da cassino： If Rangers are going to reestablish themselves as both Scottish football’s dominant side but also a force in Europe once again, their recruitment simply must improve.

da bet7： Sporting director Kevin Thelwell gave an interview to the club’s official TV channel this week, his position very much under the microscope from supporters following a very underwhelming transfer window.

Summer signings such as Emmanuel Fernandez, Joe Rothwell, Jayden Meghoma, Thelo Aasgaard and others have either made little impact or not impressed so far.

Rangers supporters won’t like this, but they’re going to have to replicate Celtic’s largely successful player trading model, with the side from across the city regularly selling players on for a sizable profit, something the Gers rarely do.

In fairness to them, the Light Blues did manage this with Hamza Igamane who departed this summer, so could an “exciting” new recruit be the next one to follow?

Hamza Igamane's impact at Rangers

When Igamane arrived at Rangers, he was a complete unknown quantity, signing from Botola club AS FAR in his native Morocco for £1.7m.

Well, the young striker certainly impressed during his one season in Govan, scoring 16 goals across all competitions, of which four came in the Europa League, while also bagging a hat-trick against Hibernian at Easter Road back in January.

He will though be most fondly remembered for this thunderous strike at Parkhead in March, snatching a 3-2 Old Firm victory over Celtic during Barry Ferguson’s interim tenure, awarded the club’s goal of the season.

Igamane though did not plan on sticking around in Glasgow, sold to Ligue 1 side LOSC Lille for a reported fee of £10.4m in August, which may prove to be an absolute bargain as far as les Dogues are concerned.

He scored twice on his Ligue 1 debut against Lorient at Stade du Moustoir, netting seven times for Lille to date overall, including three in the Europa League, featuring a brace against PAOK last month.

Meantime, Igamane scored his first two senior goals for Morocco in September, on target during World Cup qualifiers against Niger and Zambia, set to be a key figure in Walid Regragui’s squad for both the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil next month and then the World Cup in the summer.

Consequently, Rangers supporters may actually feel as though they let the striker go on the cheap, albeit there was nothing the club could do once his release clause was met.

So, who could be the Light Blues’ next bargain signing to depart for a huge profit, after exponentially improving his value and reputation at Ibrox?

Rangers' next Hamza Igamane

As already noted, many of Rangers’ summer signings have not impressed, hence why Russell Martin was sacked after just 17 games in charge, while, despite improvements under Danny Röhl, they remain fourth in the Scottish Premiership and rock-bottom of the Europa League standings, still yet to pick up a point.

However, almost inarguably, the best-performing of all their summer recruits has been Djeidi Gassama.

The Mauritania-born French youth international arrived from Sheffield Wednesday for just £2.2m, available at a cut-price given that now-ousted owner Dejphon Chansiri was running the EFL Championship club into the ground at the time, which looks like being a complete bargain, with the table below documenting the winger’s importance.

Gassama’s Rangers statistics 25/26

Stats

Gassama

Rangers rank

Minutes

1,733

4th

Goals

6

1st

Assists

2

4th

Shots per 90

2.3

1st

Key passes per 90

0.9

4th

Successful dribbles per 90

1.8

1st

Stats via Transfermarkt & SofaScore

Indeed, only Jack Butland, John Souttar and captain James Tavernier have played more minutes than Gassama so far this season and rightly so.

The Frenchman ranks first when it comes to goals, shots per 90 and successful dribbles per 90, with five of his six goals to date coming in European competition, on target home and away against Panathinaikos, at the double when Viktoria Plzeň visited Glasgow, while also on target in defeat at Sturm Graz.

Upon his arrival, then-manager Martin labelled Gassama an “exciting player who will get supporters on the edge of their seats”, while the winger expressed his delight in being reunited with manager Röhl, who’d also been his boss at Hillsborough, describing the German as “like a father to me”.

Earlier in the campaign, when Rangers’ form was diabolical, former right-back Alan Hutton asserted that Gassama had been their “shining light”, now only likely to get better under Röhl, the coach who kick-started his rise at Sheffield Wednesday.

Well, according to Football Transfers, Gassama’s estimated market value has already increased to around £4.5m, more than double what Rangers paid to sign him.

Scoring goals in Europe will certainly attract interest, proving that the attacker can perform at a higher level than just the Scottish Premiership.

Thus, still only 22 years old, Gassama appears destined to become Rangers’ next Igamane-like sale, while, for now, Röhl has to build a cohesive team to get the best out of his star forward.

