Rangers 4-2 Alloa: What Martin said
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BBC News
13 minutes ago
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Beth Shriever says third BMX world title is 'pretty crazy'
A BMX Olympic champion has described winning her third world title as "pretty crazy".Great Britain's Beth Shriever, 26, triumphed in the 2025 World Championships in Denmark earlier this from Finchingfield, Essex, completed the race in 35.614 told BBC Essex: "It's pretty crazy to be honest. Not many people have done it three times. It feels pretty special and I just want to keep it going." Shriever came last in the Olympic final last summer but won her second European title this year before completing her world title said winning a medal at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games was her "next big goal".She said she had to overcome extreme weather during the semi-final in Denmark. "The conditions were some of the worst I've ever ridden in - it was torrential rain pretty much from the minute we got up to the finals," she said."Luckily, the track held out OK. I stayed calm and weaved my way through."She said she was in disbelief that she had made it to the final but said she was "hungry" and "motivated" after the Paris Games. "It's all I know and I absolutely love BMX," she said."It's been a crazy journey."You never know how long a BMX career is, so I'm just making the most of it."I literally travel the world and ride a little kid's bike for a living. I'm so lucky. I'm so grateful." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
13 minutes ago
- BBC News
'I'm always under pressure' - how Man Utd plan to restore 'good days'
Ruben Amorim used the previous Premier League game at Old Trafford to deliver the most difficult post-season address at Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson reflected on 'the most traumatic seven days in the history of the modern club' in Ferguson was looking back on a shocking week, when his side lost three successive games to effectively hand what seemed certain to be a first league title in 25 years to Leeds with a game to had a sizeable straw to clutch at given his side had won silverware in three successive campaigns. As it turned out, the long wait to be champions was extended by just 12 was no safe island that offered Amorim similar refuge on 25 May."I want to apologise for this season," he said. "Now, we have to make a choice or we stay stuck in the past. We either fight each other or we stick together and move forward."Today after this disaster season I want to tell you: 'The good days are coming'."Amorim has said he will be more cautious with his public statements over the coming months than he has been so far as United's head will be a shame if he sticks to this pledge because he speaks with refreshing openness and honesty, which is fabulous for journalists, and also engenders a hope for success from those who appreciate his direct the problem applying spin about a brighter future when addressing a dreadful present is that the future eventually becomes the present, which is where Amorim is now. How Amorim has adjusted to life at Man Utd There are few clubs more scrutinised in world football than Manchester United."I am always under pressure to perform," said Amorim, as he looked ahead to the Arsenal game. "It is impossible to be here and not feel the pressure every day."Amorim has been United manager for nine months. In that time, he was won 15 games and lost 16, including the most important one, to Tottenham in Bilbao in the Europa League has also been to Malaysia, where his team were booed off, Hong Kong and the United States. Tens of thousands of fans turned up to watch his side in each of these places. For every game of the double header in the Premier League Summer Series, an initially sparse crowd for match one turned into an attendance of about 50,000 for the second. That is the reality of life at United. The demands and the numbers of those doing the demanding - fans, sponsors, broadcasters - are now understands this and has made subtle tweaks to reduce the has put together a six-player leadership group - Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Noussair Mazraoui, Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot - to run the dressing room so he doesn't have to.A conscious decision has been taken to reduce his media commitments - both internal and external - to allow him to spend more time 'on the grass'. Even the new media room at United's Carrington training ground has been strategically placed to minimise the distance from his office and the coaches' room close is by nature a jovial figure. A smile is never far from his face. This summer, that has transmitted itself to the training word from the pre-season training camp in Chicago has been one of positivity. Players are encouraged to take responsibility rather than adhere to the prescriptive discipline of Erik ten Hag's time. Amorim does not have the same stern demeanour as the Dutchman, either when speaking with his players or his is very much a modern man, engaging with fans and happy to take numerous selfies as he routinely stops to meet them at Old Trafford, sometimes two hours after a game has a code of conduct has been laid out covering a range of subjects, with timekeeping amongst them. Failure to adhere to group standards will not be was in Chicago where he made the startling admission he travelled to games last term fearing for what was going to for his current assessment on Friday, his response was measured: "Confident."I know in some moments we will struggle because it is a game against Arsenal [on Sunday]. But we are more prepared, I think."I feel we have more players who can help us to change the momentum of the game. We have more options. If things are not working well, we can change things. That gives me more confidence in every game." What impact will summer rebuild have? Amorim could be excused for thinking someone is having a cruel joke at his expense when he assesses an opening that starts with Arsenal at Old Trafford, includes a trip to Manchester City and home game with Chelsea in United's first five games, and then Liverpool at Anfield in match eight on 18 that point, it will almost be 12 months since the dismissal of Ten Hag and assessments will be being made about what has that is the led by chief executive Omar Berrada, went for an imaginative choice rather than the safe options - which included Marco Silva, Thomas Frank and Graham Potter - suggested by then sporting director Dan Ashworth as Ten Hag's came to prominence at Sporting by delivering outstanding results with a specific formation. Three central defenders, wing-backs and two inside forwards behind a number nine. The immediate collateral damage in shaping a United squad to fit that system was the discarding of five players - four of whom are senior internationals who prefer to play full extent of the additional impact Amorim has made by bringing in Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, at a combined cost in the region of £200m, to fill the attacking roles remains to be the intention is for skipper Fernandes to play deeper in one of the two midfield slots. How much meaningful time on the pitch is afforded to England duo Mason Mount and Kobbie Mainoo, whose contract stand-off remains unresolved, is open to the back, team selections in five unbeaten games in three countries across pre-season, suggest Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt are battling for a single slot as the middle defender, while Luke Shaw and Lisandro Martinez, when fit, are vying to be first choice on the left of the Ligt has proved adept at moving into midfield when United's keeper has the ball. This, Amorim reasons, clears the space for his side to get possession into the areas of the field where they can cause more damage. Fernandes' task, in Amorim's ideal world, is to get on the ball as often as possible, and then make the right all very technical. In theory, it also provides support in midfield, which tended to be completely overrun during Ten Hag's time because the Dutchman wanted to stretch the space in that area of the field, something Casemiro was not able to do, while none of those asked to partner him made a particular success of game intelligence, his ability to read situations and the Brazilian's calmness under pressure brought him back into favour under Amorim towards the end of last 33-year-old does not have limitless energy but he was preferred to Christian Eriksen, who was about to leave the club, and, more significantly, Manuel Ugarte, who cost £50.8m to sign from PSG less than 12 months ago, for the Europa League final against Tottenham in May, which United seems Amorim regards finding an upgrade in this area of the pitch to be more of a priority than replacing goalkeeper Andre Onana. That Amorim talks a good game is not in question. Now his team have to target is clear. Amorim has said European qualification is the aim. His players have said the same. More importantly, a financial outlook provided for the club by an external agency spoke about delivering a place in the Europa League at the end of this season as a stepping stone to a return to the Champions League in would be unfair to judge United's season on one game, or even eight looking at that fixture list. But, as Amorim has previously said, he used up a lot of goodwill from the stands last promised this season will be better. It has to be.
