Republic of Ireland boss Ward 'turned down WSL job'
Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward has revealed she turned down an offer to manage a Women's Super League club "a few weeks ago" and has reiterated her full commitment to her present role.Ward succeeded Eileen Gleeson as Republic manager in January and has been at the helm for four Nations League matches to date, three wins and a heavy 4-0 defeat by Slovenia.The primary focus for the 41-year-old however is qualifying for the 2027 World Cup, which begins in February.Ward formerly managed Sheffield United, Birmingham City and Aston Villa in her native country, but stepped down as Villa boss a year ago."I'll tell you one thing. I was offered a WSL job a few weeks ago and I turned it down because I am loving what I am doing," said Ward after naming her squad for the forthcoming Nations League games against Turkey and Slovenia."Listen, I really wanted the Ireland job. I turned down two other countries that offered me the job whilst I was in the interview process for Ireland because I wholeheartedly wanted to manage this country. So when I say I am in, I am in."I am talking long term to the board, not just around the next two games, but how we develop the League of Ireland - we've spoken a lot about that - so there is a bigger picture here. I have loved being here. There have been some challenges of course, but I love being here. I am proud to represent this country."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
32 minutes ago
- The Sun
World's most valuable players revealed as Jude Bellingham leapfrogs Erling Haaland… but lags behind Lamine Yamal
FOOTBALL'S most valuable superstars have been revealed. This summer the Club World Cup has seen the creation of a unique transfer window format, with the shopping window open twice after a closure in the middle. 5 5 5 5 5 June 10 represents the end of the first stage of the window, before it reopens on June 16 and runs through to September 1. And for any clubs looking to splash some serious cash on one of world football 's best stars, figures from Transfermarkt have revealed the current top 10 most valuable players. Kicking the list off at number 10 is the oldest player on the list, Federico Valverde. The 26-year-old has been a top star for Real Madrid for a number of years and consequently he has a huge transfer value of £110million (€130m). The midfielder is one of four Real Madrid Galacticos to be named on the list. Three stars have an identical value of £118m (€140m) from nine down to seven, and are all 22 years of age. Germany stars Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz both ply their trade in the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, respectively, while Spain star Pedri plays for Barcelona in La Liga. Pedri's value has increased from £101m in the last edition of the figures in March, no doubt due to Barcelona's league-winning campaign and semi-final Champions League run. However, of the three, only Wirtz has been linked with a mega-money transfer away from his club, with Liverpool trying to find a middle ground with Bayer over a fee. The Reds' latest offer saw them submit an offer worth £113m, although that is still some way short of the £126m Erik ten Hag 's new outfit want to sell. New footage sees raging Jude Bellingham KICK VAR monitor in frustration after Real Madrid's last-gasp defeat The sixth player on the list is valued at £126m (€150m) and is the first English star to be named, Arsenal 's Bukayo Saka. The 23-year-old's ability speaks for itself, and England saw how much they missed his flair and creativity against Andorra at the weekend. Getting into the top five, Brazil superstar Vinicius Jr was previously the joint most expensive star on the list at £169m (€200m). However, a disappointing season that left Real Madrid without a trophy saw his value decrease to £143m (€170m), which now ranks the 24-year-old ranked fifth. Just above him is team-mate Kylian Mbappe, who despite having the same lack of silverware has actually seen his value increase to £152m (€180m). That figure is identical to former Borussia Dortmund duo Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham. Manchester City ace Haaland, 24, was previously valued at £169m, but like Vinicius, suffered a slight reduction after seeing his club fail to win a major trophy. Bellingham, 21, managed to escape the same fate and has remained on the £152m valuation. However, those figures place the trio behind Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal. Yamal is one of the front-runners for the Ballon d'Or as a result of his stellar season for his club. He saw his value increase to now make the 17-year-old the single most expensive player in world football. Yamal only recently signed a new contract with Barcelona that will see him earn £33.5m per year. Cole Palmer narrowly missed out on the top 10 after seeing his value fall to £102m, putting him level with Declan Rice and Alexander Isak. Former Crystal Palace star Michael Olise is now in the top 20 after seeing his value rise to £85m. This matches Alexis Mac Allister and Phil Foden, the latter of whom has lost almost £25m in value. Champions League winners Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia have gone up in value to now be worth £76m, with Ballon d'Or candidate Ousmane Dembele valued the same.
