Ange Postecoglou’s future in charge of Tottenham continues to be called into question after a picture going viral online hinted his fate may already be sealed.
A poor domestic campaign has seen the North London side drop to 14th place in the Premier League while they are eliminated from both local cup competitions, in what has been a campaign to forget for the Aussie manager.
The Europa League is currently Spurs’ only chance at silverware this campaign and it is widely believed he will be sacked if they fail to lift the trophy.
However, a recent photo circulating online has raised the question of whether Postecoglou could be headed out the door irrespective of whether or not Spurs go all the way in the European competition.
A picture circulating online suggests Ange Postecoglou could be set to be axed. Image: Getty/Football Classified on XSource: Supplied
A picture of Tottenham owner Daniel Levy sharing a coffee with former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has sent social media into a spin.
When the photo was taken remains unclear. It is yet to be verified whether it is a new photo or whether it was taken when Pochettino was in charge of Spurs.
What has thrust the image into the spotlight, regardless of timing, is recent comments from the Argentinian who said he hopes to return to the North London club in the future.
“When I left the club I always remember one interview I said I would like one day to come back to Tottenham,” he told Sky Sports last week.
“I am in the USA, so I am not going to talk about that now – but what I said then I still, after six years or five years, feel in my heart. Yes, I would like one day to come back.
“Not because of my ego, it’s because my feeling is I would like one day to win with Tottenham.”
Pochettino was in charge of Tottenham between 2014 and 2019 — the most stable reign for any Spurs manager in recent history.
Since leaving the club in 2019, Spurs went on to hire four full-time managers: Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo, Antonio Conte and Postecoglou.
Mauricio Pochettino could be brought in to replace Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images )Source: Getty Images
53-year-old Pochettino enjoyed a relatively successful time at the helm despite failing to bring the club any silverware. He led the team to the 2015 EFL Cup final, a 2019 Champions League final and a second-place finish in the 2016-17 Premier League season.
But while many fans are calling for Postecoglou to be removed and Pochettino to return, BBC Sports reports it would come at an almighty cost.
The news outlet reports if Levy were to sack Pochettino he would be required to pay the US “one of the biggest compensation fees in football history”, with the sum suggested to be close to $40 million.
Regardless of Pochettino’s availability, Postecoglou remains in a scrap to save his job with a crucial quarter final tie against Eintracht Frankfurt from April 11 crticial.
Former Spurs scout Mick Brown said Spurs simply must regain regular winning form fron now until May for Postecoglou to stand any chance.
“Tottenham, unless they put a run together from now to the end of the season, you would think that things might happen [to Postecoglou] there in terms of the sack for the manager,” he told Football Insider.
He added that Spurs sources have told him that Fulham boss Marco Silva is “top of the pops” to replace the Australian.
Amber Anning became the first British woman to win an indoor 400m world title after a messy final in Nanjing after pole vault favourite Molly Caudery came an agonising fourth
16:27, 22 Mar 2025Updated 16:27, 22 Mar 2025
Amber Anning celebrates her World Indoor gold medal in Nanjing.
Amber Anning went the long way round before charging to 400m glory and declared: “That was a bit messy.” But after surviving some bumps, the double Olympic relay medalist finished like a train to become the first British woman to win an indoor world title over two laps and deliver a second gold for a slimmed-down team in Nanjing.
That triumph briefly left Britain top of the medal table – only for the United States to later overtake them thanks to Grant Holloway’s latest 60m hurdles win – and brought smiles back to the squad’s faces after pole vault hope Molly Caudery earlier came an agonising fourth in the pole vault.
Starting in the outside lane, Anning ran a controlled opening lap and briefly led at the bell. But American Alexis Holmes forcefully nudged Anning off the rails and looked primed for the win coming through the final bend.
Except Anning, fuelled by the disappointment of false starting at the Europeans a fortnight ago, found an additional boost down the straight to win by 0.03secs.
And having glanced at the arena’s big screen to confirm she would not be disqualified again, Anning said: “It feels amazing.
“Obviously it felt way harder than (the heats), all battling to get the break, it wasn’t the cleanest race and I probably could have done a better job with that. But the goal was just to win and get my first individual title. I’m so grateful.
“I just dipped at the end to get the edge and win. I wasn’t sure (I won), I thought I’d just got there. I saw my name on the screen and there was a sigh of relief.”
There was no such joy for Caudery, who battled through a pole vault competition beset by technical difficulties to finish one spot off the podium.
Amber Anning edged Alexis Holmes after the American got physical when battling for an inside place.
The equipment that raises the bar had a fault requiring lengthy repairs and when the competition restarted Caudery, who has been battling minor injuries all winter, could only get over 4.7m as France’s Marie-Julie Bonnin claimed gold in 4.75m.
“It was definitely not what I wanted,” Caudery said. “I am disappointed to say the least. It was a really, really, tough competition and there were a lot of technical issues, but I don’t want to put any excuses out.”
Mondo Duplantis, unbeaten for two years, was forced to briefly sweat in the men’s event by Greece ’s Emmanouil Karalis but eventually prevailed by jumping 6.15m.
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Molly Caudery is the favourite to retain her World Indoor pole vault title this weekend having experienced the lowest of lows during last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris
Moly Caudery is aiming to retain her world indoor gold this weekend.
From heartbreak in Paris to fire in Nanjing, Molly Caudery insists she is ready to prove her Olympic nightmare will not be career defining. The reigning world indoor champion is the favourite to retain her pole vault title in China in the early hours of Saturday morning.
And her Olympics shock, when she failed to register a clean effort in qualifying despite being favourite for gold, is serving as a big motivation. Caudery said the days after were “like a grieving period” but she took herself home to Cornwall, spent time healing in the sea, and worked closely with a psychologist.
Understanding exactly what went wrong has been hard to put a finger on. “It was just a bad day to have a bad day,” she says. But the outcome has been channelling it into her future efforts.
“One thing I did get from Paris was an extra fire and extra desire for this year,” she adds. “And if that’s what I can take from it, that’s great.
“I took that into the winter and I’ve trained so hard and I’ve come out this year and there is that extra want in me and I think that’s a positive thing.
“I don’t think it really was down to anything. Probably on average, I may no height once a year or most athletes may no height once a year, or once every two years.
“And mine just happened to be on the biggest competition of my life. Not ideal, but what can I do now? I think all I can do is learn from it and not let it happen again.”
Molly Caudery reacts after failing to register a successful jump at the Olympics
The winter has been interrupted by a couple of hamstring and calf injuries but a leap of 4.85m in Madrid late last month has filled her with confidence. “It’s not been ideal,” she admits.
“It’s very minor but I’ve not been able to jump fully healthy. “That’s almost even more exciting because I’m still jumping well, off shorter approaches than I ever have.
“Jumping 4.85m in Madrid was probably among the best jumps I’ve ever done so that in itself is very exciting, knowing I’ve been doing that with slight injury. Now I’m fully healthy, that’s great.”
The entire Paris podium is absent in Nanjing to leave Caudery, once again, as the big favourite to triumph. Switzerland’s Angelique Moser looks the biggest threat, beyond another injury, and Caudery adds: “There’s been quite a lot of talk around it because there’s a few girls that aren’t coming.
“But it’s still going to be a really great competition. I just know I need to jump the best I can. If I was to jump 5m and not win, I’m not going to be disappointed. But I think it’s just, go out there, trust in my abilities, trust that I’ve had a good winter’s training, and take each bar as it comes and see what I can do.”
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Jeremiah Azu had little chance to celebrate his European title earlier this month having become a father a couple of days before but now he hopes new dad strength can propel him to world gold
Jeremiah Azu shows off his gold medal in Apeldoorn earlier this month.
Two hours after returning home with a European gold medal, Jeremiah Azu found himself dealing with his week-old son’s poonami. “Straight back to earth,” Wales’ fastest man says of the messy 1am clean-up job, and he would have it no other way.
Azu, 23, was not sold on the theory of new dad strength a month ago but after securing his first international championship win in Apeldoorn he is firmly buying into it. His sleep pattern remains all over the place because he is determined to ease the burden on his partner. And going from being “King of Europe to straight on the nappies” left him with the realisation that “life comes at you fast.”
But Azu has arrived in Nanjing for this weekend’s World Indoors as the fastest man this year over 60m and full of confidence. The absence of a host of big hitters, including reigning champion Christian Coleman and Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles, suggests another medal is within reach.
“I’m always going into everything thinking I can win,” he says. “I’m coming in with the fastest time, so I guess there’s a sense of pressure, but I kind of like that feeling. I think I’m definitely capable of doing something special, so I don’t see why I can’t walk away with the gold.”
The shortest sprint is prone to an even greater unpredictability and Azu himself knows all about his sport’s ability to surprise following the disappointment of a false start at last summer’s Games.
Yet that experience has been firmly consigned to the past – “It’s gone, it’s never going to come back” – and he insists it offers no additional motivation to his current ambitions.
Instead it is all about living in the present. During the winter he moved home from Marco Airale’s renowned training group in Italy both for family planning and to be of greater assistance to his local church, where his father, Alex, is the pastor.
Azu sings in the church band and credits his faith for giving him the mental strength to overcome his Paris heartbreak. Singing from an early age continues to help him on the track too.
Jeremiah Azu, right, wins the European 60m title in Apeldoorn.
“It takes the pressure off when I’ve got all these people watching me,” he says. “Standing on stage as a kid is a lot more daunting. I’m a performer at the end of the day and I’ve come to love it, even now. Like in church, there’s so much passion that I put into it.”
He was confident, entertaining and on a different level to his rivals in the Netherlands two weeks ago. And his new reason to perform is undoubtedly helping.
“I’m doing this for my own child, I’m doing this for my partner, I’m doing this for a piece of us. But for some reason that has just made things easier. I’m not sure what it is. I can’t really explain it still.”
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Newcastle ended their 56-year trophy drought in stunning style as Dan Burn and Alexander Isak sealed a 2-1 win against Liverpool in the League Cup final on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
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Eddie Howe’s side made history at Wembley with a superb display that left the runaway Premier League leaders shell-shocked.
Burn put Newcastle ahead late in the first half and Isak’s 27th goal in all competitions doubled their lead after the interval.
Federico Chiesa got one back in the closing seconds, but Newcastle held on for their first major silverware since the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
That success in the predecessor to the Europa League is a relic of a bygone era, but this long-awaited triumph will be forever etched in the memories of the Newcastle fans who turned one half of Wembley into a roiling sea of black and white with their ecstatic celebrations.
It was also Newcastle’s first major domestic prize dating back 70 years to the 1955 FA Cup.
Since the Magpies lifted the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, 30 different English teams had won silverware, while Liverpool had clinched 38 major trophies in that time.
But after losing the 2023 League Cup final against Manchester United, Howe’s team returned to Wembley and set the record straight at last.
Newcastle had endured five relegations to the second tier since their last trophy, with club legends like Alan Shearer, Paul Gascoigne and Malcolm MacDonald failing to win silverware in their time on Tyneside.
Aside from a brief period when Kevin Keegan’s self-styled “entertainers” challenged for the title in the 1990s, Newcastle have endured decades of underachievement and self-inflicted wounds that rendered them a laughing stock for long periods.
All that changed in 2021 when a Saudi-backed consortium completed a takeover from unpopular owner Mike Ashley and quickly hired Howe as their manager.
