'Important days still lie ahead for Liverpool'
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BBC News
3 minutes ago
- BBC News
Isak and Newcastle exchange words
Alexander Isak has spoken publicly for the first time since his future became the biggest talking point this summer. Liverpool had a £110m bid rejected for the forward, who is currently not training with the first-team at Newcastle. Isak says Newcastle United have "broken" promises and that "trust is lost" whilst the club say "no commitment has ever been made" that he could leave this summer. In a statement on Instagram Isak wrote: "I've kept quiet for a long time while others have spoken. That silence has allowed people to push their own version of events, even though they know it doesn't reflect what was really said and agreed behind closed doors."The reality is that promises were made and the club has known my position for a long time. To now act as if these issues are only emerging is misleading."When promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can't continue. That's where things are for me right now - and why change is in the best interests of everyone, not just myself."In a later statement Newcastle said: "We are clear in response that Alex remains under contract and that no commitment has ever been made by a club official that Alex can leave Newcastle United this summer."We want to keep our best players, but we also understand players have their own wishes and we listen to their views. "As explained to Alex and his representatives, we must always take into consideration the best interests of Newcastle United, the team and our supporters in all decisions and we have been clear that the conditions of a sale this summer have not transpired. We do not foresee those conditions being met."
The Guardian
3 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Can any club match Liverpool's impressive run of top-eight finishes?
'A mate mentioned the impressive statistic that Liverpool have not finished lower than eighth in the league since being promoted to the old First Division in 1962. Taking the 1962-63 season as the starting point, what is the lowest position that all current Premier League teams have finished between 1963 and the present?' ask the lads at the Star and Dragon Pub, Carbondale, Illinois. 'And what is the lowest any team has fallen that has played at least one season in the top division since 1962-63?' How the mighty haven't fallen. Liverpool have shown remarkable consistency since they were promoted to the top flight 63 years ago. They've finished eighth on four occasions (1962-63, 1993-94, 2011-12 and 2015-16) and are the only English team in that period never to end a season outside the top half of the top flight. Thanks to Pete Salmon and Mike Slattery in particular for doing the work on this answer. Let's start with the lowest positions in the league ladder achieved by the current Premier League teams. Liverpool 8th (1962-63, 1993-94, 2011-12, 2015-16) Arsenal 17th (1975-76) Everton 19th (1979-80)* Manchester United 23rd (first in second tier, 1974-75) Tottenham Hotspur 25th (1977-78) West Ham United 29th (1979-80) Chelsea 40th (1982-83) Newcastle United 42nd (1991-92) Manchester City 47th (third in third tier, 1998-99) Aston Villa 48th (1970-71) Leeds United 49th (2007-08) Nottingham Forest 51st (2005-06) Sunderland 52nd (2019-20) Crystal Palace 55th (1962-63) Wolves 72nd (fourth in fourth tier, 1986-87) Fulham 85th (1995-96) Brentford 87th (1973-74) Bournemouth 89th (2008-09) Burnley 90th (1986-87) Brighton 91st (1996-97, 1997-98) * Everton were not relegated as there were 22 teams in the English top flight. Fifty-eight teams have played in the top flight since Liverpool's promotion in the summer of 1962. Six have dropped out of the Football League at some stage: Carlisle, Leyton Orient, Luton, Notts County, Oldham and Oxford. The lowest finishers of the six were Leyton Orient, who came 13th in the National League (105th overall) in 2017-18. While we're here, we looked at the lowest positions achieved by various European giants in the same period. Before anyone starts foaming at