Squires Gate v Kendal Town

Good evening everyone, and a Happy New Year from all of us here at Squires Gate FC.

A warm welcome to tonight’s game, as we kick off the year with a tough match against Kendal Town.

We ended last year on a bit of a disappointing run, but we’re well rested and ready to kick on in 2023.

We’ll have to be streets ahead of how we played on Boxing Day against Burscough, where after taking the lead, we took our foot off the gas and lost 3-1.

Our performance and attitude wasn’t nearly good enough and we’ll be doing all we can to turn that around today. Our opponents won’t make it easy for us

After taking a little while to get going, Kendal have been on of the form sides in the division in recent months, and will prove a very tough test for us tonight.

They’ve got danger up top that we’ll have to be aware of, a tough midfield that we’ll have to battle against and a solid defence that we’ll have to work hard to break down.

I’ve got confidence as always though in my lads and how we play that we can win the game.

A big thank you to everyone attending tonight’s match, we hope you enjoy your evening with us here at The Brian Addison Stadium!

Gaffer #WeAreGate

JAMES HUGHES

CHRIS WEBSTER

NATHAN PENNINGTON JOSH WESTWOOD (Captain)

NATHAN BARTRAM

Nathan! You’ for today’s programme! Are you looking forward to the match? Yes as always I todays game. I game and hopefully we can get the 3 points.

We face a tricky test in Kendal Town this afternoon, what are you expecting from our visitors? Today we will be expecting a fast paced game and we know they will press us high trying to win the ball back as high as they can. They got quality all over the pitch so we know we’re in for a battle but I believe we’re good enough to get a result.

You joined Gate in the summer of 2021 and have been an excellent addition to the club both on and off the pitch - how have you settled in and enjoyed your time at Gate so far?

I felt at home from the first training session with all the lads last season, they were very welcoming and it was a good environment to be involved in. Again this season the lads are all class and there’s been a good team spirit throughout this season so far.

played in last season? Last season we had a few more experienced players in and around the squad which always helps whereas this year we’ve got a lot of young lads stepping up to this level but they’ve all done great and made positive starts for the season. Im sure they’ll keep improving and learning more every game.

on the pitch knowing the fans are behind you cheering you on for 90 minutes.

RYAN MOORE

Your perfect meal deal? (Butty, snack & drink) Has to be chicken & bacon sandwich, nomadic - elite snack, I’d probs say a water if it’s the weekend then it’sa coke allday.

Worst Dresser in the squad?

Worst dress couldn’t tell you only been here a few weeks but going off Insta some of cliffeys pics the less said thebetter.

Your go to Maccies order? Maccies order would be 20 nuggets, fries, mcflurry, Fanta and probs a cheeseburger on the side.

Who would be in your all-time Gate 5-a-side?

Penny, Harrison Webb, myself, Boyd, Cliffe - Dan grays 5aside is awful so he doesnt make the side.

Which movie can you quote by heart?

Not really a movie man but I’ll give you my favourite Movies: law abiding citizen & role models probstop5 alltime.

Roll/Cob/ Barm etc - What do you call it?

It’s a barm all day I don’t wanna hear anything else, worst is muffin it’satotallydifferent thing.

If all the lads were on Love Island, who would win? Love island winner has to be Harrison webby. got to back my boy he thinks he’s got a bit.

Worst piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Worst bit of advice couldn’t tell you met somefoolsinmytime.

You can listen to one album on repeat. Which do you pick? Go to album would be lil baby’s ‘my turn’.

minute.

Ryan Moore had Gate’s first effort of the game just a few minutes later, as the midfielder pounced on a poor clearance from the Bury goalkeeper but the midfielder’s effort deflected out for a corner that was easily dealt with.

Nathan Pennington had to be switched on to tip a header at the back post onto the bar and out for a corner, before Nathan Cliffe wasted a decent chance at the other end, with his cross massively overhit after breaking in behind. Bury AFC started the half on top, and opened the scoring on 48 minutes through Ben Wharton.

Cliffe had a half chance on 70 minutes, though his well-struck volley was blocked. Pennington then made another excellent save to keep Bury’s lead at just one, before the visitors spurned another good chance, shooting well over from the edge of the box.

Gate’s biggest chance of the match came on 87 minutes, with Cliffe coming within inches of drawing the game level. Nathan Bartram did brilliantly to drive out from the back and thread an excellent ball in behind for Cliffe, with the forward curling over the goalkeeper but denied by the bar.

