The never ending story

Some football matches are so good you just don't want them to end.

Like, for example, the Arsenal vs Manchester United match earlier this season. Or the Italy vs Brazil game in the 1982 World Cup. Classic games that seem to finish in a matter of seconds even though you would be happy watching them for days.

Other games, though, seem to last forever. Matches so boring you spend more time watching the clock than the ball in the desperate hope something - maybe even a small natural disaster - will bring them to a premature end. Any game involving Bolton is normally a good example of this.

The only thing both these different types of contest have in common is that, ultimately, whether we want them to or not, they both come to an end after 90 minutes. Maybe a little longer if you include injury time. That is the norm.

Or at least it is generally the norm because, at the moment, there is one match that just won't lie down and die.

Remember last week I was talking about the FA Cup tie between Chesterfield and Droylsden? The one with the moment of fair play in which Chesterfield allowed Droylsden to walk the ball into the net to make up for their own dodgy goal?

Well, it's that game, ladies and gentlemen, which is lingering around like the last drunken guest at your Christmas party.

The first clash between the two teams had to be abandoned at half time when fog made it impossible to continue. The second attempt saw the 'fair play goal' which meant it ended in a 2-2 draw.

The replay, which took place this week, seemed to be going as normal with Chesterfield leading 2-0 and cruising into the next round and a money-spinning tie with Ipswich.

Then, the floodlights failed.

Desperate attempts to get them going again proved futile. And, because they were in the 71st minute and hadn't reached the magic 75 minute mark which makes it a formal result, the game will have to be played again.

Now, not having seen a single minute of the football these two teams are offering up to their fans, I really can't say whether it is one of those games you want to finish quickly or last forever.

However, I think it is fairly safe to say a clash between a struggling League Two side and non-league part-timers is not going to be reaching the heights that Italy and Brazil managed all those years ago. The fans must be getting absolutely sick of the sight of each other. And attendance at the next scheduled attempt - on Tuesday - will either be spectacularly low or very high as neutrals flock to catch a glimpse of the game which is fast achieving legendary status.

However, as eternal as this match seems, it is still a long way from the record, which dates back to 1971 between Alvechurch and Oxford City, also in the FA Cup.

That match took a staggering six attempts before Alvechurch brought an end to the horror by winning the fifth replay 1-0.

The Chesterfield vs Droylsden tie is unlikely to reach those lengths as, I understand, rules are in place to go to extra time and penalties if a game is undecided after a third replay.

Even so, come the final whistle on Tuesday we will already have had a rather impressive five hours of football between these two teams.

And with snow forecast for England this week, the FA Cup may have just created football's first ever immortal match...

Anglo-Italian Cup

As far as Malta is concerned, Champions League draws don't get much tastier than that.

Three clashes between English and Italian teams should make for some pretty enticing viewing.

Chelsea vs Juventus promises to be a cracker with Ranieri returning to his old stomping ground while Arsenal vs Roma pits together two teams with the ability to play some first-rate football.

But the clash of the round has to be Manchester United vs Inter. Jose Mourinho locking horns with Sir Alex again will be a joy to behold, not just during the games, but in the respective build-ups as well.

I would have liked to have seen this as the final with United looking for back-to-back trophies and Mourinho looking to leave his mark on Italian football. However, I will take a last-16 clash rather than none at all.

The other English team, Liverpool, may have avoided an Italian club but they certainly didn't come off lightly with Real Madrid standing between them and a place in the quarter-finals.

I have to admit I, haven't been overly excited by this year's Champions League so far. But I am now. Roll on the end of February.

Play it again, Sam

Glad to see Blackburn heeded my call for patience.

No sooner have I suggested that Paul Ince needs time to turn the club around than they hit the panic button and send him packing, his reputation in tatters.

And don't try and tell me it was a spontaneous decision, taken purely on the basis of last Saturday's result. Sam Allardyce was appointed within 48 hours, so they must have been planning a switch for a while.

I have a lot of time for Big Sam. I think he is a hugely underrated manager who suffered a similar fate when he was given insufficient time to work his magic at Newcastle. If anyone can save Blackburn from relegation then he's the one.

But the treatment of Ince makes me fear for the future of English managers. What sort of message does it send out to all those hard working, passionate, ambitious lower division coaches who are slaving away at lesser clubs hoping for their shot at the big time?

That it will never happen or, on the off chance that it does, you have three desperate months to prove yourself before being slung out on your ear.

It's impossible to deny that Ince looked a little out of his depth. Maybe his big break came a little too early in his career and he needed more time learning the ropes at a smaller club.

Either way, I don't think he will be out of management for long. He will almost certainly need to take a couple of steps back down the ladder to get a job and then work his way back up again.

What are the odds on him and Blackburn passing each other on the way...? We can live in hope.

Paying over the odds

Manchester City issued a stark warning this week to anyone thinking of ripping them off in the January transfer window, insisting they won't be taken for mugs.

The world's richest club said they will not be held to ransom just because their new owners have so much money that they could fund their own independent space programme with money they find down the back of the sofa.

Although they are planning to let Mark Hughes splash the cash, they are wary of clubs putting their prices up just because of who they are.

Well, I have news for you chaps. Clubs will put their prices up. And there is nothing you can do about it.

Sellers will see you coming a mile off and automatically stick a 50 per cent premium on top of whatever it was they were expecting.

Remember when Abramovich scrounged up enough loose change to buy Chelsea?

From that moment on they were destined to pay over the odds for players. Ten million pounds for Scott Parker was a near hysterical bit of business, as was £21 million for Shaun Wright Philips. That's nearly £1 million an inch.

By my reckoning, had anyone else bought either of those two at the time, they would have got them for half those prices.

And that is exactly what Manchester City will find them up against when the transfer window swings open.

Their cause is not being helped by the fact that they have been linked with just about every decent player in world football. And a few less decent ones too.

Depending on which reports you read, the likes of Buffon, Kaka, Torres, Gerrard, Messi and even Cristiano Ronaldo could all be on their way to Eastlands.

Although some of those remain highly unlikely, when money talks, footballers are notorious for listening.

At a time of global recession, it seems ludicrous and highly unpalatable that any club could be thinking about spending £100 million in the transfer market.

Especially as this will have a knock-on inflationary effect on wages throughout the game.

But City won't care about that. All they will care about is cementing their place with the big boys, no matter the cost.

And that's just as well. Because it certainly is going to cost them.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com