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Chris Coleman channelling Seinfeld is an intriguing prospect for Sunderland | Marina Hyde

You can see what the Sunderland manager is getting at when he jokes about the club’s new recipe for success just doing the opposite of what they have done in the past five yearsIf we had to slap a name on this era in football, we could do worse than the Rise of the Quants. These days, there is a widespread belief that even the mascot needs to have read Moneyball, and not simply be able to critique the movie. The biggest clubs employ armies of data analysts, while advanced metrics and tactical analytics are the adornment of increasing amounts of commentary. Privately, you might think some of your friends speak the language of football statistics much as Andy Gray...

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The year in football: highs and lows of 2016 – from Allardyce to Zlatan

Leicester City’s title win was every bit the fairy story, as was Wales’ run at Euro 2016, but England displayed their unerring ability to ruin the moodThe year 2016 was a terrific one for the Premier League and a terrible 12 months for English football. Leicester City’s title success was every bit the fairytale, the perfect antidote to long-held and justifiable fears that ordinary clubs could no longer dream of glory as the bigger institutions and the Champions League elite had effectively ringfenced all the prizes worth winning. Related: A 2016 football moment to remember: Dejan Lovren sets the Kop on fire | Paul Doyle Arsenal and Tottenham are particularly guilty of dithering instead of cashing in on managerial changes elsewhereI've...

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