World news

As with so many things at Newcastle United these days, it all comes back to three dreaded letters.

Before it was PSR – profitability and sustainability rules – that forced the club to sell now £100m-rated midfielder Elliot Anderson and restricted their ability to flex financial muscles.

Now it is SCR, squad cost ratio, the new version of the rules that will restrict Newcastle’s spending to 85 per cent (or 70 per cent if you’re in Europe) of what they bring in.

As they announced a 5 per cent price hike in season tickets (or 15 per cent for premium areas), the Magpies made no bones about it: the rules are the reason.

“In the current financial landscape, we must balance affordability for our fans with the need to generate the revenue required to remain competitive,” CEO David Hopkinson said on Friday.

With matchday revenue currently among the lowest 25 per cent in the league his point is loud and clear – price rises are a necessary evil. At 5 per cent it’s noticeable that the price rises mirror those announced by Manchester United.

But does that logic actually stack up?

Football finance experts estimate the price rise will rake in an extra £2m a year for the club. For the sake of the financial rules that’s £10m towards signing a player on a five-year contract. It’s covering £40,000-a-week of a new signing’s wages. Newcastle spent more than £250m last summer.

For perspective, the difference between finishing 10th and 11th this season is roughly £2m. Under the lucrative terms of the TV deal being on Sky Sports or TNT Sports twice earns you around £1.5m. The big wins – in terms of revenue – feels as if they are elsewhere.

And that’s what the club are mostly under fire for on Friday. Fans are absorbing a fourth successive price rise at a time when the club don’t seem to be sweating the asset quite as much as they should.

Progress on solving the stadium issue has been glacial – although sources suggest conversations have ramped up again recently – and big-ticket sponsorship deals remain elusive.

The absence of a training ground or training kit partner remains mystifying, and PIF don’t appear to be giving Newcastle quite the commercial leg up that they need.

All of this predates Hopkinson’s arrival and insiders suggest there’s been new energy around these issues in recent months. He has been true to his word about transparency and it was notable that his name was attached to Newcastle’s release while Manchester United’s was anonymous. Hopkinson is owning this, at least.

But he will also know patience on Tyneside is straining after a difficult year on the pitch and four years without a big infrastructure project as proof of ambition. It is time to take the wrapping off the training ground – and deliver in the transfer market.

The worry is always the deeper impact of these creeping price rises. It may only be £3.92 a month for now but in a cost of living crisis an above inflation rise has an impact. Some will be feeling the pinch.

The reduction of the disability discount from 50 per cent to 25 per cent is especially puzzling. Ultimately that can’t be worth more than tens of thousands to the club. It just feels cynical.

The club’s Fan Advisory Board said they were “disappointed” with the rise. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire said he felt the PSR excuse was a bit “disingenuous”. It certainly testing the faith of the club’s greatest asset.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/fBq2N5j

Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Crystal Palace (Solanke 34’, Van de Ven red card 38’ | Sarr 40’, 45+7’, Strand Larsen 45+1’)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – The threat of relegation is undeniable at Tottenham Hotspur.

In a week where their relegation rivals secured significant results, the gap between Spurs and the bottom three shrank to a solitary point as Igor Tudor’s side were beaten by Crystal Palace, who all but secured their own Premier League safety for another season.

There were half-hearted boos from the Spurs supporters – surrounded by thousands of empty seats – that remained at full-time. The fanbase, drained by the club’s chronic inadequacy, is no longer just discontent but disconnected – bored as the world-class infrastructure is not accompanied by a team of comparable quality.

Dominic Solanke put Tottenham ahead minutes after Ismaila Sarr had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside call. Palace, who were the better side before falling behind, had failed to win from behind this season – until they faced a charitable Spurs side.

Spurs were dire and further hindered by a foolish challenge from Micky van de Ven, who yanked Sarr’s arm once he was through on goal to hand Palace a penalty and a man advantage. It was the catalyst for a 10-minute spell which won Palace the game and plunged Spurs into grave danger at the foot of the league.