The Sun
32 minutes ago
- The Sun
‘It's humbling' – Andy Murray admits embarrassment at being beaten by 5-year-old son in different sport
SIR ANDY MURRAY has revealed that he is regularly "humbled" by his five-year-old son as the youngster has started to beat him at a new sport. Murray, 38, may have been hoping to raise tennis ' next big star, but it would appear he is developing a chess prodigy instead. 2 The Scot, who retired from tennis last year, has been spending his time away from the court taking on son Teddy at chess. Murray revealed that the little one is already learning the strategic sport and is doing so well that is often getting the better of his dad. Speaking to the BBC, Murray revealed why losing to your own son can be pretty hard to take as a parent. He said: "My five-year-old boy has got really into chess, which I'm really enjoying playing with him. "I'm not a particularly good chess player, but I've got quite an analytical mind and I enjoy the game and watching him learn and playing with him. "It's difficult losing to a five-year-old when in the middle of the game he's asking you to come and wipe his bum, essentially. "He's going to the toilet in the middle of the game, and then he comes back and is beating me at chess. It's humbling that, for my intelligence". Murray has had more time to spend polishing his chess game since he left his role as Novak Djokovic's coach last month, splitting on amicable terms after spending most of the year on the Serbian's team. 2 But he has found himself a new career in the time since, entering the world of venture capitalism. The two-time Wimbledon champion has taken up a role as an associate partner at London-based investment firm Redrice Ventures. Rafael Nadal reveals Andy Murray's 18-word text message ONE second after Arsenal beat Real Madrid He told the Sunday Times: "It's difficult to step away from a sport like tennis, which has been so all-consuming for me for so long, and then not have anything to fill that void. 'I've seen it before with other athletes — when they haven't had other interests straight after sport, it becomes hard for them to know who they are. 'I'm also only 38 years old, so that's a long time to be retired. 'My plan was always to spend more time on my other business interests once I'd finished playing tennis, and I'm enjoying starting to work on some of those projects now. 'I think for me it's the work ethic and single-minded determination to succeed.' Murray previously worked with Redrice in 2018 as part of a co-investment involving sportswear company Castore. He already has several business interests including a five-star country house hotel in Scotland, a padel tennis firm and a crowdfunding platform called Seedrs. Andy Murray's career timeline SIR Andy Murray is Great Britain's most successful tennis player of the Open era. After breaking through in 2005 to reach the Wimbledon third round at 18, the Scot was British No1 by the following year. In 2008 he reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open, only to fall to Roger Federer in straight sets. Two more final defeats at the Australian Open to Federer and Novak Djokovic followed in 2010 and 2011 before heartbreak at Wimbledon in 2012. Despite taking the first set against Federer, he fell 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 in front of a home crowd before breaking into tears on Centre Court. But a month later on the same court he beat the Swiss legend to earn Team GB a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics. And weeks after that he broke his Grand Slam duck at the fifth attempt, beating Djokovic in five sets in the US Open final. In 2013, following another Australian Open final loss, Murray beat Djokovic in straight sets to become the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title. Three more losing Grand Slam finals followed, at the 2015 and 2016 Australian Opens and the 2016 French Open. But in his third Grand Slam final of 2016, Murray won Wimbledon again with a straight sets victory over Canadian Milos Raonic. He followed it up with his second Olympic gold medal, beating Juan Martin del Potro in a four-hour epic in the final in Rio de Janeiro. Later in 2016 Murray became world No1 - the first British man to do so in history. Over his career Murray reached 11 Grand Slam finals, winning three. He won two Olympic golds and a silver (in the mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson). He finishes his career with 46 titles and over £50million in earnings, making him the fourth all-time leader in earnings. His final match was at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he lost in the quarter-final of the men's doubles at Roland Garros to USA pair Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz.
Reuters
40 minutes ago
- Reuters
World Cup dream is still alive despite loss to Belgium, Wales manager Bellamy says
BRUSSELS, June 10 (Reuters) - Wales manager Craig Bellamy said his side are still on track to qualify for the World Cup despite slipping from top spot in their group following a 4-3 defeat in Belgium on Monday. The clash in Brussels would have been marked down as Wales' toughest test in Group J and it looked like the writing was on the wall when they were three goals down inside the first half-hour. But Bellamy's side fought back to level at 3-3 and looked good for a surprise point before Kevin De Bruyne snatched a late winner for the hosts. "To come to a top-eight team and play the way we want to play. I think the Belgian players saw it as well," said Bellamy, who lost his first game as Wales manager after 10 matches in charge. "We aren't going anywhere. I will have a couple of weeks now of recharging, but I'm beyond proud and really excited about the future." Wales have seven points from four matches in their group and are at the halfway stage of their campaign. North Macedonia top the standings with eight points, but Belgium, on four points, have played only two fixtures. The group winner qualifies automatically for next year's finals in North America, while the runners-up go into a playoff competition. Wales next travel to fourth-placed Kazakhstan in September and then have a return clash with the Belgians in Cardiff in October. Sorba Thomas, who scored his first international goal for Wales on Monday, said their second-half performance showed what kind of a team they are. "Even though we lost the game, I feel like we won it in our own heads," he added. "Against countries like this, you'll be punished. I can't wait to play these when we get back to Cardiff." Wales reached the quarter-final of the 1958 World Cup and did not qualify again until the last finals in Qatar in 2022, where they finished bottom of their group.
