List of All Articles with Tag 'sp'

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Football fans have marveled at the success that Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have had since they took over Wrexham and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson could be following in their footsteps. The former WWE champion turned Hollywood a-lister is reportedly in contact with a group looking to take over Southend United who currently play in the National League. Integral Sports Management is made up of local businessmen who are looking to purchase the club which has been up for sale since March following years of financial struggles. ISM is said to have made contact with The Rock's production company Seven Bucks Productions who might be interested in making a Welcome to Wrexham-style documentary about the club should the takeover go through. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Another actor potentially involved in the deal is Ray Winstone. The 66-year-old is a die-hard West Ham United fan but is a co-founder of ISM and will likely be involved with The Shrimpers should the purchase progress. Southend dropped out of the football league for the first time in their history in 2021 and have remained in the National League ever since. Financial troubles have rocked the club in recent years with a transfer embargo being in place since September due to money owed to HMRC. Full-time office staff haven't been paid for their work in March and April and have until July 12 to pay off the £250,000 debt that they owe. Like many football fans, Southend supporters will be more than aware of the success that celebrity owners can bring having played against Wrexham for the past two years. The Welsh club secured promotion back to the EFL after 18 years away earlier this year, spearheaded by the investment and interest that Reynolds and McElhenney have brought to the team. 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.

Ryan Mason has trust in the key decision-makers at Tottenham to get the big calls right this summer. Spurs’ acting head coach Mason will take his squad to relegation-threatened Leeds on the final day in what is set to be his last fixture in charge. Eighth-placed Tottenham remain without a permanent manager or managing director of football and could miss out on Europe for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign unless they better Aston Villa’s result and match Brentford’s on Sunday. Crunch decisions are required by chairman Daniel Levy and the board, with a promise already made to supporters over the style Spurs will try to play next season. Last Saturday’s programme notes from Levy pledged the team will go back to “football you will love to come and watch” after the recent pragmatism and counter-attacking of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. Mason feels a stable brand of football will help, and he said: “We’ve probably had two or three different styles of football in the last two or three years and I don’t think that is good for any squad of players or for fans. “When you lose people, lose coaches, lose players, lose members of staff, the impact is huge if you keep going from different things. “Like I say, going forward it really is important and we see it in the Premier League, we see it across the leagues, I want people to know who Tottenham are, know what a Tottenham team looks like and certainly know what a Tottenham player looks like. “This is just how I view the situation as it is. Obviously there will be loads of conversations in the summer about going forward. “There is a lot of people here who really care and want the club to get back to where we want, where we expect and where we hope to be. “Them conversations and decisions I am sure will be made in the summer. I trust the people making them decisions.” Quizzed about how the managerial search could impact Spurs’ transfer business, Mason admitted the club need a new man in place before they can go after targets. If you want to be successful on the pitch then everyone working for the organisation within the football club has to be on board with what we are and who we are. Ryan Mason “There is work because we have a big squad, a lot of players on loan and decisions to make,” he said. “The most important work is probably away from the transfer window right now because you need a manager in place, you need commitment, you need an idea to know where you go. “You can’t do transfer business without a manager because it might not fit his idea. At the moment I believe we need an idea of what we want to do, who we want to be and stick to it. Recruit people for that and ultimately recruit players for that.” There remains uncertainty over the future of Harry Kane, who is approaching the final year of his Spurs contract. Mason would not be drawn on what next for the Tottenham forward but insisted it is imperative every club has a long-term plans in place. He added: “For any player, manager, member of staff at this football club, when one leaves it’s important to have a succession plan in place. “So, when people do leave, the next one comes in and the impact isn’t so big. That’s not just speaking about Harry. That’s speaking about other players. “For me, it’s really important that there’s an identity in all departments. “If you want to be successful on the pitch then everyone working for the organisation within the football club has to be on board with what we are and who we are. “I hope going forward that’s definitely the case.”

