When I first heard that Sven had been made manager of Manchester City, the first thing I felt was relief – relief he wasn’t taking over at my club.

And City fans, by all accounts, were equally underwhelmed by the appointment of the former England boss with some publicly declaring they wouldn’t renew their season ticket if he took over.

But, after some careful thought and analysis, I am starting to get the feeling we might all be wrong.

At club level, Sven has never been anything less than massively successful. He may have made a complete pig’s ear of the England job, but when it comes to domestic management he was, undoubtedly, one of the best in Europe.

He has tons of experience, a wealth of contacts and a magnificent track record – all of which could make City a force to be reckoned with this season.

And with new owner Thaksin Shinawatra’s millions to spend (at least those that aren’t frozen by Thailand’s fraud squad) Sven should be able to have a real impact at the City of Manchester stadium.

Most importantly by appointing Eriksson, City have got a manager with a heck of a lot to prove. He was humiliated and ridiculed by the English media and he will be desperate to ram those harsh words back down their throats.

All in all, I think Manchester City may just have made the managerial appointment of the season. And I never thought I would be saying that about Sven…

Copa America

I have to confess that I haven’t really been giving the Copa America the sort of attention it probably deserves.

Sure, I’ve kept an eye open for the occasional result but, for the most part, the tournament has all but passed me by.

However, I think I may start to pay attention now that the dream final of Argentina versus Brazil is on the cards.

If the organizers in Venezuela could have paid to have any two teams battling it out for the title tomorrow, I think it is fairly safe to say it would have been these two.

Now I just need to find out what TV channel is showing the final so I can get a long overdue fix of proper football.

There are only so many re-runs of old Premier League games you can watch before your brain starts to freeze …

Quote of week

Quote of the week, if not the month, has to be the one from Colombia’s coach Jorge Luis Pinto. He was speaking after his side lost to Paraguay in the Copa America.

“I lament the score. I am sorry for Colombia and my country…. We dominated the game,” Mr Pinto said with genuine sorrow.

The score in the game they dominated? 5-0 to Paraguay. Maybe domination has a whole different meaning in Colombia...

West Ham

Just when you thought West Ham couldn’t get more unpopular they go and do that one thing which is guaranteed to turn even the most placid neutral against them - they sign Craig Bellamy.

The London outlaws – let’s face it, that’s what they are – have already failed to endear themselves to the football world by getting away with the Tevez fiasco.

Now they have the mouthiest player in the Premier League on their books, a man so obnoxious he could cause civil disobedience in a Tibetan monastery.

An on-line poll carried out this week now shows that West Ham are the club most people would like to see relegated from the Premier League this season.

Just shows that while money can possibly buy success and can certainly buy you a way round the law, it still can’t buy you friends.

Jamie Carragher

There has been a lot of talk this week about Jamie Carragher’s decision to semi-retire from international football.

Just in case you missed it, Carragher said he was going to stop representing his country on the basis that he keeps getting overlooked by England even when others are injured.

The final straw was, apparently, the Estonia game.

With Rio Ferdinand out injured, Jamie had every right to believe he would be chosen to partner John Terry at the heart of the defence.

Let’s be honest, the Liverpool player has been absolutely outstanding for his club in that very role for years now. Quietly, efficiently and effectively getting on with his job of being one of the best defenders in Europe.

Instead, McClaren chose to go with Ledley King. An insult to anyone’s sensibilities.

Then, to rub salt in the wound, McClaren chose Wes Brown to replace Gary Neville at right back. Brown isn’t even that good in his favoured position of centre back, let alone out on the right.

All too much for a quiet, focused professional like Jamie to deal with.

Some have suggested Carragher is turning his back on his country. But he is doing nothing of the sort. He has made it very clear that if his country needs him he will come running.

All he is saying is that if he is going to be consistently overlooked for a proper role in the England set up he might as well stay in Liverpool and help his club win the league. And fair play to the lad.

History will show that one of the greatest defenders of his generation only played a handful of proper games for his nation. And then we wonder why this generation of England internationals has failed so miserably…

Contact James on: [email protected]