:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/13475327/138301409.0.jpg)
Newcastle
Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew fears bids for his star players | Chronicle Live
There's not much here that we don't already know, although I found it interesting that the club "slapped a £15m price tag on all of their players last summer."
Season-201213-TV-Broadcasting-distribution.pdf | premierleague.com
Newcastle's total TV payout for the 2012-13 season was £45,168,771. The total pot for next year is thought to be around £2 billion - just under twice what it was this year.
Wigan Cosmos play Goose Green at St James' Park | BBC News
Obviously it would be preferable if this weren't a story at all, but I'm proud of the way the club has turned a negative into quite a positive.
Why sacking the manager does little to boost results in long term | The Times
The results? Even without sacking the manager, the performance of the control group bounces back in the same fashion and at least as strongly as the performance of the clubs that fired their managers. It’s a phenomenon called "regression to the mean". An extraordinary period of poor performance is just that: extraordinary. It will auto-correct as fortune shines her light on you once more. Sacking managers is not a panacea for a team but a placebo. It is an expensive illusion.
(I nominate this book for a future CHN Book Club reading)
Other Football
Tony Pulis sacking was largely down to Stoke's failure to raise the bar | The Guardian
A nice post-mortem of Tony Pulis' time with Stoke City. At the bottom is a list of potential candidates to replace him. If you want Pardew out, here's who you're looking at for Newcastle as well (and please realize that availability does not equal desire to work under Mike Ashley): Rafael Benitez, Roberto Di Matteo, Gus Poyet, Mark Hughes, Phil Neville. No thanks.
Tony Pulis Departs: Stoke City Fans, Be Careful What You Wish For | EPL Talk
West Brom (under Tony Mowbray), Burnley and Blackpool all came up to the Premier League in Stoke’s first three seasons up and went right back down despite critics lauding the open and free-flowing football the sides provided. Yet Stoke, attacked by critics consistently for negativity, has not been seriously relegation threatened in Pulis’ tenure. The club serves as a model for responsible spending, savvy tactics to stay in the division and rejecting the advice of critics in the media (and among supporters) and doing what is best to remain in the top flight. It is a model newly promoted sides would be wise to follow.
How They Got Here: Dortmund and Bayern's Road to the Final | Bavarian Football Works
Though many predicted one of, if not both these teams to reach this match, both campaigns had their moments of doubt and of triumph.
Mario Götze injury: Dortmund star trains, but leaves early | SBNation.com
Dortmund midfielder Mario Götze participated in training today but was forced to leave after an hour with apparent discomfort in his injured hamstring.
Borussia Dortmund's banner plans blocked by Wembley red tape | guardian.co.uk
Wembley officials: Killers of fun.
New York City FC is MLS's newest expansion team | SBNation.com
Ladies and gentlemen: America's new most hated team.
EPL Transfer Rumors: Your Guide to Deciphering Fact From Fiction | EPL Talk
A humorous look at the transfer window. Seems relevant after some idiots held Twitter hostage on Tuesday.
Tweets of the Day
Can anyone guess what this is, and where it came from?? twitter.com/TaylorR1984/st…
— Ryan Taylor (@TaylorR1984) May 21, 2013
That was in his LEG. I need some Tramadol.
An NYC MLS team pretty much has to be called the New York Kickersoccers.
— Matt Sussman (@suss2hyphens) May 21, 2013