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Articles by Oli Stein
Jack Grealish was ready for Aston Villa captaincy, says manager Dean Smith
By Oli Stein Last Updated: 28/05/19 6:36pm Aston Villa boss Dean Smith and captain Jack Grealish celebrate winning the play-off final at Wembley Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has praised the influence of captain Jack Grealish in leading the club to promotion back to the Premier League. Grealish wore the armband at Wembley Stadium on Monday as the Villans ended their three-year hiatus from the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Derby County.
Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum says pressure not a factor ahead of Champions League final
By Oli Stein Last Updated: 28/05/19 2:35pm Georginio Wijnaldum was all smiles in front of the media Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum says he is not affected by the pressure ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final against Tottenham. The showdown in Madrid marks the second season running that the Reds have reached this final.
Watford 1-4 West Ham: Hornets sent to Wembley on a sour note as Hammers finish tenth
Watford concluded their greatest-ever season in the Premier League on a sour note, missing the chance to complete their first-ever league double over West Ham as they lost 4-1 at Vicarage Road. In previous years the Hornets have been known to end their campaigns on the beach, so to speak, and they weren’t far off this label this afternoon as two goals from Mark Noble and one apiece from Manuel Lanzini and Marko Arnautovic sent them to Wembley next weekend without a win in four matches.
The reluctant trailblazer: Julie Welch reflects on being Fleet Street’s first female football reporter
On August 25, 1973, two concurrent events occurred. Not only did Tottenham Hotspur lose 1-0 away to Coventry City in the first game of the Division One season, but Julie Welch became Fleet Street’s first female football reporter as she was sat in the old Highfield Road press box covering the game for the Observer.
Arsenal face Napoli and Chelsea draw Slavia Prague in Europa League quarter-final
Napoli were drawn against Arsenal in the most high-profile fixture of the Europa League quarter-final draw earlier this afternoon. Goals from Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang secured a 3-0 second leg victory at the Emirates Stadium against Rennes, overturning a first leg defeat and providing Unai Emery a chance to win his fourth Europa League in six years.
Leicester already look a Rodgers side despite Watford defeat
Brendan Rodgers’ anticipated return to English football ended in defeat as his new club Leicester lost 2-1 to Watford, his first managerial encounter with the side where it all began eleven years ago. Watford had given Rodgers his managerial debut in 2008 and he spent a year with the Hornets before leaving for Reading the following summer amid circumstances that mirror his Celtic departure.
Brentford 5-2 Blackburn: Said Benrahma masterclass inspires dramatic comeback
A superb individual performance from Said Benrahma inspired Brentford a 5-2 comeback against Blackburn, ending their opponent’s run of four straight league wins. Blackburn have only lost one of their last nine trips to London and they looked to make it one in ten by storming into a 2-0 lead within the first ten minutes through Bradley Dack and Danny Graham.
Believe, believe, believe says Brentford boss Thomas Frank ahead of tough Blackburn visit
Brentford boss Thomas Frank has lavished praised on the hardy character of his squad and their unfaltering belief ahead of Blackburn’s visit to Griffin Park on Saturday. The Bees are 18th in the Championship — ten points clear of the relegation zone — and have won four of their last eight fixtures in all competitions, engineering a six-game unbeaten run in the league after going winless in six across November and December.
ISUN: The Swedish school project-turned-football club helping teenage refugees
For most of us who have had to endure them, the mere mention of the arduous slog of school projects evokes a familiar response. Tedious, tiresome, dull. But what happens when you decide to create a sports club for that school project? And what about if that same school project has ballooned into a fully fledged football club 12 years later to the point you decide to tattoo it onto your forearm?
Watford 0-0 Burnley: Missed opportunities galore in goalless draw
A fixture that hadn’t produced a goalless draw in the previous 19 meetings failed to live up to its pre-game billing as neither Watford nor Burnley found a breakthrough at VAicarage Road. Roberto Pereyra, Gerard Deulofeu and Troy Deeney all had chances to put Watford ahead in the first half, but much to Javi Gracia’s disappointment, they failed.
Dembele heads for China as the genius who could have been so much more
Mousa Dembele’s Premier League career, much like former club Tottenham, has a sense of ‘what if’ clouding the narrative as he completes his move to the Chinese Super League. There’s an inescapable feeling that while he did make a resounding impression in his eight-and-a-half-year stay in England, there’s more he could have done. Another achievable level that was both tangible, yet so intangible in his dichotomous career.
Son's impending stint of national service set to make Tottenham hearts grow fonder
“Cheers. Son’s flying. Nice one.” That tweet from the Tottenham Hotspur admin said it all. We’ve hit peak Heung-min Son. Arguably in the best form of his career, the South Korean has been sensational since the start of December after a somewhat inauspicious start to the season. Three goals and two assists until the end of November wasn’t terrible, but more was possible.
