Latest news with #JamieCarragher
Daily Mirror
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Jamie Carragher's Chelsea rant comes back to bite him as Todd Boehly gets last laugh
One year on from his ruthless Sky Sports Monday Night Football assessment of Chelsea's squad, Jamie Carragher has been made to eat his words after their Club World Cup success Jamie Carragher has been made to look foolish by Chelsea after his sharp Sky Sports assessment of the Blues' squad last year. Enzo Maresca's side added the Club World Cup to their recent UEFA Conference League win on Sunday. Last summer, Chelsea came under heavy fire for their seemingly endless spending and revolving-door-style recruitment. Multiple first-team players were frozen out of the squad and over £200million was spent on 10 new faces, with their cohort bloating to 43 at one point. These actions infuriated Sky pundit and Liverpool icon Carragher, who pleaded with the Blues to stop signing players, whilst branding them 'not a proper club.' Fast-forward 12 months, however, and they're world champions. "Chelsea have just got to stop buying players, and players have got to stop signing for Chelsea," Carragher began on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football in August 2024. "If I was a player I don't know why you would sign for Chelsea, the only reason you would sign is because someone might say, 'You're getting a seven-year deal and big money and that's guaranteed money for seven years.' "You know what I'd say? Back yourself as a player, sign a four-year deal at a proper club and back yourself to do well, and then when you're due for a renewal, your money goes up anyway. "I don't understand why players are signing seven-year deals. It's not a young or exciting team. Great football teams need competition, but every football team I played in, there was seven or eight players who knew they were playing every week, and then you've got six or seven players who are fighting for the positions. "Then you've got another six or seven who know they're squad players. That is a healthy squad. If you've got 40 players, how are they all in one dressing room, how are you putting a training session on?" Though they only managed a fourth-placed Premier League finish, Chelsea won the Conference League and added the Club World Cup to their cabinet on Sunday, upsetting Champions League holders PSG 3-0 in the final. Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly, who helped orchestrate a lot of the business last summer that riled up Carragher, opened up to talkSPORT after the win, admitting that this project has always been trusted. "Well, we couldn't have wished for a better outcome for our boys, who have done such good work and trained so hard, really came together in America under Enzo's leadership and his direction," Boehly began. "No one gave us a chance to beat PSG, and the boys really thrived and grew on that. Watching them come together over the last couple of weeks in America has been very special. I think the form that you've seen is everything we hoped when we were putting this together with [co-sporting directors] Laurence [Stewart] and Paul [Winstanley]. "We always knew that, whatever happens on any given day. The odds that we thought we had and were able to round out with a piece or two... the boys, really understanding what Enzo's been doing. We're big believers, we knew all along in the value of the project. "So I think, obviously, it came together brilliantly, and those are just odds that you can't predict. But we're hopeful that every day we wake up, the odds are that Chelsea are going to win something big." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jamie Carragher hilariously 'finds a way to win' after the Liverpool legend was denied entry to an Ibiza nightclub for wearing flip-flops
Jamie Carragher was forced to think outside the box after recently being denied entry into a nightclub. The Sky Sports pundit, 47, has been enjoying some downtime over the summer months ahead of the coming campaign. On Friday Carragher shared a snap alongside his wife of 20 years Nicola, with the pair enjoying a picturesque boat trip on the Spanish island of Ibiza. However, it appears that the former England international's evening wasn't quite over yet. In a video shared to X by non-league footballer Leon Greenland, Carragher appears to be denied entrance into an establishment for failing to have the appropriate footwear. Seemingly undeterred by the initial rejection, Carragher then appears in a subsequent video having managed to make his way inside after reportedly purchasing some ill-fitting trainers. Fair to say @Carra23 really didn't want to admit defeat last night when refused entry for flip flops. A quick shopping trip later….. he's in😂😂😂 FIND A WAY TO WIN! — Leon Greenland (@Greenland_Leon) July 12, 2025 A video appearing to show Jamie Carragher being denied entry into a nightclub has gone viral on social media The Liverpool legend later managed to make his way inside, having seemingly purchased a pair of ill-fitting trainers to meet the dress code In a video circulated widely on social media, Carragher can be seen hilariously flaunting his new shoes before offering some sage advice. 'Hey, I got in!' He can be seen saying. 'What do I always say on Sky? Find a way to win. We find a way to win.' The incident comes after Carragher was seen dressed as Willy Wonka for his daughter Mia's 21st birthday. The Champions League winner ditched his usual pundit attire for a purple velvet coat, top hat, and oversized bow tie as he channeled the eccentric chocolate factory owner in celebration of his daughter's milestone. Mia, who was dressed as Poison Ivy, marked her birthday in style with a lavish party surrounded by family and friends. But it was her dad's eye-catching outfit that stole the show on social media. The 47-year-old posed proudly in full costume, sharing photos and videos from the party on Instagram. He wrote: 'What a great night for Mia's 21st birthday fancy dress party,' alongside a heart, dancing and beers emojis.
