? 'All options are open', says FA chairman David Bernstein
? Harry Redknapp will not be the only candidate

The Football Association is contemplating replacing Fabio Capello by bringing in a new England manager purely for Euro 2012 and then appointing a permanent replacement at the end of the tournament.

Harry Redknapp will figure most prominently in the FA's thoughts when the four executives empowered with finding Capello's successor, led by the chairman, David Bernstein, meet on Friday to draw up a shortlist. However, Bernstein has made it clear that the Tottenham Hotspur manager will not be the only candidate and, to illustrate the point, he identified Stuart Pearce as a "first-class available option".

The England Under-21 manager has been asked to take charge of the senior team's friendly against Holland on 29 February, though the appointment has led to awkward questions for the FA given that Pearce once had to apologise to Paul Ince after allegedly racially abusing him during a match for Nottingham Forest at Manchester United in 1994. "We're not going to go back over old ground," Adrian Bevington, the managing director of Club England, said.

Pearce's elder brother was once a BNP campaigner but the FA quickly made it clear that it did not consider either issue to be relevant despite Capello's departure coming about because of a separate race issue involving John Terry. "Stuart has made it clear that he is not involved in his brother's political beliefs," Bevington said. "I don't think we can get to the realms of being judgmental on someone because of what their sibling's views are. It's a matter for Stuart Pearce's brother rather than Stuart."

Bernstein would not discuss Redknapp's credentials but revealed that he and his colleagues would consider widening their search for two managers instead of one. "All options are open. I am only talking common sense. We are not prepared to restrict ourselves at this stage. He [Capello's successor] might be English, he might be British, he might not be. He might be for the Euros only, he might be long term. We need to look at all the options."

That raises the possibility that England could have four managers in the space of five months and that Redknapp could potentially be asked to take charge of this summer's European Championship on a short-term contract. José Mourinho could also be seen as a short-term option but the likelihood remains that Redknapp will be invited to take over on a permanent basis a squad that has been badly fractured by the Terry affair.

Tottenham are braced for an approach over the coming weeks and their nonexecutive director Sir Keith Mills said it was wrong to consider "it was a foregone conclusion" that Redknapp would leave White Hart Lane. "If he is [approached] then clearly Harry has a big decision to make. I know he loves the club and he's managing a top-three team in the biggest league in the world."

As for Redknapp, he described himself as "shocked" by Capello's departure but would not be drawn into talking about whether he would replace him. "I've not even thought about it. I've got a job to do. I've got a big game on Saturday for Tottenham. Tottenham is my focus ? They [the FA] will make whatever decision they want to make. Hopefully it'll be the right decision for the country but my focus is all on Tottenham."

Bernstein defended the decision to remove the England captaincy from Terry because of his July trial for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand. He said he "sympathised" with Capello for feeling undermined but criticised the Italian for publicly defying the FA during his interview on Italian television on Sunday. "His backing of John Terry wasn't helpful and it did give the impression of a conflict of views between the manager and the board."

Bernstein went on to speak of his hope that Capello's successor could lift the squad. "Anyone who had seen the matches at Wembley over the last year . . would all probably agree that the quality of play and the level of confidence shown at Wembley is not quite where we'd like to be."

The new manager faces the complicated task of trying to heal the rifts that have been caused within the England squad because of the Terry trial. Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA's director of development, was asked whether the only way to do this would be to leave Terry out of the squad. "That's really up to whoever is in charge and the players," he replied. Bernstein added: "If there is a problem, it's for the manager to assess it and sort it out. That is clearly down to the manager."

? New manager might not be English, says Bernstein
? FA says it will take its time to chose right man

By the time David Bernstein took his seat a little scrap of paper had already been torn out of somebody's notebook and placed on the desk in front of him. The words were brief and to the point: "Shortlist: 1) Harry 2) Harry 3) Harry 4) Rosie." Bernstein sat down, poured himself a glass of water and somehow managed to get through the next 38 minutes without mentioning Harry Redknapp, or any canines, once.

