The game lived up to expectations and was full of goals and incidents.  Vincent Kompany’s two-footed challenge was in every way a fantastic, clean tackle.  He won the ball and didn’t touch the player.

However, both feet were off the floor.  To the letter of the law, that is a red card offence.  Ridiculous though it may be, the referee had to make a split second decision, and got it spot on.  Even though a red card is unwarranted for such a clean challenge that in no way was reckless or dangerous.

Man City were clearly shaken at losing their influential captain in the 12th minute not long after conceding an early headed goal from Wayne Rooney.

Ferguson and Manchester United fans were probably looking to avenge the thrashing from earlier in the season when they found themselves 3-0 at half-time.  But in the second-half Manchester City showed how far they have come as a team rather than a group of individual players and fought back to within an inch of saving the game.

A brilliant free-lick from Aleksandar Kolarov gave the blue half of Manchester hope while Paul Scholes was introduced to tighten up the midfield.  Unfortunately a lack of match fitness showed, and when Aguerro scored a second, it was City that looked the more likely to score again.

It ended 3-2 to Manchester United who will now face Liverpool in the Fourth Round.

Paulo Di Canio’s Swindon Town caused the upset of the round as they beat Premier League Wigan; and when Sam Allardyce announced a weakened West Ham team, it wasn’t a surprise to see League One promotion contenders Sheffield Wednesday win through to the next round.

FA Cup 4th Round Draw

•    Brighton or Wrexham v Newcastle
•    Sunderland v Middlesbrough
•    Dagenham & Redbridge or Millwall v Southampton
•    Hull City v Crawley Town
•    MK Dons or QPR v Chelsea
•    West Brom v Norwich
•    Blackpool v Sheffield Wednesday
•    Arsenal or Leeds v Aston Villa
•    Stevenage v Notts County
•    Watford v Tottenham
•    Liverpool v Manchester United
•    Derby v Stoke
•    Everton v Fulham
•    Macclesfield or Bolton v Swansea
•    Sheffield United v Birmingham or Wolves
•    Nottingham Forest or Leicester v Swindon

All matches to be played over the weekend of the 28th & 29th January.  Too soon for a Suarez v Evra rematch. Though don’t be too surprised if Sir Alex Ferguson is calling Edwin Van Der Sar & Peter Schmeichel.

Less than one full season into his contract, Aston Villa has parted company with Gerard Houllier who was hospitalised before the end of last season. That said, I felt Houllier was about to get the sack anyway and expected Rafa Benitez, who has been loitering around since returning to his family home in England in January, to become the next Aston Villa manager.

But Fulham boss Mark Hughes is the bookies favourite for the job. This follows rumours that Hughes has recently fallen out with Fulham owner Mohammed Al- Fayed and that he has a get-out clause in his contract. But yesterday I heard that ex-Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has stated that he would like to stay in England rather than return to Italy. I am sure both parties would be interested in Ancelotti becoming the next manager of Aston Villa.

The other manager-less Premier League team, Chelsea look like they are closing in on their first choice to replace Ancelotti at Stamford Bridge, as Guus Hiddink has apparently stated he is ready to leave his current position coaching the Turkey national team, to return to club management. If there is any truth in this statement then I would expect Hiddink to be the next Chelsea manager by next week.

Guus Hiddink to Chelsea & Carlo Ancelotti to Aston Villa is my bet.

The appointments of a Chelsea and Aston Villa manager will be followed by what I believe will be a busy summer for transfers in the English Premier League. Chelsea desperately need to buy some younger players and begin to build a team around striker Fernando Torres. While Manchester City will be throwing a lot of money around again, only in this transfer window they will be able to attract the very best players in the world with Champions League football next season.

New Blackburn owners Balaji and Venkatesh Rao of India’s Venky Group have stated Sam Allardyce’s dismissal was nothing to do with the defeat to Bolton on Sunday but was part of a long term strategy. But with Blackburn currently in 13th position in the Premier League, five points off the relegation places and only three points off a place in Europe next season, I would have said Blackburn were destined to finish mid-table.  So why wouldn’t they wait until the end of the season when it would be less unsettling to the players and staff and there would be more of an open marketing to buy new players.

My next thought was that if the new owners wanted to make a splash, they would be looking for a big name replacement to show their intent, and if there is money to spend on new players, the transfer window opens in 17 days time.  But speaking to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, Anuradha Desai, chairwoman of the club’s Venky Group owners stated: “It could now be a couple of months before a new manager is put in place.”

I’m not quite sure what Sam Allardyce had done wrong apart from using boring tactics and playing dull football (something that has followed him throughout his managerial career) but I’m thinking Balaji and Venkatesh Rao are looking to entice a big name in world football to takeover and have Blackburn compete with the likes of the ‘big five’.

