Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has insisted he cannot yet be talked of in the same breath as celebrated predecessors Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson.

Howe has hugely enhanced his reputation since being appointed to the hotseat at St James’ Park by the cub’s new Saudi-backed owners in November 2021 and overseeing a dramatic change in fortunes.

Within 18 months, the 45-year-old had guided the Magpies to a first domestic cup final in 24 years and secured a top-four Premier League finish playing a thrilling brand of football, an achievement comparable to those of Keegan and Robson during their respective tenures.

As a result, he has won a similar place in the affections of fans, although asked if he recognised the comparison, Howe said: “No. For me personally, I don’t see that. I’ve got so, so much to do to even be talked of in the same breath as those people.

“When I watched Sir Bobby’s documentary, which I thought was an amazing thing to watch, it hits you, his career and what he did and how he acted, just everything about his character and the legacy that he’s left here.

“It was a really powerful thing to watch, I thought, and I really, really enjoyed it, so no, I’ve got a lot to do.

“The drive is to try to do as well as you can. I don’t judge it by what they achieved – they are different times.

“They did their best for the football club when they were here and they achieved some unbelievable things, and I will try to do my best for the football club both short-term and long-term while I’m here. That’s all I can do.

“The outcome will be the outcome. Obviously I hope it’s positive, I hope people will look back on it fondly. That’s all I wish.”

Newcastle face Liverpool on Sunday in a fixture which always rekindles memories of the epic 4-3 defeat at Anfield in April 1996 which dented their title charge under Keegan.

His so-called Entertainers set the benchmark for subsequent generations and just as Robson did, Howe is keen to reproduce a style of play which excites supporters.

He said: “I said very early in my tenure here that to be compared to The Entertainers is a huge compliment because we want to entertain, not necessarily instead of winning because we are here to win, but to entertain as well.

“We are desperate for our supporters to come to the stadium and then leave with that feeling that they cannot wait for next week, with that feeling of, ‘What is the team going to show today?’.

“Those kind of emotions are really positive and we want to leave lasting memories. I want my players to be remembered forever, to become legends of the football club. That is something I want for them.”

Juanma Lillo has offered insight into Pep Guardiola’s insatiable appetite to keep improving himself and those around him.

Lillo rejoined his fellow Spaniard’s backroom staff at treble winners Manchester City this summer after a year away.

This weekend he will be filling in for the inspirational City manager as the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss takes time out to recuperate from back surgery.

Guardiola is due to return to Manchester after the September international break and Lillo expects him to be as hungry as ever.

“Pep is always very open, moment to moment, and he decides he always wants to improve and implement new things,” said Lillo, who will oversee the team at Sheffield United on Sunday and at home to Fulham next week.

“That sense is very sharp. He’s very intelligent. He grasps not only what he’s going to do, but with whom he’s going to do it.

“That helps to improve everyone that is around him. We all improve.

“We all try and to pitch in for Pep to always be there, but he doesn’t need a lot of input because he’s constantly building and debating and generating ideas.”

Lillo, 57, has had a long and varied coaching career with jobs in countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Japan and China as well as at home in Spain.

He was actually Guardiola’s manager at Mexican side Dorados de Sinaloa almost two decades ago and knew even then his former charge would make a good coach.

“We’ve been working hand in hand for many years,” said Lillo, who first joined Guardiola at City in 2020 before leaving for a job in Qatar two years later.

“He was my player back in the day. We have a relationship that goes all the way back and we understand things in the same direction.

“When he was a player it was the same. He already had a true vision. It’s very difficult to find someone such as him with such capacity and such willingness.

“He was already a bit of a coach when he was a player.”

The Las Vegas Raiders and running back Josh Jacobs have agreed to a one-year contract, bringing the reigning rushing champion back to Las Vegas and allowing Jacobs to avoid playing under the franchise tag.

Jacobs broke the news first on social media by simply saying, “I’m back.” The team later confirmed the re-signing.

The deal will pay Jacobs up to $12million, multiple media outlets reported, a moderate raise over the $10.1million he was scheduled to make under the franchise tag. The base value of the contract is reportedly $11.8million with $200,000 in performance incentives.

Jacobs’ deal, unlike the franchise tag, reportedly includes a signing bonus.

