Humility, modesty, reticence, humbleness. These are words that you can categorically say will never appear in an article about Mario Balotelli (except this one), especially after his rather arrogant showing at the Golden Boy award ceremony.

I have a theory about arrogance, and that is that it should only be deployed in one of two situations; first, as a defence mechanism, if you are, in fact, not very confident about your ability in a given situation, or, second, in a jovial sense when you know you’re the best, and you want to inject a bit of comedy into a given scenario. Jose Mourinho being the master at the latter, and, say, someone like Nicklas Bendtner being adept at the former. Mario Balotelli, however, seems to fall into neither category, and for me, the enigma of ‘Super Mario’ just continues to stupefy.

Having won the award for best young player in Europe, Balotelli proceeded to show why, around the globe, he has failed to make many friends, by stating of the man who finished second, Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere;

“What’s his name? Wil … ? No, I don’t know him, but the next time I play against Arsenal I will keep a close eye on him… Perhaps I can show him the Golden Boy trophy and remind him that I won it.”

And perhaps Jack can remind him of the score at the Eastlands when the two sides met earlier in the season…

He also noted of former winners that;

“There’s only one that is a little stronger than me: Messi. All the others are behind me… I am delighted to receive the award, but who should have won it but me? Two years ago I finished sixth and then fourth in 2009. It was finally my turn. My aim is that this prize will transform itself into the Ballon d’Or. To have won this award is a good omen to achieve that.”

Perhaps this is where his humility comes in. He has admitted that Lionel Messi is better than he is, but even that is tempered by ‘a little stronger’. But when you bear in mind past winners have included Cesc Fabregas, Wayne Rooney and Rafael van der Vaart, his modesty is perhaps stretched to its limit by the admission that Messi is better than him.

After scoring 8 goals in 11 appearances for Manchester City, there is no doubt he is a prodigious talent, and after probably the most productive hat-trick in football history against Aston Villa, in terms of the ratio between effort and final product, Balotelli is on a high. His apparent homesickness has given his plight a more human face, but while he continues to disrespect those in the game, he is going to make few friends.

The only place the 20 year-old can prove his own sense of self-worth is on the pitch, over a sustained period of time, otherwise, for all his talent, sound-bites and searing, arrogant rhetoric, he will become the footballing equivalent of a travelling circus; a nomadic laughing-stock.

If you liked this and would like to read more, then why not check out my blogs, or follow me on Twitter.

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Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all to win at 15/8!

Considering the unreliability of Sky Sports reporting, there is good chance that this report isn’t true, but it is being said that Liverpool are set to renew their interest in West Ham’s Carlton Cole in the January transfer window. One of the reasons the report does have some credibility is that Roy Hodgson has admitted that the Reds were interested in signing the player in the summer. Sky now believes however that West Ham owners David Sullivan and David Gold are willing to sell the striker in January for between £7m and £9million.

In my humble opinion, I cannot see how Carlton Cole is worth anywhere near that amount. The most he has ever scored in a season was 12 goals, a figure he got to by playing 32 times during the 2008/09 season for West Ham. During his much praised rich vein of form last campaign, he scored 10 goals in 36 matches, hardly the strike rate that opposition defenders are terrified of. Of course, Cole does have his good attributes. He is exceptionally strong and is a powerful presence in the air but is this enough to warrant £9million?

If we look at Liverpool striker David Ngog, you will see that he could very easily develop into the style of player that Cole is. Although not as strong as Cole in regards to upper body strength or as powerful in the air, he has developed this season to have a better first touch and has managed to score eight goals in all competitions as opposed to Cole’s five. The big worry for me with Cole is that he is just too inconsistent. He goes through lean periods where he doesn’t contribute enough to the game and doesn’t contribute the goals required of him. He started this season very poorly and is only beginning to gain a semblance of his true form. There are too many similarities with Emile Heskey not be worried. Although everyone at Anfield admired Emile’s effort and aerial ability, by the end of his time on Merseyside he was just not scoring enough goals.

