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Could a return for Andros Townsend be on the cards? Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/EPA
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David Moyes will be handed the opportunity to rebuild Sunderland next season, even if they are relegated to the Championship. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images
Toxic Mood at Relegation-Threatened Sunderland Is Helping Nobody
Managerial stability is supposed to promote reassurance, a sense of safety even, but its belated advent at Sunderland has merely prompted widespread insecurity. Last July David Moyes became the club’s seventh manager in five turbulent seasons as Ellis Short vowed to...Caption:
Aitor Karanka liked to micro-manage his Middlesbrough players but some became frustrated by his approach to games. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters
Middlesbrough Control Freak Karanka Pays Price for Conservatism, Clashes
The rationale behind Steve Gibson’s long-standing reluctance to sack Aitor Karanka and the reason he ultimately felt impelled to dismiss Middlesbrough’s first foreign manager were, paradoxically, both encapsulated by the Basque’s handling of Adama Traoré. A...Caption:
After guiding Leicester City to the Premier League title in his first season with the club, Claudio Ranieri is in danger of taking them down in his second. Photograph: Ashley Crowden/CameraSport via Getty
Dilemmas Mount for Clubs Engaged In Premier League Relegation Dogfight
Sack the manager? Keep the manager? Sell your best player and import seven new ones, five on loan? Go warm‑weather training in Dubai? Cancel the Gulf trip? Switch to a sweeper system? Revert to a flat back four? Play two up front? Keep the faith with a lone striker?...Caption:
Adama Traoré, left, breezes past Christian Fuchs during Middlesbrough’s recent draw at Leicester City. Photograph: Nigel French/PA