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      in Soccer

      Karren Brady: Graham Potter may be unassuming and understated… but new Chelsea boss’ football will never be boring

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      THE managerial roundabout is swishing around as early as ever with Graham Potter’s appointment at Chelsea the first of the headline hitters.Rob Page jumped on to the moving twirler some while ago but his job as Wales boss has been confirmed with a four-year contract that all but kicks off with the World Cup in November.
      Chelsea have taken a risk by appointing Graham PotterCredit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
      Rob Page was recently handed a new Wales contractCredit: Alamy
      For both, those are quite some leaps.
      The actual difference in what they do is enormous — although nothing like as much as that in salaries.
      Page’s £350,000-a-year or so is dwarfed by Potter’s who will be reportedly paid at least that for each FORTNIGHT at Stamford Bridge.
      Neither has ever been a big name, either as a player or a previous managerial job.
      Read More In Football
      Page, 48, was a centre-back tough enough to clamber to a season in the Premier League with Watford but generally a sterling member of the lower divisions.
      And 47-year-old Potter’s playing past was not a lot different.

      His career in the Premier League was even briefer than Page’s, a mere now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t eight matches with Southampton and plenty in the hinterland.
      And these fast stats stress the simple truth that you don’t have to be an outstanding player or, for that matter much of a player at all (witness Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger and many more) to be a top manager.
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      Indeed, the better the player the harder it becomes.
      Expectations are greater and I must say I also wonder whether many of those possessing God-given, sublime skills are sympathetic enough with the struggles of journeymen pros.
      Potter must be among the most unemotional of coaches.
      By comparison, say, Gareth Southgate is a spitfire and Wenger a dervish.
      Meanwhile, Potter may be boiling or bubbling inside but merely strokes his beard.
      He and Page are successful representatives of those un-managers (unassertive, unassuming, understated and understanding) upon whom so many clubs depend.
      For all their low-key backgrounds, though, the football they promote is anything but boring.
      At Stamford Bridge, for the first time in his career, Potter will be working with superstars while Page, for all that he is an international team boss, has had only limited experience of high-octane performers.
      These include Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey for whom he has succeeded in providing a relaxed atmosphere away from sometimes stormy club life.
      Wales’ recent achievements suggest Ryan Giggs has not been missed at all.
      No doubt Potter’s people, fans at Brighton, players and employers, would say something similar.
      Technically, he remains an innovator.
      His approval here comes from Pep Guardiola, who commented: “Brighton are a joy to watch, a joy to analyse… his players move with freedom and everyone knows what they have to do.
      “They have the courage to play everywhere.”
      There are, I suspect, challenging times ahead for Potter and Chelsea.
      To be honest, I can’t really wish them particular luck.
      But I can Page and Wales.
      They took Giggs’ absence in their stride, reached the Euro 2020 knockout phase and then qualified for the Qatar World Cup.
      For a country of rugby obsession, Wales have an exceptional record of good footballers, admittedly a few of whom qualified because grandpa passed through Cardiff one day.
      Not Page, though.
      Read More on The Sun
      He comes from the coalfield village of Tylorstown, once the home of world flyweight champ Jimmy Wilde, famous as ‘the ghost with the hammer in his hand’.
      The Rhondda will ring to Page’s name, too, should Wales wield the hammer to England in Qatar. More

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      in Soccer

      Dave Kidd: There’s NO chance Southgate will drop Maguire for World Cup opener… Slabhead’s England spot is concrete

