It’s hardly as if next month’s North London derby needs much in the way of over-hyping  although given the respective paths that both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal’s seasons are taking, it’s already shaping up to be something of a season defining fixture.

If you’re a fan on the red side of North London, you’re probably likely to be able to afford yourself something in the way of a wry smile. Arsenal fans have experienced as many false dawns from their N17 rivals as most of us have had hot dinners and Tottenham’s magnificent self-destruction last season ensured you still have to go back to 1995 to find the last time they finished above the Gunners.

Although while the ‘mind the gap’ cries from Spurs supporters last year still tends to evoke an unbearable cringe, the sense of inevitability that seemed to wrap itself around Arsenal’s surge to finish above their rivals last season, doesn’t feel quite so apparent this time around.

Now unbeaten in 10 within the Premier League, this Tottenham side isn’t without its issues, but they seem to have developed a new, previously absent steel to their mentality. Should they beat Arsenal at home come March 3rd, providing both sides win their next league game (against West Ham United and Aston Villa respectively) the gap between them will stretch to seven points, with only ten games left to play.

However you choose to frame next month’s clash between them, while it would be dabbling in a little too much hyperbole to label it as a date with destiny, a win for either side here can go a long way to determine who will end up playing Champions League football next term. And for Tottenham Hotspur, it represents the chance to banish the demons of last season once and for all.

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It’s a year to the day that Harry Redknapp’s side took Newcastle United apart 5-0 at home, jolting them into a comfortable 10 point lead over Arsenal in the Premier League table and only five points behind then leaders Manchester United. The subsequent car crash that followed needs little in the way of another autopsy, although it seems somewhat poignant that Spurs’ upcoming fixture comes at such a time in the season.

Similarly to last season, bar the upcoming fixture away to West Ham, Spurs come off the back of a win against Newcastle heading into a North London derby with their destiny seemingly in their own hands. The gap may be slightly less this year and the optimism notably shallower, although the fixture has just as much potential to do such similar damage – not just to Spurs, but to Arsenal, too.

It may well be pointless trying to simulate recent history, but had Spurs won – or merely even avoided defeat last term – it still feels difficult to have foreseen them implode in quite the way they did. Redknapp’s flirting with the England job and Daniel Levy’s reluctance to spend all played their part, although the symbolism of the 5-2 hammering they took at the Emirates last year, seemed to leave the side shell-shocked as they entered the final straight off the Premier League season.

This season, Spurs have of course already taken an identical hit in the same fixture; although the difference is that they’ve managed to ride that shell shock out. The inevitable surge from Arsene Wenger’s team following that imperious win simply hasn’t come and instead of increasing their one point league over their rivals, they now sit four points behind them.

And whereas last season Arsenal had the comforts of the Emirates support to revitalise their season against Spurs, this year they’ll be heading to White Hart Lane to begin the effort to push into the season’s sprint finish. A win away to Villas-Boas’ side has the ability to symbolise just as crushing a blow as their home demolition did last term and wipe the gap out with plenty of football left to play. Losing however, could leave Arsene Wenger’s men with a very difficult job indeed to finish above their bitter rivals.

Who has the most to lose next month? For Spurs, the loss has the ability to inflict a very painful mental strike and although there’s plenty of football left to play, the triple whammy of games against Everton, Chelsea and Manchester City in April, will leave them with plenty to consider.

Although while a loss for Spurs puts them on a near-even keel with the Gunners, should Wenger’s team fail to take anything from White Hart Lane, they’ll find themselves heading into the season’s run in extremely difficult circumstances indeed.

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While it would be naïve at best to pre-empt a Spurs win at Upton Park on the 25th of this month, should the status quo in points remain and Arsenal fall seven points behind following the North London derby, they’re looking at having to pick up little short of maximum points from their final run of games. Last season, they managed nine wins in eight following their 5-2 win in the North London derby. Whether this side – without the talents of Robin van Persie – are capable of such a feat, remains to be seen.

Both Andre Villas-Boas and Arsene Wenger are likely to view next month’s derby, for all its spice, verve and history, as little more than another fixture on the road to attaining a top four finish. But perhaps this season, more than ever in recent tines, there really is more than just bragging rights at stake in this fixture.

Back in November Villas-Boas spoke extensively about how Spurs “have to” finish above Arsenal in the league this year. Beat them at White Hart Lane next month and his side could make one giant stride towards making that concept a reality.

