March 2021
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England enjoyed a perfect three wins from three in their World Cup qualifiers in March, with a nervy 2-1 win over Poland solidifying their position at the top of Group I.

There are now two months of domestic football left before the delayed Euro 2020 tournament gets under way this summer, meaning those who missed out on Gareth Southgate’s recent squad still have time to make amends and force their way back into the manager’s plans.

For some, the recent wins over San Marino, Albania and Poland served as a great platform to showcase their quality to Southgate, and with just 23 places available in the summer squad, the race is on to make the cut.

Here’s a look at the players who boosted their prospects of a place in that squad, or even the starting line-up, from the past three internationals, and those with work still to do…

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3 winners from World Cup qualifiers

Kalvin Phillips

Three straight starts and more minutes than any other outfield player. That is a ringing endorsement from Southgate and points towards a likely inclusion this summer.

The Leeds United midfielder could even be set for a major role at the Euros if Jordan Henderson is unable to recover from injury in time, and having barely put a foot wrong over the three qualifiers, Phillips did his hopes no harm.

Jesse Lingard

Southgate openly admitted Lingard was “fortunate” to earn an England recall after injuries ruled out Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho, so too Leicester duo James Maddison and Harvey Barnes, who had both been in the manager’s thoughts.

Fortunate or not, though, Lingard grasped his opportunity with a man-of-the-match display against San Marino, sharing a light-hearted moment afterwards with opposing goalkeeper Elia Benedettini, who denied the West Ham loanee on several occasions.

Lingard went on to make late appearances against Albania and Poland, and while he could well fall back out of favour in the next two months, he has only enhanced his chances this past week, while his tournament experience could sway Southgate when push comes to shove.

Nick Pope

The battle with Jordan Pickford for the starting England No 1 role at this summer’s Euros is on.

Pope conceded his first ever England goal after John Stones’ error gifted Poland their equaliser on Wednesday night, but the Burnley shotstopper does not deserve any blame for a short pass that still gave the Manchester City centre-back time to take a few touches and pick out a pass.

Whether Pope has done enough to usurp Pickford remains to be seen, but the latter’s injury could see the former only strengthen his claim in the coming weeks.

3 players with work to do

John Stones

It was all going so swimmingly for Stones. Back in the frame as a reward for his fine Manchester City displays this season, Southgate proceeded to start the centre-back in all three matches – an indication a summer partnership with Harry Maguire is in the offing.

However, a blunder on Wednesday night could somewhat cloud Southgate’s thinking. Mistakes happen, of course, but Stones’ gift for Jakub Moder was an untimely one with England only leading 1-0.

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Stones made amends when assisting Maguire for the late winner, and while it is unlikely one error will cost him a place in the starting XI this summer, the question mark is there – and it is one he will have to remove as Southgate scrutinises every performance from now until the end of May.

James Ward-Prowse

Absent for Wednesday’s match with Poland as a fitness precaution, the Southampton midfielder was still able to stake a claim to make Southgate’s final 23-man squad for the summer, scoring the opener in the 5-0 win over San Marino last Thursday.

Ward-Prowse came off the bench to replace Phillips against Albania, and this duo could well find themselves scrapping for one place in the Euros squad so long as Henderson recovers in time to feature.

Jude Bellingham will also be in contention, and while Ward-Prowse’s set-piece prowess could help him get the nod, his spot is far from guaranteed with places at a premium.

Kieran Trippier

After being picked over Trent Alexander-Arnold, Trippier only played 45 minutes across the three matches in March.

That would arguably put the Atletico Madrid defender third in the right-back pecking order behind Kyle Walker and Reece James, and with Alexander-Arnold on a mission to prove Southgate’s surprising call was the wrong one, Trippier must now also rise to the challenge as the most hotly-contested spot in England’s line-up looks set to go to the wire.

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March 31, 2021
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Just when it had all appeared to be going so well, a nervy victory and an uncertain defence made for a final competitive match before the European Championships that might measure expectations.

John Stones had seemingly remerged from the wilderness – of Manchester City’s substitutes bench and England exile – as once again a commanding, calm centre-back for club and country. Then the simplest, costliest of errors, allowed Poland to pounce and score with their first shot on target. 

Midway through the second half of a game England had been controlling and looked, truthfully, pretty good, the defender received a pass from goalkeeper Nick Pope and dawdled on the edge of his own penalty area. The hesitation allowed the ball to be nicked from the end of his toes before Jakub Moder thundered it past Pope, conceding his first ever England goal, to equalise.

This was the sort of test England really needed ahead of this summer’s European Championships and for almost an hour it was the performance Southgate wanted to see. 

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Poland are, of course, not in that elite pool of countries from which England will likely have to beat at least two if they are finally to win a major international tournament after so long. But they are solid enough – 19th in Fifa’s world rankings, recently running the Netherlands close and proving difficult to kill off in a defeat to Italy. 

They are an organised side, meaning England had to prove they could move the ball between themselves in a way that Southgate believes has improved in recent years and will, ultimately, be the key to beating the best. 

They did it well for long periods: smooth, controlled, clever. Dragging the game, and the opposition players, from left to right. You can’t concede if your opponents don’t have the ball. You can if you give it to them on the edge of your own penalty area.

England will need a couple of standout players – absolute world-beaters on top form – to go far in knockout football. They have those players, notably Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling, who each played a part for the opening goal last night. 

Sterling dribbled at pace towards Poland’s penalty area, passing a couple of opponents using sheer speed, and was in the box when Michal Helik slid in unnecessarily (Sterling was forced to such an angle it was near impossible to shoot) and caught the Manchester City forward’s trailing leg. Kane gave the goalkeeper the eyes and stuck the penalty down the middle. 