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      WHEN England face Iran in their World Cup opener in Qatar, just ten weeks from now, the smart money is on Harry Maguire being in the starting line-up.Such a decision might be met with howls of derision across the land.
      Harry Maguire is in line to keep his England spot, despite being dropped at Manchester UnitedCredit: Getty
      It will doubtless be regarded as a sign that Gareth Southgate is pig-headed, out-of-touch and past his sell-by date as England manager.
      But Southgate’s loyalty towards Maguire is cast-iron.
      The England boss has been licking his wounds for three months since the 4-0 humiliation by Hungary at Molineux capped a miserable winless four-match Nations League run in June.
      This Thursday, he will name his squad for clashes with Italy, on Friday week, and Germany, the following Monday, which represent England’s final matches before the weird, disorientating and utterly corrupt mid-season World Cup.
      Read More In Football
      And Manchester United’s troubled captain seems certain to be included — despite his axing by club boss Erik ten Hag.
      When Maguire has started this season, United’s record reads played three, lost three.
      When he has been excluded, Ten Hag’s men have played four, won four.
      Yet for Southgate, old Slabhead remains untouchable.­
      Most read in Football
      That defeat by Hungary was England’s biggest home defeat in 94 years and easily the worst night of Southgate’s six-year reign.
      And one of the loudest groans came when he introduced Maguire as a late sub, after John Stones had been sent off and Hungary had scored their third goal.
      Maguire, once a man-of-the-people cult hero among England fans, is now treated with extraordinary levels of contempt.
      He was booed by large sections of the Wembley crowd before the friendly against Ivory Coast in March and even as far away as Melbourne, during a United pre-season friendly in July.
      So why is Maguire afforded apparently special treatment by Southgate, who has previously claimed he would only choose those playing regularly for their clubs?
      Well, it’s not as if there are a whole host of in-form English central defenders.
      Eric Dier, who has been consistently excellent in Spurs’ back three, will receive a long overdue recall.
      Maguire, once a man-of-the-people cult hero among England fans, is now treated with extraordinary levels of contempt.
      Especially as Southgate may revert to a back three for Qatar.
      And Stones, suspended for next week’s trip to Milan, is being included more frequently in Manchester City’s starting line-up.
      But beyond those two, Ben White is playing for Arsenal at right-back — the one position in which Southgate is already famously well-stocked.
      And the other two centre-backs in the Euros squad last year were Tyrone Mings and Conor Coady.
      Mings has been stripped of the Aston Villa captaincy, while Wolves’ Coady has been loaned to Everton.
      Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace and AC Milan’s Italian title-winner Fikayo Tomori are both in the mix but neither were particularly impressive for England in June, when Southgate rightly claimed Maguire had been his best centre-half.
      Apart from this scarcity of potential replacements, Southgate has always remained remarkably loyal to those who started regularly during the 2018 World Cup.
      Seven of his Russian starting XI lined up against Germany in Munich in June and Jordan Henderson might have been an eighth, if available.
      Maguire was also included in Uefa’s Team of the Tournament for last summer’s Euros — despite missing the opening two matches through injury.
      Many of us had questioned Southgate’s decision to name an unfit player — a failing of previous overly loyal England managers — but Maguire proved his boss spectacularly right.
      It isn’t true that Maguire has never let England down — his early sending-off in a Nations League home defeat by Denmark came just weeks after he was arrested on holiday in Greece, causing him to be axed from Southgate’s squad.
      But by and large, Maguire has been excellent for his country.
      And however badly England ended last season, Southgate is easily his nation’s most successful manager since Sir Alf Ramsey.
      He has fully earned the right to do things his way in Qatar.
      And that will mean a prominent role for Maguire, despite the booing mob.
      Southgate is a long-term manager with a long memory, in an age of knee-jerk short-termism.
      If he fails in Qatar, he will fail on his own terms — with Maguire in his team.

      VAR FROM OK ABROAD TOO
      JUST as VAR-devotees will tell you the system is not to blame, only the people who operate it, they will back up their claim by insisting it is only a shambles in England.
      So they’ll be hoping you haven’t seen the injury-time chaos in Sunday’s Serie A clash between Juventus and Salernitana.
      A 96th-minute ‘winner’ by Juve’s Arkadiusz Milik was incorrectly ruled out for offside by VAR, when a defender lurking by the corner flag, clearly playing everyone on, was somehow not spotted by the remote official.
      In the ensuing furore, Juve boss Max Allegri and three players were sent off.
      So, yeah, the system is fine, it’s just our incompetent muppets to blame — there’s nothing to see elsewhere.

      B&B A 5-STAR
      IT’S difficult to recall any change of management of any team, in any sport, having such a dramatically positive effect as Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes as coach and captain of England’s Test cricketers.
      After one victory in 17 matches under the old regime, England have won six out of seven this summer — many in thrilling, record-breaking style.
      It was ludicrous that moderately bad light stopped play on Sunday, with England 33 runs short of victory against South Africa.
      Yet several thousand still turned out on a Monday morning to watch 25 minutes of cricket — testament to the public appreciation of this team and Test cricket itself.
      Perhaps the ECB can now stop obsessing about The Hundred and start prioritising the sport’s original, and best, format.

      NO PREM NET GAIN
      AS Premier League clubs had a larger net summer spend than the other four major European leagues put together, they should be dominating continental club competitions.
      Yet English teams have lifted only one of the last seven major trophies and, in last week’s openers, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United all lost.
      Spanish clubs won nine trophies out of ten between 2014-18, without enjoying overall financial dominance.
      It would be unspeakably dull if Premier League sides lived up to their financial might — but they are falling way, way short.

      FA OFF ON ONE
      AFTER being widely panned for calling off all football at the weekend, while other sports carried on, the FA are sticking to their guns.
      So, while Gareth Southgate will still name his England squad on Thursday for the Nations League games against Italy and Germany, he will not hold his usual media interviews.
      Some of the decisions over what is or isn’t ‘disrespectful’ during the period of national mourning for the Queen have been farcical — such as the closing of a bicycle rack in Norwich.
      But the FA’s paranoia is extreme.
      Read More on The Sun
      NEXT week marks the first anniversary of Jimmy Greaves’ death.
      And if you’d like to read about English football’s greatest scorer’s life by those who knew him best, then I’d heartily recommend The Jimmy Greaves We Knew, collated by Mike Donovan. More

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      in Motorsport

      Ben Hunt: Rift between F1 and sport’s governing body getting wider and wider… and Monza shambles won’t help

