BOLLOCKZ ON BALLZ! Roger de Sa (Orlando Pirates), Rob Shepherd (Daily Mail) and Joe Crann (Soccer Laduma) videos are HERE!

Here's my interview with Roger de Sa on my www.ballz.co.za football show BOLLOCKZ! on Thursday, where Roger told me how his first-teamers are barely training at the moment given the number of games they are playing at the moment.

With today's Soweto Derby imminent, Roger also explain that Lucky Lekgwathi was playing in friendlies and available for the big game against Kaizer Chiefs. He said: "Lucky is probably a better footballer than Ayanda Gcaba but he is approaching 38. Gcaba is more athletic. It's about horses for courses."

I also spoke to Rob Shepherd, the English Daily Mail's "Grapevine" columnist about European football - he said Russia should not be allowed to host a World Cup given levels of racism suffered by Yaya Toure and Manchester City in Wednesday's 2-1 win at CSKA Moscow.

And he mentioned my once-impressive throw-ins!

My producer Comfort Kheswa and I also talked to Soccer Laduma's Joe Crann, who CONFIRMED Orlando Pirates AND Kaizer Chiefs will compete together in the African Champions League next season if the Buccaneers beat champions Al Ahly in the two-legged final on November 2 and 9.

BOLLOCKZ! my show on www.ballz.co.za, airs every Thursday from 9am. See the Ballz channel on www.YouTube.com for our growing collection of interviews with the big names in South African football.

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday inwww.thenewage.co.za.

BOLLOCKZ! is backed by www.topodds.com - have a look at their site for my latest sports betting advice!

Did I ever mention I was coached by the current England manager? The Roy Hodgson saga

IT was the single, significant fact most people knew little about when Roy Hodson was appointed England manager this week.

The 64-year-old from Croydon started coaching not, as most of his profiles suggest, in Sweden in 1976. He actually began his career a little earlier than that. He was coaching me twice a week at Brooklyn Primary school in Pretoria in 1974, when South Africa was still labouring under Apartheid and the international sports boycott.

When West Brom boss Hodgson, rather than the popular Spurs coach Harry Redknapp, was linked to the toughest job in football last Sunday, my son sent me an email from England. “Isn’t it about time you told the world about Woy  (he pronounces his Rs as Ws) dad? You bored me with that story enough times!”

So, shortly after writing my “Neal and Pray” column for The New Age on Monday (I was about five seconds from predicting every shock outcome this week!), I bashed out a nostalgic piece about my dealings with Hodgson, then playing for Berea Park in the all-white National Football League, nearly 40 years ago.

As a 13-year-old at Valhalla Primary I had been selected for the Northern Transvaal Under 13 Primary Schools squad, along with school pal Noel Cousins – who went on to become South Africa’s most expensive transfer when he moved from Arcadia Shepherds to Moroka Swallows in the 1980s – and Waterkloof Primary’s Roy Wegerle, who played for Jomo Cosmos before going overseas to Rodney Marsh’s Tampa Bay Rowdies, then Chelsea, QPR, Blackburn and Coventry. He even turned out for the USA at two World Cups.

Hodgson was a fine coach. He taught us to pass like Norman “Bite yer legs” Hunter, the Leeds and England star. He urged us to move off the ball, use both feet, keep our eyes open when using our heads. His training methods were firm and exhaustive. He struggled sometimes with the mothers, but then “soccer mums” are the bain of any youth coach’s existence.

At the time, Roy was playing for a very average Berea Park at what was then the local first class cricket ground with racially segregated crowds of around 5,000. I remember him as a cultured but slightly lightweight left-footer, who arrived here billed as a Crystal Palace star.

In truth, and he never tried to hide it, Roy had left Palace and eked out a non-League, semi-professional career in Gravesend, Maidstone and Ashford. Like his fellow Englishmen, Colin Toal and Bobby Houghton, Roy had come to South Africa to rekindle his professional career.

He would occasionally coach me in the Berea junior ranks, but our main link came on that dusty Brooklyn field twice a week for three months, where Hodgson had to trim one last player from his Northern Transvaal squad. There were 15 of us. Only 14 could attend the inter-provincial tournament.

The unfortunate one? Who else? I still remember the tears as Hodgson told me I was unwanted: “I don’t think you’ll be coming Neal, but you’ve got a nice long throw-in.” I went on to play for South African Universities B, Durban City reserves and at semi-professional teams around London before winning the Over-35s FA Cup at the age of 49. But essentially, Roy’s judgement was sound. It always has been.

