Wells in talks over new Bristol City contract
Bristol City are in talks over a new contract for experienced striker Nahki Wells. The 34-year-old Bermuda forward's contract comes to an end this summer - five-and-a-half years after he joined the club in a £5m deal from Burnley.He has scored 48 goals in 237 appearances for the Robins, who are also in talks with Lewis Thomas about a new deal.But the club has decided to release Stefan Bajic, Ayman Benarous and Kal Naismith following the conclusion of their deals.Youngsters Kai Churchley, Tim Ap Sion, Marley Rose, Romani Rowe and Callum Wood will also depart Ashton Gate.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Eberechi Eze offers England's brightest spark amid end-of-season gloom
The beer cups are not yet being hurled. Tabloid editors have not yet decided which root vegetable would Photoshop best onto his face. Helicopters are not yet being despatched to take aerial shots of his house. We are still probably at least two defeats away from our first World War Two-themed front page. But perhaps in hindsight, this was the week Thomas Tuchel finally became the England manager. The night he finally felt the weight of the hairshirt. Finally glimpsed the depth and darkness of a job in which all defeats are humiliations, where the default temperature is set permanently to 'scorn', where every decision is a betrayal of somebody, somewhere. And, you know, fair enough. Ahead of this camp you would probably have got pretty long odds on England emerging from games against Andorra and Senegal with a negative goal difference. England have neither attacked well nor defended well, and indeed have looked for the most part exactly what they are: a group of exhausted talents sapped by a long season in the most physically demanding league on the planet. Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill were a weird choice of centre-half pairing given both are still trying to pace themselves for a gruelling Club World Cup campaign. Kyle Walker had seemingly prepared for an 8pm rather than a 7.45pm kick-off. Bukayo Saka did four-fifths of very little. Conor Gallagher skittered around like a puppy at Sunday lunch: darting in between legs, knocking things over, eternally sniffing something out, but largely at a loss as to what. And so can we really have learned anything from a game that kicked off five minutes late, where the vibe was so end-of-term you half-expected to see people signing each other's shirts with felt-tip pens? Well, perhaps we did. Amid the loose ends and loose passes, we were treated to Eberechi Eze's best game in an England shirt. That Eze got 90 minutes – for the first time in his 11 caps – was a statement in itself. As Tuchel rolled through his substitutions, Eze kept glancing over to the touchline, half-expecting to see his number. Harry Kane and Anthony Gordon went off. Gallagher went off. Saka and Declan Rice went off. Finally in the 88th minute, Ivan Toney lurked at the side of the pitch. The board went up. It was Myles Lewis-Skelly. Why did Tuchel want to see more of Eze? Why does he refer to Eze as 'Ebs' and Morgan Gibbs-White as 'Morgan Gibbs-White'? As Kane came off and England went strikerless for the first time since the disastrous home defeat against Greece in October 2024, we got our answer. Unleashed in a mobile central role, Eze – flanked by Gibbs-White and Morgan Rogers – was at the heart of England's best period of the match. Already there had been some promising glimpses. England began with a kind of box midfield in possession, Kane and Eze both offering themselves to receive while the two wingers stayed high and stretched the pitch. Out of possession it was Eze who led the press alongside Kane, Eze who won the ball from Lamine Camara for England's opening goal. But it was after the hour that Eze truly came alive. Within seconds of going up top he was bringing down a long ball and playing a frankly ridiculous backheel to Gibbs-White. A few minutes later, with England now 2-1 down, he did it again, and Gibbs-White should have done better with the shot. Later a low cross across the penalty area begged for a touch. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Already it is clear that Tuchel sees Eze as more of a No 10 than a wide option, perhaps even an alternative No 9 in Kane's absence. His main competition is probably Cole Palmer, another player who seemed to be running on fumes against Andorra at the weekend. Palmer is probably the superior short passer, the superior creator, the superior set-piece taker. Eze, for his part, is a more assiduous off-the-ball presence, a more versatile player, a faster and more direct runner. Either way, this is not as simple a call as it might have been six months ago. For Eze has one more asset in his favour: the wind at his back and the confidence of his coach. His first England goal against Latvia seems to have stirred him to a new level, a stunning late-season run of form that earned him seven goals in six games, the winner in an FA Cup final, and a first European campaign next season if Crystal Palace can somehow navigate Uefa's dual ownership rules. Clearly the noise will abate. Senegal and Nottingham will feel like ancient history by the time Tuchel assembles his players for their next camp. But if Eze ends up playing a pivotal role in England's World Cup side, Tuchel may just reflect that a night of boos and incoherence was not entirely in a lost cause.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
One year to World Cup, have Tuchel's England regressed since Southgate?
