David Moyes will be judged on his first signings as Manchester United boss, and if he does bring Leighton Baines to Old Trafford he will pass the test with flying colours.

Moyes is always going to get help from within the club in that Sir Alex Ferguson is still there and will be able to advise both the manager and potential recruits.

But David will have his own ideas about who he’ll want to sign in terms of how they will fit in to his tactical set-up.

He may well spend big but he will need to spend right – when you spend relative peanuts at Everton you are allowed the odd flop, but the first

The England U21 team start their European Championship campaign on Wednesday and I have fond memories myself playing for the U21s as a Fulham player from the old third division.

Myself, Ian Snodin, Bobby Mimms and David Seaman were the only lower division players in the squad at the time. Other guys in that side included the likes of Paul Rideout, Frank Yallop from Ipswich, Tony Cottee and Chris Waddle, who I made my debut with.

I scored in that match against Finland at the Old Dell in Southampton – I can remember all my goals!

It was such an honour playing for that team, especially as a

Wilfried Zaha was the star of the show as Crystal Palace won promotion back to the Premier League and Ian Holloway has already said he hopes to bring the Manchester United bound youngster back to the club on loan.

However, if I was David Moyes I would not be allowing him to go anywhere. I think the lad himself wants to go to Old Trafford and he has shown the right attitude throughout the season after the deal was confirmed in January.

We have seen other players disappear while waiting for a big move; they don't want to get injured, thinking they are better than the rest, but Zaha has shown

I can see the rationale behind Jose Mourinho returning to Chelsea – he said he wanted to be somewhere where he loved and where people loved him, and they certainly love him at Stamford Bridge.

But there are several reasons why Mourinho’s next move shouldn’t be Chelsea.

The first reason is precisely why people think he should return to Stamford Bridge – he’s done it before, he’ll go back and the fans will chant his name. While you could admire the single-mindedness of Chelsea’s fans (unless you’re Rafael Benitez), it’s a bit one-dimensional to think it’ll be a Groundhog Day scenario.

Back when

Manchester City have sacked Roberto Mancini and I don't think anybody is too surprised. The fans might be upset because he brought them their first FA Cup since 1969 and their first title since 1968 and they hoped they were going to go down the Manchester United route of having continuity with one manager but this decision has been on the cards.

Part of the reason Mancini has been sacked is because of their poor performances in the Champions League and part of it is being so far behind Manchester United this season and the embarrassing Cup final performance against Wigan but more than

Paul Parker, Andrei Kanchelskis and Peter Schmeichel with then-manager Alex Ferguson (Getty)

There was never going to be a good time for Sir Alex Ferguson to retire.

There would never be a time when the news would not shock everyone – not just Manchester United fans, but the entire footballing community, the entire world.

Some would never admit it, but even fans of United’s greatest rivals over the Ferguson years – the Leeds United fans, the Chelsea fans, the Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City fans – they all respected Sir Alex. It’s as simple as that.

The one thing that springs to mind which football will miss most once Fergie goes is his man-management. It’s something he could

The fundamental problem with Jose Mourinho potentially returning to Chelsea is the fact that the club would be falling straight back into the trap of seeking a short-term solution when that is exactly what is not required.

At the beginning of the season it seemed as though the club were going to build on a strong foundation of talented young players with a bright, ambitious, Champions League-winning coach, but all they have done is slip back into their old ways and it is depressing to see.

As a club, Chelsea can often be seen to be pretty incestuous and to live in their own world, and to

Newcastle United's Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa

Newcastle are now just one place above the relegation zone and have lost their last two home games by a combined score of 9-0.

They punched above their weight last season and qualified for the Europa League but that is now one of the big reasons why they are struggling.

The club just didn't need Europa League football. It may only be Europe's second tier competition but you still need a competent squad to deal with that and the Premier League.

Everything was rosy in the garden when the French revolution began at the club – playing in Europe was a big lift for all those European players who