List of All Articles with Tag 'ag'

Critics say July's election, which saw PM Hun Sen's party win 120 of 125 seats, was neither free or fair.

Erik ten Hag explains what Rasmus Hojlund will bring to Man Utd.

If Chandrayaan-3 succeeds, India will be the first country to land near the Moon's little-explored south pole.

Despite Manchester United having officially announced Rasmus Hojlund's £72m arrival at Old Trafford, the striuker is missing a friendly with RC Lens and may be sidelined through injury for several weeks.

The charity declares its support for its boss and appeals to President Nicolas Maduro's government.

The Biden administration has intensified its focus on tracing cryptocurrency payments that some of the most dangerous Mexican drug cartels use to buy fentanyl ingredients from Chinese chemical companies, the latest step in a renewed attempt to crack down on the multibillion-dollar fentanyl trade that kills thousands of Americans each year.

How much Josko Gvardiol will cost Manchester City and how his transfer from RB Leipzig compares to the most expensive defenders of all time.

Mikel Arteta admits to doubting his ability as a manager after Arsenal lost the Premier League title race to Man City.

Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan given three-year jail sentence over corruption allegations he denies

Women in the US state with pregnancy complications will be exempted from the abortion ban, a judge rules.

There are benefits to relegation. The fixture list can be stripped of glamour, the prize assets can attract covetous glances from predators and there is a lingering uncertainty if an exile will last as long as Sheffield Wednesday’s but Southampton’s supporters had grown accustomed to the sight of their side propping up the table. A chorus of “we are top of the league” felt premature when Wednesday equalised. When Che Adams tucked in an 87th-minute winner, however, it was true. And if it was the product of a fixture list that meant they played first, it is not something they could boast since Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team reached the Premier League summit in November 2020. They can seem distant days now, though more recent than some of Wednesday’s achievements. The applause before kick-off for the late Trevor Francis was a reminder that he steered Wednesday to third place in the Premier League, a feat no one else may ever equal. It is with an illustration of shifting statuses within the game. Southampton’s previous away win came at Chelsea, Wednesday’s previous home defeat to Burton. Each is in unfamiliar surroundings and, for Southampton, the cast list may change dramatically over the next month, too. A winning start for Russell Martin, their fourth manager in nine months, came with the club in a state of flux. The price for failure is being counted. Tino Livramento was slated to start, but instead joined Newcastle. Romeo Lavia was on the bench; a prodigy valued at £50m made his last appearance against Liverpool and his next one could come for them. The club-record signing Kamaldeen Sulemana wants to leave this summer. The £18m striker Paul Onuachu needs to; he only even made the bench once in pre-season and the 6ft 8in forward was a conspicuous absentee. There is, however, always James Ward-Prowse. This, presumably, was not where he envisaged his season would start but the captain’s attitude was impeccable. The subject of two bids from West Ham, the man whose league debut was Saints’ return to the top flight in 2012 and whose 343 league appearances had all come in the higher tier kicked off the Football League season and had one of the night’s most telling touches: it was his low cutback that the substitute Adams converted. Adams is a former Sheffield United striker, which may have had a sadly typical feel for Wednesday. In a sense, the fixture list gave Southampton a glimpse of a potentially ominous future. Wednesday offer a salutary warning to those ejected from the Premier League. A top-flight club for 66 seasons, this is their 24th consecutive year in the Football League. They are more familiar with the third tier than the first of late. They have faced Accrington, Lincoln and Morecambe as peers in 2023, but not Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United in the league since 2000. But, amid the global fixation with the big six and the newer, stranger obsession with Wrexham, there are large, loyal fanbases across the Football League. There were 28,558 inside Hillsborough, a vast support given Wednesday’s decades in the doldrums. They can feel the forgotten big club – outside the Steel City, anyway – emerging from the shadows to sculpt the greatest play-off comeback of all. Hillsborough’s previous game had been the seminal, spectacular 5-1 win over Peterborough. Lee Gregory scored twice then – once at either end – and the former Stavely Miners Welfare striker had hauled Wednesday level with a sweetly-struck volley after a corner. That set-piece frailty may cost Southampton in other games; not here, though. Victory may have been validation. If the same may have been said of Vincent Kompany 12 months ago, Martin’s reputation that has outstripped his achievements when appointed by a club with aspirations of promotion; his league finishes with MK Dons and Swansea are 13th, 15th and 10th but he has progressed from League One to a club that was in the top flight. There may have been more style than substance so far, even if Martinball sounds more like the assistant manager at B&Q than a passing philosophy. But Southampton made 477 first-half passes, a divisional record, and had 80 percent of possession; they turned it into victory. They had Samuel Edozie, who sparkled on the left wing; if an example of misguided recruitment last season, when only three of Southampton’s 16 signings succeeded and, indeed, only three of them started in Sheffield, the 20-year-old has the ability to prosper. They had Nathan Tella, a catalyst in Burnley’s promotion and, seemingly, the scorer of the season’s opening goal; his shot actually glanced off Adam Armstrong’s hip, making the forward the fortunate scorer; he is another with a scoring pedigree at this level, albeit usually in more deliberate fashion. But Tella, the talent Southampton owned all along, is part of the rebuild after the confused mess of last season, as the club who were role models a decade ago became an example of how not to do things. That has been Wednesday’s lot for many a recent year. Having dispensed with Darren Moore, the dignified architect of promotion in a 96-point season, they introduced Xisco Munoz. One of the battalion of former Watford managers – indeed much the best of the last seven – had nevertheless won a mere four games in charge of Anorthosis Famagusta. His Wednesday team played an anti-pressing game, as though too old to close down. On a night of new beginnings, Martin’s promised more than Munoz’s.

