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    Five jobs Wayne Rooney could go for next including Salford to become Class of 92’s manager after Birmingham sacking

    WAYNE ROONEY is now looking for a new job after being sacked by Birmingham City.The England and Manchester United legend has endured an absolute nightmare since he took charge of the Blues when they were sitting in the play-off spots in October.
    Wayne Rooney is looking for a new job after being sacked by Birmingham CityCredit: Alamy
    The 38-year-old endured a nightmare spell at St Andrew’s and won just twiceCredit: Getty
    The 38-year-old won just two of his 15 matches in charge after replacing John Eustace.
    That poor run saw Birmingham plummet from sixth to 20th in the Championship.
    Yesterday’s 3-0 defeat to Leeds proved to be the final straw for Brum’s American owners, including NFL icon Tom Brady, as they confirmed Rooney’s departure this morning.
    And now the former Derby County and DC United boss has found himself unemployed with his reputation as a manager taking another huge hit after the ill-fated stint at St Andrew’s.
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    After guiding Derby to safety in his first season in charge, he still won plaudits the following year when they were relegated from the Championship amid turmoil off the pitch.
    Rooney resigned after they dropped to League One and went on to join MLS side DC United, who he played for towards the end of his iconic career.
    But he struggled to make much of an impact in America as he racked up just 13 wins and 26 defeats from his 52 games at the helm.
    And even though he is undoubtedly still a huge name in the game, his record in the dug-out suggests that he would be a massive gamble for any potential employers.
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    However, there may still be a few options on the table for Wazza, and here are five possible jobs for him that could help the ex-striker transform his reputation:
    SALFORD CITY
    The League Two club are owned by his former Manchester United team-mates Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary and brother Phil Neville.
    Salford enjoyed four promotions in five years after the Class of ‘92 bought them with money man and majority shareholder Peter Lim in 2014.
    However, their dream of reaching the Premier League is in danger of imploding as they remain stuck in the fourth tier and they responded to their recent woes by sacking Neil Wood following the 5-1 defeat by Tranmere on Boxing Day.
    A number of names have already been mentioned as potential successors, but Rooney could land himself a new job fast if he decides to go for it and try and work for his pals.
    INTER MIAMI
    Beckham also owns MLS side Inter Miami and has enjoyed great success since the arrival of Lionel Messi in attack.
    Golden Balls previously employed close mate Phil Neville as manager, but he sacked him in June and replaced him with Gerardo Martino.
    They have been on a great run since, but should Becks opt to perform an old England friends act, then Rooney may have an opportunity to go back to the MLS.
    SAUDI ARABIA
    A huge array of big-name players and managers have moved to the mega-rich Saudi Pro League over the past 12 months.
    And the opportunity to employ another legendary figure in Rooney may prove to be an attractive option for one of their clubs as they look to continue establishing the league.
    ENGLAND
    A bit of a long-shot, but with Gareth Southgate expected to depart after this summer’s Euros, the England job could soon become available.
    With no obvious candidates out there to come in, Rooney could attempt to convince FA chiefs to take a punt on him.
    He already has plenty of experience on the international stage and assured his place in the history books by surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton’s Three Lions scoring record while captaining our country – a figure since surpassed by Harry Kane.
    And for anyone doubting him, Wazza could point out that Southgate’s only experience at club level before he got the gig was at Middlesbrough, where he suffered relegation from the Premier League.  
    MANCHESTER UNITED
    Perhaps an even bigger long-shot than the England one.
    But he knows the club inside and out after an epic 13-year playing career at Old Trafford that resulted in him winning the lot under Sir Alex Ferguson.
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    Sir Jim Ratcliffe has finally completed his deal to purchase 25 per cent of United, and with pressure continuing to mount on Erik ten Hag, the new chiefs could opt for a change in the dug-out.
    And it is not as if bad managerial records at other clubs has put United off in the past given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s recent spell in charge. More

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    Hugo Lloris on brink of permanent Tottenham transfer exit after ‘agreeing to MLS contract and Spurs sign off on move’

