With the way his career drew to a close you sometimes forget how devastating Mike Tyson was when he exploded on to boxing’s world stage. This clip is quite the reminder.

There have been a several major footballing stories over the summer, some good, and some bad. There have been major signings, on and off the field as well as returning players who are almost as good as new signings. So with the season about to kick off, here are the five things I’m most looking forward to seeing:

1 – Robin van Persie in a Manchester United Shirt

This has to be the biggest signing of the league. Normally we would see a player of van Persie’s standard leave the Premier League to join Real Madrid or Barcelona. You almost never see a star of one of the big clubs join one of their rivals. Man City have been able to draw players to them with their finances but until last season they were never really considered title contenders. United on the other hand area always considered contenders and for them to be able to prise a player like van Persie from Arsenal makes them so much stronger while weakening one of the Big Four teams.

This could be the signing that gives Man Utd the firepower to win back the title.

2 – Eden Hazard in the Premier League

Hazard is an incredible talent but because he has been playing in Ligue 1 over in France we haven’t had much opportunity to see him play. That changed the moment Chelsea signed the exciting Belgian youngster and added him to an extremely talented midfield group of players. Watching him alongside Mata, Lampard, and other new recruit Oscar is going to be exciting to see, and if Torres continues his return to form, Chelsea are going to be more dangerous than they’ve been for a few years.

3 – A rejuvenated Fernando Torres

Torres is beginning to look like the player he originally was at Liverpool. With Drogba gone Torres is now the main striker at Chelsea, and their fortunes rest heavily on his shoulders. His form began to return towards the end of last season, and his golas in the later stages of the Champions League surely helped with that. He then began to look like the dangerous player he can be at the Euro’s getting himself on the scoresheet several times and sharing the Golden Boot for that tournament. When he joined Liverpool he was one of the most exciting players in the league, and I’ve missed watching that player tear teams apart. Thankfully the signs are looking good for that Fernando Torres to return and that makes Chelsea a very dangerous team to play against this season.

4 – How Liverpool adapt to Brendan Rodgers playing style.

Liverpool were one of the big teams who went for a change of management in the summer bringing in the young, dynamic Brendan Rodgers from Swansea. Swansea last season played some of the best football in the Premier League with players that would not have been considered good enough to do what they did. So there was a lot of excitement when Rodgers was given the Liverpool job and began to talk about bringing that high pressing, controlling style of “Spanish” football to Anfield. I’m not convinced he’ll be able to fully implement his desired style of play with the players he has at his disposal however.

At Swansea he built a team to specifically play that way and didn’t have the ego’s that reside in the Liverpool dressing room. He now has some talented players, that can’t be argued against, but whether he is going to be able to instill the work rate, and discipline required to play the way he wants is another matter entirely. I have to ask the question: how long will it take for Gerrard to break ranks and try to go for the Hollywood pass when a simple ball would do? How long until he decides that he’s tired of sitting back and break forward leaving those players around him exposed to the counter attack? He’s an amazing talent, no doubt about that, but as a professional football player he’s a complete nightmare, just look for Steve Mclaren’s thoughts on him if you don’t understand the distinction I’m trying to make.

If Rodgers is able to make the team play the way he wants, it could be a good season for Liverpool, if they buck and do what they want… who knows.

5 – Shinji Kagawa

I watched him play a few times for Borussia Dortmund last season and he was a creative force for that team, and considering the other players they had, that is saying something. He will bring a great spark of creativity and should get his fair share of goals from midfield. He could be the player that Man Utd use as a replacement for Scholes, and will certainly add another attacking dimension to this side. When Man Utd were able to sign him at the beginning of the summer I was shocked Dortmund had let him go, and really excited to see what he was going to be able to do in the Premier League and that hasn’t changed. There have been bigger signings this summer, but this one is certainly going to be one of the best signings of the off season.

