Whenever Manchester United come up against a team managed by David Moyes, it provides the perfect opportunity to look back on the Red Devils' rather turbulent recent history.
Moyes was, of course, the original successor to Alex Ferguson. The 'Chosen One', as the infamous banner read, and, to many, a harbinger of mediocrity.
That's slightly unfair on Moyes as although United won the title just before he ascended the Old Trafford hot seat, he was left with an aging squad that needed replenishing, plus the club's deep reverence for Ferguson ultimately stopped them moving with the times.
For years, Ferguson essentially operated as a head coach, recruitment director and sporting director rolled into one. The Scot was so effective and influential that, once he'd left, United were suddenly unprepared to meaningfully challenge the best teams.
This past year has arguably seen that gap reach its widest point in the Premier League era, with United posting their worst points total (58) since the competition's foundation in 1992 last season.
But in Erik ten Hag, United might finally have the right manager at the right time.
The succession
While United's woes of the short-lived Moyes era weren't just down to him, nothing over the past eight years has suggested the club was wrong to get rid of him in 2014.
Nevertheless, Moyes and every other post-Ferguson United manager had their strengths.
Moyes had an intimate knowledge of the league; Louis van Gaal brought a defined 'philosophy' and vast experience; Jose Mourinho had the name recognition and a track record of winning trophies; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was already deified by supporters and his management style allowed players to be more expressive than under his pragmatic predecessor; Ralf Rangnick came in with 'club-building' expertise at a time when United's structure was spoken about as their biggest area of concern.
But none of them ever looked likely to be a long-term success for United. Obviously that was the hope for Moyes when he signed his five-year contract, though it quickly became apparent his personality was at odds with much of the team and his lack of tactical imagination made the side predictable, boring and ineffective.
Van Gaal did at least try to put a modern stamp on United, with his possession-based approach initially lauded upon his arrival after presiding over a fine World Cup campaign with the Netherlands. But again, the football was tedious to watch, with the Red Devils often accused of keeping possession for possession's sake rather than being able to work openings.
He's since been very critical of how United are run, perhaps casting light on why he was never quite right – maybe he would've been if there was a credible recruitment structure in place, but there wasn't.
Mourinho might argue recruitment issues were behind his downfall as well. Certainly, if you believe the media reports, United routinely missed out on players considered to be his primary targets.
But fans called his exit two years in advance. The prediction was that he'd be in charge for two seasons and then get the boot in his third, which of course came to pass.
Solskjaer arguably got the most freedom to build a team in his image, which was ironic given he was by far the least experienced of the managers to arrive after Ferguson. Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho were all desired by the Norwegian and they duly arrived, but the manager's coaching methods were widely derided from outside the club with few players appearing to improve under his tutelage.
Then the Rangnick-led rebuild ended up being a red herring. Results and performances weren't much better than under Solskjaer, and while his honest appraisals of the club's structure were appreciated by fans, the hierarchy clearly felt differently and swiftly ended his two-year consultancy shortly after Ten Hag's appointment.
Ten Hag's impact
So, what's changed?
Well, in reality we're obviously only going to really know how much United have changed in terms of the general running of the club a few years down the line.
They do at least now have a genuine sporting structure. Granted, it was questioned in pre-season when Ten Hag came in and immediately started demanding players he knew or had previously coached, but all pre-season signings have at least looked encouraging.
As for Ten Hag's management, there have been plenty of examples of him avoiding the mistakes of his predecessors.
Like Van Gaal, Ten Hag has looked to implement a more possession-focused style of play, but this United seem to be playing more on the front foot when out of possession than the LVG vintage.
And yet, Ten Hag's shown the sort of adaptability the likes of Solskjaer and Mourinho were accused of failing to embrace. He's already ditched the insistence on playing out from the back with David de Gea after the Spaniard's struggles in their first two games of the season, while the experiment of playing Christian Eriksen in defensive midfield didn't last long either.
But, arguably most important of all, Ten Hag's shown he's not shy about making tough calls. He dropped Luke Shaw and captain Harry Maguire after two games, and his exclusion of Cristiano Ronaldo from the squad to face Chelsea last weekend after the striker's refusal to come on against Tottenham was a real show of conviction and leadership.
Ronaldo was welcomed back into the starting XI against Sheriff on Thursday, though, evidence of Ten Hag finding the balance between authority and forgiveness, areas that Solskjaer, Mourinho and Rangnick all seemed to fall short in in different ways.
Of course, results are key. While it's still too early to draw any major conclusions here because who's to say they don't lose every game between now and the World Cup, there have undoubtedly been positive signs with wins against the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham. Even the draw at Chelsea was morale-boosting.
Crucially, United need to give Ten Hag time. If Solskjaer can be given three years, Ten Hag surely needs at least that long as well.
The first few months of his reign have certainly suggested United are on the right track with their latest 'Chosen One'.
'Bunny' Shaw is Manchester City Women's Player of the Season, misses out on WSL Golden Boot
Reggae Girlz captain, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw has won the award for Manchester City Women’s Player of the Season, having come out on top in a fan vote.
Shaw, in her second season for Manchester City Women, scored 31 goals in all competitions, surpassing the record for the most goals by a Women’s player across a single season. She also claimed the WSL Player of the Month awards in November and March and received the Goal of the Season prize for her strike against Arsenal in April 2023.
