West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace believes new boss Tony Mowbray has the right credentials to lead Albion back to the Premiership. The former Hibs manager officially took up his new role on Tuesday with the Baggies lying third in the Coca Cola Championship after three successive victories, and Peace said: "I am sure he will rise to the challenge of the increased performances - and hopefully carry that on."
Peace knows the importance of West Brom regaining top flight status while they still receive Premiership parachute money. He added: "Tony came through very strongly as someone who had the desire and the motivation for the job. We wanted to get someone who really wanted it. We are third in the table and playing decent football now and the team is brimming with confidence so hopefully it is a good time for Tony to take over.
"We have two years parachute money from the Premier League. It is very important we try and take the opportunity, hopefully this season but maybe next season, to get out of this division. It is an extremely tough division to get out of. It is extremely competitive. The margin is extremely narrow between success and failure.
"Can we get automatic promotion? It will be tough. We've been there twice before and we know how tough it is. I am sure Tony will use all his endeavours to get us into that position. But it will be a long hard season, that's for sure, and there will be many twists and turns along the way but we do believe with Tony, we will optimise the opportunity."
Jose Mourinho has ruled out a move for Fabien Barthez after third choice goalkeeper Hilario made his Chelsea debut against Barcelona. Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini are both sidelined and Mourinho has been inundated with offers for players such as Barthez, who is a free agent and therefore entitled to join another club outside the transfer window.
"What I know in this moment is that we have 50 agents calling us and, if they call us, they call the press," said Mourinho. "So Fabien Barthez is a name. There are a lot of names in the air. What I know is that Carlo and Hilario are very good goalkeepers and it is not easy for somebody to come and play in this team. Probably, what we have to try to get is a third goalkeeper and, of course, Fabien is not a preferred third goalkeeper. He is a high-profile goalkeeper.
"I prefer to think that now we have Hilario and Carlo, they are first options and we need somebody to give us security and replace Petr Cech in the group of keepers. That is the profile of the goalkeeper we are looking for."
Moving on to the international scene and Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez believes his side could reach the European Championships if they get a victory out of either of their next two qualifiers. Sanchez's men got off to a dreadful start in their bid to reach the 2008 finals when they were beaten by Iceland, but they followed that with a win over Spain followed by a draw in Denmark and victory against Latvia.
A trip to Liechtenstein and then a home clash against Sweden is next up in March, marking the half way point of the qualifying campaign. "If we play like we did against Spain and Denmark for the rest of the campaign, we'll be there or thereabouts," Sanchez said. "If we go into the half way break with ten points, it will stir us up. We're a long way from qualifying for a championships but, if we get the points from our next games, it will be interesting for the end of next season. Fans don't expect us to win every game but they expect pride from players wearing the shirt - and they have that now."
Under Sanchez, Northern Ireland have risen from 124th place in the FIFA rankings - four places above the Republic of Ireland at this stage. It is an amazing transformation from when Sanchez took over from Sammy McIlroy less than three years ago. "When I took over the best part of three years ago we had not scored for 13 games in something like two years, and we had not won in 14 games," said Sanchez. "I said at the time the first thing was to score a goal, the next was to win a game and the third was to improve our world ranking from 124th. We scored in our first game, won our second, are now 45th in the rankings."
Finally, former England captain Paul Ince is expected to make his managerial bow and be unveiled as the new Macclesfield manager. Ince, who celebrates his 39th birthday on Saturday, had his playing contract at League Two rivals Swindon cancelled by mutual consent, watched Macclesfield lose 3-2 at home to Bury on Saturday which left the club rooted to the bottom of the Football League and without a win in 14 games this season.
Caretaker boss Ian Brightwell then admitted whoever takes the full time job has a tough task on their hands. "Whoever takes the manager's job will need to make four or five new signings," he said.
Should Ince take over at Moss Rose, Brightwell is expected to remain in caretaker control for Saturday's trip to Bristol Rovers. Chairman Robert Bickerton refused to be drawn on whether Ince will be the next manager but he dropped a broad hint. He said: "I can't confirm that until pen is put to paper but I've been impressed by Paul Ince's manners, conduct and gentlemanly qualities.
"The pros and cons of making such an appointment are that he might not have as much experience of League Two as some of the candidates but then again none of the others are a former England captain. I am sure he would raise our profile and attract new players."
