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Leeds United ended what was yet another disappointing Championship season in the bottom-half of the table on goal difference following their 2-0 win against Queens Park Rangers at Elland Road on Sunday.

It was just their fourth win of 2018 – all of which came on their own patch – meaning they ended the campaign on 60 points, with 20 defeats from their 46 league fixtures.

It was certainly a case of what might have been for the Yorkshire outfit given they started so well back in August and topped the standings for a time in September, but a dreadful run of form since then saw then gradually drop down the table.

Paul Heckingbottom struggled to make too much of a positive impact from February until May having replaced Thomas Christiansen, and it remains to be seen whether he will stay or go, although he certainly deserves his chance to stamp his own foot on this squad during the summer transfer window.

The Whites certainly need to make some big changes over the close season seeing as a number of their players once again consistently underperformed, while more often than not they didn’t look like a team and were far too easy to break down.

The failings of the likes of Pierre-Michel Lasogga – who will return to Hamburg following his loan spell – Caleb Ekuban, Jay-Roy Grot and Pawel Cibicki up top mean that finding a decent replacement for Chris Wood this summer should be a priority, but the midfield needs some work as well.

Kalvin Phillips and Eunan O’Kane have been the first-choice central midfield for much of the campaign – especially under Christiansen – but while Phillips clearly does have some ability, neither of them showed it on a consistent basis in what was one of the key areas where Leeds struggled the most.

Someone like Ronaldo Vieira – who was something of a regular under Garry Monk last term – has failed to hit the heights that he did then and hasn’t pushed O’Kane and Phillips for a spot in the XI as much as he perhaps should have done, while the situation with Mateusz Klich was strange.

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The Poland international was signed from AZ Alkmaar last summer, but for whatever reason he was barely picked in league games despite showing his quality in the EFL Cup win against Burnley at Turf Moor, with his relationship with Christiansen seemingly not good.

Despite the Yorkshire outfit’s woes in the middle of the park, the arrival of £4.5m-rated Adam Forshaw from Middlesbrough during the January transfer window saw Klich sent out on loan to FC Utrecht just days before Christiansen was relieved of his duties – and he has impressed.

The 27-year-old has scored one goal and provided a further three assists in 14 appearances from the middle of the park, with one of those assists coming in the draw against Heracles where he also made a remarkable 11 key passes.

While most of his outings for the Eredivisie outfit have come from the right-hand side, he has shown the quality that he has in his locker and the ability that he was never really given an opportunity to show for Leeds.

The Whites need to ensure that they bring the Polish midfielder back to the club and get him involved with pre-season under Heckingbottom – or whoever else – because he is proving why he should be starting ahead of the likes of Phillips, O’Kane and Vieira in the centre next term if the Yorkshire club are to challenge for promotion.

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That isn’t the only change that must happen, either.

Forshaw has been one of Leeds’ best and most committed players on the pitch in the second-half of the campaign, and he has shown the leadership skills that he has.

Whether Heckingbottom stays or not, the 26-year-old needs to have the captaincy ahead of Liam Cooper – who is often a liability because of his lack of discipline during games – next season, in order to drive this underperforming club forward.

Forshaw’s tenacity next to Klich’s quality in the centre of the park for Leeds could prove to be crucial, and it could be a partnership that helps finally takes them into top-six contention – minimum.

Liverpool’s first seven away games are horrendous, probably the worst run of fixtures anyone could ever face. With pressure mounting on Brendan Rodgers towards the end of last season, a poor run at the start of this season could be the end of his tenure at Anfield.

That’s not sensationalism, that’s the state of modern football. Rodgers still deserves a chance, sure, but can the owners afford to give it to him if Liverpool are midtable after ten games?

It would be a repeat of last season in many ways. If Liverpool start slowly, they can blame the fixtures – last season they could point to the Suarez sale – and then put a run together from Christmas onwards. But that might not be enough to get them Champions League football. With United and Arsenal spending money, City will surely strengthen too and Chelsea will also feel they have enough firepower by the end of the summer to fend off the chasing pack. Liverpool will have to move forward quickly, not stand still.

And to his credit, Rodgers has recognised this. He’s made some very good signings indeed and all before the window has really even opened in earnest. There’s only a month left before the season opener – a second consecutive game away to Stoke, the scene of the crime as far as Liverpool are concerned – and Liverpool have a better squad than they did going into the last game of last season.

