Football365

There’s no shortage of mails on Man Utd and Erik ten Hag, but we start with Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou.

Send your views on any subject to theeditor@football365.com

Oh Ange, you lunatic

“Substitutions and all those kind of things … they are totally irrelevant to me,” he said. “If you’re not competitive, it doesn’t matter what you do, you’re not going to get rewards.

“We didn’t deserve, on our second-half performance, irrespective of subs or anything else, to get something out of the game. If you do get something out of the game, you’re falsely rewarded and I don’t want to get falsely rewarded.

“We should have put the game to bed in the first half. But if that just masks what I saw in the second half, then it doesn’t … I mean, certain things will always reveal themselves over the course of time. I’ve got to deal with what happened in the second half.”

This is quite troubling really. A manager saying subs are irrelevant….how about if the players on the pitch are having howlers (Udogie and Bentancur spring to mind, as does Werner) and the players on the bench are more than capable of coming on and changing the course of the match?

It’s almost as though he’s trying to prove a point by letting the match fall from our grasp. See, if you’re going to be sh*t, this is what happens.

That is fine if it’s say parenting and you want your child to understand cause and effect, it really isn’t when you’re the manager of a PL club.

As much as quite like the bloke the system is totally flawed and the players are mentally as weak as at anytime under AVB and Conte…perhaps it really is just a Spurs thing, after all I have been going to Spurs since 1986 and most of that time it has been pretty much the same thing bar the odd impressive season or two.

Dan Mallerman

READ: Tottenham must realise defending is not for cowards after Brighton take delightfully silly win

…Scientists have pinpointed the exact moment Spurs lost that game… it was Maddison’s delayed “bullseye” celebration for the cameras. Cue the complacency.

On a serious note though, as soon as this guy gets a goal or assist he considers his work done for the day… and then if/when Spurs actually hang on and win, brace yourself for a week of fluffy social media japes and endorsements.

That’s why you’re not in the England squad, James.

Oh and Ange, 1 quick goal should have been enough to stir you into a meaningful response, 2 quick goals should have been enough to shake you into urgent changes, 3 quick goals should have had you going berserk on the touchline and making drastic changes…. Yet you still hadn’t seen enough and wanted to wait another 13 minutes before doing anything?

What the hell man?! You love talking about your vast experience but matey with 2 years’ experience done you up like a kipper.

Tut tut tut.

Oliver Clark

Comparing Ten Hag to Arteta is delusional

Guys guys guys…

Garey Vance’s email about win percentages and how ETH’s compares favourably to Mikel Arteta’s at the same stages of their managerial tenures may be correct (is it? I haven’t checked) but Erik Ten Hag is not in his first managerial role, Mikel Arteta was and is.

Erik Ten Hag did not have to deal with a global pandemic 4 months into his tenure at Manchester United, Mikel Arteta did.

Erik Ten Hag has proven so unable to coach a defence that Manchester United finished last season with a negative goal difference. First job in management Mikel Arteta has never done that.

Perhaps ETH should have spent less time deludedly crying about losing at Arsenal last season and more time, y’know, coaching. Like Mikel Arteta has.

ETH is now 31 months into his Manchester United tenure and United sit 14th in the Premier League, despite a relatively soft start to their season.

I’m speaking only as an observer, but I don’t get the sense ETH has any sense of how big an institution Manchester United is, or the charisma to lead it.

In Mikel Arteta, Arsenal has someone who understands what our standards should be and has worked tirelessly to get us there. We may not yet have trophies on the board to prove it, but Arteta has made box office again what was a zombie football club years only 5 years ago.

Comparing Super Mik to ETH is just delusional. Sorry lads.

Paul, North London

MORE MANCHESTER UNITED COVERAGE ON F365

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Vance is back

If J Belfast could point me to where in my mail I said everything is rosey in the red half of Manchester, or any conclusion was made about Ten Hag being “as good as Klopp and Arteta” it would be much appreciated. What I actually suggested was that both Liverpool and Arsenal were as inconsistent as United have been over the same number of games based on something tangible and irrefutable. This is not opinion, this is stone cold Benitez-esque facts.

Arteta was under massive pressure for quite some time with every man and his dog questioning if the job was too big for him, and loads of fans calling for his head. And though they will deny it now, there were plenty of Liverpool fans questioning whether Klopp was the right man for the job throughout his first few years when things were ropey.

Mike in Dubai may want to reevaluate his recency bias when he suggests there weren’t many bad results during those early years of Klopp’s reign.

Watford 3 Liverpool 0

West Ham 2 Liverpool 0

Leicester 2 Liverpool 0

Southampton 3 Liverpool 2

Swansea 3 Liverpool 1

Liverpool 2 Man City 4

Liverpool 1 Seville 3

Burnley 2 Liverpool 0

Bournemouth 4 Liverpool 3

Liverpool 2 Swansea 3

Hull 2 Liverpool 0

Leicester 3 Liverpool 1

Man City 5 Liverpool 0

Spurs 4 Liverpool 1

And just for good measure, even though it was a good few years into his tenure, let’s remember the time Villa beat Liverpool 7-2.

The point is, people forget through the passing of time and a lens of (eventual) success how inconsistent their team was when getting there. And as I stated in my original mail, which was the only conclusion I drew from it contrary to J Belfast’s imagination, Carragher was wrong to suggest everything was much better for Arteta and Klopp when they were building their teams. They dropped a similar level of points and won a similar level of games. Neither won 2 trophies in their first 2 seasons, but that’s a different story for another day.

