The Final Sub

                              footballtransfers.com The concept of buying titles began filtering the European football landscape when Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich first bought Chelsea in 2003. It was evident that a new financial power was on the scene when The Blues began competing for the top players and became a viable option for the best talents and coaches. A disruption to the duopoly between Manchester United and Arsenal ensued. Although the Gunners went on to attain immortality that season-- winning the league without a single defeat, Chelsea went on to kick-start a period of colossal success that saw them win every trophy on offer both home and abroad. Currently, the English game is reeling off the imperial dominance of another team bankrolled by oil-rich owners with deep pockets. Manchester City have now won the treble, the domestic treble and six Premier League titles in the last sev...

                                    uk.sport.yahoo.com Last season, Gary O'Neill was drafted in to coordinate the Cherries attempt to retain Premier League status at the end of the season, having been written off by manager Scott Parker after a harsh drubbing at Anfield in a 9-0 defeat. O'Neill, relatively unknown at the time, emerged as the permanent manager eventually and kept the Cherries up well before the final day. It was not a straightforward ride, but his team did beat Everton heavily twice within days of a week in January and potentially had the opportunity to confirm the relegation of the Toffees on the final day at Goodison Park. In the end, he was sacked in a brutal move by the club's new owners. A year on, we are back in August. Only this time, O'Neill starts the season in the dugout, albeit, just days to the commencement of the new season—a scarcely ideal situation. Howeve...

                                        gettyviagoal.com The new season begins at Stamford Bridge with a new home team manager in a new home team dugout. Mauricio Pochettino has gone about changing the culture at the West London club, and even the Bridge will have to make adjustments! After the horrible season endured last year following the takeover of the club by Todd Boehly and his entourage, there can be nothing better than having a chance to breathe some fresh air at the very least. From a 12th place finish last term, granted that there is no room for further regression, there is quite a high ceiling for achievement to make it quite a better season. But, Pochettino is not thinking about that, apparently. The standards have got to go right back to the roof whence they've fallen; although, even he appreciates that it is a systematic process.  Key to that process is a p...

.                            premierleague.com Abdoulaye Doucore's second-half sizzler in the final-day clash against AFC Bournemouth ultimately ensured that the Toffees will go into their 70th season as a top-flight football team. It was so big a win but the bigger message should be the big uncertainty, lack of clarity and direction which has enveloped the club as a whole. The fans are disillusioned at best with what their club has become while the board and club hierarchy are scared to attend the stadium. Status secured, the stadium still felt flat after the final whistle. There was no fanfare and pitch encroachment. There was only the shock that it had to come to this again and the conclusion that something has got to change at the board level.  Only about three seasons ago, Carlo Ancelotti was leading a team that was nursing a little hope of making Europe. The Covid-year was a period fans watched ...

                                     Goal.com No manager would have looked forward to the end of the just-concluded season any more than Frank Lampard at Chelsea. The club's top scorer and legend was drafted in by the new ownership after their project with Graham Potter hit the rocks. The limp mood around the club only ended up growing worse as Lampard could only win one of his eleven games in charge, losing eight!  The concern now is whether or not Lampard is done as a manager.  The former England International is now seen as a fraud as far as management is concerned and recent living proof that great footballers do not necessarily make great coaches. Lampard has roundly failed to inspire a team of individuals pieced together by novice owners who have money to throw around.   His stint at Everton does not save him too. Lampard has become accustomed to losing ga...

.                                  football.london While the incoming Greek-Australian manager, will not be fazed by some scepticism around his appointment, Ange Postecoglou's arrival in North London however indicates a hopeful attempt for Spurs to return to the top echelons of the premier league.  When Mauricio Pochettino arrived in 2015, no one expected the upheaval he wrought and the standards he brought to a club that had been floating in mediocrity. The only stigma that remained, despite the height of the Champions League final in 2019 was the lack of silverware and after a meltdown, the quest for "managers who know how to win" brought a tirade that swept up the club. In the process, the key identity and essence of Tottenham both on and off the pitch was lost.  From a team that offered excitement, progression, togetherness and hope, the team became one of individuals, shadowbo...

.                                    theguardian.com Erik Ten Hag came into a club in chaos but there was no doubt that the new man on the hot seat carried the aura of a winner who knew what needed to be fixed. Outgoing interim manager, Ralf Ragnick had compiled a dossier on what the new coach has got to fix. His candid recommendation was a massive clear-out of the squad. United had just played out one of their worst PL campaigns, but Ten Hag had other ideas---There was enough quality in the squad. The problem was with the structure , discipline and organization on and off the pitch.  The glaring conundrum at the start of the season was how the squad rebuild would go on and with United spending weeks chasing Frenkie De Jong to no avail, it seemed United, who were billed for another campaign in Europe's second-tier competition, the Europa League, would not be able to attract their D...

.                                                 Football365  With the 2022/2023 season completed, we review the achievements of the 20 PL managers this term. Who did elite level jobs? How about the failures? And who were just alright? Take a look at what we think.  N. B: Finishing positions are not the sole basis for our ratings though they play a part.  1. Jurgen Klopp ---------- Liverpool (5th) .                                              thesun.ie   From coming close to a quadruple to missing out on the champions league, it's been a big fall from grace for the Reds.  It was a disappointing season. No matter how Klopp tries to paint it. For the Liverpool side he has built, this should simply ...

.                                           Football365 With the 2022/2023 season completed, we review the achievements of the 20 PL managers this term. Who did elite level jobs? How about the failures? And who were just alright? Take a look at what we think.  N. B: Finishing positions are not the sole basis for our ratings though they play a part.  1. Pep Guardiola ---------- Manchester City ( 1st) .                                         sporting news.com  Pep showed another side to him this season. We have always known him to be a tactical maverick and so when he sold key players like Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Sterling amongst others, it looked so bizarre.  The departure of Joao Cancelo midway through the season was...

ArabNews As Newcastle United prepared for their first major final in decades, the air of the miraculous turnaround in just over a year was palpable.  Fans, deprived for years, took to Trafalgar Square to celebrate wildly with happiness,  hope, and of course expectation. Eddie Howe's magpies were bullish too. They have lost only two Premier League games--both to Liverpool, although,  they were coming into this final off the back of the 2-0 home defeat to the Reds in which Nick Pope, their transformative goalkeeper saw red. The chance to end a 54-year wait for silverware surely outweighs the disappointment of losing Pope, even if it meant going with Loris Karius, who is on a redemption program.  The game was a dream, but the result would have given a bitter tang as Manchester United showed superior quality in decisive moments whilst the burgeoning Magpies huffed and puffed but floundered. Newcastle have big characters in their team but a five-time champions...