But the problem for Rodgers this summer was always going to be the lack of Champions League football, and whether the club could attract the calibre of players needed in order to bring his team on. The Europa League just isn’t catnip enough to Europe’s biggest stars.

So given that Rodgers has done alright so far, he’ll have some goodwill before the start of the season. But that could disappear suddenly if they start to lose games. It doesn’t matter how excusable those defeats might be, football is fickle. Logically, defeats away to Stoke, Arsenal, Man United, Everton, Tottenham, Chelsea and Man City shouldn’t really have a bearing on a manager’s position. But with Rodgers already under pressure Liverpool need to win some of those games.

He knows that Jurgen Klopp is just a phone call away from taking his job and that a poor run could really seal his fate.

And in fact, Klopp is in a wonderful position if indeed he does want to manage Liverpool. The German can take a few months off and watch from afar as Rodgers toils under the pressure of such a tough start. Then if Rodgers does get the sack, Klopp can come in mid-season, the tough fixtures already out of the way, and bring the team to a decent finish. Rodgers could do all the dirty work and Klopp can come in and finish the job, looking like the saviour all the while.

But that will only happen if Liverpool stutter in their tough few games and are unable to rectify the situation. If Rodgers is under pressure then the players will need to step up and do it when the chips are down. That’s what’s going to save Rodgers through this tough period, the players. If his young team can handle the pressure, after a poor end to last season and a tough start to the next one, then there’ll be no need for Klopp or another saviour come November time.

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The players Rodgers has brought into the club so far this summer must be players that he can rely on. That’s why Milner is perfect, he and Firmino are players who will help out the team defensively too. Milner epitomises the ‘honest, hardworking’ stereotype, which is exactly what you need when the pressure is on.

With Klopp waiting in the wings, the pressure really is on Rodgers and he needs the players to help him out during the opening weeks. But he’s bought well so far and maybe Klopp will have to wait a little longer to take over at Anfield.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Danny Rose will wait until the end of the season to find out if he has a future at White Hart Lane.

The young left back has impressed on loan at Sunderland this season and the Black Cats are keen to sign the England under-21 international on a full time basis.

The 22 year old was loaned out due to lack of first team opportunities in North London but his stella individual displays at the Stadium of Light may have changed that.

Current Spurs left back Benoit Assou-Ekotto has been injured for a large part of this season leaving them with a lack of cover in that position.

Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio has praised the youngster but admitted he has no idea if he will join the North East club or not.

“He’s our player at the moment. Sunday will be his last game and then we will see,” Di Canio told the Shields Gazette.

“I don’t want to talk about the future because we have to focus on the next game.

“In my opinion, he can improve a lot defensively. He’s an attacking-minded left-back, but he has to improve a lot defensively.

“He’s got a great future in front of him. He’s a powerful guy. The strength and elasticity he’s got mean he can run forward with the ball and beat people easily.

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“It’s obvious he can play at the top level, but everybody has to improve.”

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In six of the last nine Champions League finals, a Spanish team has won.

Indeed, since 2001, the only times in which a La Liga team has lost in a Champions League final was when Atletico Madrid lost to the team who will be Liverpool’s opponents later this month, Real. On both those occasions, a Spanish team had to lose.

And when Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich in 2010, or when Chelsea beat the German giants in 2012, both times Barcelona had been sensationally ousted from the competition at the semi-final stage by teams who would go on to win the competition.

That’s the scale of the dominance Spain has over Europe: when their teams don’t win the Champions League, everyone seems to agree the best team didn’t win.

But that could be about to change.

Liverpool are the team tasked with stopping Real Madrid from becoming the first side to win the competition three times in a row since Bayern Munich in the 1970s. But stopping this Real Madrid side looks like it is shorthand for stopping Spanish dominance in Europe.

Liverpool may have already done that.

A period of English resurgence was foretold after the Premier League’s recent media rights riches made their clubs much wealthier than their European counterparts. Leicester City, West Ham, Southampton and Everton all made the top 20 of the 2018 Deloitte Money List.

In that research, 14 of the top 30 richest clubs are English, and the biggest number of clubs any other league can boast in the list is five, from Serie A. They have the money, the players, and the coaches to make a serious impact.

And yet, so far that hasn’t happened. Despite Liverpool making the final, only Manchester City joined them in the quarter final stage, as the others had all been knocked out before then.

