Former England manager Roy Hodgson has been linked with the job but Shakespeare has backing from within the club and the squad, and Simpson believes the 53-year-old is a strong contender to land the role full-time.
"I can't see why not, but it's the chairman's decision. It's up to him and he owns the club, he is passionate about the club," he said of Shakespeare's chances of landing the role on a permanent basis.
Leicester 3-1 Liverpool
"Those decisions are nothing to do with us but, for me, [Shakespeare] has been really good.
"Since day one he has helped me a lot. He is a top coach, a top guy and he has taken it on naturally.
"He has kept it simple and told us what he wanted to do and we've done that so let's hope we can carry it on for him.
"He's always been in between whoever the boss is and us, so he's been good.
"He's taken it on well and it must have been tough for him. Everyone in the dressing room and at the club proved a little point [against Liverpool]."
Jamie Vardy scored twice and Danny Drinkwater fired home a brilliant volley as the Foxes ended their wait for a top-flight win and goal in 2017.
They moved two points clear of the bottom three, having dropped in for the first time this season over the weekend, but Simpson admitted they will only know if the decision to axe Ranieri was the right one come May.
"We don't know that until the end of the season," he added. "We don't know if the manager [Ranieri] was there [on Monday] whether we would have won.
"It's all ifs and buts. For me, Claudio was fantastic, he revived my career. I learned a lot from him and I said that to him. It happened, it was the chairman's decision and we went out there and looked back to our old selves."
Guardiola: Sheikh Mansour ‘so happy’ with Man City
Date published: Tuesday 28th February 2017 3:47
Pep Guardiola is pleased with how his first meeting with Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour went – but is well aware he needs to deliver.
City took advantage of a free weekend to travel to Abu Dhabi for a warm-weather training camp last week and spent time with the ambitious club’s hierarchy during the trip.
It was the first time Guardiola had met with the sheikh, whose largesse has transformed City in the past nine years, since the Spaniard’s much-heralded arrival at the Etihad Stadium last summer.
Guardiola said: “With (chairman) Khaldoon (Al Mubarak) we speak regularly – the last period he came often here – but the other people we met for the first time, (including) Sheikh Mansour.
“I was really impressed that he knew absolutely everything about us. It was nice to meet him and spend a few hours together.
“He is so happy because he sees all the games and he sees the effort, he demands it. He knows we give absolutely everything and we fight until the end.
“It was nice because it is important for us to know the president. I had good relations with almost all my owners in Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“But they know, we know, all the managers and owners know, that we are here because of the results. If the results are not good we are going to be replaced by another. I replaced another manager.”
A Premier League title in Guardiola’s first season now seems unlikely with City 11 points behind leaders Chelsea, albeit with a game in hand.
But their Champions League challenge is still alive having beaten Monaco 5-3 in the first leg of their last-16 tie last week.
They are also still in the FA Cup and host Sky Bet Championship high-flyers Huddersfield in a fifth-round replay on Wednesday.
Captain Vincent Kompany is still troubled by a leg injury and has been ruled out of the clash despite initial hopes he would be fit.
The Belgian, who has endured an injury-plagued campaign, has been out since the first encounter against the Terriers on February 18.
“Not tomorrow,” said Guardiola when asked at his pre-match press conference if the 30-year-old would be fit. “He is much better but not ready.”
Asked when Kompany might return, Guardiola said “soon” and that he “definitely” could play a full part in the remainder of the season.
Guardiola also said he was still to decide who would play in goal. Willy Caballero now seems to have taken over as first choice due to the failure of Claudio Bravo to make an impact since controversially displacing England number one Joe Hart earlier in the season.
Caballero has played four of the last five games, with Bravo playing in the game at Huddersfield.
Guardiola said: “I have to think about it – not just with our goalkeepers – for the line-up.
“We were one week out so it is not about how tired they are, more a final against one team who impressed a lot when we played there.
“I have to think about it after the training session. I am not thinking about who is the first one, who is the second one. We are going to decide game by game.”
Long-Term View: Leicester could never defend magic
Date published: Monday 27th February 2017 5:18
So what was it about, the Leicester Story? Something misperceived by those who ultimately oversaw it, no doubt. But the beauty of it is that, even now, when its magic has sunk in beyond the ‘this isn’t happening’ surface level of last season to the ‘that did happen’ level of this, I still don’t think what it was and is has taken on its lasting, unicorn shape. It’s not really their fault, that the owners don’t know how to act now, thinking that this might still be something of a regular horse they’re supposed to be handling.
