Stories By Harry De Cosemo

• Sport

  Super League just a sympton of wider football issues

  In what proved to be the most explosive week in modern footballing history, the mask slipped once and for all. Fans, players and managers have seen the game for what it is for a long time but generally accepted it because, while football has become entrenched into the murky world of financial capitalism, it hasn’t altered the landscape of the sport enough to warrant too much fuss European Super League proposal, however, stepped over the line.

• Sport

  ‘Big Six’ fans are the biggest victims of the Super League

  At Old Trafford, where the eerie nature of behind-closed-doors football is felt more keenly than most other stadiums because of its sheer size, the words ‘football is nothing without fans’ are sprawled across one of the coverings for empty seats.

• Sport

  El Clasico lacking the sparkle that once made it great

  As football fans, we are often told to savour the moment. The most important thing is never to take the good times for granted; blink and you might just miss them. It is harder than it sounds and something of a paradox.

• Sport

  Man City left seeking a replacement for Sergio Aguero

  This summer may not see wholesale changes at Manchester City but, for the first time in 10 years, they will have to face life without Sergio Aguero. Not only has the club’s greatest ever goalscorer announced that he will be departing when his contract expires in a few weeks, as expected, but City boss Pep Guardiola is now facing up to a first in his career: he’ll have no world class striker to call upon.

• Sport

  Will Southgate take a Euro 2020 risk on Jude Bellingham?

  It has been a difficult decade for Birmingham City. The anniversary of their Carling Cup victory over Arsenal in 2011 passed at the end of February. On that day at Wembley Stadium, it was hard to foresee the depths of desolation and misery the club would fall to in the years that followed.

• Sport

  Can Three Lions thrive under cautious Gareth Southgate?

  Beer-filled parks and venues erupting all over England as Kieran Trippier bent a freekick into the net in Saint Petersburg has become a rather iconic and poignant sight. When Gareth Southgate’s three lions took the lead against Croatia in the 2018 World Cup semi-final, anything seemed possible.

• Sport

  Sergio Aguero deserves a fitting exit from Man City

  When Robinho signed for Manchester City on September 1st, 2008, it was supposed to be the dawning of a new, all conquering era. Their takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group made them rich in the blink of an eye and, with comparatively little financial competition at the time, there was a feeling that their ascension to the summit of both English and European football would be rapid after the hastily agreed deal for the Brazilian was completed under Chelsea’s nose.

• Sport

  Steve Bruce losing media allies after latest shambles

  It felt like the end of days. Steve Bruce stood motionless on the touchline, hands in his pockets, head bowed, as Neal Maupay scored Brighton’s third on a desperate night for Newcastle United. The Frenchman, who scored twice in the first 3-0 victory for the Seagulls at St James’ Park in September, hadn’t found the net in 10 games; it was as fitting as it was expected that he would bring the scoring to a close on Saturday night.

• Sport

  Chris Wilder deserved better from Sheffield United

  Before and after, there was anger. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the relationship between Sheffield United fans and players bordered on hatred in 2016 and it took Chris Wilder, a pub-going Blades fan himself, to reconnect both sides.

• Sport

  Elitist self-interest is the biggest threat to football

  Lockdown football has taught us a lot about what is important within the sport. From a fan perspective, the last year has laid bare just how little a role the action on the pitch plays in a routine matchday.

• Sport

  Liverpool meltdown won’t taint Klopp’s legacy or future

  With the very biggest clubs and best teams, there is a perception that any crisis is fleeting. Results, while susceptible to spiralling out of control, will always revert back to the norm eventually. To offset that, any little issue becomes a storm in a teacup because it generates a story; regular occurrences are simply not justified for poor form.

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