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      THE FIA’s handling of the Italian Grand Prix can only have driven a bigger wedge between Formula One and the sport’s governing body.It is a curious relationship where they both currently need each other to function — but there is a growing feeling that a divorce is on the cards.
      F1 and the FIA are heading in different directions and the Monza GP won’t helpCredit: Getty
      A little bit of background: the FIA were founded in 1904 and have their headquarters in Paris.
      And unlike Fifa, who oversee just football, the FIA are responsible for all motorsport categories.
      They ensure the rules are in place and adhered to, issue racing licences and are responsible for the safety of drivers and spectators.
      F1, meanwhile, are owned by American company Liberty Media, who own the licence to stage the championship, generating profit from deals with circuits, sponsors and TV companies.
      Read More In F1
      They are responsible for paying the teams their prize money.
      However, the relationship between F 1 and the FIA has become increasingly strained, despite being bound together in a deal that was struck with their previous chiefs.
      In 1995, ex-F 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone agreed a 100-year contract with then FIA president Max Mosley to acquire the F 1 commercial rights from the FIA.
      Those rights have since been sold to Liberty Media, who are now bound by those same legal terms agreed by Ecclestone and Mosley.
      Most read in Motorsport
      Yet it is not currently a happy marriage.
      The stench from the end of the 2021 season and the FIA’s bungling of the outcome to the championship in Abu Dhabi was embarrassing for F 1.
      Liberty have worked hard to encourage new fans to follow the sport but the poor handling harmed the sport’s reputation.
      The weak result of the FIA’s own investigation — published on the eve of the Bahrain GP — was equally unhelpful, despite replacing Michael Masi as race director.
      There is also the curious relationship between the F 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali and new FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
      The latter has put himself on the podium more times than Lewis Hamilton this season and is always front and centre of every presentation, unlike predecessor Jean Todt.
      His tough stance on banning jewellery threatened to overshadow F 1’s new Miami Grand Prix earlier in the season.
      Even more annoying for F 1 was his resistance to their proposal to introduce sprint qualifying races.
      The short-race format on Saturday’s to determine the grid is a hit with fans and promoters, while the teams are supportive, too.
      But the president has dug his heels in over the matter and is widely believed to be seeking compensation from F 1.
      For the time being, F 1 have not found an exit in their legal contract with the FIA but with teams now adding their weight to the strained relationship, maybe Liberty Media will be forced to start rethinking their options.
      In their defence, the FIA have been trying to apply the rules as they see fit, using a book of regulations that have been amended and changed over the years to suit.
      The best thing they could do now would be to rip up the old rulebook and come up with a new one in time for next season.
      As for Ben Sulayem — who insists on being called ‘Mr President’ — he is obviously enjoying himself and the associated power.
      He surely needs to put the vanity aside and focus on getting his house in order.
      Otherwise, there could be no other option but for teams to force a breakaway series under a new name.

      BRIT KID BEARS SCARS
      BRIT whizkid Oliver Bearman was denied a Formula Three title shot in Monza because stewards stopped the finale with under five laps to go.
      Bearman, 17, had battled into second when the red flag came out — and the race never resumed due to scheduling.
      Ironically, the stewards could have allowed it to play out in the time they decided the outcome of the championship, which eventually went to Victor Martins.
      The Frenchman was crowned, despite a five-second time penalty for four track limits violations in Italy.
      Prema Racing hotshot Bearman had been chasing Zane Maloney for the victory, which would have secured him the title but the  premature end to the race saw him end the season in third place.

      NAKED TRUTH
       POOR Sky F 1 Germany presenter Sandra Baumgartner stumbled into a naked Dutchman in Monza.
      A group of Max Verstappen fans had built a makeshift grandstand out of some scaffolding.
      But circuit chiefs moved in to confiscate the structure and, when Baumgartner arrived on the scene, she was greeted by a man in the nude and his inflatable bath.

      ROSSI SEES RED
       ALPINE chief executive Laurent Rossi is fuming at missing out on signing Oscar Piastri — despite admitting his team bungled his contract.
      The Aussie joined McLaren for next season after Rossi revealed he was “leaving the door ajar for him”, which Piastri walked through and negotiated a better deal.

      REMEMBERING HER MAJESTY
      THE MotoGP World Championship will observe a minute of silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II during the Aragon Grand Prix in Spain on Sunday.
      The race at the Motorland circuit takes place the day before Her Majesty’s state funeral in London from 11am. More

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      in Soccer

      Troy Deeney: Players are gossips… the Chelsea lads will be grilling Cucurella to find out exactly what Potter is like

