THE sacking of Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson  on Saturday morning was preceded a couple of days before by comments from the chief executive of the League Managers Association warning that clubs should not be “treated as the playthings of the super rich”.

Hodgson was one of four managers reportedly at risk from the axe along with Gerard Houllier at Aston Villa, Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea and Avram Grant at West Ham.

FOOTBALL fans are fickle creatures and this was clearly illustrated over the weekend when both Manchester clubs secured wins to leave them in the top two spots in the Premier League.

It is only a few seeks since Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney and Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez were expressing dissatisfaction with their current employers and seeking pastures new.

THERE was much  hype surrounding the draw for the last 16 stage of the Champions League with pundits wetting themselves with excitement at the prospect of Arsenal re-staging their epic clashes against Barcelona last season.

True, both matches were real treats, a feast for football purists and it does seem that Arsenal face the toughest challenge of all the English teams still left in the competition.