Garey Vance, MUFC

A critique of Badwolf’s diatribe

Although this is a critique of Badwolf’s analysis, I only do it as I think his mail accurately reflects a lot of United fans that perhaps adopt too rose tinted a view of where United are at and what is going wrong. His analysis could be absolutely correct, time may prove it so, but there is reasonable evidence to suggest it won’t. And that is kind of the clue. Evidence. I think objectively looking at the situation identifies more issues than you notice when you’re emotionally compromised as a fan.

So lets start with his ‘good’ points.

‘We have made some good signings’ – Have you? Based on what? It’s very difficult to evaluate any summer signings for any team. There’s just not been enough games. You yourself even state that it takes some players a year to even settle in, so why assume your summer signings have been good? And that is before even looking at the actual form of those players that have played.

None of them seem to have started very well or are currently injured. De Ligt has had a relatively poor start to the season. Zirkzee has done OK, but I would say no more than that and Ugarte has played of games in which he did ok. I don’t suggest they aren’t good signings based on this and each of the summer signings may well prove invaluable and astute purchases but without any evidence, this statement is one purely in hope rather than expectation.

“We’ve fixed some major issue areas” – Again that’s not based on any evidence. It’s just a wild assumption. And it’s an assumption that regularly happens with United supporters and seemingly infects the club itself. Every new signing seems to be brought in with the intention of solving some issue or weakness but over the last decade we have seen precious little progress.

In fact, some players seem to add problems more than solve any. If you have a weak defence and you buy defenders it is safe to assume you are trying to improve that area of the pitch, but whether any progress has been made can only be shown over time with evidence i.e a much improved goals against column / much improved league place. Even someone like Varane who was world class, playing for the best team on the planet and still a good age ended up failing.

“There is actually a plan…” – What did you think the club was doing before? What do you think other clubs are doing? Just reacting to events as and when they unfold? Utd are doing exactly as they did before, trying to buy their way out of trouble. This summer saw another splurge in the transfer market, just as in the previous summers. There is always another signing on the horizon which will make them title chasers again.

It’s why Ten Hag is still in his position because everyone insisted that he had to wait until the squad was ‘his’, as though coaches coming in and working with the playing staff to begin implementing preferred tactics and patterns is something alien and exotic, not to mention simply working to improve players individually.

“Have invested well in the next generation… veritable collection of diamonds” Can you guess? Yep, almost no evidence. You have one player who can objectively be called a diamond. Kobbie Mainoo. This is a 19 yr old who has forced himself into the United starting 11 for over a year. He forced himself into starting for an exceptionally talented England team. It is objectively true that both the current United coach and the England manager both decided that an 18/19 yr old player was good enough to start regularly. That is exceptional and unusual.

Whether he will go on to fulfil his promise, time will tell. What is unequivocal, his relative success to date infers that he is a diamond. All the other talent you must be talking about, they’re not diamonds, certainly not yet. You’re hoping again. Desperately hoping.

“Hojlund is a cracking player, and if we feed him, he’ll score” Not according to the stats. In 97 appearances across the English, Italian, Austrian and Danish leagues he has scored 27 goals. Thems the facts. And they don’t paint a picture of someone who is a goalscorer. That might change. Or he will still become a top player without being a prolific goal scorer, but stating he is a cracking player who will score goals. Blind hope.

“Injury crisis” Man United were 4th in the injury league table last season, just above Liverpool. That suggests they had a bad season for injuries compared to the average. Currently there are 2 players who have had long term unavailability in Malacia and Yoro. Everyone else is either fit or should be in contention by the end of the international break.

Injuries happen, sometimes teams are unlucky, and they are particularly affected, but ultimately it’s what a squad is for, and considering the hundreds upon hundreds of millions spent, Utd should be better placed than most to deal with them.

“if not, Ruud will be just fine…” Already putting in place the delusion for the post Ten Hag era, the assumption Ruud Van Nistelrooy will be a top replacement simply boggles the mind.

Of all of the assumptions devoid of evidence this is surely the most significant one. Ruud has not completed a single full season as a manager. He nearly completed the 2022/23 season with PSV, his only in management, but resigned 1 game before the end of the season. With a team that would go onto win the league the following season, he won the Dutch equivalent of the FA cup and charity shield. That he is even considered shows how poorly the club has been run the last few years and how deep the delusion runs.

It would have been unthinkable post Ferguson for someone of his paltry experience to be offered the job, even as a stopgap, but so many managers have come and gone that expectations and standards seem to have been seriously eroded. And the reason this has happened is because some Utd fans, and even the club themselves, seem to have become blinkered in their analysis of the team.

From my position I would evaluate Manchester United thusly – You currently have a fairly decent first 11 with an average squad. Your manager has shown scant evidence of being able to rebuild this squad and improve the tactical setup. Your management structure hasn’t been in place long enough to ascertain their suitability to arrest this issue so you should wait a reasonable amount of time to judge whether they are improving the team.

You should change manager. You should implement a player value model to understand the weakest parts of your team. You should identify targets now that evidence suggests they could improve these specific problem areas. You should endeavour to change the fan opinion from one which expects success irrespective of the quality of the players to one which understands the limitation of the current playing squad. This will help to reduce the unrelenting pressure based around unrealistic expectations.

