According to Simon Phillips, Mauricio Pochettino wants to keep Mason Mount at Chelsea this summer, amid links with a move to Manchester United.
Is Mason Mount leaving Chelsea?
Mount’s Chelsea future reportedly remains uncertain.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the England international is keen on a move to Manchester United, who have been quoted €80m (£68m) for the potential transfer.
The Red Devils are reportedly set to table their opening bid, however, given Mount’s interest in making the move.
It could be a case of now or never when it comes to cashing in for Chelsea, as Mount’s current contract comes to an end this time next year, leaving him free to leave.
According to Martyn Ziegler of The Times, the Blues will need to offload some players in order to adhere to Financial Fair Play rules, meaning that allowing Mount to leave could help fix a major problem of theirs.
Does Mauricio Pochettino want to keep Mason Mount?
Next Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino
According to Phillips, incoming manager Pochettino wants to keep Mount, leading to internal conversations about keeping the midfielder, no matter the contract situation.
If that is to be the case, Mount would leave on a free deal next summer.
Phillips said on his Substack: "Mauricio Pochettino is desperate to keep Mason Mount and that is leading to internal conversations about not selling him this summer whether a new contract is signed or not."
Given the chaos on and off the pitch at Stamford Bridge, the question rises at whether Chelsea can afford to let a player of Mount’s calibre leave this summer, especially to a direct rival in Manchester United.
Mount is not short on fans at Old Trafford, either, with former player John O’Shea heaping praise on the midfielder.
O’Shea told TalkSport: “He’s definitely shown over the last few years in the Premier League and in Europe the quality he possesses.
“And if you think how he’s performed for England too, he’s definitely a player you’d be looking at.
“And if they can get business like that done early, it’s a fantastic addition, and he will add to the goals in terms of creating and scoring them himself too.”
It remains to be seen whether Pochettino can convince Mount to stay put this summer and be part of the pending rebuild at Stamford Bridge.
An academy graduate at the Blues, the midfielder's heart may just yet still be at the club, or, at least, that may be the hope of the incoming manager.
With plenty of the summer transfer saga to come, Mount’s future remains undecided, as Pochettino arrives at Chelsea and United continue their interest.
Heath Streak is considered a favourite to become head coach of Zimbabwe as ZC seek to fill the position before home Tests against Sri Lanka later this month
Firdose Moonda06-Oct-2016
Heath Streak has previously served as bowling coach with Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Gujarat Lions•AFP
Zimbabwe have conducted interviews to fill the position of head coach, left vacant by the sacking of Dav Whatmore in June. Heath Streak, Andy Blignaut and South Africans Peter Kirsten and Justin Summons were interviewed by five ZC board members on Wednesday. An appointment is expected to be made before the Sri Lanka Tests later this month and is likely to be a two-year contract with the mandate to ensure Zimbabwe qualifies for the 2019 World Cup.Of the candidates, Streak is considered the favourite while Summons is the dark horse. Based in Johannesburg, Summons worked with both Prosper Utseya and Brian Vitori to correct illegal bowling actions. Both bowlers have subsequently been cleared to play.Summons will have tough competition from Streak, who was Zimbabwe’s bowling coach under Alan Butcher between 2010 and 2013 and has had stints with Bangladesh and at the IPL since. Streak will likely be able to continue in his role with IPL team Gujarat Lions, which occupies him for only two months a year, even if he gets the Zimbabwe job.Blignaut does not have the same experience as Streak but does share local knowledge. He has been coaching at Peterhouse, one of Zimbabwe’s most prestigious sporting schools, and was being considered for a role with Zimbabwe’s under-19 side earlier this year.Kirsten is also currently involved at a school, Redhill in Johannesburg, while also working as a commentator on SABC Radio. His most recent coaching experiences are all in Africa; he was involved with Uganda, Kenya and Sierra Leone. Kirsten also coached Western Province in the past.Zimbabwe’s South African connection is strong. Their most recent acting head coach was Makhaya Ntini, who took over for ODIs against India and two Tests against New Zealand. With only one victory in eight games, Ntini, who does not have any coaching qualifications apart from the Level II that all former Test players automatically hold, came under pressure and Zimbabwe were forced to seek out another head coach. Ntini is still in Zimbabwe and players have been training under him and batting consultant Lance Klusener in the lead-up to matches against Pakistan A. Ntini and Klusener, who have signed contracts with ZC, are expected to be retained in the roles of bowling coach and batting consultant respectively.Zimbabwe are scheduled to play two Tests against Sri Lanka in Harare starting on October 29, after which they will play an ODI triangular series also involving West Indies.