Thanks to Howe’s astute leadership and the Saudi financial backing, Newcastle have been transformed from relegation candidates to silverware winners.
Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes said the win was the “best day of my life”.
“It’s all for these fans,” Guimaraes told Sky Sports. “They deserve everything. When I first came here I said I wanted to put my name in history.
“We can now say we are the champions again. This is one of the best days of my life.
“I don’t have any words. It’s the best day of my life. For them (the fans) it’s like the World Cup. People have grown up and not seen us as champions. My first year as captain of this club and it’s one of the best days. This is unbelievable.
“This is my second home. We are making history. Some day when I leave this club I want the fans to sing my name the way they do to Shearer. He texted me before the game. I’m so emotional today.”
Dan Burn of Newcastle United lifts the Carabao Cup Trophy.Source: Getty Images
The defeat was another painful blow for Liverpool just days after their Champions League last 16 exit on penalties against Paris Saint-Germain.
But despite failing to win their first trophy under boss Arne Slot, Liverpool still sit 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League, within touching distance of a record-equalling 20th English title.
Liverpool are 23 points ahead of sixth-placed Newcastle in the league and hadn’t lost to them for 17 games dating back to 2015.
But Howe’s men were in no mood to be cowed by past failures Newcastle fans unveiled a banner before kick-off urging their team to “write your name in the history books”.
They rose to the challenge in spectacular fashion, snapping into tackles and counter-attacking with purpose, while Liverpool were sluggish and sloppy in possession.
Bruno Guimaraes had a golden opportunity to reward Newcastle’s enterprising start when Burn headed Kieran Trippier’s corner towards the Brazil midfielder, but he nodded at Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher from close-range.
Goalscorer Alexander Isak celebrates with the trophy.Source: AFP
Newcastle’s desire and drive was clear to see when Joelinton tracked back from midfield to stop Jarell Quansah in his tracks and celebrated with a fist-pumping roar.
Despite nearly being caught out by Burn’s aerial prowess once before, Liverpool failed to heed the warning as the towering centre-back put Newcastle ahead in the 45th minute.
Bizarrely left unmarked, with only the diminutive Alex Mac Allister anywhere near him, Burn was allowed to rise unchallenged to meet Tripper’s corner as he thumped a powerful header into far corner from 12 yards.
Burn’s goal — Newcastle’s first in a cup final since 1976 — capped an incredible week for the journeyman centre-back, who received his first England call-up on Friday.
With Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah completely anonymous, the lethargic Reds had no answer as Isak put Newcastle into dreamland after 52 minutes.
Jacob Murphy met Tino Livramento’s cross with a header that found Isak, who drilled a superb first-time finish past Kelleher from 10 yards.
Chiesa’s stoppage-time strike set up an anxious finale, but good things comes to those who wait.
And all across Wembley, Newcastle players and fans celebrated with abandon as a party over half a century in the making got into full swing.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has taken to social media in an attempt to clarify his controversial comments made about the Africa Cup of Nations on Sky Sports.
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But Carragher also said after Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Manchester City that Salah’s chances of winning football’s individual top gong were hindered because the Egyptian does not get the opportunity to play in the Euros or the Copa America.
“I think the problem (is) the fact he’s with Egypt, and he’s probably not playing in the major tournament as such, or maybe got a great chance of winning, I think it’s either the Champions League or the major tournament,” Carragher said on Sky Sports
“Normally, the player who excels in that, like Vini Jr and (Kylian) Mbappe right now – Real Madrid looking really good going for the Champions League.
“Liverpool will be in that conversation, but right now (Real Madrid’s players) are certainly the front runner.”
Richards and Sturridge immediately disputed Carragher’s comments.
“Just to say, AFCON is a major tournament because a lot of people are at home saying, “They aren’t taking it serious”. AFCON is a big tournament, just so you know,” Richards said.
Carragher then responded by posing whether Egypt would be a contender to win the World Cup next year, to which Richards replied: “No, but AFCON is big, isn’t it? You remember when him and Mané was going for it.”
Carragher responded by saying “oh god”, prompting Sturridge to step in.
“It’s a fact. It’s a fact. It’s a fact. If you win the Euros or Copa América it’s deemed to be big so the AFCON is in the same level,” the former Liverpool and Chelsea striker said.
Carragher has been slammed on social media for his remarks, including from Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand.
The former England centre backs have a history of public spats, and this time Ferdinand blasted Carragher on his YouTube channel for his “ignorant” take.
“I think [what he said] is representative of most of the people out there. But I don’t think that’s right. It’s an ignorant thought process,” Ferdinand said.
“If you go to Didier Drogba, Abedi Pele , Samuel Eto, Riyad Mahrez, Mo Salah or Sadio Mane, they’ll tell you, “We have to win this” – there’s demand in their country to win this.
“Yes, it doesn’t get backed resources-wise like the Euros but that doesn’t mean you have to devalue it. It should be respected more than it is.
“I understand what Jamie’s saying but I don’t agree with it. That’s the majority’s fault and its not right.
“I think the federations like FIFA need to make sure they implement language around AFCON so it equals the Euros and the Copa America.
“Jamie is right in what he is saying. If Salah won AFCON that would have no bearing on anyone when they vote for the Ballon d’Or, which is absolutely wrong.”
Carragher called Ferdinand “a clown” in response, commenting on his Instagram post saying “I didn’t say that you clown, stop playing to the gallery like you always do”.
He also posted on X to try clarify his comments.
“The point I was trying to make yesterday was that MO Salah is at a disadvantage playing for Egypt in terms of him winning the Balon d’Or,” Carragher said.
“If Salah had an average season at LFC but won the AFCON & was MVP I don’t think he would win the Balon d’Or.
