The day in bullet points
That will do for tonite tonight – here’s a reminder of the main courses we’ve tucked into on this final pre-Premier League Friday of the season:
- Arsenal have suspended two coaches, believed to be Steve Gatting and Carl Laraman, after allegations of bullying
- Manchester City have begun discussions over a new contract for Raheem Sterling
- Manchester United want to sign Ajax whizz kid Justin Kluivert
- Mauricio Pochettino is coy on the subject of his future at Tottenham
- Sam Allardyce admits he can’t guarantee Wayne Rooney game time at Everton
And we have some other must-reads. Here’s Gael Clichy with Will Unwin:
Delve below for Richard Foster’s piece about the enduring talent of Paul Tisdale:
Savour Barney Ronay’s tribute to Yaya Toure:
Finally, tuck into a rich array of comprehensive Premier League match previews from our writers.
If you’re sticking around, make sure you keep an eye out for John Brewin’s minute-by-minute report of Derby v Fulham later. Kick-off 7.45pm, UK time.
Have a lovely weekend, wherever you’re watching your football, and thanks for all your interactions today. See you soon!
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“Fortnite (or more correctly Fortnight) is a shortening of ‘fourteen nights’ or two weeks,” writes John Barrow, and at this stage of the email I can’t tell if he is mocking me or, quite possibly, subtly agreeing with the absurdity of it all. But then he teaches me, and perhaps all of us, something new: “There is also an older word, rarely used ‘sennight’ for seven nights or a week.”
The estimable Ben Lake answers that last, lingering Fortnite question of mine: “As I mentioned in my extended ramblings earlier the game originally started as a base building game. There’s the fort and I believe it may mostly have been set at night. Although that may not be true but it certainly has some night sections. Pun achieved.”
We could talk about this for a FORTNIGHT.
Here’s something nice for the commute home, or the gazing-intently-at-your-phone-til-your-friends-turn-up part of the evening, or for lunchtime or bedtime depending on where in the world you are. It’s Barney Ronay bidding a fond farewell to Yaya Toure – a player whose gifts were somehow undervalued:
We’ve talked a bit about the play-offs today, but I should point you to Paul MacInnes’s big piece about Fulham v Derby – the first leg of which gets underway in two and three quarter hours:
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Can Harry Kane make a late play for the golden boot? David Hytner transports you to the realm of Tottenham v Leicester:
Actually, no, I do have one more question: why is it called “Fortnite”? Am I missing a nuanced piece of wordplay?
Here’s a link to Jamie’s story about Raheem Sterling’s possible new contract, which we splashed below:
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I owe you all a rather more enjoyable Friday song after the offering I put you through earlier today ...
Talking of Brighton, here are a few lines from earlier today by Chris Hughton – what a wonderful season he’s had by the way – on the need to keep their best players as they look to push on next term.
“That’s been the priority, certainly for the last two seasons, and we’ve had offers for some of our better players over that period of time and on each of those occasions our chairman and owner resisted them. And I think that will be the same in the summer, it is very much about keeping hold of your best players.
“I’d like to think the club is in a healthy position at this moment and what means more is making sure we enable ourselves to have a decent Premier League season next season. To do that you want to keep hold of your best players, we’ve resisted that in the past and I’m very sure that we’ll work very, very hard to resist that again.”
And Liverpool seek not to mess up against demob-happy Brighton – an encounter anticipated by Andy Hunter:
Europa League contenders-elect Burnley will wrap up against their former manager, Eddie Howe, on Sunday. Here’s Paul Wilson’s preview:
City begin Sterling contract talks
Manchester City have held initial discussions with Raheem Sterling regarding a new contract, though the expectation is any agreement will not occur until after the World Cup.
It is understood that a first meeting was held between the club and Sterling’s representatives at the end of last month. With the forward set to be named in Gareth Southgate’s England World Cup squad, talks may not resume before July.
Sterling earns around £170,000 a week on a deal that has two years left. The forward is seeking to be one of the champions’ best-paid players and can expect a rise to his basic weekly salary of at least £50,000. City are intent on rewarding the 22-year-old for the most impressive season of his career in which Sterling has scored 22 goals and was a key factor in the title being claimed with five matches to spare.
Pep Guardiola said: “The club, the chairman [Khaldoon al-Mubarak] and myself want him to stay a long time, renew his contract – but we are going on holiday in a few days.”
Guardiola also expects Sergio Agüero to stay, though he could no be unequivocal. Asked whether the striker may leave the manager said: “I think it’s not going to happen. My desire is it will not happen, but I don’t know … Sergio is going to stay until he decides his time is over.”
Brahim Díaz and Phil Foden have each made four Premier League appearances so need to make a fifth in tomorrow’s final match at Southampton to get a winner’s medal. “I didn’t know it but, all respect, it looks ridiculous to me,” Guardiola said of the rule. “If they want my medal I will give them the medal. They are champions – they worked from day one to the last one, training with us, in the locker room.”
Arsenal suspend two coaches after bullying allegations
Arsenal have suspended two coaches after allegations of bullying. They are believed to be Under-23 coach Steve Gatting and his assistant Carl Laraman. The story first broke in the Islington Gazette this afternoon.
