John and Thady Gosden’s Melrose Stakes winner Middle Earth will be a supplementary entry for the final British Classic of the season, the Betfred St Leger at Doncaster.
The Qatar Racing-owned Roaring Lion colt took the staying handicap in impressive style at York on the final day of the Ebor meeting.
He was also a winner on his previous outing when taking a mile-and-a-half novice event at Newmarket and was second on his two prior runs over lesser trips.
Ahead of the York win he was not a part of the Leger entry list, but the Knavesmire performance has inspired connections to pay the £50,000 needed to secure him a place in the field for the world’s oldest Classic.
The Gosden yard could therefore be well-stocked for the Classic, with Juddmonte’s Arrest, Queen’s Vase winner Gregory and Lion’s Pride – who beat Middle Earth at Kempton – all holding entries at present.
Thady Gosden said of Middle Earth: “He’s progressed well throughout the year, he’s always looked like a nice staying colt in the making.
“Of course he won the Melrose, which is an impressive handicap, in good style.
“He’s got plenty of size and scope, he’s a horse that’s taken time to mature, as many three-year-olds do.
“It’s a fortunate position to be in, to have a few horse who could take up starting positions in the St Leger.”
Mortlake will look to take the next step forward when he makes a Group-race debut in the Virgin Bet Solario Stakes at Sandown on Saturday.
The Churchill colt broke the juvenile track record at Leicester on August 13, winning a seven-furlong novice by five lengths in an impressive run under Rossa Ryan.
The performance followed a very green debut at Salisbury in July, where the Ralph Beckett-trained bay was fourth behind Tom Dascombe’s Hot Fuss, who ran with some credit in the Acomb Stakes last week.
The Leicester effort was a big step forward and a more accurate representation of the ability he had shown at home – ability that will be tested further at Sandown this weekend.
Eamonn O’Connor, founder and managing director of owners Quantum Leap Racing, said: “They turn around so quickly and second runs can be so different, so we put a line through Salisbury – it didn’t worry us as we’d seen enough at home to suggest he might be a nice horse.
“What I liked is that he ran in a straight line, he was almost a bit babyish in the last half-furlong and he was looking around a bit so I’m hoping there’s a bit more to come.
“We’ll find out, we’ve got some fairly punchy entries for him at Group Two and Group One level and Saturday will tell us whether we’ve been realistic with those. It’s a good stepping stone for a horse of his profile, it’s the ideal race for him really.”
Beckett has been in flying form recently and is well stocked with smart horses, adding gravitas to a Group entrant who trains alongside some talented stablemates.
O’Connor said: “He’s not short of a smart horse or two, Ralph, he had a treble that day (Leicester) and is absolutely on fire, but then he has been for the last couple of months so there’s no surprise there.”
Mortlake is in the very early days of his career and will be handled with patience, as is the modus operandi of his owners, who have produced several horses to lucrative sales overseas with their approach.
“We’ve got a nice syndicate, we only buy five yearlings a year and punch way above our weight for that,” O’Connor explained.
“We started in 2017 and every single year we’ve had a decent horse, my definition of decent being 90-105 rated. Our model is very obvious, we move them off to Australia or foreign climes at the end of their three-year-old year, replenish the pot and go again.
“Jeremy Brummitt buys our horses and is our de facto racing manager and he does a very good job. We had two horses in our first year, five each year after, maybe six in one year, and to be able to produce a 100-rated horse every year is tremendous – hopefully we can continue it.
“We go through that cycle every year in the hope of unearthing a serious Group horse, in which case we’d be more inclined to keep them racing in the northern hemisphere.
“We do things the right way, we buy horses with clear staying pedigrees and we’re very patient with them. You read about syndicate members wanting a quick return and therefore buying precocious types – we’re the diametric opposite of that.
“We buy horses we know we need to be patient with, we don’t normally see our horses out before August or September so he’s almost precocious for us!”
