Category Sports News

Scottish Premiership play-off semi-final second leg: Livingston v Partick Thistle (agg 2-0)

Venue: Almondvale, Livingston Date: Friday, 16 May Time: 19:45 BST

As the Partick Thistle people travel east along the M8 towards Livingston on Friday afternoon, they will have plenty to ponder.

Not least how they turn a threadbare squad into an irresistible force capable of dislodging the Livingston-shaped immovable object that beat them in Tuesday night’s Scottish Premiership Play-off semi-final.

Two-nil down is a sizeable hurdle in a second leg. Especially when you are running on fumes.

But it would be silly to write Thistle off. The miracle of Somerset Park was just a week ago. Brian Graham ‘100 not out’ and all that.

The 37-year-old captain, co-interim manager and all the other job titles must have a new fire burning in his belly after missing a late chance on Tuesday at Firhill that sailed over the bar.

But back to the bigger picture.

Beyond this semi-final second leg, there is uncertainty, for both clubs.

Will Brian Graham and fellow co-manager Mark Wilson even be in charge at Thistle after Friday?

What exactly must they do to lose the ‘interim’ tag? Have they already done enough?

Thistle have a new sporting director in former Motherwell and Northern Ireland boss Ian Baraclough. The new manager or management team will report to him.

“It is a difficult job having to come from the playing side of it, still playing and still make big decisions,” he said of Wilson and Graham when asked about the situation on Tuesday night.

“That is where I think Mark [Wilson] has dovetailed really well with Brian. I think they have coped with it well. I think there has been a bounce from that as well.

“But it is my job to assess and help the board to make the right decision come the end of the season and do it as quickly as possible so the new man has got a chance to prepare for what will be a big season next year – might still be in the Premiership.

“I said to the guys on day one when I first came in, ‘you are in no better position. The audition is there. You are doing it live’.

“I have had to speak to plenty of people, will continue to do that. But, at the moment, the way they have looked after the players, looked after the staff, the whole ethos around the club it has been driven by them at the moment.

There are plenty of other names who know the division that you could throw into the mix for the Thistle job. Stuart Kettlewell, Callum Davidson, Ian Murray are all on the available list.

Dougie Imrie has impressed with Greenock Morton. Would any of the current interim Rangers management team fancy it if they don’t get the gig full-time at Ibrox? And what about David Martindale?

Nobody was really touting his Livingston side as major promotion hopefuls when the season started, let alone potential champions.

However, Martindale and Livingston were unwilling to slip quietly into the night. Instead, Livi have rallied and roared with renewed vigour.

However, their manager admits himself his own future is far from clear with potential fresh investment on the horizon for the West Lothian club.

In his straight talking way, Martindale is not a man who wastes time talking up trivialities.

“I know they’re speaking to a couple of groups just now,” he says.

“At this point, I’m out of contract at end of May, so there’s nothing really progressed. We’re not looking to progress. I am not looking to sign a new contract, club’s not looking to talk to me about a new contract. I think, for me, I’m fairly irrelevant in all this.

“That’s a future without me. I’d be more than happy to shake their hand if it’s going to safeguard the future of the club. And then I’ll go and look at what’s next for me.

“But somebody comes in, they want to have a conversation with me and they’d like to keep me about, I’m open to having that conversation.

“But, for me, I’m really just focused on, in all honesty, the next game, the next game, and the next game. And I’ll maybe look at me once we come to the end of that fixture list – whatever that’s going to be, one game or three games.

“I think I’ve tried to come into Livingston every day and put Livingston first and today’s no different, tomorrow’s no different. So I’m quite happy. Whatever the near future is for me, I’m comfortable with that.”

Scottish Premiership play-off semi-final second leg: Livingston v Partick Thistle (agg 2-0)

Venue: Almondvale, Livingston Date: Friday, 16 May Time: 19:45 BST

As the Partick Thistle people travel east along the M8 towards Livingston on Friday afternoon, they will have plenty to ponder.

