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Premier league managers are not all gone- yet. On February 1st 2024 I wrote that we could see the biggest amount of change ever in the Premier League by the start of the new season. I was wrong, at least so far. Six teams changed managers with only Burnley of the relegated teams, and even then, Kompany left of his own accord for a much bigger team in Bayern Munich. Crystal Palace fired Roy Hodgson as expected, De Zerbi left Brighton, Pochettino was fired from Chelsea, Klopp really did leave Liverpool, David Moyes was pushed out at West Ham. We still have a little bit of time yet but I don’t anticipate much more to come. There might be a job at Everton, David The only one I got seriously wrong was David Moyes. It seems West Ham fans just didn’t like him. But it was the most unjust sacking I have seen in a while. West Ham never win trophies but somehow Moyes managed the miracle. I cannot see them winning another any time soon. Ten Hag is the miracle man Lots of managers got a late reprieve with Ten Hag at Manchester United perhaps the most notable. Winning the FA Cup saved him although he is probably a strong contender for the sack if he gets off to a bad start. Ten Hag - I need the ten best players in the world to come to Utd or I will be sacked Thomas Frank dropping down towards the relegation zone didn’t help his prospects of getting a big job but I feel he is in some owner’s minds all the same. Roberto de Zerbi moved to Marseille but that’s not much of a step up. Arteta is going nowhere but who is going out? Arteta could have been tempted by Barcelona but the job went to Hansi Flick. Arteta surely has a power at Arsenal that he would not have at another club? The team is his, the players are his, and he seems to have the backroom team on his side as well. A move would see him having to create a lot of new relationships. I feel only a severe bad spell could see the Arteta out brigade gaining traction. Arteta to stay, then. Arne Slot - he won't slot in Who could go, then? Arne Slot is in a high pressure job, probably the second most such after Chelsea. He needs results and a good style of play. Otherwise one season may be his achievement. Enzo Maresca? Chelsea are rapidly becoming a graveyard for managers. Under Abramovich they would win and still be fired so at least they were employable. Now, they don't win, get fired, and maybe end up on the dungheap. Maresca has no Premier League experience, faces a divided club, with lots of high salaries and no-one has any clue who their best players are, with the exception of Cole Palmer. I suppose, in comparison to Arne Slot though, he has a little more leeway. If he brings them up a little he may get a stay of execution. What does the betting say? Ten Hag has proven resilient at Manchester United. The new system in place may benefit him, however, he needs top players to come in and make an immediate impact. Players like Erikson and Casemiro seem to be coming to an end and Rashford, Anthony and Martial along with others are going or need to improve. It will be hard to have a top season but he needs green shoots to get another chance. Is a strong candidate for the sack I feel, and is 10-1 in the betting. Enzo Maresca - bye bye Russell Martin of Southampton is 14-1 and teams who come up via the playoffs have it difficult. They will probably struggle but I am not sure he will go until the end unless they have a real disaster. Sean Dyche is also 14-1 and that must be surprising but honestly I am more surprised that someone has not come in for him. He is a top manager, particularly with limited resources. The chaos at Everton is the reason he is so high in the betting but I don’t believe he will be fired, although he may leave. The London boys won’t be sacked Oliver Glasner of Crystal Place is 12-1 and I can’t really understand why. They did well and have a lot of good young players. I think they will be comfortable. He won’t be fired. Marco Silva at Fulham is 12-1 and again I would be surprised if he gets fired. Buying in Smith-Rowe could be the latest in his normally good signings and it is a bit of a little Arsenal now with Leno and Iwobi already there. I see them above mid-table. Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth is also 12-1 and I also don’t know why. They will probably be bottom half but high bottom half. The first 100 year old to play in the Premier League? Steve Cooper is 10-1 and yes he has a hard task as Leicester, of the 3 promoted teams, have the highest expectations. They did win the Premier League not too long ago and have experienced players at this level, including 100 year old Jamie Vardy, who will probably continue to bang in goals. Cooper’s record at his various teams and the England youths, is quite good and I expect he will keep them up without too much bother. He never seems to stay a long time, though. I will be astonished if Eddie Howe gets the boot Eddie Howe of Newcastle is 8-1 but that is down to the off field problems they are having with finances. Top players are up for sale and there is talk of Isak coming to Arsenal. If they sell off and are weakened then Howe could go but I really do not see it as his fault. Again, unless he has a disaster and he never does at any club, then he will be there at the end of the season. Santo lost in the Forest Nuno Espirito Santo is 10-1 and he is one I fancy will not last. He seems to have lost his mojo and a bad run at Nottingham Forest will see him booted out. If you can get better than 10 -1 I would grab it but I feel that is free money. A thousand on that gives you 11 back and that would make it a good year for you. He will go, I am certain. There is a way out of the Forest, Nuno - the sack Arne Slot can get you up to 50-1 and that seems a bargain. Even a small bet there will pay off most likely. A bad run could give you the option to cash out and I am certain that will happen. Enzo Maresca is 16-1 and that also is nearly guaranteed to pay out. Definitely, once Chelsea have their usual disaster run you will be able to cash out. These last three are value to me. You heard it here first. Put your money on those three straightaway and once there is good cash out value, take your money. And don’t forget to say thanks Gus.