This is the fundamental problem with this signing. If our ambitions are above mid-table mediocrity, we need players who do more than “do a job” for the team like Cole. To take the goal-scoring load of Torres, Reds fans would like another striker who not only compliments the Spanish striker’s play, but can also fire in 20+ goals a season. That is the only way Liverpool will find themselves back in the top four in the future. Among Reds fans, names such as Aguero, Dzeko and Llorente have been mentioned, but all we get is Carlton Cole.

Certainly Reds fans have to be realistic about who we can get while we sit 12th in the table, but if we spend £9m on a player who won’t make a “big difference” to the quality of the team, then it is just not worth it. Roy himself said he is looking for players who are either young or can give the team a big step up in quality then Cole ticks neither box so why should he be considered at all? We have spent too much money in the last two decades on players who have just not been good enough. Souness, Evans, Houllier and Benitez can all be blamed for some bad signings, and it is now Roy who has also gone down the same route. I am hoping Damien Comolli and others at the club will begin to reverse this trend or otherwise the dream of a 19th Championship will continue to be a forlorn hope.

Read more Liverpool blogs at the excellent Live4Liverpool

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Holy Crap – it’s live fantasy football! Become part of Chelsea v Aston Villa and play Picklive for FREE Watch and bet live – spices up any game!

Raul Meireles put in an inspired display as Liverpool ran out 3-0 winners over Wolves at Molineux on Saturday.

Meireles supplied Fernando Torres with the first of his two goals before killing off a spirited Wolves team with a brilliant shot of his own early in the second period to seal Liverpool’s first win since Kenny Dalglish’s return to the club.

While Wolves can feel aggrieved at a score line that flattered the visitors, there is no doubt that Liverpool earned their win courtesy of ruthless finishing.

With Steven Gerrard serving a one match ban, Meireles reveled as the main source of the Reds’ creativity and his 35 yard half volley just past the half hour gave Wayne Hennessey another cause for concern, with the Welsh international diving on to a Maxi Rodriguez effort moments later.

With the hosts labouring in vein, Liverpool edged ahead with a routine 36th minute break that again exposed Wolves’ defensive naivety.

Ronald Zubar’s failure to step up with his fellow defenders and enforce the offside trap allowed Christian Poulsen to find Meireles along the right channel who in turn fed Torres in the centre for the simplest of close-range finishes.

Lively Wolves were guilty of missing a similar chance seconds before the break when a loose ball fell at the feet of Nenad Milijas whose poor control allowed Pepe Reina precious time to dive and save at the Serbian’s feet.

Meireles turned from goal supplier to scorer with a wondrous 50th minute volley that deserved to settle any game.

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Daniel Agger’s deep centre was headed clear by the Wolves back line and fell to the Portuguese play maker who hit a dipping first time shot over Hennessey from 25 yards.

Wolves rallied somewhat but despite seeing Reina spill Stephen Fletcher’s swerving volley and debutant Adam Hammill waste a close range chance, Torres sealed the points for the visitors when he tucked away his second in injury time to seal the points.

Sporting Lisbon needed a last-minute equaliser from departing striker Liedson to secure a point in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Naval on Friday.

Brazilian-born Liedson gave the hosts the lead after 33 minutes at the Estadio Jose de Alvalade XXI, but Naval hit back through another Brazilian marksman, Fabio Junior, who converted a penalty on 43 minutes before Michel Simplicio put Naval ahead on the stroke of half-time.

Helder Postiga converted a penalty for Sporting on the hour mark to level proceedings, but French midfielder Nicolas Godemeche restored Naval’s advantage seven minutes later.

Just when it looked as though Naval had done enough to secure a valuable three points away from home, Liedson – in one of his last appearances for Sporting before returning to Brazil to play with Corinthians – bobbed up again to secure a share of the spoils.

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Sporting remain in third place on the table, still seven points behind second-placed Benfica and 18 adrift of leaders Porto, while Naval remain on the bottom of the table, level on 10 points with Portimonense.

Real Madrid legend Raul returned to Spain for the first time since leaving to help new side Schalke secure a valuable 1-1 draw with Valencia.

Raul’s strike on Tuesday was his 69th Champions League goal and his 71st in UEFA competitions, taking him past Filippo Inzaghi as the all-time highest goal-scorer in European competition.