Jacobs had publicly expressed his disapproval of playing under the franchise tag and had hoped to sign a multi-year deal.

After missing the July 17 deadline, however, Jacobs’ only choices were to continue his holdout, play under the tag or sign a new one-year deal independent of the tag.

Star wide receiver and teammate Davante Adams was among those who celebrated the end of Jacobs’ holdout on social media, posting a picture of the two players with the caption, “Back in [business].”

Jacobs rushed for an NFL-high 1,653 yards last season, and Las Vegas coach Josh McDaniels said during training camp that Jacobs’ role would remain the same in 2023.

Jacobs was drafted in the first round out of Alabama in 2019 by the Raiders’ previous regime of Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock.

After Dave Ziegler took over as general manager, the club declined the fifth-year option on Jacobs’ rookie contract, leading to the application of the franchise tag earlier this offseason.

In 60 career games, Jacobs has 4,740 rushing yards and 40 touchdowns while averaging 4.4 yards per carry.

Cian Healy suffered an injury scare on the eve of Ireland’s World Cup squad announcement during an unconvincing 17-13 success over Samoa in rain-soaked Bayonne.

Veteran prop Healy was helped from the field in obvious discomfort less than 24 hours before Andy Farrell names his final 33-man selection for the upcoming tournament in France.

Despite Jimmy O’Brien’s early try, Ireland trailed at the break in their final warm-up fixture, before battling back to scrape a 13th straight win thanks to further scores from Conor Murray and Rob Herring.

Yet the result at a sold-out Stade Jean Dauger could come at significant cost after Healy, who departed just 21 minutes into his 126th Test outing, added to Ireland’s front-row concerns.

Farrell’s planning has already been complicated by ongoing injury issues for Healy’s fellow loosehead Dave Kilcoyne and hookers Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher, although he expects the trio to be available in the coming weeks.

The head coach, whose side begin the World Cup on September 9 against Romania in Bordeaux, was also forced into a change ahead of kick-off as a “niggle” for wing Keith Earls afforded a chance to Jacob Stockdale.

Heavy rain and forecasts of thunderstorms in south-west France did not deter a capacity crowd from turning out, with the slippery conditions contributing to a series of fumbles.

A fine Murray tackle denied Samoa an early lead before Jack Crowley’s pinpoint cross-field kick allowed Mack Hansen to gallop down the right wing and give full-back O’Brien a simple finish for his maiden Test try.

Ireland have unsettling memories of this stadium, having endured a bruising affair – dubbed the Battle of Bayonne – against the host club ahead of the 2007 World Cup.

Physicality was at the forefront of this encounter and Farrell’s men suffered a setback when the hobbling Healy was assisted off the pitch by medical staff and replaced by Jeremy Loughman.

Unfamiliar in white shirts and blue shirts, Ireland’s mix-and-match line-up were struggling to find their rhythm.

They ended the half 10-7 behind after Duncan Paia’aua intercepted a Stuart McCloskey pass inside his own half to brilliantly race clear and dive over, before Lima Sopoaga added the conversion and a subsequent penalty.

Samoa, who will be England’s final pool-stage opponents in early October, were facing a tier one nation for only the second time since losing 47-5 to Ireland at the 2019 World Cup.

A second penalty from former Wasps fly-half Sopoaga stretched their lead early in the second period before Stockdale’s kick over the top was gleefully dotted down by the diving Murray, albeit Crowley’s wayward conversion left Ireland a point behind.

The world’s top-ranked side finally regained the lead 17 minutes from time when replacement hooker Herring bulldozed over from a line-out maul.

Crowley’s conversion attempt was charged down before James Ryan was held up on the line to keep the contest firmly in the balance.

Roared on by the mostly-French crowd, Samoa refused to roll over and continued to cause problems.

Yet, on a day when Fiji stunned England at Twickenham, they ultimately fell short of producing a further major shock as Ireland survived a significant wake-up call which could yet prove expensive due to Healy’s premature exit.

Great Britain’s Ben Pattison grabbed a brilliant bronze at the World Championships – and revealed he had life-saving heart surgery just three years ago.

The 21-year-old became the first British male athlete to win an 800m medal at the World Championships since Peter Elliott’s silver in 1987.