It’s only Ray Parlour’s birthday! This week we celebrate the Bulgarian National Liberation Day on March 3rd. Also International Women’s day on March 8th. Plus Mother’s Day in Ireland, where I am from, on March 10th. Am I missing something? Of course I am as March 7th is the one and only Ray Parlour’s birthday. The Romford Pele, probably our biggest joker, deserves a statue, a bridge and a stand named after him. You'll never regret buying this book Well maybe not but he brightened up all our days as a player who was very underrated but still managed 466 games, at least two hat tricks that I can remember against Werder Bremen in the UEFA cup in 2000 and against Newcastle that same year, and the only goal in the penalty shootout against Galatasaray in that year’s UEFA cup final. He also got 10 caps for England in 1999-2000 when England had lots of top players in midfield as Scholes, Gerrard, Beckham and Lampard spring to mind. And how about 3 league titles, 4 FA cups, a League cup and a European cupwinners cup? The boy was a winner. And I probably forgot to mention that he was an Invincible. Beg, steal or borrow, or even buy his book I reviewed his book “It’s Only Ray Parlour” here and it is one of the best football books ever. It is funny, but as it encompassed George Graham, Bruce Rioch and Arsene Wenger plus David Dein, he lived through the most sustained spell of success since the 1930’s. We became Arsenal again with Ray Parlour. It is a unique background insight to the collapse of Tony Adams, the bung era with George Graham and the tumultuous changes brought about quite gently really by Arsene Wenger. Read that book even if you don’t normally read books. C'mon City - get a draw Probably his greatest achievement as a player, though, was winning Arsenal player of the season in 1997-8. The list of greats there at the time was astonishing, Bergkamp, Wright, Anelka, Adams. Pettit, Overmars, Seaman, Platt, the list goes on. But it was the local boy who came through. Laugh and laugh again Although he is most likely best known as the prime joker on the football circuit, with hilarious anecdotes and a top career as an after-dinner speaker, he does deserve to be rated as a top class baller as all the above demonstrates. Few players got the amount of trophies he did, nor such a long career. A Villa and Spuds draw at the weekend would be nice But, if you do nothing else, search for his stories online. There are plenty of youtube videos to keep you laughing. Martin Keown trying to strangle Arsene Wenger, Kolo Toure’s trial, drinking on a plane and many other places, saying hi to two Tottenham mates as we won the title at White Hart Lane and nearly getting them massacred, the Igors Stepanovs prank played on Wenger, and many more. Our own Pele And so he is one of our own, a trainee from Romford who rose through the ranks to win titles and trophies with two different managers, who scored important goals in finals, and no matter who came to play for Arsenal, he always got plenty of games. And even captained the side against Inter when we won 5-1 at the San Siro. No wonder he was called the Romford Pele. So why was his book called “It’s Only Ray Parlour”? It was his famous goal against Chelsea in the 2002 FA cup final. Tim Lovejoy the commentator, a well known Chelsea fan, said, as Parlour came through at about 30 yards out, “It’s only Ray Parlour” who then proceeded to lash the ball in from that distance. The name stuck. Don’t underestimate Mr Parlour, there’s a reason he is called the Romford Pele! Thanks for all the memories and the laughs. Happy birthday, my son, and many, many more. Update to the Table of Doom Table of Doom Fixtures Current Max Liverpool Man City (h) Spurs (h) Villa (a) 63 96 Man City Liverpool (a) Arsenal (h) Villa (h) Spurs (h) 62 95 Arsenal Man City (a) Villa (h) Spurs (a) 61 94 Villa Spurs (a) Man City (a) Arsenal (a) Liverpool (a) 55 88 Spurs Villa (h) Man City(a) Arsenal (h) Liverpool (a) 50 86 We must win next weekend against Brentford as all the rest may drop points No change again as all five win. The teams have become relentless and are desperate not to give up any ground. That will change next weekend as Liverpool play City and Spurs host Villa. We must Bee better than them All made it hard work, particularly Liverpool who scored after injury time. I was disappointed with the way it was done though, as that is blatant cheating. Caoimhin Kelleher should not have accepted the ball from referee Paul Tierney or should have directly passed it to Forest. It is a topic I regularly return to in these columns, that cheating is accepted in football and no sanction is given to