a month agoMan Utd hero Parker: Lukaku disrespected badge
About the authorAnsser SadiqShare the loveHave your say Man Utd hero Parker: Lukaku disrespected badgeby Ansser Sadiqa month agoSend to a friendShare the loveFormer Manchester United star Paul Parker believes that Romelu Lukaku disrespected the club.Both Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez joined Inter Milan this summer.Lukaku left on a permanent transfer, while Sanchez is at the Italian club on a one-year loan deal.And Parker believes it was the correct decision, despite criticising United for not replacing either of the star attackers.He said on the WeAreTheBusbyBoys podcast: “The problem is when you have a long term plan, you can only go as far as the people above will allow, so you have to also work with the short term in mind.”He [Solskjaer] wanted Lukaku to go, and he would have liked a replacement, but as we know he wasn’t allowed to [sign one].”As far as Sanchez goes, if he’d kept him and not used him, or he’d have got injured, or if he’d kept him and used him and his performances continued to dip, he would have been slaughtered for not getting him out.”I think in the long term it’s still absolutely right.”With Sanchez they’ve been able to get rid of a portion of the money and there was obviously an issue with Lukaku, an attitude problem and the way he conducted himself didn’t help, he disrespected the badge on the shirt.”It’s the long game he looked at and in my opinion it’s to the benefit of the dressing room.” 
Wenger fires Arsenal warning at Pepeby Paul Vegas17 days agoSend to a friendShare the loveArsene Wenger has warned Nicolas Pepe he must earn his place at Arsenal.The winger became Arsenal’s record signing this summer, but he has initially struggled for consistency.And Wenger says the Ivorian will have to earn his place in Unai Emery’s team on merit alone.”I like the player and I thought it was a good decision [to sign him],” Wenger told Omnisport. “He’s not yet completely adapted and you have to give him some time. He looks a little bit to be playing not with the freedom he did in France at the moment.”I see some characteristics of his game, especially off the ball, that don’t happen at the moment. On the other hand, I must say we have good young players who can play on the flanks, [and] that he will have a fight to keep his position.” About the authorPaul VegasShare the loveHave your say
Emery wants complete Arsenal performance against Vitoriaby Freddie Taylora day agoSend to a friendShare the loveArsenal manager Unai Emery wants to see a complete performance from his team in the UEFA Europa League.The Gunners are coming into the cup competition on the back of a disappointing Premier League defeat against Sheffield United on Monday.Now they face off against Vitoria SC from the Portuguese league at home in the Europa League on Thursday.Speaking about the game during his press conference, Emery said: “We respect them. They are fourth in the table [in Portugal] and are a very competitive team. They lost the first two games but the games were close. “Tomorrow we’ll expect a difficult match. I think we are showing in Europa League a good performance and a good way in our idea to create and find our way for the future. We are playing compact, aggressively and defensively and offensively very good. We want to extend that tomorrow against Vitoria with respect but also by working to achieve the first position in this group. “We have the opportunity to first get three points, and we want to get to nine points to be top of the group. “You ask me how we play better and can improve, this is how we can do it. We want to feel good tomorrow and extend it for Sunday in the Premier League. “We are feeling good in Emirates Stadium with our supporters. Sometimes we are winning with very good results, like against Nottingham Forest and Standard Liege, but sometimes we are struggling but still winning, like against Bournemouth and Aston Villa. “Tomorrow we want to extend that good moment with a complete match.” About the authorFreddie TaylorShare the loveHave your say
Former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has said that he believes his ex-team-mate in West London Eden Hazard is better suited to Real Madrid than another of his previous clubs, Barcelona.Hazard joined Zinedine Zidane’s club this summer in a £89 million ($111m) deal as Los Blancos look to usurp the Catalan club at the top of La Liga.Fabregas, who spent five years alongside the Belgium international at Stamford Bridge, thinks Hazard’s free-flowing style is better suited to the Santiago Bernebeu than Camp Nou. Article continues below Editors’ Picks Emery out of jail – for now – as brilliant Pepe papers over Arsenal’s cracks What is Manchester United’s ownership situation and how would Kevin Glazer’s sale of shares affect the club? Ox-rated! Dream night in Genk for Liverpool ace after injury nightmare Messi a man for all Champions League seasons – but will this really be Barcelona’s? “Hazard is a great player who makes the difference,” the Monaco player is quoted as saying by AS.“He is the kind of player that was made to play at Real Madrid because he needs a lot of space to run in to, to have the ball and drive, he likes to move around the field and you can’t tell him to ‘stay there’.“At Barcelona, for example, it’s a team more about positioning, for everyone to be in their place to circulate the ball.“And he likes to go to the ball to have freedom and he can give Real Madrid much more than he could give to Barcelona.”
