'Routine cup win partly restores Aberdeen feel-good factor'
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Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Surprise Premier League star wins PFA Young Player of the Year - beating top-flight rivals including Liam Delap and Myles Lewis-Skelly
A surprise Premier League star has claimed the prestigious PFA Young Player of the Year award after a strong season in the English top flight and in Europe. Last season saw a number of young up-and-coming stars burnish their credentials in the top division, with a raft of boldface names making the short list for the award. Among them were Arsenal teenage talent Myles Lewis-Skelly, and Chelsea new boy Liam Delap, whose doomed heroics for relegated Ipswich Town helped him secure a blockbuster move to west London ahead of this summer's Club World Cup. Another Arsenal star in Ethan Nwaneri also made the cut, with newly minted Real Madrid star Dean Huijsen, and Liverpool 's new signing Milos Kerkez rounding out the pack. But the winner - as voted for by the association's membership - was instead Morgan Rogers, on the heels of his impressive campaign for Aston Villa. The 23-year-old was hotly pursued by Unai Emery following his break-out campaign for Middlesborough in 2023-24. Rogers beat out fellow short-listed nominees including Chelsea's Liam Delap and Myles Lewis-Skelly of Arsenal But since his move to Villa Park, Rogers has proven he was everything the Spanish manager had hoped he was recruiting and more, scoring 14 goals across all competitions in his debut campaign, and registering a further 16 assists. Rogers also netted his first Champions League hat-trick in the Villans' 4-2 despatch of Celtic to reach the last 16 in January. However, Rogers' lightning quick transition to the Premier League could yet prove Aston Villa's undoing. The Manchester City academy graduate has attracted attention during the ongoing summer transfer window, with Chelsea thought to be particularly keen to reunite Rogers with his former youth team-mate - and last year's Young Player of the Year - Cole Palmer. Villa are so keen on keeping hold of their young starlet that Daily Mail Sport reported at the end of last month that the club are set to offer Rogers improved terms just one year on from signing his first deal. Rogers featured in the first match of Villa's Premier League campaign, a goalless draw against Newcastle. The starlet had been a doubt after picking up an injury in pre-season, but after training with Emery's squad in the build-up last week, Rogers was able to play the full 90 minutes at Villa Park. In the women's campaign, the PFA honour went to Arsenal's Olivia Smith, after the star completed her first season in English football last term. Once Canada's youngest senior international, Smith spent the 2024-25 campaign at Liverpool before booking a record-breaking move to their WSL rivals in North London.
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Celtic pay your wages, so do your job! Rodgers calls for players to ignore the unsettling chaos of transfer window
It's not just the prospect of a 7,000-mile round trip to Kazakhstan next week which is offering Brendan Rodgers grounds for concern at this moment. While the addition of several serious operators would appear to be the minimum requirement for Celtic manager across the next fortnight, it's conceivable that the closing days of the transfer window may also see certain players moving in the opposite direction. The challenge which Kairat Almaty may pose Celtic is likely to be substantial enough across both legs of this Champions League play-off. Just as dangerous, from Rodgers' perspective, would be fielding players whose minds are not fully focused on the job at hand. Speculation linking Reo Hatate with a move has abounded for over a year. It will swirl around Daizen Maeda's head for as a long as he keeps a contact extension at arm's length. The same applies to Auston Trusty. No international defender can ever be content sitting on the bench. Adam Idah has also yet to consistently deliver in the manner of a Celtic striker. Until such time as any of their situations change, though, they will be Celtic players. And as Rodgers was quick to stress yesterday, that comes with a big responsibility. Reo Hatate is one Celtic player whose future continues to be the subject of conjecture 'I've been in enough changing rooms to know how stability can be lost in this moment because some players will be thinking, are they staying, are they going?' he said. 'But in the midst of that, you've got really important games. 'So, I've already mentioned this to players a number of weeks back, just about respecting and acknowledging that it is a difficult part of the season. 'The money will be in your bank every month and it'll be from Celtic. And whilst it is, you need to perform. So, you don't need to worry about anything else. 'I respect and acknowledge that it can be tough. It's basically, are you going to be here or are you not? Celtic pay your wages and while they do, you focus on doing the very best you can for Celtic.' Falling just as clubs around the world begin to finalise their plans for the first part of the season, the scheduling of these play-offs is far from ideal. Rodgers has endured them three times before. Before a sore defeat away to AEK Athens came two experiences which probably still have the Celtic manager breaking out in a cold sweat. After a resounding 5-2 win over Hapoel Be'er Sheva in 2016, the Parkhead men put their manager through a second leg in Israel which he claimed was akin to being put in a tumble drier. 'I think the Be'er Sheva one was the best 2-0 loss I ever had in my life,' he said with a smile. 'It was funny, because we were so good in the game here, and then we conceded a couple of late goals for 5-2, and then all of a sudden over there we're 2-0 down. 'And then the guy at the end of the game, he's had a brilliant shot from outside the box that looked like it was rocketing right into the top corner for 3-0. But we got through, and that was important.' A year later, came Astana. A 5-0 home leg framed the return in Kazakhstan as a formality. Or so we thought. 