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The advent of Sky in the early 1990s and its subsequent televised domination of English football saw the Premier League being branded as The Best League In The World, and until fairly recently this claim, though nothing more than a boastful marketing gimmick to draw in more subscribers, rang true nonetheless. For most of the last decade Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool formed the untouchable Big Four, the ultimate symbol of Premier League might. While Spain, Germany and Italy had their own heavyweights, they came in twos or threes at most; none of their respective leagues could boast a quartet of genuine powerhouses like England could.

The superiority of the English game in the early 21st Century was evident in continental competition. Although the rise of Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur and the decline of Liverpool towards the end of the 2000s led to the break-up of the Big Four, Premier League sides remained a major force in the Champions League. For seven out of eight seasons between the years of 2004 and 2012, at least one of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea appeared in the final of the tournament. In contrast, Barcelona – the only Spanish side to make the final during the same period – appeared three times, while Bayern Munich were the sole German representatives, losing two finals in 2010 and 2012.

However, in the years following Bayern’s loss to Chelsea in 2012, the balance of power in European football has shifted dramatically. The past two Champions League finals have either been all-German or all-Spanish affairs, reflecting the emergence of La Liga and Bundesliga as the two dominant leagues in world football. Bayern, Barca and Real are reigning supreme, and one could argue that Chelsea are the sole remaining member of the long-forgotten Big Four who can realistically challenge this triumvirate on the continental stage.

A swift rebranding was clearly needed then, and English football’s top flight changed from being The Best League In The World to the more ambiguous and less prestigious Most Entertaining League In The World. A subtle demotion of the league’s status it may have been, but the bigwigs at Sky were still content with their new title, as the final-day delirium of Manchester City’s title victory in 2012 and their compelling three-way jostle with Liverpool and Chelsea for the championship last season showed that the Premier League, though lagging behind its Spanish and German equivalents in terms of quality, was peerless in the entertainment stakes.

Judging by the opening months of the new campaign, however, the boffins in charge of selling the league to the millions of armchair supporters around the world may need to arrange another brainstorming session. The title race has been more of a one-team title stroll as Chelsea – undefeated in their first eleven games – look insurmountable. The ineptitude of Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal in challenging the Blues at the top of the table means that the climax of the season is shaping up to be one of the most predictable in recent years, and it will take a major and uncharacteristic cock-up from Jose Mourinho to allow their rivals back into contention.

The lack of competition for the championship in England is in stark contrast to the situation in Spain, where just seven points separate Celta Vigo in seventh and Real Madrid in first. Indeed, the Celestes have actually lost fewer games than the ten-times European Cup winners, and have conceded the same amount of goals. For drama and unpredictability, it seems that the go-to league is now the Spanish top flight, which leaves the Premier League desperately scrambling through the bargain bucket of superlatives for a suitable title. No longer The Best, nor even The Most Entertaining, it may have to settle for The Most Watched or The Most Popular, which is great news for television companies seeking revenue, but hardly an endorsement of the league’s quality or entertainment value.

Nevertheless, it’s not all doom and gloom for the top tier of English football. Far from it in fact, as ultimately, the Premier League’s identity crisis merely highlights the fluctuating nature of European football. Just as each league goes through its period of dominance – from the Eredivisie in the early 1970s to Serie A in the 1990s – so too do they endure a lull, as these aforementioned divisions are themselves experiencing presently. English football may very well be in the early stages of decline, but this is no reason to panic as such a phenomenon is natural in the game.

The Premier League must learn to accept that it can no longer currently be considered as neither The Best, nor perhaps The Most Entertaining. This is not to say, however, that these titles cannot be reclaimed in the future.

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What’s your opinion? Follow me on Twitter @GruffuddOwen

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It is still early days for Mick McCarthy at Ipswich but it has to be said, he has done an amazing job so far. In fact I believe that if he carries on grinding out results then he should be named as the manager of the season.

Of course this may seem a little over the top and drastic especially this early on but when you take a minute to actually look at the results that he has got, it makes some very impressive reading given the mess he inherited at the club.

As soon as the former Wolves boss took over most fans seemed to accept the fact that he would not be able to turn things around right away. Everyone was prepared to give McCarthy plenty of time before demanding good results and it was expected that he would not turn things around until January after buying some new players. However, McCarthy did not need this kind gesture of patience from the fans and he has already brought the team into form similar to that of teams in the play-off positions.

