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England Women 2-0 Iceland (Bronze 22’, Stanway 78′)

CITY GROUND – In the last two years, Lauren James has played fewer than 1,000 minutes in the Women’s Super League. Of all the remarkable numbers, good and bad, surrounding her career that one is probably the most perplexing.

James can feel like a Harlem Globetrotter – coming alive in glimpses as an international player, limited to just 10 club games in 11 months. Injuries have continuously disrupted the progress of one of the most thrilling players to watch in world football. Every turning point can feel like a false dawn.

The paradox of James is that on the one hand, she is in desperate need of momentum to become the player she can. At the same time, when she does resurface, she is graceful and detached enough to play the game at her own pace. Left foot, right foot, socks rolled down, oozing around the pitch.

For long spells she had the freedom of Nottinghamshire, the one forward capable of truly unlocking Iceland even as the Lionesses blitzed Cecilia Runarsdottir’s goal.

It just HAD to be her!

Lucy Bronze scores for England on the day she becomes the third most capped Lioness pic.twitter.com/qulrE0Fhky

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 7, 2026

The 24-year-old has never felt fully appreciated; she spoke in a Times interview this week how she can be perceived as “arrogant” rather than nonchalantly cool, lazy as opposed to effortless. The reality is we may not see another player like her in a generation. Why do we, collectively, not value players like her, regardless of whether she looks aesthetically industrious enough?

The assist for England’s opener, the link-up with Georgia Stanway, the cross for Lucy Bronze’s header, was the epitome of what makes James such an asset. Stanway added the second after pushing higher up the pitch for the last half hour, with James drifting into the middle to compensate.

Sarina Wiegman had opted to start her on the left, with Lauren Hemp on the right; which may have been unconventional, but it worked. There is no other player who offers that versatility and this Iceland side, as much as they struggled to meaningfully trouble England, gave a useful reminder of why that matters.

These campaigns are always so free-scoring for Wiegman’s side that they effectively serve as an exercise in overcoming low blocks; they have put 88 goals past their last 12 opponents in World Cup qualifiers, so it is inevitable that less established teams set up that way against the double European champions.

England navigated that superbly against Ukraine in midweek, scoring six, and got over the line again here. The ability to use James to create so many different shapes has been so important in the last two major tournaments and will be again in Brazil – assuming England qualify – in 2027.

The curious thing is what happens between now and then. On co-comms, Karen Carney again described her as a future Ballon d’Or winner – the question, she insisted, was when not if. We have heard that before – but it may be time to restart the Lauren James hype-train.

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Mansfield Town 1-2 Arsenal (Evans 50′ | Madueke 41′, Eze 66′)

FIELD MILL – It took 90 seconds for the first whistles of frustration, six minutes for the first audible shout of “Set Piece FC”, and seven for a cry of “Get up!”.

This spoke volumes about the Arsenal that most Mansfield Town supporters were expecting to witness in this FA Cup fifth-round tie, in what was one of the home club’s biggest games in their 129-year history.

And yet Arsenal largely abandoned their principles at Field Mill. The “boring”, set-piece focused tactics that have been thrust into the spotlight of late, particularly after Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler aired his frustrations in midweek, made way for an attempt to actually play some football.

It almost backfired. After two early corners, where Arsenal put just two players inside the six-yard box, it was Mansfield Town who created a flurry of chances.

So many in fact that Arsenal faced more shots inside the first 15 minutes, eight, than they had done all season – they’ve played Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Liverpool twice, and Chelsea four times.

That Mansfield would come to regret these missed chances was hardly a surprise. It would have taken a gargantuan effort to replicate their opening 15 minutes another five times, but they did roll over either, and it was not until the 41st minute when an England international broke their resolve, Noni Madueke curling in a fine opener for the visitors.

Arsenal’s patience paid off. They had weathered the storm. But Mansfield’s spirit was not diminished by the scoreline at half-time, and just five minutes into the second half Will Evans gave this crowd not merely a goal to remember for years to come, but actual belief in the moment that the cupset was doable.

The idea that it could be Mansfield’s day grew when they survived a five-on-two, Madueke almost blessed with too many options before the ball was cleared off the line.

With Arsenal’s quadruple dream on the line, on came Eberechi Eze and Jurrien Timber with half-an-hour to go, and it was the former who barely had an inch on the edge of the area when finding the top corner.

There's no stopping that!

Eberechi Eze fires Arsenal back in front with a strike of real quality

@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/zOpWUWTI8k

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 7, 2026

Two stunners. No set-piece goals here, with the manner of this victory only serving as a reminder of why Arsenal have typically adopted more divisive tactics this season.

