Talks continuing after chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox recommended Carrick’s appointment to minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is a strong indicator his installation as Ruben Amorim’s permanent successor is now just a matter of time. Most players have backed Carrick for the job, with the majority of fans also believing […]

Liverpool have confirmed defenders Gemma Bonner and Gemma Evans will leave the club at the end of the season. Bonner captained the Reds to successive Women’s Super League titles in 2013 and 2014 and was in her second spell at the club. The 34-year-old is Liverpool’s all-time record appearance holder in the WSL era, having […]

Such plans do not always come to fruition, of course, given the unpredictability of the market. But Howe believes Newcastle now have an executive structure in place to at least enable smarter and faster decisions to be made following the arrival of chief executive David Hopkinson and sporting director Wilson, who worked at Southampton from […]

Coleman has struggled with injuries in recent years and featured only three times in the Premier League this season – lasting only 10 minutes on his only start because of injury in November. If he does play some role against the Black Cats at the weekend, he will go ninth in Everton‘s all-time appearances list, […]

Qualifying for Champions League will earn Hearts and/or Celtic just north of €20.2m (£17.5m), should they reach the league phase. The majority of that money is the entry fee, but there are further fees included such as television revenue and share for the league position. That fee can jump up significantly in a few ways. […]

Tottenham were a bruised team last summer having finished second bottom in the WSL, with only relegated Crystal Palace conceding more goals in a poor campaign that led to the sacking of manager Robert Vilahamn. Ho was appointed as Vilahamn’s successor, joining from Norwegian side SK Brann, who he led to the quarter-finals of the […]

One person I’ve deliberately left out of the above list of managers I’ve enjoyed getting to know over the years is Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola. I want to talk about Pep separately, because of the rumours that this could be his last season in English football. My first encounter with him was when I […]

4. Michael Owen – Liverpool v Arsenal 2001 A young Michael Owen was electrifying. By the 2001 FA Cup final some of his early hamstring problems had already begun, but this was a 21-year-old on his way to winning the Ballon d’Or. Even then, the diminutive forward looked like a schoolkid thrust into an adult’s […]

A former Exeter City captain, Taylor helped them win back-to-back promotions on the field from what is now the National League to League One between 2008 and 2009 – scoring 20 goals in 162 appearances between 2007 and 2011. He left to join Charlton Athletic in 2011 before going on to play for clubs including […]

“Following discussions with the medical staff, we agreed that an injection was the only option, which was initially scheduled for Thursday. “After Sunday’s game, and with emotions running high, I made the decision to bring the injection forward to Tuesday. That decision would have ruled me out of both Wednesday and Saturday’s matches. “After speaking […]