Zahid asked: What should Andoni Iraola's first priority be? Aadam: For vast parts of the past season, there was no excitement watching Liverpool. Put simply, Iraola needs to bring an identity back to Liverpool and deliver a style of football the fans can enjoy.
Brighton will need depth heading into the Conference League for only their second ever campaign in Europe. The lessons of 2023-24, when they reached the Round of 16 in the Europa League but finished 11th in the Premier League, will be fresh in their minds. The Seagulls' recruitment has been the gold standard for many years, so it's likely chairman Tony Bloom's top secret algorithms have already zeroed in on the next future household name they're picking up for tuppence from the Ecuadorian second division.
Most dominant managerial spell the Premier League has ever seen. As a young lad watching City fighting in the Second Division, I could only have imagined the serial success he brought us. Thank you, Pep, for making our dreams come true.
Whether it is the Championship, 2. Bundesliga, LaLiga2, Ligue 2, or Serie B; increasingly, the second divisions of Europe’s top five countries have produced top talents. Want a few examples?...
Schalke became Germany’s second division champion, a day after it clinched promotion back to the Bundesliga, thanks to other results in the league on Sunday. Paderborn, which had been second, nine points behind Schalke, slumped to a 5-1 loss at Elversberg. Elversberg capitalized on third-place Hannover’s dramatic 3-3 draw with last-place Preußen Münster and moved second, eight points behind Schalke with two rounds remaining.
Edin Džeko returned in time for the celebrations as seven-time German champion Schalke sealed its return to the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf on Saturday. “Back where you belong,” former Schalke great Raúl wrote on Instagram. Kenan Karaman’s strike in the 13th minute was enough for Schalke to move an unassailable 10 points clear of third-place Hannover in Germany’s second division.
