List of All Articles with Tag 'eppersons'

NBA Rumors: Former Warriors GM Bob Myers to join NBA CountdownBob Myers stepped down from his role as President of Basketball Operations for the Golden State Warriors in late May after failing to agree to terms on an extension. Myers won four rings as the ringleader in Golden State, becoming well-...

Erling Haaland’s brilliant brace helped Manchester City kick off their quest for an unprecedented fourth straight top-flight title with victory at promoted Burnley. Just two months on from winning the Champions League to become the second treble winners in English football history, Pep Guardiola’s men returned to competitive action with a bang at Turf Moor. Star man Haaland’s excellent first-half double and a close-range Rodri effort did the damage as City ran out 3-0 winners in the Premier League curtain raiser at Vincent Kompany’s Burnley. The 23-year-old frontman swept the visitors ahead 184 seconds into the new campaign and, with his side having lost skipper Kevin De Bruyne to injury, struck a stunning second off the underside of the bar. That display was not enough to avoid being chided by Guardiola as the teams made their way off at half-time, with the City boss pushing away a TV camera as he berated the striker. Rodri completed the scoring and Burnley substitute Anass Zaroury received a contentious late red card, with Community Shield runners-up City now turning their attention to Wednesday’s Super Cup clash against Sevilla. Both sets of players took the knee before kick-off and initial boos were drowned out by cheers at Turf Moor, where the hosts were behind after just three minutes and four seconds. De Bruyne took a short corner and, following a couple of passes, lifted a cross to the far post, where Rodri headed back across goal for Haaland to direct home impressively. It was a gut punch that De Bruyne tried to add to from distance, but the champions of the Championship stuck to Kompany’s principles. Burnley penalty appeals fell on deaf ears when Zeki Amdouni went down under pressure from Manuel Akanji before Luca Koleosho missed the target after fine, composed build-up. Amdouni wriggled free to get a shot on Ederson’s goal as Burnley continued to threaten City, whose youngster Rico Lewis was hit by an object thrown from the stands. The Lancashire club later confirmed the individual responsible had been identified and removed from the ground by police and now faces a banning order. Lewis was all right to continue, but De Bruyne soon had to leave the field. The skipper recently returned from a hamstring injury and, seemingly out of nothing, signalled to the bench that he had felt something, leading to Mateo Kovacic’s introduction. Burnley quickly attempted to capitalise. Amdouni was stopped by Rodri before the midfielder saw a pass cut out and Lyle Foster bent narrowly wide. But the hosts’ hopes of a comeback were short-lived as Haaland scored an incredible second in the 36th minute. Kyle Walker raced down the right and cut back to Julian Alvarez, who laid off for the Norwegian sharpshooter to sweep a first-time strike in off the underside of the bar. Haaland may have been on course for a hat-trick, but something had upset Guardiola, who pulled him back and scolded him before pushing the away a camera. The striker remained on as the visitors began the second half on top, with James Trafford – signed from City in the summer – tipping over a Rodri effort from distance and then saving a header from the Champions League final matchwinner. Alvarez fired off target after a show of strength by Haaland before City struck a third in the 75th minute as the match appeared to be petering out. Burnley failed to effectively clear a crossed free-kick and Rodri lashed home from five yards after Nathan Ake was blocked out. Alvarez saw a shot blocked before Josko Gvardiol came on for his City debut, with Haaland booed by the Burnley faithful when withdrawn as part of a triple City change. Guardiola made a point of getting up to give Haaland a warm greeting after their earlier exchange. Stewards reacted quickly as a fan attempted to get on the pitch towards the end of a night that had seen Burnley impress against mightily tough opposition. Things got worse for the promoted Clarets. Substitute Zaroury was sent off in stoppage time after his tackle on Walker was judged serious foul play after referee Craig Pawson watched the incident back on the VAR’s instruction. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Anthony Joshua focused only on Robert Helenius amid Deontay Wilder speculation Harry Kane arrives in Germany to seal Bayern Munich move Ally Ewing out to emulate Brian Harman with Open win

Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz will be Florida’s starting quarterback when the Gators open the season at Utah later this month

The first round of the Premier League continues with Arsenal hosting Nottingham Forest in one of six games