“Because I don’t think AFCON carries the weight of other tournaments. But if Mbappe had an average season at Real Madrid but won the World Cup/Euros he would still have a great opportunity.
“It’s not just about certain tournaments, Shevchenko (Ukraine) Lewandowski (Poland) were never going to win the WC/Euros to help their case for the prize. I don’t think it’s controversial at all really it’s just a fact.
“I know Mane came 2nd a few years back after winning the tournament but that alone wouldn’t have got him to that position, it was LFC being two games away from a quadruple that played a big role also.
“It’s not disrespectful if I feel the WC/Euros/CP are better tournaments it’s just my opinion when I watch them. Saying it wasn’t a major competition was clumsy but I think most people watching could understand the point I was trying to make.
“The face I pulled when Micah interjected was nothing to do with the merits of the tournament, I just knew as soon as he did what the reaction was going to be! I get a lot people didn’t like what I said & that’s fine.
“I don’t normally respond to things on here with posts like this but I decided to tweet in the end after seeing so many phonies jumping on the bandwagon & playing to the gallery when they knew what I meant. Good luck MO you little dancer.”
The Confederation of African Football’s social media accounts have also taken digs at Carragher, with several posts referring to this year’s AFCON in Morocco being a “major tournament”.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah may be producing the greatest individual Premier League season of all-time.
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Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher declared on Sky Sports that Salah is “having a Messi and Ronaldo season”.
Salah’s former Reds teammate Daniel Sturridge said “we’re talking Ballon d’Ors now”.
When you dive into the numbers, it is clear to see why the praise is so high.
The Egyptian has chalked up 41 goals and assists so far this season.
With 11 games to go, he is only six shy of Alan Shearer’s Premier League record.
Salah is leading the golden boot race with 25 goals, six clear of Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland.
The 32-year-old is also the first player in a Premier League season to score 25 or more goals, and provide 15 or more assists.
His goal and assist in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at City on Sunday made him the first player in Premier League history to have 40 or more goals and assists in a season twice.
It was the 11th time Salah has scored and been a provider in a game this season, the most by a player in one of Europe’s big five leagues since Lionel Messi also did so 11 times in 2014/15.
Salah is putting the ball into the back of net or setting up a teammate to score every 58 minutes, which is better than the current record of 63 set by Manchester City star Erling Haaland in his record-breaking 36-goal 2022/23 season.
This season, Salah is the first player from a Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga or Serie A club to register 50 goals and assists in all competitions.
It is little wonder that Liverpool are 11 points clear on top of the Premier League table, finished top of the table in the Champions League’s league phase and will face Newcastle at Wembley next month in the final of the Carabao Cup.
“This is going to end up being the greatest season we’ve ever seen from an individual,” Carragher said.
“I have no doubt about that and it’s not whether he finishes above those players in terms of numbers, it’s how far – and he sets the bar so high that in the future nobody can ever get there ever again.
“We are seeing something special. We’ve known that over the last seven or eight years, but this an all-time season.”
Salah has produced his heroics among the back drop of intense speculation about his future considering he is out of contract at season’s end.
So too are fellow Liverpool stars Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
But the trio’s status has not proved to be a distraction for Arne Slot’s side.
Salah has seemingly dropped hints about his future throughout interviews this season, and after the City win he said that he and the other experienced players in the team “need another title”.
Saudi Arabian clubs as well as French behemoth PSG and German giants Bayern Munich have been preparing to swoop on Salah, but reports from Spanish football news outlet Fichajes in recent days suggest that Liverpool may be closing in on a new deal for their superstar.
The Reds “worked intensively to avoid his exit without a fee at the end of the season, and everything indicates that the negotiations have progressed positively,” the report said.
“The possibility of him renewing his contract with the club seemed uncertain a few months ago, but now the scenario has changed and everything points to his relationship with the English team continuing for a longer time.”
Liverpool were reportedly hesitant to meet Salah’s wage demands given his age, but his breathtaking season has supposedly altered that view.
His is currently earning £350,000 a week, and Manchester United great Gary Neville revealed earlier this year that the 32-year-old is looking for a deal of around £400,000 a week over three years — which eqautes to a total contract value of about A$125m.
No matter what happens, Salah will undeniably go down as one of Liverpool’s greatest ever players, but Carragher believes a contract extension would cement his standing among the Premier League as a whole.
“I think most people would say, when we talk about the Premier League, we probably always put Thierry Henry on top. For me, Mo Salah is definitely second and if he signs another contract, that’s going to be a fairytale finish,” Carragher said.
It is often forgotten that Salah was once a Chelsea flop.
Thirteen appearances Salah made in a blue shirt for just two goals under Jose Mourinho.
The London club even loaned him out to Italian outfits Fiorentina and Roma, where he shone with 35 goals across 81 appearances for the two club, before joining Liverpool in 2017.
“For a start people try to identify me as the coach that sold Salah. I am the coach that bought Salah. It’s completely the wrong idea,” Mourinho recalled in 2019.
“I pushed the club to buy him and at the time we already had fantastic attacking players—Hazard, Willian, we had top talent there. But I told them to buy that kid.
“He was just a lost kid in London. He was a lost kid in a new world.
“We wanted to work him, to become better and better and better. But he was more of the idea of wanting to play and not wait.
“I think that he doesn’t regret that move because everything went well. Everything went well for him and the progression went well for him but, at that moment, he was just a kid with a huge desire to play every week, every minute and we couldn’t give him it.”
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 27: Mohamed Salah of Chelsea is tackled by Jon Flanagan of Liverpool during the Barclays Premier League match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on April 27, 2014 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
The move to Anfield has been an incredibly fruitful one.
Salah is a Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and two-time League Cup champion with the Reds.