A club spokesman told the newspaper: “We have suspended two coaches and launched an investigation following complaints from some players. These are private matters and we will not discuss any further detail.”
Now here is Mark Tallentire’s look ahead to the end of season procession ... OR IS IT? ... between Southampton and Manchester City:
It’s 4.07pm in London and you know what that means: that means it’s time for the Fiver!
@NickAmes82 On Poch's comments about 'nothing being good enough'. Must be directed to the media and possibly the players. The vast majority of spurs fans, in the forums at least, are pretty darn pleased with 4th.
— Alex Perring (@Al_Perring) May 11, 2018
I don’t doubt that media pressure plays some part. But wasn’t he talking about the club itself not really wishing to celebrate too? I thought he was describing a prevailing climate, almost.
Life as a Manchester United fan isn’t all dull – they’ve got Watford at home on Sunday! Jamie Jackson hits you with the info:
What I love about this job is that every day you learn things about yourself that you never knew.
@NickAmes82 As a Spurs fan, I am consumed by the idea of a season where Ali never suffers a dip. Think that Chelsea goal times 38. The possibilities are endless
— danmonte (@danmontefusco) May 11, 2018
He has only just turned 22. It could well happen. But people start handwringing as soon as he has a quieter couple of months; it’s a ridiculous environment sometimes.
Are Leicester boring? Not after trouncing 10-man Arsenal, says Claude Puel!
“I am happy about this game (Arsenal) because our last game it was not us, too poor, too boring, without intensity and quality. Without normal starting players we showed quality in desire and on the pitch. This is a good feeling for the next game and for the next season. From the kick off we put on the pitch more desire, energy, togetherness, and after we put our play in place. It is easier to play forward and give a good feeling.”
They have the chance to cut loose again on Sunday when they visit the apparently joy-free zone that is Spurs.
Did you see the rumours linking Sergio Aguero with a return to Atletico Madrid (who seem to like luring their old star strikers back, don’t they?) this morning? Pep Guardiola has been speaking this afternoon – and, in this take from the wires, he says it’s – probably – not gonna happen:
“I think it’s not going to happen,” said Guardiola. “My desire is it will not happen, but I don’t know. “It’s happened many times in these press conferences and I said maybe a thousand times Sergio is going to stay until he decides ‘my time here is over’. I said it last season and this season many times, and I say it today. That’s why I say it isn’t going to happen, but in football you never know.”
Those play-off nerves are jangling, aren’t they? It’s Derby v Fulham tonight in the Championship and both of those clubs have previous for not quite holding their nerve – albeit extremely recently in Fulham’s case.
Villa and Boro face off tomorrow and this message from David Bertram captures the vibe: “As a Villa fan I’m looking forward to this weekend with trepidation and dread. Boro fans seem awfully confident.”
Southampton fan here.
At half time, if Swansea are 2-0 up and we're 2-0 down, there's potential for disaster for us in the second half.
I'm not taking anything for granted. We need to get a result against City.
*This* is what it is like to be a football fan!
“I don’t think it’s been a great season,” says James Brown. Not that one. “This sounds strange as we’ve witnessed probably one of the most brutally dominant and tactically fluid teams in Premier League history, led by somebody who I think will come to be regarded as the best club manager in football history. Yet somehow this has ended up being a bit dull. Maybe we’ve got too used to the absurdly consistent brilliance of Messi, Ronaldo, Kane, Barca, Real etc, or maybe it’s the sheen of those teams and individuals that makes the stories at the other end of the table somehow more human and relatable: Moore at WBA, the story of Huddersfield, and Hodgson at Palace (who I think has done a quite incredible job).
“The CL has brought the best out of our top teams rather than the league – to watch Spurs and Liverpool on occasions has been a real pleasure. As for my own team, Chelsea, it’s not been a surprise at all to see them struggle. Just frustrating they don’t seem to want to build on their success and instead seem to prefer to go through this continual up/down cycle.”
Interesting bits from Pochettino to digest in there, no? What’s your gut feeling? I suspect he’ll be there next season but a few games are clearly afoot.
I also thought his comments, three entries down, about nothing being good enough struck something of a chord. Is that how it is to support a Big Club now? I’m curious. Have people talked and worried themselves into such a lather on social media, in particular, that they simply can’t enjoy being a football fan anymore? It kind of feels like that sometimes.
Pochettino also had the following exchange with the Sky Sports reporter. It’s worth nothing that it’s always the Tottenham manager’s style to rule nothing out in the future and to say that ‘anything can happen in football.’ But it still felt that there was a degree of posturing/ manoeuvring to it all ….
Mauricio, are we guaranteed to see you here as the manager next season?
What a question eh? It’s not my... you know, I still have three years on my contract. No point in talking about that. Only you know in football that everything can happen. No-one is sure in their job, but I have a three-year contract. Like I told the media in Spain after the game on Wednesday, they asked me about my contract and about what happened at some clubs, and I told them: ‘Look, I have a three-year contract and they need to agree with Daniel [Levy].’