If you were to answer ‘what defines the Premier League era?’, there are some easy touch-points to reach for: United’s ownership of its 90s adolescence, Arsenal’s Invincibles and then, more grindingly, Chelsea’s money then City’s money. And yet, now, you start to wonder – is the thing that truly defines it the thing that was nothing like any of them? The belief in the sun orbiting around the earth being defined by Galileo’s telescope, as it were.
In more day-to-day football terms, there’s the predictably accidental, boneheaded cruelty being applied by sensible, rational men like Paul Merson and Martin Keown to Leicester’s players this season. This column has wittered at length on how incapable footballers are of understanding footballers, beyond the most uselessly superficial elements. I think, given that the world is currently overdosing on hate, it doesn’t do anything particularly useful to hate on them for being thick; their physical intelligence, in terms of the way their body can shift its weight, judge speeds and distances and necessary angles and everything else, is on a genius-level compared to mine, and at the top end that puts them in the top 0.1% of the planet’s earners, whereas I am still regularly trying to add together the ‘pence’ scores in supermarkets while making mental referrals to my bank balance.
But in terms of perceptional, theoretical intelligence, they’ve got nada. Literally not a sausage of useful analysis has seemingly ever passed through Michael Ballack’s head. Even though I love how richly satisfied, how assuredly a ‘job done top that one lads if you can’ smile follows a proclamation that “a striker always needs to score goals to feel like he’s a part of the team”.
So it’s beyond their grasp to lay out the incapacitating new dynamics that Danny Drinkwater and Jamie Vardy are now having to play under. So I’ll do it. Both of them knew, let’s say around 2011, when one was on loan at Barnsley and the other at Fleetwood, that they were never going to reach the top of the game. That is, they were never going to play for the clubs in that micro-cluster at English football’s pinnacle that won stuff. That remains true.
But now, the season after the triumph, they have to play both as champions in defence not of the exciting, yes, but still meat-and-potatoes ‘money-spent begets trophies-banked’ kind of sequence that City or Chelsea recognise, but of magic, in actual defence of magic; while at the same time, having to play like what they know they actually are. Riyad Mahrez, Kasper Schmeichel and departed friends aside, these are guys who knew they were never meant to reach the biggest of big times.
This, I fancy, provides more potential for conflicted thoughts than footballers are keen to entertain, and the results have been a consequence of conflicted performance after conflicted performance. Who are we, really? Last season, you suspect that the deepest thought Jamie Vardy had, with every run he made and shot he hit, was ‘Jamie Vardy’s having a party’ (24 goals); this season, it’s all ‘Who am I, really?’ (5 goals).
Of course, away from all this more floaty stuff is the practical reality that N’Golo Kante is possibly a better player than Claude Makelele, because he can also pick out some pretty elegant passes and complete some mini-bull dribbles and keep it together when he gets in the box, as well as all the indomitable shielding. Consistency, yeah, but for now, he could be. I would have liked, just for a cherry to stick on the unicorn’s spike, for Leicester in the close season to have rung up Real Madrid, circa 2003, to ask them who truly is the most important player to keep in your side, and Madrid could have warned them.
A part of me feels they must have been right to sack Claudio Ranieri, given how slack-jawed and empty his insides must feel in this second season. Ranieri (figuratively) has been nipping at some pretty thin liquor for his entire career, got used to it, you assume, and then from nowhere got served the opiate motherload. Think, for a moment, of what it’s actually like to have his career. How barbarically tinny a collection of silver and bronze medals knocking around in the garage it presents as the almost-but-not-quite mockingjays of his managerial capability. At 64, when he took over at Leicester, he knew who ‘Claudio Ranieri’ was, and doubtless knew how this last lap of his career would look.
But no, he didn’t. There is something eye-rollingly giddy about the opening scenes of an NBC documentary I watched, in the bath, about Leicester’s title-winning year. At Ranieri’s unveiling, Chief Exec Susan Whelan gives it the ol’ college try with her platitudes about what a successful, competent manager they have found. While we’re all sitting there thinking yeah Suze, this is Ranieri we’re talking about.
Then for a moment, the wraith of that season’s Premier League trophy shivers into focus on the dais of the little Leicester press room. It is beyond belief, and that’s a nice place for anything to live.
