History has been made in English football this week as Hannah Dingley has become the first ever female manager of a professional men's football team in England. That club is Forest Green and her first game in charge was a pre-season friendly against Melksham, which her side drew 1-1. A female manager has been gathering pace in England over the last decade as we have seen female referees and linesmen and on the media front we have seen many women in the commentary box. But a female manager is still quite something and this really has been an historic moment for the game. It will be fascinating to see how Dingley will do next season as Forest Green start their campaign in August in League 2 after being relegated last season.
Is there a downside to Dingley's appointment? That would be hard to see but Forest Green owner Dale Vince is one to push the envelope and is unlike any other owner, not just in English football but perhaps in the world. He is pushing for an eco-friendly ground and supports Veganism heavily, he certainly comes into the football business from a different angle and one would hope that Dingley's appointment simply isn't a PR stunt to attract more news to the club. It is clearly working but Dingley will understand the pressures of the job. While Vince seems like a nice person the club has still gone through 9 different managers in the last 10 years and that will be a stern warning to her. Dingley replaces Duncan Ferguson who had a terrible time at the club winning just once from 18 games in charge and it seemed like a surprise when the season ended that the former Everton great was not sacked there and then, but Ferguson has left after a disagreement with the direction the club is going in, funny to think that it was all smiles and scarf wearing just a few months ago but that's football. Forest Green's ambition will be to return to League 1 of course but the market does not have much confidence in them winning League 2 and they can be backed at 34.00 to finish in 1st place.
Back to the Premier League and Roy Hodgson's supposed last game as a manager at the end of last season has not come to pass and the veteran will now take charge of Crystal Palace for another year where he will turn 76. You have to hand it to Hodgson he obviously caught the bug of football management again when he was brought back for the last few months by the Eagles after they sacked Patrick Vieira. The worry for Hodgson will be if he is taking that one extra risk and Palace get involved in a relegation battle, what a sorry way that would be to end his footballing career. In truth if they can keep Wilfried Zaha, not lose key players and bring some more in then Palace look like a solid team. The biggest problem with the club in recent years has been that push that would see them playing European football and finish in the top half of the table. While they haven't looked like being relegated, at the same time they haven't given their fans much to shout about either. It was interesting therefore to see a bullish Hodgson claiming that his side can finish in the top half next season, we will see.
The biggest transfer of the week has seen Mason Mount join Manchester United from Chelsea as the current trend of under performing Blue's players leaving the club continues. Mount, an English international, can shine after a disappointing season and the switch to United could well give him fresh perspective. One has to wonder if Chelsea, who will be chasing a top four spot with United next season, could live to regret selling an international player with bags of potential to a direct rival. Should they not have tried to offload him abroad first?
Finally, let's not forget that the Women's World Cup kicks off in less than two weeks. The ninth edition is taking place in Australia and New Zealand and is set to be a huge event. The current champions are USA and they have been installed as the favourites at 3.25. England are the second favourites.
To win the Women's World Cup: USA 3.25, England 4.50, Spain 7.00, Germany 8.00, Australia 13.00
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