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The Guardian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Rangers and a slapstick fiasco that gave Martin a furious dose of fatal realism
Football Daily would never publicly admit that our life is so meaningless, empty and utterly devoid of purpose that we occasionally spend our leisure time perusing the fan forums of random clubs with whom we have no affiliation just to pass the time. No, that would be embarrassing so it was purely in the interests of diligent professional research that we spent the buildup to one of last night's Bigger Cup qualifiers scrutinising the long pre-match thread on a forum devoted to one fitba club in particular, all the better to gauge the mood among Rangers fans before their first leg against Club Brugge. Before a ball had been kicked, it was one of cautious optimism that was quickly replaced by fatal realism and no end of radge-induced McEffing and McJeffing a mere three minutes after kick-off. That's how long it took for the hesitant-to-the-point-of-slumbering Rangers duo Nasser Djiga and Jack Butland to contrive to concede a goal so slapstick (but beautifully finished) that it would be worth resurrecting A Question of Sport for one final episode of What Happened Next? A game that started badly for Rangers quickly slalomed downhill faster than Franz Klammer and after just 20 minutes a steady stream of irate fans could be seen heading for the Ibrox exits after watching their team go 3-0 down. Having already witnessed Rangers lurch and stumble through their opening two qualifiers like a drunk on his way home after a night at The Fist & Lizard, they had clearly seen enough and decided that, for this season at least, their team's Bigger Cup jig and the £40m+ windfall that comes with it is almost certainly up. A second-half goal from Danilo took the bare look off Rangers' side of the scoreboard and left their fans with that nagging feeling of faint hope that makes fools of us all but Ally McCoist gave his former side little more than a snowman's chance in hell of turning the tie around when discussing last night's fiasco on the wireless. 'On that first-half performance, they couldn't beat anybody to be honest,' he sighed. 'To have any chance they've got to score first, that's for sure but even I as the eternal optimist think it'll be a big struggle.' While the crowd at Ibrox had already made their mind up about Russell Martin before this game, it remains to be seen how long Rangers, who have recently burned through managers at a rate that would make even the Watford owners balk, will be prepared to keep him on board in the face of such obvious fan fury. The first appointment of the club's new owners, 49ers Enterprises, Martin faced the obligatory questions from the press afterwards from behind a table bearing several bottles of Bigger Cup-sanctioned Crocodile Drink which he did his best to view as half-full. 'That's as hard as it will ever be for the players on the pitch,' he blathered of the opening 20 minutes. 'I'm proud of how they responded. They all displayed courage in the second half. We recovered properly and we hurt them as much as they hurt us. That goal changes everything.' In the unlikely event they exist, more level-headed Rangers fans will almost certainly concede their team simply does not have good enough players to avoid the humiliations that unlikely qualification for Bigger Cup will surely bring and with a consolation place in Bigger Vase already assured, their club's future on the continent is not entirely bleak. However, regardless of where or who they play, there is widespread frustration over Martin's team selections, player acquisitions and tactics after just eight games. The 39-year-old said he hoped to be 'judged in May', but the fact of the matter is the majority of the Ibrox jury reached their verdict before his appointment in June. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion I'm not at the [PFA awards] ceremony tonight. With everything going on, it didn't feel right to be there. 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' – the Alexander Isak transfer saga goes on (and on, and on), with the striker sounding like he's almost at the stage where he's going to write a painful breakup album if his latest Instachat post is anything to go by. Newcastle have been quick to fire back: '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.' Make it end! Football can be a pleasing source of anagrams. Is Pep Guardiola's eternal youth down to synthetic cream (Manchester City)? After years in the doldrums, Lilywhites fans are now Sudden Elite (Leeds United). Carlisle United's slow demise looks like Ritual Declines? Meanwhile, the foul atmosphere emanating from Alexander Isak's claim that he was promised he could move to a bigger club may lead one to suspect this 'is a rank ex-deal'. And of course, Brugge seem poised to thoroughly anagram Rangers' Bigger Cup ambitions. I would get out more but I'm too busy watching Countdown' – Mark McFadden. Newcastle sporting director: 'Well, we'll just play Callum. Wait … where is Callum? In fact, where am I?' – Joe Skupien. May I be the first – although I'm probably not – to start a campaign to either rename the offence to hand/arm ball or limit the offence to just the hand. Surely the intent is to stop players controlling (handling) the ball so why is using the arm penalised? You can use your knee, chest, stomach or posterior so why not your arm?' – Nick Smyth. Wolfsburg (yesterday's Memory Lane – full email edition) have never had the same allure since they told manager Wolfgang Wolf to do one' – Jon Harris. If you have any, please send letters to Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day is … Mark McFadden. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here. On Thursday 11 September, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and Football Weekly favourites Jonathan Wilson, Nicky Bandini and Jonathan Liew for an evening of unfiltered football punditry at Troxy in London. The pod will also be livestreamed globally. Book now. This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Rangers and a slapstick fiasco that gave Martin a furious dose of fatal realism