Not least how they turn a threadbare squad into an irresistible force capable of dislodging the Livingston-shaped immovable object that beat them in Tuesday night’s Scottish Premiership Play-off semi-final.

Two-nil down is a sizeable hurdle in a second leg. Especially when you are running on fumes.

But it would be silly to write Thistle off. The miracle of Somerset Park was just a week ago. Brian Graham ‘100 not out’ and all that.

The 37-year-old captain, co-interim manager and all the other job titles must have a new fire burning in his belly after missing a late chance on Tuesday at Firhill that sailed over the bar.

But back to the bigger picture.

Beyond this semi-final second leg, there is uncertainty, for both clubs.

Will Brian Graham and fellow co-manager Mark Wilson even be in charge at Thistle after Friday?

What exactly must they do to lose the ‘interim’ tag? Have they already done enough?

Thistle have a new sporting director in former Motherwell and Northern Ireland boss Ian Baraclough. The new manager or management team will report to him.

“It is a difficult job having to come from the playing side of it, still playing and still make big decisions,” he said of Wilson and Graham when asked about the situation on Tuesday night.

“That is where I think Mark [Wilson] has dovetailed really well with Brian. I think they have coped with it well. I think there has been a bounce from that as well.

“But it is my job to assess and help the board to make the right decision come the end of the season and do it as quickly as possible so the new man has got a chance to prepare for what will be a big season next year – might still be in the Premiership.

“I said to the guys on day one when I first came in, ‘you are in no better position. The audition is there. You are doing it live’.

“I have had to speak to plenty of people, will continue to do that. But, at the moment, the way they have looked after the players, looked after the staff, the whole ethos around the club it has been driven by them at the moment.

There are plenty of other names who know the division that you could throw into the mix for the Thistle job. Stuart Kettlewell, Callum Davidson, Ian Murray are all on the available list.

Dougie Imrie has impressed with Greenock Morton. Would any of the current interim Rangers management team fancy it if they don’t get the gig full-time at Ibrox? And what about David Martindale?

Nobody was really touting his Livingston side as major promotion hopefuls when the season started, let alone potential champions.

However, Martindale and Livingston were unwilling to slip quietly into the night. Instead, Livi have rallied and roared with renewed vigour.

However, their manager admits himself his own future is far from clear with potential fresh investment on the horizon for the West Lothian club.

In his straight talking way, Martindale is not a man who wastes time talking up trivialities.

“I know they’re speaking to a couple of groups just now,” he says.

“At this point, I’m out of contract at end of May, so there’s nothing really progressed. We’re not looking to progress. I am not looking to sign a new contract, club’s not looking to talk to me about a new contract. I think, for me, I’m fairly irrelevant in all this.

“That’s a future without me. I’d be more than happy to shake their hand if it’s going to safeguard the future of the club. And then I’ll go and look at what’s next for me.

“But somebody comes in, they want to have a conversation with me and they’d like to keep me about, I’m open to having that conversation.

“But, for me, I’m really just focused on, in all honesty, the next game, the next game, and the next game. And I’ll maybe look at me once we come to the end of that fixture list – whatever that’s going to be, one game or three games.

“I think I’ve tried to come into Livingston every day and put Livingston first and today’s no different, tomorrow’s no different. So I’m quite happy. Whatever the near future is for me, I’m comfortable with that.”

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has seen his wealth fall by £6.473bn – more than a quarter of his fortune – in the last year, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.

The 72-year-old’s wealth has declined from £23.519bn to £17.046bn in the past 12 months.

He has slipped from fourth to seventh on the annual list of the UK’s 350 richest people.

Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group bought a 27.7% stake in United in February 2024 in a deal worth about £1.25bn ($1.6bn) that saw Ineos take control of football operations.

The British billionaire’s time at Old Trafford has drawn criticism after United raised ticket prices and made two rounds of redundancies in a bid to improve the club’s finances.

