I wrote a poem about Miguel Herrera for Christmas. Here it is:
'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, except for The Louse;
The plates were put out in the kitchen with care,
And piled with traditional Mexican fare;
Club Tijuana's players were snug in their beds,
While visions of La Clausura danced in their heads;
With a big red suit and a puffy red hat,
Louis van Gaal may be sacked by Manchester United this season, and the sacking of Louis van Gaal may come sooner rather than later, but the sacking of Louis van Gaal has not already happened. Tell that to BBC reporter Trevor Sinclair, who reported LVG's sacking on Twitter.
Or did he?
Jose Mourinho is like a carton of milk — once past expiration, it is no good to anyone. The magic in the Special One’s “us-against-them” approach quickly wore off in 2015/16 as the Chelsea dressing room dissipated into warring factions and clash of egos. The Portuguese has long been hailed as the premier man manager in the world, but that gift left him when he needed it the most.
Thursday, December 17 was a day that shall live in infamy for Chelsea fans. When the news broke shortly before 10:00 a.m. EST that Chelsea had parted ways with managerial legend Jose Mourinho, it plunged me into a state of darkness that I have not experienced in many years.
The post-match interview can often be a game of trotting out clichés for managers – a game in which they avoid eye contact with eager interviewers who want some good (i.e., will go viral) manager quotes.
We will be honest. Of all the famous former Barcelona players, Samuel Eto'o is not the one we would have expected to make a move into coaching.
Carles Puyol? Definitely. Xavi? Sure. But Eto'o? Since when do poachers go in for coaching?
Samuel Eto'o was, and is, a great goal-scorer. And now his club, Antalyaspor, has sacked former manager Yusuf Simsek and appointed Eto'o as the temporary player-manager until they can find a new coach.
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted to losing sleep and phoning Tonya Harding for advice over Liverpool’s appointment of Jurgen Klopp as manager. Well...maybe not. If Ferguson has been watching recent United matches, he’s not having any trouble sleeping. He might have Tonya's mobile number, though.
Rafa Benitez is one of the first names you think of when you think of successful managers in Europe. Valencia, Inter, Liverpool, Chelsea, Napoli and Real Madrid are the big name clubs he’s had the luxury of managing, and he has led these teams to many trophies in his time with them.
Mexico National Team coach Juan Carlos Osorio has been around. He's managed in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and the USA, but he cut his teeth in coaching as a young man in England. And he had a very peculiar strategy.
While studying for a science and football degree at John Moores University and living in Liverpool, Osorio tried everything he could to watch Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier's training sessions. The only problem was Houllier wouldn't let him watch.
So, he resorted to trying to find a room in a nearby house with a view of Liverpool's training grounds.
This international break will mark the first games in charge for new El Tri manager Juan Carlos Osorio. Mexico will play El Salvador and Honduras during this international break, which marks the beginning of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. Osorio held his first training session as Mexico manager Monday.