So you will 99% be here next season?
No, today it’s 100%.
Next season?
I don’t know, but today it is 100% because I have a three-year contract here. But tomorrow I don’t know what is going to happen.
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Klopp unimpressed at timing of awards events
Jürgen Klopp wrote a superb letter in praise of Mohamed Salah and Rhian Brewster to the Football Writers Association for their Player of the Year awards ceremony on Thursday, but is unimpressed with the timing of both that event and Liverpool’s own awards dinner on the same night.
Salah collected the players’ player of the season and first team player of the season awards at Anfield shortly after 7pm on Thursday then flew by private jet to London to receive the FWA prize at the Landmark Hotel. He travelled straight back to Merseyside and, according to Klopp, still got an early night. But the Liverpool manager questioned the timing of the awards (usually held before the end of the season and players disappear en masse for their holidays/internationals) when his team still need a point at home to Brighton on Sunday to secure Champions League qualification for next season.
“Mo deserved all the awards he got but I am absolutely not in the mood to praise anyone for the last few months,” said Klopp. “I am really in the mood to think about Sunday. Everything he did was fantastic, otherwise he couldn’t have scored that many goals, he couldn’t have played like he played, but it is all about Sunday.
“It is quite difficult for a player because there are some many challenges constantly. The next challenge was the journalists. I know it was a very important award but to bring the boy on a Thursday night before the last game to London to celebrate a party - we are not partying. The journalists should come here and give the award. You want to be really focused. The season now for most of the teams in the league is a nice time but for us it is work.
“All the awards around are really deserved but hopefully the last one was yesterday and now it is about playing the game on Sunday. We need to be completely focused on the game and we will be. Yesterday we had our LFC Awards – good timing. A lot of people wished me luck for the 26th and maybe two or three people said ‘good luck on Sunday’.”
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Mauricio Pochettino: “It’s strange that the feeling is not great”
Mauricio Pochettino has had a moan about nothing being good enough for some Tottenham supporters and pundits. The manager has secured Champions League qualification for a third successive season – on a relative shoestring and after a season away from home at Wembley – but he wondered whether the club’s glass would ever be half-full.
Pochettino noted how other clubs celebrate their achievements at end-of-season awards dinners but not Tottenham. His team made sure of a top-four finish on Wednesday night with a 1-0 Wembley win over Newcastle, courtesy of Harry Kane’s 50th minute goal. Yet remarkably they were booed off by some fans after a disappointing first-half.
“In the last three years, we’ve achieved massive things, to play in the Champions League, and we never celebrate,” Pochettino said. “We never celebrate! At Southampton, we avoided relegation and finished eighth in the table and we had an unbelievable party. My wife was so unhappy, I remember, because I danced. Don’t worry, there’s no video.
“But it’s true – that feeling that it’s never enough. We don’t have a players’ awards [night]. Clubs like Crystal Palace or Southampton, always there was a massive party at the end of the season. It’s a little bit strange that always the feeling is not great.
“I remember we finished fifth in the first season and made the Europa League. It was better than in the previous season when we finished sixth, and it was: ‘Fifth is OK but it’s not enough.’ In the second season, we finished third but we lost the possibility to win the league against Chelsea with the draw at Stamford Bridge. Then we lost against Southampton and Newcastle, 5-1, and the feeling was so bad.
“Last season, we finished second but it wasn’t enough because we didn’t win the league. And this season again, despite playing at Wembley and many things from the beginning, still there’s some [feeling] where it is: ‘Yes but no, the team needs to win some titles.’”
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Iceland have announced their World Cup squad!
👀 Hey @FIFAWorldCup - Here's our squad for Russia 🏆https://t.co/NnhfYUVTW5#fyririsland #teamiceland #WorldCup
— Knattspyrnusambandið (@footballiceland) May 11, 2018
This is the final 23. If you don’t have six minutes to watch this, you can see the complete list of names (albeit first names, in the Icelandic tradition) right at the end. Gylfi Sigurdsson is passed fit enough, which is great news for them – and similarly Aron Gunnarsson. You can see people like Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Birkir Bjarnason in there too. Fascinatingly, young PSV winger Albert Gudmundsson, for whom there are high hopes, comes in. The sadness is that Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, who played up front at Euro 2016 and has been injured almost ever since, hasn’t rediscovered his fitness in time.
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Dominic Fifield has been busy – he’s also told you all you need to know about Palace v West Brom:
Arca still had it last year – remember this?
The goodbyes keep on coming!
Julio Arca has decided to retire from football with immediate effect. Full story: https://t.co/fjtRASCzUy
— South Shields FC (@SouthShieldsFC) May 11, 2018
JR in Illinois is a West Brom fan, so of course he’s feeling glum at what has passed since August, but he shows us some slightly more complex working than that:
“My view of the Premier League season has likely been clouded by Alan Pardew relegating my club but I’d say this season has been pretty stinky. Man City was great for a while but even they became kind of boring. Man United played atrocious football and they finished second! Liverpool and Tottenham played some great stuff but probably their best parts were in the Champions League.