Ratcliffe defended some of United’s financial cost-cutting measures in a wide-ranging BBC interview in March in which he said the club would have “run out of cash by the end of this year” had he not made “unpopular” decisions.

However, in March United unveiled ambitious plans to build an “iconic” new £2bn, 100,000-seater stadium close to Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe has said that financial pressures on British petrochemical firm Ineos would not impact Manchester United.

Ineos walked away early from its sponsorship deal with New Zealand Rugby in February, while it also parted ways with four-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie earlier this year after backing the Britannia America’s Cup sailing team since 2018.

Ineos blamed “cost-saving measures” across its business, citing the struggling chemicals industry in Europe because of “high energy taxes and extreme carbon taxes”, along with “the deindustrialisation of Europe”.

While Ratcliffe has seen his wealth decline, athletes such as Rory McIlroy, Anthony Joshua, Sir Andy Murray and Harry Kane have increased their fortunes.

Golfer McIlroy is the leading athlete in the Sunday Times’ 40 under 40 list, which charts the worth of the 40 richest people under the age of 40.

The Northern Irishman, who completed the career Grand Slam by winning the Masters last month, is 19th on the list after increasing his personal fortune from £225m to £260m.

Boxer Joshua appears 24th on £195m, despite not fighting since his defeat by Daniel Dubois in September, while Murray is 35th on £110m following his retirement from tennis in August.

Jordan Puente was 13 when he was first expelled from school. At 14 his anger and aggressive behaviour was so challenging, his mum feared he would end up in prison.

Then one day a sports coach and mentor called Roddy Slater began working with him through his school in Reading and set Jordan on a path that would transform his life.

“He started taking me down to the gym and he helped me use weightlifting as a tool to get away from that troubled life as a teenager, from being on the streets and getting in trouble with the law,” he told BBC Sport.

“I’d come in there with all these problems. He’d listen to me. In my head I’m just training, but then I’d come out of that session with a weight off my shoulders, being like ‘hang on a minute I know how to handle it now’. Suddenly you’ve just been mentored for an hour without even realising it.”

A decade on from that first session in the gym Puente’s life has come full circle, with the 25-year-old now working for Slater mentoring and coaching vulnerable young people at a time when the importance of positive role models is in the spotlight.

The release of the popular Netflix series Adolescence and former England manager Gareth Southgate’s Richard Dimbleby lecture have sparked a nationwide discussion about the issue of toxic masculinity and online influencers shaping young boys’ minds.

The Adolescence drama shone a light on the corrosive impact of social media and the dangerous stereotypes about masculinity some teenage boys see online.

In today’s digital age, providing an interaction with “real life” influencers is more important than ever, according to Slater.

“I think we’re giving them that space to actually see a role model face to face,” the 52-year-old said. “They can talk about what they want to talk about, and they’ll be listened to. A good coach listens first.

“I think so many of our young people today lack the ability to build those relationships. Their social interactions are limited. Everything is online, either on their phone or on the end of their PlayStation 5 or whatever.”

Mark Gannon, chief executive of UK Coaching, said the face-to-face role of sports coaches was particularly important in “trying to get young people to understand the reality versus what they might see on social media, particularly with [online] misogyny”.

Every day around 30 young people facing significant challenges in their lives come to the Raw Mentoring site in Reading, which Slater runs. They are given one-to-one coaching in different sports and activities, while at the same time being mentored.

Zeph, who is in year eight at school, has been supported here for three years, telling BBC Sport: “It makes me happy. When I come here, I don’t want to leave. I used to get into fights nearly every day, I’m much calmer now.”

It is something Puente can relate to, describing his weekly run-ins with the police and being “a silly teenager” who got into a lot of fights before turning his life around.

“When you’re young, your brain’s like a sponge,” said Puente, who now helps youngsters alongside his job running a personal training business.

“You just reflect everything that you see. And I think if you don’t have that strong role model growing up, you’re kind of just going through those transitional periods as a teenager a little bit lost and unguided.

