All posts by h716a5.icu

TalkSPORT presenter Jim White has shared a major West Ham United twist on Declan Rice’s contract situation live on air.

The Lowdown: Rice future up in the air?

While reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano says the Hammers star is open to leaving this summer after turning down a third new deal, club insider Claret & Hugh state he is set to commit his future until at least 2023.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-newest-updates/” title=”West Ham newest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Rice is attracting real attention from of the Premier League’s most elite clubs after another fine season at the London Stadium under manager David Moyes.

He is deemed ‘untouchable’ by owners GSB regardless of alleged interest from Man City, Man United and Chelsea recently.

Sharing a twist on Rice’s future, White has a major live-on-air update for supporters.

The Latest: White makes claim…

According to the talkSPORT presenter, the 23-year-old has been offered a staggering eight year deal to stay in east London, but there is a belief in Rice’s camp that he could get even more elsewhere.

He explained: “It is my understanding that West Ham are 99 per cent certain they will not sell Declan Rice this summer.

“Declan Rice has been offered an eight-year deal at West Ham United worth £200,000-a-week on a rising scale to match inflation.

“An eight-year deal worth £200,000-a-week. At this stage he is showing no inclinations to sign it.

“This eight-year deal could become a ten-year deal, if Declan and his people wanted such a deal worth £200,000-a-week.

“So would they sell? There is a belief in Declan Rice’s camp that he could get between £300,000-£400,000-a-week elsewhere. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen.”

The Verdict: Major claim…

Wages between £300,000-per-week/£400,000-per-week would put Rice in the same salary bracket as superstars like Kevin De Bruyne, and if his people truly believe he can earn that much, this comes as a pretty big bit of news.

One plus point for Irons supporters is the strong position their club are in with his current contract running until 2024.

West Ham also have an option to extend by a further year, meaning it’ll be quite some time before they truly become pressured to sell.

In other news: Talks held: West Ham meet with club chief as he offers chance to sign five players! Find out more here.

India’s captain did not have the best start to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and will be desperate to put his best foot forward in Brisbane

Alagappan Muthu12-Dec-20241:27

Pujara: Rohit should continue to bat at No. 6

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy series is at a tipping point. Rohit Sharma’s career might be too. He has not had the best start to his tour, which has extended a prolonged form slump. There are other complications as well. He’s 37 and very recently his team exceeded a lot of expectations without having him in it. India’s regular captain is used to leaving a mark on things. But rarely like this.His first coach saw what most are able to see now when he was shadow practicing. Dinesh Lad was running late and like all bored kids who are suddenly given a surplus of time without an authority figure present, Rohit started fooling around with a bat. And that was that. That was enough.Cricket reduces its participants into numbers both big and small. But there are always those that are too big to capture on a scorecard. Upon arrival at Canberra airport, there was a group of fans waiting for him, chanting “Mumbai (king)! Rohit Sharma!” Upon his departures in the Adelaide Test, for single-digit scores, there has been derision and ridicule.Related

Australia's dominance in Adelaide has exposed India's flaws

Gill toasts old Gabba memories as he prepares to make new ones

Nitish Kumar Reddy, a stunning strokemaker in the making

WTC final scenarios – South Africa need one more win for guaranteed top-two finish