Leeds United are in the hunt for a new manager and West Bromwich Albion boss Carlos Corberan will be a 'serious contender' for the vacancy at Elland Road, according to journalist Dean Jones.
What's the latest manager news involving Leeds United?
According to The Athletic, Corberan is among the candidates for the manager position at Leeds United as they look to find the right man to lead them in the Sky Bet Championship next term.
The Daily Mail report that Leeds United have made 'early soundings' about the possibility of hiring the 40-year-old, who has a £2 million release clause written into is contract at West Brom.
Corberan has previously spent time at Leeds United in an assistant manager capacity and Whites' chiefs were keen to speak to him back in March following their decision to sack Jesse Marsch; however, West Brom stepped in to offer him an improved contract to fend off interest in his services.
As per Football Insider, West Brom are said to be 'braced for an approach' from Leeds United regarding Corberan, who is tied to his current employers until 2027 contractually.
BBC journalist Adam Pope has endorsed the possibility of Leeds United hiring Corberan on the Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet podcast, stating: “Financially, they’re in trouble [West Brom], we know that. So he needs another challenge. I think it makes a lot of sense Carlos Corberan coming in, whereas a couple of years ago people might think, ‘is he ready for that?’. He’s more than proved that I think.”
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, journalist Jones has indicated that he expects Corberan to be in and around the favourites to take over at Elland Road.
Jones said: “Corberan is the one I've heard the most about for this job. I don't know if he's the favourite for the job, but of the names talked about, they definitely like him.
“They've considered him before and kept a close eye on his management style and how he deals with players. I think he'll be a serious contender.”
Would Carlos Corberan be a good appointment for Leeds United?
Given his previous relations with Leeds United and preference to play on the front foot, Corberan is someone who would be an exciting appointment in Yorkshire that would give the Whites some hope that they could challenge for the Sky Bet Championship next term.
Corberan, who was hailed as a "crazy" and is "absolutely obsessed" in a passage from the Athletic, has the ability to mix it up tactically, flickering between slow build-up play, fast transitions and a more direct approach reliant on crosses into the box to strategically outwit the opposition dependent on their style of play, as per Breaking The Lines.
carlos-corberan-west-brom-leeds-united
In his time at West Brom, the Spaniard has accumulated 52 points in the English second-tier, presiding over 16 wins, four draws and ten losses in 30 matches in charge, giving him an average points-per-game ratio of 1.73, as per Transfermarkt.
At Huddersfield Town, Corberan also led the Terriers to the Sky Bet Championship play-off final back in 2021/22, narrowly losing out to Nottingham Forest at Wembley Stadium.
Leeds United will need someone who knows what it takes to regularly claim results in what is a notoriously difficult division to get out of and Corberan is someone with a knack of doing that while playing an attractive brand of football.
Moeen Ali added another reprieve to his list of escapes with the bat in the Chittagong Test
ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2016
Fortune has favoured Moeen Ali in Chittagong•Associated Press
Moeen Ali has had his fair share of fortune in the first Test in Chittagong. His opening-day 68 involved five DRS interventions – three in a period of six balls when he was given out by Kumar Dharmasena either side of lunch – but in the second innings a reprieve came from a different route.Facing Shakib Al Hasan, on 6, he flicked the ball off his hip straight a short leg who, at first glance from a front-on angle, had appeared to grasp the catch close to his chest. However, Moeen was well aware of the Laws and had noticed that the ball had made contact with the grille of Mominul Haque’s helmet before settling in his hands.Mominul, himself, also appeared to know the outcome as he barely celebrated the catch amid the initial excitement from the bowler. After a quick check with the third umpire, it was confirmed as not out.This is the Law (32.3) in question: “The act of making the catch shall start from the time when the ball in flight comes into contact with some part of a fielder’s person other than a protective helmet, and shall end when a fielder obtains complete control both over the ball and over his own movement… it is not a fair catch if the ball has previously touched a protective helmet worn by a fielder. The ball will then remain in play.”In the dressing room, Jonny Bairstow may have had a wry smile. He has twice fallen foul of being caught off a fielder’s helmet. It first happened in Mumbai, during the 2012 series, when he prodded a catch to silly point which was held by Gautam Gambhir. Initially all looked normal with the dismissal, but the wicket also brought lunch and as replays continued to be scanned it became clear Gambhir’s helmet had been involved. There were attempts by England to have the decision overturned but Bairstow was not reprieved.Three years later, during the 2015 Ashes, it happened to Bairstow again. In the second innings at The Oval he inside-edged Nathan Lyon to short leg where, with a juggle, Adam Voges held the catch. Again, he walked off without much fuss only for subsequent replays to show it had come off Voges’ helmet.More recently, during the India-New Zealand Test series in Kanpur, there was another example when Tom Latham was given a life when he swept Ravi Jadeja off his boot to KL Rahul at short leg but the ball struck the chin-strap of the helmet before the catch was completed. The umpires had already sent the catch to the third umpire, to check for a bump ball, so the deflection was picked up and Latham survived.