“I think it’s underestimated how beneficial a structured role model and supportive person can be.”

Basketball coach Ryan Evans speaks about showing youngsters “the flip side” when trying to move them away from the influences of toxic masculinity.

“You can see [issues with toxic masculinity] from time to time, and it’s upsetting at first because we kind of look back at when we were younger – those trappings weren’t necessarily there or they weren’t the same as what they used to be,” said Evans, who works for Greenhouse Sports, a charity which partners with schools in disadvantaged areas to inspire young people through sport.

“So for me it’s, once I recognise them, not berating them for it, because at times it’s not their fault. It’s actually just the way that the world is constructed through their phones, social media, the influences of younger and older here at the school.”

“I think when we talk about toxic masculinity, the other side of it is allowing boys to express themselves and be themselves, and we need to give them that room to do so. Sometimes the solution doesn’t come from me. It actually comes from them, or it’s driven by something in their environment.”

Fellow coach Kiran Wiltshire, who has coached thousands of children in the Leicester area over 20 years, says people like her are “an important lifeline” for the youngsters.

“We’re a little piece of the puzzle in their big world,” she said. “But that little piece of the puzzle is the difference between them completing school and going to college and getting their GCSEs or joining the local gang.”

Women’s FA Cup final: Chelsea v Manchester United

Venue: Wembley Date: Sunday, 18 May Kick-off: 13:30 BST

An unbeaten domestic season and a Treble still on the cards – it hasn’t looked that hard for Sonia Bompastor to step into Emma Hayes’ formidable shoes.

The Frenchwoman inherited a Chelsea side who, with five successive Women’s Super League titles, were used to dominating domestically under former boss Hayes.

Bompastor had one job when she arrived in August 2024 – to continue winning, and she has not disappointed in her debut campaign.

Aside from a crushing Champions League semi-final defeat by Barcelona, it has been a near-perfect season from the Blues, who wrapped up another WSL title and finished the league campaign without defeat.

With the Women’s League Cup already in the bag, they are eyeing a domestic Treble when they take on Manchester United in Sunday’s FA Cup final.

“Of course, it’s never easy to follow someone like Emma who has left a tremendous legacy,” Chelsea striker Catarina Macario told BBC Sport.

“From a personal point of view, Emma is a character, but Sonia is also a force to be reckoned with in her own way.

Bompastor’s predecessor Hayes won 14 major trophies before joining the US women’s national team.

She had positioned the club at the pinnacle of English women’s football with Chelsea not only employing some of the country’s best talent, but also developing a reputation for being ‘mentality monsters’.

Her side had grown experience and leadership, while the club had built a strong staff structure around the women’s team.

Those elements no doubt meant the transition for Bompastor, 44, who arrived from French giants Lyon, was a lot smoother.

There were still challenges.

From a personal point of view, Bompastor has four children who she had to ensure experienced seamless moves to new schools and a new country, all with a language barrier.

She was under pressure to replicate Hayes’ success and had to make a strong impression on supporters and players who had been used to her predecessor’s management.

From the first media conference, Bompastor set out her ambitions to win the Champions League – which ultimately did not come to fruition this season – and to build on the strong foundations already set by Hayes.

“[Hayes] gave her life to the club. The base is really good, and she left the club in such a great position,” said Bompastor in August.

“But I was not expecting anything else from her. She’s such a great manager and person – so it is good for me to come after her.

“I have a different vision and philosophy. I’m just trying to build on that legacy and find a way to manage the players and staff.

“What is really important is to come to this club, respect everything that was built before and build my own vision. I hope we will be successful.”

Bompastor did what she said by adding new signings Sandy Baltimore, Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh to an already-impressive squad.

She made goalkeeper Hannah Hampton her regular number one, successfully integrated young midfielder Wieke Kaptein and played a role in persuading United States defender Naomi Girma to join for a world-record fee in January.

Bompastor, who won the Champions League as a player and manager with Lyon, describes herself as a “simple person” – she does not drink alcohol, does not celebrate much and she enjoys spending time with family.

