The man with the most important job in Scottish rugby right now is essentially phoning it in from Bondi Beach, writes Calum Crowe
Franco Smith is not a man known for wild displays of emotion. Generally speaking, the Glasgow Warriors head coach usually wears a facial expression that would turn Medusa to stone.
But there was a raw sense of candour in Smith's voice when he spoke to journalists in the aftermath of Glasgow's defeat to Leinster in the URC semi-finals last weekend.
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BBC News
22 minutes ago
- BBC News
Chelsea to trim sizeable loan group
Chelsea are open to the fact that they need to sell a host of players, especially those that spent last season on loan. The club's policy is not to carry a large group of loanees that are not expected or likely to make it into the first team. In their 28-man Club World Cup selection, only one loanee progressed into Enzo Maresca squad from last season, midfielder Andrey Santos. The rest, Raheem Sterling, Axel Disasi, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Djordje Petrovic, Armando Broja, Joao Felix, Renato Veiga, Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka, Lesley Ugochukwu and more - are mostly available for sale. The asking price for Kepa is known to be only £5m as he enters the last year of his contract, while Benfica are being credited with serious interest to re-sign Felix. In Sterling's case, the winger made 12 starts on loan at North London club Arsenal last season while the Blues paid around half of his current £300,000-a-week loanees like Alfie Gilchrist, Alex Matos, Leo Castledine and Zak Sturge are also exploring permanent transfers away from Stamford Bridge. Defender Sturge, 20, is in advanced talks about making his loan move at Millwall permanent at the end of the season. Chelsea prefer sales rather than loan moves at this stage but could relax their position later in the transfer window if they struggle to find exits for players. Midfielders Kendry Paez and Mathis Amougou are expected to join Strasbourg on loan while goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe is in talks over a new contract and potentially joining League One club Bolton Wanderers on loan.
The Sun
25 minutes ago
- The Sun
Man City hit Club World Cup with three rapid signings but how will ‘new KDB' and star who poses ‘Grealish dilemma' fare?
MANCHESTER CITY are in dire need of a fresh start. While finishing third in the Premier League is not a total disaster, the way their title defence collapsed sent a signal that the force that had dominated English football for half a decade was no longer infallible. 12 12 Watch EVERY match of the Club World Cup 2025 live on DAZN We can, of course, point to the long-term injury to the Ballon d'Or winner Rodri as one of the driving points behind their struggles, but even then, you would expect Pep Guardiola 's side to have the depth to deal with his loss more effectively. In the end, rather than a tactical change, City splashed more than £170million on new signings Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov and Victor Reis to get their season back on track. However, out of these four, only Marmoush has had a significant impact thus far. Gonzalez was relegated to a reserve team spot early on, Khusanov had a shaky start, and Reis has played just one league minute since his arrival. Losing talisman Kevin De Bruyne is doubtless a loss for the squad after the club allowed his contract to run down, but City requires fresh blood if they are to close the gap to champions Liverpool. And they have moved swiftly by adding three new players in Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki, while a fourth signing in Marcus Bettinelli is expected to fill the Scott Carson role of third-choice goalkeeper and squad cheerleader. Below, we look in depth at the three new signings and show how they will have an impact on this City squad going into next season and going into the Club World Cup. Rayan Ait-Nouri, 24-years-old, Left-Back The first player we will discuss is 24-year-old Algerian international, Rayan Ait-Nouri, signed in a £31m deal from Wolves. The signing of Ait-Nouri ticks two big boxes for Guardiola and his staff. First of all, he has extensive Premier League experience with 135 appearances in the competition since joining Wolves from Angers in France in 2021. The second important tick is he fills a position of a real specialist at left-back, rather than a player being shoehorned in like Josko Gvardiol, Nathan Ake or Rico Lewis have been previously. Ait-Nouri should come in immediately and make that position his own. Ait-Nouri was one of the standout players for Wolves last season in the context of a team that were struggling towards the bottom of the table for most of the season. He is a balanced defender who will provide real quality for City in all phases of the game. When defending he is comfortable defending when he is isolated wide and he generates turnovers with tackles, blocks or interceptions, as well as being able to come inside to help his central defenders. He is also very capable of contributing a lot in the attacking phase, creating threat for his team by staying wide and stretching the width of the pitch. In the middle third, when he takes the ball, he finds creative passing angles to find the striker on the last line or to break the last line with through balls that can release runners behind the defensive line. And in the final third he gets on the ball and can cross with quality from deep or when bursting towards the by-line. City appear to have moved very quickly in order to secure the signature of their first choice left-back for the foreseeable future. Tijjani Reijnders, 26-years-old, Central Midfielder From an age perspective, it is interesting City have moved against the general trend by signing a player that is already 26 years old in Reijnders, signed from AC Milan for £46m. The Dutch international has 23 caps and four goals at senior international level and last season he ended with 10 goals and five assists in the Serie A alone. Is Reijnders seen as the replacement for De Bruyne in the City midfield? Well, maybe at least partly. The two are similar in that they are at their best in the attacking phase of the game. Reijnders is a ball carrier who can take possession in tight spaces and help to break down a deep block by dribbling or finding creative passing angles. This was an area of the game where City struggled last season with teams sitting deep and City trying to attack in the wide areas to break them down with little quality in the middle. While Reijnders does contribute defensively, he is especially strong when pressing and counterpressing when his team lose possession in higher areas. He can play deeper, almost beside the 6, and receive and play the ball to dictate the