You see Asian players being bought by clubs to attract interest in that market, and while they are usually good players they are never really quite good enough for the teams that buy them. That is not the case at all with Kagawa. He’s been bought on pure talent and I think he is going to be a huge signing for Manchester United this season.

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There are so many other things I could talk about that I’m excited for this season, but then this post would be ridiculously long so I’ll leave you with those five. The season kicks off in a few hours and I’m going to go and trying to find a game to watch.

What are you most looking forward to in the Premier League Season 2012/2013?

I just found this video from 2010, during the opening round of the Jack Nicklaus designed course, Harbor Shores. Johnny Miller complains that his  102′ put on the 10th green can’t be done, and asks his caddie for a wedge to chip it closer.

Rather than have his newly opened golf course, Jack Nicklaus shouts over, “Want me to show you how to putt it?” before doing just that.

With Euro 2012 beginning later today, I thought it would be worthwhile to share a few brief predictions and thoughts for the tournament.

Group A Winners – Poland

The joint hosts have a few very talented players in their squad including Borussia Dortmund Striker, Robert Lewandowski, and are in the easiest group of the tournament. Their biggest challenge will be Russia, but I think they have enough to comfortably come out on top of this group.

Group B Winners – Germany

The Germans have a fantastic squad at the moment, with an abundance of creative players, and proven goal scorers. This is the best German team we’ve seen in a long time, and I expect them to not only win their group, but to win the tournament outright. They are in this tournaments “Group of Death” which means anything can happen, but I still expect them to win all of their games.

Group C Winners – Spain

It’s Spain at the hight of their powers. I don’t expect them to struggle at any point in this group. Their toughest game will be against Italy, and I still think they’ll win that one comfortably.

Group D Winners – France

There has been a tremendous amount of turmoil in the French team in recent years. Fortunately for them that all appears behind them and they come into this tournament with a solid squad, and a lot of attacking talent currently on form. Laurent Blanc has brought a lot of stability to the side, and I an see them doing very well in this tournament. Karim Benzema is going to be very important for this side, and if he gets off to a good start against England they will dominate this group.

Euro 2012 Winners – Germany

With the exception of Spain, I don’t think anyone will come close to the Germans in this competition, and I expect them to go all the way and to score a lot of goals while doing so.

Golden Boot – Robin van Persie

Robin van Persie has been on unbelievable form over the last year for Arsenal, and is the focal point of attack for a very potent Dutch side. He takes their penalties, and is always involved in their free kicks so I can see the Dutch scoring a lot of goals in this tournament, and Robin van Persie’s name will be alongside most of them.

Player to Watch – Mario Götze (Germany)

At 20 years old, I doubt Mario Götze will be a starter for the hugely talented German side, but he will be a very important impact player for them. When teams are tiring in the second half Götze will be brought on to help finish them off. He’s one of the most talented and exciting young prospects in the world, and I really believe he’ll shine at this tournament, especially with the quality of the German squad to take all of the pressure off him and allow him to play.

So, Rangers have gone into administration. Where do we go from here? Will we disappear altogether and reform as Rangers 2012? Will there be a hero to come in and save the day, take over the club and build on our world record 54 league titles (sorry, I had to get that in)? Or will it be down to the fans to chip in and take control of our club?

We can’t disappear and reform without our history. It simply can’t happen. So we need to hope a prospective buyer can come in (and there have already been people in touch with the administrators) and sort the club out. If not, it could lead to a fans takeover. How this would work, I don’t quite know. But the Rangers Supporters Trust and the Rangers Supporters Assembly have joined forces and created www.saverangers.com

This site is for supporters to pledge how much they think they would be able to put into a fans takeover of the club. Now obviously this will be hijacked by fans of other teams (predominantly our neighbours from across the city and the horrible team from the north east) but they’ll be weeded out and the Trust and Assembly will be left with a rough figure. This may not be enough to take over the club but it might be enough to join a consortium or to go into partnership with another businessman.