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      HOWEVER many times a footballer has seen a change of manager, it is always a period of confusion, uncertainty and excitement.I obviously experienced plenty of managerial changes at Watford and Chelsea’s longer-serving players will be exactly the same.
      Chelsea stars will be asking Cucurella what new boss Potter is likeCredit: PA
      The Englishman has signed a five-year deal at Stamford BridgeCredit: PA
      Troy Deeney gives the lowdown on how Chelsea’s squad will get to grips with their new bossCredit: Getty
      When Graham Potter was appointed as Chelsea boss this week, players’ phones will have been going crazy.
      The players’ WhatsApp group will have been buzzing and there will have been calls and messages from friends, family, agents and others in the game.
      Everyone just wants to know what the new man is like and every player will know others who have played under their new boss and they will be mining them for information.
      Players talk and message all the time. We’re gossips. You can bet everyone at Chelsea will have been asking Marc Cucurella about Potter, as he played for their new manager at Brighton last season.
      READ MORE ON CHELSEA
      There are also former Chelsea players at Brighton, such as Tariq Lamptey and on-loan Levi Colwill. They will be inundated with messages.
      More than anything, the players will have been desperate to meet the new manager and find out what he is all about — to get rid of that feeling of uncertainty.
      And the first two weeks are always crucial.
      That’s the length of time a group of players will need to know whether they rate their new boss.
      Most read in Football
       So a win or two in that time is always massive because winning disguises any problems that might exist.
      There will be a lot of new information about patterns of play, about new training routines.
      Players will always want to know their timetables, whether they will have more or less time off — not that those in the Champions League will have much time at all, especially this season.
      But if Potter told them to arrive at 9am on his first morning, you can bet that every one of them will be at the training ground by 8.30am.
      There’s always a team meeting where the new boss will lay out his philosophy, his rules, the way he will run things — and even if you’ve been through a dozen managers, they are all different.
       Potter is bringing his Brighton backroom staff with him, so that’s another four or five individuals for all the Chelsea players to get to know, as they are also key to the mood of a training ground.
      Players who haven’t been in the team will see it as a fresh start, a clean slate.
      The players’ WhatsApp group will have been buzzing and there will have been calls and messages from friends, family, agents and others in the game.Troy Deeney
      While others will be wondering whether they fit into the new man’s way of playing. Potter is such an interesting appointment for Chelsea.
      It is a really promising one for English coaches, a lot of whom will have imagined that a job managing one of the ‘Big Six’ would always be beyond them.
      Some of the players will feel confused because I don’t think they will have been expecting Thomas Tuchel to be sacked so soon in the new season.
      But even those who liked and respected Tuchel will quickly forget about him.
      People often don’t like to hear it but football is a cut-throat business and even a manager who has won a European Cup, like Tuchel, is yesterday’s man already.
      Football is a cut-throat business and can even see European Cup winners like Thomas Tuchel get the axeCredit: Alamy
      Deeney hopes Todd Boehly is patient with his managersCredit: Rex
      Potter is inheriting Tuchel’s squad which has seen huge investment on the likes of Wesley FofanaCredit: Rex
      Some will be sceptical of Potter because he hasn’t got the elite-level CV that most Chelsea managers arrived with at Stamford Bridge.
      And Potter will be dealing with a different level of egos to what he has experienced at Brighton and before.
      Others will know a lot about his time at Brighton and I think Chelsea’s England players — like Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell and Reece James — will recognise a manager with similar methods to Gareth Southgate.
      Potter was talked about as Southgate’s natural successor before he got the Chelsea job.
      But that will be the last thing on his mind now he has got this amazing opportunity.
      He has inherited a squad of players he could only have dreamt about at Brighton and he will be pinching himself, I’m sure.
      But he deserves this crack at a big job. I just hope the new ownership, under Todd Boehly, will be a lot more patient with their managers than Roman Abramovich often was.
      He has inherited a squad of players he could only have dreamt about at Brighton and he will be pinching himself, I’m sure.Troy Deeney
      The fact that Potter has been given a five-year contract is a good indication that they intend to be.
      And it helps Potter that Chelsea made so many summer signings.
      I think the timing is good for him because he won’t feel like he is inheriting ‘Tuchel’s team’ as such.
      There are six new signings who had hardly got used to his predecessor.
      Yet it is all about results at a big club.
      Potter had some poor runs at Brighton but because expectations were lower, he was able to ride those out.
      Supporters may be more difficult to win over than players.
       It’s fair to say that Chelsea’s fanbase isn’t the easiest to convince.
      Many fans may feel Potter is ‘beneath’ them.

      Players are less likely than supporters to turn their noses up at a manager because he isn’t a ‘celebrity’ name.
      But they will make their minds up about Potter soon, so those early impressions count — big time. More

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      in Soccer

      Tuchel naive at best, stupid at worst, for staying loyal to Chelsea as he’s sacked two weeks after contract talks