those who even blatantly cheat. We do no one any favours by accepting all the brazen cheating that goes on in modern football. We must be prepared to call out our own team too. I reckon Tierney made a mistake and was not trying to give Liverpool an advantage but the Liverpool players would have known that it was a Forest ball and should have kept to sporting ideals. Arsene Wenger and Arsenal against Sheffield United are the only team to make amends for a similar decision to this day, and probably we will never see such a gesture again. I doubt if Arteta or any other current manager would have done any different to Klopp but still Liverpool should hold up their hands and say that it was cheating. An offer to replay would be a fair gesture. Will it happen? Will it heck as like! Liverpool are fighting like demons One has to say that Liverpool are tenacious, always battle to win and will be hard to knock down. They could come through the tough battles ahead to win the league. They want it badly and that may be the deciding factor. Have the rest got their bottle? We will see. City, Villa and Spurs had tough moments but all pulled away from Man Utd who are now 19 points behind Liverpool and can only see them through binoculars. That fifth place, if it turns out to be good enough for Champions League, may be beyond Ten Hag’s men. Jayden Bogle has scored as many goals for Arsenal as Timo Werner for the Spuds But Arsenal did not make it difficult for themselves, the only one of the five not to. 3 goals up after 15 minutes and the game was long gone for the denizens of Bramall Lane. I have to say I feel sorry for them, Burnley and Luton. The top five are firing like Ferraris and points are so difficult to pick up. Sheffield United, with whom we have a long and chequered history, are surely doomed as are Burnley. They have an average of 0.48 points per game. If that continues they will get 5 extra points. 18 is dismal. Luton probably need a collapse of a team above them to stay up. They have an average of 0.76 points per game which over the next 12 games gives them 9 more points. Will 29 points be enough? You never can tell but I suspect their average needs to increase to stay up. Sad, but probably not much longer We could well be looking at the final top five and bottom three already. C’mon the Arse, we need to shake up these positions!

A Day Out at the Emirates The 12 Pins lifts our hopes It all started by getting the train from Homerton to Highbury and Islington on a cold, wind-biting Sunday in January, the day after my birthday in which I had a great day, meeting old friends. Normally I walk to the stadium from here but this time I had to meet up with my brother Myles and his son Niall, both huge Arsenal fans and fairly regular travellers from Dublin. They were in the 12 Pins in Finsbury Park, which merited a change to the Tube and one more stop, a fabled Irish pub which accommodates enormous numbers of verified Gooners both inside and out. They have at least one mighty attribute, the drink comes quickly no matter the numbers, a testament to the ability of the Irish staff working there and always served with a smile. The best pub in London? The songs constantly break out, from Super Mik Arteta to North London Forever and back to the old favourites we all love to hear. Tributes to Rocky, winning the title at Old Trafford and many more increase the good vibrations and the happy expectation that we would get revenge for the unlucky loss earlier in Manchester. We fell asleep that day, and Var was unkind, but we are home, we are top of the league, and Arsenal are the greatest football team. Ah, it is great to be back, the buzz and the thrill level increasing all the time. Deep talks about the future But of course, a trip to the Arsenal and meeting with my family is always replete with serious discussions of where Arsenal are, are the buys likely to be good, and can we finally do it? We all agreed that Leandro Trossard could be the perfect choice as he can provide competition and cover all across the front three, an area where we badly need it at the moment, an injury could have been a calamity but now we can breathe again. I opined that a win today pretty much guarantees top four as we would need relegation form from now on. Myles laughed and said top four is certain, we want the league. We do, indeed. Me and the gang I also said that United will defend without embarrassment, same as they did at home, particularly without Casemiro, they will be afraid of a tonking. They will look forward to a Rashford or an Anthony finding us asleep again as they hammer a long ball upfield. I really hoped we would