Issue 49 - An International Affair

You see international football is not all that bad. My ode to Sunday. A look at the hirings in the Championship and enough news to keep you going in the last official day of November’s hiatus. Full steam ahead for the festive period after this. Issue 49. Go.

Sick As A…

Although international football is often maligned, sometimes it reminds you of just how special the concept is.

The best of one nation going up against the best another. National pride on the line, the hope of reaching a major international tournament the common goal.

While it was Troy Parrot’s winning goal in Budapest that reminded everyone just what this theatre of footballing war is all about. Bedlam in the Hungarian capital after the Boys In Green came from 2-1 down to snatch a World Cup play-off place in the dying seconds.

Without the third strike from the former Tottenham forward, it would be Hungary who themselves earned a second opportunity to make it to North America. Now though the likes of Dominik Szoboszlai will be watching the tournament at home.

More To Ireland Than This

An incredible end to the week for the Republic, after an incredible midweek as well. Their win over Portugal setting up the do or die clash against Hungary, Troy Parrott scoring five international goals in just 180 minutes of football.

All to play for in Group F as four eventually went into two.

Not the same level of jeopardy in Group K as England eventually picked up an eighth win from eight qualifiers and finished their own schedule with a perfect tally of 24 points to their name.

Which highlights the differences in what makes international football or any kind of football for that matter so important. The one ingredient that makes it worth watching. The ingrdient called jeopardy.

None of it as Thomas Tuchel has already masterminded England’s path to North America.

Plenty of it as Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson had to run the gauntlet against Portugal and Hungary.

Six points required, six points collected. The weight of a nation on his and his players shoulders.

Social media accounts will post lazy comments such as “No more breaks until March” and then a clip of celebrations.

Those same accounts will be the first to count down the days to the World Cup once 2025 becomes 2026.

Admittedly, international football is far from perfect. We all know that. It would be an insult to anyone if we pretended it was not but when it clicks, boy when it clicks, it really is something special.

The scenes in Budapest were after Ireland kept their qualification hopes alive.

Imagine the scenes if they finally secure qualification in March.

Those scenes could be even bigger than the 2026 edition of St Patricks Day itself.

Value Of Silva

In the previous issue of the Real Football Filter, I touched on which Premier League managers need a win as soon as we return to the bread and butter of domestic action - butter that will be spread as soon as this weekend.

Daniel Farke in the firing line after a run of indifferent results at Leeds and perhaps even more so because of events at Craven Cottage. Marco Silva offered a new contract for Fulham, this means one of two things.

1. The Khan family still have plenty of confidence in the former Watford and Everton manager and this is a reward for keeping Fulham up last season by some distance.

2. The true reward comes in the shape of a hefty payout if the Khan family decide they need to change things at Craven Cottage.

You get the feeling that right now the reasoning is option 1. Of course, results could really go against Fulham and this in turn speeds up option 2 but ultimately, it seems that the managerial picture is calm by the banks of the River Thames.

Which means if things are calm at Fulham, that shuts down the rumour mill in that pocket of West London but it also shines an even greater spotlight on what is going on in West Yorkshire.

Leeds play host to Aston Villa on Sunday and in fairness to Daniel Farke’s men, they have picked up eight of their 11 league points on home soil. At the same time, the gap between themselves and the bottom three is shrinking by the week.

Four points from the last 18 in the top tier makes for nervous reading if you are Leeds fan. Should that extend to four from 21, Daniel Farke may start to get rather nervous at the start of next week.

New Championship Managers

More managerial chat now but this time we drop into England’s second tier as a trio of clubs have been in talks for new appointments and it must be said, these talks have had a varied level of success.

Norwich have been the most successful out of themselves, Middlesbrough and Swansea Admittedly, things at Carrow Road have been far from successful and this was the reason Liam Manning was recently shown the exit door in East Anglia.

