Portsmouth striker Bishop doubtful for league opener
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North Wales Chronicle
10 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Stokes' fitness, Pope's form and pace options – the questions facing England
There are just over three months until England arrive in Perth and the planning can now begin in earnest. Here, the PA news agency looks at five key questions England need to answer. Will Ben Stokes be fully fit? England are a completely different team when their inspirational captain is firing on all cylinders. He was in brilliant form this summer, rolling back the years with ball in hand, but missed the Kia Oval decider with a shoulder problem. A six-to-10-week lay-off will follow but any further setbacks would raise serious alarms. Having been struck down by knee, hip, hamstring and shoulder injuries in the past two years, is it too optimistic to expect him to be in peak condition throughout a gruelling tour? What is the pace bowling pecking order? England have talked up the importance of building deep reserves of fast bowlers but when the first Test kicks off in Perth they must be clear on their best combination. Jofra Archer looks certain to be in it after his long-awaited comeback, Mark Wood hopes to be back after missing the entire Test season, while Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Jamie Overton, Chris Woakes and Sam Cook all played this summer. Woakes looks like missing out with a dislocated shoulder, but how do the others stack up? How do they get the best out of Ollie Pope? A big hundred against Zimbabwe and another century in his first knock against India removed some of the questions that had been circling about Pope's spot at number three. But he finished the series averaging 34 and was 10th on the run-scoring charts. Jacob Bethell's disappointing effort in the fifth Test against India has weakened his case as a replacement but England need more from a senior player in a key position. Could taking the vice-captaincy off him and promoting white-ball skipper Harry Brook be part of the answer? Is the spin situation settled? A lot of faith has been placed in Shoaib Bashir, with England backing their hunch that he can do well in Australia. It has been a mixed bag so far, with 68 wickets in 19 Tests but a stubbornly high average of 39. His broken finger opened the door for them to have an overdue second look at Liam Dawson, but the county scene's standard-bearer was dropped after taking one for 140 at Old Trafford. Will he travel as competition for Bashir, could there be a return to Jack Leach or might England look at using all-pace attacks for some Ashes contests? How will they prepare for the war of words? Australian players, fans and media cheerleaders have been paying close attention to the India series and it is has not been hard to realise the long-range sledging has already started. From David Warner's recent jibe at Joe Root to the social media barrage about the merits, or otherwise, of 'Bazball', the heat is already rising. Expect that to continue all the way until Glenn McGrath shockingly predicts a 5-0 win for Australia. England have refused to entertain much Ashes talk in recent months but the temptation will rise as the weeks tick by. Will they fire some broadsides of their own or keep things on the field?
Scotsman
10 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Hibs favourite provides future update after being plunged into free agency
The striker counts Hibs, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Wolves and more amongst former clubs. Sign up to our Hibs football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A Hibs favourite of the past is not willing to hang up his boots just yet, as the former Sunderland and Wolves man provides the latest on what's next. The transfer market is entering August with several clubs still looking to bolster their ranks. There are also players keen to make sure their futures are set up and one of those is Steven Fletcher, who left Wrexham at the end of his deal with the ambitious Red Dragons, owned by Hollywood pair Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Fletcher is 38 and turns 39 next year but is packed with top level experience. He started out at Hibs, scoring 52 goals in 189 games before heading down south to Burnley. The forward racked up more than 100 appearances for Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday, also finding the net with Wolves, Stoke City, Marseille and Dundee United over his career. What comes next for ex Hibs, Sunderland and Wolves star Speaking on The Warm Up, the forward says he is not ready to stick the retirement label on him just yet, but his big hope is still to be involved in football somehow. He believes he could have made a difference for Wrexham in the Championship following their promotion from League One, having played just shy of 200 games at that level plus 189 in the Premier League. Fletcher said: 'I would like to stay in football in some way. I am on the coaching journey and have done that. I have enjoyed helping people at the end of my career so if I can do that, but I am not 100% sure I am finished yet. It's scary to push that button and say that's me because as soon as you put it out there, I don't want to be that guy who puts it out and three weeks later you are back. I think it's because of the way it ended at Wrexham. I felt I could have played, help them, even in the Championship. I think I could have. 'They are on the phone to you constantly. If I go through my WhatsApp with Ryan Reynolds it's just video after video. I went through a little patch last season where I was coming on with 20 minutes to go and three games in a row I scored the winner. I'd get in the changing room, go on my phone and the first message wasn't my wife, it was him! As soon as I scored he'd be straight on and send me a video. It was brilliant. You'd know it was coming so you'd be going in the dressing room waiting on it and there it was, he was texting you.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Steven Fletcher on time at Hibs The striker also discussed time at Hibs, where he broke through in the era of Tony Mowbray's exciting side. He added: 'It was a great group and I was the youngest of them all. They all looked after me. Steven Whittaker was probably the one looking after me the most, you probably couldn't have Scott Brown looking after you! 'It was good. Broony was my strike partner at the time, he was the striker and I used to get a half day off school to go and play with them and I was up front with him. He wouldn't let anybody kick me to be fair. I think when Tony Mowbray came in, he drove it (mentality change). We went into games thinking we were going to win this, it's the way he set us up. 'I openly admit, when I was at Hibs I wanted to sign for Celtic. Strachan tried to sign me in the January and Hibs wouldn't let me go. At the time I was (gutted). I got told I could go in the summer, Hibs just didn't want to sell me in the January. But then Owen Coyle phoned me and that was it. I was off to Burnley.'