India need a first-innings fix, and quickly

He doesn’t like being called gifted, but he is, and the greatest one he has as a batter is that he almost always looks good. Cold even. Like nothing fazes him. Even things that should. things that should. In India’s first match of the 2019 ODI World Cup, Kagiso Rabada came thundering in to target his ribs and he pulled him to the boundary like other people scratch their noses. Matter-of-factly. It itches, you scratch. Dude bowled short. He smashed.That shot heralded Rohit’s rise to never-before-seen levels. He became the first man to score five hundreds in the ICC’s 50-over showpiece. He didn’t go searching for that. He never goes searching for anything. Even during the worst phases of his career, where he would make mistakes that would strike down an innings in its prime, he was failing because he was doing too much, not because he didn’t know what to do. Now, averaging 11.83 since his last Test century in March 2024, it feels different.”It’s the line, I think the stump line has been troubling him a lot,” Cheteshwar Pujara said on ESPNcricinfo. “He is getting out lbw and bowled [six of his last ten dismissals] which is a bit of a concern for him.”Rohit’s work across Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and now Brisbane suggests he is working on his defence, with which he hasn’t been on good terms recently•Getty ImagesRohit arrived in Australia on the high of becoming a father again. The joy of that occasion might only be matched by the nervousness, the sleeplessness leading up to it. Then he jumped on a flight, flew straight down to Perth, and landed in the middle of the Test match of India’s dreams. Getting over the whiplash of all the emotions that he would have felt alone might have taken him time, forget acclimatising to a place where he averages 27.80 from eight matches. All this is to say the build-up to his return to the side in Adelaide wasn’t completely ideal. Then he had to go out there and face Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland with the pink ball, whose tendency to jag around a fair bit more than the red one might have forced him to give up his normal opener’s position; a tacit admission perhaps that having arrived late, and with his priorities justifiably elsewhere, he wasn’t yet up to the levels he wanted to be. Also, KL Rahul had done really well at the top.Rohit Sharma’s Test numbers since his last ton•ESPNcricinfo LtdMore than two weeks into his tour now, in Brisbane, Rohit looked a little more comfortable with his brief. He batted for almost an hour, where India paid particular attention to balls coming up at them from back of a length, sharpening both their defensive options and their offensive ones. The pitch at the Gabba is expected to provide its usual mix of pace and bounce. The new ball will once again be tricky. Will India stay with Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal or will there be a change?Rohit’s work across Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and now Brisbane suggests he is working on his defence, with which he hasn’t been on good terms recently. The demands placed on a batter, particularly by limited-overs cricket, which has grown quite intolerant of the old ways, reflected in Rohit himself as he turned himself from a slow-burn, daddy-hundred-maker to a flaming-hot powerplay belter, might be playing a part in his deterioration.1:52

How can India bounce back in Brisbane?

He unlearned a method that translated across all formats – being watchful, avoiding risk, gathering information about the pitch, the bowling, the match situation and then going all-out attack. Began practicing the exact opposite of it – being cavalier, diving headlong into risk, making judgment calls about the pitch and going all-out attack to upend the bowling and the match situation. Now he’s stuck trying to find middle ground, and since it’s Rohit, his failures too tend to leave a strong impression. Against New Zealand in October and November, he seemed to believe going hard at the ball, even though he was playing Test cricket, was the best way forward because the pitches didn’t really give him much margin for error. And yet there were players on the visiting side who were able to cope. Will Young and Tom Latham trusted they had what it took to play normally on those square turners.That is the place every batter wants to be at. With faith in their method. And maybe Rohit is starting to get back there. In a 45-minute session on Thursday morning, he left well, his triggers – that tiny bouncing of the knees as he sees the bowler about to deliver, followed by a small back-and-across movement – were well-timed and he was slowly getting in rhythm. At the very least, it was a far cry from the most poignant image he’s left so far on this tour: dragging himself off the field on Saturday night, darkness all around him.

Like Kanpur, Bengaluru is expected to have a black soil pitch, which will support the spinners over the course of the Test

Ashish Pant14-Oct-2024Three fast bowlers or three spinners? Play Akash Deep over Mohammed Siraj or go for a three-pronged pace attack with both along with Jasprit Bumrah? Pick one of Kuldeep Yadav or Axar Patel or stay with the tried and tested duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.India have a problem of plenty and will have a number of things to ponder upon when they finalise their playing XI for the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru starting October 16.In home Tests, at least in the current World Test Championship [WTC] cycle, India have mostly gone with three spinners and two fast bowlers. The two Tests out of seven at home in which they played a third seamer was during the recently-concluded series against Bangladesh where they went with Deep, Siraj and Bumrah in the playing XI both times.Related