Football Daily would never publicly admit that our life is so meaningless, empty and utterly devoid of purpose that we occasionally spend our leisure time perusing the fan forums of random clubs with whom we have no affiliation just to pass the time. No, that would be embarrassing so it was purely in the interests of diligent professional research that we spent the buildup to one of last night's Bigger Cup qualifiers scrutinising the long pre-match thread on a forum devoted to one fitba club in particular, all the better to gauge the mood among Rangers fans before their first leg against Club Brugge. Before a ball had been kicked, it was one of cautious optimism that was quickly replaced by fatal realism and no end of radge-induced McEffing and McJeffing a mere three minutes after kick-off. That's how long it took for the hesitant-to-the-point-of-slumbering Rangers duo Nasser Djiga and Jack Butland to contrive to concede a goal so slapstick (but beautifully finished) that it would be worth resurrecting A Question of Sport for one final episode of What Happened Next? A game that started badly for Rangers quickly slalomed downhill faster than Franz Klammer and after just 20 minutes a steady stream of irate fans could be seen heading for the Ibrox exits after watching their team go 3-0 down. Having already witnessed Rangers lurch and stumble through their opening two qualifiers like a drunk on his way home after a night at The Fist & Lizard, they had clearly seen enough and decided that, for this season at least, their team's Bigger Cup jig and the £40m+ windfall that comes with it is almost certainly up. A second-half goal from Danilo took the bare look off Rangers' side of the scoreboard and left their fans with that nagging feeling of faint hope that makes fools of us all but Ally McCoist gave his former side little more than a snowman's chance in hell of turning the tie around when discussing last night's fiasco on the wireless. 'On that first-half performance, they couldn't beat anybody to be honest,' he sighed. 'To have any chance they've got to score first, that's for sure but even I as the eternal optimist think it'll be a big struggle.' While the crowd at Ibrox had already made their mind up about Russell Martin before this game, it remains to be seen how long Rangers, who have recently burned through managers at a rate that would make even the Watford owners balk, will be prepared to keep him on board in the face of such obvious fan fury. The first appointment of the club's new owners, 49ers Enterprises, Martin faced the obligatory questions from the press afterwards from behind a table bearing several bottles of Bigger Cup-sanctioned Crocodile Drink which he did his best to view as half-full. 'That's as hard as it will ever be for the players on the pitch,' he blathered of the opening 20 minutes. 'I'm proud of how they responded. They all displayed courage in the second half. We recovered properly and we hurt them as much as they hurt us. That goal changes everything.' In the unlikely event they exist, more level-headed Rangers fans will almost certainly concede their team simply does not have good enough players to avoid the humiliations that unlikely qualification for Bigger Cup will surely bring and with a consolation place in Bigger Vase already assured, their club's future on the continent is not entirely bleak. However, regardless of where or who they play, there is widespread frustration over Martin's team selections, player acquisitions and tactics after just eight games. The 39-year-old said he hoped to be 'judged in May', but the fact of the matter is the majority of the Ibrox jury reached their verdict before his appointment in June. I'm not at the [PFA awards] ceremony tonight. With everything going on, it didn't feel right to be there. 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' – the Alexander Isak transfer saga goes on (and on, and on), with the striker sounding like he's almost at the stage where he's going to write a painful breakup album if his latest Instachat post is anything to go by. Newcastle have been quick to fire back: '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.' Make it end! Football can be a pleasing source of anagrams. Is Pep Guardiola's eternal youth down to synthetic cream (Manchester City)? After years in the doldrums, Lilywhites fans are now Sudden Elite (Leeds United). Carlisle United's slow demise looks like Ritual Declines? Meanwhile, the foul atmosphere emanating from Alexander Isak's claim that he was promised he could move to a bigger club may lead one to suspect this 'is a rank ex-deal'. And of