Month: February 2017

2017 started with a bang! The FA Cup Third Round; still one of the most anticipated weekends in the English footballing calendar saw the big boys of the Premier League and Championship enter the fray. Teams also had the opportunity to strengthen their sides with the transfer window being open and while some strengthened, others didn’t and some had their squads ravaged; here’s…

10 developments in football: January 2017

Chelsea’s unbeaten run in the Premier League ended at unlucky 13; 1 short of matching Arsenal’s record of 14 set in 2002 following a 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane and a tremendous individual performance by Dele Alli.

Football was saddened by the death of former England Manager Graham Taylor at the age of 72.

After the Ballon d’Or being awarded in December, FIFA held their own awards in January with Cristiano Ronaldo predictably winning the Best Player award.

Claudio Ranieri won the best coach of 2016 award after leading Leicester City
to that memorable Premier League title last season fending off competition
from the likes of Zinedine Zidane who
jumped into the Real Madrid hot seat mid-season and won the Champions League.

We now know who’ll be contesting the EFL Cup final; the first major piece of silverware in the English season; Southampton did fantastically well to defeat Liverpool both home and away to reach it and they will face Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United who did just enough to see off Hull City.

In my look ahead to 2017 post, I predicted there would be shocks in the FA Cup Third Round. My examples might have been well off but the shocks were there. Plymouth Argyle of League Two went to Anfield and held Liverpool to a 0-0 draw; non-league Lincoln City defeated Championship side Ipswich Town in their replay 1-0 thanks to a late Theo Robinson goal while Millwall of League One defeated Premier League Bournemouth 3-0!

The shocks kept on coming in the Fourth Round as Lincoln City were at it again, this time coming from behind to defeat Championship high-flyers Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 while Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers travelled to Anfield and defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the early kick-off and the next day, non-league Sutton United defeated Championship side Leeds United 1-0!

Surprisingly, Everton were the biggest spenders in the Premier League this January transfer window with a spend in excess of £33 million on the likes of Ademola Lookman and Morgan Schneidlerlein while one of the best deals had to be Gabriel Jesus joining Manchester City and hitting the ground running.

Ex-Liverpool, Real Madrid, Spanish International and current Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso announced his retirement from football; he retires at the end of the season.

Ten managers left their roles in January with the most high profile departure being the sacking of Mike Phelan at Hull City. The total of managerial casualties this season is now 34 (at the end of January) and the most recent of them Andy Edwards left League Two side Leyton Orient searching for their fourth manager of the season after he departed for a Youth Coaching role with the FA.

NUFC News: January

Former Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton re-joined Burnley after his adventures in Scotland with Rangers and proved himself on his second debut for Sean Dyche’s side by scoring the only goal of the game against Southampton. read more