'Guardiola or Klopp wouldn't change a thing' - Owls fans on Pedersen appointment

31-07-2025

We asked for your views on the appointment of Henrik Pedersen as the new manager of Sheffield Wednesday.He was previously Danny Rohl's assistant at Hillsborough and replaces the German after he left the club on Tuesday.Here are some of the thoughts of Owls fans on the new man at the helm.Michael - Pedersen knows the players and playing style which is a bonus, but it's just a small shining light in what is just a bleaker than bleak outlook right now.James - Only time will tell but he must be nuts to hang around the club at the minute.Nick - Even if we have a change in ownership, relegation is pretty much a certainty, so at least we have someone in charge who wants to be there and can maybe inspire a bit of pride and fighting spirit in the skeleton squad we have left.Joey - Appointing Pep Guardiola or Jürgen Klopp wouldn't change a thing at this point. The club is a sinking ship. Everything that is wrong with modern football is epitomised in what has happened at Sheffield Wednesday.Owen - Looking at his record he's nowhere near fit to be manager of this club. But is the best we could hope for in these circumstances - let's hope he's the brains behind the Danny Rohl operation.Andy - I wish him all the best but he is on a hiding to nothing. With everything that is going on at the club there is no hope at all. We can't recruit players, we can't keep our players and we can't pay them - what chance does he have of success?Adam - Good luck to Henrik. Unfortunately, it's a bit like giving the new captain of the Titanic a teaspoon to help with the rising water.Jon - Got to admire the man for taking on an impossible job, but he must be crazy! Possibly exactly what we need.Brian - Will there be much of a club left to manage? I can't help but think that unless something major changes and changes soon that there won't be.Paul - We have got to give him a chance and get behind what's left of the team. Plus who would want to come to Hillsborough with the current state of affairs?

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Chelsea defender Colwill out of action with ACL injury

Reuters

19 minutes ago

Reuters

Chelsea defender Colwill out of action with ACL injury

Aug 8 (Reuters) - Chelsea centre back Levi Colwill suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in training, the Premier League club said late on Thursday, with the 22-year-old expected to miss much of the new season. The England international underwent successful surgery on the injury, Chelsea added. It typically takes some six to nine months for a player to recover from an ACL injury and return to action. "The 22-year-old had reported back to Cobham for pre-season at the start of this week, before unfortunately sustaining the injury in training," Chelsea said in a statement. "Medical assessments confirmed surgery would be the required course of action. "Levi will now begin his recovery and be supported by the club's medical department at Cobham during his rehabilitation phase." Colwill made 43 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea last season and helped the West London side win the Club World Cup in July. Chelsea, who finished fourth last season, open their 2025-26 Premier League campaign against Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on August 17.