The great thing this would bring is a fan’s perspective to the boardroom. I know board members in the past will have claimed to be Rangers fans and have the club’s best interests at heart (I won’t name names). But to have real, real Rangers fans running the club would be amazing.

Since Craig Whyte came in, it’s been a lot of broken promises and the fans have been kept in the dark. David Murray sold a lot of assets and failed to defend the club and the fans against the media – a thing Whyte did do but to only protect himself. These are things that Rangers fans have had to put up with for years. Maybe a fan presence in the board room would finally see the club sticking up for its loyal supporters.

Whatever the outcome, I just hope that at some point in the near future, all talk of Rangers is about how well we are playing on the park and how we are adding to the 114 domestic trophies already won.

Then this happens:

It’s moments like these that damage the sport of boxing. Rather than talking about the brave, and committed performance Chisora had just put  in against Vitali Kiltschko, now the only thing being talked about are these two clowns, and their ridiculous brawl. Coupled with the completely unprofessional incidents by Chisora before the fight – slapping Vitali at the weigh in, and spitting water a Wladimir just before the fight began – there is really nothing good that can be taken from the fight itself. A solid performance has been completely tainted by the immature actions of an absolute idiot.

I’m not just blaming Chisora for this event, though he shares a very, very large part in it. There was no reason for Haye to mouth off at the press conference the way he did, and the photo of him swinging a camera tripod is just ridiculous. This whole thing could have been easily diffused. All Chisora had to do was stay in his seat, and then security could have easily removed Haye from the room. Instead we have this farce, with Chisora making threats to shoot David Haye, and “physically burn him”.

There was talk of Haye coming out of retirement to fight Vitali later in the year, and if this incident had stayed in the realm of trash talking then there may have been a Haye vs Chisora fight before that. Frank Warren, sitting beside Chisora, tried to diffuse the situation by suggesting that very thing happen. He said Haye should fight Chisora, with the winner fighting Vitali Kiltschko. Now however, there is a very good chance that Haye will not be allowed a boxing license again, and that there will be severe actions taken against Chisora. We have two careers severely damaged, with talk of jail time being mentioned in the press. I doubt it will go that far, but you can never be sure, especially when taking those comments by Chisora along with his previous arrest history.

It was an ugly night for the boxing community, and that community would be wise to cut these two adrift and try to distance themselves from them as quickly as possible. I don’t think this story is going to quietly disappear any time soon though, and that means boxing as a sport, not just these two fighters, is going to be under an increased scrutiny for the foreseeable future.

We’ve won the last three league titles, and up until a couple of months ago, it looked like we were on course for number four. Yes, we should have done better in Europe and yes we shouldn’t be getting knocked out of the League Cup away to Falkirk. But we were 15 points clear at the top of the league and had an outstanding record away from home.

Things going wrong on the pitch have coincided with things off the pitch getting worse. There is the much talked about tax case hanging over our heads, the constant snipes from the media as well as unneeded comments from some former board members.

I’ve been pretty patient so far when it comes to Craig Whyte. But selling our best player and main goal scorer on transfer deadline day and not bringing in another forward (despite the fact we needed one with him still at the club) is just crazy. Putting in a bid for Grant Holt of Norwich at the last minute was baffling. How can we afford a Premiership striker when we can’t even offer deals to free agents? For me, it was nothing more than a PR stunt to keep some deluded fans happy.

When Mr Whyte took over the club from Sir David Murray (it’s probably best I don’t say too much about him) he was greatly received by a lot of Rangers fans who had became fed up with Murray and his constant refusal to defend the club against certain people in the media.

Mr Whyte doesn’t do many interviews or talk to the press often but there is one statement he has made that sticks out for me  - “The manager will have £5m a year for the next 5 years to spend on players”. Now, we gave improved contracts to Steven Davis, Steven Whittaker and Allan McGregor. But James Beattie was freed and Vladimir Weiss, El Hadji Diouf and Richard Foster returned to their parent clubs, surely freeing up some room in the wage budget. I’m not saying it will cover the whole expense of the three new contracts, but it must have helped.

