As the merry-go-round continues

So, my wish was not granted after all! My favoured team Borussia Dortmund did not become European champions last Saturday despite performing much better than I expected. It is Bayern Munich who have managed to banish the ghosts of the last few finals to win arguably the most prestigious crown in world football. It is a timely reminder that the beautiful game can also be logical and fair at times.

You could say after making two of previous three Uefa Champions League finals and losing in very harsh circumstances, Bayern were due their lucky break. They have been consistently good over the last few years and on the balance of play they should have already won their fifth European title—joining my Liverpool in that feat—much earlier than now. But don’t they say better late than never?

With the German Bundesliga title already in the bag, the Bavarian giants have the chance to complete a remarkable treble this weekend when they take on Stuttgart in the German Cup aka DFB Pokal tonight. Now, if you are Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes there could never be a better way to leave a club. It even puts pressure on incoming manager Pep Guardiola who will have a lot to live up to.

Because of his success at Bayern, there are now suggestions that Heynckes may not be retiring as we were made to believe. Until a few days ago, the speculation was that with Jose Mourinho leaving Spanish giants Real Madrid, current Paris St Germain manager Carlo Ancelotti was favourite to step in but on Thursdaythe bookmakers had installed Heynckes as new favourite to have another crack with Los Broncos.

One manager who has sorted out his future is Rafael Benitez. He has been appointed manager for Italian Serie A runners-up Napoli on a two-year deal. After an inauspicious six-month stint at Inter Milan I would like to believe he chose to go to Naples over the other offers he had because he would like to prove a point. As I have always said, I wish him the very best because he has some big boots to fill there.

Another manager who has found a job this week is Mark Hughes who was sacked at the relegated Queen’s Park Rangers earler in the just-ended season after a run of poor results. He was appointed manager for Stoke City on Thursday but he has not received as warm a welcome from the fans as he would have loved. Many people have judged him on his failings at Loftus Road and do not want him there.

Away from the managers, I am happy that my Liverpool seem to have learnt from the mistakes of last summer by doing their transfer business as early as possible. They have already tied up the free transfer of defender Kolo Toure whose contract at Manchester City runs out this month and there should be confirmation of the signings of Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto this weekend or soon after.

All this has, of course, been spoilt by Luis Suarez’s open courting of Real Madrid. He blames the press for his desire to leave but after standing by him during his moments of shame, the club deserves some respect and loyalty from him. I would certainly not want to see him go but I will, as usual, shed no tear should he eventually get his wish. The future still looks very bright with or without him.