The away draw gives the Bundesliga outfit every chance of progressing in the second leg at the Gelsenkirchen on March 10.

But the night could not have begun worse for Schalke, as the 2000 and 2001 Champions League finalists claimed an early lead.

A lovely move that began with Aduriz found Frenchman Jeremy Mathieu, who put a sublime early ball into the box.

Striker Roberto Soldado charged towards the near post and struck a left-foot shot past Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, sending the Mestalla crowd wild.

The goalscorer had another chance to find the back of the net only moments later but turned his header wide after a neat cross from Miguel, while Aduriz could only find the side netting from six yards.

Valencia turned up the heat in their quest for a second goal after the break with Argentine Ever Banega just shooting wide, before Aduriz shot straight at the goalkeeper when he should have done better.

And the La Liga outfit’s failure to take their chances came back to haunt them after 64 minutes when Raul found the back of the net.

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A neat ball from fellow Spaniard Jurado gave Raul the chance and, after a well-controlled first touch, he produced an exquisite left-foot finish that reminded everyone of the former Spain captain’s undoubted qualities in front of goal.

It was a vital goal for the Germans and they nearly claimed a late winner when, in the first minute of injury time, substitute Hao Junmin – who had only just come onto the pitch – forced a terrific save from Guaita in Valencia’s goal.

But in the end Schalke were happy to settle for an away point, especially after the injury time dismissal of Lukas Schmitz for a second yellow card.

Real Madrid defeated Racing Santander 3-1 on Sunday to remain in touch with Barcelona, while Sevilla suffered a setback at Atletico Bilbao.Real, playing for the second time in three days after thumping lowly Malaga 7-0 on Thursday, kept within seven points of the La Liga leaders with a comfortable victory highlighted by a brace to Karim Benzema.On-loan Manchester City man Emmanuel Adebayor, starting in place of the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, got himself onto the scoresheet with the opener on 24 minutes.The goal was a thing of beauty, set up by Xabi Alonso’s defence-splitting through ball from the centre circle.Alonso’s pass released Mesut Oezil, who played a one-two with Adebayor before skipping into the area past two defenders, drawing Racing goalkeeper Tono wide and playing across goal for the Togolese striker to casually side-foot into an empty net.Oezil had a hand in Benzema’s first goal three minutes later, the Germany international again linking up with Alonso before threading an inch-perfect pass to his French team-mate, who went one out with Tono and proved up to the task.Racing started to find their confidence in the second half and had a glorious chance to draw within a goal of Real when Giovani dos Santos was tripped in the area by Alonso, but defender Pablo Pinillos’ weak shot was easily cut off by Iker Casillas.Bakircioglu eventually put Racing on the scoresheet in the 70th minute, shooting wide of Casillas after being played in by Mehdi Lacen, but Real had restored their lead five minutes later when Angel di Maria drove forward and again isolated Benzema and Tono.Adebayor had a late chance to extend Real’s lead from the penalty spot, but he too failed to beat the keeper after a weak attempt.Elsewhere, European hopefuls Sevilla slumped to eighth on the table as Bilbao snapped a four-game losing streak with a 2-0 win at home.Sevilla defender Federico Fazio put the hosts ahead with an own goal in the 66th minute, deflecting into his own net in a scramble to clear a whipped-in cross, while Julien Escude was at fault in Bilbao’s second, fouling in the area and handing an 88th-minute penalty to Andoni Iraola.In other results, Espanyol’s European hopes took a blow as they fell 1-0 at Levante, their fourth loss in five league matches, while 10-man Sporting Gijon trumped Getafe 2-0.Almeria defeated Hercules 2-1 in a battle of the cellar dwellers, and bottom-placed Malaga fell 1-0 at home to Osasuna.