He is the club’s all-time leading goal-scorer in the Premier League with 180 goals, has won the golden boot three times as well as player of the season in his 32-goal 2017-18 campaign.
He also won the Puskas Award for his stunning strike in the Merseyside Derby that season.
Such an impressive resume drew high praise from Manchester United great Roy Keane when speaking on Sky Sports after the Reds’ win at City.
“I think if you’re going to be successful, any big club, you do need that world class player,” Keane said.
You can have brilliant players around you, but you need that one player who is almost ahead of everyone else just to get you over the line. Make the difference in tight games. Salah does that week-in, week-out.”
Liverpool fans will have an abundance of opportunities to watch Salah showcase his world class skills with seven of their remaining 11 Premier League fixtures this season to be played at Anfield.
As they waltz towards the title, Salah may continue to set records along the way.
There remains a lot to play out with his contract and individual accolades, it will be fascinating to witness whether he remains a Red next season, and how he fares in the Ballon d’Or voting in October.
Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth battling the powerhouses for a Champions League place. No one predicted that.
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There is only a third of the Premier League season remaining and the race for the top four has arguably never been more intriguing.
Liverpool appears set to have one hand on the title, eight points clear of second-placed Arsenal, who have a game in hand, but the next rung down is where things get fascinating.
Nottingham Forest third, Manchester City fourth and Bournemouth fifth.
The latter jumped into the top five after Forest, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle all dropped points last weekend.
Forest have won 14, drawn five and lost six, while Bournemouth have won 12, drawn seven and lost six.
It reads like a Forest or Cherries fan plugging away on Football Manager for hours to get their team to dizzying heights, but supporters in England’s midlands and on the south coast better stop pinching themselves.
They are not dreaming. This is real.
The struggles of regular top six clubs Manchester United and Tottenham, along with Champions League Round of 16 bound Villa slipping in the league, presented opportunities, and Forest and Bournemouth have snatched them with both hands.
The Forest story is famous.
A powerhouse decades ago with back-to-back European Cup victories in 1979 and 1980 under legendary manager Brian Clough.
A year before their first continental breakthrough, Forest won the English top flight and they were runners-up the season after.
But following relegation from the Premier League in 1999, they fell into the football abyss.
Forest did not return to the Premier League until 2022 and barely avoided relegation by finishing 16th and 17th in their first two seasons back in the top tier.
Bournemouth were promoted from the Championship in the same season as Forest and initially found themselves in the bottom half of the table too.
A 12th place finish last season was preceded by coming 15th in their prior campaign.
Unlike Forest, however, Bournemouth is not a club with a rich pedigree.
Its first season in the Premier League came under now Newcastle boss Eddie Howe in 2015/16 and a ninth-place finish in their second season was the club’s best result in the top flight.
Years of mediocrity did not show too many hints of a breakout campaign in Bournemouth’s case, nor a stunning revival in Forest’s case.
But the dream of Champions League nights at the City Ground or the Vitality Stadium is alive and well, and this how they have put themselves in the hunt for midweek action against the best clubs in Europe.
Here is how they did it.
FOREST’S KIWI FRONTMAN
Like Forest’s, Chris Wood’s story is a fairytale.
The 33-year-old captain of the New Zealand national team has remarkably played for 12 different clubs in England.
He even went through a three-year period where he was sent out on loan six times by West Bromwich Albion.
Wood bounced around the various tiers of English football after moving to the UK as a 16-year-old to chase his dreams, and now the Forest talisman is a bonified star.
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 17: Chris Wood of Nottingham Forest celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest FC and AFC Bournemouth at City Ground on August 17, 2024 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
The six-foot three striker is third in the golden boot race.
He has netted 18 goals so far this campaign, highlighted by a hat-trick in Forest’s 7-0 rout of Brighton earlier this month, to only sit behind Mohamed Salah (24) and Erling Haaland (19).
It is his best Premier League season, and he still has 13 more opportunities to add to his tally.
“When they talk about Mo Salah and Erling Haaland – they mention Chris Wood in the same breath – you can’t compete with that,” Wood’s high school coach former New Zealand international Mike Groom told Sky Sports.
“It’s theatrical, it’s magical, it’s the stuff of dreams and kids’ dreams are fuelled by those images and that exposure.
“We’re still a rugby-playing country, but Chris is single-handedly beginning to change that.”
Wood’s height automatically makes him an aerial threat as a target man, he has scored six headed goals this season, the most in the league, but his finishing is still underrated.
In fact, it is lethal.
Wood has had 28 shots on target for the season, and scoring 18 of them makes him the most effective of any of the Premier League’s top strikers in front of goal.
New Zealand’s record goal scorer, who is also nearing the record for most appearances for his country, has also endeared himself to football fans because he is not blessed with all the attributes of the likes of Salah and Haaland.
The biggest difference is pace.
Wood is not a quick player, and the fact he lacks speed seemingly contradicts the fact that Forest prefers to play counterattacking football.
But he makes it work by timing his runs perfectly and seizing big moments.
In some ways, it makes little sense but so has his entire football journey.
“It’s definitely exceeded what I dreamt of when I was a kid and hopefully, I’ve got a lot more I can achieve to make it an even better dream,” Wood told Sky Sports.
“I want to keep the path open for New Zealanders to hopefully make it into the Premier League one day – I want to grow that generation of new kids wanting to play football and wanting to dream of doing the best they can and ending up in the biggest league.”
BOURNEMOUTH CREATE CHAOS
Bournemouth’s blueprint in attack is not dissimilar to Forest’s.
The two sides are comfortably the Premier League leaders for playing fast and direct football.
They sit back and defend resolutely, and when they win the ball back, they are off to the races.
