Football

GOODBYE Goodison Park and with it farewell to the Premier League’s last bear pit.The blue smoke bombs have cleared and the players have stopped punching each other in the riotous finale to the last Merseyside derby before the old girl gets bulldozed this summer. What a way to go . . . Goodison Park erupted after James Tarkowski’s last-gasp equaliserCredit: PAEverton’s ground is one of the last stadiums with an old school, traditional feelCredit: RexSmoke bombs greeted the last ever Merseyside derby goal at Goodison Park as James Tarkowski equalised in the 97th minute against LiverpoolCredit: APIn a few months, Everton are moving barely a couple of miles from their ancestral home to a brand spanking new detached condo on the Liverpool waterfront.No more rickety wooden stands leaning over the touchline, or Gwladys Street fans breathing down visiting players’ necks.Instead, shiny steel, gleaming glass and concrete aggregate overlooking a sprawling fan plaza in a fully-equipped stadium fit for  21st-Century football. A world away from Wednesday night. What a shame. READ MORE IN FOOTBALLAs football ploughs along its path to total corporatization, new grounds are being built with the aim of accommodating high-end stakeholders in place of diehards.Where tourists in half-and-half scarves can sit mute and cling on to biodegradable paper bags, chock full of overpriced merchandise, while nibbling popcorn and not knowing what to sing, or when.The architects behind 52,000-capacity Bramley Moore Dock claim it will be a home ‘befitting a club with rich traditions, passionate fanbase and ambitious future’.That is what they all say. Most read in FootballBEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERSEverton are not alone. The hothouses of The Dell, Upton Park and Filbert Street are now dust or, even worse, modern metropolitan apartment blocks.Gentle curves of billion quid multi-use arenas set back a safe distance from the pitch have largely replaced spit-and-sawdust terraces shoehorned in between low-grade housing.Everton fans say ‘I feel sick just looking at it’ as new video of Bramley Moore Dock stadium go viral Even those still occupying their original foundations seem purpose-built to diffuse atmosphere.The climactic nature of Everton’s last home game with Liverpool ahead of their relocation to Bramley Moore Dock was a 95-minute fuse for the explosive scenes after the final whistle.But there is no doubt that the decrepit structure of Goodison Park — with just over 39,000 seats crammed into its now-outdated form — played a huge role in adding nitro to the glycerine.And it helped trigger the pantomime mayhem that brought the curtain down so fittingly on an inner-city cauldron of tribal passion.An old-fashioned tear-up between warring players, finger jabbing, fans in equal uproar and euphoria from a goal that meant a draw.Four red cards and a report as long as your arm from Michael Oliver on its way to referees’ HQ in London, with further repercussions bound to come. And final, conclusive proof that the guff we are fed about the longest-running derby in English football being a friendly, neighbourly get-together is total cobblers. What fun.Watching from the TV commentary box, former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was contractually obliged to declare ‘nobody likes to see this’.Curtis Jones and Abdoulaye Doucoure had a tear up at full-timeCredit: ReutersTempers flared and it was pure entertainmentCredit: PAMeanwhile, the rest of us sat back and lapped it up as James Tarkowski volleyed home an injury-time equaliser that even got TV sets at home rocking . . .   along with nine tenths of Goodison Park.When Abdoulaye Doucoure goaded the pocket of Liverpool fans in the microscopic away end after Everton finished the night with their dignity intact, forget Ferdinand — it was exactly what everybody wanted to see.As was the reaction of Liverpool’s Curtis Jones, a born-and-bred Scouser and Anfield disciple since the age of nine, rightly outraged and hell-bent on landing a right-hander on his cocky opponent.Long may that and the ensuing pushing, shoving and verbals between coaches, managers, staff and officials continue.  Former Chelsea captain John Terry and ex-West Ham star Frank Lampard suffered dog’s abuse every time they played for the Blues at the now rubble-ised Upton Park.And when each of them scored the inevitable goals that won them the match, they gave it right back to the baying mobs of E13.Fists clenched, teeth gnashing. Revenge served and done so in close proximity.And postage-stamp grounds like Southampton’s Dell were worth extra points per season.Just as well, because there seems to be a direct correlation between teams in smaller grounds and c**p players.Saints fans of a certain age still lament the old days at The Dell.Everton’s next home game against Liverpool will be played in far more comfortable surroundings on the docks.READ MORE SUN STORIESWith a granite walkway leading up to a bigger home, with a clean concourse and uninterrupted views.Capacity will have increased by 13,000 — but size isn’t everything.It won’t be easy to bring the Goodison atmosphere to their new stadiumCredit: PAEverton’s new home will hold 13,000 moreCredit: The Times More

