Ampadu reflects on Leeds' first win back in PL
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Racist abuse will 'not bring down' Tottenham's Tel
Tottenham forward Mathys Tel says the online racist abuse he received after the club's recent defeat in the Uefa Super Cup will not "bring him down". The 20-year-old Frenchman was the target of abusive messages on social media after Spurs lost the match 4-3 on penalties after letting a two-goal lead slip in normal time. Tel came on as a substitute in the 79th minute and was one of two Spurs players who failed to convert from the spot in the penalty shootout. Spurs said they were "disgusted" by the abuse and those who sent the messages to Tel, who joined the north London club from Bayern Munich permanently in the summer, were "nothing but cowards". Speaking for the first time since the incident in a post on his Instagram account Tel said he wanted to say "thank you" for all the "messages of support" he had received. "I was also disappointed about Wednesday night but racism has no place in our society. Every day is a learning curve, and every day is a lesson," Tel said. "I know where I come from, where I started and none of this will bring me down. With work and humility, respect reigns." Tel's comments come in the wake of racist abuse suffered by Bournemouth player Antoine Semenyo in their opening match of the Premier League season against Liverpool at Anfield. Last Friday's game with the current champions was briefly halted in the 29th minute after Semenyo flagged it up to the referee. A 47-year-old man from Liverpool, who was arrested by Merseyside Police on Saturday on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence, has been conditionally bailed. Latest Tottenham news, analysis and fan views Ask about Tottenham - what do you want to know?
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Newcastle issues ruthless Alexander Isak response after statement totally blindsides club
Newcastle United has told Alexander Isak that he won't be leaving the club this summer after the striker broke his silence on social media and issued a statement. Isak has made it clear to Newcastle that he has no intention of playing for the club again and missed the season's opening game against Aston Villa. Due to uncertainty over his future, Isak has been training in isolation, but head coach Eddie Howe hopes the striker can be reintegrated into the squad. Howe's optimism has been supported by the club, which was blindsided on Tuesday when Isak released a statement on Instagram explaining his stance. Isak claimed that Newcastle lost his trust and said the relationship could not continue, but the club has clarified that he won't be sold this summer. READ MORE: Darwin Nunez shows his true colors after Liverpool transfer exit to Saudi Arabia READ MORE: Liverpool transfer news LIVE: Alexander Isak breaks silence, Newcastle response, Marc Guehi latest The Daily Mail reported Isak's statement caught the Newcastle hierarchy off guard, but the situation hasn't changed. Isak will be informed of the decision, leading to uncertainty over his role this season. Newcastle drew 0-0 against Villa on Saturday, as Anthony Gordon and new signing Anthony Elanga shared offensive duties in Isak's absence. Newcastle will face Liverpool on Monday, Isak's intended destination. Liverpool saw a $148 million bid rejected for Isak earlier this summer, and the club is prepared to submit a new offer. However, Newcastle will only entertain a sale if a suitable replacement can be signed before the end of the window. Newcastle has missed several targets this summer, with Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Benjamin Sesko and Hugo Ekitike opting to sign elsewhere. Liverpool signed Ekitike before the club attempted to lure Isak to Anfield. While Brentford striker Yoane Wissa remains heavily linked with Newcastle, and Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson has been discussed, no marquee signings have been made in that position. Should that change, Isak may be granted his move, but Newcastle has stood firm after seeing his statement. Isak was named to the PFA Team of the Year on Tuesday but was absent from the awards ceremony. Shortly after his inclusion, Isak released a statement on social media, continuing to push for an immediate transfer. "I'm proud to be recognised by my fellow professionals with a place in the PFA Premier League Team of the Season for 2024/25," Isak wrote. "First and foremost I want to thank my teammates and everyone at Newcastle United who has supported me along the way. 'I'm not at the ceremony tonight. With everything going on, it didn't feel right to be there. I've kept quiet for a long time while others have spoken. "That silence has allowed people to push their own version of events, even though they know it doesn't reflect what was really said and agreed behind closed doors. The reality is that promises were made and the club has known my position for a long time. "To now act as if these issues are only emerging is misleading. When promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can't continue. That's where things are for me right now and why change is in the best interests of everyone, not just myself."
