Why The Open at Royal Portrush will be a better advert for Northern Ireland than Euro 2028 could ever be
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Metro
9 minutes ago
- Metro
Gyokeres' goals must fire Gunners to silverware or Arteta will feel the heat
Mikel Arteta will be out of excuses if Arsenal fail to win significant silverware this season with the imminent arrival of Viktor Gyokeres from Portuguese side Sporting. The Gunners have been desperately crying out for a prolific forward to finish off their exciting attacking play as they chase their first Premier League title in more than two decades and it is imperative the Sweden international cuts it in the English top flight. A fee has been agreed to take the marksman to the Emirates and the deal is expected to be officially announced by the end of the week, pending a medical. Gyokeres looks a phenomenal player and was the top scorer in Europe last season with 39 goals in the Portuguese Liga, which is more than Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak, Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski, Lautaro Martinez, Kylian Mbappe and any other hot shot you care to mention netted in their domestic divisions. He also scored six times in the Champions League, celebrating a hat-trick in a 4-1 home win against Manchester City while also bagging goals against Lille, Sturm Graz and RB Leipzig and has yet to hit his prime as he has only just turned 27. The flip side of the coin is that the top-flight in Portugal isn't the strongest of competitions and Gyokeres failed to deliver at Brighton before being sold to Coventry where he excelled for the Sky Blues with goals galore, albeit in the Championship. There is also the concern that Gunners boss Arteta has misfired in previous deals for forwards who should net around 20 league goals a term with the £45m move for Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus and the £65m spent to bring in Kai Havertz from Chelsea failing to deliver the goods – and that's not factoring in Raheem Sterling's disastrous loan spell from the Blues. Arteta has harped on about believing in his process since taking charge of the Emirates hotseat from Arsène Wenger in December 2019 but the FA Cup success against Chelsea the following May is the only trophy he has won unless you count the 2020 and 2023 Community Shields as major reasons to celebrate. As well as Gyokeres, Arsenal have splashed out on wideman Noni Madueke, midfielders Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard and back-up goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga this summer and could also add another striker if they can shift a few squad players, making them strong contenders to win their first Premier League crown in 21 years at 5/2 with Coral, Ladbrokes and Betway. But tellingly, Bet Victor have opened a book on who will be the Gunners' next manager, with Simone Inzaghe the favourite at 4/1 and Diego Simone 10/1 as it increasingly looks like it's win or bust for Mikel. Scottie Scheffler's first public appearance since winning his first Claret Jug by winning the Open at Royal Portrush was at the premiere of Happy Gilmore 2, starring Adam Sandler, in New York. The original is nowhere near as good as Caddyschack in our book, but in any case Scheff will be able to reflect at leisure on the merits of the two comedies as he misses the 3M Open on the outskirts of Minnesota. More Trending Tony Finau joined the world No.1 on the red carpet for the long-awaited film and is 30/1 to top the leaderboard on Sunday while Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup, who stood tall when finishing a solo third near the Giant's Causeway, is 20/1 with the same firms. World youth champion Gian van Veen landed our bet to beat Danny Noppert by more than 2.5 legs at the Winter Gardens and he can beat James Wade at 3/4 with Ladbrokes and Coral in round three while Stephen Bunting is 10/11 with William Hill and bet365 to power past Jonny Clayton after his 12-10 success against Gary Anderson. MORE: Arsenal urged to sign free agent after £63m Viktor Gyokeres transfer MORE: Arsenal hero makes confident goals prediction for 'machine' Viktor Gyokeres MORE: Premier League club tipped to land treble after impressive summer transfer window
Rhyl Journal
9 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Lord Allen proposals given full support of Jockey Club
Allen was due to take up the role on June 2 but his tenure was delayed as the BHA said he wished to 'continue meeting stakeholders to better inform his vision for the sport'. The BHA board currently has an independent chair, four independent directors and four member-nominated directors – two from the racecourses and two nominated by the sport's participants – but Allen wants to change that arrangement. Racecourses' ownership of media rights and fixtures is reportedly one of the sticking points for a proposed governance shake-up, but Jockey Club CEO Jim Mullen feels that while further discussion on such matters is necessary, it would be to the sport's benefit to create a 'stronger regulatory body'. He said: 'Without a strong regulator it's not possible for any sport to thrive and that's why we are fully supportive of Lord Allen's proposals for a fully independent BHA Board. 'There are still details on certain issues which will need to be thrashed out in time and to expect everyone to agree on everything would be unrealistic at best, a potential barrier to meaningful change at worst. 'We recognise that ownership of media rights and fixtures are extremely important to the profitably of racecourses and that's where we are aligned with small and large independent courses and RCA members. 'However, we don't believe that those views are incompatible with our strongly held opinion that British racing requires a fully independent regulator which is empowered to drive change, not only to benefit the sport now but for generations to come. 'We're supportive of the consultative approach that Lord Allen is taking and the importance he has placed on taking counsel from those across the sport before forming an opinion. Ultimately, whether Lord Allen takes up his role or not, a process has started which we think has the very real potential to create a stronger regulatory body.'
