Issue 30 - Nuno Is Dumped

The international break is supposed to be the quiet part of the football calendar. A lull. A breather. Not this time.

The first Premier League manager has already been chopped. A familiar face is back in the dugout. City and the league have struck a deal no one can quite understand. And the transfer market refuses to stay shut.

Chaos doesn’t take days off. Issue 30. Go.

You’ll Never Sing That

As we are knee deep in the first international break of the season, time for a very quick hat tip from myself and also a thanks to you. As per the image below, this newsletter is in the top 40% in terms of open rates.

What does this really mean? Well, it is not necessarily the number of subscribers that any single newsletter has, it is is more a case of who actually opens what they received. Thanks to those who do read the Real Football Filter we have reached this accolade.

Keep opening, keep spreading the word and more importantly, keep it filtered.

Chopped At Forest

There we have it. The Premier League managerial axe has fallen for the first time this season and with Nuno Espirito Santo being given his marching orders at Nottingham Forest, owner Evangelos Maranakis has wasted no time in finding his replacement.

For an anouncement of this kind to break at 1am in the morning felt rather strange but then again Forest’s Greek owner is undoubtedly a man who likes to march to the beat of his own drum.

While it is Nuno that is marched out and with the rumblings of discontent feeling more tremor like in rhythm in the run up to the new campaign, there was always a sense of when rather than if the former Wolves boss would be marched out of the City Ground.

While although the displeasure has come to a head in the past couple of weeks, the first cracks in the Nuno/Maranakis relationship were there for all to see. Cracks that came in the form of a very visual and verbal bollocking minutes after a full time whistle.

The Video Nasty

Such a dressing down was no doubt embarrasing for Nuno and many a lesser person would have said “enough is enough, I am not being mugged off in front of a huge global televisual audience”.

However, the former Porto ‘keeper decided to keep his thoughts to himself and do nothing hasty in the final few weeks of the season - that in itself may have been the start of the problem as Forest’s form saw them slide out of the top five.

For all the talk of blind trusts and multi-club models it was Evangelos Marinakis who got his own house in order and the preparations were seemingly in place for Forest to be clear to play in the Champions League.

Of course, there was a major snag to the grand plan and that was only securing football via the Europa Conference League at first and then the almighty wrangle with UEFA and Crystal Palace that saw them boosted into the Europa League instead.

Whatever the other European competition the two-time European Cup winners were slotted in to, they were not being slotted into the Champions League and this was the next point of friction between owner and manager.

Hull and Edu

Friction that was not quite forceful enough to start a fire but then Edu came along with a box matches. The former Arsenal Sporting Director being installed as Global Sporting Director at Nottingham Forest - his addition was like trying to mix oil with water.

Nuno was from the Jorge Mendes stable of football agency. Edu part of the Kia Joorabchian fraternity. A clash of football idealogues that were never going to find common ground.

Was it Edu who did the scheming that led to Nuno’s ultimate downfall? The whispers say yes but Evangelos Maranakis is more than happy to take the heat and stand by the decision he makes.

A brutal sacking within the machiavellianism that is the Premier League and one that makes light change of Forest’s ascension up the table. Unfortunately for the club’s now former manager, that ascension was not quite quick enough.

Welcome Back Ange

No sooner has one Forest manager exited the City Ground has the next incumbent walked through the same front of house and just three months after being sacked as Tottenham manager, Ange Postecoglou is back in the Premier League.

A 17th place finish last season with Spurs but also leading the North London outfit to Europa League glory. The same components are there for Australian to make lightning strike twice.

The affiable Ange was quoted as saying ‘Season Three is always better Season Two’ and he might just be right.

Imagine this on Sky Atlantic or HBO:

The Ange:

Season 1: Setting The Plotlines
Season 2: Domestic Struggles/European Glory
Season 3: His Sacker Is Sacked, Ange New Home

The scriptwriters have pulled off quite the masterstroke just when they thought they were losing audiences. We’ve not even seen Season 3 play out to its conclusion, what other twists and turns could there be?

With 35 editions of this season’s soap opera still be written, it could be glory in Nottingham, it could be mixing it with some of Europe’s second tier all the way to Istanbul but it could end up being nothing at all.

More importantly, you have to wonder what lessons, if any have been learned after his tricky Tottenham tenure. Those principles caused disaster in the Premier League but those same principles created memories in Europe.