New York Times
4 hours ago
- New York Times
Alexander Isak's statement has set fire to Newcastle – drawing fury but little sign of success
There is no sugar-coating it now. There can be no more claim or counter-claim about what Alexander Isak might be thinking and it blows apart Newcastle United's policy of containment this summer. They have attempted to tough it out, to see through a testing transfer window with the aim of keeping their best player, tip-toeing around the fact that he is refusing to play for them. They have not attacked him. Advertisement In Eddie Howe's words, they have kept the door 'well and truly open.' Isak has shown Newcastle — his team-mates, staff and fans — what he thinks of that door, slamming it in Howe's face and setting fire to the entire building while he is at it. Although he has not yet submitted an official transfer request, he has done the next worst thing. By going public the intention is to force through a move to Liverpool. The result is a ratcheting up of pressure and a further souring of relations before the two clubs play on Monday night. The initial response from the top at Newcastle was to dig in further. With the end of the transfer window racing towards them, there is no longer an obvious replacement for Isak, let alone the two strikers they would need if his departure was sanctioned (they played without an established centre-forward at Villa Park last weekend). A lack of money has not been their issue, but rather a lack of options. As they said in their own statement, 'The conditions of a sale this summer have not transpired.' For now, they are insisting that Isak stays: 'We not foresee those conditions being met.' In private, their mood has hardened, which may not quite be what Isak and his camp intended. There has been frustration at Isak's stance, the influence of his representatives and irritation with the nature of Liverpool's pursuit, but there was a longer, calmer game to be played. Behind the diplomacy of Isak remaining 'part of our family and will be welcomed back when he is ready to rejoin his teammates,' there is also fury. And, yes, before anybody points this out, a comparable situation has been taking place in reverse at Brentford with Yoane Wissa, a longstanding Newcastle target who is engaged in his own guerrilla warfare against his present employers, flying home early from a training camp, not playing for the club in pre-season and most recently removing all links to Brentford on social media. In football, you will find the moral high ground balancing on a pinhead. How the next few days play out is unknown — Liverpool will surely return with an improved bid for Isak after their recent £110 million offer was rejected out of hand — but it will no longer be played out in a neutral tone. All through the close-season and beyond, Howe has been careful not to inflame a damaging situation further, always hoping that Isak could yet be reintegrated. There has been no public, personal criticism. Advertisement He has done that knowing he must tread a delicate line. Hang Isak out to dry and then how do you bring him back, which is ultimately what Newcastle have wanted, knowing that there is nobody better out there? Pander to him and what message does that send to the other players in his dressing-room? Is it OK to behave badly? By making him train alone but offering him a path to return, Howe has attempted to play fair by everybody. Newcastle refute Isak's claims about 'promises' being made and the suggestion that he (or his people) had informed them that 2024-25 would be his final season at St James' Park. 'We are clear in response that Alex remains under contract and that no commitment has ever been made by a club official that Alex can leave Newcastle United this summer,' they said. Transfers or non transfers are often a case of wearing, dismal, competing agendas and differing versions of the truth, but even if the Sweden international had right on his side, he is way in the wrong in how he has confronted it. What is a long-term contract if it is not a promise, to play for and represent the club who bought you? Surely that is the most basic definition of trust, one which isn't just spoken out loud or with a handshake or a nod, but written down and signed. How does it serve Isak's cause to behave like this? It obliterates his relationship with the fans who have adored him, it shows zero empathy for the players who have fought alongside him in a team which has made spirit its calling card and the lack of respect afforded to Howe is abysmal. When Isak joined Newcastle from Real Sociedad for £63m in 2022, he was viewed as a player of great potential but with flakiness and inconsistency baked in. His spell at Borussia Dortmund had been poor. On Tyneside, he has developed into one of the world's most adept and deadly centre-forwards and although he must take great credit for that transformation, it is Howe's coaching that has brought it out of him. There are ways of doing things, ways of leaving (this applies to Wissa just as much). Newcastle supporters reel back at the notion of losing their best players, because down the decades it has happened too many times — from Paul Gascoigne to Andy Carroll — but if, back in May, Isak had said that having helped deliver a trophy and seal a return to the Champions League, he wished to move on for another challenge, for more money, there might have been a semblance of understanding. Advertisement In the meantime, keep your head down and work hard, give everything for the club which took a calculated gamble on you and which has given you this platform. By all means be angry, but do your job and keep your promise. In November last year, Wor Flags, the fans group, spent thousands of pounds on a display for Isak. His name, in the blue and yellow of the Swedish flag, filled one end of the stadium. At the other, there was a picture of him above the legend 'Alexander the Great.' This week, ahead of the Liverpool game, they have considered what to do, knowing that there is anger towards Isak but also knowing there is a power in words and an even bigger power in team, club, city, a collective. That consideration has not been returned. Maybe all is fair in love and football. Maybe Isak is just being honest in terms of how he feels and maybe he is desperate. But by releasing this statement on top of not playing, he has subverted the whole notion of a team in favour of himself. He has attempted to shut down the exit route which Howe painstakingly left for him. Ahead of a fixture which was always going to be on the toxic side of lively, Isak might just have made things worse for everybody but that includes himself. Because more than ever, more than before, Newcastle insist he is going nowhere. And where would that leave him, aside from alone? Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
