Sunderland were thrashed 4-1 by Bolton and it left manager Roy Keane to wonder whether he was “the right man for Sunderland”.

Well, I’d say that he is NOT the right man for them. Sunderland don’t want a boss who goes around giving everybody advice, telling everybody what to do and then doesn’t deliver on his own word. Simply put, this fella is a big mouth – no doubt a wealthy one, because of his years at Manchester United; but all the same just a big bully.

He tells his players, and their wives and girlfriends (WAGS), what to do and not to do, he confesses that he intentionally set out to harm a fellow pro footballer (whom he did harm), he goes around telling the referees how to referee (mostly after Sunderland lose – and now it is six defeats in seven games).

What kind of manager is this? He should do the respectful thing “for once at least” and leave on his own accord. Failing that, the club should sack him.

Sunderland will be better off without him around, of this I am sure.

I love Arsenal fans; I think they are great fun. They always seem to be looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses provided by Arsene Wenger. thestriker is one such example. It pains me to take apart their nice little fantasy football world built by the “Professor” but I can’t really help it as it’s my favourite pastime.

I will start with William Gallas, the outgoing Arsenal captain. In his post, thestriker described the William Gallas issue as “dealt with” but I beg to differ. Anytime a disgruntled former captain of a football team still plays in a key position, you are going to have major problems moving forward.

What happens when things don’t go to plan on the field? Who do you blame? What if Gallas makes a big mistake that leads to a goal, will the new captain blame Gallas? Can the new captain stop the team from blowing up at Gallas?

When Roy Keane, the Man United captain at the time; spoke out of turn against Man United, he was instantly shown the door by Sir Alex. By not doing the same, Wenger is inviting more problems than he needs.

Secondly, thestriker is right about injuries being part and parcel of the game. However, the way teams deal with them determines if the team will challenge for the title. This season like last, Wenger has not dealt with any of the injuries to his team. I hate to say it, but Man United and Chelsea never seem to suffer when injuries hit them.

There always seems to be someone capable of stepping in and getting the job done for these teams. I suppose this is a direct result of huge squads of quality players assembled by deep pockets. In Wenger’s case, the money is available to spend (so we have been told) but he seems reluctant to use it. Therefore, a lack of resources is not an excuse the Frenchman can use.

Finally, Wenger might be the best at getting performances out of his young inexperienced squad, but I have not seen him do it lately. Please note, in the last 5 league games played, Arsenal have lost 3 and drawn 1; picking up only 4 points.

Keep this up and the Gunners will have to qualify for next season’s UEFA Cup via the InterToto Cup.

There is too much being made of Arsenal’s situation. This is a big club, one that wins league championships and gets to the final of the European Champions League. They have a few problems at the moment, but then again so do the other clubs.

Arsenal’s position is really quite a simple one – Wenger has now dealt with Gallas matter and hopefully they can now move.

Their injury problems are not isolated to them alone. All the clubs – big and small, suffer from these and the trick is to get by without it having real adverse effects on how you perform.

The Arsenal folk will tell you that Wenger is the best in the business when it come to getting his team to perform, even with young, inexperienced kids.

So now we will expect to see him do it again; I hope for their sake he manages to pull this one off and finish ahead of Aston Villa in the Premiership.

The one saying I hate the most in the English language goes something like this, “Old habits die hard”. As someone who values progress and frowns upon stagnation, I take it as a personal insult when these words are directed at me.

However, I can’t help but use these same words to describe Liverpool over the weekend. If ever there was a time when opportunity “knocked” and nobody was home, last weekend was it.

The Reds had a great chance to open up a gap between themselves and the chasing pack. Did they grasp it? I would like to answer, “With both hands” or maybe “like a lost soul in the desert heat reaching out for water”, unfortunately; they didn’t.

Sadly, they only have themselves to blame. The old habit referred to earlier is the annoying “ability” of theirs to somehow squander 3 perfectly winnable points and instead settle for 1. It was the cause of their title downfall last season; it looks like its going to be the case this season.

In total, 12 points were lost by Liverpool at Anfield to draws last season. Taking their final tally of points collected into consideration, had they bagged those 12 points, Liverpool would have ended the season with 88 points. Considering the Champions of last season’s BPL finish with 87, its clear fixing this flaw was top priority on the Liverpool manager’s list.

Liverpool needed an X-factor in their game to break stubborn defenses down who setup for a draw at Anfield. Enter Robbie Keane from White Hart Lane over the summer.

However, things have not quite gone to plan and Rafa Benitez, the Liverpool manager must be a worried man right now.

Keane thus far has not lived up to expectations. He is eager, works very hard but at times, I cannot help but think he should relax a little. As a fan of the great club, I understand his joy at putting that red shirt on every week but he needs to wear it, not be bogged down by it.

I get the feeling the sooner he does that, the sooner Liverpool’s season is really going to take flight.

Martin O’Neill belongs to a dying breed of football managers. Cut from the same cloth as the original old-school football manager - Brian Clough, when he retires we will probably never see his kind again.

O’Neill was part of Nottingham Forest’s golden era. During his time under Clough, O’Neill not only tasted domestic success but against all the odds won the biggest prize in European club football - the European Cup - twice in a row!

Today as a manager, it’s really no surprise he mirrors his mentor’s motivational and man- management skills. Having cut his managerial teeth at smaller clubs in the English league and with a stint at Glasgow Celtic after his retirement from playing; he has finally arrived at a big English club. Lest we forget, Aston Villa is a big club with a strong fan base and European pedigree to boot.

Before O’Neill’s arrival, Villa were a fading force, languishing at the wrong end of the Premier League table. These days they are being talked up as the latest members of the “Big Four”, consistently qualifying for Europe’s second tier competition and pushing very hard for entry into the top tier. Can they do it this season? The statistics are positive indeed.

In the 2005/06 season, Aston Villa finished 16^th in a 20-team league. The team collected a grand total of 42 points, just 8 points better off than the last relegated team that season. The following season Martin O’Neill took over as manager; they managed 50 points finishing 11^th - one place off the top half of the table. Season 2007/08 was one of Villa’s best, finishing 6^th on the table with a haul of 60 points. Clearly, the new Villa manager has brought progress to the club year on year. The question is can he take it further? This weekend’s win over Arsenal shows to some degree that they can.

But will they do it?