But she is a perfectionist who loves to win.

After beating Crystal Palace 4-0 in the WSL, Bompastor criticised her players for not being “ruthless” enough, while she said before the final league game of the season that she was “striving for perfection” in the hope of finishing the campaign unbeaten.

She was not only keen to deliver on the pitch, but off it, and regularly watches other WSL managers’ press conferences to improve her English so she can communicate better with the media.

In training, she emphasises the importance of accuracy, constantly pushing her players to be confident on the ball and to take ownership of possession.

“She expects us all to just give our all in everything, if we’re doing passing patterns in training or just being ruthless about certain things,” added Macario.

“She wants us to be ruthless in every single way, even if it’s just a small game between ourselves. She strives for perfection in everything.

“Unfortunately, perfection cannot be achieved every time!”

Macario jokes that Bompastor can be “a terrible loser” and there have been moments where her composed demeanour has cracked.

In April, when Chelsea were drawing 0-0 with Manchester United and under pressure, Bompastor kicked a bottle of water into the hoardings to unleash her frustration before Bronze’s winner eventually confirmed them as champions.

The Champions League exit is clearly still on her mind, referencing it when asked about the success they have achieved this season.

It remains the glaring omission from Chelsea’s trophy cabinet and the one Bompastor was hired to try to win.

Macario says the manager’s mentality keeps her team-mates sharp and they can “never take their foot off the gas”.

“It’s very fair to share frustrations. We did not play or impose ourselves the way we wanted to against Barcelona,” said Macario.

“Of course, she’s very right to be frustrated, upset and expect more from us. And so do we.

“It’s just knowing we have to work even harder to meet that criteria and meet those expectations.

Macario says one word to describe Chelsea is: “successful”.

That is something that has been built over several years in England but Bompastor’s vision is to lead Chelsea to European glory.

There were glimpses of how she wants to do it in the way they played this year with more possession-based football and utilising attacking wing-backs effectively.

Their style is less direct than it was under Hayes and though Bompastor believes there is a lot of work to do, Macario says the team are learning to adapt.

“Sonia puts a heavy emphasis on pride in keeping the ball and for us to be technical,” said Macario.

“She wants us to be accurate in our passing – whether that’s to the right foot or with the right weight. It’s something we hear constantly, every single day!

“We are definitely trying to get better at it. When we do have pressure, we know we can get out of it by doing certain things. It will take some adapting to.”

But early signs are promising.

Liverpool interim manager Amber Whiteley said Bompastor had taken Chelsea to “another level” before they faced each other in the final game of the season.

And Manchester United boss Marc Skinner said the Frenchwoman had “added her own subtleties and details” to the “team of winners” she inherited from Hayes.

Venue: Wembley Date: Sunday, 18 May Kick-off: 13: 30 BST

Sonia Bompastor’s debut season hasn’t looked particularly difficult, with an unbeaten domestic season and a potential treble.

The Frenchwoman took over a Chelsea side that had won five Women’s Super League titles before moving on to dominate domestically under former boss Hayes.

Bompastor hasn’t let up in her debut campaign, and even when she arrived in August 2024, she had one job: to keep winning.

The Blues, who won another WSL title and finished the league campaign unbeaten, have had a near-perfect season, aside from a crushing Champions League semi-final defeat by Barcelona.

When they face Manchester United in Sunday’s FA Cup final, they are looking for a domestic treble with the Women’s League Cup already in the bag.

Catarina Macario, a Chelsea striker, told BBC Sport, “It’s never easy to follow someone like Emma, who has left a great legacy.”

Emma is a character, but Sonia is also a force to reckon with in her own right.

Hayes, the previous Bompastor, made the women’s national team in the US after winning 14 major awards.

Chelsea employs some of the nation’s top players, and she had established a reputation for being “mentality monsters,” making the club the pinnacle of English women’s football.

The club had a strong staff structure around the women’s team, and her side had gained leadership and experience.

