Zeb Jacobs intends to make Rangers one of the leading clubs in the world at developing young players after being promoted to the role of academy director.
The Belgian was initially recruited by Gers as head of academy coaching in 2021, with current manager Michael Beale – who was first-team coach at the time – involved in attracting him to Ibrox.
Jacobs, who was head of development at Royal Antwerp in his homeland prior to moving to Scotland, will step up to take on a position recently vacated by Craig Mulholland, whose looming departure was announced at the start of May.
“I am excited about this new chapter as the academy director of Rangers Football Club,” Jacobs told the Gers’ website. “The opportunity to develop the best young talent in Scotland is incredibly exciting, and I am ready to make a lasting impact.
“With the resources and elite infrastructure already in place, I firmly believe that our academy has the potential to become world-leading in player development.
“My vision is crystal clear: ‘create the most exciting learning environment in sports’.
“By maximising the potential of every player and nurturing their skills, we aim to produce a new generation of players who can excel not only for Rangers in Scotland but also on the European stage.
“My relationship with Michael Beale, our CEO and board is already very strong, and we will look to use that to maximise the pathway from the academy to the first team.
“I am grateful for this opportunity and truly excited for the bright future ahead.”
Chief executive James Bisgrove believes Jacobs’ relationship with Beale can help create a smooth pathway from academy to first team.
“I’d like to firstly congratulate Zeb on his appointment,” Bisgrove said.
“Michael Beale and I, along with other key colleagues from the football department, led a thorough and diligent recruitment process to identify our next academy director, with Zeb the outstanding candidate.
“Zeb will bring constant innovation and a clear vision to the role, and his strong collaborative relationship with Michael Beale and the first-team staff will ensure a direct link and pathway between the academy and men’s first team that will flourish for many years.
“The Rangers academy has produced some of the leading talents in the Scottish game in recent seasons, and we’re confident that Zeb is well placed to create an environment for the next crop of talent to thrive and reach the Rangers first team.
“Our academy is a truly elite environment, and the brilliant work of all academy staff, past and present, has laid a strong foundation for Zeb and the wider academy staff, including David McCallum [B team head coach], to accelerate this progress and ensure that our youth football development programme is the unrivalled leader in the Scottish game.”
Lauren Filer made an eye-catching start to her England career, snaring Australia opener Beth Mooney in the opening session of the one-off Test that kick-starts the multi-format Women’s Ashes series.
Filer was held back until the 17th over and almost had the dream start after getting an lbw verdict on Ellyse Perry from her first ball, only for an undetected edge to reprieve Australia’s batting linchpin.
But Filer vindicated her selection ahead of Issy Wong as her extra pace continued to cause issues and the tall seamer had her maiden international wicket when Mooney slashed to gully on 33 at Trent Bridge.
Kate Cross made the initial breakthrough to end a promising innings from Phoebe Litchfield, out for 23 on her first Test knock after neglecting to review an lbw verdict that would have missed off-stump.
England might have seen the back of Mooney on nine and 19 but missed tough chances in the field while their seamers were on the whole expensive as Australia raced to 100 for two after winning the toss.
Cross was entrusted with the first delivery and served up a no-ball in an opening over which yielded nine runs but she found a hint of sideways movement alongside Lauren Bell on a green-tinged pitch.
There were few alarms for the elegant Litchfield or the more cagey Mooney until Cross’ eventful fifth over. Cross was unable to cling on to a one-handed return catch off Mooney but found some succour after Litchfield shouldered arms to one that straightened and struck the left-hander’s front pad.
Litchfield eschewed a review as she trudged off and Hawk-Eye showed the ball would have sailed past off-stump.
In walked Perry with a titanic 75.2 average in this format. England have been on the receiving end of Perry’s might in the past but the hosts brought on their trump card in a bid to stifle the all-rounder.
Filer’s first ball clattered into Perry’s pads but the on-field lbw decision was overturned because of a thick inside edge discerned on replay. But Filer’s pace continued to hurry Perry in her opening over.