Once the fans understand the situation and can perhaps relent on expecting consistent wins, particularly against other top 6 sides with better squads, you can spend the vast amounts of money Utd accrue to gradually improve the team. If weaknesses are identified and the best available targets purchased the improvement can be quick, a couple of seasons even. Look at Arsenal for a prime example of how a young, world class squad can be assembled with significant but not unsustainable spending.

Take off the rose tinted glasses and assess objectively, you will all be better for it…

Ed Ern

Man Utd will find a great manager in 10 years

Manchester United are a weird club, they’ve essentially had 2 successful managers in their entire history. Busby managed for around 24 years won 5 league titles, 2 FA cups and, of course, the European cup. Ferguson 27 years, 13 league titles, 5 FA cups, 4 League cups, 2 Champions leagues. So, 51 years and a stunning 76% of the overall trophies won by the club were won by these 2 men, what does that tell you.

It tells you 2 things. 1) United are unlike any other club in England and probably Europe and are pretty much useless at getting the right guy to manage the club, 28 managers in total since the club was formed 2 who you can regard as successful 26 (that’s 26) who have who have won bugger all between them!

ETH is a great coach, and he might yet turn out to be THE guy, but if he isn’t, he’ll just be the next one in the list to fail, and it’ll be 2 successful managers in 27.

PS: I am aware that there are other trophies that the club has won, but it was easier to break down the 3 major ones people look at.

Vernon, Dublin, Ireland

Stop picking on Man Utd and Ten Hag

I wrote in last week saying that Man Utd were sh*t with an explanation so I’m not trying to put a ridiculous spin on the club such as the one by Badwolf.

I’m also not surprised or upset about the over the top vile abuse from all you ‘neutral’ fans out there. However, what I do take quite a bit of offense to is the nonsense from people who call themselves journalists who just like to exaggerate anything Man Utd to force a conversation. Isn’t journalism supposed to be unbiased? Not in this day and age – clicks pay the bills so biased is good and nonsense is even better.

Firstly, 16 Conclusions on Utd v Villa was pathetic. If you really can’t be arsed to write anything and just pout about choosing the wrong match then just write about the other games instead. But actually you know you wouldn’t do that as it’s better to write a shit article about Utd as you’ll still get more clicks and replies than a great article on anyone else.

Other than the patheticness of the article, you seemed to decide that this was clearly a case of Villa being shit and gave no credit to Utd. Poor little Villa played in Europe in midweek. No consideration that Utd also played in Europe a day later and so had one day less to recover. Utd were also away from home. Doesn’t suit your agenda though.

Then your portrayal of Rashford’s non-sending off. If you’d actually watched the game, it looked relatively harmless at the time, the commentator at the time also said so until about the 3rd slow motion replay when it actually looked like it was worthy of a yellow card.

So yes, Rashford was a touch lucky but actually, on first glance it was no surprise the ref saw fit to not award a card. If you think this was such a big deal then advocate for VAR intervening on every single tiny decision on the pitch but don’t bulshit about the non decision just to suit your clickbait agenda.

Just to add to this, while you focussed on this non-sending off, you didn’t mention that the 12 fouls of utd warranted 5 yellow cards whilst the 11 fouls of Villa warranted just 1. It was not a dirty game but the ref seemed a bit keen to get his yellow cards out to utd players. Not to say utd didn’t deserve their cards but Villa got away with quite a few that could just have easily gone in the book.

I don’t have much argument with concluding the game was a pretty dull one or that ETH hasn’t done much to keep the wolves at bay but a point away at one of the better sides in the league (despite their lack of spending compared to Utd that you ‘journalists’ so love to point out) should actually be seen to be a pretty good point to gain. Shouldn’t Villa maybe be kicking themselves for not even being able to score against such a shitty team? or wouldn’t that suit your agenda?

Jon, Cape Town (It seems journalism as we knew it died long ago – the red tops had it right all along)

MORE MANCHESTER UNITED COVERAGE ON F365

👉 Aston Villa help out Erik ten Hag by playing out most boring game possible with Manchester United

👉 Six-pass Man Utd man in worst Premier League XI of the weekend

👉 Mailbox: ‘Man Utd didn’t get spanked’ as Ten Hag defended as job ‘difficult to laughable’

The clicks have it

Firstly, many congrats on actually putting together 16 conclusions on the Aston Villa / Man Utd game, impressive work. Secondly, I was struck by conclusion No. 16:

“Try as we might, it’s just impossible to care deeply about anything connected to this United team unless and until it departs from its current meandering road to nowhere, something that appears less and less likely to occur under the current manager.”

It’s often true that there’s nothing worse than meeting someone who is very similar to yourself, because you see all your own flaws as they appear through someone else’s eyes. Brighton and Tottenham now know that feeling very well, but Ange Postecoglou will go away with the greater need for introspection.

In prospect, this game felt like it was either nailed on for both teams to score – probably more than once each – or for a completely squeezed, congested midfield melee. Thankfully, after coming close to being put into a vegetative state by Aston Villa and Manchester United’s earlier goalless draw, the two sides chose the fun option.

With 15 seconds on the clock, Timo Werner should have given Brennan Johnson a tap-in, only to overplay his pass ahead of his fellow winger. Dominic Solanke committed no such error in releasing the Welshman again midway through the half to fire Tottenham ahead.

But even after Spurs went into the break with a two-goal lead that they were excellent value for, you never felt quite comfortable writing the game off as being effectively over. After a poor start in the face of Tottenham’s excellence, Brighton were actually good, with Kaoru Mitoma especially bright. The visitors were quite simply better.

