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      in Motorsport

      F1 chiefs may reconsider staging Saudi GP now we are safely out of there with cheques cashed

      by

      I HAVE filed reports from a number of strange places.
      I once sent in a story while sat on the floor of M&S in London Bridge — plugged into a socket to power up my dead laptop.
      The missile attack just six miles from the Jeddah F1 circuit ensured tensions were running high in the F1 family last weekendCredit: AFP
      The smoke billowed into the sky following the attack, clearly visible to F1 drivers just six miles away on the trackCredit: Reuters
      But until Friday in Saudi Arabia, I’d never filed from a war zone.
      Too much of an exaggeration? I don’t think so.
      The missile attack on the Aramco fuel depot by the rebel Houthis was too close for comfort at just six miles away from the F1 track.
      Even with a three-day armistice proposed from the Iran-backed Yemeni group, I didn’t feel especially comfortable in Jeddah given the almost daily exchange of missiles.
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      As a result I decided not to go on the grid before the race for my safety.
      After all, would you really trust someone who had been lobbing missiles into your back garden for the past eight years not to throw just one more when you were least expecting it?
      The huge plumes of smoke that drifted out of the giant oil container signalled the start of a seminal moment for F1.
      Finally, the sport’s owners were forced to listen to those who can make the difference as to where it races — the drivers, who threatened a boycott.
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      The race is a perfect example of Saudi’s desire to use sport as a vehicle to peddle their narrative. Only this time it backfired.
      Part of Saudi’s ‘2030 Vision’ is to turn the country into a tourist destination, with billions being spent on creating mega cities to rival the likes of Dubai.
      Holding sporting events is key to creating the image of a must-visit place, particularly it seems with motorsport.
      The Dakar Rally is now in Saudi, as is Formula E, Extreme E and F1.
      In fairness, the people in Jeddah have been incredibly welcoming and a visit to the old town is well worth it if you happen to be there.
      But no matter how much they spend, images of a burning refinery in the background of an F1 race will always trump the travel brochures.
      I can assure you, the threat of a boycott from the drivers was very real.
      Initially the fear was over safety and then came the bigger issue — the fact F1 was in Saudi Arabia in the first place.
      Of course we know the reason why F1 goes there — about 55 million of them if we are to believe reports into just how much the Saudis pay to host the race.
      There is also the sponsorship deal of the state-owned Aramco oil company, who pour another £40million into the sport.
      Remember, F1 is a business, which probably explains why chief exec Stefano Domenicali said what he did on the eve of race day.
      Amid all the calls for cancelling the race, somewhat bewilderingly he said: “We are not blind but we mustn’t forget one thing: and that is this country and the sport in which we believe is making a massive step forward.
      “Don’t forget a couple of years ago women couldn’t drive. Now they are here on the grid.
      “I do believe we are playing a very important role in the modernisation of this country. We are focused on making this the centre of our agenda.”
      🏁 F1 2022 calendar: practice times, dates and racetrack info

      Of course, he was speaking before the race and, more importantly, after the cheque had been cashed.
      But it felt that even he didn’t really believe the words that were coming out.
      Persuading the drivers to go ahead and race was simply a case of kicking the can down the road.
      However, let’s see what happens next to this race — now we are safely out of Saudi airspace.
      I suspect it will be a different story.
      ARTEM’S OK WITH STANCE
      RUSSIAN speedway world champ Artem Laguta has no regrets over criticising the invasion of Ukraine, despite being stripped of his Motorcycle Federation of Russia licence.
      The 31-year-old is now effectively rendered stateless after Polish authorities were also unwilling to let him race on a PZM licence in league racing in 2022.
      The sport’s governing body, the FIM, have also stopped him and fellow Russian Emil Sayfutdinov from racing in the Grand Prix World Championship series this year.
      Laguta said: “I have not hurt anyone in my daily life, much less on the track. I have always tried to help people and be a good person.
      “I feel as if I started this war. I am Russian but I haven’t done anything to anyone and I have no influence over what is happening.
      “These are the hardest days in our lives. I hope that peace will come again.”
      IT’S GOOD MEETING
      CAN’T make it to Melbourne? Or the Rome ePrix? Or the MotoGP in Austin?
      Then why not head to Goodwood for your motor-racing fix on April 9-10.
      For their 79th Members’ Meeting they are celebrating the ear-splitting V10 F1 cars with demonstrations of the McLaren MP4/6, Benetton B193, Ferrari F310 and also the Williams-Renault FW18s.
      The spectacular Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 will also serve as the course car for the V10 F1 demonstration.
      SIGNED BOTTLES ARE GLASS ACT
      FERRARI TRENTO, who provide the fizz on the F1 podium, are now auctioning off signed bottles of bubbly in aid of the Red Cross’ work in war-torn Ukraine.
      One-of-a-kind bottles — like the F1 Podium Jeroboam — will be up for grabs as of the Australian Grand Prix next month and will be available at the F1 Authentics website. More