But it was Mooney, the top-ranked batter in ODIs and second on the list in T20s, who provided Filer with her first England wicket after a back-foot punch took the edge and carried to Cross at gully. It was a welcome wicket after Test debutant Danni Wyatt put down a diving chance off the Australia opener.
Perry (31 not out) and Tahlia McGrath (11no) ushered Australia to the lunch interval with no further alarms.
Little Big Bear sets an exacting standard in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot on Friday.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien has never made any secret of the regard in which he holds the No Nay Never colt and he has so far largely lived up to the billing, winning five of his first seven starts.
He edged the Windsor Castle Stakes at this meeting last year, while a stunning display in the Phoenix Stakes on what proved to be his final juvenile start ensured he was crowned champion European two-year-old.
A line can be put through a disappointing run in a soft ground 2000 Guineas and he is better judged on his facile success under Frankie Dettori in last month’s Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock.
Little Big Bear is 10lb clear of his rivals on his return to Group One level and will be a warm order to provide O’Brien with a second Commonwealth Cup following the triumph of Caravaggio in 2017.
O’Brien said: “Everything has gone well since Haydock.
“We were keen to give him a race back sprinting before taking him to Ascot and Haydock fitted in well.
“We’ve been happy with everything he has done since.”
The biggest threat to the hot favourite appears to be the Roger Varian-trained Sakheer.
The son of Zoffany was much the best in last season’s Mill Reef at Newbury and like Little Big Bear contested last month’s 2000 Guineas, in which he was beaten seven lengths into seventh place.
Varian, who has already been among the winners this week, expects to see his charge in a better light as he drops back in distance on a sounder surface.
“The stiff six furlongs on what looks like it should be decent ground should suit him,” said the Newmarket handler.
“We’re really happy with the horse. He’s been good since the Guineas and he looks like he is peaking at the right time.
“He had an easy time after the Guineas and we were always going to come to Ascot, but he’s built up over the last few weeks into this race nicely, his work has been on point, he’s been really well and we’re hopeful.
“He actually ran well in the Guineas, but it was a mess of a race for us. He looked very good over six furlongs last year and the plan was always to come to this race when the Guineas didn’t work out.
“He looks like he could still be a high-class colt, we certainly believe he can be, and we’re looking forward to Friday.”
The Ralph Beckett-trained filly Lezoo has a similar profile, having won last season’s Cheveley Park Stakes over six furlongs but unable to land a blow over a mile in the 1000 Guineas.
Jamie McCalmont, racing manager for part-owner Marc Chan, said: “It’s a very good race and probably the best Commonwealth Cup there has been I would say, there’s no soft spot there.
“To be in the first three I would be very happy in this race.”
Shaquille has won his last four starts for Julie Camacho and connections are happy to roll the dice in this higher grade.
“We’re happy with his preparation, it has all gone smoothly, and he goes there with a progressive profile. We’re looking forward to it,” said the trainer’s husband and assistant, Steve Brown.
“We’ve had to change jockey because James (Doyle) has been claimed by Godolphin (rides Noble Style), but we’re still in very good hands with Oisin (Murphy), so we’re comfortable with that.
“He needs to find another level, but he keeps finding a bit race by race so we hope he can run a nice race for everyone.”
Former Everton goalkeeper Asmir Begovic believes the “inconsistency” of people running the club has made life difficult for players and staff.
The ex-Bosnia and Herzegovina international’s contract officially ends next week but his departure from Goodison Park has already been confirmed, ending a two-year stay during which time the Toffees have twice only narrowly escaped relegation.
Everton are also facing a Premier League charge for breaching profit and sustainability rules – having made cumulative losses of more than £430million over the last four seasons – and, in the wake of numerous supporters’ protests, the chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale, chief finance officer Grant Ingles and non-executive director and former striker Graeme Sharp left their roles last week.
The future of long-serving chairman Bill Kenwright, the main target for fans’ anger, was due to be announced in the following 48 hours but 10 days on he remains in post.
The PA news agency understands Kenwright, who has spent 19 years in his current role, was planning to step down last week but the intervention of owner Farhad Moshiri has complicated matters and left senior figures at the club in the dark about the next move.