Pat Howard, the Australian side’s performance chief, has pointed to patience and adaptability to read to the situation as one of the shortcomings the batsmen need to express
Daniel Brettig in Hobart13-Nov-20163:30
‘I’m accountable for performances’ – Howard
Australia’s team performance chief Pat Howard, the man held ultimately accountable for the fortunes of the national side, has reached out to former opening batsman Chris Rogers for advice on how to scotch the bleeding of the Test team’s currently hapless top six.Howard also admitted that he, the coach Darren Lehmann and the national selection panel were under pressure to keep their jobs unless results improved. Appointed as a result of the Argus review in August 2011, he said that there needed to be renewed focus on the defensive and tactical skills of batsmanship to get through difficult days like the one experienced in Hobart on Saturday.”It needs more focus. That’s simple,” Howard said. “Chris was fantastic, you go back to what he and David Warner did at the Oval [in 2015], I think it was 14 runs off 10 overs, they read the situation really well. That patience and adaptability to read the situation there. I’ve really been impressed by Chris’ insights and comments and I was before.”He’s got a good insight into the game … we’ve talked to him about coming and talking to people around that, both technically and mentally, and about a year ago he worked with our Under-19s. It’s a fair comment and something to drive some of our thinking.”The position of Australian batting coach has changed hands this year, following Howard’s decision not to grant an improved contract to Michael Di Venuto, who held the position with some success for the previous three years. Di Venuto, who has been in Hobart this week, then took the job as head coach of Surrey, and the role was handed over to the former England batsman Graeme Hick, an internal appointment via his role at the National Cricket Centre.Before this Test, Hick admitted he had his work cut out to build the relationships necessary to be an effective batting coach for the team. The rest of Lehmann’s support staff, including the assistant coach David Saker and the fielding coach Greg Blewett, are all relatively recent appointments. Rogers has said that the spate of batting collapses pointed to deeper issues within the team, and in the domestic structure beneath it.”I think good sides always find a way to fight when they’re in trouble, and the Australian side at the moment, when they lose a few wickets it’s just a collapse,” Rogers told ABC’s Offsiders on Sunday. “All 10 wickets have fallen, we’ve seen it now two Tests in a row I think for 86 in the first Test and now 85 in this Test, and you don’t see that [often]. So there’s something fundamentally wrong I think with the side, they’re obviously lacking confidence. There’s no doubt the talent’s there, but they just can’t find a way to fight, and that’s really disconcerting.”Speaking to particularly a few of the older guys, past players, there’s a bit of a thought that maybe we should push to return to how the Sheffield Shield used to be – just pick the best sides, the best players and see who wins. We have this system now where we’re trying to identify players and push them through. But we’ve been doing that for a fair while now and it doesn’t seem to be working, the performances haven’t really been there to justify it. I think it’s about now finding that winning culture. We’ve perhaps lost that, and whether we need to find that at the level below, maybe that’s the way to go.”Howard stated, among other things, that Australia’s traditional Gabba start – where they had not lost a Test match since 1988 – had to be moved for commercial reasons, namely an effort to build the audience for a Brisbane match via the avenue of a day-night Test. But he also said the team had to be adaptable enough to cope.Pat Howard on Chris Rogers’ role: “He’s got a good insight into the game … we’ve talked to him about coming and talking to people around that, both technically and mentally”•Getty Images