Thomas Tuchel's demand for England to play with a smile backfired badly as the head coach and his players felt the full fury of their own supporters after an embarrassing defeat to is exactly one year to the start of the 2026 World Cup, and if this abysmal performance is a realistic indicator of England's hopes next summer, then the German will need to conjure up a miracle in the next 12 discernible plan. No identity. No improvement – arguably even a regression – since Sir Gareth Southgate stepped down after defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final in Euro 2024 was a tournament of big moments, such as Jude Bellingham's overhead kick in the win against Slovakia, rather than big has continued under Tuchel - but minus the big brave new era has been a false start, despite three wins against modest opposition, and even Tuchel must have been shocked to experience the hostility aimed in his and his team's direction by those fans who remained inside The City Ground at the end of this 3-1 may offer up the mitigating circumstances as he made 10 changes from the 1-0 World Cup qualifying win against Andorra, plus this was a friendly at the end of a long season. But it was still a sobering, alarming evening as Senegal outclassed were dismal against Andorra. They were worse in defeat to Senegal. England fans turn on Tuchel It was not meant to be like this – not after only four games – but England's fans have made their displeasure clear about the direction they are taking under Tuchel since he succeeded sound of fury was heard when Cheikh Sabaly killed England off with Senegal's late third, the anger rising again when the final whistle went moments German was meant to usher in a fresh atmosphere after Southgate's eight years in charge, but Tuchel was made noisily aware that England's followers do not like what they have seen. They expected to have more to be optimistic about a year out from next summer's World have already seen paper aeroplanes, the time-honoured sign of Wembley's boredom, against Latvia and Albania. Here at the City Ground, where England were welcomed ecstatically before kick-off, fans cut straight to jeering, with shouts of "disgraceful" as the players made their way is still a tenure in its infancy, but there is no doubt Tuchel is already feeling some heat after an uncomfortable few days that saw the Three Lions flirt with humiliation against Andorra before being well beaten by their can now gather his thoughts before England face Andorra and Serbia in September, but the honeymoon – if any head coach of the country actually gets one – is well and truly over. Time catches up with Walker & Henderson Tuchel, perhaps understandably, made 10 changes for the friendly with Senegal, but there are few decisions he has taken since assuming control that can be described as meanwhile, are simply head recall of Jordan Henderson, 35 in June, was mystifying and raised questions about whether Tuchel believes he has enough leaders in his squad, even flagging up the veteran's influence in Ajax midfielder made his first start for England since 17 November 2023 against Andorra but had little impact or influence. Surely this experiment with a fine international servant is if ever a player performed in the manner that suggested his England career is coming to a close, it was the cruel exposure of 35-year-old Kyle Walker against Senegal on his 96th right-back was the first player to appear for England aged 35 or over since Frank Lampard in June who has struggled on loan at AC Milan from Manchester City, switched off at the far post when Ismaila Sarr equalised for Senegal and was then booked for a wild challenge before being subsequently targeted by the does this say about Tuchel's opinion on Trent Alexander-Arnold, who saw his former Liverpool team-mate Curtis Jones selected ahead of him at right-back against Andorra, with Walker then preferred on Tuesday night?Tuchel is clearly unconvinced by the new Real Madrid's signing's defensive qualities, but surely he offers more than the fading, slowing Walker and a midfielder in Jones pressed into service in his captain Reece James is another right-back option, but Tuchel chose to deploy him as a makeshift left-back against current evidence, there can be no place for either Henderson or Walker at the World Cup. Time has caught up with Ivan Toney was summoned from Al-Ahli and the Saudi Pro League as Tuchel tested out his alternatives to the ever-reliable Harry Kane, only to be called into action in the 88th minute at the end of this Senegal again, a puzzling move from Tuchel. No identity and no improvement Do England have any clear identity under Tuchel? Has there been any noticeable improvement since he took over?It's early days, but the answer on both counts must be an emphatic "no".England, as they did under Southgate and others, comfortably and unspectacularly see off the game's minnows in qualifying, beating Latvia, Albania and Andorra with Tuchel in then, alarm bells have been ringing, especially when England struggled to overcome Andorra, ranked 173rd in the world just above Grenada and Nepal, in their third World Cup are the sort of results and performances that led to condemnation of Southgate, even though he took them to successive European Championship has not been able to inspire any sort of upturn in quality. But there is no clear direction of travel under him so coach who employed three central defenders with wing-backs at Chelsea has yet to employ this with England, and time is running out before the real action starts at the World Cup next has been robbed of the influence of the injured John Stones and does not seem totally sold on Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi, so he is going through the card of alternatives, with Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah the latest cabs off the rank against seems focused on pace and power, hence the inclusion of Newcastle United's Dan Burn, but none of the pieces are currently fitting together. Tuchel has yet to nail down the best position to utilise the prodigious talents of Bellingham, who once again showed the flash of temper that boils beneath the surface when he had a late goal disallowed against can be a threat as a number 10, a conventional midfield player, or even pushed forward close to the striker. He can even operate in wider positions. The problem for Tuchel is working out which role is best and settling it within England's seems no further forward in working out his attacking options, seemingly throwing selections at the wall and seeing what picked Kane, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Noni Madueke against Andorra. Kane was joined by Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze for the loss by and Saka look starters but elsewhere looks a puzzle, with the possibility that Manchester City's Phil Foden could come back into the picture if he starts next season has widespread and attractive alternatives – but he currently seems well away from working out what is best for England and what system to months may seem like a long way away, but time passes quickly and it once again flags up the wisdom of Tuchel deciding to start work on 1 January despite being appointed in this three wasted months when time was of the essence for him and England?England captain Kane moved to provide context when he told BBC Radio 5 Live: "This is only the manager's second camp and we have a lot of young players and inexperienced players at this level and international football is different to club football. But these aren't excuses, this is the reality. We have to be ready for the next season."Tuchel, in case we forget, was the first England manager to win his first three qualifiers without conceding a goal. But to suggest this was achieved in a fashion that was impressive, or is a source of optimism for the World Cup, would be delusion on the grand scale. 'World Cup is not next week' Is it all bad for Tuchel and England? Not at have won their three World Cup qualifiers and he still has 12 months before his impact can truly be at the heart of it all, remains captain Kane, who scored his 73rd England goal on his 107th has scored in all four of England's games under Tuchel - the first time a player has netted in each of an England manager's first four matches in clearly enjoys playing under Tuchel, with 48 goals in 49 appearances under the German (44 at Bayern Munich and four for England), with this his best goals per game ratio (0.98) under any manager in his entire is also still upbeat, despite recent evidence, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: "It is a tough learning, but we need to stay calm. We need to accept the criticism and get better."We took a very serious approach with the line-up against Andorra to give the signal that this is what counts and here we made a lot of changes to let them show what they show in training."I felt we played with a bit of relief and more risk when we were 2-1 down. We had combinations and through-balls. This shows me that the expectations we have of ourselves are holding us back."The World Cup is not next week. We have two more games in September and then we meet again in the World Cup season. We need these kinds of matches to learn."It is to be hoped that Tuchel's optimism is justified.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Casement Park in Spending Review: Will UK government announce funding?
The government will announce later on Wednesday whether it will make a financial contribution towards the redevelopment of Casement the west Belfast stadium is estimated to cost about £260m - of which £120m in funding is jointly in place from the Stormont Executive, the Irish government and the has been building on the government to make a decision, which is now anticipated as part of the Spending review will allocate money to day-to-day public services for the next three years. It will also set infrastructure budgets for the next four review will directly affect what Stormont ministers have to spend on public services in Northern are also expected to find out if they have succeeded in persuading the Treasury that Stormont's finances require a more generous "needs-based" top-up. Last week, Finance Minister John O'Dowd said he believed the Treasury was in "solution-finding mode" when it came to reaching agreement on funding for Casement Park. Days later, a senior figure in the GAA said the association was "cautiously optimistic" that an announcement on funding was coming this Stormont executive is contributing £62.5m to the project, the GAA will pay £15m, while the Irish government has pledged about £ GAA has acknowledged it will need to increase its commitment."We are prepared to step up. It would be premature to start mentioning figures here. I think it will be higher than £15m", said Stephen McGeehan, the project lead for the stadium Park, with a proposed 34,500 capacity, had been earmarked to host football games at the Euro 2028 football tournament but, with the project on hold, the plan was shelved. Stormont's Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has defended his handling of the planned Casement redevelopment and insisted the hold-up is not his has said the GAA will need to make its plans for the stadium more affordable if the government fails to cover the gap for the current proposed rebuild."What we do need to make sure is that any additional public funding that comes forward for sport is done on a fair and equitable basis," he said. Could Stormont get a bigger top-up? When devolution was restored in 2024, Stormont ministers persuaded the Treasury that Northern Ireland's public services were being funded below an objective level of a result any additional funding Stormont gets from Westminster now comes with a top-up - an additional 24p for every will be worth more than £800m over five years, the independent Fiscal Council has Treasury also left the door open for a bigger top-up if there was credible, independent evidence to support ministers believe they have provided that evidence in the form of an analysis by the devolution finance expert Prof Gerry Treasury's response to that will come as Chancellor Rachel Reeves lays out the government's Spending Review in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon.
