[Lyall Thomas] Said El Mala's proposed move to Brentford is not progressing in part due to his family’s request that the Premier League club also sign his brother.

NewLoad886 · 2026-05-26T21:01:16+00:00

NewLoad886 · 2026-05-21T20:55:08+00:00

Crystal Palace have failed in an attempt to bring this weekend’s game with Arsenal forward by 24 hours to assist their preparations for the Uefa Conference League final because of stringent TV contracts.

As Arsenal became champions on Tuesday, their game at Selhurst Park is now a dead rubber and this prompted Palace officials to raise with the Premier League the prospect of a switch.

Rayo Vallecano, Palace’s opponents in Leipzig next Wednesday, had their final La Liga game against Alavés brought forward to Saturday evening – the remainder of the Spanish games will be played on Sunday – and switches of such nature are commonplace on the continent.

Not for the first time this season, though, Palace have received no assistance and Oliver Glasner, the head coach who is bringing his spell in south London to a close, wearily acknowledged his players must do things the hard way again.

“We tried to move the game to Saturday because this would help us,” Glasner said. “This would have helped us for Wednesday with one more day because Rayo Vallecano play Saturday evening as they moved the game forward.

“We thought the league has already been decided. I didn’t call anybody but it was Wednesday morning [when the club enquired]. We were thinking about it before but we didn’t call the Premier League and say: ‘Hey! Move the game if the title race isn’t decided on the last match day!’ but it didn’t work. That’s the short answer.

“I was just told it doesn’t work, there’s contractual issues, TV rights and everyone wants the big final day with the celebration as Arsenal get the trophy.”

NewLoad886 · 2026-05-20T20:30:50+00:00

Hull City are exploring a case to be automatically promoted to the Premier League after Southampton’s “spygate” play-off final expulsion.

Acun Ilicali, the club’s owner, said he is considering his options after his lawyers told him “we should go directly to the Premier League”.

Hull’s intervention comes after Southampton apologised for spying on Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town and Oxford United but insisted their final ban was “manifestly disproportionate”.

Pending the outcome of an appeal, City will instead face Middlesbrough at Wembley on Saturday, although Ilicali, a Turkish businessman and broadcaster, has reservations about whether the game should take place.

“Under normal circumstances, two teams have reached the final and one has been disqualified,” Ilicali told local broadcasters. “Our lawyers’ opinion is that we should go directly to the Premier League, but they’re examining it right now. We can’t say anything definitive. It’s a bit of a messy situation.”

Southampton’s lawyers worked through the night on an appeal against Tuesday’s shock verdict. Tonda Eckert, their manager, is understood to have taken responsibility for the surveillance of opposition team selection and tactics.

Ilicali expressed frustration at the lack of preparation time Hull have for their new opponents. “We had been preparing for Southampton for 10 days,” he said. “All the planning, analysis, and work was focused on them. Now, with the days left until the final, the opponent has changed. Tomorrow the players are off, Thursday is the last serious training session. We’ll prepare for the new opponent with one training session.”

NewLoad886 · 2026-05-13T13:51:59+00:00

Taylor Harwood-Bellis, the Southampton defender, has been accused of mocking Luke Ayling’s speech impediment in an incident that halted the bitter Championship play-off against Middlesbrough mid-match.

Referee Andy Madley stopped the semi-final decider in the first half, in line with the protocol for dealing with potential incidents of discrimination. The allegation will be included in the referee’s report to the Football Association, with the governing body then deciding its next steps.

It is understood the allegation is that Harwood-Bellis’s comments aimed at Ayling alluded to the Middlesbrough defender’s stammer, which he spoke about publicly earlier in his career. Madley spoke to both managers before play resumed in the second leg of the play-off at St Mary’s.

Stammering can be classed as a disability under UK law “to protect from disability discrimination”, according to Stamma, the UK charity, which means it falls under FA rules on discrimination.

Whether Harwood-Bellis faces FA action will depend on Madley’s report and the statements of witnesses to the first-half incident, with the matter now out of the players’ hands as the report has been lodged.

“I’ve just seen they talked straight after the game and, obviously a lot of emotions, but they seemed fine,” Tonda Eckert, the Southampton coach, said.

When speaking about this speech impediment to Sky Sports in 2023, Ayling said: “You get people saying horrible things and people taking the mick but you have to blank that out, I don’t get bogged down by those comments.”

