Ever had a hospital pass? The one with the red cross marked on it that you know is going to end with a large amount of personal grief - if you are very lucky?
This is mine. Namely the request to name the Premier League team of "The Noughties". The job that will please no-one and will have plenty of you waving your fist in fury at the laptop.
So apologies in advance. My only excuse for leaving out your own personal favourite or club legend is that I can only pick 11 players and there could have been so many more - and this might be the best substitutes' bench in history.
Tin hat at the ready. And try not to be too hard on me. Remember - I could only pick 11.
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Roberto Mancini, in one of the more spectacular revelations after a winning start to his tenure as Manchester City manager, announced:
It was a conclusion Mancini may have found a lot easier to reach after spending 70 minutes in close proximity to Robinho - and after hearing Eastlands afford Bellamy a rousing, and significant, standing ovation when he replaced the infuriating Brazilian.
was as comfortable as City's hierarchy intended it to be in the weeks they spent plotting .
, but one dilemma from his era remains and all the goodwill afforded the Italian and generated by this victory will not remove it. What will Mancini do about Robinho?
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. And what better time for another Q&A blog on the Premier League and England?
Just the odd thing or two to discuss - , Liverpool's awful season under Rafael Benitez and the fluctuating title race.
Thanks again for so many questions via and . I have not been able to answer them all and apologies to those who have not got in this time. As before, there will be another one along next month and no doubt the January transfer window will provide us with plenty of material.
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Apparently, every time Hughes opened a cupboard a bowling ball fell on his head. Not literally of course, this was simply Cook's unique manner of explaining how the unexpected can throw even the grandest plans off course.
On Saturday, however, , Hughes must have felt like all those bowling balls plus a 16-ton weight had descended on him with devastating force.
And his sense of disbelief at his harsh and ruthless removal will have been even more acute given that a little over a month ago, in the words of Cook, City were
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David Beckham will sail back into Old Trafford on a tidal wave of emotion with - but Jose Mourinho's return to Chelsea with might just be "The Special One" in a .
Beckham admitted a reunion with Manchester United as part of his would be "beautiful", and as most dreams come true for the former England captain it was duly delivered.
He will get the rapturous reception he deserves after contributing so much to Manchester United's success, but intrigue and sub-plots will be behind every door when Mourinho walks back into Stamford Bridge.
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Owen Coyle is not in the business of hoisting the white flag as Burnley's response to facing the Premier League's biggest names.
As a result of this approach (some might even call it unorthodox in the light of recent events), Coyle found himself facing a searching inquisition on the subject of Wolverhampton Wanderers after .
was still a hot topic at Turf Moor after another meeting between the top flight's haves and have-nots.
Burnley's method of taking on Arsenal - "standing toe-to-toe" in the words of Coyle - could not have been further removed from the surrender that so angered the Wolves fans who shelled out to watch their .
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Alex McLeish insists the Premier League table that has Birmingham City perched in sixth place above Liverpool will not be a souvenir in his scrapbook - at least not unless it looks the same at the end of the season.
Birmingham's fifth successive league win, , at least means the scale of McLeish's work is down in black and white.
It also confirms that while , great things are also being achieved down the road at St Andrew's.
Something is stirring in these parts - and Birmingham City and McLeish deserve their share of the spotlight just as much as neighbours Villa.
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Arsene Wenger's decoration of Arsenal's Anfield dressing room with verbal invective was long forgotten as he celebrated edging out Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill as the big winner of the Premier League's madcap, coupon-busting weekend.
In two remarkable days, at the Arsenal players he usually defends with such fervour, and occasionally against all logic, was perhaps the most remarkable incident of them all.
Wenger delighted in an ability to still surprise his Arsenal charges after 13 years with a blast of vocal caustic soda in response to a miserable first 45 minutes at Liverpool - but
For Liverpool counterpart Rafael Benitez this was meant to be another fresh start after the conclusion of a wretched Champions League campaign. Instead, to misquote
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.
- the flesh and blood embodiment of the selection dilemma that will face him before the World Cup.
The more goals Owen scores, the more Capello will be tormented. And .
If Owen maintains the momentum this stunning performance will give him, it should not only make his World Cup selection a formality, it will bolster .
The Premier League has delivered an impressive show of strength as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United cleared the opening hurdles in comfort and finished top of their groups - but Liverpool's fall at the first fence represents a significant failure for manager Rafael Benitez and his team.
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Manchester City's latest ploy to turn up the sense of anticipation at Eastlands - apart from spending hundreds of millions of pounds of course - is to plunge the stadium into darkness seconds before kick-off.
As the house lights are dimmed, creating an atmosphere akin to the start of a rock concert, a giant is beamed from the Colin Bell Stand and City's old anthem is belted out on cue.
Mighty effective it is too - and symbolic, because when City follow up this drama with a , there is a genuine sense of a club coming out of darkness into light.
Mark Hughes singled this out as a day when City could lay down "another marker about our intentions". And so it proved after a game the purist may have sniffed at, but your average man and woman in the stands would have loved.
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Fabio Capello's facial expressions are traditionally set in stone during serious business - but England's coach must have struggled to contain a smile as he was handed .
The traditional talk of England's potential involvement in a "Group Of Death", step forward Group G, was soon banished as Capello cast his eyes over a section of the draw he could have hand-picked himself.
in a masterpiece of understatement as he surveyed England's three opponents in World Cup Group C, the United States, Algeria and Slovenia.
England must beware being suckered into believing a red carpet to the last 16 has been rolled out before them. The United States beat Spain before losing to Brazil in last summer's Confederations Cup final in South Africa, Slovenia revel in the role of underdogs and Algeria's are a technically gifted side.
But, in reality, if England are to fulfil Capello's claim that "we have to win it", they can safely say the draw, with David Beckham in attendance, has already increased optimism.
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Arsenal did not cover themselves in glory as they slipped tamely out of the Carling Cup at Manchester City - a defeat compounded by the post-match attitude of manager Arsene Wenger.
Wenger has had better weeks after watching both his team and football philosophy take heavy punishment as and his youngsters were brushed aside at an atmospheric Eastlands on Wednesday.
But there was no excuse for his churlish refusal to shake hands with opposite number Mark Hughes at the conclusion of , or his later public belittling of the tournament.
Wenger has lavished many gifts on the game since his arrival at Arsenal, but grace in defeat has not been one of them. This was the latest example of a darker side to his football personality.
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Sir Alex Ferguson dug up an insult aimed at Manchester United from days gone by to turn his fire on those who dare to criticise Old Trafford's production line of young talent.
- uttered at the start of a season that finished with United winning the double in 1996 - has become a monument to the folly of questioning Ferguson's faith in youth.
and gave it another airing in his progamme notes after United's emerging group of players were criticised following the Champions League defeat against Besiktas.
Ferguson relishes a fight and the final word. .
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