Once the ball is in their attacking half, they press high and try to force turnovers in dangerous areas.
It makes for exciting games to watch, and Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has been heaped with praise this season for his tactics.
“I sometimes value much more a player carrying the ball and forcing things to happen,” Iraola said in an interview with The Independent.
“We have to prepare [positional] patterns, but we cannot just prioritise them. If you can see that you don’t have a teammate ahead, forget about the pattern, just drive the ball and try to force things to happen. I want him to attack first.”
Meanwhile premierleague.com’s Alex Keble summed up the essence of their play as “disruption”.
“High risk, high reward: that’s the mentality of Iraola and his team, whether in hounding the ball with an all-action and full-pitch press or piercing opposition lines with sharp vertical football and attacking overloads,” Keble said.
“Perhaps the best word to encapsulate their tactical approach is “disruption”.
“Disrupt the other team’s play with furious pressing, and disrupt the expected rhythms of your own attack with improvisations and surges forward in high numbers.”
That philosophy has brought out the best in Justin Kluivert, who has scored 11 goals so far this campaign, four more than last season.
The Dutchman has really found his groove in the Premier League in recent times.
He was player of the month in January for scoring five goals and recording two assists in four appearances, of which Bournemouth won three and drew one.
The highlight of his season so far was a hat-trick, and an assist, in a 4-1 away win against Newcastle who were previously unbeaten in nine matches before that January fixture.
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – JANUARY 25: Justin Kluivert of Bournemouth celebrates after scoring to make it 1-0 during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest FC at Vitality Stadium on January 25, 2025 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
That victory was followed up by a 5-0 victory against Forest, where Kluivert contributed a goal and an assist to help end Forest’s eight-game unbeaten run.
Knocking off several in-form teams led to Iraola taking home manager of the month, and David Brooks’ stunning volley against Everton made it a clean sweep of the awards by winning goal of the month.
All of that came amid a length injury list, including strikers Evanilson and Enes Unal.
But Kluivert’s breakout combined with the superb form of fellow attackers Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo, who have scored seven goals apiece this season, has prevented injuries from being an excuse.
No matter who is on the sidelines, once Bournemouth wins the ball back there are simply too many runners for opponents to attack.
Remarkably, one would expect such a style of play to make them vulnerable at the back.
But Iraola’s side do not play a high line, and they have the equal-third best defensive record in the league, alongside Forest, conceding 29 goals so far. Only Arsenal and Liverpool have been stingier at the back.
They key has been the centre back pairing of Dean Huijsen and Illia Zabarnyi, a combination Iraola landed on during the season.
In the 13 games they have started together, Bournemouth have lost once, to Liverpool.
Zabaryni is the rock that has played every minute this season, while 19-year-old Huijsen has been a revelation.
“Huijsen is undoubtedly the star of the two,” Keble wrote.
“Signed from Juventus for around £15 million last summer, his strength in the air, composure in possession, and – crucially – assertive front-foot style have catapulted Bournemouth to new heights.”
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 08: Dean Huijsen of Bournemouth looks on during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Everton and AFC Bournemouth at Goodison Park on February 08, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
FOREST’S ELITE DEFENCE
ESPN’s Bruce Schoenfeld summed up Forest’s defensive brilliance in writing that manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s “football has hardly changed even though instead of a relegation battle, he has European qualification in his sights”.
Forest defends like their life depends on it.
They have comfortably made more clearances than any other team, including the equal most amount of clearances off the line.
They are level with Liverpool for the most number of clean sheets with ten.
Goalkeeper Matz Sels has punched away the aerial more than anyone else.
They are desperate.
And they are bringing an enormous amount of pride to the club’s greats.
“I haven’t watched a better pairing at the back than Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic in my 50 years of watching Forest,” former England and Forest midfielder Steve Hodge said on BBC Radio last month.
“I really mean that – pound for pound what they are as footballers and as a pair,” he added. “They have everything. As a pair, they complement each other perfectly and they both seem to be calm characters even under severe pressure.”
Nikola Milenkovic of Nottingham Forest celebrates victory during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Brighton and Hove Albion at the City Ground in Nottingham, England, on February 1, 2025. (Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Milenkovic joined from Fiorentina last summer and the 31-year-old Serbian is in many pundits’ team of the season so far.
He is an old-fashioned, no-nonsense centre back whose heading ability has led to him scoring two goals as well as clearing many attacking threats.
But in the coming games, Forest face arguably the biggest defensive test of the season.
Away at Newcastle, home to Arsenal and home to Manchester City are their next three league games.
They passed with flying colours earlier in the season, defeating Liverpool at Anfield and taking a point from them at home.
That shows that there is little to doubt that Forest’s steeliness will remain.
BOURNEMOUTH’S EXCELLENT ROAD RECORD
A major part of Bournemouth’s success has been their impressive away record.
The Cherries have won six, drawn four and lost three of their matches on the road this season, including going unbeaten in their last seven away games.
That streak has included a pair of 2-2 draws against rivals for the European places Chelsea and Fulham, as well as the Newcastle win mentioned earlier.
Their most recent away win was a 3-1 win against cellar dwellers Southampton in a south coast derby, and post-match Iraola identified fast starts as the reason for their away success.
“I think it’s key, especially when you play away,” he said.
“I think we are having good starts. I remember last games, Newcastle away, Everton the other day.
“Even the two goals in 16 minutes, but in the first minute I think we had two corners for us.
“It’s a good start and a message that we are coming here and we want to win this game and we are not happy with the 0-0 and we want things to happen quickly.
“Also, I think they are a team that now is aggressive in the press. I think there were spaces behind them. There were spaces behind us.
“The game could go very open and I’m happy, especially first half, I think we controlled the game very well.”
