accused of attempting to bribe Caribbean Football Union officials to secure their support in his bid to oust Blatter.

On Saturday the ethics committee handed him a life ban, precluding him from all FIFA activites.

But the 62-year-old is unlikely to go quietly, threatening to take the matter to an independent court to force FIFA to publicise the details of their case against him.

“This is just the battle, not the war,” Bin Hammam said via twitter and his website.

“I reject the findings and maintain my innocence and will continue to fight through the legal routes available.”

“We are confident of the strength of our case and invite FIFA to make available now to the media a full transcript of these proceedings.”

Lawyers representing Bin Hammam also released a statement questioning FIFA’s findings.

“The FIFA ethics committee have apparently based their decision upon so called ‘circumstantial’ evidence, which our case has clearly demonstrated was bogus and founded on lies told by a senior FIFA official,” lawyer Eugene Gulland said.

“FIFA, either directly or through third parties, with selective and continual leaking of documentation that have been part of these proceedings to the media (has sought) to influence public opinion and create bias.”

Acting AFC President Zhang Jilong, the favourite to succeed Bin Hammam as head of the confederation, was disappointed by the findings, but accepted FIFA’s decision.

“This is a sad day for (the) AFC and Asian football,” Zhang said.

“AFC respects world football governing body FIFA’s decision and we also acknowledge former AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam’s inalienable right to lodge an appeal against the decision.”

Fulham recorded a 3-1 win against Northern Irish side Crusaders on Thursday in the first leg of the second qualifying round for the Europa League. Goals from Matthew Briggs, Bobby Zamora and Danny Murphy give the Premier League side a real advantage going into the second leg at Craven Cottage next Thursday.

Fulham were without new signing John Arne Riise, but still fielded a strong line-up. The semi-professional IFA Premiership outfit went toe-to-toe with their English opponents however, and it was only a long range Briggs strike that separated the sides at half-time. However the Seaview club equalised on 54 minutes, with Timmy Adamson controlling well in the Fulham box and cooly dispatching the finish past Mark Schwarzer.

Despite this and a good performance by the underdogs, the London outfit’s class showed in the last 15 minutes as a Zamora header and Murphy’s penalty put paid to any potential giant killing feat.

“We knew it could be tough,” Martin Jol stated after the game.

“They [Crusaders] play a very direct style, with two good, big strikers, and that’s always difficult. But we came through it well. The only disappointing thing for me was the way we conceded the goal.

“Other than that, though, we did well in the first half and recovered nicely after their goal to win. It was nice to see the youngsters like Briggs and Kerim Frei come in and do well as well,” he concluded.

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When asked about out of favour Tottenham striker Robbie Keane, who the Dutchman coached during his time at White Hart Lane, the former Ajax manager was full of praise.

“Robbie’s a great player, but we’ve got great strikers here. I’m a big fan of Robbie.”

The North East will come to a standstill on Saturday lunchtime as Sunderland host arch rivals Newcastle.

Both teams picked up credible draws on the opening day of the season although they were overshadowed by one incident. Joey Barton’s tangle with Arsenal new boy Gervinho saw the Toon hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons yet again. Apart from that skirmish the Geordies put on a fantastic defensive performance as they constantly took the sting out of the Gunners tails on the way to a 0-0 draw.

Sunderland also produced a sterling performance against a Liverpool side boasting over £100 million worth of new signings in the ranks. New boy Sebastian Larsson put in a superb shift down the right and also popped to volley home a smashing equaliser to ear his side a 1-1 draw.

Both teams have problems at left back with Ryan Taylor filling the hole left by Jose Enrique. Kieran Richardson also plugged the gap in Sunderland’s problem area although his unconvincing display could force Steve Bruce into a change.  It will also be interesting to see if Barton can hold his temper with both sides of the Stadium of Light roaring his name for different reasons.

Steve Bruce is still searching for his first win over Newcastle as Black Cats boss whilst the same applies to Alan Pardew in the Magpies dugout. Sunderland have the better team at the moment but like their rivals are a bit flat up front at the minute.

Key Players

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Lee Cattermole: The Sunderland skipper will be vital to shutting down Newcastle’s midfield combo of Yohan Cabaye and Cheik Tiote.

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Shola Ameobi: Comes alive in derby games and the Toon will be looking at him to lead the line and bully the Sunderland centre backs.

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Verdict: 1-1