“We obviously had some financial issues and a lot of inconsistency (with) people running the place so that makes it very difficult for the staff and the players,” Begovic, speaking to talkSPORT, said of his experience at the club.
“Certainly difficult. When I go back two years, people say: ‘Why in the world Everton?’
“It’s easy to say now but at the time, you were looking at a fantastic football club with a fantastic group of players.
“When you get in there, you realise there are bigger issues.”
American investors MSP Capital are close to agreeing a deal to buy a stake in the club, possibly up to 25 per cent, and those negotiations could also explain why a new board members have not been installed as they are believed to want two representatives at executive level.
Everton’s players are due to return to pre-season training on July 6, just over a week before their first friendly against Stade Nyonais, in Switzerland but full-back Nathan Patterson has already spent a few weeks at the club’s Finch Farm training ground working on his recovery from a hamstring injury which ended his campaign prematurely.
Zak Crawley has stressed that while England are determined to win the Ashes they are “not about results” but entertainment.
The hosts are 1-0 down with four matches to play after losing to Australia by two wickets in a dramatic climax to the first Test at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
While skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have emphasised their belief in the team’s approach, with the latter saying the side want to keep “throwing punches”, Sir Geoffrey Boycott has claimed England “have got carried away” with the style nicknamed ‘Bazball’ and “seem to think entertaining is more important than winning.”
Opener Crawley told Times Radio it had been “a great week for cricket” as he made reference to the record Sky Sports viewing and BBC listening figures the match attracted, and added: “That’s what we’re all about – we’re not about results, we always talk about that, we’re not about winning or losing, we’re about entertainment.
“Of course we’re there to win, and it helps our brand and what we’re trying to do if we win, we get more traction if we win.
“But I don’t think we’ve lost anything this week, other than a game of cricket, which is (in) a five-match series. Other than that, we’ve gained a lot of respect and support and I think it’s great for the game.”
A major talking point from the first Test was England’s decision to declare late on day one on 393 for eight.
Vice-captain Ollie Pope said of that call: “I think what we tried to do didn’t pay off at the time, only because we gave ourselves an opportunity of taking two wickets that night, then hopefully rocking up on day two and we only need eight wickets.
“That’s something we spoke about a lot and was a decision we discussed as a group. We had an opportunity to bowl them out on the last day, we had a rain-affected day and we needed to take 10 wickets in 70, 80 odd overs.
“Looking back on that moment, nothing changes, and that’s what we’re about as a team. If we didn’t declare, we might have batted too long, they might have, and we might not have even been able to give ourselves an opportunity of 10 wickets on the last day.
“So I think again, we talk about that mindset, approach – just because it’s an Ashes series and there’s a lot more people watching than there is when we play another team, we want to make the same decisions and we have made those decisions over the last year-and-a-half as a team and we’ve been on the right side of the result a few times.
“That’s the mindset we’re in at the moment. We wouldn’t change a thing about the game, obviously other than the end result.”
Both players backed England to win the second Test that gets under way at Lord’s on Wednesday, with Pope also saying that “if we did go down 2-0, we still believe we can win 3-2 this Ashes series, 100 per cent.”
Writing in the Telegraph, former England batter Boycott said: “England have got carried away with Bazball and seem to think entertaining is more important than winning.
“But England supporters want one thing more than anything else – to win the Ashes. Scoring fast runs, whacking lots of fours and sixes is lovely. It is great. But only if England do not lose sight of the big prize which is to beat Australia.
“If at the end of the series Australia go home with the Ashes we will feel sick, regardless of how much we have been entertained.
“They are in danger of letting hubris be their downfall or, quoting William Shakespeare in Hamlet, being hoist by one’s own petard. They are going to defeat themselves. It would be sad if playing exciting cricket for a year is going to their heads.
“By all means entertain but cricket is like chess. There are moments when you need to defend. Sometimes you need to be patient and accept it. Do not just attack, attack, attack. England need a bit of common sense and pragmatism.”
Charles Dunne has performed a U-turn and agreed a new one-year contract with St Mirren – just three weeks after the Buddies announced his departure.
