West Ham: New Stadium, New Era?

After 112 years of historic footballing moments, the curtain finally closed on Upton Park Tuesday night, or to give it its proper name, the Boleyn Ground. As Premier League side West Ham prepare to move into their brand new stadium next season, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic in Stratford, London, the players and supporters made sure that the last match ever to be played at Upton Park would go out with a bang.

West Ham have played at The Boleyn Ground, a.k.a Upton Park, for 112 years.

Their opponents Manchester United also had very good reason to ensure they came away with a victory. With their bitter city rivals Manchester City placed just 2 points ahead of them in 4th position, Man U only had to win their final 2 games of the season to ensure their participation in next season's Champions League, dumping their nosy neighbours out of the competition in the process. Considering both West Ham's and Man U's vested interest in the game, along with the media's relentless publicising of the significance of the match, it is no wonder the match was a highly charged one.

What was meant to be a memorable experience for all those associated with West Ham, quickly descended into mayhem, as fans viciously attacked Man U's team coach as it arrived at the stadium. Their window was smashed as bottles and pellets were thrown at them, causing the start of the match to be delayed by 45 minutes. And it didn't stop there. Supporters turned on their own club, as some of the stadium's seats and signs were ripped from its foundations and taken presumably as memorabilia. The club previously mentioned their intention to auction off artefacts from the ground to fans.

In the midst of the chaos West Ham did manage to win the match. Having been 2 goals down, the Hammers completed a memorable fight back worthy of any match, as they snatched a 3-2 victory and cast serious doubt of their opponents' Champions League qualification prospects.

Despite the unsavoury incidents that marred either side of the 90 minutes, the positive result brought an era of top-class football at Upton Park to a fitting end. Let's hope their move to the Olympic Stadium marks the start of another memorable 112 years. 

Leicester City: Everybody's Favourite Second Team

Leicester City FC Banner

And who ever said football was boring? After years and years of Premier League dominance by the same familiar faces, we finally have a team who decided enough was enough! 

Former footballer Kevin Keegan once said that the league was "in danger of becoming one of the most boring but great leagues in the world". In his fairness he was speaking in 2008, during an era that was epitomised by the complete domination of the "Big Four" clubs: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. In fact, these are the only teams (including Blackburn Rovers) to have won the Premier League title since it's inception way back in 1992. 

There was a time where the League could be fairly accused of being predictable, with the difference in quality between the elite teams and the rest of the pack too great to overcome. 

Those days are clearly gone.

Having been away from the Premier League for a decade, Leicester City finally made their return in 2014, having been promoted as champions of the Football League Championship in the previous season. It is no secret that historically most newly-promoted teams struggle in their inaugural year of the Premier League, and Leicester were no different. By early April they were 7 points from safety, with many people already condemning them to an immediate return to the Championship. An incredible run of form however, saw them win 7 of their final 9 league games of the season, finishing in 14th place and securing the greatest relegation escape in Premier League history.

And what a difference a year makes. Leicester currently lead the Premier League, 5 points clear of their closest rivals Tottenham. Their dominance of this season's race for the title epitomises just what a crazy year this season has been. The once formidable teams of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea currently lie in 4th, 6th  and 10th place respectively, something that would've been completely unheard of just a couple of seasons ago. The most successful of the "Big Four" clubs this season is Arsenal who are currently in 3rd place, although a hefty 11 points behind Leicester. 

The remarkable success of Leicester, Tottenham and other so called "smaller teams", marks a notable shift in power in the Premier League. They no longer feel intimidated by the enormous amounts of money being spent by the top clubs to attract the world's best players and they no longer give an undue amount of respect to teams who have strong reputations. 

I call it the FA Cup mentality. The FA Cup is notorious for match "upsets", where teams from the lower divisions are victorious over teams in leagues above them. Often, these teams are struggling in their own domestic league, but as soon as they come up against superior opposition, all the shackles of expectation are taken off them and placed on the 'better team'. So they think, "why not? Let's have a go". 