Daily Record
9 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Golf star Charley Hull relives scary double collapse as quick thinking medic averts disaster
Hull almost cracked her head on a concrete slab as she fainted at the women's Major before being carted off the scene. Charley Hull has lifted the lid on the 'scary' moment when she collapsed twice on course. The English star opened up on the frightening events two weeks ago at the Evian Championship. Hull almost cracked her head on a concrete slab as she fainted at the women's Major before being carted off the scene. The 29-year-old is getting back to herself, but, as she prepared for the start of the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open at Dundonald, she opened up in Ayrshire on the harrowing incident. Hull said: 'It was scary, but it was weird. It was actually quite scary, but at the time, I just wanted to finish my round. So I was gutted that I didn't. But I don't know if anyone ever fainted before. 'When I woke up from fainting I felt like I'd come out of a really nice deep sleep. I felt really nice. I was like: Oh, this feels good. That's not my bedroom. I see birds above me and about 15 people around me and I was like, where the f--- am I? Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to swear. But yeah, that's what I see when it happened. 'I was feeling really rough on the Monday and I was being sick all day because I flew home after Ireland. And then Tuesday I woke up and I still wasn't feeling very well. 'I had a practice round and I was just so tired. All my bones were aching in my body and I had a really high temperature. "Next day I played the Pro-Am and I soldiered through because I didn't want to let my Pro-Am team down. But I felt really rough and all my bones were aching still. 'Then I woke up on Thursday and I felt really dizzy, cold sweats, had no energy. I got through about 12 holes and was actually playing really solid golf. I teed off on the back nine, so third hole of the course, which was my 12th hole, I felt really dizzy and I was in the bunker hitting a fairway shot and I had to sit down for a minute because my eyesight went and my hearing went. "I don't know if anyone has ever fainted before, but your eyesight goes and then your hearing goes and then it goes all muffled. So I sat down, got up, hit my bunker shot, actually nearly made birdie. Walked to the next tee, called the medics and then before I hit my tee shot, my eyesight went again, my hearing went and then my knees gave away and I collapsed and fainted. 'Then I got back up, hit my tee shot. I was thinking, I've only got six holes left. I've got some birdie holes. Just finish the day, get to three-or-four-under and I'm sound. 'Walked off the tee box, 20 yards off, I don't even remember anything. My caddie said my eyes rolled to the back of my head and I was out for over a minute. And the security guard and the medic caught me just before I was about to hit my head on a concrete slab. So I was out for a minute. 'Every time I stood up, I fainted. That's why I had to get a stretcher out, which was quite embarrassing, but there you go. IV drip on me. They took my blood pressure. It was 80/50 which is quite low. My blood sugar was 0.4. I think I just had a really bad virus. 'Then I asked my agent, Vicky, to text the Commissioner saying: Is there any chance Charley can finish her round this evening? Obviously you can't but I was gutted. I just had no energy since then, really. 'I still don't feel a hundred percent now, like, 80 percent. Probably won't see me strolling 30 yards ahead of everyone [this week] like I usually do. Probably be 30 yards behind everyone, but I'll get it done. 'I'm not going to go to the gym for another two weeks. Need my immune system to check up with myself. 'There's a lot of swine flu going around. There's a lot of COVID going around and my cousin actually had COVID and she was in Ireland with me. I've not seen her for two weeks and she started feeling pretty ill and I started feeling pretty ill.'
