Cultured Football #42
The days around the November international break always tend to be a deadly period for managers with clubs seeing it as the ideal moment to make a change; to bring in someone new ahead of the busy December schedule and, significantly, the January transfer window. For fans of those clubs, the change in management brings a rush of hope and excitement. Whether those decisions and emotions are misplaced or not we’ll come to know in the coming weeks and months.
What Football Means To Us: A British Asian Perspective
#Fans
The question of why there are so few British Asians in football has long been on the agenda, and rightly so. But there are success stories to talk about now too. In this extensive dive into both the good and the bad, Aadam Patel heard five of those stories and answers the question, what does football mean to us?
Reading Time: 15 minutes
Steven Gerrard, Aston Villa Need Each Other to Prove a Point
#ManagerProfile
The speed at which Aston Villa appointed Steven Gerrard as their new manager was surprising and not everyone is convinced that they made the right choice. Yet the attraction of this appointment is obvious as is Gerrard’s decision to leave Rangers for Villa Park. For both sides there is a bit of a gamble but both will hope that it will pay off.
Reading Time: 8 minutes
Inside Dinamo Zagreb’s Academy
#AcademyProfile
That of players leaving Barcelona’s academy at La Masia has become something of a trend over the past years. Often, however, they leave for English clubs, attracted by the prospect of eventually playing in the Premier League. When Dani Olmo chose to leave, however, his destination was Dinamo Zagreb. But, whilst it was an unusual decision, it was a well-reasoned one because the Croatian club has one of the most successful youth systems around.
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Why Manager Perception Is Having More Of An Influence
#FootballManagement
Football is a results business and the recent spate of manager dismissals proves that. Yet it is also becoming something of a branding business. It is, to an extent, why certain managers are quickly in new jobs whilst others struggle or have to take a big step backwards. It is all down to the power of perceptions and PR in football management.
Reading Time: 7 minutes
Huge Change At Liverpool
#InDepthAnalysis
Witnessing the sadness that in some instances bordered on despair among Liverpool fans at the announcement that their director of football Michael Edwards is going to leave the club at the end of the current season. Strange but understandable. Edwards has managed to bring together a team of stars – or, rather, players with the potential to become stars with Jurgen Klopp doing the rest – and done so within the financial constraints imposed by Liverpool’s owners. At least, Edwards has hand-picked his replacement and Julian Ward seems to have all that is needed to succeed. Going by this analysis, there’s plenty to be confident about this appointment.
Reading Time: 12 minutes
Last Week’s Most Read
#Relegation
For fans of bigger clubs, relegation is never something that they have to think about. Well, almost never. Because there have been a few instances where some of these clubs have been so poorly run that they end up falling down the leagues. Faced with that reality, life for fans of those clubs becomes ‘hell’.
Reading Time: 8 minutes