Rohit wants to expand India's fast-bowling bench strength

'If you play only one way, you don't grow' – for Gambhir, it's adaptability above all else

Trial by spin: Tough challenge turns tougher for New Zealand in India

Steven Smith's Test opening stint over with middle-order return for India

Southee searching for his 'snap' as Test place hangs in the balance

They were faced with a similar situation ahead of the second Bangladesh Test in Kanpur, which was a black soil pitch. There they went with all three pacers in the XI, with Ashwin and Jadeja as the two spinners.In an ideal scenario, India would want to go with three spinners in their unit against New Zealand, especially with the kind of pitch on offer in Bengaluru. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the playing strip for the opening Test against New Zealand is like Kanpur, a black soil pitch. It is understood that the pitch is likely to be a slow turner along with low bounce where shot-making will not be as easy. While it won’t be a rank turner, the surface is likely to support spinners as the Test match goes by.India wouldn’t mind that clearly considering New Zealand possess enough good quality seamers in Will O’Rourke, Ben Sears and Tim Southee, who can use any moisture in the surface to their advantage. In addition, New Zealand’s spin game of late has been rather weak. In 12 innings this year, New Zealand have lost 67 of 104 wickets to spin – their most in five years.Add to that the threat posed by the Indian spinners. Ashwin has the most wickets in this WTC cycle – 53 in ten games at 21.18. Jadeja has 35 in nine, Kuldeep has 19 in four while Axar has five in two Tests. A three-spin attack then you’d think would seem a no-brainer.But the prevailing overcast and damp conditions could play a key role in forcing India to work out whether to pack their bowling unit with three seamers or three spinners.There has been consistent rain in Bengaluru over the last week or so and the forecast for the next few days is of rain and plenty of cloud cover. On Monday – two days before the Test – the pitch was under covers for most of the morning because of a consistent drizzle. Around 1.45pm, when the covers were removed, India captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and Rishabh Pant all had a close look at the surface while also having a lengthy discussion with the pitch curator.The surface looked devoid of much grass, but being under covers and with the overhead conditions expected to be cloudy, there is a chance there could be some early assistance for the fast bowlers come Wednesday.If that is indeed the case, India could well go with Deep, Siraj and Bumrah in the XI. While the Indian spinners have done the bulk of the damage in the WTC cycle, the quicks have not been far behind. Bumrah has 42 wickets in eight Tests in the WTC cycle, 30 of which have come in India at an average of 15.40. The last time Bumrah played a Test in Bengaluru back in 2022, he picked up eight wickets on a turning track.Deep, on the other hand, has played all his three Tests in India and looked excellent while Siraj has 26 wickets in ten WTC Tests in this cycle. Both bowlers also know the M Chinnaswamy surface well having played for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL.If India do end up playing three spinners, there could also be a selection quandary as to which fast bowler to pick – the experienced Siraj or newbie Deep who has looked the part. Even with the spin unit, while Ashwin and Jadeja look set to start, do they play Kuldeep or Axar?Jasprit Bumrah has 42 wickets from eight Tests in the current WTC cycle•BCCI”Look, it [final playing XI] depends on the conditions, depends on the wicket, depends on the opposition as well. And the best part about this dressing room is that we’ve got so many high-quality players in there. We can select any of them and we know they can do the job for us,” Gambhir said when asked about whether the overhead conditions could dictate India’s playing XI.”And that is what is called the depth. We’ll have a look at the wicket tomorrow. Me and Rohit will have a chat and see what is the best combination to do the job at Chinnaswamy Stadium.”There has been only one Test played in Bengaluru in the last five years – a day-night Test in 2022 between India and Sri Lanka which the hosts won inside three days. The news point there was the ICC match referee Javagal Srinath rating that Bengaluru pitch “below average”. Of the 39 wickets in the match, the spinners accounted for 26 of which 16 fell on the first day itself.In a scathing assessment, Srinath, a former India and Karnataka fast bowler and also a former office bearer at the Karnataka State Cricket Association [KSCA], said the pitch “offered a lot of turn on the first day itself and though it improved with every session, in my view, it was not an even contest between bat and ball.”India went with three fast bowlers in the last two Tests that they won against Bangladesh. With rain in the air, and the weather damp and cloudy, they could stick to their guns and go with a similar attack. In any case, with the next two Tests scheduled for Pune and Mumbai, where the pitch is likely to take much more turn, it is likely India will switch back to a three-spin plan. But what would that attack look like?

