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West Ham United face Italian side Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final in Prague on Wednesday night. The Hammers are bidding to win a first major trophy since the FA Cup in 1980. Here, we look back at their route to the final. Qualifying round West Ham’s journey to Prague began on August 18, three Prime Ministers ago, with a home meeting against Danish minnows Viborg. New Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio scored in a 3-1 first-leg win. Scamacca was on target again, along with Said Benrahma and Tomas Soucek, in the away leg to secure a comprehensive 6-1 aggregate victory. Group stage The Hammers were drawn with Romanian side FCSB, Belgium’s Anderlecht and Silkeborg of Denmark in Group B. They fell behind to FCSB at home in their first match but goals from Bowen, Emerson Palmieri and Antonio earned a 3-1 win and David Moyes’ side went on to breeze into the knockout stages with six wins out of six. Last 16 The travelling fans were rewarded with a trip to sunny Cyprus and a tie against AEK Larnaca. West Ham were struggling domestically, having just been knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United and thumped 4-0 at Brighton in the Premier League, but Antonio’s double settled the away leg and a brace from Bowen helped them to a 4-0 win at home, and 6-0 on aggregate, to keep the European adventure going. Quarter-final Next up were another Belgian outfit, Gent, and for the first time in the competition West Ham failed to register a victory, with Danny Ings on target in a 1-1 away draw. But despite conceding an early goal, the home leg was comfortable thanks to another Antonio double, Lucas Paqueta’s penalty and a stunning solo goal from captain Declan Rice to wrap up a 4-1 win. Semi-final Dutch dark horses AZ Alkmaar would be no pushovers in the last four having already accounted for Lazio and Anderlecht. West Ham fell behind at the London Stadium to Tijani Reijnders’ first-half goal but Said Benrahma’s penalty and Antonio’s scrambled effort secured a 2-1 win. In an edgy second leg, Pablo Fornals raced through to score the only goal in stoppage time to inflict AZ’s first European defeat in 26 matches and send the Hammers through. Read More Football says goodbye to Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Monday’s sporting social Golf and water parks can help West Ham to European glory, says Thilo Kehrer West Ham walk off pitch after alleged racial abuse in seven-a-side tournament Leicester’s unexpected twist provides reminder of football’s new reality Izzy Christiansen calls it a day – Thursday’s sporting social Tottenham appoint ‘attacking’ Ange Postecoglou as new manager

