data-mm-id=”_wb9odh66r”>This is the week where NFL head coaches get canned, but nobody saw this one coming. Tuesday morning brought the shocking news that the Tennessee Titans fired Mike Vrabel after a 6-11 season, the second consecutive sub-.500 year by Vrabel's squad. It was a big surprise both in the sense that there was not an inkling around the league that it might happen and also it just doesn't make a ton of sense. The Titans were going to be bad this year, everybody knew it, and firing the head coach for failing to drag them to respectability is a move usually reserved for the Daniel Snyders of the NFL world. But, for one reason or another, it happened. Vrabel is now a free agent and will be highly sought-after with five head coaching jobs other than the Titans currently available, with the chance there's more to come. And every one of those teams would love to have Vrabel. While his defenses haven't really lived up to his reputation as a defense-first guy he is beloved by his players and at least gives off the vibes of an old-school head coach unafraid to blend new-school concepts into his approach. He is not perfect, but he has proven he can lead a playoff team and win games in tough environments. Here are three teams that would most benefit from hiring Vrabel immediately. New England Patriots There has been no news on Bill Belichick's status as of yet. But it's hard to imagine a better successor for the all-time great coach than Vrabel. He understands how Belichick's culture worked, an understanding that would be instrumental to transitioning everybody in the building after 20 years of the same thing day-in and day-out. Vrabel would also, presumably, be able to keep up the team's defensive dominance given the talent on that side of the ball. The obvious question is what he'd do about the offense; his Titans teams were not exactly ahead of the curve in terms of scheme and ultimately was their downfall once they came up against a good offense. But Vrabel would be an incredibly popular pick and his availability may be what ends up pushing Robert Kraft to hand Belichick a pink slip. Las Vegas Raiders Talk about a team in desperate need of a strong culture-setter. After shuffling through several head coaches over the last few years Mark Davis might not even have the cash flow to hire Vrabel, but he'd be the best thing for this franchise if it could be pulled off. They're basically building from the ground-up and could certainly use a guy like Vrabel in there to ensure things don't go sideways again. Antonio Pierce's brief tenure as head coach has shown the defense is a bit more talented than anybody thought so Vrabel would have something to work with. Definitely a contender if he's interested in living out in Vegas. Atlanta Falcons The Falcons have already been connected a few times to Belichick with the obvious caveat that he'd have to be available first. If he doesn't end up hitting the open market, why not go after a disciple of sorts in Vrabel? The offense is already set up for success as long as someone other than Arthur Smith is calling the plays and the defense has a few blue-chippers that could work wonders for Vrabel. The QB problem still needs answering but it does seem like Arthur Blank would like a more defensive-minded and veteran head coach after whiffing so badly on Arthur Smith. Vrabel certainly qualifies.
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Former Arsenal captain Tony Adams believes the English top flight needs to ensure it remains as competitive as possible in these circumstances.
We ve spent £200m here at Arsenal just to get near to them
Tony Adams on Man City s 115 charges
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL)
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United are currently fifth with 26 points, three less than Tottenham Hotspur in fourth and four less than Newcastle in third, but with a game in hand on both those rivals.
“We are aware that competition is tough.”
Erik ten Hag on the race for the top four.
— Football Daily (@footballdaily)
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Two nations who are still looking to pick up their first victory at this year s Gold Cup, defending champions Mexico and Guatemala will meet at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas this week.
Guatemala
Starting with Guatemala, while they might have managed to open this year s Gold Cup riding a real high, they failed to lay much of a glove on El Salvador. Hugely outplayed when they made the trip to the Toyota Stadium earlier in the week, interim boss Rafael Loredo saw his side get hit with a deserved 2-0 defeat in their Group A opener. Only managing to snatch a spot at this year s tournament as a late replacement and with no time to complete any real preparations, it is no surprise that Los Chapines are tipped as a landslide underdog to make any k…
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The Irish defender moved to Selhurst Park from Charlton Athletic in 2008, and was almost an ever-present during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns.
Since Palace won promotion to the Premier League under Ian Holloway in 2013, McCarthy has made just one top-flight appearance, but the club confirmed on Friday that they had agreed terms with the 31-year-old.
McCarthy is now working under Neil Warnock for a second time, after the latter was the man to bring McCarthy to Palace six years ago.
He s the same old gaffer that left last time, he said.
Obviously since the last time he was here he s had the added experience in…
Pele leaves an inestimable legacy after changing football with his sporting artistry and genius , the Brazil great s former side New York Cosmos said on Thursday.
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Pele had battled colon cancer prior to his passing, with his family travelling to be alongside him earlier in December after he had been moved to palliative care when his body stopped responding to treatment.
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He scored 643 goals in 659 matches over an 18-year period for Brazilian side Santos before r…
Marcus Rashford has revealed he was benched for Manchester United’s Premier League win over Wolves after he overslept and was late for a team meeting.
The in-form United forward was among the substitutes for the Premier League clash at Molineux on New Year’s Eve, but came on to score the only goal of the game.
Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag said the England international was left out of the starting line-up for a breach of discipline and Rashford confirmed he was punished for staying in bed too long.
I was a little bit late for a meeting, he told BT Sport. I just slept in and overslept. It s a mistake that can happen.
[I was] obviously disappointed not to play, but I understand the decision. I think we can draw a line under it and move on.
5 …
Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette has talked up the prospect of playing for Barcelona after confirming that he wants to leave at the end of the season.
The 25-year-old has frequently been linked with a move to a European giant after developing into one of Ligue 1 s most devastating attacking players since his senior debut in 2010.
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The France international says he feels that the end of this season will be the right time for him to move on from Lyon and admits it would be a dream to move to Camp Nou.
I think that the right moment…
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Inter Milan director of sport Piero Ausilio has personally visited Atalanta’s counterpart Tullio Tinti with the two men making an arrangement on a sale that would see Bastoni remain at Atalanta for another year, before moving to Inter in 2018.
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All four English clubs will be quietly confident of making it to the knockout stages of the Champions League
The draw for the Champions League was made yesterday and it handed English clubs mixed fortunes.
Champions Manchester City was drawn in the same group as Bayern Munich, while Liverpool was drawn alongside holders Real Madrid.
Arsenal will meet Dortmund for a second year running and Chelsea look to have been handed the most comfortable draw of all the English clubs.
Manchester City
Manchester City faces Bayern Munich for a second consecutive season and will also face Serie A runners-up Roma and another team that the Citizens are familiar with CSKA Moscow. The group is considered this season’s group of death.
City defeated the Bava…
Liverpool would be willing to sell Daniel Sturridge for the price of £15million, according to .
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