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Posts ByBen Gray Nov 13, 2025

“If you’re not motivated to play a normal game but extra-motivated to play a game with some incentive, that’s unacceptable”

Karthik Krishnaswamy03-Mar-20219:32

Mute Me: Virat Kohli – where have all the centuries gone?

India versus England. The last Test of the last-but-one series in the current World Test Championship cycle. Everything is on the line. For India, it’s simple: win or draw, and they book their place in the final, alongside New Zealand. For England there’s the incentive of playing spoiler: if they win, India will miss out, and Australia will make the final instead.When you throw in all the conflicting emotions of Australia fans cheering England, you have just the sort of scenario the ICC and its member boards may have hoped for when they came up with the concept of the Test Championship.Related

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And yet, on the eve of the Test match that will determine India’s fate in the tournament, their captain didn’t sound like a man dreaming about glory in the final.”If you want me to be brutally honest, it might work for teams who are not that motivated to play Test cricket,” Virat Kohli said, when asked what he thought of the Test Championship as a concept. “Teams like us, who are motivated to play Test cricket and want to win Test matches and keep Indian cricket team at the top of the world in Test cricket, we have no issues whatsoever, whether it’s a World Test Championship or not. I think for teams like us, it’s only a distraction when you start thinking of the World Test Championship.”Eventually it’s only a game of cricket. Even that game, a World Cup final, semi-final, anything you take, it’s a game of cricket at the end of the day, and if you’re not motivated to play a normal game of cricket and you’re extra-motivated to play a game of cricket which has some incentive to it, for me, as an individual, that’s unacceptable, and we as a team have never played with that mindset.”For us, any game is important, we are going to go for a result whenever the opportunity presents itself, and that’s why people want to watch us as a team now. You could ask some of the teams that probably wouldn’t have looked at Test cricket as a priority, but for us it really doesn’t change anything. As I said, if we start thinking too much about it, then that is a distraction from our process and plans.”Virat Kohli – “Teams like us who are motivated to play Test cricket, we have no issues whatsoever, whether it’s a World Test Championship or not”•Getty Images

Now there are a couple of things to keep in mind when you read that quote. One, Kohli may well have expressed himself more harshly than intended while trying to communicate his single-minded focus on the immediate task at hand – winning the fourth Test against England – and play down the significance of the prize that awaits his team if they complete it successfully.And it’s not that the view expressed here is shared by everyone in the India dressing room. Ishant Sharma, for instance, has spoken of the Test Championship final as being the equal of a World Cup final for him, now that he only plays one format for India. Others may share that view too.But for Kohli to express himself as he did was a departure from his early enthusiasm for the Test Championship. When it was introduced, he suggested the Championship would add a whole new level of spice to Test cricket.”I think for all the cricketers involved now, every session and every game will be more intense, there will be more on the line,” he had said. “So it will be challenging, but all the more exciting and all the teams I am sure are going to enjoy a lot through this whole journey of the Test Championships.”Since then, global events – chiefly the Covid-19 pandemic – have conspired to take some of the gloss off this first cycle of the Test Championship. From all teams playing an equal number of series, a spate of cancellations led the boards to agree to a system that ranked teams based on the percentage of points they had contested. India ended up needing to do more to get to the final than most other teams, since they were one of only two teams who weren’t affected by cancellations.It was always going to be an imperfect solution in an imperfect situation, and Kohli expressed his displeasure after India lost the first Test against England, leaving them in a delicate situation as far as reaching the final was concerned.”If suddenly the rules can change when you’re in lockdown, nothing is in your control at all,” he said then. “So we’re not bothered at all about the table or the things that are going on on the outside. For some things there’s no logic, for some things you can have a debate for hours, as much as you want, but the only thing that you can control as a side, to an extent, is playing good cricket, and that’s our only focus, regardless of who’s on top of the table.”If India fail to reach the final, Kohli will probably remain lukewarm about the Test Championship, and that’s only natural for someone in his situation. But if they get there, it’s not inconceivable that he’ll sing its praises again.

From Chelsea and Blackburn all the way to Celtic, Chris Sutton had the pleasure of working with some incredible players. The former striker recently took the time to name a team full of his best teammates and to say that the XI was impressive would be an understatement.

Starting with the backline, Sutton named Tim Flowers in goal followed by a back three of Johan Mjallby, Marcel Desailly and Joos Valgaeren with Desailly being the pick of the bunch.

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The former Chelsea defender won the Champions League twice throughout an impressive career and also picked up the World Cup with France in 1998. He remains one of the best centre-backs to ever feature at Stamford Bridge.