It came after an operation during the Covid pandemic to fix a heart issue which had seen his heart rate skyrocket to 250 beats per minute.

Pattison grabbed third behind champion Marco Aprop and Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi in Budapest.

He said: “I had Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. It was a bit scary at the time. It was Covid years so I didn’t miss out on racing but I was awake for the whole thing. It was a bit surreal. I was watching.

“They had to burn off a bit of my heart. At the time it was very scary but I had the right people around me.

“When they rang me they were pretty worried and as soon as they told me I wasn’t allowed to exercise at all.

“All I was allowed to do was go for walks, so I said to myself I’m going to go for walks every day. I had a lot of my friends on PS4 because it was the Covid times. So we’d wake up, get on Call of Duty.

“I remember when I got told I was like: ‘Is this my running career done?’ I almost had in the back of my head: ‘Is this the reason I’m good at running, because I’ve got this freaky heart?’

“I was almost worried when I got back I wouldn’t be the same.”

Pattison won bronze at last year’s Commonwealth Games but was not expected to challenge for the podium at the National Athletics Centre.

“I’ve never been the stand-out guy,” said the Loughborough Business Analytics graduate, who ran one minute 44.83 seconds.

“I’ve always been the guy on the team that’s been in the second or third place. I don’t win a lot of the domestic races but when it matters, I’m there.

“I’ve never not made a final in my life. I’ve got a Commonwealth medal and a world medal. If you’d told 10-year-old Ben he retired with a 1.44 personal best, a Commonwealth and world medal he’d have gone: ‘Who’s this looney?'”

Dina Asher-Smith was missing from the women’s 4x100m relay as Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Bianca Williams and Daryll Neita claimed bronze.

Asher-Smith, who came seventh in the 200m final on Friday, revealed she had been dealing with a neural problem following the 100m semi last week.

The 27-year-old was unable to feel her legs in the closing stage of her race and will now leave the Championships without a medal.

The quartet still produced a season’s best of 41.97s to finish third as the USA and Jamaica claimed gold and silver.

Williams said: “We found out this morning (about Asher-Smith’s absence) but we’ve all done changes together. We all work well together. If Dina was here, great. She’s not here and we still got a medal.”

Neita added: “I’m really feeling this as a major stepping stone towards Paris and the Olympics. But in terms of the relay, it’s just another amazing medal to add to my collection.”

Jeremiah Azu, Zharnel Hughes, Adam Gemili and Eugene Amo-Dadzie finished fourth in the men’s 4x100m relay behind the USA, Italy and Jamaica.

The men of Lewis Davey, Charlie Dobson, Rio Mitcham and Alex Haydock-Wilson reached their 4x400m relay final.

Laviai Nielsen, Amber Anning, Nicole Yeargin and Yemi Mary John also reached their 4x400m relay final in three minutes 23.33s.

Gregor Townsend expects Darcy Graham to be available for Scotland’s World Cup opener against South Africa after the wing missed Saturday’s 33-6 win at home to Georgia with a quad strain.

The 26-year-old was named in the starting XV on Thursday but subsequently removed from the squad on Friday after getting injured in training, raising concerns about his availability for the Scots’ first match of the global showpiece in Marseille two weeks on Sunday.

Asked after the Georgia game if he was confident the talismanic Graham, who has 19 tries for Scotland would be ready to face the Boks, Townsend said: “Yes. I don’t want to say that and jinx it, but the indications would be that by the end of this week – potentially Thursday – he’ll be back to full fitness, if not it will be the following week.

“We’re training Tuesday and Thursday this week and then the guys will have Friday and Saturday off so we’re aiming for Thursday for Darcy. If he’s not able to train Thursday, it will be the following Monday in France.”

Scotland scored five tries in the second half as they fought back from 6-0 down to defeat Georgia in their final warm-up match.

It was the fourth time in four summer Tests they had trailed at the break and the third time they had fought back to win.

Although the Scots failed to fire before the break, Townsend was heartened by the way they blew their visitors away after the interval.

“I believe it was probably better for us going six points down because it meant we had to improve certain areas, our fitness would have to come through and it did, and our bench did really well too,” he said.