Phil Foden is another such player, even aged only 20 (he will be 21 come the Euros). Arguably more effective in central midfield, his versatility is another asset: playing on the right of the front three against Poland in the absence of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho and still managing to be the game’s central figure. He was the player who, venturing to the other side of the pitch, stole the ball to set Sterling on his way for the penalty. He also produced a neat flick, linking Mason Mount and Kane, the Spurs striker almost adding a second. 

It was disappointing that the absence of the injured Robert Lewandowski, considered by many currently the world’s most lethal striker, meant England’s defence was not tested in the way that it might otherwise have been. Who knows what the outcome would’ve been with the Bayern Munich striker on the pitch.

Southgate had seemed to be leaning towards a central defensive pair of Stones and Harry Maguire but Stones’s costly mistake was not his first in an England shirt and will the England manager now feel he can place his total trust in the defender? 

It is the sort of error that causes tournament exits. 

Only recently, Stones was discussing his recall to Southgate’s England squad, after forcing his way back into Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City defence as they chase an unlikely quadruple. He will have to pick himself up once more.

Perhaps England simply aren’t challenged enough at this sort of level. That Poland were their hardest opponents for quite some time shows the problem with international football.

There really aren’t enough opportunities for England to see how they truly compare against the world’s best, and when they do reach that point it tends to be in the knockout phase of a major tournament. At which point they realise they’re not, actually, quite up to scratch, and it’s too late: they’re out. Time to start all over again. Live, die, repeat.

England's defender Harry Maguire (L) celebrates scoring their second goal during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group I qualification football match between England and Poland at Wembley Stadium in London on March 31, 2021. (Photo by Catherine Ivill / POOL / AFP) / NOT FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING USE / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by CATHERINE IVILL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Harry Maguire (L) celebrates scoring England’s late winner (Photo: AFP)

Since the Nations League exit to the Netherlands in summer 2019, England have played 16 times and Belgium were the only opponents in the top 10. They beat them once and lost to them. Oh, and they lost to the Danes, who are just outside the top 10.

Maguire saved them last night with a late strike from a corner, but they will surely need vast improvement to go all the way this summer.



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March 31, 2021
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Show HN: Bugout.dev – Crash and usage reports for developer tools
4 by pahita | 1 comments on Hacker News.
Hello everyone, I’m Sophia, founder of Bugout.dev. I started off as a professional ballerina, and entered technology later in my working life - through the OpenAI Scholars program. My co-founder, Neeraj (zomglings on HN), is a mathematician and now programmer. When I was learning how to code I kept running into issues. I found Stackoverflow and GitHub issues hard to navigate, often leading me to outdated solutions to the problems I was experiencing. That experience made me want a product that would collect crashes and immediately let the creators of the software I was using know about the issue. And when they or their community had fixed the issue, they could notify me about that and direct me to a public site detailing the solution. Over time, this idea evolved and resulted in Bugout.dev. Bugout makes it easy for creators of developer tools to collect usage metrics and crash reports from their users. This applies equally well to libraries, command line utilities, and APIs. We're advocates of ethical data collection, and all reports are collected with clear user consent. Maintainers can also comply with GDPR requests for access and deletion with a single API call each. We are also building a public knowledge base of issues and solutions from open source projects. We were inspired by rustc error messages in this and how they point users to documentation that can help you resolve compiler errors. Projects integrating with Bugout can link users to the knowledge base using a search query, which allows them to direct users to solutions customized to operating system, library version, and even compiler/runtime version. We support developer tools written in Python and in Go - we just launched the Go library this week! Please check out our GitHub page: https://ift.tt/2Nv6VnE. We would greatly appreciate your feedback.

March 31, 2021
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The fickleness of football means the writing is now on the wall for Aidy Boothroyd when he had been just minutes away from extending his mission “utterly impossible” with England’s U21s into the late spring.  

Everything was seemingly falling into place in Slovenia on Wednesday night. Despite defeats to Switzerland and Portugal in their opening two European Championship group games, results were going England’s way up until the 91st minute as they looked to book a quarter-final meeting with reigning champions Spain. 

Goals from Eberechi Eze and Curtis Jones gave England the two-goal cushion they needed against Croatia, while Portugal were comfortably leading Switzerland, but an injury-time stunner from Domagoj Bradarić ultimately sent the Young Lions packing as the bottom nation in Group D. 

That is now five group-stage exits in the past six tournaments for England. Boothroyd has overseen two of those, and a semi-final showing in 2017 is unlikely to boost his prospects of seeing his contract extended beyond the summer. 

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Asked if he is still the man to lead the U21s forward, Boothroyd told Sky Sports: “I think so. The amount of players that have come through this system would suggest there’s a pathway working with all the coaches from U15 all the way to the senior team.

“Our youngest players that come in the building know they’ve got a chance of playing in the first team because of the way we’re structured. Of course it’s an important tournament and we want to win every tournament, but to produce players and win tournaments is very difficult.

“I love being involved with these players, I really enjoy it. That makes it even more difficult to answer that question. It’s fair to ask. I’m going to keep going and we’ll see what happens.”

England at U21 Euros since 2007

  • 2007: Semi-finals (Manager: Stuart Pearce)
  • 2009: Runners-up (Manager: Stuart Pearce)
  • 2011: Group Stage (Manager: Stuart Pearce)
  • 2013: Group Stage (Manager: Stuart Pearce)
  • 2015: Group Stage (Manager: Gareth Southgate)
  • 2017: Semi-finals (Manager: Aidy Boothroyd)
  • 2019: Group Stage (Manager: Aidy Boothroyd)
  • 2021: Group Stage (Manager: Aidy Boothroyd)

The nature of England’s exit will be a tough pill for this young team to swallow. A precursor for the potential disappointment with the senior side, perhaps, but for Boothroyd there will be no step-up as was achieved by his predecessor Gareth Southgate.