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Saturdays 2-1 defeat to Huddersfield effectively put the final nail in the coffin for our season, with a seven point gap that would prove difficult for most in form teams, never mind one that lacks a severe cutting edge.

With any defeat comes negativity, but it’s when the defeat is also met with an air of expectancy that there becomes a serious problem.

When Neil Warnock took over as manager he was the first choice for many, and the fact that it hasn’t worked out for him doesn’t mean that any of us were wrong to get our hopes up over him coming in. Warnock is a good manager, his record proves that and it cannot be argued against, but there is only so much a good manager can do with a club that has spent years limiting the resources on offer. That being said, Warnock cannot argue that he hasn’t received backing of sorts, it was only a few games ago that he told us all that he wished he’d had this squad from the start of the season, before deciding that we were still one or two short.

Truth be told, we’re probably about seven or eight short. That team is an average Championship side, thankfully the players all seem committed to the cause, and you can’t help but think that the season could have been drastically worse had they not been.

With all this in mind, it looks as though Warnock’s time at Elland Road is coming to an end. Personally, I’ll look back at his tenure with a hint of regret, there was no doubt that he came here wanting promotion as much as we all did, but unfortunately the ambition we shared was not matched by Bates at the start of the season by GFH after they took over, who perhaps understandably seemed to be focusing on next season. Right man, wrong time.

Whether Warnock leaves before our game with Ipswich is anyone’s guess, but what we need to do now is let GFH handle this how they see fit. For the first time in a long time it would appear that we have very level headed owners who wont rush or panic into making decisions. They’ve already proved to be listening to the fans, the recent drop in season ticket prices reflects this, and that isn’t the first time they’ve tried to re-engage the fans.

Appointing the wrong man now would undo all that hard work, right now we need a dream to buy in to and the first piece of the jigsaw has to be a quality manager. Ambition breeds confidence in fans, bringing the right man in now could seriously galvanise the fans and club as a whole for next season.

Trust between the club and fans has been shattered in the past, but GFH have called a lot of the shots right since they arrived, and they deserve huge credit for restoring some of that lost trust.

Bring in the right manager, and they might be in danger of becoming popular.

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Twitter – @giddy_goose

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It has been another year of disappointment despite signs of promise throughout, a year which ultimately has been defined by off the field issues. Focusing on the football side of things though and it has been a drama filled season.

We started the season with last year’s caretaker boss Andy Thorn in charge of first team affairs. His inexperience in the job was clear for everyone to see from the off but we felt as a club that we at least owed him a shot at getting this club back to the championship.

After relegation last season it was inevitable that we were going to lose our better players and the exodus began with the likes of Richard Keogh, Martin Cranie, Oliver Norwood and Gael Bigirimana all leaving for bigger and better things. Brought into replace them were relative unknowns which on a shoestring budget you could understand.

It was a squad which looked capable and a potential for a promotion push looked on. However a win in the cup and 3 draws in the league later and Thorn was relieved of his duties. This seemed a ridiculous decision at the time with the side unbeaten but after surrendering a two goal lead to bury the owners saw fit to end Thorns reign despite the fact they had just allowed him to build his own squad over the summer.

Richard Shaw was put in temporary charge and in his first game knocked out Birmingham from the capital one cup in dramatic style. Unfortunately this was a one off performance and the rest of his short tenure in charge was pretty appalling to say the least. Four league games and a cup match later and the Skyblues were looking like a side that could get relegated twice in two seasons.

One positive to take from the early stages is that we clearly had a striker who knew where the goal was. Despite our often lacklustre and woeful performances David McGoldrick kept getting himself on the scoresheet.

We then saw the one really good decision that Coventry City FC made all season in the appointment of Mark Robins. He came in and although progress was slow at first it was clear to see we were becoming a good side. One of the biggest things Robins did was to bring James Bailey to the club. He was in essence the replacement for Oliver Norwood which his predecessors at the club had failed to get. Bailey was undoubtedly a game changer for us, his intelligence and passing ability allowed him to command a game from the middle of the park and helped other people’s game’s especially Carl Baker.

Carl Baker under Robins was a revelation. Given the responsibility of the captains armband he grabbed the opportunity with both hands and quickly became a vital part of the team. Form continued to improve and come the end of the year Coventry were on a ten game unbeaten run and sitting in 9th just two points off of a play off place.