The year in sport 2018: Football
Another year of football passes and we certainly weren’t deprived of noteworthy events in 12 months that showcased both the beautiful and ugly sides of the game. This is the year in football, 2018. #MerciArsene Claude finally got his message across. “It’s time to go.” After 22 years, Arsene Wenger announced his decision to leave Arsenal at the end of the season on April 20th. Embed from Getty Images Three Premier Leagues, seven FA Cups, seven Community Shields and one invincible season.
Year in Sport 2018
We have celebrated and endured a remarkable catalogue of truly extraordinary events. But if we’re honest with ourselves, we all just want a break. So, why not take a drastic leap away from the serious and relive some of the more enjoyable moments, by metaphorically flicking through the highlights of what The absence of a global championship can sometimes starve the athletics season of its usual excitement and rich story lines.
MK Dons 0-1 Colchester: No Santa in sight as Dons lose first league home game this season
MK Dons lost ground in the race for the League Two title after a 1-0 home defeat to third-placed Colchester United, their first home loss of the season. Colchester had never won away at Stadium MK in the league prior to today — losing 6-0 the last time they met in Milton Keynes — but drew first blood in this top-of-the-table clash through captain Luke Prosser in the eleventh minute.
A Christmas XI of current Premier League players
Grab yourself a plate of Tur-Ki Sung-yeung, a side of Marko Ar-sprout-ovic and drizzle some Gravy Propper over it and tuck in to this Christmas XI of current Premier League players. Co-managed by Sean Mince Pyche and Eddie Snowe (ha…), this band of merry men might not survive the rigours of English football’s hectic winter schedule, but they’re bringing the cheer. If all goes wrong, David Joyes is interested in taking over. Saint Nick Pope What a name for Christmas.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank demands team “learns” from Sheffield United defeat
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has called for his players to “learn” from their 3-2 defeat to Sheffield United at Griffin Park tonight to begin their ascent of the Championship table and away from relegation trouble. League top scorer Neal Maupay put the Bees ahead after seven minutes, but concentration was lacking defensively and eight minutes later, they were behind. “We need to learn,” Frank explained. “And we can’t learn quick enough in those situations defensively.
Brentford 2-3 Sheffield United: Bees lack sting as Leon Clarke scores winner
Oli Stein reports from Griffin Park Sheffield United earned their first win in four league matches with a 3-2 victory over Brentford, who still have only won once in the Championship in the Thomas Frank era. The Bees took the lead through Championship top scorer Neal Maupay — his 13th league goal of the season — but as has become the case, they conceded shortly after as their focus deserted them.
Prague Raptors: The small Czech club making a big difference
Football can be a cold place. Wherein gluttony rules and morals are lost. Where decisions are made in the pursuit of wealth to satisfy an insatiable greed, often to the neglect of social responsibility. Der Spiegel’s allegations — laying bare the plans for a Super League, while exposing Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain’s skirting of Financial Fair Play — highlight as much. But there remains light among the darkness.
Tottenham should have cashed in when Trippier justified "Bury Beckham" tag
It’s often difficult to pinpoint one specific moment in a player’s career that you can confidently say was their peak and that it was inevitably only downhill thereafter. When the ball struck the back of the net in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium during England’s World Cup semi-final with Croatia, and Kieran Trippier wheeled off into the distance, mobbed by his ecstatic team-mates, that was his peak. The single greatest moment of his career that will forever come to define it.
When Pinocchio met the Wolf of Wall Street, Frank Abagnale & Forrest Gump: Director Louis Myles discusses ‘Kaiser, the greatest footballer never to play football’ - Sports Gazette
What happens when the Wolf of Wall Street meets Frank Abagnale? What if those two were amalgamated with Forrest Gump and Pinocchio? And what if this mismatched creation desired sporting fame without the on-pitch greatness? According to Louis Myles — the film’s director — these elements create Kaiser, the greatest footballer never to play football.
The Jacksonville Roar cheerleaders on balancing jobs, sisterhood & supporting the Jaguars
A football flies through the air, hurtled from the hand of quarterback Blake Bortles. ‘Jaguars on three’ comes the shout from the huddle as the offense and defence prepare to scrimmage at the Allianz Park. It’s bitingly cold throughout practice. Frosted breath escapes into the atmosphere. The players don team-branded hoodies under their practice jerseys and are eager to get back on the bus and rest before Sunday’s meeting with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Meet Kelly Lindsey: The American trying to build Afghan women’s football from the top down
Afghanistan. A country devastated by war. A breeding ground for extremism and terror. A nation with an unwavering association to Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. A politically unstable landscape eternally engulfed in both domestic and international turmoil. These are the thoughts most frequently invoked in any discourse of Afghanistan, and one would be hard pressed to make even the faintest of associations with football, practically a non-entity in a country still reeling from years of political unrest.
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