Tottenham Hotspur have finally appointed a new manager, 10 weeks and two interim bosses after Antonio Conte was sacked. Ange Postecoglou is in from Celtic, appointed on a four-year deal, and there’s plenty for the Australian head coach to do in his first few weeks on the job – and much for Spurs as a club still to do to support him, too. Here’s the lengthy to-do list the north London side have to get straight to work on, both with Postecoglou’s input and to help him thrive in his new role. Who is the director of football? Nobody, at present, and that needs fixing. Spurs have already been linked with a host of names and talks haven’t gone routinely with them either. Fabio Paratici’s tenure can be labelled middling at best in terms of recruitment and decision-making, and even that is perhaps being kind considering where Spurs finished up in 2022/23. But now a new face must be brought in quickly, to act as the go-between before Daniel Levy’s interventions become commonplace once more, or to act as deal-broker in the transfer market. Whichever is the preference for the club’s latest new structure, in an ideal world this position would have been filled before Postecoglou’s and then the sporting director given input in who to work with. That hasn’t happened so any appointment to this crucial role will have to be on board with the style and system the new manager wants to work with, then act accordingly in the market. The future of Harry Kane Real Madrid are in the market for a new No 9 and that’s a problem for Spurs as much as anybody else, with England captain Harry Kane on their summer shortlist. On the one hand, selling Kane would raise the club’s ability to reinvest and rebuild the team by a considerable amount; on the other hand, they’d lose their best player, creative outlet, most regular goal threat and fan favourite all in one go. Given his age and length at the club, plus how far away Spurs are from challenging for major honours right now, it should be no surprise if he wants to depart and there shouldn’t really be any ill-will from fans if that transpires. But Levy has never been one to simply give players what they want if there’s no benefit to the club, and there are political forces at play in any potential deal here just as much as sporting and financial ones. Captain, World Cup-winner... unsettled No 1 Hugo Lloris is almost certainly off, too. The long-time Spurs goalkeeper missed the end of the season with an injury, having been subbed at half-time in his final appearance amid reports of dressing-room unrest following five first-half goals conceded at Newcastle. While the French goalkeeper has been in place for such a long time that he’ll naturally be a key departure, his form hasn’t been stellar for some time and his end-of-season words – “it’s the end of an era. I have desires for other things” – rather aptly sum up the fact he should be allowed to move on, regardless of having a season left on his contract. If Spurs are serious about a total rebuild, it must start from the back to give Postecoglou a chance to put a real stamp on the team. Full-back conundrum Just ahead of the goalkeeper is another big decision to be made, which will affect far more than just one player. Effectively, Postecoglou’s decision here is whether he wants to regularly play a back three – as predecessors Nuno Espirito Santo and Conte have done – or reverse to a quartet, as interim bosses Ryan Mason and Cristian Stellini found they were unable to successfully do. So many of Spurs’ collection of flank-players are very much wing-backs and moulding them to full-backs is improbable for some, risky with others. It could either be a sea-change in personnel in this area, or else much more of the same – meaning other tactical changes are clearly needed for improvements. The actual transfer talk Strategy and individuals are one thing, but rest of the summer ins and outs will naturally shape just how well Postecoglou’s debut season could go. There are loans to sort out, such as whether Dejan Kulusevski’s will be made permanent or if Destiny Udogie is coming back off his and into the squad, while Lucas Moura is among those definitely departing, his contract set to expire. And on the incoming side, not having a manager or a sporting director in place naturally means that the early days and weeks of the summer window have been lost, in terms of getting targets identified, constructing deals and convincing players that their future should lie at Spurs. That has to quickly now be the priority as fans demand more of a pathway toward improvement, following an eighth-place finish which means no European football next season. Pre-season and a trip home for Ange The full plan for pre-season is also not yet in place for the men’s first team, though there will be a rapid trip ‘home’ for Postecoglou as Spurs play in Australia against West Ham in mid-July. He’s Greek-born and more associated with Melbourne than Perth, mind, but it’s still an intriguing twist on how he’ll be received by fans early on. Elsewhere, there are two games in Asia to play, in Thailand and Singapore, but the manager may want strong input on where and when matches take place as the start of competitive action approaches. With the 2023/24 Premier League fixture list out on 15 June and the first game on 12 August, there’s not a whole lot of time to fine-tune the planning – and so much Spurs need to get through before then, on and off the pitch. Read More Tottenham appoint ‘attacking’ Ange Postecoglou as new manager Tottenham appoint Ange Postecoglou as head coach on four-year contract Tottenham appoint ‘attacking’ Ange Postecoglou as new manager Football rumours: Two Premier League clubs battling for James Maddison

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Sergio Ramos gives his opinion on Harry Kane transfer saga, with Tottenham star wanted by Real Madrid & Man Utd

Kim Kardashian’s used to making headlines with her wardrobe choices, but she usually opts for more elaborate attire than a pretty basic t-shirt. And yet, social media is currently awash with chatter about a classic black tee she wore for a new TikTok with daughter North West. Not because of its uncharacteristically simple style, but because it is emblazoned with a cheeky dig at her younger sister Kendall Jenner. The top, captioned with the words “Kendall Starting Five” shows the supermodel surrounded by five of her NBA star exes: Devin Booker, Jordan Clarkson, Ben Simmons, Kyle Kuzma, and Blake Griffin. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter It’s not the first time fans have clocked the sartorial joke, after Kim was filmed wearing the same shirt in the trailer for the latest season of ‘The Kardashians'. And whilst plenty of people have gone wild for the t-shirt, others have accused the older sibling of unnecessary cattiness: And scores of commentators pointed out how Kendall could get her own back, if she wanted to play her big sis at her own game. They suggested she wear her own top featuring a photo of Kim and her ex-boyfriend Ray J – a nod to the notorious sex tape that the then-couple created back in 2007. But, if you ask us, that would be a pretty disproportionately brutal response to what’s clearly a light-hearted quip at Kendall’s comparatively drama-free love life. The 27-year-old is currently linked to Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny but the two have yet to publicly confirm that they’re an item. Meanwhile, Kim is apparently dating a “mystery man” who she refers to using a code name. In a teaser for their eponymous reality Hulu show, Kim made reference to a love interest named only as “Fred”. At the end of March, a source told US Weekly: “Kim isn’t officially dating anybody, but there is somebody who she’s interested in.” Meanwhile, anyone who’d like to copy her style is in luck: the Kendall Starting Five t-shirt is widely available on Etsy. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Consumer expectations for euro-zone inflation eased significantly in April, adding to the case for the European Central Bank’s

Alexis Mac Allister has been booked in for a medical with Liverpool.

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Investors are looking anew at Egypt’s bonds after signs of progress in its plans to sell state assets.

SINGAPORE Chevron said on Tuesday it has started producing gas from the Gorgon Stage 2 development project off