There is, though, a lesson to take from it, and that’s a nice thing, when it’s an actual lesson with an actual hug and a high five at the end of the episode. Don’t give up. Truly, don’t. Kante, Mahrez, Drinkwater, Vardy, Ranieri, Schmeichel when he was dropping out of the league his father dominated to trawl his loan contract around Falkirk and Bury, Danny Simpson…all of them would have had justifiable reasons to believe they would never be part of something truly special. So the lesson is, leave yourself unjustified, because as Leicester prove, you really don’t know.
Aston Villa recorded a loss of over £81m for the last financial year, according to the club's latest accounts.
The figures for the 2015/16 period show that with an operating loss of £81.3m the deficit more than trebled, up from £26.6m, before Villa were relegated from the Premier League.
The club's statement states losses of £79.6m due to "exceptional items" but provides little explanation as to what these are, other than to say "for the impairment of tangible fixed assets and intangible assets".
Turnover fell from £115.7m in 2014/15 to £108.8m, with the club attributing the drop in revenue to a reduction in their share of money from the FA Premier League's broadcasting agreements as a result of the final league standings.
Villa were relegated from the Premier League for the first time last season after finishing bottom of the table and are playing outside of the top flight for the first time in 30 years.
Dr Tony Xia completed his takeover of the club on June 14, 2016 so any figures associated with his purchase will not show until the 2016/17 accounts are published.
Keeper blames ‘f***ed up’ GLT – after he f***ed up
Date published: Monday 27th February 2017 12:45
Jeroen Zoet has blamed the “f***ed up” goal-line technology after costing PSV their Eredivisie title hopes against Feyenoord.
Feyenoord extended their lead at the summit of the Dutch top flight after PSV goalkeeper Zoet’s costly error eight minutes from time on Sunday.
They now lead second-placed Ajax by five points, while PSV are 12 points behind.
PSV almost earned a crucial away point at the league leaders, with Gaston Pereira cancelling out Jens Toornstra’s opener.
But Jan-Arie van der Heijden’s 82nd-minute header was inexplicably carried over his own line by Zoet, who had actually saved the initial shot.
The own goal that knocked PSV out of the Eredivisie title race. As soon as Zoet pulls the ball back, the goal-line system rules it as a goal pic.twitter.com/WS2GJnopmC
“This is seriously f***ed up,” Zoet told NOS after the match. “The goal-line technology made the difference and things could have been different if it had not.
“He went only by his watch. If that had not happened, I think he would have said no goal.
“You should always keep believing in things, but the title is very far away. [It’s] a serious blow.”
Crystal Palace are set to go on a warm-weather training camp after securing victory over Middlesbrough
Crystal Palace will be rewarded for their return to form with a warm-weather training camp in the coming weeks, manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed.
They significantly improved during Saturday's 1-0 defeat of Middlesbrough, which has revived their hopes of surviving relegation from the Premier League, and Allardyce plans to take them away after next week's fixture at West Brom.
After that visit to The Hawthorns, because of their elimination from the FA Cup, Palace will not play again for two weeks - when they host Watford.
A proposed trip to Dubai earlier this month was cancelled after their embarrassing 4-0 defeat at home to Sunderland, but the manager has revealed another is to be explored.
Sam Allardyce has spoken about the importance of being able to take his squad away
During last season's run to the FA Cup final, Allardyce's predecessor Alan Pardew often took his team away to prepare for their games in the competition, and the new boss said: "We'll have a look at that now this week.
"The weather's so poor here. Since 2001, in the Premier League, apart from with Newcastle because I got sacked before I could take them away, I've taken every team away for the sunshine; a warm-weather break.
"It's worked for me, so we'll be looking at that this week to see where we can go.
"Everyone's lifted their physical element, which I think has come from the training we've given them, and that's helped with the mental side: the decision making [against Middlesbrough] was very, very good."
Victory over Boro, courtesy of Patrick van Aanholt's first-half goal, took Palace out of the relegation zone and up to 17th, as well as again giving them the belief they can survive.
A run of six defeats from seven appeared to leave them at their greatest risk of returning to the Championship since their promotion in 2013, but Allardyce said their performance reminded him of the way new signings Lamine Kone and Jan Kirchoff began to inspire his Sunderland team last season.
Highlights: Crystal Palace 1-0 Middlesbrough
"If I can make any comparison, it's what Patrick and Mamadou Sakho brought to the team," said the 62-year-old. "That bit more quality.