Hodgson was teaching at Hillview High School at the time, when he wasn’t playing and coaching football. A year later, he left for Sweden with Bobby Houghton, where the pair – less than successful at Berea Park – transformed Scandinavian football.

Houghton coached Malmo to Sweden’s only European final while Hodgson guided Halmstad to heights they have never subsequently managed. Years later, when Sven Goran Eriksson was named England manager, he told us: “Houghton and Hodgson were my inspirations as a young coach.”

You can imagine my surprise when Roy turned up at Blackburn Rovers in 1997. He had a vague recollection of our days together as he struggled to keep the 1995 English champions clear of relegation.

He disappeared overseas again after that, two stints with Inter Milan were the highpoints of his club career, while he achieved moderate success with Switzerland, Finland and the United Arab Emirates as an international boss.

Then he returned to manage Fulham five years ago, did well enough with an average side before a nightmarish 18 months at Liverpool. And this season he calmly guided a weak West Brom squad to Premier League safety.

With his contract about to expire – and Harry Redknapp’s Spurs demanding huge compensation for their coach – Hodgson suddenly became the safe option, the cheap choice, to lead England to Euro2012 after Fabio Capello opted out three months ago.

So it seemed a perfect time to write about “my part in Hodgson’s rise to England manager” on my blog at  http://neal-collins.blogspot.com/2012/04/roy-hodgson-my-part-in-his-rise-to.html . Occasionally, it becomes a major site. Like when I revealed cricket writer Peter Roebuck’s dodgy lifestyle on the day of his suicide and 22,000 people from all over the world clicked on the site and sent me rude messages. Or the time I lambasted the Welsh rugby side and 10,000 angry Welshmen descended on me.

Normally, I’ll get about 500 hits day. You can imagine my surprise when, on Monday, over 2,500 had read my Hodgson story. By Tuesday, it was up to 12,000 and sparks were starting to fly.

Liverpool fans wanted to know why their former boss was allowed to play in Apartheid South Africa when their current star Luis Suarez is under pressure for racist remarks made to Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.

Ordinary England fans – and the notorious tabloid newspapers – wanted to know more. A Fleet Street agency called me, asking if they could have the story and the picture of Hodgson, circa 1973, playing for Berea Park.

The May Day public holiday became a welter of interviews – on Britain’s Channel4 by Skype, on Sky Sports by telephone, with BBC radio late at night. Everyone wanted to know why Roy had decided to play in South Africa of all places in those dim, distant years of darkness. Though football was the first sport under Apartheid to ignore racial segregation and form the old NPSL, I had to explain that only happened in 1978, a full two years after Roy had left for Sweden.

Channel 4’s Keme Nzerem asked me: “Do you think Roy was right to play in South Africa at that time?” I thought hard. I too had emigrated here as a 9-year-old in 1970. My dad, who made the same choice as Roy, was sitting next to me. He’s lived in Centurion for over 40 years. But I had no choice. An honest answer. Would I have come to a pariah state to play in a racially segregated league in my mid-20s? “No,” I said, “But I don’t think Roy was guilty of racism, he was young and naïve. The most you can accuse him of is ignorance. If you’d watched the TV or read a newspaper, you’d have known all about Apartheid.”

They asked if Roy ever tried to bring black lads in to the team. Of course he hadn’t. I told the story of Arthur, a young coloured lad who tried to play with us at Berea Park before being told to scarper. He was better than Noel. I was a bit upset, but nothing happened. In those days, nobody asked questions, nobody tainted the pure white gloss of our sports teams. Black football belonged in the townships.

Searching for the right words, I told the various British interviewers: “Under Apartheid, it was like Germany before the second World War. Nobody asked where the Jews were. They just got on with their lives. It was only when I got to 16 or 17 I realised the black lads loved football too… and things began to change before I left for England in 1985.”

Fired up by this single, controversial chapter in Hodgson’s life – unwittingly exposed by my blog - the question was soon flying across the world to Wembley.

At 4pm on Tuesday, when Hodgson was officially unveiled as England coach, he was asked, much to the chagrin of many conservative football fans: “Why did you go to South Africa under Apartheid?”

It was the question I had raised, put forward by Channel 4. Hodgson, ever the diplomat, handled it with reasonable aplomb. He said: "I was young at the time, and went there purely for football reasons. I was desperate to play football professionally again.