The Ipswich manager has been in charge for seven games now and he has picked up an impressive 13 points in that time. Most decent sides would consider a two point per game ratio pretty good, so the fact that McCarthy has nearly reached that right away is very impressive.

He has come to Ipswich when the club are at their lowest point in many years. Only eight teams have spent longer continuously in the top two divisions than Ipswich, which shows how much going down would mean to the Suffolk club. The atmosphere at Portman Road has gradually been drained by years of mid-table obscurity and teams full of mercenaries. McCarthy still took the job though and he has shown that no challenge is too big for him.

For me, the reason why these results have been so impressive is because the squad he inherited was a complete disaster. Half the team are only on short-term deals and the other half are massively lacking in confidence. I dread to think what McCarthy must have been thinking when he turned up to his first training session with the Tractor Boys, he probably did not even know where to start.

However, it looks like he has made some sort of impact on the training pitch. McCarthy is clearly getting the best out of some players that were previously under-performing because in terms of personnel he has not been able to drastically change things.

It could be a honeymoon effect that has brought about these good results or it could just be good man management and tactical awareness. I would like to say that it is the latter but at the moment Ipswich are completely unpredictable and you never know which team will turn up in the future.

Of course there have been some very bad results under McCarthy when the team were thrashed by Crystal Palace and Leicester but these were games against good sides that took full advantage of a team lacking in confidence. Results like these two were pretty hard to avoid and McCarthy’s main aim was always going to be trying to grind out results against the weaker teams.

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Like I say, the positive results could all just be down to a honeymoon effect or it could be great management from the new boss. It is too early to tell for sure but in my eyes if McCarthy keeps on getting good results then he should be named as manager of the season.

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Bringing a new goalkeeper to Elland Road is surely a priority for new Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa ahead of the 2018-19 campaign.

Felix Wiedwald has left the club to return to Germany, and a number of stoppers – including Manchester City’s Angus Gunn and Birmingham City’s David Stockdale – have been linked with a move to Leeds in this summer’s transfer window.

A deal for Stockdale looks difficult, however, and an alternative has been discussed by a selection of Leeds fans on social media.

Indeed, Boaz Myhill was released from West Bromwich Albion last week, and the former Wales international will therefore be available on a free transfer this summer.

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Myhill has accumulated plenty of Premier League experience during his professional career, but only made two appearances for West Brom last term.

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The Leeds supporters have been discussing a potential deal for the 35-year-old on social media, and it would be fair to say that they are struggling to come to an agreement.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

Arsenal fans think their club has sunk as low as it possibly can, Newcastle fans beg to differ.

The Gunners lost 3-0 to Manchester City on Thursday night for the second time in a week, adding Premier League misery to their Carabao Cup heartache.

Bernardo Silva, David Silva and Leroy Sane all scored wonderful goals for the visitors, but what was most noticeable was the lack of Arsenal fans in the ground. The weather conditions may have played a role, but the Manchester City fans that packed out the away section might dispute that fact.

Following another lifeless performance from Arsene Wenger’s team, several Gunners took to twitter, claiming “it’s tough to be a Gooner”, despite the North London club lifting the FA Cup three times in the last four years.

Newcastle fans were less than impressed with that attitude – the Tyneside club hasn’t won a major honour since 1955. Some of them took to twitter to comment on Arsenal’s supposed misery.

Warning – sarcasm ahead…

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With last night’s 1-0 loss at the hands of Stoke, the pressure on Alan Pardew has once again been ramped up. The Newcastle chief has managed just a handful of wins (five to be precise) in 2014, which is a record that has irked supporters on Tyneside who have been calling for change for some time.

Newcastle now sit at the foot of the table on level points with Burnley – favourites for relegation – after six fixtures, and the poll at the end of last season which revealed that 86% of ‘Toon’ followers wanted Pardew sacked would appear to be increasing in numbers by the week.

But despite receiving the dreaded vote of confidence today, who’s out there to replace the controversy-riddled gaffer? Well we have FIVE candidates right here…

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CLICK ON PARDEW TO SEE WHO COULD REPLACE HIM

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It could be worse Nando, you could be one of these guys…

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David Moyes

The pick of the bunch would appear to be Moyes. The Scot’s wonderful work at Everton seems to have been all but forgotten after a disastrous season at Manchester United, but there’s no doubting that he has the ability and track record for success in English football. A move to Newcastle would likely appeal to Moyes, who will be eager to repair his reputation at a big club and prove to the Red Devils’ hierarchy that he was worthy of the “Chosen One’ tag.