The 30-year-old defender appeared to be on his way out following two seasons in Paisley after Saints released a statement on May 31 thanking him and two of his colleagues for their service to the club.
It read: “Offers were made to Charles Dunne, Curtis Main and captain Joe Shaughnessy, but all three have decided that their futures lie elsewhere.
“With over 250 combined appearances between them, we thank them immensely for their respective contributions to St Mirren and wish them the very best in their new challenges.”
However, Dunne has since returned to the negotiating table and it was announced on Thursday that the former Wycombe, Blackpool, Oldham and Motherwell player has agreed to remain for a third year with St Mirren.
“I’m buzzing to be back with the boys and the manager,” the Englishman told the Buddies’ website.
“I’ve really enjoyed it at St Mirren. We have a great dressing room with good people at the club so I’m over the moon.”
Manager Stephen Robinson, who recently signed a new deal of his own, welcomed Dunne’s change of heart.
“We’re delighted to have Charles with us for another year,” he said.
“We know what he brings to the team. He’s experienced, left-sided, quick, strong and he’s a big personality within the dressing room.”
Hull KR full-back Lachlan Coote has retired with immediate effect on medical advice following a series of concussions over the past two seasons.
Australia-born Coote won three consecutive Super League titles with St Helens between 2019 and 2021 before joining Rovers ahead of the 2022 campaign.
The 33-year-old’s professional career also included international recognition with Scotland and Great Britain, in addition to spells with Penrith Panthers and North Queensland Cowboys.
“After suffering another concussion at Magic round, my fifth concussion in less than two years, I knew I was going to be faced with some tough conversations,” he told Hull KR’s website.
“With all the support from my coach Willie Peters, Paul Lakin (Hull KR CEO), Neil Hudgell (Hull KR owner) and the medical team at Hull KR, I have made a very difficult decision to retire immediately.
“Rugby league has always come first before anything, now I think it’s time to put my health, my future, my family first.
“I’m still finding it hard to come to terms with this decision and it has been a very emotional few days, knowing that I will not get to play alongside my team-mates again and finish off what we started.”
Coote made 27 appearances for Rovers, who sit seventh in the Super League after 15 games.
He scored 161 points for the club, surpassing 1,000 career points during that time.
Hull KR coach Peters said: “On behalf of everyone at Hull KR, we’d like to congratulate Lachlan on a wonderful 15-year career. Lachlan is a proven winner and will no doubt continue that into his retirement.
“It’s a sad situation for Lachlan having to retire halfway through the season. However, his health and family come first and the decision is the right one for him and his family.”
Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran each scored hundreds as West Indies recovered from another bad start to post 339-7 from their 50 overs in their ICC World Cup qualifier match against Nepal at Harare on Thursday.
Hope scored 132 and Pooran 115 as the West Indies recovered from 55-3 to post their highest score so far in search of their second win in the qualifiers.
After being sent in to bat, West Indies lost the wickets of Kyle Mayers and Johnson Charles for one and nought, respectively, with only nine runs on the board in the fifth over.
However, Hope and Brandon King stabilized the situation somewhat before King was bowled by Sandeep Lamicchane for 32 to have the West Indies in trouble on 55-3.
Hope and Pooran turned things around with a fourth-wicket partnership of 216 that put the West Indies in command. Hope got to his 50 in 73 balls and included five fours and a six as the West Indies wrested back control of proceedings.
Pooran, meanwhile, was more efficient, smashing three fours and a six in his 50 that came from just 51 balls.
As the pair exerted their dominance on Nepal’s bowlers, the 100 partnership came up in 94 balls. It took them 32 additional deliveries to bring up the 150-run partnership with Pooran being the dominant partner with 83 of those crucial runs. Hope’s contribution was 66 as the West Indies picked up momentum to push the scoring rate above six runs an over.
Hope got to his 15th ODI hundred from just 107 balls with Pooran’s second ODI ton coming off just 81 balls and included nine fours and four sixes.
The 200-run partnership was achieved in just 159 balls as the Caribbean men eyed a score of 350.
The partnership was broken in the 44th over when Pooran was dismissed, out caught and bowled by Dipendra Singh Airee for 115.
