SPURS, Chelsea and United in turmoil as West Ham Feeder Club Ltd set to cease trading <br></br> FACT: Roy Keane was a great player but he's a rotten manager <br></br> TYPICAL Liverpool - blame everyone but themselves for being worse than Everton

14 April 2012

Let's turn our attention to the East, where news reaches me that the club that gave us (Sir) Bobby Moore, Sir Geoff Hurst, Sir Trevor Brooking, Martin Peters, Rio Ferdinand, Alvin Martin, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Glen Johnson, Paul Ince and Tony Cottee is to appoint Gianluca Nani as technical director, with the responsibility for recruitment.

Things will never be the same at West Ham again - the last all-English team to win the FA Cup (1975) is to have an Italian flavour.

It's yet another worrying sign that the game is moving further away from its roots. Soon, it will be all so unfamiliar, we won't be able to recognise it.

• Yesterday's Hatchet Man

Don't just take my word for it. The legendary Gianfranco Zola, one of football's great ambassadors, has spoken out and called for a quota system of non-foreign players at every club.

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Hammers legends: (Sir) Bobby Moore and Sir Trevor Brooking were part of the fabric that made West Ham so English - that's set to be lost forever with Italians taking over

"Having so many foreign players is not good for the locals," says Zola. "When I started at Napoli, I had Maradona and Careca but there was still space for me to play, now there are seven or eight foreigners in every team.

"For the young players, it is important for them to have good players in front of them but they must also have the hope of playing."

West Ham, Middlesbrough and Manchester City have the best record for providing a route through to the first team for its young, local players.

Hatchet Man can't help fearing those days could be about to fade and die for West Ham.

What will Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United do now if their feeder club isn't churning out local talent?

••••••

Roy Keane was a great player but is he making a right balls-up of this management lark?

On Wednesday, almost a month after the transfer window closed, he placed eight players on the transfer list. He bought seven of them! So does that mean when he goes to Niall Quinn next with his begging bowl, they have to question his judgement first?

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Bristling with indignation: Roy Keane has put most of his summer signings on the transfer list

So far, most of Keane's successes are players signed by Sir Alex Ferguson before, such as Kieran Richardson and Jonny Evans. Granted, Kenwyne Jones impressed earlier in the season.

Craig Gordon doesn't count because you don't need to be a rocket scientist to know £9m buys you a decent goalkeeper.

Sunderland are in a relegation battle, have lost the last 10 games on their travels and their manager is showing signs that he might not be all he was cracked up to be.

••••••

Eduardo

12,500 emails of support have been sent to Arsenal to wish Eduardo a full and complete recovery, while 27,000 people have signed a petition that Martin Taylor shouldn't play again.

Is it just me or is there something not quite right with those figures?

••••••

No buttons: Grant

Bargain bucket time at the Chelsea Megastore, where you can now buy a Carling Cup Final shirt for £24.99 (was £34.99), a T-shirt £4.99 (was £9.99) and scarf £4 (was £7.99).

Grab your unwanted Carling Cup memorabilia here

No mention of the Avram Grant doll with Russian remote control.

••••••

Steven Gerrard, who always speaks well – and sometimes speaks better than he plays – has had a moan about Liverpool's season and says that he "can't bear to look at the league table".

So who's really to blame for the Anfield mess? Inadequate players, a manager obsessed with rotation or two Americans who rarely come near the place?

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Who's to blame? Benitez or Gerrard?

I guess I know who Liverpool fans will blame but don't they need to look a little closer to home?

Everton have made life very uncomfortable for their illustrious neighbours.

••••••

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Does my bum look big in this? Mido will clash with Hasselbaink in the rear of the year quarter-final

An FA Cup quarter-final between Middlesbrough and Cardiff throws up the intriguing prospect of Mido versus Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Not to see who scores the most goals but who wears the biggest shorts to cover their rather large posteriors.

It's the football equivalent of a bikini catwalk show between Bella Emberg and Dawn French. Don't fancy yours much.

••••••

Cup rant: Gibson

Steve Gibson – or should that be Steve Gobson judging by his TV rant – spoke out against the FA at half-time of Middlesbrough's dull fifth-round replay and called into question their ability to run the game.

Bet he makes a really good ally and a heck of a bad enemy. Be prepared for more trouble over this. He has a point, though.

••••••

This week's WAG is not a wife or a girlfriend but Doncaster Belles defender Natasha Hughes, who has been selected purely for her football skills. Honest. For more on Natasha, go to this link. See you in Doncaster.

Natasha Hughes - Belle of the ball

Good up front, even better at the back: Natasha Hughes is not the ugly face of football

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