Rob Page keen to focus on football after clearing air with FAW chief Noel Mooney
Rob Page says he has cleared the air with Football Association of Wales chief Noel Mooney after their public spat last month. Mooney put Page’s future in the spotlight four days before the Euro 2024 qualifier against Croatia by saying the manager’s position would be reviewed if Wales did not qualify for Euro 2024 automatically. Subsequent media reports suggested Mooney had wanted fellow Irishman Roy Keane, the former Sunderland and Ipswich manager and TV pundit, to replace Page following June defeats to Armenia and Turkey. Page is just over 12 months into a four-year contract and promised to “ignore the noise” during the build-up to a game that Wales eventually won 2-1 to move into the second automatic qualifying place in Group D. Captain Ben Davies described Mooney’s comments as “not helpful”, and Page said the issue has since been addressed at a meeting between himself, the chief executive and FAW president Steve Williams. “It was a conversation all three of us needed,” Page said when announcing his squad on Wednesday for this month’s final Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey. “I’m not going to go into details of what was said. It needed to be done and only positives will come from it. “I’m due to meet him (Mooney) after the press conference and we’ll have a coffee and a chat. It was frustrating, unnecessary. But I don't want to spend any more time thinking about it. We're all on the same page Wales manager Rob Page “Things were said and that was it. We all move forward in the same direction. Full focus is now on the football. “It was frustrating, unnecessary. But I don’t want to spend any more time thinking about it. We’re all on the same page. “We all know what we’ve got to do. It would be disrespectful from me now to the players to keep going on about it.” Tottenham forward Brennan Johnson returns to a 23-man squad after missing the win over Croatia with a hamstring injury. Page maintains stand-in skipper Davies will be fit for both qualifiers, despite the defender missing Spurs’ 4-1 Premier League defeat against Chelsea on Monday and also being in danger of sitting out his club’s weekend game at Wolves. Sunderland defender Niall Huggins has won his first senior call-up and Portsmouth midfielder Joe Morrell returns after a two-match suspension. But Aaron Ramsey is again ruled out with the knee injury he sustained in September, and Page says the Cardiff midfielder has suffered a “setback” in his recovery. He said: “It’s disappointing, I found out on Friday last week. As we all know Aaron was pushing and pushing to be part of this camp. “Unfortunately it’s come a little too soon for him. He’s had a setback. He got up to about 90 per cent. If you’d seen him on the grass, straight lines, everything was fine. “But there was something stopping him from going to that last step. So it’s not great for us, but it gives others an opportunity. “He’ll be a part of it (the squad). I had that conversation with him last camp. He knew he wasn’t going to play any minutes in regards to the changing room, but to have Aaron around the lads is definitely beneficial.” Wales can avoid the play-offs in March by beating Armenia in Yerevan on November 18 and Turkey in Cardiff three days later. Dropped points in either game will leave them relying on other results to join already-qualified Turkey at next summer’s European Championship in Germany. “June was a bump in the road,” Page said of damaging defeats to Armenia and Turkey in the space of four days. “We didn’t like it. We didn’t appreciate it. We didn’t like what we saw, but we put it right in September (by beating Latvia) – and some. “We built on that in October and capped it off with arguably one of the best performances that I’ve seen. “We have to build on that. It will count for nothing if we don’t follow it up.” Read More Ben Stokes century gets England out of trouble against Netherlands Sunderland defender Niall Huggins earns first senior Wales call-up John Stones injury leaves Manchester City ‘in trouble’, says Pep Guardiola Kevin Sinfield to run seven ultramarathons in support of Rob Burrow Never-say-die attitude gives Newcastle Champions League belief – Kieran Trippier On this day in 2004: Jason Robinson named as England’s first black captain
2023-11-08 21:24
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Phil Neville insists Portland Timbers job is a ‘dream’ amid fan criticism
