Manchester City/ FC twente, 7.45pm, ITV4, Free £10 bet

While billionaires Manchester City are struggling to have any real impact in the Premier League, everyone’s favourite laughing stock Schteve McClaren is two points off the top of the Eredivisie with his new club FC Twente.

The former England boss squandered his chance to show what he’s capable of against Arsenal in August, but should take advantage of tonight’s opportunity by returning to Holland with a point or three. Here are ChickenDinner’s statistical thoughts on the matter:

1. Steve McClaren faced Manchester City eight times while manager of Middlesbrough and was never beaten, winning on five occasions.

2. During the period that City couldn’t beat McClaren, they managed three victories over Manchester United as well as wins over Chelsea and Liverpool. Significantly, the Citizens won their first three matches against post-McClaren Middlesbrough.

3. FC Twente have won their last two away games and had won four consecutive games without conceding before losing to Ajax last weekend.

4. The Dutch club

FC Twente boss continues to embarrass himself in the Eredivisie

Steve McClaren’s post match interview checklist:

• Foreign managers in the Premier league are successful, so try to emulate their mannerisms and command of English
• Put an upward inflection and pause at the end of every sentence to make it sound as unnatural as possible
• Speak unnecessarily slowly - this disguises the ghastly northern accent and ensures the interviewer is suitably patronised
• Use lots of tired clichés like “we killed the game by scoring more goals” and “anything can happen in football”
• Learn nothing from criticism of new speech pattern

Spoiler bonus: Check out Schteve’s Braveheart impression from earlier this week

[Spotted on Off The Post]

That Ronaldinho must be a bad influence

Being such a devout Christian, Kaka usually does everything possible to shy away from controversy but even he couldn’t resist a dig at Jose Mourinho after AC Milan triumphed 1-0 in the Milan derby.

The former Chelsea boss was adamant that his team deserved a point from the game and also took a swipe at Serie A leaders Lazio. He said:

“I saw two teams tonight and neither one deserved a win more than the other,” before adding: “When I look at the table, with all due respect, I don’t look at Lazio, Napoli or Catania. I see that we are ahead of Roma, Juventus and Milan.”

Kaka, whose compatriot and polar opposite Ronaldinho scored the winner with his first goal for the club, bit back by saying: