The Europa League - more trouble than it's worth?

On being appointed caretaker manager at Manchester United, one of Ryan Giggs first pronouncements was that United would target Europa League qualification this season. League Cup winners . Steve Bruce, whose Hull side are likely to qualify by simply reaching the Cup Final is also dreaming of Europe.



Yet Roberto Martinez is already asking for "six or seven" extra players to help Everton in the competition next season. Tim Sherwood suggests there might be a benefit in missing out while Southampton don't even want to qualify.

So what's the truth? Does the Europa League provide illustrious opposition, or merely ruin the rest of the season?

Replacing the irreplaceable

Image - Jon Candy

After months of whispers and a day of rumours, David Moyes was eventually sacked by Manchester United on Tuesday. Among all of the "where did it all go wrong?" hand-wringing, plenty of writers have emphasised the Ferguson factor. Whatever Moyes did, he was always going to be compared to the man who epitomised United for three decades - and compared unfavourably.

Some of those writers have gone on to draw parallels with previous unfortunates such as Wilf McGuinness, who had a similarly disastrous reign at the club after Sir Matt Busby. This got us wondering - where does the "chosen one" rank when compared with other managers who had to follow a legend?

Does the Youth Cup really predict success?

Chelsea and Fulham meet in a West London derby next week to contest the FA Youth Cup Final. Fans of both clubs and many others are predicting bright futures for the players involved...but should they?

The FA Youth Cup, the main cup competition for club's Under 18 sides, has been run since 1953. Plenty of fans see it not only as an opportunity for them to get a glimpse of the potential next homegrown player to reach the first team, but as an indicator of their team's youth policy as a whole. For example, look at the Wikipedia entry for the Cup. In the introductory paragraphs, we are told:

The tournament has served as a springboard into the professional game for many top British players. The likes of George Best, John Barnes, Ryan Giggs,David Beckham, Gary Neville, Frank Lampard, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Joe Cole, Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Adam Johnson and Gareth Bale had all won the tournament or played in the final. (Source)

And it doesn't stop there. Many great teams have, allegedly, had their true foundation in the Youth Cup. For example, Manchester City's 1986 Youth Cup winners inspired a book. Other clubs have reunited their Youth Cup winners to parade in front of the fans. The 1992 Manchester United Youth Cup side even have a film about their exploits - the Class of '92. And then there are plenty of "where are they now" articles about Youth Cup teams, such as this one.

But is winning the Youth Cup all its cracked up to be?

Got any spare tickets?

It's that time of year again. The sun is shining, everyone is getting ready for summer...and there's a row about FA Cup Final ticketing. Just like last year. And the year before that. And...well, you get the picture.

 So, is it true that fans of Arsenal and Hull City are being short-changed? Or is it an unavoidable part of modern sport? Let's find out.

Sack the manager! Or should we...

As of kick off on Saturday, the bottom 7 Premier League clubs had all changed their manager this season, while Spurs were the only club of the top 13 to do so. At first sight, that sounds like a new manager is a terrible idea. And indeed, many would agree. After all, has Ole Gunnar Solskjaer really done more with Cardiff than Malky Mackay? Fulham are already on to their third manager and might not be the only club to sack the first replacement.

On the other hand, Tony Pulis has been, rightly in my opinion, credited for keeping Palace up while Pepe Mel is increasingly getting results at the Hawthorns. Obviously the Norwich hierachy subscribe to this view, deciding to sack Chris Hughton prior to Saturday's game at Fulham. It hasn't worked so far...

So, does a new manager mean a profitable honeymoon or certain doom?

The romance of the FA Cup semi-finals

This weekend we'll see a team from outside the top division in both FA cup semi-finals for the first time since...2008. That seems a surprisingly short time, considering how many people talk about the romance of the Cup being from a bygone age. In actual fact, if we look through the history of the Cup, teams from lower divisions have had a very strong presence in semi-finals. Herewith a brief history:

Who needs 38 points?

After an exciting weekend at the bottom of the Premiership, it's still no clearer which unlucky three teams will suffer relegation at the end of the season. Fans across the country, from Cardiff to Sunderland to Norwich are desperately trying to calculate how many points their teams might take from their remaining matches. Traditionally, the magic number for safety has been pegged at 38 points, and managers are busy talking about it even now.

Who's going to win the Premiership?

Earlier this week I looked at David Moyes' record in the league as United manager, and in particular at his poor record against the top six. To read that, go here


In the last post, we looked at the average points per game against the top 6 clubs in the league, and against the other 13. As promised, what I am now going to do is apply those numbers to the remaining games, to see who should win the league if such results truly are the crucial statistic I suggested they might be. Before doing so, I split the figures further, by calculating averages for home and away games against the rest of the top 7 and the other 13 clubs in the Premiership. And so, here, in reverse order, is my Premiership prediction from 7th upwards.