Manning out and Philippe Clement in. The former Rangers boss seemingly liking his time in the United Kingdom that he now pitches up in the East of England. He takes over with the Canaries sitting second bottom, sandwiched between the two Sheffield clubs.

Whether he will have his newly inherited supporters singing his name depends on if he can lead Norwich out of the drop zone. The Championship can be an unforgiving league at the best of times, it does not matter where you have coached in the past.

Words that may also be heeded by Middlesbrough potential new manager, although at one stage he was also very close to becoming the new Swansea manager.

A tug of war for the services of Swedish manager Kim Hellberg looked like it was going to be won the South Wales outfit. Instead, Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson managed to swoop in and turn the Hammarby boss’ head.

No real surprise when you consider that the Riverside Stadium outfit sit second while their divisional counterparts sit 18th by comparison.

Bring Him Back

Due to the fast moving situation at the Riverside Stadium, it could be that another former Rangers manager soon becomes the Swansea manager.

He was also in talks for the Norwich job, he has also already been Swansea boss. If you have lost track of this, I am talking about Russell Martin.

A forgettable stint at Ibrox or perhaps memorable for just how bad it was, Martin currently tops the bookmaker odds for a Swansea return at 2/1.

Has his stock been damaged to the point where nobody wants to work with him?

The odds would suggest not. Maybe a quick return into the frying pan of management may be the best tonic for a man who earned promotion to the Premier League with Southampton.

If this is to be the case, he will have to make sure he does not oversee Swansea’s relegation out of the Championship.

They do say never go back and if the Swansea board take that advice than they could also take a look at Gary O’Neil. Whether he is waiting for a Premier League job though and nothing else, we will have to see.

The Filter Five

Five sprints up the touchline to keep you warm

Fallen Angel Gabriel

Although my ode to international football may hopefully resonate with readers, I doubt Arsenal boss Mikel Areta will be singing its praises anytime soon.

Injuries to Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori already on the physio’s to do list before full-back Jurrien Timber joined them in the treatment room during the Netherlands' 4-0 thrashing of Lithuania on Monday.

In terms of Gabriel, a return is not expected until January. Not when you need with a North London derby on Sunday’s horizon. The Gunners already held up by Sunderland last weekend, is another wheel falling off their title chariot?

New Camp Nou

Barcelona’s enforced stadium exile will be coming to an end this weekend as they return to the Camp Nou. Their home which is currently undergoing a mass redevelopment will only have a capacity of 45,401 for the visit of Athletic Bilbao at the weekend.

The cheapest ticket in the ground will be €199 — Gol Sur (2nd tier, upper). Ouch.

Earps In Ears

Sarina Wiegman does not think she "would have done things differently" despite criticism from Mary Earps about the England manager's choice of starting goalkeeper at Euro 2025.

Nor should she have. She oversaw victory at Euro 2025. Justification if ever it was needed.

Paging DR Congo

After getting the better of Cameroon last weekend, DR Congo have booked their place at the Intercontinental Play-Offs. A shootout win on Sunday at the expense of Nigeria means that they now join Iraq, Bolivia, New Caledonia and two Concacaf nations in the final phase of qualifiers.

I honestly cannot keep up with all this.

For example:

The thing I used to like about the World Cup qualifiers (UEFA), is that there was a general logic to it.

Either top two go through or 1 auto and 2nd into a play off.

Now you have all these different paths to qualification, you need a spreadsheet just to track who potentially goes where.

Go For Semenyo

January is not the most enthralling of transfer windows but there is still the ability for big business to be conducted. Business that could come in the form of Antoine Semenyo’s departure from Bournemouth.

The Ghanaian is reported to have a £65m release clause attached to him and it could be activated at the start of next year. In an additional twist, the clause then lessens in value in the summer.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham all reportedly interested. The latter the keenest to pull the trigger but arguably the hardest destination to convince Semenyo to pitch up.

Does this create a who blinks first scenario between Liverpool and Arsenal in the summer?

Admin

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