“Outside of City’s probable 100 point tally and Wenger leaving there’s not a whole lot to remember about this season. At least I’ll have a new competition to follow next season with the Baggies back down in the Championship.”
Mark Hughes doesn’t want Southampton to hang around when deciding who their long-term (it’s all relative) boss will be. Will it be him? Or someone else? Here’s what he has said this afternoon:
“I think it’s important for the club that they do that [make a quick decision], because clearly there’s work to be done immediately after the season, decisions have to be made in terms of recruitment and retention of the players.
“So it would make sense to make a quick appointment, but I can’t shape that or dictate that, that’s a decision for the club.”
Saints supporters – happy to see Hughes get a proper run at it? Or thanks for the firefighting act and farewell?
I asked, a little earlier, if this had been an enjoyable Premier League season. Paul Fitzgerald has replied:
“Yes but in a very prosaic way in that Man City were very nice to watch but their dominance removed any tension to proceedings. Its like when an F1 driver is laps ahead of anyone else and you have to source a duel somewhere back in the grid. You only cut back to the winner then when he crosses the chequered flag.”
That’s true. My view is that it’s really not been a good season at all but that the symptoms, at least, go beyond the teams chasing City. Everything happening below, let’s say, seventh place just hasn’t been up to much at all. Throw it all up in the air next season and those spots could just as well come out in reverse – which ought to seem exciting but ... I ... don’t really know that it is.
Thinking of Fortnite and therefore, as we have been encouraged to, of Jordan Hugill – I like him and he was great for a year or so in the Championship but have there been many more needless signings this season? Name them!
News from Bayern Munich: Arjen Robben and Rafinha have signed one-year contract extensions at the club. We’ll be seeing the old wizard cutting inside and letting fly a few more times yet!
Conte: other people will judge our position
Antonio Conte believes Chelsea are stronger now than when he arrived at the club almost two years ago with the Italian insisting he has “created a base” through his stewardship.
The FA Cup finalists travel to Newcastle on Sunday retaining only faint hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League, and with Conte expected to depart Stamford Bridge in the summer despite having a year left on his contract at the club. Yet, having inherited a team who had finished 10th after a turbulent season which had seen Jose Mourinho sacked and Guus Hiddink working as an interim, the head coach believes they are in a stronger position now than then.
“For sure, we worked two years and worked very hard to try to build something, to create a base,” said Conte, who will confront Mourinho’s Manchester United side at Wembley in the Cup final later this month. “I think we did this. I’m the last person to judge the moment of the club. My task is to work, to do my job in the best possible way, and to work very hard with this team, with these players for the fans. Other people will judge our position.”
Asked if it would be damaging for Chelsea to fail in securing a top four finish, he said: “I don’t know. I don’t know. You must know that there is this possibility, because you play in a strong league. For this reason, you have to know this and prepare in the right way. There are six top teams at the start of the season ready to fight for a place in the Champions League. It can happen.
“In the past, it happened the same. Don’t forget two years ago, Chelsea ended the season 10th and not in the FA Cup final, not in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, and they were eliminated in the last 16 against PSG in the Champions League. It can happen.
“But last season after a 10th place we won the league. It was difficult. We worked very hard, but we won it. After a 10th place finish. Now, probably, you can finish fifth and start with a bit of an advantage compared to when you finish 10th.”
Asked about the uncertainty which surrounds his own position at the club, he added: “I think I’ve been living with this speculation since the start of this season. I always said to you, my only thought is to do my job in the best possible way. To work very hard with my players. This is my only worry. Since the start of the first game, I think... I think the time I start listening to the speculation about me, this is the moment I start to be worried.”
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Ben Lake has sent me an exhaustive explanation of what Fortnite is and I now feel bad that he’s been pipped so succinctly by Jon Anderson’s pith. I’ve seen Battle Royale so I think I get the rough premise.
“Schools have had to shut off their WiFi or had it strain to bursting by kids playing it on their phones,” Ben notes, while perhaps more pertinently noting that football clubs are trying to use it to get into esports and the streaming scene. They’ll jump aboard anything, won’t they!
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DW: “The players and staff will give Arsène a guard on honour on Sunday.” #htafc (AT)
— Huddersfield Town (@htafcdotcom) May 11, 2018
Wagner confirms the next stage of Wenger’s long-ish goodbye. Huddersfield is not a bad place for an Arsenal manager to bow out, in fairness: the clubs have a very nice bit of shared history, through the brilliance of Herbert Chapman, and there’s been a healthy relationship between them down the years. So there’s some degree of circularity.
Wayne Rooney still carrying the knee injury that kept him out v Southampton. Won't be risked at West Ham on Sunday.
— Andy Hunter (@AHunterGuardian) May 11, 2018
Rooney confirmation. Will we see him in the Premier League again?
“Fortnite is a free, ‘child friendly’, Battle Royale game that includes elements of Minecraft (building) as well as shooting,” explains Jon Anderson, not before time! “Succinct enough?”
I think I’ve heard enough, Jon, yes. Heartwarming to see club media channels bigging it up then ...