Gate, with good link up play between Cliffe and Chambers ending with the latter hitting straight at the Burscough keeper. A strong effort from Cliffe just 2 minutes later was then tipped behind for a corner.

Theo Ball had the best chance of the game on 29 minutes, but could only hit straight at the keeper after excellent work down the left from James Boyd.

Gate got off to the perfect start in the second half, opening the scoring on 47 minutes. A whipped in corner by standin skipper Harrison Webster went all the way through to Dan Gray at the back post who steered home.

ond just moments later, with a low effort across goal narrowly evading both the bottom corner and the outstretched leg of Cliffe.

Burscough grew back into the game though and hit a couple of good opportunities off target before drawing level on 75 minutes. A pinpoint ball in behind was latches onto by the Number 7 who fired clinically past Pennington.

Burscough took the lead on 90 minutes, stabbing home from close range after Pennington saved an initial effort. The visitors sealed the win just two minutes later, capitalising on a mix up at the back to tap into and empty net.

6

Westwood Riley Webster Ball Chambers Yelegon Holden Boyd Burgess Powell Hughes

Westwood Riley Webster Pett Chambers Hughes Cliffe Yelegon Burgess Hesford Ball

Westwood Riley Webster Ball Pett Hughes Cliffe Eastham Burgess Kay Powell

Westwood Riley Webster Ball Cliffe Boyd Smith Eastham Kay Powell Hesford

Westwood Riley Webster Ball Cliffe Boyd Smith Yelegon Kay Abouzaid Powell

Westwood Riley Abouzaid Ball Cliffe Boyd Abankwah Gray Kay Pett Yelegon

Westwood Riley Abouzaid Pett Cliffe Gray Smith Burgess Kay Robinson Yelegon

Westwood Riley Abouzaid Pett Cliffe Boyd Shields Powell Eastham Ball Yelegon Westwood Riley Abouzaid Ball Cliffe Boyd Gray Eastham Yelegon Powell Yilmaz Westwood Riley C. Webster Pett Chambers Boyd Kay Yelegon Abouzaid Cliffe Ball

Westwood Abouzaid C. Webster Pett Cliffe Boyd Kay Yelegon Riley Gray Ball

Westwood Riley Kay Pett Cliffe Boyd Chambers Yelegon Eastham Abouzaid Ball

Westwood Riley Chamber Yelegon Cliffe Boyd Abankwah Kay Welsh Webster Ball

Bartram Kay Abouzaid Ball Cliffe Boyd Westwood Riley Hughes Gray Pett Westwood Riley Chambers Pett Cliffe Boyd Abankwah C. Webster Welsh Eastham Ball

Welsh Riley C. Webster Pett Ball Gray Abankwah Yelegon Abouzaid Kay Cliffe

Welsh Yelegon C. Webster Aluebhosele Cliffe Boyd Shields Riley Abouzaid Kay Ball

Welsh Riley C. Webster Aluebhosele Cliffe Boyd Shields Kay Abouzaid Yelegon Ball Westwood Gray C. Webster Yelegon Cliffe Boyd Abankwah Welsh Abouzaid Aluebhosele Moore

Westwood Moore C.Webster Ball Cliffe Boyd Bartram Hughes Chambers Yilmaz Yelegon Westwood Moore Chambers Yilmaz Cliffe Boyd Welsh Jungo Riley Kay Abouzaid Westwood Gray C.Webster Ball Cliffe Boyd Abankwah Riley Riley Abouzaid Hesford

Welsh Riley C.Webster Ball Cliffe Abouzaid Westwood Kay Chambers Boyd Hesford

Westwood Gray C.Webster Ball Cliffe Boyd Welsh Riley Abankwah Moore Abouzaid Westwood Riley C.Webster Ball Moore Abouzaid Hughes H.Webster Gray Kay Dimoski Westwood Riley C.Webster Ball Cliffe Moore Abankwah Chambers Bartram Hesford Abouzaid Westwood Riley C.Webster Ball Cliffe Moore Abankwah Abouzaid Bartram Kay Boyd

Bartram Kay C.Webster Ball Sandle Boyd Westwood Gray Moore Chambers Cliffe Westwood Riley C.Webster Ball Cliffe Boyd Abankwah Gray Bartram Chambers Aluebhosele Bartram Gray C.Webster Ball Cliffe Boyd Westwood Riley Moore Sandle Aluebhosele Westwood Gray C. Webster Moore Cliffe Boyd Kay Jungo Riley Sandle Ball

