The Guardian

Pochettino wants to leave USA role for United Wilcox and Berrada to recommend Carrick sacking Manchester United are closing in on agreeing a deal for Mauricio Pochettino to become their head coach if Michael Carrick is sacked in line with the recommendation from Jason Wilcox, the director of football, and Omar Berrada, the chief executive, to Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Pochettino is the US men’s national…

Teams with championship aspirations tooled up at the deadline. Most, but not all of them, have improved their chances After what happened on Monday night, the Minnesota Vikings had to do this. In a dispiriting loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Vikings saw their tremendous defense go to waste, as Carson Wentz completed eight of 25 passes for 81 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer ra…

While No 9s still score the most goals and No 1s try to stop them, trends have changed since the introduction of squad numbers in the early 1990s How much is a shirt number worth? It costs £8 if you want two digits added to the back of Arsenal’s 2026-27 home shirt, whereas Manchester City add on £16 for customisation, whether you want a name as well as a number or not. That is cheap compared to w…

Plus: more speedy marathons by footballers, headed goals of the season and chairs acting as managers Mail us with all of your questions and answers “Which club team has had the most international captains playing together at one time?” asks MH Zahid. “Conversely, which international team has had the most club captains in its starting lineup at one time?” A quick web search finds a fuss being made…

Obsessive attention to detail is helping striker to reach new heights – and a 126th international appearance on Thursday It was Harry Kane’s dirty little secret. Something the England captain got up to after matches. He felt he deserved the indulgence. Yes, it can be revealed, Kane loved to reward himself after a gruelling 90 minutes with a bag of sweets. “I do like a Haribo,” he said with a smil…

Book tour will still go ahead but with changes this week’s schedule Khawaja evasive when questioned on ABC’s 7:30 Report Usman Khawaja’s promotional book tour has been subject to “adjustments” after the former Australia Test batter was grilled about certain claims on the ABC’s 7.30 Report. Khawaja pulled out of some radio and television spots on Wednesday, with his publisher Penguin saying that w…

The interminable sandpaper scandal will drag on to the next press conference, social media post or book, until it festers into something much bigger than it needs to be There are some stories that you look back on and wonder whether we lost our collective minds. In Australia, 2018 was not a good year for banking executives, for prime ministers, for oily lord mayors and for cardinals. But the grea…

American rebounds from opening defeat to Coco Gauff Pegula beats Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5 to stay in contention Ukrainian eliminated after entering as late replacement Jessica Pegula reignited her challenge at the season-ending WTA Finals on Tuesday, battling past Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in straight sets to stay on course for a semi-final berth. Pegula, beaten by Coco Gauff in her opening group match at …

‘We weren’t aware anything was taken on the field’ CA: no ‘compelling reason’ to establish new inquiry Mitchell Starc has denied claims made in Usman Khawaja’s new book that more than the three players suspended for ball tampering had knowledge of the sandpaper plan in South Africa in 2018. Starc became the first of the Australia bowling group who played in the 2018 Cape Town Test to speak out fo…

Twenty-two-year-old suffered severe injuries at race on Sunday ‘Words are not enough,’ says trainer Richard Freedman Apprentice jockey Izzy Neale has died following a fall at a regional racecourse. Neale suffered severe injuries when her mount Marnoo fell entering the home straight in the Warren Shire Cotton Cup in NSW. Continue reading...

Manchester City’s European campaign finally came roaring into life as they put four goals past Inter to record their first Women’s Champions League victory of the season and greatly improve their prospects of reaching the knockout stages. The English side had to come from behind after a slow start but two goals from Aoba Fujino put them ahead before half-time, and second-half efforts from Kerstin…

F10 unions fear financial loss if they play in second tier Promotion/relegation set for 2030 Nations Championship The Six Nations and Sanzaar are facing another battle with World Rugby over a desire from some unions to ensure that none of them can be relegated from the Nations Championship. As reported last week by the Guardian, the 10 leading unions have set up a new company, F10, to run the Nat…

Fearless winger has forced his way into Thomas Tuchel’s plans and believes he can become best player in the world Rio Ngumoha is fearless, exciting and ready to make his mark as an England player. The Liverpool winger narrowly missed the cut for the World Cup squad last summer but he impressed during the pre-tournament camp in Florida and has forced his way into Thomas Tuchel’s plans after an exc…

Midfielder was in hospital before Haiti match ‘I had to get the shock on my heart,’ says McTominay Scott McTominay has revealed he was in hospital under sedation to have a “shock on my heart” just 48 hours before Scotland began their World Cup campaign against Haiti in June. McTominay’s absence from training at the time was put down to a stomach complaint. It emerged in August that the Napoli mid…

England require back-line reshuffle after several injuries Kevin Sinfield says collaboration with clubs will be key England need to find a talented understudy for their injured star winger Manny Feyi-Waboso and are poised to invite Gloucester’s Will Joseph to audition for a leading role against Japan on Saturday. The latter was a travelling reserve for last weekend’s Australia game and appears se…