    • 263 Shares149 Views

      in Soccer

      Ukraine want to reach the World Cup on merit… Wales and Scotland won’t be giving them an easy ride in play-offs

      by

      IMAGINE being a Welsh or Scottish football fan for a moment.Now that you have put aside the urge to question your existence and stopped worrying about having no friends, just think what it must be like.
      Wales will play either Ukraine or Scotland in the World Cup play-off finalCredit: REX FEATURES
      Your national team is on the verge of reaching the World Cup finals for the first time since the Act of Union was signed in 1707.
      These are exciting, optimistic days.
      Then some bloody do-gooder comes along and suggests the players of both countries should step aside and wave Ukraine through to Qatar out of kindness.
      Let the beleaguered Eastern Europeans stroll through the play-offs without kicking a ball and straight into the greatest football show on earth — as a noble gesture.
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      It’s a lovely thought but it should end right there.
      No nation on this planet is more noble than Ukraine at the moment.
      No people holding its collective head up higher than the yellow and blues as they trade blows with Vladimir Putin.
      And judging by the way the Russians are getting their arses kicked on the battlefield, Ukraine doesn’t look like it needs anyone getting all sentimental about it.
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      The way president Volodymyr Zelensky told the listening world that his determined country needed weapons to kill the enemy, not sympathy, sums up the mentality which runs from top to bottom there.
      And it will no doubt be the same with his football team.
      Football and the war have become hugely intertwined in recent weeks, with Mad Vlad’s decision to invade the neighbours transforming Russia into the biggest sporting pariah in history.
      It also had the galvanising effect of turning every Ukrainian into a walking Terminator, whether it be in a frozen trench or on a  Premier League football pitch.
      Just look at West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko for that.
      Disregarded as a waste of space by some short-sighted fans before it all kicked off with the Russkies, the Ukraine captain’s every shot at goal is now the equivalent of a Stinger missile.
      Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko spoke to Gary Lineker about people back home sleeping in bunkers with their lives being smashed all around them.
      He said: “I am so proud to be Ukrainian. When you are watching the people, how they fight for their lives, there are no words.
      “I know the mentality of my people — they’ll prefer to die than to give in.”
      Ukraine’s foreign-based players have spoken of how tough it’s been to carry on working, mindful of what is going on back home.
      But they have done and have given their best in dreadful circumstances. They would be embarrassed to get a favour from Fifa, Steve Clarke, Gareth Bale or anyone else for that matter.
      As Zinchenko said, his people would rather die than give in.
      Of course, two World Cup qualifying plays-off are a zillion miles down the ladder of importance compared to armed conflict.
      But while sport is there to be enjoyed at the best of times, it also plays a role in the worst of them.
      This country saw that with the clamour to get the Premier League back on during the height of the pandemic, when hundreds of people were dying every day.
      With that in mind, it’s fair to assume that if football, in any way, can lift the spirits of a country fighting for its very existence, these guys would want to do it their way — either winning or losing but on a level playing field.
      NO RUN-OF-THE-MIL SUCCESS
      SNOOKER journeyman Robert Milkins spoke for a lot of us when he landed a first ranking title along with 50 grand.
      The Bristolian, 46, plugged away for 27 years with little reward and a lot of mental challenges. The death of his sister was understandably troubling, leading him to drink excessively.
      He then admitted that Covid, the war in Ukraine and not winning matches has ended up with him seeking counselling.
      Snooker’s image of the 70s and 80s was of smoke-filled rooms,  colourful characters, birds and booze that went hand in hand with sublime skill on the green baize. Money, laughter and late nights with no lasting effects on the soul.
      These days it’s not quite so glamorous but people like Milkins still chip away and live for days like his on Saturday in Gibraltar.
      With that commitment and honesty, in a weird kind of way he is more than a little inspirational.
      Covid, the war in Ukraine and not winning matches has ended up with Milkins seeking counselling
      NORN IRON MAN
      HARRY KANE is closing in on the goalscoring feats of Wayne Rooney.
      With 49 goals from 68 England games, the Three Lions captain is marking himself out as a legend of the international game.
      And tonight, Wales keeper Wayne Hennessey will celebrate picking up his 100th cap in a friendly at home to the Czech Republic.
      Both men deserve applause for their skill and longevity. But there is one player from the United Kingdom who deserves an ovation every time he steps out in the green and white of his home nation.
      Last Friday night, Steven Davis scored his 13th goal for Northern Ireland in Luxembourg.
      Nothing too amazing about that, other than he is 37 and it was his 133rd appearance for a tiny football country that has no hope of  winning a major tournament.
      In fact, it was virtually a national holiday the last time they reached a finals — at Euro 2016.
      Kane can dream of maybe one day lifting the World Cup with England, Hennessey gets to play with Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey.
      Davis just does what he does out of love and  loyalty to football and his homeland and it takes  a lot of effort and  determination to keep doing it again and again and again…
      Kane is closing in on Rooney’s all-time England goal scoring recordCredit: REX FEATURES
      POSH ‘N BOSHED
      THE ENGLAND cricket team are in disarray and rugby was a big letdown in the Six Nations.
      Meanwhile our football team are riding high and looking good to use this year’s World Cup to build on the success at last summer’s Euros, where they reached the final.
      Such a shame to see the posh boys struggling and being shown up by the boys from the sink estates.
      Can someone please get that chip off my shoulder?
      England turned in a poor showing at the Six NationsCredit: REX FEATURES More