    HUGO LLORIS is on the brink of completing a permanent move to MLS side Los Angeles FC.The Frenchman is set to end his 11-year stay with Tottenham after the club signed off on the transfer.
    Hugo Lloris is on the brink of leaving Tottenham to join MLS side Los Angeles FCCredit: Getty
    Lloris has not played for the club since April after being exiled by new manager Ange Postecoglou.
    However, after failing to secure a summer transfer, he has remained with Spurs and is part of their Premier League squad.
    The 37-year-old is now finally on the verge of sealing a move away from North London, though.
    Fabrizio Romano reports that a verbal agreement is now in place between all parties for Lloris to join LAFC.
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    He will sign a one-year deal with an option to extend, the report adds, with the transfer set to be finalised soon.
    LAFC reached the final of the MLS Cup play-offs last season before losing to Columbus Crew.
    They were also Supporters’ Shield winners in 2022 as well as lifting their maiden MLS Cup.
    Lloris would be an experienced addition to their squad following more than a decade in the Premier League.
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    The World Cup winner has made 444 appearances for Spurs since signing from Lyon in 2012.
    He was also club captain prior to relinquishing the armband to Son Heung-min in the summer. More

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    Lionel Messi shows off shredded abs in gym selfie… before Cristiano Ronaldo upstages him with ripped training snaps

    LIONEL MESSI shows off his abs in a gym selfie with wife Antonela – but Cristiano Ronaldo upstaged him just hours later.The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is in prime shape well ahead of the MLS season starting in February when Luis Suarez will join him at Inter Miami.
    Lionel Messi and Antonela are happy to show their peak conditionCredit: Instagram @leomessi
    Cristiano Ronaldo later upstaged Messi with his own ripped training snap
    However, his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo posted a training snap of his own ripped bodies a day later.
    The veteran forward shared a picture of his bulging leg muscles to Instagram during a topless gym workout.
    Ronaldo gave a steely look to the camera as he flexed, captioning the post with a peace sign and weight lifting emoji.
    Former Liverpool striker Suarez has joined ex-Barca pals Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba at David Beckham’s club in the USA.
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    And Messi, 36, looked proud to show he’s still in the physical condition that help Argentina lift the 2022 World Cup glory and earned him his latest global player-of-the-year gong two months ago.
    Unicef ambassador Antonela wore a sporty crop top for a gym selfie of the toned couple that she posted on Instagram.
    Book looked in peak form but, whereas she smiled wildly, Messi had the focused expression more worthy of a player about to take a key penalty.
    That of course was just what he did – twice – in a momentous World Cup final triumph over France in Qatar 12 months ago.
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    He notched a spot-kick during his double in a 3-3 draw after extra time.
    He then tucked home the opener in Argentina’s 4-2 shoutout success.
    The ex-PSG star is not due to be in action again on a pitch until a friendly with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Hilal in February.
    Japanese side Vissel Kobe and Messi’s first club Newell’s Old Boys will also take centre stage in Miami’s warm-up games.
    Messi’s MLS season under fellow Argentinian Gerardo Martino opens at home to Western Conference team Real Salt Lake on February 21.
    And Suarez is expected to line up alongside him – going back to the future as two-thirds of the dream Barcelona attack they formed with Neymar.
    The Uruguay legend switched to Miami this month despite being named the Brazil top-flight’s player of the season.
    Suarez, 36, decided his knee wasn’t up to playing the second year of his contract with Gremio.
    But he’s hungry to play once more with Messi as he said: “I look forward to reuniting with great friends and players.”
    Antonela and Messi pride themselves on staying in top shapeCredit: instagram/antonelaroccuzzo
    Argentinian Messi and Uruguay’s Luis Suarez will be reunited at Inter Miami after developing a strong friendship at BarcelonaCredit: AFP More

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    Tottenham legend Hugo Lloris closing in on transfer exit after being axed as captain by Ange Postecoglou