Pat McAfee primarily focuses on the NFL and college football and professional wrestling, but decided at the last minute this year that he wanted to be involved in the MLB All-Star festivities. ESPN did not hesitate as they put him front and center to have him introduce the participants on Monday night and let him host a Q&A panel earlier in the day.

Some baseball fans may have been surprised to find McAfee so prominently involved, but regular ESPN viewers barely batted an eye. As (at least) one person on social media pointed out, at this point ESPN is mostly made up of McAfee and Stephen A. Smith noting, "Kids today don't realize it, but you used to be able tot urn on ESPN and not see Stephen A. Smith or Pat McAfee."

One ex-ESPN employee agreed as former NFL Primetime host Trey Wingo added that "it used to be a glorious buffet when you could pick and choose what you wanted. Now it's like a banquet dinner: chicken or fish?"

Wingo worked at ESPN for more than two decades from 1997 to 2020. Chicken and fish were available when he worked there, but not quite to this extreme.

Wolves are now expressing an interest in signing a Man City player, with one of their squad members potentially set to leave in January.

Wolves nailed on for relegation barring Rob Edwards miracle

The Old Gold face the most perilous situation in the Premier League, rooted firmly to the bottom of the table with just two points from 14 games.

Wolves appear destined for Championship football unless Rob Edwards can orchestrate an almighty turnaround during the second half of the campaign.

Edwards arrived from Middlesbrough in mid-November, leaving a promotion-chasing outfit second in the Championship to tackle one of football’s most daunting rescue missions.

Wolves still remain winless, sitting 12 points adrift of safety – a margin that already carries significant historical weight.

No team has ever survived relegation after collecting merely two points from their opening 14 games, and at their current rate, they would finish the season with just seven points — threatening to eclipse Derby County’s infamous 11-point record from the 2007-08 campaign.

Huddersfield Town (18/19)

16

Sheffield United (23/24)

16

Sunderland (05/06)

15

Southampton (24/25)

12

Derby County

11

The appointment of Edwards represents a desperate gamble by chairman Jeff Shi, who acknowledged the club needs a complete philosophical refresh.

Edwards’ deep connections to Molineux — having made over 100 appearances as a player before serving in various coaching capacities — offer hope that he understands the DNA required to navigate this crisis.

Wolves plotting January bid for "prolific" £17.5m striker with 29 G/A last season

The Old Gold are looking to bring in a centre-forward this winter, in order to bolster their survival hopes.

ByDominic Lund Nov 27, 2025

However, his task is monumental. Vitor Pereira managed just a 36.8 per cent win rate before his sacking in early November, inheriting a squad stripped of its best talent through successive transfer windows.

The pattern has become devastatingly familiar.

After selling Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes in 2023, then Pedro Neto and Max Kilman in 2024, Wolves lost Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri last summer without securing adequate replacements.

Cunha’s departure to Man United for £62.5 million removed their most reliable goalscorer, 17 goals in all competitions last season, while Ait-Nouri joined Manchester City for £31 million.

The club’s attacking output has obviously collapsed as a result, with just seven goals scored so far — the division’s worst record and only team failing to reach double figures.

However, according to Football Insider and journalist Wayne Veysey, Shi and Fosun do have a succession plan for goalkeeper Jose Sa.

Wolves express James Trafford interest with Jose Sa set to leave

Indeed, it is believed that Wolves have expressed interest in signing Man City’s James Trafford on loan in January as Edwards searches for solutions.

