Good, Bad & Ugly

GOOD: Chelsea
Among the new, high-flying foreign managers in the EPL, Antonio Conte was the least known and the least fancied. His Chelsea were, after all, in a bit of a mess from the previous season and no one believed the Italian could compete with Pep, Klopp and the Special One. But under Conte, the Blues have romped away with the title, head and shoulders above the rest. As rookie seasons go, it has been sensational but not unique – he still has to win the FA Cup to match Carlo Ancelotti's debut double – and he was fired the following season.
BAD: Infantino apes Trump
Just like Donald Trump, FIFA have fired the investigators. Their much-vaunted ethics committee, that was looking into hundreds of dodgy deals, has been disbanded with the chairmen Hans-Joachim Eckert and Cornel Borbé clinically removed from post their posts by new president Gianni Infantino. Both men had wanted to serve another four year term to complete their work. Not content with dismissing the men, Infantino also claimed rumours of continued graft under his tenure were "fake news".
UGLY: Agents Provocateurs
Coming as it did, when a new book comes out highlighting the influence of agents, FIFA's action could not have been more unfortunately timed. News that Mino Raiola stands to make £41m from the Paul Pogba deal defied belief. Then Wolves manager Paul Lambert demanded that he and not super-agent Jorge Mendes, with whom Wolves' Chinese owners Fosun have a deal, chooses the new signings.