Boothroyd had said he was “absolutely” on the same page as Southgate when describing his impossible mission earlier this week, but in likening his own role to that of a reserve-team manager, it is evident he takes umbrage with this compliant position where hands are tied and the senior side takes precedent. 

Jude Bellingham and Reece James could have travelled with the U21s but instead featured fleetingly for Southgate in March’s World Cup qualifiers, while Phil Foden and Mason Mount – also eligible for the youth tournament – have emerged as near-certainties to not only make the Euro 2020 squad this summer but feature in the starting XI.  

This inability to choose his ideal squad could perhaps top the list of Boothroyd’s grievances, and while the former Watford manager said he needed time to reflect on another early exit, such a period may not be forthcoming.  

The manner of England’s opening two defeats, where they hit the target just once across 180 minutes, is likely to outweigh the moment they almost “swam the channel” against Croatia, and while they fell to a goal which prompted Boothroyd to say “he’ll never score one like that again”, such near-misses are unlikely to sway the FA’s decision-makers when they ponder the U21 boss’ future in the coming days and weeks.  

Perhaps the one silver lining is that avoiding a quarter-final showdown with Spain prevents England from discovering just how far they are from tournament success at this level, but whatever their next step is, it seems unlikely Boothroyd will be there to find out, just as a certain Frank Lampard emerges as the favourite to replace him.  

Ramsdale: It is a learning curve

Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was almost lost for words after England’s exit. The shotstopper had superbly denied Luka Ivanušec, but there was no stopping Bradarić’s strike.

“We shouldn’t leave it to the last game, but then we get ourselves into a good position and the kid has hit a wonder strike,” he told Sky Sports. “The seniors, it’s all about trying to get us to the seniors, we need to be reliable and we need to see games out better than that. It’s cost us, the first two games cost us, but tonight we had that chance.

“The first two games were tough to take, we didn’t create enough, but tonight was the team we have been for two years. We should be going through to the knockout stages, we’ve got to see that out better. It is a learning curve, but for us it’s about winning as much as it is learning. We can take things out of this game, but we won’t be coming back and that’s heart-breaking.

“Things like this cost you. It’s just really tough to take. The way we’ve played throughout this group.”

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March 31, 2021
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How does a football manager spend his time in between jobs? On the day of our interview Phil Brown is sitting in his kitchen “just staring at a Jamie Oliver book” and, as he informs i, preparing to “make sausage casserole for the family”.

That is only a little piece of the picture, of course. The former manager of Derby County, Hull City, Preston North End, Southend United and Swindon Town is speaking days after returning to his Cotswolds home from a four-and-a-half month stint in Goa, working as TV analyst on the Indian Super League.

For the 61-year-old, it meant a fresh perspective gained from “65 to 70” games as “expert analyst, co-commentator, commentator, you name it”. That said, his tale of a fiery post-match exchange involving Robbie Fowler – managing East Bengal – highlights that he is a manager at heart. It happened after fellow analyst Pradhyum Reddy riled the former Liverpool striker with a question about the bad language coming from East Bengal’s technical area.

“Robbie didn’t half fire off,” Brown explains. “You’ve got no crowds and we’ve got a co-comms box above the two benches so you could hear everything. Some of the language was choice and you’re having to keep apologising. Robbie had Tony Grant with him and Tony’s feisty as well so once they kicked off, they kicked off big style.

“Pradhyum Reddy thought he could ask Robbie any kind of question he wants but I’m like, ‘Back off, will you’. He really poked Robbie’s bear and Robbie replied in no uncertain terms.”

And was there a little part of him that wished to be in Fowler’s shoes, feeling that fire burning? “A big part!” he laughs.

From the outside, football management seems to chew people up then spit them out. “It’s in your blood,” Brown retorts. Hence his own ISL adventures, managing Pune City for a season and then, when that club was dissolved, taking on the short-term challenge of laying foundations at Hyderabad FC, “a brand-new franchise with no facilities whatsoever”.

His reflections on India include names of players and managers faded from the consciousness here: from Owen Coyle, manager of Jamshedpur, to Igor Stimac, the national coach, via Adam Le Fondre, whose goals helped Mumbai City – “who’ve just been bought out by the City group” – to the recently decided title.

His wish now is to return to management here. In this sense, the “thinking time” during those long weeks in the ISL’s bio-bubble in Goa was beneficial. He used it to work on his Uefa management diploma, a year-long course undertaken with the League Managers’ Association.

“I don’t think you ever stop learning,” Brown says. “You get past the 60 mark and people think you’re on the slippery slope but that is not the case as far as I’m concerned.

“It [experience] does round you or take the edges off a bit, the longer you stay in the game. If you’d said to me at 19 I’d still be involved in professional football at 61, I’d have said you’re talking crazy but I’m still there pitching in. I’m looking for that next chapter.”

Brown has been many things – Bolton Wanderers full-back, Sam Allardyce’s assistant in the Premier League, a promotion-winning manager with Hull and Southend – yet casual observers remember him best for two moments from the 2008-09 season that followed his feat of leading Hull into the top flight. One was his half-time team talk on the pitch at Manchester City, the other his serenading of Hull’s supporters after securing survival.