Daily Record
42 minutes ago
- Daily Record
I know what Russell Martin's Rangers credibility really depends on before Champions League
Shug has heard the verbal gymnastics Martin is using the somersault over an inconvenient truth before and it usually ends one way My Radio Clyde colleague Andy Halliday is the Motherwell player who once held up his hand by way of an apology for scoring against Rangers in a cup tie at Hampden. So when he uses another part of his anatomy and publicly boots Russell Martin's backside over the Ibrox head coach's tactics – and the 'mythical' nature of his work – you know there's a serious case of diminishing credibility going on. The coach's credibility. Not the pundit's reputation. Which is why Russell really needs to think before he speaks as the man under fire from media and supporters alike, approaches the two-week spell that could shape his destiny at Ibrox. Prior to the Champions League qualifier with Viktoria Plzen in the Czech Republic last Tuesday, Martin surveyed the start to the season up until that point and put an individual slant on it by saying his team had gone five matches in a row without defeat. He had managed, therefore, to put a positive spin on the loss of four league points, by virtue of draws away to Motherwell and at home to Dundee. This assessment put Russell in a world of his own due to the fact there wasn't a Rangers fan anywhere who would have used those verbal gymnastics to somersault over the inconvenient truth – that those two results were unacceptable in the grand scheme of things. It was reminiscent of Martin's predecessor Philippe Clement when he took off on his various flights of fantasy – like calling a three-all draw with Celtic at Ibrox a 'moral victory'. If the Belgian had interpreted dropping four points in two league games as being part of a five-game run without defeat he would have been ridiculed and his words used in evidence against him. Martin is no different. It's no longer a debate about his team being leaked. The conversation has turned to the leaks in his team. Rangers' play-off round tie against Club Brugge at Ibrox on Tuesday now puts the Champions League into context for Russell in the wake of the decision to reinstate the Premiership fixture with St Mirren next weekend. The European game's elite competition is all very well ... But it is of secondary importance when it comes to avoiding the potential embarrassment of falling 10 points behind Celtic in the league. Suffering that fate at the hands of the team across the road on the other side of the city after just four Premiership matches is clearly thought to be out of the question by the Ibrox hierarchy. It would place an intolerable strain on Martin and create widespread unrest among the club's support. Rangers are addressing the worst-case scenario and forfeiting a rest period in between the home leg and the away tie against Club Brugge, which will determine who enters the Champions League. I fully understand there are other scenarios available, such as Celtic dropping points against Livingston or St Mirren defeating Rangers to render the rearrangement of that match a literally pointless exercise. But it is the possibility of the nuclear fallout from an Old Firm defeat, which puts a double-digit gap between the sides, that is the only reason for putting the Champions League second on Rangers list of priorities. Martin's position, bizarre as it may seem to those not born and brought up in the Old Firm's singular environment, would become untenable in the eyes of many if a derby defeat occurred. An underwhelming appointment for some would become an overwhelming disappointment for most. Andrew Cavanagh and the 49ers Enterprises consortium would come under sustained pressure to review the cataclysmic collapse of the transition from old school leadership at Ibrox to the new frontier of American ownership. So, rather than tempt providence, the lure of the glamour that comes with mixing in the company of Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and the rest of Europe's aristocracy has taken second place to the need for a successful day out in Paisley. The only way I could explain the separate life form that is the Old Firm's rivalry to another radio colleague, Livingston coach Marvin Bartley, was to recount to him the story of my wedding day. Big Marv is London born. I told him a Glasgow story. I was married on the afternoon of August 14, 1971 on the day Rangers played Celtic at Ibrox. I had to send my best man out into the church grounds to plead with the congregation to come inside so the marriage ceremony could begin. They were glued to transistor radios trying to find out the half-time score in Govan and were oblivious to my nuptials. And 54 years later, the fixture like no other still takes precedence over all else. Rangers' head coach needs to absorb that lesson for his own good while fighting to win the fans' trust.
