Latest news with #RowZ
New York Times
02-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Row Z: Commentary neutrality, the Wolves packs and Ipswich complete the social set
Welcome to Row Z, The Athletic's weekly column that shines a light on the bonkers side of the game. From clubs to managers, players to organisations, every Friday we'll bring you the absurdities, the greed, the contradictions, the preposterousness and the oddities of the game we all love… A couple of weeks after TNT Sports commentators 'Fletch', 'Rio' and 'Sav', full names Darren Fletcher, Rio Ferdinand and Robbie Savage, cheered Manchester United to victory against Lyon (with United losing and a boy in the crowd pictured crying, Fletch said: 'Let's hope we can put a smile on that young man's face by the time we finish'), the trio stayed nice and neutral in Bilbao on Thursday night. 'CALMA' 😤@rioferdy5's reaction to that Bruno Fernandes penalty in Bilbao 🍿 — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 1, 2025 A night earlier in Barcelona, Ferdinand had expressed his bias for the Premier League as an entity, not just United, when eulogising over Raphinha's performance against Inter. 'It makes you wonder how he was ever allowed to leave the Premier League,' Ferdinand queried. Yes, massive mistake by the Premier League to allow him to move. They should have stepped in to protect their asset when Raphinha swapped Elland Road for the Camp Nou in 2022 and given him a five-year contract at West Ham instead. Wolverhampton Wanderers, a story in numbers from 2023-24. Revenue £177million ($235m), player sale profit £64.6m, player wages £142m, fees paid to agents £14m. Also Wolves: We are 'One Pack'. Also also Wolves: No we won't pay £1.5m for our women's team to be promoted to the Championship. Two packs? For context, a promotion application had to be submitted by February, committing to raising the club up to Championship standards should they win promotion (which Wolves ultimately fell just short of on the final day last week). Advertisement The official line is the club were worried about the club's finances in February should the men's first team be relegated (parachute payments going into the tens and tens of millions notwithstanding). They also don't like the idea of running the women's team at a loss despite the increased investment. But hey, what football club doesn't run at a loss? Anyway, if they had won promotion they'd have been competing with big spenders Charlton, Bristol City, Portsmouth and Durham, which feels like a step too far for a club like Wolves with its multi-billion pound Chinese owners. To be fair to chairman Jeff Shi, who made the call not to bother with promotion (although whose idea it was to not tell the players until the end of the season isn't clear), he's made his stance on Wolves Women pretty clear. Here he is in 2022: 'We still have not been pumping too much money into the women's team, but what we're doing is providing good conditions, or facilities to the girls. I think it's more important to provide the local girls with a strong chance to participate in football from a younger age, so they can share the training facilities here, they can share the pitch here. 'But we still have no strategy to spend a lot of money on the squad to try to promote again for next season, no.' There you go then. Men's team, have our money. Women's team, you just have a bit of a kickabout. Continuing the theme of weird, PR, non-reality tweets from clubs who have been relegated from the Premier League, this week was Ipswich Town's turn. You may remember Southampton kicked off this nonsense by tweeting a long, long time ago when they were officially relegated: 'Today's result confirms our place in the Championship next season.' They couldn't bring themselves to say the word relegation and the tweet read like they had qualified for the Championship. Well done Saints. Advertisement Leicester followed suit last week with: 'Today's result means our place in the 25-26 Championship has been confirmed.' This was alongside a picture of an empty stand at the King Power, laying the groundwork for next season's low attendances. Anyway, Ipswich were a little bit better, at least basing their tweet in the real world by actually mentioning they had been relegated… Following back-to-back promotions to the top tier of English football, today's result confirms our relegation from the Premier League. We've fought all season with you always behind us, Town fans. 