
Iraola 'will want to be the guy to take Bournemouth forward'
On the latest episode of BBC Radio Solent podcast Cherries: Unpicked, former Bournemouth Joe Partington says Andoni Iraola will want want to usher the club forward as it progresses on and off the field.Earlier this week Bournemouth's technical director Simon Francis said he is "confident" of keeping Iraola at the club and Partington believes all the activity behind the scenes will make that more likely even while other clubs admire his work."The manager looking to stay is as big of a statement as any of the things he [Francis] said," Partington told Cherries: Unpicked. "The club is only as successful as it is right now off the back of his inclusion. "Obviously people will look back on what Eddie [Howe] has built and his role within everything that's going on at the moment but Iraola is the guy that is looking after the football club right now."As this club progresses into all the infrastructure it's got, into the training ground, into possible European positions - if it's not this year I'm sure the club will now have big eyes on next season - Iraola is going to want to be the guy to do that."Hopefully the advances of other clubs around the world at maybe higher levels or higher statuses in terms of size of clubs aren't enough to prise him away."Listen to the full episode of Cherries: Unpicked on BBC Sounds

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Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
How are the Premier League fixtures put together? Here's everything you need to know about the nine month-long process
FIXING THE LIST How are the Premier League fixtures put together? Here's everything you need to know about the nine month-long process Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) TOMORROW football fans up and down the country will discover who their club's schedule for next season. The fixtures for the Premier League will be released at 9am on Wednesday as supporters plot trips and annual leave, with many visiting new grounds for the first time. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Liverpool are the Premier League champions The fixture list is always eagerly anticipated as fans discover when they'll play their rivals and decide who has been 'shafted' with difficult runs. But with 92 clubs and 2,036 matches across the top four divisions to consider, how are the fixtures exactly decided and how much planning is involved? Here SunSport explains how it all works. How are the fixtures worked out? Despite what fans might think, there is a method to the madness as a random generator doesn't decide who is playing who. The man behind the list is Glenn Thompson, of Atos, an international IT services company, who has collated over 60,000 matches since taking charge back when the Premier League began in 1992. READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS SOUTH POLE Southgate 'offers himself to POLAND as ex-England manager targets shock new job' Thompson, who previously spoke to SunSport in 2018, told the Premier League's website: "For me it begins at the start of the year when I get the playing dates from the Premier League." His opening move is to build up a calendar by first adding all of the international dates from Fifa - which he gets three years in advance. Next up, the European club competitions are added, which Thompson said were more difficult to solve last season "because of the new formats". Thirdly, the FA add their dates for its domestic cup competitions. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS After the cup competitions and friendlies are out of the way, Thompson is finally left with the dates for Prem and league cup matches. He said: "We also consult fan representatives and other stakeholders, to take on board their views." Sports DESK EP18 _9_16 _AP_V6 By March, the Premier League ask fans for special requests around certain home and away fixtures - which is solved while working together with the local police. The league even ask clubs if they have specific wants and needs about playing at home on Boxing Day. Thompson then creates a fixture sequence which places each club in a pairing grid, which defines the dates they will be at home. For every game, the fixture computer knows which clubs are at home and which teams are away, and then it will mix them up at random. Are there any specific rules? In any five matches, sides should get three home ties and two away, with the process then reversed. This system prevents teams from playing successive home or away games at the start or end of the season to avoid a disadvantage. Some clubs will have a partner team that their home games cannot clash with, such as the two Manchester sides, as well as Liverpool and Everton. This season, fierce rivals Sunderland and Newcastle will be added to that Prem partner team list, after the Black Cats won promotion after beating Sheffield United in the Championship play-offs at Wembley. 2 Sunderland have returned to the Premier League for the first time in nine years Credit: Getty In London it gets a bit more complex and less obvious because seven London-based clubs play in the Prem, while seven more feature across the EFL. Another added rule is that if you are scheduled to play at home on Boxing Day, you must travel away on New Year's Day, and vice versa. Thompson said: "We look at whether we have clubs from the same area travelling on the same train lines across the Football League and the Premier League on the same day." What happens if there are any problems? Thompson said: "If we have got any issues, we might have to go back and start again to produce a different set of fixtures. "I'm reviewing the fixtures all the time to ensure other things can be met." The computer is useful during the review because it will provide alternative dates if the Prem want to change a certain fixture. It can be that changing one match requires 40 other changes. On Wednesday, all 20 Prem clubs will learn the provisional dates for all of their fixtures, although some fixtures are subject to change. The exact date and time at which individual matches take place will be determined at regular intervals throughout the season based on TV selections.


Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Rangers and Celtic heroes to lead teams into stunning all-Ireland Champions League shoot-out after box office Euro draw
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE 2025-26 campaign officially got under way today with the first round draws for all the European competitions - and already there's been some major box office. That's because the first round qualifying tie for the Champions League pits Northern Irish champions Linfield against Republic of Ireland champions Shelbourne. 3 Shelbourne manager Damien Duff after his side's victory Credit: Sportsfile 3 Neil Lennon with John Kennedy and Damien Duff Credit: Kenny Ramsay - The Sun Glasgow 3 David Healy, ex-Rangers and Northern Ireland player, Linfield manager Credit: Willie Vass And just happening to take charge of the two teams are Rangers hero David Healy, now of Linfield, and former Celtic first team coach Damien Duff at Shelbourne. They're two massive characters and there was excitement to prior to the draw as everyone knew there was a twenty percent chance of the two teams meeting. Linfield were seeded in Group 2 of the draw, while Shelbourne were unseeded. And the Uefa draw has duly obliged. The first leg in Dublin on 8/9 July and the second in Belfast on 15/16 July. The two teams met in the final of inaugural Setanta Cup competition between the teams from the north and the south, with Linfield running out 2-0 winners. A league and league cup double winner in his time with the Gers, Healy has been linked with various managers jobs in Scotland - most recently Dundee. The Dark Blues were granted permission from Linfield to speak to the ex-Rangers and Northern Ireland striker. But that role went to Steven Pressley instead - leaving the four-time Northern Irish manager of the year at Windsor Park. Former Chelsea, Newcastle and Republic of Ireland winger Duff has been a breath of fresh air since leaving a first team coaching job with the Hoops to embark on his first manager's job at Shelbourne. Celtic transfer special - Nygren in and Kyogo to return They clinched the FAI Premier League title in 2024 and are desperate to emulate or better the European acheivements of Shamrock Rovers, who performed with credit in the Conference League phase last season. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Linfield draw Shelbourne in Champions League qualifying
Irish Premiership winners Linfield have been drawn against Shelbourne in the first round of Champions League qualifying. Shelbourne, managed by former Chelsea and Republic of Ireland winger Damien Duff, won their first League of Ireland Premier Division title in 18 years in 2024 after a dramatic final-day victory over Derry Healy's Linfield won the Irish Premiership by 22 points in an impressive campaign for the first leg in will take place at Tolka Park on Tuesday 8 or Wednesday 9 July, before the return fixture at Windsor Park on 15 or 16 will find out their Uefa Conference League opponents in the first-round draw at 15:00 Magilton's European play-off winners are unseeded and will face one of Icelandic side Vikingur, Partizani of Albania, Floriana from Malta and Gibraltar side St Joseph' Cup winners Dungannon Swifts will discover their second-round opponents on Wednesday.