When Diego Maradona was recently seen at the Fulham v Manchester City game I thought it was a long way for the greatest footballer of all-time to travel just to watch a game of football.  Then following the sacking of Chris Houghton at Newcastle United I expected Mike Ashley to surprise everyone by appointing Maradona.  Now, I am thinking it could be one of two or possibly three well known footballers in the North West.  If not Maradona, imagine how excited Blackburn Rovers fans would be if Alan Shearer or Kenny Dalglish were to return to the North West in a bid to hold aloft the Premier League trophy, as they did before.

Other names are bound to be mentioned.  Martin O’Neill (though his teams play a similar style of football to Big Sam’s), Martin Jol and Frank Rijkaard are currently out of work. But though Jol is favourite with the bookies, following his resignation last week from Ajax, I can’t really see why the owners believe he would do better this season than Sam Allardyce.

In the same way as Mike Ashley wanted to get the fans onside by appointing Kevin Keegan I think the owners are looking to make a big splash and show the world they mean business.

Sam Allardyce

Just like the sacking of Chris Hughton at Newcastle United last week, the news that Big Sam Allardyce has been given the boot from Blackburn Rovers beggars belief.

It appears that the new Indian owners at Blackburn want to put their mark on the club with immediate effect and despite promises of funds to spend in January they have now decided that Allardyce is not the man for the job.

Rovers are currently in 13th position in a Premier League where five points either way would put them either in contention for a European place or drop them into the relegation zone.

Blackburn lost out to Allardyce’s former club Bolton at the weekend  in a 2-1 defeat and have won only two out of their last five games,, but overall this season have made a good show of themselves, barring the recent 7-1 thrashing at Old Trafford.

Allardyce says he is shocked and disappointed to be leaving the club and despite the news he still wishes the club all the best in the future.

It is understood that first team coach Steve Kean will take temporary charge until a new manager is found.

Quite what the owners of clubs like Newcastle and Blackburn expect is hard to fathom, both were doing as well as can be expected of them in my view and sacking a manager at this time in the season rarely serves any other purpose than to unsettle the team and fans for the remainder of the term.

Blackburn Rovers takeover

The Indian Rao family have completed the purchase of Blackburn Rovers in a deal considered to around £43million, with £23million going towards the purchase of shares and £20million of debt that will be taken on by the new owners.

The 99.9% share of the club which was held in a trust set up by former owner the late Jack Walker has been acquired by the Rao family through a newly formed company Venky’s London Ltd.

Venky’s chairman Anuradha J Desai said they were “Delighted, proud and humbled to be associated with Blackburn Rovers. We will absolutely respect the Jack Walker legacy and will be actively supporting the organisation to ensure that Blackburn Rovers remains one of the best-run clubs within the Premier League.

We are particularly pleased that the deal has the full support of the Walker Trust, the chairman and the management team, who will of course remain in place with our full support.”

The deal will put Blackburn in a prime position for developing the club and Premier League football in general in India and the whole of Asia through the connections of the directors, a market that many of the top tier teams have recognised as a growth area for the commercial aspects of the game as well as bringing in new talent.

Rovers boss Sam Allardyce predictably said that he hoped the takeover would pave the way for more investment in players, claiming that funds have not been forthcoming since the club was put on the market two years ago.

The manager is well aware that the club are currently sitting two points above the relegation zone and will hope that the buyout will provide a boost for the team who have won only four of their 13 games this season.

Stoke were no doubt lifted by the surprise half-time appearance of Tony Pulis who had not been present for the first half due to the death of his mother; and the result was crucial.  This is Stoke City’s third consecutive season back in the top flight of English football, and it has been their home form that has kept them in the Premier League thus far.

As for Aston Villa, what were they thinking when they appointed a manager in Gerard Houllier who has still not been released from his current position with the French FA. Last night, Caretaker Manager Kevin MacDonald told reporters he was still unsure when Houllier was going to take charge of the team.  For now he had been told to pick the team to play against Stoke and again on Saturday at home to Bolton Wanderers.

To suggest Aston Villa is a club in turmoil is far from the truth.  However, the next six weeks could be very important in deciding the fortunes of this so-called ‘sleeping giant’.

Following their home game on Saturday with Bolton they will play a very difficult game against Blackburn Rovers in the third round of the Carling Cup. In all honesty, neither side may play their strongest teams.  But if Sam Allardyce decides to strike while Aston Villa’s morale is low, Blackburn could quite easily knock Villa out of the cup.