"Mama showed a lot of composure, played a lot of nice, simple balls to midfield players, and said 'Right, you get on with it'. Perhaps before that we were hurrying our clearances."
Harry Kane scored a first-half hat-trick as Tottenham battered Stoke 4-0 and climbed up to second in the Premier League table.
Spurs were at their swaggering best at White Hart Lane but Stoke contributed to their own demise with an abject display of defending, with Kane more than happy to cash in, before Dele Alli added a fourth on the stroke of half-time.
Kane’s strikes in the 14th, 32nd and 37th minutes mean the striker has now scored two hat-tricks in a week and three in nine appearances, coming on the heels of trebles against West Brom in the league and Fulham in the FA Cup last weekend.
Victory also sees Tottenham leapfrog Manchester City, reducing the gap behind leaders Chelsea back to 10 points while pulling four clear of Liverpool in fifth. Stoke, meanwhile, stay 10th.
For all Mauricio Pochettino’s flourishing young talents, this was a clear reminder that Kane remains the Argentinian’s most valuable asset.
The 23-year-old’s first goal was his 100th at club level and meant he has now hit the 20-goal mark for the third season in a row. He is on course to retain the Premier League’s Golden Boot, now tied at the top of the charts on 17 with Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez and Everton’s Romelu Lukaku.
Alli’s goal also gave the midfielder a semblance of redemption after his midweek sending off against Gent as Spurs exited the Europa League.
Stoke had last taken to the field 15 days previous on February 11, in which time Tottenham had played three matches, including the last for 51 minutes with 10 men at Wembley three days before.
But time off can mean rest but also rustiness and Stoke were completely outplayed in the opening 45 minutes.
Christian Eriksen set the tone by nicking the ball through Ryan Shawcross’ legs and flicking it dangerously across the face of goal. No one was on the end of that chance but Spurs did not have to wait long for their lead.
After some patient build-up, an Alli run injected the change of pace required and when Shawcross failed to clear Eriksen’s flick, Kane had no hesitation in lashing the ball into the far corner.
Tottenham were rampant, as Walker’s audacious scissor-kick flew over, Jan Vertonghen crashed the crossbar with a right-foot drive and Kane sent a bending effort a whisker wide of the far post. Even Victor Wanyama was afforded a marauding run through Stoke’s scrambling midfield.
In between, the visitors could have equalised had Hugo Lloris not pulled off a superb point-blank save to deny Peter Crouch with his outstretched left foot, but it was a rare moment of discomfort for Spurs, who soon proceeded to score three in 13 minutes.
Kane grabbed his second as Eriksen’s chipped corner found him free on the edge of the box and the striker sent a fine left-footed shot into the bottom corner.
The England striker then completed his hat-trick five minutes later, albeit this time with a heavy dose of fortune. Eriksen shaped to shoot from a free-kick but instead rolled it right to Kane, whose stinging drive clipped Crouch’s foot in the wall and deflected past Lee Grant.
Charlie Adam – still vilified in these parts for his unseemly tackle inflicted on Gareth Bale five years ago – was booked to rapturous cheers and if it felt like Tottenham’s perfect half could not get any better, they added a fourth.
Bruno Martins Indi was the latest perpetrator of some inept Stoke defending, allowing Kane to spin in behind down the right and tee up Alli at the back post to slam home.
It was not until after half-time that Pochettino had cause for concern as Toby Alderweireld hobbled off with what looked like an injury to his upper left leg to be replaced by Kevin Wimmer.
Kane was also in the wars, bundling into the post after heading Eriksen’s cross wide, although without visible damage, before Eric Dier’s close-range effort was well saved by Grant.
The remaining 20 minutes was largely a procession, the only surprise being that Pochettino chose not to give beleaguered striker Vincent Janssen, without a league goal since October, an outing from bench.
Kane was approaching five consecutive 90 minutes in 15 days, a mark of his own importance but also Janssen’s painful lack of form. When he eventually came off to a standing ovation in the 85th minute, it was Son Heung-min who replaced him.
Chelsea have won 12 in a row at home and the pressure is now on Tottenham to narrow the gap at the top when they play on Sunday, but Conte was customarily conservative after the game.
