Stories By Graham Ruthven

• Sport

  Who are the contenders to replace Marcolo Bielsa at Leeds?

  On the side of a building at Hyde Park Corner in Leeds is the giant face of Marcelo Bielsa. The 90-square metre portrait stands as testament to the impact made by the legendary coach on Leeds United and on the city as a whole.

• Sport

  Is Manchester City academy about to deliver on promise?

  On the wall of the reception area at the Manchester City academy is a quote from the club’s owner Sheikh Mansour. “We are building a structure for the future not just a team of all-stars,” it says, indicating City’s intention to become a self-sustainable organisation at the some point in the future.

• Sport

  Could Graham Potter replace Brendan Rodgers at Leicester?

  With Brendan Rodgers suffering his first serious crisis at Leicester City, could Graham Potter be the man to replace him at the King Power Stadium?     Not so long ago, Leicester City were widely considered the best run club in the Premier League and with good reason too.

• Sport

  An FA Cup win would symbolise progress at Manchester United

  Only one club (Arsenal) have won the FA Cup more times than Manchester United. It is, however, coming up for six years since the Old Trafford outfit got their hands on the oldest cup trophy in world football.

• Sport

  5 Chelsea players who Frank Lampard could target for Everton

  Frank Lampard has been given himself another opportunity to prove himself as a manager at Premier League level with the former midfielder now in place at Everton. Lampard has already started to make a mark on the squad he has inherited by adding Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek on deadline day, but what further signings could he make at the end of the season? At Chelsea, Lampard established a pathway between the academy ranks and the first team and so it’s possible he could return to his former club to lure players he previously worked with to Merseyside.

• Sport

  Relegation remains a genuine possibility for Everton

  When it comes to net spend, only Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea have splurged more in the transfer market over the last five years than Everton. For all the money spent at Goodison Park, though, Everton have succeeded only in getting themselves into an increasingly sticky situation and are now genuine relegation contenders.

• Sport

  Was new Jordan Henderson contract a mistake?

  Throughout his Liverpool career, Jordan Henderson has made a habit of proving his doubters wrong. Some of those doubters have been among the Anfield club’s own fanbase. Most notably, Henderson’s anointment as Liverpool captain had many questioning whether the former Sunderland midfielder would be a suitable successor to Steven Gerrard.

• Sport

  Which Prem clubs could use Christian Eriksen?

  The immediate concern for Christian Eriksen as he collapsed during Denmark’s Euro 2020 opener against Finland was for his health, not for whether or not he would ever play at football’s elite level again.

• Sport

  Forget Benitez, Farhad Moshiri is the biggest issue at Everton

  Rafael Benitez was doomed as Everton manager from the moment he was hired by Farhad Moshiri to take charge of the Merseyside club. His standing as a Liverpool legend was always going to make Benitez’s presence an uncomfortable one but the circumstances also conspired to make the Spaniard’s job on the blue side of Merseyside nearly impossible.

• Sport

  Wolves heading in the right direction under Bruno Lage

  Not many Wolves fans had heard of Bruno Lage when he pitched up at the club last summer. After all, the 43-year-old had only a year-and-a-half in charge of Benfica to point to on his C.V. The Molineux outfit took a gamble on Lage, but that gamble is now paying off with Wolves enjoying a successful season.

• Sport

  How will Chelsea solve their left-back issue in January?

  As soon as Ben Chilwell went down injured in a Champions League match against Juventus last month, it was clear Chelsea had an obstacle to overcome at left-back. Until then, the England international had been a key figure for Thomas Tuchel’s side.

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