Who’s the new Arsène Wenger? It’s Paul Tisdale – and Richard Foster explains why:
Jurgen Klopp is giving his press conference as we speak – Andy Hunter is across that one, too, so there’ll be more when it comes ...
Keep your emails coming in, by the way. It’s not pub time yet! Maybe you can answer this for me: has this been an enjoyable Premier League season?
For those interested in the careers of British coaches abroad, Alex Weaver is the new head coach of Lausanne FC, 4pts adrift at the bottom of the Swiss Super League with 2 to play (1 team goes down): https://t.co/xZmiGP9ATP @NickAmes82
— jez smith (@jezs) May 11, 2018
Interesting snippet and a great chance for Weaver, who is 41 and an emerging name, to become a hero!
We’ll have more from Chelsea later but here’s a quick PA take on their spot of potential bother from Wednesday night:
Chelsea are yet to respond to a Football Association charge after their players surrounded referee Lee Mason at half-time during Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Huddersfield.
The Blues were charged with failing to ensure their players “conducted themselves in an orderly fashion. A Chelsea spokesperson said there was no update relating to the charge during Antonio Conte’s press conference ahead of the last Premier League game of the season against Newcastle.
The spokesperson said: “We’ve got until 6pm on May 15 to respond to that charge. There’s no further update.” Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is in contention for the trip to St James’ Park following a back injury.
News from Hibs, where the players haven’t seen Neil Lennon since Wednesday’s Edinburgh derby defeat to hearts. Midfielder Marvin Bartley had to handle media duties just now and was asked about Lennon’s criticism of some of his players’ “amateur” approach: “We thought we had had a very good season for our first season back in the top flight, so for the gaffer to say that. But he’s his own man and has got his own thoughts. He obviously hadn’t shared that with us so we were as shocked as everyone else.”
Neil Lennon, due to appear at pre-match media conference any time now, wasn’t at Hibs training this morning. Marvin Bartley, speaking to media, says players haven’t seen their manager since Wednesday night.
— Paul Barnes (@STVPaul) May 11, 2018
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The day so far
Here’s what you may have missed:
- Sam Allardyce won’t make Wayne Rooney any guarantees about playing time
- Manchester United want to sign Ajax’s Justin Kluivert
- Leon Britton and Dean Whitehead are added to the list of big weekend farewells
- Russia and Poland have named their preliminary World Cup squads
Gael Clichy has spoken exclusively to us:
And you need to look out for these things at the weekend:
I’m grabbing some lunch now but I’ll be back within half an hour, so don’t go too far away!
Leon Britton joins the list of farewells this weekend. He’ll retire after Swansea’s relegation is – we assume – confirmed and there’s a bit of sadness to that, particularly as a side completely lacking identity could surely have used him more. You don’t need to read between the lines to see he thinks that too. It must be exhausting, after a while, when you’re a lone beacon of sanity in a morass of dross:
“I have decided that this year will be my last as a Swans player,” the 35-year-old told the club website. “It’s a sad day obviously, but this season has been very difficult for me.
“I have had a lot of niggling injuries and I haven’t played a lot when I have been fit. I have pushed my body through a lot, playing with injuries and injections and what have you over the years, and I think now is the right time.”
We understand Wayne Rooney left Everton’s training ground because he is, in fact, injured. Stand down!
Richard Dennis writes in to say he likes the cut of that Poland squad’s jib:
“I know, I know, it’s a trendy pick these days, but I do like the look of Poland for the World Cup, and to threaten the later stages, semis lets say. I think there’s real high level quality sprinkled in their team now. Together with their unity, identity, ethos, an astute coach, can score goals against anyone. All that, and a fairly favourable draw. So why not?”
I like the coach – Adam Nawalka – too and like a lot of the team, although I still think there’s a lot of responsibility on Lewandowski to win them games. But some of the other names, like Zielinski and Milik (if he can get back up to full steam), are pretty exciting. They should get through the group stage, for sure, and after that who knows?
Darren Moore has been reflecting on a “bizarre” season at West Brom. Their match at Crystal Palace means zilch now, although another win would do Moore’s own job prospects no harm. A few quotes, taken from the wires, here:
“Yes it’s been a bizarre season really, absolutely bizarre. In pre-season, nobody could have foreseen what was to come but I said from the start when I came in, you can’t cry over spilt milk.
“It was about looking forward to the future, focusing on the final six weeks and to try to get continuity, togetherness, unity and team spirit - all things which go in tandem with a team moving successfully forward.
“We’ve had that from everybody at the football club. We’ve come together and it’s led to positive performances and the results then followed. That was the important thing. It’s probably seen as a disastrous season but I think we all agree that we’ve finished on a real positive in the last few games.”
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Nobody has responded yet to my Fortnite-related plea at the top of the show, and I really don’t want to have to watch this:
Watch Declan Rice and Jordan Hugill play Fortnite live on Twitch 👇https://t.co/rzJOFMRL3R pic.twitter.com/FwtSAmTJTe
— West Ham United (@WestHamUtd) May 11, 2018
Good to see Jordan Hugill, mind.
