Key events
Tomas Rosicky in running for Arsenal sporting director role
Ed Aarons
Tomas Rosicky has said he is honoured to be “in the thoughts of the Arsenal management” to become the club’s sporting director but that he has not received an offer to succeed Edu.
Arsenal are believed to be hopeful of finalising an appointment in March, having assessed candidates that include their former midfielder Rosicky, the sporting director at Sparta Prague.
“My connection with Arsenal is natural because I spent 10 years there and in that time, you form a very strong bond,” Rosicky told Flashscore’s podcast Livesport Daily. “I have it with Arsenal and Sparta, they are two clubs that I love. Just the fact that I am there in some thoughts of the Arsenal management is an honour for me. But I have no offer to go and work at Arsenal.”
Asked if he had spoken to anyone from Arsenal, Rosicky said: “I’m aware that I’m on their radar or I figure in their considerations in some capacity, but I haven’t received any offer.”
Edu stepped down in November to join the multi-club network of Nottingham Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, with his deputy Jason Ayto taking over on an interim basis. Ayto is understood to remain in contention despite criticism from supporters over the club’s failure to sign attacking reinforcements in January.
Dan Ashworth, who left Manchester United in December after only five months, has also emerged as another candidate thanks to his close relationship with Arsenal’s managing director, Richard Garlick, who worked with England’s former director of elite development at West Brom. The former Atlético Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta, Real Sociedad’s Roberto Olabe and Thiago Scuro of Monaco have also been linked.
Whiteley to oversee Liverpool for rest of WSL season
Tom Garry
Exclusive: Liverpool Women’s interim manager, Amber Whiteley, is likely to remain in charge for the remainder of the season, the Guardian understands, with the club prepared to undergo a lengthy recruitment process to identify their next long-term manager.
Whiteley was assistant to Matt Beard before he left on Thursday. She previously stepped up on a caretaker basis in 2021, when Vicky Jepson left by mutual consent, and there is understood to be a feeling at Liverpool that Whiteley is a safe pair of hands to steer the club for their final eight WSL fixtures, starting with Sunday’s trip to Crystal Palace. Liverpool also face Arsenal away in the quarter-finals of the Women’s FA Cup on 9 March.
Women’s football: Aston Villa forward Kirsty Hanson talks about her 1km a day challenge for Dementia UK after her grandmother was diagnosed and how it has allowed her to slow down and think about life. Words: Suzanne Wrack …
Man United and Fulham fans to join forces in protest
FA Cup: Manchester United and Fulham fans will join forces to protest against ticket pricing ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup clash between the two teams at Old Trafford. Adult tickets are between £52 and £61 for away fans, while home fans have continued to express fury at the mid-season decision to increase prices of remaining tickets to £66 per match, without concessions.
Members of the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST) and the Fulham Supporters’ Trust (FST) will protest such pricing ahead of Sunday’s fifth-round tie in front of the Trinity Statue at Old Trafford. The supporter bodies participated in a yellow card protest when the sides met at Craven Cottage in November 2023, with this the latest action as part of the Football Supporters’ Association’s Stop Exploiting Loyalty campaign.
“Across the country football fans are putting rivalries to one side because we are all fighting the same fight on ticket prices,” said MUST chief executive Duncan Drasdo. “Clubs are exploiting loyalty and fans are united in saying enough is enough.”
FST chair Simon Duke called the ticket pricing this weekend “outrageous” and said it showed “contempt” for loyal supporters. “The Fulham Supporters’ Trust are pleased to join our friends at MUST in this show of solidarity showing how match-going fans’ loyalty is being exploited,” he said.
Brighton: Having hogged the headlines in Eddie Howe’s press conference, the subject of Alexander Isak’s potential absence through injury was also raised at Hurzeler’s. The Brighton manager told reporters he has to presume Newcastle’s Swedish striker will play some part in Sunday’s FA Cup tie.
