Browsing: promise

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim thinks it is important Sir Jim Ratcliffe went public with his long-term thoughts – but says nothing is certain about tomorrow in football, let alone three years.

In an interview with The Times last week, Ratcliffe said it could take Amorim three years to make a significant impact at Old Trafford.

Coming in a period when Amorim’s future has been under scrutiny following an extended sequence of disappointing results, the comments helped quell some of the immediate pressure.

But, speaking before the 100th meeting with old rivals Liverpool at Anfield, the United boss stressed that the future is hard to predict in football.

“It is really good to hear it but he tells me all the time, sometimes with a message after games – but you know, I know and Jim knows, that football is not like that,” he said.

“The most important thing is the next game. Even with owners, you cannot control the next day in football.”

Chief executive Omar Berrada has admitted it has taken far longer for Amorim to adapt to the Premier League following his move from Sporting last November than anyone imagined.

United have won 10 times in 34 Premier League matches under the 40-year-old. They are yet to win two league games in a row and have not ended a round of league games this season higher than ninth.

The dire statistics are stretching belief in the manager among the United fanbase heading into a sequence of matches their club has been awful in for the past two seasons.

Amorim said he does not feel the uncertainty internally at the club’s Carrington training ground and is adamant nothing can match the pressure he puts on his players – and in some senses, he would prefer Ratcliffe not to be trying to bring a sense of calm because he fears the impact it could have on the team.

“It’s not just a thing that people talk about, I feel it every day,” he said. “It’s really good to hear it because it helps our fans to understand the leadership know it is going to take a while.

“But at the same moment, I don’t like it because it gives a feeling that we have time to work things out. I don’t want that feeling in our club.

“The pressure I put on the team or on myself is so much bigger [than that from outside]. In football, especially in big clubs, you need to prove yourself every weekend.”

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Seth Rollins finally put an end to a wrinkle that’s been bothering him the most at Crown Jewel in controversial fashion.

The World Heavyweight Champion is winless against WWE Champion Cody Rhodes coming in to their WWE Crown Jewel Championship match in Perth, Western Australia. This has been eating Rollins alive for the past three years. He even abadoned his teammates in The Vision at one point to primarily focus on beating Rhodes and informed them he need to do it by himself.

Both men pulled all the stops but couldn’t quite upend each other. During the match, the Visionary shocked the WWE universe by hitting the Coast to Coast headbutt on the American Nightmare. He followed it up with a Rock Bottom, only for a near-fall.

Rhodes countered with a super Cross Rhodes on his own but Rollins kicked out. The WWE Champion set up the World Heavyweight Champion for a pedigree but what happened next is more shocking.

Seth Rollins Hit Cody Rhodes With his Rolex Gift From WrestleMania 40

Seth Rollins was able to escape from Cody Rhodes’ impending pedigree and crawled right into the Rolex watch that the WWE Champion gave to him in 2024. The Visionary hid it and allowed himself to get kicked by the American Nightmare.

Rollins struck into the referee which allowed him to nail Rhodes in the jaw with the watch. He then stomped the latter and for good measure, unleashed the super Stomp from the second rope.

🚨 SETH ROLLINS HAS WON THE CROWN JEWEL CHAMPIONSHIP.

SETH ROLLINS HAS FINALLY BEATEN CODY RHODES.#WWECrownJewelpic.twitter.com/YYgkQw2DvY

— TribaI Wrestling (@TribalMegastar) October 11, 2025

The shenanigan led to the World Heavyweight Champion finally getting the monkey off of his back by pinning the WWE Champion to become the Men’s Crown Jewel Champion. This is Rollins’ first singles win against Rhodes after being winless in three matches in 2022.

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  Michael C. WrightOct 11, 2025, 12:21 AM ET

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  • Joined ESPN in 2010
  • Previously covered Bears for ESPN.com
  • Played college football at West Texas A&M

SAN ANTONIO — Count No. 2 pick Dylan Harper as the latest to learn the lesson that it’s nearly impossible to throw Victor Wembanyama a lob he can’t reach.

Making his preseason debut for the San Antonio Spurs, Harper lofted an alley-oop to Wembanyama for a two-handed jam with 44.3 seconds left in the first half Friday of San Antonio’s 134-130 victory over the Utah Jazz. Harper nodded and pointed to Wembanyama, acknowledging he might’ve made the play more difficult than necessary.