On that last one – Andy points out that Allardyce had said Rooney should be fit to play. The plot thickens. Anyone got the flight schedule from Liverpool to Washington?
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A new twist in the Wayne Rooney tale? Andy Hunter tells us that he left the Everton training ground as his team-mates went out to train – we know Rooney has had injury issues recently so that might be all there is to it, but we’ll have more as soon as we get it ...
Here’s some excellent lunchtime reading for you. The good man Will Unwin went to Istanbul and had a chinwag with none other than Gael Clichy. I’ll leave some small tasters below, followed by the interview itself. Do read it in full:
On his final months at Manchester City:
“Your career is behind you now,” Guardiola told Clichy bluntly. “But you have a duty, every day, every session, every behaviour you have; young players are looking up to you and even if you don’t feel like a special player, you’ve done so many years in England, you’ve won trophies, you are somebody and those young players will look up to you and behave like you are behaving.”
On life at title-chasing Istanbul Baseksehir:
“You have to be realistic – I am not the Gaël Clichy of 10 years ago and if I was, I wouldn’t be here, that is just a normal process; but I do believe I still have something to give the club and the team. When they signed me, they told me they wanted to win the league – it could be this year, it could be next year, it could be in two years. What we do know is that we have all the weapons to do it; we have great facilities, the chairman is giving everything, we have great players and we go step by step, that’s their philosophy.”
On Arsène Wenger’s departure from Arsenal:
“For 22 years, what this guy has done not just for Arsenal, but for English football, people should remember. I think they came to a moment where people just want to see someone else. It’s not a matter of if you win the Europa League, the league or this or that, if you bring a new player in, they just want someone new. If even they had won the Europa League they would have asked for someone new because that’s football.”
Poland have named their preliminary World Cup squad! As the source of this tweet indicates, Ipswich’s Bartosz Bialkowski is in the initial 35, as are Swansea’s Lukasz Fabianski, Southampton’s Jan Bednarek, Hull’s Kamil Grosicki, West Brom loanee Grzegorz Krychowiak and many more familiar names besides. How do you rate them?
🇵🇱 | Congratulations to @1BartMan1 who has deservedly been named in Poland’s provisional World Cup squad 👏🏻👏🏻 #itfc pic.twitter.com/x9tSEZ4qU8
— Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) May 11, 2018
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Everton travel to West Ham on Sunday, which doesn’t quite smack of being an especially jolly encounter, does it? Will it be farewell to Rooney? Farewell to Big Sam? Farewell to Moyes? Will anyone present care all that much? Jacob Steinberg’s team news and match preview will whet the appetite, though:
No Arsène Wenger press conference today. He did his final one yesterday – *sob* – and a few more quotes from that have come out on the wires. Some of it can be found in David Hytner’s write-up from last night.
Talking about his most cherished Arsenal memory, Wenger said:
“Maybe my first title here because I came completely unknown and in my first full year I won the championship. But I would say personally from 2006 to 2015 it was certainly the period where I needed to be the strongest and did the best job.
“Because to accept to commit to five years when you build the stadium to work with restricted resources and keep the club in a position where we can pay our debts back, I personally feel I did my best job in that period. Not the most glamorous maybe, but the most difficult.”
Here’s that full Andy Hunter take from Sam Allardyce – who will not guarantee Wayne Rooney game time should he (/they) stay at Everton:
Middlesbrough play Aston Villa in the Championship play-offs tomorrow. But do you remember when they tonked Manchester City 8-1 – with Afonso Alves, Jeremie Aliadiere and Fabio Rochemback running amok? I’ve not been on the cheese: it actually happened, and it happened 10 years ago today:
3⃣6⃣ days until we play 🇦🇷 at the @FIFAWorldCup
— Knattspyrnusambandið (@footballiceland) May 11, 2018
👀 Today is the day!
🏆 The squad for Russia will be announced at 1:15 PM GMT!
👉 Follow the announcement on our social media platforms.
👇 We're also on Facebook.https://t.co/6Qx84Xonwg#fyririsland pic.twitter.com/QGN5WPnXR4
I guess the biggest point of interest will be the fitness concerns around Gylfi Sigurdsson and Aron Gunnarsson, although I fully expect both to make Heimir Hallgrimsson’s selection. Can Iceland do it all again? They kind of have, already, by qualifying at all.
It’s not only farewell to Arsène Wenger at Huddersfield on Sunday. It’s farewell, too, to Terriers midfielder Dean Whitehead. He will retire at the grand old age of 36 and join David Wagner’s coaching staff – eventually taking over their Under-17 side from next January.
Whitehead has only featured six times this season but I’ll remember him as having had an excellent career – I make it 619 senior appearances, and he was a particularly effective box-to-box midfielder at Stoke and Sunderland. I also remember watching him absolutely crack a 30-yarder into the top corner for Oxford United at some point in the early 2000s, maybe against Rochdale?
“Dean is a winner. He demands 100 per cent effort from himself and everyone around him, he commands respect and is top quality in everything he does,” Wagner says.