The Magpies would benefit from his experience, while Mike Ashley will surely be attracted to the work his did on a shoestring budget at Everton.

Tony Pulis

The shock of the summer managerial merry-go-round was Pulis’ decision to leave Crystal Palace. His heroics last season at Selhurst Park saw the former Stoke boss drag the Eagles back from what looked to be certain relegation after Ian Holloway’s awful start to the campaign, which gained him the Premier League manager of the year award. A dispute about transfer funds is understood to have been the major factor in his decision to leave south London, and Newcastle could offer him a new home.

Pulis may have a reputation for agricultural football, but his time at Palace was one in which he brought in some flair to go with his often direct approach. A good record at the bottom end of the table could help to keep the Tynesides away from the drop zone.

Tim Sherwood

Despite possessing a decent record as Spurs manager over the back end of last season, Sherwood was unceremoniously dumped by the Londoners shortly after the last ball of the campaign was kicked. His outspoken nature and penchant for the gilet may have made him a laughing stock, but he did get the best from the divisive Emmanuel Adebayor while handing young players their debuts on the way to getting big results.

There are worse options out there for Newcastle.

Neil Lennon

After three back-to-back Scottish titles, Lennon opted to leave Celtic over the summer in search of work south of the border. Despite his experience and talents, the Northern Irishman has, as of yet, been unable to get himself a big job, but his name is in the mix for the Newcastle hot seat. He may be unproven in the Premier League, but the former Bhoys midfielder has bags of passion and plenty of know-how, which could make him a big hit at St James’ Park.

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Like Moyes, Lennon has operated on low budgets in the past while bringing success, so his methods may appeal to Mike Ashley.

Steve Bruce

There may be plenty of Sunderland baggage with Bruce, but the former Manchester United defender has been mooted as a favourite to patrol the touchline at St James’. Bruce is an underrated manager in the Premier League, with his achievements at clubs such as Wigan, Birmingham and now Hull City having never been enough to land him a job at a club with top six aspirations.

The 53-year-old has already confessed that he would have liked the Newcastle role earlier in his career, and his North East roots could make him a favourite among Magpies supporters… even though he has taken charge of Sunderland in the past.

Southampton boss Nigel Adkins will be failing the pinch after his side failed to beat Swansea at St Mary’s.

Saturday’s clash with the South Wales club was deemed as must win after Adkins held clear the air talks with chairman Nicola Cortese following Monday’s loss at West Brom.

But true to form they failed to hold onto the slender lead handed to them by Morgan Schneiderlin and have now sacrificed 13 points from winning positions.

The Swans were grateful to former Saints academy graduate Nathan Dyer for his equaliser that ended a run of three away trips without success.

After eight defeats in the last 10 games the hosts needed to somehow diffuse the tension in the stands and goal would have been the perfect remedy with Adam Lallana and Gaston Ramirez going close early on.

The visitors rarely threatened aimed a majority of their first half attacks down the right flank towards 17-year-old Luke Shaw, who became the youngest player to make a top-flight start for Southampton.

After the break the hosts started to take a semblance of control and Rickie Lambert was only denied a goal by a superb block by Sung-Yueng Ki, before Gary Monk threw himself in front of a Ramirez rasper.

But their pressure finally bore fruit as Schneiderlin did brilliantly to control Lambert’s header back across goal before nodding the ball beyond Gerhard Tremmel in the 64th minute.

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However, Michael Laudrup’s side regrouped and restored parity nine minutes later as substitute Dyer stole the ball from a nervous Maya Yoshida before driving the ball across Paulo Gazzaniga and in off the post.

There were still chances for both sides to snatch a late win but Lambert twice going close with his head before Danny Fox’s denied Itay Shechter at the other end.

Judging by the transfer gossip pages, Liverpool are keen to recruit a new goalkeeper before the window closes in August.

Loris Karius hampered his case to be number-one choice for the upcoming season after making two huge mistakes in the team’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.

The Reds have been linked with numerous names, including Alisson, Jan Oblak, Jack Butland and Jasper Cillessen.