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A Danny Welbeck miss just before Tottenham doubled their lead through James Maddison (and a Bart Verbruggen error) spelt out that difference – but also gave Spurs a warning of what was to come. Sky’s later “who saw this coming?” act after the comeback was completed was as irritating as it was baffling, Peter Drury and co having apparently wiped the actual run of the first half from their memories as a storytelling contrivance.

Regardless, Tottenham were impressive in that first half, and you started to wonder whether Posteocglou’s side might have put their indifferent start to the season behind them and grown into a much more impressive beast over the past few games.

But then they go and remind you of that mile-wide callow streak that is going to keep a lid on their potential throughout the campaign, and possibly beyond.

Brighton deserve credit for seizing the initiative. If Mitoma wasn’t already your favourite player in the whole wide Premier League, consider yourself chastised for your folly, and it was no surprise that his latest dangerous ball from the left set the ball rolling on Brighton’s comeback. Yankuba Minteh fired home the loose ball as Destiny Udogie made Udog’s dinner of dealing with a cross and making a…block? Clearance? We’re not quite sure, which is kind of the point.

Giorginio Rutter then stepped into the frame for goals two and three, twice wriggling and driving free of defenders first to fire an equaliser into the bottom corner, then tee up Welbeck to atone for his earlier wasted sitter.

But it really is just daft of Tottenham, and of Postecoglou, to remain so stubbornly wed to their attacking principles regardless of game state, regardless of momentum, regardless of how clearly signposted their impending doom may be. In their enjoyably loopy bid to win every game 5-0, they end up panicking when things start to turn against them, and ultimately drop points in games they have dominated.

The timing of Brighton’s first goal may be a factor there: had they not rushed back out of the dressing room and practically straight towards the Guglielmo Vicario’s goal, maybe we would have seen more calmness, control and composure from Tottenham to professionally see out their two-goal lead.

As neutrals, we say: more of this sort of thing. Defending is for cowards and people who are more interested in trophies than happiness, who frankly should have a look at themselves and figure out what is missing from their lives.

But as critics, we also say: winning things is good, actually; it’s the objective of the entire enterprise. To that end, there is nothing wrong with being willing to take a moment to take the sting out of a game. Some fans across North London seem not to realise that when people about Arsenal’s grasp of the dark arts, it is intended as (or, at very least, should be taken as) a compliment, rather than a diss.

Neither Brighton nor Tottenham have very much of that about them, and it puts a ceiling on them – but good lord, it makes them both tremendous fun to watch. Never change.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has defended forward Timo Werner and urged him to take inspiration from his in-form teammate.

RB Leipzig loanee Werner had another mixed night on Thursday in the Europa League as an overall positive display at Ferencvaros was marred by a guilt-edged second-half miss.

It was a similar story at Manchester United last weekend, with the former Chelsea flop wasteful when presented with two golden opportunities, but he is expected to start again for Tottenham at Brighton on Sunday.

Captain Son Heung-min is doubtful with a hamstring injury, while 17-year-old Mikey Moore is not expected to start after he played 90 minutes in Budapest and Wilson Odobert (hamstring) and Richarlison (calf) remain unavailable.

Postecoglou hit back at suggestions Werner is “hopeless” and pointed to Johnson as an example after the Wales international scored for a fifth consecutive match in midweek.

“It was 14 days ago those questions were asked of Brennan. I think I said at the time, it is where we are at in this world where we think he’s missed two chances so he’s hopeless. No, he’s not hopeless,” Postecoglou insisted.

READ: Moore the merrier as 17-year-old leaves rivals in the shade for in-form Spurs

“All footballers at this level are very, very good footballers and he’s just had a bad day.

“Timo’s first action (against Ferencvaros), he took on the winger, put in a brilliant cross for Will (Lankshear) and Will didn’t quite get on the end of it, but if that goes in, he’s had a great assist.

“Then he gets the chance one-on-one and if he scores that, then the last two games he has a couple of goals and we’d be having a different conversation.

“That’s the fine lines, but in terms of his general play, I think the last two games have been really good for us.

“He’s been taking on his player, getting in the right areas and yes goals help, we’ve seen that with Brennan, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a good player.

“Scoring goals would help him, would help us, yes but we will persevere with him because I still think he is contributing to the team.”

READ: Every Premier League manager’s next job: McKenna to Man Utd; England get Pep then Howe

Werner will soon have extra competition with Richarlison close to a return after an injury-hit six months with a calf problem.

Postecoglou added: “We’re hoping to get him sort of involved in team training during the international break when we’ve got a small group and provided he gets through that, post-international break he should be OK.

“I can’t wait to get Richy back available. When he played for us last year and he was fit, he scored goals.

“For me to have the ability to have him and Dom (Solanke) as our strikers, and Richy can play wide as well, but especially in that central area, yeah can’t wait to have him back.

“At the same time his recent history of the last two or three years is he hasn’t been able to sustain it and he’s kind of broken down.

“What we’ve tried to do this time around is do everything right with everything we do with him, so when he comes back, he stays back.”

Silly Leeds United signing a Tottenham Hotspur crock and Matt Ritchie’s Portsmouth return are among five summer mistakes involving Championship clubs…

(FYI – we also have a list of five Premier League summer mistakes, which is *obviously* dominated by Manchester United).