The summer signings of Juan Manuel Ortiz, Dorin Goian, Carlos Bocanegra, Alejandro Bedoya, Lee Wallace and Matt McKay totals just under £4m. However, with Madjid Bougherra sold for £1.7m the money going out is only £2.3m.

With David Weir terminating his contract in January, Juan Manuel Ortiz returning to Almeria on loan and the sale of Nikica Jelavic to Everton for £5.5m, is not only more money off the wage bill, but actually puts Rangers into profit transfer wise.

The pressure is surely now on Craig Whyte. He issued a statement on the official site recently addressing an article in the Daily Record about borrowing money against future season ticket sales. In this statement, he indicated that there was a £10m hole in turnover due to not qualifying for the Champions League. Why do you think that is Mr Whyte? Perhaps it’s because you’ve not lived up to your end of the bargain. Rangers didn’t sign any of their first choice transfer targets. To me, he’s indicating that it’s Ally McCoist to blame for the European failures. To a certain degree, the players and particularly the manager have to take some responsibility. But let’s be honest, the likes of Bedoya and McKay weren’t first choice signings. I think that’s been shown by the fact neither have featured much so far this season and if rumours are to be believed, McKay was actually offered back to his old club, Brisbane Roar.

Part of me hopes the manager takes a stand and resigns. He’s a Rangers legend, our all time top goal scorer and doesn’t deserve to have that tarnished. But he’s a Rangers man and I get the feeling he’ll never walk out on the club. Ever.

Well, things looked like they were maybe going to go Real Madrid’s way for 42 minutes of the first half. That was until Pedro put Barcelona 1-0 up and Dani Alves scored an absolute wonder strike 3 minutes into first half stoppage time.

Things could have been very different because Real Madrid almost had a dream start with Higuain capitalising on a bad back pass in the first 10 seconds of the game but slotted his chance wide of Pinto’s goal. He also missed another couple of chances as Real Madrid kept Barca on the back foot. Mesut Özil, back in the starting line up after missing out in the first leg, hit the junction of post and crossbar with a brilliant strike from 30 yards. The fine line between the teams over the last year or so demonstrated by Özil’s effort staying out and Alves’ flying into the top corner.

The second half started with Barca on top but Real Madrid slowly came back into it. Sergio Ramos had a goal disallowed (harshly in my opinion) and Mourinho brought off Kaka and Higuain for Benzema and Callejon. These substitutions meant Ronaldo moving more infield to play closer to Benzema and the impact was almost instant with Özil playing Ronaldo down the right channel, he rounded Pinto and slotted it home. Minutes later, Karim Benzema knocked the ball over Puyol’s head, controlled it on his knee and volleyed past Pinto to make it 2-2. Both teams then went forward looking for a winner: Barca to win the match on the night and Real Madrid to not only win the match but win the tie on away goals. As the game petered out, Sergio Ramos was sent off for a second bookable offence after a challenge in the air with Sergio Busquests. Busquests not covering himself in glory by rolling around on the floor as if to influence the referee’s decision.

The game finished 2-2 and Barca get one over on Real Madrid again. But Real Madrid can take a lot from this game despite going out on aggregate. The way they troubled Barcelona right from the start of the game, creating chances and pressurising high up the pitch. Having a goal disallowed and a man sent off, both of which were wrong decisions, clearly hindered their chances but they can also count themselves lucky not to have Lassana Diarra sent of towards the end of the first half. Perhaps if Benzema had started instead of Higuain, I might have been writing about a Real Madrid victory.

Pepe was again involved in his fair share of incidents this week. Firstly it was falling over in the box when defending a corner after minimal contact from Carles Puyol, then there was the revenge of Messi, with the Argentinian hacking Pepe down on the touchline and receiving a yellow card. This was actually cheered like a goal by the Camp Nou crowd, proving just how popular Pepe is!