Sutton’s midfield was arguably even more impressive, however. The 52-year-old casually name-dropped Ruel Fox, Tim Sherwood, Stiliyan Petrov and Lubomir Moravcik.

Particularly full of praise for Petrov, Sutton said: “He would bomb on, and we felt like we could take on anybody.”

He arguably saved his best players for his frontline, however, as he dropped Alan Shearer into the conversation. Teammates at Blackburn, the strike partners won the Premier League together in the 1994/95 season and both enjoyed excellent campaigns.

Sutton ended the season with 21 goals in all competitions, whilst Shearer finished up with a whopping 37 in 49 games on his way to becoming the greatest goalscorer that England’s top division has ever seen.

Only Harry Kane can say that he’s near Shearer and there’s no doubt that he’ll be eyeing that record if he returns to English football before he calls time on his career.

It speaks volumes about Sutton’s praise for the final player in his team that he placed him above one of the Premier League’s best.

Sutton names Larsson as "best" teammate

Finishing his team with aplomb, Sutton named Henrik Larsson as the “best” player that he played with. One of the greatest players to play for Celtic, Larsson’s place in this side was always inevitable.

The Swede should have a place in every all-time Celtic XI and is likely to feature in similar lists from his former teammates. During his time with the Bhoys, the forward scored a stunning 227 goals in 301 games. It simply doesn’t get much more clinical than that.

We’ll never get to see a strike partnership between Larsson and Shearer, but it’s easy to imagine the chaos they would have caused together at the peak of their powers.

That said, the Celtic legend did have a brief spell in the Premier League for Manchester United, in which he scored three times in 13 games at the end of his career. Whether that record would have been improved if he joined the Red Devils at his best is the question, but Celtic fans will be glad that his best work came in Scotland.

The power of South Africa’s lower middle order has allowed de Kock to take his time early on, and the results have been spectacular

Sidharth Monga01-Nov-20232:13

Harmison: Should SA have gone harder with the bat?

When he knew it was all over, Tony Montana pulled out the machine gun and said the legendary line, “Say hello to my little friend.”It is almost impossible to imagine Quinton de Kock getting so expressive, but in his last World Cup, right at the end of an international career in which he has perhaps felt trapped like Montana at times, he has brought out his own, actual little friend: a desire and a method to bat long.Not that he didn’t always have it. When de Kock first announced himself with three centuries in a week against India late in 2013, back when he was almost the Simba the senior players loved to hold aloft, he was – despite his methods and scoring areas – an old-fashioned ODI opener, who would start off watchfully and look to play deep into the innings.Related

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In the middle chunk of his ODI career, though, de Kock became more of an enforcer and less of a long-innings player. From 2018 to 2022, he didn’t have a single year with more than one ODI century, but his strike-rate over that period (98.78) was higher than it had been before (94.62).And then came 2023. South Africa have developed a strategy where they want to give their power-hitting lower middle order not much more than 20 overs to cause havoc in. It has allowed de Kock to perhaps go back to his original style. When batting first this year, he has struck at just 4.61 an over in the first powerplay, having gone at 6.09 and 5.44 in the same phase in 2021 and 2022.Quinton de Kock is all smiles after bringing up his fourth hundred of this World Cup•Associated PressThe desire to bat longer is clear, and the method is to somehow get past the early movement. Thanks to South Africa’s consistently firing lower middle order, de Kock knows it is okay to start off slowly. So slow that South Africa have gone even slower than Pakistan in the first powerplay in this World Cup.There is good reason for South Africa’s leadership to be fine with de Kock starting off slowly. In 32 innings in Asia, de Kock has gone past 50 on 10 occasions; eight of them have been centuries. In innings where de Kock has gone past 30, he has achieved better control figures in Asia than in any other continent. It clearly suggests an expertise in these conditions. His IPL experience no doubt helps.Even without these figures, if you went just by feel, you can well imagine what nightmare it would be for bowlers if de Kock decides to, and finds a way to, bat deep. For he is not the kind of batter whom fields can restrict. As the numbers suggest, he has a grip on the conditions in Asia. He will always catch up.A good example was this slow start in Pune against New Zealand. He was on 13 off 25 after 10 overs. His reaction was not to do anything dramatic. He sweated on his favourite pick-up pull against Tim Southee. That shot is a hard-length neutraliser like no other. Now de Kock is no surprise package, and Southee is a wily bowler. He kept denying de Kock the shot, mostly by going wide and across him. De Kock waited for just the right ball, and when he got the right line, out it came, at the start of the 16th over.Quinton de Kock waited patiently until he got a chance to play his favourite pick-up pull•ICC/Getty ImagesWith that shot came the fluency although there was never perhaps a time when either he or Rassie van der Dussen got entirely comfortable on what looked like a slightly tricky surface to begin with.There was gradual acceleration until the 30th over, after which he began to manufacture shots, moving inside the line and targeting the long-leg area. It was consistent with how he has gone through this World Cup: watchful at the start, pick up in the middle overs, and then start hitting after the 30th. If it comes off, we are in for Montana-like fireworks; if it doesn’t, South Africa don’t lose out on much because the batters coming in are better off using those deliveries.The result of this change in approach for de Kock is that this was his fourth hundred already in this World Cup with at least three – and possibly four – innings to go. There is a joy to watching him wind down his ODI career with the freedom to bat the way he did when he started out.At 152 innings right now, it is all too brief a career, but this little friend of de Kock has helped him take his frequency of hitting hundreds to bang between the gold standards of ODI batting in his era. Virat Kohli scores one every six innings, approximately, and Rohit Sharma once every eight digs; de Kock is slightly slower than a century every seven innings. It will take a brave person to bet against him improving that rate.