tempo of the attack for his team but he is also very impressive in more advanced positions when the game is really tight. His ability to take the ball and beat a man 1v1 centrally can really open up games for his team by creating space for others, but he also uses this in the final third to create an angle for shots around the edge of the area. Reijnders can play more as a box-crashing midfielder but also poses a threat with his ability to shoot from distance. In this instance, he does have some similarities to De Bruyne, and he will provide a goal threat from the midfield City would otherwise be missing. With De Bruyne having left the club and with Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic all entering the end of their peak years, it was important City strengthened the position. And Reijnders should go a long way to helping them break down opposition defensive blocks. Rayan Cherki, 21-years-old, Attacking Midfielder City have already pulled off one of the most intriguing transfers of the summer with the £35m deal to sign 21-year-old Rayan Cherki from Lyon in France. Cherki has long been discussed as one of the most naturally gifted and technically talented players of his generation. The Frenchman, however, was seen as a player who was difficult to deal with and who had a very close connection to his home city in Lyon. But last season Cherki matured as a player as he had a more central role for his team which really saw him emerge as one of the best young players in Europe. He has now made his full international debut for France and he looks set to become a key attacking player for the national team. His decision to leave Lyon triggered interest from top teams in England, but it was City who moved quickest to secure his signature. There are two big questions around the signing of Cherki by City. The first is whether Guardiola will allow Cherki to retain his unique creativity and dribbling style. When Jack Grealish arrived at City for a club-record £100m from Aston Villa he was a strong ball carrier. But that dynamic ability to take on his man has been coached out of his game, and is part of the reason he is now deemed surplus to requirements at the Etihad after being left out of their Club World Cup squad. That said, Guardiola has been happy for Jeremy Doku to be a high-volume dribbler during his time at City, so maybe the Spanish coach will allow Cherki to be the same. The second question regards his position. Cherki does not have the defensive profile or work rate to play in deeper midfield areas, so he will probably not fit as one of the two 8's in the midfield for City. That could mean he plays from the right of attack, and with Doku on the left, we could see City build an attack with incredible threat from either flank. 12 Cherki can score goals for himself but is extremely creative and capable of playing through tight defensive blocks with his ability to dribble and play quick passes in and out to teammates to break through and create space that can be exploited. In signing Cherki, it is fair to say that Man City may have signed a true gamebreaker for next season. The Club World Cup and Conclusion City named all seven of the signings they made in the past six months - coming out to a total of almost £300m - in the 27-man travelling squad for the Club World Cup in the United States. It will give Guardiola a chance to see all three of his new toys on the pitch in his system of play. City's underperformance last season triggered a decisive response from City chiefs, with some key recruitment needs already being met with even more business likely when the open reopens on June 16. All three new signings have the ability to make an immediate and important impact on the squad, but living up to some of their predecessors will be a huge ask. 12 Club World Cup 2025 Guide SOME of the world's biggest clubs are heading Stateside for a MAMMOTH Club World Cup. Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Man City, and Inter Miami are among the 32 teams taking part in the tournament, which runs from June 14 to July 13. Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Ousmane Dembele, Cole Palmer and Harry Kane will be showing their skills to packed crowds across the US. Los Blancos are favourites to lift the trophy in New York but will face stiff competition from around the globe. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the tournament... INFO Everything you need to know ahead of the Club World Cup Club World Cup draw in FULL LATEST NEWS & FEATURES
Telegraph
25 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Queen's Club Championships: Updates with Boulter, Watson and Raducanu in action
Today's schedule [5] Diana Shnaider vs Katie Boulter [Q] Heather Watson vs [4] Elena Rybakina Emma Raducanu vs Rebecca Sramkova Latest updates Uche Amako (Live Updates) 12 June 2025 11:52am 11:33AM Day four at Queen's Hello and welcome to coverage of a busy day at Queens as three Britons bid to reach the quarter-finals. On the WTA's return to west Kensington for the first time since 1973, the crowd on Andy Murray Arena will be treated matches involving Katie Boulter, Heather Watson and Emma Raducanu. Boulter, the British No 1, starts against fifth seed Diana Shnaider, having sealed her place in the second round thanks to a battling second round victory over Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic. 'When I walked out it actually surpassed what I thought it would feel like when I kind of imagined it,' said Boulter, adding: 'I think it's very easy to get caught up in just trying to get your first grass court match, also coming to such an historic venue as well, which holds a lot of purpose and a lot of familiar feelings when I've come here before.' Watson follows Boulter and faces the daunting task of former Wimbledon Elena Rybakina. 'Very happy to be through here at Queen's,' Watson said. 'It's such a great event so far and I'm really enjoying playing here, playing on these courts at this amazing club, and staying at home, sleeping in my own bed.' And the third Briton in action is Raducanu, who plays Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova after she beat reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, 6-4, 6-3. Raducanu said: 'I play my best when my personality is put on the court and I can express myself, and I feel like sometimes when I've been constrained to play a certain way, it hasn't necessarily worked, and I just need to be free and expressive and then certain moments of creativity can come up. 'I mean, it's easier said than done to be yourself, especially when you're on such a big stage, but for sure when I'm playing freely, when I'm swinging and taking on chances, that is when I'm at my best. Yeah, then I think as that happened today, I could kind of relax into it and more and more could come up.'