But the final Liverpool eventually made won’t just be a shootout between Madrid and Liverpool, Spain and England – it will also, on some level, probably decide the Ballon d’Or, too.

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Mohamed Salah is picking up awards left, right and centre, but if Madrid win the Champions League again it will surely be Cristiano Ronaldo who bags another golden ball. But if Salah is in the final three – and especially if he wins – he’ll have proven something which could change how we view football over the next few years: that you don’t have to be at Real Madrid or Barcelona to land a Ballon d’Or.

Up until Neymar left Barcelona for PSG, it appeared that way, and the pair’s dominance over the top continental competition seemed to solidify that belief. But if Salah can do it from a team who finished fourth in the Premier League last season and scraping qualification into the play-off stage of this year’s Champions League then that fact alone surely proves the cracks in the dominance of the El Clasico clubs are ready to burst open.

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Transfer rumour mill time… and the latest names to be thrown together are Mohamed Salah of Chelsea fame (well, sort of) and Tottenham. Two local rivals doing business is rare, due to the potential ‘egg on face’ scenario the selling side are always wary of, so this report has to be taken with a small pinch of salt. However, should it?

Well, we at FFC Towers think that Salah to Spurs would be a match made in heaven for the player, and the two sides involved. ‘Why?’ we hear you cry… well, here are FIVE reasons.

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Game time…

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Now this is the big one, Salah needs game time. It’s hardly a shock that he shone at Basel, struggled at Chelsea and then was impressive again at Fiorentina – guess the two clubs he played regularly for! With competition for game time fierce and Stamford Bridge and Jose Mourinho a manager opposed to rotation, The Egyptian’s chances of becoming a first-team star at the age of 21-22 (he’s now 23) were always likely to be slim.

However, over at White Hart Lane, Mauricio Pochettino is a coach more akin to giving other options a go, while the Lilywhites hardly possess a wealth of wide attackers lighting up the Premier League.

More suited to a side of Spurs’ ambition…

Perhaps, as it stands, Salah is not quite at the level to compete for titles and European honours at one of the biggest clubs around. After all, his move came on the back of some impressive showings with Basel, who, no disrespect, are the big fish in a pretty tiny Swiss pond.

Featuring in the Europa League and challenging for a top four berth may be Salah’s level for now, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all at the age of 23. Spurs are very much in that niche, so it could be a match made in heaven…

Still very talented

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Despite his struggles at Chelsea, Salah is indeed a talented player. Dubbed the ‘Egyptian Lionel Messi’ in his Basel days, capped 37 times at international level (with 21 goals to his name) and a league champion in Switzerland, the youngster clearly has talent.

Tottenham could use that ability, with supplying Harry Kane with ammunition certainly a priority heading into the 2015/16 campaign, in which the Lilywhites hero may have a tougher time from defenders.

Are Spurs and Chelsea genuine rivals?

The elephant in the room with this one seems to be the whole domestic and local rivalry between Chelsea and Spurs. Although the postcodes mean that the two clubs will always been London-based foes, are they actually teams competing directly against one another? The White Hart Lane outfit haven’t finished ahead of Chelsea since the 2011/12 campaign, and even that result (fourth and sixth respectively) was somewhat skewed by the Blues’ late season Champions League push.

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In between times the West Londoners have kicked on to re-establish themselves as kings of the English game, while in the north of the capital, Tottenham have routinely sold their best players and failed to enter the Champions League since 2010.

Pace and guild from wide

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Salah’s main strength is his ability to take on opposing full-backs with a mix of pace and trickery. Such a desire is always good in a wide attacker, with, ultimately, the aim of a traditional winger being to get past his man and deliver the ball to the strikers. Although the lines are somewhat blurred in Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1, with the attacking midfield three tasked with drifting to fill space, Salah appears to offer a different option. He’s more agile than Nacer Chadli, less infuriating than Andros Townsend, not as burdened by price-tag as Erik Lamela and pacier than Christian Eriksen.

It’s been a huge week at Old Trafford, which has left many fans distraught. After Sir Alex Ferguson announced he would retire at the end of the season,  United supporters were already in a fragile mood. But the news that Wayne Rooney has asked to leave the club has hurt fans once more. These stories do sound familiar though. In 2002, Ferguson was set to retire, only to change his mind late on, whilst Rooney requested to leave the club in 2010 before eventually signing a 5-year contract.

