Ruud van Nistelrooy is set to be announced as new Leicester City manager after the acrimonious sacking of Steve Cooper, while Frank Lampard closes in on his next managerial gig.
Frank Lampard, Manager of Chelsea thanks the fans at the end of the match (Pic – Supplied)
You know that the manager has lost the dressing room when players take off for a Christmas party, in November, the morning after they’ve lost an English Premier League match.
That was the case with Leicester, with a large group of players heading to Copenhagen for an early Christmas celebration hours after the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea.
Little wonder manager Steve Cooper was called in and told he need not arrive at work on Monday. Mobile videos of the party showed Harry Winks dressed as an Oompa Loompa, Daniel Iversen wearing a Bob the Builder costume and Kasey McAteer resembling Laa-Laa from the Teletubbies.
Perhaps a better outfit for those players who decided to go for a party in the Danish capital would be to dress up as clowns.
The EPL’s Managerial Musical Chairs
The expression is that you wait ages for a London bus to arrive, and then two pull up in quick succession. Which is a way of describing the English Premier League managerial activity. Man United’s Erik ten Hag won the annual “sack race” when he was first to be shown the door, on 28th October less than a month later and Steve Cooper has lost his job at Leicester.
Last season three managers lost their jobs during the season, so we’re on track to beat that. One never takes delight in people losing their jobs, but with managers, it comes with the territory. Hired to be fired. Ruud van Nistelrooy, who filled the Man United caretaker job for 14 days when Ten Hag departed, was told he could also leave Old Trafford when Ruben Amorim took charge. No matter, Van Nistelrooy has already found a new job – at Leicester.
Ruud van Nistelrooy who has left Manchester United following his spell as interim head coach, the club have announced (Pic – Supplied)
Serie A Has The Least Job Security
We’ve established that two English Premier League managers have been sacked so far this season, but how does that stack up against Europe’s other “major leagues”.
It’s actually in Italy’s Serie A where the trigger has been pulled most often, with Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Luca Gotti (Lecce), Ivan Juric (Roma, er, yes) and Alberto Gilardino (Genoa) fired. Mirroring the EPL are the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, while Luis Carron (Los Palmas) is the only La Liga casualty.
‘Super’ Frankie Ready For Next Challenge
Chelsea legend, Frank Lampard has begun his fourth stint as a manager, after earlier spells at Derby, Chelsea and Everton. After an 18-month absence, he’s joined Coventry on a two-and-a-half-year contract.
Manager’s contracts, lol. He’s taken a gamble. Coventry are 17th (out of 24) in the English Championship. Go up and he looks great. Drop in the table and it’s not so great. A warning sign for me is that he’s going to spend his time between staying in Coventry and London, which is 160 km away.
He reckons that’s to keep his “winning routines” going, being superstitious by nature. That means walking his dog around the same London park most days, going to the same coffee shop and exactly 50 minutes on an exercise bike. Seems like there’s a lot that Super Frankie has going on.
English Managers in EPL Down To Three
Going down the managerial rabbit hole the lack of English managers (coaches) at the top level has been previously questioned, which is surprising considering that the men’s players are ranked No4 in the world behind Argentina, France and Spain.
However, with Steve Cooper being dismissed from Leicester, there are only three managers from England in the EPL. They are Eddie Howe (Newcastle, 10th), Sean Dyche (Everton, 15th) and Gary O’Neil (Wolves, 17th). Spain are best represented, with five managers, two of which are at clubs in the top four.
EPL Round Has Another Lottery Look
When Liverpool host Man City it features two clubs headed in opposite directions in the English Premier League. Yes, that sounds odd given Liverpool for the top and City are second. However, one club has won their last three games and the other has lost three, which is a nine-point turnaround.
Here’s the thing if you’re playing Superbru, and have the stomach for it. Not often does one club make it four in a row and the other loses for a fourth consecutive time. Last week there were six away wins in 10 games. That’s rare. There’s no science to it, but history repeats. Expect the away wins to drop to a maximum of three this round.
Lastly, both West Ham and Everton have kept clean sheets for two successive games. Don’t expect it to turn into three – home to Arsenal and away to Man United. In a nutshell, wins for Brighton, Forest, Arsenal, Tottenham and Man United. Draws in three other games, undecided in two more.
