• RBS places club's loans into its toxic-assets division
• Deadline for refinancing of owners' loans is 6 October

Digger exclusive

Tom Hicks and George Gillett's ill-starred reign as owners of Liverpool looks like having less than a month to run after the club's loans with Royal Bank of Scotland were placed into its toxic-assets division.

The deadline for the refinancing of the owners' personal loans from RBS is 6 October, and that now looks set to be the date that Hicks and Gillett's association with England's most successful club will end. The bank's decision to switch the debts to its Global Restructuring Group is the strongest possible signal that these loans will not be extended.

The co-owners' previous attempt to refinance the debts in June, when they are believed to have offered to secure the loans against their US assets, was overruled by the club's board, led by the chairman, Martin Broughton. Now, with the loans having been shifted into RBS's so-called "bad bank", where all toxic assets have been housed since last year, it is clear the club's lender has also adopted a more steely stance towards the Americans.

One source with a knowledge of Liverpool's dealings with RBS said: "If it has been taken out of the hands of the corporate banking department they'll have a much more ruthless approach on 6 October." An informed view from another source close to the situation is that the bank would hope to sell the club, possibly at a knockdown price, in the coming weeks or as soon possible after 6 October.

According to the club's accounts to July 2009 Liverpool's owners owe £237.4m to RBS. Through companies in the UK and overseas, Hicks and Gillett are also personally exposed to tens of millions of pounds in other commitments to the club and its lender. These have been a mixture of cash, which the pair have injected through equity, and guarantees to the RBS loans. Last year's accounts stated these amounted to £145.3m, but it is believed to have risen dramatically after the last refinancing agreed five months ago.

RBS would hope to achieve an orderly sale without having to take control of Liverpool. However, depending on the terms of the April refinancing agreement – which have never been made public – that may prove difficult if the co-owners, who value the club at £800m, refuse to go quietly.

One tool at RBS's disposal is to force the insolvency of Liverpool's UK parent and associated companies. It is clear from mortgage documents lodged with Companies House that in the event of default RBS has the power to place Kop Football and Kop Football (Holdings), as well as Gillett's loan-security vehicle, Football UK Ltd, into administration. However that would be unpalatable for the bank, Liverpool's board and the Premier League since it would require the imposition of a nine-point penalty on the club.

By exercising those clauses the bank would also effectively take control of Liverpool. Although RBS's restructuring group describes itself as being responsible for "the management of any problem lending portfolios", the bank has no long-term plans to hold the club as its subsidiary. Instead it is expected RBS would prefer to fulfil another of its stated aims – the "maximising [of] debt recoveries" – by selling the club in short order.

That means there are also strong signs RBS will now be prepared to accept a knockdown price in order to cut its ties. During negotiations with prospective buyers Broughton, and the investment bank advising him, Barclays Capital, have maintained that Liverpool's debts with RBS must be paid in full as a minimum sale price.

Provided buyers still retain an interest in taking over Liverpool beyond 6 October, it will mean a more orderly sale process. There would be only one party for purchasers to negotiate with and the club's debts would be manageable.

The departure of Hicks and Gillett is an outcome that would delight Liverpool fans. The Kop Faithful group wrote in an open letter to the RBS group's chief executive, Stephen Hester, this week: "Hicks and Gillett were proved to be no more than a pair of liars. The promised 'no Glazer style buy out' was all of a sudden [a leveraged buy out] – a club £350m in debt to effectively buy itself, when it had been sold for less than £180m in what seemed no time before."

• Rooney set for first Premier League game since allegations
• Jagielka warns striker to expect a hostile reception

Everton have no special plans to increase security at Goodison Park on account of Wayne Rooney on Saturday, when the Manchester United striker is expected to make his first appearance in the Premier League since allegations were published about his private life.

Rooney's England team-mate and Everton defender Phil Jagielka has warned the 24-year-old to expect another hostile reception when he returns to face his boyhood club at the end of a week when he has dominated many newspapers' front pages. "He normally gets quite a bit of stick anyway and I can't see that changing on Saturday," said Jagielka.

Everton, however, see no reason to bolster the security presence at Goodison on the basis of allegations that are unconnected to football and concern a former player's private life. The visit of Manchester United is one of two "Category A" league matches that warrant an increase in police numbers at Goodison every season – city rivals Liverpool being the other – but that has been the practice since before Rooney left for Old Trafford in 2004.