Shaw, who scored twice in Manchester City Women's 3-2 win over Everton on Saturday's final day of the season, did miss out on the Women’s Super League Golden Boot having bagged 20 league goals, two shy of Aston Villa’s Rachel Daley’s 22. Daley scored in Aston Villa's 2-0 win over Arsenal.
Manchester City Women finished fourth in the WSL on 47 points behind winners Chelsea Women who amassed 58 points from their 22 games. Manchester United Women finished second with 56 points. Arsenal Women were third on 47 points, the same as Manchester City Women, who lost their first two games of the season before going on a 16-game unbeaten run.
However, the Cityzens lost three of their last six games and fell out of the running for the title. They finished with a record of 15 wins, two draws and five losses.
Ange Postecoglou knows all about the expectation at Celtic
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou believes his players have become conditioned to the constant demands for success.
Captain Callum McGregor lifted the cinch Premiership trophy on Saturday after a 5-0 win over Aberdeen rounded off a season in which Celtic collected 99 points and scored a post-war club-record 114 league goals.
Postecoglou has now claimed four of five domestic trophies available since arriving from Japan in the summer of 2021 and he can follow in the footsteps of Jock Stein, Martin O’Neill, Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon by clinching the treble with Scottish Cup victory over Inverness on Saturday.
“From the moment I arrived, I think I have said many times, coming off a trophyless season, we could not go another year without winning something,” he said.
“From the first day I arrived, irrespective of what happened at the start of the season, I made it clear to the boys that expectation is always there.
“That will never change. Whether you are winning or not winning, expectation at this football club is you have success every year.
“I think the players have become conditioned to that. They train like that every day, they behave like that. Callum is pushing them like that every day. You can’t have an off day. You can’t have an off season.”
Postecoglou is already thinking about how he can improve Celtic next season.
“You can’t stand still in this game,” he said. “It changes very quickly. It’s fine margins between having success again and not being successful.
“And more than that, this team’s going to improve. Most of the key players in this team, you can see them improving.
“All the the ones who joined last year have had better years this year than last year, and the ones who stayed, Callum and Greg Taylor and Tony Ralston, all those guys, have all come on, and had better years this year.
“That tells me there’s more improvement. There has to be.”
Aberdeen manager Barry Robson will try to make sure his side compete better with Celtic next season but he sensed Saturday’s game would be difficult given the occasion and the fact his side had achieved their goal of finishing third in the league three days earlier.
Robson, whose side will be guaranteed European group stage football if Celtic win the cup, said: “We’re going to try our best in every department and be as good as we can possibly be.
“We know the differences in finance between teams in the league.
“I’ve played for teams challenging the Old Firm and I’ve played for the Old Firm myself, so I know how difficult it is.
“But we need to be as good an Aberdeen team as we can be, which we’ve done, and also perform well in Europe.
“We need Celtic to do us a turn at Hampden next week.
“That wasn’t our fight. Our fight was getting to third. But we want to make it a fight.”
Darren Moore wants Wednesday to embrace the moment in Wembley showdown
Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore has urged his side to “embrace the moment” as the build-up to their Sky Bet League One play-off final continues.
The Owls reached Monday’s final in dramatic circumstances following a remarkable comeback against Peterborough in the semi-final, which saw them overturn a four-goal deficit in the first leg to then win 5-3 on penalties.
Their victory sets up a clash against Barnsley at Wembley with promotion to the Championship the prize and Moore is looking forward to the occasion between the South Yorkshire rivals.
He told a pre-match press conference: “Having two clubs so close together, it’s a Wembley final, two teams from Yorkshire competing for that final spot to get up into the Championship, it bodes well for a wonderful game.
“We’re just focusing on the game, focusing on the here and now and we’re looking forward to it.
“Like I said to the players, we’re to embrace this moment, embrace this time, because you’re embracing the moment in time not on your own.
“We have a multitude – an army – of fans with us as well as the staff, the players…it’s a oneness that we’ve always maintained throughout the season and that’s what we’ll see on Monday.”
Moore also recognised how special it is to play at Wembley, but stressed that he is preparing for it like “a normal game”.
“These times now are to be enjoyed, embraced, remember these times because they are special times,” he added.
“I said the beautiful thing about this for the players is you don’t stand there alone, I don’t have this as a lone figure as a manager because I feel I have a multitude that is with me.
“Players, staff, we’re all in it together, so we’re all approaching this together.
“My message has always been clear…to embrace this moment, enjoy the moment and within the club internally we’ve been planning and preparing as we would for a normal game.
“The game will quickly be upon us on Monday where we’ll get to compete and contest.”
The Tykes earned a league double over the Owls in the regular season for the first time since 2009, winning 2-0 at Hillsborough in September before securing a 4-2 win in the reverse fixture in March.
Despite Barnsley’s winning record against them this season, Moore is only focused on what is at stake on Monday.
“For me now what’s gone on has gone on before, we forget those things now and we focus on the here and now, the present.
“That’s what it is because the reason why the game’s being played at Wembley, it’s a final, the arena’s different, the atmosphere’s different, the mental side is different so it’s the here and now moment to deal with the games.”
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