New Nomads boss Disney dreams of European return
Connah's Quay Nomads have appointed long-serving player and captain John Disney as their new manager.The defender announced his retirement from playing following Nomads' 2-1 defeat by The New Saints in the Welsh Cup final earlier this month.But the 33-year-old, who re-joined Nomads for his second spell in 2018, hinted he would be staying on with the club in some capacity.Disney succeeds Billy Paynter who was sacked in April with two games of the Cymru Premier season remaining."We fell short and our remit for this season is to make sure we get back into Europe and get the club back where it belongs," Disney said."I'm the person the club has chosen to take that forward and I'm really appreciative of that and really looking forward to it."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Auto Car
25 minutes ago
- Auto Car
Real range anxiety: Driving London to Land's End in 1921
Indeed, many competitors floundered, but there were several impressive performances too, like that by VG Lloyd, who 'astounded everyone with his speed' in his two-cylinder Carden. Notably, Lionel Martin 'romped up the hill' in his new production Aston Martin (he had co-founded the company in 1913 to build hillclimb specials; Aston was a course in Buckinghamshire). Several had to shed passengers to reach the top, while others fouled the hill by hitting the wall at the hairpin. Some even managed to clear it while avoiding a comrade's stricken car. One did it on a flat tyre. From there on to Land's End, there was little to really concern the drivers. Forty-two made it to the finish – and we were surprised to see among them HJG Smith's 10hp Eric-Campbell (a small firm that briefly made cars at the Handley Page aircraft factory in London), as he had broken a tie rod on Porlock so effectively was steering with one wheel. He won a gold medal along with 22 other worthy competitors. We concluded: 'The general consensus of opinion was that a better trial had never been, or one to which more merit was attached to a reward, while, as to sport, no man could wish for better.' Since then, more notoriously difficult sections have been added, most famously Beggars Roost (in 1922) and Blue Hills (in 1936), and the Land's End Trial continues to challenge the best trials drivers and cars. Long may it continue.
Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Arsenal target Rodrygo handed deadline to 'convince everyone' at Real Madrid he deserves his place
Arsenal target Rodrygo has been handed a deadline to convince everyone he belongs at Real Madrid, as per a report. The 24-year-old developed into an integral player for Madrid since joining from Brazilian side Santos for €45million (£37.9m) in 2019. The forward, who has also won 33 caps for Brazil, may have a lower profile than fellow attackers Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jnr, yet he still has a hugely impressive record at the Bernabeu. Rodrygo has 68 goals and 50 assists in 267 appearances for Los Blancos but after a difficult campaign, reports have linked him with a move away this summer, with Arsenal believed to be one of many Premier League clubs interested. And with speculation rampant, Madrid have told Rodrygo he must prove he can fit into Xabi Alonso 's system at the upcoming Club World Cup, according to Spanish outlet Marca. The revamped 32-team tournament runs through mid-June to mid-July, meaning the Brazilian forward has around seven weeks to get back to his best. Teams are expected to take this year's Club World Cup more serious than ever before, considering the mammoth prize pool at stake. The side that takes the trophy home will receive a windfall of $40m (£30m), while a team winning of their games could see them land up to $125m (£92m). For reference, the winner of the Champions League earns around £120m, while the Premier League champions typically earn between £38m and £40m for finishing first. Sky Sports Germany previously claimed Arsenal are in talks with the 24-year-old over a move and that he is at the top of their list of targets on the wing, although he has also been touted with a move to Man City, Man United and Liverpool. Mikel Arteta was pressed on these links prior to Arsenal's final game of the campaign against Southampton - which saw them win 2-1. 'If you want to win titles, you have to be the best in the market,' Arteta said, as he refused to confirm or deny the links. 'The teams that win have the best players. 'It's a matter of pride. It shows we've brought the club to a level where people expect us to challenge for trophies. 'What is clear with the amount of injuries that we had in the front line is that we need a goal threat and we need firepower'. Rodrygo scored 18 goals and claimed nine assists in the 2023-24 season as Madrid won the treble. But he has failed to follow it up this season, only bagging six times and providing six assists in LaLiga. He has scored just once in his last 22 matches, last netting against Atletico Madrid in March. Rodrygo was not called up for Carlo Ancelotti's inaugural Brazil squad, whom the former Madrid boss now manages.