Welsh Riley Gray Ball Cliffe Boyd Westwood Moore Kay Webster Sandle

SOCIAL MEDIA

SPONSOR

DIRECTORS & SPONSORS STAND

PITCH-SIDE

ADVERTISING BOARD (£300 first season, £200 p/season thereafter)

MATCH

MATCHBALL

> Your business logo will be on every single graphic we put on our social media pages

> Your business will be mentioned, tagged or displayed in every single post the club puts on social media.

> Regular social media posts directing our followers to your website.

> A free advertising board worth £300.

> 2 Free 2022/23 season tickets (includes matchday hospitality).

> A Matchday Sponsorship Package for a game of your choice.

> Your business name & logo proudly displayed across our Directors & Sponsors Stand.

> Five Free 2022/23 Season Tickets (worth £400).

> Unlimited Social Media inclusion across all of our platforms.

> Free room hire of our function room.

> Free Match Sponsorship Package (worth £150).

> Your business logo, company name and any message or contact details displayed on a 8ft x 2ft Alu Panel Board (All costs included)

> Exposure for your business in the local newspaper, media highlights and nationally through visiting fans and the non-league community including FA Cup games.

> A Matchball Sponsorship Package

> 2 Free 2022/23 Season Tickets (inc. hospitality)

> Inclusion on our Sponsors section in our match programme and club website.

> Social Media post directing over 10k followers to your website / company

> Your business logo will be on every single graphic we put on our social media pages leading up to and during your match.

> Your business will be mentioned or tagged in every single post the club puts on social media leading up to and your match.

> A social media post directing our followers to your website.

> Double Page spread on your business in our Matchday Programme.

> 6 Free Tickets including free food, drinks, programmes and hospitality.

> Choose the Man Of The Match, with a picture taken and shared with your business tagged on social media.

> Your business logo will be on every graphic we put on our social media pages on your matchday

> Your business will be mentioned or tagged in every post the club puts on social media on your matchday.

> A social media post directing our followers to your website.

> A Page on your business in our Matchday Programme.

> 4 Free Tickets including free drinks, programmes and hospitality.

KENDAL TOWN

LAST SEASON

NPL 1D: 19th

FA Cup: 1st Qualifying Round

FA Trophy: 2nd Qualifying Round

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MINT CAKES...

The present Club was originally formed as Netherfield AFC in 1919 when employees at K Shoes Netherfield factory were encouraged to form a football team.

They were provided with land near to the factory at Parkside and began to compete in local leagues. In 1925 the team achieved its first notable success winning the Westmorland County Cup. The club then played in the local leagues like the North Lancashire and West Lancashire league before the outbreak of the 2nd World War.

In 1945 the club joined the semiprofessional ranks becoming a member of the Lancashire Combination League. Two Championship Titles came their way in 1949 and 1965. FA Cup success was becoming a tradition having 5 appearances in 8 years in the 1st Round of the FA Cup with club’s best run was in 1963/64 reaching the 2nd Round against Chesterfield.

In 1968 the club accepted the challenge of becoming a founder member of the Northern Premier League. However, the 1970's were not kind to Netherfield as they languished around the bottom of the Northern Premier League for most of the decade.

The Club moved in the North West Counties Division 1 for 4 seasons before returning to the Northern Premier League in 1987 for the next 10 years the club highest position was 5th in 1993/94 season.

The club changed its name to Netherfield Kendal in 1998 and changed its name to Kendal Town in 2000. The 2004/05 season the club lost in the NPL Division 1 play-off final against AFC Telford.

The season after was one of the most successful in the club’s history beating Gresley Rovers in the playoff final and

the 1st ever promotion in the clubs history to the NPL Premier.

The club best two seasons in the NPL Premier where they secured two play off places losing both semi-finals each time. In the 2012/13 season the club where relegated back to the NPL Division 1. For the next 10 seasons the clubs average position was 16th. In that time the club could only manage it’s highest position of 10th in the 2013/14 season.

The 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons where never completed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The 2021/22 season was one of the worst in the club’s history. The club finished on 12 points and finished 19th and relegated to the NWCFL Premier Division.

