Sourced from Daily Mail article
Middlesbrough’s failure shows how bad things can happen to good people
Show/hide article…
By common consent, Steve Gibson is an excellent person to run a football club. At a time when it seems poor or rogue owners are causing havoc, Gibson is a shining light.
Local, doesn’t interfere, rescued the place from extinction, invests, builds, listens, keeps down ticket prices, has strong links with the community, his nephew is the best player — every club should have a man like Gibson in charge.
And did you see what happened to Middlesbrough on Monday? Relegated. For the fourth time in the Premier League era, too — a record shared with Sunderland, Norwich and Crystal Palace.
That is the problem with football. Bad things happen to good people. It doesn’t need Venky’s in charge to end up in the Championship. With the best intentions, a good owner can go down.
Those now hailing Brighton as ‘the perfect football club’ — as one headline had it this weekend — need to remember this, as they step into the Premier League for the first time. Outside the elite, where 11 points currently separate eighth place from relegation, a lot can go wrong; or a little.
It doesn’t take much to relegate a club of the stature of Brighton or Middlesbrough. A spate of injuries in the same position, two or three misjudgments in the transfer market, a raid on your best player, a manager who unexpectedly struggles with the pressure.
That is what happened at Middlesbrough. Aitor Karanka organised the defence well, but Middlesbrough could not score. The fans grew frustrated. Karanka bit back. Then he criticised the transfer policy. The mood deteriorated, results suffered. Ultimately, Karanka alienated too many people.
It was a similar story at Manchester City under Roberto Mancini. A high- maintenance coach, causing conflict behind the scenes. By the time he left, he had few allies.
The difference being that, when this happens at Manchester City, they still come second and reach the FA Cup final because that is the quality of the squad. When it happens at Middlesbrough, they go down. Again.
At Stamford Bridge on Monday night, with 87 minutes gone, trailing 3-0 and as good as in the Championship, a remarkable thing happened: the travelling fans sang Gibson’s name.
They remembered. They remembered that he built a stadium, a training ground, and a modern club and that, no matter how it felt in that moment, this still constituted the most successful, exciting period in Middlesbrough’s history.
They have won a first trophy, the League Cup in 2004, reached a European final and an FA Cup final, they have seen some proper players and produced England managers. Most importantly, they have never been given reason to doubt that, successful or not, the owner had the interests of their club at heart.
And that simple acknowledgement is what we wish for Tony Bloom at Brighton, too. Already, his club are next season’s even-money favourites to go down.
Yet he is another Gibson. Built the stadium, built the training ground, forged wonderful community links, looks after the staff, a true supporter whose investment totals in the region of £250million.
There are some lovely additional touches, too. Brighton light up the concourse used by away fans in the colours of their team, to make them feel welcome. They don’t have to do that but isn’t it marvellous that they do?
Yet will it help them if Chris Hughton loses three centre halves the week before he plays Manchester United or if Anthony Knockaert gets his head turned by a much bigger club two days before the transfer window closes?
When Knockaert’s father died in November, Hughton cancelled training and took the entire squad to France for the funeral.
It was an incredibly supportive, respectful act, one that Knockaert says he will never forget. Yet this is football. This time last year, could anyone imagine that Claudio Ranieri, having won the title with Leicester, would be sacked by them the following February?
Bad things can happen, even in perfect stories, or to perfect clubs. It is to be hoped that, whatever the future holds for Brighton, nobody is expecting a perfect season in the Premier League.
The latest rich list shows that Alisher Usmanov, Arsenal shareholder, increased his worth by £4.2billion in the last year — more than the wages of every Premier League player combined.
It’s as Chris Rock said. ‘Shaquille O’Neal is rich — the white man who signs his pay cheque is wealthy.’
It must come as a great disappointment to Sheik Mansour that Manchester City are without a league title since 2014 —particularly as, according to his managers, they have the best team every year.
Pep Guardiola’s claim at the weekend is nothing new. In December last season, Manuel Pellegrini also said City were the best team — and just before leaving he announced they had been the best of the last three seasons, which must have come as a surprise to Leicester and Chelsea, the two previous champions.
City managers tend to want prizes for competitions that do not exist: scoring the most goals or creating most chances, as if football is a beauty contest.
They want the rosette for best in show.
Yet with a little more realism, City could be close to unstoppable next season. Beyond the defence, who do they really need to buy? Already, Guardiola can choose six from Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan.
He has Fernando, Nolito, Jesus Navas, Fabian Delph, even Yaya Toure as his alternates, if he wishes — and this is without any promotions from the Under 21 team. If he sells Aguero, or some squad men leave, he may need replacements — but there is very little wrong with City going forward.
He is short on defence, though. Certainly a goalkeeper — because Claudio Bravo has been a disaster and Guardiola is in denial over it — both full backs and another centre half to partner John Stones, maybe even two more with Vincent Kompany’s fitness so unreliable.