The Italian refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of his side's huge lead with all their rivals a game behind, while his 92-point title target assumes nearest challengers Manchester City will drop just two points in their remaining 13 games.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte says his side need 29 more points to win the title after what he called a deserved win against Swansea
He told Sky Sports: "Eleven points is not really 11 points because the other teams have to play. We need another 29 points to win the league and if we are able to take 29 points for sure we will win the title.
"But 29 points are a lot, and there are 12 games until the end. It's important to go step by step, to continue to work and have the commitment of the players."
Swansea were obdurate opponents and had a shout for a penalty at 1-1 when the ball struck Cesar Azpilicueta's arm in Chelsea's penalty box.
Conte said Azpilicueta "was very close" to the ball when the incident occurred and felt his side were worthy winners against visitors who won at Liverpool last month and recently ran City close at the Etihad.
Diego Costa scored Chelsea's third to settle the tie
He said: "It's another step and a good win because for sure it wasn't easy to play against them. I watched their games against Liverpool and Manchester City and they played very well.
"Today we deserve to win the game, and we created many chances. It's a pity about the goal we conceded but in the second half we started again.
Chelsea 3-1 Swansea
"We deserved a lot to win this game and I'm very happy for my players."
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has yet to extend his contract at Manchester United over fears they will not qualify for the Champions League.
United’s top scorer “is reluctant to go a second season without playing in the world’s most prestigious club competition”, according to The Mirror.
Ibrahimovic joined United last summer from PSG on an initial 12-month deal with the option of a second season.
But he is apparently unwilling to commit to another season at Old Trafford while their Champions League hopes are in doubt. The Red Devils currently sit in sixth place, where they have been languishing seemingly forever. They are in the Europa League last 16, which offers another route back into Champions League.
GUNNERS TO MAKE FORNAL APPROACH
Arsenal are monitoring Malaga midfielder Pablo Fornals.
The 21-year-old has scored four times and provided two assists in 20 league and cup appearances this campaign and the Gunners are understood to have been scouting him for several months.
“It’s believed Arsenal are not the only team keeping tabs on Fornals, but the Premier League side are reportedly lining up a deal to sign him next summer,” claims Marca.
Fornals is believed to have a buy-out clause of around £8.5million to £10millon,
AND THE REST
Leicester players met the club’s owners four times to get manager Claudio Ranieri sacked… The Foxes players who met Leicester chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha on Wednesday included Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan, Marc Albrighton and Jamie Vardy… The 65-year-old Italian is set to receive £3m as part of his severance package from Leicester, having been sacked six months into a new four-year deal… Leicester chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha told the director of another Premier League club that he had sacked Ranieri – then bought £500,000 worth of wine, according to West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady… Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner has distanced himself from the vacant manager’s role at the King Power Stadium.
Monaco hotshot Kylian Mbappe is wanted by Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund… Fulham flop Kostas Mitroglou is in talks over a shock big-money move to the Chinese Super League… Tony Pulis will be offered a new long-term deal at West Brom… West Ham flop Simone Zaza has reportedly done enough to earn a permanent move to Valencia… Tottenham reject Nabil Bentaleb will join Schalke in a deal worth up to £18m… Arsenal will send scouts to watch Serie A duo Faouzi Ghoulam and Lorenzo Insigne in action on Saturday, according to reports… Chelsea are reportedly interested in Fulham’s talented twins Ryan and Steven Sessegnon… Arsenal have warned forward Alexis Sanchez and midfielder Mesut Ozil they will not bow to their contract demands despite having cash reserves of more than £100m… Arsenal are monitoring midfielder Pablo Fornals, 21, who has scored four goals this season for Malaga…
The Gunners could finally sign long-time target Alexandre Lacazette as the 25-year-old forward looks set to leave Lyon this summer, but Atletico Madrid are also interested… Marseille defender Patrice Evra, 35, has revealed he tried to return to Manchester United but a member of the Red Devils’ staff stopped the deal… Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp thinks 24-year-old striker Danny Ings, who was ruled out for up to nine months in November 2016 with a knee injury, could return in pre-season.
Hughes believes Alli's dismissal makes things harder for his Stoke team at the Britannia Stadium.
"It was a poor challenge and he was rightly sent off - I think everybody agreed with that," Hughes said of Alli who, like Harry Kane, has scored three times in the last two games between Stoke and Tottenham.
Alli was shown a straight red card against Gent on Thursday
"Looking at it from a purely selfish point of view, he only played about 40 minutes so he's going to be fresh for our game.