“All the English lads who went out there were anti-apartheid, but there's not much we could have done about it. We all thought it was an evil regime.

“But I think it’s unfair to bring all this up now, after 40 years."

He’s probably right of course. Many others took the same route, cricketers, rugby stars and footballers like George Best and Kevin Keegan all came to South Africa during the FIFA ban and sports boycott.

And while many twittered me to say I had caused an unnecessary storm, this was my response: “Two words. Evil regime. With that Hodgson has established his anti-racist credentials. Given the John Terry situation hanging over England, that can’t be a bad thing.”

The compliments and insults continue to flood in to my various inboxes on Twitter, Facebook and email. Ultimately though, the job is done. The truth of Roy Hodgson’s time in Apartheid South Africa – glossed over by most of the online profiles – is out, the questions have been asked, elderly demons exorcised for the oldest manager ever appointed by the FA.
My old mate Mark Gleeson put out a piece on Reuters which appeared everywhere from the Chicago Tribune to the London Guardian http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/05/02/soccer-safrica-hodgson-idINDEE8410D220120502 while Channel 4 put this out: http://www.channel4.com/news/hodgon-urges-england-fans-to-support-him and I got to mention it on eNews and eTV's Sunrise in my regular Monday slots.

Now all we have to worry about is his ability as an England boss when he takes over after West Brom’s final two Premier League games and names a squad for Euro 2012. Never inspirational with big clubs, but always capable of forging average players in to a cohesive unit, the jury is out. Will he be another Steve McClaren or an inspirational Terry Venables?

The bottom line is, he’s a nice bloke. A superb coach. A thinker. He may not have lit up Pretoria, but 40 years on: good luck Roy. You might need it.

This story first appeared on page 22 of The New Age on Friday... see www.thenewage.co.za.

FACT BOX:

The whites-only National Football League (NFL) was the first pro football league in South Africa. It was established in 1959 during the apartheid era, and no black, “coloured” or “Indian” players were allowed to participate. When NFL folded after 18 years in 1977, it was superseded by a non-racial league. In practical terms, a merger happened between NFL (for whites) and NPSL (for blacks), to become the new common NPSL. “Indian” teams and “coloured” teams gradually came on board. South Africa was banned by FIFA in 1961 but a range of foreign stars – including Gordon Banks, Derek Dougan, Bobby Charlton, Mick Channon and former England stars Alan Ball and Johnny Haynes played despite Apartheid sports boycott. So too did former England boss Kevin Keegan. But his time at Cape Town Spurs was never raised during his tenure. The FIFA ban was not lifted until 1993.

Roy Hodgson: My part in his rise to England manager

Out of Africa: Roy Hodgson, front row centre, in 1973

ROY HODGSON’S Wikipedia entry claims: “Hodgson started his managerial career in 1976 at the Swedish top division side Halmstad.”

No doubt everyone will be picking that up and using it tomorrow as the world debates the pros and cons of the 64-year-old West Brom boss being made England manager ahead of the people's choice, Harry Redknapp.

And they’d be wrong.

I can exclusively reveal Woy (as he is known, for obvious reasons to anyone who has heard him talk) actually started his coaching career in Pretoria, South Africa. I should know. I was one of his earliest products in 1974.

Hodgson (note, appointed England manager at 4pm on May 1)  arrived a year earlier at my local club in what was then the whites-only National Football League. Berea Park were a very average team in a league dominated at the time by foreign players unwelcome in FIFA-sanctioned countries.

Though Roy was billed as a Crystal Palace star, he had actually been released by the club and came to Berea as a fairly ordinary player from non-League Ashton Town after stints at Gravesend and Maidstone United, then the best non-League side in England.

Still, with Bobby Houghton and Colin Toal, he was one of three cut-price English footballers who arrived in Pretoria despite the Apartheid Sports Boycott in 1973. Apart from playing football for Berea professionally, Roy also tried his hand as a physical education teacher at the local Hillview High School.

He’d coach our Under 14s occasionally at Berea Park and in 1974 I spent three months training with him twice a week at Brooklyn Primary as part of a Northern Transvaal Under 13 representative team which included Roy Wegerle – who went on to play for the United States, Blackburn, Coventry and QPR – and Noel Cousins – who went on to become South Africa’s most expensive player when he moved from Arcadia Shepherds to Moroka Swallows in 1984.