Sean Dyche was once part of a bust-up involving Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, and his comments on the situation have now emerged after taking over as the Reds’ new manager.

Dyche takes the reins as Forest manager following Ange exit

Having proven his ability to come in and stablise clubs during his time with Everton, Dyche has now taken charge at Forest, following a disastrous spell under the helm of Ange Postecoglou, with the Australian failing to win in eight games and lasting just 39 days.

The former Everton man’s first day on the training ground was Tuesday, with the new boss commencing preparations for Thursday’s tough test in the Europa League, as the Tricky Trees take on FC Porto at the City Ground.

Speaking after his return, the 54-year-old made it clear that he has a lot of love for his former club, saying: “I’ve often spoken about my affection for the Club, having started my career here under the great Brian Clough. I didn’t quite make it to the first team, but I have such fond memories from around the place — and hearing the boss’ voice in the distance.”

However, it remains to be seen how the ex-Nottingham Forest youth player finds working with Marinakis, given that the owner’s public falling out with Nuno led to the Portuguese manager’s departure earlier this season.

The Forest owner is known for his fiery temper, having been seen arguing with Nuno on the pitch near the end of the 2024-25 campaign, and The Sun report he was part of a bust-up involving Dyche after Burnley’s Europa League match with Olympiacos in 2018.

Heading into half-time at 1-1, Marinakis reportedly confronted the referees in the tunnel. Shortly after the break, Olympiacos restored their lead and Burnley’s Ben Gibson was sent off, leaving Dyche fuming.

The former Burnley manager’s comments from the time are eye opening: “I don’t know how many people ran on the pitch and surrounded the referee and linesman. The feel of the game changed in the second half, you’re left scratching your head.

“At half-time, there were plenty of people waiting for the ref in the tunnel.

“It wasn’t just the bench, it was people from the offices, even the tea lady! That’s a joke, of course, but it felt like everyone was piling on.”

Dyche has big task on his hands at Forest

Marinakis will no doubt be very frustrated Forest have been unable to kick on since sealing a return to Europe last season, especially considering how much he backed Nuno in the summer transfer window, spending around £206m.

However, having failed to win since the opening day of the campaign, the Tricky Trees have to be considered relegation candidates, with home defeats against a struggling West Ham United side and newly-promoted Sunderland particularly concerning.

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It probably isn’t what the new manager wanted to hear.

ByCharlie Smith Oct 21, 2025

Dyche is known for making a statement in his first match in charge of a new club, however, defeating then league leaders Arsenal 1-0 in his opening game as Everton boss, and the new Forest manager will be hoping for a similar start against Porto on Thursday.

Careful handling by their captain and management has given Hartley, Rehan and Bashir the chance to thrive

Vithushan Ehantharajah22-Feb-2024The two central rooms on each floor of the Hotel Leela Palace in Chennai have a familiar quirk, with a door connecting them internally.When England stayed there during the 2021 tour of India, the ground floor adjoining rooms were opened up and used as a base for the team doctor and physiotherapist. Both rooms contained massage tables and all the requisite medical and recovery bits. A few storeys up, those rooms were occupied by Dom Bess and Mason Crane.With the tour taking place during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the hotel was England’s biosecure bubble, and with that came strict protocols. One of those included not mixing in rooms. But the adjoining door allowed Bess, who was part of the main squad, and Crane, a member of the Covid reserves, to circumvent this rule.Related