Having asked Arsenal fans this week what they make of their “boring” label, the response was that beautiful football had got them nowhere for 20 years.

This tie underlined that. Arsenal played with more freedom and almost came unstuck. An undercooked side, with Mikel Arteta having made nine changes, pushed to the very end by League One Mansfield.

And so only when I asked myself one simple question are Arsenal’s usual tactics starting to make sense.

Would I want my team to do anything it takes to win a trophy? Of course I would.

And bearing in mind Arsenal could silence rival fans after years of ridicule in the process, no wonder they are prepared to do whatever it takes.

So don’t expect to see an Arsenal display like this again this season. They’re playing for silverware soon, the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City on 22 March, and the quad is only still on because of the football that got them here.

It is a position any club would love to be in at this stage of the campaign.

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My Sporting Life is The i Paper’s look behind the curtain at what drives sports stars to greatness. This week we speak to former England and Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster about his Wrexham heroics, ups and downs and becoming a YouTuber.

My happiest years were at West Brom

It was at a time in my life when my kids had just been born. I was living local. We were settled as a family.

I was there for a good eight years, it was eight years of Premier League football as well.

Don’t get me wrong, there were ups and downs, but I was surrounded by really nice, hard-working, down to earth people.

I’m a big believer that when you’re happy in life, you play your best football.

I wanted to get out of Manchester United

It was too much, too big. I’m not ashamed to say that. I remember being so nervous going into every game thinking “don’t make a mistake”.

It’s funny because if I bump into anyone who recognises me, I played for England, played for Manchester United, played nearly 400 Premier League games and they all say that penalty save for Wrexham was incredible.

I’ve watched the video back a few times. It still gives me goosebumps. Those moments stay with you for life.

I didn’t have a clue about YouTube

I didn’t know how to start a YouTube channel. This is something I’ve had to learn. It’s a brand new skill set, and I’ve had to learn how to do it all through trial and error.

We’re not one of the big boys. We haven’t had massive investment from betting companies. We’ve got to do it all ourselves.

Everything is self-funded. I love the fact that we can do it on our own terms. We get to call the shots.

If I hadn’t been a footballer I would’ve been a policeman

I’d have done something that required me to be active. My daughter is 17, she’s doing her A-Levels, and she’s at a point where she has to pick a uni course, but she hasn’t got a clue what she wants to do. I don’t think anyone knows what they want to do at 17.

My son wants to be a rugby player. I’ve met a lot of the players, and I’ve seen how they are as people, and they’ve got a lot more respect for people than footballers. So I’m happy he’s trying his hardest to play rugby.

My kids hate the YouTube stuff, honestly. They absolutely hate it because their mates send them clips if I say something funny. And they’re like, “Dad, don’t say things like that.”

I fully ruptured my rotator cuff in my shoulder

I had so many setbacks, whether it was injuries or loss of form or not being in the team, but the worst injury came after I retired.

I did a work thing about six months ago. It was for Emirates at St George’s Park, and it involved me playing in a six-a-side or whatever. It was some of the worst pain I’ve had for 48 hours. I dived for the ball, I landed hard and my shoulder just went pop. I’d never had a shoulder injury before. I was genuinely white as a ghost.

I’m an active guy, I love to be on the move, I like my bike and I like playing golf. And I couldn’t do anything for five months. I had to have a massive operation. It was miserable. The pain was unbearable.

The best player I played with?

It would have to be Paul Scholes. He was just effortlessly good. I’ve never seen a player strike the ball so cleanly.

And he had a nasty little bite in him, which made him even better. Because if you’ve got that nasty bite in you, like Wayne Rooney had, that can amplify your game like you wouldn’t believe. That little naughtiness makes you a much better player.

People would think it’s probably Cristiano Ronaldo, but it’s not. Scholes was a joke. It all just came naturally to him.

Ryan Reynolds didn’t know much about football

I think if you asked him, deep down, he didn’t know what he was getting himself into. He didn’t really know anything about football or how it worked, the organisation, the business. He just wanted to help his mate Rob [McElhenney] out.

He is a lovely guy who is super enthusiastic about Wrexham. And because he cares, people can see he cares. That is the most important thing.

They have done an unreal job. Everybody sees it as a massive success but – and they won’t mind me saying this – they’ve made loads of errors along the way. But they should be so proud of what they’ve achieved, because it’s really hard to go into something when you don’t know what you’re doing.

Ben Foster was speaking ahead of new content from CGK Studios, the content production company behind The Fozcast and The Cycling GK. Co-founded by Foster, CGK Studios specialises in authentic, long-form storytelling across sport and culture, with The Fozcast ranking among the UK’s most popular sports podcasts. Episodes are available weekly on Spotify and YouTube.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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