Hodgson was a superb youth coach. He taught us to bend our passes with both feet “like Norman Hunter” and emphasised movement off the ball. He wasn’t too good at dealing with angry parents – soccer mums, as every coach knows, are the nemesis of all youth coaches – but he certainly enhanced our skills on those long afternoons in Brooklyn.

My parting words with Roy? “Sorry son, I don’t think you’re going to make it as a footballer. Nice long throw though.” Tough, but true. We’ve talked about it a few times over the years since.

Hodgson and Houghton went on to coach Berea to relegation that year. The club never really recovered. Then, as a duo, they went to Sweden. Houghton took Malmo to the European Cup final in 1979, the first – and last - Swedish side ever to compete in the continental showdown. They lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest in Munich.

Hodgson, while helping Houghton, coached nearby Halmstad to unprecedented heights. Years later, when I interviewed Sven Goran Eriksson after he got the England job, he admitted Houghton and Hodgson had played a major role in his coaching career. Sven recalled going to watch both Englishmen coaching in Sweden in the late 70s and borrowing from their training regimes.

After leaving Sweden in 1980, Hodgson started coaching in England with Bristol City, then came the many ferries to Scandinavia, with Oddevold and Orebro before a return to Malmo where he won two league titles and two cups.

After that came Switzerland, where a job with club side Neuchâtel Xamax – and a European victory over Real Madrid - was followed by a successful stint with the Swiss national side.

Inter Milan offered a glimpse of the big time but Hodgson’s two years there were far from comfortable despite reaching a UEFA Cup final, as was his stint at Blackburn Rovers as they slumped from title-winners in 1995 to also-rans under Hodgson by the time he left the club in 1998.

He returned to Inter without great success in 1999, then was off back to Switzerland’s Grasshoppers Zurich in 2000, followed by a title-winning season with FC Copenhagen in Denmark.

Italy called again in 2001, a brief “never should have taken the job” stint with Udinese was followed by international management with the United Arab Emirates. Then, in 2004, it was off to Scandianivian obscurity with Viking and Finland before the second coming.

Mohammed Al Fayed, scouring the world for a Fulham boss, plumped for Hodgson and three strong seasons there saw him move to Liverpool. Average results and an impatient Kenny Dalglish ended that reign and last year he moved to West Brom.

Having kept them up, England came calling over the weekend. The Baggies agreed to let him talk to the FA and Harry Redkapp – the popular choice – said yesterday: “Good luck to the lad. I’m not one to hold grudges. He’s a fabulous fellow, Roy. I hope he does well.”

But the truth is of course, Hodgson is a safe pair of hands. Redknapp, with his tax problems and wheeler-dealer image on top of Tottenham’s recent slump – Sunday saw their first win since early April – became too much for the conservative old farts in the FA.

Out of contract in June, Hodgson, though never successful at the bigger clubs, will do the job quietly and competently. But dear old ‘Arry would have got the nation roaring before Euro 2012 and caretaker Stuart Pearce migh have been a better choice.

Hodgson is the easy option. And, given Tottenham’s reported demands for compensation, a cheaper option.

Personally, I hope Roy succeeds with England where bigger, better names have failed. And not just because I was there when his coaching career began 38 years ago.

But I’m not holding my breath.

The Picture That Proves Ryan Babel Is a Twit. But I Can't Say I Blame Him

There's nothing quite like the FA Cup. Historical, timeless. And there's nothing quite like Twitter. Hysterical, timely. For Ryan Babel, a combination of these two great social forces has served to create quite a stir this weekend.

Babel, infuriated by the actions of World Cup final referee Howard Webb, a shy, self-effacing official, chose to post the picture you see here on his Twitter site, @ryanbabbel.

Only the sharp eyed would have seen his response to Liverpool's desperate 1-0 defeat at Manchester United in an action-packed FA Cup third round. It was only up for a few minutes, but the Football Association reckon that's enough, and are set to "investigate" the Dutchman's itchy twitter finger.

Babel couldn't resist having a dig at Webb, posting the picture of him mocked up in a United shirt and complaining: "And they call him one of the best referees. That's a joke."

After removing the offending image and twitter, Babel realised what an erm... twit he'd been. He said soon afterwards: "My apology if they take my posted picture seriously. This is just a emotional reaction after losing an important game. Sorry Howard Webb."

Very convincing Ryan, thanks. It was his namesake Giggs who scored from the penalty Webb controversially gave when Daniel Agger's challenged Dimitar Berbatov. I said at the time (as @nealcol on twitter, where else?) that it was dodgy. No mastermind required to see that.