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@NickAmes82 I do find it somewhat bemusing that Mike Brooks pictures other premier league teams as 'the embattled proletariat' he might do a better job looking at all the clubs in the pyramid of leagues below given the amount of tv money his club gets
— Wayne Symes (@waynesymes) May 11, 2018
Yes, the problem Mike outlined is from one perspective a first-world one. But at the same time it does impact downwards on everything else.
If you sign up for The Recap – which showcases the very best of our sport coverage – then the latest one will be in your inbox in ... oooh ... about 28 minutes.
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@NickAmes82 you describe the use of the term "Presser" as an abomination but pollute the feed with Rebecca Black's Friday! This track is a set back for humanity!
— Nigel Robert Hewlett (@1934nigel) May 11, 2018
Hey, it was a genuine question about YouTube thumb ratios.
A thought for the day from reader Mike Brooks:
“As a Palace fan I have emotionally reconciled myself with the prospect of relegation several times this season. Almost half the league will have had a similar experience this year so I feel the time is ripe for the following allegory. Bare with me. The paralysing fear of ‘the drop’ has come to shape the way 10 or more Premier League clubs approach their 38 games in the sun (under a blue, blue Sky). Meanwhile, the Top 6 has become a ‘mini league’ which apparently captivates the world.
“Surely, then, the top flight has become a microcosm of the capitalist system whereby the exploited proletariat are so preoccupied with outdoing those around them, so dazzled by the impossible dream of ascending the class hierarchy (Leicester’s title-win was probably staged to prop this system up for another generation), that they fail to prevent systematic inequality from growing exponentially and indefinitely.
“After all, what can Palace hope for having stayed up? Most likely our path is that of Swansea and Stoke. A few unremarkable seasons, a bonk of the head on the glass ceiling, and a passive sinking back to the Championship. So rise in solidarity, relegation candidates! Divest from the relegation drama, staged by the elite to preoccupy us! West Brom, Stoke and Swansea did not die, and Palace did not survive, for we are all second-tier now. “
The middle paragraph says it pretty well, actually. Wouldn’t the world be simpler if we were completely done with this idea of “growth” to some utterly nebulous end?
Meanwhile, the FA has just confirmed that Gareth Southgate will go all out and name his final 23 players for Russia 2018 on 16 May – which is next Wednesday if you aren’t too hot with numbers.
As trailed earlier, Russia have named their preliminary World Cup squad.
One surprise is that Denis Glushakov, the experienced and often influential Spartak midfielder, only makes the reserve list. Fyodor Chalov, who scored for CSKA Moscow against Arsenal a month ago, gets a chance to impress up top. It looks as if key defenders Georgi Dzhikiya and Viktor Vasin haven’t made it back from injury in time, which is a huge blow. Do you give the host nation much hope?
— Сборная России (@TeamRussia) May 11, 2018
That last entry brings me to ask: any Boreham Wood fans in the house? I’d like to know exactly how you’ve done it this season. And so would everyone else. Do write in!
There’s a huge game at Wembley tomorrow. Tranmere, thwarted by Forest Green last year, are a match away from returning to the Football League – and in their way stand, quite improbably, Boreham Wood. It’s one of the smallest clubs in the National League against probably the biggest. There’s a nice story in Jewish News about how the local synagogue in Borehamwood* plans to mark promotion.
*Not a typo, it’s a longstanding anomaly that the club is Boreham Wood and the place is Borehamwood. I’ve no doubt there’ll be someone tuning in who can explain it ...
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I will be saying “press conference” and not “presser” throughout today’s proceedings, incidentally, because the latter is an abomination.
Newcastle, of course, host Chelsea on Sunday in a game that has Top Four Significance for the visitors. Chelsea must win and hope Liverpool lose at home to Brighton. I’m not sure the latter, in particular, is much of a goer. We have Louise Taylor reporting from Rafa Benitez’s press conference today, while Dominic Fifield will be at the media’s standard 1.15pm date with Antonio Conte.
@NickAmes82 wouldn't dream of questioning Rafa, but I do wonder where NUFC could've been with Mitro up top this season. We've got quality at the back and quality in midfield, but our strike force is a joke. Perez gets lucky, Gayle gets unlucky, Joselu exists. We need goals.
— Richard Miah (@RichardMiah) May 11, 2018
Yes, it’s an interesting one isn’t it? I love Mitrovic and it is worth remembering, through all the pros and cons, that he is still just 23 and has had a fairly remarkable career so far, goalscoring-wise. At Fulham he’s been helped by operating in an insanely creative side and perhaps he’s responded well so a compatriot, Jokanovic, being able to put an arm round him. He seems the type who needs that. I think he has a decent top-flight future, whoever that’s with ...
It being Friday, and this blog being exceptionally Friday-ish, I find myself reminded of this charming little ditty about Friday from a few years back. Three million thumbs-downs vs 800,000 thumbs-ups! Is that a YouTube record?
Seems an opportune moment to step away from the computer and grab a coffee.
