It’s fairly slim pickings on the football news front this morning folks, I am afraid to tell you. But, like a team in a relegation battle we shall soldier on, hoping to pick up some points wherever we can even though we know the situation is somewhat futile. Not even the news that Everton have realised, one year too late, that bringing Wayne Rooney back to the club was a stupid idea is enough to bring a smile to my face.
Yes, Everton are starting to unpick some of the very daft decisions made in the last 12 months and the first one they are going to put a line through is that of ‘Bringing Wayne Back Will Keep Fans Happy’. I think we can all consider this Everton season a bit of a write-off when you consider (a) the amount of money spent and (b) all the talk of pushing for the Champions League spots. The only thing holding up Everton’s grand plan to get shot of their favourite son is finding a buyer willing stupid enough to take on the wages and, probably even harder to justify, the player. It might be time to do the honourable thing Wayne and call it a day. And by that, of course, we mean move to China.
It is not often you see Manchester United, Tottenham and AFC Bournemouth being linked to the same player and it is a good sign of how Premier League money has changed the world. Celtic’s Kieran Tierney has long been linked with a £20m move south of the border and Eddie Howe is thought to be the front-runner for his signature. Howe is prepared to match any bid from United or Spurs and chuck an extra few grand a week in for Tierney if he would be so kind as to turn down the chance to be the next Luke Shaw.
Claude Puel has admitted his Leicester City players seem ‘distracted’ in the wake of the 5-0 battering by Crystal Palace. Puel suggested that some of the side might be ‘thinking about the World Cup’ instead of focusing their efforts on not getting him sacked. Make the most of Claude folks, this will be the last you see of him on these shores.
For those of you that did not even know Romelu Lukaku was a doubt for the FA Cup Final, it turns out he will be fit after all. What a relief, right?
Jurgen Klopp’s long-term assistant Zelijko Buvac is taking a ‘leave of absence for personal reasons’ and won’t be involved at Liverpool for the rest of the season. There has been speculation that the 17-year relationship between Kloppo and Buvac has become strained in recent months but the club are ‘insisting’ that it is a personal matter. Still, there’s nothing like losing one of the key coaches 48 hours before a Champions League Semi-Final Second Leg to calm the nerves.
Harry Kane’s distant hopes of winning the Premier League Golden Boot took a small turn for the better last night as he scored Tottenham’s second goal against Watford. Spurs weren’t that good if truth be told but it didn’t matter as they were playing a Watford side that refuse to win away from home, even if away is 15 minutes down the road.
Did you know Chelsea have won five consecutive FA Youth Cups? Imagine if Manchester United had done that – you would be overrun with Busby Babe narratives, the magic of the United youth system, Class of 92 and all that. Chelsea do it and it barely gets a mention. Why is that, I wonder? Oh yes, because most of these medal winners will be playing for Chesterfield or Notts County in three years time, their hearts broken by the lack of first-team opportunities at the Bridge.