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They would keep it open to hang out and eat dinner together. It helped they were already mates, having come through the county system in the same age group as spinners – Bess an offie, Crane a leggie. And it was during the first Test of the series that they made important use of that door, for their friendship and craft.England won the Test by 227 runs, but Bess had contrasting performances. After taking 4 for 76 in India’s first innings, he was then targeted in the second, managing 1 for 50 from just eight overs. That night, with most of his team-mates ecstatic, Bess was struggling to process his chastening experience. Crane, from his one-and-only Test cap in Australia three years earlier, empathised with Bess and recognised the need for company. He knocked on the door, Bess eventually opened it and the pair talked things through for the rest of the night.It is not a story with a happy ending. Bess was dropped for the next two Tests before returning for the fourth in Ahmedabad where he went wicketless in an innings defeat. Neither he nor Crane have been involved in an England squad since, and both are in the midst of emerging from respective domestic slumps.But it is a story that highlights the unforgiving nature of being a young English spinner on tour. Especially in India, where you are thrust under the brightest lights in the most unforgiving circumstances, asked to be the main event having existed summer to summer in county cricket as an afterthought. Even without touring under stringent lockdown conditions exacerbating it all, it can be, at its worst, a soul-crushing experience. Bess was by no means the first to go through that.

“When we keep the selection process consistent and actually give pretty in-detail reasons, it was understandable to Rehan as to why we’ve gone with that option”Ben Stokes on picking Shoaib Bashir above Rehan Ahmed in Ranchi

On the eve of England’s fourth Test on this tour of India, things feel very different. Three young spinners in Rehan Ahmed (aged 19), Shoaib Bashir (20) and Tom Hartley (24), with just one cap between them coming into this series, remain in good spirits. With Jack Leach ruled out with injury, they have had to scrap, and more is on the cards as they look to keep the series alive in Ranchi for a potential winner-takes-all decider in Dharamsala.The three have been considerately managed. What question marks there were over their readiness for such a high-profile assignment were never acknowledged by the management group. Across the last three Tests, Ben Stokes has given them responsibility to bring the team success, notably in Visakhapatnam when all three played together.Each has been encouraged to focus on bowling their best wicket-taking deliveries as legspinner, offie and left-arm orthodox, respectively. All while Stokes sorts their fields, as he does for all his bowlers. The England captain has struck a unique balance of hyping and coddling his precocious twirlers, and they have responded by giving all of themselves to the cause. They worry about what they do best, he’ll worry about everything else.It was this week that the professional nature of Stokes’ relationship with his spin group came to the fore. Shoaib Bashir, having debuted in the second Test, was drafted in for this must-win encounter on a pitch England expect will turn big. The high release point that earned him a place on the tour is now being called upon to square the series. It meant Rehan would sit out for the first time on tour.”Obviously missing out on games is really disappointing,” Stokes said of the decision. “But again, when we keep the selection process consistent as we do and actually give pretty in-detail reasons as to why, it was understandable to Rehan as to why we’ve gone with that option.”England have made a big show of getting around their young spinners in India•AFP/Getty ImagesIt was not personal. It was business. But without cultivating the former, the latter would have been harder to bear. Particularly for a kid who spends most of his free time either with a ball in his hand or shadow-batting.A supremely gifted teenager who bagged a five-wicket haul on Test debut in Pakistan last winter, Rehan remains a work in progress. Yet the way in which he has pushed to be involved at critical junctures across the previous three Tests belies the fact he took just eight Division Two wickets at 66.12 in last season’s County Championship.On day one of the second Test, he spent most of the time in the field trying to get Stokes’ attention. When Stokes eventually turned to him to bowl the 60th over, he asked Rehan if he needed any instructions on what to do. “Please give me the ball,” came the reply. Rehan would go on to put in his best performance of the tour, taking 3 for 65, then 3 for 88, before his request to bat at three in the fourth-innings chase of 399 was granted.Stokes often gets wide-eyed when lauding Rehan, like a proud dad. But he has treated him like an adult throughout. That was evident when giving him a spell at the back end of the third innings of the third Test when Yashavi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan were gunning for the spinners. Another captain might have kept him out of the line of fire given his youth, but Stokes knew Rehan well enough to recognise he wanted the heat.There is also understanding. On the pre-tour camp in Abu Dhabi, Rehan asked team manager Wayne Bentley if he and Bashir – both practising Muslims – could miss a squad outing because it clashed with Friday prayers. Stokes messaged him insisting it was always fine, and that he should not be afraid to broach matters of faith with him. Subsequently, Rehan has been allowed to skip the odd training session when they coincide with auspicious fasting days. When he was held at Rajkot airport because he did not have the correct Visa to re-enter the country following the mid-series break in the UAE, Stokes, Brendon McCullum and Bentley stayed with the youngster to keep his spirits up.”You look at what Rehan’s had to go through with the visa situation and everything like that, I think he’s handled this whole tour very, very well,” said Stokes in his Thursday press conference. “He’s someone [who appears] a lot older than what he is.1:36