Their ability to get results on the road will be severely tested later in the season as they visit Arsenal and Manchester City in the final four games of their campaign.
Ange Postecoglou has been the Premier League manager in the firing line in recent months, but some of the heat is now starting to be directed Ruben Amorim’s way.
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Postecoglou’s Tottenham claimed an important 1-0 win against Amorim’s Manchester United on Sunday to add to the torrid time the Portuguese manager is having at Old Trafford.
Amorim is overseeing, statistically, the worst United team of the Premier League era.
They have lost twelve of 25 matches, with a points tally of just 29.
They have scored only 28 goals and sit 15th on the table, 12 points clear of the relegation places.
They are on track for their lowest points tally, and the least amount of goals they have scored, in a Premier League season.
The numbers are grim.
Normally, such dire circumstances would have led to a manager already being shown the door.
But this mess is not of Amorim’s creation.
United sacked Erik ten Hag in October and replaced the Dutchman with Amorim in November.
The 40-year-old was seen as a breath of fresh air.
A young manager, who would impart modern thinking on the club.
Amorim was even hailed as the club’s saviour after winning two league titles and impressing in European competition for Sporting CP in his home city of Lisbon.
Such was his popularity at this former club that Amorim was chaired off the pitch after demolishing Manchester City 4-1 in a home Champions League match, which doubled as his farewell game.
Before that mid-week affair, Amorim stated that United fans would think he is the new Sir Alex Ferguson if he orchestrated a defeat of their fierce rivals.
It is doubtful that any Red Devils supporter would think that now.
“It was everything” – Spurs sweep Man U | 01:49
WORST UTD BOSS OF MODERN ERA
United have lost eight, won four and drawn two of Amorim’s 14 Premier League outings in charge.
His overall record of nine losses, nine wins and three draws is better courtesy of an unbeaten run in the Europa League’s league phase.
But Amorim’s win percentage of 43 is the worst of any permanent United manager since Ferguson’s reign.
Louis van Gaal (48%) was next lowest, but Jose Mourinho (52%), David Moyes (57%), ten Hag (67%) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (71%) all had significantly superior records in all competitions from their first 21 matches at the helm.
Clearly, things are not going according to plan.
Yet, Amorim’s head is not being called for repeatedly like Postecoglou’s.
There is a widespread acceptance that none of this is Amorim’s fault.
Discontent among fans towards the club’s ownership has seemingly grown annually with a lot of anger directed towards the American Glazer family who have been majority owners for more than two decades.
In 2023, six of the Glazer children sold a quarter of their 68% stake in the club to British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and now some of their frustrations have been sent his way.
Selling off tickets among season ticket holders at Old Trafford to away fans, and the roof leaking because of a reluctance to spend on stadium refurbishments have generated outrage.
The most anger is directed towards squad building however, as the majority of the current team have been brought on massive dollars but flopped as their rivals have snapped up stars, and they missed opportunities to sign the likes of England captain Harry Kane when he departed Tottenham.
The resentment towards the club hierarchy has allowed Amorim to strategically push several excuses to keep the heat off him.
In January, he said he is in charge of “the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United”.
If they get relegated, like the team who dropped out of the English top flight in 1974, the “maybe” could be dropped from that quote.
Following the weekend’s loss to Tottenham, United’s third of the season to Postecolgou’s side, Amorim said “my job is so, so hard here”.
One of the things he was referring to was the growing casualty ward, which is causing the manager serious headaches.
‘Bigger club with bigger pressure” | 00:46
‘WELCOME TO MY WORLD’
The demanding schedule of midweek games throughout December and January caused Amorim to lament that he could not spend enough time on the training ground, implementing his play style on the squad.
Last week he finally got some clear air.
There were eight days between their fourth round FA Cup victory at home against Leicester City and their trip to north London to face Tottenham.
Ample time to refresh and dive deeper into the demands of his preferred 3-4-3 formation, but they lost six players in that time.
United’s top goal scorer this season Amad Diallo, England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer all suffered injuries, and Leny Yoro and Christian Eriksen fell ill.
Diallo has been ruled out for the season, joining Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Lisandro Martinez and Jonny Evans as being sidelined for the long-term.
It forced Amorim to field a bench with eight teenagers, none of whom had made a first team appearance, and 17-year-old striker Chido Obi coming on for a debut with three minutes remaining was the only change made for the match.
The predicament prompted Postecoglou to say “welcome to my world” after he has struggled with an injury-riddled squad for several months, which led to an eight games winless run in the league.
To make matters worse, United fans watched on as academy product Marcus Rashford made an inspired start to life at Aston Villa.
Fellow attacker Antony, who was signed for £82 million in 2022, also started promisingly in Spain follow his departure from Old Trafford in the recent transfer window.
No replacement was brought in for either forward, instead entrusting Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho as a front three that have produced eight goals between in the league this season.
Meanwhile, Rashford came off the bench twice for Villa and breathed life into the game, including playing a part in Ollie Watkins’ equaliser in their draw with Ipswich.
But rubbing the most salt into the wounds is that Antony has scored three times in four matches for Real Betis.
That is more goals than United have scored this February so far, and matches the Brazilian’s tally from 38 appearances for the Red Devils last season.
Perhaps, there is something in players being rejuvenated once the are freed from United’s shackles.
GREATS BECOMING RESTLESS
In the aftermath of the Tottenham loss, several greats of the Ferguson era piped up to spell doom and gloom for their former club.
Six-time Premier League winner with United Rio Ferdinand spoke on his YouTube channel about how he believes relegation is a real possibility.
“Manchester United are absolutely struggling at the moment. Only Wolves and West Ham separate my club from the relegation places. Do you realise we’re that close?” Ferdinand said.