With matches against Rangers and Liverpool to follow his latest Everton reunion, Rooney faces several uncomfortable appearances in the coming days. His last appearance at Goodison, ironically, marked a thawing in relations between Rooney and Everton when, after conciliatory words from the player towards his former club and David Moyes, plus the Everton manager towards Rooney, his reception lacked the venom of previous years.

Despite the latest allegations against the Croxteth-born star it is highly unlikely that he will be treated to the same levels of abuse on Saturday that followed his acrimonious £27m transfer six years ago.

• The Tottenham striker may have ruptured ligaments
• Defoe has his foot in a cast ahead of seeing specialist

Harry Redknapp has been left to count the cost of England duty to his Tottenham Hotspur squad, as Jermain Defoe joined Michael Dawson as a long-term injury absentee.

Defoe hurt his ankle in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Switzerland and he cut a dejected figure at the club's training ground today as he moved about slowly on crutches and with his foot in a protective boot.

"I'm not doing well at all," the striker said. "It looks like it could be six to eight weeks."

Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, said Defoe would see a specialist to ascertain the full extent of the damage, with the worst case scenario being that ligaments had been ruptured. "But even if it's a bad sprain," Redknapp said, "we're still talking about six weeks or so because it's a nasty one."

Dawson was injured in last Friday's victory over Bulgaria in the Euro 2012 qualifier and Redknapp said that he had ankle and knee damage and "so again, it's a case of it being at least a couple of months."

The Football Association has an insurance scheme that covers England players in the event of injury and Tottenham have made a claim on behalf of Defoe and Dawson.

Redknapp did report that Peter Crouch was fit, after he was forced off during the home defeat against Wigan Athletic with a rib injury. Crouch had to withdraw from the England squad but he has trained fully at Spurs Lodge this week.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett have cut the club adrift from title contention and from the faithful

Until Tom Hicks and George Gillett are officially consigned to Liverpool history, there will be no dancing around the streets of Anfield at reports of their imminent demise. Imminent will not suffice for supporters more accustomed to refinancing deals than record signings since the Americans arrived in February 2007 with promises to put spades in the ground, to manage debt and to sit on the Kop once fans accepted them as true custodians of a rich tradition. There may not be the energy for the send-off they deserve when it is all over.

News that the Royal Bank of Scotland is preparing to cancel £237.4m worth of debt next month, thereby ending Hicks's and Gillett's involvement in Liverpool and costing the credit-crunched businessmen a fortune, raises hope among the club's support that the end is indeed nigh. Another uncertain period awaits while a buyer is found, but the Americans' track record of resisting pressure from the banks, the Middle East, fellow directors, a former manager and the financial opinions of prized footballers to remain in control ensures judgment on a state-owned Liverpool must be reserved.

Doubt over the future of Liverpool will not lessen the significance of the co-owners' exit, however, whenever that comes. Hicks and Gillett have been accused of a litany of failure by the numerous protest groups they have unwittingly created. Some of the charges – such as never putting their own money into the club – are imagined; most – the stadium, the debt, transfers, undermining Rafael Benítez and their own dysfunctionality – are real. Alienating a mass fanbase from their club would also be high on that list.

That Liverpudlians cannot identify with a fundraiser for George W Bush (Hicks) is no surprise, nor a fundamental reason for the anger today, but an interminable saga of financial misery and broken promises has dismantled the traditions they vowed to protect. It is not simply that they have handicapped Liverpool as the club that "existed to win trophies" by making a profit on player-trading for the past two years. It is that for many – and yes, this does sound trite – the fun has gone.

As the MP for Walton, Steve Rotheram, whose constituency covers Anfield, said this week when calling for greater supporter ownership at all levels of the game: "Look at what's happened at Anfield. The fans there do not feel engaged. The owners have seen the supporters as part of the problem instead of the solution." They still do, and the removal of Benítez this summer illustrates that also applies to management level.

Gérard Houllier's return to English football with Aston Villa provides a reminder of how little and everything has changed about Liverpool since the need for new investment prompted former chairman David Moores to accept the Americans' £5,000 per share offer. Houllier spent years bemoaning Liverpool's inability to compete financially with Manchester United and Chelsea (though Arsenal's achievements at that time always undermined his argument) and was sacked after an alarming dip in form, bad buys and with Liverpool fearing they could be cut adrift while losing the services of two disillusioned stars – Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard.