Yet to prioritise in this area, City’s manager has to concede that points are more important than goals, passes and chances created; more important than all the aesthetic qualities that have been talked up above the truth of the league table for three years.
Do that, and City are more than dangerous; ignore it, and risk another season of empty words.
Some strange transfer stories have been flying about in recent weeks. First, Joe Hart was linked with a move to Manchester United, and this weekend Sergio Aguero.
It is almost as if someone within the United ranks is trying to make mischief for Manchester City.
Yet surely, the way to do that was to contend the Premier League positions right until the end, in an effort to knock City out of the top four and condemn Pep Guardiola and his players to the complexities of Thursday night football next season.
It still seems bizarre that Jose Mourinho saw winning the Europa League and a top four place as either/or; particularly when, with a stronger finish, he could have caused serious problems for such an important rival.
Like at most Premier League clubs, the first-team squad at Sunderland is evidence of the cosmopolitan nature of English football. It includes players from Italy, Costa Rica, Belgium, Senegal, Sweden, Tunisia, Portugal, Gabon, South Africa, Spain, Ivory Coast, Germany, Nigeria and the United States.
How ironic, then, that Sunderland having been relegated, the only two players who are considered attractive in the transfer market are both English: goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and striker Jermain Defoe.
For all of Sunderland’s investment abroad, few of their imports have maintained the value the club needs as a hedge against relegation.
The reputation and worth of most — £8million central defender Papy Djilobodji, for instance — have suffered.
Defoe’s value is limited due to his age, but Sunderland are optimistically talking of attracting £30m for Pickford, at 23, rated one of the best young goalkeepers in the country. Everton intend to bid £10m, which may be closer to reality.
Pickford is a local lad, from Washington. Would Sunderland not have been better off working harder to develop youth in a fertile area, rather than follow the route of so many rivals?
Who is the most sought-after player at Middlesbrough? Ben Gibson. At Hull? Harry Maguire. There are too many journeymen in the Premier League’s failing clubs. Too many players brought in at considerable expense to do a job that could be adequately covered from within their ranks, with a little more trust and instruction.
Bedene is a Brit of a problem for LTA
One of the reasons Aljaz Bedene was so well received as a tennis player in Great Britain was that his love for his adopted country seemed genuine.
He lived here, he paid taxes here, and appeared committed to remaining in Britain for the rest of his life.
When it was considered possible that he would represent Britain in the 2015 Davis Cup final, many were genuinely torn about his inclusion. He seemed the antithesis of the athletes who have used Britain as a flag of convenience.
International Tennis Federation rules mean Bedene will never be eligible for the Davis Cup as he previously represented Slovenia in the competition, but he did gain British citizenship and is promoted by the Lawn Tennis Association as one of their own.
This is ticking off Dan Evans. Evans says that having received citizenship, Bedene now lives in Slovenia. And if that is the case, he has a point.
It was Bedene’s commitment to Britain that made him an exception. If what he sought all along were the greater profile and robust earnings that come from being a British player, his motivations could be perceived as purely cynical.
‘It looks like we are desperate for an extra player, which I don’t think is right,’ said Evans. ‘The LTA are paying for him to be British.’
Evans, who recently lost his No 3 British ranking to Bedene, will no doubt be accused of sour grapes, but he is correct.
The strong line taken by the ITF over the Davis Cup is rare in modern sport and the LTA should at least respect that.
If Bedene no longer wishes to be part of British life, he does not merit British funding.
What more could Puel have done?
Southampton are 10th and their manager, Claude Puel, is fighting for his job. It rather raises the question, where do they think they should be?
Every summer, they sell their best players. Some winters, too. This January, Jose Fonte went to West Ham. The fee, £10million, was a lot for a 33-year-old centre half and no doubt Puel understood.
Even so, it didn’t do him many favours.
In the League Cup final Puel was forced to play 23-year-old Jack Stephens where Fonte would have been, with Virgil van Dijk injured. Stephens had started his first game for the club in January. He did well in the final, but there was no guarantee of that.
Sooner or later, the constant sales were always going to catch up with Southampton, and, if they have, it is to Puel’s credit that the club has still held its own. A club with Southampton’s philosophy could easily have got sucked into a relegation fight.
Puel should be under no pressure at all; in the circumstances, he has done a very good job.
Amid the euphoria, there is concern at Chelsea that Antonio Conte is giving little indication of long-term commitment. Inter Milan are calling, his family have not moved from Italy and there is no sign that he will put down roots in England.
Yet why would he? Chelsea have had 12 managers since Roman Abramovich arrived 14 years ago, including interim appointments.
With such a turnover why would any Chelsea manager make plans? Conte could win the Double in his first season. Yet so did Carlo Ancelotti — and he was gone a year later. Maybe Chelsea’s manager isn’t disloyal; maybe he’s simply a realist.
Go to the original article…
...insanely fathered by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
St Mary’s
7.45pm BST
… 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