He says: “Would I have done anything different in hindsight? The answer to that is no because that’s who I am still. But will I do it different now? Absolutely. I have got more experience now. I have a better temperament now.

“The normal person – me from South Shields, the apprentice electrician – ending up in the Premier League was a lovely story in my own head but it’s an unfinished story.

“I always had ambition and an inner drive. When you get there and you see everything you’re dealing with, football almost becomes secondary and that’s the difficult part. Instead of it just being about football – which would be beautiful, it would be lovely, it would be pure – that’s never the case when there’s that much money around.”

It is interesting to hear him talk about “the egotists” within the Premier League – “it’s almost like a safety net for individuals, you get swept up in it” – but today he is re-enthused. For his diploma, he has had to write a series of essays, leading him to revive his note-taking habit from his “formative years” at Bolton, albeit as he adds wryly: “That’s all gone into an attic at my ex-wife’s house and I don’t think there is any chance of getting access.”

He has also enjoyed the camaraderie found in a class that includes both young bucks like Newport ’s Michael Flynn and old gunslingers like Billy Davies. Their Zoom sessions can get quite lively.

“Billy Davies, when he tells his story, you’re hanging off his every word,” Brown says.

“Mark McGhee is an absolute storyteller. I’d much rather be with a pint of Guinness and a glass of whisky alongside him but you can’t. And Steven Pressley should be on stage. We’ve had an absolutely brilliant year. Everybody’s texting each other, wishing each other well if you’re in work or going for an interview. I’ve been fascinated by it. I’ve been really buoyed by it.”

Jamie recipes are all well and good, but it’s the taste of football they all crave in the end.



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March 31, 2021
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ROME — Getting a rebrand right is a tricky business. Just ask Juventus.

In 2017, fans of the Italian champions unleashed a tirade of fury when the club’s new logo was unveiled: the letter J.

Four years on, Inter Milan have followed suit by producing a stripped-back, minimalist version of their famous crest, to be used from 2021-22 onwards.

The public response to the new badge has been mixed at best, but that is certainly an improvement on the hammering Juve took for their drastic departure from tradition.  

Inter removed the letters “FC” and the gold colour in their new badge, leaving a bold white “IM” over a blue background and black trim.  

They describe it as “innovative, minimalist, elegant and oriented towards new generations” and pounced on the English wordplay potential of the letters “IM” by producing several tweets saying things like “IM open to the whole world and rooted in one city.”

But back to Juventus. The Turin club broke away from tradition, not only with the badge but subsequently with a kit featuring a red stripe and blocks of black and white rather than the iconic stripes, in order to become a lifestyle brand as well as a football one.

The Old Lady’s chief revenue officer Giorgio Ricci told Bleacher Report in 2019: “The idea of the rebrand was to reposition the club in the wider entertainment industry as a brand that was able to deliver lifestyle experiences.”

The language around Inter’s latest move has been strikingly similar.

On their website, the club wrote that “while maintaining continuity with the original version, the new symbol is a more suitable fit for the age of entertainment”.

The club wanted to “establish itself as an icon of culture as well as sport”.

It comes at a time when Inter are closer than ever to ending Juve’s nine-year stranglehold of the Serie A title – Antonio Conte’s side are 10 points clear of their rivals in first place.

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The implicit message seems to be that Inter will chase down their arch-rivals on and off the pitch, even if the rebrand comes at a time of rumblings about the perilous financial state of the club under Chinese owners Suning.

There has been no shortage of opinions about the aesthetic qualities of the new badge.  

In news that will surprise no one, the greatest outrage has been saved for the realm of social media, where scores of fans lamented the simplified design and the removal of gold.  

Others pointed out its similarity to the Volkswagen logo, while it was also flagged up that removing the letters “FC” to leave an “I” overlapping “M” leaves the badge spelling out the word “TIT”.  

Italian television presenter and Inter fan Enrico Mentana mourned the loss of the old badge, writing: “You can’t just throw away this symbol like an old shoe.”  

The backlash may not have quite reached Juventus levels, but Inter have certainly been warned about the risks of tampering with tradition as they follow their rivals towards a more marketable future.



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March 31, 2021
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Gareth Southgate insisted he will not hinder England’s chances of ­success to help his players’ clubs ahead of the final competitive match ­before he names his Euro 2020 squad.

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has been outspoken about how Southgate handles his players within an England camp. For these qualifiers, Mourinho said he hoped England would “protect” his striker and the Premier League’s joint leading scorer, Harry Kane.

Southgate completely rested Kane for the World Cup qualifier against San Marino last Thursday, then played his captain in Sunday’s match in Albania. Poland, who travel to Wembley on Wednesday night, are England’s toughest qualifying opponents and present Southgate with a real opportunity to challenge his players against a higher standard of side, meaning Kane, 27, is expected to start.

“Frankly every other country around Europe are either working in the same way or they’re playing the players even more, so we can’t hinder ourselves by always trying to think about how we help the clubs,” Southgate said. “We’ve got to win the matches. There are 60 million people waiting for that.”

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Furthermore, the national manager defended the way England handle players when they are called up, explaining how thorough their process is in identifying an individual’s workload in both training and matches.

“We’ve managed the players, not only their match minutes but their training minutes and we’ve also taken into account what their match load has been like over the last couple of months,” Southgate continued. “That’s been part of our preparation for these camps. We do that as meticulously as we can.

“I think we do that professionally, we don’t take risks with players with any sort of injuries. But by the same token we think the players are physically in a good place.

“They’ve had a good training week, the ones who’ve needed more rest have had it. And our training sessions have been short and sharp and they’ve not been on the pitch for too long.”

