Gary Lemke looks ahead to the Premier League this weekend as Forest look to take advantage of the new manager bounce, Brighton look for their first clean sheet in 18 attempts and more!
NEW MANAGER BOUNCE AT FOREST?
It’s never nice saying, “we told you so,” but “we told you so”. In last week’s column we mentioned that should Steve Cooper’s Nottingham Forest lose at home to Tottenham that could well be time for him to get his coat.
And so it happened as they slid to 17th, five points clear of the relegation zone. They’d earned one point from their last six games and Cooper’s contract until 2025 was torn up. Incoming Nuno Espirito Santo spent three years as at Wolves from 2017 and then four months at Tottenham in 2021.
His job description will be simple: avoid relegation. So often there’s that immediate “new manager bounce” at a club. Which isn’t good news for Bournemouth on Saturday. The visitors are certainly in form, having won five of their last seven League games and sitting five points ahead of Forest.
Steve Cooper’s record as Nottingham Forest manager:
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) December 20, 2023
🏟️ 108 matches
✅ 43 wins
🤝 27 draws
❌ 38 defeats
🔢 156 league points won
🏆 1 promotion to the Premier League
Modern-day Forest icon. 🫡🌲 pic.twitter.com/a48mQVVV72
UNWANTED RECORD LOOMS FOR MOYES
West Ham’s 3-0 win over Wolves gave manager David Moyees a stay of execution. No, the Scot isn’t in danger of being sacked – if I was Burnley’s Vincent Kompany I’d be very worried – but he is on the brink of setting an unwanted record for a Premier League manager.
It might seem obvious for the 60-year-old who sits third on the all-time list of most games managed. Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are above him. However, Moyes is still on 238 defeats, tied with Harry Redknapp, as the manager to have the most defeats.
On Saturday, Moyes’ Hammers are up against Man United. Ouch. The Scot has lost 131 games with Everton, 70 with West Ham, 26 with Sunderland and 11 with Man United.
7th in the League. Topped the Europa League group. Quarter finals of the EFL.
— Tay (@TayWH5) December 17, 2023
David Moyes. Start backing him. pic.twitter.com/v2LpHBG9oC
BRIGHTON UP TO 18… AND COUNTING
Last weekend’s goalless draw at Anfield was only the fourth such scoreline this season and the first since October. How Liverpool and Man United both failed to find the net is odd given the nature of the game, but that’s football.
Both Liverpool and United now have six clean sheets this season, with Arsenal and Newcastle both on seven. At the other end of this particular table is relegation-threatened Luton Town and eighth-placed Brighton.
The Seagulls haven’t kept it clean in all their 18 matches so far. Imagine if they weren’t so porous at the back. Because Brighton have now conceded more goals (31) than any other club except for the three in the relegation zone.
Congratulations Brighton & Hove Albion, who kept a clean sheet for a season-best 52 minutes today!#bhafc #ARSBHA pic.twitter.com/lsPR0MHmPf
— The Beak of Beak Street (@CFO4TAG) December 17, 2023
DYCHE DOING THE JOB AT EVERTON
You have to admire the resilience of Everton and the spirit in the dressing room for what they have done. In November, they were slapped with a 10-point deduction for flouting FFP Rules – what about the likes of Man City and Chelsea, you might be shouting, justifiably – and they slipped into the relegation zone.
They have now climbed to 16th and without that 10-point deduction, they’d be in the top half. They have also scored 10 goals this season from set pieces, excluding penalties. It is the most of any Premier League club.
You just know that one man is responsible for that toughness – manager Sean Dyche, who spent many seasons saving Burney from relegation, grinding out results, particularly at home.
Sean Dyche has more PL wins this season than De Zerbi who people were calling Pep’s replacement 😂 pic.twitter.com/Y6SxRsPrRy
— Pochettiniac (@Pochettiniac) December 16, 2023
LIONESS BEATS OFF ALL TO WIN AWARD
The BBC held its annual Sports Personality of the Year evening this past week. It’s basically like the South African Sports Awards, in that the winners always seem to follow a judges’ agenda. In SA Sheep Shearing has previously been runner-up in the Team of the Year category.
This year the BBC award, which is as important over there as being the No1 song at Christmas, went to England football goalkeeper Mary Earps. Last year it was another Lioness footballer, Mary Beth. The year before tennis’ Emma Raducanu. Are you starting to see the pattern?
Talkshow host Piers Morgan was amongst those unimpressed. “Trying to get my head around two of England’s women’s footballers winning BBC SPORTY in successive years … while male sporting superstars with great personalities like Rory McIlroy, Frankie Dettori and Ronnie O’Sullivan have never won it.” For the record, this year’s nominees for the award were McIlroy, Dettori, Stuart Broad, Alfie Hewett and Katarina Johnson-Thompson.
"It looks to me that terrible scourge of virtue-signalling box-ticking has crept into this once great award."
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) December 20, 2023
Piers Morgan thinks Mary Earps winning Sports Personality Of The Year is 'a celebration of mediocrity'.@piersmorgan | @TalkTV | #PMU pic.twitter.com/UgMkCbMDXd
