'We back ourselves' - Gordon eyes Rangers scalp to ignite Askou era

2 days ago

Motherwell defender Liam Gordon is excited to put Jens Berthel Askou's "fresh ideas" into practice in the Premiership opener at home to Rangers.New manager Askou's clear vision of possession-based attractive football has been evident in the Steelmen's successful League Cup group-stage campaign and pre-season draw with Hertha Berlin."We've learned lots of new ideas and we're really enjoying it, I'm just exited to take the new style into the league campaign," said Gordon."I think you can see from the first few games against Hertha and then the League Cup games we're focusing much more on possession and controlling the game on and off the ball."The manager has given us a good structure to build from and we all know our jobs. It's been very detailed personally and collectively. He's brought a nice fresh idea to Motherwell and hopefully it will be successful."Gordon believes the visit of Rangers on Saturday is the perfect test, adding: "I get that it's tough right at the start of the season, but I think it's a great game to kick us off. Especially at home to one of the biggest teams in the country."You can always be better but we take confidence from the Hertha game, who were a very good opposition and probably a similar standard to Rangers."So I don't see why we can't do the same again, we're under no illusion it will be easy but we back ourselves."Askou has not ruled out the possibility of Lennon Miller featuring on Saturday and Gordon praised the teenage star's mentality amid fervent transfer speculation."He just handles his business, I sometimes feel I'm a young player speaking to him the way he carries himself but honestly he's been brilliant," he said."So much noise around him but you'd never know, just takes it in his stride. I'd be a nervous wreck so credit to him."

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Russell Martin launches into extraordinary rant at Rangers players after first league game

Daily Mirror

24 minutes ago

Daily Mirror

Russell Martin launches into extraordinary rant at Rangers players after first league game

Rangers put in an under-par display against Motherwell in their first game of the Scottish Premiership season as the home side snatched a late equaliser to deny the Gers an opening win Rangers boss Russell Martin launched a furious tirade at his players after starting off the Scottish Premiership season with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Motherwell, telling them to "drop their ego". ‌ The Gers took the lead through captain James Tavernier but put in a sluggish display and were lucky to keep the score a 1-0 until the end of the game, when Emmanuel Longelo scored a deserved equaliser in the 87th minute. ‌ There has been a lukewarm reception to Martin's appointment after he was sacked by Southampton last season prior to their relegation from the Premier League and his poor start will not have helped his cause. ‌ Rangers had previously secured their place in the next round of Champions League qualifying following a midweek victory over Panathinaikos, but Martin was fuming with his players' efforts on this occasion as he accused them of "jogging" against Motherwell and said there was a big "mentality" problem at the club. "I think we were lucky to get a point,' Martin said. "Motherwell played great, we were nowhere near where we need to be, I'm extremely disappointed and hurt by that. "I've said to the players … there is a default here at this football club, to revert to type,' Martin told Sky Sports. 'When it's going really well, everyone's all in … when it's not going well, you protect yourself a little bit, self-preservation. "You have to be all in, all the time. We had too many on the pitch today who just did what they wanted to do. When you want to just jog around, there's a big problem. "Some of them have to drop their ego. I'll look at us tactically and accept my responsibility but today wasn't really tactical, it was a mentality problem. We got more than we deserved today." ‌ Rangers have a huge task in front of them to catch rivals Celtic in the title race, having not won the Premiership since 2021 and Martin said he had to get to the bottom of why his side were making so many "crazy decisions" - and warned that some stars "wouldn't play very much" if they didn't up their game. 'Today, we go ahead and play some OK stuff," he said. "Every time we get in the final third, we turn the ball over and make crazy decisions. They're either selfish decisions or they're based on anxiety, so we need to get to the bottom of that. Because there was far too much stuff that we haven't worked on or haven't seen. 'It's not me digging them out. I take full responsibility for it. But that hurts me more than anything. Too much ego, too much self-preservation, and you're either all-in all the time or you're not. And if you're not, you just won't play very much." Rangers will quickly switch their attentions to a Champions League third qualifying round match against Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday, with Martin knowing a bad result will further pile pressure on his position.