Phil Neville has described his role with Portland Timbers as a “dream” after being appointed manager of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club. Neville has replaced Giovanni Savarese at the Oregon side on a deal that runs until 2026. It is the former England international’s first managerial role since leaving Inter Miami in June. The 46-year-old has worked with Canada’s men’s national team since his departure from a club owned by ex-Manchester United teammate David Beckham. And Neville has insisted that he chose his new job with the Timbers from a number of appealing options. “I was lucky to have plenty of coaching opportunities to take,” Neville explained at his unveiling. “But my gut said straight away I had to follow this dream to become the Portland Timbers head coach.” Neville’s appointment has been cricitised by fans of the Timbers, who finished 10th in the Western Conference and missed out on the 2023 MLS play-offs. The Timbers Army fan group said in a statement that it was “deeply disappointed” that the club had appointed a manager with “a history of sexist public statements”. Neville has previously apologised for a series of posts on X, then known as Twitter, made more than a decade ago that resurfaced after the former full-back was appointed as manager of the Lionesses in 2018. The 59-cap international has reiterated that his social media posts were “wrong” and said he hopes to build “incredible trust” with Portland supporters. “The big part of this city is the supporters, and the statement they put out showed that this club cares about their people,’ Neville said. “In reference to the tweets I made in 2011, I addressed these in 2019 when I was named the head coach of the England women’s team. [They are] by no means a reflection of me as a person, of my character, and without a shadow of a doubt, the way I was brought up by my mother and father in terms of the values they instilled in me. “The tweets I put out were wrong in 2011, and they’re wrong today. I want to get to know the Timbers Army, I want to get to know everybody in the city, and I want them to get to know me as a person, as a character. And I want to make sure there is an incredible trust between us.” Read More Dortmund won the battle but are losing the war for the future of football Man City in Champions League knockouts as Celtic embarrassed and Shakhtar stun Barca Matildas join Australia men’s football team on commercial pay deals Dortmund won the battle but are losing the war for the future of football Man City in Champions League knockouts as Celtic embarrassed and Shakhtar stun Barca Matildas join Australia men’s football team on commercial pay deals
2023-11-08 20:51
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Man City into Champions League knockouts as Celtic embarrassed and Shakhtar stun Barcelona
Manchester City duly booked their spot in the Champions League knockout stage after cruising to a 3-0 win over Young Boys at the Etihad Stadium. Erling Haaland’s 23rd-minute penalty sent them on their way and superb strikes from Phil Foden and Haaland again sealed victory over the Swiss side, who had Sandro Lauper sent off early in the second half. Also in Group G, goals from Xavi Simons and Lois Openda proved enough to give RB Leipzig a 2-1 win at Red Star Belgrade, as Leipzig joined City in sealing a last-16 spot with two games to spare. Atletico Madrid served up another Champions League nightmare for Celtic with both Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata bagging braces in a 6-0 win at the Metropolitano. Celtic were left incensed by the sending off of Daizen Maeda after just 23 minutes following a VAR review of his challenge on Mario Hermoso. Atletico’s win moved them top of Group E after previous leaders Feyenoord fell 1-0 at Lazio, for whom Ciro Immobile scored the only goal of the game in first-half stoppage time. The result of the night came as Shakhtar Donetsk delayed Barcelona’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stages after claiming a shock 1-0 win in their Group H clash in Hamburg. Danylo Sikan headed the only goal in the 40th minute from a cross by Giorgi Gocholeishvili, while Shakhtar had a second effort from 18-year-old Newerton ruled out for offside. The defeat ended Barcelona’s 100 per cent start to the group and enabled Porto to pull level on nine points at the top after they beat 10-man Royal Antwerp 2-0. Evanilson’s early penalty and a late strike from Pepe sealed victory for the hosts and left the Belgians, who had Jurgen Ekkelencamp sent off in the 52nd minute, still hunting their first points. Goals from Niclas Fullkrug and Julian Brandt proved enough for Borussia Dortmund to sink Newcastle 2-0 in Germany and move to the top of Group F as Paris Saint-Germain dropped down after a 2-1 defeat at AC Milan, despite former Inter defender Milan Skriniar firing them in front after just nine minutes. Rafael Leao equalised for Milan within three minutes and Olivier Giroud hit what turned out to be the winner five minutes into the second half. Read More John Stones injury leaves Manchester City ‘in trouble’, says Pep Guardiola Newcastle discover brutal truth - it’s so much harder in the Champions League Stones injury dampens Manchester City joy at Champions League progress Erling Haaland back with a bang as Man City cruise into Champions League knockouts Celtic suffer Champions League embarrassment as Atletico Madrid show gulf in quality Eddie Howe knows Newcastle need two wins to keep Champions League hopes alive
2023-11-08 19:47