💙 — Ipswich Town (@IpswichTown) April 26, 2025 They still couldn't help getting in that PR positive about back-to-back promotions though, could they? Leicester missed a trick: 'Following our incredible title success in 2016 and our FA Cup win in 2021 under the same family ownership, today's result confirms our relegation from the Premier League.' Some excellent social media content this week (yes, this still exists). Tottenham Hotspur were surprisingly competent on Thursday night in the Europa League, but that doesn't make this pre-match tifo suggestion being any less funny. Thank you for the £16k donations for the fan funded tifo. Excited to see it come to life later — Ben (@InsideN17) May 1, 2025 Crystal Palace fans had the time of their lives when beating Aston Villa 3-0 in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley last Saturday. This bloke wasn't going to let something frivolous like a broken arm stop him supporting his team. This bloke can't clap so he's whacking his head instead 😂😂 #facup — Steph (@GwenSteph88) April 26, 2025 The steaks were high for these Oldham Athletic fans heading to Forest Green Rovers last weekend. The team lost the match, but their fans won best fancy dress of the season. Oldham fans dressed as butchers off to Forest Green today… Forest Green are the worlds first fully vegan football club. 😭 #OAFC — Football Away Days (@FBAwayDays) April 26, 2025 Port Vale's brilliant X account has rightly featured prominently on Row Z in recent weeks and, after securing promotion to League One last weekend, they didn't disappoint. 🎶 We're on our way… — (P)ort Vale FC (@OfficialPVFC) April 27, 2025 And finally this week, here are Matlock Town attempting to take 'parking the bus' to extreme levels. 21' A car has taken an unexpected detour and found himself pitch side at the fittingly named Proctor Cars Stadium 🧐 ⚔️0-0🩷#YourCity • #COYDB • #ADAW — Lancaster City Football Club (@LancasterCityFC) April 26, 2025
New York Times
25-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Row Z: Potter cries conspiracy, farewell Riza and the FIFA jamboree on Channel 5
Welcome to Row Z, The Athletic's weekly column that shines a light on the bonkers side of the game. From clubs to managers, players to organisations, every Friday we'll bring you the absurdities, the greed, the contradictions, the preposterousness and the oddities of the game we all love… As if the world wasn't annoying enough already, embattled West Ham United manager Graham Potter wants us all to lie more. Last weekend his team could not beat the side currently enduring the joint-worst season in the 33-year history of the Premier League, drawing 1-1 at home to Southampton. For context, there have been 672 individual team seasons since 1992 and Southampton are =671st, so yeah, that's pretty bad (West Ham are probably having the most pointless, apathetic Premier League season on record, but let's park that for now). Advertisement Potter wasn't happy, saying the performance 'wasn't good enough' and 'nowhere near what we want to do'. Striker Niclas Fullkrug went one step further (very tentatively, in case he pulled his dodgy hamstring again), unleashing both barrels on his team-mates, saying: 'Very angry today, not disappointed, just angry, on what we did after the (first) goal. 'We didn't have the ability or the motivation to push up again… but the motivation? Sorry we were s*** and I'm very angry.' Lovely stuff. Having reflected, Potter didn't like Fullkrug being too honest. He said at Thursday's pre-match press conference: 'Sometimes I could be honest, how I really feel, but I don't think it's helpful to the players. I don't think it's helpful to the club. You've got a perspective (as a player on the pitch) and this is the great thing about the media — you ask a player after the game and he'll have his opinion but it'll be based on very little. 'The reality of it is you guys aren't bothered about that. You just want the drama.' Guys, it's the media's fault! What's happened here is that the Sky Sports interviewer dared to ask Fullkrug: 'Why weren't you able to put the game to bed?' You just can't ask questions like that in 2025. It's sensationalism as its worst. Shame on Sky. Potter might not like honesty but he surely can't argue with facts, as Rafa Benitez might say. Facts like West Ham have gone six games without a win for the first time since February 2024, or West Ham were 14th when Potter took over in January and they're now 17th. The truth is a little bit too painful at the moment, it seems. You may remember Omer Riza being a little bit too honest last week when the-then Cardiff City boss said about his team's supporters: 'I read all the comments from fans and, unfortunately, a lot of them are clueless.' Cardiff unsurprisingly binned Riza off after a 2-0 defeat at Sheffield United last Friday left the Bluebirds deep in the relegation mire. But that wasn't before Riza endeared himself once more, this time to the media, during his final post-match interview. Advertisement Interviewer: 'What can you do differently on Monday to get a better result?' Riza: 'Score goals and not concede.' Interviewer: 'Is it as simple as that?' Riza: 'Well it's football isn't it? You've got to score more than the opposition.' Interviewer: 'How do you go about doing that?' Riza: 'You tell me how I go about doing it. You tell me how I go about doing it.' Interviewer: 'Well I'm not the manager of Cardiff City, am I?' Excellent factual response. See, these managers just respond better to facts rather than opinions. 