The Guardian
11 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘Self-pity came into it as I was a proud man': footballer Noel Blake on recovering from a stroke
Noel Blake walked through Trentham Gardens on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent staring up at the trees and making a mental note of those with the sturdiest branches. What he was trying to get clear in his head in those fleeting moments only he could really know. There comes a time in most stroke healing – or the lack of hope for it – when the victim reflects on the dark side. For professional athletes to be robbed of that they cherished most – their athleticism – must be the hardest cut of all. Blake had enjoyed a professional playing career of just over 20 years, most productively for Birmingham, Portsmouth, Leeds and Stoke, ending with almost 150 appearances for Exeter, before he was appointed the club's manager in 2000. He embarked on a varied coaching career, which embraced five years with the Football Association as coach to the England under-19s. The stressful nature of his departure from that post was, in his estimation – as there could be no definitive proof – the root cause of his stroke in 2015 at the age of 53. 'There was inevitable trauma every time a new regime came into any football club or association and made changes,' he said. 'Many people in the game could relate to that. I didn't regard it as a problem initially but the way I was spoken to [by those inside the FA] resonated then and still does to this day. 'It was an emotional trigger. Because of legalities, I can't go into it any more deeply. One day I may be able to tell the world how I really felt about it. Dan Ashworth had come in [to the FA] as the technical director and he had every right to make changes. I went and Kenny Swain [the former Chelsea and Aston Villa defender] left as well. It all really affected me, more than I realised at the time.' Having tried to deal with the debilitating FA experience, Blake joined Blackpool but almost immediately became centre-stage in another upheaval. 'José Riga was the manager, I discovered through a third party that he needed a coach, and we spoke,' he said. 'There were a lot of financial difficulties at that time, but we got on well and I had no issues with him. 'The club wasn't in a healthy position, there was disquiet between him and the owner, José left [after four months] and Lee Clark was appointed after he had left Birmingham. I asked what he wanted from me and how long he wanted me to stay as I'd had an offer from the Professional Footballers' Association. Lee said he wanted me, so I put the other thing aside and within two weeks he brought his best friend, a lad called Paul Stephenson, on to the coaching staff, which wasn't a problem even though it blindsided me a bit. 'I had a feeling it wouldn't work, and I left soon afterwards. I'd lost my job at the FA, then Blackpool, the PFA position had gone and all of that took a toll. I was looking out for work and there was nothing available, people wouldn't return your calls, it was the brick wall.' Within six weeks of departing Bloomfield Road, Blake's life altered irrevocably. 'A couple of friends had come over to see me, we were chatting, and suddenly they said they couldn't understand what I was saying. My speech was slurring. 'I had gone for a walk that morning and felt wobbly, just very lethargic. I was sapped of any energy and a couple of times I felt as though I might stumble but I didn't.' Then came the mumbling episode. 'I rang my wife at hospital where she worked as a personal assistant and described what had happened. She gave my symptoms to one of the consultants who told her to collect me straight away and take me to triage. Within minutes of being assessed, they said I'd probably had a stroke and I was admitted there and then. 'After a couple of hours, which seemed more like an eternity, I was on a ward and when they confirmed a stroke I kind of broke down. A nurse said: 'You see that gentleman over there, he's had a severe stroke, he can't walk, he can't speak and though yours is bad it's not nearly as bad as that.' 'That gave me a small sense of relief, but it was when I telephoned my mum to tell her, that's when I lost it emotionally. I was 53 years old and in decent physical shape if obviously not quite like the old days. 'My knees were pretty shattered from all the years of football, but I'd never been a big drinker, maybe a beer with my meal and that was it. I never smoked, never took a drug, my diet had always been that of an athlete. I wasn't doing anything that would suggest the potential for a stroke. The only thing I could point to was related to stress.' As his doctors completed rounds of intensive medical tests, they discovered that on top of the debilitating effect of the stroke, Blake had a hole in his heart. Surgeons repaired the hole, inserting mesh to plug the gap, and it was another warning to take life a little bit easier. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion 'I'm glad I didn't realise I had the condition when I was playing but I remembered how I used to struggle when it came to the long distances in training and had to take quite a bit of time to recover,' he said. 'When I reflected on players who had collapsed and, in some cases, died on the field of play it did make me wonder that if I had found out about it earlier, would I have been able to enjoy a full career?' But he did complete it and now required similar fortitude in another more punishing challenge. The healing process after a stroke is forever ongoing. 'I had mine 10 years ago and only three years back there were times when I wouldn't have been able to face a room full of people, I'd just turn away,' Blake said. 'I tried to deal with what was in front of me, not something somebody else might have expected from me. 'I'm not fully there yet but I'm getting better over time … It was damn awful. There were times when I literally wanted it all to end.' The walk in Trentham Gardens was the darkest of those moments. 'Self-pity came into it as I was a proud man, and I became reliant on others to help me especially if I was having one of my mood swings.' In his time on the touchline, Blake was full on, committed, urgent. He said watching Jürgen Klopp managing Liverpool brought his own career back to him. 'He reminded me of how I was, a passionate coach who drove himself and his players. It struck me that when foreign coaches behaved like that it was accepted but if it was a British coach, we were accused of being too animated. As a coach I just worked how I was, no point changing who you were.' This is an edited extract from Brushes with a Stroke by Neil Harman, published by Pitch (£14.99). To order a copy go to Delivery charges may apply. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at
