Simon Stone
BBC Sport

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When I spoke to Brighton chief executive Paul Barber recently, he told me he was obsessive about succession planning.

He repeated the view speaking after yesterday's home defeat by Manchester United that he wasn't starting from scratch when it comes to finding a new manager.

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna is thought to be high on the list of potential replacements for Roberto de Zerbi, with Nice boss Francesco Farioli another likely contender.

Interestingly, when Chris Hughton was sacked in 2019, it only took Brighton a week to appoint Graham Potter, and that included meeting Swansea's compensation figure.

I am guessing Brighton will look to have this situation wrapped up quite quickly.

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Newcastle boss Eddie Howe described the tour to Australia as a "brilliant opportunity" to connect with the club's fanbase.

"I think it's important we grow the name of Newcastle at every opportunity we get," Howe explained.

"You are sort of cocooned in England. You understand there is a wider support base, but if you are not exposed it then it's difficult to understand it."

Howe acknowledged that he will have to "rotate" his players and "give everyone some minutes" after such a long flight to Australia.

"That is difficult if you are just going on holiday, let alone playing so soon after landing. That will be the trickiest thing for us," he added.

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Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou said the "exposure and revenue" is a key element of the trip but acknowledged had they been in Europe this season he would have blocked his side's match with Newcastle in Australia.

"If we had a bigger game schedule I probably would have said 'no' to it and I don't think the club would have expected us to go," he said.

"I don't think it's ideal but I think each situation is unique. I had a discussion with the playing group pretty early on about it and they understood why we are doing it."

Meanwhile, Tottenham will head to South Korea as part of their pre-season tour of Asia this summer including a match against Bayern Munich, and potentially former skipper Harry Kane, in Seoul on 3 August.

Ex-England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer was left baffled by the timing of Newcastle and Tottenham's.

"Can you imagine if you're a player who is playing in either the Copa America or Euro 2024 having to do that? Madness. Crazy," Shearer told Match Of The Day.

"I wouldn't be happy at all. It's crazy for Newcastle to go and play Spurs there on Wednesday night and then another game."

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The Premier League season is over... at least that's what you might think.

There is, of course, the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Manchester City at Wembley to come on Saturday.

But two other English top-flight sides will also be in action again this week.

Tottenham, external and Newcastle, external have flown all the way to Australia for an end-of-season friendly at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

Newcastle will also play a second match against an A-League All Star side on Friday.

Derek: ‘Anon’ says Bayern would have been nowhere without Kane. Surely they were nowhere with Kane (not his fault). 11 titles in a row, add a top striker and finish 3rd, 18pts off the top.

And here's Garth's...

If anybody's curious, the three of us have come together to produce this very narrow line-up.

A compact midfield, it's the future!

Here is your five-minute warning. Garth Crooks' team of the season will be announced at midday.

Will your favourite player make the team?

Not long until we find out...

The Premier League is done and dusted - and what a season it has been.

Now it's your turn to have your say in our end of season Premier League awards.

The nominees were decided by a group of BBC Sport journalists and you can vote for your winners here. The votes will close at 12:00 BST on Wednesday, 22 May.

BBC Radio 5 Live

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Manchester City, and whether or not they are now untouchable, provided the topic of debate in the opening hour of Nicky Campbell's phone-in on BBC Radio 5 Live this morning.

Here is a selection of views from contributors:

Emily Brobyn, City fan and broadcaster: "Out of all of our achievements under Pep, this Premier League title is my favourite. To go through this season, missing Kevin De Bruyne for a large chunk of it, to achieve what we’ve done, to go again, to dig so deep, to have the resilience, it’s just remarkable. It’s testament to the players, the strength of their mentality and to Pep Guardiola, of course, again."

Matty in Manchester: "As City fans, we can’t begrudge him [Pep Guardiola] if he wants go, if he wants to go and play golf or try something else. We didn’t expect to have him for this long. We’re extremely lucky to have him, he’s the best manager in the world. Like Jurgen Klopp said yesterday, no other manager would manage to do four league titles in a row. We are blessed to have him and I’m just appreciating every minute whilst we still got him."

Sam in Warwick: "I remember when City were rubbish and I used to get teased horrifically at school by all the kids because I wasn’t a United fan. I picked City and they were rubbish. I stood by them because that’s what you do. I was there at Wembley, I’ve got a picture of me wearing blue face paint, it’s real. It’s a love that will never ever die. I'll be a City fan until the day I die.”

Clarky in Manchester: "My first game was in August 1978, it was a bit of a painful 20-odd years, when they were winning down the road. But you stick with your team, you go through the highs and lows. We’re fortunate to be going through a real high at the moment. As long as Mr Guardiola stays, I’m hoping that will continue to be the case."

Pep Guardiola has led Manchester City to a sixth title in his eight seasons in English football.

Barring Alex Ferguson that is twice as many as anybody else.

So we want to know, where does Guardiola rank among the best Premier League manager?

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at Anfield

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Jurgen Klopp punctuated his opening-day mission statement as Liverpool manager by insisting it is not important what people think about you when you arrive, the true measure of achievement is what they think about you when you leave.

As a beaming Klopp disappeared down the tunnel for the final time as Liverpool manager in front of packed stands at 6:46pm on a glorious Merseyside Sunday night, the German was in no doubt about Anfield's feelings.

Klopp, clad in a red T-shirt with 'I'll Never Walk Alone Again' on the rear and 'Thank You Luv' - the phrase he closely associates with the city of Liverpool - on the front, was accompanied by roars of appreciation, smiles and plenty of tears.

It was the finale of a nine-year thrill ride summed up by a banner stretching across the full length of The Kop before kick-off that provided a neat three-word summary of Klopp's reign from first day to last.

Reading between the lines, or the statistics, Arsenal had this title in their grasp but just couldn't quite take the opportunity that was presented to them.

Their xG superiority provided by Opta shows that the quality was there, and unlike the previous season Arsenal were able to maintain their challenge to the final day.

But Rodri alluded to his side's winning mentality as potentially the final piece of the jigsaw that the Gunners are still missing.

Until Mikel Arteta's side are able to take that final step, I guess we will never know...

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