To rub salt in the wounds for Anfield fans witnessing Kenny Dalglish's first game in charge following the departure of Roy "Woy" Hodgson, Webb then sent the legend that is Steven Gerrard off after 32 minutes for a challenge on Michael Carrick.

The game over signs immediately began to flash. Dalgish said afterwards the penalty decision was "a joke" and, predictably also bemoaned his captain's red card.

Dalglish himself, who sometimes needs subtitles to help with his raw Glaswegian, could be in hot water for his comments.

In full, he said: "The two decisions are important factors in the game, but if you went into detail about them it would take away from the commitment of the players.

"It's difficult to come here, they are top of the league and when you are down to 10 men and lose a goal in the first minute you need to show commitment, and the players did that and they had great support here today as well.

"If we can restrict the team at the top of the league to that, that bodes well for us.

"We also brought three young lads on to try and freshen it up as our guys had put in so much effort.

"I did not think the penalty was a penalty kick. The sending off....Is anyone who leaves the ground to get sent off now? The thing was that Howard Webb stepped away from the incident and then blew his whistle after one of our lads kicked the ball."

Despite an opening defeat and a far from impressive performance, Dalglish insisted: "For me it's a fantastic journey this next six months. And if they put as much effort and commitment into the cause as they did today, then they should be alright."

Though Babel was only used as a sub for the final half-hour, failing to ignite storming comeback, it's not hard to feel his pain. Personally, I think the FA probably need to fine the bloke a couple of week's wages.

But to be honest, on a weekend of great football, I suspect some Liverpool fans will be quite happy to see Babel show some passion after a pedestrian display from their side, even if it is only on Twitter.

Before his apology last night, the FA had already announced that they will "definitely look into this matter". No problem. With the 24-year-old currently being linked with Hoffenheim as the January transfer window creaks open, this may be his final act before departing our shores.

And his most memorable one. Good on yer, Ryan Guno Babel. After impressing everyone during Holland's Under 21 Euro triumph five years ago, he's hardly made a splash in a difficult period on Merseyside. Just 12 goals and 91 appearances. But at least you've left a mark. Twit.

Chaos at Liverpool... and it's coming soon to a club near you

The latest Liverpool score? "Poppycock" and "an abuse of process". Oh, time-wasting. That sounds vaguely like we might be talking football.

Sadly, we're not. We're talking off-the-field crisis. And it's coming soon to a Premier League club near you.

Thing is, Liverpool thought they'd won yeesterday. Just like the Reds lately isn't it? Think they've won, then they haven't. Celebrating victory only to find they've actually achieved nothing.

So wrong all this. Gloom at Anfield matched only by the confusion outside Court 16 at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Yesterday's High Court victory appeared to suggest Hicks and Gillett had lost once and for all, that they were unlikely to appeal.

Then the Americans get some court in Texas to slap an injunction on things and poor old John Henry, having flown out to celebrate his coup in buying the great Reds brand, leaves confused and baffled by English sporting politics.

Mind you, will Henry be any better?

Which raises the point... how about a word from Prime Minister David Cameron on all this. In a time of cuts and recession, wouldn't it enhance his coalition's popularity if he came out and told these profit-seeking Americans to get knotted and let Liverpool live?

But it won't happen. I'm on Sky News tomorrow morning at 6.45am talking Liverpool and to be frank, I'm tired of the intricate legal arguments. I just want victory for the fans, a chance for my old coach Roy Hodgson to get things done in a relatively peaceful environment.

I was on South Africa's MetroFM yesterday, telling host Robert Morawa as much as I know about what's going on. I put it to him that if some foreigner stepped in and bought Kaizer Chiefs, sent them plunging in to debt and then demanded millions in profit, there would be real trouble.

Sport, you see, is not a business. It's a passion. Liverpool are not selling apples and pears or even sophisticated machinery. They are selling football. They rely on a fanatical following, the result of years of supreme football and cunning transfer moves.

Sure, season tickets and replica shirts will be sold. But profit is the last thing the footballers or the fans care about. The bottom line in sport is success. At just about any cost.

For Tom Hicks and George Gillett, it appears to be all about getting a return for an investment that put the Reds to deeply in the red.

Soon, it will be Manchester United's turn, when the Glazers want their money back. And the debt at Old Trafford is twice as high. Last week United's record £100m nett profit was actually turned into a record loss by interest repayments on what is effectively a mortgage taken out by the Glazers.