That's how I see the Premier League this season. All teams from the top of the league right down to the very bottom not only strive to win every game, but they actually believe they can win every game, regardless of the opposition. The Premier League is widely perceived as the best league in the world, and is famous for a level of competitiveness that just isn't replicated in other leagues. Those leagues are often dominated by one or two clubs every year, for eg. Barcelona & Real Madrid in Spain (La Liga), PSG in France (Ligue 1) and Bayern Munich in Germany (Bundesliga) etc. This season's Premier League demonstrates just how competitive it really is, completely casting predictability, norms and footballing status quo to the wind. 

And as the league quickly draws to a dramatic conclusion, with the only viable teams still in contention for the title being Leicester, Spurs and Arsenal, it is a time for the so-called big teams to ponder and reflect on why it has gone oh so wrong for them.

Manager Merry-Go-Round

Another weekend, and another manager gets the sack. 

Exit stage left Mr Tim Sherwood. 

The Premier League is barely 10 games into a 38 game season and yet there have been enough managerial changes, sackings and appointments to last you a lifetime. So far there have been 3 departures already, with all 3 of them coming in the month of October. You would be forgiven for feeling a little light-headed wondering how so much could happen in such little time, but in an increasingly competitive game where points can have such a significant impact on not only the club's numerical position in the table, but also it's wider finances and commercial prospects, managers continue to suffer from premature exits in the pursuit of club success.

1. Brendan Rodgers (Liverpool) - 4/10/2015

Ex-Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers

There were quiet doubts over Brendan's appointment to the Liverpool job when he left managing Swansea in 2012, with many wondering whether he would live up to the grand expectations of the club to recapture it's league and Cup successes of ages gone by. After a year in the post he almost silenced his critics, leading his Liverpool side to second place in the League in the 2013/14 season. For long parts of the season it looked certain that Liverpool were finally going to break their trophy drought of having not won the Premier League title since its inception in 1992. However,  a loss against Chelsea and a dramatic 3-3 draw against Crystal Palace in which Liverpool had a 3-nil lead, cost them vital points and subsequently handed the title to Manchester City. 

To make matters worse Liverpool lost their formidable striker Luis Suarez to Barcelona that summer, their promising striker Raheem Sterling to Man City the following summer and their legendary captain Steven Gerrard to the MLS (US) in the same period. As a result all eyes were on Liverpool's recruitment process, and how they were going to replace such key players in order to challenge for the title once again.

The answer wasn't an encouraging one. In his 3 years in charge, Rodgers bought 31 players for a total of just over £290 million. Yet they were unable to bring the manager and the club any silverware, which in the end was just simply not good enough. The Liverpool board seemed to agree, and in early October he was sacked following a draw with Merseyside rivals Everton. His replacement was the charismatic Jürgen Klopp, former manager of Borussia Dortmund.

2. Dick Advocaat (Sunderland) - 4/10/2015

On the same day Rodgers was sacked from Liverpool, Dick Advocaat resigned from his post as the Sunderland manager. Having been brought in on a temporary contract in March 2015 until the end of the season, Advocate successfully completed his team's last-gasp escape from relegation, at which point he quickly resigned from his post. However, very curiously he reversed his decision and chose to stay on as manager after all. But after a poor run of form which saw Sunderland achieve no wins in their opening 8 games, Advocaat again resigned from his role, eventually being replaced by Premier League veteran Sam Allardyce.

3. Tim Sherwood (Aston Villa) - 25/10/2015

Ex- Villa manager Tim Sherwood

With just 1 win in his opening 10 games, it's perhaps no surprise that Tim Sherwood was shown the door earlier on today. What is probably more surprising however, is Villa's terrible run of form considering their defiant effort to avoid relegation last season, with 3 wins and 1 draw in their remaining 7 Premier League matches. Sherwood also guided the club to the FA Cup final, eventually losing 4-0 to Arsenal. And with a subsequent £46,850,000 spent on bringing in new signings to the club, it is no wonder Sherwood and Villa fans alike had high hopes for the upcoming 2015/16 season. 

Upon the arrival of Barcelona youngster Adam Traore to Villa Park, Scott Sinclair (who also signed with Villa in the summer), stated that "to sign a player from Barcelona just shows the club is moving forward".

On the back of their current form, I would argue they're moving backwards.

So, with 3 managers gone in just the first 3 months of the campaign, current under-pressure managers must be nervously looking over their shoulders asking "who's next?"