'We'd like to thank Omer for his passion and effort during his time as Cardiff City manager and wish him the very best for his next steps in the game,' Cardiff said in a statement. Passion is one word for it. If you had £354,000 ($471,113) to spend on something every single day for the next 10 years, what would you splash it on? The possibilities would be endless. You could just buy a property every 24 hours. You could save up and buy a small country if you wanted. Basically, you'd be able to do whatever you wanted for the rest of your life. Amazing. Alternatively, you could spend it on taking a successful football club and leading it from being Champions League winners to the Conference League, from first place in the Premier League to sixth (via a drop to 12th), from winning four domestic trophies in four years to none in seven seasons. Never change, Chelsea. Never change. The FIFA Club World Cup, 2025, a summary… The news this week then that Channel 5 will broadcast Club World Cup matches in the UK could not have felt more apt. And we finish this week with more bizarre tweets from official club accounts. First up, Crystal Palace who, after drawing 2-2 at Arsenal in midweek, decided this tweet was a good idea: 'You're welcome Liverpool…' At best this may have been tongue in cheek. At worst it was just a bit embarrassing and got the deserved treatment from Thomas… — Thomas (@thomashammond__) April 23, 2025 As we discussed in a recent Row Z, Southampton announced the club's relegation to the Championship like they had low-key claimed a spot in the League One play-offs, saying: 'Today's result confirms our place in the Championship next season.' It was certainly less emotional than their previous relegated-from-the-Premier-League tweet in 2023: 'A heart-breaking moment, as our relegation is confirmed.' Advertisement That's more like it! Emotion, pain, heartache, realism! Anyway, Leicester City continued the corporate, ignorance-is-bliss theme by also refusing to mention the word relegation, tweeting… Today's result means our place in the 25/26 Championship has been confirmed. — Leicester City (@LCFC) April 20, 2025 Ipswich Town, we're watching you closely. A 1,000-point bonus if you tweet: 'OH FFS WE'VE BEEN RELEGATED. ABSOLUTELY GUTTED.'
New York Times
18-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Row Z: Chelsea and the notion of trust, ruffled Riza and Nuno's succinct programme notes
Welcome to Row Z, The Athletic's weekly column that shines a light on the bonkers side of the game. From clubs to managers, players to organisations, every Friday we'll bring you the absurdities, the greed, the contradictions, the preposterousness and the oddities of the game we all love… A tale of two differing viewpoints from Chelsea to kick us off this week. Here's Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca on his team's current fortunes: 'This season we have been top four most of our season. I was not here last season, two years ago. So I'm not judging what's happened last year or two years ago. I'm just judging this season. Advertisement 'And this is the reason why I think fans, they have to trust the team, they have to trust the club, what we are doing now. I think it's quite clear that the direction is the right one.' Chelsea fans (safe to say this contains explicit language): Enzo Maresca says Chelsea 'lost confidence' and conceded because of 'the environment'. 😳 He said Sanchez was forced to go long due to the pressure from the crowd causing the 2nd goal. 🫣 — Soccer Forever (@soccerforeverhq) April 14, 2025 A connection between manager, team and supporters is vital to the success of any club. Nuno Espirito Santo and Nottingham Forest certainly have that, but it's safe to say his warmth doesn't exactly extend to programme notes. Anyone paying £3 just to read the thoughts of Forest's boss might feel a tad short-changed… Always love 'Nuno's Notes'. Never in depth, but always deep #zen — Guy Mowbray (@Guymowbray) April 12, 2025 It's even less than he used to write when he was at Wolves… A compact programme for Wolves this season to fit in with Nuno's minimalist approach to his notes. #wolves #wwfc — Nick Mashiter (@nickmashiter) August 19, 2019 At this rate, in a couple of years it'll just be: 'Welcome, thanks, Nuno.' And then at the other end of the fan/manager scale entirely comes someone who's been saying a bit too much recently. 'I'm very excited for the remainder of the season and I hope that you Bluebirds fans are looking forward to joining us.' Where, in League One? Omer Riza seemed pretty confident of survival when he was appointed as Cardiff City's permanent manager in December, having had a decent spell as interim boss. They were 20th at the time, two points above the Championship relegation zone. And now, with four games left? One point below the safety line in 22nd and facing the prospect of demotion back to the third tier, where they have not resided since 2003. As you'd expect given that he's steered the team into the bottom three, Riza is sympathetic to the club's long-suffering supporters and can't really complain if they're having a moan on social media, given the dire situation in which Cardiff find themselves. No, wait, he thinks they're idiots. 'I do read comments,' he said this week. 