Rovman Powell added a quick-fire 29 from just 14 balls as the West Indies past 300 runs.
The West Indies lost two wickets in the 50th over bowled by Lalit Rajbanshi. Hope was caught by Bhim Sharki at long off for a magnificent 132 and Keemo Paul was bowled off the final ball of the innings leaving Jason Holder unbeaten on 16.
Rajbanshi was the best of the Nepalese bowlers with 3-52.
Billy Gilmour was delighted to end a challenging season on a high with an impressive display in Scotland’s 2-0 Euro 2024 qualifying win over Georgia.
Gilmour won the official man-of-the-match award after making light of the sodden conditions with an excellent display of possession football.
The midfielder was making his first competitive start for Scotland this season after forcing his way into the Brighton team in the final weeks of the campaign.
Gilmour had been unfortunate to see the man who signed him from Chelsea, Graham Potter, leave for Stamford Bridge a week after the transfer. He took some time to get into Roberto De Zerbi’s team and also had to cope with being the victim of a stalking campaign last autumn by a woman who was sentenced in court to a suspended prison term on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old started five of the last eight games of the Premier League season, which included a 6-0 win over Wolves, a draw with Manchester City and wins over Manchester United and Arsenal.
And he was able to depart for his summer break in good spirits after helping Scotland maintain their 100 per cent record in Group A of the European Championship qualifiers.
“I am really happy with my first start in a while,” the former Rangers youth player said. “I am just happy to be back out there playing, with a smile on my face, doing what I love. It’s a good feeling.
“It’s been a challenging season. Towards the back end I got quite a few opportunities at Brighton, so I am thankful and happy. I have worked hard. It was a good way to end the season.”
Scotland moved eight points clear at the halfway mark of their group, although Spain have two games in hand and are nine behind.
Gilmour said: “We have shown a real togetherness. We are doing well as a team and the manager is making sure we are working hard and challenging each other every day in training. It’s really good for Scotland. Everyone is pushing each other.”
Scotland overcame torrential conditions and a near two-hour delay to clear water off the pitch to beat Georgia through goals from Callum McGregor and Scott McTominay.
“It was tough,” Gilmour said. “One minute the game was going ahead and the next it’s not.
“It was a crazy night but mentally we had to be focused and ready and big thanks to the fans staying behind and the ball boys helping out, cleaning the pitch and making sure it was playable.
“The first 10-15 minutes was crazy, just to adjust, you think you can win it and then it holds up. But we got it sorted. Everyone stuck together, helped out and we got three points.”
Gilmour was focused on the game rather than being distracted by the prospect of finishing the match on Wednesday and delaying summer breaks.
“I was too busy sitting down trying to keep myself ticking over,” he said. “There might have been a couple of shouts of ‘replay tomorrow’ but it was fine after we got the water off the pitch.
“Football came first, obviously with the national team. We were all focused on that and leave summer until after the game. Now we can go and have a break and enjoy.”
Australian raider Artorius will face 15 rivals when he runs in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on Saturday.
Trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman, the four-year-old will be attempting to better his third-placed effort in the contest 12 months ago and has been plying his trade with real credit in top contests domestically recently.
There is a truly international feel to the race as fellow Australians Cannonball and The Astrologist are also in the mix, with Hong Kong’s Wellington, Christophe Clement’s American challenger Big Invasion and France’s Coeur De Pierre others from overseas taking part.
The home challenge is led by John Quinn’s Highfield Princess who was runner-up in the King’s Stand Stakes on Tuesday, while Sacred and Kinross – who is the mount of Frankie Dettori – are others who bring high-class form to the table.
Al Suhail represents last year’s winning handler Charlie Appleby, with Sandrine (Andrew Balding), Rohaan (David Evans) and Art Power (Tim Easterby) all returning to Ascot having scored at the meeting in the past.
Hukum will be all the rage to down seven rivals in the Hardwicke Stakes following his comeback victory over Desert Crown at Sandown.