We were looking like a side that could beat anyone in the league and with goals coming from McGoldrick and Baker it seemed the only way was up. However the news then broke of McGoldrick’s inevitable return to forest. His form was 2nd to none and a lot of clubs had been keeping tabs on the front man. Surprisingly forest didn’t really seem to want him back but other championship clubs were after his signature. In the end he chose to go on loan to Ipswich town which to this day I still cannot understand and it was the Marlon King situation all over again.

This was a huge blow to the squad as where now would the goals come from. We did have a player on trial at the club by the name of Leon Clarke. He had spent the early part of the season on loan at Scunthorpe and had proved to be a real asset for them in front of goal. Everyone was hoping he and McGoldrick would have been a partnership but instead the burden of main goalscorer now fell to Clarke.

He was a very different type of player and it was hard for the team and the fans to adapt to not having that skilful often classy centre forward to look to when things weren’t going their way.  Leon Clarke though settled in rather well and went on to score 10 goals for the club despite missing a large part of the end of the season due to injury.

An aspect of the season that is definitely worth celebrating is our drama filled cup run in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. It was running nicely alongside our league form and we were a two legged semi final away from a trip to Wembley. Unfortunately the first leg of this tie was the begging of the end to our season.

A 3-0 home loss to Crewe which to this day I still don’t know how it happened followed by Mark Robins decision to leave the club to join championship strugglers Huddersfield ultimately left us shell shocked. With One Wembley dream gone the other looked like it was disappearing fast. Carsley was in as Caretaker boss and things began to tail off. Even Carsley himself admitted he wasn’t ready for the job and effectively ruled himself out of the running.

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With the playoffs looking like a longshot the club went to Scotland for the next appointment with the man they call ‘Elvis’ being brought in. Steven Pressley seemed to have little experience on the face of it and I think it was obvious from the start that he had different ideas to previous manager Robins.

City’s form became intermittent at best and with playoff hopes just about surviving the threat of administration emerged over the club. The club said they would fight it and well we all know the debacle that has followed but the club ultimately were deducted 10 points and the season was officially over. City’s form understandably dive bombed and in the end it was a disappointing 15th place finish to end a season which had shown so much promise.

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When a club decides to fork out just over £17m, the incoming players usually create an atmosphere of anticipation and excitement among fans.

However, Tottenham have reportedly spent that much money on two 17-year-old Croatians from Dinamo Zagreb. Ever heard of Alen Halilovic or Tin Jedvaj?

For Spurs fans that hear “Zagreb” and think ‘a replacement for Modric’, Halilovic could supposedly be just that, having been labelled the new version of the ex-White Hart Lane man.

As for Jedvaj, he is a central defender currently representing his country at U19 level, once courted by Roma.

Both players will remain with the Croatian champions until they turn 18 at least, which for Jedvaj is at the end of November and for Halilovic is in June 2014.

That will give them an opportunity to build on the little senior experience they boast.

After becoming Croatia’s youngest ever debutant last season, Halilovic featured 21 times for his club, including three Champions League appearances. Impressively, he also has a single senior international cap to his name.

Jedvaj broke on the scene at Zagreb last season as well, playing on 13 occasions throughout the campaign.

As seems to be the case with many a starlet today, both players have been talked about as the next superstar of world football.

Halilovic in particular though, has received so much attention that, in a display of humbleness which might impress Tottenham fans, he asked the Croatian media to stop likening him to Lionel Messi.

“Just don’t call me Messi,” he said last year. “I admire Leo, but I am a long way from him. For now my goal is to play well and to show the coach he can count on me.”

To understand the hype surrounding the son of former international midfielder Sejad Halilovic, you need just watch the video of him in action below.

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It appears Halilovic possesses the ability to glide past defenders with effortless ease, as well as a deft goalscoring touch and a canny knack of drifting out wide before driving inside to cause havoc.

Certainly, it is understandable that he was being chased by Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and a host of other European giants.

What of Jedvaj then? Again, the video below really says it all about him.

He looks to demonstrate all the traits of a stereotypical centre-half, strong in the air and bullish in a tackle.

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At the same time though, his aggressiveness seems to be coupled with an instinctive sense of when to time a tackle. What’s more, Jedvaj appears to be able to carry the ball forward, a quality players at the back are expected to have more often than not these days.

