Matt Barlow

How Doncaster Rovers became the best team in England Donny have picked up 143 points in the last 20 months - more than every other team in England's top four tiers during that period. These are the secrets of their success.

How Grant McCann transformed Doncaster Rovers into the best team in England

⏱️ escape at Sutton
🔟 in a row
🏆 a title
✍️ recruiting
🐓 Spurs next

Donny be good ⬇️

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Why Sheffield Wednesday are buckling up for a deepening crisis MATT BARLOW: With players returning for preseason, the transfer market open and a new set of fixtures released these are normally times of fresh optimism in the world of football.

Owls of despair: Sheffield Wednesday and a deepening summer crisis 🦉

🔵 Rohl over
⚪️ Late wages
🔵 Unpaid tax bill
⚪️ Transfer bans
🔵 More trouble ahead

A decade under Chansiri lurching to its unseemly end ⬇️

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Inside the evolution of Thomas Frank MATT BARLOW: When Morten Olsen was searching for coaches with the energy and innovation to revolutionise his country's development strategy, he liked what he saw in Thomas Frank.

Thomas Frank, the making of a very modern coach 🇩🇰

🧐 an academic curiosity
🗂️ The Oscar files
🪞 Motivation in the mirror
3️⃣ priorities to keep Bees up

Olsen, Rud, Andersen, O’Kelly ⬇️

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What Sunderland MUST do this summer to survive next season MATT BARLOW: Sunderland, who beat Sheffield United in the play-off final to end their exile from the topflight, are on their way back with more than a hint of another side about them.

Sunderland, the return to the Premier League and the challenge of staying there

✍️ the art of recruitment
🤔 flexible thinking
💪 preparing to scrap

Not doing what Saints did 😇

➕ Man United, Spurs, Watkins, Wembley & long throws

Monday column ⬇️

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Top four, top five, top half, so what? Chasing trophies is the joy MATT BARLOW: First there was Luton Town , winning on penalties at Wembley Stadium to complete their odyssey from non-league, fuelled by injustices to end their long exile.

Spurs will soon forget this PL season of misery & mockery if they win in Bilbao 🏆

Europa success trumps finishing 4th or 5th… same goes for Man United to a lesser degree

➕ PSG, Sterling, Wolves, Rohl, Taylor

Monday column ⬇️

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Why only Arsenal fans know Bukayo Saka's true value MATT BARLOW: There's a maxim from the boot room era, coined by a famous former manager who would confide to his staff, 'We'll be fine as long as the right ones get injured'.

Bukayo Saka, darling of the North Bank… is he even better than we think?

🤕 3 months out
🏆 a title race lost
🇳🇴 Odegaard connection
💥 back with a bang
🇫🇷 bring on PSG

➕ Palace patience, ex Hammer time etc

Monday column ⬇️

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Nuno should win Premier League manager of the year, writes MATT BARLOW MATT BARLOW: Nuno Espirito Santo should win the Premier League 's manager of the year award if he can complete the leap from 17th to the top five.

Nuno, Forest, Spurs, Ange…

📈One on the best season decades & the other the worst

📉One facing sack & the other manager of year

🏆One closing in on Champions Lge & the other drifting

➕ Mbeumo, Bowen, Dibling, Cheek, ET, etc

Monday column ⬇️

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Win the FA Cup and Oliver Glasner becomes a Crystal Palace great MATT BARLOW: Oliver Glasner would have cashed out if he could. The plan could hardly have gone better but the initiative had been lost.

Oliver Glasner in demand after a good year at Crystal Palace… and an FA Cup semi final to come

❓why would he stay
❓why would Spurs swoop

➕ Cunha, Campbell, Pearce, etc

Monday column ⬇️

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How Burnley's Scott Parker became one of England's best young coaches MATT BARLOW: If automatic promotion was decided by Rudyard Kipling it might go to someone keeping his head when all around lose theirs and trusting himself when others cast doubt.

Respect for Burnley seems grudging at best but I like Parker’s mean machine

1️⃣2️⃣ conceded in 4️⃣0️⃣

🍷 a good year for the Clarets

➕ Villa’s smart trading, Norwich not, Caicedo/Sarr revisited, Cov nostalgia fix

Monday column ⬇️

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Revealed: Why Southampton believe they can get £100m for Dibling MATT BARLOW: Lord Sugar's approach to football's transfer market came to mind with the big 'game's gone' moment of the international break - Southampton's £100million valuation of Tyler Dibling.

