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  • Ange Postecoglou: Tottenham manager in the dark over future

    Ange Postecoglou: Tottenham manager in the dark over future

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    Ange Postecoglou says he does not know whether he will remain Tottenham Hotspur head coach beyond the end of the season.

    The Australian’s position is under mounting uncertainty following a disappointing domestic season that leaves the club 15th in the Premier League, while they were eliminated from the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

    Spurs face Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany on Thursday night (20:00 BST) in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final which is evenly poised at 1-1.

    Defeat would heap further doubt on Postecoglou’s future.

    When asked whether he knew what would happen regarding his position this season, Postecoglou said: “No – no idea. We have a game tomorrow night, but it’s not something I need to think about. I’ve never thought about those things in terms of what is important.

    “What is important is the game that’s a massive opportunity for this group of players and this football club to get closer to achieving what everyone wants to achieve.

    “Anything other than that, particularly in terms of me, I don’t really have much thought process that thinks about my career or what I’m doing in that way.”

    Postecoglou’s side have lost 17 Premier League games out of 32 this season.

    Only the current bottom three clubs – Southampton (26 defeats), Leicester (22) and Ipswich (19) – have lost more.

    Asked whether the speculation over his future was taking a toll on his mental wellbeing, Postecoglou said: “No, not at all. I don’t define my career or me as a person about what people think about me. I never have, I never will.

    “Whether I’m a good coach – one game isn’t going to make a difference to that. If people think us winning tomorrow suddenly makes me a better manager than what I am today, or if losing tomorrow somehow makes me a worse manager, I guess that’s their burden not mine. I just don’t think that way in terms of my self-esteem.

    “I couldn’t care less, I really couldn’t care less. There’s no burden on me, or anxiety on me.

    “What I’m doing is thinking we have a great opportunity to get to the final four of a major tournament. I’m not going to let that slip by without a fight, irrespective of what may come the day after.”

    Tottenham will be without captain Son Heung-min for the quarter-final because of a foot injury.

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  • Vivianne Miedema: Manchester City forward may miss rest of season with hamstring injury

    Vivianne Miedema: Manchester City forward may miss rest of season with hamstring injury

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    “She’s played a huge role in dragging this team up and she’s still doing the same today in the meeting room and on the training pitch.

    “She’s going to concentrate on her rehab now and we’re going to give her all the support she needs.”

    Miedema suffered a knee injury in October that required surgery and kept her sidelined for over three months.

    If fit she will likely be included in the Netherlands squad for Euro 2025, where they will face England, France and Wales in the group stage.

    City will also be without Jamaica striker Khadija Shaw, who has missed the last four games with a hamstring injury, for Sunday’s derby encounter at their home Joie Stadium.

    Cushing said German defender Rebecca Knaak and Japan forward Aoba Fujino have returned to training, along with long-term absentees Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp, but stressed City “can’t afford” to rush them back.

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  • Premier League, WSL, EFL, Scottish football: Ups, downs & European qualification

    Premier League, WSL, EFL, Scottish football: Ups, downs & European qualification

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    The Premiership splits in half after 33 games, on the weekend of 12-13 April – with each club playing the others in their ‘half’ for a fourth and final time.

    Celtic, Rangers, Hibernian, Aberdeen and Dundee United will all be in the top half, with St Johnstone, Dundee, Kilmarnock and Ross County guaranteed to be in the bottom half.

    The champions – Celtic or Rangers – will enter the Champions League play-off round, with the runners-up entering in the second qualifying round. Celtic require a maximum of six points from their last six games to clinch the title.

    The Scottish Cup winners will enter the Europa League at the play-off round. If the cup winners finish in the top two, that Europa place reverts to the league.

    The third-placed Premiership team will enter the Europa League at the second qualifying round, with the fourth-placed team entering the Conference League at the second qualifying round.

    The Premiership’s bottom club will be relegated to the Scottish Championship, while the 11th-placed team will enter a play-off with three Championship sides.

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  • Scottish clubs can postpone league match for European play-offs

    Scottish clubs can postpone league match for European play-offs

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    Scottish clubs will be able to postpone a league match to prepare for a play-off round tie in European competition from next season.

    Previously postponements had to be agreed by both clubs but now a team playing in Europe can unilaterally delay a game.

    It only applies to matches on the weekend of 22 and 23 August 2025, between the first and second legs of play-off ties in the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League.

    Next season the Scottish Premiership winners – likely to be Celtic – will enter the Champions League at the play-off stage.

    The second place side, which looks set to be Rangers, will enter in the second qualifying round, while this season’s Scottish Cup winners, or third-place side if Celtic win the cup, will enter the Europa League at the play-off stage.

    The change was approved by the SPFL board after a working group recommended altering the rules.

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  • Northern Ireland women’s squad: Glentoran’s Aimee Kerr receives first call-up for Romania double-header

    Northern Ireland women’s squad: Glentoran’s Aimee Kerr receives first call-up for Romania double-header

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    Glentoran midfielder Aimee Kerr has received her first call-up to the Northern Ireland squad for their Nations League double-header against Romania.