It was some feat given the way everything came back to the man who woke on Wednesday wondering if he was going to prison and drove home that night wondering if he was about to be made the next England manager instead. Bernstein straight-batted everything, spotted every googly coming his way and generally kept a steady hand. What the Football Association chairman could not do was dilute the sense that England have adopted the theory of chaos as their motto for Euro 2012. "Quite clearly, it's hardly ideal," he said, with a thin smile.

The former French Connection man is not the kind to slam down his fist and tell the nation not to worry because he is on the case. There will, almost certainly, be a telephone call to Redknapp and the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, at some point. But the four FA executives addressing journalists' questions on the back of Fabio Capello's resignation made it clear Redknapp will not be the only candidate. Or at least that's what they wanted us to believe.

First, Bernstein explained, they had to draw up a "job brief". Then they needed a shortlist and, as he pointed out, focusing only on one "makes a very difficult situation when negotiating and so on". Fair enough, though maybe not the smartest business move to admit that some of the names may just be there as a bargaining tool. But this is a negotiation process and when the FA do get round to ringing Redknapp it will be the man at the other end of the line bargaining from a position of strength. Capello was the £6m man whose team stank out the World Cup. "No one is going to defend the South Africa performance," Bernstein said. Redknapp has been designated as the people's choice to sort out this mess. Ignoring, for a moment, that sketch at Southwark crown court when he talked of himself as "the least greedy person you will ever meet", he should expect a salary offer in keeping with his predecessor. "Let me be absolutely clear, we are not going to do anything on the cheap," Bernstein said. "We will pay the proper market rate."

Here, though, he talked as though oblivious to the Redknapp bandwagon. It was wrong, he said, to assume the next manager would be English. There was no rush, it was cheerily explained, because there was only one match between now and the end of May so "not a huge amount for a manager to do". From 12 feet away it was difficult to see whether Bernstein had his fingers crossed beneath the table. No other team going into Euro 2012 is currently missing both a manager and a captain. Nowhere else will we find one of the key players preparing for a race-hate court case. Or a group of players who are threatening, courtesy of the John Terry trial, to rival the Dutch squad at Euro 96 in terms of cliques and divisions.

Just to recap: some of the players cold-shouldered Terry at their last get-together. His relationship with Rio Ferdinand is stretched, to say the least. Ferdinand's friendship with Ashley Cole is not what it was. Terry has his friends, Ferdinand has his. These are rich, successful people who are used to getting their way. Not a huge amount for a new manager to do? That quote, funnily enough, was left off the FA's official transcript.

The truth is the new manager needs all the time there is to find a way through this maze of politics but Bernstein, by his own admission, had not even entertained the idea that Capello's successor could be appointed, even as a job-share, in time for the Holland game on 29 February.

Instead we have Stuart Pearce, the lion-heart with the flag of St George in his back garden. Pearce won 78 caps in his playing career, wore the captain's armband with distinction and always gave the impression he had God Save The Queen as his ringtone (the Sex Pistols version). But this is not straightforward. The whole chain of events leading to Capello's dismissal begins with an alleged race crime that meant the FA were too embarrassed to keep Terry as captain. Now they have a temporary manager who once had to apologise to Paul Ince, then of Manchester United, after an incident in 1994 that allegedly had racial overtones.

What Pearce said was never established and, in FA terms, it is a spent conviction. "We're not going to go back over old ground," Adrian Bevington, the managing director of Club England, d and he had a point. If there were to be loud objections, they should have been voiced when Pearce was asked to take charge of the England Under-21 and the Olympics teams.

Neither it is really fair for it to be held against him that his brother, Dennis, was a BNP candidate in the 2009 elections. "Stuart has made it clear that he is not involved in his brother's political beliefs," Bevington continued. "I don't think we can get to the realms of being judgmental on someone because of what their siblings' views are. It's a matter for Stuart Pearce's brother rather than Stuart, we would suggest."