Tyler Dibling, the £100m clamour, Lord Sugar & the price of lobster 🦞

👹 Man United & Wilcox
⚪️ Spurs collecting teens
🔴 Saints to Liverpool link
🇩🇪 Bundesliga interest

➕ football’s T20 revolution, Brighton goalies, etc

Monday column ⬇️

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MATT BARLOW: Why can't England produce strikers or centre backs? MATT BARLOW: It was the morning after England had been demolished by Germany in the Under-21 Euros final and Sir Trevor Brooking was sifting through the debris in a Malmo hotel.

From Ozil & Brooking to the technical wizardry of Foden, Saka & Co but no centre halves…

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 English football’s new conundrum

➕ Biereth 🇩🇰 Karetsas 🇬🇷 Iron rising 🔴 classic Currie 50 years on

Monday column ⬇️

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How ex-Leeds star Raphinha has become a Ballon d'Or candidate MATT BARLOW: Few had it down as a good development for Raphinha when Lamine Yamal burst from Barcelona's youth ranks to make the position on the right wing his own.

🇧🇷 How Raphinha conjured his finest season under Flick rather than accept his Barcelona exit

🌍 Bournemouth & Luton cast into different orbits one year on

➕ Pep’s yellow subs, last 10 drama, top speed Haaland, Barnet’s lucky 5

Monday column ⬇️

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Meet the young British coach who's tearing it up in Portugal MATT BARLOW: Two thirds of Portugal's top flight go into the season aiming for what they call 'manutencao'. When Ian Cathro took the job at Estoril last summer, he banned the word.

Ian Cathro on stepping out of Nuno’s shadow

🇵🇹 back to Portugal after Valencia, Newcastle, Hearts, Wolves, Spurs & Saudi

Forging success at Estoril and why it is the start of his career as a head coach

➕ Dowman, Dembele, etc

Monday column ⬇️

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Why would craftsman Harry Kane want to leave Bayern Munich? MATT BARLOW: Conversations among the Bayern Munich supporters leaving Celtic Park made it clear Die Roten did not have confidence tanks replenished to capacity.

Harry Kane at Bayern - a perfect home for a 30-something goal machine

🏆 trophies incoming

⚽️ Gerd Muller & Lewandowski

🇩🇪 nothing to do with your Vorsprung durch Technik you know

➕ Merino, Chelsea, Luton, Noonan, Ellison, etc

Monday column ⬇️

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Why Wigan hero Gary Caldwell feels the stars are aligning for Exeter INTERVIEW BY MATT BARLOW: Two photographs are captured within a single picture frame that hangs on a wall inside Gary Caldwell's office at Exeter City.

Exeter boss Gary Caldwell on…

🏆 Wigan’s glorious Cup run 2013

😩 pain of relegation

🏟️ pen miss on Wembley return

🤕 hip ops & early retirement

💰 Exeter, management, Man United & lost replays

Plotting another Devonian FA Cup upset ⬇️

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Grealish might thrive away from Pep but star's decline should warn him MATT BARLOW: There is an argument that Grealish would be more suited to playing more centrally. With his head up and his eye for a pass, he will find better angles when not pinned on to the left wing.

🤔What next for Jack Grealish?

🚂 Orient back on track

1️⃣2️⃣ Slot’s dirty dozen

➕ PNE pen fest, ups, downs, worldies & thinking of Will Still

Monday column ⬇️

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MATT BARLOW: Bloated Champions League is like Harlem Globetrotters MATT BARLOW: Meaningfulness should return to European football this week as the rambling and incoherent first phase finally winds to a close.

The new Euro format - any good or just an incoherent ramble of exhibition games…

⚽️🏀 Barcelona, Benfica, Harlem Globetrotters, Celtic

🧮 Tottenham’s squad size

➕ City in-form teen, Bolton love in, Ndiaye spreading wings, etc

Monday column ⬇️

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Inside Tottenham's youth revolution and their 16-year-old saviour There has been a remarkable shift at Tottenham from last season, when Ange Postecoglou entrusted just five minutes of Premier League action to teenagers.

Big Ange, injuries & the Tottenham teens

6️⃣ in Europe for teenage kicks
⭐️ meet the youngest star
1️⃣6️⃣ and on the bench 8️⃣ times
🇩🇪 kids needed at Hoffenheim
❔ can it keep the boss in a job❔

⬇️ more here…

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MATT BARLOW: It warms the heart to see Tony Mowbray back in management MATT BARLOW: There was no great sense of ceremony. No drumroll nor fanfare. That's hardly his style and yet it was no ordinary comeback as Tony Mowbray strolled out at the Hawthorns.

On Tony Mowbray’s return to football

🪃 comeback story of the year
🎄 Xmas Eve vibes #WBA
❤️ love, life & death
⬆️ target Premier League
⚽️ Diallo, Wharton, lovely soft feet

➕ Law, Trent, Sir Les, Lowe, Sheffield

Monday column ⬇️

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Les Ferdinand delivers verdict on former club Spurs under Postecoglou EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY MATT BARLOW: Les Ferdinand is well into his stride by the time he tackles Tottenham 's perennial puzzle of style versus substance.