Elijah Adebayo not pushing to leave Luton Town

During pre-season, I foolishly suggested Luton were the best-placed of the relegated teams to seal promotion straight back to the Premier League as they had less upheaval to deal with than Burnley and Sheffield United. What an idiot.

The Hatters have actually been the worst of the three sides and currently look more likely to go down to League One than return to the Premier League. Most of Rob Edwards’ squad are misfiring and are being hampered by the poor form of Adebyao, who is without a goal in his eight Championship appearances this season.

Luton did themselves proud as they gave the fight for survival a bloody good go and Adebayo was one of their stronger performers.

The 26-year-old was one of last season’s breakout stars as he scored ten goals in his 27 Premier League appearances, but he was sorely missed during the run-in as he was absent for eleven matches due to injury.

As mentioned, there was no frantic overhaul at Luton in the summer as Ross Barkley and Chiedozie Ogbene were the only players sold to Premier League clubs. Adebayo did enough to warrant a move back to the top flight, but very little was said about a potential move as he seemingly settled for another season with the Hatters in the Championship.

Hindsight being 20/20, Adebyao may be rueing his decision not to push for an exit in the summer while his stock was high as his current poor form means the chances of him returning to the Premier League in January or next summer are pretty slim.

READ: Rooney sack, likely Man Utd return talk nonsense as Plymouth boss silences desperate doubters

Portsmouth re-signing Matt Ritchie

Pompey were comfortably the best side in League One last season as they won the title, but the events in the summer have given Oxford United and Derby County a far better chance of avoiding the drop.

Oxford in particular did some superb transfer business as they attempted to bridge the quality gap in their squad following promotion, while Portsmouth looked set to give their title-winning side the chance to sign in the division above until they made several moves late in the window.

One such signing saw former academy product Ritchie return after his contract at Newcastle United expired.

The 35-year-old was a victim of Newcastle’s meteoric rise post-PIF takeover as he barely featured in his last two seasons at St James’ Park.

This has clearly impacted Ritchie, who has been a major early-season flop in the Championship after Portsmouth got pulled in by the lure of nostalgia.

Ritchie is presumably one of Portsmouth’s higher earners and their decision to make an over-the-hill former player their marquee summer signing was ill-informed. Their alarming 6-1 loss to Stoke City in midweek leaves them winless in eight games and with a mountain to climb to avoid relegation.

Leeds United signing Manor Solomon

There were panic stations at Elland Road in the summer as the board were under intense scrutiny following the exits of Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter.

Major sales were always likely following Leeds United’s loss in the Championship play-off final, but their infuriatingly prolonged search for replacements added to the bad vibes among the fan base.

Leeds did eventually get their act together and built a squad capable of contending for automatic promotion, but their decision to sign Solomon is not paying off.

The Israel international overcame knee surgery to shine for Fulham while on loan in 2022/23 and this earned him a move to Tottenham Hotspur. This 2023 summer transfer preceded a disastrous season for the winger, who missed the majority of his debut campaign after being forced to undergo meniscus surgery.

Desperate for game time, Solomon agreed to join Leeds on loan in August. This had the potential to be a real coup for the West Yorkshire side as he had previously plied his trade at a much higher level than the Championship.

However, this is on track to be another frustrating season for Solomon, who has been out of action since Leeds United’s 1-0 loss to Burnley last month due to hamstring and back problems. So, Farke’s side appears to have got their maths wrong with this calculated risk.

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Preston keeping Ryan Lowe

Presumably learning from the Pozzo family’s play book, owners of Championship clubs have recently been increasingly rash when deciding to sack managers. But Preston appeared to outdo the rest in August as former boss Ryan Lowe was dismissed just one game into this season.

This was not simply the case of a manager being sacked after one bad result. Instead, Lowe’s exit had been a long time coming as he oversaw a steady decline last season after his side went from surprisingly topping the Championship after seven games to finishing tenth (ten points adrift of the top six).

Preston’s start to the season was unsustainable and a tenth-place finish still constituted a decent term. But by the end of the 2023/24 campaign, supporters had gotten tired of Lowe’s uninspiring style of play and were calling for a change in manager.

Despite this, Preston gave Lowe the summer transfer window and presumably built this season’s squad around his image… only to sack him after a single league game. They made the right decision eventually and Paul Heckingbottom has improved their fortunes, but his predecessor’s prolonged execution boggled the mind.

READ: Six sparkling Championship stars primed for January transfer include West Brom, Sheff Utd quartet

Watford extending Tom Ince’s contract until 2026

One of the 2023 summer window’s more intriguing signings saw Ince join Watford on a free transfer.

The 32-year-old remains in his father’s shadow, but he’s still forged a decent career in the Championship. The main reason Watford had for signing him was presumably that he often produced the goods against them as an opposing player, grabbing five goals and four assists in nine matches.

Going back to his days at Derby County, Ince had once been a standout performer at Championship level. But his best days are behind and he only made eight league starts during a stop-start debut season at Vicarage Road.

Despite this, Watford’s hierarchy felt the veteran did enough to earn himself a new two-year contract in the summer.

Yes, he scored against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup after scoring a hat-trick and notching an assist in the opening round against League Two side MK Dons. But Ince is yet to start in the Championship and has played a not-so-grand total of 54 minutes in the league this season.

A “decision” regarding the potential takeover of Tottenham Hotspur is expected “soon” amid interest from former Newcastle United chief Amanda Staveley.

Staveley joined Newcastle as part of PIF’s takeover of the Premier League club at the end of 2021 as she became one of their co-owners.