course, Brugge seem poised to thoroughly anagram Rangers' Bigger Cup ambitions. I would get out more but I'm too busy watching Countdown' – Mark McFadden. Newcastle sporting director: 'Well, we'll just play Callum. Wait … where is Callum? In fact, where am I?' – Joe Skupien. May I be the first – although I'm probably not – to start a campaign to either rename the offence to hand/arm ball or limit the offence to just the hand. Surely the intent is to stop players controlling (handling) the ball so why is using the arm penalised? You can use your knee, chest, stomach or posterior so why not your arm?' – Nick Smyth. Wolfsburg (yesterday's Memory Lane – full email edition) have never had the same allure since they told manager Wolfgang Wolf to do one' – Jon Harris. If you have any, please send letters to Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day is … Mark McFadden. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here. On Thursday 11 September, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and Football Weekly favourites Jonathan Wilson, Nicky Bandini and Jonathan Liew for an evening of unfiltered football punditry at Troxy in London. The pod will also be livestreamed globally. Book now. German football liebhabers will this season have a whole sammelsurium of means to watch the Bundesliga under Friday night lights. There's the BBC website and iPlayer for starters, with Dad's Army repeats within tempting distance. That's not all; UK rights for those matches are also shared with Amazon Prime, plus YouTube channels. The Overlap will stream matches from Gary Neville's kitchen island that start with Bayern v RB Leipzig on Friday. Meanwhile, That's Football, the channel of b@nter lord Mark Goldbridge, will also hold rights. Sky retains Saturday evening games (afternoon matches are under UK blackout) while Amazon will show Sunday matches on a pay-per-view basis. The aim, it is reported, is for the Dr Oetker's league to reach a more youthful, tech-savvy audience. Goldbridge, the former policeman whose real name is Brent de Cesare, has 1.38m subscribers, and will broadcast a watch-along show, while Neville's kitchen has 1.5m loyal viewers. Is this August newsletter in the wrong game? Mohamed Salah has scooped the men's PFA players' gong at a glitzy do at Manchester Opera House, while Morgan Rogers took the young players' award. At the same event, Arsenal midfielder Mariona Caldentey won women's player of the year, with Olivia Smith, recently signed by the Gunners from Liverpool, awarded the young player prize. West Ham have submitted bids for Southampton's Mateus Fernandes and Barcelona's Marc Casadó as they scramble to add something – heck, anything! – to their midfield. The Hammers also had an approach for Andrey Santos laughed off by Chelsea earlier this week. Matty Cash appears set to return to boyhood club Nottingham Forest from Aston Villa, seemingly set on selling off the family silver. The year 2023's Leon Bailey has been traded to Roma, while former Villa player Douglas Luiz is set to join Forest from Juventus. Meanwhile, Forest's testy relationship with Crystal Palace after the summer's multi-club legal omnishambles that saw Palace swap Bigger Vase for TinPot means extra security will be added to calm tension when the pair meet at Selhurst this weekend. Kai Havertz is out for an unspecified time with knee-knack, leaving Arsenal short of fit forwards. With Viktor Gyökeres still to be bedded in, a dip into the transfer market is considered. Brazilian goalkeeper Fabio Deivson Lopes Maciel claims to have broken the record formerly held by Peter Shilton for most competitive appearances in world football. The 44-year-old made his 1,391st appearance in the last 16 of the Copa Sudamericana for Fluminense beating America de Cali 2-0 at the Maracanã. 'Trent' made his Real Madrid debut and played his part in a clean sheet as Real Madrid began their La Liga campaign with a 1-0 defeat of Osasuna, Kylian Mbappé getting the goal. Is Gareth Southgate set for a return to management? Of course not. 'I'm enjoying my life,' he told hacks. 'I've got quite a lot on. I'm in the middle of writing a book, I've got several business interests. I do some work on leadership, help with some young coaches. But I've also got time to travel and play a bit of golf, play a bit of paddle tennis.' We're a bit jealous, actually. And finally, happy 60th birthday to all-time Southampton and Premier League legend, Ali Dia. Everton's new stadium development has not always been smooth, and teething problems linger, but it can transform both the club and community, writes Andy Hunter. Jason Stockwood, our resident club chair, has been watching the Birmingham City Tom Brady and Tom Wagner streamer series, and wonders whether the project can live up to the Peaky Blinders-flavoured pizzazz. Is Liverpool's 63-year run of never finishing below eighth the best such sequence in football? The Knowledge knows. And what do you mean you've never heard of Maghnes Akliouche? Find out the latest on Tottenham's latest target and all the other tittle tattle in the Rumour Mill. 2 November 1996: You can be forgiven if, like us, you forgot that Ian Rush ever played for Leeds. The great striker had lost some of his zip by the time he signed for them and scored only three goals in his single season there. He looks to be giving Sunderland's Michael Gray the slip here, mind. And Newcastle signed him next.