Harmison: Bashir’s height will come in handy on this surface

“In the three games he’s played, he’s gone out and tried everything that we’ve asked of him, as to why he’s been in the team. I think any other team, he’s batting higher than number eight. And I think the way in which he has taken the game on with the ball is something I’ve been very, very impressed with.”As far as first tours go, Bashir’s has been complex. That he is even here after falling out of the Surrey age groups is thanks largely to an idle Stokes seeing a clip of him bowling at Alastair Cook for Somerset. But despite a first-class average of 67 coming into the tour, his qualities have been lauded by his team-mates throughout.His tour started, in earnest, with his debut in the second Test. There was a fear it was in jeopardy outright when visa delays prevented Bashir – of Pakistan heritage – from boarding the initial flight from the UAE to Hyderabad. After sticking around for a few days, he returned to the UK to get the final, necessary stamp on his paperwork.By then, he was already ruled out of the first Test, so the England management decided it would be best if he spent a couple of days at home for some familiar comforts. Players kept in touch with Bashir throughout, and he was given a rousing reception when he entered the dressing room early on the final day of the Test. Having arrived in the country that morning, Stokes wondered if he could do with getting some sleep at the hotel. Bashir refused – what was the point of all the hassle of getting here if he was going to leave the game? He stuck around and watched England go on to claim a thrilling victory.Arriving a week after everyone else could have set Bashir back in terms of selection and his connection to the group. Neither was the case. Two days out from the second Test, Zak Crawley used his media engagement to praise “a great kid” with “a lot about him” and predicted Bashir would make an impact on this tour. With that maiden cap under his belt, bagging India captain Rohit Sharma as the first of his four Test wickets, Friday is an opportunity to write himself into English cricket folklore in only his eighth first-class appearance.Rehan presents Bashir with his Test cap on debut in Visakhapatnam•Stu Forster/Getty ImagesIt is Hartley who has shone brightest the last month. Picked for his height and raw attributes, he arrived with the misfortune of being characterised as inexperienced yet with a large enough sample size of 20 first-class games that his modest 40 wickets at 36.57 could also be used against him. All while being compared to two high-class left-arm spinners on the opposition in Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.When Hartley’s first ball – and fourth – on debut was struck for six by Jaiswal, you feared the worst. But Stokes, despite knowing little about him before the Abu Dhabi training camp, kept faith. Hartley’s first three overs went for 34 but he still stayed on for a lengthy spell, with Stokes also burning two reviews in the hope of “buying” him a maiden wicket.At the end of that opening day, Hartley sat shellshocked in the dressing room nursing figures of 0 for 63 from nine overs. But all the rest of the team insisted on pumping his tyres, spending most of the time talking up the six he hit off R Ashwin earlier in the day.Whether astute captaincy or an act of compassion – or both – Hartley returned the next day from that longer bowl with a run up that was a little slower, getting through his action with more precision, and ended up picking up his first couple of wickets. Two days later, his 7 for 62 took England to glory, becoming the first English spinner since Jim Laker to take as many on debut.Hartley is currently England’s leading wicket-taker with 16, and, yes, some of them have been donations from India batters. But he is brimming with confidence, something that is evident in his batting. It’s worth noting his 139 runs are the third most for an Englishman with 15 or more wickets in a series in India. Only Ian Botham and Fred Titmus sit above him on that list.Dom Bess endured a tough time on England’s last tour of India•Getty ImagesAn hour into training on Thursday, Rehan, Bashir and Hartley were together on one of the practice strips on the main square of the JSCA International Stadium. Rehan stood as the standing umpire as Bashir and Hartley practised going around, over and through, varying their pace and points of attack, while assistant coach Jeetan Patel took the mitt.There was a moment when Patel took a back seat as the three threw around ideas amongst themselves based on their collective exposure and learnings from just three Tests. It was a nourishing sight, reflective of the positivity and encouraged self-expression that has created an environment perfect for these young spinners to thrive.Quite how that can be replicated beyond Stokes’ team and into the wider world of English cricket remains to be seen. It may be that these lucky three will be the last to experience it. The duty of care to young cricketers has run parallel with pushing them to levels they have never previously reached. It is one hell of a combination.It is worth noting a support network of sorts emanated from that 2021 trip. Bess, Crane, Matt Parkinson – who was also in the reserve squad – and his twin brother Callum started a spinners WhatsApp group off the back of the tour, which remains active to this day. Whether good or bad, series in India bring spinners a little closer together.Sometimes, like 2021, it’s an achievement just to come out the other side together in one piece. In 2024, Rehan, Bashir and Hartley are at least going home with a new bond formed between them. But who knows, they may even end up bound by history.