A new name has emerged from the rumour mill – Bild specifically – and he goes by Jiri Pavlenka, who currently plies his trade at Werder Bremen.

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The 26-year-old, who has earned six caps for the Czech Republic, joined Bremen from Slavia Prague in July last year.

He is relatively unknown, and last season in the Bundesliga the shot-stopper conceded 46 goals and kept 10 clean sheets in 38 appearances in all competitions.

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Pavlenka does not exactly share the same profile of the world-class names being linked with a switch to Anfield.

At this point, the fans are just frustrated by the constant speculation.

Rafael Leao is the next Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang according to some. To others he’s the next Gabriel Jesus, though given that the brilliant Brazilian is still a mere twenty years of age it could be said that a fully developed Gabriel Jesus is the next Gabriel Jesus. Whatever the truth is Leao – an 18-year-old starlet accumulating professional experience at Sporting B and on the cusp of promotion to the Sporting first team – is one of the hottest striking properties in the world right now with an array of attributes that astonishes for one so young.

Naturally then the roll-call of prospective buyers amounts to some very familiar names. Real Madrid are reportedly keen, as too Manchester United. Chelsea have been thrown into the mix also but with less plausibility. And topping the list and leading the chase is Manchester City with a figure of £25m being bandied around as gospel. Though Transfermarkt value him at £1.35m.

Between now and August we can expect a multitude of players linked to a multitude of clubs and some will be very far-fetched and made up in blogger’s spare bedrooms while others make perfect sense. This one lies at the latter end of the scale. This one really could happen.

Firstly though let’s concentrate on the player himself. Tall, pacy and powerful is always a good start for any forward but when it’s coupled to quick feet, an equally rapid footballing brain, and no preference for going one side over the other when facing a retreating opponent then suddenly people start talking.

His seven goals in 12 games for Sporting B has already seen him rewarded with a Portugal Under-21 cap and a fast-track to the more challenging climes of the Primeira Liga with Sporting where he enjoyed a 41 minute debut earlier this month. He widely impressed and especially so his coach Jorge Jesus who said soon after: “He is a strong kid and he was serene. Everything he did was done with quality. We will work step-by-step with Leao, who is one of the great talents our academy has.”

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What makes his swift emergence all the more remarkable is that Jesus is hardly known for trusting in youth. Sometimes though, so good is the prospect that exceptions have to be made.

Last October, Sporting extended the teenager’s contract to 2022 while upping his release clause to €60m but even this inflated figure for a player with so little game-time at an elite level won’t put off potential bidders. City are expected to return this summer after their initial water-tester of £22.2m was strongly rebuffed recently and here is where a direct comparison with Gabriel Jesus certainly can be made.

The Blues’ pursuit of the Brazilian international was ruthless and motivated, out-manoeuvring Barcelona and Real Madrid who each believed they were in serious contention.  Consequently Pep Guardiola secured a young superstar for a fee of £27m that is already looking an absolute steal. Crucially they tried to replicate this approach with Kylian Mbappe but were unable to tie him down at an early juncture with the French forward then becoming the centre point of a ferocious bidding war that eventually escalated to a farcical sum.

Lessons were learned in both instances with the first acting as confirmation that quick, decisive action is always the best approach when targeting emerging talent. Mbappe meanwhile was a mistake that the club is determined not to repeat anytime soon.

It is worth considering how City’s first bid was allowed to enter the public domain in the first place with a leak from the Portuguese club the most likely origin. Sporting will understandably be very keen for other bidders to enter the fray and whipping up an auction will surely result in a colossal pay-day if such a strategy is successful. For their part City will be resolved to head such a plan off at the pass by swooping early and strong within weeks of the summer transfer window opening.

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This is the intriguing proposition that awaits us in the months ahead and that’s before we even get to the mouth-watering idea of Leao cutting his baby-teeth in the Premier League, raw and sensational and learning each and every week under the expert tutorage of the Spanish Grandmaster.

Guardiola has already reportedly said privately that should the 18-year-old be secured he has no intention of loaning him out in a similar vein to so many of Manchester City’s youthful talent. Leao would instead be assimilated into the first team squad, presumably on the periphery but adding to an attacking arsenal that has broken records this term for their goal-scoring prowess.

A front three of Leao, Jesus and Sane ripping into top flight defences next year with nascent relish is a realistic possibility then. Their average age will be twenty. They will be coached by an individual who improves players ten-fold. Just the pace alone among the trio is frightening as hell. God help us all.