The 23-year-old England youth international finds himself behind Gianluigi Donnarumma in Pep Guardiola’s pecking order after the Italian’s summer arrival, which is bad timing ahead of the World Cup next year.

After starting the campaign as City’s number one following Ederson’s departure to Fenerbahçe, Trafford has managed just three appearances since August and is eager to continue his development elsewhere.

Wolves face mounting concerns between the posts, with current number one Sam Johnstone enduring a difficult spell.

His error against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday proved costly, failing to connect properly with Omari Hutchinson’s cross and allowing the winning goal.

Meanwhile, second-choice Sa is ‘potentially set to leave’ next month, with West Ham monitoring the Portuguese ahead of a potential winter swoop.

Trafford enjoyed an outstanding 2024-25 Championship campaign with Burnley before returning to City, keeping 29 clean sheets in 45 appearances with an impressive 84.6 per cent save percentage.

His promotion-winning pedigree under Scott Parker could prove invaluable as Edwards desperately seeks reinforcements capable of mounting an unlikely survival bid during the second half of the season.

However, they’ll have to contend with competition for Trafford’s services, with Tottenham also believed to be exploring a move for the ‘top talent’.

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Aaron Civale has requested a trade from the organization after the coaching staff elected to move him to the bullpen.

The 30-year-old Civale, who is in his second year with the organization, has posted a 4.91 ERA in 22 innings this season. He didn't pitch until late May due to a pulled hamstring suffered in spring training.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy was asked on Thursday about Civale's trade request and whether or not it bothered him as the manager.

"I mean, we deal with players being unhappy all the time," Murphy said on Thursday evening. "That's their right to do and Aaron's got a great history. He's performed well for this organization. He's got a right to feel how he wants to feel, but now it's time for him to go behave. He's got to go pitch for us if we ask him to pitch for us, and I think he will. He's that type of guy and I respect him a great deal. I think he'll go pitch for us. It doesn't matter whether he likes the decision or not…we can't be concerned with that. It's his behavior that we've gotta be concerned with and I'm confident he'll behave well."

Murphy went on to call Civale a "first-class guy" and said he didn't expect any issues in the locker room in the aftermath of the trade request.

The Brewers are 36-33 on the season and in third place in the NL Central. They host the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.

Paris Saint-Germain loanee Randal Kolo Muani shone against his parent club with two goals and an assist, but his heroics ultimately counted for nothing as Tottenham slumped to a comprehensive 5-3 defeat at the reigning European champions. Spurs went ahead twice in the game. but were undone by some dismal defending as PSG scored five times and took home all three Champions League points.

Tottenham took a shock lead on 35 minutes with a well-worked goal. Archie Gray did well to get down the left flank and dig out a cross for Kolo Muani, who rose well to power a head back across goal and give Richarlison the simple task of nodding into an empty net.

The goal looked to have stunned the visitors, but they were back on level terms before the break. A corner in from the left was only cleared as far as Vitinha on the edge of the box, and the Portugal midfielder was not closed down quickly enough and smashed home a ferocious strike that flew past Guglielmo Vicario and in off the underside of the bar.

The two sides traded goals again at the start of the second half. Kolo Muani volleyed home from inside the penalty area after PSG failed to clear a corner, before Vitinha grabbed his second of the match three minutes later with a curling effort that beat Vicario. 

PSG then took control of the game, although they were given a helping hand by Spurs. Cristian Romero's ball to Pape Matar Sarr saw the midfielder gift possession away in a dangerous area, allowing Fabian Ruiz to sweep home and put the visitors in front for the first time. More disastrous defending allowed Willian Pacho to make it 4-2 from a corner, before Kolo Muani grabbed his second of the night after a rare poor moment from Vitinha.

However, the Portuguese had the last laugh by walking off with the match ball. Romero conceded a penalty for handball as he tried to block a shot, allowing Vitinha the simple task of completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot. PSG were reduced to 10 men in added time when Lucas Hernandez elbowed Xavi Simons in the face, but it was too late for Spurs to capitalise on this advantage.