Irish Times
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Against every prediction, Roy Keane has made a career out of talking, and Cork is embracing it
About a year ago the Stick to Football podcast decided that each member of the team should be the subject of a long interview about their life and career. When it came to Roy Keane's turn, Ian Wright opened the conversation with a question that he thought was a soft ball. 'So, Roy, Dublin , when you land back to Dublin, I know you …,' said Wright, before Keane jumped down his throat, studs first. 'To Dublin! What's in Dublin?' said Keane, taking a tone of high dudgeon. 'To Cork ,' his voice drifting towards a native shriek. 'I'm from Cork.' READ MORE Jamie Carragher picked up the thread with another question that started in the wrong place but hurriedly moved on. He wondered if Keane was badgered more by the public in Dublin than he would be at home. 'No, no, no,' he said. 'In Cork, I'd have the most people coming up to me. They know me really well and there are no boundaries. Cork would be the hardest place for me to duck and dive.' Throughout his life in the public eye he has never exhibited any desire to land in Cork and skulk from public view, like a diva. In recent years sightings of Keane have been commonplace, captured on the spot by the Boswells of the digital age. Keane was in Turners Cross to watch Cork City a couple of weeks ago and the image flew around social media quicker than his tongue-lashings from the telly. When he turns up in Páirc Uí Chaoimh for a Cork GAA match, it is never a secret either. Keane has given up going incognito in a baseball cap. It is interesting, though, how this relationship with home has evolved over time. On Monday night, in a giant big top near the marina in Cork, Keane begins a run of three sold-out evenings of conversation with Roddy Doyle , the celebrated novelist and ghostwriter of Keane's second autobiography. Roy Keane at a Cork v Dublin game in Croke Park in 2022. Photograph: Evan Treacy/Inpho In showbiz fashion, one night was put to the market, last November, and in the rush for tickets two more dates were added within days. At that time of the year, you can imagine Santa Claus' eyes lighting up. Three sold out nights amounts to about 24,000 punters. Onstage conversations with interesting people, in front of a live audience, are a satellite of the podcast universe, where Keane is now a star. Against every prediction, including Keane's, he has made a career in the media. In the book he wrote with Doyle, there is a chapter on Keane's nascent career in TV, as it was at the time, more than a decade ago. The overriding tone of the chapter was that it wasn't for him. 'The problem for me was that the TV work felt like a failure. Because I had failed at management at Ipswich ,' he wrote on page 261. Two pages later he writes about pulling out of ITV's coverage of the 2014 World Cup. 'I know that punditry is a huge part of the football life, but I didn't want to do it any more,' he wrote. 'I just felt it was sucking my spirit.' As his prospects in management continued to lose altitude, though, punditry became his fall back. He developed a sharp line in unpretentious analysis and curmudgeonly put-downs. And, in middle age, he cultivated a way of talking about himself that was attractive. He told stories against himself. He was self-deprecating and funny. In Cork, like in many other places in Ireland, talking about yourself is a high-wire act. You might get away with it for one sup of a pint, but don't chance if for a second sup. And yet, for the next three nights, Cork people who have read Keane's two books, and consumed hundreds of hours of podcast output, have paid €83.55, including booking fees, to listen to Keane talking about himself. Earlier in his life, all of this would have been unimaginable. In the early years of his fame and fortune, when Keane was still a man about town, he socialised in Cork whenever the opportunity arose. That wasn't always simple. Over time, how Keane was perceived around Cork inched closer to a consensus In his first autobiography he talks about bits and pieces of begrudgery around the place. Comments spat from the side of someone's mouth for cheap laughs. Small town stuff, outside a chipper, after hours. On the night of David O'Leary's testimonial match against Hungary, in May 1993, he flew from Dublin to Cork for a night out and was refused entry to a nightclub on Hanover Street by a power-drunk bouncer. Dave Hannigan, who was standing in the queue, wrote about the incident years later. 