Again, fair enough. These issues, however, will be brought up and the FA will find it difficult to shake off in the current climate. An Italian journalist had flown in for this press conference. "This is a story you cannot invent," he said on the way out.

? Roman Abramovich takes hands-on approach
? John Terry will be missing again this weekend

"Short, accurate and precise." André Villas-Boas chose these words not to describe the style of a hitman, but his meetings over the past six days with Roman Abramovich, though is was tempting to draw the link between the two.

Chelsea's Russian owner is putting his hands back on the club, with his $5bn high court litigation battle with his former business associate Boris Berezovsky no longer in session, to seemingly reinforce one of the football week's major themes: employers flexing their muscles over their managers.

Villas-Boas also had an admission, which sounded rather ominous. "It is not a very honourable position for the dimension of this club," he said, on the subject of the team's Premier League position of fourth and the target for the remainder of the season being merely to hang on to it. Did Abramovich share the feeling of dishonour? "Yes. I think so," Villas-Boas said.

Villas-Boas takes his team to Everton on Saturday for a fixture in which he intends to bounce back from the demoralising blow of surrendering a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 at home to Manchester United last Sunday. He is aware that the previous time Abramovich travelled to Goodison Park for a Premier League fixture, on the final day of last season, he sacked Carlo Ancelotti shortly after full-time, taking his strike rate to five managers in eight years.

Ancelotti, who is in charge at Paris St-Germain, said on Wednesday that his life at Chelsea had become "intolerable" when Abramovich took a keener interest in the running of the club. Since Saturday, Abramovich has been at the training ground in Cobham almost every day, to talk to Villas-Boas about his sessions and tactics. He also addressed Villas-Boas and the players in the dressing-room after the United game.

Villas-Boas was given plenty of bullet-dodging practice at his weekly press briefing. When Abramovich shoots, he does not miss. "Regarding the presence of the owner, you can speculate whatever you want but for us, it is fantastic to have him here," Villas-Boas said. "It is not distracting, not at all. With physical presence, you get your ideas across better, which is good. The meetings have been good ? short, accurate and precise.

"The objectives we have for this season are pretty much outlined. We have two competitions where we look better [the Champions League and FA Cup] and another competition where we have to dilute the damage and try to finish fourth, at least, which is not a very honourable position for the dimension of this club. Bearing in mind the rest, we focus on the same and a lot of focus on next year's progress as well."

Next year will represent the second of the three-year plan under Villas-Boas and the young Portuguese has no doubts that he will remain at the helm. His relationship with Abramovich has changed from his first spell at the club, when he worked as José Mourinho's opposition scout. "It was almost a salute relationship back then, nothing else," he said. "But now it's more active, very positive. He is a good person to share knowledge with, ask questions and try to give answers regarding what I do. I think it's legitimate. I would compare it to a normal club president/manager relationship."

Villas-Boas also spoke of Abramovich realising the need for patience ? "There is great empathy and motivation for next year's project," he said ? and, as if to illustrate the phase that Chelsea are in, he compared his substitutes' bench to United's from Sunday. He made one change, bringing on young Oriol Romeu while Sir Alex Ferguson introduced the proven Premier League quality of Javier Hernández, Paul Scholes and Park Ji-sung.

"I think we can win the title without massive investment ? we have to find the right targets," Villas-Boas said. "For example, getting Oriol [from Barcelona] at ?5m [£4.2m] was fantastic and you could not say that he is not up to Premier League standard. So it is possible. But normally, you prefer to bring top talent, which takes less time to adapt and can play straight away."

John Terry was out of sight, having been granted a short break to rest his injured knee ? the captain will miss the Everton match, together with Ramires; Mikel John Obi, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole return to contention. But Terry, who should return to face Birmingham City in the FA Cup on Saturday week, was not out of mind.