Replace Owen with Fernando Torres this summer and the parallels are clear yet, even though the calls for Houllier's removal far exceeded those for Benítez, Liverpool's support is now politicised like never before. Instead of bridging the gap, Hicks and Gillett have cut Liverpool adrift – from title contention, the Champions League and from the faithful. Hicks hoped to win the latter back by ceding to Benítez's demands on his last, powerful contract at Anfield, but he had no chance.

Offering Jürgen Klinsmann a European Cup-winning manager's job turned the tide of public opinion against the co-owners, but a bigger mistake was to redraw plans for a new 60,000-capacity stadium on Stanley Park within weeks of their takeover. It was pre-credit crunch, and planning permission and European funding was in place for a stadium that was estimated to cost £215m.

The American dream of bigger and better then got in the way. Hicks wanted his own architects to create a grander vision (or cash cow) for 72,000 spectators. Gillett objected but not forcefully enough, and their business relationship began to deteriorate just as the financial storm approached. Only a succession of short-term refinancing packages, under increasingly stringent conditions, have maintained their grip on Liverpool to this point, but at a cost beyond what they stand to lose should the RBS assume control.

"We didn't come here to milk the franchise or the club, we are here to try and build a winning tradition on what is already a winning tradition," said Gillett on the day he first set foot inside Anfield. "I don't think it is appropriate for me or Tom to try to convince the fans we understand the sport, the history or the traditions as well as they do. But respect is what we genuinely feel about the history and legacy of this franchise. I hope we can earn the respect of the fans. Give us a few years and then measure us."

The verdict was returned long ago. And they never did buy Snoogy-Doogy.

• Manager reveals employers went against his wishes
• 'I was quite prepared to go on to the next two matches'

John Toshack was effectively forced out of his job as Wales manager after being denied the chance to oversee next month's 2012 European Championship qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland. The Football Association of Wales claimed the decision was made by mutual consent but Toshack revealed that his employers went against his wishes when they accelerated the plans that were in place to review his position after the Switzerland match.

Although the FAW gave no explanation for its decision to sever ties with Toshack earlier than it had planned, the governing body was placed in an uncomfortable position once it became public knowledge after Friday's defeat in Montenegro that the 61-year-old was ready to step down if results were poor against Bulgaria on 8 October and Switzerland four days later. Toshack met FAW officials after returning from watching Bulgaria face Montenegro on Tuesday and was persuaded to end his six-year tenure this week.

"I didn't decide to finish. I was quite prepared to go on to the next two matches," Toshack said. "I did say to the [FAW] president after the game in Croatia, in the summer, where for a number of reasons I was disappointed, that after the first three group matches we would review everything. And even after the disappointment of the game in Montenegro that was still the way I felt. But it's generally felt it might be better for someone else to take over for these two matches."

The Croatia match continues to grate with Toshack. He organised the friendly at the end of the season to provide Wales with similar opponents to Montenegro but was dismayed when 14 players withdrew from his original squad, several of whom he suspects were fit. "It was such a poor turn-out. I'm not saying some of them weren't genuine but I do know that some of them could have been there, and that disappointed me. I do feel, having looked at other teams, we do have far too many pull-outs."

Toshack also endured more than his share of international retirements and he expressed frustration at the way many of the players handled their decision. "Ryan [Giggs] is the only one who did it the right way. He didn't phone up; he came to see me the day before the game against New Zealand. He explained his thoughts to me and even then didn't say 'tomorrow'. To pick up the phone on a Sunday evening, I don't think is the right way to do things."

The former Real Madrid manager admitted Wales have regressed since the 3-0 victory over Scotland last November but maintains there is "a good team waiting to come out". It remains unclear who will be in charge against Bulgaria – the FAW has insisted it will not be rushed into an appointment – although Brian Flynn, the Under-21 coach, is a leading contender. Toshack seemed less convinced about the merits of turning to Giggs. "I think an ex-player going into management should start at the bottom and learn [his] trade."

• Lyall and Greenwood families have season tickets taken away
• West Ham failed to give any prior notice of their decision

West Ham United have sparked anger among their fans by taking away privileges from the families of John Lyall and Ron Greenwood without notice. The late managers are East End royalty, having been responsible for the only meaningful trophies West Ham have won in their 115-year history.