This has been a fairly muted prelude to the World Cup for England. It’s a big help. There are no declarations of reaching unattainable targets. There’s resignation among most, an acceptance that England aren’t as good as many of the top nations set to compete in Brazil. In fact, there’s an enormous case to be made that England aren’t even the second best team in their group.

The only disquiet, albeit one that gradually faded, was in Roy Hodgson’s team selection and the omission of Ashley Cole. There was fleeting unhappiness at the inclusion of Frank Lampard; if you’re going to go the way of a youth-dominated squad and in preparing for the European Championship in France, why not go all the way? But Lampard’s place in the squad can easily be explained. Above all, he’s a good leader.

Here’s my confusion on the Ashley Cole debate: why is there so much focus on the left-back spot? England have Leighton Baines, a good attacking full-back; Luke Shaw, who most project to be England’s first-choice for the next decade; and Kieran Gibbs, who, despite having another good season at Arsenal, has been left out altogether. The rush of bodies aiming to be first in the queue to question the England manager’s decision to leave Cole behind and ultimately push him towards international retirement is fuelled by little other than ill-preparation for change.

Would Cole really have been the difference for England this summer? A good left-back, yes, but a left-back in a position that is arguably England’s strongest. Hodgson doesn’t have a plethora of options at centre-back; he’s already lost a couple of wide players; who plays second fiddle to Daniel Sturridge in the even Hodgson goes with both him and Wayne Rooney in the starting XI?; and the real area of concern that’s been overlooked by most: how on earth can England expect defensive safety in what you’d assume will be a conservative setup with Glen Johnson at right-back?

That’s the really worry. Forget Cole and who plays at left-back; that position is fine. The problem area is on the other flank, where Johnson is the only natural right-back set to travel with the squad. His involvement rests on whether Chris Smalling or Phil Jones can find fitness and form.

But the other problem that some have had with Hodgson’s squad selection is the overall leaning on youth. I don’t have a problem with it. It makes sense. It’s good preparation for what will come afterwards. But the attack on Hodgson’s squad, intertwined with a defence of Cole, is that coaches should pick their best team for now, their best players and the ones who will make an impact at this international tournament, not one a few years down the road.

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I can see the logic in that argument and I accept it. Where it falls flat is that it doesn’t apply to England. This is a country that develops its players differently to the way Spain or Germany wok – and probably most countries, for that matter. Young players with the tag of ‘next big thing’ are thrown into the deep end.

There’s no time to waste with U21 tournaments and even the steady ascent to the top level of youth international football. Teenagers are thrown into the first team because the coach, whoever it may be at the time, is constantly battling pressure and the need to create the impression that he’s making progress. Essentially he’s fighting for his own job, rather than the safety and proper education of young players.

Adding to that, England don’t really have a ‘best team’ in the sense that the omission of players like Cole will severely weaken an area of the pitch and in turn the entire XI. We can debate all day and land on a starting XI that might be good enough to compete, but it’s not to say there are many, if any, players who are essential to the squad. ‘England must take their best squad.’ Well who qualifies for that?

Here’s an example: Vicente Del Bosque must decide on which strikers to include in his squad. Spain are a team whose strength comes from their midfield, so taking more of those and less strikers is natural.

The Spanish coach will have to figure out who can bring the max out of his team, which combination of Diego Costa, Fernando Llorente, Fernando Torres, David Villa, and Alvaro Negredo will increase Spain’s chances of winning the tournament. England aren’t asking those sorts of questions. Any of those strikers would walk into Hodgson’s team and probably start.

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It’s for that reason that I don’t really see the point in taking players like Cole, and I certainly don’t see the point in fighting his corner so passionately. Go with youth – or basically the group of players who will help to form most of the squads in the future – because honestly Hodgson and England don’t have much else to turn to. There is nothing available to the team that would make them certainties to advance out of the group, let alone lift the trophy at the Maracana.

The most pleasing aspect of Hodgson’s squad selection was in the evidence that England have a head coach who can be bold, who can make difficult calls which should in the long run prove to be to the benefit of the national team.

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One of Arsene Wenger’s most grating qualities is his inability to not pass judgement on everything. The Frenchman has recently chipped in criticising Chelsea’s allegations against Mark Clattenburg accusing the Blues of “going public with little proof”.