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      in Soccer

      Karren Brady: Five substitutes in the Premier League is inevitable… and it will be another big advantage to the top six

      by

      THE mass Liverpool four-man walk-on at Nottingham Forest was Jurgen Klopp’s latest statement that the substitution rules should be updated.The German manager is practically evangelical in his demand that England should follow the continent and the FA Cup and allow five substitutes in league matches.
      Jurgen Klopp showed why he is a huge fan of bringing in five subs for Prem games with a successful mass change against Forest in the FA CupCredit: PA
      Midfield general Jordan Henderson was one of four Liverpool players brought on in the 64th minute before Diogo Jota sneaked their late winnerCredit: Rex
      Whether or not he did his cause a favour will be decided by the Premier League quite soon.
      We have voted on increasing to five subs three times.
      Each time it was rejected, mainly because the rule change was proposed after the season had started and a radical change halfway through a season is never a good idea.
      For some clubs, there are other reasons to vote against it.

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      I am sure many among the crowd at Forest’s stadium on Sunday, as well as millions of viewers, gasped at the invasion of four men from the Premier League club’s exceptional player pool to try to beat the Championship side. It worked, too.
      Some people think that football pushed equality aside a long time ago.
      There are people who believe that the £1.5billion the PL has paid to the wider football pyramid over the last three years is not enough.
      They remember the time when the consolation for clubs with smaller crowds was a share of the proceeds home and away.
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      As for substitutes, when one per team per match was first introduced nearly 60 years ago a famous manager declared in horror that a club could cheat by pretending a player was injured.
      He’d have had a blue fit today. You can see why, at least by the standards of those days.
      Liverpool kept one player back in case of serious injury in that last 15 minutes or so.
      And calling up the cavalry changed a tight contest sufficiently for Forest, unable to call on such back-up, to let in the only goal.
      Was this fair? With fixture stress growing, why shouldn’t a club be able to use more of their fine and expensive players to help them win games?
      After all at least six of them have been filling the leading positions this century.
      And the money their successes have generated has not only benefited their owners and bankers, but also their supporters and the wider football pyramid.
      You can only guess what some clubs feel about the prospect of five classy subs stripping off, ready to pull back a one-goal deficit
      Judge that by the queue of mainly foreigners to buy Chelsea. Forest would love to be rich and among the game’s aristocracy.
      And if they were they, too, would do all they could to remain there, including a choice of five subs.
      You can only guess what some clubs feel about the prospect of five classy subs stripping off, ready to pull back a one-goal deficit. No, we can all guess.
      Substitutes have become even more essential in rugby than in football.
      It is the usual form in internationals for jug-eared, bust-nosed forwards in the range of 16-18 stones  to lurch off in threes, fours or fives to be replaced with half an hour to go by a similar number of similar sizes though in clean strips and with more amazing haircuts.
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      I can’t imagine a change in football’s rule will have such a radical effect.
      But two extra steps into the unknown are all but inevitable soon and the side-effects unpredictable except, simply, the bigger the club the wider the advantage. More