Chelsea and Manchester City fans can rest easy for now. Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansoor appear unfussed by profit, they want the kudos that comes from lavishing millions on a Premier League football club.

But if either of those billionaires grow bored and seek to invest in Formula One or Powerboating, then where would they be?

Of all the major clubs, only Arsenal seem capable right now of running that line between economics and sport.

If FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter and UEFA's Michel Platini got their way and forced all clubs to run at a profit, to live within their means, Arsenal would be the last club standing.

Sure, Wolves, Birmingham and even West Ham might make it following the pragmatic arrival of David Gold and David Sullivan. Spurs? The mystery of their investment refuses to go away, Harry Redknapp just keeps on spending Daniel Levy's money and he doesn't appear to have a lot of it.

Aston Villa? Randy Lerner seems a sensible soul, but what's he in it for? And how about the new Thailand entry into the market at Leicester? Even Croydon Athletic have been caught up in intrigue and deceit. And they're not even in the Football League!

It's all a mess. Mr Justice Floyd must today make sense of all this. Weigh up the needs of a football club with those of big business. The Royal Bank of Scotland and the Anfield Board want New England Sports Ventures (run by Boston Red Sox boss Henry) to step in by Friday or there is talk of administration and a nine-point deduction for a Liverpool side already languishing in the relegation zone.

This once great club have got the RBS calling in their loan of £237m tomorrow. They've got Hicks and Gillett trying to kick Martin Broughton and his pragmatic pals off the board.

And if Hicks and Gillett win, they'll be looking to this Asian billionaire Peter Lim to step in and buy them out, rather than Henry, who appears to have Liverpool at heart.

But how can anybody from Asia or the States understand exactly what Liverpool means to the fans? Families, communities, schools are split along the red and blue divide.

And on Sunday, it's the Merseyside derby.

Even as I write this, Hicks and Gillett are in Dallas arguing that proceedings in London are in contempt of their court's decision. Broughton and his side are arguing they have no jurisdiction. They're using words like "grotesque parody..preposterous, unfair, unjust". Oh, and "poppycock" and "incorrigible".

And throughout it all, Roy Hodgson is trying to pick a side for a game which means so much, with Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres injured.

Those who smugly sit thinking "Glad I'm not a Liverpool fan" beware. It's coming your way. Soon.

So that's why Fernando Torres is playing like an Englishman in South Africa

So that’s why Fernando Torres is playing like an Englishman in South Africa. His not-so-secret agent thinks he’s James bloody Bond. The rumoured £70m move from Chelsea to Liverpool appears to under discussion DURING the World Cup.

The soon-to-be ex-darling of Anfield has produced a series of performances here which nearly defy belief. As Spain prepare to take on Germany in Durban on Wednesday for a place in the World Cup final, he must reflect on five games without the merest sniff of a goal.

Torres and his new haircut have lasted a total of 268 minutes so far as frustrated boss Vincente Del Bosche offers him the cushion time and again, preferring to rely on Barcelona-bound David Villa.

The comparisons with Wayne Rooney are fascinating. Roon, so off form for England it was embarrassing, managed six shots on goal in four games. Torres has achieved that many in five. Rooney hit six on target, Torres just two. Villa? He’s had 23 shots, 14 on target, and scored five goals including the quarter-final winner against Paraguay, after Torres had resumed his usual role on the bench.

The general diagnosis of Sampsonitis can now be dismissed. Cutting those flowing blond locks has nothing to do with his sudden loss of virility as Spain battled their way through to the last four at this World Cup.

Instead, we learn that his agent, Jose Antonio Martin, has been negotiating a move away from Liverpool - while his client should be focused on helping his nation to an historic global triumph. After their shock opening loss against Switzerland, the European Champions have fought back manfully – with talismanic Torres relegated to the role of onlooker.

Today Martin finally admitted: “We are working on Fernando’s future. It is very likely he will stay in the Premier League, but I cannot say that it will be with Liverpool. You cannot guarantee that he will stay at Anfield.” If you look carefully between the lines of this statement, you may just make out the words: “Please, Mr Abramovich, I’ve been begging since May. Spend your roubles on my client and give me ten percent”.

It’s no surprise of course. Liverpool suffered their worst season since the Beatles had long hair last season. They finished seventh in the Premier League, crashed out of the Champions League in the group stages and were generally laughable rather than lethal.