The Guardian
31-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
A good start for Rangers before the wet and windy nights of Fitba set in
When the white smoke billowed from the Ibrox chimney in June and Russell Martin was revealed as the new manager of Rangers, vast swathes of the club's fans could scarcely have been more unenthusiastic. Indeed, short of announcing that Pope Leo XV had left his new role at the Vatican and would be taking over after Barry Ferguson's lengthy spell in caretaker charge, it is difficult to imagine any other appointment prompting more fury. 'We're not oblivious to the noise at all,' harrumphed the Rangers CEO, Patrick Stewart, upon being quizzed about fan reaction to his announcement. 'But I think we are confident because we've embarked on such a thorough process to take us to this point where we've appointed Russell that we're confident supporters will get behind him.' Having paddled into Ibrox on such a tidal wave of antipathy, it seemed imperative that Martin got off to a good start and the man who masterminded just one win in Southampton's opening 16 Premier League games last season before being booted towards the Saints door marked 'Do one!' has done exactly that. In closing out their aggregate win in a Bigger Cup second qualifying round against Panathinaikos, Russell's Rangers have successfully negotiated the first hurdle of the season and now face Czech side Viktoria Plzen as they aim to reach the Bigger Cup league phase. But at the very least, last night's draw in Greece means a place in Euro Vase is now guaranteed. 'I've just said to the players in the dressing room, I'm so proud of them,' said Martin, after new signing Djeidi Gassama struck back to restore parity after Panathinaikos had opened the scoring. 'To be five weeks into the process, from where they were to where they are is incredible.' With European football now guaranteed until January and the possibility of Bigger Cup group stage participation still very much alive, Martin has presumably bought himself some time from his many vocal detractors among the Rangers fanbase but now is no time for complacency. With the fitba league season due to start this weekend and his players fresh from walking their hand luggage out from the back of their plane from Athens, they will have to prove they can do it on wet and windy nights (or as they are known in Scotland: 'nights' ) in places like Kilmarnock, Aberdeen and Paisley if they are to mount any sort of meaningful title challenge against Celtic. It was at exactly such places that Rangers came a cropper last season, leading to the 17-point chasm that separated the two Glasgow clubs at the end of the campaign. While Martin may have earned some grudging goodwill from the Ibrox faithful for his early efforts thus far, expect it to evaporate if his new-look side fail to win Saturday's league opener at Motherwell and hand the advantage, if not the title to Celtic before Brendan Rodgers' side have even played a game. 'Since the first day of this investigation, I have maintained my innocence against these extremely serious accusations. I can't say anything more at this time, but I would like to express how grateful I am to God and how eager I am to return to playing football with a smile on my face. To my wife who never let go of my hand, to West Ham United, to the fans who always cheered me on, and to my family, friends and the legal team who have supported me – thank you for everything' – Lucas Paquetá has been cleared of spot-fixing. The West Ham midfielder was charged by the FA last year with four counts of deliberately getting himself booked to influence betting markets so that friends and family members might benefit and faced a lengthy ban if found guilty. I was going to be stereotypically Smoggie about Granit Xhaka moving to Sunderland (yesterday's Football Daily letters), a city so urbane and sophisticated that the National Glass Centre closed down a year or two back, but considering the problems Newcastle seem to be having attracting players to the region, I feel I should thank Mr Xhaka for moving to the north east. The region is beautiful, with a ruggedly handsome coastline and pretty villages that would make those more famous ones down south look like the back end of Reading. I hope, off the back of this signing, we see more players moving to God's Own Former Mining Country. Sancho and Grealish to Middlesbrough next, please' – (Not that) Andrew Tate. I was interested to read Jim Hearson, regarding the blind trust set up by Evangelos Marinakis (yesterday's letters). Is that the same blind trust that Granit Xhaka is displaying by being convinced to sign for Sunderland?' – Paul Taverner. As an exiled Exile, living far from Newport (and the UK), it was nice to see a rare mention of County in yesterday's Football Daily (full email edition). Even nicer to see the picture of the second kit. While not remotely amusing, there is a very interesting story about why this kit looks like Athletic Club's kit, and indeed why it's flying off the shelves in (parts of) the Basque Country' – Dave Lloyd. If you have any, please send letters to Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day is … Dave Lloyd. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here. On Thursday 11 September, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and a host of your other Football Weekly favourites live on stage for an evening of unfiltered football punditry at Troxy in London and livestreamed globally. Book now. The latest episode of Football Weekly is OUT, OUT, OUT! Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Sanny Rudravajhala and George Elek to preview the return of league football this weekend. Thursday's column is on Boston and Denver's journey to the NWSL – a path that includes building their teams from scratch and a botched brand launch. Manchester United have won two pre-season friendlies matches in a row and the Ruben Amorim revolution might finally be set for take-off. No wonder the prolific striker Rasmus Højlund wants to be part of it. The Danish international scored in a 4-1 shooing of Bournemouth, allowing him and his teammates to brim with the sort of confidence that only comes from defeating a Premier League rival, in USA USA USA, in July. You might think that his record of four goals in 32 Premier League appearances last season would count against him, but Højlund is not worried that Benjamin Sesko and Ollie Watkins are scratching at the front door. 'I think the most important (thing) for me is just to keep working hard and stay focused and then obviously we'll see what happens,' Højlund chirped. 'I think my plan is very clear and that is for me to stay and fight for my spot, whatever happens.' What did actually happen, almost immediately after Højlund spoke, was Ruben Amorim giving an interview, with the United manager seemingly open to selling the striker. 'I'm really happy with Rasmus,' Amorim offered up, somewhat misleadingly, 'but I don't know what is going to happen until the end of the market. We suffered a lot because of the lack of goals last season.' Ah. Dark days at Morecambe where they have ceased all football operations amid a financial crisis. Prospective buyers have told the owner Jason Whittingham to sell up before things get any worse. Alexander Isak would like to go through the St James' Park exit door and to further make the point he has gone off to train at former club Real Sociedad. The Swedish striker is doing his stretching and jogging in San Sebastián, which isn't a bad place to do your sulking. Everton have transferred the ownership from Goodison Park to their women's team, who will play their home games there from the start of the season. In the world of plenty of money, Chelsea have agreed a £35.5m fee with Ajax to sign the teenage defender Jorrel Hato. Tottenham are chatting with Bayern Munich about the prospect of bringing João Palhinha back to England on loan. The former Fulham midfielder failed to pull up any trees in the Bundesliga after his £47.4m move a year ago and may welcome a return to London. Will Unwin has you sorted with a League One preview as Stockport look to soar while Port Vale hope to stave off drop. Every football fan gets excited about a new signing and believes they will change their club's fortunes for the better, even if they have never heard of them, writes Max Rushden. Speed tests, data, psychologists and superfoods: Ben Fisher lifts the curtain on the evolution of referees and how officials are put through their paces on the Costa Blanca. Dominic Booth has a natter with John Rooney about stepping out of Robbie Savage and brother Wayne's shadow after becoming the new Macclesfield head coach. Which two Premier League clubs have shared the most players? Matt Furniss at Opta crunches the numbers. And the Rumour Mill continues to spin. Will Aston Villa make a move for Porto's Samu Aghehowa? With European club football back up and running, here's a holiday snap-style shot of Paul Ince and Lee Sharpe down by the Bosphorus in Istanbul before their Big Cup tie with Galatasaray in November 1993. Looks a much nicer time than it was inside the 'Hell' of the Ali Sami Yen.
The Guardian
16-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
History in Malta and dancing on the streets of Andorra
Bigger Cup is up and running, baby, as we officially wave goodbye to 'last season' and welcome 'this season'. The question of when we enter a new campaign is eternally asked; it's like the quandary of where the north of England starts (anything above Bristol Stoke, if you were wondering), and Football Daily is happy to provide the definitive answer of … roundabout now. Tuesday's first qualifying round second legs brought the drama Uefa desperately needs to make the competition entertaining before the drudge of matches from September to January. Unfortunately for the suits in Switzerland, almost certainly none of the teams currently playing in the qualifying rounds will reach the league stage but we should let Hamrun Spartans, Lincoln Red Imps and Drita dream … for a bit. At the same time, the prospect of facing Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool and FC Basel is over for another year for the likes of The New Saints, Differdange 03 and Virtus, who will have to wipe away the tears, pull their socks up and go again in Tin Pot. Permanent Welsh champions TNS went down to a 116th-minute own goal against Macedonia's Shkendija to lose 2-1 on the night and on aggregate. Football Daily might even have watched it on S4C due to our commitment to the underdog and love of Welsh commentary. 'There is one thing everyone can be proud of through the club, it's that everyone gave everything that they had,' chirped manager Craig Harrison. 