The South Africa World Cup Preparations are on track! The 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee met this week and announced that all stadiums are on schedule and outstanding disputes regarding a new stadium in Cape Town at Green Point have been resolved. Concerns that the World Cup venues in Durban and Cape Town may run over budget have also been addressed with all stadia now coming in on budget.

What a fantastic season it’s been so far and it promises to come to a scintillating finish with promotion, relegation and the small matter of a Premiership title to sort out. I’ve been tipping Chelsea all year for the title but as we speak Manchester United are going great guns and it doesn’t look like anyone is going to stop them. If they keep Ronaldo and Rooney fit, I can only believe that I’ll be left with egg on my face come the end of the season.

I think it’s fantastic that Plymouth Argyle have ended up with a charismatic manager like Ian Holloway at the helm. For a small side like theirs, I think he’s the ideal man to take them further than they’ve ever gone in the league. I often find it really disappointing when Championship and other lower league teams opt for the same old boring characters, spouting the same excuses and clichéd rubbish game after game.

In my opinion, out of all the teams in the Premiership, Middlesbrough must be the strangest team to support. When I say this I mean I just don’t have the foggiest idea what fans expectations are going into a new season and what constitutes success for the club. They’ve always entertained me whenever I’ve watched them on the television and have a decent tradition of playing open, attacking football.

I really don’t think Bolton Wanderers get the credit they deserve for what they consistently achieve. I for one, have consistently predicted doom for Big Sam’s men and every time they’ve managed to prove me and many others wrong. I feel their success is based on a fantastic manager maintaining a style of play he has faith in, and a group of players handpicked to fit the system.

I think if a team can ever by too successful, Wigan Athletic have almost certainly proved it possible. From complete obscurity they stormed through League One and the Championship before having the nerve to finish midtable in the Premiership. Now maybe, reality has dawned somewhat and they find themselves lingering perilously close to the drop zone with the teams below them closing in for the kill.

I think out of all the teams in the Premiership, I’d most like to see Tottenham win something this season. After all, they’ve got many young English players and are more often than not good entertainment value. But do I really expect them to lift a trophy this season?

I think without a doubt this season’s FA Cup has been somewhat of a let down, with few matches catching the eye either for outstanding performances or unbelievable upsets. As I write this column, the fourth round has all but been put to rest, with nearly all of the lower league sides having exited the competition. Although it’s nice to see the Premiership’s elite battling it out for the silverware, having a real underdog to root for is what the competition is all about.

This is not just a weekend FA Cup preview; it’s a step towards world peace. As always, the easily offended should steer clear.

Manchester United has certainly found the right solution again, and has a fantastic team with some top performers doing them proud in the Premiership. But how long will the current crop continue to shine and maintain their status as both domestic and European contenders. In Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and even Louis Saha they have three wonderful competitors who seem to have developed a fantastic understanding, which must be encouraging as their aging stars begin to contemplate winding down.

Will Liverpool ever get back to the very top of the domestic game? So, another season has pretty much come and gone for Liverpool and we’re only just into January as I write. Ruthlessly thrown out of both domestic cup competitions by the Arsenal and facing a similar treatment from Barcelona in the Champions League, it’s not looking too bright for the Reds.

Can relegation from the Premiership ever be a good thing? Well, I think if it can, it might just be for Charlton Athletic.

Who will argue that Blackburn are the best entertainment value in the Premiership? Out of all the premiership sides outside the top two or three, I have to admit I always enjoy watching Blackburn Rovers whenever they’re on the box.

I have to comment on the ludicrous amounts of money being bounded around for Watford’s Ashley Young. As I write this article he remains a Hornet but I’m assuming he will make a move in the summer, if not by the end of the transfer window. I heard West Ham offered close to £9 million which is ridiculous considering I’ve never really seen Young turn a game on its head.

Who will go on to win the Premiership’s player of the year award? Right, no messing around please. The Player of the Year award this season will come down to two players – Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba. It’s as simple as that.

They say that being a football manager is a difficult job. Pah, what do ‘they’ know? Having watched football for years and years I’m pretty sure I could put together a winning squad purely based on the ingredients for success I have observed from the stands.

Manchester United is a football club that has experienced the usual ups and downs that are related to the game. Along the way they’ve had decades of wonderful years where they led a nearly charmed existence often followed by decades where they passed into near obscurity.

In 1955 there was a championship game that consisted of winning teams from the European National Football Leagues. This league has evolved into what is now a tournament among domestic European teams called the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

FIFA vice-president Jack Warner will very likely drop his planned legal action against the authors of a report and some FIFA officials…

The pure passion of a La liga Football (Soccer) match in the Vicente Calderon stadium of Atletico Madrid. Feel that famous latin passion for the beautiful game as you experience the matchday atmosphere before, during and after the game itself. The smiles, cheers, tears an the rituals that go into the big game!

This article discusses Manchester United’s prospects of winning the premiership. Do they have what it takes?

Arsenal were within a whisker of becoming the second English side in succession to win the Champions League but came unstuck in the final against eventual winners Barcelona.

Bolton Wanderers continued to prove themselves as a top Premiership club despite financial restrictions preventing manager Sam Allardyce from taking the club on further.

Following the heroics of the 2004/05 campaign, last season was disappointing by comparison.

Middlesbrough’s league form suffered last season due to their involvement in the later stages of various cup competitions.

Portsmouth survived the drop last season after languishing in the bottom three for much of the campaign.

Reading stormed the Championship last season and lost just two league matches all campaign.

Watford enjoyed a remarkable turnaround in their fortunes following the appointment of Adrian Boothroyd last summer.

Wigan Athletic, like West Ham United, enjoyed an excellent first season in the Premiership, finishing tenth and reaching the Carling Cup final.

Of the three teams relegated from the Premiership last season, Birmingham look perhaps the best equipped to make an immediate return to the top flight.