Pep Guardiola’s intended audience may have been in Barcelona. It often has been, though usually when he was their midfielder, captain or manager. In seven years in Manchester, Guardiola has frequently had to address matters at the Camp Nou, though it was usually only to deny that Lionel Messi was bound for the Etihad Stadium. Now the subject of another saga is a player from his present, not the increasingly distant past. Manchester City’s summers seem to consist of two rituals: lifting the Premier League trophy and then enduring a wait to see if Bernardo Silva stays. The Portuguese’s most persistent admirers are in Catalonia. The other constant is that Barcelona repeatedly refuse to meet City’s asking price. Sometimes they receive no firm proposal while a cash-strapped club with a recruitment policy based on hoping their allure will encourage players to engineer their exit seemingly think they can acquire elite footballers on the cheap. All of which is a cause of some irritation in Manchester. Guardiola has long insisted that he will allow players to leave if they want to go, providing he has enough time to find a replacement and an acceptable sum is recouped. Silva has been tempted to go, although seemingly not to Saudi Arabia. But the season starts with both him and the Bayern Munich target Kyle Walker at the Etihad, with Guardiola vowing to do everything he can to keep them, but with the familiar state of affairs that no one has made a suitable offer for Silva. It remains an unsettling, undermining situation. And so Guardiola seemed to direct a message from Manchester to his old club: in effect, to put up or shut up. “I want to clarify because I know Barcelona reports make up what I say,” he said. “From day one I don't want any players who don't want to be here but I'm an employee. I want to work with guys who want to stay and work with staff and players, but after we have to get a proper offer. If we don't get a proper offer, he's our player and we want him. “If they want him, they will take a plane and come here and talk to our sporting director and CEO to make an agreement because three parts have to be there. For us to buy a player, just because we are Man City it is £10-15m more expensive than other clubs all the time. If people want our really, really important players, first they have to make an offer - and that hasn't happened. When it happens, we will fight to extend the contract and be with us. That has happened with all of our players since day one.” The notion of a City tax in signing players is familiar. Josko Gvardiol, whose arrival should be ratified, will become the second most expensive defender in history, at £77m. Barcelona appear to think tax should be deducted at source, that they should get players for below their market value. City think Silva is worth £80m which, as midfielders such as Declan Rice and Enzo Fernandez have commanded nine-figure sums, may not be excessive; it may have been an understatement when Guardiola said it would cost more than £50m to replace the Portuguese international. City were beneficiaries on one of the few occasions in straitened times when Barcelona, despite their heavy debts, paid a sizeable fee: €55m for Ferran Torres, who has since lost his place in their team. Their powers of persuasion worked on Ilkay Gundogan, who joined on a free transfer. But Barcelona’s difficulties in even registering players is a reason why there has been no bid for Silva this summer, just an extended courtship. Much as Guardiola often praises the midfielder, he has long seemed to have a wanderlust. He may be interested. “When you win the treble, it looks like the job is done,” Guardiola said. “Players who are 32, 33 like Ilkay and Riyad [Mahrez] say we arrived here for Premier Leagues and then people ask about the Champions League [and then they win that]. Some players feel they want a new experience. “I will not be the guy who says no, but they have to make an agreement with the important part of the club, the business. Make a deal and it happens. In the case of Bernardo and Kyle, we talk many times over the last months and even years how important they are, how we want them and we will continue to do so until the end. I don't know what will happen.” The uncertainty is an annual experience but Silva could be still more important now. Gundogan’s departure may allow him to play his preferred role in the middle of midfield. For Guardiola, he is central, in more ways than one. And if Silva has the technical talent to play for Barcelona, it comes with the kind of price tag that, so far, they have been unwilling or unable to match. Read More Pep Guardiola hopes Manchester City complete signing of Josko Gvardiol soon Pep Guardiola keen to avoid ‘difficult’ transfer task after Man City lose ‘incredible players’ Josko Gvardiol set for Manchester City medical after £77.5m deal agreed