The Less Fashionable Managers are Setting the Trend

When the manager of the year award gets handed out at close of play - Sir Alex Ferguson will be pretty close to top of mind again this season.

And deservedly so.

Should he take this team to their 20th league title, it would be enough to win him the MOTY award 9 times out of 10.

But while his usual competitors for the crown are nowhere to be seen, it’s the less fashionable names that will come closest to knocking him of his perch.

The Chelsea manager, the Arsenal manager and the Liverpool manager will be more focused on trying to keep their jobs than winning the manager award.

And while Manchester City’s manager would usually have a shout if he took his club to second place, he will now see that as a failure considering the amount he has invested in the squad.

Instead, this seasons contenders will come from managers punching above their weight.

They may not have come close to winning any trophies.

They certainly didn’t do well in Europe.

But they did all exceed expectations at theirs clubs this season.

Who would have thought Brendan Rodgers would be 3 points behind Liverpool after 31 games.

Same can be said of Paul Lambert and his Norwich side.

Both only promoted to the Premier League this season.

And should Blackburn survive then Steve Kean should get an honourable mention.

But for me the MOTY so far has to be Alan Pardew at Newcastle.

Many people scoffed at Alan’s appointment just over a year ago.

Especially considering Chris Hughton had been doing such a good job.

Alan had relative success at teams like West Ham United and Reading but never had he the chance to work at a club the size of Newcastle United.

The club was in a sordid mess since Mike Ashley had began his reign and the way he treated Chris only fuelled belief that things would continue in the same vein.

Alan comes in on a 5 and a half year contract as a show of stability from Mike and all most people could think was - that’s going to be a big payday when he gets fired.

Not only does Alan have to deal with the circus that surrounds Mike but over the coming months and subsequent summer he had to watch arguably the 4 best performers of last season leave the club.

Andy Carroll and Jose Enrique headed to Anfield.

Joey Barton left for Queens Park Rangers.

And club captain Kevin Nolan joined up with West Ham United.

Take the top 4 performers out of any side and they would struggle, let alone an average team like Newcastle were.

Alan had other ideas though.

He wanted to put his own stamp on the club.

The talent in the departing 4 was obvious.

But there was a question mark over the character of at least 3 of them.

Alan obviously felt the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze and aimed to spend the transfer fees recouped on players he wanted at the club.

Demba Ba was picked up on a free transfer.

Demba has scored 16 goals in 26 games so far.

£9m was spent on Papiss Demba Cissé to partner him up front.

Papiss has scored 7 from 7 so far.

Add to this a central midfield partnership of Cheick Tioté with Yohan Cabaye and the team that Alan built was really starting to take shape.

So much so, that after 31 games, Alan finds himself level on points with Chelsea in 5th place.

Still in with a shout of a Champions League place.

And well clear of the chasing pack for European spots.

It’s a remarkable turnaround for a team only promoted to the Premier league last season.

Even more remarkable considering Mike Ashley is still in charge.

Alas, there is still a lot to play for this season.

And if Sir Alex does win the league title this season, it will be hard not to hand him the MOTY award.

But should Alan catch the 2 London clubs to secure Champions League football - the decision might not be so foregone...

The Villans have a new Hero

Robbie Keane returned to the Premier League with great impact this weekend.

Two goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers showing he has lost none of his quality since making the move to Major League Soccer last summer.

In only his first start for his new club, Robbie managed to score both the equaliser and the subsequent winner, with two strikes of the highest order from outside the box.

In a team struggling since Alex McLeish took over, Robbie might just well be the difference between an Aston Villa relegation battle and an Aston Villa push for Europe.

For a team that have found goals hard to come by this season, the signing of Robbie couldn’t have come at a better time.

Lose to Wolves on Saturday and they remain in the bottom six, dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Win at Molineux and suddenly the Villans lie just outside the top half on goal difference.

A shrewd piece of business by Alex to supplement his strikeforce of Darren Bent, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey with the type of quality vision that Robbie possesses.

The only thing that surprised me about the transfer was that one of the bigger teams didn’t come in for him.

A team like Liverpool, Newcastle or higher, might have been a better move for the Republic of Ireland captain.

With Luis Suarez suspended for 8 games, Robbie could potentially have been an astute short term solution for Kenny Dalglish.

While not having a very successful period under Rafa Benitez, his time spent there would have made it all the easier to settle in fast, knowing he would only have two months to make an impact.

With their season starting to derail over the last six games or so, Robbie might have been the man to reignite their push for a Champions League place by filling the void left by Luis.

Newcastle of course have just lost their seasons star man - Demba Ba.

15 goals in the league already, he will be sorely missed for the next month.

The addition of Robbie to fill this void for the next few games would surely have helped Alan Pardew retain their push for that last lucrative Champions League spot.

With just his wages to consider, a loan deal for either of these clubs would represent good value for money.

Robbie, of course, is not the only senior player making a return to the Premier League during this transfer window.

Arsenal have taken a chance on bringing back Thierry Henry in a bid to help his team secure fourth place.

Everton as well, have taken back Landon Donovan, having previously enjoyed a loan spell on Merseyside.
 

Manchester United have resigned Paul Scholes, having just retired last summer.

While some seem riskier than others, particularly with Thierry and Paul’s age, Robbie looks the best business of all.

Sir Alex Ferguson has opted to treat the problem of Paul’s absence from the game as the equivalent to him having an injury over the last few months.

Arsene Wenger does not seem too worried about Thierry’s game not having that devastating pace anymore, instead hoping his presence in the dressing room can have the desired effect.

Whereas Robbie has no such concerns at the age of 31.

He has been playing regularly since he departed England at the end of last season.

Not to mention captaining the Republic of Ireland to qualification for the European Championships.

Bringing in experienced campaigners during the January transfer window has proved quite popular in the Premier League.

In particular this season.

Each manager hoping these players will give their side a timely boost going into the business end of the season.

While Thierry, Landon and Paul all returned to clubs for second spells, it was the fact that Robbie didn’t return to one of his that proved the most surprising.

What may prove to be Liverpool’s loss, or indeed any of the sides fighting for European places - is most definitely Alex’s gain.

The Villans have gotten themselves a new hero, if only for a short time.

But as Robbie has shown already - he only needs a few games to make all the difference...