    The 18-year-old previously captained NI at under-19 level and replaces club teammate Chloe McCarron in the squad after impressing in her first Women’s Premiership season.

    Tanya Oxtoby’s side are second Group B1 after a defeat against Poland and a home win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in their first two games.

    They face Romania, who are bottom of the group after two defeats in their first two games, in Bucharest on Friday 4 April before a return game at Windsor Park four days later.

    Oxtoby has also brought in Linfield defender Abi Sweetlove for Nottingham Forest full-back Nat Johnson in the only other change from her February squad.

    Sweetlove, who also captained NI at under-19 level, was in the squad for the Euro play-off win against Croatia but was an unused substitute.

    Glentoran duo Nadene Caldwell and Kascie Weir, who were late additions to the squad last month, retain their places.

    Striker Weir made her debut off the bench in the 2-0 loss in Gdansk before making her first start and impressing in the 3-2 comeback win against Bosnia-Herzegovina at Inver Park.

    Captain Simone Magill is one of four Birmingham City players named in the 23-player squad alongside Rebecca Holloway, Rebecca McKenna and Ellie Mason.

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  • Wales’ World Cup score to settle after Qatar ‘nightmare’ of 2022

    Wales’ World Cup score to settle after Qatar ‘nightmare’ of 2022

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    Wales’ World Cup campaign started to unravel at the very moment it began in earnest.

    They were fortunate to draw against the United States in their opening game, Page admitting he got his selection and tactics wrong as his side were outplayed by dynamic, athletically superior opposition.

    Bale’s late penalty rescued Wales on that occasion but, with their all-time leading scorer’s influence waning as retirement loomed, Page’s side would have no such luck in their remaining two fixtures.

    The manager said there were “lessons learned” against the USA but he proceeded to repeat the same mistakes against Iran as Wales were overwhelmed physically once again, hopelessly overrun as Iran won 2-0.

    More than effectively extinguishing Welsh hopes of reaching the second round, this felt like the beginning of the end of their golden generation.

    Bale, Ramsey and Allen were all key figures in Wales’ dizzying ascent to the Euro 2016 semi-finals but, in the baking desert heat of Qatar, they had been reduced to shrivelled imitations of their former selves.

    The final ignominy was a 3-0 defeat against England which could have been a far more severe drubbing had Gareth Southgate’s men felt the urge.

    Just a week after their first World Cup game for 64 years, Wales were heading home.

    “Hopefully, next time we qualify it won’t just be about being there,” says defender Neco Williams, who started all three matches.

    “Last time, we were just there.”

    Plenty wanted Page gone while others felt World Cup qualification had made him close to unsackable, or at least had earned him another chance.

    However, he was soon under pressure after a humiliating 4-2 home defeat against Armenia derailed their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

    Although he held on to his job despite missing out on qualification, Page was eventually dismissed last summer and replaced by Craig Bellamy.

    Bellamy has started superbly, unbeaten in six games having led Wales to the Nations League’s top division and instilled a bold new playing style in the process.

    His ultimate aim, as he stated on his first day in the job, is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

    And more than that, having seen how Wales fared in Qatar and how that disappointment still burns in his players, Bellamy wants his team to do themselves justice if they get to next year’s competition in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

    “These boys have got to a World Cup. I understand the motivation to move that again because of what happened last time,” he says.

    “We always talk about ‘us against the world’ but we’re not an underdog. I don’t believe in that, and I won’t have it. Now, at times you use it, but you can’t live on it because it only lasts so long.

    “For me, it’s always ‘no, we are more’. We think more of ourselves than anyone else thinks of us.”

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  • Football transfer rumours: Barry Ferguson Rangers manager latest

    Football transfer rumours: Barry Ferguson Rangers manager latest

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    Rangers‘ incoming owners face a massive dilemma after interim manager Barry Ferguson’s achieves victory at Celtic Park with a team of perennial underachievers. (Daily Record), external

    Rangers defender John Souttar has been impressed with the job Ferguson has done since taking over from Philippe Clement on a temporary basis – but refused to be drawn on the caretaker manager’s future. (The Scotsman), external

    Almost 100 Rangers ultras were denied entry to Sunday’s Old Firm game at Celtic Park after refusing to be searched for weapons and pyros. (Scottish Sun), external

    Coach Peter Leven has rejected overtures from St Johnstone and Raith Rovers to remain at Aberdeen – and he now has a more integral role under Jimmy Thelin. (Press & Journal), external

    Ex-Celtic midfielder Alan Thompson says Rangers‘ celebrations after the Old Firm game were “slightly embarrassing” considering they are 13 points behind in the Premiership. (Scottish Sun), external

    Alex Rae, who was a coach at Ibrox a month ago, joined the Rangers fans in the away end at Celtic Park as he lapped up the derby victory. (Daily Record), external

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  • Uefa Champions League Squares: Play BBC Sport’s new interactive game

    Uefa Champions League Squares: Play BBC Sport’s new interactive game

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    Each gameday will begin at 07:00 on the morning of every Champions League matchday this season.

