Sports
Arsenal are 10 points off WSL leaders Man City – is Renee Slegers’ job at risk?
At full-time on Sunday, Slegers gathered her dejected players in a familiar team huddle before walking over to their fans.
She stood in front of the 2,500 away supporters at Etihad Stadium applauding as they sang “North London Forever” in a somewhat emotional release.
She was greeted warmly and it did not look like a fanbase who were keen to push her out of the door.
Arsenal had performed reasonably well against City, took the lead twice and were ultimately undone by small margins.
“I mostly went there to thank them, connect with them and show them I care for them and I appreciate them coming out to Manchester,” said Slegers.
“I also wanted to show that – not that I feel sorry for them as I’m a big part of it too – but they are coming here and not getting the rewards, just like the team.
“I just wanted to connect with them instead of walking away and hiding. I don’t know how they are going to react to me! I just wanted to thank them for being there for us.”
Outside of the stadium however, noise among the fanbase has been building and Slegers knows her position is being questioned.
Sources at the club insist she retains their full backing and, while there is disappointment and acknowledgement that results have not been good enough, they believe Slegers can guide them in the right direction.
There was investment in the transfer window with the likes of England international Georgia Stanway and Spain full-back Ona Batlle arriving, as well as the talented, young Germany forward Lisa Baum.
Those signings were made early in an attempt to ensure a full pre-season and avoid a slow start with most players returning to Arsenal from their holidays in mid-July.
It has clearly not paid off but rather than worry about her job, Slegers is already planning an inquest into where the problems lie during the international break.
“There will be a big review of our season so far,” she added, when asked if there was a wider club issue regarding their continuous slow starts to WSL seasons.
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Lions vs. Panthers live updates: NFL ‘Sunday Night Football’ score, prediction, odds and latest
Follow our live coverage as Detroit and Carolina finish up today’s NFL schedule in Charlotte.
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Sports
Wales 0-1 Denmark: Craig Bellamy bemoans four-game window after Nations League loss
Traditionally, international sides have played six games across three windows – all of which have featured two fixtures – in September, October and November.
But for the first time this year, the September and October breaks were merged.
Wales’ hopes of coping with the new schedule were not helped by a string of injuries, with stars such as Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon, Dylan Lawlor and Harry Wilson missing the entire camp and David Brooks dropping out of the squad after defeat by Portugal in the opening game.
Bellamy said Dan James was not fit enough to play against Denmark after he was left on the bench at the Cardiff City Stadium, and acknowledged Ben Davies probably should have been rested after he was withdrawn late on.
“If we have a few injuries, which we had more than one or two, they miss four games,” said Bellamy.
“We can deal with two, do you understand? And then the squad will get really tested. The intensity of the squad, the athleticism, really I think [the four-game break] is designed for the elites.
“[They can] say, we can go, we can go, we can turn over these games really, really quickly and we can change, we can change [the team] like for like because we have the numbers. So, it puts a real stress on a lot of us.”
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Sports
Republic of Ireland 1-1 Israel: Heimir Hallgrimsson says Israel ‘tried to intimidate us’ amid spitting row
Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said he felt Israel were “trying to intimidate” his team amid allegations of spitting during Sunday’s tense Uefa Nations League draw.
The teams clashed at half-time in the 1-1 draw behind closed doors in Serbia, with the Irish Times, external reporting that Republic of Ireland head of athletic performance Damien Doyle alleged he had been spat at by an Israel player.
On television pictures, a voice can be heard saying “he spat on me!” as the players made their way down the tunnel at TSC Arena.
“I don’t want to get involved in that, but it’s been like this these two games. It’s tense, it’s a lot of emotions,” Hallgrimsson told Off The Ball, external when asked about the incident.
“[It] was an accusation of spitting on someone but I didn’t see it. No, we don’t want to talk about this, this will just be reviewed probably like everything else that’s happened between the two teams.
“I felt like they were trying to intimidate us from kick-off but I give a lot of credit to the players to stay calm. It could have been a game of yellow and red cards but we were composed, the players were composed, they did well in controlling emotions.”
Asked about the half-time incident, Israel head coach Ran Ben-Shimon said he did not see “anything”.
“[At] half-time I was in the dressing room, my room, with my staff,” he said.
“I didn’t see anything. When I get the chance to check I will get back to you. I didn’t see anything, I was in my room.”
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