'I read all the comments from fans and unfortunately a lot of them are clueless.' Slagging off the fanbase ahead of four absolutely crucial games in the club's modern history, where unity and togetherness can go a long way? Nice one, Omer. Probably best not to consider a career in PR after you've been sacked. The 'game's gone' moment of the week came from this horrific online exchange between the social media admins of Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund. After a captivating Champions League quarter-final tie ended with Barcelona going through 5-3 on aggregate despite suffering a 3-1 defeat in Germany, Barca elected to thank their hosts on X. Advertisement Sick bags at the ready. They said: 'You've made it very difficult for us; you've been a great rival. Good luck for the rest of the season, and we'll see you next time.' And Dortmund replied with… Go win this thing 🤝 — Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) April 15, 2025 There's no hope for this sport anymore folks, time to go home. But there remains, unbelievably, a ray of light on social media. Port Vale, who you might remember from last week's Row Z recently enlisted a Fred-Elliott-from-Coronation-Street video to take the proverbial out of Walsall's mascot, are well worth a follow. If it's petty, completely unnecessary sarcasm you want from your social media accounts, you can do a lot worse than Vale. No mate, we'll be playing in Cumbria. — Port Vale FC (@OfficialPVFC) April 12, 2025 Elsewhere on social media this week, a couple of excellent 1960s/1970s music references for Row Z readers of a certain generation. First up, some advice towards Jude Bellingham was turned into tweet of the week from the Cultras Football Podcast. Paul McCartney's first draft: — Cultras Football Podcast (@thecultraspod) April 16, 2025 And, well, no words required for this (but they wore it well)… Rod Steward. #PUSB — Liam Dixon (@Dixon23Liam) April 9, 2025 And finally this week, you feel like MK Dons will forever fight a losing battle when it comes to earning the respect of football supporters. But their social media admin isn't really helping matters with this intended double wide shot of former player Dele Alli. 🤍#COYD — Milton Keynes Dons (@MKDonsFC) April 11, 2025
New York Times
11-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Row Z: Grumpy Ange cries conspiracy, ref body cams and the Juric is out… again
Welcome to Row Z, The Athletic's weekly column that shines a light on the bonkers side of the game. From clubs to managers, players to organisations, every Friday we'll bring you the absurdities, the greed, the contradictions, the preposterousness and the oddities of the game we all love… Remember when Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou was a breath of fresh air because he just told it like it was and didn't peddle the party line with bland, media-trained nonsense? He said 'mate'! He's one of us! Anyway, yeah, that didn't last long. Here's grumpy Ange taking umbrage with a perfectly legitimate question about whether Brennan Johnson should have taken Tottenham's 96th-minute penalty against Southampton (given he was on a hat-trick) instead of Mathys Tel. Advertisement 'It's incredible, it's just literally turning gold into crap when it's Tottenham,' he railed. 'I mean the one slight against this club is apparently it hasn't been a winner.' We'll stop you right there, Ange. There's not much of an 'apparently' about it, to be honest. Sorry, carry on. 'Well, the winner's mentality in the last minute of the game is to score a goal. We scored a goal and yet somehow, in this ultimate universe where everything Tottenham does is wrong, that's come out as a negative.' The ultimate Tottenham universe, a truly terrifying concept where people pay £5,000 per ticket to watch the team finish bottom of a closed-shop Super League every single year. Anyway, in classic I'm-about-to-be-sacked-so-I'm-losing-the-plot-in-press-conferences fare (see also Erik ten Hag last year and Antonio Conte in 2023), Postecoglou seems to think there's a perception problem with Spurs. The fact they're 13th in the Premier League and haven't won a trophy since 2009 is completely irrelevant. The real issue is that people just don't stick up for Spurs in the media. 'I hear plenty of people talking and defending other clubs, but it seems like with Tottenham, wherever there's a sore, there's a little pile-on to sort of stick a finger in that sore,' he said last Friday. 'Then we kind of accept our fate. 