Villas-Boas was asked how he would feel if Abramovich told him who could and could not wear the captain's armband. "Firstly, that's not the case ? we are speculating about a possible's owner's decision," Villas-Boas said. "I think that it is up to the managers to decide. The manager decides on appointing the captains or decides on the group appointing the captains. There are clubs that like to choose their own captains. With me, I was always able to appoint my captains."

Harry Redknapp may never match Fabio Capello for trophies but he looks a far better fit as England manager

So the formidably austere Fabio Capello ? austere in every respect but his financial demands, that is ? was not, after all, the man for the age of austerity. The Italian martinet, fawned over in some quarters for bringing the promise of order and discipline to a directionless rabble, failed to make his authority count. Out with the austere, then, and very probably in with the cuddly, amusing, utterly human Harry Redknapp, who gets in and out of scrapes and sometimes allows himself to be presented as the sort of caricature of an English football manager depicted in the much?missed adventures of Private Eye's Ron Knee.

Once more, then, the England seesaw tilts, ejecting one rider as it hits the ground with a violent impact while the other end soars into the air ? in the certain knowledge that its rider, too, will shortly come crashing down. From one extreme to the other, yet again. Get rid of a gimlet-eyed taskmaster, appoint a passionate defender of the traditional virtues of the English game, all heart and undisguised patriotism. And when he disappoints, go looking for another no-nonsense technocrat to strip away the excess emotion that appears to be getting in the way of the team's ability to realise its potential.

That is the way of it with England, and so it has been since Graham Taylor ? rendered unconvincing, when things went wrong, by the lack of a distinguished playing career ? gave way to the former star winger Terry Venables. In turn Venables, betrayed by his fondness for a business deal, was succeeded by Glenn Hoddle, in a swap that also replaced a crafty, streetwise coach at ease amid the dressing room culture of English football with one thought to exist on a loftier tactical and intellectual plane.

When Hoddle's views on reincarnation ? clumsily expressed, but shared with millions of Buddhists around the world ? cost him the job, in came Kevin Keegan, his heart pinned to his sleeve, a cheerful antidote to the dangers of too much cerebral activity. When Keegan failed through a lack of tactical nous, leaving the team dishevelled, the FA turned for the first time to a foreigner: Sven-Goran Eriksson, the cool Swede who promised a return to order and serenity.

Rejected despite three quarter-final appearances that were not considered a suitable dividend from the so-called golden generation, Eriksson was inevitably followed by an Englishman. The promotion of Steve McClaren, the Swede's former deputy, was so disastrous that the FA quickly swung back through 180 degrees and went hunting for another foreign expert with a chest-full of medals, paying the highest salary ever pocketed by any international manager in history to a man who could not even match Eriksson's relatively modest achievement at a World Cup.

In an interesting article in Thursday's Financial Times, Simon Kuper, the author of several excellent football books, used statistics to argue that England are getting rid of the most successful manager in their history. But it is misleading to present bald winning percentages as proof of anything unless other factors are taken into account. Capello's 68% of wins in Fifa and Uefa competitions means little without factoring the relative strength of each opposing team and the competitive value of each match into the equation. Nor is it reasonable to accept Steven Gerrard's argument that in South Africa, England's players were exhausted by a long Premier League season. Their lassitude was as much the outcome of Capello's misconceived preparations and the enervating atmosphere created in their Rustenberg camp.

Capello did what he thought was right, according to the lessons learned during a career in which he won titles in Italy and Spain. But he was wrong. When it came to managing an international side, those experiences were meaningless. Success in one sphere does not guarantee similar results in another. What had Aimé Jacquet or Roger Lemerre won before they took France to the World Cup in 1998 or the European Championship two years later? Did a glittering career at the peak of European club competition make Joachim Löw into such an effective head coach for Germany?