كشفت تقارير صحفية قرارًا جديدًا بشأن مباراة مصر وإيران المقرر إقامتها في بطولة كأس العالم 2026 المقبل.

ومن المقرر أن يلتقي منتخب مصر مع إيران في كأس العالم العام المقبل والتي تستضيفها كندا، المكسيك والولايات المتحدة الأمريكية.

ووقع منتخب مصر بقيادة حسام حسن ضمن منافسات المجموعة السابعة بجانب إيران وبلجيكا ونيوزيلندا.

ويسعى منتخب مصر إلى تقديم كأس عالم قوية، حيث تعتبر هذه المجموعة متوازنة بعض الشيء مقارنةً بالمجموعات الأخرى.

وكانت شبكة ESPN البريطانية قد كشفت أن فيفا يخطط لجعل مباراة مصر وإيران في كأس العالم “لقاء فخر” لمجتمع المثليين، في قرار أثار جدلًا كبيرًا.

وكان الاتحاد الإيراني قد أكد على رفضه خوض تلك المباراة من خلال رئيسه مهدي تاج، في تصريحات قوية أكد فيها أنها خطوة غير منطقية، (للتفاصيل).

ووفقًا لصحيفة “ذا صن”، فقد يضطر مسؤولو الفيفا إلى نقل مباراة دور المجموعات لكأس العالم بين مصر وإيران بسبب شكاوى كلا البلدين بشأن تلك الأزمة.

وأوضحت أنه ستستمر فعاليات مباراة فخر كأس العالم في سياتل كما هو مخطط لها على الرغم من شكاوى إيران ومصر بشأن احتفالات مجتمع المثليين والمتحولين جنسيًا.

إذ قال منظمو كأس العالم في سياتل إن الفعاليات التي تحتفل بمجتمع المثليين والمتحولين والمزدوجين (LGBTQ) والتي ستقام بالتزامن مع مباراة بين مصر وإيران ستستمر كما هو مخطط لها.

أكدت اللجنة المنظمة لـ كأس العالم سياتل 2026 أن مباراة الدور الأول من دور المجموعات في 26 يونيو، والتي أطلق عليها محليًا اسم “مباراة الفخر”، ستكون أبرز فعاليات عطلة نهاية الأسبوع السنوية للفخر بالمثليين والمتحولين في المدينة.

MatériaMais Notícias

da doce： O confronto deste domingo (14) entre São Paulo e Flamengo marca um reencontro importante para o treinador Rogério Ceni. Agora no Tricolor, o técnico enfrenta pela primeira vez o seu ex-time desde que deixou o Rubro-negro, em julho deste ano.

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da betway： Rogério Ceni iniciou sua carreira de treinador no São Paulo, em 2017, mas, após desempenho insatisfatório, deixou a equipe e foi para o Fortaleza, onde se tornou ídolo, conquistando a Série B de 2018 e a Copa do Nordeste em 2019.

Ainda em 2019, o treinador chegou a trabalhar no Cruzeiro, mas ficou pouco tempo no clube e voltou ao Leão do Pici, onde terminou a temporada com a permanência na Série A.

Em novembro de 2020, Ceni assumiu o comando do Flamengo e, apesar de críticas e eliminação precoce na Libertadores, conquistou o Brasileirão. A taça foi levantada justamente no Morumbi, diante do São Paulo, um dos rivais na briga pelo título.

De volta ao palco onde conquistou seu maior título como treinador e onde fez história como jogador, Rogério Ceni novamente defende o São Paulo, mas enfrenta o Flamengo pela primeira vez desde que saiu do time carioca.

CONFIRA A TABELA ATUALIZADA E SIMULE OS JOGOS DO BRASILEIRÃO DE 2021!

Os contextos das equipes são bem diferentes. O Tricolor é o atual 14º colocado do campeonato, com 38 pontos e trava luta conta o Z4. O Rubro-Negro, por sua vez, é o vice-líder da competição, mas vem de sequência turbulenta, embora foque na final da Libertadores, no dia 27 de novembro.