They cannot afford indiscipline when their extensive injury list has already left them extremely low on options, to the extent that attacking wing-back Pedro Porro had to start at centre-back.

Desperate scenes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at full-time.

@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/hBLxWZy2H9

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 5, 2026

Interim Spurs manager Tudor felt his side increased their desire after the break, but Palace had taken their foot off the gas and spent the second half closing the game out. Although Spurs had plenty of possession, they failed to create anything of note. The Croat is seeking any positive he can, though this was hardly one.

There has been a reluctance to believe Spurs could be relegated, but do not be fooled. Spurs lack know-how in this situation.

West Ham and Nottingham Forest have survived relegation battles; they understand how to navigate them and what is required to escape. Spurs, though, have only finished outside the top 10 twice in 20 years.

Relegation battles require strong characters. Meanwhile, those in the Spurs dressing room have faltered at a critical juncture, falling to five defeats in a row. There is a lack of resolve and doggedness, with a squad plagued by inexperience and undependability.

West Ham, however, have shown they can grind out results – losing just twice in seven, including a win over Fulham this week – while Nottingham Forest showed their first sign of life under Vítor Pereira with an impressive draw against Manchester City on Wednesday.

The Spurs hierarchy may see value in a managerial change, such is the enormity of the situation. Sacking Tudor is the only variable the board can control in this defining stretch of the season, which could prompt them to roll the dice once more.

Tudor replaced Thomas Frank to extinguish any relegation fears, with Spurs hoping his reputation as a firefighter manager would inspire an upturn in results. Yet, with three defeats in three, it seems he is just adding fuel to the fire while Spurs have nine games to retain their top-flight status.

The problem: limited options. A Spurs legend, like Robbie Keane, might restore the club’s identity, motivating players and supporters in the fight. However, he, like Tudor, is an unknown quantity in the Premier League – it would be a significant gamble.

Spurs are running out of time, and with three of the top five to play away from home and an enormous game against Nottingham Forest in little over two weeks, they are in a precarious position. The future of the club could ride on the Forest game.

After months of denial, Spurs are now confronting the daunting possibility of hosting Championship football in their £1bn stadium next season.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/FdUKTJ5

The last time I went to the Wirral to watch its football team, towards the end of last season, it was the stoicism of supporters that impressed upon me most.

Tranmere Rovers, once a staple of the second or third tier, had been caught in a deep hole, one season above League Two since 2014. And still they came to watch their club simply exist.

Then, Tranmere were the 88th-best club in England. Not only was that unacceptable, but it was also the height of their ambition. Last season caused deep divisions to take hold, but the one point on which all could agree: Tranmere had to move upwards and onwards soon.

Ten months on and Tranmere are the 87th-best club in England; to call that progress would be risible and nobody would dare sell any upside. Tranmere will probably survive relegation to non-league football, but don’t bet on it yet. On Tuesday evening, they lost 3-1 to Newport County, until then bottom.

The gap is eight points, but Tranmere have now lost 10 of their last 11 league matches. Andy Crosby, the manager appointed almost exactly a year ago in roughly the same circumstances, lost his job on Wednesday. Six of his 15 league wins came at the end of last season.

If Tranmere have perfected one thing, it is not quite committing to a full-blown crisis but leaving progress and positivity as the dream of so many others.

They are not the only League Two club circling the drain, protected more by the meagre promotion places of the National League than their own competence, but they are the only ones who may finish in an increasingly worse league position for seven seasons in a row.

A new manager may change something. That is the usual playbook here and elsewhere: firefighter following firefighter but nobody ever managing to renovate the damaged buildings. But Tranmere’s problems lie deeper and higher up its food chain.

The sale of the club by the Palios family was first mooted seriously in early 2024, when a group including rapper A$AP Rocky and Donald Trump’s former lawyer were granted exclusivity. Despite A$AP Rocky being cleared of firing a gun at a former friend, a takeover expected to be completed in summer 2025 never materialised.

Last May, chairman Mark Palios said that three groups vied for the chance to purchase a majority shareholding. Then Christmas was the aim; that came and went too. In January, another US consortium was mooted. And still the wait goes on.