'Okay, the end result, the end aggregate score, that was 8-4,' Rodgers recalled. 'But there was a little period in the second half where we had to calm everything down. 'We conceded three quick goals to put it to 6-4. At the end, it didn't look like there was anything to worry about, but you always have moments.' The aggregate loss to the Greeks the following year came against a backdrop of much disquiet at a lack of new signings. Not too far removed from the current situation, you might say. No doubt recognising that his choice of words back then probably didn't help the situation, Rodgers now cuts a more diplomatic figure. 'You're a little bit more philosophical on it,' he said. 'It's so important because that emotion can get through with players. 'There's even more noise now around the game, not just Celtic, but around the game. 'But it is very much experience that helps you massively, of course. 'It's understanding that you can control what you can in the squad of players that you have.' Even for seasoned observers of transfer windows at Celtic, this summer has been a truly bewildering affair. The recalibration of the Champions League means there's £40million on the line across the next week but, to date, the Scottish champions have acted like a punter trying to win a jackpot without first buying a ticket. Still without a replacement for Kyogo Furuhashi eight months on from his departure, the bulk of the £16.5m the club received from Como for Nicolas Kuhn has still to be reinvested. Rodgers remains hopeful, though, that the necessary additions can yet be made. 'I think that we gave a hint last season of what we can do when we improved the squad last year and went into the Champions League in a really good way,' he said. 'We felt we showed what we can do at the level. And for me, the job is to keep trying to develop and, at minimum, sustain that. 'And for that, you need that constant improvement of your squad. But currently, where this group's at, with what we have, the players are doing very, very well.' Celtic will still be expected to progress across these two games, but it would be foolish for anyone to underestimate the challenge offered by the champions of Kazakhstan. Having started in the first qualifying round, Kairat have taken care of Olimpija Ljubljana, KuPS then Slovan Bratislava. They are deserving of every respect Celtic will afford them. 'Like a lot of teams at this level, in qualification and in the Champions League, they're a team that's used to winning,' said Rodgers. 'You also look at them, they're 20 games into their season. So, they're going to be at a good level of fitness. 'They're a team that like to build the game from behind, mostly short. And then as they progress through the pitch, full-backs go high, wingers come on the inside. So, really what you expect from a modern team at a really good level. 'They're technically strong and play some really good football.'
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Two stars SNUBBED in PFA Team of the Year despite both being nominated for top individual prize, but who joined Arsenal trio and Mo Salah in best XI?
The Premier League Team of the Year was revealed at the PFA awards in Manchester on Tuesday night with two glaring omissions. Despite Cole Palmer and Bruno Fernandes being among the nominees for Player of the Year, neither made the final XI chosen. Of the six stars nominated for Player of the Year, Palmer and Fernandes were the only ones not to then slot into the Team of the Year side and neither man turned up to the awards ceremony. The winners of each award are voted for by their fellow members of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Of course, Mo Salah, who claimed that top prize was the obvious inclusion at right wing. It was the 33-year-old's fourth inclusion after he spearheaded Liverpool 's title charge with 29 league goals. Alexis Mac Allister and partner Ailen Cova were on the red carpet for the awards on Tuesday Instead of Fernandes and Palmer, two more Liverpool midfielders were selected in Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, while Declan Rice was the third man in the engine room. Mac Allister scored five goals and delivered five assists. Gravenberch proved to be revelation in the No 6 role for the Reds as Arne Slot led them to their second Premier League crown in his first season in charge. Rice was the cornerstone of Arsenal's strong season in the middle of the pitch and is joined by fellow Gunners Gabriel and William Saliba. Virgil van Dijk makes the team for the fifth time and his new team-mate at Anfield, Milos Kerkez, also makes the cut after a stellar season for Bournemouth. Nottingham Forest's brilliant campaign sees them have two representatives, one at each end of the pitch. Chris Wood scored 20 league goals and is rewarded with a spot up front, while the golden glove winner Matz Sels is in between the sticks having kept 13 clean sheets. The other forward in the team is one facing an uncertain future. Alexander Isak is named in the line-up after his hugely impressive 27 goals in all competitions. The PFA Premier League Team of the Year - voted for by the players. 👏 #PFAawards — PFA (@PFA) August 19, 2025 It was also his goal that proved decisive in the League Cup final win over Liverpool - who remain interested in signing the Swede before the transfer window shuts in what would be a Premier League record move. In addition to Mo Salah's PFA Player of the Year award, Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa scooped the Young Player of the Year prize. The 23-year-old recorded 14 goals and 16 assists in all competitions, seeing off Liam Delap, Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri. Olivia Smith claimed the Women's Young Player of the Year award after a superb season for Liverpool that led to a record-breaking summer move to Arsenal. She will team up with Mariona Caldentey, who won the PFA Women's Player of the Year award after netting 19 times in all competitions for the Gunners. Emma Hayes and Gareth Southgate were both recognised with PFA Merit awards on the night.