Brentford boss Thomas Frank has described Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola as the best coach in the modern era and an inspiration ahead of Sunday’s game at the Gtech Community Stadium. City’s recent Premier League title win was their fifth under Guardiola’s stewardship and they will look to build on that in the FA Cup and Champions League finals next month. Frank, whose side won at City in November, talked up treble-chasing Guardiola’s impact on the game which he admitted has inspired him during his managerial career. “He’s top class, after the game he said it was well deserved (Brentford’s win). I only come across him when he shows class all the way through and I look forward to congratulating him on winning the Premier League,” Frank said. “Many people have spoken about Pep Guardiola for good reasons. I think he is in the modern era, the best coach, most innovative, he’s developed the game massively. “I studied him a lot when he was at Barcelona and followed him closely, I’ve been inspired by his work and he’s definitely an inspiration.” Brentford will have to deal with record-breaking striker Erling Haaland, who has netted 36 Premier League goals in his debut campaign. Frank lauded the 22-year-old for his impact on English football since his transfer from Borussia Dortmund. “Haaland added a different dimension to City, he is so good in the box,” Frank added. “If you see the disallowed goal against Brighton he makes four or five movements before the cross comes in, it’s very rare for me to see this from a striker. “He’s always on the move which is so difficult to defend against, he is also always focussed and believes the ball will come in for every chance. “A top finisher who can use the left foot, right foot and header but I think the biggest thing he’s given them is the pace in behind. “I think it’s very impressive the amount of goals he’s scored which has destroyed the Premier League and there is probably even more to come. “I know he broke the record this year and he’ll probably break it again next year.” Frank highlighted the quality in City’s squad as he tried to predict which line-up Guardiola will pick. He said: “They have 22 unbelievable players so who is the best? (Ruben) Dias or (Aymeric) Laporte? I don’t know that, I am not sure even Pep knows that, that’s two top players. “Who’s on the wing? (Jack) Grealish, (Phil) Foden, (Riyad) Mahrez or (Bernardo) Silva? I myself wouldn’t know who to pick so they put world-class players out there and we need to top perform, our fans need to top perform and we need to finish off the season in style.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits he is struggling to process having nothing to play for on the final day of the season. A year on from missing out on an unprecedented quadruple his side head to already-relegated Southampton knowing they will finish fifth irrespective of results on Sunday. That has already started to come into his thoughts for his team selection, after confirming it “makes sense” to make changes, but he is confident his side will finish on a high. “I am not used to games on the last matchday when everything is sorted. I am used to games when everything is at stake but we play this game to win the game,” he said. “This is completely new to me. We are fifth, they are relegated. Usually (at the end of the season) we have to win, it is a final, but I want to do the right thing and didn’t decide yet. “I want to line up the right team but to the outside world, I want to line up a team that is ready for the game, for the 110, 112km they have to run, all the challenges. “We will not take risks with players, that makes no sense.” Mohamed Salah was the first player to express his devastation at not qualifying for the Champions League when Manchester United’s win over Chelsea on Thursday consigned Liverpool to the Europa League. Klopp admits in the immediate aftermath of that realisation it is difficult to put a positive spin on things. This is completely new to me. We are fifth, they are relegated. Usually (at the end of the season) we have to win, it is a final. Jurgen Klopp The club face losing around £50million in Champions League revenue – a “big problem” according to Klopp – but he is confident missing out will provide added motivation. “It has to. We all think like that. This is not the season we want. We know that for a while,” he added. “I really think this was not a season we will talk about. Yes we failed to give the people more to enjoy but we had our moments. “It would have been a ‘normal’ season if we ended up fourth, not great but still qualification for the Champions League, but that is the big disappointment. “I am here for seven and a half years – it is a really long time – and that things always go in the right direction is not likely, there are dips. Usually after three years you change manager. “It is a really good thing I am here for that long but a challenge as well as you have to invent yourself new, that is what we started now, and that is super-exciting. “In a difficult year I felt the unity between us and the supporters, it is so important people really appreciated it. “This season was not great and from a financial point of view that is actually the only problem but a big problem in football. “But we have European nights next year but instead of Tuesday or Wednesday it’s a Thursday. Who cares?” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Frank Lampard will be ‘back at Chelsea many times’ as a fan after interim role Ruben Selles urges Southampton to end wretched season on positive note England will keep embracing risks during Ashes despite ‘blip’ – Daryl Mitchell