With those two charming Americans Hicks and Gillette squabbling over a price for the historic footballing jewel they picked up on the cheap, European conqueror Rafa Benitez has departed, pulling out what's left of his Portuguese hair. Roy Hodgson, though he is hardly the new Bill Shankly, has been asked to pick up the pieces, presumably on a tight budget given their reported debt of £472.5 million. That’s what he did best at Fulham. Hodgson’s previous attempts at bigger clubs – Inter Milan and Blackburn – have hardly sparkled.

Given the need for profit rather than pride, Yossi Benayoun has already left for Chelsea, Torres will join him if owner Roman Abramovich can afford it ... Javier Mascherano and Albert Riera are in the shop window too. And then there are all those desperately denied rumours about Stevie Gerrard needing to flee the city. Tough times.

Of course Liverpool fans will be outraged. At the crux of their winter of woe, Torres hobbled off for a second bout of ankle surgery, ensuring he was fit and fresh for the World Cup campaign.

As the spotlight turns full glare on the 26-year-old Atletico Madrid product, he says: “Hopefully Mr Del Bosque is happy. And the team too. It is a difficult tournament for me.

“I didn't arrive in the best moment in terms of fitness, especially after two operations but I'm happy with the things I am doing. Everyone has to try to give a bit to the team to get the best."

Despite his appalling form for Spain, the locals are insisting on a move to Barcelona. But special agent Martin is licensed to kill that rumour. He said: “I can rule that out. Barca have signed Villa and now they want to invest the money they have in other players.”

With his agent doubtless on the phone most nights, Torres says in public: “The World Cup is too important to think about what happens after that. I was happy Roy Hodgson got the job at Liverpool. He did really well at Fulham. I have a contract. After the World Cup, I'll have time to talk with him.”

The Germans must be loving every minute of this particular transfer saga.

Neal Collins is in South Africa to mourn England’s departure and promote his first novel A GAME APART. See www.nealcollins.co.uk.

He will be speaking at the World Journalism Education Congress in Grahamstown tomorrow morning at 11am.

Woy Hodgson, Fulham Miracle Worker, Future England Boss, My Hero

THE Roy Hodgson story is a simple one. One of those tales which make football the uplifting, addictive substance which grips millions, which brings us here, which sends us out with a lump of leather in the frost, which sends us off to a World Cup in darkest Africa.

At 62, after a lifetime of wandering from England to South Africa, Sweden to Italy, Roy has finally reached a point where he can turn around and say: "I think we've made a major piece of history here today."

This statement was uttered after last night's come-from-behind 2-1 win over Hamburg had put the quaint Cottagers into the Europa League final against Atletico Madrid.

While mighty Liverpool stumbled against the Spaniards at once-impregnable Anfield, Woy's boys came back at creaking Craven Cottage with goals from Simon Davies and Zoltan Gera to cap a campaign which has seen them play 18 games and travel 25,876 miles.

Along the way they have disposed of Italian giants Juventus, the holders Shakhtar Donetsk, German champions Wolfsburg and, semi-finally, Hamburg, who must host the final at their Nordbank Arena on May 12.

While his nation endures a particularly irritating General Election campaign, there can be no doubt that "Woy" (he tends to pronounce his Rs as Ws) would garner more votes than the three bland, public school party leaders between them if he were to stand for Prime Minister on May 5. Tomorrow I'm on Sky News at 11.30am, where I will try to tell a little of the Hodgson story - if the election doesn't intervene as it did last week.

I will tell how this modest left-back from Croydon, born in 1947, has inspired generations in dozens of countries. His full history in management is listed as:

1976–1980 Halmstads (Sweden)

1982 Bristol City (England)

1983–1985 Örebro (Sweden)

1985–1990 Malmö (Sweden)

1990–1992 Neuchâtel Xamax (Switzerland)

1992–1995 Switzerland

1995–1997 Inter Milan (Italy)

1997–1998 Blackburn Rovers (England)

1999 Inter Milan (Italy)

1999–2000 Grasshopper (Switzerland)

2000–2001 Copenhagen (Denmark)

2001 Udinese (Italy)

2002–2004 United Arab Emirates

2004–2005 Viking (Denmark)

2006–2007 Finland

2007–present Fulham

But that doesn't tell the whole story. This helps: Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson this morning revealed Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand are fit for the weekend but had time to add of Hodgson: "It's probably one of the best British performances of all time. I hope they win it now. It's fantastic. I don't know how you place it... one of the best."