Now we are back to choosing an English manager for England, or, perhaps, given the statements in the FA's press conference on Thursday, a British one. Even within that wider definition there are not many suitable candidates, but the experience with Capello certainly means the next man will be required to demonstrate a bit more of that treacherous emotion known as passion, as well as showing an ability to establish a warmer relationship with the players.

Redknapp certainly qualifies on those grounds, which unsettles observers who suspect that the FA is again swinging from one extreme to the other. But the 64-year-old Spurs manager is not really a Ron Knee. His career did not come to a halt at Neasden FC, or, in his case, Bournemouth. He has shown an ability to succeed at several levels of the English game, from the Third Division championship with the Dorset club to the FA Cup with Portsmouth and last season's thrilling ride to the quarter-finals of the Champions League with Tottenham Hotspur. His proven ability to bring the best out of top-class internationals from around the world, currently including the likes of Luka Modric, Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale, suggests that he would have no difficulty dealing with the big names and big egos in the England party.

David Bernstein and his FA colleagues on Thursday spoke of their ambition to create the sort of coaching structure, based at St George's Park in Burton upon Trent, that will ensure a constant supply of home-produced candidates for the job. We have heard such promises before, most notably when McClaren took over from Eriksson, and so far all they have produced is Stuart Pearce, whose five-year stint as Under-21 manager has been inconclusive but who will take charge of the senior team against Holland at the end of this month.

It was Peter Taylor, one of Pearce's predecessors, who gave David Beckham the England captain's armband for the first time in similar circumstances, when put in temporary charge for a match against Italy in November 2000 while the FA awaited Eriksson's arrival ? a successful decision or otherwise, depending on your point of view. Perhaps Pearce, too, can give a helping hand to the man who eventually takes the job on a permanent basis.

But even the most smoothly functioning mechanism does not always produce the required results, as France found when Lemerre and Raymond Domenech, both products of their much?admired coach development system, failed badly in the World Cups of 2002 and 2010. Even the Deutscher Fussball Bund came a cropper, after a succession running from Helmut Schön via Franz Beckenbauer to Berti Vogts, with the unfortunate Erich Ribbeck a dozen years ago.

A smooth succession is the ideal, but there are no guarantees, and in football sometimes a decision made on non-statistical evidence can trump a choice based on a flawless CV. Redknapp will never match Capello's collection of trophies, but he could well be a better man for the job.

? England name unchanged side to face Italy
? Lancaster wary of threat from home pack

Caretaker coaches called Stuart are suddenly de rigueur in English team sport. Stuart Lancaster has had just one Six Nations game in charge but, shortly before boarding the plane for Italy, he sounded like a seasoned veteran as he backed Stuart Pearce's fort-holding credentials following Fabio Capello's abrupt exit. While class is permanent, the era of the quietly ambitious temporary coach has definitely dawned.

It even transpires the two Stuarts are friendly, with Pearce pencilled in to visit Twickenham for the Wales game later this month. That commitment may now have to be shelved but Lancaster reckons the Football Association could do worse than appoint Pearce as Capello's successor, regardless of timescale. "I think he's the perfect person for the job," suggested Lancaster, who received a good luck call from the ex-England defender before the Scotland game. "I've spent time in camp with England Under-21s listening to his team meetings and he's been to our games. He's not just an ex-footballer who's become a coach; he's far more than that."

There are clear similarities between the two interim leaders even if Pearce won rather more international caps. Both believe in giving young players their heads and cherry-picking information from other sports. "He's a coach who's very open to learning and I know he's worked with Great Britain rugby league as well," said Lancaster. "He'll also have great knowledge of all the young players. It's a very similar situation to me ? he's coached the James Milners of this world in the Under-21s. Can he hit the ground running? I think he can. It is important he brings his own philosophy and his own views into solving it, even if it is for just one game."