Two season ticket holders I speak to say that it is the constant delays that have sapped the spirit most. They understand that football club takeovers are not simple transactions, but the constant loop of suggested deadline dates that lead to nothing. But nothing is breaking their resolve.

The Palios family has clearly spent money; owning a league club is an expensive business. But the execution of longer-term plans and managerial appointments has been dispiriting for those who pay to watch them.

Mickey Mellon is the only manager to reach 18 months in charge since 2014 and, all the while, the squad barely seems to improve. It is also the third oldest in the division.

To make matters doubly worse, Palios is also engaged in a conflict with the club’s official supporters’ trust that is still going through extensive, messy legal proceedings. The trust ran a large marquee fan zone that welcomed away and home supporters before joint fundraising between club and trust raised money for the construction of a permanent structure.

Then the breakdown of relationships and a civil war. All that is left is a half-finished building, a half-standing marquee, worse provisions than before and resentment in every corner.

There is no better way to epitomise seven straight seasons of on-pitch decline and mistrust towards those who own the club and those who have loved it all their lives. Prenton Park is glorious if you visit once or twice a year with its anachronisms and grubby tradition. It is less fun if you go there every other week.

For now, Tranmere supporters have resisted all-out mutiny. I am far from convinced that is a positive sign. They have merely been browbeaten into apathy, stuck in unpleasant suspension through their loyalty to a club that is in precisely the same situation.

You subconsciously teach yourself to care less as a means of emotional self-preservation because caring never seemed to make anything change anyway.

And soon they will go if change does not come. I speak to multiple season ticket holders who tell me that they will not be renewing in 2026-27 as it stands. Not for “£399 on an early bird discount for dismal football in a crumbling stadium in Birkenhead with a shocking matchday experience”. Well, quite.

It is just all so bleak. Tranmere are not the only club feeling the pinch of repeated poor decisions. I do not believe that their owners wish them any harm.

They are not the only club that used to be bigger and better but got stuck in a downward cycle. They are certainly not the only lower-league club to learn how the wealth inequality of English football makes recovery so much harder without accumulating losses that risk the future. 

But that does not help those who are sick of feeling like this and sick of waiting. No Tranmere supporter is crossing their fingers for a miracle cure; they aren’t foolish. But it would be nice to believe in something again.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/vksI5cO

Paul Scholes is 51 years old. Apart from starring in his own sitcom with former Manchester United teammate Nicky Butt and “funny man” Paddy McGuinness, in which he channels those miserable old bastards from The Muppet Show, Waldorf and Stadtler, there is little to detain him other than his beloved Red Devils.

For the majority of his retirement, loving United has been hard to do. Though there has been a bounce back under Michael Carrick, the trauma of Ruben Amorim’s moribund reign is all too easily triggered when matters go belly-up, as they most assuredly did at Newcastle. 

There is little more painful in football than watching the opposition curl in an added-time winner, the anguish exacerbated by failing to build on the extra man advantage held for half the contest. So Scholes did the only thing available to an old fella so late at night, he lashed out at the tall bloke with the big coat energy presiding over the whole, sorry mess.

Scholes rowed back from his ad hominem lunge by removing his anti-Carrick rant on Instagram when dawn broke, realising, perhaps, that he had been a little unkind. But not before the keyboard stalkers had papped him. “Michael has definitely got something special about him… cos Utd have been crap last four games… night.”

We’ve all been there. Except most of us did not play alongside the recipient of the darts we throw. Scholes’s resting face is somewhere between joyless and dour, so you can imagine how he might take a reverse as painful as that inflicted by William Osula, who once received a prize at Old Trafford for winning a football skills competition as an 11-year-old.

Scholes has previously spoken highly of Carrick, praising him for the upswing in results and mood since the sacking of Amorim. Yet, whilst he is right in his observation that United have been winging it since the drawn game at West Ham ended Carrick’s four-match winning run, it would not be the first time he has fired off at the wrong target.