    HUGO LLORIS is in advanced talks over a move to MLS outfit Los Angeles FC.The former France captain, who turned 37 on Boxing Day, has been at Tottenham for 11 years.
    Hugo Lloris is set to leave Tottenham after over a decade in North LondonCredit: PA
    Lloris, 37, has continued to train with Spurs this seasonCredit: Rex
    But he has not featured at all this season following the signing of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli in June.
    He had options to leave in the summer but snubbed interest from Lazio, Newcastle, former club Nice and Saudi Arabia.
    Yet Lloris looks close to ending his stay in North London by moving Stateside to LAFC, the club where former Spurs team-mate Gareth Bale finished his career.
    Lloris’s deal is up in the summer but him moving now would be a boost to Tottenham’s wage kitty as he is on more than £100,000 a week.
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    He racked up a whopping 447 appearances for Spurs although sadly his last one was the infamous 6-1 defeat at Newcastle in April, when he came off injured at half-time having shipped five goals.
    Injury-hit Spurs will lose captain Son Heung-min to the Asian Cup next month as well as midfielders Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr to the African Cup of Nations.
    Yet more players could still leave with Eric Dier regularly overlooked by boss Ange Postecoglou, who has prioritised signing a new centre-back in January.
    Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg could also leave having fallen down the pecking order under Postecoglou, but would likely be replaced.
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    Postecoglou recently heaped praise upon Lloris, saying: “[His future] is not my decision. It’s a decision for Hugo and the club. I don’t have that power and don’t want that power.
    “Hugo is a member of this squad and how he trains every day is important to me. If he wasn’t then I’d be dealing with it but I haven’t had to, he has been absolutely first-class.
    “As a manager, I don’t take that for granted because that could be a problem for me. For most managers, it is the ones who aren’t playing who give you the biggest headaches. It’s his decision to make.”
    Gareth Bale played for LAFC last yearCredit: AP More

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    It’s OK to Call It Soccer

