A list of the longest-serving managers in English football shows how precarious the position remains, while injuries are starting to take their toll on Premier League players.
EPL MANAGERS COMPARATIVELY ’SAFE’
The perception is that English Football League managers hold the most precarious jobs in football, right? And with Erik ten Hag’s recent sacking at Man United, that just adds to the belief. This week Coventry’s manager Mark Robins was shown the door after nearly eight years in charge, and having taken them to the FA Cup final in May.
That leaves Simon Weaver (of League Two Harrogate Town) as the longest-serving manager in all of English League football. But, behind him are Pep Guardiola (Man City), Thomas Franck (Brentford) and Mikel Arteta (Arsenal). They’re No. 2-4 in the entire list of 92 clubs in the top four divisions.
INJURIES, FIXTURES START TAKING A TOLL
This is the next round of EPL matches before yet another International break, which, when combined with European midweek matches, wreaks havoc with formlines and team preparations. Players’ unions have also suggested taking action against overcrowding of the fixture lists.
What we are going to see is more injuries to players, which means that we should start seeing those clubs with big squads moving to the top part of the table, just like those Tour de France riders moving towards the front and getting ready for a sprint finish. Going into this round, the clubs with the most players unavailable due to injuries are Crystal Palace (8), Brighton (8), Everton (7) and Brentford (6).
AWAY WIN(S) ON EPL CARDS. SURELY?
After 10 rounds of the EPL and ahead of this weekend’s programme, there are two things to flag for Superbru players. Firstly, last week saw no away wins in the round. That in itself is rare, but to have two rounds in a row with no away wins would be uncharted territory. Bear that in mind and include a couple of away wins in your calls.
Another is that there are only two sides who have netted in all 10 matches so far – no prizes for guessing Man City are the one, while the other is Leicester. Jordan Ayew’s 94th-minute equaliser against Ipswich last week kept that run going. This weekend Leicester are visitors to Old Trafford … at some stage, their scoring streak has to stop.
WHEN NO308 TOOK ON NO8
I was reading that FC Noah, the Armenian club side who faced Chelsea (and lost 8-0) are rated 300 places below the EPL side in the UEFA club rankings. While sport loves an underdog, it highlights the farcical nature of The Uefa Conference League. But also how many football clubs fall under the Fifa umbrella.
I’m unsure of how accurate these stats are but going down a rabbit hole it suggests that Sundowns are the highest-ranked South African club. No surprises. I found them at No99 in the world’s list, followed by Pirates at No343, Stellenbosch FC at No656, Cape Town City at No658 and Kaizer Chiefs at No742. Can this info be correct?
THE EPL’S LATE, LATE SHOW
Now that we’re 10 matches into the EPL season, we can see some trends. Late goals being one. When Harry Wilson scored twice for Fulham against Brentford, that marked the eighth match this season where the winner was scored in the 90th-plus added time period. It’s already the highest percentage of goals in added time in EPL history.
The team with the most 90th-minute-plus winners is Liverpool (44), followed by Arsenal (33), Tottenham (32) and Man United (30). The team who have suffered most is Tottenham, showing that life really is a rollercoaster for their fans. And the stadium to be at is Anfield (28).
…AND ANOTHER MENTION FOR SPURS
Not quite the late show, but when Liverpool came from 1-0 down to beat Brighton last weekend, they became the third club in EPL history that had come from behind to win in a hundred games or more. The list is headed by, er, Tottenham (112), followed by Man United.
And in 2024 alone, Spurs have conceded the first goal 12 times, the most of any club. It happened again in a wild Europa League game at Galatasaray on Thursday when Tottenham trailed 1-0, then 3-1 and lost 3-2, with a red card thrown in for good measure.