'No one could give anything more and sometimes that's all you can ask.' There was greater cruelty for Lithuania's Zalgaris, who last won a two-legged Big Cup tie in 2000, as they were sent packing by Malta's mighty Hamrun Spartans 11-10 on penalties after 28 spot-kicks. It is the first time a Maltese side have made it beyond this round, becoming part of football history in the process. Even in defeat there can be triumph. Andorra's national team are ranked 173rd in the world, therefore when their best and brightest, Inter Club d'Escaldes, drew Romanian giants FCSB, who won the competition back in the 1986 by beating Barcelona, when they were known as Steaua, no one gave them a chance. Inter Club d'Escaldes obviously lost over two legs because FCSB possess the former Tottenham defender Vlad Chiriches and ex-Port Vale man Dennis Politic. Respectfully beaten 3-1 in the Romanian capital, a lesser team would have given up and gone through the motions. But Inter Club could not let down the 509 fans inside the Nou Estadi Encamp and ran out 2-1 winners, exiting by a single-goal margin. The names of Sascha Andreu and Alexandre Llovet will be sung on the streets of Escaldes–Engordany for years to come. Dynamo Kyiv, Slovan Bratislava and Crvena Zvezda enter in the next round, readying themselves to bring their lesser-known rivals back down to earth and restore the natural order at the top of the second qualifying round tree. Come May, the ending will doubtless be the same given that the biggest clubs win the biggest prizes, but the summer months provide a reminder that football is more than just millionaires battling for trinkets and there is still glory to be had for those other professionals who can say they are Bigger Cup players. The evolution of the football season is well and truly under way. Join Sarah Rendell from 8pm BST for Euro 2025 quarter-final MBM coverage of Norway 2-1 Italy. 'As you may be aware, other clubs seem to go through much more protracted disputes with less severe outcomes. Many believe that this process has been opaque and disproportionately punitive. We hope you will take this matter seriously and act to uphold the principles of fairness, accountability, and integrity in sport' – part of the contents of a letter from seven Liberal Democrat MPs to culture secretary Lisa Nandy, urging her to intervene over Crystal Palace's demotion from Bigger Vase, following a fan protest on the streets of south London on Tuesday. Apropos the article on Puma's deal with Manchester City (yesterday's Football Daily), a shout out please for their retro-inspired 2025-26 strips produced for Port Vale's 150th anniversary. Pleasingly sponsor-free and designed by supporters (OK, the boss's son) rather than some PR wonk, they are the absolute business' – Rob Ford. Re: yesterday's Football Daily letters. For the last 30 years I've lived roughly a Rory Delap throw-in away from the Auld Triangle/Plimsoll in Finsbury Park. On a visit to the Irish Emigration Musuem in Dublin a few years ago, my daughter was surprised to see a faithful reproduction of the pre-gastro incarnation set up as an example of the type of pub that the Irish diaspora has created around the world. I've no idea if it is still an exhibit there, but possibly worth a trip for anyone who misses the old days. I don't think they have a replica Robbie doing the quiz, mind' – Brendan Mackinney. If you have any, please send letters to Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day is … Rob Ford. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here. Back to Crystal Palace, albeit indirectly, after their former goalkeeper and troublesome dinner guest Wayne Hennessey called time on his playing career. 'I have amazing memories playing for both club and country,' declared the Welshman, who won 109 caps but also managed to get a David Squires cartoon based on his off-field actions. 'From my early days at Wolves, loans at Stockport and Yeovil, and my time with Palace, Burnley and Nottingham Forest, each club shaped me both on and off the field. Having been born and raised in north Wales, it was always my dream to play at the highest level. It was a privilege to play in the Premier League and for my country over 100 times.' It will be clubmate v clubmate when England face Sweden in the last eight of Euro 2025, but Arsenal's Leah Williamson is looking forward to colliding with Stina Blackstenius. 'It's rare that I get to play against Stina in this setting. I enjoy it, I like Stina,' she grinned. 'It's tough to remove all of that to just go at it, you don't want to focus on it too much … but I think I've known Stina long enough now that I know who she is and it's time to focus on us.' Technical problems with Fifa's online Mr/Mrs 15% exam have prevented candidates from completing the test, with many told they will have to wait 12 months and try again. 'Lots of people have put loads of time and effort into revising and to not be able to take the exam is really unfair. It's a shambles,' whispered a source. Manchester United want Bryan Mbeumo. Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe isn't keen on going north of £65m. Brentford want nearer £70m. On it goes. Ethan Nwaneri, one of Arsenal's breakout tyros from last season, is poised to commit his future to the club and sign a lucrative new contract. Leicester have plumped for former QPR boss Martí Cifuentes as the best option to succeed Ruud van Nistelrooy. 'This is a fantastic club with a proud history and it's a privilege to me to be asked to help write the next chapter,' cheered Cifuentes. And Australia winger Nestory Irankunda hopes a move from Bayern to Watford can reboot his flamin' international career in time for the World Cup. 'I have to be playing minutes and I wasn't playing,' he sighed. 