IT IS the worst ‘big match’ in Premier League history.The first time that two of English football’s so-called elite have met at such an advanced stage of the season with both clubs languishing in the bottom half of the table.Age Postecoglou’s side have endured a torrid seasonCredit: GettyRuben Amorim has so far failed to make a positive impact at Man UtdCredit: GettyGlory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur, anyone? Or glory, glory, Man Utd for that matter?Not when the two clubs contesting this underachievers derby head into the weekend in 13th and 14th positions. And by kick-off at 4.30pm on Sunday, that could even read 15th against 16th.If Sky are billing this as Super Sunday, they will be doing so with tongue firmly in cheek. And neutrals tuning in will feel like rubber-neckers at a car-crash site.Not since both clubs were relegated from the top flight in the 1970s have either experienced quite such a dire campaign.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLIn the Big Six era, we have never seen the like. Only Chelsea’s meltdown in 2015-16 compares to the season either Spurs or the Red Devils are suffering.And this is no sudden implosion like the one which ended Jose Mourinho’s second Stamford Bridge reign. For United and Spurs, this represents a reckoning after years of flawed decision-making and chronic mismanagement.Losing has become a bad habit for both, seeing them overtaken by smaller clubs such as Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton and Fulham, as well as a resurgent Nottingham Forest under former Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo.Ange Postecoglou’s injury-ravaged Spurs ended a horror run of one point from seven games with victory at Brentford in their last league outing.Most read in FootballBEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERSBut they have been dumped out of both domestic cups since.United have lost five of their last six league games at Old Trafford, and even though their away form has been better under Ruben Amorim, this has been a shocking season even by the dismal standards of the post-Ferguson era.Paul Scholes tells Ruben Amorim Man Utd are staring relegation in the face unless they make seven new signings The similarities are glaring.Two tactically-dogmatic managers wedded to their philosophies, intransigent in the face of defeat — Postecoglou’s compulsion for playing out from the back, Amorim’s adamance that his 3-4-3 is non-negotiable.Two rare English overlords in the boardrooms, both giving foreign owners a good name.Spurs fans will protest against Daniel Levy, yet his reputation for penny-pinching looks absurd when held up against Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s cost-cutting since he became a minority owner at Old Trafford — where another raft of demoralising backroom redundancies is in the offing.Son Heung-min’s side have endured a difficult seasonCredit: AFPBruno Fernandes has often cut a frustrated figureCredit: GettyTottenham’s pristine stadium is proof that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ‘Wembley of the North’ plan is no guarantee of any extra on-field success for Man UtdCredit: PATwo squads bereft of confidence, both lacking effective on-field leadership, where senior players have failed to grasp the nettle, meaning promising youngsters are unable to thrive.Is there any way out of this death spiral for either club? And just how low could they fall?At least the bottom four are so distant that relegation should not be a serious concern. It is easier to argue the case for a swift turnaround in fortunes at Spurs and Big Ange has been doing so in every media appearance.Tottenham’s injury list has been extreme — losing a first-choice keeper, an entire back four and a quartet of attacking players would send most teams into a nosedive.Not that this excuses home defeats by Ipswich and Leicester, nor the manner of their gutless capitulation at Anfield in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg as Liverpool cruised to a 4-0 win.But United’s early struggles under Amorim are a positive for Postecoglou — proof that changing managers in mid-season doesn’t necessarily provide a bounce.Spurs have the modern infrastructure which United crave.Yet their magnificent stadium suggests a shiny new Wembley of the North at Old Trafford is unlikely to have any positive impact on United’s long-term playing prospects either.The struggling North London club have also recruited promising young players in the last two windows, a path Ratcliffe intends to follow.Everyone wants a long-term plan but in the knee-jerk ‘now culture’ of the Premier League, how soon is the future?Tottenham have already defeated United twice this season — a 3-0 drubbing at Old Trafford and a crazy 4-3 victory in the Carabao Cup quarter-final.With some fit-again reinforcements expected, a third success over their fellow crisis club could be mood-altering.For United, the picture is more bleak.Tottenham won 3-0 at Old Trafford in SeptemberCredit: GettySpurs dumped Man Utd out of the League Cup in DecemberCredit: GettyThere is no battalion ready to rise off the treatment table.Indeed, after loaning out Marcus Rashford and Antony in January, without recruiting any replacements, there is a serious dearth of attacking players in Amorim’s squad.The Portuguese boss must limp through to the end of the season, hoping for another miraculous Cup run like the one which gave Erik ten Hag a reprieve last year.And then perhaps a major summer revamp — not