    The football-vs.-soccer debate is not about language at all.George Best’s résumé, in the late 1960s, was pretty much flawless. He was a dazzling, edge-of-the-seat winger, certainly one of the finest players on the planet. For a time, he perhaps did not even require the caveat. He was an English and European champion. Along with Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, he was a sanctified member of Manchester United’s Holy Trinity.More than that, he was a true crossover star. He was a fashionista. He was a heartthrob. He dated models. He graced the hippest nightclubs. He owned a trendy boutique. He was a darling of the swinging ’60s, a genuine celebrity. He had sufficient cultural cachet that he was known, in Spain, as El Beatle.All of that should, of course, have afforded him unquestionable authority when it came to the game that made him famous. Sadly, though, that is not how it works.There are rules at play here, whether you think they are fair or not, and Best transgressed them. In 1968, a couple of months after helping United win the European Cup, Best was invited, or decided, to write a book. It would be the first of several iterations over the coming years.Its title condemned him. He called it “George Best’s Soccer Annual.” And, as we know, nobody who calls it soccer can be taken seriously.In the seven, going on eight, years that I have been with The Times, no criticism has recurred with quite such frequency — and quite such conviction — as the idea that anyone who uses that word automatically forfeits any claim to either legitimacy or authenticity. Real fans call it football. Using “soccer” identifies you, immediately, as an interloper: at best a neophyte, at worst a fraud. Or, worse: an American.Mood when someone writes in to say, “It’s football, not soccer.”Andy Buchanan/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIn my case, of course, that’s fine. There are many reasons to dismiss my views on pretty much everything. But it seems a shame that Best should have fallen foul of the same regulations.Still, at least he was in good company. Matt Busby, the totemic manager of Best’s great Manchester United side, published his 1974 autobiography under the expertly triangulated title “Soccer at the Top: My Life in Football.” Walter Winterbottom, the long-forgotten pioneer of the idea that if players were allowed to practice with a ball they might get better at using it, produced a 1952 instruction manual named “Soccer Coaching.”And Raich Carter, one of the defining figures of the sport’s first half-century, started a magazine dedicated to the game the same year. He called it Soccer Star. A few years later, a sister publication would emerge. That one was, and still is, called World Soccer.The truth, of course, is that the soccer/football dichotomy is really quite a new thing. It is strange that a relatively small proportion of people do not seem to know that the word “soccer” itself is — like beans on toast, Sam Allardyce and stealing statuary from the Greeks — British. It derives, most likely, from an abbreviation of the “association” bit of “association football,” a shorthand to distinguish that sport from its arcane and absurd cousin, rugby.And, for years, it was a word that British people used. In their 2014 book, “It’s Football, Not Soccer (And Vice Versa),” the academics Stefan Szymanski and Silke-Maria Weineck posited that Britain used “soccer” almost interchangeably with “football” for much of the 20th century. Their theory runs that it only became “anathema” once Americans “started to take an interest” in a game they had, until that point, largely ignored.I would quibble with a couple of the finer points of this line of argument. Speaking as a child of the 1980s, the idea that “soccer” was value neutral is inaccurate. As a term, it was very much middle-class coded: It was only the rugby-playing classes, after all, who would need a way of differentiating between the two sports. (It is different in Ireland and Australia, where other versions of “football” held similar popular appeal.)Contemplating football vs. fútbol.Jose Jordan/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIt was also, somehow, futuristic. The 1980s had been a dark decade, after all, lying in the shadow of the disasters at Heysel and Bradford and Hillsborough. Football, as The Sunday Times wrote in 1985, was a “slum sport played in slum stadiums by slum people.” Soccer was cleaner, fresher, more modern. It may, in some ways, have been used as a form of rebranding.This dovetails with the other point of contention with Szymanski’s and Weineck’s approach: the timeline. Their suggestion is that the British backlash against the term began in the 1970s, with the advent of the North American Soccer League, and particularly the arrival of Pelé at the New York Cosmos in 1975. Soccer, in their reading, became an indicator of American cultural expansionism.Pinpointing an exact date is impossible, of course, but this seems a touch early. In the 1990s, the satellite broadcaster — and both benefactor to and beneficiary of the Premier League — Sky started programs titled “Soccer A.M.” (1994) and “Soccer Saturday” (1998). It is reasonable to assume that the executives who created the formats would have gone in a different direction if they had been aware the word was taboo.My personal theory is that 1994 represents the event horizon. England did not qualify for the World Cup that year, when it was held in the United States, but the tournament was given the usual wall-to-wall coverage regardless. (A decision was made, seemingly at a governmental level, that as a nation we would support Ireland; we did not ask the Irish if that was OK.)The broadcasts presented people in Britain with several hours of programming a day in which Americans discussed the popularity or otherwise of “soccer” on their shores. At the same time, football was shaking off the stigma of the 1970s and ’80s and emerging as a cornerstone of what would come to be called “lad culture.”“Football” was a way to express not just manliness but authenticity. It was, after all, the working man’s game. “Soccer,” on the other hand, had always been middle-class, which was bad enough. Now it was American, too. It had the air of an affectation, a word used by those who did not belong, who were not real. The terms were no longer interchangeable.That has not changed, to any great extent, in the intervening 30 years, even as football has become such a cultural phenomenon that it has long since become a sort of default; being interested in it is not a particularly useful social indicator. And yet the use of the word soccer still elicits an almost visceral response in most British audiences.That can, most likely, be traced back to its association with the United States. Britain’s interpretation of the trans-Atlantic relationship is an odd one. It craves American approval: For artists or bands or actors or even businesses, “cracking” America remains the final frontier, driven by not just a commercial imperative but a cultural one, too.Chelsea vs. Arsenal earlier this month.John Sibley/Action Images, via ReutersSoccer is no different. The Premier League is desperate to win American fans not only because of the money on offer in the world’s richest consumer market, but because it represents a sort of ultimate triumph for both the league and the sport. America’s embracing of English soccer could, on some level, be read as the diminution of its own sporting landscape.At the same time, though, there is little appetite for that to be a bilateral process. The idea that America might be able to shape soccer, that it might wish to change it, that it might even be able to improve it is either unthinkable or intolerable.It is why there is a surprising amount of energy dedicated to belittling Major League Soccer, why American owners of English teams are greeted with skepticism, and why the elimination of the United States from a World Cup is greeted with a disproportionate amount of glee.In England, there is a desire for America to like our game, to endorse our taste, in some ways to prove that we were right all along.But it should be understood, at all times, that it is very much our ball. Feel free to play with it, but do not mistake that for ownership. It belongs to us, and we will decide how it is structured, how it is played, and — crucially, angrily, in the face of all rhyme and reason, despite the fact that we came up with the word in the first place — what it is called.Super League AgnosticMost fans never left any doubt where they stood on talk of a European super league.Matt Dunham/Associated PressRoughly five hours elapsed on Thursday after a court ruling on European soccer’s intractable super league debate before we heard claims of victory from both sides.A22, the sports consulting firm behind the plan to remove the “UEFA” bit from “UEFA Champions League,” claimed the European Court of Justice’s ruling on the legality of its proposal meant that the sport was “finally free.” UEFA, on the other hand, interpreted the court’s decision as a ringing endorsement of its own position, proudly proclaiming that soccer is “not for sale” and pointing out that the judgment is “actually positive.”The popular position, here, is to support UEFA. The super league project, after all, was always a land grab by the world’s biggest clubs, an attempt to siphon off yet more of the money sloshing around soccer and to crystallize their places at the very summit of the game essentially in perpetuity. All of these things are bad. They are still bad even in the revised (and somewhat improved) proposal.The problem, of course, is that for all of the loaded language — you know it’s not a fair hearing when one side is consistently being accused of “plotting” — and the professions of undying love to the spirit of open competition and sporting merit, the world that UEFA is perpetuating is indistinguishable on a practical level: a handful of teams from an even smaller handful of countries who dominate the landscape, and everyone else left to rot.Neither side has a plan to address the many genuine challenges soccer faces across Europe. Both sides are driven entirely by self-interest. UEFA’s position both as a competition organizer and a governing body remains fatally flawed, and an insurmountable hurdle for actually improving the game. Thursday’s ruling means both sides can claim they have won. In reality, all it ensures is that everybody loses.A Fun GameMartin Odegaard, left, and Erling Haaland: still waiting on their first World Cup trip.Ntb/Ntb, via ReutersAt the end of last month, Dolores and Joe Rizzotti sent me an email that contained an attachment. As a rule of thumb, I know it’s a serious bit of correspondence when there’s an attachment involved. (Please note: It does not make it more likely that I will read it.)On this occasion, though, I was glad I did. “The only thing missing from the 2022 World Cup was some of the world’s greatest players,” they wrote. This is, of course, true: The tournament took place without Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Victor Osimhen and every single Italian on the planet.“The World Cup occurs every four years and we wait almost 1,500 days to watch 30 days of soccer,” they explained. “It should be a tournament with all the best players on the field for all to see.” Their solution to this eternal issue — George Best and George Weah, we should remember, never played in a World Cup — is something they call Team World.It would, they say, be a “squad made up of international players from countries that did not make the World Cup.” Last year, it could have included Gigi Donnarumma in goal; a defense built around David Alaba; a midfield of Nicolo Barella, Dominik Szoboszlai and Martin Odegaard; and an attack of Haaland, Salah and Khvicha Kvaratshkelia.“We understand that the increase in teams for the 2026 World Cup from 32 to 48 takes away some of our proposal’s thunder,” they conceded. “But it still leaves 163 FIFA-recognized nations that will not field a team in 2026, but may have a player or two who deserve to be seen on the world stage.”According to their plan, Team World would occupy the 48th spot in the tournament, and it would compete like any other nation. Now, this is very clearly not going to happen, but I think it is an excellent idea. In fact, it is an even better idea in an expanded tournament, because it would most likely involve players from even smaller nations. (Nobody feels sorry for Norway or Italy, for example.)So the challenge for you, over the festive period, is simple: Name the best team you can from nations outside the top 48 of the FIFA’s men’s rankings. And to make it slightly harder, no country can have more than three players. The best answer wins — well, nothing, probably.To give you more time to compose your teams, we’ll be taking next week off, but we will return on Jan. 5. In the meantime, send your selections — as well as any questions or comments you may have — to askrory@nytimes.com.And, even more important, have a wonderful Christmas/winter solstice/Saturnalia. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this newsletter as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. I’ll see you in 2024. More

