theSIGNAL SPORT
31 October 2026
"The best way to predict the future is to study the patterns of the past."
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Sport

Africa's Biggest Tournament Rewinds Its Own Calendar

Ten months after announcing a four-year cycle, Caf slams the brakes. Afcon stays biennial, president Patrice Motsepe confirms, citing the interests of African football. The shock plan, unveiled beside Fifa's Mattias Grafstrom on the eve of the Morocco finals, was meant to ease clashes with European club calendars. Critics saw Fifa's priorities, not Africa's. Zambia's Sydney Mungala says federations were surprised, even worried. The stakes are financial too: Afcon 2025 was forecast to earn $114m, Caf's biggest profit. Now come the awkward questions. Who decided, and how?…
  • Who should control the football calendar: African federations, European clubs, or Fifa?
Sport

Villa Threaten Carragher With Legal Action

Aston Villa are heading to court. Chairman Nassef Sawiris announces legal action against pundit Jamie Carragher, whose podcast rant told Villa fans to "shut up" and insisted the club "will never be Man United". Sawiris calls the remarks unacceptable insults and vows nobody will halt Villa's ascent.…
  • Should football pundits face legal consequences for insulting clubs and supporters during opinionated, informal podcast discussions?
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Photo: Vladislav Igumnov / Unsplash
Eddie Howe has been out of work since leaving Newcastle United in the summer.
Sport

Manchester United Eye Eddie Howe as Carrick Wobbles

With Michael Carrick under pressure at Old Trafford, United are weighing a more experienced British coach: Eddie Howe, unemployed since the summer.

Fifty-six years. That is how long Newcastle waited for a trophy before Eddie Howe handed them the EFL Cup in 2025. Now the man who ended that drought is being talked about as the next saviour of Manchester United, one of the biggest jobs in world football. The timing is striking.

When Sir Jim Ratcliffe became co-owner in 2024, the story was a British core, rebuilt around homegrown talent. But such players are expensive, and Michael Carrick, the first permanent British manager of the Ineos era, has struggled this season. If he cannot stop the slide and loses his job, United are reportedly ready to consider another British coach, only one with far more miles on the clock. Howe's case is built on craft.

Colleagues describe a relentless trainer who improves players by sheer repetition and who treats winning culture as a method, not a slogan. He took Bournemouth from the brink of relegation from League Two in 2009 to the Premier League in 2015, then dragged Newcastle from relegation trouble into the Champions League twice. Yet the welcome is far from warm. Some fans argue the 48-year-old is not a big enough name, and he has never run a traditional top-six club.

🏆
56 years
Newcastle's trophy drought ended by Howe's 2025 EFL Cup
Discuss
  • Is a manager's track record at smaller clubs a reliable guide to success at a giant like Manchester United?
  • Why might Sir Jim Ratcliffe be rethinking his plan to build United around a British core?
  • How much should fan opinion on social media influence a club's choice of manager?
  • Howe has never managed a traditional top-six club. Does that matter more than his results elsewhere?
  • Should a club prioritise a famous name or a proven method when choosing its next coach? Why?
EUROPE · Sport
Uefa close to selecting candidate to run against Infantino in Fifa election
AMERICAS · Sport
Fiesta awaits in Mexico City as Kimi Antonelli speeds towards F1 history
ASIA · Sport
‘I’m no special guy. We can all do this’: Loek Hartog on rescuing Ollie Millroy from a burning car
AFRICA · Sport
Carey and Inglis counterpunch to put Australia on top in South Africa
theSIGNAL IN THE LAB
1VOCABULARY
droughtrelentless
miles on the clockslidebiennial
pecking orderascent
2GRAMMAR FOCUS
Causative have/get — have something done
Use 'have' (or the more informal 'get') + object + past participle to say that someone else does something for us or to us: 'She had her contract renewed.' We can also use it for unwelcome events that happen to us: 'He had his plans ruined.'
had · have · getting · having · get · to have · got
  1. Manchester United could their search for a new manager completed within weeks if Carrick is dismissed.
  2. After the 2025 EFL Cup win, Newcastle supporters the trophy photographed outside St James' Park so they could remember the moment.
  3. Caf's president insisted the tournament should stay biennial, saying the calendar was not something African football should changed by outsiders.
  4. Ratcliffe's critics say he should stop big decisions made for him by consultants and take responsibility himself.
  5. Aston Villa's chairman says he intends to his lawyers draw up the legal action against Jamie Carragher.
  6. Carragher would probably his podcast remarks quoted back to him in court if the case goes ahead.
3IDIOMS
Define each idiom in your own words. Then write one in a sentence of your own.
  1. to have miles on the clock (as in 'a coach with far more miles on the clock')
  2. to stop short of (doing something) (as in 'stopped short of backing him')
  3. to slam the brakes on (something) (as in 'Caf slams the brakes')
  4. to be on the brink of (something) (as in 'on the brink of relegation')
  5. to hang over (someone or something) (as in 'the question hangs over Old Trafford')
4CRITICAL THINKING
Several people in these stories speak with authority: former players on a podcast, a federation official, a club chairman, a pundit. Whose opinion carries the most weight when football decisions are made, and who gives it that weight? Consider whether criticism is more persuasive when it comes from someone who has played the game, someone who runs a club, or someone with a large media platform.
5CREATIVE · HEADLINES
Write a headline for the top story in each of the following styles. One line each, no explanation:
  • TABLOID NEWSPAPER
  • LUXURY MAGAZINE
  • ACTIVIST BLOG
6WRITING
Imagine you are a journalist who has been asked to write a short opinion column titled 'Football's Power Struggles'. Using at least two of the three stories as examples, argue who really holds power in modern football: owners, governing bodies, managers, or the media. (120-150 words)
7DEGREES OF EXTREMITY
Complete each ladder from mild to strong.
  • surprised→→
  • worried→→
  • unwelcome→→
  • criticise→→
  • struggle→→
  • awkward→→
8SPEAKING
  1. Is it fair to judge a pundit's rant as harshly as an official statement?
  2. Why do clubs sometimes hold on to struggling managers for so long?
  3. Would you rather support a club in a long drought or one that wins constantly?
  4. Does a four-year cycle for a national tournament make it more or less special?