That was recognised last year when the main gates to Upton Park were renamed in Lyall's honour and a Greenwood and Lyall Lounge was opened. Both families had received complimentary directors' box tickets but, following the takeover by David Sullivan and David Gold - who have made great play of their credentials as West Ham fans – last season, that privilege was downgraded to a pair of season tickets.

The families only learned that these too had been taken away when calling the club in early August to ask what the arrangements would be for the new season. "I fully appreciate the financial plight of the club and can understand the reasoning why the season tickets have been withdrawn," said Lyall's son, Murray. "But what I do find unacceptable is that no one in authority had the decency to contact us and explain in person."

Lyall's widow, Yvonne, added: "After my husband's 34 years' loyal service to the club in a playing, coaching and managerial capacity, I feel my family should have been shown greater respect and understanding given our tragic loss four years ago and the legacy he left behind."

It has "appalled" Amanda Jacks, a lifelong Hammers fan, who said: "West Ham trade as a family club but no supporter would treat their family this way. The strength of feeling from the West Ham support will only demonstrate what an ill-considered decision this is."

Portsmouth's paperwork

The transfer of Portsmouth's Football League share to a company said to be controlled by Balram Chainrai was not rubber-stamped by the League's board yesterday. And so the club remain in administration, which is not the outcome anyone would have expected when the administrator, Andrew Andronikou, was talking about "blue sky ahead" and how the club would soon be "out of the clutches of the Football League".

It is believed there was insufficient paperwork for the League to ratify the club's takeover by PFC Realisations. If so, it would not be the first time Pompey have had a problem with their paperwork this week, with Liam Lawrence's loan from Stoke City to Fratton Park also held up over late filing of documents.

"From our end, all documentation was sent on time, well before the 6pm deadline," Andronikou said. "I was there myself to see it." According to what Digger has heard, from the League's end it did not arrive until after 8pm. Who to believe?

Friends in high places

Aston Villa fans may be underwhelmed by the arrival of Gérard Houllier in the Second City but his appointment can have done the club no harm in the eyes of Uefa. The former Liverpool manager has served as a technical assessor for the European football body and has a close relationship with its president, Michel Platini. Indeed, he was having dinner with Platini when the latter was taken ill at the World Cup in South Africa. Indeed it is believed he even accompanied Platini to hospital. With Platini widely expected to succeed Sepp Blatter as Fifa's president in a few years, it surely cannot hurt Villa to have friends in such high places.

West Brom Kick It Out

West Bromwich Albion supporters have teamed up with the anti-racism campaign Kick It Out to create banners hitting back at Lokomotiv Moscow fans who directed a banana jibe at the Nigeria international, Peter Odemwingie, when he left to join the Baggies. One has a picture of Odemwingie celebrating his winner against Sunderland last month with the words "Thanks Lokomotiv". The other, with pictures of Lawurie Cunningham, Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson – the club famously broke new ground by fielding three such influential black players – as well as Odemwingie, states: "The only colours here are blue and white."

Redknapp court hearing

Harry Redknapp faces a court hearing over alleged tax evasion within 24 hours of his club's home Champions League tie against Werder Bremen. A scheduled hearing involving lawyers for Redknapp, Peter Storrie and Milan Mandaric – who deny charges of tax evasion – was due at Southwark Crown Court next week but has been postponed after legal teams requested more time. It will now take place on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 November, meaning it begins the day after the Bundesliga side travel to White Hart Lane. Southwark Crown Court's diary clearly does not pay too much heed to Redknapp's football commitments. Next week's scheduled hearing would in any case have clashed with his club's trip to Werder Bremen.

• Winger was injured during England's win over Switzerland
• Arsenal's Arsene Wenger happy the knock was not worse

Arsenal have suffered another injury blow with the news that they will be without Theo Walcott for "four to six weeks" because of strained ankle ligaments, meaning the winger could miss half of the club's Champions League group games. He is also definitely ruled out of England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro next month.

Samir Nasri may be back for the weekend's visit of Bolton, but Walcott's absence leaves the manager, Arsène Wenger, with only two front-line forwards – Marouane Chamakh and Andrey Arshavin – as Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner are also unavailable because of injury.

