Maresca ‘shock’ development, Amorim’s ‘handbrake’ problem and ‘woke’ Lineker’s incredible ‘revenge’ plan

Gary Lineker is the ‘woke man scorned’ who is playing an incredibly extended and expensive long game in search of ‘revenge’ against the poor BBC.

But first, join us in being absolutely stunned at one Manchester City ‘contingency plan’.

And in confusion at Ruben Amorim apparently becoming Gareth Southgate.

The news that Enzo Maresca would be considered a viable candidate to replace Pep Guardiola at Manchester City has caused some actual heads to fall off across the football media world.

Not least at The Sun , who write that ‘ENZO MARESCA has been named as a shock contender to replace Pep Guardiola at Manchester City’.

They are not alone, as these headlines attest:

‘Maresca ‘lined up by Man City in shock move’ amid cryptic Chelsea claim’ – London Evening Standard .

‘Man City target shock Enzo Maresca swoop if Pep Guardiola leaves next summer’ – Daily Mirror website .

‘Manchester City are considering a surprise swoop for Enzo Maresca as their next manager, if Pep Guardiola decides to leave the club next summer’ – Football.London .

‘David Ornstein: Man City Plot Shock Move for Chelsea Manager Enzo Maresca in 2026’ – GiveMeSport .

Yet it is not particularly shocking or surprising in the slightest, is it? If anything it’s entirely predictable and expected.

Maresca has already spent two years working in the Manchester City coaching system, closely with Pep Guardiola for one remarkably successful season which culminated in them winning the literal Treble.

He also has proven experience of managing in the Premier League and England, specifically in the high-pressured, elite environment of a club expected to compete on multiple fronts and win trophies under constant immense pressure – and whose perceived lack of support makes him attainable .

And he is one of the younger managers in the Premier League who, despite his faults and weaknesses, entirely plausibly has a style and approach which could translate well to an even higher level with better players who are actually allowed to be over 25.

Plus the original Athletic story was only that Maresca ‘is high among the candidates’ and ‘expected to figure prominently…although he would not be the only contender’ to replace Guardiola in ‘contingency planning’ for if the Spaniard leaves the Etihad at the end of this season.

And frankly, it would be much more of a ‘shock’ if that wasn’t the case.

Mediawatch doesn’t disagree with the premise that basically ‘nobody knows’ how good Manchester United are . As Jack Keene, senior horse racing reporter obviously given a platform to write about one of the biggest clubs in world football for The Sun says, they have been ‘unpredictable and infuriating’ under Ruben Amorim.

But the idea, in the immediate aftermath of ‘their best attacking display’ of the Portuguese’s reign, that they must become ‘great swashbucklers again’ to achieve anything, is curious.

Not Manchester City , Liverpool or Arsenal, the Premier League champions or main contenders for the title over the last decade or so, could really be described as particularly ‘swashbuckling’.

And this line is just bizarre:

‘If they are to have success this season, surely Amorim has to let go of his beloved handbrake.’

Manchester United under Amorim evoke many things, but Gareth Southgate’s England isn’t really one of them.

Sure, the 4-4 draw with Bournemouth was a big old outlier , but Manchester United’s season has also featured scorelines of 4-2, 4-1, 3-2 and a handful of 2-2s. Their Premier League games have literally seen more goals for either side (56) than those of any other team.

‘Salah could be back at Liverpool sooner than expected as AFCON fears raised,’ is the claim from the Daily Mirror website .

He could . He could also return with a shaved head and face in a show of solidarity with Arne Slot. He could do these things.

But the key question of whether he actually will has, in this case, thankfully been answered in the opening paragraph:

‘Fears of Mohamed Salah’s Egypt failing at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations have increased with a new supercomputer predicting a stunning early exit.’

Salah could indeed ‘be back at Liverpool sooner than expected’ this winter. Not sure those chances ‘have increased’ based on ‘one supercomputer’s prediction’, mind.

Were the carbon emissions really worth it to find ‘one supercomputer’ which foresees Egypt losing to Comoros in the last 16?

Absolute fair play to The Sun website for this headline …

‘Fifa playoff indefinitely suspended with winner to be decided by committee’

…which has presumably become the most-read story ever published about the FIFA Arab Cup.

You’ll also never believe what happened when ‘the winner of the clash was decided by a COMMITTEE, rather than the game being finished elsewhere’.

Well after 11 painstaking paragraphs, we learn that ‘the Fifa committee declared the third place title would be shared by the two nations’.

‘Hell hath no fury like a woke man scorned. And industry insiders believe that by showing Gary Lineker the door, the BBC may have opened itself up to a world of pain.’

Bravo, Mike Keegan, who cites ‘those with knowledge of the situation’ as believing Lineker’s £14m deal to host his podcast on Netflix during the World Cup is actually a long play for ‘revenge’ and ultimately Lineker encouraging Netflix to bid £5bn odd for Premier League TV rights down the line.

Lineker, of course, ‘has his sights on making his former employers pay’. The BBC are definitely the ones living rent-free in someone’s mind here.

It is a genuinely great bit to quote ‘those with knowledge of the situation’, a ‘well-placed source’ and ‘one acquaintance, speaking on condition of anonymity’ in a story Lineker himself has since described as ‘not true’ and ‘utter nonsense’.

Then again, ‘a woke man scorned’ would say that, especially when his definitely real and carefully planned retribution has been exposed.