In his unique column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s greatest talking details, which includes Eddie Howe’s time at Newcastle, Jack Grealish’s doable Aston Villa return and Erik 10 Hag’s risky January selection, in addition considerably much more.
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Football is fickle and Newcastle will confirm it…
I know I upset a great deal of Newcastle United followers previous calendar year when I said that Eddie Howe could be sacked and replaced with a genuinely planet-class supervisor. I may have acquired the timing improper possessing predicted he’d be gone by now, but I stand by my authentic place. I do believe that PIF will already be on the lookout at candidates to occur in and consider above from Howe.
Never get me mistaken. He has performed a extraordinary career due to the fact he took charge. He’s taken the Geordies to Wembley and received them back into the Champions League. But there is a big gap in between becoming a club that qualifies for Europe and reaches a Carabao Cup final and remaining a club that is practically nailed on to get the Carabao Cup, this sort of as Manchester City, and a workforce that routinely competes for the Champions League trophy, once more, these types of as Manchester City — and Newcastle’s owners will know this.
Let’s not fail to remember both – Manchester City, submit-takeover, started out with Mark Hughes and they’ve ended up with Pep Guardiola. The former has just been sacked from his function at Bradford Metropolis and the other has just lifted the treble.
PIF will present the very same stage of ruthlessness with Newcastle and Howe. They’re in this article to get and to acquire it all. Howe will not be capable to do that. He’s a superior manager but it’ll be 1 of football’s elite couple that ends up in the St. James’ Park hot seat in the in close proximity to long run.
Everton to start off their relegation-revival on Sunday towards Man United…
I am thoroughly expecting Sean Dyche to go into Sunday’s game against Manchester United selling a ‘the world is against us’ mentality to his squad.
They’ve been deducted 10 Premier League factors, and irrespective of staying unbeaten in their last 4 video games, now locate themselves back in the relegation zone. Dyche totally will have to do all he can to use this week’s events as a variety of commitment for his players.
Everton really don’t have the finest record in opposition to United but I can see them pinching some thing from this weekend’s sport at Goodison Park. Manchester United will not want to go there that is for confident — specially recognizing the Toffees are a wounded animal and experience sorry for on their own. I can see the home team pinching a level. I feel United, though in respectable variety, are obtaining huge challenges in the dressing place, which I will occur onto a bit later on. But sure – I am backing Everton to pull off a bit of an upset. I am going to say it’ll be a draw and the factors shared.
Also, for what it’s worthy of Everton supporters — I really do not think you’ll get relegated. I am expecting the team to occur again from this week’s setback potent and would not be amazed to see them complete the year as substantial as 12th or thirteenth.
Jeremy Doku could make a decision where Trent Alexander-Arnold performs for the rest of his career…
The biggest sport of the weekend arrives in the early kick-off between Manchester City and Liverpool. Number a single vs . amount two. Saturday’s video game at the Etihad need to be a great one – an attacking feast for just about every neutral.
I am definitely, actually wanting ahead to seeing how Trent Alexander-Arnold promotions with the likes of Jeremy Doku. In my opinion, Doku looks to be a person of the most exciting wingers in the state. He’s explosive, incredibly brief with his ft and can create as properly as score himself — a different truly great obtain from Metropolis.
But can Alexander-Arnold deal with him? – I’m not so certain he can. Time will explain to of course, but I imagine wherever the Reds could occur undone is by Jurgen Klopp instructing Alexander-Arnold to manage Doku by himself simply because he’ll know he just cannot risk pulling a midfielder out of posture to aid double up. If Liverpool do that, they run the possibility of getting overrun in the center of the park, and from City with the likes of Bernardo Silva and Rodri, you may possibly as very well just ignore it.
So it is going to be truly intriguing to see how both sides technique those people vast positions. Alexander-Arnold will possibly prove his critics improper and continue to keep the likes of Doku at bay, or he’ll effectively announce himself as a midfielder. Definitely just one to enjoy this weekend.
Jack Grealish back again to Aston Villa?
As I talked about earlier mentioned, Doku is a severe talent and it looks to me like he’s likely to be City’s principal extensive attacker for several years to occur. Phil Foden is 1 of the club’s own and a participant who is even now pretty young. He’s also super multipurpose in assault so he’s not going wherever — so that does form of beg the issue as to what could occur with Jack Grealish. I do wonder if his time with Metropolis is coming to an stop. He’s performed perfectly there and has the silverware to show for it but he proceeds to be joined with an exit and a return to Aston Villa in particular.
I actually like Grealish – he’s a major player and an even nicer human staying but as a Villa admirer would I choose him back again? – No, I do not consider I would.
I do not feel Unai Emery would embrace Grealish coming back again. He did exceptionally perfectly all through his time there and most followers will often be thankful, but the club has moved on considering the fact that then. We’re in a distinctive placement with various targets and I just imagine digging up the earlier not often proves beneficial.
And not only that, who’s to say Grealish even desires to arrive back again to Villa? – He could want to problem himself in one particular of Europe’s major leagues, or he may have eyes on a lucrative Saudi offer. Who knows. Both way, a shift back again to Villa? – No, not for me.
Providing Casemiro and Raphael Varane in January is either extremely brave or extremely stupid of Erik 10 Hag. I hope the previous but panic the latter…
It certainly blows my thoughts that Erik 10 Hag may possibly be thinking of advertising two of his most embellished and seasoned players during the January window. That hardly ever comes about. You do not put together for the second half of a time and say ‘Right, these two players are not continuing’ – not when they are Casemiro and Raphael Varane.
If 10 Hag does not see either of them as his initial-preference defensive midfielder and centre-again, wonderful. But never promote them mid-year. That is profession suicide mainly because you just know that if Ten Hag symptoms off each player’s departures in January and United go on to complete the time in an underwhelming way, the headlines will all be inquiring the identical detail — ‘Why did the supervisor get rid of two clever and experienced players? – You can just see it now, can’t you? – It can make no feeling.
I believe if something this amount of uncertainty and head-shifting, since let us not overlook, it was only a few of months in the past that Harry Maguire was much more or much less frozen out and now he’s a single of Ten Hag’s most nailed-on starters, displays is a whole absence of decisiveness. 10 Hag does not have a clue who or what his desired eleven is.