But it seems this time it’s for real. Sir Alex really is going to leave, whilst Rooney looks intent on departing Manchester. After being forced to play out of position for the end of season run-in, it appears the English striker has become fed up at Old Trafford, and wants a fresh challenge. With Robin van Persie becoming the club’s main striker this season, Wayne hasn’t been able to handle not being number 1.

With the news that Sir Alex is to retire from management at the end of the season, it seems Rooney doesn’t even want to wait to speak to the new manager about his future. Unless he shocks the footballing world, it appears Everton manager David Moyes will become the new man to manage the Premier League champions. But Rooney looks intent on leaving even if his former boss comes to the club, without hearing Moyes’ plans for the striker, or for the team.

So what about the rest of the Old Trafford squad? With the only player to play under Moyes desperate to leave, it doesn’t paint a good picture about the Everton manager. And with players in the dressing room such as Anderson and Nani who are also reportedly unhappy with their involvement at the club, they too may be thinking of leaving after Rooney’s clear intentions. So before Moyes arrives at the club, he could well find a queue outside his door of players asking to leave the club.

Ideally, Moyes would come into the club with Rooney spending the last few weeks of the season speaking gold about the Scotsman, and talking about how much he is looking forward to being reunited with his first manager at senior level. But instead, it looks like these next two weeks will all about Rooney possibly playing his last games for the club, and causing doubt amongst other players about whether they too should leave with Sir Alex.

Although Rooney reportedly talked about wanting to leave before Sir Alex announced his retirement, the fact he’s formally asked to leave after the legendary manager told the world about his intentions, shows a lack of faith in any new manager, especially his former one. The timing of Rooney’s decision shows an absence of belief in Moyes, who has been the odds-on favourite for the job ever since Ferguson decided to retire. Rooney’s desire to leave will damage Moyes’ reputation in the United dressing room, and could well lead to a few more players publicly requesting transfers.

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According to reports, Liverpool are front-runners to secure a summer swoop for Norwich City’s breakout star James Maddison.

What’s the story?

Norwich City playmaker James Maddison has told a source close to Anfield Edition that he “expects” to move to Anfield this summer.

The 21 year-old is close friends with Trent Alexander-Arnold, and has drawn interest from plenty of Premier League clubs.

The report also claims Liverpool are entering crunch talks to secure the signing of Fulham wonderkid Ryan Sessegnon.

Smart move to Merseyside?

Before the arrival of Andy Robertson, Liverpool fans would probably turn their noses up at relatively cheap signings from Championship clubs, but the success of the Scottish full back has earned Jürgen Klopp some transfer leeway.

Fans now trust that the German manager will work his magic with whatever young star he sets his plans on, so why not Maddison?

Maddison has impressed with the England Under-21 side this season, but has been quite simply remarkable for his club.

Playing mostly as an attacking midfielder, the 21 year-old has registered an incredible 14 goals and eight assists in a struggling Norwich side.

One has to think his arrival would mean the end of Adam Lallana’s Liverpool career, which would be a serious upgrade for the Reds.

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Maddison is faster and fitter than Lallana, and has already proven he has better end product in his brief career so far.

Liverpool fans, would you like to see a summer swoop for Maddison? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…

Despite admittedly never managing one of the Premier League’s top-four teams throughout his managerial career, Alan Pardew’s name still commands a certain reputation within the English footballing community.

He either comes across as a purposeful kind of coach with a clear emphasis on winning games in style – or perhaps more cynically – as just another average English manager who seemingly acts as if he’s above his own station with his various touch-line spats.

Either way, no one can really discredit the job the former West Ham, Southampton and Newcastle manager has achieved so far with Crystal Palace. The Eagles simply look like a completely transformed outfit under the refreshed guidance of the 53-year-old.

Although it’s definitely still early days for the passionate boss and his new role at Selhurst Park, with the distinct lack of other successful English managers plying their trade in the Premier League at the moment, would it be right to suggest that Alan Pardew is already in contention to be named the next England manager after Roy Hodgson departs?

The response to such a claim may shine Pards in a more deserving light than most would expect…

Under the somewhat stagnant management of Neil Warnock, and to some extent Tony Pulis before him for that matter, Crystal Palace weren’t exactly a team who were easy on the eye. Rightly or wrongly, the South London based outfit went about their business in a largely physical manner, with not a great deal of priority placed on technical flair or free-flowing moves across the pitch.