GOAL rates Tottenham's players from Parc des Princes…

AFPGoalkeeper & Defence

Guglielmo Vicario (6/10):

Conceded five goals but couldn't do anything about Vitinha's first two strikes and was let down by his team-mates for the other three

Pedro Porro(6/10):

Put some great deliveries into the box going forwards and kept Barcola fairly quiet but, like the rest of the Spurs defence, was guilty of some poor moments after the break.

Cristian Romero (4/10):

Sloppy second half from the captain. Put Sarr in trouble for the third goal that saw PSG finally take the lead and gave away the penalty for the fifth.

Micky van de Ven(6/10):

The pick of the bunch when it comes to Tottenham's defence, but that's not saying much.

Djed Spence (5/10):

Came up against Kvaratskhelia and did a good job in the first half, though did have a few lazy moments after the break.

AdvertisementAFPMidfield

Rodrigo Bentancur (6/10):

Should have blocked Vitinha's shot for PSG's second goal but seemed to move out of the away and could only watch in dismay as it flew past Vicario. Made amends somewhat by robbing Vitinha and finding Kolo Muani for Spurs' third.

Archie Gray (7/10):

Put in a strong display and covered so much ground. Played a key role in two of Tottenham's goals and showed why he should be playing more.

Lucas Bergvall (7/10):

Back in the team and made a real difference. His flair and quality on the ball has been badly missed and he was excellent, particularly in the first half.

Pape Matar Sarr (4/10):

Disastrous second half from the midfielder. Caught in possession just outside the box for PSG's third goal and failed to clear the ball as the hosts made it 4-2.

AFPAttack

Richarlison (7/10):

Nodded home an easy finish from two yards for his third goal in three games. Also played a big part in the second goal, heading the corner back across goal and causing panic in the PSG defence.

Randal Kolo Muani (8/10):

Showed up against his parent club with two goals and assist. Teed up Richarlison with a great jump and header and then reacted quickly to fire home the second. Made Vitinha pay for a poor moment with Tottenham's third of the night.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

AFPSubs & Manager

Joao Palhinha  (6/10):

Brought on to freshen the team up but the game was already gone.

Mohammed Kudus (6/10):

Also arrived too late to make an impact.

Destiny Udogie (N/A):

A late sub who contributed little.

Xavi Simons (N/A):

A few lively moments after arriving late in the day. Also took a painful-looking elbow to the face that saw Hernandez sent off in stoppage time.

Wilson Odobert (N/A):

Didn't see much of the game as a late sub.

Thomas Frank (6/10):

Made five changes to his team from the dismal derby defeat to Arsenal and saw his team give it a good go. Twice Spurs went in front, but they were left down by some really poor defending which will be a major source of frustration for the boss. 

Four-wicket hauls from Murphy and Sangha in vain for Australia A

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2025Prabhsimran Singh’s 68-ball 102 was backed up by half-centuries from captain Shreyas Iyer and Riyan Parag as India A chased down 317 to clinch the three-match unofficial ODI series against Australia A 2-1 in Kanpur.India A were placed comfortably on 262 for 3 in the 35th over during their chase, but they lost five for 39 to lose grip. Vipraj Nigam and Arshdeep Singh then took them over the line, adding an unbroken 21 for the ninth wicket and helping India A win the decider by two wickets.Prabhsimran had set the tone for the victory by adding 83 for the first wicket with Abhishek Sharma in just 11.2 overs. Abhishek and Tilak Varma fell in quick succession but Prabhsimran continued to bat aggressively. He struck eight fours and seven sixes before falling to legspinner Tanveer Sangha in the 20th over.Iyer and Parag launched from the platform Prabhsimran had set, adding 117 off 92 balls for the fourth wicket. While Iyer hit 62 off 58 balls, his second fifty-plus score in three one-dayers ahead of the Australia tour, Parag smashed 62 off 55.However, Sangha dismissed both batters in successive overs, bringing Australia A back into the game. Sangha proceeded to remove allrounder Nishant Sindhu before Todd Murphy struck twice in two balls, sending back Ayush Badoni and Harshit Rana in the 42nd over. Nigam (24*) and Arshdeep (7*), though, ensured that India A closed out the chase with 24 balls to spare.Earlier, Arshdeep and Rana had Australia A in trouble, reducing them to 44 for 4. While Arshdeep removed openers Mackenzie Harvey and Jake Fraser-McGurk, Rana dismissed Harry Dixon and Lachlan Hearne. Cooper Connolly’s 49-ball 64 then resurrected Australia A’s innings, but the hosts found themselves in trouble again at 135 for 6 in 21 overs.Captain Jack Edwards and Liam Scott then added a 152-run stand off 123 balls for the seventh wicket to take Australia A forward. Some useful runs down the order helped Australia cross 300 before they were bowled out for 316 in 49.1 overs. Arshdeep and Harshit picked up three wickets apiece for India A.