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      in Soccer

      Colombia hope Liverpool sensation Luis Diaz can fire them to World Cup qualification, but face uphill struggle

      by

      NEW Liverpool sensation Luis Diaz was the last player to score for Colombia. The problem is that since he found the back of the net, seven games have gone by.Diaz shot past Claudio Bravo to clinch a 3-1 win at home to Chile in a World Cup qualifier back in early September.
      Luis Diaz will have to be Colombia’s talisman if they want to qualify for the World CupCredit: Getty
      In the subsequent qualifiers Colombia have ground out four goalless draws and suffered three 1-0 defeats.
      Diaz has played in all of them. The last two, in late January, came just as he was finalising his move to Liverpool from Porto in Portugal.
      He had his moments in the last game – a 1-0 defeat away to Argentina, although based on that performance former Argentina boss Alfio Basile was amazed that Liverpool were paying so much for him.
      The previous game was the lowpoint – a 1-0 loss at home to Peru which may well ensure that Colombia cannot make it to a third consecutive World Cup.
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      On that afternoon they battered Peru for ninety minutes, but could not find the guile to create many chances.
      And in a rare late break out, Peru scored a shock goal when former Arsenal keeper David Ospina made a dreadful error at his near post.
      By this point, Colombia were already looking like a side who had given up on the possibility of ever scoring again.
      Their dry run is extraordinary. Then can count on all time top scorer Radamel Falcao Garcia, on the Atalanta pair of Luis Muriel and Duvan Zapata, on Raphael Santos Borre of Eintracht Frankfurt, on the creative talents of Juan Guillermo Cuadrado and, rushed back into action, of James Rodriguez, plus Luis Diaz. And they cannot find a goal.
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      It is surely impossible that they will be held again this Thursday in the penultimate round of South America’s World Cup qualifiers. They are at home to Bolivia. It is the home banker.
      In their eight previous away games Bolivia have drawn two and lost six, scoring 6 and conceding 22. This could be the time when Luis Diaz and company finally get over their trauma in front of goal and fill their boots.
      But it will probably come too late. To have any chance of making it to Qatar, Colombia will have to beat Bolivia on Thursday and win away to Venezuela the following Tuesday. This should not be beyond them.
      But all those dropped points – Colombia have drawn 8 of their 16 matches, and only won three of them – mean that they can only reach a total of 23.
      If other results work in their favour, this might just be good enough to sneak into fifth position and snatch the play off slot. The chances are, though, that it will not be good enough.
      The crunch game could be the final round tie between Peru and a very disappointing Paraguay, where a Peruvian win will carry them beyond Colombia’s reach.
      Despite boasting attacking talent like James Rodriguez, Colombia are goalless in seven World Cup qualifiersCredit: AFP
      This was the problem with that home defeat to Peru.
      Not only did Colombia drop points, but one of their closest rivals came away with all three.
      Colombia look poised to pay a high price for that summer afternoon when David Ospina blundered and Luis Diaz played so badly. More

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      in Soccer

      Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper is a phenomenon and would love to end his boyhood club Liverpool’s Quadruple dream