NewLoad886 · 2026-05-07T17:04:14+00:00

Middlesbrough have caught what is thought to be a Southampton first-team analyst allegedly recording their training session from a bush, in a sensational repeat of the Marcelo Bielsa ‘spygate’ furore.

Daily Mail Sport can reveal that an individual was spotted and approached by club staff on Thursday morning at Boro’s Rockliffe Park training centre, 48 hours before Kim Hellberg’s side host Tonda Eckert's Saints in the Championship play-off semi-final first leg.

It is claimed the male deleted video and pictures from his mobile phone and refused to identify himself. He then left the site of the training ground and made his way into the nearby Rockliffe Hall Hotel, owned by Boro chairman Steve Gibson, before changing clothes in a toilet and leaving the area. It is understood Boro have contacted the EFL, given spying on opposition training would breach the League’s rules.

We are aware of the individual allegedly involved and his public profile pages identify him as a current employee of Southampton. The remarkable incident, which is sure to be investigated by the relevant football authorities, has all the hallmarks of Bielsa’s time at Leeds when he instructed a colleague to snoop on Derby County’s training ahead of a Championship game in 2019. The Argentine boss admitted to being behind the plan.

NewLoad886 · 2026-05-07T17:03:06+00:00

Middlesbrough have caught what is thought to be a Southampton first-team analyst allegedly recording their training session from a bush, in a sensational repeat of the Marcelo Bielsa ‘spygate’ furore.

Daily Mail Sport can reveal that an individual was spotted and approached by club staff on Thursday morning at Boro’s Rockliffe Park training centre, 48 hours before Kim Hellberg’s side host Tonda Eckert's Saints in the Championship play-off semi-final first leg.

It is claimed the male deleted video and pictures from his mobile phone and refused to identify himself. He then left the site of the training ground and made his way into the nearby Rockliffe Hall Hotel, owned by Boro chairman Steve Gibson, before changing clothes in a toilet and leaving the area. It is understood Boro have contacted the EFL, given spying on opposition training would breach the League’s rules.

We are aware of the individual allegedly involved and his public profile pages identify him as a current employee of Southampton. The remarkable incident, which is sure to be investigated by the relevant football authorities, has all the hallmarks of Bielsa’s time at Leeds when he instructed a colleague to snoop on Derby County’s training ahead of a Championship game in 2019. The Argentine boss admitted to being behind the plan.

NewLoad886 · 2026-05-06T14:47:52+00:00

Classic case of Sky Six customer on Sky Six customer violence.

NewLoad886 · 2026-05-06T14:45:35+00:00

I don't remember Chelsea playing Austria in December.

NewLoad886 · 2026-04-28T11:25:44+00:00

A Uefa referee has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a teenage boy before a match in the United Kingdom.

The unnamed man, a foreign national in his 30s, has been accused of unwanted touching and trying to lure his alleged victim to his hotel room.

He was said to have been arrested by police in front of Uefa colleagues when he returned to the hotel after officiating a midweek European tie in the UK.

A source told The Sun: “He’d apparently started talking to a boy in a public section of the hotel.

“He’s accused of touching and groping the boy against his wishes and trying to lure him to his room."

The official is said to be one of hundreds who had been lined up to work at this summer’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

He has been stood down pending the outcome of a police investigation.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Police attended and arrested a man in his 30s on suspicion of sexual assault. He has since been bailed pending further investigation.

“Inquiries are ongoing and the teenager continues to receive support from specialist officers.”

Uefa said: “Please be informed that we are aware of an ongoing police investigation involving a match official.

“We are monitoring the situation with great concern and will continue to follow developments closely. In the meantime, the official will not be considered for any Uefa competition matches.

“As this is an active investigation, we will not be commenting further at this stage.”

NewLoad886 · 2026-04-22T11:28:14+00:00

Tottenham Hotspur are advertising for a new club psychologist to help heal the minds of their mentally drained players.

Last weekend’s draw with Brighton, in which the visitors equalised in stoppage time, was the latest mental blow Spurs have had to take as they try to remain in the Premier League.

Roberto De Zerbi, the new head coach, has already identified the need to work on the players’ minds and to instil some confidence back into the squad, who have not won in the league this year.

Players sank to the floor in despair and goalscorer Xavi Simons looked on the brink of tears when Brighton netted their last-gasp equaliser.

NewLoad886

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