Although both are still young, Spurs fans would be hard pushed to suggest they are not the type of players Andre Villas-Boas would want in his side.

As an interchangeable outfit playing fluid football, surely the dynamic game brought to the pitch by each youngster would make them a perfect fit at White Hart Lane?

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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is happy to sell failed striker Marouane Chamakh for just £1million this summer, according to the Daily Mail.

Spanish side Levante are set to make an approach for the Morocco international this week and are willing to match the £1million asking price.

Chamakh started his career well at Arsenal but has failed to ultimately live up to the hype and is nowhere near the Arsenal squad at present.

The 29 year old spent the second half of last season on loan at West Ham but again failed to make any impact and so Wenger is certain that the Premier League is not the place for the tall forward.

Clubs may find it hard to match Chamakh’s current wage as a £65,000 a week is not the norm in the likes of La Liga or Serie A.

Chamakh may be one of a number of squad players to leave the Emirates this season as Wenger prepares for a title push.

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Last season: The Cottagers had a mediocre season as they finished in 12th place, just one point ahead of Stoke.

Martin Jol’s team only managed to win 11 out of 38 games and lost an astonishing 17, with nine of them being at Craven Cottage. This shows that the home advantage didn’t work very well for the Whites as they also just won seven matches in their own stadium. The away games were not very different as they lost half of them and won only four.

Furthermore, Fulham managed to score just 50 goals in total and conceded 60, which proves to be a very problematic figure for the 2010 Europa League runners up who also managed just four clean sheets. The club though did manage to win both legs against West Brom and one away match against Spurs but also lost both games to Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd.

Transfer Ins:

Maarten Stekelenburg (Roma)

Sascha Riether (Cologne)

Fernando Amorebieta (Athletic Club)

Derek Boateng (Dnipro)

Transfer Outs:

Mark Schwarzer (Chelsea)

Simon Davies

Mladen Petric

Corey Gameiro (Sydney)

Chris Baird

Csaba Somogyi

Alex Smith (Swindon Town)

Mahamadou Diarra

Richard Peniket (Tamworth)

Player to watch: One would assume that the Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov will, for one more season, steal the show at Fulham. The Bulgaria international is no stranger to high positions in the goal scorers’ list as he finished on 7th place with 15 goals along with Southampton’s Ricky Lambert and Chelsea’s Frank Lampard and Demba Ba.

This is a player that has plenty of experience in the Premier League as he was extremely vital for Spurs, during his time at White Hart Lane, as well as Manchester United, during his time at Old Trafford.

The 33-year-old made 33 appearances for the Whites and had three assists. He will be expected to score the tough goals for his team and also hold a leading role this season at Craven Cottage. He could be the player that, thanks to his goal-scoring abilities, could change Fulham’s image and push them to higher positions in the league. The right-footed forward will need help from his team though to get the job done.

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Player needing to improve: Hugo Rodallega was signed from Wigan last year and made 112 appearances with the Latics and netted 24 goals. However, in Fulham he played 27 games but scored only 3 goals for the Whites. This year can be a huge opportunity for the Colombian to improve as Berbatov could need some help up front and the team might need to fight harder to avoid the danger zone.

Prediction: The numbers of last season certainly don’t look promising for Fulham however the owner Shahid Khan looks to be trying to create some improvement for the team. For example the signing of Holland international goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg from Roma can be very important for Jol as the team had a problem with maintaining clean sheets.

Nevertheless, the Cottagers need to improve their game in order to hit the higher places and cause damage to the big clubs that finished on the first seven places last season. They need to make the most out of the home games as well as reducing the losing ratio.

But for now, FFC can’t see Fulham going to Europe the season after this one and can still see them somewhere around the middle just like last year.

Our prediction: 13th place.

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Few would have tipped either Andros Townsend or Aaron Ramsey to be the ones to lead the North London Premier League charge this season. Arsenal have begun the season playing a slick passing game that has rekindled memories of the glory days, and the Welshman has been integral to everything good at the Emirates. Cross over a few miles and Townsend has been lighting up N17 with his blistering pace and attacking menace, something that landed him a place in Roy Hodgson’s recent England side.

It is easy forget that both these early standout figures were merely peripheral for their respective sides last term. Townsend in particularly was restricted to mainly development level football at Tottenham, and an eventual loan deal with QPR in January. In fact it was this loan deal that really elevated the Englishman to the level that he finds himself at now, during those few months he proved to many of us that he was capable and indeed ready to flourish at the highest level of them all.