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    Dean Smith’s bizarre MLS contract clauses including weekly mascot meeting and monthly TikTok after taking Charlotte job

    DEAN SMITH may have gotten more than he bargained for after winning the race for the Charlotte FC job.The former Leicester and Aston Villa manager beat competition from Frank Lampard to become the new manager of Major League Soccer franchise Charlotte.
    Dean Smith has been announced as Charlotte FC’s managerCredit: https://twitter.com/CharlotteFC
    But eagle-eyed fans spotted some bizarre clauses in his contractCredit: https://twitter.com/CharlotteFC
    Charlotte, based in North Carolina, announced Smith by sharing some photos of him signing a contract and posing with a shirt on Tuesday.
    However, while his recent managerial jobs have seen him fighting relegation, he will now have to fight to fit a meeting with Charlotte’s mascot into his weekly schedule.
    That is according to some strange clauses inserted into his contract.
    Eagle-eyed fans spotted the bizarre detail under the heading: “With this contract you agree to the following.”
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    The first three bullet points were nothing to write home about, but the fourth point stipulated that: “Sir Minty is allowed to have a recurring weekly meeting with you”.
    The final bullet point revealed Smith would need to agree to do one TikTok a month under discretion of the social media team.
    Although, there was also a sentence which added: “Not really, it’s fine”.
    Below that it also showed that the so-called contract, described as the “sacred text”, could be won by a fan.
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    On his appointment, Smith said: “I’m honored to be appointed as the next head coach of Charlotte FC and cannot wait to start preparations for the 2024 season.
    “Throughout the interview process, it was clear that this is an ambitious club with the right ingredients for success and I’m delighted to begin a new chapter in Charlotte. 
    “This is a unique opportunity to be part of a project with so much potential to take to new heights in Major League Soccer.
    “I’d like to thank Mr. Tepper, Zoran, Joe and the rest of the Charlotte FC leadership for entrusting me to lead this team and I look forward to meeting everyone involved with Charlotte FC.”
    The club are owned by billionaire David Tepper, who sacked the club’s previous boss despite making the playoffs for the first time in the team’s history.
    His so-called contract stipulates that Smith must be in one TikTok a month
    The club’s mascot, Sir Minty, can also arrange a weekly interview with SmtihCredit: Charlotte FC More