These factors undoubtedly contributed to a much smoother transition for Bompastor, 44, who left French giants Lyon.

There were still difficulties.

From a personal standpoint, Bompastor had four children, all of whom had language barriers, who made seamless transitions to new schools and countries.

She had to make a strong impression on fans and players who had grown up with her predecessor’s management in order to replicate Hayes’ success.

Bompastor stated her goals from the first press conference to build on Hayes’ strong foundations, including winning the Champions League, which ultimately did not materialize this season.

Hayes gave her life to the club. She left the club in such a great position, Bompastor said in August, and the base is really good.

I didn’t expect anything else from her, she said. It would be nice for me to follow her because she is such a great manager and person.

“My perspective and philosophy are different. I’m just trying to capitalize on that legacy and find a way to oversee the players and staff.

To join this club, to respect everything that was built before, and to develop one’s own vision is what is really important. I’m hoping for success.

Bompastor added Keira Walsh, Lucy Bronze, and Sandy Baltimore to an already impressive squad, as she had previously said.

She successfully incorporated young midfielder Wieke Kaptein into her regular number one, helped convince American defender Naomi Girma to sign for a record-breaking fee in January, and helped her become Hannah Hampton’s.

Bompastor, who won the Champions League with Lyon as a player and manager, describes herself as a “simple person” who avoids alcohol, celebrates sparingly, and enjoys spending time with family.

She is a perfectionist who aspires to succeed.

Bompastor criticized her players for not being “ruthless” enough after winning the WSL game 4-4, while she claimed before the final league game of the year that she was “strengthening for perfection in the hope of finishing the campaign unbeaten.

She regularly attends other WSL managers’ press conferences to improve her English so she could speak with the media and was eager to deliver both on and off the pitch.

She repeatedly encourages her players to be self-assured of their possessions while also putting emphasis on accuracy in training.

She expects us to give our all in whatever situation, whether it’s through training or just being ruthless, Macario said.

She wants us to be ruthless in every way, even if it’s just a small game. She makes an effort to be flawless everywhere.

“Perfection cannot be achieved every time, sadly”!

Bompastor can be a “terrible loser,” according to Macario, and there have come a few instances where her composed demeanor has stung.

Bompastor drew a bottle of water into the hoardings in April when Chelsea was under pressure to draw 0-0 with Manchester United before Bronze’s winner triumphantly declared them champions.

When asked about the success they have had this season, she is reportedly thinking about the Champions League exit and is still thinking about it.

Bompastor was hired to try to win the trophy cabinet, but it is still Chelsea’s most flagrant omission.

Macario claims that the manager’s mentality keeps her team-mates focused and that they “never take their foot off the gas.”

“It’s appropriate to share frustrations.” We didn’t enforce ourselves in the way that we wanted to against Barcelona, Macario said.

She is obviously right to be frustrated, upset, and demanding more from us. We do the same.

Simply put, it’s knowing that we must work even harder to meet those requirements and expectations.

“successful” is the one word Macario uses to describe Chelsea.

Although that has been developed over the course of several years in England, Bompastor’s goal is to see Chelsea achieve European glory.

With more possession-based football and effective use of attacking wing-backs, there were indications of how she wants to play this year.

Although Bompastor believes there is a lot of work to be done, Macario claims the team are learning to adapt because their style is less direct than it was under Hayes.

According to Macario, “Sonia places a lot of emphasis on pride in keeping the ball and making us technical.”

She wants us to pass with the appropriate weight or with the right foot. Every single day, we hear it all the time!

We are unwaveringly working on it. We are aware of how to overcome pressure when we are under it. There will be some adaptation. “

However, the first indications are encouraging.

Before their final game of the season, Liverpool interim manager Amber Whiteley claimed Bompastor had elevated Chelsea to a new level.

And Marc Skinner, the manager of Manchester United, claimed that the Frenchwoman “adjusted her own subtilities and details” to the team of winners she had inherited from Hayes.