"It is what it is. He's an outstanding young player who at times maybe goes into challenges that he shouldn't do.
"But a lot of players do similar things and he will learn from experience I'm sure."
Stoke's most recent 4-0 drubbing by Spurs came in September during a sequence in which Hughes' team failed to win any of their opening seven Premier League games of the season, losing four of them.
Highlights as Stoke were beaten 4-0 by Tottenham in September
The Potters head into this weekend's clash at White Hart Lane with their previous six league matches having featured three victories - including a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace last time out - and only one defeat.
"We have improved markedly since that game [in September]," said Hughes.
"I would be very surprised if the result was the same - although there is a possibility, because they are a good side.
Mails: Are we all forgetting that Tottenham failed again?
Date published: Friday 24th February 2017 4:33
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com. And don’t worry, you’ll get 16 Conclusions on the EFL Cup final.
Are we all forgetting Tottenham’s failure? I appreciate a lot of focus today is on Ranieri, but is it just me or has Spurs total failure in Europe totally slipped from the spotlight? Considering the viciousness of the backlash against Arsenal and particularly Wenger for their result, seems like Tottenham have got of pretty lightly.
From where I’m sitting not getting out of a not overly challenging group in the Champions League then getting knocked out by Gent is a hell of a lot worse than winning your group and then getting hammered by Bayern, one of the best teams in Europe.
Spurs have been knocked out of Europe twice this season already, whilst Arsenal remain (temporarily perhaps) actively participating! David, Arsenal obviously, Wenger IN
So that’s us out of Europe….again. It’s been a really poor showing from us this season and we really do deserve a royal shellacking. I don’t think Poch did a great deal wrong, maybe could have juggled the players a little bit differently but on each occasion the team should have been able to apply themselves. Well done to Gent though, a big scalp and one that should be a good reason for more knockout games.
It’s been odd though, the better we played in Europe the worse the actual results have been, wonder if we are just too suited to the fast pace of the prem and when the game gets slowed we struggle to open up the space needed, there is a decent blueprint for how to beat us and we need to figure out some different ways to combat that. We really miss Danny Rose, just balances our play and makes a huge difference to how the entire team attacks.
Leicester sacking Ranieri has definitely taken the focus away from our exit, was a shame he went but thanks for the timing.
Alli, what a player, could easily be one of the best around, but what a knob, he needs to find some kind of balance. Sure, be strong, get the tackles in, be confrontational and at times a bit snide, but he really needs to cut out that kind of nastiness. He does remind me in so many ways of Gerrard including the red mist nastiness. I think he’s always a player who will get red’s, but come on Alli (not that he reads this) that tackle was an absolute shocker and lucky that a player isn’t looking towards a very uncertain future.
My only retort to Brad is that, Ian Wright, Lee Dixon, Paul Merson, Martin Keown, Charlie Nicholas, Henry, Alan Smith, Niall Quinn, are they really not enough for you that you want more? I also think the difference in repoting between Arsenal and Spurs, is that we had a shock result and they happen, Arsenal had an entirely predictable result which for one of the richest clubs in the world really should happen, losings ok, not adequately competing is the criticism.
So, in conclusion, shockingly shit European campaign from us, poor current run of form, but it’s ok, we still love the Poch. Steve (Cracking turnout at Wembley Hart Lane, despite Doris) THFC.
Dirty Dele As a Spurs fan, I obviously think Dele Alli is brilliant. I’m not here to defend his red card, but I will say that if he’s “a nasty piece of work who has no ability to handle losing”, then great, because that’s exactly what Spurs need (that and better depth than Sissoko and Janssen obviously).
Some players combine that personality with middling levels of talent (Joey Barton springs to mind), but Brad has just described Roy Keane there. Remember how much his hatred of losing helped drive Man Utd to success, remember when Rooney was young and good, scored 25 or more goals a season and everyone worried that he was one loss of temper away from a red card?
It’s a cliche, but a psychotic will to win is no bad thing in competitive sport. Combine that with the talent of, I dunno, at least three Joey Bartons, and why would we want Dele to change? Neil, THFC
PS I actually quite like Joey Barton, he’s far more interesting than most players
PPS I still think Poch will leave in the summer, but my future-told-you-so emails on that haven’t been published (yet)
Much as I hate even thinking about football after an embarrassing result, I’d just like to offer some thoughts on the Europa League and Dele Alli’s reckless lunge.