“We know also that playing against South Africa is a different game, but Georgia didn’t score a try so that was a pleasing aspect too.

“We’re still working for that performance we can be happy with over the 80 minutes. It is never going to be the complete performance, because opposition are going to have their moments.

“Georgia are a very good team. They’ve beaten Wales and Italy (over the last year), and they are outstanding in that contact area, so we have to give them credit too – but we know that certain aspects will have to improve. And at least we saw that improvement in the second half which was pleasing.”

Townsend – who leads his squad to their World Cup training base in France next Sunday – is close to crystalising his starting XV for the South Africa game, although he still feels he has big calls to make about who will be on the bench.

“It’s probably not set in stone,” he said. “We’ll have a good look at that game again in depth.

“I’m more clear on the 15 than the 23, and I know there are players who have put their hand up today to come into the mix, whether in the 15 or more likely the bench.

“That’s been a really positive outcome of these four games – our bench has played really well, and we’ve finished every game stronger than our opposition.

“That’s a credit to the fitness of the squad and what they’ve done during the (summer) campaign, but also the eight guys making a difference in the last 20 minutes of games and they certainly did that today.”

Andy Murray is confident the injury which interrupted his US Open preparations has cleared up just in time for the main event.

The three-time grand slam winner, champion at Flushing Meadows in 2012, had to withdraw from this year’s warm-up tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati.

Murray, 36, was unable to serve in practice until this week due to what he revealed turned out to be a torn abdominal muscle.

“The first five or six days were a bit complicated. There were lots of different opinions,” said the Scot.

“It is quite a difficult place to scan, the ab, so we weren’t really sure the first few days. And then I came to New York pretty early and went to one of the hospitals here and had the radiologist from back home who looks at my scans check them.

“I had a small tear, which is healing. And the last five or six days of practice have been really good. I have not had any issues serving.

“It is just obviously that you don’t take a week off from serving then go full into it. You need to build up a little bit. It has not been perfect in that sense but my ab has been OK.”

Murray begins his latest New York campaign against Corentin Moutet, the world number 71 from France, on Tuesday.

If he comes through that, a tasty second-round meeting with Bulgaria’s 19th seed Grigor Dimitrov is on the cards.

There will be seven Brits in the main draw after Lily Miyazaki came through qualifying.

The 27-year-old, who was born in Tokyo, beat Viktoria Hruncakova of Slovakia in three sets, 6-3 4-6 6-4.

It will be Miyazaki second appearance at a grand slam after she received a wild card for last year’s Wimbledon.

But Liam Broady was unable to join Murray, Miyazaki, Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, Jack Draper, Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage in the main draw after losing in the final round of qualifying to Sho Shimabukuro of Japan, 6-4 3-6 6-3.

Novak Djokovic, back after missing last year’s US Open due to his vaccination status, is in action on Monday night against France’s Alexander Muller on Arthur Ashe.

The 23-time grand slam winner can take over from US Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the men’s rankings just by winning his first-round match.

Women’s world number one Iga Swiatek, the reigning champion, opens proceedings on Ashe against Rebecca Peterson of Sweden.

Meanwhile Canadian Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 winner, has withdrawn from the tournament due to an injury.

David Moyes was delighted to see West Ham end their Brighton hoodoo with a convincing 3-1 win at the Amex Stadium which took them top of the table.

Summer signing James Ward-Prowse scored his first Hammers goal in only his second start to set the visitors on course for a first ever Premier League win over the south coast side.

Manager Moyes said: “I’m thrilled with the three points because usually we come here and struggle to get any points.

“We haven’t won here for years. It’s been the same coming here and not getting the results.

“Today was a well-deserved three points. Brighton did a good job, but we also did a good job in other parts of the game.

“Brighton have got an extremely good manager and his side are causing problems to plenty of teams, not just us.

“They are going to be hard for any manager to play against.

“They are very offensive, which is great, but that also means it can open up and give you chances on the counter.

“We worked hard on not getting picked off easily and we defended really well.

“Our counter-attacks were really good. Two or three years ago we were really good on the counter and we showed that. All the forward players made a really good contribution today.”

Moyes led West Ham to their first trophy in more than 40 years by winning last season’s Europa Conference League.