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      THOMAS TUCHEL was talking new contracts with Chelsea just two weeks ago.Now he is looking for a new job.
      Tuchel was sacked on Wednesday following defeat to Dinamo ZagrebCredit: Getty
      Back then he confirmed SunSport’s exclusive story that the club wanted him to commit to a new deal with a few simple words, then moved on to stress that the most important thing was the team.
      When rudderless Manchester United made it plain they quite fancied Tuchel as their next manager towards the end of last season, the German was outspoken in his commitment to his employers.
      He would not jump ship and was happy to stay loyal to the club that gave him a chance to manage in the Premier League and raise his profile beyond all previous measure.
      On reflection, the uber-intellectual coach dubbed ‘The Professor’ looks naive at best, stupid at worst.
      READ MORE ON CHELSEA
      That is because his sacking confirms there is no place for sentiment at Stamford Bridge and that loyalty will ultimately do for you.
      Tuchel was not expecting to get the chop so few hours after his team’s collapse in Croatia.
      He acknowledged relations with chairman Todd Boehly had been on the slide for some time.
      But he did not realise that an opening group game 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb was the moment his boss had been waiting for.
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      And he took the punch right between the eyes at the training ground just before 10am having only got back to England at around 4am.
      He admitted to not seeing Tuesday’s hopeless performance from his players coming.
      He should have seen what was coming next though.
      All summer, there has been a steadily brewing discord between Tuchel and the new board of directors he reported to — but in particular Boehly.
      The German is likely to be replaced by Brighton’s Graham PotterCredit: Alamy
      Disagreement over Boehly’s desire to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United went Tuchel’s way and the plan was dropped.
      That disagreement highlights the different philosophies of the two men about players.
      Boehly clearly fancies razzmatazz and showbiz signings when it comes to players.
      He loved being pictured with new arrivals and hanging around and shooting the breeze with them at the training ground.
      Tuchel disagreed with Boehly’s desire to sign RonaldoCredit: Alamy
      Tuchel’s preference was for a new centre-half.
      He got two in the end but despite a world record investment of £259.1million in the summer, Chelsea’s head coach was still not happy.
      To the extent that after the recent embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Southampton, a message was sent to a Chelsea director containing extremely colourful language about the state of the squad.
      The dithering over a deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was another bone of contention.
      There is a feeling Tuchel had a blind spot for AubameyangCredit: Rex
      At 33, Chelsea did not fancy handing out a three-year deal to a player many see as way past his prime. Understandably so.
      There is a feeling that Tuchel has a blind spot for Aubameyang. That he is starstruck by the wayward striker’s glittering personality.
      And that, having managed him seven years ago, he could bring back the 25-year-old Aubameyang.
      Chelsea struck a compromise with Aubameyang.
      The striker signed on a two-year deal with an option for a thirdCredit: Getty
      A two-year contract with the option of a third to keep him on his toes.
      He only made his Blues debut on Tuesday — seven games into the season and almost two months since striker Romelu Lukaku went back to Inter Milan.
      Managerial sackings at Chelsea are as much a part of daily life as groin strains.
      The joke is that the club uses non-drying paint to mark out the coach’s car park space at the training ground.
      Chelsea are expected to appoint a manager who’ll be in charge for the long-term futureCredit: EPA
      In Tuchel’s case the story is a fascinating one given the way the geeky-looking, 6ft 5in beanpole, managed to grow even more in stature while steering his club through the worst moments in their 117-year history.
      When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Chelsea were unwillingly dragged into a war through Roman Abramovich’s links to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
      Government sanctions, a stranglehold on finances, an emergency takeover ordered by No 10. The very existence of one of our top clubs called into question.
      While the hierarchy took the chance to cower in a bunker and hide from the public, Tuchel took on the role of leading statesman.
      Boehly and Co spent upwards of £250m in the transfer windowCredit: Getty
      Cannot afford a plane to fly to Lille? “I’ll drive the bus,” he said.
      He was also honest in admitting most rival clubs would be delighted to see his team failing.
      There followed a series of Churchillian addresses during the height of the crisis and during which he landed the one trophy that had up to then eluded Chelsea — the Club World Cup.
      This followed victory in the European Super Cup, a few months after winning the Champions League.
      Tuchel leaves Chelsea with three trophies under his beltCredit: Getty
      There is no doubt that Chelsea have fallen away in recent times and the team was an utter shambles against Zagreb.
      Master tactician Tuchel was unable to plot a course past a side with one twelfth the budget of his.
      Formations changed, baffling substitutions made, sulky fringe players dragged off the bench to try to save his neck and it failed.
      Boehly and his cohort from US investors Clearlake Capital promised many things when their £4.25bn takeover was announced on May 22.
      The German guided Chelsea to their second-ever Champions LeagueCredit: Getty
      They were careful not to pledge public loyalty to the head coach.
      Even so, you might have expected there to a bit of credit in the bank from the way Tuchel kept the ship afloat during stormy waters.
      Had he signed that new two-year deal, Tuchel would have collected a substantial pay rise.
      He will now walk away with a pay-off worth nearly £13m.
      Read More on The Sun
      Either way, he will not go short and the odds are that he will be back in management again soon.
      And even the Professor may have learned a lesson about public loyalty. More