'The Championship's also a world-class league. The best thing for me was to go somewhere else.' Wing, Back. Utaka. The Knowledge looks at players whose names are similar to their positions, the hottest English match on record and plenty more. Will the Norway of Hegerberg, Graham Hansen, Reiten et al finally fulfil their potential at Euro 2025? Tom Garry previews their quarter-final with Italy. Euro 2025 is shaping up to be a great success, reckons Suzanne Wrack, but we could still do with an upset or two. Suzanne also shines the spotlight on the importance of England's game-finishing 'clique'. And with half the Scottish Premiership now under US ownership, Graham Ruthven analyses the growing American investor interest in fitba. Touching their hero, children from the Sacred Heart primary school, which adjoined the Middlesbrough's training ground, mob new signing Juninho after he completed his first full training session with the team in October 1995.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Two seasons in a day: the Champions League and Club World Cup overlap
Football Daily would prefer not to have to think about Copa Gianni at all but we have a certain professional obligation to do so and have never knowingly been found shirking in the face of our responsibilities. To keep things simple, we prefer to view the tournament as a stand-alone competition that's taking place between the end of the last season and the beginning of the next one, but the fact that it's being contested by clubs instead of countries leaves plenty of room for debate. Watching Kingsley Coman 'sprint' on to a through-ball from Harry Kane during Bayern Munich's defeat by PSG as if he was running in knee-deep wet cement, we were presented with the sight of a player in next season's kit who was quite clearly exhausted by the exertions of the one that may or may not have ended before the tournament in which he was playing started. Does the goal he didn't score go down in the official xG column of last season, next season, or neither? If as seems likely, Copa Gianni goes down in the official record books as part of last season, then it will overlap with European football's next season, which officially starts … on Tuesday! Designed in part by Fifa to disrupt and devalue the gleaming jewel in Uefa's crown, it will go down as a matter of historical record that last season's Copa Gianni will conclude at the end of the same week next season's Bigger Cup began. Over the next two days no fewer than 28 teams will line up to play in Bigger Cup qualifiers, with The New Saints, Shelbourne and Linfield representing Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland respectively. And while it would be little short of a miracle for any of the three sides to make it to Bigger Cup proper, at least one of Shels and Linfield will make it into the next qualifying round because they've been paired against each other. Until very recently managed by Damien Duff, who won the League of Ireland Premier Division with them last season before resigning a couple of weeks ago following a typically forthright but extremely coruscating public take-down of his players, Shels will be managed by Duff's former assistant turned replacement, Joey O'Brien. 'He made his call and then it was up to me to make my call and I did,' said the former Bolton Wanderer of his decision to take over from his pal. 'Hopefully we can write new memories again. With the players, we have a great squad. Great lads. That's why I wanted to hang around.' While fans of both Shels and Linfield had almost certainly hoped for a more exotic Bigger Cup away trip than a two-hour coach trip up and down the M1 to Belfast or Dublin respectively, the good news is that the winners can look forward to an away day in Baku, Azerbaijan. Qarabag await the victors and are a team the Northern Irish side and their manager, David Healy, have faced before in what is now known as Bigger Vase. Meanwhile in Wales, they'll be dancing on the streets of The New Saints if the famous side formerly known as Total Network Solutions can see off North Macedonia's Shkendija to tee up what looks certain to be a second qualifying round tie against FCSB, the even more famous side formerly known as Steaua Bucharest. While TNS are well aware Shkendija is a tough place to go having lost there 5-0 seven years ago, their manager Craig Harrison is hopeful they can exact some revenge. 'It's going to be a really tough game out there,' blathered the former Middlesbrough defender. 'It's going to be really hot and humid and it will be like it was in Montenegro against Decic.' Decic, of course, being the team TNS beat at this stage of Bigger Cup at the start of last season. Unless, of course, it was the end of the season before. Join Sarah Rendell for Euro 2025 updates on Spain 4-0 Belgium at 5pm (BST), while Will Unwin will be on hand at 8pm for Portugal 1-1 Italy. There's me being able to walk down the stairs after I've played 90 minutes of football, there's me in the future when I have children being able to walk around properly, being able to bend down and pick up toys, there's me being able to do normal life things like put on socks without being in pain and, for the first time in a long time, I genuinely didn't think about the response of the public because that just wasn't a priority' – Millie Bright reveals how she is feeling better in her mind after taking the decision to miss Euro 2025 and prioritise her recovery from a knee injury. Sometimes Mauricio Pochettino wants it to be a penalty, sometimes he doesn't. There's just no pleasing some people. Extra moaning points for Poch insinuating that the officials were