“He [Isak] is a special player,” said Hurzeler. “A player who can make the difference. You can’t replace a player like this because not every team has two, three or four players of this quality. Therefore, it is a different game if he won’t play, but the thing is now we don’t know it, so we really have to prepare as if Isak will start. We have to prepare for his actions, for his behaviour and how we want to defend this together as a group.
“You can’t gamble and say he won’t play. I am sure they will try everything to make him fit for the game and we have to be ready for that.”
Brighton: Fabian Hurzeler celebrated his 32nd birthday yesterday basking in the warm afterglow of a win over Bournemouth, his Brighton side’s fourth victory on the spin in all competitions. They will be hoping to make it five from five when they take on Newcastle in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon and the young German is hopeful of bringing silverware of some sort to Brighton during his tenure, even if he thinks a Premier League title is something of a tall order.
“First of all, that’s my job,” he told reporters. “I always try to give everything for the club and, of course, I always want the club to be the most successful we can be. That’s my job, together with the staff and players, and therefore we try that.
“We promise everyone that we will try to give everything on the pitch and beside the pitch to make them proud, but we can’t promise to win a title. That’s the thing that we to work on and the thing we try to do in our daily behaviour and then we will see what will come in the future.”
Liverpool record £57m loss
Andy Hunter: Liverpool made a loss of £57m last season after missing out on the Champions League while wages and overhead costs increased, the club’s latest accounts have revealed …
Eddie Howe: “We will see how Isak is today”
Newcastle United v Brighton: With their team already in the Carabao Cup final, due to face Brighton in the last 16 of the FA Cup on Sunday and hopeful of securing qualification for the Champions League with a strong league finish, the fitness – or lack therof – of their striker Alexander Isak is uppermost in the thoughts of most Newcastle fans after he missed his side’s midweek defeat at Liverpool with a groin injury. Over to you, Eddie Howe …
“We will see today,” said Newcastle’s manager. “I haven’t seen him since the game. We will see how he is today. We don’t think it’s a long-term problem. There was no risk taken on Wednesday and there can’t be with the stage of the season we’re in. There is always a risk with any player but we wouldn’t take any risks on his long-term fitness. We will see how he is today and if he is fit, he will play.”
Manchester City v Plymouth Argyle: Third from bottom of the Championship table and making an excellent fist of avoiding relegationo under Wayne Rooney’s replacement Miron Muslic, Plymouth Argyle are the lowest ranked team left in this season’s FA Cup and travel to the Etihad Stadium tomorrow for a potentially tricky – to say the least – appointment with Manchester City.
While the odds are stacked against the tie being settled by a penalty shootout, it’s no surprise to learn that Plymouth goalkeeper Conor Hazard has diligently done his homework in the event of such an outcome. The Northern Ireland goalkeeper has form in the field of shootouts in big cup games, having been in goal for Celtic when they beat Hearts on penalties in the 2020 Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park.
“We did well in that game but as a goalkeeper you prepare for penalties in every game,” said Hazard. “You’ve got to kind of have an idea what you’re going to be coming up against, what’s their preferred side and what to do.
“We’ll try to keep the game going as long as possible and there’s every chance a game like this could go to penalties. We’ll definitely do some preparation on that.”
If the Pilgrims are to progress to the quarter-finals they will have done exceptionally well, having advanced from the third round with an away win at Brentford before beating Liverpool at Home Park in the period between Rooney’s departure and Muslic’s arrival. Now City await.
“We’re all really up for it,” said Hazard. “We know the task ahead and what we need to do to try and get a result there. That’s our aim.”
The Championship: Sunderland travel to Hillsborough to take on Sheffield Wednesday in tonight’s only Championship game. In fourth place in the table, 12 points clear of Coventry in seventh, Regis Le Bris’s side are handily placed to grab a place in the playoffs but their chances of securing one of the two automatic promotion spots available have taken a serious dent following back-to-back defeats against Leeds United and Hull City.
“Our main output will always be on the football output, rather than physical data or anything like that,” said the Frenchman, when quizzed about his team’s mini-slump. “It’s the stage of the season where this is important. We have done well so far, and we have to remember this.