The 51-year-old left the Magpies in the summer as there was a major overhaul at St James’ Park, but she left the door open to making a Premier League return.

Back in July, Staveley admitted her “preference would have been to stay with Newcastle”, but “buying another club is possible” amid links with Tottenham.

“My preference would have been to stay with Newcastle, but life doesn’t always work out exactly how you want it to. Nothing is going to replicate that. I fell in love with Newcastle, the club and the people and that can’t change, but I didn’t want to get in Newcastle’s way. It’s got to be about what’s best for Newcastle,” she said.

“Mehrdad and I are keen to be hands-on. We’re hard-working people, I love to be very busy and to engage and I love football. Very sadly, we have to move on to other projects and that might involve us taking a stake in another club or buying another club and that’s difficult. But it’s possible.

“I don’t know what my future holds, but you can never move on from the love I have for Newcastle and I would love to come back for matches. I’m a Geordie now. I’m a Yorkshire Geordie, but I will always have that chemistry and that love.”

READ: England form XI snubbed by Carsley includes Arsenal sale, Newcastle signing and Rogers

Earlier this week, a report from Football Insider claimed Staveley is ‘advancing on plans to make a sizeable investment in Tottenham using Middle Eastern money’.

‘It is believed that she and Ghodoussi have been laying the groundwork for a significant stake in another Premier League giant.

‘Sources say discussions have been held about the pair heading a new Middle East consortium that will plough “huge” funds into Tottenham.

‘Forbes state that Spurs are currently valued at around £2.42billion, so if Staveley wishes to purchase a 25 per cent stake in the club it would cost approximately £605m.

‘It is said Staveley has reportedly already raised £500m through her investment fund PCP Capital Partners, as she gets closer to her overall goal.’

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Former Everton chairman Keith Wyness suspects a “decision” on possible Tottenham investment is ‘coming soon’.

He told Football Insider: “Daniel Levy has appointed Rothchild to analyse all these potential partners. We all know he’s a smart commercial operator.

“I know of a lot more parties who have held talks. Levy is not just looking for the money but for a PR boost or something else.

“He’ll also want someone who will carry on letting him run the club. He doesn’t want someone coming in and shouting the odds in the boardroom.

“We’ll have to see who Rothchild recommends – it could be nobody. They’ve been looking for a long time.

“Every season this goes on, they’re paying less and less stadium interest and the need for money reduces. But I do believe they are going to make a decision soon, pay off that debt and leave Spurs in a very strong position.”

Spurs have done what they set out to do in a pair of kindly opening Europa League games, and taken out what little sting there is about this new format at the earliest possible opportunity.

Neither the 3-0 win over Qarabag nor this 2-1 win at Ferencvaros were particularly convincing, but it matters not. Spurs have set themselves up beautifully now to be able to cruise through the remaining matchdays in this group stage knowing they need very little more to get over the line.

Even more so than with the Champions League, such is the utter lack of peril in these games now that wider narratives dominate. For Spurs a fifth win in a row and the prospect of being able to freewheel through some later games in this tournament is important, sure, but more important were a few things we learned from this much-changed side.

The most compelling of those was Mikey Moore. He came into the first-team squad as a 16-year-old and now, still only 17, really does look ready to play a greater role.

At the very least, he must surely now be above poor old Timo Werner in the pecking order. Moore started on the right here, with Werner on the left, and the preponderance of Spurs’ attacks that came down the youngster’s side of the pitch was really something. Sure, he had a considerable advantage behind him with the right side of Spurs’ defence containing first-choice pair Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro while the left side had a more makeshift look with Ben Davies and Archie Gray looking alarmingly like father and son in attempting – not always successfully, it must be said – to keep the Hungarian side quiet down that flank.

But any doubt about the pair’s relative contribution was thoroughly dismantled in the second half. In perhaps the most significant moment of an inevitably low-key game, another fine run by Moore down the right ended with a perfect ball into the path of Werner, clean through on goal again as he was at Old Trafford. The weight of the pass was so precise that Werner had every option in the world.

Maybe that wasn’t a good thing. He doesn’t have the look of a player who wants time to think about options in those moments. But still, the choice appeared easy. With the keeper neither at his feet nor at home and the weight of pass so good, it seemed for all the world that all Werner need do was slot the ball first time into an invitingly large target to the keeper’s left.

Instead, he a) chose the wrong option and then b) made a mess of it, attempting needlessly to go round the keeper and then slicing into the side netting from a tight angle.

There are few more painful sights in the game currently than Werner one on one. We can’t recall ever seeing a player we have less confidence will take advantage of the situation he finds himself in. That, really, is Werner’s eternal curse: doomed forever to possess the cunning and movement to find himself in these situations, but never able to convert.

It was his last contribution of the night, departing in a triple change that saw Ange Postecoglou deploy three of his big guns in Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison. It was impossible to escape the thought that any one of those three would have taken that chance with minimal fuss.

More importantly, perhaps, Moore then switched to the left. Having notably outplayed Werner from the right, he now set about doing so again from the flank Werner had occupied for the first 70 minutes.

READ:‘Up the f***ing Villa and ¡Vamos Colombia!’ as Champions League comes alive

He must surely now have leapfrogged the poor sod in Ange’s attacking pecking order. Moore is a striking sight. A 17-year-old blessed with the technical skill, confidence and pace you might expect, but also the size and strength to come out on top in more than his fair share of physical battles.