Walcott suffered his ankle problem in the build-up to England's opening goal in their 3-1 win over Switzerland on Tuesday in the Euro 2012 qualifier. Wenger told Arsenal TV: "The tackle looked quite bad. When you see how it turned his ankle I thought it would be three or four days or it would be four to six weeks. Unfortunately it will be four to six weeks. We had some good news about the scan because at some stage we were scared it could be worse. But overall it is a question of patience and rehabilitation."

Arsenal's opening Champions League group game is at home to Braga next Wednesday. If Walcott is out for six weeks then the 21-year-old will also miss the games against Partizan Belgrade and Shakhtar Donesk, but hope to be available for the return match against the latter in Ukraine on 3 November. He would also miss league games against Chelsea and Manchester City, plus the Carling Cup third round tie at Tottenham Hotspur on 21 September.

Wenger, who is also without Aaron Ramsey until November, said of the ankle injury picked up by Van Persie at Blackburn a fortnight ago: "That is bad news. At the start we were optimistic. Maybe a bit too much, thinking it would be one or two weeks. But the damage was bigger than expected and he will be four to six weeks."

Regarding Nasri definitely being back for the Champions League game against Braga, Wenger said: "He could even be involved against Bolton. He has had a very good preparation and joins in [training] tomorrow. If needed I will integrate him in the squad for Bolton but for sure he will be back for our first Champions League game against Braga."

Sébastien Squillaci, the 30-year-old defender, made his first Arsenal appearance, in a reserve game on Tuesday, since joining from Seville last month. "For sure I will need a bit of time to adapt," he said. "But I know about English football because I have played against some of the clubs in the Champions League. It is very physical in this league and I like that. I'm ready to play against Bolton."

The recently injured central defender Johan Djourou and midfielder Denilson are also in contention to face Owen Coyle's team. Wenger added: "[They are] all physically available to play and to start. It is just a question of selection."

• Sunderland manager says job would be 'wonderful'
• Redknapp says he might be too old to take job

Fabio Capello's announcement that he intends to step down as England manager in 2012 has served as a starting gun, opening the race to succeed the Italian. Despite playing down his own candidacy, Harry Redknapp did concede that he would not be able to turn down the job if it were offered while Steve Bruce made it clear that he would happily accept the baton.

"Of course I would like to manage England," said Sunderland's manager. "I rarely blow my own trumpet, I don't promote myself but I'd have a go, why not? It must be the time of your life to manage your country, even though you know what's going to go with it. It must be wonderful, absolutely wonderful.

"I would have thought Harry Redknapp must be the main contender but there's not many of us Englishmen managing in the Premier League, so why not?"

Asked if the post would be worth the inevitable hassle and scrutiny that accompanies it, Bruce's reply was unequivocal. "To be England manager, it would be 100% worth it," he said. "You need a thick skin of course, but then you need one of those to work up here in the north-east.

"If you're going to do something in life you've got to try to get to the top, that's what I've always tried to do. I've striven for whatever I've done, so, if that's the highest I can go, I've got to aim for it."

The former Sheffield United, Huddersfield, Crystal Palace, Birmingham and Wigan manager accepts there are no guarantees. "I think it's all about timing," Bruce acknowledged. "It's about what you do over the next 18 months. There might be a new kid on the block by then. It's about whether your stock's good at the time."

When Steve McClaren managed Middlesbrough he alienated Teesside fans by failing to disguise his burning ambition to coach his country but Bruce believes their Sunderland counterparts will view the situation more generously.

"This is a terrific job, a fantastic job," said the 49-year-old. "But I think if I got offered England or, was in the frame, it would mean I'd done a very, very good job here. I think most of our supporters would be happy with that."

When it came to discussing his own ambitions to swap Tottenham for England, Redknapp came over a little coy. Asked if he would turn the chance to succeed Capello down, he replied. "No, but I don't want to start saying I want the England job, because I don't. It's not something that I push myself for. I think I think there's enough lads out there, given the opportunity, to do a great job.

"There's a lot of good English managers out there who never get the opportunity to manage at a higher level, who would be just as good and just as clever given the chance. I really believe that."

Indeed, Redknapp envisages multiple contenders. "It ain't a bed of roses, that's for sure," he said. "But people will always take it because, if you're English, it's the pinnacle of your career if you're in management. You've got to take the job if you get offered it."