'Everybody in Cork would come to have their own Keane story about an incident inside or outside a nightclub or a pub,' wrote Hannigan. 'Some of them would even be true. On this particular night there was no gauche attempt [by Keane] to flaunt his new position. He just stood there for a moment, maybe hoping for a change of mind from the man in black with the earpiece, and then walked away.' There was one unsavoury incident where a woman, who grew up on the same Mayfield estate as Keane, claimed that she had been slandered by him on a night out and looked for £15,000 in damages. The court ruled in Keane's favour and, four years later, she withdrew her appeal. All that stuff is long ago now. Over time, how he was perceived around Cork inched closer to a consensus, or as close as you can conceive to a consensus about somebody whose life and times bristled with divineness. The stories that you would hear around the place now are about acts of generosity to charities or sports clubs – private donations that wouldn't be declared or acknowledged. Word would just get out. [ Roy Keane is a cranky middle-aged man selling things cranky middle-aged men like to cranky middle-aged men Opens in new window ] A couple of months ago, the family of an ailing man attempted to make contact with Keane through a local radio station, hoping that he would record a personal message for their father. Instead, Keane arrived into the Mercy Hospital and visited the man in person. That wasn't an isolated act of kindness. Keane will be embraced by Cork this evening, and for the next two nights. He mightn't say it, and he mightn't show it, but he'll get a kick out of that.
Daily Mirror
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Claire Sweeney looks super svelte as she leads glam celebs at charity bash
A galaxy of stars descended on Liverpool's Titanic Hotel for the Sedulo Foundation's annual Colour Ball on Thursday night. The event was a gathering of celebrities, supporters and business leaders, all united in their mission to raise crucial funds for children and young people living in poverty. Claire Sweeney, Coronation Street actress and proud Liverpudlian, took on the role of host for the evening. She was joined by a plethora of famous faces including football legend Jamie Carragher and TV favourites such as Linda Robson, Dr Ranj, Real Housewives of Cheshire stars Seema Malhotra and Leanne Brown, and Nermina Pieters-Mekic. Fashion guru and DJ Gok Wan led the entertainment, with UK Garage stars Lisa Maffia and Romeo, of So Solid Crew, delivering a roof-raising performance. The event was orchestrated by national advisory firm Sedulo, which boasts offices in Manchester, Liverpool, London, Leeds and Birmingham. The Colour Ball is a fundraising initiative for the firm's charitable arm, The Sedulo Foundation. Last year's ball raised £200,000. This year's total exceeded that, making it the biggest event yet for the foundation with a huge £223,000 raised on the night. Since its inception in 2022, the Sedulo Foundation has supported over 2,000 young people. Its initiatives include providing school equipment, sanitary products, and Christmas gifts for those in need, as well as creating employment opportunities for young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds. This year's event also marked the launch of Fresh Starts, a new initiative providing hygiene kits, everyday wear, and interview-ready outfits for young people entering adulthood.