Not to be outdone by their fierce rivals, Barca have also augmented their attacking ranks by capturing Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid.The France international made the switch, in somewhat controversial circumstances, for €120 million (£108m/$135m) on July 14.Fabregas, in Spain for a pre-season friendly against Valencia, said he found the move ‘surprising’ and also said a return to La Liga was unlikely as he nears the end of his playing career.“[Griezmann] signed an important contract with Atleti and it seemed he had the intention to try and do something big there. But football changes a lot,” the 32-year-old continued.“His arrival makes Barcelona even better because he’s a really good player and will support that attack a lot.“It’s difficult to think about coming to Spain at 32. My dream was to play with Barcelona and I did that for three years, won many things and was very happy.“A lot of things would have to happen for me to go back and play in Spain.”
BATON ROUGE, LA – SEPTEMBER 19: Fans watch during the game between the Louisiana State University Tigers and the University of Louisiana-Lafatette Ragin’ Cajuns at Tiger Stadium on September 19, 2009 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)An SEC football recruit has flipped his commitment. He’s flipped from one SEC West power to another.Cordale Flott, a cornerback out of Alabama, had been committed to Auburn. He’s de-committed from the Tigers and pledged to LSU.“I’m just doing what’s best for me and my career ahead,” Flott told SEC Country about his decision.Flott has become the 17th member of LSU’s 2019 class.BREAKING: Cordale Flott (@cordaleflott) has flipped his commitment from Auburn to the #LSU Tigers! ??#HoldthatTiger pic.twitter.com/jNlZhFA3xh— Josh Lemoine (@LsuFBallTruth) June 24, 2018LSU’s 2019 class is one of the best in the country. The Tigers’ 2019 class is ranked the No. 3 class in the country by 247Sports.Flott, a Saraland, Ala. native, is ranked the No. 51 cornerback in the country. He also held offers from Alabama, Florida, Nebraska and Tennessee, among others.
PISCATAWAY, NJ – OCTOBER 24: Head coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes during a game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at High Point Solutions Stadium on October 24, 2015 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz /Getty Images)Wednesday, former ESPN reporter Brett McMurphy released a report on Facebook, alleging that Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer lied when he said at Big Ten Media Days last week he had no knowledge of 2015 allegations of domestic violence against wide receivers coach Zach Smith. In the time since, McMurphy has made a number of appearances on both television and radio to talk about the case.One of this interviews came Thursday with his former colleague Bruce Feldman. McMurphy was asked exactly how he broke the story, and he divulged all:“He was so cut and dry that he did not know about it. If you guys remember, Monday night, I reported about the 2015 incident and now he’s saying it didn’t happen. I made it up out of thin air. His direct quote was “who would create such a story?”Well, I would create such a story because I had the police documents. So once that happened, what that made me do was made me report more and then follow the breadcrumbs. And here we are waiting to see the ultimate fate of Urban Meyer.…so I guess about a week or two before Big Ten Media Days, I started looking into the Zach Smith domestic violence issues and then I, through a public records request, found the information that I reported at Big Ten Media Days.Basically, I was still trying to report, see what I could find out. You keep making calls, pushing for different things. So when Urban said the quotes on Tuesday, all of a sudden it was like red flags went up. Wait, this doesn’t make sense. Why in the world is he denying this? There’s a police report, etc. I kept reporting, kept looking around. Eventually, I was able to contact Courtney Smith. I tracked her down.I said “I’d like to talk to you.” She agreed to talk to me. The first time I talked to her on the phone we talked for two and a half hours. It was unbelievable details – just everything she had gone through.At that point, this story was the abuse of Zach Smith against her – an ex-wife of the wide receivers coach. At that point, I had no clue what Urban Meyer did or didn’t know.So we talked a couple more times on the phone and I’m trying to write this story. And I basically, I knew as a journalist that I have to talk to her in person. This is not a phone interview.So I flew to Columbus. I spent three days there and I talked to her. I went over every detail that she gave me. I told her “you don’t have to convince me this is accurate. You have to convince everyone out there that’s not going to believe your story.” I need documents, emails, text messages, photos, whatever you have.She provided all of those. She provided all of those. So I went through everything line by line. What date was this sent on? What day did you receive this? What’s this from? Specifically – so there was no misunderstanding. I told her that if she had any information that I could not verify that I was not going to report it.So at that time when I finally was comfortable that I had went through all of these potential – not issues, but made sure I had all my bases covered, because again I don’t have 50 editors looking at this. I’m basically on my own.At that point, and during that process, it hit me with like “holy cow, Urban Meyer knew about this.” But wait, he just said Tuesday he didn’t know about it. So then, the shift of the story changed. That was never my intention.Ultimately, when I was finished reporting it, then Wednesday, that’s when I was ready. I felt comfortable to go with it. And then I reported it on Facebook Wednesday morning.”Now, we wait to see what Ohio State decides on Urban Meyer’s fate. In the meantime, Ryan Day has been named the team’s interim head coach.
