A spot of cold comfort

Latics’ assistant manager writes every week for Chron Sport
I HAVE mixed feelings about our enforced absence due to the winter snap.

On one hand it has been a blessing in disguise, because had our trip to Stevenage not been postponed, we would have gone there with just 14 available senior professionals, with the rest of the squad made up of youngsters.

So at least some of our injured players have been given a bit more time to recover from their ailments, including captain Dean Furman (knee), Reuben Reid (thigh) and Zander Diamond (hip).

But the flipside is that we all enjoy playing football and want to get back out there.

The weather forecast for the coming days does not exactly look great so, inevitably, there is going to be a bit of doubt surrounding tomorrow’s scheduled trip to Brentford in npower League One and perhaps even Walsall’s visit to Boundary Park on Tuesday.

In the meantime we have to just concentrate on our training and prepare for each game as well as we can.

Should tomorrow’s game get the green light, it should be a good contest because we are both attacking sides who pose a threat. We just need that bit of luck in front of goal and it is important we stick together.

Brentford’s form has levelled out a bit after a flying start to the season, but they are dangerous and Uwe Rosler, the former Manchester City striker, has got them playing some good football.

I was surprised and disappointed to see Fabio Capello resign as England manager.

I felt England were geared up for a successful Euro 2012 because the Italian boss had made a lot of positive changes after the World Cup disappointment two years ago.

He had brought through new players and arranged for a much more suitable base for the squad to stay in during the tournament.

Maybe there was an argument about the John Terry situation, with neither Capello nor the FA willing to back down.

From my point of view, speaking as a former international footballer, I believe Harry Redknapp has all the ingredients to be the next England boss.

International football is not about the coaching because the top man gets so little time with his players — it is down to man-management, motivation and organisation, all of which Harry can bring to the table.