Can England or Austria Win Euro 2016?

Another round of qualifying for the European Championships in France in 2016 has been completed with only one more round robin to go and still many countries yet to confirm their spots.

England, Austria, Iceland and the Czech Republic confirmed their places in the expanded football extravaganza next year while the likes of Wales, Germany, Poland, Northern Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Russia edged closer towards automatic qualification.

Ok, how many of you bet that England and Austria would be amongst the first two nations to automatically qualify for EURO 2016?

I guess England were in a moderately tricky group with the highly rated Swiss and mercurial Slovenes and average Estonians and Lithuanians and almost irrelevant San Marino. The young talented Swiss led by Stoke City's Xherdan Shaqiri were tipped to cause the Lions the most problems after a pretty decent World Cup performance but proved to be a major disappointment at the start as England romped away with a 8-0 record.

The eternal question remains though - can England finally become real contenders at a major tournament? It is hard to say and it doesn't appear that much has changed. It will all come down to which group they get - this should be boosted by their performance in the qualifiers which was almost akin to the Dutch - funnily enough, the Dutch have performed like England over the last 2 years in these qualifiers and are almost certain to miss out completely.

It will be a fairly youthful England team that goes to France next year led by record goalscorer, Wayne Rooney - Luke Shaw, Nathaniel Clyne, John Stones, Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are still young and just hitting the peak of their careers. Whether they can mimic the ethos applied by Spain and Germany remains to be seen.

One team guaranteed to mimic that ethos is Austria.

The team from Germany's little brother in the Alps have never really been considered one of the most exciting teams in world football apart from being the losing team in a 7-5 defeat to Hungary in the 1954 World Cup - indeed most of their history has been mired in controversy including that game against their neighbours West Germany in the 1982 World Cup where they settled for a 1-0 defeat so that both sides would qualify.

Since their last appearance at a major tournament in 1998, Austria have languished and been regarded as one of the minnows.

How many world class players from Austria could you count in the last 15 years?

How many Austrian Bundesliga sides made the Champions League group stages in the last 15 years?

However, a revival has started taking place in this decade - like Germany, Belgium and Switzerland, Austria has started taking advantage of its new generation immigrant population and seems to be heading back to the (slightly) glorious days of the 1990s.

David Alaba is obviously the key person for the Austrians - the Bayern Munich utility player has become the talisman for his national side and has been key in Austria's incredible performance in this qualifying tournament. However, he has had help from the rise of his compatriots who are now gracing the Premier League, i.e. Leicester's Christian Fuchs, Stoke's Marko Arnautovic and experienced goalscorer, Basel's Marc Janko.

Austria's revival isn't quite like Belgium's where they've come from nowhere to provide a Premier League Star XI that includes Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen, Chadli, Hazard, Mirrallas, Fellaini, de Bruyne, Lukaku and Benteke - could win the tournament but given their good coaching and team spirit, they could very well be a surprise in France next year.

A big mention to Northern Ireland and Wales too who have really stepped up to the place and are set for automatic qualification. Now it's really the case of praying that Gareth Bale and Kyle Lafferty don't get injured before the tournament.

Who said that this expanded 24 Euro 2016 was bad for football? It might be time to get tickets to France for next summer.

(Not) The All Blacks RWC Squad

So the 31 names going to England to win the Rugby World Cup for only the 3rd time for the All Blacks have been confirmed.

The focus really has now been on who hasn't made that list - and there have definitely been some high profile names and very unlucky players amongst that lot.

Israel Dagg and Cory Jane are the two from the last World Cup who have missed out while Charles Piutau and Lima Sopoaga can count themselves very unlucky not to have been named.

So what would the alternate ABs RWC squad without the 31 players named look like?

Here's my take -

Props - Nepo Laulala, Joe Moody, Brendon Edmonds, Josh Hohneck, Kane Hames
Hookers - James Parsons, Ash Dixon, Hika Elliot
Locks - Jeremy Thrush, James Broadhurst, Joe Wheeler
Loose Forwards - Matt Todd, Ardie Savea, Elliot Dixon, Akira Ioane, Blade Thomson, Nasi Manu
Halfbacks - Brad Weber, Andy Ellis, Mitchell Drummond
First Fives - Lima Sopoaga, Otere Black
Centres - Ryan Crotty, Charlie Ngatai, Richard Buckman, George Moala
Outside Backs - Charles Piutau, Cory Jane, Israel Dagg, James Lowe, Patrick Osborne

Is this the All Blacks Squad for RWC 2015?

There has been plenty of gossip and intrigue as the hours tick down towards the most highly anticipated All Blacks side in many years.

With a Rugby World Cup defence on the line, this is one All Blacks squad no one wants to miss out on and the heartbreak will be bigger than it normally has been.