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      in Soccer

      We’re in the fourth season of VAR and it’s getting even WORSE… let’s just scrap it altogether

      by

      APPARENTLY, Premier League chiefs launched an “emergency review” of the two VAR howlers which robbed West Ham and Newcastle of points this weekend.How thrilling and fast-moving of them. Let’s regard them as the fourth emergency service and give them a little clap on our doorsteps every Thursday night, eh?
      West Ham were controversially denied an equaliser against Chelsea at the weekendCredit: Getty
      If they want a meaningful review, then here’s an effective conclusion — scrap VAR altogether. Abolish the whole rotten shooting match.
      This is the one solution everyone in football seems too terrified of suggesting.
      While this week’s victims — Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, along with Hammers manager David Moyes and skipper Declan Rice —  complained long and hard about the embarrassing shambles of it all, they stopped short of calling for VAR to be binned off.
      Everybody keeps parroting the lie that “VAR is not the problem, it’s the individuals operating it”.
      READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
      Because it’s easier to trot out lines like that than to actually think about things.
      As we enter the fourth season of VAR in the English top flight, with decision-making in Stockley Park getting even worse, that mantra is patently nonsense.
      The majority of decisions on fouls are subjective, so there can never be anything remotely like absolute justice.
      Slow-motion replays often make incidents look more incriminating, meaning VAR often makes things worse.
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      And don’t even get started on the definition of “clear and obvious error”.
      There is a conspiracy of silence on the idea of revoking VAR.
       TV companies love it because it makes football all about their product, rather than the live spectacle for match-going fans.
      Most football writers never pay to watch matches and don’t understand the widespread loathing of VAR among fans who do.
      Referees will never call for abolition because VAR means jobs for the old boys. Those who retire from on-field reffing, such as Mike Dean and Lee Mason, can carry on earning in Stockley Park.
       It was the experienced Mason who told rookie top-flight ref Michael Salisbury to overrule his correct decision to award an own goal against Tyrick Mitchell at St James’ Park, even though the Crystal Palace defender committed a foul himself.
      The decision by VAR Jarred Gillett to advise Andy Madley to disallow Maxwel Cornet’s West Ham “equaliser” at Chelsea was even worse.
      We were assured VAR would significantly reduce cheating. Yet Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy got away with feigning injury because of VAR, when Cornet “scored”.
      Madley had got it right the old way. So had Salisbury.
      It’s not about the personnel, it’s about VAR itself.
      Our refs are good, bad and indifferent and they have good, bad and indifferent days. But we’re not going to dig up a couple of dozen better officials to make VAR tickety-boo.
      And it’s not just in England where VAR is denounced as a shambles — Lazio’s former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri was raging about it after Saturday’s defeat by Napoli.
      The West Ham and Newcastle flashpoints weren’t the Premier League’s only weekend VAR controversies either.
      For sheer joylessness, the denial of Alexis Mac Allister’s wonder strike for Brighton against Leicester, because of a toenail offside in the build-up, took some beating.
      But apparently, footballers scoring long-range screamers is a menace which needs stamping out.
      Funnily enough, I thought Mason — on a double shift this weekend — was right to rule out Gabriel Martinelli’s “opener” for Arsenal at Manchester United because Martin Odegaard won possession by barging over Christian Eriksen.
      But that’s not the point. I could have accepted that goal standing for or against my own team.
      There always were incorrect decisions but we’d yell about them briefly, then get on with watching a fast-moving, spontaneous game.
      Now we can’t even celebrate goals properly, knowing Mason and friends will be forensically searching for a reason to rule it out. 
      Odegaard’s “foul” on Eriksen lead to an Arsenal goal being ruled out against Man UtdCredit: Rex
      Nobody suggests scrapping VAR, because being labelled a technophobic philistine is apparently some great stigma, as if you can’t have progressive views on life while hating what VAR has done.
      This country is going to the dogs. There’s an energy crisis, inflation is rampant, and a woman whose head appears to be stuffed with polystyrene will enter 10 Downing Street today.
      Football is supposed to be an escape from all this.
      Most people who pay to watch it just want to enjoy themselves. When they’ve calmed down, a quiet majority don’t even believe it’s all that serious.
      But instead, technology in decision-making is becoming even more extensive.
      So-called “robot linesmen” are arriving in the Champions League and the World Cup to make toenail offsides even more commonplace.
      When their wiring malfunctions, presumably Fifa and Uefa can also stage some emergency reviews.
      Because that’s what they reckon football is all about — middle-aged men in blazers taking themselves too seriously.

      CHEST SO SILLY
      ON the subject of VAR, Richarlison was booked for taking his shirt off after scoring for Spurs against Fulham — only for it to be ruled out for offside.
      Yet if you’re rewriting history and the goal didn’t count, surely the semi-nakedness didn’t count either and his yellow should be rescinded?

      CENTRE STAGE
      I AM loving the return to fashion of authentic centre-forwards in the Premier League — see Erling Haaland, Darwin Nunez and especially Wolves’ bid to sign free-agent Diego Costa.
      Two of the best in breed are Brentford’s Ivan Toney and Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic, who were both on Newcastle’s books, a club that worships its No 9s.
      Toon have just shelled out £60million on Alexander Isak, who also looks very promising — but they could have saved that Saudi cash by keeping either Toney or Mitrovic.
      It would, though, be sacrilegious to point out the manager who let both strikers go — and presumably didn’t rate either of them.
      The infallible Rafa Benitez.