the exclusion of Beloved Superstars FC, we restricted it to teams who have won the European Cup/Champions League more than once. Here's how the European Super League (Legacy Edition) looks; the big numbers are the lowest league position for each team. Barcelona 1962-63, 1964-65, 1987-88, 2002-03 Benfica 2000-01 Liverpool 1962-63, 1993-94, 2011-12, 2015-16 Porto 1969-70 Real Madrid 1976-77 Bayern Munich 1977-78 Ajax 1964-65 Internazionale 1993-94 Milan 1980-81, 1982-83 (first in Serie B) Juventus 2006-07 (first in Serie B) Manchester United 1974-75 Chelsea 1982-83 Nottingham Forest 2005-06 'I've now seen Crystal Palace lift four different trophies at Wembley (Zenith Data Systems Cup, Championship playoff trophy, FA Cup, Community Shield),' writes Toby Kinder. 'Manchester United and Liverpool never managed the ZDS, but have both won the European Cup there, as well as all the domestic trophies, so are probably on four too. Can any other club beat that?' Selhurst Park, Sunday, 2pm is all we have to say on this subject. 'I feel bad for doing this, given the manufactured beef stirred up between our clubs this summer, but Nottingham Forest can go (at least) one better than Palace when it comes to winning different trophies at Wembley,' says Jim Hearson. 'Forest can see the Eagles' FA Cup (1959), Charity/Community Shield (1978), Championship playoff trophy (2022) and Full Members' Cup – both Simod and ZDS varieties (1989, 1992) – and raise them a handful of League Cups (1979, 1989, 1990). Jim adds: 'Forest were also victorious at the Wembley-held Football League Centenary Tournament in 1988 but, as they weren't full-length matches, some uncharitable types may not wish to count it.' Chelsea have also won five trophies at Wembley: FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, Full Members' Cup … and the League South Cup in 1945. 'Chelsea beat Millwall 2-0 in front of a crowd of 90,000,' writes Julian Croker. 'Eight of the team were actually guest players registered to other clubs.' Tom Solano nominates West Ham, whose five trophies were the Football League War Cup, FA Cup, Charity Shield, Cup Winners' Cup and Championship playoff. Sadly, we can't count the 1966 World Cup, won by a Hammers-heavy England at Wembley. In the Knowledge last week we looked at footballers whose names were song titles, a question inspired by CMAT's Vincent Kompany. Thanks to the dozens of you – we had no idea there were so many readers – who sent in some of the songs we'd missed. We've included links for the most popular/interesting ones, with the rest rounded up at the bottom. Thiago Silva – Dave ft AJ Tracey George Best – The Wedding PresentThis is an album rather than a song The Scent of Roy Keane – SHLUG Hamish (the Goalie) – Michael MarraA tribute to Dundee United's Hamish McAlpine, covered here by – yep – Leo Sayer Bob Wilson, Anchorman – Half Man, Half Biscuit Roger Milla – Pepe Kalle 'It's been my ringtone for years,' writes Billy. 'Nothing better.' Ich, Roque – Sportfreunde Stiller 'Roque Santa Cruz even stars in the video,' writes Jonas Jessen. The Ballad of Paul Tierney – Lonely Tourist'Includes the glorious lines: 'The gaffer wants a word with you / We're sending you on loan to Crewe',' says Declan Kehoe. God's Footballer – Billy Bragg (about Peter Knowles) Strachan – The Hitchers Zola – Wonder Villains'The man himself appears in the video!' writes Meabh in Belfast. We've rounded up the rest below, splitting them by position to avoid one never-ending list of songs we'll possibly never hear anyway. Goalkeepers Kasey Keller – Barcelona | Edwin van der Sar – Dackelblut Defenders Titus Bramble – Kruz Leone and Duppy | Julian Dicks, the Terminator – Flat Back Four | Bobby Moore Was Innocent – Serious Drinking | Joey Jones – The Declan Swans | Sliding In (Like McGrain) – Big Wednesday | Nice One Cyril – Cockerel Chorus Midfielders Declan Rice – ODUMODUBLVCK | Paul Scholes – Yukari Fresh | (Jamie) Jamie Pollock – International Strike Force | Dele – Taco Hemingway | Bakayoko – Taco Hemingway | Roy Keane – Brame and Hamo | Gary Speed – Lars Vaular Forwards Romário – Depth Charge | #RiyadMahrez – RK ft