JJ here,

How we all arrive at the team we support tends to have its root in some childhood decision and can quite often lead to years of hurt. I know Everton, Wimbledon and Luton fans that all began supporting their side after moments of glory in the eighties only to suffer flirtations with relegation, actual relegation and financial collapse respectively in the years since.

But they’ve soldiered on (though the Dons fan now supports Wimbledon AFC – the offshoot club who started up after Wimbledon were renamed MK Dons) and in the case of the Everton supporter things are certainly looking up.

The decision we all have control over though is the oddity that is our ‘second team’. This tends to be a side that you just take a liking to later in life, watch out for their results and generally hope they do well. Sometimes they’re foreign, often in Ireland it’s Celtic and very often it’s not even a side that plays good football. One fella I remember from school supported Oldham as his second side during their halcyon period in the Premiership back in the early-to-mid nineties. He didn’t quite have the stomach to support them when they dropped down a few divisions and that’s what separates the team you actually support from the one you choose to like. There’s no commitment, it’s just a passing fad, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.

With Oldham, it was just that this usually shit club on the outskirts of Manchester had a certain charm to them for a while; for those with short memories, even Bolton had this air for a short period when they first came up; before Fat Sam opened his gob a bit too much and turned everyone off. It doesn’t have to be a struggling team either, as everyone’s positive reaction to Spurs’ victory on Sunday proved, and indeed I know one Man United fan who happily admits to Arsenal being his second side.

Meanwhile, most of Ireland waits anxiously for Sunderland’s results every week because we all loved Roy Keane so much. The logic is often scattershot and the affection is generally fleeting but like an alcoholic locked in a pub for the evening, we’ll just never know when to say when.

So after that meandering intro here’s a few sides that might just qualify as a decent ‘second team’ for this particular fleeting moment in time…

Boro: Controversial one here as ODF fans of old will know that myself and Mark have said that Gareth Southgate’s side were simply pointless in the past. However, as the season has gone on they’ve scored some cracking goals and have some genuinely good footballers in Downing, Alves, Arca and Boateng amongst others.

Spurs: Obvious one, though just thought I’d warn all that this time next year – after Magic Juande has opened that rumoured ‘war chest’, he starts talking to the media in English and the player’s get genuine ambition – they’ll be just as disliked as ever.

Wigan: Just to not be a run of the mill Blunderland supporter why not get on the Wigan bandwagon? Antonio Valencia’s barmy army. You know you love it.

Rangers: Just to annoy every Celtic fan in Ireland. Brian Laudrup was way better than Henrik Larsson anyway (cue plenty of abuse)

Queens Park Rangers: Richest club in the world… kinda. Get behind them before they become the new Chelsea and even if they don’t it should be an entertaining few years at Loftus Road so why not start keeping an eye on them now and getting a seventies jersey while you’re at it.

Any other suggestions?

JJ here,

Does the name Sidney Govou striker fear into you? Sounds like a French nobleman to me, a displaced toff from New Caledonia perhaps. Well dear old Sidney – one of Lyon’s most potent attackers, rather than a monocle-wearing backgammon player as his name suggests – has been attempting to stoke up the fear of failure in the hearts of Rangers’ players.

He has heaped all the pressure on them; saying Lyon have nothing to lose in tonight’s game, unlike their ‘anti-football’ pedalling opponents. Amongst other things he said that he thinks the Scottish side “have more pressure than us”, adding, “playing away from home brings extra pressure but we don't really have anything to lose”.

Barry Ferguson must be munching nervously on his nails and scratching at his tattoos with paranoia and dread. Or not. I suppose this is all part of the (apologies for using the phrase in advance) mind games that go with big Champions League ties.

Though, as Bolo Zenden’s discussion yesterday of the kind of internal dissent Liverpool’s rotation policy can cause proved, sometimes the mind games are as effective as… well Bolo Zenden. The better team usually wins no matter what is said beforehand. Unlike Zenden though, I have a feeling that gobby Govou will end up on the winning side tonight.

True Lyon lost at the weekend. True Rangers didn’t even have to play. True Rangers spanked the French side earlier in the group. But with Benzema, Juninho and Govou all rested for seventy minutes at the weekend before being brought on, their main stars will feel just as fresh as Rangers moderate squad.

Looking through the Rangers line up – Alan Hutton, from what I’ve seen, is a solid player though how much an attacking right back can affect this game is up to question. Lee McCulloch is another solid performer while Ferguson, as always for Rangers, will be very busy and a good link to the forward line… though then again it may only be a forward line of one man, be it Daniel Cousin or Kris Boyd. Neither will strike much fear into Lyon’s championship-laden side.

French football took a hammering last night but Marseilles are a far weaker side than Lyon, though admittedly Zenden’s side did beat Lyon earlier this year when the phenomenal Benzema was rested. Of course, Barcelona only got a draw in Scotland too, which proves that Rangers can keep up the blanket defence tactic all night long if needs be. But then, that was against a Barcelona side in turmoil who expected to roll over the Ibrox side; not a team on a mission who, up until a 1-0 defeat at Caen this weekend, have looked superb ever since their defeat to Rangers on matchday two of Group E.

Rangers have a chance, though as Mark once pointed out in a previous controversial blog relating to Scottish football, sometimes you just want to see the best footballing sides go through and I’ll go for Lyon to run out 1-2 winners.

The only other game that matters tonight is Fenerbache against CSKA Moscow (yes I know Arsenal might finish second if they fail to win but they won’t, even with Gilberto in midfield), and I’ll go for the Turks this time out, thankfully damning the dreadful PSV into Uefa Cup obscurity.

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We’re recording the podcast tonight where I shall make my return after last week when Mark got along without me with disgusting ease. We shall be championing the legend that is Dennis Bergkamp; discussing the cheeky scousers who broke into Steven Gerrard’s house (let’s hope they left the 'Steven Gerrard Room' alone); giving our thoughts on the Grand Slam Extravaganza Bonanza Sunday in this week’s results and fixtures, and much more.

Til tomorrow

The Okey Doke Football Podcast is available every Friday morning, subscribe here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/OkeyDokeFootball