'Talking about bigger clubs, there seems to be a lot more voices. You need scrutiny and constructive criticism as well, but we certainly get enough of that but never any of the other stuff.' That's right, Spurs just never get the other stuff. You never see Darren Anderton on The Overlap defending their record of losing 16 matches this season. And when was the last time Ramon Vega was invited on Match of the Day to argue the case for Daniel Levy (24 years, 16 managers, one trophy)? Honestly, it's a conspiracy. Only 64 days until the Club World Cup, folks! Hurrah! Continuing with the tournament's theme of innovation — i.e. an imaginative idea of creating a big summer tournament with loads of big teams that no one actually wants to watch — FIFA has announced that referees will wear body cameras during the competition. Advertisement FIFA referees committee chairman Pierluigi Collina said: 'We think that it is a good chance to offer the viewers a new experience, in terms of images taken from a perspective, from an angle of vision which was never offered before.' Yep, see how absolutely knackered and completely nonplussed the players are from a totally new angle. How's your year been at work? Not got that raise you wanted? Accidentally left your Zoom on following a work call and slagged off your boss? Anyway, whatever's happened in the last, oh, seven months, we're guessing work won't have gone as badly as it has for Ivan Juric. Here's his 2024/25 season so far: September 18, 2024 Appointed manager of Roma until the end of the season. Loses five of his first 12 matches in all competitions November 10, 2024 Sacked with Roma 12th in Serie A and 20th in the Europa League December 23, 2024 Appointed manager of Southampton on an 18-month contract. Loses 13 of his first 16 matches in all competitions April 7, 2025 Sacked with Southampton 20th in the Premier League and relegated to the Championship Juric had done well in Italy earlier in his career with Crotone, Hellas Verona and Torino. Is there a school of thought here that the guy just needs a bit of time to implement his ideas? That was a notion publicly proposed by, well, Southampton no less when writing this on their official website after appointing Juric: 'That ability to outperform his resources attracted the advances of Roma, but Juric, like club legend Daniele De Rossi before him, was not afforded enough time to make his mark.' 'It's a very explosive situation, born after De Rossi's dismissal,' the Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini, a well-respected figure in Italian football, told Radio Anch'io Sport. 'He took on a very hot potato. Ivan is a good coach, he knows how to work. If he is supported, he can produce results.' Oh, OK, it's the club that's the problem, not Juric. Roma were a hot potato. Funny, Southampton didn't mention how hot, or indeed mouldy, their particular potato is when firing him. Talking of Southampton, they formed part of a week for the ages for club social media accounts. Here are the Saints announcing their relegation from the Premier League in the manner of a club which has just confirmed its League One play-off spot. Today's result confirms our place in the Championship next season. — Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) April 6, 2025 Someone let the work experience kid take over Stevenage's account during their match against Crawley Town… we cant get out the our box — Stevenage FC 🔴⚪ (@StevenageFC) April 5, 2025 You can't knock the honesty of Woking's admin after their FA Trophy semi-final defeat to local rivals Aldershot Town… Predictably, our media team wasn't able to reach Neal Ardley at full time to get his thoughts. We will reflect on the game on Monday. — Woking Football Club (@wokingfc) April 5, 2025 Walsall posted this fairly harmless promotional tweet before their big game against League Two promotion rivals Port Vale… 🔴 𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐘'𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐄 🔴 Swifty will be out and about before today's game – come and find him, say hello and grab a photo with your favourite mascot! Don't forget to post your pictures in this thread too – we can't wait to see them! 📸 — Walsall FC (@WFCOfficial) April 5, 2025 And Port Vale responded with an incredibly niche and apt reference… 👋🦜 — Port Vale FC (@OfficialPVFC) April 5, 2025 Meanwhile, when arguably your greatest player of all time has announced he's leaving the club forever, it's a sad day. But when you can reveal your new Vietnamese Energy Drinks Partner (their capitals, not ours), it's a good day. Manchester City are delighted to announce a new regional partnership with energy drink brand Wake-Up 247 as the Club's Official Energy Drinks Partner in Vietnam 🤝 — Manchester City (@ManCity) April 3, 2025 And finally, tweet of the week comes from Tom Dutton. Sure, Crystal Palace moved up to the giddy heights of 11th last weekend, but we all know where they're going to finish next month. Talking to a #CPFC fan back in August: — Tom Dutton (@TomDutty) April 4, 2025
New York Times
04-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Row Z: Semi-automated offsides, PSR loopholes and champion influencers