Spurs have been very excited about him for some time now, and it’s easy to see why. He was their best attacking player in the second-string team that started the game, and didn’t look remotely out of place when part of the more familiar attacking line-up that finished the game when Dominic Solanke joined Kulusevski, Maddison and Johnson.

Johnson can provide some hope for Werner. It’s not that long since the Welshman’s lack of final product was such a problem that he was attracting absurd levels of hate on social media.

It came to a head after defeat to Arsenal, with Johnson removing himself from the situation. It’s proved an inspired choice. It’s five wins on the bounce for Spurs since then, and Johnson has scored in all five.

He showed his confidence with a fizzing first-time shot from the corner of the area that flicked the crossbar, and minutes later he was scoring a second goal that Spurs would turn out to need after conceding a late goal that had, frankly, been coming.

Moore was involved again early in the move with a neat pass to Solanke. When the ball found its way to Johnson he cut in on his left after a clever ‘uses him by not using him’ run from Kulusevski had opened the space. The shot struck the woodwork again but this time got a kinder bounce and Spurs had their second win in this competition and fifth in succession across three competitions.

A win and no injury setbacks was always the benchmark for a satisfactory night for Spurs. Moore may have ensured it ends up being something, well, more.

Interim boss Lee Carsley has named his 25-man England squad for their upcoming Nations League group matches against Greece and Finland this month.

The Three Lions are back in action this month as they have Nations League group matches against Greece (home) and Finland (away) next week.

England are once again being led by Carsley, who was made interim manager following Gareth Southgate’s decision to quit after his side’s loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.

Carsley has been given a boost ahead of this international break as the FA have reportedly not been in contact with Jurgen Klopp and three other potential replacements.

The 50-year-old could still do with a couple of positive performances during this month’s international break and he named his squad on Thursday afternoon.

READ: The famous F365 England ladder ventures uncertainly into the 2026 World Cup unknown with Carsley

On Thursday morning, The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported that Tottenham Hotspur summer signing Dominic Solanke has been included, while Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers and Manchester United’s Harry Maguire have been omitted.

This was subsequently confirmed as the FA confirmed England’s 25-man squad for their upcoming internationals.

Marcus Rashford and James Maddison are among the other notable absentees. Eberechi Eze has also not been included, while Ollie Watkins and Kyle Walker have returned.

Full 25-man squad…

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Levi Colwill, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Rico Lewis, John Stones, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Conor Gallagher, Morgan Gibbs-White, Angel Gomes, Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer, Declan Rice

Forwards: Anthony Gordon, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka, Dominic Solanke, Ollie Watkins.

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Regarding Solanke, Carsley claims the Spurs forward was nearly included in England’s last squad.

“Dom was really close to being in the last squad, he was injured just before selection. HE was excellent at Bournemouth, he’s taken that into Spurs,” Carsley admitted.

“As well as being a nice person, he’s a great person. It’s great to have him in.”

On Palmer, he added: “Knowing Cole for a number of years, seeing how he has progressed, he takes every challenge in his stride. He doesn’t get too high or low, that’s a great attribute to have as a professional footballer.

“There were a lot of players who were close. It would have been easy to name a 40-man squad,. but the challenge is making sure we pick a competitive squad and one where we can win the two games.”

On Maguire’s future, he continued: “It was a chance of having a look at other players. It’s nothing to do with form. It’s looking at the next two camps to look at other players.

The players left out all have a case but we saw the benefit in the last camp of the squad being fresh, feeling fresh and a lot of energy in it. It’s not just a copy and a paste, I want them to feel like they all have earned their place in the squad. People want to know where they stand long-term, I’ve told all the players this i a short-term situation at their clubs.

“Harry is a player I’ve worked with in the past. He was very positive n the conversation we have. It was a case of talking about what the decision was, we have some really good centre-backs who are keen to play. Harry still has an important part to play in this squad in the campaign.”

Commenting on his future, he said: “It’s really clear what my remit is: take the team in the three England camps. My situation has’t changed. I’m really looking forward to this camp, it was tough picking it with the players we had to leave out.

“I’m comfortable with my situation.”

David Ornstein has revealed that Tottenham star Dominic Solanke has been included in Lee Carsley’s England squad for this month’s international break.

The first international break of the 2024/25 season was only last month, but England are back in action next week as they face Greece (home) and Finland (away) in the Nations League group stages.

Carsley was named England’s interim boss after Gareth Southgate quit following his side’s loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final and the 50-year-old remains in charge heading into this month’s international break.

His full squad will be announced later today, but The Athletic‘s Ornstein has revealed that Solanke has been included.

Solanke was unfortunate to miss out on Southgate’s squad for this summer’s European Championships after he grabbed 19 goals and three assists in the Premier League for AFC Bournemouth last season.

READ: Harry Kane race almost (slowly) run but who can replace him for England?

The 27-year-old’s form for the Cherries earned him a summer move to Tottenham, who bought him to replace Harry Kane. He cost the North London club around £65m.

Solanke has impressed in the early weeks of this season as he’s contributed with four goal involvements in six matches across all competitions.

This form sees him make an England return for the first time in seven years, but he will not be joined in the squad by Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers or Manchester United’s Harry Maguire.

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Ornstein explains.

‘Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke has been called up to the England squad for the first time in seven years.

‘Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers, though, has not been included in the senior side and will again be part of the Under-21 squad.