“I’m going to throw it a little higher,” Harper said to a smiling Wembanyama as the teammates smacked hands while walking back.

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Harper’s lob to Wembanyama represented just one minor flaw in what appeared to be a near-flawless performance for the rookie in the first half. He registered a game-best plus-minus of 22 over 12½ minutes, shooting 4 of 5 for nine points with two assists. Harper tacked on an additional dime in the third quarter before checking out for good with 6:23 remaining due to a minutes restriction.

Harper played 18 minutes and finished with a plus-minus of 20.

“It’s just another step for him and his young career as he’s going to continue to grow,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “Obviously, he made some plays, which hopefully he’ll feel good about. But just to be able to do it in front of fans and in the bright lights, whether it was the plays that people will talk about when he scored, made a shot, or made a good pass. Just to be able to go through team defense and run the floor, it is just invaluable experience.”

Harper said earlier in the day at shootaround that he’d feel first-game jitters in his preseason debut. But he shook them off quickly. Harper flicked alley-oops to Wembanyama and Luke Kornet for his first two assists. Harper was active on defense, too, defending players full court throughout most of his minutes.

“It is good to be on the court with him,” Wembanyama said. “He looks ready, very comfortable already throwing these kinds of passes. So, I’m very confident and I’m very happy to be able to spend some time on the court with him.”

Harper scored his first bucket 10 seconds after checking into the action with 6:12 left in the opening quarter after running past his defender on a cut to the basket for a layup off an assist from Harrison Barnes. Harper zipped by former Rutgers teammate and No. 5 pick Ace Bailey for his next basket.

“Just being back out on the court with them guys, just getting the chemistry going before the season starts, it just felt good to play again,” Harper said. “My teammates do a great job of empowering me, and they’re going to let me know what I do wrong. But ultimately, they’re here to help me out and I’m here to help them out. Just having that confidence behind me is very helpful.”

Harper sat out the Spurs’ first two preseason games as a precautionary measure after undergoing surgery in September to repair a partially torn collateral ligament in his left thumb. Wearing a splint on the injured thumb, Harper participated in many of the club’s training camp workouts.

But Spurs officials wanted to limit the 19-year-old’s exposure to contact.

Harper emerged from his first preseason action unscathed physically, but admitted he must “flip [my] brain” in gauging how to accurately hit his new 7-foot-4 teammate on alley-oop passes.

“I should’ve [thrown] higher, a lot higher,” Harper said. “It’s weird. Ain’t no one ever played with someone that tall. You get out there. You throw it up and you think you threw it too high. But then he catches it and you’re like, ‘It’s a little too low.’ So, [it’s] just little things like that. Just throw where no one else can get it but him.”

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Tottenham have received a cash boost of £100m from their owners, the Lewis family trust, with further funding poised to follow that will provide Thomas Frank with greater room for manoeuvre in the transfer market.

The club have long sought fresh investment to enable their varied plans to expand the business, which include numerous non-football projects. But the priority is on-field success; there is an awareness at boardroom level that it is the principal driver for everything.

The 17th-placed Premier League finish last season was a disaster and the target for Frank is to return the team to the top five, mainly for sporting reasons, but also to drive revenue streams and keep the clubâ€s value high.

Frank was permitted to spend about £125m on players this summer – most notably Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons – with the club also committed to paying combined fees of about £50m to make the deals for Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel permanent.

Frank has started well – Spurs are third – and will be backed in January if the right signings are available at the right prices. The usual disclaimer about the mid-season window being a difficult time to add to the squad applies.

The equity injection has come from the Lewis family fortune and put it into Spurs via their investment vehicle, Enic. A source close to the family said: “This is initial additional funding. As the clubâ€s management decides whatâ€s needed to deliver success, more money will be available. The Lewis family is committed to backing the club to be successful.â€

The Lewis family and the rest of the Spurs executive tier maintain the club is not for sale. Spurs have been stalked by takeover talk for a long time and it has intensified since the former chair Daniel Levy was ousted in early September. The club have rejected expressions of interest from three groups. One was Amanda Staveleyâ€s PCP International Finance; another a consortium of investors led by Dr Roger Kennedy and Wing-Fai Ng through Firehawk Holdings Limited; and the third came from a United States-based consortium led by the tech entrepreneur Brooklyn Earick.

