- Watford have parted company with another manager in Walter Mazzarri
- Vicarage Road has become a transient place over the course of recent years
- It does not inspire the Hornets' coaches to think about the club long-term
- Southampton are likely to struggle whether or not Claude Puel remains in charge
- Eventually, they will sell one player too many and face a relegation fight
I find it remarkable that Jose Mourinho
can see Britain's second city from his Manchester penthouse window. You
know, considering Birmingham is the second city, and has been for a long
time. Must be one hell of a penthouse if it stretches from Manchester
to Birmingham. AyJay, Birmingham.
Here’s
a story. When Newcastle were one of the top teams in England, I often
stayed at the Copthorne Hotel on the quay. If you’re new in town, you
ask the locals for advice. ‘I’m going to the match tonight. I need to be
there a good hour or so before kick off. How long’s it going to take?’
The concierge would pull a troubled face. ‘Going to be very busy
tonight,’ he’d say. ‘If you want to be there at 6.30, I’d give it a good
half hour.’ So, wanting to leave plenty of time, I’d book the cab for
six. And at 6.03 we’d pull up outside St James’ Park. You see, AJ,
everyone thinks they live in the second city. Everyone thinks they have
the worst traffic, that their home town is huge and cosmopolitan and
sprawling. And I don’t wish to be rude, but I’m from London. I once left
three hours to get from Wapping to Wembley – 11.7 miles across town –
and had to abandon the car and run to make kick-off. You’re talking
second city rivalry to a man from a capital. The central zone on London
transport stretches from Earls Court in the west to Hoxton in the east,
and that’s 6.4 miles. Walk that distance north from Manchester and
you’re in Bury; south and you’re in Stockport. And this is London, zone
1. So you can see how a piddling contest between Manchester and
Birmingham doesn’t really capture my imagination. I like both cities,
really I do. I used to live in Manchester, so maybe I’m biased. But it’s
a subjective argument at best. Birmingham is a bigger city than
Manchester, yes; but so is Bradford. But Greater Manchester is a bigger
urban area than the West Midlands, even including Wolverhampton and
Walsall. David Cameron called Birmingham the second city in 2015, but
2002, 2007 and 2015 polls conducted by IPSOS Mori, GfK and YouGov all
found that the majority of the United Kingdom considered Manchester
second to London. I would argue that culturally and for prominence in
British life – from sport to art and music – Manchester has the edge,
too. So, as the title is in the eye of the beholder, I stand by my
description of Manchester as the second city. Although I do think
Birmingham gets a rough deal over the music. Plenty of fine bands from
Birmingham, and sadly undervalued. We’ll address that in some small way
here, and then get on with five points.
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