Mauricio Pochettino acknowledged it will not be for him to decide what constitutes success in his debut season as Chelsea manager ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Liverpool. The Argentinian will be the fifth coach to lead the team in a Premier League match since Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium bought the club last May and is tasked with picking up the pieces of a disastrous campaign that saw Chelsea finish 12th last season. As with Boehly’s first two transfer windows, there has been a significant turnover of players this summer, with 10 first-team players released or sold and a further six brought in. That flux has been a feature of the American’s time at the helm, with a sweeping clearout of both playing staff and personnel behind the scenes during his first 12 months in control. The previous manager appointed by the ownership, Graham Potter, was sacked just seven months and 31 games into a five-year contract, with the club insisting up until days before he was removed that his job was safe. Pochettino pointed to the path taken by three of Chelsea’s Premier League rivals – Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool – all of whom had to wait for success to arrive under their current managers. Since their appointments, Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta have helped their respective clubs recover from states of relative uncertainty, but the Chelsea coach accepted it will ultimately not be up to him whether he is afforded the same window of time. “I celebrate that these managers can be in place for a long period,” he said. “I was explaining my situation in Paris St Germain and how I knew that we weren’t going to be there the next season (after losing to Real Madrid in 2021), because it was all about winning the Champions League. “It was difficult, because it was a different pressure. We knew about that. I’m not going to complain. We need to work and then it’s not my decision if Chelsea want to be in a similar situation like Liverpool or Arsenal or Manchester City. “I need to work, we need to give our best. Then if the owner is happy with us, then everyone is happy. But it’s not my decision. “But I celebrate when I see coaches like Arteta, Klopp and Pep have a very good run, a nice process at the same club, even when they finish a cycle and they have the opportunity to restart the cycle. “There’s no doubt they are fantastic coaches, it’s only that sometimes you need to renew the team. If they believe in you, fantastic.” Pochettino was asked whether he agreed with the impression of Chelsea as a club in chaos that had been created by a tumultuous last year. The team’s league finish was their worst since 1994, while their goal return was the lowest by a Chelsea side in almost a hundred years. Eliminated from the FA Cup by Manchester City in the third round, they were soundly beaten over two legs by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, an exit confounded by Boehly’s ill-judged declaration that the team would beat the then-European champions 3-0. He was also criticised for entering the dressing room to address the players after defeats, most notably immediately after the loss to Brighton in April when he described the season as “embarrassing”. “If that (chaos) is the impression people have on social media or the fans or people outside of Chelsea, then we need to change the impression,” said Pochettino. “My impression from the outside was that this is a club with the capacity to win. “We talk about Chelsea and Manchester United in the last 10, 15 years. Winning the Premier League, the Champions League. That was my (view). We need to create a different vision and for people to trust the club again Mauricio Pochettino “But of course, (there has been) a difficult situation for the people here, for the fans, for the players, when there is a big change. They need time to settle here. People need time to settle in a big club like this. “For me now it’s about work. We need to create a different vision and for people to trust the club again, to get the result and to try to play good football for the fans. We are selling entertainment. “(The owners) didn’t say to me, ‘If you don’t win the Premier League, we will sack you’. What I want to achieve is everything. To fight for the three competitions we are going to play, the Premier League and the cups. “We need to create this good environment for the players to perform in the best way and then I’m not going to spend energy thinking, ‘If we don’t achieve this…’. “After many years working in different clubs, I’m more relaxed, more mature, more experienced. We’ve improved a lot. One of things we’ve improved in is to be more relaxed. It’s not to think too much when you cannot affect the decision of the people.”

The bad news keeps on coming for the New York Yankees, as another member of the starting rotation is heading back to the injured list.The New York Yankees' 2023 season is only getting worse in terms of news. The team's strength was supposed to be their starting rotation. But, Carlos Ro...

Running back Kareem Hunt's free agency tour continues, as he's scheduled to visit with an NFC North team.Training camp is underway, and teams are ready to play in their first preseason games this week. Even so, there are still some big-name players left in free agency, looking for an o...

The New Orleans Saints have added veteran former Pro Bowl linebacker Jaylon Smith to their roster

Gregg Popovich didn't want to be inducted into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame until the players that helped his teams win NBA championships had already gone in

Nice and Lille battled out a 1-1 draw on Friday as the wraps came off the new-look Ligue...

Erling Haaland started the Premier League season with a bang as the Norwegian struck twice in defending champions Manchester City's...

Brazilian forward and former Liverpool star Roberto Firmino hit a hat-trick on his Saudi Pro League debut on Friday as...