Southampton have found their feet again in the Championship and could now be drawing closer to securing a permanent replacement for Will Still.

Southampton look to enter hunt for promotion

Despite a rocky start to the campaign that saw Still relieved of his duties on the South Coast, Southampton have since bounced back under Tonda Eckert and have recorded four straight victories in the second-tier, placing them narrowly outside the playoff slots.

Ultimately, the 32-year-old is only in caretaker charge at the moment. Still, Taylor Harwood-Bellis is enjoying working under his tutelage and praised his attention to detail after Saints’ consecutive victories over Charlton Athletic and Leicester City.

He said via BBC Sport: “I think he (Eckert) has given us everything. The meetings are so detailed with what he wants. There is detail in there that you wouldn’t even think about when you’re on the pitch. That’s a big thing about Tonda, he wants to help you. Against Charlton, the goals we scored were walked through the day before.

“We knew there would be space on the break if we sat off a little bit deeper [against Leicester] and that happened. Obviously there are going to be bumps in the road, we know that. It’s not only going to be plain sailing, but it’s down to us to keep the level now.”

Several names have been mentioned in connection with the post, including former boss Russell Martin, who is available after an ill-fated spell with Rangers.

Either way, the search for a new boss is now seemingly coming to an end, and Southampton supporters may soon know the identity of the head coach tasked with leading the club forward at St Mary’s.

Southampton could appoint Tonda Eckert permanently

According to Football Insider, Eckert is in pole position to be appointed as Southampton’s permanent manager following his successful caretaker stint on the South Coast, and there is now a growing clamour from fans to see the 32-year-old remain on a full-time basis.

Now the clear favourite after guiding Saints to four league wins on the trot, the German is the leading candidate to land the role, even if several other managers have been identified as a long-term successor to Still.

Tonda Eckert in charge of Southampton

Will Still in charge of Southampton

Matches: 4

Matches: 16

Wins: 4

Wins: 4

Draws: 0

Draws: 6

Losses: 0

Losses: 6

Momentum is critical when it comes to influencing public opinion, and it appears that may have seeped into Sport Republic’s way of thinking as they look to map out a path to earning promotion after a rocky few months.

Labelled a “really great coach” by Caspar Jander, Eckert clearly retains the backing of his group and appears to have the trust of figures both inside and outside of the club to lead Saints into positive new beginnings following an acrimonious start to the season for all involved.

The 2025 MLB season is just a few days old but its safe to say we saw what will be the strangest walk of the entire year Saturday night in Seattle.

The Athletics' Seth Brown was at the plate when everyone, including the umpire, seemed to forget the count. Usually you're awarded first base after four balls in at at-bat. Brown, however, took five balls before making his way down to first.

Somehow Brown, the ump, the pitcher, the announcers, and everyone else involved in this game just let it happen as everyone missed that the count had been screwed up.

This was just wild to see at the MLB level:

Fans were rightfully very confused by this: