🎧 Norwich's play-off hopes over
"The season is fizzling out. I think the play-off dream is well and truly gone."You need 75 points to get sixth place... the most Norwich can get now is 73, so it's gone. I think it had gone before Bristol City anyway."BBC Radio Norfolk's Chris Goreham and Rob Butler look back on the Canaries' 2-1 loss at Bristol City - their second defeat in a row.You can listen to the full episode and more on The Scrimmage: A Norwich City podcast.
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Daily Record
2 days ago
- Daily Record
First Rangers departure of summer 'close' days after Russell Martin confirmed his internal Ibrox assessment
The Ibrox overhaul is already well underway after the 49ers took control of the Glasgow giants New boss Russell Martin could see Issame Charai depart his coaching staff amid reports of an offer in Belgium. It comes just days after Martin confirmed he would weigh up the backroom team as part of his internal Ibrox overhaul. The American revolution is well underway for Rangers following the mega-money US takeover - with the former Southampton boss keen to put his own stamp on the squad. Former Morocco Under-23 head coach Charai only arrived at Ibrox in January to work under Philippe Clement - and was the only member of the coaching team to remain from the Belgian's era to work under Barry Ferguson. He still remains on the staff following Martin's arrival but reports in Belgium claim he is the frontrunner to take over at KVC Westerlo. DH report that a change is "likely" for the Belgian Pro League side with boss Timmy Simons set to depart with Charai - who played in Belgium for Mechelen and St-Trond - the favourite to succeed the outgoing gaffer. It is said he is the club's leading candidate - and while Simons has still yet to be officially shown the door an agreement is "close" for a replacement. The report comes after Martin admitted he would examine the structure of the coaching set-up after bringing in Matt Gill as his assistant and physical performance coach Rhys Owen. He said: "Matt Gill's coming. He's been my assistant manager all the way through and he brings technical expertise as a coach. "Brilliant coach who had to play a huge role in developing a lot of players at Norwich since he had the 21s. We played together very briefly and then I worked with him when he had the 21s. "When I was on my way out as a player at Norwich and I realised then what an excellent coach he was and how much care he had for the players and how much they loved him. "Guys like Max Aarons, Todd Cantwell and the Murphy twins, some brilliant players under his tutelage. And we're very different personalities, so he's a bit more calm and introverted than I am, so it's good for me and it's a good balance. "He's coming and then Rhys Owen's coming as well, who's actually on holiday in Portugal just now. He's been texting us relentlessly because it feels like he's missing out today. "But he'll be up here next week and he's a physical performance coach first and foremost. "Really aligned with the way we want to play so he understands how the players need to be prepared and he'll work with the sports science and physical department up here, medical department and be a really good link from them to us to get to know each other very quickly and to understand what the physical requirements will be. "Also a really good technical coach as well so it's just those two at the moment and then we've got some brilliant people inside the building and we'll assess things over the next few weeks together and then see if we need to add and as and when we do and see in which areas." Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Scotsman
Next Rangers manager: Why intellectual Russell Martin would be 'positive thing' for Ibrox club
Gunn played with Martin and knows what he can bring to Rangers Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn has endorsed former teammate Russell Martin as a good fit for Rangers after it emerged that the 39-year-old is close to being appointed as the Ibrox club's new head coach. Reports emerged on Tuesday lunchtime that Rangers are poised to appoint Martin as their next manager. The ex-Scotland internationalist - who had a brief spell on loan in Govan - has always been one of chief candidates since Philippe Clement was sacked back in February and with the search nearing its conclusion following last week's takeover and new sporting director Kevin Thelwell taking office on Monday, it appears an appointment is imminent. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Thelwell and new chairman Andrew Cavenagh have been tasked with landing their next boss and Martin, who has been out of the dugout since being sacked by Southampton last December, is understood to have been in competition with former Real Madrid assistant boss Davide Ancelotti for the role. Russell Martin has emerged as the leading candidate for Rangers' managerial vacancy. | Getty Images Should the appointment come to fruition, one of his former teammates in Gunn believes "intellectual" Martin has the tools to succeed at Rangers. The pair played together at Norwich in 2017 and the centre-half's leadership skills stood out for the goalkeeper. 'There were a few other players in that dressing room – Steven Naismith was there as well – and you can tell on the pitch when you're playing with players,' said Gunn. 'They kind of start coaching whilst they're still playing, if you like, sort of organising on the pitch. 'Russell was one of them, but it wasn't just on the pitch, it was off the pitch as well, where he had close relationships with everyone. Even though he wasn't a regular playing in the team, he was always on hand and always upbeat and a good person to go to. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'He helped me massively' 'Obviously, I only worked with him as a player at Norwich but he's a very intellectual guy. I went in there as a young goalkeeper and he helped me massively, even though he wasn't in the team every week and playing regularly. He was the captain of the club and he had good relationships with everyone in the dressing room. 'Obviously, watching what he's done at Southampton, I thought he'd done incredibly well there and probably was unfortunate to lose his job there because it's always difficult for teams coming up from the Championship to even compete with some of the Premier League teams,' said the goalkeeper. 'With the way he wants to play and his philosophy, I really hope whatever he goes on to do in his career is successful. Obviously he had a spell at Rangers, so he kind of knows the club a little bit. I think it would be a really good thing for Rangers. Angus Gunn played briefly with Russell Martin at Norwich City. | Getty Images "As a manager, he showed what he can do, not only with Southampton but with Swansea as well. He took a team that wasn't expected to do much quite far into the Championship as well. I think it will be a positive thing for Rangers. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Gunn played against Martin's Southampton team two years ago en route to the Saints' promotion from the Championship and he recalled: "They were a tough team. I think we had a couple of good games against them. One was 4-3, one was 0-0, so quite contrasting. "We've seen the evolution of their team throughout the season. I think when we first played them, they were quite open. Then, when we played them again, they were a little bit pragmatic.
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Scotland 1 Iceland 3 – raging Tartan Army boo their own players and Steve Clarke after Hampden disasterclass
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THERE were merciless jeers and ironic cheers. But you had to pity Slicker. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Cieran Slicker comes on for his Scotland debut Credit: Getty Scotland's substitute goalkeeper ran onto the park hoping for a night to remember. What he endured was a horrendous debut to forget. You just had to wonder how Cieran Slicker found himself out there at Hampden in the first place. The 22-year-old is the number THREE goalkeeper at Ipswich Town and has NEVER played a single minute of competitive league football in his career. Yet when Angus Gunn limped off injured in the first two minutes in this friendly with Iceland he was suddenly thrust into the limelight. And in the end, he was left wishing he was anywhere else. The three abysmal goals he conceded were agonising to watch with the Tartan Army showing zero sympathy as he picked the ball out of his net three times. But this was on Steve Clarke who has now had just four wins in his last 21 games. He said he had a goalkeeper crisis going into this game. But he didn't expect to face one as grim during it. Before the World Cup qualifiers kick off in September - with an away double header against Denmark and Belarus - he's now got just one more friendly to prepare, against Liechtenstein on Monday night. Laser shone in the eyes of Scott Tominay during match but it 'didn't put him off' And it really has to be so, so much better than this for the supporters who booed at half-time and again after the final whistle. The game was only two minutes old when Gunn's ankle buckled under him as he jumped for a high ball. It was instantly clear his night was over. The goalkeeper held his head and punched the turf in a combination of pain and frustration. With No1 Craig Gordon missing through injury, this was the chance he'd been waiting for to get back into the team. He's without a club too, remember. After being released by Norwich at the end of the season, he's yet to sign anywhere else. So the last thing Gunn needs is an injury in a close season when he's trying to earn a contract. As he was helped off the pitch, the question was who was going to replace him. Robby McCrorie was sitting on the bench with the No12 shirt and the Kilmarnock shot-stopper was maybe expecting the shout. But no, Clarke told Slicker to get stripped. How they rated Angus Gunn - Came for a cross in the first minute but crumpled with an ankle problem so was unable to continue. Terrible timing given he is without a club having left Norwich. 1 Max Johnston - Given his chance on the right hand side and made a positive impact. Will be disappointed he didn't make more of a back post chance to score. A decent start. 