    You will have the chance to answer four trivia questions to earn up to four edit tokens before your Squares gamecard is generated, and you can use those tokens to make changes to your gamecard until 17:00 that day.

    Each edit token allows you to make one change to your card:

    • Bonus Mark-Off: Mark any square as correct before kick-off.

    • Flip Team: Swap the team for a different team (only available on team tiles).

    • Random Change: Swap a chosen square for another randomly selected tile.

    After 17:00, your gamecard is locked down and you will take that card into that evening’s games. For new users looking to start playing after the cut-off, you can still receive a gamecard, but will not have the chance to edit it.

    For the knockout stages of the competition, extra-time will be taken into account on your card, but not penalty shootouts.

    There are a number of ways you can score points, but for further game instructions, read the How to Play section within the game itself.

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  • Fenerbahce 1-3 Rangers: ‘Cyriel Dessers leads way for weirdest Ibrox team ever’

    Fenerbahce 1-3 Rangers: ‘Cyriel Dessers leads way for weirdest Ibrox team ever’

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    Is there one to rival them in the Rangers ‘odditorium’? Club historians will have plenty to say on that.

    In more recent memory, the Giovanni van Bronckhorst side of 2021-22 are worth a mention. They got to the Europa League final that season, only losing on penalties.

    They beat the Borussia Dortmund of Mats Hummels, Raphael Guerreiro and Jude Bellingham then the RB Leipzig of Konrad Laimer, Josko Gvardiol, Dani Olmo and Dominik Szoboszlai.

    One missed penalty in the final shootout against an Eintracht Frankfurt side later broken up and sold on for serious money was all that stopped them.

    All of those massive nights against heavy-hitters in Europe and they had to settle for second place in the Scottish Premiership to Ange Postecoglou’s new Celtic team.

    There are big differences between that team and the Rangers of today, though. Van Bronckhorst’s lot fought hard domestically, losing the league by just four points and winning the Scottish Cup.

    They were never as far off the pace in Scotland as the current crew, and never displayed the kind of incredible turbulence that has been so pervasive this season.

    Winston Churchill described the geo-politics of the old Soviet Union as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma – a description that could be stolen and applied to the twin personalities of this Rangers outfit.

    Fenerbahce, like others before them, afforded Rangers time and space on the not unreasonable premise that a team not good enough to score against second-tier opposition in Scotland was hardly likely to cause them too many problems.

    Big mistake. Huge. They reckoned without the Jekyll and Hyde, the domestic Rangers and the European Rangers, the Rangers who have the devil’s own job in breaking down defensive teams in the Premiership but who are like kids in candy stores in Europe when there is space and an ability to counter-attack.

    Dessers typified the effort: strutting, lethal and head and shoulders ahead of more celebrated strikers down the other end.

    Ferguson and his coaches deserve huge credit for a formation shift to three at the back, which worked well. For sending their team out with belief when those players had reason not to believe.

    And for delivering a massive result that sets up a pulse-quickening night at Ibrox next Thursday. Bonkers, but brilliantly so.

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  • Matheus Cunha: How costly will forward’s red card prove for Wolves?

    Matheus Cunha: How costly will forward’s red card prove for Wolves?

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    Wolves boss Pereira told BBC Match of the Day: “When the situation happened I was looking for the ball.

    “It means that I didn’t see the situation, but football is emotional and the level was very high today. Not only inside the pitch, but outside [the pitch]. With a lot of pressure, and in the end these are things that can happen.

    “You know now he is frustrated, he is better in my opinion. I never speak to the team when we are nervous or frustrated. It is better to wait one day and think about everything. After we can have a talk.

    “Of course, he is an important player, but next game we play with 11 and start with 11.”

    Speaking in his post-match news conference, he added: “Matheus is a special player and today he played extra time. The last three weeks he has a problem in the hamstring and he tried.

    “I didn’t see the situation. Don’t ask me about it because I was looking at the other end. In the end the referee decided the red card.”

    Asked about whether Cunha deserves another chance, Pereira added: “Of course, he is important but I cannot speak about what I don’t know. It is important to check the situation, to look for what happened because I was looking for the other side.

    “The others say to me he kick, he punch, he do what he did with the head and the player went to hospital? No, OK. But it is a situation that cannot happen of course.

    “To judge the situation, I must have the clear image in my mind.”

    Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola criticised the decision to show Kerkez a yellow card in the Cunha clash. It was was the defender’s second in this season’s FA Cup and means he will be banned from playing in the quarter-final tie.

    “Milos Kerkez has received a yellow card for adopting an aggressive attitude,” said Iraola. “After what they have done to Milos Kerkez, they should reward him because [of] the attitude he has.

    “They punch him, they kick him on the floor, they headbutt him and he doesn’t react! You punish this? I will have to say to Milos [that] probably I cannot do as well as a player.

    “The prize is they show him a yellow card and he will not play the quarter-final. Yes, I am very disappointed with the refereeing.”

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