Midfielder Declan Rice – who was also rested against San Marino, played the full game against Albania and is set to start on Wednesday night – has played every single minute of every game for West Ham United in his club’s impressive season competing for a place in the top four.

The 22-year-old claims he is fitter than ever and points to his lifestyle away from the pitch that enables him to compete consistently. He also noted that lockdown, enforced by the pandemic, has meant that there is little else players can do but keep fit.

“How do I do it? This season as I’ve got older I’ve realised how important off the pitch stuff is, the way you live your life away from football, what you do to boost your recovery to make you feel fitter,” Rice explained.

“This season I’ve really got myself in the gym a little bit more, really taken that side of things a bit more seriously. Tried to improve all aspects.”

He does concede, however, that West Ham’s absence from European competition makes it easier for him to keep fresh.

“I’m lucky that at the moment we’re not in Europe, where we’re playing on a Saturday and a Tuesday. At the moment it’s only one game a week which isn’t too bad.

“When the season was going on, Christmas and Boxing Day, it was like one game every three or four days. That’s tough. Mentally you’re training every day, you’re fit enough, you’ve just got to go out and do it.”



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March 31, 2021
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Rebecca Welch is kicking off a new era in football after being appointed the first female referee to a game in the English Football League.

She will take charge of the League Two clash between Harrogate and Port Vale on Easter Monday and create sporting history at the same time.

She said: “Initially I wasn’t really aware of being appointed as the first female referee.

“I was just given the appointment and I was over the moon but, when you kind of reflect on it, you think you’re the first woman ever to do this, so I’m extremely proud and my family’s extremely proud as well.”

Amy Fearn was the first woman to referee a men’s EFL game when she came on as an injury replacement in the 2010 Championship game between Coventry and Nottingham Forest but Ms Welch is the first to be given a game from the start.

The 37-year-old, from Washington in Durham, has refereed for 11 years, working in the National League and presiding over the Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley.

This season she has officiated seven National League games, dishing out 31 yellow cards and one red.

“In the last 10 years I’ve put a lot of hard work and commitment in and I’ve reaped the rewards from that by getting promoted”, she said, “But I’d never seen myself as a trailblazer until the last year, where I’ve started to accept it because I think it’s important that people who are fortunate enough to be in my position or similar can show people that this can be done.”

Ms Welch is hoping her appointment will be the beginning of a new age in football, inspiring other girls and young women to join the profession.

“I do think it’s important to show that women who are in the top one per cent of their category can proceed to the next level so it definitely makes others down the pyramid look up and know that they can achieve the same”, she said, “It shows that there is a real opportunity to young girls who are wondering to take the whistle or are already referees, they can aspire to be an EFL referee or like Sian Massey-Ellis operating in the Premier League.”

According to Gareth Taylor, head coach of Manchester City Women, this is something which should become the norm and no longer a notable event.

Speaking ahead of his team’s match against Barcelona, he said: “It’s great to see. I think it should be something that’s really normalised now and shouldn’t have to be celebrated so much.

“Regardless of the gender, it’s the best person for the job.”



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March 30, 2021
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Karen Bardsley could enjoy a Tokyo Olympics swansong after the veteran goalkeeper was handed a shock return to the England women’s team on Tuesday. US-born Bardsley headed back across the Atlantic last month after losing her place in the Manchester City team to youngster Ellie Roebuck.  

The 36-year-old has played in six major tournaments including the 2012 Olympics but has only played one WSL match since the 2019 World Cup. She is now on loan to Seattle-based OL Reign in the US league but their season has yet to start. However, Hege Riise, who will be managing Team GB in Tokyo as well as being interim coach for England, called her into the Lionesses party for next month’s matches with France and Canada.

Carly Telford, who rarely starts for Chelsea, was also recalled with Riise citing a desire to look at more experienced ‘keepers. The goalies in her debut squad last month, Hannah Hampton, Roebuck and Sandy McIver, are 20, 21 and 22 respectively with seven caps between them. However, Manchester United’s Mary Earps, the only England international over 22 playing regularly in WSL, was again omitted.

Hampton, who has been dropped from the squad, discovered she had been left out of the Olympics short-list shortly before playing a crucial match for Birmingham in which she made several errors. “That should not have happened,” said Riise, revealing she had apologised to Hampton and Carla Ward, Birmingham’s coach.

England will be without captain Steph Houghton, who has an ankle injury, and Nikita Parris due to an outbreak of Covid in the Lyon squad. Niamh Charles is the only new face in the group with Riise impressed with the physicality shown by the versatile Chelsea player in recent Champions League ties.

England are due to play France in Caen on 9 April then Canada in Stoke on 13 April. However, the former match is in doubt due to rising Covid rates across the Channel raising the prospect of quarantine restrictions, and the Lyon outbreak. The European champions supply several players to the French squad. England have not played overseas for more than a year.



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March 30, 2021
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The fear of players picking up injuries has club managers perpetually approaching the international break with trepidation, but there is another reason why some will be squirming in their seats for a few fortnights each year.

The insatiable thirst for transfer news may well peak around the summer and winter windows, but it is during the periods of international matches where players have discussed their futures.

This time around, it’s Mohamed Salah. Speaking to Marca, the Liverpool forward said he was open to a possible move to Spain, albeit with a non-committal response which serves to offend no one and keep all options on the table.

Asked if it is time to move on after four years at Liverpool, Salah replied: “It’s not up to me. We’ll see what happens but I prefer not to talk about that now.”

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Then when asked about the prospect of playing Spanish football, he added: “I hope to be able to play for many more years. Why not? No one knows what’s going to happen in the future, so… maybe one day, yes.”

