Like it or not – and I have yet to meet a single person who does like it – we are going to be having a winter World Cup in seven years’ time.

Fifa has decided that is what is going to happen and we all know there is more chance of North Korea joining Nato than Sepp Blatter and his bandits changing their minds.

So on that basis, I am suggesting we might as well try and make the best out of the situation and see if we can’t embrace this one-off change to the routine.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take every available opportunity to remind Fifa that this whole mess was brought about by its incompetence, corruption and ineptitude.

After all, this is an organisation whose executive committee sat there with a report in front of them telling them a summer World Cup in Qatar was too dangerous, but voted for it regardless; an organisation so hell-bent on avoiding blame that it chose to gag its own investigator rather than reveal the truth about what happened in the bidding process. An organisation that missed its last chance to claw back some integrity when it failed to do the right thing and start the 2022 bidding process again.

Despite all this, I think we all know now that there is no turning back now. Qatar will stage the World Cup and it will be held in November and December (for England, probably just November). It’s a ‘compromise’, but only in the sense that everyone has to give ground apart from Fifa. So highly does it regard itself that I’m surprised it didn’t actually ask the Pope to move Christmas to January.

However, even though everybody knows this ‘compromise’ is probably not the best solution to a problem of Fifa’s own making, nothing is going to stop this juggernaut of incompetence from rolling on.

And on that basis we football fans are left with a stark choice.

Keep kicking up a fuss and complaining about how unfair it all is or say to ourselves that we won’t let Fifa’s mismanagement ruin what is supposed to be, after all, our tournament. So I am, for one, going to bite the bullet and try to look forward to the unknown mysteries of a winter World Cup.

It will be an unusual feeling watching the world’s biggest football tournament with wind howling outside and rain lashing against the window, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy it.

However, I do have one proviso in my begrudging acceptance of the 2022 shambles: That something is done to help out those clubs for whom the inevitable fixture disruption will cause serious problems.

Fifa has already shown its deep-rooted love for football by angrily announcing that it won’t be offering leagues any compensation for breaking up their seasons.

And that is fair enough when it comes to the big teams who are awash with money – spending a season with a slightly tighter belt won’t hurt them in the slightest.

It is the small, lower league clubs that are likely to suffer most. Some teams depend on regular gate money just to survive from week to week, and a two-month gap in their income flow could be fatal. It is fundamentally wrong that these clubs should pay for the mistakes of the very organisation that is supposed to protect them.

However, provided that is satisfactorily resolved, I am prepared to give the novelty of a one-off winter World Cup a chance.

At least the England team won’t be able to trot out the boring old excuse that the players were tired after a long season.

Assuming, of course, they even qualify…

Where’s the progress?

For the past few months I have been defending Louis van Gaal on the basis that a man of his experience and undoubted talent will eventually get it right at Old Trafford.

Now I’m starting to have my doubts.

When Manchester United lost at home to Swansea on the opening day of the season, the Dutchman dismissed the result as a mere flesh wound and insisted titles were not decided on one game. Fair enough.

But fast forward six months and United somehow conspired to lose to Swansea for the second time this season.

So highly does Fifa regard itself that I’m surprised it didn’t actually ask the Pope to move Christmas to January

Admittedly, this was only van Gaal’s second league defeat since November but if I were a United fan I would be rather worried that an expensively assembled team which has had half a year to gel is still capable of suffering results like this one.

They may not have lost a lot of games in the past few months, but I think you can count on one hand the number of truly convincing performances there have been in that time. And you might not even need to use all your fingers. Possibly just a thumb.

The truth is they are still misfiring and misfiring badly. The formation is all over the place, players are not playing in their preferred positions and they lack a cohesive game plan.

You could argue, of course, that van Gaal is merely looking to secure a return to the top four this season and that style, formation, tactics and everything else are playing second fiddle to ensuring that happens by whatever means necessary. Even if the football is ugly at times.

I would counter, however, that having spent so much money and had two-thirds of a season in charge, there should at least be the first signs that a plan is coming together.

And right now it doesn’t seem like it is.

More trouble than he’s worth

Joey Barton, what a legend!

Only two weeks ago I was offering him sarcastic congratulations for becoming the first player in Premier League history to get yellow cards in seven consecutive games.

And I said at the time I wouldn’t put it past him making it eight in a row.

But Barton was not content with that and opted to go for a straight red to round off his period of sustained misbehaviour. Sent off in the first half of a winnable match that his team desperately needed to win. Which they subsequently lost.

Queens Park Rangers are in a pretty pickle at the bottom end of the table and need a captain who is not just capable of leading by example on the pitch, but also staying on it. And Barton is rarely either.

He apologised immediately after the game but, as his team-mate Charlie Austin said, there comes a point when saying sorry no longer cuts it. And I think Barton exceeded his quota of acceptable apologies a long time ago.

It’s all rather silly really, because deep down, buried under all the attitude, aggro and mental instability, there is a decent player somewhere inside Barton. Unfortunately he only lets him out on very rare occasions.

Barton will serve his ban, get back in the team and lead from the front again for a few games before the red mist descends and he once again finds himself apologising to the fans and his team-mates.

But next time there is a very good chance they won’t accept it.

Final thoughts

Capital One Cup Final day today and a lot of you are asking me who is going to win it. Well, actually, nobody has asked me, but I’m going to have a little stab at predicting it anyway.

On paper it should be Chelsea’s to lose. They have the better team, more experience and – at least in my opinion – the better manager.

On the other hand, this is Tottenham Hotspur’s only realistic opportunity of success this season so I would expect them to give this game everything they’ve got.

That kind of levels out the playing field just a bit.

All told, I am going with a tight Spurs victory. So you all know what to do now.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade