Manchester United coach announces exit after poor performance

Manchester United U-18 coach McGuinness announces exit after a poor performance of his team.

McGuinness was a United academy product and is the son of former Red Devils manager Wilf McGuinness.

He has been in charge of the Under-18s since 2005 but has overseen a dramatic slump in standards.

With his side bottom of the Premier League's Under-18 North Division after taking just 11 points from 19 matches this season, McGuinness has stepped down.

In a club statement, McGuinness said: "It has been an honour and a privilege to follow in my father Wilf's footsteps and to serve Manchester United in a variety of roles for a total of 28 years

Nigeria football future seems bright with this young talents

Nigeria football future seems bright with upcoming talents like two of Nigeria’s biggest starlets have been on the fringes of proceedings for Manchester City and Arsenal respectively this season, with Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi both highly regarded by both club and country.

Two of Nigeria’s biggest starlets have been on the fringes of proceedings for Manchester City and Arsenal respectively this season, with Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi both highly regarded by both club and country.

Both players have already made their senior debuts for Nigeria, but it is at club level where they have made the most significant impact.

Last Saturday seemed to be a pivotal day in the careers of both starlets. While Iheanacho was enhancing his rapidly growing reputation by scoring a hat-trick for City against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, Iwobi, in his new position of central-midfield, was producing a terrific performance for Arsenal against Burnley in the same competition.

City have so much faith in Iheanacho’s ability that they elected not to sign an additional forward during the January transfer window, with the prospect, who has an average shot accuracy of 60% in the Premier League this season, considered by manager Manuel Pellegrini to be good enough to make a substantial impact at the highest level of the game despite his lack of experience.

Iwobi, meanwhile, has been racking up the minutes for Arsenal and has made four Premier League appearances so far, registering an average pass accuracy of 90%.

An intriguing prospect, he rose through the ranks as a winger but has adapted seamlessly to playing in central-midfield and is likely to be loaned out at some point next season.

Iwobi is likely to be joined by two more talented young Nigerians at Arsenal soon, with Kelechi Nwakali and Samuel Chukwueze set to seal moves to the club.

The pair, an attacking midfielder and left winger respectively, shone as Nigeria won the U17 World Cup last year and are seen as being the tip of the iceberg with regards to the country’s ever-growing list of talents for the future.

During the recent transfer window, CSKA Moscow forward Ahmed Musa was linked with several major clubs, with the 23-year-old having made a considerable impact for the Russian team.

Musa is already the captain of the Nigeria national team and seems set for a move to a more high-profile side in the not too distant future.

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that Nigeria are making excellent progress in their youth development. But the most encouraging aspect is that these players are highly regarded by English clubs, who aren’t afraid to provide the prospects with an opportunity to impress.

It will take much more work to transform Nigeria into a nation that is capable of competing for honours on the world stage, but the Super Eagles are certainly moving in the right direction, with the future of their national side looking very bright indeed.

Jose Mourinho optimistic of joining Manchester United

Chelsea's ex manager Jose Mourinho is very  optimistic of joining Manchester United after some widespread reports that Manchster united will appoint a new manager as next next summer. 

The manner in which UK media are speculating over who the next manager of Manchester United will be, it often makes you forget that they do have one in place.

Louis van Gaal wants to continue at Old Trafford and see out his contract at the end of the next season, but widespread reports suggest that Manchester United will appoint a manager as early as next summer.

Few names have popped up, but judging by the media reports, it seems that former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is emerging out as strong favourites to take over the managerial job at Old Trafford.

According to reports from the Express (not a reliable source) Mourinho has told his close friends that he will be joining United, and the situation is as good as ‘done deal’

Wednesday’s Daily Express back page –

Jose: Take it as Red#tomorrowspaperstoday

#mufc #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/y5JDbkNa2U

— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) February 9, 2016

A similar report has been covered by the Daily Mirror as well. They claim to have got the info from a source close to Mourinho. 

Wednesday’s Daily Mirror back page: United job is MINE#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers#mufc pic.twitter.com/Ll8PxEhIKB — Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) February 9, 2016

United manager Louis van Gaal reacted angrily when asked recently to comment on the speculation surrounding his future. He told reporters that the reports of United had been in talks with Mourinho were nonsense.

Whether or not there are any truths in these reports, one thing is clearly evident – Mourinho is indeed United’s first choice to replace Van Gaal at Old Trafford. United have a tradition of strongly supporting their manager, but with the club currently six points adrift of a Champions League place, a change of manager is highly on the cards.

Van Gaal demotes Manchester United forward to U-21

Van Gaal demotes Manchester united forward Memphis Depay to U-21 after calamitious error in sunday's premier League clash against Chelsea.

The Dutchman was selected for his first-ever appearance for the development team after his calamitous error against Chelsea.