‘Manchester United defender Harry Maguire is also among those left out by interim head coach Lee Carsley, as are Solanke’s Spurs team-mate James Maddison and West Ham United forward Jarrod Bowen.

‘Chelsea defender Levi Colwill has been selected after featuring in both of England’s Nations League games last month.’

Rogers misses out despite being one of the standout performers in the Premier League this season. He impressed against Bayern Munich as Aston Villa earned a statement 1-0 victory.

Speaking post-match, Rogers admitted his strong start to the season is “thanks to” manager Unai Emery.

“I’ve always believed in myself and my ability. It’s about having the patience. Luckily I’ve found a manager who has trust in me and believed in me, he took me under his wing, it’s all thanks to him.

“It’s about playing with confidence. I was probably a bit in my shell when I came, trying to fit in. He (Emery) just gives me that confidence and belief in my ability to show what I can do. I know I have a manager that trusts me and is behind me.

“This is the pinnacle of football playing here, it means everything for me being here. This is just the start for me, I want to kick on and get better – it’s a pinch-me moment but I’m involved and have no time to dwell on it.

“The manager was straight away talking about (Manchester) United on Sunday. The Premier League got us here, we want to win the Champions League games but the Premier League is important. It’s back to the drawing board but we go again on Sunday.”

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has had his red card against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday overturned, the Football Association have confirmed.

The Portugal midfielder was dismissed by referee Chris Kavanagh for a high tackle on James Maddison during United‘s heavy 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford.

Fernandes visibly slipped on the wet Old Trafford surface before catching the England international on the shin.

United appealed against the decision and the Football Association has upheld a claim of wrongful dismissal.

Fernandes, who was facing a three-match suspension, will now be able to play against Aston Villa this Sunday.

READ: How Moyes, Hodgson, Mourinho, Rodgers fared after starts as bad as Ten Hag’s Man Utd

The FA said: “Bruno Fernandes will be available for Manchester United’s next three games following a successful claim of wrongful dismissal.

“The midfielder was sent off for serious foul play during the Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, September 29.”

Fernandes was adamant after the game that Kavanagh had made a mistake.

The 30-year-old told Sky Sports: “Apart from slipping going in, I don’t take him as everyone wants to see it.

“I don’t go with the studs, I take him with my ankle. It’s a clear foul but never a red card. That’s my feeling.

“Even Maddison, when he gets up, you can see in the image… he just said, ‘It’s a foul but it’s never a red card’. That’s what he said.

“I think in the eyes of everyone, you can see that is never a red card because if this is a red card I think we have to look at many other incidents.

“I had many incidents when I get kicked and everything, and I’ve never seen something so quick coming off as a red card. I just think it’s never a red card.

“Even the contact is not even that strong. If he wants to give me a yellow because it’s a counter-attack, I agree.

“And then I don’t understand why VAR doesn’t call the referee to the screen. For me, it’s just not a really good decision. That’s all.”

United were trailing 1-0 when Fernendes was dismissed shortly before half-time of a defeat which has ramped up the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman was given a contract extension to 2026 but the club have endured a dreadful start to the new campaign, and he is now odds-on with bookmakers to be the next Premier League manager to be sacked.

However, United sources have insisted the sole focus is on Thursday’s Europa League match away to Porto despite the speculation surrounding Ten Hag’s future.

Dwight Yorke has slammed the Man Utd players for their “lack of conviction” and effort in Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham.

Man Utd were embarrassed by Ange Postecoglou’s side at Old Trafford on Sunday, going behind after three minutes and being reduced to 10 men before half time when captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off.

After Brennan Johnson’s opener, Dejan Kulusevski doubled Spurs’ lead shortly after the break and Dominic Solanke rubbed salt in the wounds in the 77th minute.

In all honesty, 3-0 flattered Erik ten Hag’s side and the Dutchman is again under severe pressure after another woeful result and performance.

New signing Manuel Ugarte has started very slowly since joining from Paris Saint-Germain and was exposed in midfield, while his partners in the middle were sent off (Fernandes) and taken off injured following the red card (Kobbie Mainoo).

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It is again a depressing time to be a Man Utd fan and the club’s former striker Yorke is very unimpressed by “the manner of the defeat”, slamming the “work ethic” and “lack of conviction”.

“It was hard to watch, hard to take,” he said. “You know you’re going to win and lose in football – and not very often would we lose at Old Trafford – but the problem is the manner of the defeat.

“Three goals against Liverpool, three against Bournemouth at home, and now three against Spurs. These are teams that would find it very difficult to come to United and get a point, let alone three. It’s hard to get your head around it.

“The biggest thing is the lack of conviction, the lack of work ethic.

“People talk about identity, and you can go into more detail, about your methodology and all those fancy words, but you have to show desire and earn the right to win football matches. That’s what always stuck with me from my time at United.

“So yeah, it is very hard to comprehend and to get your head around it. And for me, the biggest thing, like I said, you know, we win and we lose football games at times. But the lack of conviction, the lack of work ethic…people talk about your identity or whatever and you can go into more details and your methodology and all of these kind fancy words.”

Yorke continued: “When I joined, you had to match the opposition for effort because we knew then our talent would shine through. If we’re not matching them for desire, effort, work ethic, you’re never going to win.

“It was clear on Sunday we were lacking in those departments. We didn’t look fit. We didn’t press. There was no energy whatsoever. It looked like we were playing with no idea about what we were supposed to do when we were in or out of position. Those are two fundamental things I find disturbing.”