You might recall his odd denigration of Lisandro Martinez before Carrick’s first engagement against Manchester City. Martinez made light of Scholes’s heightist insults with the emphatic jailing of Erling Haaland, despite the disparity in height between them. 

Indeed, you might argue that the return of Martinez was the catalyst of that early resurrection, his aggression and tenacity at centre back setting the tone and his brilliant left foot spearing opponents with quarterback-like efficacy.

And now it is Carrick’s turn to take one for the team. There has already been plenty written about the positive impact Carrick has made by simply stripping out the complications of Amorim. Yet the truth remains he is working with a squad too thin to compete against rivals with stacked benches. 

The restoration of Kobbie Mainoo has been one of Carrick’s big gains but in recent matches the limitations of the pairing with Casemiro has been exposed by aggressive opponents who have stretched United out wide and over-powered them through the middle.

Casemiro has been rightly lauded for his positive contributions. He was on the scoresheet again at St James’ Park, yet his inability to track back, and Mainoo’s scratchy defensive positioning, leaves United vulnerable to big units like Joelinton ploughing through the centre.

At West Ham last month, Tomas Soucek, hardly Usain Bolt, ran past Casemiro and Mainoo to prod the home team into the lead. United survived via the capricious arc of Benjamin Sesko’s worldie at the death. Before that United blew a two-goal lead at home to Fulham before Sesko rescued them in added time.

Crystal Palace outplayed United with 10 men and were unfortunate to lose at Old Trafford on Sunday. Newcastle were all over United with a full compliment and though Aaron Ramsdale kept them in it in the second half, few would argue they were anything but deserving winners. 

Carrick made changes without changing anything. That is because the cavalry, such as it is, is lame. Patrick Dorgu will not return before April. None can say when Matthijs de Ligt might recover from a stubborn back injury and Mason Mount is made of balsa. The big miss is Martinez, who was injured in the narrow win at Everton. 

Perhaps the setback is a blessing, a necessary check on the idea that Carrick has all the answers. What Newcastle demonstrated with something to spare is the uneven nature of this Premier League season. Nothing is certain, and none is safe from grumpy old men who stay up too late.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/TEneMwB

ST JAMES’ PARK – If this is to be Kieran Trippier’s last lap as a Newcastle United player, how appropriate that it is turning into a victory one.

With everyone at St James’ Park in dire need of this sort of season-defining win to save a listing campaign, a Magpies side whose foundation was experience and know-how delivered in some style. Veterans are not exactly in fashion in the Premier League these days, but boy did they pay dividends for Eddie Howe when he needed them most.

Pick of the lot? That would be 35-year-old Trippier, who most assumed would not be shuffling off the substitutes bench all that much in the business end of the final season of his contract.

"It would've been easy for the players to feel sorry for themselves at half-time"

Eddie Howe reflects on the mentality shown by his Newcastle side to beat Man United with ten men

@lynseyhipgrave1 | @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/YZOoKVWltv

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 4, 2026

How wrong we were. Trippier has played 112 times for Newcastle since a bargain £12m move from Atletico Madrid and yet there is a case to be made that his performance against Manchester United was the best of the lot.

It was certainly his most timely. The walls might not have been closing in on Howe quite as quickly after the Everton shambles as they were when Newcastle slipped up against Brentford but he needed a big win to rescue the season and remind a growing band of doubters just how good he is.

This was that victory, an epic 10-man illustration of all that is good about Howeball. White knuckle pressing? Check. Rapier intensity in transition? That was here. And so too was what has been missing in recent weeks: discipline and a desire to do the ugly stuff in defence.

That is what has always marked Trippier out as different. His technique is great but his reading of the game is levels above as Manchester United found out to their cost at a frenetic St James’ Park. He just never let them settle or build the sort of counter-attacking patterns that have been the hallmark of Michael Carrick’s interim spell.

For those of us who regard Trippier as a modern day Newcastle hero, we can also breathe that bit easier. He has been a great servant to the club but there is understandable anxiety about the number of games he has been forced to play recently. At times there have been signs of tired limbs, too, and the nightmare scenario would be such a fine player exiting after hanging on for too long.

