After a whirlwind 48 hours or so, it’s official: Thomas Tuchel is the next England manager.
Set to take over from Lee Carsley, who has been put in charge of the Three Lions following Gareth Southgate’s exit after this year’s Euro 2024 heartbreak, the German will become the new England boss starting next year.
Reports around Tuchel’s appointment started ramping up over the weekend after the likes of the BBC and Sky News confirmed the decision, The Football Association (FA) and England have now revealed the 51-year-old as the new head coach.
Make no mistake, this is a massive appointment by the FA.
Thomas Tuchel. Our #ThreeLions head coach from 2025. 🏴
Given that the ex-Chelsea manager has won the Champions League, Club World Cup and FIFA’s Coach of the Year in 2021, not to mention a Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich, a German Cup with Borussia Dortmund; two league titles and a domestic treble with PSG, it’s fair to say his pedigree speaks for itself.
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Having left Bayern at the end of last season, the much-admired coach has been linked with multiple top jobs, most notably Manchester United as pressure continues to mount on Erik ten Hag, but he’s now taken an even more high-pressure role – arguably an ‘impossible’ one, as many people still see it.
As detailed in an official statement, “The confidential process, which saw several candidates interviewed, was led by FA CEO Mark Bullingham and men’s technical director John McDermott, and saw Tuchel identified as the preferred appointment.”
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It has been reported that the national football body is playing the long game and “prepared to wait” for Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola but, in the meantime there arguably isn’t a more qualified and successful coach available on the market right now than Thomas Tuchel.
As part of the decision, Tuchel will be joined by internationally renowned Liverpool-born coach Anthony Barry as his assistant manager, who started out his coaching career at Wigan Athletic before joining his new gaffer at the likes of Chelsea and Bayern. Tuchel had this to say about the project ahead:
Looking forward to starting the journey together 💪
The well-acquainted pair are also set to bring a small backroom team along with them to St. George’s Park, with a further coaching update expected in the near future.
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After quietly signing his contract on Tuesday, 8 October, Tuchel is set to start work as the new England manager on 1 January 2025 ahead of the qualification process for the following year’s FIFA World Cup, due to be staged in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
Meanwhile, interim coach Carsley will remain in charge for the UEFA Nations League group stages which are set to conclude in November before returning to take charge of the England under-21s.
What do we reckon, then – are you happy with the appointment?
Featured Images — Alexander Böhm (via Wikimedia Commons)
Sport
Two Manchester Basketball players have been named in the SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26
Danny Jones
A pair of Manchester Basketball players have been named in the latest SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26.
The most recent UK Super League Basketball (SLB) campaign is set to wrap up this month, with the playoffs taking place down in the capital, but there are other awards to be handed out before then.
It remains to be seen how ‘The Final Four’ phase will play out at The O2 in London on 17 May, but we can definitely take joy in moments like this.
Announced on Thursday, 7 May, Manchester Basketball confirmed that duo Max Jones and Jordan Johnson have joined the rest of the league’s roster of the best players this term.
As detailed on the club website, “Max has averaged 17.4 points in the SLB in 32 games – he’s been a starter for the franchise and was also named in the ENBL All-Star Five in Germany last month.
“Jordan averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 assists in 30 games in the SLB, had a stellar European campaign and hit 30 pts in just over 27 minutes in the SLB Cup Final.”
Commenting on social media, one fan wrote: “Both JJ and PJ have been so great at the PG spot all year. I feel this is a joint award for them both, but they can only fill one spot for the accolade. If we wanna be a serious club to build upon year on year, JJ also needs to be in an MCR jersey next year.
“We absolutely have the pieces to build around. JJ’s nerve is sooooo cool under pressure. You can just tell they wanna loft a meaningful trophy, and it’s gonna happen if we as a club plan and build the way we need to.”
Plenty of supporters have also stressed the importance of making sure that the board tie down the likes of Jones and other big talents this summer; the rest of the Molten All-League Team of the Season for 2025/26 can be found below.
It’s also worth noting that teammate Tim Adetukasi and women’s team star Irene Oboavwoduo have each been named in the SLB’s British Team of the Year in their respective divisions for 2026.
Writing in a club statement reflecting on a great week of recognition for the resurgent club, General Manager Dominique Allen said: “We are really proud to be a club flying the flag for British players.
Both Tim and Irene have made a real impact on and off the court. We’re really happy for both of them that they are getting some well-deserved recognition.”
Well done to all the MCR stars who are helping get the franchise back on its feet following such a major rebrand across the board.
Here’s looking forward to another promising and productive year for Manchester Basketball.
Manchester City win first Women’s Super League title in a decade
Danny Jones
After a decade of hope and hard work, Manchester City have finally won the Women’s Super League once again in a huge moment for the local club.
Lifting not just their first division title in 10 years, but only their second WSL trophy since the modern female football era began in 2010, it felt like only a matter of time to many supporters.
Ending a six-year Chelsea supremacy, this is also manager Andrée Jeglertz’s first at the helm of Man City’s women’s team, who arrived at the club with a strong silverware record at the start of this season.
These were the scenes at home base as one key result sealed their status as champions:
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) May 6, 2026
City Women secured the WSL title following third-placed Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brighton on Wednesday evening.
They even managed to do so with a game to spare and a six-point gap over the west London club, which has won so much over the past few years.
Speaking in an interview with club media after confirmation of the win, captain and Euro 2025-winning Lionesses defender, Alex Greenwood, said: “[It feels] absolutely incredible. “A moment – we as a team, me personally – us as a club has waited so long for”.
“An incredible moment, it’s an incredible feeling. I’m so glad we got to spend this moment together as a group. Just an absolutely incredible feeling.”
With fans watching both at home, along with the first team themselves, the celebrations have already begun as the team shared a look back at how they got here.
You can see the recap posted on social media in full below.
Commenting on his latest accolade, the Swedish head coach added in a full club statement: “There’s never been doubt about the talent in the group, but there is something else about talking about being winners and champions. We started that early, and we believed in that. That’s led us through this year.
“It hasn’t been easy; it’s been hard work every day, but we had a strong belief that we could be sitting here in May and be champions. That is the first thing, and we definitely deserve it.”
Congratulations to the Cityzens on a well-deserved and long-awaited WSL title; could this be the start of another sporting dynasty of dominance over in East Manchester? Only time will tell…
In other news around the Etihad Campus, the women’s, EDS and academy team stadium is also set to host the final of the FA Youth Cup later this month.
Danny Jones -
16th October 2024 