The “why not?” is a short but diplomatic phrase that was also used by Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, who last year said it would be a “dream” to play for Real Madrid.

This Pogba soundbite came during international duty with France, while it was away with Wales last September when Gareth Bale welcomed the idea of a Premier League return.

Eden Hazard, meanwhile, declared “you all know my preferred destination” at the 2018 World Cup after Belgium beat England in the third-place play-off. He would go on to join Real from Chelsea a year later.

Away from their clubs’ grasps, players are more exposed on international duty. There are no club press officers present to whisper and urge restraint, meaning they are often faced with questions knowing full well any answer will become a headline.

This is the case with managers all-year round. Pep Guardiola could only smile earlier this month when asked for a third time about Erling Haaland after Manchester City were drawn with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League quarters. The City boss gave the popular I do not talk about another club’s player response, but that did not prevent the transfer rumour mill from harvesting a fresh angle for where Haaland could end up this summer.

No response is as good as a coy or entirely sweeping response, and so Salah was somewhat trapped the moment a sit-down interview with Marca was agreed upon.

France's midfielder Paul Pogba warms up prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualification Group D football match between Kazakhstan and France, at the Astana Arena, in Nur-Sultan, on March 28, 2021. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
Paul Pogba said playing for Real Madrid was a ‘dream’ on international duty last year (Photo: AFP)

In the main, the interview with Salah previews Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final meeting with Real Madrid, three years on from the Reds’ 2018 final defeat to the Spanish club, where the Egyptian was substituted off early after a challenge from Sergio Ramos.

The first 13 questions cover the match-up, with Salah reluctant to admit he’s on a revenge mission, while also skirting around a question about which Real Madrid player Liverpool should sign.

At the end, he is then asked about his future, with his replies as quoted above. The “why not?” and the “maybe one day” from the school of careful responses.

Inevitably, the spotlight has been cast on his final two answers, present article included, and while question marks could be raised about why Salah is doing a Marca interview four months after speaking to fellow Spanish outlet AS, he has in truth said little wrong.

Wayne Rooney’s “Once a Blue, always a Blue” t-shirt lost its meaning when he swapped it for the red of Manchester United, while Fabian Delph was criticised and bombarded with snake emojis in 2015 when joining Manchester City from Aston Villa just days after he said he would not leave the Midlands club.

Declaring an unwavering loyalty may well be endearing, but it only serves to disappoint should a player have intentions of one day moving elsewhere, while it should never be the go-to answer even if a player has, at that present time, no desire to leave.

With this in mind, Salah’s answers arguably hit the right notes. He may well love Liverpool, the club where he has won the Premier League and Champions League, but for a player who has already ventured to Switzerland and Italy as well as England, there is nothing that ties him to the club beyond the summer of 2023 – when his current contract expires – and prevents him from moving to Spain.

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He has rightly avoided committing his entire playing future to Liverpool, and he has rightly left the idea of a future move open.

Salah would be free to go anywhere in two years’ time, while the nature of the transfer market also means a transfer could happen earlier if the right price is offered.

In essence, he could just as easily remain at Liverpool for another five years as he could decide he wants to leave this summer, and while there is that uncertainty, there is always speculation. And while there is speculation, there is the desire to seek answers by asking certain questions at opportune moments.

He isn’t the first to fall into this international break trap, and he won’t be the last.



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March 30, 2021
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Michal Helik’s debut season in English football has already proved sweet beyond his fondest imaginings, but the best could be yet to come for Barnsley’s newly-capped Poland international.

The goalscoring centre-half arrived at Oakwell last September and has proved a key figure in the dramatic emergence of Valerien Ismael’s side as Championship promotion contenders.

Helik’s form has been rewarded with a maiden Poland call-up and he made his debut in last Thursday’s 3-3 World Cup qualifier with Hungary alongside his idol, Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski.

Lewandowski will miss Wednesday’s clash with England with a knee injury – and four players are absent due to Covid-19, including Leeds midfielder Mateusz Klich – but Helik is hoping to feature.

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The 25-year-old, who has netted six goals for Barnsley this term, said: “When someone thinks about Polish football, they think about Robert Lewandowski because he’s a talisman in Poland.

“What he has achieved in football, there is no higher level – he’s at the top now and to play with him for my country was amazing.

“To play against England at Wembley would be extra special and there are a lot of good players coming from Poland.

“Mateusz Klich at Leeds and Kamil Grosicki at Hull played in the Championship last season, so that’s why I think it’s a good place for me.

“We’re a young group at Barnsley, hungry for results, and we never stop believing.”

The Tykes have been a team transformed under French boss Ismael and lie fifth in the Championship with eight games remaining.

Helik has settled in South Yorkshire after seven years in his homeland where he made 137 appearances with KS Cracovia and Ruch Chorzow.

Barnsley has become a home from home as Helik explained: “After I came here, one of my friends from primary school messaged me to say he had been living here for three years.

“We had a coffee and it was nice to meet with him again so, when circumstances allow, we will go out for lunch somewhere.

“I had heard about the big Polish community in Barnsley and the restaurants.

“I was in a Polish shop in Barnsley and it was just like being back in Poland. It made me feel like I was at home.”

Helik said of his upbringing: “I had a good life as a kid and parents because they gave me everything I needed to learn about life and football.

“They helped me a lot, drove me to training all the time and made sure that I ate well – not just sweets and McDonalds food.

“I don’t think I ever went to McDonalds with my parents!”

Helik’s family have yet to see him play live for Barnsley due to the pandemic but have followed his progress closely.

He said: “Hopefully the coronavirus will be over soon and I can invite my parents here to see me play.