This performance hinted at a renaissance that would be very well-timed. Newcastle have four huge games across three competitions in the next fortnight: come out of games with Manchester City, Barcelona and Chelsea with something to show for it and suddenly the season has a very different feel.

Might it also change the calculus on Trippier’s future? At the moment the prospect of him staying rests at less than 50 per cent. No-one is saying it out loud but Newcastle know they need to drive down the average age of their squad and recruitment prep is being carried out with that in mind.

Right-back is a priority position to strengthen and the word from insiders is they won’t shy away from difficult decisions this summer.

And that sounds about right, because at times in recent years their hesitancy has cost them. Howe likes his loyal lieutenants to the extent that he even wanted Callum Wilson to stay last summer. Retaining Trippier – a known quantity at a time when there is uncertainty over Tino Livramento’s future – might appeal.

But to keep the project rolling, clear-headed calls are required. Sporting director Ross Wilson has to be ruthless when the numbers are crunched on Trippier and another brilliant servant Fabian Schar.

None of that, though, means Trippier is not good enough right now and can’t play a huge role in a season suddenly imbued with possibility again. On Wednesday night he showed just what he can offer. If it is to be the final act, it has the potential to be glorious.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/f5xNn3z

VILLA PARK — If all goes to plan Aston Villa’s season has 16 games left.

Right now though nothing is going to plan for Unai Emery’s side. Talk of a Premier League title push always felt improbable, and now they are bang out of form a top-four spot is quickly slipping from their grasp as well.

Defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday night was deserved. Tight VAR offside calls swayed this match in the first half, and after Ollie Watkins was denied the goal he desperately needed, Cole Palmer got the goal he was utterly craving to seal a valuable three points for the Blues.

Villa remain fourth, three points above both Chelsea and Liverpool, but with nine league games to go momentum is not on their side. One win in six, three wins in 13. Take your pick, either way that is not the form of a Champions League-chasing team.

But worse than any numbers is the mood inside Villa Park. Some fans left after 65 minutes, when Joao Pedro completed his hat-trick, and thereafter those who remained had given up on anger and replaced it with an apathy that mirrored Villa’s leggy players.

Joao Pedro completes the hat-trick and Chelsea are running away with this tie now @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/tYAJdnbWz9

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 4, 2026

It is no new feeling at Villa Park. That giddy excitement in December, when Villa were pushing Arsenal and Manchester City close after 12 wins in 13, feels like an age ago already, with home defeats in 2026 to Everton, Brentford and now Chelsea proving this place is no longer a fortress.

Now: a decision to make. Since the start of the 2023-24 season, only Manchester City (164), Chelsea (159), Liverpool (156) and Arsenal (155) have played more games, with Villa not far behind (153).

That has made for tired legs, and raises the very real possibility of Villa fighting on two fronts and falling short in both the league and Europa League.

Offer Villa fans one route to the Champions League therefore and surely it is aboard the Ange Postecoglou Express, where the league is sacrificed and the Europa League is prioritised.

Villa are far and above the low levels of Spurs last season (and this one), and yet only one club walked away with an eagerly-awaited trophy.

Add to that Newcastle United and Crystal Palace ending their respective droughts and Villa fans witnessed a handful of clubs get their day in the sun, be it at Wembley or in Bilbao.

Villa’s dream must surely be to make it to Istanbul, where the Europa League final takes place on 20 May. It will take six games to get there and a seventh to win it, and while of course it warrants a gamble to prioritise this over the league – where they still hold the keys for fourth – it is surely worth the risk.

There is only one outcome to the season that will have Villa supporters talking about this campaign in 50 years’ time. They need that night in Istanbul, and though that is walking a greater tight rope, right now the league is not offering them any joy – they simply do not have the form to finish in the top five.

They don’t have the form to win the Europa League, either, and with Lille to come in the round of 16 and Bologna or Roma should they make the quarters, suddenly a tournament Villa are deemed favourites to win looks a tall order as well.