KENDAL CALLING

RECORD ATTENDANCE

Kendal’s record attendance came in the 1955-56 season, with 5,184 people watching them take on GrimsbyTown in the FA Cup

GARY LANGLEY

THE REFEREE’S A

WHAT?

Words by Gary Langley

With Christmas finally out of the way, many of us will have taken in a pantomime recently, and in many ways a game of football can be compared to them.

Both footy and panto normally have an all-star cast, many of whom you pretend to know and there is always a stand-out name that you recall from somewhere. There’s always an appreciative audience with competitively priced snacks, a bit of drama and subject to ones perspective – a Pantomime villain.

Ohhhh nooo there isn’t I hear you cry! Well, it’s true. A number of fans seem to think the match officials fill this part and give them some unnecessary stick. Not me I hasten to add.

Around the country there is pretty much a match officials crisis at the moment. There are a number of leagues who have cancelled fixtures to highlight the increasing problem of abuse to match officials.

This abuse ranges from what is sadly deemed the most common of touchline comments through to full on physical assaults or criminal damage. It’s not just players doing it either, odds are you wont have to look far today to see and hear someone having a little nip at the match officials

It has to stop, otherwise we are at risk of losing the game.

We have all witnessed it but do we do anything about it? Not really, society seems to have this thing where we will frown upon people abusing match officials but very seldom say anything or do anything about it.

As a league official in the North West, I’m very familiar with referee’s reports that advise of abuse being received and it worry’s me about how thick skinned we expect these guys, gals, lads and lasses to be.

Referees and match officials have not remained silent on the issue and even going back to November 2010 there was a referees strike in the senior Scottish game which wiped out all except four games over the full game week.

Just before the turn of the year, Dave Bradshaw, a referee from Wigan was attacked on a field of play in a Cup game in Lancashire which saw him kicked in the head and left with multiple injuries. He has been quoted in the local press as saying that it’s not an isolated incident and that bodycams need to be seriously considered.

In October the Merseyside Youth Football League had all of its fixtures suspended for a week following a series of incidents of reported abuse to match officials. Shortly after, the Merseyside Business Houses Amateur League suspended all of it’s fixtures for a week as match officials stood themselves down to highlight the issues of ever increasing abuse by players and fans. This made national news at the time.

In recent weeks there have been a number of issues around grassroots football, which includes the semi-pro game of referees being squared up to, assistant referees being pushed and verbally abused and intimidated and you have to wonder where, when and how it can be stopped.

As an FA Qualified Coach myself, I have coached U16’s football and I used to quite enjoy it but I used to get distracted by parents who would give the match officials some real stick, and some of these match officials were only teenagers finding their way in the game.

The match officials should not have to get used to that, or accept it as part of the game. I once got abused myself for asking a parent to ‘chill’ as they ran up and down on the touchline parallel to where their lad was running for a whole game.

When I highlighted that fact that he was on the pitch, blocking everyone’s view, including mine he erupted. Of course, what happened after that, competitive dad took his lad out of the team, whispers started and the poor kid dropped out of the game as a number of clubs refused to sign him on. It’s all part of the bullying culture in the sport at the moment which is arriving on the pitch and damaging the game.

We don’t have to agree with every decision made on the park, but it should not be the focus of the game.

Let the players do the talking on the park and may that talking be by and large football related and any debate about decisions be put through the captain, rather than nine players, 7 fans and someone doing daft gesture on the touchline with an imaginary card. The game is at risk if we don’t.

BOXING DAY 1963

WHY WE NEED TO MOVE PAST BOXING DAY 1963

Words by Duncan Alexander

For a decade now, not a single Christmas in England has taken place without multiplesightings of the scores in the Division One games on Boxing Day 1963, when there were 66 goals across 10 games. As far as anyone can recall, no one in the 1980s, 1990s or 2000s felt the need to reference an admittedly stellar (if you like goals) day in the English footballingcalendar.

That changed, though, at Christmas 2011 when a newspaper – understandably looking to pre-fill pages at a busy and understaffed time of year –printed the nowall toofamiliar set of 10 games, which were soon picked up by other publications and broadcasters across the globe, all of them entranced by this bizarre day of plenty in the planet’s favourite low-scoring sport.

Let’s not try and pretend such a day isn’t interesting in and of itself. The standout games were Fulham’s 10-1 win against Ipswich, which remains the most recent time an English top-flight side has hit double figures in a game.