      ONLINE GOONS
      ARSENAL fans love an online conspiracy theory — and before Sunday’s trip to Manchester United they were ranting and raving about referee Paul Tierney and VAR Lee Mason both hailing from Greater Manchester.
      When VAR disallowed Gabriel Martinelli’s early ‘goal’, the protests became even more shrill.
      Supporters of southern clubs taunt United fans that they all come from Surrey. But when refs are from Manchester, they’re assumed to be boyhood Stretford Enders.
      Many of our referees are incompetent — but they are not corrupt.

      GUNNER LOVE IT
      AFTER two seasons away, Spurs fans are salivating for tomorrow night’s Champions League opener against Marseille.
      And not least because the visitors include former Arsenal players Alexis Sanchez, Matteo Guendouzi and Sead Kolasinac as well as Nuno Tavares, on loan from the Gunners.
      It is not far short of the first North London derby in Champions League history.
      So even Gooners can enjoy some Wednesday night European football for the first time in five years.

      WHEN managers start talking with jarring honesty about their own clubs, it’s usually a sign that the end is nigh.
      It just happened with Bournemouth’s promotion-winning manager Scott Parker and, sadly, it’s now happening with FA Cup-winning Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers too.
      Read More on The Sun
      ON Saturday at Lord’s, something called Trent Rockets defeated something else called Manchester Originals in the final of a short game of cricket called The Hundred.
      And nobody really cared as the teams are completely made up and neither the players nor fans had any true allegiance to either. More

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      in Motorsport

      Lewis Hamilton’s radio rant shows he still ‘effin cares – nobody can criticise him for X-rated exchange

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      LEWIS HAMILTON’S radio rant at the Dutch Grand Prix was perfectly OK —  and rules out suggestions the Brit is not bothered now he’s not winning.In some circles Hamilton has been heavily criticised for the X-rated exchange.
      Lewis Hamilton was furious with his team’s tactics at the Dutch Grand PrixCredit: PA
      He came fourth in Zandvoort and is still waiting for a first win of the seasonCredit: Getty
      Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve said he “was aggressive, almost insulting”.
      He added that “after everything the team has meant to him, you should not speak to them like that”.
      Hamilton later apologised for the language but not the sentiment, and rightly so.
      It is fantastic that even after 303 races in 15½ years in F1 he still has that passion to win.
      READ MORE IN F1
      After such a dreadful year for his Mercedes team, he now finally has a reason to believe that he will eventually break his duck for the season.
      And when that win comes I fully expect another expletive-laden radio message.
      However, the title race is over.
      Max Verstappen’s tenth win this year means he has an incredible 109-point lead in the championship.
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      And it would take something incredible for the Dutchman not to retain his world title.
      It could even be sealed as early as Singapore, some six races before the end of the campaign.

      HERTA’S NEW F1 TAUR
      AMERICAN driver Colton Herta is expected to be confirmed as a driver for the AlphaTauri team next season — paving the way for Pierre Gasly to join Alpine.
      It is the latest driver merry-go-round as teams scramble to fill seats for the 2023 season.
      Herta, 22, currently races in IndyCar but has attracted the interest of McLaren, who offered him a test in Portugal.
      However, it is Red Bull who look likeliest to sign him and park him at their sister team.
      Herta would become the first American to race in F1 since Alex Rossi in 2015.
      Meanwhile, Alpine could face an asking price if they want to sign Gasly.
      He has only just signed a deal with Red Bull but would be allowed to leave. It is whether Red Bull will waive the fee.
      His arrival could also upset Esteban Ocon, who has been urging them to sign Mick Schumacher as his team-mate instead.

      SAUDI BIKES PLAN
      MOTOGP announced plans to follow Formula One and Formula E by racing in Saudi Arabia.
      An agreement has been reached between Dorna, the promoters, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
      There is yet to be a date set for a race as there is no approved circuit but it could form part of the new F1 track being built in Qiddiya, on the outskirts of the capital city, Riyadh.
      Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta explained the deal was driven as it was becoming a key market in the Middle East.
      He said: “The region is a key market for motorsport and the demand in the Kingdom for events of this kind is growing with research showing that 80 per cent of Saudi fans want to see more in their country.
      “In the past few years, Saudi Arabia has shown its ability to stage major global motorsports events to the highest standards.”

      MO SO KEEN
      I GET the impression new FIA chief Mohammed bin Sulayem is enjoying his new job — he’s everywhere!
      On the grid before races, shaking hands with drivers and putting himself pride of place on the podium.
      At the Dutch GP, he was in his usual blue suit  and stopped to put on his oversized sunglasses. He was very much part of the show.

