No surprises as to which manager has spent the most on players during their career, Forest await their fate after falling foul of FFP rules and more from the Premier League and beyond.
THIRD SEASON SYNDROME STRIKES AGAIN
The “Special One” is starting to earn a reputation as the “Sacked One”. However, it’s a fact that managers get “hired to be fired” and Jose Mourinho’s axing at Roma makes it the sixth club he has left before his contract has been up.
Chelsea, Real Madrid, Chelsea (again), Man United, Tottenham and now Roma have all hired and fired one of the most charismatic managers in history. It also seems more a habit than co-incidence that his stint at Roma ended in the third season in charge.
That follows his tenures at Porto, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Man United and Spurs. Of the 10 clubs Mourinho has managed, he has not stayed at any of them for longer than four seasons. He’s around for a good time, not a long time.
Giuseppe Bergomi:”Mourinho may have made his mistakes, but he filled Roma and Roma with good things. He brought Roma back to winning a trophy after 14 years. He lost a Europa League final in the manner we know.“ pic.twitter.com/L2MM4qkX37
— JJ🇯🇵 (@Josejapan1978) January 18, 2024
PEP & MOU SPLASH THE MOST CASH
Wherever Jose Mourinho lands, and it’s usually at a high-profile club, he has the knack of getting the new owner to part with cash to strengthen the team. A list has been compiled of how much money the now 60-year-old (yes!) and the Portuguese is only second in that particular department.
He has overseen the purchase of £ 1.6 billion in players. It’s no surprise who is the only manager to have spent more of the owners’ money – Pep Guardiola, with £ 1.76 billion.
The top 10 is rounded out by Carlo Ancelotti (£1.46bn), Massimiliano Allegri (£1.22bn), Diego Simeone (£1.04bn), Manuel Pellegrini ((£1.03bn), Thomas Tuchel (£1.02bn), Antonio Conte (£1.01bn), Mauricio Pochettino (£990m) and Jurgen Klopp (£970m).
Time flies. @PepTeam pic.twitter.com/qtPZ3rkwXI
— José Mourinho (@josemourinhotv) January 18, 2024
HOW MESSI WON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lionel Messi won the FIFA Best Men’s Player of the Year award for a record third time, something which confused a number of critics because the Argentinian superstar’s 2023 wasn’t all that, well, super. He signed off 2022 with a World Cup medal, fair enough. But the award is supposed to be about the 2023 calendar year.
In that time he left PSG and joined Inter Miami, where he played 14 games across all competitions, scoring 11 times. A breakdown of the final voting shows why Messi was named Player of the Year ahead of Man City’s Erlin Haaland, with whom he tied on 48 points, with Kylian Mbappe third on 35.
Managers/coaches voted for Haaland, players voted for Messi, Media voted for Haaland, but the fans’ points (613,293) carried the day over Haaland (365,893). Officially, Merssi was the tie-breaker because more International captains voted for him than Haaland. Take a look at how Messi himself voted below:
This is how Lionel Messi voted for The BEST FIFA Men's Player of 2023, man has got real guts 🥶🐐 pic.twitter.com/D3dLVvQuvr
— Troll Football (parody) (@Troll_Fotballl) January 16, 2024
HENRY PUTS PEP ON THE SPOT
When it comes to managers the only real currency that counts isn’t how much they spend on players, but how many trophies they put into the club’s cabinet. Sir Alex Ferguson, who oversaw Man United’s golden period, is still the benchmark with 49 trophies.
Pep Guardiola however is on 37, and counting, from stints at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man City. Mircea Lucescu is next with 35, Valeriy Lobanovski has 30 and Ottmar Hitzfeld 28.
In accepting his award from Thierry Henry, Guardiola was asked of the two Treble-winning teams he has coached, Barcelona (2008/09) and City (2022/23), “which of the two is the best?” Guardiola covered his eyes and said “f***”.
He composed himself to say, “My team at Barcelona was unbelievable. We were so young. But this team is in the Premier League, so tough and competitive.”
PEP GUARDIOLA COULDN'T PICK 😅
— Viral Soccer (@ViralSoccer1) January 16, 2024
Pep Guardiola won the Best Coach of the Year at the FIFApro awards tonight after completing the treble with Man City 👍
When collecting his award he was asked by Thierry Henry:
Thierry Henry: Your prime Barça team or this Manchester City team,… pic.twitter.com/imulU0trPL
MAN UNITED TAKE ON WELSH MINNOWS
Fifteen of the 20 top-flight clubs will have survived into the fourth round of the FA Cup, but expect a few casualties ahead of the last 16 stage. At most, there will be 11 Premier League clubs in those last 16, because Chelsea meet Aston Villa, Tottenham play Man City, Everton take on Luton, Sheffield United host Brighton and Fulham play Newcastle in all-EPL ties.
On paper, the easiest fourth-round tie a Premier League side has is Manchester United, who travel to League Two (tier four) Newport County. They’re a Welsh club that play at Rodney Parade stadium, which will be filled to its 7,850 capacity rafters.
The complete #EmiratesFACup fourth round draw 🤩
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) January 18, 2024
Which tie are you most excited for? 👀 pic.twitter.com/HLhvQsDYck
FOREST FACE ANXIOUS PERIOD
There were five games in the Premier League last week and there are only another five this weekend. The full round again is staged over 30 Jan-1 Feb. This weekend there are no games that will make you cancel all plans to watch, but perhaps the most significant is Nottingham Forest’s visit to Brentford.
The clubs are 15th and 16th on the table but Forest are facing a points deduction for breaching FFP rules. Every point for them is now absolutely crucial pending the outcome. As it is they sit only four points ahead of the relegation zone.
Whatever happens this weekend Lierpool (they visit Bournemouth) will be top of the table heading into the end-of-January fixtures.
🚨🚨| NEW: Everton and Nottingham Forest may have breaches regarding Premier League’s profitability and sustainability regulations.
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) January 14, 2024
Both clubs are now at risk of a fine or even a points deduction. The clubs will find out tomorrow.
[@TheAthleticFC] pic.twitter.com/nxTB2CXPrj