Para a partida, o São Paulo não conta com Rodrigo Nestor, Gabriel Sara e Welington, suspensos, além de não ter Luan, William e Galeano, lesionados, e Arboleda, convocado para a seleção equatoriana.

A bola rola neste domingo (14), às 16h, no Morumbi, em partida válida pela 32ª rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro.

Don’t say it too loudly, but things might be on the up for West Ham United.

After months of poor performances and even worse results, the Hammers finally won a Premier League game on the weekend, as Nuno Espírito Santo’s side dismantled Newcastle United 3-1.

It was a game in which practically the whole team showed up, one in which any number of players could have been man of the match.

Moreover, it was an afternoon in which West Ham’s next big-money star may have announced himself, someone who has shades of Declan Rice to his game.

West Ham's standout stars vs Newcastle

When talking about the West Ham stars who really shone on Sunday afternoon, it would be ridiculous not to start with Lucas Paqueta.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

The Brazilian has come in for some justified criticism this season, but against the Toon, he was simply sensational.

It was his wonder strike in the 35th minute that started the Hammers’ fightback, and were it not for some good goalkeeping four minutes earlier, that would have been his second in the game.

Someone who was almost as influential on the match was Jarrod Bowen, as while he didn’t score or assist a goal, he came awfully close, rattling the post just before Jacob Murphey’s opener.

Finally, while they’ve been woeful almost every time they’ve played this season, Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo deserve plenty of credit for their resolute defending.

Between them, they made 16 clearances, won five of seven duels and were dribbled past just a single time.

In all, there were unreal displays across the board for West Ham against Newcastle, including from one player who could be their next big-money star and already looks a bit Rice-esque.

West Ham's future big-money star

While the likes of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville all deserve credit, the starter who left a significant impression on fans and pundits alike was Freddie Potts.

The academy graduate has featured a few times for the first team, but Sunday afternoon was his first competitive start for the club, and to say he repaid the manager’s faith would be an understatement.

The 22-year-old was utterly sensational in the middle of the park, bringing some much-needed dynamism to the role while maintaining a technical level some might not have expected from him.

Minutes

90′

Key Passes

2

Crosses

2

Passes

33/39

Touches

57

Tackles (Won)

3 (2)

Interceptions

1

Clearances

6

Recoveries

1

Ground Duels (Won)

4 (3)

In his 90 minutes of action, the Englishman played two key passes, completed two crosses, was accurate in 33 of 39 passes, took 57 touches, won 66% of his tackles, made six clearances and won 75% of his ground duels.

It was a quintessential all-action display from the midfielder, and if his boots were one size smaller, he could have topped it off with a well-taken goal.

Unsurprisingly, such a strong showing from an academy graduate has led to comparisons with the club’s former captain, with one content creator noting that he has a “similar aura to Rice when he first came through.”

In addition to his development as a player, the content creator credited the Englishman’s “supreme confidence and ability to create time and space on the ball” as reasons for the comparison.

Now, it might sound a little over the top considering it was his first start for the club, but thanks to his ability to protect the ball, carry it into dangerous areas and play the right pass at the right time, it is easy to see where such comparisons come from.

Moreover, as was the case with the former midfielder, there already seems to be a connection between the Barking-born ace and the fans, with journalist Dan Woffenden claiming he “understands what it means to wear the shirt.”

Ultimately, West Ham will want to keep hold of Potts for the long term, but if he does end up emulating Rice and eventually leaves, at least they should once again get massive money for an academy graduate.

West Ham player ratings v Newcastle United as Nuno secures first victory

The Hammers returned to winning ways with a 3-1 win against Newcastle this afternoon.

ByDominic Lund Nov 2, 2025

Tensions are running high in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series.

In the bottom of the fourth inning Saturday night, Dodgers reliever Justin Wrobleski hit Blue Jays shortstop Andrés Giménez with a 96.4 mph four-seam fastball in the forearm.

Giménez dropped his bat and held his arms out wide while staring at Wrobleski on the mound. The reliever took a few steps toward Giménez, and that’s when chaos ensued on the field.

Both the Dodgers’ and Blue Jays’ benches cleared, and even the relievers in the dugout did their ceremonial trot down to the field to get closer to the confrontation.

Despite showing the early signs of a fracas, no shoves or punches were thrown, and every player remained in the game. Wrobleski struck out Nathan Lukes and got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to line out to center field to get out of the fourth inning without giving up a run.

Through five-and-a-half innings of Game 7, the Blue Jays lead the Dodgers 3–2.