that several similar revamps have worked at United in recent years.Could the Europa League represent a lifeline for either club?Earlier this season, Mourinho — who managed both — declared that the Red Devils and Tottenham were the two firm favourites to win the Europa League, due to the Premier League’s economic clout.This ought to be true but the reality is different. No English club has won Uefa’s second-tier competition in the last five seasons, with only Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United reaching the final during that time.READ MORE SUN STORIESFor now, though, we have a meeting of glum and glummer — a macabre circus, with the losers sentenced to further humiliation and ridicule.Roll up, roll up, for the greatest sewage show on Earth.Tottenham and Man Utd are set for another unpredictable battle this SundayCredit: Getty More

DANIEL LEVY is facing the biggest fan backlash of his 24-year Spurs reign with another protest planned on Sunday.The demo, organised by fed-up season-ticket holders named Change for Tottenham, will take place before and after the Prem fixture against Manchester United.Daniel Levy has come under scrutiny in recent weeksCredit: GettyProtesters plan to march ahead of the game and then stage a sit-in protest at full-time in the South Stand.The aim is to put pressure on majority owners ENIC to sell the club — and for chairman Levy to go.Levy has faced calls for him to leave in recent matches, with injury-decimated Spurs 14th in the table and out of both domestic cups.Anger has reached boiling point over a lack of silverware — with no trophies won since 2008.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLAsked if the anti-Levy feeling is the worst it has ever been, Change for Tottenham’s Jamie Coughlan said: “By far. We’ve had the promises broken every single time.“It’s by far the most vigilant fans have been on the way the club acts.“If you look at 2019, we were battling to win a Champions League final.”Fast forward five years and realistically we’re in a relegation fight.”Most read in FootballBEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERSTottenham fans are planning further protestsCredit: ReutersSpurs are the world’s ninth-richest team under Levy’s control, according to Deloitte’s latest findings.But that report also showed the club’s wages-to-turnover ratio is just 42 per cent, the lowest of all Premier League clubs.Fuming Ange Postecoglou covers face with hands as he loses it over reporter’s question after Tottenham’s FA Cup KOCoughlan is hopeful the unrest could tempt a potential buyer to make an offer for the £4billion-valued club.He added: “It will show that the fans are unhappy with the ownership which could then force somebody into saying, ‘Do you know what, I’m going to try, I’m going to test the waters and see if Tottenham would be interested in selling’.”Spurs fans are planning to stage a sit-in in their South Stand after Sunday’s gameCredit: Rex More

BUKAYO SAKA is set to be sidelined for a further eight weeks as Arsenal’s injury nightmare intensified.As the Gunners confirmed that German Kai Havertz was out for the season ahead of undergoing hamstring surgery, it emerged that Saka’s similar injury could prevent him returning until mid-April.Bukayo Saka may not return from injury until AprilCredit: RexThe Arsenal star was seen in rehab at the club’s training camp in DubaiCredit: GettyMikel Arteta has an injury crisis to contend withCredit: GettyWhen Saka limped away from the 5-1 crushing of Crystal Palace in December, Arsenal were hoping for him to be fit by next month.The club published photos of the England ace going through rehab drills during this week’s training camp in Dubai.But boss Mikel Arteta, now left with only Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling and teenager Ethan Nwaneri as fit attacking options with first-team experience, will not take a further gamble on Saka unless he is absolutely ready.That reluctance to risk Saka, whose explosive push off on his injured right leg is a major part of his threat, could now see the winger staying on the sidelines for up to four months in total.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLMeanwhile, the expected bad news on Havertz, the club’s 14-goal top scorer, was confirmed.Arsenal announced: “We can confirm that Kai Havertz has sustained a hamstring injury during a training session in Dubai last week.”Subsequent assessments and specialist reviews have confirmed that the injury will require surgery, which will take place in the coming days.”Soon after surgery, Kai will begin his recovery and rehabilitation programme, which is expected to extend into pre-season preparations for next season.Most read in FootballBEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS”Everyone at the club is fully focused on supporting Kai to ensure he is back to full fitness as soon as possible.”Arteta, already without Gabriel Jesus, is also expected to be missing fellow Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli for a month.Arsenal wonderkid Lewis-Skelly’s mum reveals he’s ‘still on washing-up duty’… and how she nearly missed Man City goalHe pulled a hamstring in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg defeat at Newcastle last week.Arsenal sit seven points off Liverpool at the top of the table following their chaotic 2-2 draw against Everton yesterday. More