Everton manager Sean Dyche has tried to keep things consistent this week as the club head into arguably the biggest game in their history. The Toffees need to match the results of Leicester and Leeds, who are both inside the relegation zone, in order to extend their stay in the top flight to a 70th season. There have been no rousing speeches or trying to artificially boost player morale ahead of the visit of Bournemouth as Dyche does not believe that would not make as much difference as reinforcing the same messages he has been giving since taking over from Frank Lampard in late January. “I think all games are important but it stands to reason with it being the last game and what’s on it that of course it is a massive game,” he said. “A lot of these players were here last season in a similar position so I think they are aware of it. It comes down to a big performance on Sunday. “But I don’t have to emphasise that: I know it, the players know it, the fans know it, so we go into it open-minded. “I don’t think positivity can win you football matches, performances win you matches. “Inner confidence is a different thing but I’ve always been confident with the group, we go into every game confident so that doesn’t change. “I think I have a good measure of what it is to be a manager and a player and the feeling in the group is consistent from myself and the staff, that’s all I try to bring. “The consistencies I talk about are in performance, the mentality to perform, and then clarity. Consistent level of behaviours on and off the pitch I think pays you back. “There will be some key pointers about the team and the way we perform of course but we will stick to the level of performance we expect from the players and the level we expect in training.” Everton have a two-point cushion over 18th-placed Leicester but an inferior goal difference so only a win will guarantee safety, although as long as the Foxes and Leeds do not get a better result then the Toffees will be safe. Home advantage will be key for all three teams but the pressure on the game is huge and, even if backed by a raucous Goodison Park, Dyche knows he will have to lean on senior players despite a large number of holes in his squad due to injuries, with striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin and defenders Nathan Patterson and Ben Godfrey all added to the unavailable list. “We have worked hard to get in this position; two points in front doesn’t sound a lot but it is at this stage of the seaosn – but only if we capitalise on it,” added Dyche. “With the senior players it is more about their experience. “It’s unlikely unless you really have to you put a young player into a situation like that – we’re not in a position quite where we have to – but it’s fair to think a couple of the young lads will be involved in the squad.” The effect of relegation on a club which has posted cumulative losses of over £430million over the last four seasons – and with a new stadium more than half-built – is almost unthinkable for a club which has enjoyed such a long spell in England’s top division. But the repercussions of not avoiding the drop is not something Dyche is thinking about just yet. “I’m not worried about that at the moment, trust me the game will be the focus,” he said.

Pep Guardiola admits his thoughts have already turned to the first of Manchester City’s two upcoming finals. Treble-chasing City face arch-rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley next week before heading to Istanbul to take on Inter Milan in the Champions League showpiece seven days later. The newly-crowned champions must first wrap up their Premier League campaign at Brentford on Sunday but, with little riding on the outcome at the Gtech Community Stadium, Guardiola admits he is planning ahead. The Inter game may remain at the back of the mind for now, but the United clash is starting to loom large in the City manager’s thoughts. Guardiola said: “I would say I saw a little bit of Inter last week but not this week. I am more focused on United right now. “I saw their game against Chelsea. I was really impressed and I have started to review a little bit what they did to us in the game at Old Trafford. “As in the past, we have to be careful. I would be careful anyway but after Thursday and their games recently, we are going to prepare the best we can.” Guardiola has a balancing act to play this weekend. He may wish to rest some players ahead of the finals but he feels it is also important that others maintain their sharpness. Jack Grealish, Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji were not risked at Brighton in midweek having not been deemed fully fit but big guns Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Bernardo Silva all featured. Guardiola said: “Brighton helped us to maintain the level and hopefully Brentford will help us to maintain this rhythm to play the finals. “We need that but it is important to arrive in the last week before the finals with people fit and ready. “The Brentford game will be completely different to Brighton. I know it is meaningless in terms of the points but, in terms of sustaining the demanding effort, they will push us. It will be so difficult.