      by

      NOTTINGHAM FOREST’S Steve Cooper is another phenomenon – a top football manager without any high-level playing experience.No doubt the Welshman, along with world-famous names such as Arsene Wenger, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Jose Mourinho, kicked the ball around for small clubs on pitches of mud or concrete – but not a lot more.
      Steve Cooper is out to end his boyhood club’s Quadruple dream when Nottingham Forest face Liverpool in the FA CupCredit: Getty
      They owed their success as managers in fiercely competitive leagues to an intricate study of the game, to tactical skills unallied to success on the field, to motivation and to understanding what makes players tick as much as to kick.
      Cooper isn’t yet among the elite coaches named above.
      His record with Swansea and now at the club on the banks of the River Trent is very sound.
      Yet he still hasn’t escaped from the Championship, despite two play-offs with Swansea and a brief spell with Forest, who are keenly chasing a top-six place this season.
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      To make tomorrow’s FA Cup quarter-final home tie with Liverpool even more fascinating, Cooper, 42, has been a fan of theirs since he was a boy in Pontypridd.
      A town renowned for its production of international rugby players and still often retaining the view of football as a ‘soft’ sport.
      This was always nonsense and the variety of serious injuries from collisions and tackles may not impress rugger men.
      But I am all too aware of the distress they cause among our players.
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      And I know from our incredible performance on Thursday night that not one West Ham player could be considered ‘soft’.
      The son of a former first-class referee, Cooper had little choice but to love football as a boy.
      However, his playing career went no further than the stiffs at Wrexham and died away at Porthmadog – a very old and proud Welsh club.
      Better at least than Avram Grant, who rose to the heights of football management on a song and a prayer, with an unrecorded playing career behind him.
      Cooper clearly is a football academic, like Wenger and, more recently, Bruno Lage at Wolves. Addicted to theories and capable of making them understandable to players.
      Young players’ willingness to learn has nothing to do with the promise of future riches, although it is naive to imagine that many parents and agents are not attracted by the millions at the beginning of the rainbow.
      Later, it will often be different.
      Later, too, disaffected or dropped players might well pose the question: “Who did you play for, then?”
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      I’m sure Mourinho or Brendan Rodgers would silence them with a look that is worthy of being on The Apprentice!
      Cooper’s climb through the ranks to become youth manager at Liverpool impressed the FA.
      As England Under-17s coach he led his team to the final of the 2017 European Championships and then to World Cup glory later that same year.
      With Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden and Callum Hudson-Odoi in the team, he had facilitated (his word) players at the start of their careers who have already brightened Gareth Southgate’s outstanding international team.
      Imaginative teaching is a talent and to do it with dozens of ambitious players demands patience and leadership.
      Tomorrow’s Cup game will be a marker in Cooper’s career and I’m sure Jurgen Klopp, profiting by his rival’s work at Anfield, will not underestimate Forest’s threat to unravel his four-trophy dream.
      They have already lifted the League Cup and are now chasing the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
      In football’s love-hate world, Cooper would love to beat Liverpool and hate to be the man who shattered that Quadruple dream.
      In a purely football context, though, how good it is that once-barred women and once-derided managers should be making waves. More

    • 238 Shares99 Views

      in Soccer

      Chelsea facing Deadline Day for new ownership – but scrutiny over ethics will have many Premier League owners worried

      by

      FRIDAY is Deadline Day for would-be Chelsea owners to submit bids to replace Roman Abramovich as the most scrutinised billionaire in football.And it seems there is no shortage of interested parties, with suggestions that as many as 200 potential investors are jostling for position.
      Roman Abramovich has been forced out of ChelseaCredit: AP
      If it’s any help, I’m willing to make it 201 with an offer of £50 — as long as I can quickly sell for an obscene profit like Abramovich did with all that Russian oil.
      It was only two weeks ago that Britain’s most infamous oligarch was panicked into putting Chelsea up for sale.
      Yet the queue of prospective buyers is already stretching all the way around Stamford Bridge.
      First of all it was going to be a mysterious Swiss mogul in partnership with a couple of American tycoons.
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      Then it was some bloke from Turkey swiftly followed by a Saudi media group that definitely isn’t connected with Mohammed Bin Salman, a Mayfair property developer, a Ghanaian gold miner, the owners of the New York Jets, Chicago Cubs, Houston Rockets and Crystal Palace, ex-Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton, Sebastian Coe and Uncle Tom Cobley.
      In fact, the only one missing from the list is Aliko Dangote, ‘Africa’s Richest Man’ who has been talking about buying a Premier League team for 20 years without ever putting his hand in his pocket.
      If Abramovich really is in league with Vladimir Putin, this would be the perfect opportunity for Russia to destroy one of the western world’s biggest clubs by tying the whole process up in never-ending legal arguments.
      The fact that the deal will require approval from the Government as well as the Premier League already means any takeover is not going to happen overnight.
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      And the fact that the source of the new owner’s wealth is finally going to be properly investigated means it’s now squeaky-bum time in boardrooms up and down the country.
      No one is more concerned than tin-eared Newcastle director Amanda Staveley, who has publicly sympathised with Abramovich’s plight.
      She says: “I’m really sad that someone is going to have a football club taken away because of a relationship he may have with someone.”
      I’ll bloody bet she is.
      Because all of a sudden new questions are being asked about the morality of Newcastle being so closely tied to a regime complicit in genocide, human rights abuses and mass public executions.
      So why aren’t the Saudis also being sanctioned by the Government and barred from trading? Oh, because they might sell us more oil.
      And if we’re suddenly going to be concerned about the ethics of the Premier League’s distant owners, why stop at Newcastle?
      What about the Emirati owners of Manchester City, the Chinese conglomerate controlling Wolves, Everton’s recently severed links with Alisher Usmanov, porn barons David Gold and David Sullivan at West Ham and even the fortunes acquired from gambling by the owners of Brighton and Brentford?
      The sad reality is that nice guys very rarely become billionaires and football abandoned its moral compass a long time ago.
      Whoever finally gets the nod to acquire Chelsea probably isn’t going to be the kind of person you’d want as a mate.
      But if that’s the price of finding someone who can keep running the club in the manner to which they have become accustomed, we’ll all hold our noses and look the other way.
      EXPENSE CLAIMS
      CHELSEA’s pampered stars are starting to feel the pinch as Government restrictions on travel and accommodation spending kick in.
      So I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome them to my world of budget hotels and 5am flights on budget airlines from an airport in the middle or nowhere.
      And if the people behind the sanctions are serious about keeping an eye on Chelsea’s spending, might I suggest they appoint The Sun’s expenses department to oversee the operation.
      Because there’s not a single penny of unauthorised claims which will get past that lot. More