“But they have iFollow in Poland, so they’re watching all the games, which is good, and I can always call them on WhatsApp with video so it’s not hard to stay in touch.

“But first and foremost I’m here to play football and see how much I can achieve – for my club and country.”

More football



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March 30, 2021
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A historic vote on changes to the Champions League from 2024 has been delayed following increased pushback on the most controversial and potentially damaging proposals. 

Uefa’s Executive Committee will meet on Wednesday when confirmation of reforms had been expected to be ratified, but the governing body now says an “official decision” will be made on 19 April instead.  

The Premier League and European Leagues, a body which represents 37 professional leagues in 30 countries and more than 1,000 clubs, are against plans to increase group stage games from six to 10 and attempts to offer qualification places on an “historical co-efficient” basis. 

i can reveal that there is also concern at the Premier League that there could still be Champions League games scheduled in January – a period they believe should be kept free for domestic football. There has, however, been an indication that Champions League matches will still not be played at weekends.

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Furthermore, objectors to areas of the plans would like to see fewer matches than the number being proposed. The increase in matches would see total Champions League season rise from 125 to 225 games, a move that could badly impact the League Cup and FA Cup. The EFL fears the existence of its marquee competition is under threat, while the FA Cup could see increasingly weakened teams fielded in future as club’s seek to rest players.

The current proposals to increase the Champions League from 32 to 36 teams – all placed in one league under the “Swiss Model” format – would include three of the four additional places being handed to big clubs who have historically performed well in the Champions League. It could mean that a team from outside the “Big Six” finishing fourth in the Premier League, but one of the “Big Six” clubs finishing as far back as seventh and stealing the fourth Champions League spot from them.

Such a scenario, if voted through, would be likely to cause outrage amongst Premier League fans.

There is hope the idea will be scrapped and that qualification for the Champions League will remain solely based on final league position, protecting the integrity of league competition. Those additional Champions League qualifications could, instead, be handed to leagues in smaller or less wealthy countries. 

A vote was intended for Wednesday’s meeting for final confirmation of all reforms to the Champions League after 2024, but the more controversial elements of the plans will be debated further instead amidst fierce objections from critics.

Provided all goes to plan, the following Executive Committee meeting will include a vote “in order to finalise ongoing discussions”, Uefa said in a statement.

During Wednesday’s meeting, discussion topics will also include: a proposal to allow five substitutions at this summer’s delayed Euro 2020 tournament and the 2021 Nations League Finals, exploring the possibility of letting spectators into Uefa games and the system of selecting teams to play in the 2022 Fifa Women’s Under-20 World Cup.



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March 30, 2021
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Former AFTV contributor Claude Callegari has passed away aged 58, with ex-Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell and Middlesbrough’s Yannick Bolasie among those to offer their condolences.

Callegari rose to prominence with his passionate rants on AFTV, formerly known as Arsenal Fan TV, a popular YouTube channel which currently has 1.32m subscribers and regularly dissects the Premier League club’s performances.

A statement on Callegari’s Twitter account on Tuesday confirmed his death.

It read: “We can’t believe we are writing this, with permission from Claude’s father, it is with great sadness and a broken heart that we have to announce that our dear friend and legend Claude sadly passed away yesterday afternoon, March 29.

“RIP dear friend, gone but never forgotten. Gooner for life.”

AFTV said Callegari was a “much loved” figure, whom they were “privately” supporting after he was removed last year following a remark about Tottenham’s Son Heung-min.

“We are absolutely devastated today to learn of the death of Claude Callegari, one of the channel’s most popular contributors,” AFTV said on Twitter.

“Claude was a much loved figure during his time on the channel and through his passion for Arsenal was able to connect with fans from around the globe on a meaningful level.

“We had continued to privately support Claude during his time away from the channel during the pandemic and the news of his passing comes as a deep shock to everyone at AFTV and in the wider Arsenal community.”

Ex-Arsenal striker Campbell said he was “shocked” by the news, while former Tottenham and Chelsea striker Graham Roberts said Callegari had an “amazing heart” when meeting him last year.

Troopz, who worked alongside Callegari at AFTV, said: “You showed me love from the get go, made my misses feel comfortable when she came to events and always shows my kids love. I hope you are finally at peace godfather.”

AFTV’s Moh Haider said Callegari “was an unbelievably passionate Arsenal man and was brilliantly witty”.

Haider added: “Unfortunately in a world where people take more pride in being ‘savage’ than being nice, he had his ups and downs.

“I really hope that Claude passed away peacefully and painlessly, and my condolences go out to all of his family, friends, fans and all of the millions of people who smiled because of Claude.”



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March 30, 2021
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Sergio Aguero will leave an indelible mark on the Premier League when he departs Manchester City this summer, 10 years after he arrived.

The diminutive striker’s £35million transfer fee was an eye-watering sum at the time that would now hardly make a Premier League chairman blink, but City got every penny of value out of him.

He now sits fourth on the all-time Premier League goalscoring listing with 181 and has scored 12 hat-tricks, a figure that puts him above Alan Shearer, Andy Cole and Thierry Henry, the only three men with more goals than him. Most memorably of all, he scored the goal that took City back to the top of the Premier League pile.

Aguero is only 32 though. He has, you would assume, plenty more to give in terms of football – and clubs will be queueing up to find out how much that will cost them. i looks at the odds offered on his next club…

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Barcelona – 11-10

The most likely destination at this point for Aguero seems to be Barcelona, if only because it would unite him with international teammate Lionel Messi (assuming he remains at the club). In fact, Spanish newspaper Marca say the club’s hierarchy could use signing Aguero as some sort of carrot for the Barça legend to stay.