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Paul Gascoigne is the perfect example of how a player should not approach a Wembley cup final, says Barnsley head coach Michael Duff. Barnsley face derby rivals Sheffield Wednesday in the Sky Bet League One play-off final on Monday and with local bragging rights also on the line emotions will run high. Duff referenced former Tottenham midfielder Gascoigne and his ill-fated role in the 1991 FA Cup final against Nottingham Forest when discussing how he hopes his players will handle the occasion. Gascoigne flew into a reckless early tackle on Forest defender Gary Charles and ruptured the cruciate ligament in his right knee. He was carried off the field on a stretcher and missed all of the following season. Duff said: “Paul Gascoigne is a perfect example, for anyone who’s old enough, in 1991 when he did his cruciate. “He came out like a headless chicken because he was so emotional and in such a wild state, it ultimately did him damage and that’s what we don’t want.” Duff, twice a Wembley winner as a player, with Cheltenham (1998) and Burnley (2009), said he will not be delivering any Churchillian speeches just before kick-off. “Absolutely not,” he said. “The format will be the same. If the players need motivating when they’re at Wembley, in a play-off final, in a local derby, they’re in the wrong job. “We’re just trying to keep it as normal as possible. You almost want to try and calm them down at that point, so they don’t play like headless chickens. “Stick to the process, with what you’ve done all season, what’s got you into this position – intensity, quality, youthfulness, a structure and being able to hurt teams in different ways. There’ll be no big speeches. “There’s a saying ‘success leaves clues’, well the clues are what you’ve been doing all season. Can you do it one more time? Hopefully, and with a little bit of luck, we win the game.” Barnsley, transformed under former Cheltenham boss Duff since his appointment in June last year, stand on the brink of an immediate return to the Championship following relegation. They were still challenging for automatic promotion until a 3-0 home defeat to Ipswich at the end of April but Duff is not ready to reflect on his first season in charge. “Looking back on the season will happen on Tuesday,” he added. “There’s no point saying ‘well if we lose it’s been a good season’. We’re in a shoot-out now, the focus is on the game. “At the end of the season we’ll take stock and reflect on how we can be better, whether we win or lose. “The plan has already started anyway, whether we win or lose, so I don’t want us to take our eyes off the prize. “Has it been a positive season? Yes, I think so. But we can really cap it off now and that’s the focus.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Liverpool’s lack of final-day drama ‘completely new’ to boss Jurgen Klopp Frank Lampard will be ‘back at Chelsea many times’ as a fan after interim role Ruben Selles urges Southampton to end wretched season on positive note

Ruben Selles hopes relegated Southampton can go out on a high when they bid farewell to the Premier League against Liverpool on Sunday. A wretched campaign full of poor decisions meant Saints knew their 11-year stay in the Premier League was over with two games to spare. Southampton are on a winless 12-match run and have lost their last five on the bounce, with Swansea boss Russell Martin lined up as manager as they prepare for life in the Championship. Selles hopes his last match in charge ends with a positive result on Sunday, which could also see homegrown skipper James Ward-Prowse make an emotional farewell. “I think you need to choose in which mode you are every day,” Selles said of the atmosphere at St Mary’s on Sunday. “I think the fans need to do the same. “I know, I understand the disappointment of the season but, as you say, it can be the sun shining and then a big opponent, last game in St Mary’s in the Premier League this year. “We will not have for at least one more year and I think it’s a good opportunity to go on a journey together and try to make a good football match. “I thank our fans for being supportive in one of the hardest seasons that they had in the last 12 years. “Hopefully we can have a good environment on Sunday and then we can make something together.” Perhaps boosting Saints’ chance of a shock is the fact Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool know they cannot reach the Champions League and will finish fifth after Manchester United beat Chelsea on Thursday. “It’s always a tricky question because I know Jurgen (Klopp) said that he will make some changes in the line-up probably,” he said. “It’s a situation with less pressure than if they were playing from the Champions League, of course. “But sometimes less pressure means more freedom and sometimes more freedom (helps), and they can go in both directions, so it’s just a different game.” The match could see academy products Theo Walcott and Mohamed Elyounoussi play their last games for Saints given their contracts expire in the summer. Che Adams, Mohammed Salisu, Armel Bella-Kotchap and Juan Larios are out through injury, while ineffective January signing Paul Onuachu is a doubt with a back problem. But there could be some positives to hold onto, with teenagers Kamari Doyle and Dom Ballard pushing for game time after making their league debuts last weekend. Talented full-back Tino Livramento could also get some time off the bench after ending his 392-day injury lay-off when coming on for 20 minutes at Brighton. “Tino will not play from the start due to his time restriction,” Selles said. “He can play at least the same amount of minutes as he did against Brighton.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Liverpool’s lack of final-day drama ‘completely new’ to boss Jurgen Klopp Frank Lampard will be ‘back at Chelsea many times’ as a fan after interim role England will keep embracing risks during Ashes despite ‘blip’ – Daryl Mitchell