With another big weekend of football action upon us, Sports Mole picks out three figures who will be in the spotlight over the coming days.
1. Brendan Rodgers
The season may still be in full swing, but Liverpool supporters and Rodgers in particular have already received a couple of blows looking ahead to 2015-16. First, Memphis Depay opted to link up with his former Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal at Manchester United, a player who the Reds boss claims he 'did not really want' anyway, in typical schoolboy fashion.
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Further bad news was to come, though, following the revelation that star striker Daniel Sturridge is now likely to miss the first month of next season. The loss of Luis Suarez last summer was one thing, but being without the England international, who scored 21 league goals last season, has further deepened the Merseyside outfit's woes.
Only a 13-game unbeaten run in the league between December and March has stopped Liverpool's campaign turning into a complete disaster, and Rodgers takes his troops to Stamford Bridge this weekend knowing that there is still hope of catching up with Manchester United in fourth place for that elusive final Champions League berth.
As witnessed by Depay's move to Old Trafford, and many more before him for that matter, fighting it out on club football's biggest stage will often be a decision-maker for star players. Defeat for Liverpool against champions Chelsea on Sunday will make their task of ousting United nigh-on impossible, but with the Blues' thoughts turning towards the summer, there is certainly hope of claiming maximum points.
2. John Carver
"I'm the best coach in the Premier League" was the cry from the man who has won just two of his 17 games in charge of his side. Factor in that the last eight of those fixtures have ended in defeat, and you get the sense that the likes of Jose Mourinho and Ronald Koeman will not be too concerned about the late self-perceived nominee for the Manager of the Year gong.
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Of course, the point Carver was trying to make is that he has one of - if not the - hardest jobs in football management on his hands right now. Let us not forget that it was Newcastle United supporters who hounded former boss Alan Pardew out of the club, yet it is hard not to feel sympathy for the 50,000 spectators who cram into St James' Park on a fortnightly basis to see their side lose more times than not in rather comical fashion.
The Geordie clearly has a love for the Toon, which will only stand him in good stead when it comes to evaluating the season as a whole later this month, but before then there is a small matter of avoiding relegation. Just a few weeks back, when Newcastle were merely four games without a win, a second spell in the Championship in the space of five years just did not look on the cards.
Teams below them were also suffering, yet slowly that gap has been reduced with each passing week, and now just two points stand between themselves and Sunderland of all clubs. The Black Cats also boast a game in hand over their rivals, which will not be played until the final week of the season, meaning that it could be a straight battle between the Tyne-Wear foes to avoid relegation on the final matchday. For the neutral it provides a fitting finale to the campaign, for supporters of United and Sunderland, the tension will be simply unbearable.
3. Pep Guardiola
It was clear to see by the expression etched across the face of Guardiola when Neymar's well-placed finish hit the back of the net against Bayern Munich in midweek, that he knew his spell at the Bavarian giants - or anywhere else in management for that matter - looked as bleak at that point than at any other time during his relatively short career as a boss.
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Guardiola is a man who has enjoyed bags of success in his seven years as a senior manager, at both Barcelona and Bayern. The unorthodox tactics he deployed against his former club in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night simply did not work, though, and while he refused to completely rule out a turnaround of epic proportions in the second leg, he admitted his side were on the brink of a second disappointing Euro exit since he took charge.
The way ex-boss Jupp Heynckes left the Allianz Arena, winning a treble in his farewell campaign, always meant that his replacement's task was going to be extremely tough. In fairness to Guardiola, he has won back-to-back Bundesliga crowns, and while the competition may be lacking, credit must still be given for the efficiency shown by his side in getting the job done so early on both occasions.
Yet a perceived failure in Europe leaves a dark cloud over Guardiola's head which, combined with their German Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund last month, only adds to the pressure to succeed next term. The Spaniard has one year remaining on his current deal, upon which he is expected to take on another fresh challenge, but if he is to write his name in FCB folklore, you feel that he simply has to use Wednesday night's 3-0 defeat to spur his side on next time around to even greater success.
Daniel Lewis