On their surprise early-season surge to the Premier League summit, the Scot said: “I didn’t realise we had gone top. It has been a long time since any West Ham manager did that also.”

Ward-Prowse got West Ham off to the perfect start when he opened the scoring after 19 minutes, following on from his two assists in last weekend’s debut win over Chelsea.

Michail Antonio was too strong for Brighton defender Adam Webster and picked out England international Ward-Prowse to tap in from two yards.

Jarrod Bowen added a second 13 minutes into the second half – expertly controlling Said Benrahma’s cross before firing into the bottom corner.

Bowen then teed up Antonio to seal the points in the 63rd minute with a drilled shot into the corner.

Brighton, who had 79 per cent of the possession, got a goal back with nine minutes to play when German midfielder Pascal Gross chopped back onto his right foot to rifle home through a crowded penalty area.

West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola made two crucial saves in the dying stages to keep out Joel Veltman’s volley and Ferguson’s fierce drive.

Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi said: “I’m disappointed with the result. It wasn’t the best performance in my time at the club, but we didn’t play badly.

“We shot 27 times and created 11 chances to score. In the second half I’m disappointed because we lost the balance of the game.

“I’m very proud of the performance, the attitude, the passion and the mentality to play well and get points.

“I can analyse how we conceded the goals and how we made a lot of mistakes in the last 20 metres and how we conceded so many counter-attacks, but it is not a problem.

“We will start on Monday working on the last week.”

Mauricio Pochettino praised the intensity of Chelsea’s attacking play in their 3-0 win over Luton and reiterated the club would only go back into the transfer market if the right forward comes available.

The visitors were looking for a first win at Stamford Bridge in 36 years but were no match for Pochettino’s newly energised side, who after a nervous first half ripped into them late on to earn the manager his first win.

Raheem Sterling continued his fine start to the season with two goals and an assist for summer signing Nicolas Jackson, who opened his goalscoring account for the club.

The England forward’s difficult debut season in west London looked confined to history when he danced through Luton’s defence to open the scoring after 17 minutes, before settling Chelsea nerves with a sweetly taken second midway through the second half.

His assist for Jackson, nonchalantly driving over a low cross after collecting Enzo Fernandez’s clever ball forward, typified a new confidence that has marked early performances under Pochettino.

And the manager stated again that reinforcements, whilst welcome, would only be sought if the right profile of player can be found.

“It’s in the way that we love to work,” he said. “The intensity in the Premier League, if it’s not there, it’s difficult to win games. (We matched) the energy of Luton, and I think that was one of the keys, and after with the quality to score goals and create chances.

“I don’t know about the past, I cannot talk about the past. Only we can talk about the present and the future, and the way we want this pressure and the challenge that is to create a team with full energy but also with quality, to have the capacity to be competitive and challenge the big teams like Liverpool, Manchester City and company.

“I’m very pleased because the performance was very solid but that is only the first step. We need to work really hard to still improve, because I think we are so far in the way that we want to play, we are far away. But I think we are in a very good way.

“Like happened last week when we lost against West Ham, it’s not going to change (our plans). We work and the result (against Luton) was positive.”

Chelsea have had a busy summer already on the transfer front but Pochettino said they were still looking at bringing in another goalkeeper – a spot that has now been filled by the signing of Djordje Petrovic – and then “one offensive player more, but the right profile. At the moment we are working to try and find this profile.”

He added: “We need to provide the team a good balance on different areas. I think still we need one offensive player more. We’ll see if it’s possible to achieve.

“If not, we’re not going bring a player and stop a (current) player if it’s not the right profile, to only say ‘yes we have another offensive player.’”

The club confirmed the signing of Brazilian striker Deivid Washington from Santos on Thursday, but the 18-year-old is unlikely to play a role in the first team straight away, with a loan move possible.

Chelsea also announced on Saturday night the signing of Petrovic from MLS side New England Revolution.

The twice-capped Serbia international has agreed a seven-year deal at Stamford Bridge, with the option of a further year.

The 23-year-old said on his club’s website: “I’m so happy to be at Chelsea and I’m really excited to get started at this club.

“It’s a big step for me and it’s always been a dream of mine to sign for one of the biggest clubs in the world. Today I have achieved that goal and I’m so happy.”