Depay meekly surrendered possession during a swift break and the champions took full advantage by scoring a 90th minute equaliser through Diego Costa to snatch a 1-1 draw.

The 21-year-old was strongly criticised by United supporters for his sloppy play in the wake of what had been a fine performance by the visitors.

Depay has subsequently been named in Warren Joyce’s Under-21s team to face Norwich at Old Trafford on Monday night.

The winger joins three fellow first-teamers in the side, with Sergio Romero, Adnan Januzaj and Phil Jones, who is making his comeback from an ankle injury, all selected.

They are joined by emerging stars Guillermo Varela, Andrea Pereira and Paddy McNair, who have all play for the senior side this season.

Mourinho to be appointed Manchester United manager July 1

Jose Mourinho will take over as Manchester United manager from July 1, according to reports by the Spanish press.

The Portuguese manager’s agents have reportedly had talks with the Old Trafford hierarchy and is set to take over from the under fire Louis van Gaal.

The report in Spanish newspaper Marca, has even claimed the exact date of Mourinho’s arrival, noting that the 53 year old will take over in the summer, allowing Louis van Gaal to see out this season. 

The Dutchman is apparently keen to retire from management as he has faced brickbats from the Old Trafford faithful this season, but would like to leave on cordial terms.

Marca have also reported that Mourinho would not prefer to take over mid-season as he has worked under Van Gaal in the past and would not like to respect the Dutchman’s final year in management. Should Van Gaal, who has the support of the Old Trafford hierarchy for the moment, walk away from the job beforehand, Ryan Giggs will reprise his role as caretaker manager until Mourinho takes over in the summer.

Conflicting reports in British press

British outlet Independent, on the other hand are reporting that while talks are underway, the power brokers at United are said to favour Laurent Blanc and Mauricio Pochettino over Mourinho. 

The Tottenham Hotspur manager has impressed the Old Trafford board members by getting Spurs to 3rd in the Prmeier League table, where they are above Manchester United in 5th, with one of the Glazer family being very keen on hiring the Argentinian.

However, ESPN are reporting that Mourinho’s camp is confident of getting the job, as Manchester United are concerned with Pep Guardiola’s arrival. 

The reluctance to appoint a relatively inexperienced manager with the Spaniard in competition has meant that Ryan Giggs will not get the job, despite support from within the club. 

This is also seen as a negative for Pochettino’s chances, as the United board reportedly feels Argentine needs a few more years to be considered ready.

Another factor in Mourinho’s favour is his weight in attracting potential acquisitions to Old Trafford – the Portuguese manager is seen as someone who can entice players to the club, as opposed to those who are competing with him for the job.

Earlier, Mourinho had reportedly gone on a charm offensive, allegedly writing a six page ‘love letter’ to Manchester United, outlining why he was suited for the role. With Louis van Gaal increasingly likely to leave at the end of the season, if not earlier, the chances that Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho will face off in a mouth watering Manchester derby next season are quite high.

China will soon break $100m transfer fee - Cahill

Chinese Super League clubs have splashed the cash in 2016 and Tim Cahill expects record deals to continue to be broken.

Shanghai Shenhua forward Tim Cahill believes clubs in the Chinese Super League will continue to break transfer records in 2016. 

The record for most expensive transfer fee in Chinese football has been broken four times in this window alone, with a number of stars being poached from Europe.

Shanghai SIPG were the first to break the previous record with the €18million signing of Elkeson from Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao last month, before Jiangsu Suning (€28m for Ramires), Evergrande (€42m for Jackson Martinez) and Suning (€50m for Alex Teixeira) eclipsed the record fee each time.

Gervinho and Fredy Guarin also made moves to the CSL in January, joining the likes of Paulinho, Demba Ba, Stephane Mbia and Asamoah Gyan who played there last season.

And Cahill, who could be joined by Paris Saint-Germain forward Ezequiel Lavezzi at Shenhua, said the transfer fees will continue to rise.

"When I first went to China I knew the vision, I knew what was behind it and I knew what they wanted to do. To see where it's come to now and where we're at, it's pretty crazy," the Australia international told Fox Sports.

"They've got the power and when they want something, they get it and when they don't want something they get rid of it. It's pretty much like a revolving door, you see a lot of players coming in and a lot of players going.

"It's crazy to see but this is only going to get worse. This is going to be massive, soon they'll break the $100million mark easily.

"

The 36-year-old said the decision by players to go to China was purely about money, and has warned them about the living conditions in the country. 

"The choices that players are making are not about football like it was in my day, they're purely about personal gains and it depends what you want as an individual," Cahill said.

"Is it going to help players? No. Is it going to be big for the country? Yes.

"Players have got different ideas and you have to be able to live in China as well. I live in Shanghai, it's a big city. Some of the other areas it's a bit tough and we'll see how long they last."