While I agree with the sentiment that Chelsea should not have gone public unless they were absolutely certain Clattenburg had discriminated against Jon Obi Mikel, due to the permanent damage they have already done to the official’s reputation. Considering the serious nature of the allegations it seems unnecessary for Wenger to weigh in before the truth has been revealed.

The 63-year-old is one of many managers who offer their opinion too often, considering what a difficult vulnerable position football managers are in, you’d think they have too much to worry about to get involved with things which don’t immediately concern them. Sir Alex Ferguson had a brief public dispute with Rio Ferdinand other the ‘Kick It Out’ debacle. Ferguson ended up in a strange morale position where he appeared to be directly against the personal beliefs of his long-serving defender. Both parties were intelligent enough to soon quash the row but for a brief period Ferguson seemed to be involving himself in a personal matter which was outside of his jurisdiction.

Ian Holloway has become one of the most polarising figures in British football and is known as much for his sound bites as managerial achievements. I almost like to separate Holloway’s persona in football into two: the affable comic at Queens Park Rangers and Plymouth and then the man who returned at Blackpool after being sacked by Leicester City. Holloway used to come up with some of the best one-liners in football never taking himself too seriously.

For example, “To put it in gentleman’s terms if you’ve been on a night out and you’re looking for a young lady and you pull one, some weeks they’re good looking and some weeks they’re not the best. Our performance today would have been not the best looking bird but at least we got her in the taxi.

“She weren’t the best looking lady we ended up taking home but she was very pleasant and very nice so thanks very much let’s have a coffee.” This brilliant, bizarre quite unique anecdote sums up the way I pictured Holloway as a jovial character who was great for football.

Contrast this however, with the more bitter tirades he launched during his year in the Premier League. For some reason rather than concerning himself with Blackpool’s suicidal approach to Premier League match-ups in the second half of the season, he continued to give his two cents on every single footballing issue. This misplaced desire to comment on everything made him a media darling, regularly featured on Sky Sports News but also in my opinion made him come across an egocentric man, with ill-judged priorities.

Holloway’s thoughts on the World Cup in Qatar best sum up my view on the man, “Well obviously they’re so important, that we’ll have to change our tournament. It’s so vital that they have our tournament that belongs to the world and I think I’m a world person aren’t I, I come from England. So we’ll just change everything cos your weather’s really hot. Cos we can’t play it we should do.

“Brilliant, if it was up to me heads would roll and I know which head it would be and I’d love to do it. Why don’t we get the people of Blackburn to do it because they seem to love sacking people. Sepp Blatter and all of them lot Mr Platini I know he was a good player but he ain’t very good at what he does, I don’t think. I think he’s useless you can quote me on that.”

This bad-tempered monologue further confirmed my fears that Holloway was someone who likes the attention and sound of his own voice too much; I’m also sceptical as to how much time Holloway focuses on goings on at UEFA before deciding Michel Platini was unfit for his job.

Another manager who seemed too concerned with saying controversial quotes and concerning himself with entertaining the media rather than focusing on his football team is Roy Keane. One of the best British footballers over the past 20 years, I consider him one of the worst managers seen on these shores during that period. While at Ipswich Town the former Manchester United captain launched a cynical rant in the direction of Republic of Ireland fans.

“I’d be more annoyed with my defenders and goalkeeper, than Thierry Henry. How can you let a ball bounce in the six yard box? How can you let Henry get goal-side of you and if the ball bounced in the six yard box I’d be saying, ‘where the hell’s my goalkeeper?”

Keane raised some good points going against the crowd here, but his comments also stank of hypocrisy. Keane was hammering an Ireland defence and accusing the media and fans of being too soft on the Ireland players, but a key culprit in the conceding of the goal was Paul McShane. McShane was signed by Keane for Sunderland where he was found worryingly out of depth in the Premier League, if Keane had focussed more on his scouting system instead of offering harsh criticism of an unlucky Ireland team, maybe his managerial career would work out differently.

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Managers especially at Premier League level are put in front of a microphone and camera on an almost daily basis, and are asked to discuss various different issues. But considering how vulnerable manager’s are to the sack in football, I often think they should pick their fights more carefully. Manager’s in my opinion are too keen and too readily speak on issues which simply don’t concern them.

Let me know your thoughts on Twitter @jimmylowson.

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