6 John Souttar - Showed great strength inside the box to hold off his marker and head home Max Johnston's wicked corner. Will be furious at the goals Scotland lost. 5 Grant Hanley - Tried to show Andri Gudjohnsen inside after Cieran Slicker's poor kick but ended up with egg on his face as he whipped it into the top corner from 25 yards. Grim night. 4 Kieran Tierney - 50th cap and a poor occasion to hit that milestone. Matched Albert Gudmindsson's runs all night before going off for debut man Lennon Miller in the closing stages. 5 Andy Robertson - Bombed up and down the left flank as he usually does but final balls were lacking the precision to really hurt Iceland. Skipper has to drag Scotland's defence out of this rot. 5 John McGinn - Patrolled the middle of the park as he usually does but nothing really came off for him high up the pitch. Scotland will need him refreshed and flying in September. 5 Billy Gilmour - Did precisely what you expect from him now. Kept possession and the ball ticking over as the link man all over the pitch. Below his best like so many. 5 Lewis Ferguson - Didn't know much about it at the own goal which put Iceland back in front. Unlucky as a comedy pinball moment saw the ball crack off him and squirm past Cieran Slicker. 5 Scott McTominay - Started on the left of midfield, tasked with supporting George Hirst. Few flashes of what he can do but a big game player so he keeps the real heroics for when it counts. 5 George Hirst - Missed an early header then denied his first Scotland goal by two great saves from the Iceland goalie then an offside call after scoring. Showed he's got some promise. 6 Subs: Cieran Slicker (Gunn 6) - Debut didn't go to plan, that's for sure. Poor kick for the opener, flailing at the second, even worse at the third. Difficult not to feel sorry for him at times. 2 Lennon Miller (Tierney 67) - First cap. 3 Scott McKenna (Hanley 67) - Shored it up a bit late on. 3 Che Adams (Hirst 67) - No chances. 3 Nathan Patterson (Johnston 79) - Replaced Johnston. 2 Tommy Conway (McTominay 79) - On for McTominay. 2 The 22 year-old wasn't anywhere near ready and needed a couple of minutes to get his gloves and kit on. It was like playing for Scotland was the last thing he was last thing he was expecting. The pressure he was feeling at that moment must have been huge. Okay, this wasn't a big World Cup qualifier. It's not like Hampden was packed to the rafters. But still, his nerves must have been jangling. The defenders in front of him tried to settle him down by giving him a couple of early touches. But it didn't seem to do much good. Because just a few minutes into his debut, he cleared the ball upfield and it went straight to an Iceland player. And within a couple of seconds Slicker was picking the ball out form the back of the net. You have to say it was a superb strike from Andi Gudjohnsen from 25 yards, with Slicker nowhere near it. His anxiety levels didn't improve much after that with another couple of nervy passbacks and a spilled shot. Scotland rallied, though. Striker George Hirst missed a sitter after good set-up play from John McGinn. But the Ipswich hitman then forced a good save from the Icelandic keeper and that led to the leveller. John Souttar's equaliser came from a brilliant Max Johnston corner after 25 minutes which the Rangers defender got on the end of. Clarke would have relatively hopeful at that point that his star men would grab the game by the scruff of the neck and go from strength to strength. Inside Hampden's restoration as talks with Rangers over use of stadium enter advanced stage But it soon went from bad to worse. Because Iceland's second goal, just moments before half-time, was another calamity. It was a decent corner into the box. But the ball hit off Souttar and then Lewis Ferguson before Slicker seemingly dived right over the top of it. On another night the off-side flag could have gone up and spared the boy's blushes. But he wasn't that lucky. Had Clarke decided to substitute Slicker at the break it would have been an act of mercy. It was almost crueller keeping him out there. Seven minutes into the second half and the Scotland boss must have wished he had. The third goal painful viewing. The way Slicker tried to slap the ball away when it came his way from a Victor Palsson header was just awful. The sympathy supporters had for him was in real danger of turning to anger. But it got worse. The fans were soon ridiculing him. When the lad collected a routine ball that trundled into his penalty area, there were ironic cheers. Clarke really did consider putting him out of his misery at that point as he pulled over John Carver for some advice. But they must have decided it would have been a bigger embarrassment substituting the substitute. Scotland's outfield players never gave up, in fairness. Hirst thought he'd scored in 62 minutes but a VAR check showed he was off-side. Clarke then did made some changes with Che Adams, Scott McKenna and young Lennon Miller thrown on for the final 20 minutes. It was a the Motherwell midfielder's debut but this game won't be remembered for that. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