Lancaster even invited Pearce to address his Saxons squad before their fixture in Ireland last year. Although the game was lost ? "We conceded two tries with the wind behind us, that was the problem there" ? it was apparently not down to the standard of the guest speaker's oratory. Every caretaker knows, even so, that results will determine their fate and the feelgood factor surrounding Lancaster's England after their Calcutta Cup victory would instantly evaporate if they were to lose in Rome.

Perhaps mindful of that fact, Lancaster has named the same starting XV and replacements who featured at Murrayfield. Not for two years have England sent out an unchanged line-up but, with the cold weather disrupting their training plans this week, a little bit of continuity makes obvious sense. Apart from the captain's run and the actual game in Edinburgh, Lancaster's players have barely trained on grass for the past 10 days. Before heading for the airport they were forced to divert to an artificial surface at a school in Woking, with the pitch at Bagshot still unusable. The case for building a dedicated indoor training facility, as Wales and France have both already done, grows ever stronger.

The more urgent priority, according to Lancaster, is to ensure the Italian forwards do not make England's life a misery in front of more than 70,000 spectators at Rome's Stadio Olimpico. The visitors are keen to get their attacking game going more than managed to do last weekend but are uncomfortably aware the Azzurri are doughty opponents at home. "I don't view the Italians as any less of a threat than Wales," insisted Lancaster. "You've got to make their tight five work by playing with tempo and intensity."

He also reiterated his belief that on-field discipline is compromised if players fail to have a professional attitude off it. "We've talked about it again and discussed what pride, professionalism and commitment looks like," said Lancaster. Among other things his players have also been told not to yap at referees. "It may sound like a little thing but it all adds up. We've made it clear that unnecessary penalties are not to be tolerated." Another low-scoring, scrappy win would suit him just fine. "We're on stage one of a long journey. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs along the way."

England team to play Italy, 4pm GMT Saturday

Ben Foden (Northampton); Chris Ashton (Northampton), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Owen Farrell (Saracens), David Strettle (Saracens); Charlie Hodgson (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester); Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Dan Cole (Leicester), Mouritz Botha (Saracens), Tom Palmer (Stade Français), Tom Croft (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), Phil Dowson (Northampton)

Replacements: Rob Webber (London Wasps), Matt Stevens (Saracens), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Ben Morgan (Scarlets), Lee Dickson (Northampton), Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), Mike Brown (Harlequins).

? Bolton fighter set for rematch on 19 May
? WBA had ordered rematch last month

Lamont Peterson has agreed to a rematch with Amir Khan in Las Vegas in May, the Bolton fighter's camp said. The 25-year-old Khan will fight the American for a second time on 19 May at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

The World Boxing Association had last month ordered a rematch after Peterson defeated Khan in controversial circumstances to win the WBA and International Boxing Federation light-welterweight titles on 10 December.

The 25-year-old Khan had complained to the WBA, IBF and Washington DC commission after losing his light-welterweight titles to Peterson in the American's home town. He highlighted several grievances, chiefly the referee Joseph Cooper's deduction of two points, the judges' scoring of the bout and the unexplained presence of the so-called "man in the hat" Mustafa Ameen at ringside.

The Golden Boy chief executive Richard Schaefer revealed he had already sought guarantees over the security at ringside this time. Schaefer told Sky Sport News: "We have a deal, we are all set. This is going to be a big, and I mean a very big fight. The first fight was a terrific fight, an all-action fight, a lot of controversy, a lot of questions surrounding it so this one here is hopefully going to clear up all these question marks."

He added: "Security will be very tight and Las Vegas is probably the best commission in the world and I know they are going to make sure that everything is going to be totally above board.

"I've already had conversations with the Las Vegas commission to make sure that it is going to be absolutely neutral ground for both fighters. We won't see any men in hats sitting at the scorers' table."

Schaefer paid tribute to Khan's determination to get the fight on and confirmed the purse split would be equal. He added: "Amir very early on established that he would be happy to split all worldwide revenues 50-50, obviously a clear indication of how much Amir really wanted the fight.Usually when Amir fights the opponents don't get a 50% split, but here Amir made it clear to me.