“With this weekend being the last of round of fixtures and narratives all over the place, I feel like its episode 38 of a long season,” emails Paul Fitzgerald. “Some characters I thought were killed off found themselves back, battling a race against time or The Championship. Some storylines never really developed (Watford), and the villain of the piece wasn’t actually defeated because, well he finished second. Don’t know if the spin off in the summer will be any better.”
It’s an odd situation for everyone involved, really, because Rooney needs to play a bit of a guessing game about his own future at Goodison – if one assumes Allardyce’s own situation remains as clear as mud. Hard to tell who’s pulling the strings there but you wouldn’t expect Rooney to clear off without good reason having made such an emotional return last year.
We’ll get Andy Hunter’s take to you as soon as we can but here, courtesy of PA, is Sam Allardyce’s view on the future of Wayne Rooney, as articulated just now. Not sure how much this really moves things along but there is clearly something in the MLS chatter:
“My understanding is there seems to have been some negotiation along the line but as for clarity as to whether Wayne is staying or going we’ll see later on,” Allardyce said.
“I don’t get involved in transfers but there seems to be an interest from DC United. Only when I speak to him today I’ll find out where the situation lies. I’m comfortable with any player who wants to leave but let’s get this clear, Wayne Rooney hasn’t asked to leave.”
Guardian staff Can't cope – one day to go til Cov vs Notts. Considering how yo-yo we've been it's incredible we've waited 22 years for another play off bash (not easy watching, especially seeing club legend Mark Stallard in other colours): they used to go well under Warnock, but I can't see us doing it this time having been well off the boil since Christmas.
But, Coventry seem to have goals in them at either end, so could be a pair of thrillers for the neutrals – sorry Exeter and Lincoln but shame it's not at Wembley (no offense to you, just wish this was out the way!)
Yes, this League Two play-off is going to be huge. These two were actually playing top-flight football against one another in 1991-92 – now they battle for a place in the third tier and it could be the start of a long way back ...
Potential bad news for Manchester United?
Jose Mourinho has said that Romelu Lukaku might only be fit enough for a place on the bench when Manchester United face Chelsea in the FA Cup final next Saturday.
Lukaku has missed United’s last two matches after suffering an ankle injury against Arsenal last month and he will be absent again when they host Watford in their final Premier League match tomorrow. The striker is recovering in Belgium and Mourinho will be desperate to have him available against Chelsea after seeing his team follow last week’s 1-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion with an unimpressive 0-0 draw with West Ham on Thursday night.
“We hope he can play the final,” Mourinho said. “He is in Belgium having his treatment with communication between the Belgian doctors and our medical department. We are just waiting to see if it is possible for him to be involved in the final. If not starting, at least on the bench.”
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A memorial service will be held in City Park today at 11am to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Bradford City AFC fire disaster at Valley Parade and remember the 56 people who died in the disaster in 1985. pic.twitter.com/cVPWnH09JJ
— Bradford Council (@bradfordmdc) May 11, 2018
A very sad anniversary today, and one that it’s important we all take time to remember.
And we are, lest any of us forget, in large part here to look ahead to Super Survival Showdown Sunday – so here are the things you should be salivating at. Throw some more my way!
One big early bit of transfer news – or potential transfer news – to bring you. Jamie Jackson has word that Manchester United would like to sign Ajax’s bright young buck Justin Kluivert, who is of course the son of Patrick. Kluivert’s agent, you will read here, is one Mino Raiola – so I’ve no doubt this one will go off without a single glitch ...
Lots of managers due to hold court in the next few hours. Sam Allardyce takes to the pulpit up at Finch Farm around about now, I believe – we have Andy Hunter up there, and there will doubtless be plenty of questions asked about Wayne Rooney’s future. And probably Big Sam’s own, too.
Hello world
It’s Friday – but not just any Friday. It’s the final Friday of the Premier League season and if you thought we’d be on the beach without a care in the world then ... well ... give it a few days. Up and down the country there are managers giving pre-match press conferences for the final time this season, making wry comments about not-having-to-see-you-lot-again-for-a-while and perhaps – given the lack of obvious dramatic tension around most of Sunday’s games – kicking back and offering us a few more reflective bits, too.
And there’s much more going on. The play-offs are in full swing – did you see Jon Nolan’s brilliant winner for Shrewsbury at Charlton last night? – so there’s plenty to look ahead to on that front. Derby and Fulham face off tonight in the Championship. I think a couple of preliminary World Cup squads are being announced today too – Russia’s is due and Iceland, I’m told, will name their final 23. Stay tuned for those!
We’ve got a few hours for all this so let’s also, you know, chat. What have you liked the most about this season? What haven’t you enjoyed? Could the relegation and top-four fights still produce an implausible twist or two? Can someone explain to me in a concise sentence what exactly Fortnite is? Does food really taste better when it’s eaten outdoors?
Drop me a line on the email and Twitter addresses above. Let’s get this Friday started!
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Yeah, of course Pochettino is leaving Spurs. He's sick of the witch's curse and what Jonathan Wilson described as the 'teleological dread' that exists at the club.
Or maybe he's looking forward to managing Tottenham Hotspur in next season's Champions League. Who knows?
Enjoy the Europa League, Nick Ames! You tedious Woolwich shill.