After weeks of rehearsals, auditions and speculation, it will now all come down to what happens at Parliament at 6:30pm on Sunday evening.

Reading into the leaked reports and social media like a journo at the close of football's transfer window - helped by the fact that our biggest clue is that all 31 All Blacks will be unveiled after the naming of the squad tonight, having had their phone calls earlier today - we may very well have figured out the 31 men going to England next month.

Here it is -

Props - Tony Woodcock, Owen Franks, Ben Franks, Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina
Hookers - Keven Mealamu, Dane Coles, Codie Taylor
Locks - Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Luke Romano
Loose Forwards - Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Victor Vito, Sam Cane, Liam Messam
Halfbacks - Aaron Smith, TJ Perenara, Tawera Kerr-Barlow
First Fives - Dan Carter, Beauden Barrett, Colin Slade
Centres - Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Sonny Bill Williams, Malakai Fekitoa
Outside Backs - Ben Smith, Julian Savea, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Waisake Naholo

What Happened to Tottenham's All Star Team of 2013-14?

When Tottenham sold Gareth Bale for a world record fee of 85 million pounds to Real Madrid, they quickly embarked on a spending spree that seemed to grab some of the most in-demand players in world football.

Paulinho, Nacer Chadli, Roberto Soldado, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela were all brought in to White Hart Lane for 105 million pounds in total in the summer of 2013 - Spurs actually made a 10 million pound profit on players funnily enough that summer.

2 years on, only Chadli, Eriksen and Lamela have stayed on and really only Eriksen could be considered money well spent - he came at a price tag of 11.5 million pounds.

As for the two most expensive signings?

Paulinho at 17 million pounds started brightly but has now moved to the obscurity of Chinese Super League football - a move worth 9.9 million pounds. A loss of 7.1 million pounds.

Roberto Soldado at 26 million pounds, probably the biggest flop of them all given his value, has now returned to Spain - Villarreal buying him for 10 million pounds. A loss of 26 million pounds.

Etienne Capoue and Vlad Chiriches have all gone to Watford and Napoli respectively - both less than the value Spurs paid for them initially.

Funny to think that back then, Tottenham were hailed as the new all star team and the team to watch.

Fast forward a few months on, Andre Villas-Boas was no longer manager, with former Spurs legend, Tim Sherwood taking the helm for the last few months as Spurs limped to 6th place, a long way from Champions League football.

Sherwood himself is now gone, replaced by former Southampton manager, Mauricio Pochettino.

Tottenham's story just illustrates the perils of buying into stardom and how easily hype can turn into flop. Fortunately, unlike Leeds who bought big for the dream all those years ago, Tottenham are financially stable - although calling them a well-run club is a bit of a stretch.

My All Blacks Team for the 2015 Rugby World Cup

The All Blacks' thumping performance of the Wallabies at Eden Park on Saturday night was never really in doubt even after the loss in Sydney the weekend before.

Billed as captain Richie McCaw's farewell to New Zealand and his chance to become the most capped test captain in test history, along with a chance to say goodbye to the likes of Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Tony Woodcock and Keven Mealamu, the ABs were never going to lose this game even if at times initially they looked a bit nervous.

Every player in the side stood up and while like Julian Savea may not quite be at the form we know they can be in, we have a clear idea of who will make the long flight to London next month.

So with all the auditions and warm-up tests over, here is my All Blacks squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Props -
Tony Woodcock, Owen Franks, Ben Franks, Wyatt Crockett, Nepo Laulala

Hookers -
Dane Coles, Keven Mealamu, Codie Taylor

Locks -
Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Luke Romano

Loose Forwards -
Victor Vito, Jerome Kaino, Liam Messam, Richie McCaw, Sam Cane, Kieran Read

Halfbacks -
Aaron Smith, TJ Perenara

First Fives -
Dan Carter, Lima Sopoaga

Centres -
Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Malakai Fekitoa

Wingers -
Julian Savea

Utility Backs -
Ben Smith, Israel Dagg, Colin Slade, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Charles Piutau, Beauden Barrett

Notes - 
- Nepo Laulala has really taken his chance since being named for the Samoa test and should be named the 5th prop.
- James Broadhurst and Jeremy Thrush haven't really taken their chances and the selectors will opt to use Kieran Read, Victor Vito and Jerome Kaino as emergency lock cover
- Two specialist halfbacks with Colin Slade to become the jack of all trades
- Sonny Bill Williams to miss out after a below par season and with questions re: focus - SBW is also pursuing a spot in the Olympics.
- Lima Sopoaga and Nehe Milner-Skudder are the two new backs after taking their chances and holding them onto them well.