The proof Steve Bruce is trying to recreate Newcastle in his image

Here’s what people have been talking about from another exciting weekend of football.

1) Leave it to Steve

Pep Guardiola has received huge praise for reinventing Manchester City in his image since arriving at the Etihad and now it appears that Steve Bruce is hoping to do something similar at Newcastle.

Alongside manager (and head Steve) Bruce, the Magpies already boast Steves Agnew and Clemence among their first team staff, alongside Steve Nickson as head of recruitment.

And though the head of goalkeeping remains Simon Smith, former Newcastle shot stopper and current Northern Ireland goalkeeping coach Steve Harper has now returned to St James' Park as a senior coach to bring the number of Steves on the coaching staff up to five.

Still, anyone can commit to such hijinx for one season but West Brom lived their philosophy for 13 years.

2) It’s Clare’s time to Shine

With just a minute left in the Scottish Cup final on Sunday, up stepped Glasgow City’s Clare Shine to show off her best impression of Diego Maradona to seal the game with her second goal of the night.

3) Striker material

Chris Wood found the back of the net for Burnley once again at the weekend, helping his side climb ahead of Arsenal into seventh place as they beat Watford 3-0.

But more importantly, it altered a very special goalscoring chart to put “wood” down as the best material from which to build your dream striker. 

4) Indirect route

In terms of footballing novelties, a perfectly-executed indirect free-kick is like when a teacher accidentally swears in class for the first time.  

5) Quick comeback kings

Liverpool won yet another “it’s their year” type game on Saturday as they took all three points against Crystal Palace.

The Reds have not lost in the league since January 3 and continue to show the kind of resilience you’d expect of prospective champions.

6) Patter > banter

While English football has banter, you can’t beat a bit of Scottish patter.

Motherwell tried to go put a positive spin on things as they blew a 1-0 lead to lose 3-1 at Hibernian at the weekend. 

But Hibs know that the only thing that matters is the scoreline as they fired back in the most subtle of ways.

7) Dare to Zlatan (no, the other one)

Alfy Whittingham sealed three crucial points for Aldershot Town against Notts County over the weekend and celebrated by channelling Nigerian rapper Zlatan Ibile and attempting to do his dance-move, the Zanku.

8) On the hunt

While the top of the table seems pretty well set with the top four of Liverpool, Leicester, Man City and Chelsea opening up a gap ahead of everyone else, we’re still waiting for the rest of the Premier League to fully take shape.

A few wins in a short space of time can see a team shoot up the table - just ask Wolves. 

9) Same club, different outcome

WSL champions Arsenal continued their strong start to the season with a home win over Liverpool on Sunday as Vivianne Miedema scored again, taking her tally to five goals in eight appearances across all competitions this season. 

It’s safe to say that the Gunners have turned Meadow Park into a bit of a fortress in 2019.

Meanwhile, their brother club continue to struggle as more and more fans call for Unai Emery to be replaced. 

10) The Italian job

While Manchester United continue to struggle this season, Chris Smalling is living his best life out in Italy with Roma. 

11) Location, location, location (location)

Michail Antonio joined a very exclusive group of footballers on Saturday as he scored his fourth Premier League goal against Tottenham Hotspur, with all four coming at different stadiums - Upton Park, White Hart Lane, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and London Stadium.

Too bad he didn’t add Wembley to the list last year.

12) Are you not entertained?

Sam Allardyce has often been cited as one of the great motivators of the Premier League but things don’t always go exactly to plan.

In retrospect, Big Sam probably shouldn’t have shown his players clips from two films in which (spoiler alert) the heroes die at the end.

13) There’s no place like home

Scotland learned their fate in the Euro 2020 playoffs on Friday, with Steve Clarke’s men knowing if they can beat Israel at home in March then a trip away to either Norway or Serbia is all that stands between them and a place at the European Championships. 

While, on paper, an away final in the playoffs may not seem ideal, Scottish fans were still able to see the positives.