But maybe focusing on those upcoming Thursdays is what it must be about for Emery. He is sorely missing the midfield trio of John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara – only McGinn and Tielemans will be back this season – and 16 games is too much for this squad to handle.

Focus on the seven that could deliver major silverware after a 30-year wait.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/t4KC6oO

Liverpool need to start again, again.

It may seem somewhat churlish to suggest a club who spent £350m on strikers alone last summer needs an attacking overhaul 12 months later, but the champions have to hold their hands up and admit they got it wrong and go again.

On the face of it, it appeared Liverpool had enjoyed an all-timer of a summer transfer window.

Florian Wirtz was coveted by the continent’s elite. Hugo Ekitike very nearly joined Manchester United. Civil war almost broke out at Newcastle United over Alexander Isak’s departure.

But with the benefit of that oh-so-useful analytic tool – hindsight – the malady that has instead played out is not entirely unsurprising.

With an almighty price tag on his shoulders, playing in a league more physical than it has ever been, Wirtz was always going to take time to adapt.

Ekitike has defied the odds and hit the ground running, but Isak’s injury record always made him an almighty risk.

His goal record is an impressive one, but his arrival is the one where Liverpool crossed the line in being overly indulgent – especially at that price.

The strike revolution would have worked had Salah carried on his flawless ageing process and continued to be Liverpool’s talisman into a ninth season.

In the most simplistic terms, Salah carried Liverpool last term.

Had Manchester City not endured an incongruous off-season and Arsenal’s penchant for the bridesmaid role rolled on, a second Premier League crown would not have been as easy to come by.

Even for the ultimate athlete with more abs than ribs, a drop-off was inevitable.

In a rotating strikeforce that was put in place to alleviate the burden on him, Salah has simply disappeared into obscurity.

While he may have ended his longest Premier League drought at Wolverhampton Wanderers, the rest of his display should signify the final death knell to his Reds career.

The craft has gone, his ability to attest duels now non-existent.

The most worrying lost facet is what separated him from his peers, the drive to keep coming week after week with more fire than before has irretrievably vanished.

There is confidence from Saudi Arabia – should conflict in that part of the world settle down – that a deal can be struck in the summer.

When looking for Salah’s replacement and an upgrade on Cody Gakpo, who supporters are starting to lose their patience with, Liverpool could take a leaf out of Manchester United’s book.

They too conducted a strike overhaul last summer, but with a difference.

While Benjamin Sesko was a risky signing from the Bundesliga, they flanked the big-money Slovenian with two, proven Premier League goalscorers in Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.

It is what United used to do best in their halcyon days under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham, Louis Saha – all snared from lower ranking rivals, when at the peak of their powers.

Isak had the Premier League pedigree, but his injury record would always come back to bite them at some point.

Ekitike is here to stay, as is Wirtz. But if Liverpool are to delve back into the forward market, at least one option needs some Premier League savoir faire.

Antoine Semenyo would have been perfect, but the Liverpool hierarchy didn’t push enough.

Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise would be an expensive option, but one worth splurging on. Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers has a myriad of attributes to make a real difference, too.

Then they can look to Europe for younger, unproven options. Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola is an achievable get, while RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande remains a top target.

The other imperative position to address is midfield.

Alexis Mac Allister’s decline has been stark. A full season of offering nothing in attack and defence, when he is supposed to be approaching his peak years, is an almighty burden to overcome.

Dominik Szoboszlai has arguably been the club’s player of the season, but he needs a calming influence alongside him.

Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson would be perfect, but he appears destined to go where all Liverpool targets end up – City. Palace’s Adam Wharton is a fine alternative.

Full-back remains a concern, but Milos Kerkez and fit-again Jeremie Frimpong are likely to improve.

Centre-back issues persist – Virgil van Dijk isn’t getting any younger – but Ibrahima Konate’s form has recovered and Giovanni Leoni will be back next term, giving them better strength.

Two wide forwards and a central midfielder, however, should be non-negotiables.

As should an emotional farewell for Salah, who if he stays into a 10th season, could do some serious harm to his legacy.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/AIndDZM