"I have to hand it to Amir, he really wants to go and will set the record straight on 19 May at the Mandalay Bay. He really wanted the fight, he pushed for it, he called me every day. I'm happy to see now his campaign to get that rematch paid off and we do have a fight."

? Former world No1 hit opening round of 68 at Spyglass Hill
? Woods currently tied for 15th place, five shots behind lead

The Tiger Woods comeback roadshow gained yet a little more momentum on Thursday as the man formerly known as the greatest player to ever play the game turned in yet another impressive performance in his opening round of the 2012 PGA Tour season.

Two weeks ago the former world No1 finished third in Abu Dhabi against the best European players but won over the vast majority of sceptics with a vast improved swing and succession of great shots. It was similar story at Spyglass Hill, where Woods' opening 68, four-under par, offered more than a fleeting glimpse of the dominant player he once was. That score left him in a tie for 15th place, five shots behind the leaders.

In a tournament played over three courses ? of which Spyglass is traditionally the most difficult ? Woods left himself well-placed to chase his first victory in a full-field PGA Tour event for more than two and half years. On Friday he will play at the Monteray Country Club, where the PGA Tour journeyman Charlie Wi shot a nine-under 63 and then on Saturday at Pebble Beach, where US Ryder Cup player Dustin Johnson shot a matching 63 that but for a handful of missed putts might have been much lower.

Woods' round at Spyglass was only bettered by three players. In other words he had good cause to be happy but ? and this is perhaps a sign of his growing self-belief ? sounded a little downbeat after his round.

"The lowest score here (at Spyglass) is 66, so 68 isn't too bad. But with scores the way they are at all the courses, I felt like I had to go even lower. Guys are tearing this place apart with no wind,'' he said.

His problem, as it was in Abu Dhabi and as it has been since his return to the sport after personal scandal, was putting. He had 29 putts on Thursday ? not awful by the standards of the average professional, but the Tiger Woods of old didn't dominate the sport in his prime by being an average putter. He will need to improve on the greens.

If he doesn't then the wait for another PGA Tour victory will be extended and the chase to beat Nickalus' record of 18 majors will become forlorn.

If the putting does improve, then the Rory McIlroys and Luke Donalds will struggle to assert themselves on the biggest stages because, frankly, Woods at his best plays a brand of golf from tee to green that not even they can match.

Thursday's round at tight Spyglass course, where he missed only two fairways and found 13 of 18 greens in regulation, was a case in point. Woods made six birdies. He conceded he should have made a few more.

"I drove it great today. I drove it on a string. I had it going both ways. Unfortunately, going into the greens, I was not very good at all. I had some wedges that I hit some awful golf shots. I played actually over par. So I'm going to go work on that,'' he said, before adding a more optimistic note: "My ball-striking is night and day compared to what it was (last year). I feel very comfortable because my practice sessions are so much better. I'm able to actually practice, and I'm able to practice for a very long time. That's where I get a lot of my confidence."

? Former France international frustrated with inconsistency
? It's as if 'people don't want us to win the league'

Manchester City ambassador Patrick Vieira has questioned the consistency of recent decisions that have led to conspiracy theories emerging among the club's supporters.

Over the past few weeks the City manager, Roberto Mancini, has been infuriated by a succession of recent refereeing performances. The dismissal of Mario Balotelli at Liverpool in November left the Italian grumbling. However, Mancini was exasperated by the dismissal of Vincent Kompany against Manchester United last month when, days later, Glen Johnson escaped punishment for a similar challenge on the City winger Adam Johnson.

The subsequent intervention of the Football Association in suspending Balotelli for four games for his tackle on Tottenham's Scott Parker left Mancini furious. In addition, there was a controversial penalty awarded against Micah Richards during City's Carling Cup semi-final defeat by Liverpool.