Daily Mail
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Liverpool's greatest players at war in AI-made musical: Ian Rush attacks Jamie Carragher and Robbie Fowler in bizarre 90-minute Hamilton-style production amid legal row
Liverpool legend Ian Rush has put his name to an extraordinarily bizarre, score-settling musical produced by AI - attacking Jamie Carragher and Robbie Fowler. Rush takes pot shots at Carragher and Fowler, lambasts the legal system and various journalists and lawyers in the 90-minute 'Rush For Justice'. In the musical shared online after being premiered in Cannes by the embattled company Rush is involved with, the strange Hamilton-style AI production is unveiled in full. The lyrics in one song reference his anger at Carragher and Fowler for ditching him in a WhatsApp group after withdrawing endorsement videos from a controversial company he holds a stake in. 'Now here's a tale from Merseyside, surreal but sadly true, of legends draped in scarlet red, their boots once split the blue. Fowler, Carragher, icons both with Rushy, through and through, were asked to send a video clip, just something mates would do,' runs one song before the AI generated voice starts rapping. 'They never called old Rushy back, no mate-to-mate hello, just vanished from the WhatsApp thread like Gerrard missed a throw,' goes the next verse as his grievances are brought to light. Rush, the top goalscorer in Liverpool history, is a significant shareholder in Irama Sports - a company that invests in and purchases football grounds. When the company launched, a number of ex-pros, including Carragher and Fowler, filmed endorsements that were put on their Facebook page. Some were later withdrawn amid claims the former Liverpool defender and striker had not intended them for commercial use. Clearly Rush is still stung by their actions - hence the decision to call them out in his AI musical. At the time, Carragher and Fowler were questioned about their support for Irama given the controversy around the company buying up grounds of struggling clubs. Both then distanced themselves on Twitter, now X, in April last year. Carragher wrote: 'Just seen this thread and seen my name as an endorsement of this group. I was asked for a video message, which I did as a favour to a former LFC player. I have no idea who they are or what they do. After reading, what they do looks very grim.' Fowler added: 'I was asked for a video from a friend and former team-mate. I have no affiliation with this group and don't wish to be associated with them. My support is with grassroots football and those effected.' Fowler, Rush and Carragher had previously worked with each other for the Liverpool Foundation after their playing days but the relationship between the Welshman and his old team-mates now appears fractured. One song in the AI musical details Rush's legal frustrations, with the American voiceover singing: 'Four years deep in the litigation zone, self-represented, standing on my own. Irama's case has got the core but they won't let justice through the court room door. 'They don't touch substance, no merit in view, just playing the game with a rulebook or two, £70k in costs what a feat for a £65k claim, that's elite.' Irama is also involved in an ongoing legal dispute with a Surrey scaffolding company and Martin Calladine - one of the journalists called out in the musical by name - sums up the production as detailing: 'Rush's and Irama's four-year court battle with the former owners of Whyteleafe (a football club in Surrey). 'It starts as a rant about the media, attacking The Athletic, the FSA, former MP Tracey Crouch, lots of journalists (including, briefly, me), Fowler, Carragher, and Liverpool's failure to sell them Melwood.' Melwood was Liverpool's training ground until 2020 before they moved to the state-of-the-art AXA Training Centre in Kirkby. Rather than sell the former site, Liverpool's women's team and girls' academy now operate out of Melwood. Irama have come under fire for purchases that have been either at clubs whose grounds are in administration or were being sold at auction. Back in 2021, they spent £495,000 on Whyteleafe FC's Church Road ground and £300,000 for Oxfordshire club Abingdon Town's Culham Road the year before. At the time Whyteleafe chairman Mark Coote told the Athletic: 'Irama don't seem to grasp football clubs, it's as if they're landlords. An email shared by author and journalist Martin Calladine was shared, detailing Justice For Sport Media's message prior to the launch of the AI musical 'This could end up finishing the club and the community I've built over the last 25 years. We're in a very difficult position. Terminating the lease means Whyteleafe don't have anywhere to play.' Irama showcased the AI musical in Cannes in one of their properties - and Calladine says there are plans to develop a film to go with the music. He also shared an email from Justice For Sport media company in the US - who headed the production. The email gave notice to those named in the musical about the release 'to ensure full transparency'. The musical was uploaded online under a Creative Commons 'Public Domain Dedication' licence, meaning the content can be used by anyone without infringing copyright.