Birmingham City’s accidental Carling Cup hero Obafemi Martins said he is unsure of his future at St Andrew’s.The Nigerian striker – on-loan from Russian club Rubin Kazan – scored one of the easiest winners of a Cup final when Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny spilt the ball into his path, with Martins obligingly tapping home to send Blues fans at Wembley into frenzy on Sunday.But with the winners’ medal in pocket, Martins said talk of a permanent deal to keep his place in Alex McLeish’s squad was premature.”I don’t know anything,” Martins told The Birmingham Mail. “I’m still on loan and I just want to be with the team, scoring goals, and we will see what is going to happen.”Martins said his decision to join Birmingham was vindicated by their last-gasp victory over Arsenal on Sunday, with City winning their first trophy since their League Cup triumph in 1963.”When Birmingham called me, I decided to come. They have the players that can play. I’m lucky to be here, and we have won at Wembley,” he said.

Former Chile captain Elias Figueroa will not stand against Sepp Blatter and Mohamed Bin Hammam in the FIFA presidential elections.Figueroa, 64, was the preferred candidate of a group called Change FIFA, which advocates reform in the governing body.

The group wished to provide an alternative to incumbent Blatter and Asian Football Confederation chief Bin Hammam.

Figueroa had said last week that he was considering the proposal and had the backing of at least one national football association.

But the Chilean, who appeared in three World Cups and was also voted South American footballer of the year on three occasions in the 1970s, eventually decided not to run.

“I have decided not to accept (the presidential nomination)… for the sole reason that I’m sure with such a short time in which to state a case I could not prepare one worthy of the magnitude and importance of such a distinguished job,” Figueroa said in a statement Wednesday.

Napoli defender Andrea Dossena has praised his side’s ability to fight out games after they claimed a 4-3 home win over Lazio on Sunday.The Naples-based club came from 2-0 and 3-2 down to record the win which keeps them within three points of league-leaders AC Milan.

Dossena, who scored Napoli’s opening goal, put the victory down to the team’s ability to perform in the second half as they produced a famous victory.

“The table has proved we have better endurance compared to other teams and therefore we could produce a better performance in the second half,” Dossena said.

“It’s pretty much been that way all season, in the second half we play better whereas other teams start to tire and have problems.”

Dossena’s goal breathed life into his side and kickstarted the comeback, with the former Liverpool defender declaring the Serie A title race still alive.

“With the opportunity of three points per match, it’s never over,” he said. “We are determined and the team has the willingness to fight for a result, as we proved today.”

While Dossena was pleased, Lazio sports director Igli Tare was very disappointed with the result but praised Napoli for their terrific season.

“To play as we did today and not pick up any points is very frustrating,” Tare said.

“Napoli are now second, and are having a great season. They haven’t put a foot wrong, and haven’t run into any real difficulties this season. They deserve to be where they are in the table.”

“As for us, we have seven games left until the end of the season and we’ll do all we can to pick up as many points as possible.”

Lazio now sit fifth, 11 points behind Massimiliano Allegri’s Milan.

The proposed reconstruction of the Scottish Premier League will finally come to a vote in May, according to Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne.Representatives of all 12 SPL clubs met in Hampden on Monday to discuss a raft of proposals to reshape Scottish football.

Principally, the SPL has tabled plans for a 10-team top-flight that would see two clubs drop down to the Scottish First Division.

Monday’s meeting was originally earmarked as the date of the decisive ballot, but those attending failed to come to a final agreement.

Milne is optimistic of an outcome when the officials reconvene next month, where it is believed clubs in favour of the restructure will fail to gain the necessary backing.

“I think it is still moving in the right direction,” Milne told BBC Scotland.

“There is a bit of work to do. I think there will be a vote sometime in the middle of May.”

“We’re on course to go somewhere. It’s still very much the plan that is on the table.”

Reports in Scotland suggest the SPL will continue lobbying clubs to accept their proposed changes ahead of the next meeting.

The league needs 11 of the 12 clubs to back their reforms in order for the changes to be implemented.

SPL chief Neil Doncaster, who has published a 100-page strategic plan to take Scottish football forward, has put the onus on the clubs to take responsibility for their league.

“If clubs don’t want our proposals, that’s the time for them to put forward alternative plans and new ideas if that’s what people want,” he earlier told BBC Scotland.

“I think there’s a real desire for change – a real need for change – and it’s up to the clubs what that change looks like.”

“The plans will be on the table on the 18th (of April) and what we do with the proposals is entirely up to the clubs to decide.”

“The clubs have the power, we (the SPL) can only put together a plan.”