The situation wasn’t too dissimilar for Ramsey either, a shadow of his former self and struggling to re-find any real semblance of his best form. Ramsey had never really fully recovered from the brutal leg break that saw him out of action for many months. Physically he may have been fine but mentally the Welshman has yet to really get himself back to the level that many saw him at.

At 22 maybe we expected too much from Ramsey, the acquisition of Ozil has gone someway to take the strain off the shoulders of the Welshman and it is clear for all too see that he is reaping the benefits. 5 goals in 8 games with 3 assists, Ramsey like many of his teammates is on absolute fire and most importantly playing with a degree of confidence that is befitting of his talents.

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Townsend’s sole league goal probably does him a slight injustice, the winger has been the main source of attacking craft for the ‘lilywhite’s and it is unsurprising that Levy has seen fit to tie the youngster down till at least 2018. The rise of Townsend coincided with the departure of Bale, and this is far from coincidental. Bale was the main wide attacking outlet for Spurs in the past few seasons and clearly his loss opened the door for someone else to step up to the plate, few would have expected Townsend to be the man.

Chadli, Lamela and Lennon may all have expected to be ahead of Townsend in the pecking order, but as of now the youngster is putting the rest to shame. Given the opportunity to impress, and fortunately been afforded the chance to tie down a starting berth, Townsend has flourished under the meritocratic AVB. Some may argue that it is impossible to keep a £30m record signing out of the team, but on current form it will definitely be someone else making way for the Argentinian if you ask me.

Whether you love or hate Wenger, his transfer stubbornness has allowed many of the talents that Arsenal already possess to flourish under his tutelage. Someone like Ramsey just needed a bit of faith placed in him, and when so many doubted his abilities his manager was fortunately there with a degree of persistence.

So many are caught up in the hype of new additions and big money transfers that they forget the untapped resources that their clubs already possess. Fortunately for both North London clubs they have the sort of manager that will always have a grasp of the readymade talents that they have at their disposal.

Ramsey and Townsend were clearly not the predicted spearheads for either club at start of the season, but when you look back on it, neither has had a rise back to prominence that was surprising. A couple of players with enormous talent, that have finally seen their potential realised.

Both players look to continue their relentless form, and who knows come May it could well be the form of both individuals that ultimately decides who comes out on top in the battle for North London honours.

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Can Ramsey and Townsend continue their form and drive their respective clubs forward?

Join the debate below

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Newcastle manager Alan Pardew believes that he can keep Loic Remy at St James’ Park beyond his season-long loan deal from QPR.

The Frenchman – the Magpies’ only notable summer arrival – has made an excellent start to life on Tyneside, netting 10 Premier League goals during the opening 19 games of the campaign.

His excellent displays have led to rumoured attention from some of the division’s big hitters, with Arsenal suspected to be taking a particular interest in the versatile attacker.

However Pardew believes that Remy is happy in the North East, and feels that there is a good chance of a permanent deal being worked out between Newcastle and QPR:

“There’s a situation with him where he is a QPR player. That is the short of it, and he will remain that until such time as the valuation is met.” He is quoted by The Mirror.

“[But] he has been terrific, he is a lovely young boy. I think he has got great technical ability, and he is going to have a great career in the Premier League for sure.

“And hopefully with us. We feel we can sign him, we have the finance to do that, but of course probably at the end of the year, Loic and his agent and his representatives will decide where his future is.”

Remy completed a shock move to QPR last January as a part of the London club’s ambitions plans to avoid relegation.

However he was unable to help the Super Hoops steer clear of the drop, and opted to leave the current Championship side to join Newcastle during the last transfer window.

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It’s no secret that there will be a changing of the guard in Tottenham’s dugout this summer.

Geezer-gaffer Tim Sherwood boasts a better win percentage – 58% – than any of his Spurs predecessors and if his side beat Aston Villa on Sunday he’ll also equal the North London outfit’s third-best points total of the Premier League era.

But initially brought in to steady the ship after the abrupt sacking of Andre Villas-Boas back in December, Mirror Football’s labelling of the gillet-throwing 45 year-old as the Premier League equivalent of a supply teacher, regardless of his 18-month contract only issued in January, summarises the current situation at White Hart Lane permanently.