swayed by the pro-Mexico crowd for a game that USA USA USA were playing at home. P.S. A doff of the cap to Mexico for that uber cool black and gold kit …' – Noble Francis. With a tip of the cap to The Usual Suspects … the greatest trick Infantino ever pulled was turning me into a Chelsea fan for two hours rooting against Infantino's home team making the finals' – Harry Webb. I can't have been your only reader who paused between Friday's tea time email and big website's MBM coverage of the Jurassic reunion opening gig, to turn the dial of my retro digital transistors to the political satirical radio broadcast, Deadringers. I – and what I suspect to be 1,056 others – nearly choked on my fermented tofu when I heard a repeat of your dinosaur banter about the aforementioned group of monobrows. I assume the requisite phone calls were made – i.e. your people calling their people, etc – and payment made (four pack of budget Tin) before Tom Baker's closing remarks' – Nicholas Tipple. Please send your letters to Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day competition is … Noble Francis. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here. The Football Weekly podcast has a tribute to Diogo Jota. As transfer stories go, West Brom winger Mikey 'Jinky' Johnston to Flamengo is pretty wild. A signing to soothe Fla fans now that bitter rivals Fluminense have gone further in the Copa Gianni? Perhaps not: Johnston's move is reported to be off after fan protests in Rio de Janeiro. Still, the Irishman has got the game's cognoscenti talking in Brazil, so much so that Vampeta, the 2002 World Cup winner, phoned up old Internazionale teammate Robbie Keane for the skinny on Jinky. The pair bonded on the San Siro bench – Vamps playing just eight matches, Robbie six – and the former midfielder, now a radio host, dialled up his old mate on air. 'The fans will like him because he is really fast and skilful,' replied Robbie, descending into that weird accent English speakers use when speaking to foreign friends. 'Roberto Carlos is here,' announced the programme's host, Thiago Asmar. 'My best friend, I love him,' cooed Robbie. 'Keane, I love you too, man,' cheered Vampeta, hanging up. Despite such love-in and Robbie's Kitemark of quality, Mikey will not be moving to Rio. Trent Alexander-Arnold has described his former Liverpool teammate Diogo Jota as 'someone who lit up a room'. The defender, now at Real Madrid, added: 'It goes without saying he will never be forgotten by anyone. He will live long in all our memories for the amazing man and player he was.' In scenes that could have been avoided had there not been an extra tournament slap bang in the middle of the summer break, Bayern Munich have announced that Jamal Musiala has 'sustained a fracture of the fibula [a bone in the lower leg] associated with a broken and dislocated ankle' after a collision with PSG's Gianluigi Donnarumma at the Copa Gianni. Lauren Hemp has backed the Lionesses to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat against France in their absolutely must-win group game against Netherlands on Wednesday. 'This team, a lot of the time, we thrive under pressure,' she said. ' Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Euro 2025 roundup: Switzerland have kept their tournament alive after Géraldine Reuteler and Alayah Pilgrim scored to knock out Iceland, while Caroline Graham Hansen's late winner downed Finland and put Norway into last eight. Arsenal have agreed personal terms with Viktor Gyökeres, which is all well and good apart from the fact that they haven't agreed a fee with Sporting. Arsenal are hoping to strike a deal for less than the £68m asking price. Crystal Palace have agreed a deal to sign Borna Sosa from Ajax for about £3m, with the Croatia defender due to cough for the doctor on Monday. And it has taken Jhon Durán just six months to realise that moving from Aston Villa to Al-Nassr in a £71m deal might have been good for the bank account, but probably wasn't so beneficial for career development. He's joined Fenerbahce on a year-long loan, where renowned nurturer of youth José Mourinho will get him back on track. Forget Black Friday in November, the best time and place for super-discount deals is right now in New Jersey, baby. Yep, you can get a bumper 97% off the price of entry for Tuesday's semi-final between Chelsea and Fluminense after tickets were slashed from $473.90 to $13.40. Fifa has used 'dynamic pricing' for the 63-game wheeze in the hope that the USA USA USA had a fever over football like the one marketing genius Gianni experienced when he dreamed up the bloated thing. Pity the saps who have paid full whack to attend. Sid Lowe on Arsenal's shiny new signing, Martín Zubimendi, and why 'there is no one like him'. Luke Taylor explains how a Colombian podcast shed light on Bobby Moore and the 'bracelet of Bogotá'. Max Rushden writes on why transfer news has lost its sense of wonder and surprise. Crystal Palace are in the dark over whether they have qualified for Europe next season. Ed Aarons untangles the details and the web that John Textor has woven around the London club. And click here for today's Rumour Mill, which features a fetching picture of Dominic Calvert-Lewin at the 2022 Milan fashion week (the striker is linked with a move to Manchester United). And check out all the latest men's and women's moves in the summer window. 5 November 2000: former Tottenham midfielder Micky Hazard poses in his black cab, having taking up work as a taxi driver five years after retiring as a footballer.