Sanctimonious pundits and fans of teams who don’t qualify for Europe are always pretty keen to slate teams for not taking the Europa seriously.
Now I’ve been a Spurs fan for more than 25 years, during which time we’ve been in the competition more often than not. It has usually negatively affected our league form but, more to the point, we’ve rarely come anywhere close to winning it.
Even when we’ve put out strong sides, we still end up going out to a decent side (not including Ghent), having endured gruelling round trips to far-flung parts of eastern Europe.
And that, in a nutshell, is why the over-privileged fans of teams like Spurs don’t fancy it much. It’s a one-way ticket to disappointment and squad fatigue. Obviously i’d have liked us to progress before the game. But waking up today, I couldn’t really give a stuff that, yet again, we’re out of Europe’s second-tier competition.
As for Dele…Spurs fans have known for a while that he is both messiah and a bit of a naughty boy. Last night’s lunge was obviously unforgivable. However…one thing Spurs have often lacked over the years is a bit of nasty, a bit of needle, players who skirt the line of what’s acceptable and occasionally cross it. Every top side should have at least one.
I’d love Dele to cut out some of the petulance, particularly given that it cost us last year when he was suspended at the end of the season.
But I also recognise that it’s the flip side of his fiercely competitive nature. If he has to get the odd red card, i’ll take that in return for one of the most exciting young players i’ve seen at the Lane.
If fans of other teams hate him, that delights me. I’d rather have a despised Dele Alli than a beloved Scotty Parker, any day of the week and twice on Sundays at 2.05pm. Rob Davies, THFC
The impossible job A lot of Leicester fans are criticising Ranieri for losing the dressing room, yet I think it is remarkably unfair on him. It’s not surprising in the least to see such a slump. It’s no secret that motivating champions for the next season is a challenge few managers have succeeded at, at least when they have any serious competition. No team has ever retained the Champions League and few Premier League champions retain their title. It’s psychological. Players will have drawn on all their motivation and spirit to get over the line. Their hunger is satisfied and they are elated. After this comes the depressive stage. Everyone else is hungry to beat the champions but everyone expects the champions to maintain their standards. The pressure combined with the loss of motivation is too much.
Yet Leicester are no ordinary league champions. They are the most overacheiving champions we probably have ever seen. They didn’t just win it. They defied all the odds and became legends. The ultimate high. Is it such a surprise that their next season hangover would be horrendous. There will be nothing left in the tank. It’s not a case of simply returning to normal. Mentally it was always going to be the toughest season they have ever had to face. So when Ranieri talks of a relegation dogfight… How do you get going for that? They know they will never reach the summit of the PL again. Throwaway retorts like how much they are being paid, or how they should just do their job like everyone else mean nothing here.
The fact that Leicester have done so well in the Champions League strengthens my point. That was the next step for them. The one thing that can stir up the feeling of defying the odds again. No one expects them to win that. Perfect.
But getting that group of players to go back to the day job and fight for Premier League survival might have just been the ultimate bad job.
I don’t blame Ranieri for not having the answers, but can you blame the players either? I don’t think they have the answers anymore than the manager did.
Perhaps a new manager will find a solution, but it is not simply a case of bringing in a Big Sam. Tactics and training mean nothing here. They need someone who can get into their heads and give each of them a reason to fight. If it was me, I would be bringing in a sports psychologist and giving them all one to one sessions until they pull it together. Nic, Lancaster
My immediate reaction was how dare they! given everything Claudio gave their club last season.
It does spoil the fairytale but it’s mostly neutrals that have bought into this fairytale for Leicester fans they expect their management to do what’s in the best interests of the club.
It’s the same with Arsenal. Neutrals hate the idea of a club firing their most successful club but with Arsenal you’re only talking about not renewing the manager’s contract.
I’m sure if Arsene goes, we’ll be tarred with the Leicester brush and accused of immense gratitude but as the Leicester fans point out when your team stops being competitive, and admittedly in Arsenal’s case that’s in the Champions League, it’s time to say goodbye. Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London
What if Anelka had stayed? Loved your piece on Nicolas Anelka, and I reckon he represents one of football’s greatest ‘sliding doors’ moments in time – what if he’d stayed at Arsenal?