As the Honorary Consul of Jamaica in Uruguay, Jorge Andres Elissalde felt it only fitting that he made the trip down to the Caribbean Island to not only enjoy the sun, fun and excitement, but also to play his part in assisting Sandals Foundation to give back to its community.
Elissalde was among the over 70 individuals that made the trek from various countries to strut their stuff in the Sandals Latin American Travel Agents Golf Tournament, which is used a driver for participants to experience and, later sell Jamaica as the destination of choice for sports and tourism.
As fate would have it, Elissalde's team which included Jorge Barbut, Jose Cabrera and Leonardo Curutchague, finished tops at the four-man scramble format, two-day event with a final score of 60 over nine holes. They scored 33 on the first and 27 on the final day of the competition.
They won ahead of the Brazilian team of Breno Luz, Ricardo Dantas, Denilson Milan, and Raphael Abreu, which scored 28 on the first day and 37 on the final day to finish five-strokes behind on 65 at the Sandals Golf and Country Club.
"I am very proud to be the Honorary Consul of Jamaica and I am happy that we had the chance to come here and not only participate in the Sandals tournament, but also to see what the foundation is doing because we know they do a lot of good for the people here, especially in the Ocho Rios region. So, it's always a pleasure to play our part and we also won which is double the excitement," Elissalde told SportsMax.tv.
Besides the friendly competition between others from Mexico, Panama, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, among others, Elissalde reiterated the serious side of the golf tournament, as the side shows raised US $316 for the Sandals Foundation which might seem a small figure but will go a far way in helping those in need.
Mauricio Fuerte (Closet to the Pin Men), Antonio Perez Verdia Rubio (Longest Drive Men), and Taryn Stanton (Longest Drive Women), won those side events.
Beyond that, the travel agents also brought with them books and other school supplies to be distributed in the community.
"Jamaica is a destination that not many Uruguayans know, it is a beautiful country with beautiful people and so doing this (tournament) is one way of basically opening the doors so those Uruguayans can experience Jamaica through us and then they will be more eager to come and visit," Elissalde reasoned.
"So what Sandals is doing is very good, it's a mix of sports and tourism and, more importantly, the fact that they use these golf tournaments to raise funds for the foundation is incredible and giving back is always something that many people gravitate towards. So again, we are very happy to play our part," he added.
During his visit, Elissalde also paid a courtesy call on Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, Jake Coldiron, national manager of golf sales, expressed delight with the outcome of the tournament which is one of three travel-advisers’ event staged annually by the resort to promote the island as a golfing destination, while giving the resort chain’s sales reps personal experiences of its properties and Jamaica’s varied attractions.
The positive spinoff from the event has propelled Sandals to stage a World Travel Advisors Golf Tournament set for Emerald Bay, Bahamas, next year. Elissalde and his team are expected to be a part of that, along with those from the United States and Canada tournaments to come in September and October respectively.
"My job is to help the travel advisors grow their business through golf and this year we actually had quite a few travel advisors that had never been to Jamaica, so the ultimate goal for them is to go back to their home country and sell Jamaica, sell Sandals and Beaches Resorts, and bring their clients down here," Coldiron said.
“The Sandals Foundation in general is also a very important part of Sandals Resorts and what is nice about it is that we as a company take it very seriously as far as ensuring that we give back not just in Jamaica but the entire Caribbean. We are a Caribbean-based company, and the ultimate goal is to take care of the Caribbean,” he noted.
Connections are excited to see what Vandeek can achieve next, as his rapid rise through the ranks is likely to see him line up in the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes in September.
Trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, the son of Havana Grey only made his debut in late July, but since that successful bow at Nottingham, he has gone on to scoop the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood before providing his Gainsborough Thoroughbreds training operation a first Group One success when plundering the Prix Morny.
That top-level success in Deauville was also just the second Group One triumph for his Bahrain-based owners KHK Racing Ltd after Eldar Eldarov’s St Leger success last season.
Now their latest high-class performer is on course to try to add further riches to his glowing CV and is pencilled in to appear at Newmarket on September 30, where possible opponents could include Aidan O’Brien’s Prix Morny third River Tiber.
“The horse showed to everybody that he is very much on the upgrade. His rise has been pretty quick really and within the space of five or six weeks he has gone from winning a maiden at Nottingham to winning a Group One at Deauville,” said Chris Wall, racing manager for the owners.
“He’s improved and improved and improved with each run and he’s well entered up, but at the moment the plan is to go for the Middle Park.”
Vandeek also holds an entry in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes, again at Newmarket, on October 14 and the way the progressive colt saw out the six-furlong trip on both the Sussex Downs and Normandy coast would suggest seven furlongs would be well in reach.
Wall admits the timing of that typically red-hot event does bring the race into calculations, but for now the focus appears to be on having Vandeek in peak condition for another crack at six-furlong success in the Middle Park.
He added: “There’s two weeks between the two this year and he has shown he can take his races back-to-back fairly quickly. That is what he has done so far this summer and doesn’t hold any horrors for him.
“But we’ll go one race at a time and I would have thought the most likely spot is the Middle Park and then after that we’ll see what we want to do.”
KHK Racing also have Knight in training with the Crisfords and last year’s Horris Hill winner took a step in the right direction when second to Angel Bleu in the Group Two Celebration Mile.
It was Mehmas gelding’s best performance since his unbeaten two-year-old campaign and although future plans are still to be confirmed, a trip to ParisLongchamp on Arc weekend is one possible option.
Wall said: “He’s a horse who is getting back on track. Things hadn’t gone his way in the early part of the season and he was getting very upset and stressed about all sorts of things, so we had him gelded and that seems to have done the trick.
“His comeback run in the Thoroughbred Stakes was satisfactory, it was a solid enough run for a horse that hadn’t run much this year. But he took a big step forward and ran a much better race in the Celebration Mile and it is good to see him getting back to that.
“I think a bit of cut in the ground always helps him, his best form has come with that.
“I’m not sure what Simon and Ed have planned for him yet, but I would have thought something like the Prix Daniel Wildenstein over at the Arc meeting might be a suitable spot for him.
“He’s going to be kept in training as a fun horse to run in all of those sort of races and I think he will fit into that category nicely.”
Jack Davison has described She’s Quality as “probably the best horse I have trained” after the filly proved well named in shedding her maiden tag at Newbury.
The daughter of Acclamation bumped into next year’s 1000 Guineas favourite Ylang Ylang when third on debut before going on to finish a two-and-a-half-length fourth in the Group Three Anglesey Stakes on her second start.
She then further advertised her potential when splitting Michael O’Callaghan’s Navassa Island and Round Tower Stakes winner Letsbefrankaboutit in a Curragh maiden, before getting off the mark with a flourish in her raiding mission to Newbury, surging the best part of four lengths clear of the opposition in the hands of James Doyle.
Davison said: “She’s a lovely filly and very exciting and I would go as far to say she is probably the best horse I have trained. It’s super to have her and she should be a better three-year-old as well, so it’s great.
“I think Newbury was the first time she got nice conditions – good, quick ground and six furlongs. We were able to get a bit of cover and she was more professional. She’s very much on an upwards curve.”
She’s Quality provided her County Meath handler with just his second victory on UK soil and is now set to have her sights raised with both the valuable Goffs Million at the Curragh on September 23 or a shot at Group One glory in Newmarket’s Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes a week later being considered for her next outing.
“She’s a better filly on better ground, so it will be a toss up between the Goffs Million and the Cheveley Park,” added Davison.
“I will have to keep a close eye on what the ground is doing and if she is going to get a stiff seven at the Curragh, it will want to be nice ground. It’s 50-50 really.
“It would be quite exciting to have a good chance in the Goffs Million and we will look forward to plenty of black-type opportunities with her next year. But if the ground was to come up soft in Ireland and nice in England, I would have no problem redirecting her to the Cheveley Park, she’s of that calibre.”
It was Thunderbear who gave Davison with his first UK winner when striking at Nottingham earlier in the season and having gone on to ply his trade at Group level in his next three outings, he is poised to make his first start in France early next month.
Although running with credit in some top-quality events over six and seven furlongs, he will now drop back to the minimum distance for ParisLongchamp’s Prix du Petit Couvert on September 10, where his handler is predicting he will thrive.
“Thunderbear is very well and he’s entered in a Group Three at Longchamp,” continued Davison.
“I look forward to dropping him back to sprint distances on soft ground. I think that will really be his game and we haven’t seen the best of him yet. He has plenty of speed.”
Manchester City have reached a verbal agreement with Wolves on a fee for Portugal midfielder Matheus Nunes.
The PA news agency understands City have agreed to pay Wolves 55million euros (£47million) without add ons, but the deal has not yet been finalised.
In a separate deal, City’s 21-year-old midfielder Tommy Doyle will join Wolves on loan with a £5million option to buy, and City retaining a significant sell-on clause if the move becomes permanent.
City last week saw a bid for Nunes rejected, with the 25-year-old subsequently choosing not to train with Wolves in a bid to force through a move in the final days of the transfer window.
Speaking after Tuesday night’s 5-0 Carabao Cup win over Blackpool, Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said he was unaware of any improved bid from City and expected the player to remain at the club beyond Friday’s deadline, but that situation has quickly changed.
Nunes became Wolves’ record signing when he joined from Sporting Lisbon for an initial £38million last summer, signing a five-year contract with the option of a further 12 months.
He made 34 appearances last term, scoring one goal and proving one assist.
England under-21 international Doyle, grandson of Manchester City greats Mike Doyle and Glyn Pardoe, impressed on loan at Sheffield United last season, scoring four goals and seven assists in 38 appearances as he helped the Blades earn promotion to the Premier League.
Germany Derby hero Fantastic Moon will contest the Grosser Preis von Baden on Sunday – the race that paved the way to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for Germany’s most recent success story.
The Sarah Steinberg-trained three-year-old has a true German pedigree as he is by Sea The Moon and out of a German-bred mare named Frangipani.
He won the Preis des Winterfavoriten, a Cologne Group Three, as a two-year-old and demonstrated he had trained on into his three-year-old season with a third-placed run in the Bavarian Classic in May.
From there he headed to Baden-Baden and won the Derby trial by a comfortable three lengths, a performance that led him to emulate his sire and land the German Derby itself with a two-and-a-quarter-length success in early July
High-profile international targets were then discussed and the Arc was mentioned at one stage, but Fantastic Moon will take up neither his entry in the Prix Niel or the Irish Champion Stakes and will instead stay closer to home this weekend – in a Group One that was previously won by subsequent Arc hero Torquator Tasso.
Lars-Wilhlem Baumgarten of owners Liberty Racing said: “He is very well, he worked well on Monday in the morning and he will run in the Grosser Preis von Baden on Sunday.
“We nominated him today for the race, we supplemented him.
“We decided against the Champion Stakes and against the Prix Niel and went for Baden-Baden.
“It is a German race, we know the horses, there is one French horse in the race and then we will see how good he is.”
The colt would need to be supplemented if he were to follow the path trodden by Torquator Tasso and connections will reconsider that idea after Sunday’s performance.
Baumgarten said: “We will talk about that after the race on Sunday.”
A tilt at Qipco British Champions Day could be on the cards for Mill Stream having continued his Deauville love affair in the Prix de Meautry.
Having won the Prix Moonlight Cloud over track and trip earlier this month, Jane Chapple-Hyam’s colt thrived on his quick return to the Normandy coast, continuing his rise up the sprinting ranks by delivering a decisive blow over Garrus in the hands of Marco Ghiani.
Charlie Hills’ runner was a length and three-quarters behind Mill Stream in second and Chapple-Hyam is delighted by how the son of Gleneagles, who showed plenty of ability as a juvenile, has progressed throughout his three-year-old campaign.
She said: “He was very good and very competitive and has come out of the race in great order.
“He’s got the hang of it now. It takes three-year-olds a bit of time to get the hang of it and the Listed race the first time in Deauville was three-year-olds only.
“On Sunday he stepped up and met the older boys, who are more conditioned and professional at sprinting and it just showed how quickly he learnt from the Listed race when being in with the older horses. You can only take positives from the race going forward.
“He’s lightly raced and we used the first one (this season) at Haydock where he was kicked off the park. But we needed that as he had been off a long time and he was heavy and stuffy, so we had to start somewhere.
“He’s easy to manage and he’s that type of sprinter, in the sense he doesn’t boil over or anything and is good to manage.”
Owned by leisure tycoon Peter Harris, Mill Stream holds an entry for the British Champions Sprint Stakes on October 21 and could now be handed the opportunity to test his talent at Group One level.
“We don’t really have a plan as such, he’s in the Ascot Sprint but I don’t really have a plan beyond that,” added Chapple-Hyam.
“It’s the last sprint Group One in Europe. He’s not in the Abbaye and that would probably be a bit speedy for him over five at this stage.
“Now he’s got the hang of it, you would look forward to seeing him run against the English older horses.
“Garrus is a good line and Batwan (third) did a lot of racing in Dubai and then back in France so he’s not a poor horse either, he’s well campaigned.”
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has begun his recovery since undergoing surgery to repair his torn anterior cruciate ligament.
The Belgium international sustained the serious injury to his left knee in a training session and has now returned back to the Real Madrid setup to begin his first steps in rehabilitation.
Courtois took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to give supporters an update on his fitness, he said: “Thank you to everyone for the support and the energy!
“Little by little I’m taking the first steps in my recovery.”
Since the injury to Courtois, Real Madrid have signed Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga on a season-long loan deal as a replacement and the Spain stopper kept a clean sheet on his debut, a 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo on the weekend.
Kepa, 28, has previously spoken of his intention of making the move permanent and could compete with Courtois for the number one jersey when the Belgian returns to the fold.
Wales boss Rob Page has backed Brennan Johnson to fill the striker void at Tottenham left by Harry Kane’s departure.
Record Spurs goal-scorer Kane moved to Bayern Munich in a £100million deal earlier this month and Tottenham have yet to replace him ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline.
But Tottenham are leading the chase for Wales forward Johnson with Nottingham Forest ready to listen to offers around the £50m mark.
“I wouldn’t even talk about the Harry Kane situation and going in to fill that,” Page said after naming a 25-man squad for the September 7 friendly with South Korea and the crunch Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia four days later.
“He’s his own person and player, a different type of player. I think he’s just got to go.”
Page saw Johnson play for Forest on Saturday in their 3-2 defeat at Manchester United.
Johnson came off 20 minutes from time, but Page said the 22-year-old was “fully fit” for international duty.
“Young players today – and Brennan falls into this category – are a confident breed and he’s more than capable of playing at that level (for Tottenham),” said Page.
“I think Brennan has a good support network around him. I know his dad (David), who used to play so he’s been through all this himself.
“You need that network as a young lad. I don’t believe he will get carried with it. He will stay grounded and won’t change.
“You don’t go into a club expecting to fill somebody’s else’s boots.
“He’s a very different player to Harry and, if he goes there, it is on his own ability and what he can offer to the team.”
Leeds winger Daniel James is sidelined by an adductor injury while Joe Morrell and Kieffer Moore – who are available for the Cardiff friendly with South Korea – are suspended for the trip to Riga after receiving respective red cards against Armenia and Turkey in June.
Tom Lockyer is in the squad for the first time since collapsing in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley in May.
Lockyer underwent an operation to address an irregular heartbeat but has since returned to action to lead Luton in their first Premier League campaign.
Page said: “It’s a great story. We all watched the events unfold in the play-off final. We were all concerned, but there has been nothing but positivity since that day.
“He has had some great news, he is back to normal and is now playing in the Premier League, which is unbelievable for him as well.
“It is always going to be a challenge when you get promoted to the Premier League, Luton have done really well to be where they are at with the resources they have available to them.
“But for him personally he should be very proud of how he has recovered after it. A dream for him was to play in the Premier League and he has achieved that.”
Josh Sheehan and Wes Burns earn recalls as Ollie Cooper and Luke Harris drop out of the squad.
Fulham midfielder Harris, 18, has been in and around the squad for the past 12 months but has yet to be capped.
“It’s ironic, isn’t it?,” said Page. “Luke’s not been involved for Fulham and the day I announce the squad the night before he’s on the bench and comes on.
“The plan might be that Luke still goes out on loan to play games at a lower level.
“We see potential in him, but it hasn’t quite gone how I anticipated if I’m being honest.
“But like with Rubin (Colwill) and JJ (Jordan James) we’ve wanted to see them play more games.
“It’s about managing Luke and he’ll drop back down to the Under-21s now.
“It benefited Harry Wilson when Ryan (Giggs) was manager and, although it’s good we can expose him to this environment, there’s nothing like playing games and getting caps.”
Adam Nicol is looking forward to next season with stable star Wise Eagle after deciding to draw stumps for the current campaign.
Bought out of Tom Clover’s yard for just 7,000 guineas three years ago, the six-year-old has proved a real money-spinner for his connections, winning a jumpers’ bumper and 10 races on the Flat.
He started off 2023 by beating subsequent Chester Cup hero Metier in the lucrative Queen’s Cup at Musselburgh before filling the runner-up spot behind the top-class Coltrane in Ascot’s Sagaro Stakes.
An ambitious tilt at Gold Cup glory at the Royal meeting failed to pay off, with Wise Eagle losing a shoe and finishing last of the 12 runners, but Nicol remains confident there will be more big days in a horse who has already improved a staggering 40lb in the ratings.
“We’re going to pull the plug this season and get him ready for the Queen’s Cup at Musselburgh, which he won this year in early April,” said the Northumberland-based trainer.
“We were going to keep him for an autumn campaign and run him either at Doncaster (Doncaster Cup) or maybe in the Cesarewitch, but we’re just going to look after him and bring him back in December time and aim for Musselburgh, where he’s won four times.”
Reflecting on his performance in the Gold Cup, Nicol added: “He pulled a hind shoe off and was very sore the next day. It’s like us ripping our big toe nail off as he took a bit of foot with it as well.
“I think that happened quite early on, so that didn’t help, but Danny (Tudhope) was never happy with him and said he was hanging left from the minute the gates opened, which is not like him at all.
“We sent him down to Newmarket for a full MOT at the equine hospital and we found that he was just a bit jarred up in his front end.
“He’s absolutely fine now and he’ll be back next season. You’ve got to look after every horse obviously – but for a small yard like ours, when you’ve got a horse running in those type of races, we’re not going to flog him.
“There was a reason for the poor run in the Gold Cup, his run in the Sagaro Stakes was very good and we’ve seen what Coltrane has gone and done. There’s not many horses that have made a race of it with Coltrane, so if we can get this lad back right, I think there’s more races to be won with him.”
While Nicol’s initial focus will be on major staying races on the Flat next year, he is not ruling out a future switch to the jumping game, with Wise Eagle having finished second on his only start over hurdles to date in 2020.
He said: “I was thinking if he was in good form we could maybe give him a run in a novice hurdle in the autumn before the ground gets too heavy as he is a very good jumper.
“He’s very quick and has been from day one. I remember one day I schooled him over some tyres and I was like ‘Jesus, you’d think he was a handicapper’.
“That’s something to think about down the line. Every now and again we school him over barrels to keep his eye in and if he reaches his limit on the Flat or goes a bit sour and needs a change of scenery, we could look to go hurdling. We’ll just see what happens.”
The Republic of Ireland are looking for a new manager after opting not to renew Vera Pauw’s contract despite seeing her guide her team to the World Cup finals for the first time.
Pauw’s departure brings an end to a four-year reign which has seen the nation’s women scale new heights, but the Dutchwoman’s tenure has not been without controversy.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look Pauw’s time at the Irish helm.
What is Pauw’s background?
A former defender who was capped 89 times by the Netherlands, Pauw’s coaching career includes spells with Scotland, the Dutch, who she led to the semi-finals of the 2009 European Championships, Russia and South Africa, as well as National Women’s Soccer League side Houston Dash in the United States. The 60-year-old was appointed to succeed Colin Bell as Ireland boss in September 2019.
How did Ireland fare under her charge?
Having finished third in Group I after a 3-1 home defeat by Germany, Ireland missed out on qualification for the Euro 2022 finals. Defeat by eventual Group A winners Sweden in their opening World Cup qualifier did not deter the Republic, who went on to finish second and then, courtesy of Amber Barrett’s lone strike, beat Scotland in a play-off to book their ticket to Australia and New Zealand. Ultimately they did not progress after narrow defeats by co-hosts Australia and Olympic champions Canada, as well as a draw with Nigeria.
What place does she hold in Irish football history?
Pauw is one of only three coaches, along with Jack Charlton and Mick McCarthy, to lead Ireland to the finals of a senior World Cup. Along with Giovanni Trapattoni and Martin O’Neill, who took the men’s team to Euro 2012 and 2016 respectively, they are the only five people to send out a senior Irish team at the finals of any major tournament.
Where did it go wrong?
Rumours of disquiet within the camp have grown in recent months and several players notably declined to support their manager when asked during World Cup press conferences amid speculation that a conservative approach on the pitch was unpopular in the dressing room. Suspicions of a fracture grew amid a public spat between Pauw and skipper Katie McCabe after the Arsenal winger appeared to call for a substitution during the Nigeria game. The manager later offered a “she’s not the coach” riposte; McCabe responded on social media with a zipped mouth emoji. Pauw had gone into the tournament against the backdrop of a renewed focus on allegations – which she strongly denies – of bullying and belittling behaviour during her time in Houston, for which she was sanctioned by the NSWL earlier this year.
How have supporters reacted to the news?
Not well. Many fans have taken to social media to claim Pauw has been treated poorly after what she has achieved with Ireland, many pointing out that the men’s team has not reached the World Cup finals since 2002.
Who could replace her?
The FAI’s head of women and girls’ football Eileen Gleeson has been placed in interim charge for next month’s Nations League openers against Northern Ireland and Hungary and could be considered for a longer-term role. Like Gleeson, Tom Elmes is highly regarded in the women’s game in Ireland, but as a member of Pauw’s coaching team, may suffer if the FAI decide to make a clean break. Liverpool boss Matt Beard has been touted as a potential replacement, as has former England captain and Manchester United manager Casey Stoney, currently in charge at San Diego Wave.
Savannah Marshall aims to make sporting history with a rematch against Claressa Shields in MMA and would relish “choking her out” if the two were to meet in Professional Fighters League.
Undisputed super-middleweight world champion Marshall signed a multi-year deal with the mixed martial arts promotion, joining her longstanding rival Shields, who she beat as an amateur before losing by unanimous decision in October 2022.
And Marshall believes a rematch with Shields in boxing is unlikely, but predicted a fight in the cage would be even bigger than their previous contest.
“The opportunity I was presented to by PFL (Professional Fighters League) was amazing and something that I really couldn’t walk away from,” Marshall told the PA news agency.
“The PFL have been interested in me since my fight with Shields last October and working alongside my manager we managed to get something over the line.
“Yes definitely (Shields was the motivation to sign for PFL), I don’t think I get the rematch in the ring and it’s more likely that I get it in the cage, and so that added to the decision making.
“I’m naturally stronger and we’re both in the same position even though she’s had two fights in the cage – Shields beat Brittney Elkin before losing to Abby Montes.
“But I think I beat her, I really do and, for me, she beat me in the ring so I have a chance to even it in the cage and this is not something that has been done in sport before.
“It would be unbelievable, it would be huge. I think the first fight was huge and this would be even bigger.
“I would definitely make it 1-1. I’d relish in just choking her out and squeezing the breath out of her.”
Marshall’s majority decision victory over Franchon Crews-Dezurn in July saw her crowned super middleweight queen – she now holds the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF belts.
And the Hartlepool fighter, who also won The Ring championship against Crews-Dezurn, admitted the loss against Shields motivated her to claim victory last month despite considering quitting the sport last year.
“I’ve learnt a lot about myself after that fight I was ready to walk away and it really hurt me losing that fight,” Marshall added.
“But I came back and beat Franchon to become undisputed champion so it goes to show that when the going gets tough, especially at that level, there’s always something around the corner where the hard work pays off.
“It feels amazing to be an undisputed boxer and it’s a surreal feeling to have all five belts, and it’s amazing knowing that I’ve had my name cemented in history.
“I feel fulfilled in myself knowing how far I’ve come and my path could have took a different turn at any given point in my career.”
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Shields was ringside for Marshall’s last fight and was vocal throughout the night.
Marshall said: “Claressa is just Claressa and I don’t think she did herself any favours at all, and the way she went on at ringside was just embarrassing. I don’t think she helped herself there.
“She’s not my type of person and our personalities clash a lot.
“This rivalry has been going on now for over 10 years and she’s just not my cup of tea.”
The draw for the group stage of the Champions League will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Thursday evening.
Here the PA news agency explains how it will unfold.
When is the draw?
The draw is due to start at 5pm UK time on Thursday evening.
How will it work?
The 32 teams will be split into eight groups of four, with the four seeding pots not set to be confirmed until Thursday morning. The identity of the final qualifiers will not be known until Wednesday evening.
Pot 1 will feature European champions Manchester City, Europa League winners Sevilla and six domestic champions. Pots two to four will be based on the UEFA club coefficient rankings.
As usual, teams from the same country will be kept apart until at least the quarter-final stage. Pairings and any other restrictions will be announced ahead of the draw.
What else do we need to know about the format?
The teams play each other home and away between September and December as usual, with the top two progressing to the Champions League last 16.
The teams finishing third enter the Europa League knockout round play-offs, where they will face the runners-up from the Europa League group stages for a place in the last 16 of that competition.
What else should we expect on Thursday night?
UEFA plans to announce the four winners of its 2022-23 awards – men’s player and coach, plus women’s player and coach – during the draw ceremony. There will be particular focus on the women’s awards amid the unfolding crisis in Spanish football – two of the country’s World Cup-winning team, Aitana Bonmati and Olga Carmona, are nominated for the player award while Jorge Vilda is nominated for the coach award.
What else should we look out for this season?
This season marks the final year of the group stage as we have come to know it. From next season the 32-team group stage will be replaced by a 36-team league phase, with each team playing eight matches on a seeded basis.
It will be worth keeping an eye as the season progresses on the country coefficients, which are based on the collective performance of a country’s clubs in the three UEFA men’s club competitions. One team each from the two best-performing countries will secure additional places in the league phase, under changes agreed at UEFA Congress in Vienna last year.
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