St Johnstone 1-0 Hamilton Academical: What the manager said
St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari: "Good that [Adama Sidibeh] got his goal after a long wait. He has been working so hard."Hamilton came with a game plan and didn't bend it at any minute. How we dealt with this cup tie was very good. We knew they would get a couple of chances, and we kept going."We kept pushing and in the end we get our result. I had a good feeling because we did the right things. "We now leave the cup competition for a while and concentrate on the Premiership."
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Daily Record
17 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Inside St Mirren recruitment plan as "one-man band" hailed amid six signings bid
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Times
28 minutes ago
- Times
R360 league delusional and commercially unsustainable — TNT chief
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Particularly scathing about R360's plans was Andrew Georgiou, the president and managing director of Warner Brothers Discovery — the company that owns TNT Sports. 'I've been involved in sport for 25 years. I can't tell you how many of these PowerPoint presentations I've come across my desk with people who were absolutely certain that what they had on that page was going to be the new thing,' Georgiou said. 'No one's come to us and made a presentation, no one's told us what the new format is, no one told us what the new schedule is. But the one question that I think should be asked is, how are they going to grow the revenue by putting this event on? 'Where's the money coming from? The media industry is going through a massive generational change. So if these folks believe that they are going to grow the revenue by putting this thing on, I think they're delusional. 'What it will do is further complicate what is already a well-functioning rugby ecosystem. 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It takes inspiration from F1 and cricket's Indian Premier League, and wants to establish a grand prix-style travelling league that would feature eight men's franchises and a four-team professional women's competition. They have signed players to contracts already, including a number of those selected by Andy Farrell for the British & Irish Lions squad, which will be activated if the R360 franchise owners can meet broadcasting rights and team ownership targets. They intend to pay the world's top 40 players more than £1million. The organisers have received bids for their teams from Premier League, Formula 1 and NFL team owners and are looking to tap into the expertise of franchise owners and investors from some of the biggest sports competitions in the world in order to transform rugby. Simon Massie-Taylor, the chief executive of Premiership Rugby, believes that the work his organisation has done to right itself — from establishing financial monitoring groups and more stringent salary cap regulations, to signing a better Professional Game Partnership with the RFU and improved marketing, branding and promotion of the league — means the league can see off this attack from R360. 'The R360 thing is a distraction, sure, but it's not grounded in the same amount of work and detail that we've been doing,' he said. 'Rugby needs roots, it doesn't need pop-ups. Without those roots, it's very difficult to understand how their system could ever work. 'That one person who's going to turn up on a go out on the field, there's a whole system, a whole team, a whole grassroots network that needs to develop that person beyond just rocking up. 'I'd be worried if players are counting on that [contracts they have signed] because they may miss out on genuine opportunities that exist within their club. Things need sanctioning for a start and things need money coming through the door before these people can actually get paid.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Rugby's breakaway R360 league labelled ‘delusional' by leading TV sport executive
A leading executive at TNT Sports has dismissed the proposed R360 breakaway league as 'delusional' while Premiership executives have played down the rebels' threat, insisting rugby 'doesn't need pop-ups'. Confirming that R360 has not approached TNT Sports about their plans for a globe-trotting league that targets the world's best players on lucrative contracts, Andrew Georgiou – president and managing director of WBD Sports Europe – joined PRL in questioning the commercial and economic viability of the breakaway league. R360 is planning for a grand prix model of 12 franchises, visiting 16 glamorous venues and it is said there have been multiple bids from team owners in other sports including the NFL and Formula One. The rebels want to attract 300 male players and are targeting 'the best of the best' with a view to launching in September next year. While R360's plans would allow for player release for international fixtures, an agreement between the Premiership and the Rugby Football Union would render any England stars who join the breakaway ineligible for Steve Borthwick's side. Nonetheless, R360 appears to pose a distinct threat to the Premiership. But Georgiou said: 'I've been involved in sport for 25 years. I can't tell you how many of these PowerPoint presentations have come across my desk with people who were absolutely certain that what they had on that page was going to be the new thing. It was going to be absolutely the new thing. 'The one question is, how are they going to grow the revenue by putting this event on? Where's the money coming from? The media industry is going through a massive generational change. 'So if these folks believe that they are going to grow the revenue by putting this thing on, I think they're delusional. I really do. What it will do is further complicate what is already a well-functioning rugby ecosystem.' Figures at Premiership Rugby are relaxed about the prospect of R360 and point to their continued growth with average audiences up 10% this season, a million new fans, a 30% growth among supporters aged from 18 to 36 and a record-breaking sellout for Saturday's final. R360 has said that 'clubs around the world are feeling the strain, and are being propped up by the international game' but PRL executives believe their worst financial problems are behind them with a new broadcast deal with TNT and Red Bull closing in on investment in Newcastle Falcons. Plans for a franchise league also continue apace. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion 'There hasn't been any engagement [with R360],' said the Premiership Rugby chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor. 'It's not a threat per se, but we have no idea how it could ever work full stop. The thing that I agree with is that rugby has the opportunity for global growth and it needs innovation. Hopefully we've demonstrated our appetite for it. But rugby needs roots, it doesn't need pop-ups.'