Fulham even managed to spread the goals perfectly, with five in the first half and five in the second. Meanwhile, winger Graham Leggat scoredfour

times, with the first three coming in the 18th, 19th and 21st minutes, like some sort of Kraysera Sadio Mané. Fulham had scored 25 goals in 23 games goinginto thismatch,bythe way, so this was a definite improvement inform.

Elsewhere there was another delightfully symmetrical game between West Ham and Blackburn, which ended 4-1 to Rovers in each half. Terry Venables scored for Chelsea away at Blackpool, Jimmy Greaves scored twice for Tottenham in their 4-4 draw at West Brom, the Baggies’ fourth goal bagged by the festivethemed Micky Fudge.

And unlike the vast majority of 1963-truthers, let’s not forget about the lower leagues, with Manchester City enjoying an 8-1 win against Scunthorpe with two players grabbing hat-tricks. Meanwhile, the only game in the four divisions to end goalless on Boxing Day 1963 was Crewe against Peterborough in the third tier. Still, more than 6,000 people turned up to watch it, because… well, whynot?

Nobody would sensibly try and decry the antics of December 26 1963, it was clearly a fun old day, but in the 10 years since the results were resurfaced for a modern audience, the day has almost come to symbolise a lost age of carefreefootball,a sportweighed

down with none of the problematic elements of modern football. Images of the scorelines from Boxing Day 1963 can be found being wielded on social media as a type of proof that old football was just better, things will never be as good as that again and we have somehow lost our way.

This ignores the fact that it happened less than three years after footballers had forced the abolition of the maximum wage, an overdue development bitterly foughtbymost club chairmen.

Ask those brooding pipe-smoking administrators in 1961 whether they were against modern football and the answer would have been a resounding yes. At least they would have gleaned some enjoyment from seeing Johnny Haynes, the first £100 a week footballer, fail to get on the scoresheet in Fulham’s 10-1 win against Ipswich.What was his xG thatday?Wesimplydon’t know.

1961, the first Boxing Day postabolition of the maximum wage, by the way, saw an incredibly average goals per game rate of 2.82. The media will never put those scores on a screen. They simply aren’t allowed to.

It’s also worth noting just what an outlier that 66-goal day is historically. Outside of the world wars, top-flight English football has been played on Boxing Day in virtually every year, other than those when December 26 fell on a Sunday.

The average number of goals per Boxing Day across that entire period is26.9.

Only one year other than 1963 – 1893 – has seen more than five goals per game, with 1888 and 1955 seeing exactly 5.00 pergame.

The lowest figure is 1.33 in 1919, the first season back after the First World War. A third of the 12 goals that day were scored by West Brom, with four 1-0s and two 0-0s among the other eight games. Again, you’ll never see that set of scorelines shared enthusiasticallyonline.

Five years ago there were 3.63 goals per game on Boxing Day, the biggest bonanza since 1963 (excluding the four goals in one game oddity that was 1982), but the odds on 2017 being hailed as a heroic time in 50 years seems unlikely, not unlessfuture generations religiously worship injury-time Jesse Lingard equalisersagainst Burnley.

Between 1983 and 1990, very much a venerated period of the game currently, the Boxing Day goals per game never climbed over three goals per game, although agricultural box-mouth scrambles apparently reached a newhigh.

Many would counter by saying that you can’t judge an era’s significance just by the number of goals scored on a single day during the Christmas period. I agree, and so I never want to see the results from Boxing Day 1963 again. It’stimetomove on.

COULD KOMPANY EVENTUALLY REPLACE PEP GUARDIOLA AT MANCHESTER CITY?

Words by Gabriel Sutton

Pep Guardiola signed a two-year extension to his contract as ManchesterCitybosslast month.

A sign that the Catalonian is very happy in his current position, in one sense, yet put another way, he hasn’t penned a four or fiveyear deal, which may well have been on the table for the person many see as the best manager in the world.

As such, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that Guardiola plans to have a sabbatical in 2025, after nine years in post and 12 in management, stretching back to hisBayernMunichtenure.

It is highly audacious to look this far in the future, and much can happen between now and then which would throw off course any current theorieson succession.

One possible trajectory, however, is that Vincent Kompany wins the Championship title with Burnley this season, keeps them up comfortably in the Premier League in 2023-24 before recording a top half finish the followingseason.