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However, now under the much more revitalized supervision of Alan Pardew, the spirit in and around Selhust Park couldn’t be much higher. The team have become a far better side to watch in general, their ability to break down the opposition’s moves and convert them into fast moving counter-attacks has certainly been impressive – and with the side recording four wins in their last four matches – the Premier League seems to have found itself a new threat for the top sides to contend with.

Even if this amounts to no more than an enjoyable honeymoon period for the new man in the dug-out, this is just the kind of management the English national team is in desperate need of at the moment. Nevertheless, there are still those who really won’t be signing themselves up in the pro-Pardew camp anytime soon – just ask the majority of Newcastle United fans who paid witness to the man in question throughout the beginning of the season.

Despite his recent turnaround in fortunes with the Eagles, St. James’ Park simply wasn’t a happy home for Alan Pardew. The supporters didn’t initially take to him after the shock sacking of Chris Hughton, he has faced constant criticism for being far too negative in his approach with the Magpies – and although he managed to take Newcastle to the brink of Champions League football at the end of the 2011/12 campaign – a great deal of the St. James’ faithful are more than happy that they don’t have to deal with their former boss anymore.

Having said that tough, working under the testing conditions set by Newcastle chairman, Mike Ashley, would be a tough task for anyone. The controversial club owner not only sold off the best talent Pardew had available whenever he had the chance, but he also completely failed to reinvest that money back in the team and often left his manager to hang out to dry when it came to explaining away such a situation.

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Alan Pardew’s ill-fated reign in the North East therefore deserves some consideration before any truly damning statements are made – but as this is the man who famously went head-to-head with Hull City’s David Meyler, gave a fourth official a clear push when things didn’t go his way, and also reportedly called Manuel Pellegrini a ‘f****** old c*** for his troubles – it remains hard to see the FA being brave enough to ever select such a character for national duties.

No, Roy Hodgson certainly remains their man for now. He is the calm, safe bet after all, regardless of the potential on offer from someone such as Pards. If things continue to go well down at Selhusrt Park next season however, then you never know what could soon be on the cards for the somewhat opinion splitting manager in the not too distant future…

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Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has revealed that the club are yet to open talks with striker Christian Benteke over an improved contract.

Benteke still has three years left on his Villa deal after the £7million move from Genk on transfer deadline day last summer.

The Belgian striker has been in phenomenal form for the Premier League strugglers and a number of big clubs from around Europe are said to been keen on snapping him up in the summer.

Lambert has admitted that he will struggle to hold on to his prized asset if the Midlands club are playing Championship football next season but the Scot is hoping it won’t come to that.

Villa won away at Stoke last weekend and have a winnable game at home to Fulham today to pull further clear of the relegation fight and Lambert is not willing to discuss contracts until they’re safe.

“I think the most important thing is the league until the end of the season, I heard somebody say he’s been promised a new contract but I can’t have been a part of those conversations,” Lambert told Sky Sports.

“I speak to him all the time, not about contracts, I just tell him to keep it going really. And he’s never once mentioned anything to me about contracts.

“He’s got a contract here anyway as it stands, but I think it’s important we stay in this league and do as well as we’ve been doing.

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“As I said before I’ve never had one conversation with him regarding contracts or anything like that, he’s not that type of lad. I’m sure come the end of the season we’ll sit down and it’ll be just Chris and a few others.”

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Arsenal have once again had their problems this season, and they look set to miss out on a top-four finish in the Premier League for a second year running.

Manager Arsene Wenger has come under fire from the fans for the senior team’s dismal away form.

Following Sunday’s defeat to Newcastle United at St James’ Park, it emerged that the Gunners are the only club in England’s top four divisions not to pick up a single point away from home in 2018.

The North London outfit are sixth in the standings, but with five games left to play they are feeling pressure from seventh-placed Burnley, who sit just two points behind.

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The only shining light for the senior team is their Europa League campaign, which sees them competing against Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals next week.

If Arsenal win the second-tiered European competition, then they will secure a place in next season’s Champions League.

Elsewhere at the North London club, the Under-18s are in the mood to celebrate having secured their place in the FA Youth Cup final against Chelsea.

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The promising stars of the future earned a 5-0 win over Blackpool, and they head into the showpiece next month with the aim of ending Chelsea’s four-year dominance in the competition.

Understandably, Arsenal fans were delighted for the youngsters, but they also could not help but throw digs at the senior team.