The first firing of the season in the Premier League was quite an unusual one. Oakland Athletics Pro Shop . Paolo Di Canios demise at Sunderland was about as predictable as a Coronation Street episode, and, subsequently, was universally applauded by fans and media alike. Not even the League Managers Association members got behind him this time. For the first time since he arrived, Di Canio quietly left the job and the fall out didnt even leave any rubble. Usually, when a manager is let go the reaction can be of volcanic size proportions, with endless amounts of irrational opinions coming out of the mouths of supporters and fellow managers. Lets start with a clubs fanbase. Football fans are very loyal to their club so when a manager gets fired, the reaction - unless he was absolutely terrible - is usually a mixture of anger and disappointment. Change is something a lot of adults dont do well with and football fans are no different. When Mark Hughes was sacked at Manchester City, for example, replaced by Roberto Mancini, the clubs fans were furious at the disloyalty shown towards the manager. Less than four years later, the Italian was seen as an idol at City whose name was regularly chanted wherever they played. When he was sacked an even stronger reaction followed from the fans. The second strong reaction to manager firings usually comes from managers themselves. Sir Alex Ferguson was usually always quick to comment about the lack of patience shown to his fellow colleagues as was Arsene Wenger, who had this to say back when Hughes was sacked: "Patience is not a big quality anymore in our society and when football is quicker, the patience is even shorter," What Wenger and Ferguson failed to do in these moments is accept they do not need to have an opinion on everything. I do not know everything that goes on at that football club, I do not watch every minute of every game involving them so the decision is really up to the people in charge of that club. That is what football managers should say when asked about one of their own being fired. In January, Southampton had just got a point at Chelsea and sat 15th in the Premier League table, with 22 points from 22 games. The clubs executive chairman, Nicola Cortese, had seen enough and sacked manager Nigel Adkins. Adkins dismissal stunned Southamptons supporters and managers alike. The Englishman had guided the Saints to back-to-back promotions, putting the club ahead of Corteses ambitious targets, and according to the paying public he needed to stay. "The fans were 100 per cent behind Nigel," said Mike OCallaghan, chairman of the Southampton Independent Supporters Association, on the day he was sacked. "Hes got us two automatic promotions, were 15th in the Premier League, so what has he done wrong? Its farcical whats going on." One respected newspaper columnist described it as one of the harshest sackings in Premier League history. David Moyes admitted to being surprised and said he was doing a really good job at Southampton. Harry Redknapp said he was shocked and the sacking was a blow to English football. OCallaghan and his fellow fans went on to protest the sacking by waving white handkerchiefs at their next game against Everton. Once they stopped waving them they witnessed a change of style focused on high pressing, one that caused Everton problems and stopped them from scoring for just the third time that season. OCallaghan continued: "Its not as if weve poached a manager from an established club and can say were moving to the next level. Hes unknown and unproven, and was sacked at a club bottom of the Spanish league. All weve known is success under Nigel Adkins at Southampton. Previous chairmen have made us into a joke, and now the present [executive] chairman is doing the same." He was of course referring to the new man in charge, a man no one in England had heard of and even fewer could spell his name correctly, Mauricio Pocchetino. Nine months on it appears Cortese knew what he was doing, after all. Contrary to OCallaghans statement, the Italian has far from made his club a joke as they now sit fourth in the Premier League. Pocchetino guided Southampton to 19 points from their last sixteen league games, with wins coming against Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool but not versus the likes of QPR, Norwich and Sunderland. A Marcelo Bielsa disciple, Pocchetino went to work on revamping his teams style even though they were in a relegation battle. Asking the team to change their ways from February to May was risky, led to inconsistent results initially, but it worked and their quick passing style has now benefited them this season. There is a real fluency between the front four, constantly interchanging with the ball and pressing high without it. For the first five games of the season, they struggled to score from open play, but maintained a solid base at the back. Now, they are scoring goals