🚨Exclusive interview: Les Ferdinand on...

⚽️ the trouble with his beloved Spurs
⚽️ Keegan's Entertainers
⚽️ leaving QPR & what next
⚽️ the making of Eze, Kane, Townsend, etc
⚽️ impact of prostate cancer on his family and his campaign @ProstateUK

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Louie Barry looks ready for the big stage after shining in League One MATT BARLOW: Louie Barry is once more a footballer in demand, back at Aston Villa after a goal-packed loan spell at Stockport with a new long-term deal on the table.

What next for Louie Barry?

✍️ new deal at #AVFC
😍 admirers line up
⚽️ goals galore at Stockport
☀️ Barcelona at 16
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jude & England

Monday column ⬇️

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MATT BARLOW shines a light on the wonderful world of walking football MATT BARLOW: The physical benefits are clear. The psychological benefits are no less important, bringing people together, giving them purpose and forging friendships.

Inside the wonderful world of walking football

🚀 soaring popularity
🧘‍♂️ healing bodies & minds
🤝 forging friendships
👕 Busst, Bennett & the Sky Blues

Uplifting tales from one of my favourite assignments of 2024

Monday column ⬇️

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How Bournemouth are reinventing the use of the substitutes' bench Andoni Iraola's subs have scored seven in the Premier League this season to enhance his growing reputation as a modern football thinker.

Bournemouth are kings of the subs

7️⃣ goals by 7️⃣ different subs

6️⃣ in last 8️⃣ games

7️⃣2️⃣ used out of 7️⃣5️⃣

5️⃣ subs should suit the big clubs

❔what’s going on

Monday column ⬇️

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Why Arsenal's set-piece prowess is nothing new, writes MATT BARLOW MATT BARLOW: Arsenal's threat from set-pieces got me thinking about Dave Bassett, who once figured out his Wimbledon team at their peak scored on average from every 13 corners.

Arsenal set pieces & the Crazy Gang

🗝️ delivery, desire, variation
⚽️ a goal every 13 corners
🏆 Liverpool in 88
🤨 solving the puzzle
🐟 codswallop

➕ Ox, Zabarnyi, Reading, Posh

Monday column ⬇️

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The extraordinary tale of an unlikely FA Cup hero, writes MATT BARLOW MATT BARLOW: Richard Kone came on to score the second in a 2-0 win at Wealdstone in the FA Cup second round on Saturday, his 12th goal of the season.

The extraordinary rise of Richard Kone

🌍 Africa to Homeless World Cup
⚽️ goals galore @ Athletic Newham
📆 pro deal in Jan 24
🏔️ fired Wycombe top L1
🕵️‍♀️ PL scouts tuned in

➕ GK goals, Fabio Silva, Kluivert pens, Tom Davies & CAFC

Monday column ⬇️

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Paul Elliott launches new diversity initiative at Charlton MATT BARLOW: Paul Elliott stopped to weigh up the changing nature of English football crowds as he launched an exciting new initiative at Charlton Athletic aimed at improving crowd diversity.

Paul Elliott is back at Charlton as vice chair, still breaking down barriers at 60 & launching a new project to transform crowds in the EFL

🗣️This will modernise the club, make it fit for purpose, take it and all of English football forward

#CAFC ⬇️

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MATT BARLOW: Dejan Kulusevski is showing shades of Gazza at Tottenham MATT BARLOW: The headlines were about Manchester City hitting a wall, the goal hero was James Maddison on his birthday and Dejan Kulusevski was the best player on the pitch.

Kulusevski in full bloom for club and country

📈 top of the creativity charts
😘 high praise from Pep
💪 stronger & more robust
😋 hungry & ready to eat

➕ Walker v Werner, Palmer, Riza, Wycombe soaring, Sandro

⬇️ Monday column

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Football Fans who like their football heritage. Give me a follow. I'll follow back too.

I'm happy to help anyone who needs assistance recognising their heroes and heroines.

Forget all that insular only 'my' club matters nonsense.

Unite ⚽

How Tottenham can move on from Son Heung-min amid contract dilemma Son is safely in the land of legends when it comes to his achievements and Tottenham boss Ange Posteocglou will be pleased to see his captain hitting the net a couple of times.

⚽️ Son Heung-min & Spurs ⚽️

👌a decade of goals slowing
🤕demands of modern game
🏃quick as ever
✍️ contract dilemma
❔what next…

Black Friday sale - Mail+ for just 99p per month for a year

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