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RUUD AWAKENING
Back in early November, Manchester United had sacked Erik ten Hag but were waiting for his permanent replacement, Ruben Amorim, to fly in from Portugal. In stepped Ruud van Nistelrooy, a club legend with a promising managerial pedigree, to deliver some interim magic. It worked surprisingly well: while Amorim was clearing his desk at Sporting, Van Nistelrooy went unbeaten in four home games across three competitions. In a further twist, Ruud’s reward for bringing a few feelgood vibes to the husk of Old Trafford was a one-way ticket through Carrington’s overcrowded door marked Do One.
An important caveat for Ruud’s unbeaten run is that half of the games were against Leicester, who were beaten 5-2 in Milk Cup by United and 3-0 in the Premier League. It contributed to the departure of Steve Cooper, who had kept the Foxes above water but turned fans off with his conservative football and whiff of Nottingham Forest. But who to replace him? Perhaps a dashing Dutchman seen wandering towards Manchester airport. If Van Nistelrooy could beat this Leicester side so comprehensively, not once but twice, he must be good.
Leicester’s new manager started off well with four points from two home games, but a trip to Newcastle in mid-December delivered a 4-0 defeat. That began a run of seven straight league losses, home fans quickly turning on Po’ Ruud as Leicester crashed into the bottom three. The Foxes enjoyed a b@ntorious win at Tottenham but Bilal El Khannous’ winner that day (26 January) was their last Premier League goal. It’s now April, with Leicester since racking up eight scoreless league defeats in a row, conceding 21 goals in the process.
Newcastle started the slide towards the trapdoor and may have bolted it shut on Monday, winning 3-0 in a contest with all the intensity of a Sunday afternoon post-roast kickabout. Despite earning an early corner, Leicester still managed to go behind after two minutes, before Fabian Schär showed the Baller League a thing or two with a long-range crossbar assist for Jacob Murphy, who benefited as the entire home defence simply stood and watched on.
So, while Amorim gets a natty retro hoodie to wear on the touchline (Big Sir Jim knocking 20% off as a goodwill gesture) and a soft-rock inspired terrace chant, all Po’ Ruud has are unwanted records – the longest run of league defeats without scoring since 1977, zero home league goals in five months. After Monday’s mismatch, Van Nistelrooy appeared ready to walk before, like Ivan Juric at Southampton, he is pushed out of the exit door when relegation is confirmed. “The most important thing is the club and these players,” Ruud muttered when asked about his future, before zipping up a holdall and firing up the online check-in app.
Whether he is still there or not, Leicester will surely already be down by 3 May when they face Southampton at home – a chance for both sets of owners to stand up and take accountability for dreadful seasons, which Football Daily is confident they’ll take. Still, with the gulf between England’s top two divisions only growing, don’t be surprised if both teams are cruising back towards the Premier League in a year’s time, having failed to learn a single thing.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Simon Burnton will helm our piping hot coverage of Belgium 1-2 England in the Women’s Nations League, with kick-off from 7.30pm (all times BST). Oh, and you might have heard that there’s also Bigger Cup tonight. Rob Smyth is in position for Arsenal 1-3 Real Madrid, while Niall McVeigh will take on Bayern 1-1 Internazionale, with both kick-offs at 8pm.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
I was coaching from 18-19 years old and nobody knew. I did things so under the radar that people at the FA didn’t even know” – Jo Potter, Rangers Women’s head coach and former England international, talks to Sophie Downey about her own development, the need for Scotland to do well and winning silverware in the latest edition of Moving the Goalposts.
Regarding yesterday’s news that Brazilian authorities now deem standing on a ball to be a yellow card offence, it just shows how ahead of the game Uefa were. Wayne Rooney famously got a red card for this in 2006. But then he did stand on two of them at once” – Derek McGee.
I was reading the Leicester v Newcastle live blog when I thought of a joke. May I test it with your readers? I figure they, I mean we, are well used to dodgy attempts at comedy. The Newcastle and Leicester managers walk into a bar, leaving the door open behind them. The bartender looks up and says ‘Howe, Ruud!’” – Peter Oh.