from open play while learning how to keep their shape in periods of difficulty. "I am very happy, we have shown to be solid, that we know how to suffer attacks from opponents and that we can play football," said Pocchetino after the clubs latest win over Swansea. For the first time since 1983-84, the Saints have conceded just two goals from their opening seven matches in the top flight. Seven of 11 starters have started every game so far and their style of spending a lot of money on few players, rather than a lot of money on a lot of players, is working out perfectly. The additions of Dejan Lovren, Victor Wanyama and Danny Osvaldo have bolstered the spine of the team, while still giving many of the clubs young stars, such as Nathaniel Clyne, Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse, opportunities to play. Staying in the top four is of course an unrealistic target but being the best of the rest and finishing eighth come May certainly is not. To achieve that they must continue to be successful at home. Winners of just six home games last season, the Saints have already gained eight points from four encounters at St Marys this campaign. Throughout their early season success, Pochettino, whose fingerprints are now all over the clubs performances, still remains out of the limelight, a position managers from continental Europe are much more used to than those in England. He continues to use an interpreter in post-game press conferences and is almost as inconspicious as he was when he first arrived. The only difference now is no handkerchiefs are being waved anymore. Watch Southampton travel to Manchester United this Saturday on TSN from 9:50am et/6:50am pt. Oakland Athletics Gear . Finlands Kari Lehtonen made 26 saves to lead Dallas over the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 Saturday night. He received plenty of help from the Stars defence and got goals from Ray Whitney and Russias Valeri Nichushkin. Oakland Athletics Store . As if the individual strands of grey hair or the increasing amount of joint pain werent reminders enough, the impending end of Jeters career is a slap-in-the-face indicator of a generations fleeting youth. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/ .com) - Joique Bells touchdown run in the fourth quarter gave the Detroit Lions a 20-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.Alabama has held the top ranking in college football since the preseason, but this week, they face their biggest test of the season in the fourth-ranked Auburn Tigers. The two largest public universities in the state of Alabama have a rivalry that extends back to 1893 when they played the first installment of the Iron Bowl. The Alabama Crimson Tide have not lost since November 10, 2012, including all 11 of their games this season, and faced few challenges along the way. The top-ranked team has won all but one game by more than 12 points; a 49-42 victory over then sixth-ranked Texas A&M in their second game of the season. Alabama is the unquestioned best team in college football, winning their games by an average of 30.4 points. Despite being 10-1, Auburn is a very different story as the highest ranked team without a perfect record. Auburns lone loss came on September 21 against LSU, a team Alabama beat 38-17 and they boast the second best rushing offence in the NCAA, averaging just over 320 yards per game on the ground. However, Auburn has looked far from perfect this season. Narrow wins over Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Texas A&M had many people questioning the teams rank (7) entering their Week 12 matchup against No. 25 Georgia and the Tigers failled to put those questions to bed. Athletics Jerseys 2020. After being outscored by the Bulldogs 21-3 in the fourth quarter, they found themselves down 38-37 facing 4th-and-18 with just 36 seconds left on the clock. Then, quarterback Nick Marshall threw a Hail Mary pass in to Georgias prevent-defence. Playing in double coverage, Georgia safeties Josh Harvey-Clemons and Tray Matthews both attempted to make a play on the ball but the two collided and knocked the ball into the air. As the two defensive backs fell to the ground, Auburn wide receiver Ricardo Louis grabbed the ball out of mid-air and ran untouched into the end zone to give Auburn a miracle victory. Two weeks later, Auburn hosts their in-state rivals coming off a bye week and sitting at a season-high fourth place in the BCS rankings. Alabama has won two straight BCS National Championship games and a win against Auburn will put the team an SEC championship game victory away from playing for a third straight title. Auburn last defeated Alabama in 2010, en route to winning the second national championship in the schools history. Though the odds are in favour of Alabama, can Auburn continue their magical season and dethrone the Crimson Tide from the nations top seed? As always, its Your! Call. ' ' '