Stories By Harry De Cosemo

• Sport

  Cole Palmer has excelled, but transfers like his aren’t a good sign

  Stamford Bridge fell silent; the nervous tension was palpable. At the end of one of the greatest Premier League matches in recent memory, Chelsea had a penalty to snatch a draw against Manchester City, who led 4-3.

• Sport

  Jose Mourinho’s recent decline has tarnished a flawless legacy

  Here we are again, wondering what next for Jose Mourinho after another sacking. There was time when a club choosing to end their working relationship with the man called ‘the Special One’ was rare, but after Roma became the fifth club in succession to do so, Mourinho finds himself at a crossroads he must have never thought he’d arrive at.

• Sport

  Are British managers really unfairly treated?

  It has long been a criticism in the mainstream of English football punditry that British managers don’t get the opportunities to take over top clubs. But if this season has shown anything, it is that the quality of coaching coming into the Premier League is better than elements of what is being developed here already.

• Sport

  Saturday’s Tyne-Wear derby is possibly the game neither club really wanted

  Stomachs are churning and nerves are jangling across the North East again, like they haven’t in the last seven years. This weekend sees the return of the Tyne-Wear derby for the first time since 2016, as Newcastle United travel to Sunderland in the FA Cup third round.

• Sport

  Moyes, despite his successes, still divides opinion at West Ham

  It is a tale as old as time. Football fans, frustrated with aspects of the way their club is working or performing despite a good league position, call for change, only to be lambasted as ungrateful by the media and others looking in from the outside.

• Sport

  Cooper’s legacy and what’s next for Forest

  If you walk through Leeds city centre, you’ll see lasting evidence of Marcelo Bielsa’s impact on the club. There is a street named after him and a mural in his honour. His relationship with the supporters, having made the area his home for three and a half years, was immortalised.

• Sport

  Pochettino, does he deserve more criticism?

  In the least surprising twist of the season so far, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino finds himself under pressure at Stamford Bridge. There are two main reasons why; because his team currently reside in the bottom half of the Premier League, used to be in charge of Tottenham Hotspur.

• Sport

  Robert Lewandowski struggling to find the form of last season

  Finding an identity in the post-Lionel Messi era was always going to be difficult for Barcelona. It would be unjust and untrue to say the Argentine became bigger than the club, but he was certainly the glue that kept everything together as the crippling financial reality began to take hold.

• Sport

  Lewis Miley has a bright future at Newcastle

  Most 17-year-olds spend their weekends having fun with their friends and weekdays stressing over exams. Newcastle United’s Lewis Miley has spent the last week dominating top European midfielders and showing his quality to the world.

• Sport

  Lukaku may be back to his best after a complicated career so far

  Romelu Lukaku has angered a lot of people in recent years. To others, he’s become a bit of a joke. At 30, the Belgian striker is not suffering the sort of decline many others have at a similar point in their careers, but he is also facing questions about his overall legacy and whether he has fulfilled his potential.

• Sport

  Jackson showing signs of becoming a key player for Chelsea

  The spotlight was always going to be on Chelsea’s attack this season. Successful strikers over the last 20 years, since Roman Abramovich arrived to elevate the club into one of the biggest and best in Europe, have been hard to come by.

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