be vigilant, use our awareness and our speed to guard against such tactics. They both agreed that we must not outplay them and lose. The Hungarian Emperor My next stop was the Arsenal supporters club bar and a meeting with the extraordinary Alexander Sztranyovszky, a major superfan who tries to attend all matches. Everyone knows Alex. He is Hungarian, and I had to deliver some ASCB presents from Georgi Stoyanov , our esteemed chairman. I found him around the corner with Peggy, the fabled owner of the shop which supplies refreshments to all Arsenal explorers, both physical and mental, as can only be found in the presence of so many dedicated Gooners. Alex alone brightens up your day with his broad smile, his welcoming attitude and the inevitable selfie which is an enduring memory of a fantastic day. Alex and me at Peggy's place There was one bad note for me, though. I had printed out my ticket in case my phone wouldn’t work but I couldn’t find it. I was staying in my friend’s Krum’s apartment in Homerton not far from the ground but had spent the previous few days in a hotel in Lancaster gate. I guessed I must have left it there. As my ticket had no name on it I was worried that someone had got hold of it and may try to use it so I left the superb atmosphere emanating from the Supporters Club to get to the ground early so I wouldn’t have any problems. Maybe they wouldn’t let me in Krasi, Lily and me I got in no problem and quickly as normally I leave it a bit late and the queues can snake around quite a bit. Inside I had a beer and then found my seat. The position was great, a nice spot in the corner, at a convenient height to watch the action well. We got a present of a clacker to make noise tucked into our seat and on inspection it was the campaign against discrimination. Good, I thought, and it had the added bonus of increasing the noise levels to unprecedented intensity which reminded me of my days in Highbury in the George Graham 1980’s. My next surprise was my Bulgarian buddy Krasi Kolev and his wife Lily came along to sit beside me amid much hugs. They were accompanied by Kristian, a Bulgarian ensconced in Scotland who I had never met before. A mighty nice man with a big smile on his face. More selfies followed. They all made plenty of noise, singing and cheering all the time. Sometimes I am on my own and the atmosphere is never as good. I was so happy to see them. When we got our goal to equalise a Rashford breakaway which I had feared, the stadium erupted in a cacophony of high decibels which the local residents of the graveyards could hear. A half-time surprise Despite a 1-1 halftime, our feeling was good, we were playing much better than the Mancs, and surely our pressure would lead to goals. I got a big surprise when we went to the bar as my old friend Tsvetomir Tsetkov was there with a selection of beer waiting for us. He is Arsenal, a great ambassador for Bulgaria, for Shumen, and London where he has been living for 15 years. He always lifts my spirits, and this time was no exception. I owe you pints, old friend. Krasi, me and Tsvetomir at halftime We went back inside. Soon we scored, a Saka masterpiece, and we jumped so high we thought we would never land. Mancs, prepare to die. No more humiliation for us, and a few more goals would be very nice. We shall overcome But we are Arsenal, and you need a strong heart to be an Arsenal supporter. A mix-up in the box and Lisandro Martinez loops a header over the stranded Ramsdale to get back to a position their play never merited. Saka the master It went on, us pressing, Utd defending, and all the while the noise and the singing never stopped. We all believed despite the clock ticking and ticking. Our hero, Eddie the undroppable, sneakily tucked the ball in the net and we had done it, the clackers, the singers, the screamers and the shouters coalesced to frighten the poor local graveyard residents out of their tombs. What noise, what atmosphere, what smiles on our faces, but then the demon VAR was summoned. Ah, we will be cheated once again. I couldn’t see how, though, the goal looked good. As the ghosts settled back peacefully into the ground, a searing crescendo erupted to frighten them up once more. The Arsenal had won, and the almighty sounds erupted and boomed throughout the stadium, and all the pubs, clubs and gathering places worldwide. We were united, not Manchester. Arsenal ARE the greatest football team! Go home crying, Ten Hag, Rashford, Martinez and all the rest. You have come to our home and we have shown you the Champions! Eddie is our winner Ps. I predicted the correct score here. The printed word doesn't fly away.