NORMAN, OK – NOVEMBER 25: A general view of the stadium during the West Virginia Mountaineers vs. the Oklahoma Sooners game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated West Virginia 59-31. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)A former 4-star recruit is reportedly leaving his program. Addison Gumbs, a sophomore linebacker for the Oklahoma Sooners, is reportedly leaving the Sooners following Week 1 of the college football season.Gumbs suffered a season-ending injury before Oklahoma’s blowout win over Florida Atlantic over the weekend. The star linebacker reportedly suffered a non-contact injury to his knee.Head coach Lincoln Riley announced Gumbs would be out for the season.Now, it appears he’ll be leaving the program entirely. Carey Murdock of Sooner Scoop, reported that Gumbs is leaving the Sooners.BREAKING: Addison Gumbs is leaving the #Sooners football program. Some more background on what happened and why the decision was made on @SoonerScoop. https://t.co/v6BQNPJNhd— Carey Murdock (@CareyAMurdock) September 5, 2018The former 4-star recruit was the No. 9 defensive end recruit in the country for the 2017 class. He still had a redshirt available, which he could use to ensure his sophomore status.The details surrounding his departure from the program remain mum. Following the news he’d be out for the season, Gumbs tweeted “I’ll be back.”He appeared in four games as a freshman and was set to play a pivotal role this year.
ESPN college football analyst Desmond Howard appeared on SportsCenter this morning and was asked which top team is “vulnerable” heading into today’s game. His answer is a little surprising.Howard has the No. 3 team in the country being on upset alert this afternoon.The ESPN College GameDay analyst believes that No. 3 Ohio State, coming off its epic comeback win at Penn State last weekend, is vulnerable today.The Buckeyes are set to host Indiana at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio this afternoon.Ohio State is a sizable favorite this afternoon, but the Buckeyes are dealing with some injuries and perhaps could be in store for an emotional letdown following the win at Penn State.Howard believes Urban Meyer and his team are “vulnerable” today.ESPN’s computer is much more confident in Ohio State.The Worldwide Leader’s computer model gives the Buckeyes a 96.4 percent chance to win today’s game.Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. E.T. on FOX.
FORT WORTH, TX – NOVEMBER 24: A view as the TCU Horned Frogs take on the Baylor Bears at Amon G. Carter Stadium on November 24, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)As Week 8 of the college football season kicks off today (okay, fine it started earlier this week) there’s one pregame atmosphere that leaves much to be desired. Jason Kersey, who covers Oklahoma for The Athletic, revealed the “worst” pregame atmosphere he’s even seen.It’s TCU. The Horned Frogs take on Oklahoma this afternoon, but 45 minutes before kickoff the stadium was empty.Needless to say, Kersey wasn’t enthused with the turnout and he let TCU have it.“45 minutes before kickoff and this is probably the worst pregame atmosphere I’ve seen since I’ve covered college football,” Kersey said on Twitter.Can there be an atmosphere when there is nobody here? pic.twitter.com/Vk6X7woaO0— Road Warrior (@OURoadWarrior) October 20, 2018Oklahoma and Texas Christian kick off at 12:00 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ABC.We’ll have to wait and see if the stadium fills up. Perhaps the fans are just getting some additional rest before kickoff.
ARLINGTON, TX – SEPTEMBER 01: Former University of Michigan player Desmond Howard watches the action on the field during the game between the University of Alabama and the University of Michigan at Cowboys Stadium on September 1, 2012 in Arlington, Texas. Alabama defeated Michigan 41-14. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)Former Michigan star and current College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard revealed this week on Instagram that he recently had surgery on his knee. It looks like he’d been putting it off for some time.Howard posted an Instagram story with photos of himself before and after surgery. He said he’s “finally” now had time to get his knee “fixed.”It’s unclear when Howard suffered the injury – or if it’s just been lingering since his playing days. He documents his workouts on social media quite frequently, so whatever it is, it hasn’t hindered him too much.Howard’s story shows that he’s about to get into some Netflix shows/movies – including Bird Box.
Howard is one of the stars of ESPN College GameDay – along with Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Lee Corso, David Pollack and Maria Taylor.Howard, after starring at Michigan and winning the Heisman Trophy in 1991, was the fourth overall pick by the Washington Redskins in the 1992 NFL Draft. While he didn’t have a stellar career in the pros as a wideout, he made a name for himself as a kick returner. He even won a Super Bowl MVP in 1996 when the Green Bay Packers knocked off the Pittsburgh Steelers.We wish the best to Howard in his recovery.