The ‘Guernsey Grealish’ and a 128-goal-a-season striker make our shortlist of EFL youngsters to look out for this yearAt times it is hard to remember that this is the electric winger’s first true taste of the Championship. Johnson, the son of the former Forest striker David, has lit up games with direct bursts forward, providing five assists and five goals this season, the first an equaliser at local rivals Derby. Johnson scored an 11-minute hat-trick on loan at Lincoln in League One last season and is primed to play a part in Wales’s play-off quest to reach Qatar 2022. He is not short of top-flight admirers but Forest are determined to keep the academy graduate. Continue reading...
The League One club looked in serious trouble but shrewd business in signing hungry talents hints at a brighter futureA week after being sacked by West Brom in 2019, Darren Moore arrived at Kenya’s Giotto rubbish mountain. His dismissal had been both hurtful and highly controversial but it also created an opportunity for the suddenly unemployed football manager to visit the giant tip in Nakuru, meet the children who call it home and help the charity, Inspire Afrika, with a school building scheme.“It flipped me round and put everything in context,” said Moore. “Any worries about your life are quickly extinguished when you meet 50 or 60 children living in a rubbish heap with a school in the middle of...
John Coleman’s canny squad blend of experience, misfits and loans have promotion out of League One in their own handsUntil last week, for a few days at least, those basking in Arsenal’s struggles frivolously floated the idea of the club sparring with Accrington Stanley in the Championship. Such a meeting may seem incomputable but part of the sentence could soon ring true. It is increasingly difficult to ignore Accrington’s promotion credentials and, with at least two games in hand on those above them, John Coleman’s side are primed to supersede some of League One’s most famous names.On Saturday they plan to upstage second-placed Portsmouth and, if they earn maximum points from three games in hand on the leaders, Lincoln –...
Brentford have a new home and must bounce back, as must Forest, while grudge rivalries await in Leagues One and TwoWith the transfer window open until 5 October, players primed for a move to the Premier League can give their clubs a leg-up in the opening weeks of the season. Bournemouth have so far retained Callum Wilson and Joshua King, while Norwich can still call on Ben Godfrey, Max Aarons, Todd Cantwell and Jamal Lewis. Watford, too, could start life in the Championship with Ismaïla Sarr and Gerard Deulofeu. Ivan Toney’s switch to Brentford feels significant in terms of a possible domino effect but Ollie Watkins and Saïd Benrahma, both of whom are valued at around £25m, are in full...
The argument for financial reform is at last beyond credible dispute as historic clubs face ruin owing to the Covid-19 crisisEven before football was plunged into crisis by the Covid-19 pandemic, influential people in the game were discussing the need for the Premier League’s improbable fortunes to be shared more equally. As historic, stalwart lower-division and semi-professional clubs stare at ruin, and promised investment could drain from the grassroots, the argument is finally beyond credible dispute.However the Premier League resolves its struggle to finish this season so that it can clutch the remainder of the TV money, it will still be a huge draw for broadcast billions when normal life finally returns. The pre-pandemic position, that the big clubs keep...