It has all left the Blues feeling rather annoyed and triggered Vieira's suggestions.

"I don't want to say that everyone is against City but when you look at the last few decisions, you are asking yourself if something is wrong here, if people don't want us to win the league," said the former France international.

"It felt like that anything City do will be amplified and we get punished, compared to the other teams and the other players.

"We are trying our best to win the league and we accept our punishment. But when you look what is happening to the other clubs, it makes us really frustrated."

Vieira said inconsistencies among the referees were part of the problem rather than a bias against City.

"Confusion is really dangerous, especially for the referee and the refereeing body," he said. "They have to be very careful about how they deal with some of the situations. A referee has to make a decision he thinks is right. But a good referee is someone who referees with his personality and with common sense, to make the decision that he thinks is right at the moment, not because he is afraid of the consequences ? that is not good."

Tired of the Fabio Capello furore? Then probably best not to read the Italian papers ... James Richardson with all the latest from the Continent

? Vieira suggests City are singled out for punishment
? Referees in danger of ruining uniqueness of English game

Patrick Vieira has spoken out against what he perceives as unfair and disproportionate treatment of Manchester City players by referees.

City had to do without their influential captain, Vincent Kompany, for four matches after the FA imposed a ban on account of the defender's tackle on Manchester United's Nani. Roberto Mancini has been denied the services of Mario Balotelli for a similar length of time after the striker was judged to have stamped on Scott Parker.

Now Vieira has pointed to what he regards as equally serious incidents involving Chelsea's Frank Lampard and the Stoke City forward Peter Crouch, which have not incurred suspensions. Lampard was booked for a tackle on Adam Hammill during Chelsea's 2-1 win over Wolves while Crouch incurred no sanction at all despite being accused of poking West Bromwich Albion's Jonas Olsson in the eye.

Vieira said: "Frank Lampard's tackle looked dangerous compared to Vincent's. Crouch, when he put his finger in the eye of another player, looked bad as well.

"It felt like that anything that City will do will be amplified and we get punished, compared to the other teams and the other players. I don't want to think about it because I don't want to say that everyone is against City or anything like that. But when you look at the last few decisions, you are asking yourself if something is wrong here, if people don't want us to win the league.

"When you see the last few decisions everything is against us, compared to the other ones. We try our best to win the league, we accept our punishment. But when you look what is happening to the other ones, that makes us as a football club really frustrated.

"It seems like if you have one referee you get one decision but if you have a different referee the decision may also be different. It's difficult to understand some decisions compared to the decisions we had. I think this is what brings the confusion. The confusion is dangerous for our game."

Vieira's sentiment is known to be echoed by those in senior positions at City. In a wider sense, the former Arsenal player believes referees' stance towards tackling in the Premier League is short-changing supporters.

"My feeling, obviously, was that when Vinnie went for the tackle he went for the ball," Vieira added. "He went to win the ball. For me, it wasn't a foul. I was quite surprised that the referee gave a foul. I was more surprised that he came out with a red card.

"Ten years ago the game was much more physical than it is now. Tackles that that were happening when I was playing at Arsenal ? if that was a red card there would have been a sending-off in every game I played for Arsenal. It was one of the harshest decisions I've ever seen in the last few months.

"The beauty of the English game ? especially in the Premier League ? is the speed of the game, the passion from the players and the tackling. England is the only country in the world where fans in the stadium applaud the striker who has scored but also the defender who wins the ball with a tackle. You will not get that anywhere else in the world. Now it looks like you cannot tackle any more. The refereeing body has to be really careful not to kill the passion of the game.

"If these changes to the rules mean that there is more of a European pace or style to the Premier League, then I think English fans could get bored and would not come to see the game. This is something really special that the referee should not take away.

"I do understand that there are some tackles that are very dangerous, but they have to make a difference between players who go in to win the ball and players who go in to hurt a fellow professional. That is a difference. They have to be careful to not cross the line."