One could argue there was still enough talent in the Spurs squad to absorb such freefall from a great height. Would Forest have the same ability to land softly from a similar crash landing?

The devil will be in the detail but there is no doubt that Postecoglou will get a heroes welcome when he takes his Forest side to Tottenham later in the season but will he ended up being a hero in Nottingham or ran out of town by their big Greek owner?

Onana Moved On

Just when you think all the transfer talk was done, the Turkish Super Lig thankfully keeps the wheels turning and thankfully gives Andre Onana an exit out of Manchester United after such a hapless stint between the sticks.

How you go from Champions League finalist with Inter Milan to absolute laughing stock at the Theatre of Dreams is rather outstanding but then again, Old Trafford has been known to make a mockery of goalkeepers who are not at the top of their game.

Just think, they could have just given David de Gea a new contract at the time of expiration and saved a lot of expense and any embarrasment. Then again, the Glazers have never really been known for joined up thinking at Manchester United.

Andre Onana now calls Trabzonspor home for the rest of the season with a return back to Manchester looking unlikely when the campaign finishes and if he thinks United fans are hostile when a mistake is mode, he is in for a rude awakening if it happens in Turkey.

At the same time, United’s goalkeeping issues are far from over. Things could get a lot worse before they get any better.

Premier League Truce

Manchester City and the Premier League have reached a settlement in their dispute over the rules that govern commercial deals.

City have accepted the rules governing associated party transactions (APT) are valid and binding, with both parties agreeing to terminate legal proceedings.

I’ll be brutally honest, I have read this a couple of times now and I stil cannot make any sense of what has happened at the start of the week. Is it a truce between the two entities? Does it smooth things over for the 115 or more charges as well?

My limited understanding is that City are allowed their bumper sponsor deals as long as they keep quiet about what the Premier League attempted to. All well and good for the Etihad outfit but what does this mean for the other 19 teams in the division?

The Filter Five

Five quick hits to keep your feed ticking during the break

Welcome To Wrexham?

I’ve made much about Wrexham’s continual big spending this summer and although the English transfer window is closed until January, the ability to sign free agents is still available. With that opportunity a former Tottenham star could be next in line for a move.

The man in question is Dele Alli and with the former England international seeing his time at Serie A Como come to an end, rumours suggest he could make the move to the Championship outfit. Salvation or another step towards his soon retirement?

Nine Goal Thriller

Although the international break does not have the same level of drama as domestic football, it does have the opportunity to generate moments of madness from time to time. This time, it was Italy’s dramatic win over Israel on Monday.

Already stuttering in terms of the qualification hopes, Gennaro Gattuso’s men saw them 1-0 down before going 2-1 and 4-2 ahead in the game and at this stage, it did look as if the Euro 2020 winners had found their ignition spark.

That was until Israel scored two late goals to return the scoreboard back to parity at 4-4. A draw would have kept Israel above Italy in their qualification group but Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali had other ideas in injury time. A 5-4 away win. Pure utter madness.

A Hairy Punishment

Athletic Bilbao defender Yeray Alvarez has been given a 10-month ban for taking a banned substance found in a medicine used to prevent hair loss following his cancer treatment.

Seems rather harsh to me when you consider this is not something that could be performance enhancing in any way. UEFA have shown some form of clemency in backdating the punishment but where’s this level of energy when it comes to racism?

No Lewis-Skelly

Serbia face England tonight in World Cup qualification action and it has been announced that Arsenal defender Miles Lewis-Skelly has not been selected in Thomas Tuchel’s 23-man panel this evening.

Nothing to suggest this is due to poor attitude, more the young Gunner being the odd man out of a fully fit 24-man group. What it could mean though is the opportunity for Tottenham’s Djed Spence to feature and try to stake his claim for a World Cup call.

Not For Sale

Now that the dust has settled on the Daniel Levy departure, Tottenham’s CEO Vinai Venkatesham has reiterated the stance that was announced on Monday. A stance that says Spurs are not for sale.

The board of Tottenham Hotspur says its owner has "unequivocally rejected" two expressions of interest in the north London football club and that it is "not for sale". That may be the case for now, but will it be the case for ever? I am not as sure.

Admin

Right, that’s the end of issue 30 as word continues to spread around the football world.

If you liked issue 30, tell a friend and forward it on. If you didn’t like issue 30 don’t.

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Issue 31 will be out on Friday September 12th

Thanks for reading

Dan