To label Sherwood as ‘lucky’ in his debut management spell would be rather harsh, but he’s not the experienced and inspiring model of manager Daniel Levy is searching for. The Tottenham chairman’s silence over the issue of Sherwood’s future – whilst the Lilywhites are relentlessly linked with Southampton’s Mauricio Pochettino and Ajax’s Frank de Boer – is incredibly telling.

During this afternoon’s press conference, a club representative had to step in to stop questions over where the former midfielder will be next season. For me, that’s enough evidence alone that Sherwood will be collecting his P45, not to mention the fact midfielder Sandro told ESPN Brazil earlier this week that Spurs will have a different manager next season. Everybody knows this will be the case, even if nobody from the Spurs camp has officially announced it.

De Boer and Pochettino are undoubtedly leading the pack. One harking back to the Eredivisie-inspired philosophy and club structure Tottenham enjoyed under Martin Jol, in addition to offering significant experience in the Champions League, the other boasting proven Premier League credentials and a commitment to hard-working, high-velocity football.

But in my opinion, both are huge risks. They’re equally as risky as the hiring of Andre Villas-Boas in summer 2012, which took just 18 months and two poor results against Manchester City and Liverpool for Daniel Levy to talk himself out of. In fact, many of the Tottenham chairman’s appointments have failed to live up to expectations – he’s sacked seven permanent managers since taking over at White Hart Lane in 2001, and Sherwood is set to become his eighth. By no coincidence, the Lilywhites’ best league finishes under Levy’s leadership have come via the two longest serving managers, Martin Jol and Harry Redknapp.

There’s no more room for Hail Mary appointments – if Tottenham’s flirtatious relationship with the Premier League’s top four is ever to become more than that, Levy needs a long-term solution in the dugout that he won’t get cold feet about a couple of transfer windows later.

With that condition in mind, the club’s first choice should undoubtedly be former Liverpool and Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez. Admittedly, the players at his disposal have often been luxurious, but from six seasons at Liverpool the 54 year-old finished just twice outside of the Champions League standings. Likewise, he recorded a third-place finish with the Blues last season and won a Europa League title despite the endless burdening pressures of his ‘interim’ job title. In a nutshell – the current Napoli boss knows exactly what’s required to get into the Premier League’s top four – for Pochettino and de Boer, it will all be educated guess-work.

The Spaniard’s pragmatic approach may not go down too well at White Hart Lane, considering the Lilywhites’ traditional tendency towards fast-paced attacking football. But Liverpool shared that tradition too – through his consistent results and progress in cup competitions, Benitez was able to win over one of the most militant supporter groups in the country.

Likewise, he has experience with big-name foreign players and, in my opinion, that will be the ultimate test of the next Tottenham manager – summer signings Paulinho, Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela, all arriving in North London for record-breaking fees at the start of the season, have to start producing next year, and that responsibility will eventually be buck-passed back to the dugout.

Well acquainted with La Liga and Serie A, on paper at least, Benitez has a better chance of getting Soldado and Lamela to start paying back their price-tags than De Boer or Pochettino do. Southampton is the largest club the Argentine has worked at, and although de Boer has fought finite resources and funding to continually nurture impressive talents from Ajax’s academy, the days of the Dutch side being laden in star quality are far behind them. When it comes to prior history of getting the best out of top players, Benitez is in a different league.

Not only is the Spaniard’s record in the Premier League incredibly consistent, but he’s also a master of the other front Tottenham will be fighting in next season – the Europa League. The Lilywhites have put more emphasis than most English sides on the second-tier tournament over the past two years, but have eventually come up short in its latter stages, knocked out by Basel in the semis last term and Benfica in this season’s quarter finals. They’ve lacked the experience and insight to get them over the line, but Benitez offers both in abundance; he’s twice won the Europa League – including in its previous format with Valencia in 2004 – and famously claimed a Champions League title with Liverpool in 2005.

Not only is Benitez a manager capable of guiding Tottenham into Europe, but he’s furthermore a manager who can make something of it once they get there. They won’t be simply making up the numbers.

Admittedly, whether the former Valencia, Liverpool, Inter Milan and Chelsea boss would be willing to quit Napoli after a single season remains to be seen. Mirror Football claim he’s interested in returning to London after living there for the second half of last season. But the Spaniard’s last three jobs have all been with Champions League clubs – he may view qualifying for Europe against the odds as a challenge he’s mastered enough times before.