Spurs said the £100m would “further strengthen the clubâ€s financial position and equip the leadership team with additional resources to continue the focus on driving long-term sporting success. This additional capital is part of the Lewis familyâ€s ongoing commitment to the club and its future.â€

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Peter Charrington, the Spurs nonexecutive chair, said: “Our focus is on stability and empowering the management team to deliver on the clubâ€s ambitions. I know the Lewis family are also ambitious for the future. Todayâ€s capital commitment reflects that ambition and I would like to thank them for their ongoing support. We will continue to do all we can to ensure that Vinai [Venkatesham, the chief executive] and his team are supported in the best way possible to take this club forward.â€

Spurs†non-football projects include the building of a hotel and an indoor arena close to the stadium; an expansion of the training ground in Enfield to take in a hub for the womenâ€s team and a bespoke NFL training facility; and numerous residential developments in the Tottenham area.

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The New York Rangers lost 5-4 to the New York Islanders on Thursday night in their third preseason game, but that wasnâ€t the main story.

Mike Sullivan played many of his veteran players while slipping the young prospects into the mix.

Gabe Perreault was featured on the first line alongside J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad, which was a big test for him.

Through the first two preseason games, Perreault scored two goals, and heâ€s had a strong performance through training camp thus far.

It was no different for Perreault on Thursday night. The 20-year-old forward stood out playing with Miller and Zibanejad, as he did not shy away from this big opportunity he was given.

“Weâ€ve talked a lot about Gabe. He’s a real exciting player for us,†Sullivan said. “I said the other day that heâ€s an NHL player in the making and I still believe that. I think heâ€s a real talented guy. I think heâ€s going to have a really successful career in this league. I think there are areas where he can improve and get better. Thatâ€s going to set himself up for success. Weâ€ve got to help him get stronger, but thatâ€s just a matter of time. Heâ€s a really exciting player for us.â€

Brennan Othmann is a player whoâ€s had an up-and-down training camp, but was able to bounce back in a big way in the Rangers†third preseason game.

Sullivan entrusted Othmann to play with Alexis Lafrenière and Vincent Trocheck. On that line, Othmann definitely appeared to look more confident and generated some offensive chances.

The highlight of the night for Othmann came when he ripped a shot on the power play for a goal, giving him a much-needed confidence booster.

“Otter has shown glimpses of brilliance,†Sullivan said. “He can really shoot the puck, you saw it tonight. We would like to see him get into the battles a little bit more, play in traffic, going toward the traffic as opposed to maybe moving away from it. We think heâ€s capable of playing that game, but thatâ€s a conversation that weâ€ve had with him here through the first part of the training camp, just trying to define expectations.â€

Arguably, the biggest surprise of this training camp and preseason has been the play of Noah Laba.

The 6-foot-2 center has a lot of potential, and heâ€s really shown it over these past few weeks.

Labaâ€s physical style of play, on top of his sneaky offensive skillsets, makes him a player who can really play up and down the lineup.

Mike. Sullivan Had One Request Of John Tortorella Ahead Of The 4 Nations Face-Off
From one New York Rangers head coach to another, Mike Sullivan and John Tortorella seem to have a strong relationship.

The 22-year-old forward continued his impressive play on Thursday night, and even caught the attention of the already established veteran players.

“Labs has kind of come out of nowhere and really stood out, in my opinion,†Vincent Trocheck said. “Heâ€s making it tough on these guys to make decisions on the roster for opening night.â€

Brett Berard has also built on the progress he made last season for the Rangers, showing promise both through training camp and the preseason.

The 23-year-old forward scored a goal in the first period of this preseason game and he continues to make it harder and harder for the Rangers to send him down to the American Hockey League.

On the defensive side, Scott Morrow has played in every preseason game so far and heâ€s been given a major responsibility, quarterbacking the second-unit of the power play.

Morrowâ€s speed and offensive attributes continue to look impressive. He is certainly a defenseman who has a lot of upside as shown since the start of rookie camp.

While not all of these young prospects will ultimately make the Rangers†opening-night roster, itâ€s a positive sign to see them thriving in these sorts of situations, a possible good omen for the future.

“We’re excited about some of these players, some of these young players that are potentially knocking on the door, that could break through,†Sullivan said. That’s what this preseason is all about, just trying to find out what we have. We’ll try to make the best decisions for the team as we go here.â€

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