The Paul Rogers blog: Football special (From Hereford Times)

The Paul Rogers blog: Football special

9:00am Thursday 16th February 2012 in Paul Rogers Blog By Paul Rogers

THEY say a lot can happen in a week - well that is certainly true in the world of football these past seven days.

It all started last Wednesday when Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric were cleared of tax evasion charges.

Then, would you believe it, later that evening Fabio Capello resigned as England manager after he fell out with the FA over John Terry being stripped of the captaincy over the race row he is currently embroiled in with Anton Ferdinand.

In my opinion, the case should be heard well before the European Championships start - that way everyone will know whether he is guilty or not.

With it now taking place after the tournament, the FA couldn't win - they'd be damned if he remained captain and damned if they don't.

I think they made the right decision as you cannot have someone who has been charged with making a racist comment as the captain of the national team, as if a player or fan supporter of another country racially abuses an England player, the FA would look like hypocrites if they made a complaint.

Should Terry still go to Euro 2012?

As long as his presence doesn't de-stablise the dressing room, then I think he should, as he's still a good player whose leadership qualities will be vital in the knock-out rounds.

Capello resigning has meant that ironically Harry Redknapp instantly became the odds-on favourite to replace him.

The next manager has to be English in my opinion and Redknapp fits the bill in that he knows English football and English players inside out and he is currently doing a fantastic job at Tottenham.

I suppose Roy Hodgson is the only other English manager who fits the criteria in all honesty - I don't think Jamie Pitman does, do you?

Racism rows in football are currently dominating the national papers and Luis Suarez refusing to shake Patrice Evra's hand prior to the Manchester United versus Liverpool game on Saturday has made it ten times worse in my opinion.

What Suarez thought he was going to achieve is beyond me.

He was the one who got charged and subsequently banned for eight games lest we forget for racially abusing Evra.

Whether he should have been found guilty or not is immaterial.

The snub could have caused a riot amongst the fans.

At least everyone at Liverpool have now apologised for the whole episode, but I don't think it's going to go away that quickly.

The following day, Wolverhampton Wanderers got thrashed 5-1 at home to their bitter rivals West Bromwich Albion, which cost Wolves manager Mick McCarthy his job.

I like Mick - he is always honest when speaking and says it as it is.

But even he would admit that he could see why he was relieved of his services.

Whoever comes in to replace him will have a tough job to keep Wolves up, but I think Neil Warnock could be that man.

In my opinion, he was harshly treated at QPR and shouldn't have been sacked and I think he could instill a bit of belief into the squad.

Another manager who was surprisingly sacked this week was Lee Clark at Huddersfield.

I know the Terriers are desperate to get out of League 1, but they have only lost three games all season and are only four points of the automatic promotion places.

I think he is one the best young managers in the country and I'm sure he won't have any trouble finding another job.

Last, but not least, we come to Carlos Tevez, who returned to Manchester City for the first time this week since he refused to come off the bench against Bayern Munich in the Champions League in September.

There is certainly still no love lost between Tevez and City manager Roberto Mancini, with Tevez reportedly saying that his manager "treated him like a dog".

His presence could work for or against City in their pursuit of the Premier League title - not forgetting the Europa League of course!

There is no doubting his talent, but whether he would be up for the fight remains to be seen.

I'm still banking on Man United to win the title with all the experience they have got, but you can be sure that it will go down to the wire.

Lower down the football pyramid, Hereford United's quest to stay in the Football League will also no doubt go down to the wire, but explaning the goings on at Edgar Street at the moment will probably take about 500 words, so I'll leave it as it is.

Plus I'm not allowed to swear on here!

• As a side note, I would like to pass on my sincere condolences to the family of Kate and Sam Boughton, who lost their lives in an accident at Lucton.

I cannot imagine what they are going through and they are in my thoughts at this difficult time.