After the Carling Cup game next Wednesday (22nd September), Aston Villa will play two difficult away fixtures at Wolves and Tottenham. They do not play another home game until they host a goal-rampant, ultra-inform Chelsea on Saturday 16th October.  And if that wasn’t bad enough, their only other home game in the Premier League in October is against arch-rivals Birmingham (31st October).

With an away game at Sunderland between the two, it is clear to see that Aston Villa needs the French FA to release Gerard Houllier as soon as possible.  And if the situation carries on until the end of October, Houllier could quite possibly arrive to find Aston Villa languishing amongst the relegation places.

Furthermore, the longer this bizarre situation continues, the more vocal the fans were air their disapproval and the higher eyebrows will be raised at the owner Randy Learner’s decision to appoint a manager who is actually not available!

Lastly, once Gerard Houllier eventually arrives at Villa Park he will have big shoes to feel with both the fans and club expectations, if he is to exorcise the ghost of Martin O’Neill; and there is also the small matter of how he consoles goalkeeper Brad Friedel and defender Stephen Warnock.  Both players were told they were surplus to requirements when Houllier became manager at Liverpool.

As one alcoholic striker once said, ‘it’s a funny old game’.  But its stories like this that makes the game of football as exciting as the results themselves.

Sir Alex Ferguson

“The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. He was not fit. It was ridiculous.” said Ferguson after watching United steal a point in the last minute of injury time, something else that irked the Scot who said that Wiley had not added time on after the equalising goal.

I half expected to hear Ferguson saying that Wiley had not allowed them to play on until they won the game like other referee’s do, but he stopped short of that.

Ferguson has been asked by the Football Association to explain his comments which also include the classics , “He was taking 30 seconds to book a player” and “He was also walking up the pitch for the second goal needing a rest. He was not fit enough for a game of that standard.”

Blackburn Rovers’ Sam Allardyce has managed to get away with his outburst after seeing his team beaten 6-2 by Arsenal. He did have a valid point though when he questioned why anyone would not give a penalty after Thomas Vermaelen’s blatant trip on David Dunn when the score was 3-2 to Arsenal.

Sam is big enough to accept that the best team won the game, but points to the ‘penalty’ decision as the crucial turning point of the game. He also added, “I try not to say too much publicly and say it through the system but unfortunately the system is not working so I have to be heard. People may say it is bitter or twisted, but I know I am 100% right because I am very professional in what I do. I research everything and Keith Hackett knows I am right.”

Finally, England’s World Cup qualifier in Ukraine on Saturday will be shown exclusively live to subscribers on the internet who will pay at least £4.99. The fee rises  the closer the game gets, settling at 11.99 if you pay for the match on Friday.

The rights to the game were originally purchased by Setanta but after going into administration the the digital sport specialist Perform was appointed to stream the game online.

The Odeon cinema will show the game live at eleven venues around the country, including Leicester Square, but the match will not be screened in pubs in the UK.

It is pretty amazing that none of the UK terrestrial stations made a bid for the match, although ITV do have rights to all England home games and has recently taken over Setanta’s rights for away friendlies.

Sam Allardyce was interviewed in the summer, along with Steve McLaren and Paul Ince.  So what has changed in the last five months to make the Blackburn board appoint Sam Allardyce as Blackburn manager now after deciding he wasn’t the man for the job in July?

It is common knowledge that the board are looking to sell Blackburn Rovers, and though they apparently have no offers to consider, there’s no denying that a Premiership team is going to be easier to sell than a Championship team.  That is why panic has set in and the board decided to cut short Paul Ince’s tenure and appoint a more experienced figurehead.

But maybe there’s been a reality check in the last few months too.  In the summer Blackburn Rovers were still considered as a top 10 Premiership side; and that was purely down to the success of the previous manager Mark Hughes who, over the past few seasons has helped the Blackburn team to galvanise and punch well above their weight.

In the summer, maybe the board felt they could take a risk on another young manager, and success would continue at the club.  But now, almost halfway through the season and Blackburn are in the bottom three and relegation to the Championship is a very real possibility.

Sam Allardyce has been made Blackburn manager to keep them in the Premier League, and possibly return Blackburn to the top half of the table by creating a similar work ethic and direct and ugly style of football that brought him so much success with Bolton.

I believe Sam Allardyce is the right man for Blackburn.  They need to realise where they actually should be as a Premiership team; and stop dreaming of the Kenny Dalglish and Mark Hughes success in the past.

Allardyce will need to hit the ground running and start with a win against Stoke City on Saturday.  Football bets will no doubt be placed on Blackburn returning to winning ways against another Premiership team fighting for Premier League survival; and if Sam Allardyce is going to rescue Blackburn he will most definitely need to start beating all the teams around them.