Owen Burrows’ charge had been off the track for almost a year prior to that Brigadier Gerard success, but looked better than ever and now returns to 12 furlongs to take on a stellar cast that includes the likes of Deauville Legend (James Ferguson), Pyledriver (William Muir and Chris Grassick) and Free Wind (John and Thady Gosden).
The day begins with the Chesham Stakes where 17 two-year-olds are headed by Aidan O’Brien’s Navan winner Pearls And Rubies as the master of Ballydoyle attempts to enhance his stellar record in the seven-furlong event, while a high-class field has been assembled for the Jersey Stakes over the same distance.
There will be 15 heading to post including Clarehaven’s talented Juddmonte-owned colt Covey, Roger Varian’s Surrey Stakes scorer Olivia Maralda and unbeaten stablemate Enfjaar plus O’Brien’s Lacken Stakes scorer The Antarctic.
Australian greats Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting have rounded on England’s Ollie Robinson after the seamer’s provocative display in the Ashes opener at Edgbaston.
Robinson was happy to offer Australia some verbals on and off the pitch during England’s tense two-wicket defeat, offering an expletive-laden send off to centurion Usman Khawaja and then defending his behaviour in a press conference where he asked: “If you can’t handle that, what can you handle?”.
The combative seamer took match figures of five for 98 in the first Test and was not sanctioned by the match referee, but his conduct appeared to rile two men who were far from shrinking violets in their own playing days.
Hayden took aim at Robinson’s lack of express pace and suggested Australia should be looking to hammer him out of the attack.
Declining to use Robinson’s name in an appearance on SEN Radio, he said: “The other bloke, he’s a forgettable cricketer.
“(He’s) a fast bowler that is bowling 124kmph nude nuts and he’s got a mouth from the south. Someone like him, you can just go, ‘Brother, I’m coming at ya’. Davey Warner can do that, right. He can just say, ‘You’re bowling 120′.”
Ponting, who was namechecked by Robinson as someone who had sledged England in the past, also rose to the bait.
“If he is sitting back thinking about me, then no wonder he bowled like the way that he did in that game, if he’s worried about what I did 15 years ago,” he told the ICC Review Podcast.
“This England cricket team hasn’t played against Australia and they’ll find out pretty quickly what playing Ashes cricket and playing against a good Australian cricket team is all about. If Ollie Robinson hasn’t learned that already after last week, then he’s a slow learner.
“He’ll learn pretty quickly that if you’re going to talk to Australian cricketers in an Ashes series, then you want to be able to back it up with your skills.”
Robinson is sure to have a target on his back when the series resumes at Lord’s next week, but fellow seamer Stuart Broad is reluctant to pass on the baton.
Broad has long been the preferred target for Australian fans, dating back to a curious incident in 2013 when he declined to walk after his outside edge was parried to slip.
Replying to a Twitter post from Australian broadcaster Fox Sports, which referred to Robinson as ‘No.1 Villain’, Broad wrote: “I can’t have lost that tag already can I?! Disappointing.”
Carsten Ramelow believes Germany are being held back by a mentality issue as the former international warned: "Talent alone doesn't win you games."
Germany lost 2-0 at home to Colombia in a friendly on Tuesday – a third defeat from their last four matches.
The other game in that run finished 3-3, with Germany forging a late comeback to draw with Ukraine in a charity match.
Hansi Flick's side flopped in the 2022 World Cup, too, going out in the group stage, and Ramelow – a World Cup runner-up in 2002 – says German football as a whole has a mentality problem.
"I think there's multiple issues. That was not just about a bad performance in Qatar. The problems lie much deeper," he told Stats Perform.
"This is what aggravates everything. Having seen the game yesterday, I have only seen 15 minutes, that was enough. It shows which state the team has been in for weeks and months. Or maybe you have to say years.
"In that regard, we have big problems in Germany concerning youth players. I think [the team] lacks mentality. Talent alone doesn't win you games. Talent alone also doesn't bring you team spirit.
"People talk a lot about team spirit. Where is that team spirit? All those years, we have been saying that we have great talent. Maybe that's true but after this long period of suffering, you have to recognise that we have a lot of talent, but as I said, it lacks mentality, it lacks team spirit.
