England forward Ollie Watkins is so averse to the public spotlight that he no longer goes shopping, but knows his profile is only going to get bigger. The Aston Villa striker has earned a recall to the England squad for forthcoming games against Australia and Italy after his season burst into life with four goals in two games at the end of last month. Watkins, who was not included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the September games, does not feel comfortable walking around his local supermarket. But he also accepts that if he keeps banging in the goals for Villa and England, he is only going to get more attention. “I go under the radar, maybe,” the 27-year-old admitted. “I’m not talked about enough profile-wise. But I know I have been producing on the pitch since Unai Emery came in. But I do go under the radar. “I don’t know if it’s me being at Villa. You get some players that are just likeable and out there. I’m not really too fussed about that. “I just like playing football. Maybe a lot of people said to me I need to push my profile. But I am happy with what I am doing on the pitch and that’s all that matters to me. “The bigger you are, the more you are in the spotlight. It’s not that I don’t want that, it is doing my job. If I am doing my job and playing well, my profile will raise naturally. “I remember when I moved from Brentford to Villa, I used to just go and shop in Sainsbury’s normal at Brentford. “I came to try to do it at Villa and I couldn’t. I came home and I was fuming and I said to my missus I am never going out again, you will have to do the shop. “Since then I don’t do the shopping, I don’t get ‘bothered’ but a lot of people want photos. “I had my earphones in and people were like – they take two looks – is that him? When I see that people have clocked me, normally I try to avoid (them). Not because I don’t want to interact with them…once one person asks for a photo then two or three do and it’s hard to do shopping.” I’m not talked about enough profile-wise. I do go under the radar Ollie Watkins Watkins believes the arrival of Villa boss Emery last year was the catalyst for kick-starting his career. “Definitely, under (Steven) Gerrard, I know he played me all the time – I’ve played under all managers – but I wasn’t really getting the best out of my game,” he said. “That wasn’t down to him, I had just kind of fallen into a rut, but I feel like I have gone on a different path and really focused on being a striker. “Before I was trying to do everything, trying to cross it and get on the end of my own cross and head it. Now I am just focused, being the main man. “He put a lot of faith in me and gave me confidence to go out and perform, just focusing on scoring goals and helping the team. “I definitely felt like, I came from Brentford, I scored a lot of goals and in my first year I did well and then I found I hit a little bit of a rut. “It is hard. When you are in that rut, you don’t know where you are going to end up or what is going to happen. “I didn’t see my career anywhere else but Villa but it was hard to try and get out of the rut when it wasn’t going great for me.” Read More Harry Maguire supported by ‘role model’ David Beckham after Hampden experience I want to play – Harry Maguire admits lack of matches will become an issue Conor McGregor closes in on UFC return by re-entering anti-doping test programme England rewatch Fiji Twickenham defeat to ‘fuel the fire’ for World Cup showdown Kieffer Moore bags a brace as Wales put four past Gibraltar in Wrexham Steve Clarke confident Scotland’s best performance is good enough to match Spain

Tottenham sacked manager Mauricio Pochettino on this day in 2019. The sudden and unexpected decision came less than six months after the Argentinian had guided Spurs to the Champions League final. Pochettino had been in charge for five-and-a-half years but paid the price for a poor start to the 2019-20 season. He left Spurs 14th in the Premier League table after winning just three, and collecting only 14 points, from their opening 12 games of the campaign. “Regrettably domestic results at the end of last season and beginning of this season have been extremely disappointing,” said chairman Daniel Levy. “We were extremely reluctant to make this change. It is not a decision the board has taken lightly, nor in haste.” Pochettino left Southampton to take over at Spurs in May 2014 and led them to the League Cup final in his first full season but lost to Chelsea. They pushed Leicester for the title in 2016 but ultimately finished third. They were runners-up the following year and third again in 2018. Their run to the Champions League final in 2019 included memorable wins over Manchester City and Ajax in the knockout stages but they were beaten by Liverpool in the showpiece in Madrid. They also won only three of their final 12 Premier League matches of that season and it was the continuation of that form that eventually cost Pochettino. His period in charge had also spanned Spurs’ move from their old White Hart Lane stadium to their new arena on the same site, with home games played at Wembley for 18 months. Spurs wasted little time in replacing him, with his successor Jose Mourinho appointed the following day. Pochettino returned to the game as Paris St Germain manager in January 2021, and after leaving the French club 18 months later he took charge at Chelsea this summer. Read More Stephen Kenny confident with Republic of Ireland’s solid base for bright future England full-back Kieran Trippier not taking his place at Euro 2024 as a given Gareth Southgate admits he will ‘take far fewer gambles’ in his Euro 2024 squad Wout Weghorst fires Netherlands to Euro 2024 as Ireland end with whimper Saracens overcome injuries to England stars in thrashing of Harlequins Erling Haaland’s injury is not serious – Norway boss Stale Solbakken

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