And at Wolves, boss Mick McCarthy says simply: "Roy gets my vote as manager of the season. Without any shadow of a doubt."

Then we have former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson, now boss of World Cup-bound Ivory Coast, saying: "Will Roy be England manager in the future? Why not? He has done well this season and the last. I think he could be manager of England, but first I hope they win the final!"

What Sven didn't mention is that, as a young Swedish coach in the 70s, he would go down to Malmo to learn from a British duo who miraculously lifted an anonymous club to the European Cup final in 1979, where they lost to Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in 1-0 in Munich. Their names? Manager Bobby Houghton and assistant Roy Hodgson. And they managed it within a year of coaching my first club, Berea Park in Pretoria, South Africa.

And that was where Roy took his first steps on the coaching trail. Signed as a youngster at Crystal Palace, Hodgson never quite made it as a professional and after a journey that included non-league Tonbridge, Gravestone and Maidstone, he turned up to play in the old National Football League in South Africa with his old pal Houghton, who is currently manager of India's national football team.

There, amongst Hodgon's duties as a diligent full-back and sports teacher at Hillview High School, he coached me. Though bullied by the football mums as a quiet, unassuming Englishman, he produced a Northern Transvaal Under 13 side that boxed well above their weight. In a rugby-dominated city, he quietly handed out the skills that make top footballers.

He didn't just teach you to pass, he taught you to bend the ball, both ways. He didn't just teach you to head, he taught you where and when to head. He took a small band of boys out of the hum-drum and made us dream of playing at the top level.

And among their number? Winger Roy Wegerle, who went on to play for Chelsea, QPR, Blackburn, Coventry and the USA. And centre-back Gavin Nebbeling, who turned out for Crystal Palace, Fulham and Preston. And striker Noel Cousins, who went on to become South Africa's most expensive signing when he moved from Arcadia to Moroka Swallows a decade later.

All this means little now, as Hodgson heads for a final knowing the pressure is off, his reputation is finally secure. But even now, he remains modest, refusing to bow to the hype.

As the season ticket holders scramble for one of the 12,650 allocated tickets, he says: "The atmosphere here at Craven Cottage last night was something I think we'll remember for a long time.

"This is what memories are about. When your team produces better football and a better result than we are entitled to ask for. They constantly surprise me.

"To reach a European final is an amazing achievement. We have played 59 games this season, we will end up playing 63 and it would have been easy to lose our heads when they scored.

"It has been a wonderful journey. When I look back on my career, and I hope that won't be soon, I know I will remember my time at Fulham, this night, and many more like it."

So will we Roy. So will we. Now about the Prime Minister's job...

Fulham 5, Juventus 4. Woy Hodgson, you are a miracle man!

What scenes at Craven Cottage tonight. Fulham were 70-1 when Juventus scored first to go 4-1 up on aggregate. The Old Lady from Turin looked unstoppable. The second-best side in Europe with six trophies, how could Woy Hodgson possibly deal with this one?

But back they came with Bobby Zamora - take him to the World Cup! - and Zoltan Gera (two goals, pictured above) evening things up, creating the real possibility of a sensational Europa Cup win. And it got better. Clinton Dempsey plays for the USA against England at the World Cup on June 12 in Rustenburg. His chipped winner into the top corner was quite exquisite, and his tattoos aren't bad either!

Hodgson, who was wise enough to drop me as a 13-year-old when he was coaching in South Africa, said: "You've got to remember I worked for Inter for two years. There was a lot of rivalry. I tried hard to love them but beating Juve for me is one of those special occasions.

"Their goalkeeper actually made four outstanding saves. It was a great night of football. The crowd were incredible, they will remember this night for a long time. We certainly will. But we've got important games to come.

"They'll be celebrating in the dressing room but I'll be nailing their feet to the floor again tomorrow."

Amazing. Liverpool capped off a fine night for English football - and eased the pressure on manager Rafa Benitez - by crushing Lille 3-0 at Anfield to go through to the Europa Cup quarter-final draw tomorrow 3-1 on aggregate.

After goals from the usual suspects, captain Steve Gerrard, who scored from the penalty spot before Fernando Torres struck twice, said: "We got off to a perfect start and the fans were superb for us tonight.
"But the aim was to get three goals because we knew they were dangerous and capable of scoring a goal.
"Rafa Benitez is the manager and he is allowed to criticise the team like. We have responded in our last two games and the challenge now is to take this form into our game with Manchester United on Sunday."