Already 63, Tottenham's manager hinted that the vacancy's timing was, nonetheless, possibly wrong for him. "I will probably be too old," said Redknapp. "If Capello is too old I will be too old."

• Former assistant did not want to uproot his family
• Pair won six trophies together at Liverpool

Phil Thompson has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to join Gérard Houllier at Aston Villa as he did not feel he would be able to commit fully to the job.

Thompson was Houllier's assistant between 1998 and 2004 at Liverpool, during which time the pair won six trophies. Although Thompson was flattered to be offered a role, the thought of uprooting his family did not appeal, and nor did the idea of a daily commute from Liverpool.

"Had circumstances been different, I would have been delighted to accept the chance to join Gérard Houllier and work with him and Patrice Bergues once again at Aston Villa," Thompson told the Liverpool Echo.

"But I had to weigh up the pros and cons and while it was both flattering to be asked, not to mention hugely enticing, I really had no other choice but to turn the offer down.

"When you work with Gérard, you are signing up to 12 hour days; on top of that, you have to go to reserve games, scout players and also head off to check up on forthcoming opponents – in other words, you have to be totally committed.

"Now don't get me wrong, I would love to throw myself at such a challenge again but, at the same time, I do not want to uproot my wife and my two boys; I'm not someone who could live away from them through the week.

"What's more, the thought of doing a daily commute on the M6 does not appeal. We all know that stretch of road, at the best of times, can resemble a car park but to do the job properly, you really have to be living in the vicinity of the training ground.

"I would have been cheating Gérard, the club and the fans and that would not have been fair. Aston Villa are a terrific club with a great history and I remember only too well being on the end of a 5-1 drubbing there in 1976."

All the same, Thompson is delighted to see Houllier working in the Premier League again after a six-year absence and has no doubt the former Lyon manager will be a success at Villa Park.

"It's fantastic to see Gérard back in the game and I have absolutely no doubt that he will do a terrific job," added Thompson. "I've heard some people try to say that he is not the right man to take over from Martin O'Neill but the Aston Villa supporters I have heard are genuinely happy with the choice.

"He has got a wealth of knowledge, knows the game inside out and it will be a fantastic occasion when Liverpool tackle Villa at Anfield in the first weekend of December.

"It would have been great to strike up the partnership we had at Anfield and to be involved in the day-to-day running of football club again really did turn my head. But there were other things to consider and my family comes first; to take on such a job, everything had to be right and that wasn't the case."

• Games may go straight to penalties after 90 minutes
• Governing body could revive 'golden goal' rule

Sepp Blatter has announced that Fifa is considering scrapping extra time at World Cups or reviving the 'golden goal' rule.

Blatter, the Fifa president, wants to encourage more free-flowing football at tournaments and was concerned teams' priority in the last World Cup in extra-time was to secure a penalty shoot-out.

Football's governing body will now look at whether they should go straight to a shoot-out after 90 minutes or re-introduce the golden goal rule where the first team to score in extra time wins the game.

Blatter said: "We have to try to find a way to encourage free-flowing football in tournaments like the World Cup, with teams playing to win. We plan to take the opportunity to look at the concept of extra time as well.

"Often we see teams set themselves up even more defensively in extra time, in an attempt to avoid conceding a goal at all costs. To prevent this, we could go directly to a penalty shoot-out at full time, or reintroduce the golden goal rule. We'll see what emerges from the committee meetings."

Blatter said some teams at the last World Cup in South Africa played for a draw from the first whistle.

"Football has become such a strategic game, with teams moving as a unit," he said. "It can be an impressive sight; gone are the days of simple tactics where you attacked then defended.

"But in the first few matches of the group stage in South Africa, we witnessed some teams that went out to avoid defeat, that were playing for a draw from the outset. This is a topic that I would like to discuss at upcoming Football and Technical Committee meetings."

Blatter stressed however Spain's triumph was well-deserved and he also praised the quality of Argentina, Germany and Ghana.

"For several World Cups now, we've been expecting a new champion to emerge," he added. "There was an element of hope that the champion would come from a continent that hadn't produced a winner before. South Korea came very close for Asia in 2002, while this time around, a couple of centimetres were the difference between Ghana making the semi-final and being eliminated.

"That said, Spain's success was well-deserved; in my opinion, they along with Argentina produced the highest quality of play. On top of that, they're both young teams, just like the German side that finished third, and Ghana. That's a good sign."