Welcome to Row Z, The Athletic's weekly column that shines a light on the bonkers side of the game. From clubs to managers, players to organisations, every Friday we'll bring you the absurdities, the greed, the contradictions, the preposterousness and the oddities of the game we all love… The Premier League has confirmed that semi-automated offside is being introduced next weekend. Great, just in time for the big end to the season. What could possibly go wrong? Here's the league's chief football officer Tony Scholes in February: 'We are not going to introduce it if we've got any doubts at all with regards to its operation. The system we've adopted, we believe it to be the best system, the most accurate and future-proof system.' Advertisement He sounds pretty confident. Row Z can't foresee any issues whatsoever. Hang on a minute, remind us what the Premier League said in 2019 (via a promotional video with Alan Shearer) when it was about to introduce VAR: 'The Premier League is setting a high bar for VAR involvement. The philosophy is minimum interference, maximum benefit, keeping the pace and passion we all know and love.' Hmmm. Anyway let's be fair — this is a new system and we have to place our faith in these people and the technology they're implementing. In other recent semi-automated offside news: There was an eight-minute delay during Bournemouth v Wolves in the FA Cup last month when the technology was being trialled. Great. Sure, Saudi Arabian sportswashing has infiltrated the world of Newcastle streamers and alleged influencers, but who's to say there isn't some kid in Riyadh vlogging in a similar fashion? 'Hello, sorry, (checks notes) howay everyone. What better way to celebrate Newcastle, the pride of Saudi Arabia, winning the Carabao Cup than by flying to the north east of England where you can enjoy overcast weather and below average temperatures for this time of year? 'If you're (checks notes) reet canny you'll remove all the garments from the top half of your body, sip from a refreshing bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale and pay a visit to popular social club Popworld. That's (checks notes) champion.' Chelsea, you've got to hand it to them. A couple of years after selling two hotels for a combined £76.5million ($100.2m at current rates) to help balance their bulging books, the club have now revealed they made a whopping £128.4m pre-tax profit in 2023-24 despite being busy assembling the world's most expensive (and underachieving) football squad. How? They sold off the women's team! And who did they sell it to? Themselves, of course! Many Premier League clubs can have no complaints over Chelsea's methods given that, just last year, nine of them voted to continue to allow the use of one-off profits from the sales of hotels, training grounds or other tangible assets in their financial fair play submissions. What else are clubs looking to sell so they can stay within the top flight's profitability and sustainability rules (PSR)? Row Z can only speculate: Manchester United: Sir Alex Ferguson. Not content with scrapping his role as a club ambassador, United could look into selling Fergie as a commodity. In return the buying club would receive Ferguson's attendance at every home and away match as well as phonecalls offering encouragement to the team's manager and players. Advertisement 'These are desperate times, we're running out cash,' Sir Jim Ratcliffe will justify as he simultaneously signs off on a project to build the most expensive circus tent ever constructed. Also potentially up for sale at United — one stadium roof. It's got a few holes in it but nothing a bit of Polyfilla won't fix. Oh and their dignity, week after week. Tottenham: Any branding which just has the word 'Tottenham' on it. That's Tottenham Hotspur or Spurs to me and you. Chelsea (again): Every single player they bought last summer. Arsenal: Advance copies of the club's newly-commissioned DVD 'Conspiracy', a docu-drama which will intersperse clips showing where the PGMOL have deliberately wronged Arsenal this season to derail their title bid, with dramatic behind-the-scenes recreations of how the plots were conceived, starring Arsenal fans Benedict Cumberbatch (playing Howard Webb) and Anne Hathaway (Howard Webb's wife). Liverpool: Just a few million Trent Alexander-Arnold No 66 shirts. Wolves forward Matheus Cunha during an interview with The Observer on March 30: 'Now, we're close to achieving our goal (of staying up). But I've made it clear that I need to take the next step. I want to fight for titles, for big things.' Also Cunha, on March 1: Gets needlessly sent off in the 120th minute of an FA Cup fifth-round tie at Bournemouth, starting a fight with Milos Kerkez as the game winds down to penalties. Cunha then can't take a penalty so Matt Doherty has to step up instead and misses, meaning Wolves miss out on a last-eight spot and the chance of a title. And also here's Wolves, the club that pay Cunha's wages, on February 1: 'Wolves top scorer Matheus Cunha has committed his long-term future to the club, signing a new four-and-a-half-year deal at Molineux.' There was another normal night for Jose Mourinho in Turkey this week. After Fenerbahce's loss to Galatasaray in the Turkish Cup, Jose Mourinho appeared to pinch the nose of Okan Buruk, the Galatasaray manager. — The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) April 2, 2025 Anyway, Galatasaray had the last laugh with this, which may not only win the internet this week, but possibly for the whole of 2025. Galatasaray delirtir. — Galatasaray SK (@GalatasaraySK) April 2, 2025