“The team does like starting in Brisbane obviously but we just talked about adaptability and being able to play in different conditions at different times,” Howard said. “Brisbane has been a Test match that has struggled in other areas of the game over the last couple of years and they look to do something different.”I’d like to have games in Brisbane to support the team at times, there were other aspects as well, but we also need to adapt and I don’t want to look for excuses. We want to look for excuses at times and look for easy answers, and I don’t want to go down that track. Whatever you get overseas, whatever you get at home, do your homework, do your preparation get ready to adapt to the situation and the conditions on offer.”Like the national selectors, Trevor Hohns and Mark Waugh, Howard’s contract expires at the end of June 2017. The selection chairman Rod Marsh has already indicated he will vacate his post at that time, but Howard said there had been no discussion about finding his replacement any earlier than that. He did indicate,d however, that the entire panel may be refreshed at that time.”It’s important to note that Rod and I had that discussion well before the Sri Lanka tour,” Howard said. “This has been well in train and [his replacement] hasn’t been contemplated, we announced it a couple of weeks ago, and it was just confirming what all of us had known for a long time.”We’ve always had different guys on different tours. Trevor Hohns and Mark Waugh will go on and their contracts are due up at the same time as well, so they may not be staying either. I appreciate the pressure comes on Rod, he knows that this comes with the role, but there are people in that situation all the time and every time you say someone is not going to stay and you exit them straight away it doesn’t respect the work that they are doing at the time.”Howard also defended the decision to extend Lehmann’s contract until 2019 in August. “This is a great challenge for his coaching, I think he’s in uncharted territory for him as well and we’ve talked about that,” Howard said. “This is a great chance for him to reinvent.”He’s been contracted through past 2019, which is a huge year in the calendar, Ashes away and a World Cup back-to-back. We’ve got a young captain with a coach that’s wanted to give the team and squad some stability. I make no apologies for that, I made the decision and I take accountability for that.”
Current Birmingham City striker Troy Deeney has opened up about possibly signing for Arsenal but rejecting a move as he wouldn't apologise for a past comment made about Arsene Wenger and the club.
What happened between Troy Deeney and Arsenal?
Back in 2017, the Englishman annoyed many in North London following a 2-1 Watford win against the Gunners. Speaking to BT Sport after the game, he claimed that Wenger's men didn't have the "cojones" to deal with his physicality.
Deeney said (via Evening Standard): "I've heard Wenger's already blaming (the penalty decision) as the reason why they lost. I'm not going to be the one to tell Mr Wenger about himself, but there's a reason why they lost and it wasn't because of one penalty.
"I'll have to watch what I say. It's (having) a bit of cojones, a bit of nuts."
All these years on, in a new interview when speaking on Filthy Fellas podcast (via Watford Observer), he has claimed that Arsenal wanted to then sign him back in 2020.
However, a move could only happen if he apologised for his past comments, which he supposedly refused to do.
Deeney explained: "Then, back in training now, and I’m on the bike because my knee’s not right, and someone from Arsenal asks if I’d go to Arsenal. But what you have to do is apologise for that [cojones] comment.
“I said I’m not apologising for that."
What did Deeney say about joining Leicester?
Deeney is known for being a bit of a combustible character and this is further exemplified in the rest of the podcast. For instance, at one point he also spoke about the dramatic steps he would take to try and force a move to a move to Leicester City.
He said: “I was like ‘I want to go to Leicester’. They’d just won the league, they were in the Champions League. If I play three games I’ll probably get an England call-up.
“So we go back into Watford and they’re like ‘give us one last chance to convince you to stay’.
“So I’m at £30m. I ain’t running. I’m a big boy anyway. I’ll come back fat as f**k and I will injure every player until you sell me. I promise you, I’ll injure every player.“
What's more, he also then called out the journalist Andrew French on Twitter for sharing all the quotes from the recent podcast, saying: "Slow news week I see Andrew if you need context watch the full @Filthy_Fellas don’t take lines out because you have nothing to talk about."
All in all, he doesn't seem like the easier character to be around and it's probably fair to suggest most Arsenal fans won't be too sad to learn a transfer never came to pass.