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      in Soccer

      Man Utd are in freefall and could finish outside top eight let alone top four with their lame-duck squad

      by

      MANCHESTER UNITED have a lame-duck manager and a squad with lame-duck players.And just like a duck, there is plenty going on below the surface – but not a lot to show for it. It’s quackers.
      Man Utd are now in total freefall and could easily finish outside the top eight amid their horror run of formCredit: PA
      The team’s head is barely above water with the season now in danger of total freefall and the real prospect of the club finishing outside the top eight, never mind the top four.
      That is the sad reality as the dust settles from the Champions League last 16 exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
      United’s next chance to win a trophy will be in 11 months in the Carabao Cup.
      That means a trophy drought of almost six years, so this is already their most barren period since 1983.
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      Soon they will be hanging up a banner at the Etihad – as they used to at Old Trafford – to remind their city rivals of how long it had been since they lifted a trophy.
      In the Premier League they could easily finish in their worst position since 1989-90 when they came 13th.
      Seventh was their worst since then under David Moyes in 2013-14.
      They have Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in their final nine games, but no game will be easy for a team in the state they are now in.
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      Their season effectively finished on Tuesday night and it will be very difficult to lift the players for a battle to finish in the top four, one which in reality they will not win.
      Particularly when everyone knows the manager will no longer be at the helm in three months time. And a number of your team-mates are no longer fully committed to the club.
      Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Edinson Cavani will all be off. And 24-year-old homegrown star Marcus Rashford is considering his future.
      Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, does not want to stay if they are not going to be in the Champions League.
      Bruno Fernandes’ negotiations to extend his deal remain on hold.
      They also have a captain in Harry Maguire who can no longer hang on to the armband while his own fans are abusing him.
      The cheering when he was hooked on Tuesday was sad for a man, 29, who constantly plays through the pain barrier while others cry off at the slightest pull or strain.
      And all the time, the noise around the club is deafening.
      It is the same after every game, plenty of criticism but no solutions.
      Get a new manager? They keep doing that.
      Man Utd have a habit of burning through managers and it doesn’t seem to be helpingCredit: Reuters
      Grow from the academy. They continue to do that.
      Get directors of football in? They have them.
      Invest in the squad? They have spent almost £1.3BILLION since 2013.
      Get more ‘football people’ in at boardroom level?
      David Gill was not one. He was a chartered accountant who just happened to be at the helm when the greatest manager of all time was in the dug-out.
      For the last eight years Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson were in tandem, the Glazers also owned the club.
      So what exactly would former players Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes or Owen Hargreaves do to change things?
      Scholes said they had to get the right manager this summer but could not say with any certainty who.
      Sir Alex made a big decision in 2013 on his retirement in naming his successor and that man – Moyes – was gone ten months later.
      The best idea I heard came from his former No2 Rene Meulensteen who said United need to identify NOW the players they would have in every position to compete for a title in THREE YEARS’ time.
      The decision to hire David Moyes after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement set in motion a horror decade for the clubCredit: Action Images – Reuters
      Is there the patience for that? I doubt it.
      Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was on the right track getting to semi-finals before things unravelled – but he apparently took the club backwards.
      Jose Mourinho won two trophies – but now we are told he was past his best and not the right fit.
      So who is? Erik Ten Hag? Because, well, he is from Ajax, dumped out of the Champions League on Tuesday as well by Benfica.
      Thomas Tuchel’s future is uncertain at Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino will be let go by PSG in the summer and Antonio Conte is growing frustrated at Spurs. All good candidates.
      Will any have this club challenging again for a title soon, given the state it is in?
      With each passing year the desperation of grows.
      A microcosm of the current Manchester United was there for all to witness on Tuesday.
      An excellent first half had everyone bouncing, by full-time water bottles were flying and fingers of blame being pointed here, there and everywhere.
      The one certainty at Old Trafford right now is that it is chaos and between now and the end of May it will only get worse. More

