Welcome to the Sunday edition of Sniffer Nose, a punchier version of your favourite occasional column.

Bouncebackability.

Horrible word isn’t it and one which should prevent Ian Dowie from working in management again. But I wonder, has Simon Grayson been using it at Elland Road this week to describe what he expects after the Swindon Town debacle? Obviously we won’t really ever know, what we do know is the Beckford worshippers took bread and wine at the altar again against Colchester United and somehow Kilkenny has become the player to make way for McSheffrey (jury out on that so long as Doyle somehow keeps getting picked). Still a win is a win and the three way scrap for 2 spots continues. Gosh nearly two positive Leeds United references in successive “shorts”, best cut that out before we start.

Build em up, knock em down.

So what to make of the John Terry saga? Well I’d strip him of the England captaincy simply on the basis if you stupid enough to spend £500k on press injunctions you clearly have no judgement. Personally I couldn’t give a monk who anyone sleeps with but then I don’t get nominated as “Dad of the Year”! After Tiger Woods we seem to live in an sporting era where personal life morality issues are bigger than criminal ones and that’s the crux of all this: John Terry may have done a “Steven Gerrard” years before the scouser did but both of them have proved over the years they are unworthy to lead the country’s football team when it matters.

The dog that didn’t bark.

And I don’t mean Wayne Bridge (£100k a week to be second choice left-back at Manchester City, consolation enough me thinks). No this is about the complete absence of player purchases in this transfer window. No I can understand that Mancini might want to take some time to look at what he has already and I can understand the League Cup semi’s might have distracted a little but come on, he is a world class coach, the owners have limitless resources, he knows who the world’s best young players are, why hasn’t he got any yet? Maybe the answer lies in something we missed when Mark Hughes left Eastlands; maybe Brian Marwood just can’t close deals!

Timing is everything.

One of the positive (maybe) products of the way AFC Wimbledon was formed and grew was the emergence of the Supporters Direct organisation, which as we know is about fans acquiring ownership of the clubs they support (or its meant to be, not the case at every club). Now Supporters Direct has grown to the point where they consider they can hold a 2 day conference this year, wow that will be interesting. Wait what’s that, when is it? Err, the second weekend in June, you know, the Saturday England play the USA in the first World Cup group game and the first weekend of that 4 yearly tournament! Oh well, let’s hope the venue is more impressive than Kingsmeadow!!

Smalling detail.

So when is a transfer not a transfer? When it’s not happening until the summer. Take the transfer of Chris Smalling from Fulham to Manchester United for a reported £10m, nowhere can you find out if it’s a immediate transfer with a loan back or is it something that happens in June regardless of whether the defender gets injured or not? If it is the latter why have Fulham agreed to wait for the money or have the buying club paid up? Chances are it is a buy now and loan back but in a world where clubs can called fees “undisclosed” such confusion is inevitable, time the FA stepped and brought some transparency to proceedings.

Get on with it.

Another week’s worth of Portsmouth idiocy to entertain us, the CE isn’t really the CE anymore, he is refusing to resign because he won’t get a job anywhere else after the last two years, the club won’t sack him until the tax-fiddle court case is over because they don’t want to pay him up and are hoping a guilty verdict will give them that excuse. Meanwhile the manager doesn’t know whose coming or going but he does know that they are doomed. The owner still hasn’t seen Fratton Park (and who can blame him), you couldn’t think of a more impressive waste of £50m if you tried. On the plus side, the natives are revolting (insert your own joke here).

Get over it.

So the interviewer wants Martin O’Neil to comment on the away win at Fulham but the Northern Irish bloke only wants to wax lyrical about what a good passing team Aston Villa are. Hmm, bit of a hangover from Arsene Wenger’s comment about Villa being a long ball team is it? Well clearly but one does wonder why he cares so much? In reality all teams are more long ball than Arsenal (and that includes Barcelona), of the top 7 PL clubs Villa just pip Liverpool for the use of the long ball, they are not Blackburn Rovers or Bolton Wanderers but equally not Wigan Athletic or Fulham. The fact is Wenger is an astute tactician and if he says Villa played long ball then they played long ball, get over it O’Neil.

Not so sticky now.

If David Moyes is going to leave Everton at the end of the season after 8 years he clearly intends to go out on a high! The comment this week about qualifying for Europe might still be a touch ambitious but is now a little more probably after recent wins. The big test comes against arch rivals Liverpool and one can only hope they play the opponents and not the hyped occasion. Still nevertheless whatever motivates Moyes still is clearly working. Let’s see whether he really wants to make the next few months interesting, I’m sure Kenwright has Bates’s number….

Nosebleed time.

What in heaven’s is going on in deepest darkest Accrington? Stanley are 3 points off a play-off place, 6 points off a automatic promotion place and with games in hand on others around them. All this taking place despite massive resource problems and a limited playing squad. This website has praised John Coleman before, given that Brian Laws got the Burnley job you wonder what he has to do to get noticed by bigger clubs. Stanley fans won’t thank me for this but it really is time he tested himself on a bigger stage.

What a load of crap.

Togo banned from the next two African Cup of Nations by the African Confederation for the heinous crime of burying their dead from a gun attack. The ultimate insult and idiocy in football.