However, the club are in financial dire straits and if Aguero’s wage demands are significant – and he currently earns in the region of £230,000 a week – then it may be tricky to countenance a deal for him, even on a “free” transfer.

Real Madrid – 7-2

On that basis, Barça’s biggest rivals Real Madrid would relish being able to flex their financial muscles by swooping in to pick up Aguero.

With Los Blancos currently staring down the barrel of a third-place finish in La Liga this season, behind both Barça and city rivals Atletico Madrid, it is easy to see why such a PR win would be attractive.

The main stumbling will be Aguero himself; he made his name at Atletico and will have noted the vitriol directed at former Colchonero Thibaut Courtois by fans after he joined Real from Chelsea in 2018.

PSG – 5-1

In the transfer rumour mill, Paris Saint-Germain is the reliable donkey in the basement that just keeps trotting round and round, keeping everything going even when there is very little grain to grind.

The simple reason is that the donkey feeds on cash, and there is never a short supply of that in the Parisian mill (this metaphor has gone far enough). The club owned by Qatar Sport Investments are always happy to throw money at a problem, and that problem is not having won or even come close to winning the Champions League.

A frontline of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Aguero would have a decent chance, surely?

Any Argentine club – 15-2

Aguero has long discussed his desire to end his career back in Argentina. Back in 2019, when it looked like he might leave City at that point, he said “I will see, but obviously the Rojo [Independiente] is always my priority”.

Independiente is the club Aguero joined when he was just a boy of nine years old, and left a man of 17, heading to Europe as one of South America’s most exciting exports. It is worth remembering that Aguero is still only 32. If he does choose Independiente, it may say more about how much there is left in his knees than anything else.

Other possibilities:

  • Inter Milan 12-1
  • Any MLS Club 12-1
  • Any Chinese Club 14-1
  • Inter Miami 16-1
  • Atletico Madrid 16-1
  • Chelsea 16-1
  • Man Utd 20-1

Odds via Betfair



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March 30, 2021
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“Manchester City are still alive here… Balotelli, Aguerooooooooooooooo! I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again!”

Martin Tyler’s commentary will forever be synonymous with Manchester City’s greatest ever moment: the day when Sergio Aguero’s injury-time strike secured a first top-flight title in 44 years at Manchester United’s expense.

It looked for all the world as though City had blown it. A five game-winning run, including a morale-rousing 1-0 victory against United in their previous home game, had City top of the table on goal difference heading into the final day.

All they had to do was beat a ragtag QPR team containing misfits, mercenaries and journeymen to ensure the title was theirs, regardless of United’s result against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

With a place in club history within touching distance, the occasion appeared to unsettle City’s players early on. David Silva’s flicks and tricks went awry, Yaya Toure wilted under the May sunshine, Carlos Tevez, back from his golfing holiday, was anonymous.

Eventually, after 39 minutes, the goal arrived. Relief around the Etihad was palpable when Pablo Zabaleta’s fiercely-struck drive was helped into the net by QPR goalkeeper Paddy Kenny. Having got that elusive opener, City would surely now coast to victory. Except they wouldn’t.

QPR’s players hadn’t read the script. A few minutes after the restart, Djibril Cisse silenced the home fans by rifling a low volley beyond Joe Hart after the ball had bounced to him via Joleon Lescott’s sweat-glistened forehead.

Momentum swung back the way of City shortly after when former academy graduate Joey Barton was sent off after an off-the-ball incident with Tevez. On his way off the pitch, Barton kneed Aguero in the back of his leg, aimed a headbutt at Vincent Kompany and tried to start another fight with Mario Balotelli for good measure. A 12-game ban swiftly followed.

Joey Barton
Joey Barton was sent off against his former club (Picture: Getty)

Despite being down to 10 men after losing their captain, QPR rallied and went ahead on 66 minutes when Jamie Mackie ghosted in at the back post to head home Armand Traore’s cross, cue an expletive-ridden rant from an irate Roberto Mancini on the touchline.

In response to going behind, Mancini chucked on £51m worth of attacking talent with Edin Dzeko and Balotelli replacing Gareth Barry and Tevez. Any semblance of a tactical shape had been thrown out of the window.

Yet everything City threw at goal, QPR repelled it. Kenny, who spent just two of his 20 seasons as a professional in the Premier League, was inspired, keeping out efforts from Dzeko and Balotelli, amongst others. As the game crept into added time, Sky Sports’ cameramen did the rounds around the Etihad, picking out supporters in tears and one fan assaulting his own seat with a scarf.

Then midway through the allocated time added on, City suddenly got one back as Dzeko rose imperiously to nod a Silva corner into the net. Time was against them, but that goal had given City something to cling onto with three minutes still to play.

Joe Hart
City’s late winner sparked scenes of jubilation around the Etihad (Picture: Getty)

And then came the winner. Nigel De Jong picked out Aguero on the edge of QPR’s box, he fed it into Balotelli and continued his run. The Italian, under pressure from Anton Ferdinand, fell to the ground but swivelled and shovelled a return pass back to Aguero who jinked past Nedum Onouha and fired beyond Kenny into the bottom corner.

Off came Aguero’s shirt, out raced Hart from his own penalty box, up went the decibels inside the stadium. City had done it and to make it all the sweeter, they had done so at United’s expense, pipping them to the title on goal difference following their own 1-0 win at Sunderland.

For all Aguero’s goals and City’s success since it is unlikely that day will ever be topped. It was the iconic Premier League moment.

On This Day in sport



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March 30, 2021
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