Ballon d'Or nominee Scott McTominay is best Scottish success in 40 years

Times

2 hours ago

Times

Ballon d'Or nominee Scott McTominay is best Scottish success in 40 years

It's all about the company you keep. There he was, Scott McTominay, rubbing shoulders with Jonny Evans, Altay Bayindir and Toby Collyer while barely anyone paid attention. The day of his last active service as a Manchester United player and he was in with the substitutes yet again. There or thereabouts, neither essential nor indispensable. An option. A solid squad guy. The story of his United career as far as too many managers were concerned. McTominay saw a wee bit of the action that day last August, given the last 11 minutes when Bruno Fernandes had done his bit in a league game at the Amex Stadium. Brighton & Hove Albion scored a 90th-minute winner and that was it, the flat and unheralded end of McTominay after a 22-year association with United. There were just over 250 appearances over nine seasons and many more debates about whether a) you needed a guy like him to win a league or b) having someone like him suggested you never would. Some respect and some ridicule. By the time United were being battered 3-0 at home by Liverpool a week later, their spare-part, overlooked talent had begun the gear change to end them all. Now? Scott McTominay, Ballon d'Or nominee, officially one of the best footballers in Europe, a line to make a United fan choke on their cornflakes. A nomination as the final act and recognition of a debut season that became absurdly fantastic and rewarding. A guy could get lost in Naples, drowned by the fanaticism and pressure of delivering for one of the most suffocating and intense fanbases in football. Instead McTominay rose to become an icon, a figure far greater than most could have imagined possible across the years when English football largely dismissed him as a limited utility guy, useful to have around without being front-of-house material. Italy got the surging, unbridled McTominay 2.0. A dozen goals in 34 league games for Napoli, and the city that idolises Diego Maradona happily made headspace for a new darling. Barely a week went by without news emerging of some startling new McTominay goal or triumph. He is a Serie A champion, the most valuable player of the Italian league season, the recipient of player and goal of the month awards, and now he has a puncher's chance in the Ballon d'Or. Perhaps this will be the year of Ousmane Dembélé as a driving force for Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain. The Barcelona pair Lamine Yamal and Raphinha are heavyweight candidates too. The Premier League is represented by Virgil van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah from Liverpool, Arsenal pair Declan Rice and Viktor Gyokeres, Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Chelsea's Cole Palmer. England men Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham are on the list too. In terms of sheer impact and emergence over the season, only the 18-year-old Yamal surpasses McTominay. It's about the company you keep. It seems reasonable to wonder if he will ever stop growing. Over the course of a couple of years, about a decade ago, he spurted from a runtish 5ft 6in to a strapping 6ft 4in. It was the making of him as a footballer. At 28 he has grown again, in profile and celebrity this time. This news underlines his status as the biggest star in the Scotland team — sorry Andy Robertson, sorry John McGinn — and by one measure the biggest success story the country has produced in nearly four decades. OK, 'produced' is doing some heavy lifting given he was born and raised in Lancaster and has never played a minute in Scottish club football, but his dad, Frank, from Helensburgh, shaped where his boy's allegiances lie. The old European Footballer of the Year award, as it was known, has been won only once by a Scottish player. After Denis Law's great achievement in 1964, Jim Baxter, Jimmy Johnstone, Billy Bremner, Graeme Souness and Gordon Strachan all received subsequent nominations and Kenny Dalglish was runner-up in 1983. The last Scot to get on the shortlist was Ally McCoist in 1987. That's why McTominay's nomination is a big deal. It's amusing to think that when the first approach came from Napoli the depth of his connection to United — he has always been painstakingly respectful since his departure — meant there must have been a moment when he considered staying there. Maybe give it one more go, maybe see if Erik ten Hag could be convinced. Not every move works out, not everyone gets a reward for uprooting and throwing themselves headfirst into an entirely unfamiliar culture, but McTominay's decision transformed his career and his life. Let's just assume that as he sits with his feet up of an evening, looking out as the sun sets across the Bay of Naples, he isn't losing too much sleep about whether he ought to have stuck around at Carrington. Of course, letting a Ballon d'Or contender go for just £25million and then having their worst season in years felt very Manchester United. He is his own man now. Last month he rocked up at Wimbledon, cutting a dash in cream slacks, a navy blue blazer and sunglasses. He has always been image-conscious and no doubt he'll cut an immaculate figure and look similarly Hollywood at the Ballon d'Or ceremony on September 22. Scots and Neapolitans will be together in willing him on. One lot, you can guess which, proudly shouting: 'Gaun yersel, big man!' Nominees for 2025 Ballon d'Or award Men's nominees Ousmane Dembélé (PSG & France) Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG & Italy) Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid & England) Désiré Doué (PSG & France) Denzel Dumfries (Inter Milan & Netherlands) Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund & Guinea) Erling Haaland (Man City & Norway) Viktor Gyokeres (Arsenal & Sweden) Achraf Hakimi (PSG & Morocco) Harry Kane (Bayern Munich & England) Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG & Georgia) Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona & Poland) Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool & Argentina) Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan & Argentina) Scott McTominay (Napoli & Scotland) Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid & France) Nuno Mendes (PSG & Portugal) João Neves (PSG & Portugal) Pedri (Barcelona & Spain) Cole Palmer (Chelsea & England) Michael Olise (Bayern Munich & France) Raphinha (Barcelona & Brazil) Declan Rice (Arsenal & England) Fabián Ruiz (PSG & Spain) Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool & Netherlands) Vinícius Jr (Real Madrid & Brazil) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Egypt) Florian Wirtz (Liverpool & Germany) Vitinha (PSG & Portugal) Lamine Yamal (Barcelona & Spain) Women's nominees Lucy Bronze (Chelsea & England) Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride & Zambia) Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona & Spain) Sandy Baltimore (Chelsea & France) Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal & Spain) Klara Buhl (Bayern Munich & Germany) Sofia Cantore (Washington Spirit & Italy) Steph Catley (Arsenal & Australia) Melchie Dumornay (Lyon & Haiti) Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current & Malawi) Emily Fox (Arsenal & USA) Cristiana Girelli (Juventus & Italy) Esther González (Gotham & Spain) Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona & Norway) Patri Guijarro (Barcelona & Spain) Amanda Gutierres (Palmeiras & Brazil) Hannah Hampton (Chelsea & England) Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich & Denmark) Lindsey Heaps (Lyon & USA) Chloe Kelly (Arsenal & England) Marta (Orlando Pride & Brazil) Frida Leonhardsen Maanum (Arsenal & Norway) Ewa Pajor (Barcelona & Poland) Clara Mateo (Paris FC & France) Alessia Russo (Arsenal & England) Clàudia Pina (Barcelona & Spain) Alexia Putellas (Barcelona & Spain) Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (Chelsea & Sweden) Caroline Weir (Real Madrid & Scotland) Leah Williamson (Arsenal & England) Men's coach of the year nominees Antonio Conte (Napoli) Luis Enrique (Paris St-Germain) Hansi Flick (Barcelona) Enzo Maresca (Chelsea) Arne Slot (Liverpool) Women's coach of the year nominees Sonia Bompastor (Chelsea) Arthur Elias (Brazil) Justine Madugu (Nigeria) Renee Slegers (Arsenal) Sarina Wiegman (England) Men's club of the year nominees Barcelona (Spain) Botafogo (Brazil) Chelsea (England) Liverpool (England) Paris St-Germain (France) Women's club of the year nominees Arsenal (England) Barcelona (Spain) Chelsea (England) OL Lyonnes (France) Orlando Pride (United States)

Inside the mad and dangerous world of Superbikes where 'gladiator' riders dice with death

Daily Mail

2 hours ago

Daily Mail

Inside the mad and dangerous world of Superbikes where 'gladiator' riders dice with death

It's been a weekend of unremitting heat at the UK round of the Superbike World Championship — motorsport which makes F1 look like a sedentary Sunday afternoon drive — and, at the end, the outstanding racer tells me about life and death. Toprak Razgatlioglu is motorcycle racing's most compelling character since Valentino Rossi — riding on the edge just like the Italian, and Barry Sheene decades before him.