Sofiane & Hornet La Frappe | Ashley Barnes – Bacchus | Charlie George on Super 8 – Flyscreen | Mario Balotelli – Ruff Sqwad | Wayne Rooney – Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit | Johnny Rep – Mickey 3D | Drogba (Joanna) – Afro B | Hitti-litti Litmanen – Martti Servo | Messi – Neo Pistea | Kubala – Joan Manuel Serrat | Robin Friday – Mirror Pictures | When Robin Friday went to Cardiff – The Deckchairs | My Friend Cubilas (sic) – Badly Drawn Boy | Riquelme – Lukid | Eric Cantona Stomp – Superpunk | Johnny G (The Guidetti Song) – Badpojken ft Frida Green | Bergkamp – Midfield General Manager Jurgen – Scorcher ft D Double E Finally, Brendan Herron comes bearing information about an entire album of songs about footballers. 'A couple of years back, a Belgian DJ (and amateur footballer) in Berlin by the name of Gratts asked each of his fellow DJ mates to contribute a track to a compilation album. There's more background on this Bandcamp page. And here is the track list in full: Paco Buyo Tony Yeboah Tony Vairelles The Flying Dutchman Ik West Het, Philippe Albert O Fenomeno Discorentin Martins Romário's Pants Gheorghe Boy George Best Clayton Blackmore We'll be honest, we did not expect to be finishing a section on songs named after the footballers with the words 'Clayton' and 'Blackmore'. 'On Sunday Scott Brown, Celtic midfielder and Scotland captain, scored against Scott Brown, Aberdeen goalkeeper,' wrote Paul Reilly in 2015. 'Are there any other instances of a player scoring past his namesake?' As Scott Walden emailed to point out, in 2012-13 Gloucester City had the pleasing combination at the back of goalkeeper Mike Green and central defender Mike Green. Confusion was always likely to be a risk and it came to a calamitous head in September in an FA Cup second qualifying round fixture against Thatcham Town. Four minutes before the break, the Tigers were 1-0 and cruising. Then disaster struck. The Gloucester Citizen picks up the tale: '[Jack] Coventry worked some space on the left but his cross looked to be nothing more than a speculative effort. However, left-back Green and Matt Coupe got their wires crossed in trying to clear and the former poked out a foot and sent the ball past his goalkeeper and into the net.' A bad day for Mike Green and Mike Green ended well however, with Gloucester running out 2-1 winners. 'Seven of the nine matches in Ligue 1 last weekend finished 1-0,' notes Liam Togher. 'That's 78% of the games. Has there ever been a more common instance of one specific scoreline in a single gameweek?' 'Shelbourne and Linfield meet in the Conference League tomorrow, just over a month after they played each other in Champions League qualifying. Has this happened before? If so, who were the first teams to play each other in two different European competitions in the same season?' asks Mad Mac. 'Every member of Tottenham's starting XI in the Uefa Super Cup represented a different nationality: Italy, Austria, Argentina, the Netherlands, Spain, Uruguay, Portugal, England, Senegal, Ghana and Brazil. Add Lucas Bergvall for Sweden, Mathys Tel (and several PSG players) for France, players representing Morocco, Ecuador, Georgia and South Korea turning out for PSG, and unused subs from Russia, Czechia, Wales and Croatia. I make that 17 nationalities on the pitch and 21 in total. Is this the most nationally diverse football match of all time?' wonders Jack Hayward. 'While the league table on gameweek one is pretty meaningless, I do like the anomaly of a team who hasn't played yet being comfortably mid-table with zero points. The question is, how long into a season has it ever been where the bottom three failed to score any points, so hypothetically a team who hadn't played any games at all would still be outside the relegation zone?' wonders James Rowland. Mail us with your questions and answers
BBC News
3 minutes ago
- BBC News
Isak's future - what happens now?
Alexander Isak and Newcastle United have exchanged words regarding the striker's future. You can read them all what do you think will happen now? Will he join Liverpool or stay put?Get in touch with your views here