"We are not able to form a team, a unit. Be it Hansi Flick or any other coach, and you can see that in many Bundesliga teams. I think mentality is very, very important. A manager once told me something I will never forget: 'Passion is more important than skill'.
"You have to see how the players will develop. I don't know when it continues, in September or October. The ones that will be available then. There is quality but currently but at the moment this is not enough to compete with teams like [Colombia] or Ukraine and Poland."
Ramelow sympathises with Flick, and is unsure a change of coach would necessarily result in a change of fortunes. The pressure, though, is on ahead of Euro 2024.
"I think we all agree that the coach and his staff have an important role," he added. "We know what the business is like and the fact that the manager has to listen to a lot of criticism now is justified.
"He also accepts that. I see a lot of helplessness right now. No one in the interviews can say how things will continue. We all know we have good young players, which is fine, but to reach the final stages of an international tournament again is being considered very difficult. But what is the solution now?
"I feel like the manager had a lot of helplessness. He won't give up and it will go on as he said. He wants to prepare well for the next games. His task is to put a good team together and to bring back passion and mentality. You have to see a unit.
"Mentality is also a matter of character. A coach can barely train that. You either have it or you don't but he has to form a team and the results have to be good. I'm not saying anything new here, the business is tough. I think you could put anyone else on the touchline, it would be difficult for every coach."
Southampton will take on Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in the opening match of the new Sky Bet Championship season on Friday, August 4.
Beginning life under new boss Russell Martin, the relegated Saints face a Wednesday outfit back in the second tier after winning the League One play-offs last month and currently managerless after parting company with Darren Moore.
Leicester, under new boss Enzo Maresca, and Leeds – the two other clubs to have dropped down from the Premier League – kick off their campaigns two days later at home against defeated play-off finalists Coventry and Cardiff respectively.
The other game that day sees Sunderland entertain promoted Ipswich, while League One champions Plymouth open by hosting Huddersfield the day before.
Southampton’s first home game of the campaign will be against Norwich the following Saturday, when Leicester travel to Huddersfield and Leeds are at Birmingham.
The final day of the regular Championship season on May 4 will see Leeds and Southampton go head to head at St Mary’s, while Leicester host Blackburn.
The opening round of League One fixtures on August 5 includes Wigan, who finished bottom of the Championship last term, playing at Derby as they start their season on minus eight points after being penalised over payment of wages.
Fellow relegated sides Reading and Blackpool begin at home against Peterborough and Burton respectively, while Barnsley, who missed out on promotion to Wednesday, welcome Port Vale to Oakwell.
In League Two, the return of Wrexham – owned by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – to the Football League, starts with a home clash against MK Dons.
Thursday’s release of the new season’s EFL fixtures also shows National League play-off winners Notts County beginning their own comeback campaign by playing Sutton away.
Sir Geoffrey Boycott has said England “have got carried away with Bazball” after they suffered defeat in the first Ashes Test.
The hosts are 1-0 down with four matches to play after being beaten by two wickets by Australia in a dramatic finale at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
England head coach Brendon McCullum has said of England’s commitment to risky, aggressive cricket – nicknamed Bazball – that “you’re not always going to win and we understand that, but we want to keep getting up and throwing punches as a team”.
Former England batter Boycott wrote in the Telegraph: “England have got carried away with Bazball and seem to think entertaining is more important than winning.
“But England supporters want one thing more than anything else – to win the Ashes. Scoring fast runs, whacking lots of fours and sixes is lovely. It is great. But only if England do not lose sight of the big prize which is to beat Australia.
“If at the end of the series Australia go home with the Ashes we will feel sick, regardless of how much we have been entertained.
“They are in danger of letting hubris be their downfall or, quoting William Shakespeare in Hamlet, being hoist by one’s own petard. They are going to defeat themselves. It would be sad if playing exciting cricket for a year is going to their heads.
“By all means entertain but cricket is like chess. There are moments when you need to defend. Sometimes you need to be patient and accept it. Do not just attack, attack, attack. England need a bit of common sense and pragmatism.”
Skipper Ben Stokes leads the team back into action when the second Test starts next Wednesday at Lord’s.
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