      PORSCHE BLOWOUT
      HAS Red Bull’s proposed tie-up with Porsche hit the skids?
      Reports in Germany say the F1 team have grown frustrated by the VW-owned company’s demands.
      And speculation is rife their current engine supplier, Honda, could perform a U-turn given the team’s success and stay in F1.
      Read More on The Sun
      WE have all got used to working with Zoom and even I can figure out how to add a blurry background.
      So it is a bit baffling why Nico Rosberg joined Sky’s F1 coverage from his bedroom, with the headboard and pillows in the background. More

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      in Soccer

      Harry Redknapp: I loved the summer sales but Andres D’Alessandro and Noe Pamarot were my real transfer steals

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      REMEMBER being told the transfer window would be quiet this summer because so many clubs were still hard-up after the pandemic?Well they must have found a lot of loose change down the back of the sofa, seeing the Premier League alone had spent over £1.5 BILLION come Thursday’s deadline.
      Erling Haaland has scored 10 goals in six Premier League gamesCredit: PA
      Noe Pamarot was superb after signing for PortsmouthCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
      Andres D’Alessandro turned out to be a cracking signingCredit: Getty
      Some of those are already nailed on to be a big success, and Erling Haaland looks the best business anyone has done – or will do for a long time.
      We already knew he was something special. But two hat-tricks and nine goals already? That’s just ridiculous.
      Gabriel Jesus has had a flying start at Arsenal, I love Marc Cucurella, the left back Chelsea have signed, and Wesley Fofana is a great centre back – even if he has come at a price.
      But as a manager, you can’t beat getting someone for peanuts and them turning out to be a real diamond.
      Read More In Football
      Especially when they weren’t really on your radar to start with.
      I was lucky enough to find a few like that over the years, but the one who really stands out was a guy I took to Portsmouth on loan after being told we had no chance.
      I’d first come across Andres D’Alessandro five years earlier, when I was at West Ham and went to watch Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand for England Under 20s against Argentina.
      They had this little No10 who was the best player on the pitch.
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      Frank told me he was scared to go near him because he got nutmegged every time he got close.
      At the time Joe Cole was just coming through, who was the best schoolboy I’d ever seen, and the chairman wouldn’t spend £3million or £4million on another kid, so nothing happened.
      But in 2006 I bumped into an agent called Barry McIntosh, who looked after the lad, and asked about a loan, because he’d gone to Wolfsburg for big money and we couldn’t afford him.
      Barry laughed it off… but a few weeks later rang and said it could happen.
      So we got him in on January 31, and what a move that was.
      When D’Alessandro turned up it was pouring down and Fratton Park was ankle deep in mud.
      He was only a skinny lad, scrawny little legs, and we were playing Bolton the following day.
      I told the staff I was putting him straight in and they thought I was mad.
      He had a blinder, got a standing ovation and kept us up that season.
      Mind you, there were a couple of others who were brilliant for us as well.
      One of whom I never even considered.
      I was going to sign Pedro Mendes and Sean Davis from Spurs, and Daniel Levy threw in Noe Pamarot as well.
      It was like buy two get one free… all for £7 million.
      We were right in trouble when those lot arrived, and we ended up surviving.
      It’s great when you take a gamble and it pays off…but it’s not always the way.
      It still makes me cringe to think of the time I wanted to sign Peter Odemwingie for QPR and West Brom were playing hard ball.
      The deadline was only a few hours away, and we still hadn’t discussed terms, so I told him to come down to London in case we got something sorted quickly.
      I thought he’d check into a hotel near the ground…I certainly didn’t expect him to park up round the corner, with TV cameras all over the place.
      That was that as far as it went in terms of signing him. I’ve seen him a few times since and he’s a lovely lad…it just wasn’t the wisest place he’s ever parked the car!

      IT’S JUST A START, ART
      THERE’S no doubt Arsenal have got off to a great start, and they look best placed to make the most of it if Chelsea keep dropping silly points.
      But I won’t be jumping on the bandwagon with those who are already saying they’re certs for a top four finish. Not just yet, anyway.
      Yes, they’ve done well so far, but only against sides you’d fancy them to roll over. And only by the skin of their teeth in some cases.
      Let’s see how Arsenal cope when they have a real test, and there’s no doubt today’s game at Manchester United is a huge one.
      Pass that one with flying colours, and a few more besides, and it’ll be time to get excited. Until then, just keep those corks in the bottle, eh.

      RICH’S RIGHT UP FOR IT
      WHEN Spurs signed Richarlison I was worried what his attitude would be like if he wasn’t in the team.
      And with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min around, he wasn’t going to be.
      But at the moment he’s been a bundle of energy coming off the bench, and that keepy-up business at Nottingham Forest is just his way.
      Read More on The Sun
      A couple of Forest lads had already tried to boot him before he started taking the mick, and that was his way of saying “sod ‘em!”
      Although if he’d tried that against Stuart Pearce, they’d have been picking him up from the back of the stand.
      Richarlison came under fire for his showboating against Nottingham ForestCredit: Alamy More