Issue 35 - Stopped Pottering About

Potter’s gone before the meme even cooled. Nuno’s back before anyone had time to blink. The Crisis Baton has changed hands, the pressure rankings have been reshuffled, and the Premier League is serving chaos on tap. Issue 35. Go.

Nuno In You Go

Friday afternoon and you are making a joke about the face swap meme that was doing the rounds on social media.

Saturday morning and you are the joke.

Saturday afternoon and your replacement has already been found.

A rather whirlwind 24 hours for Graham Potter as the man who was touted as a potential England manager has now been touted as a potential managerial bust.

Why did West Ham act so fast in installing Nuno Espirito Santo? The simple fact is that Wolves could have just as easily pressed their own exit button and rid of Vitor Pereira. It likely came down to who get hold of agent Jorge Mendes first.

The underlying fact is that they were tired of the negative PR that the Potter meme was generating for the club.

The ‘super agent’ pulling the strings and making sure his man was quickly back in Premier League work. Whether the same can be said for Graham Potter remains to be seen. Just where will he end up next.

Considering he waited so long when it came to biding his time, West Ham was meant to be the ‘right move’. Now the former Brighton, Chelsea and Hammers boss may have to look down the ladder in order for a new outpost.

There is no doubt his stock has lessened after the East London debacle. However, that stock is just about valuable enough to regroup in the Championship. All is not well at Birmingham City and if Potter is to get back in to management, he will need to get back in quickly.

Ten Takeaways

A look at the main stories from last weekend’s Premier League action. Get yourself some Tuesday night takeaway. (Although it will probably be Wednesday morning breakfast by the time you read this)

Brentford vs Manchester United

I am going to have to start holding my hands and say maybe, just maybe I got it wrong about Brentford and manager Keith Andrews. Admittedly it is not a sensational start to the campaign but it is certainly better than I (and others) would have expected it to be.

A campaign that saw them cause further misery for Manchester United at the weekend and just when you think the Red Devils are starting to generate the slightest bit of momentum is the pause button pressed again. At what point do they press reset on Ruben Amorim?

But regardless of the reset button. It is time. Manchester United are now in possession of the ‘Crisis Baton’ - I tried to fight it because I felt it too easy, now they are in the trenches and that bloke is no closer to getting his haircut.

Chelsea vs Brighton

Chelsea followed up defeat to Manchester United with a home defeat to Brighton and although things looked rather comfortable by the time Enzo Fernandez scored the opening goal of the game, the Blues were on hand to self destruct at Stamford Bridge.

Danny Welbeck continues to defeat father time, Brighton’s ability to create talented players that you have never heard of continue. A fantastic win for the Seagulls, although do not be surprised if Chelsea end up buying another trio of their players because of it.

Crystal Palace vs Liverpool

Crystal Palace continue to have Liverpool’s number at the start of the season. The number was 97 on Saturday after Eddie Nketiah’s late winner continued the Eagles’ unbeaten start to the campaign and also put an end to the defending champions’ 100% league record.

Arne Slot’s men were second best when it came to aerial duels. Truth be told, they were second best in many areas of the pitch. Were it not for Allison, the game could have been lost much earlier. Were it not for events the day after, it could have been damage limitation.

Leeds vs Bournemouth

Leeds’ start to the season should not go unnoticed. Six games in, eight points on the board. A far better average than expected and an average that would be good enough to beat the drop if extended over 38 games. However, one point should have be three on Saturday.

Seconds away from getting the better of Bournemouth in a game when it looked like Sean Longstaff had bagged an impressive winner for the hosts. Not to be come full time but the Cherries not calling time on their unbeaten run - a run that now stands at five.

Manchester City vs Burnley

The slightest bit of jeopardy was on show at the Etihad when Burnley found themselves level against Manchester City. Unfortunately for Scott Parker’s men, Jaidon Anthony’s equaliser only seemed to wake the beast - the beast better known as Erling Haaland.

A 5-1 defeat was perhaps a little harsh on Burnley but a win of this magnitude is also City’s bread and butter. The Clarets find themselves in the bottom three and have conceded 13 goals in six games - their defence looks to be their root problem at present.

Nottingham Forest vs Sunderland

Nottingham Forest are still yet to find a first win under Ange Postecoglou. Regardless of manager, the City Ground outfit have not won since the opening weekend of the season when they made light work of Brentford. Maybe a case of buyers remorse already?

As for Sunderland, there is no remorse when it comes to their fantastic start to the Premier League season. Ending the weekend fifth in the table is far greater than anyone could have anticipated, how important has the signing of Granit Xhaka been? Very.

Tottenham vs Wolves

Paging Dr Tottenham. Spursy. Call it what you want, it was always going to happen. Wolves arrive in North London without a point to their name and sitting bottom of the table. Wolves come away with a point that arguably should have been all three.

Heartbreak for Vitor Pereira’s men, slight salvation for Thomas Frank’s. Joao Palhinha getting some stick for his over the top celebration - one that saw his top come off. Had Spurs not drawn their last two games, they would be joint top of the table right now.

Aston Villa vs Fulham

Aston Villa pick up their first win of the Premier League to build off European success and maybe the tanker that was cast adrift in the opening few weeks is starting to turn around - albeit at a rather slow pace. For the record, I am not refering to Ollie Watkins as the tanker.

Fulham’s Raul Jimenez opened the scoring and then went off injured soon after. A lack of replacements hampered the Cottagers and once Villa find themselves back in the game, then there only looked like being one winner. Now Unai Emery’s men need to do this more often.

Crisis Baton Removed

Newcastle vs Arsenal

A slight feeling of deja vu when it came to Newcastle’s loss to Arsenal on Sunday. Twice now they have conceded a winning goal in the dying seconds at St James Park. Liverpool earlier in the season. The Gunners firiing themselves to a massive victory on Sunday.

Plenty for Eddie Howe to work on. Plenty for Mikel Arteta to celebrate and not only did Arsenal snatch a victory from the jaws of a draw, they also reduced the gap at the top to two points. A much easier set of fixtures to follow, could they be top this time next month?

Everton vs West Ham

Large amounts of frustration for Everton on Monday night. Not only for the chances that were spurned but also because of Jarrod Bowen’s equaliser for West Ham. The Toffees had the bulk of the play but found themselves in a sticky situation midway through the second half.

West Ham’s first game under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo gives them their first point. A team and a fanbase that looked lost under Graham Potter, maybe they can now start to look up the table rather than nervously looking at the bottom three behind them.

Premier League Managers Under Pressure Rankings #PLMUP

Now that Graham Potter has been booted out of West Ham, it is time to update the rankings and the man at the top might SHOCK you.

Because the man I am placing at the top of the #PLMUP rankings is Ange Postecoglou.

Now for those who are relatively new in your squad membership, these rankings are somewhat arbitrary but the most important thing is that they do not necessarily correlate with the next manager to get the sack.

Nottingham Forest yet to earn a win of any kind under Big Ange. They go to Newcastle next with a rather erratic big Greek owner. Truth be told, I would not want to be the former Celtic and Tottenham manager at the moment.

Current #PLMUP Rankings

1. Ange Postecoglou

2. Ruben Amorim - Surely this is now just a case of waiting for the payoff to be a lot less after spending 12 months in charge.

3. Enzo Maresca - even more so if Chelsea record a third successive league defeat at the weekend.

The Filter Five

Five breakfast football options for you to choose from

Ciao San Siro

AC Milan and Inter are to buy their current San Siro home only to then tear it down. The iconic football stadium has been in operation since 1926 and when it celebrates its 100th birthday, the bulldozers will be sent in.

The plan is to once again share the plot but this time turn into a structure that will cost £1.2bn to construct. A sad day for football purists who remember the iconic stadium but if there is one thing that Italian teams lack is world-class stadia. You cannot halt progress at the end of the day.

Hearts Are Pumping

Boom Boom Boom, Tony Bloom is in the room (or something like that). Much was made when the Brighton owner made a major investment in Hearts over the summer. Much has been made to their start to the season under new manager Derek McInnes.

Because as the blue half of Glasgow is sharpening the pitchforks for Russell Martin and the green and white half want rid of the current board, it is Hearts who currently find themselves top of the table. Could the 40+ year duopoly finally be broken in May?

A lot of people are hoping this is the case and if you whisper it very quietly maybe even Celtic and Rangers fans know that deep down this would actually be a very good thing for the league as a whole.

Mickey Mouse Production

Disney+ has revealed the production plans for its Women’s Champions League coverage. It’s key sports brand ESPN is producing its coverage, with the broadcasts to come under the ESPN brand on the Disney platform.

Great news if you are planning on watching the tournament this season but once again it means a further stretch of your wallet as another subscription is required. Admittedly, you may already have the platform for non sporting reasons but regardless, the football broadcasting pie finds itself sliced further.

Morecambe Not Wise (Again)

Much was made of Morecambe’s threat to existence over the summer and as we know, the saga finally reached a positive conclusion. However, the afterglow that came with the sale to Panjab Warriors is already starting to fade.

Especially as the Shrimpers find themselves bottom of the National League table and also found themselves 4-0 down at home to Gateshead. That’s bad enough, even more so when it happens in the first 12 minutes of the game.

Let Them Score

The EFL have decided that Blackburn must replay their abandoned league clash with Ipswich at Ewood Park in full. A harsh decision for Rovers considering they were a man and a goal better off with 10 minutes remaining.

At worst, they hoped that the game would be played to a finish. However, that is not the case and with Valerien Ismael now demanding that Ipswich let his players score an uncontested goal during the replay, it will be interesting to see if the Tractor Boys agree.

Admin

Right, that’s the end of issue 35 as word continues to spread around the football world.

If you liked issue 35, tell a friend and forward it on. If you didn’t like issue 35 please tell me why.

We are edging towards 60 subs as the momentum continues throughout this early part of the season, a big thanks to all those that have joined the squad in the past few days.

Send your thoughts in, not only of the newsletter but of the game itself. It’s all about building a community you see.

[email protected]

Issue 36 will be out on Tuesday October 3rd

Thanks for reading

Dan