Speculation was rife that Guardiola would head for England to coach either Villas-Boas's former club Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United.
In contrast, it is difficult to imagine any government asking Birmingham or Manchester whether they want an elected mayor for another decade.
Stoke avoided playing either Manchester United or Manchester City when they were drawn against Bolton in the last four of the FA Cup.
But when you're sitting in Birmingham or Manchester, you can see why many people outside London think high speed rail will actually make things worse.
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Africans tend to support either Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United.
Over a few decades, this will produce generations of fans around the globe who pledge their support to Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool or Manchester City.
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Those standing on a platform in Leeds or Manchester will have to wait 21 years for a high speed train to arrive, and that's if it's on schedule.
Hull suffered numerous air raids because it was a port, easy to find, and German aircraft flew over it to other targets such as Sheffield, Liverpool or Manchester.
Some of the other jobs that we are trying to develop here will attract graduates, who in the past might have gone to Leeds or Manchester, or down to London.
Wenger has insisted his team would not fear drawing Chelsea or Manchester United - if their English rivals are part of the quarter-final draw when it takes places on 19 March.
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Meanwhile Aston Villa beat Blackburn Rovers 6-4 in a thrilling English League Cup semifinal second leg tie to go through 7-4 on aggregate and secure a Wembley final against either Manchester United or Manchester City.
Virgin said it made the FA aware that "because of the possibility of extra time and penalties, Wigan and Manchester City supporters will be unlikely to see the end of the match and catch any advertised return service back to Wigan or Manchester that evening".
In its place, aircraft would be scrambled from Lancashire, North Wales or Greater Manchester.
"But there are not that many clubs in the position of a Chelsea or a Manchester City where money is no object, " said Dan Jones, head of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.
Yet all is not sweetness and light, either within Greater Manchester or with its near neighbours, Liverpool and Leeds.
Smaller Preston has no such deal, and it is too far from Manchester or Liverpool to ride their coat-tails.
Staff in treasury and commercial property departments are being offered financial packages to cover moves to London, Manchester or Swindon.
No Tories were elected in Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester or Newcastle.
Having annoyed many Tories (and the Speaker) with seats between London and Birmingham, the government is now sharing the pain with colleagues who have constituencies between Birmingham and Manchester or Leeds.
Just over a week ago Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini said that it was important for his team to be only two or three points behind Manchester United when the two teams meet in the next Manchester derby on April 6.
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While it is true that whether or not I could make the Manchester United football team is a yes or no answer, that does not mean my chances as a 39-year-old flappy scientist are 50:50.
Look, he says, at the town halls of Leeds and Manchester, or the sweep of Newcastle's Grey Street and Edinburgh's Princes Street.
And it will now take an unlikely collapse from Spurs to give Burnley any hope of facing either Manchester United or Derby in the final.
Mills scored the only goal of the game at Goodison Park to book the Royals a quarter-final trip to either Manchester City or Aston Villa.
The first piece of business for Martinez may be to fill the gap left by midfielder Valencia's likely departure to Manchester United or Real Madrid.
Speculation linking the 18-year-old with a move to Manchester United or Chelsea has raged in the wake of his four goals for England at Euro 2004.
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To be quite honest, I am pretty sure I would have broken into the England squad by now if I was playing for Manchester United or Liverpool.
While fans of Manchester United or Liverpool would scorn at the renaming of Old Trafford as the Aon Arena or Anfield as the Standard Chartered Stadium, regular rechristening is the norm for the 18 Bundesliga teams.
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