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    Chelsea legend Frank Lampard beaten to new managerial job by ex-Premier League boss

    FORMER Aston Villa boss Dean Smith looks to have beaten off competition from Frank Lampard and is set to be appointed as new manager of MLS side Charlotte FC. The 52-year-old has been out of work since failing to keep Leicester City in the Premier League last season.
    Dean Smith is set to be appointed MLS side Charlotte FC’s new managerCredit: Getty
    He has beaten Frank Lampard to the jobCredit: EPA
    Now the ex-Leicester City and Brentford man is reportedly on the verge of securing his return to the dug-out in America.
    It is widely-reported that he will be officially confirmed in his job by the MLS outfit within the next 24 hours.
    Smith flew from a family holiday in New York City today to thrash out the finer details of his deal and is expected to soon sign on the dotted line.
    And the news mean former England midfielder Lampard, 45., will remain out of work for now.
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    The Eastern Conference franchise, who are based in North Carolina, are owned by billionaire David Tepper.
    He has spoken to a host of high profile candidates about the role since sacking Christian Lattanzio in November, even though he led Charlotte to the play-offs.
    Lampard was one of those said to have been in talks with the chief, according to the Daily Mail.
    However, the Chelsea legend has missed out on the opportunity to resurrect his career Stateside, where he previously enjoyed a stint playing for New York City FC, after Smith impressed throughout the whole interview process.
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    It is not clear if Lampard himself pulled out of the race to take over, or was overlooked.
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    Smith only took over Leicester in April after Brendan Rodgers’ departure but he was unable to lift them out of the drop zone during his eight-game reign.
    He had previously had a year in charge at Norwich and enjoyed success at Villa, guiding them to promotion back to the Premier League in 2019.
    Meanwhile, Lampard returned to the Chelsea hotseat on an interim basis in April after Graham Potter was sacked.
    He had previously spent just short of a year at Everton, keeping them up in his first season there, only to be axed in January.
    Charlotte are looking ahead to their third season in the MLS next year.
    They finished ninth in the Eastern Conference last term and beat Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami 1-0 on the final day of the regular season to reach the playoffs. More

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    Forgotten Chelsea flop handed huge fine and ban after storming into referee’s dressing room in ‘aggressive manner’

    EX-CHELSEA star Matt Miazga has been punished for storming into the referee’s dressing room.The FC Cincinnati defender has been slapped with a three-match ban and an undisclosed fine.
    Matt Miazga acted ‘aggressively’ when confronting refs after a gameCredit: AP
    Miazga received a second booking during a penalty shootout against his former club New York Red Bulls for goading opposition fans after converting his spot-kick.
    Cincinnati won 8-7 on penalties – but the victory and spot in MLS Eastern Conference semi-finals were not enough to calm the hothead down.
    After the match finished, Miazga charged into the officials area and had to be removed by security.
    A statement from the PSRA, who look after referees in the United States, said that he “acted in an aggressive and hostile manner”.
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    Having picked up a three-game ban, Miazga will now be unavailable for the Eastern Conference final against Columbus Crew.
    He will also be suspended for the MLS Cup final against either Los Angeles FC or Houston Dynamo should Cincinnati win their match.
    Miazga was on the books of Chelsea from 2016 to 2022.
    He played just twice for the Blues and was loaned out to Vitesse, Nantes, Reading, Anderlecht and Alaves during his six-year stay.
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    The 28-year-old is now back in his homeland of America and has impressed this season, being named MLS Defender of the Year.
    Miazga will also be forced to undergo an assessment as part of the league’s Substance Abuse and Behavioural Health initiative. More