Republic of Ireland Women’s manager Vera Pauw insists she “will never win from a lie” and will have to carry allegations she body-shamed players for the rest of her life.
The Dutchwoman has previously strongly refuted the claims made in a report on misconduct in the National Women’s Soccer League relating to the period she was in charge of Houston Dash.
Further allegations from former players emerged this week and have overshadowed the team’s preparations for the Women’s World Cup which will see them play France at Tallaght Stadium in their final game before departing.
“I think it is the same story as in December. It is something from a few anonymous players and how can you defend yourself against a lie?” she told a press conference.
“I will never win from a lie. That is clear now. I have to live with it and carry it with me for the rest of my life I’m afraid.”
The original report claimed Pauw “shamed players for their weight” and “attempted to exert excessive control over eating habits”.
“Go through the allegations and put Pep Guardiola, Louis Van Gaal or (Jose) Mourinho in that and you would laugh about it,” Pauw added.
“It is all about coaching, it is not about anything else. I don’t want to go into details because it is nonsense and untrue.
“There is great safety in the truth and that truth is with me. The people around me, the people who know me and the people who saw me working know that is not true.
“We are going to a World Cup. We have done phenomenally with this team and I would never have been able to do that if our bond with each other had not been so strong or positive.”
Ireland’s captain Katie McCabe admits she has had disagreements with Pauw but insists things have never crossed a line and they are both focused on doing the best for the team.
“Vera has a style of management that we are used to over the last two years,” she said.
“We’ve worked together, we’ve argued with each other as you’re never going to get on 100 per cent with your manager at times. She pushes me and I push her.
“We have clashed many times but we are always professional enough to make sure we are fully focused for the team.
“Both of our hearts are in the right place in terms of what is best for the Ireland women’s national team going forward.
“This is such a massive time in Ireland for women’s football and it’s frustrating we can’t be here talking about our massive send-off game tomorrow and the fact we are heading to our first major tournament.
“It takes the sting out of it from the team’s point of view.”
The Football Association of Ireland issued a statement on Monday saying it was “fully focused on supporting Vera and the women’s team”.
Leeds cut gap to automatic promotion spots with comfortable win over Coventry
Leeds United closed the gap to second place to just two points in the Championship, following a 3-0 victory over out-of-form Coventry City at Elland Road.
Wilfried Gnonto got the game off to a good start for Daniel Farke's side, expertly turning home a cross just inside the box with a first-time finish to open the scoring.
Last season's losing play-off finalists wrapped up a comfortable victory in the second half with goals from Jayden Bogle - his first as a Leeds player - and Joel Piroe, who has now scored three in four as a substitute.
The victory sees Leeds climb to fourth, significantly taking the opportunity to cut the gap to the automatic promotion places with both West Brom and Sunderland losing.
Coventry, meanwhile, have lost four and drawn one of their last five matches in all competitions. They are fourth-bottom, with just goal difference separating them from the relegation zone.
Second-placed Sunderland missed the chance to go top as they were beaten 2-1 away to Watford.
Regis Le Bris' side went a goal down in the first half to a Festy Ebosele volley before equalising shortly after half-time through Wilson Isidor. They were unable to push on for a winner, with Tom Dele-Bashiru scoring a late penalty to win it for the hosts.
The win leaves Watford in seventh place in the Championship, outside the play-offs on goal difference, while Sunderland stay second.
Managerless Cardiff City lost their fifth straight match in all competitions and are still searching for their first league win of the season after being thumped 4-1 away to Hull City.
The Bluebirds initially went a goal up in the first half through Callum Robinson, which was just their second league goal of the season.
They could only hold the lead for four minutes, before Bachir Belloumi equalised for the hosts. He grabbed a brace 10 minutes before half-time and Hull never looked back.
Two second-half goals ensured another miserable afternoon for Cardiff, who remain bottom of the Championship with just one point after seven matches. Hull are up to 12th.
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Fulham: Jimenez penalty seals Cottagers win
Fulham brought Nottingham Forest's unbeaten start to the Premier League season to a halt with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at the City Ground.
There was very little to choose between two sides separated by a mere point at kick-off, but Raul Jimenez’s second-half penalty, awarded for Murillo's foul on Andreas Pereira, proved decisive.
Forest had started brightly with Taiwo Awoniyi missing an early chance, while Chris Wood saw a potential opener disallowed for offside following a VAR review in the 25th minute.
However, Nuno Espirito Santo's team failed to find a spark without the suspended Morgan Gibbs-White as Fulham's own impressive start to 2024/25 continued.
The result leaves Forest ninth in the table with nine points, with Fulham leapfrogging their hosts to move into sixth on 11 points.
Data Debrief: Fulham maintain unbeaten run
Fulham are undefeated in their last five games in the Premier League since going down 1-0 at Manchester United on the opening matchday.
They last enjoyed a streak of this length between December 13, 2020 and January 10, 2021.
Jimenez has now scored three goals in his last three games, maintaining his good record against Forest, with three goals in two matches against them.
Chelsea 4-2 Brighton: Palmer makes Premier League history as Maresca's side fight back
Cole Palmer made Premier League history as Chelsea beat Brighton 4-2 in a six-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge.
Palmer became the first player to score four goals before half-time in a single Premier League game, helping Enzo Maresca’s side record their fourth straight victory in all competitions.
Brighton took an early lead through Georginio Rutter's header, but were powerless as Palmer took command of the contest.
His remarkable quadruple came in the space of 20 minutes - including a penalty and free-kick - with Carlos Baleba's strike to make it 3-2 swiftly cancelled out by Chelsea's talisman.
Nicolas Jackson and Palmer went close after the break for the hosts, who also had a Marc Cucurella goal disallowed for offside, but they held out for another victory.
The Blues climb to third place, a point behind pacesetters Manchester City and Arsenal, while Brighton drop to eighth after suffering their first defeat of the season.
Data Debrief: History-making Palmer does the damage once more
Palmer completed his third Premier League hat-trick - the joint-most by any Chelsea player along with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard - in the space of only nine minutes and 45 seconds.
The Blues forward also hit the post, was denied by the offside flag and then slotted a decent opportunity wide after the break, so we could have been saluting the first player to score six or more goals in a single Premier League game.
His fourth goal was set up by Sancho, who became the third Chelsea player after Eden Hazard (2012) and Cesc Fabregas (2014) to provide an assist in each of his first three Premier League appearances for the club.
As for Brighton, they are now without a victory in each of their last nine Premier League visits to London, since a 3-0 win over Arsenal in May 2023.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