By this point, the Belgian would have likely hit a glass ceiling with the Clarets and be keen to embark on his next chapter, while City may be prepared to take a chance on him with the managerial potential he’d have shown, combined with the added dimension of his history with the club.

Could this really happen? What sort of a fit would Kompany be, two-and-a-half years down the line?

PLAYING STYLE

Having experienced Pep Guardiola’s methods first-hand for four years, Kompany is a heavilypossession-based coach.

His Burnley side average 63.6% possession in contrast with Man City’s 66.6%, and 466.3 successful passes per game to City’s 610.1. In both cases, the Clarets rank in the top four highest across the top two tiers of English leaguefootball.

The job that Kompany’s done to change Burnley’s playing style in such a short space of time can’t be underplayed. Signing so many new players and getting them to produce successful results in under six months must be applauded.

.

Under previous boss Sean Dyche, Burnley averaged 228 successful passes per game and 42.8% possession – much lower than their equivalent metrics in 2022-23underthe Belgian.

Of course, the East Lancashire club have some budgetary advantages in the Championship, having been able to reportedly spend just shy of £29 million on players for the first-team squad –the most in the league – thanks to the parachute payments from theirtime inthePremierLeague

At the same time, six of the 10 first team signings are under 24, and there was a significant emphasis on evolving what had been an aging squad and increasing the long-term value, as much as an immediate expectationtowin the title.

By contrast, Man City are broadly expected to dominate: their possession and successful passes per game metrics reflect a few more contests than Burnley have had in which opponents set up with a deepblock.

ACCELERATING PLAY OUT WIDE

Kompany wants his side to draw the press by being incredibly patient in possession in their own half, circulating play through a central quintet of Connor Roberts or Vitinho, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Jordan Beyer, Jack Cork and Josh Cullen.

When that press is not forthcoming, Cork and Cullen can turn, see the game in front of them and create from there, but when it is, the game becomes about the wide players.

Ian Maatsen’s pace and stamina allows him to get from his own half into the final third very quickly. No full-back in the Championship to play at least 900 minutes has averaged more progressive carries (13) or progressive carry distance (156m) per 90 minutes than he hasin2022-23.

Maatsen has been crucial to Burnley’s attacking output, with an average of 4.7 attacking sequence involvements from open play per 90 minutes this season – 2.4 of those seeing his only involvement in the build-up to the shot.

When the diminutive 20-year-old gets on the end of it, he can cut the ball back or produce a low cross for a big chance, but when he doesn’t quite do so, he can stillpressurize the opposition.

At 5’6”, Maatsen is nimble, agile and energetic which, coupled with his bravery, makes him incredibly tenacious and thus, Burnley’s most common tackler and interceptor per 90 minutes in the Championship across 202223 (3.6 per90).

As such, the wing-back can still force the opposition into unwanted clearances and misplaced passes when ‘Plan A’ doesn’t quite come off.

It’s plausible that Kompany would want to sign Maatsen, were he to become City boss some time in the future, but he also may be able to do similar work with Sergio Gomez or Josh Wilson-Ebrand.

Being predominantly left-footed, Maatsen is a different type of leftback to Joao Cancelo, more conventional than inverted.

In that sense, Kompany would tweak things slightly by not asking both full-backs to step into midfield when midfielders push forward, asPep does.

PLAYING STYLE

To a casual observer, it may seem as though Kompany didn’t excel at Anderlecht, the biggest club in Belgium, with fourth and third-placed finishes under his guidance.

Despite perceived mediocre performance on paper, RSCA fans remained supportive of Kompany and were unhappy when he was sacked: they liked his ideas and felt he would have been the right person to take the club forward, partly because of hisstrength of character.

Whetherin the press,speaking to fans or in the dressing room, Kompany will command a room: when he speaks,you listen

It’s one thing Manchester City replacing Guardiola with a visionary coach, with innovative tactical ideas and elite coaching, but they must have the force of personality to motivate everyone to buyinto theirmethods.

Kompany has that, and while his status as a City legend shouldn’t be the primary reason for appointing him, it does mean supporters will be onside from theoutset.

Which of these is not currently in the play off spots in the Championship?

A. Watford B. Luton C. Blackburn D. Millwall E. Middlesbrough

Haaland has become the fastest player to score 20 goals in the Premier League, doing so in 14 appearances. Who is second?

A. Ruud Van Nistelrooy. B. Diego Costa C. AndrewCole D. Kevin Phillips