Son Heung-min breaks down in tears during emotional Tottenham send-off before team-mates launch club legend in the air following final game

Daily Mail

24 minutes ago

Daily Mail

Son Heung-min breaks down in tears during emotional Tottenham send-off before team-mates launch club legend in the air following final game

Son Heung-min could not hold back his tears during his final game for Tottenham, which marked the end of his 10-year association with the club. Thomas Frank 's side wrapped up their Far East tour with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United in Seoul - poetically located in Son's homeland of South Korea. Brennan Johnson scored Spurs' only goal of the game, opening the scoring within seven minutes, before Harvey Barnes pulled one back for Newcastle late in the first half. The waterworks began when Son was withdrawn in the 65th minute of the game. The 33-year-old shared an embrace with each of his team-mates on the field, with many Newcastle players also consoling him. 65,000 fans in the Seoul World Cup Stadium rose to honour their country's hero with a standing ovation, while Son was given a guard of honour on the pitch. Taking it all in, the forward waved to the crowd and wiped his eyes as he exited the field, making way for Mohammed Kudus. Heung-Min Son's send off 😢🤍 Thank you for everything, Sonny. — The Spurs Watch (@TheSpursWatch) August 3, 2025 The love continued on the bench, with the rest of Son's team-mates appearing to share warm words and congratulations. At full-time, the winger said one final goodbye to Tottenham fans, and was hoisted into the air by his team-mates to bid him farewell. Son scored 173 goals from 454 appearances for Tottenham after joining the club for £22million from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015. He was included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year in 2020-21 and was the joint-winner of the Premier League Golden Boot award in 2021-22. On three occasions Son was named Tottenham's Player of the Season - in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22. He is regarded as one of the greatest Asian football players ever. Son won his first trophy when appearing as a second-half substitute during the 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Europa League final in May. This turned out to be his last competitive appearance for the club. Mail Sport understands Spurs are discussing a deal for Son with MLS club Los Angeles FC, although the value is thought to be less than what they would receive from Saudi Arabia, where clubs have also expressed an interest. But Son is thought to want to experience life in the United States. Son scored 173 goals from 454 appearances for Tottenham after joining the club for £22million from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015 Speaking at press conference on Saturday, a tearful Son described choosing to leave Spurs as 'one of the hardest decisions' of his career. 'I have decided to leave the club this summer. Respectfully the club is helping me with this decision,' Son said. 'It was the most difficult decision I have made in my career. Such amazing memories. It was so hard to make the decision. 'I came to north London as a kid - a very young age, a young boy came to London who even didn't speak English. Leaving this club as a grown man is a very, very proud moment.'

BBC News

26 minutes ago

BBC News

Fourth official hunt 'embarrassing'

Bromley manager Andy Woodman has described the lengthy delay to replace an injured assistant referee in his team's game at Shrewsbury Town as "embarrassing".Woodman also said the 17-minute stoppage in the first half, which ended with a qualified referee being recruited from the crowd, had halted the momentum of his side's good start as they fought out a goalless draw at Croud stoppage came 26 minutes into the first half, when Scott Chalkley sustained an injury which meant he could not fourth official Niall Felton stepped in to replace Chalkley, but Shrewsbury had to make an appeal over the public address system for a qualified referee to take Felton's place on the appeal was successful when Alan Cork, a level-five qualified referee, stepped forward - he can only take charge of matches in the tenth tier and below, but is able to fill a supplementary role at a higher told BBC Radio London: "First of all, let's hope the official [Chalkley] is OK. He seems to be OK, and that's most important."It was an embarrassing situation for the referees' management, to have to ask for someone to come out of the crowd to get the game going. I've never known that in my life."I don't really know what to say about it - it's embarrassing. It stops the momentum of the game, and we had the momentum at that point. I'm sure [Shrewsbury manager] Michael [Appleton] will look at it differently."The second half then becomes a bit of a damp squib because these players have been out on their feet since two o'clock. It's a red-hot day and a long shift for them. It's tough on both teams, and shouldn't happen."