As we careen headlong into the final days of this extraordinary season, it is time to take stock of just how many incredible stories there have been at every level of English football. At the very top, Leicester City, and the most unlikely title win since Nottingham Forest in the mid-1970s. In the Championship, Middlesbrough […]
Poor Ronny Deila. It has got to the stage where if he wanted to make an impression on continental Europe while simultaneously dominating the domestic scene and pleasing the fans, he would have been better staying at Stromsgodset. Instead, for the heinous crime of winning the Scottish Premier League – or more for the actually […]
So, Villa have gone. In fairness, they are only the fifth worst team in Premier League history as far as I am concerned: Swindon in 1993, the two Sunderland lowest point record setters, and obviously Paul Jewell’s Derby, probably come beneath them in the pecking order. Their departure means the list of Premier League-era ever […]
Following non-league football, you will often come across the same names in the so-called National League from season to season. There are names familiar to the more casual observer too – Kidderminster, Welling, Altrincham, Halifax, and Chester, to name a few. However for next season, a selection of these teams are in serious danger of […]
I have made some pretty poor predictions this season, it has to be said. A personal highlight was my prediction of Watford’s relegation from the Premier League on the grounds of their forwards not being able to adapt to the higher tier. 26 goals between Deeney and Ighalo, a Wembley semi-final, and mid-table security have […]
Accrington Stanley, who are they? They’re heading for promotion to League One, that’s who. Often regarded as a byword for small, scabby English clubs with a ramshackle stadium, anorak-clad fans and a terminal shortage of cash (my kind of club), Stanley have had one of the most impressive seasons in their history. They are sat […]
It all started with manager Aitor Karanka storming out of a team meeting midway through Friday, having allegedly told the team he didn’t want to manage them anymore, which is a phrase that seems more at home in the mouth of a sulky six-year-old than a forty-something former Spanish international centre back. He was then […]
The FA Cup is a stranger beast than normal this year – in most cases, a semi-final line up where only one of the five is counted among the traditional big boys, and a quarter-final where both Arsenal and Chelsea were comprehensively beaten, would make for a major shock that would be talked about for […]
The news of a secret meeting involving the five chief executives of Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and the Manchester clubs, plus some American bloke whose name I can’t be bothered to remember, was completely innocent, about pre-season tours and certainly not about breakaway Super Leagues. Yeah right. How ironic it would be if the Premier League, […]
We are coming to the business end of this season of the FA Cup. For me it is less interesting than when teams such as Jarrow Roofing or Bedlington Terriers were in the competition, but it is interesting nonetheless. With plans possibly afoot to kill off FA Cup replays and play games midweek in order […]
