For 23 mins Everton were a C’ship team

Apologies if you were waiting around yesterday (Monday) for the blog, but a combination of travel and the bank holiday delayed me 24 hours.

Anyway. Here we are. It’s a shame the last day of the PL season was such a damp squib, but it wasn’t anything I didn’t expect. Well - no, that’s not true. I didn’t expect to see Leeds rolled over so easily by Spurs, but I always felt they’d go down because Everton would get the result they needed.

I was also a little surprised at how bad Leeds actually are. If Sam Allardyce could be honest I’m sure he’d say the same. They’re awful. There’s nothing there. If they had a chance of beating Spurs it had to be because of that outstanding crowd, but when they turned it was all over. And I don’t blame the Elland Road faithful either. Going one down, so quickly and easily, was disgraceful. I’ve read today that Sam says there isn’t enough goals in the side. There’s no bollocks either. Its sad. How the hell can Leeds get relegated again?

Everton were a C’ship side for 23 minutes when Leicester scored v West Ham. That was the only drama - a little anxiety until Doucoure smashed the Toffees winner in v Bournemouth. But that was it.

Leicester shouldn’t be going down either. How on earth has that happened? Does Dean Smith get the chance to take them back up? Does Sam at Leeds? Why not? I’d let them both have a go.

Why is it that nobody is talking about Brendan Rodgers as a candidate for the vacancy at Spurs? Is it because he’s getting the blame for what’s happened at Leicester? That’s nonsense if it is. He was warning about what was going to happen long before it did.

Rodgers is perfect for Spurs. He’s managed big clubs - he was unlucky not to win the title at Liverpool. Had he chosen not to join Leicester when he did he would’ve completed a treble-treble at Celtic. He won the FA Cup at Leicester. He knows how to win and he’s always had teams that ‘play the right way’. Isn’t that what Spurs want? Good football and trophies? Then Rodgers has to be the man. If you need his number Daniel - give me a call.

What on earth is happening at OT. Why is the takeover not done yet? I tweeted on the subject last week. I can assure you that I’m nowhere near the details. All I know is what I read, but what a saga. What on earth can the delay be? If there are genuinely two bids on the table - chose one and get it done. The only things stopping that happening has to be a disingenuous American bank handling the deal and/or Glazer greed. There can’t be any other reasons.

I read that Qatari Sheikh Jassim’s most recent bid was a ‘take it or leave it’ offer. I understand totally the desire to own one of the biggest brands in the world - and United doesn’t come up for sale that often - but there comes a time when you’ve got to walk away.

If the Sheikh wants only United - ok. But if he wants a PL club there are others. Leeds might have been an option - but not now of course - and I’ve always thought Villa was a good club to own, but if you want a bargain there’s really good value at West Ham.

£500m wound get it. It’s in London, which is a really big plus for modern players and the infrastructure isn’t at all bad. Ok - the stadium would need work - perhaps even knocking down because it will never be a football stadium, but that wouldn’t be a problem. Even if it cost £1b to re-build you’d still be on the plus side considering that the Glazers want £6b.

Of course I was gutted for the Super Sky Blues and the thousands that made the trip to Wembley from Coventry and beyond, but I’ve no complaints. To be fair Luton were better than us and had it not been for VAR they could easily have won it by 3 or 4. Luton remind me of Wimbledon. They’ll surprise a few in the PL next season.

It’ll take Coventry a while to recover.

Just because they made the play-offs this season doesn’t mean they’ll be challenging again next time. I hope they are. I hope this season was part of a process that sees them rewarded with promotion next time, but there are no guarantees and Mark Robins will know that. There are some big clubs and good teams (there’s a difference) in the Championship next season.

Good luck to both in the Cup Final this weekend - and then it’s the big one for City. Guardiola has got to win the CL. He knows he’s got to win it. He knows it’s the reason that City employed him and after a £2b spend across seven years - it’s time.

He also knows that whatever City continue to win there will be an asterisk alongside any success. What was he talking about last week when he said that he wants the PL to hurry to a conclusion on the charges of financial wrong-doing? It’s not their gift. As I said in my last blog - it’s up to City to expedite the process. If they’ve nothing to hide they can clear things up quite easily. It won’t work trying to blame the PL for laying the charges.