BBC News
31 minutes ago
- BBC News
Deco on Barca's future, challenging Real and Yamal
Barcelona sporting director Deco denies the club have financial problems and says they do not need to sell players - despite La Liga's restrictive financial 47, has overseen a revival of Barcelona since his appointment in 2023, culminating in a domestic treble while also reaching the semi-finals of the Champions Catalans have renewed the contracts of superstar teenager Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and manager Hansi Flick, while they were cleared by Spain's National Sports Council (CSD) to register midfielder Dani Olmo amid a dispute with La Liga. When asked whether the world should see Barcelona as a well-run club in 2025, Deco told BBC Sport: "Barcelona is my club, I love Barcelona. I saw what happened from the outside and always thought I could help put Barca at the same high level. "I knew it would be difficult when I joined with the financial rules - it is not a financial problem, but the financial fair play rules in Spain are more difficult than the Premier League and in other countries. "It is a problem for a lot of clubs, you just hear about Barca because we are a big club. You need to work with it, see how you can improve the team and the combination of La Masia [academy] players and experienced players has been important."The former Portugal midfielder, who played for the Catalans - as well as Chelsea and Porto - stresses Barcelona are happy working with La Liga but have faith the rules will continue to improve. Even if they do not, Barcelona are excited to have "one of the biggest contracts in history" with Nike, and the newly renovated 100,000-seater Nou Camp will be the biggest stadium in Europe and improve insists Barcelona will "not sell our best players", adding the team's recent success means they can "grow with many of the same players". But he says they are in looking for "two, three or four signings", without needing to enter the market "like crazy" thanks to the stability at the core of the asked if it includes the option of signing Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, thought to be available for £40m, or Liverpool's Luis Diaz, he added: "We have been focusing on renewing contracts, after that, we'll discuss players to come. "Of course, these two players, like you mentioned, they are good but have contracts in their clubs, so we won't speak because it's not fair. But when you decide to go to the market, for sure, we find some names. In my opinion, we don't need to bring many players."He added: "When I speak with the agents of the players, everyone wants to come or stay. So this is important. The image of the club is still good. We are proud because Barcelona is still such a big club, and the way we are playing football makes players want to come."Deco is aware of the constant threat of Real Madrid, who will look to improve under new head coach Xabi have also agreed deals for right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who will leave Liverpool, and Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen. Benfica left-back Alvaro Carreras is understood to be next on the club's shortlist."Next season is not going to be easy, because I know that first Real Madrid has a lot of top players," he said. "In my opinion they have a big team. They have a lot of fantastic players. Of course they want to improve."It's very important to have a strong Madrid. It's very important to have strong players, top players, players that the people want to see. I think Madrid has these kinds of players, like us."Now it's important to keep the top players in La Liga. So for us it's important that Madrid are strong, that Atletico is strong, and we need to be there." 'Yamal can make history like Messi' Barcelona have already signed perhaps their most important deal of the summer, keeping 17-year-old Spanish sensation Yamal at the club on a new six-year deal until made his debut at 15 and has already made 106 appearances for the club. He was part of Spain's European Championship-winning team, is the reigning Golden Boy and Kopa winner - awards given to the best young player in the world - and was heavily involved in Barcelona's four El Clasico wins against Madrid this season. All this success has led him to be compared to Barcelona legend Lionel Messi, widely regarded as among the world's greatest ever players. Deco continued: "Lamine is Lamine. Leo is Leo. Leo was the best player in the history of this club, for me, the best player in history. "Everyone becomes crazy when they see Lamine playing football, you would pay to go watch him in the stadium, he's special and he wanted to stay because he believes in the project. He deserves an improved salary. "He's going to be one of the best players in the world. We need to respect him as a player, but not forget he is 17 years old."Deco added: "It's not easy to compare, but Lamine, in terms of quality, can make history like Leo. But of course, to make history, he needs to have a good team behind him."Barcelona managed Messi mania and would know how to give Yamal the degree of protection he needs to shine."We try to not let him do everything, because, you know, sometimes the sponsors, and everyone wants his shirt or time," Deco continued. "Sometimes we can't control everything, but people see his magic, on and off the pitch. "They want to have a piece of him and we need to help him manage that."
