GM football fans. This is Route One, the only newsletter that gives you that Live Super Sunday feeling. Every single day.

Today’s briefing is a ~3 min read:

1. Steve’s sacking… was it fair? 📊

2. Food for thought… the pass that could’ve changed football’s trajectory 😬

3. On this day in 1958… Brighton failed to get redemption 😅

Morning Brief 🗞️

STEVE’S SACKING… WAS IT FAIR? 📊

Steve Cooper was sacked by Nottingham Forest yesterday.

The former Wolves and Spurs manager Nuno Espirito Santo is expected to replace him this week.

This was the last thing Forest fans would’ve expected after Cooper…

• Took them from the bottom of the Championship to the top-flight for the first time in 23 years

• Led them to survive relegation last season

He’s a cult hero… that’s not in question.

So, why did he get sacked and was it fair?

Let’s take a look…

First things first, Forest sits 17th in the league, one place away from the relegation zone after one win in 13 matches.

Not good…

The results have been poor this season but they don’t paint a full picture. Stories have emerged that there are deeper issues throughout the Forest dressing room:

• Relationships with players such as club captain Joe Worrall broke down. The skipper was told to train away from the first team last week.

• Tensions between Cooper and Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis have grown. Cooper wanted to work with a close-knit squad, whilst Marinakis wanted depth.

Of course, owners who want big squads have to provide big money, which is exactly what Marinakis did… spending over £300 million on transfers in two seasons.

You don’t spend £300 million to be in a relegation battle. Marinakis has stated at the beginning of this season he expects top-half finishes soon.

More damning for Cooper is how few points he has achieved with so much spent.

The table below shows how much each manager has spent per point in the history of the English top flight.

Cooper ranks rock bottom.

(If you want to read the full breakdown, you can read it in our assessment of the best and worst Premier League managers).

So overall…

• Cooper was spending more than rival managers in the transfer market whilst achieving fewer points

• Sitting near the relegation zone

• And the dressing room was becoming increasingly unsettled

It’s never good to hear the news of a manager’s sacking…

But, with £300 million spent and counting, it’s probably the right decision.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 🤔

Last year, the greatest game in football took place… the 2022 World Cup Final.

It had everything…

• Messi conquered football

• Mbappe played the perfect antagonist even Shakespeare would’ve been envious

• A tense penalty shoot-out

And… a stunning save from Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez in the last minute of extra time.

So… France’s leading sports newspaper L’Équipe produced an interesting 3D analysis of Kolo Muani’s miss…

So… Martinez positioned himself perfectly to make it difficult for the young striker to score.

Fine… he’s let off the hook.

Or, is he?

For our French readers, if you feel like agonising even more since last year’s defeat, then look at the following images…

It looks like one of the best strikers in the world was through on goal to score a neat little tap-in.

A simple five-yard pass would’ve done the trick.

Eeesh.

Either way, Muani didn’t hold back in any interview with L’Équipe following the final.

“I’m not going to lie, I hate (Emiliano) Martinez.”

ON THIS DAY IN 1958… 🗓️

Let’s take you back to 1958.

Hula Hoops became a national craze, Madonna and Michael Jackson were born, and the first-ever Barbie doll was introduced…

Ahhhhh the good ol’ days.

Well, not for Brighton…

In their first games in the Second Division, they lost 9-0 to Middlesbrough. A score that still ranks as their record defeat in the League.

While it’s not an ideal start, it would only get better, right?

Wrong.

On Saturday, December 20th 1958, the return fixture was played in Brighton in front of a crowd of 21,000.

The crowd weren’t expecting to see as many goals at the Goldstone Ground… but it turned out to be a 10-goal thriller.

Middlesbrough won 6-4 with Brian Clough bagging a hat-trick to add to the five he scored for his side in the first meeting.

Perhaps an awkward moment when Clougie became Brighton’s manager 15 years later…

There’s no doubt that Brighton fans will hope for a better result when they face Crystal Palace tomorrow…

EXTRA-TIME ⏱️

Micah Richards spoils Thierry Henry with an overdue Christmas gift. The Arsenal legend has been asking for this present for over 20 years.

The Club World Cup is expanding from seven teams to 32 in 2025. 12 of the 32 teams will be European.

Leicester City’s Stephy Mavididi fearlessly celebrates in front of Birmingham fans after a classy goal. It’s safe to say that the home fans were far from happy. 🤣

Is this the greatest accent in football? It’s a mix of Italian, Scottish and Russian with a hint of Turkish. We don’t have a clue where he’s from but we’re definitely entertained.

Ricardo Fuller’s goal against Aston Villa in 2008 is not spoken about enough… blink and you might mistake Fuller for Dennis Bergkamp.

MEME 😆