We now have to wait until the weekend of 21st/22nd of April for the next instalment of El Clásico. Unless of course, they are drawn together in the latter stages of the Champions League. Let’s hope they are, and for my sake, let’s hope Real Madrid can come out on top!

The AFC Champions, and first team into the Super Bowl, were the New England Patriots. They finished their regular season with a record of 13 wins and 3 losses, coasting into the playoffs with an 8 game winning streak and comfortably winning the AFC East.

This domination allowed the Patriots a bye week in the first round of the playoffs, allowing them extra time to prepare for their match against the Denver Broncos. They destroyed the Broncos in a heavy one sided win; silencing the Tebow Time phenomenon that had swept the league this season. This win set them up for the Championship match against The Baltimore Ravens, who had just ground out a victory against the Houston Texans.

The AFC Championship match was setup as a battle between the high flying offense of the Patriots against the always excellent Ravens defense. And it seemed Ravens were coming out on top of that battle as the Patriots offense struggled, causing the usually spectacular Tom Brady to have a very poor match. Throwing under 250 yards, with 2 interceptions and for the first time in 36 games, no TD passes, it was a performance that Brady will want to put behind him, saying “Well, I sucked pretty bad today, but our defense saved us.”

While the Patriots defense did indeed put in a very impressive performance, in the end it wasn’t so much the defense that saved them, rather the unbelievable missed field goal from Ravens kicker, Billy Cundiff, in the last few seconds that would have sent the game into overtime. His kick sailing wide left of the posts ended the match at 23 -20 in the Patriots favour.

Brady, who with his 16th playoff match win, equaled Joe Montana with the most post season wins in NFL history, will be looking for a far better performance from himself, and the Patriots offence in the Super Bowl against less dominant defense.

The NFC Champions, the New York Giants, had a less than impressive regular season, finishing with a record of 9 wins and 7 losses. They managed to win the NFC East by 1 game, and finished their season with a 2 game winning streak.

Their offense has, however, started to develop some excellent weapons for QB, Eli Manning, in Victor Cruz, Mario Manningham, and Hakeem Nicks. It was an offense that started the playoffs in spectacular fashion, crushing the Falcons 24 – 2. They would then face off against the almost unstoppable Green Bay Packers with their high scoring offense and league MVP candidate, Aaron Rodgers. In a match that the Giants were expected to lose, the defense had a fantastic game, stopping the exceptional Green Bay offense, and the Giants offense simply outperformed, and out gunned the Packers at Lambeau Field for a 37 -20 win.

This set them up for the NFC Championship match against the San Francisco 49ers who have had a very impressive season. The 49ers have struggled badly in recent years, but this season has seen them begin to find stability on the offense, and develop an aggressive and dangerous defensive unit that has been able to contain almost every team they have played. Having already beaten the Giants during the regular season, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that they could do so again, and in fact, the Giants went behind twice in the match, both times to touchdowns from a resurgent Vernon Davis. In the pouring San Francisco rain, the Giants fought back and put themselves 3 points ahead with a Mario Manningham touchdown in the fourth quarter, before allowing the 49ers to draw level with a field goal.

The match, now in overtime, was finally won by the giants on the fourth series after the 49ers wide receiver, Kyle Williams, fumbled a punt. A few moments later Giants kicker, Scottish born Lawrence Tynes, slotted a 31 yard field goal between the posts to win the match 20 – 17.

Both championship games were close, tense matches though both sides had good offensive points that give me hope for an exciting Super Bowl. Eli Manning and Victor Cruz combined for a remarkable 142 receiving yards against the 49ers, and the Brady/Gronkowski combination caused problems, even with Brady’s poor performance, for the mighty Ravens defense before Gronkowski suffered a minor ankle injury.

These offensive weapons, coupled with good, but not great defenses on show mean we should be looking at an exciting, high scoring, pass orientated Super Bowl on February 5th. I, for one, can’t wait.