Seven straight league defeats have manager clinging to his job as he faces popular predecessor Neil Warnock’s MiddlesbroughLast week Neil Warnock borrowed Forrest Gump’s famous line, comparing the unpredictability of his Middlesbrough team to a box of chocolates. “You never know what you’re gonna get,” he said, doing his best impression of Tom Hanks. On Saturday he visits his previous club, Cardiff City, whose form is anything but irregular after seven straight league defeats for the first time since 1934, an alarming run in which they have scored a solitary goal – a Sean Morrison header from a corner when trailing 4-0 at Blackburn – and conceded 17. If Derby had not been docked points for entering administration, Cardiff would...
Voices gathered from Cardiff and Molde in writing a biography of Manchester United’s manager reveal much about the manAs Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s biographer, this writer was recently asked whether the military service the Norwegian performed as a 20-year-old aided the formation of a man whose career arc has taken in scoring Manchester United’s 1999 European Cup-winning goal to now being manager of England’s record 20-time champions.The answer in essence was Solskjær has a self-possession that means it was immaterial; that whether or not he did the mandatory year in Norway’s army his would still have been a life and sporting career that is a triumph of self-determination. Related: Diaries, astuteness and work ethic: the making of Solskjær the manager |...
Leicester can test City but Liverpool face a challenge of their own, it’s all or nothing for Cardiff and Watford need to regroupFollowing the disappointment of their reasonably heroic Champions League defeat at Barcelona, Liverpool must rouse themselves for what could be an extremely tricky Saturday evening appointment at Newcastle in which they simply cannot afford to slip up. With only two matches of the Premier League campaign remaining, anything less than a win for Liverpool would leave the door open for Manchester City to all but wrap up the title on Monday. One suspects this is a far tougher assignment than Jürgen Klopp would like so soon after a gruelling and dispiriting game at the Camp Nou and the...
A chance for Shaqiri to shine, City may need to show their dark side and Cardiff can pile pressure on BrightonPep Guardiola is not usually short of post-match praise for his players, but he struck a different note after the Manchester derby win. “Tonight we can enjoy it, but tomorrow it’s over, so we have to be focused,” he said. “I know people are going to talk about how beautiful, how handsome we are, but now we have to go to Burnley”. Guardiola is rightly taking nothing for granted even after taking the necessary six points from Spurs and United. Burnley were one of six teams to take points off City last season and have routinely posed problems for the...
Its awards time for the most incompetent teams in the Premier League, from those who cant take throw-ins to others who revel in needless yellow cardsWelcome to the Guardians fifth annual index of ineptitude, a catalogue of calamity, a prospectus of the piss-poor.As each season draws to a close, the best moments, players and teams of the year are all charted, celebrated and cheered. Which means that what comprises most of the rest of the Premier League experience is missed. Related: The Premier League teams ineptitude index 2017-18 Continue reading...