“Someone said we need 11 points just to stay up and I’m starting to think like that. I’ve got the fixture list here and I’m looking at the game and I’m being serious here. Go through it.
“Everton away, Ipswich at home, Arsenal, Forest away, Man City, Newcastle away, Wolves, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Leicester.
“The only place I potentially see us getting anything – and I’m not even saying a win – is Leicester. We’ve slapped up Leicester a couple of times already this season so we’ve got their number.
“Normally you look at the fixture list and you can see where the points are coming from.
“We just looked at the fixture list and I’m not seeing outright wins, I’m not looking at it thinking there’s three points here and there’s three points there. That’s the problem.”
Ballon d’Or winner and Ferdinand’s former United teammate Michael Owen said that he cannot see the current situation “getting any better”.
Meanwhile, another star of United’s golden years, Gary Neville, turned his attention on the manager.
Neville thought Amorim’s tactics were “absolute madness” during the defeat to Tottenham, particularly in midfield.
“The distance between the two centre midfielders for United is all wrong,” Neville said on Sky Sports. “Look where Fernandes is, look where Casemiro is. It breaks all rules of football.
“It’s absolute madness. The structure of the team is awful. The two in midfield are split. It’s embarrassing. You wouldn’t see this in under-nines football. Look at that space in midfield. Shocking.”
It was not the first time Amorim’s midfield set up has been ridiculed.
In a 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle in December, Amorim embarrassingly subbed off attacker Joshua Zirkzee after just 33 minutes to make up for his misstep of partnering Eriksen and Casemiro in midfield, who are not blessed with pace, against the Magpies’ electric trio of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton.
Now, critiques of Amorim’s tactics are mounting up.
AMORIM SHOULD BE ABLE TO DELIVER MORE
Three at the back, four in midfield and three up front.
That is what Amorim likes his teams to look like.
But being one player lighter in defence is something foreign to the current United squad.
They have failed to get up to speed with the reconfiguration, and it has now been long enough that it is reflecting poorly on Amorim.
Arsenal great Martin Keown described his tactics as “flawed”, and was confused as to why other Premier League managers have been able to make a more immediate impact with seemingly lesser squads.
“Whereas look at Everton, in the same amount of time for David Moyes, a former United manager, are getting results. You could argue his players maybe aren’t quite as good, but this once-great club is now falling from a great height,” Keown said on TalkSport after the Tottenham loss.
“The panic button is close to being pressed. You can’t keep performing as they did yesterday.
“The tactics are flawed; we’ve been saying it for weeks now. The midfield, Casemiro sitting on his own, Spurs exploiting that with two players in those pockets. James Maddison ran the show. Fernandes was a boy lost on the pitch.”
Concerningly for Amorim, there seems to be no relief coming in anytime soon.
Gary Neville believes “it’s going to be a minimum of two to three transfer windows” before the manager and the recruiting staff can “adapt this squad into a 3-4-3 squad”.
United are also going to be limited in their spending because of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules – which are designed to stop clubs blowing out their balance sheets by limiting what they can spend, dependent upon the money they generate.
The bad news for United is that they have lost £300m in the last three years, and in the background of their poor performances on the pitch, was 250 employees being made redundant last summer as part of cost-cutting measures.
It is also reported that more redundancies are likely.
“There will be no great infusion of cash to rebuild the squad in the summer; United are already under pressure to avoid breaching PSR regulations,” The Guardian’s Jonathan Wilson wrote.
So with their hands somewhat tied financially, there is demand for Amorim to extract more out of what they have.
And at present, that does not look like happening.
“You can blame injuries all you like, highlighting the fact that United’s bench was so stacked with 17 and 18-year-olds that it resembled a sixth-form holiday camp. But Amorim, if he is truly as talented as his extravagant send-off in Lisbon suggests he is, should be summoning a tune out of those he has available,” The Telegraph’s chief sports writer Oliver Brown wrote after the Tottenham defeat.
“The problem is that the players are all hopelessly confused by the tactics he is asking them to follow. Maguire was the most obvious rabbit in headlights this time, bizarrely stopping dead in his tracks as a dangerous cross swung in towards Son Heung-min. Casemiro was all at sea, not even watching Bruno Fernandes at times and crumpling to the turf pleading for a free-kick even when nobody was near him.
“The doubts are starting to be publicly expressed. Gary Neville witheringly argued that Amorim’s midfield, with Casemiro and Fernandes creating yawning chasms through their lack of connection, would not even have been seen at under-nines level. While that might be hyperbolic, it does illustrate how the fundamentals at United have collapsed.
“The defence is shot to pieces, the midfield is makeshift, and supposed target man Hojlund has not scored in his last 15 appearances.”
WILL HE SURVIVE?
As is the case for Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham, and as was the case for Amorim’s predecessor ten Hag, the allure of silverware offers salvation.
Ten Hag bought himself more time with a shock FA Cup triumph against rivals City in 2023, while United, along with Spurs, are into the Europa League’s Round of 16.
The hierarchy at Old Trafford would be desperate for a trophy, but it is not a condition to Amorim keeping his job.
There is little doubt that he will be given a summer to shape a squad in his image, and not judged too harshly for the failures that emerge from trying to do so on the fly, mid-season.
But football is a ruthless game, and bookmakers across the UK have slashed their odds on Amorim being the next Premier League manager to be shown the door.
Reports emerged out of Spain that United are already exploring alternative options, including current US men’s team manager, as well as former Tottenham, Chelsea and PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino.
The dilemma Amorim is facing, which is the case of many bosses of rebuilding teams across any sport, is that losses stockpiling may do too much damage.
“The danger is that, even if Amorim is the right man, his reputation will be so tarnished by the end of the season that he will never be able to inspire the belief successful management requires,” The Guardian’s Jonathan Wilson wrote.