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Furthermore, although Napoli may have slipped a place in the league standings from last year, the Italian side are impressed with how Benitez has coped with the loss of star striker Edinson Cavani. He’s also finished his first season in Naples by clinching silverware, following his side’s victory in the Coppa Italia final last week. Without further meaning to blow smoke up the 54 year-old’s proverbial, that means he’s won a trophy in each debut season at his last five clubs.

But the Premier League comes with an allure that has enticed Benitez twice before. He must feel he has unfinished business in England too, considering his Liverpool tenure ended in disappointment and his Chelsea stay soon became a complete farce. Furthermore, Benitez is a manager Levy will know he can trust – de Boer and Pochettino have shown great promise but proved nothing concrete yet in their dugout careers, whilst the Spaniard has seven major trophies to his name and is a two-time winner of the UEFA Manager of the Year award.

In my opinion, that’s the most crucial factor – a manager the chairman can put his faith in to provide relative stability, without a sour patch immediately making him think twice. But whether Tottenham’s ambitions and aims appeal enough to convince Benitez to quit Napoli remains to be seen.

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Most Manchester United fans balked at the prospect of signing of Leighton Baines last summer. Baines was seen as an ageing full-back who, was overvalued, and overrated.

And while there’s no doubt that David Moyes’ interest in his former defender was unimaginative, there’s good reason to believe that Moyes would still be Manchester United manager if he got his man. In this context, last summers transfer mishap may be perceived as the best thing that could have happened for the club.

Full-backs tend to be relatively less influential than players in other positions. It’s often said that you don’t need great full-backs to have a great team. Last season for instance, Manchester United won the Premier League by 11 points with two defensively suspect full-backs, one who was past his best, and another lacking in maturity.

This is not the case for teams managed by David Moyes. The Scot likes his central midfielders to stay behind the ball, and seeks creation through the channels, where his wide players are instructed to overload the opposition full-backs in order to gain an advantage. This isn’t a bad tactic, as a lot of wide midfielders in modern football are hybrid forwards who tend not track back as diligently as traditional wingers.

For Moyesball to work, David Moyes needs full-backs that are capable of getting up and down the flanks and putting quality delivers into the box. Neither of Manchester United’s full-backs are capable of both. Evra can put in a decent delivery, but doesn’t get back at the speed necessary. And Rafael has the energy to patrol the flank, but is an unreliable crosser of the ball.

Therefore, it’s not surprising that Moyes targeted both Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman during his time at Old Trafford, as they are better than their Manchester United counterparts in both regards. And it’s quite possible that if Moyes had been able to bring Baines in last summer, he’d still be manager of Manchester United.

This season, Baines has created 45 chances in 30 games, putting him second behind Kevin Mirallas in the creation stakes at Everton. This is 8 more than Evra has managed so far this year, which while significant, is not spectacular.

However, these stats have to be put into context of the type of football being played. Last year, under Moyesball, Baines created 116 chances in his 38 Premier League games, an average of more than 3 per game. Evra, by contrast, created 24 chances in his 34 games.

This tells us two things: firstly, Evra created more chances when playing in a Moyes system which gives greater creative responsibility to the full-backs, but more importantly, secondly, that we would expect Leighton Baines to have created significantly more than Evra has if Moyes had been successful in bringing him to Manchester United.

If Baines had played for David Moyes’ Man United as he did for David Moyes’ Everton, we would have seen the team create an average of two more goalscoring opportunities per game. This could potentially have a massive difference on United’s league position, and we’d certainly expect them to be a lot higher than 7th.

Given the feeling that the Manchester United board would have supported Moyes if he was even in contention for Champions League qualification, it’s quite likely he’d still be in job if he’d been able to sign Baines. In this context, many Manchester United fans may feel like their shambolic summer transfer dealings were a blessing in disguise.

Most have come to the conclusion that David Moyes was not right for Manchester United – Moyes played limited, defensive football and Manchester United are a club about pushing boundaries.

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But if we make that argument, we’d have to conclude that Mourinho wasn’t right for Man United either. And there were very few making that argument last summer, and even fewer now given everything that’s happened in between.

The fact is, David Moyes didn’t have the players required to play the style of football he wanted to. He first attempted to persist in insolence, and then sought to compromise. Neither worked, and David Moyes failed. But his failure owes more to an inability to bring in the players he needed, than any sort of ideological mismatch.

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