6) Hull’s precarious position makes Phelan the smart choice
Hull City’s protracted takeover is now in the hands of the Premier League after the club’s vice-chairman Ehab Allam confirmed before this defeat to Manchester United that his family is close to selling up. A purchase by Chinese investors is imminent but, given the timing and Wednesday’s transfer deadline being so close, whoever the new owners select to be their first permanent manager will have to deal with a hugely difficult situation. Mike Phelan says deals for new players are lined up but even if they get a few new faces in by the deadline, the squad will still be extremely thin. Given Phelan’s ability to get the best out of limited resources so far this season, it may be a smart move to continue with him for the foreseeable future. Phelan said: “I think it’s now a serious time to make those decisions and make those correct calls.” James Riach
7) Mané shows Pochettino – and Levy – what Spurs are missing
The biggest positive that Mauricio Pochettino could take from Tottenham’s draw against Liverpool – apart from the fact that his team did not lose a match in which they were often sluggish and predictable – was that the performance should help him convince his employer of the need to sign at least one more forward this week. So far the club’s interest in Wilfried Zaha has succeeded only in annoying Crystal Palace and Pochettino would like a deal to be done for Marseille’s Georges-Kévin Nkoudou. Liverpool’s performance helped him to spell out further what he wants. “We need a player who is more direct, more aggressive offensively,” said Pochettino. “Because we have players like Eriksen, Son [Heung-min] or Lamela, who like more to play into feet, we need someone who has characteristics like we saw from Liverpool, like Mané, the type of player that can break the defensive line.” Over to you, Daniel Levy. Paul Doyle
8) Losing Koné would send Moyes back to square one
It was almost job done for David Moyes until a journalist asked the Sunderland manager about the immediate future of Lamine Koné just as the Scot thought there were no more questions. With the transfer deadline lurking, Moyes’s body language was enough to know the club faces a real fight to keep the defender, who impressed on his return to the starting lineup against Southampton, beyond 11pm on Wednesday. “I thought he played well today, I can’t really say too much on what else might happen between now and the end of the week,” said Moyes, before exiting the press conference suite at St Mary’s. Koné submitted a transfer request earlier this month after Sunderland’s proposed offer of an improved contract failed to materialise. Since then, Everton have increased their efforts to sign the Ivory Coast defender who arrived on Wearside from Lorient in January.
“He’s done what he’s had to do, and we’ll see what materialises during the week,” said Moyes. “It was an easy decision to play him because we’ve got no other centre halves. But when you’re a player who has got a four-year contract, and you’ve only served six months of it, I can’t see that worrying about your contract situation should be in your head when you’re in the third game of the season. We will see what materialises this week and what happens.” Sunderland put on a sturdy defensive showing against Southampton, until Jordan Pickford’s late mistake allowed Jay Rodriguez to score his first goal since last September. The £8m summer signing, Papy Djilobodji, partnered Koné in defence, allowing Jack Rodwell to move into midfield and the defence was stronger for it. For Moyes, it feels very much back to square one if Koné is to depart. Ben Fisher
9) Deeney and Ighalo must bully their way back to form
That Watford not only stayed up last season, but did so with relative ease, was significantly down to the work of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo; Deeney scored 13 league goals and Ighalo 15. This season, on the other hand, Deeney has yet to score in the league and Ighalo has yet to score at all, which helps explain Watford’s sketchy start: one point and a home defeat to Gillingham describe a team in difficulty. But to focus solely on their strikers’ goal returns is to miss what was special about them; it was not simply how many they scored, but what absolute misery they inflicted on anyone whose misfortune it was to mark them. Walter Mazzarri must remind his busy, bustling bullies that their job is to take defenders where they don’t want to go and upon arriving, knock them about with gay abandon; if he does, he might find that the goals follow. Daniel Harris
10) Berahino’s time at West Brom is surely over
There was a time when the prospect of losing Saido Berahino would have come as a major disappointment to West Bromwich Albion supporters, yet the reception the striker received when he came off the bench against Middlesbrough suggested that patience has finally run out. Berahino was booed and so was his contribution at times during a 19-minute cameo when the 23-year-old gave the impression that he was going through the motions. His time at Albion now looks certain to be over and with the benefit of hindsight, it would have been better for both parties if he had been allowed to join Tottenham Hotspur when they submitted bids of £18m and £22m for him this time last year. With one goal in his last 27 Premier League appearances, Berahino has badly lost his way and needs a fresh start to reignite a career that is at a crossroads. Stuart James
the guardian
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