The team that finished the ‘98 double season remains to this day my favourite Arsenal side. By then Anelka had edged out Wrighty – at the time our greatest ever goal scorer – to become our first choice partner for Bergkamp, and no-one queried that decision, that’s how good this lad was
Anelka, and more specifically his idiot agent brothers, ended up getting their heads, and whilst it would have been hard to ignore a big offer from Real Madrid, most people I spoke to at the time – even non-Gooners – were of the opinion that he should have at least given Arsenal a couple more years. The Arsenal fans only turned on him when it became clear that he was agitating for a move away from the club, and manager, that had made him into the player he was. From the fan’s perspective it was dismay at his ingratitude but also we knew full well what we were losing.
So what would have happened had he stayed? It’s easy, he essentially got replaced by Thierry Henry, and I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to suggest that if Anelka had stayed at Arsenal for another decade then you can basically add Henry’s stats to Anelka’s own Arsenal record and that’s probably what he could have achieved staying put. They were pretty much the same type of player – again, that’s how good Anelka was at his best.
Anelka has subsequently acknowledged many times he made a huge mistake leaving Arsenal, and he was one of the earliest of the long line of Arsenal / Wenger players finding out that the grass wasn’t greener on the other side. In the end Arsenal didn’t really miss out because Wenger repeated the trick of signing a young French striker with potential and Thierry Henry became a legend here.
Thierry Henry owes the Anelka brothers a huge debt of gratitude, but as for Nicolas Anelka himself? If only, if only…. Rob, Bristol Gooner (Stewie’s latest on Ranieri/Wenger? You have to admire his consistency – but laugh at, not with…)
There’s a cup final this weekend… The EFL Cup. Obviously the most important thing this weekend…
Yet despite being the first real silverware of the season, it hasn’t garnered a single mention this week in the mailbox. Which is probably because as a competition it’s a bit of a joke, that most teams are happy to be out of and if somehow your team wins then it’s all a bit embarrassing.
However, for Saints it’s a HUGE deal with everything effectively coming down to one game to define it being a 10/10 or 3/10 season. Which in a way highlights how poor this season has been.
I can’t remember being more nervous or excited about a game. We’ve been a bit sh*t this season, crashed out of Europe in terrible manner and are heading towards lower mid table mediocracy while doing our best to flirt with relegation. Yet if we somehow win (and I think we have a decent chance due to the very compliancy and lack of importance placed on the EFL Cup). Then we qualify for Europe and win silverware having knocked Liverpool and Arsenal out on route. All while managing to get away with selling our best players again.
In August, that would have been a near dream scenario. Maybe it will mean Van Dijk sticking around if we have a nice new shiny trophy and another go at Europe? Tom Saints (I hope for 16 conclusions on an epic win come Sunday).
Don’t go for Griezmann, United I’ve just read the quotes from Giggs about Rashford and his best position being through the middle, which I agree with. It was for this reason I wasn’t happy about Zlatan joining last summer (hold my hands up though as I was wrong on that) but also why I hope united don’t go for Griezman this summer.
He is clearly a hugely talented player and at £85 million is going to walk into this first team. Zlatan is also presumably staying.Where though does that leave Rashford, or for that matter, Martial, Mata, Mkhitaryan. We have enough forward players and this just seems like galactico signing.
If it were my decision, I would take that £85m and see if Verrati or Busquets would be interested in coming. Carrick doesn’t look like he is being offered a contract, same with Bastian and Schniderlin has already left. I know it sounds like when fergie left but we need to strengthen the central midfield otherwise we could be left with Pogba and Herrera and no one else.
Looking at the other clubs who could afford Griezman in England, City have Sane, Sterling, Jesus, Aguero so again, unless one of them moves on I can’t see them signing him. Chelsea though could be a perfect fit. Hazard to one side and Griezman to other of Costa looks very tasty and Conte, based on his time at Juve, feels the need for individual skill if you want the champs league, which that team would have in abundance.
I know there is still loads of football to go but I just fancied a change up from Ranieri’s sacking (right decision IMO). Bernard MUFC
Japanese football Nice to hear from our man in Kanazawa this morning, was wondering what he’d been up to. He mentioned Nagoya Grampus playing in J2 this season, and how Arsene Wenger used to manage them. Another former Nagoya manager is Dragan Stojkovic; the highlight of his tenure has to be scoring this volley from the technical area, and then getting sent off.
I’ve mentioned this before but Stojkovic was my first favourite player, when he played for Yugoslavia at the 1990 World Cup. 28 years old I was. Ed Quoththeraven