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      in Soccer

      Karren Brady: Barring Russian sport stars won’t stop Putin’s war… but it could influence countrymen to rise against him

      by

      THERE are fans who seem to confuse football and war. In the one you kick a football, in the other you kill people — lots of people.Reasoning that cancelling matches or barring Russian sports stars will make much difference to Vladimir Putin’s attitude to slaughter in Ukraine belongs in junior school.
      Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at a press conferenceCredit: AFP
      But it does have an outside chance of influencing those among the despot’s fellow countrymen who have not been silenced by propaganda or the threat of a good beating up and 15 years in prison.
      It is said President Putin rather likes football and sport in general.
      He certainly believes that winning medals is important and reflects well on him or he would not have endorsed mass drug-taking among athletes.
      At least, any thoughts steroids and other performance drugs have helped Russian football teams may be true, but are made spurious by the simple fact major medals and their football have not coincided.
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      From all we hear, the truth of the terror being waged on fellow Slavs, the pitiless explosions of bodies and bricks across Ukraine, is being forcefully denied except in the Kremlin where the Putin-ites, shallow-minded sympathisers and yes-men generals bathe in their brutality.
      But these hatchet men must eventually lose the propaganda war among young people at least, the mobile phone will surely see to that.
      Among millions of conversations, there will be many asking: “When are Spartak playing again?”
      Not key but enough to spark other questions: Why are so many of our soldiers being killed in Ukraine?
      Why is there so little in the shops? Why haven’t we heard from Alexei Navalny (the jailed opposition leader)?
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      So, the football authorities are making a point. Even if Fifa and Uefa took too long to order an absolute boycott, better late than ever.
      I am proud of the way our country’s football leaders have behaved.
      Within a day or two of the first explosions in the east of Ukraine they pledged to withdraw all contact with Russia.
      The blue and yellow colours of the invaded country along with the message ‘Football Stands Together’ were shown at every Premier League match at the weekend followed by a minute’s supporter appreciation.
      In China, a rare ally of Putin’s, our actions led to a ban on screening and earlier this week the Prem ripped up the remainder of the £6million TV contract with Russia for the rest of the season.
      Ukraine colours with the message ‘Football Stands Together’ were shown at every Premier League matchCredit: Mark Pain / Premium Sports Image
      The EFL also ended their TV agreement while the PL gave £1m in support to the people of Ukraine.
      Chelsea supporters did no one any favours with their pro-Roman Abramovich chant at Burnley.
      They do have reasons to be grateful to him for funding the club to the tune of £1.5bn but he does represent the rueful effects of Russian oligarchs on Britain.
      Crowds overwhelmingly applaud Ukrainian players.
      West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko could not resist an outburst against the silence of Russian footballers towards Putin’s evil.
      But Fifa have at least permitted foreigners to break their contracts over there for the rest of the season.
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      In general, the reaction of sport and business — with the exception of the weak-kneed International Olympic Committee — has set an example to many of the world’s governments who, I think we all realise, are desperate not to provide an excuse for Putin to press the nuclear weapons button.
      We must all be patient. More