Martin Ødegaard needs to be aware of an imposter on the Arsenal bench who sounds a bit like him (yesterday’s Football Daily). I had to press and hold the O on my iPhone to get that special Norwegian Ø you know” – Brian Wealthall (and 1,056 others).
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Peter Oh, who wins a copy of Groundhopper, by Pitch Publishing. Visit their bookshop here. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
RECOMMENDED LOOKING
Fan protests, football influencers and topless Glazers: yep, it’s David Squires.
FARMY ARMY
We’ve all heard about Farmer’s Leagues, but how about a farmer club? In an apparent rebrand of the term ‘feeder club’, new Norwegian top-flight side Bryne FK are embracing their agricultural roots. We reported last week that Bryne’s goalkeeper, Jan De Boer, received four trays of locally-sourced eggs as his player of the match award in their first home game and it has now emerged the 24-year-old has been using his prize to cook a Dutch omelette for his Norwegian teammates (the remaining eggs were given to a teammate who had lent him his car to pick up his girlfriend from the airport).
Best known as the home of Erling Haaland’s first club, Bryne has a population of around 13,000, surrounded by farmland and situated 30 minutes away from Stavanger, Norway’s third-largest city. “Our goal is to forge a farmers’ identity and instil pride in both the club and the region,” roared Bryne’s marketing suit Bjørn Hagerup Røken. “Our supporters’ union has always celebrated our agricultural roots in their chants, so honouring our heritage holds deep significance for us.” VIP tickets at home games at their 5,000-capacity stadium include a plush sofa hoisted up by tractors and grain silos, used to store winter feed for livestock, which have been rebuilt with platforms for VAR cameras, while one side of the stadium is a large open square where supporters can drive in and park their tractors to watch the game.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Bereaved families have urged ministers to introduce the Hillsborough law in full, according to a new report, as Labour admitted that a promise to bring legislation to parliament by the 36th anniversary of the disaster would be broken.
A man has been charged with assault for allegedly slapping Jack Grealish at Old Trafford after last weekend’s Manchester derby.
Lucas Paquetá’s career remains in limbo. The West Ham attacking midfielder’s hearing over spot-fixing charges has been adjourned and will not resume until June.
Manchester United have their eye on a new shiny toy: Ipswich’s Liam Delap, and he’ll cost around £40m.
According to Sarina Wiegman, England want revenge … on themselves. She wants her side to show how much they’ve improved over the last year and a half when they take on Belgium in Leuven later.
Bukayo Saka feels “fresh mentally” after a period on the sidelines and is ready for Arsenal’s crack at Bigger Cup glory against Real Madrid.
And Thibaut Courtois has revealed Madrid’s wariness of the Gunners’ lethal weapon: set-piece havoc.
STILL WANT MORE?
It’s taken us 69,325 games to get here, but the quarter-finals of Bigger Cup are finally upon us. Ben McAleer tells how they’re going to go.
Born in Chile, shaped by poverty and hard graft, prolific inside forward George Robledo still holds a scoring record unbroken to this day. Spencer Vignes profiles the Newcastle great.
“I am also a child of Italian football. My school was called AC Milan,” writes Football Daily’s colleague, Philipp Lahm. But we’ve got yet harangued him by the water-cooler, so click here to learn why he thinks Serie A needs a reboot.
Real Madrid’s fabled ability to find a way to win has become a self-fulfilling prophesy, but can they really get away with it again? Sid Lowe considers.
And Fifa has used USA USA USA soccer as a cash cow, says Leander Schaerlaeckens, and given back little in return.
MEMORY LANE
21 February 2006: Arsenal beat Real Madrid 1-0 on aggregate in the only Champions League knockout tie between the clubs before this evening’s. Entertainment’s Thomas Gravesen played for Madrid in the first leg at the Bernabéu. Heady days, indeed.
A TERRIBLY TIMED CHAT
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