“The team and the squad are in a good place, but it is possible we can struggle for a period. We were good at Leeds, I think – it wasn’t our best performance against Hull but at the same time it wasn’t a disaster. We could have won the game but sometimes you can make a mistake and be punished – maybe in the next game it doesn’t happen this way.
“It’s important to manage the squad for sure, to finish the league with good momentum. We have had many injuries, sometimes suspensions, so it wasn’t always possible [to rotate]. Now we have this opportunity a bit more because we are closer to a full squad. We will see.
“In a long season like this, this stage is like ‘the wall’ in the marathon and it is tough for everyone. We have to manage it properly and we know it’s normal to have fatigue, but at the same time it creates the condition to manage the squad and to involve the players in the recovery process.”
Football governance: Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has said the Premier League should consider selling its global TV rights to Netflix, as he shrugged off tensions with supporters and questions over his model of ownership in rare public remarks. Paul MacInnes reports from Business of Football Summit in London …
French match officials threaten strike action
The French referees union said its members would exercise their right to withdraw if they or their families are put at risk after a match official faced an “outpouring of hate” following comments by Olympique de Marseille President Pablo Longoria.
Local media reported that Longoria had objected to the appointment of referee Jeremy Stinat for their game against Auxerre on Saturday, which they lost 3-0. Longoria said the defeat was down to “true corruption” and expressed his anger over the red card shown to defender Derek Cornelius. The French football league’s governing body (LFP) handed Longoria a 15-match ban for his comments on Wednesday.
Local media reported that the tyres on two of Stinat’s family’s cars were found slashed at his home before the match and that he had filed a legal complaint over the damage. A delegation from the referees union (SAFE) met the French minister for sport Marie Barsacq on Thursday to voice their concerns regarding the safety of referees.
“The nature of the remarks … called into question the integrity of the referee and, more generally, that of the refereeing body,” SAFE said. “In the event of a new breach of their private sphere, putting them or their families at risk, [the referees] would exercise their right to withdraw.”
The union added in a statement that it had instructed its legal advisers to join Stinat in filing a civil action with an investigating judge of the Paris court of first instance.
Premier League match report: Birthday boy Thomas Soucek was among the goals as a dismal defeat at West Ham extended Leciester City’s doomed, zombified lurch towards relegation to 11 league defeats in 12 games, 12 of 16 in all since Ruud van Nistelrooy replaced Steve Cooper in November. John Brewin reports from the London Stadium …
FA Cup fifth round
Aston Villa Cardiff City (8pm Fri)
Crystal Palace v Millwall (12.15pm Sat)
Preston v Burnley (12.15pm Sat)
Bournemouth v Wolves (3pm Sat)
Manchester City v Plymouth Argyle (5.45pm Sat)
Newcastle United v Brighton (1.45pm Sun)
Manchester United v Fulham (4.30pm Sun)
Nottingham Forest v Ipswich Town (7.30pm Mon)
All times GMT
Exclusive: WSL plotting the abolition of relegation
Women’s Super League: The top tier of the women’s game in England is considering abolishing relegation as part of a radical proposal to grow the sport that will be discussed by the clubs at a meeting today, reports Matt Hughes in a Guardian exclusive.
Something for the weekend …
With a big weekend of FA Cup action kicking-off at Villa Park tonight, we’re here to bring you news from all the news from the pre-match managerial press conferences ahead of the fifth round.
Our first ports of call are expected to be Brighton and Newcastle, where Fabian Hurzeler and Eddie Howe will be getting their media duties out of the way early doors ahead of Sunday’s meeting between the two sides at St James’ Park, where Brighton have already won this season in the Premier League.
We’ll flag up any other major talking points and items of interest throughout the day, while gently nudging you in the direction of any top Guardian #content from our website. For starters, how about perusing these Ten Things our crack team of writers think you should be looking out for in the FA Cup between now and Monday evening …
