West Bromwich Albion manager Ryan Mason had some of the pressure taken off him after his side claimed a 2-0 win over Sheffield United in the Championship at the weekend.

Prior to that clash, Football Insider reported that the club’s away form has caused serious concern behind the scenes and that the manager’s future will be evaluated if they get dragged into a relegation battle.

The report added that the board, with owner Shilen Patel, remain in support of the former Tottenham Hotspur coach, but that the situation could change if they fall down the table.

Why West Brom should sack Ryan Mason

Despite a 2-0 win over the Blades last time out, Patel should ruthlessly part ways with Mason because the Baggies have regressed under his watch in comparison to last season.

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Whilst it must be noted that Tom Fellows left to join Southampton, the English head coach was given new signing Aune Heggebo, who has scored eight goals in 17 league starts, per Sofascore.

Despite that impressive addition, whilst also having the likes of Isaac Price, Mikey Johnston, Karlan Grant, and Josh Maja at his disposal, Mason has been unable to improve the team’s attacking play.

West Brom’s regression under Mason

Stat

24/25 (rank)

25/26 (rank)

Points per game

1.39 (9th)

1.31 (15th)

xG

58.7 (9th)

25.3 (14th)

xA

47.1 (4th)

24.4 (7th)

xGD

+11.6 (6th)

+0.9 (12th)

League position

9th

15th

Stats via FBref

As you can see in the table above, West Brom are worse defensively, offensively, and overall as a team since the English tactician took the job in the summer, which is why the club should make a decision on his future.

If the Baggies do decide to part ways with Mason, Gary O’Neil is one out-of-work manager who could come in as an upgrade in the dugout, having been touted for the role in the summer.

Why West Brom should appoint Gary O'Neil

In what would be a controversial move, given his time at Wolves, the English boss could come in and provide West Brom with a boost to lift them up the Championship table.

Prior to Mason’s appointment, EFL pundit Joe Jacobson tipped the club to appoint O’Neil, saying: “At Wolves, it was tough but I think he is a very, very good manager and that’s exactly what West Brom need right now, a freshness, someone with some fresh ideas, someone who’s obviously very motivated and wants to prove himself again.”

The former Wolves and Bournemouth boss was viewed as somone who could come in with ‘fresh ideas’ and motivation to push West Brom forward, and that is still what they need six months later, as they have regressed under Mason.

O’Neil, as shown in the clip above, has shown that he can motivate a group of players to achieve success, having guided Bournemouth and Wolves to safety in the Premier League in his first two seasons as a manager.

O’Neil’s first 2 Premier League seasons

Championship

22/23

23/24

Games managed

34

38

Wins

10

13

Draws

6

7

Losses

18

18

Points

36

46

League finish

15th

14th

Stats via Transfermarkt

The 42-year-old tactician showed that he has the capabilities as a coach to deliver decent enough performances at that level, even if his second season at Wolves, losing 11 of 16 league games, was a disappointment.

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He has been out of a job since December of last year, which means that he has had plenty of time off to reflect and learn from his experiences so far, and could come in with real motivation to succeed, as Jacobson said.

O’Neil could be an upgrade on Mason because he has shown promising signs, with his first two seasons at the level, as a manager in the Premier League, whilst the Baggies boss has seemingly made a Championship side worse in his first senior posting.

That is why Patel should seriously consider sacking the former Spurs coach in favour of bringing O’Neil in to lead the club forward in the coming months and, hopefully, seasons.

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Posts 1 ByKelan Sarson

Newcastle United have now suffered a catalogue of away defeats across all competitions this season, and Eddie Howe needs to stop the rot if this is to be a successful season.

A Carabao Cup charge is on once more, and the Magpies are making progress on their return to the Champions League, but defeat at Manchester United on Boxing Day condemned the Tyneside club to more misery in the Premier League, further widening the gap to the European places.

When will the manager find the right formula? It’s anyone’s guess at the moment, with key personnel like Anthony Gordon unable to produce the goods and thus limiting the club’s attacking fluency.

Wasteful. That was how Newcastle performed at Old Trafford. Gordon simply hasn’t been good enough in front of goal this season, and something needs to give.

Anthony Gordon's Newcastle form

Gordon attracted Liverpool’s attention in 2024, and figures totalling £100m started floating around transfer narratives. However, the Three Lions man is a world away from that old valuation, having struggled for form for some time now.

Gordon might fancy himself a slippery customer for opponents, but his energy and pace fall flat when he is unable to produce the goods in the danger area. Indeed, only two of his seven goals in all competitions this season have been from open play.

One scout has even noted that he is entering “Gabriel Obertan territory”, naturally talented but without the end product to match.

Frustratingly, this spell does not sit as an outlier. Gordon has ebbed and flowed his way through his Tyneside chapter, and he’s struggled for sharpness in the final third since being crowned Newcastle’s Player of the Year at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

Anthony Gordon’s Premier League Career

Season

Apps

Goals + Assists

25/26 (NUFC)

13

2 + 1

24/25 (NUFC)

34

6 + 5

23/24 (NUFC)

35

11 + 10

22/23 (NUFC)

16

1 + 0

22/23 (EFC)

16

3 + 0

21/22 (EFC)

35

4 + 2

20/21 (EFC)

3

0 + 0

19/20 (EFC)

11

0 + 1

Data via Sofascore

While he’ll remain an important part of Howe’s brood for the foreseeable, prudence might be needed, finding an eventual successor in 2026.

Well, technical director Ross Wilson might have just the up-and-comer in his sights.

Why Newcastle must upgrade on Gordon

Newcastle may struggle to sign a ready-made Gordon upgrade in the current climate, especially with an emphasis set to be placed on reinforcing the defensive flanks and signing a top centre-midfielder too.

Before Christmas, TEAMtalk revealed that Newcastle are part of a pack of suitors who have identified Leicester City’s Jeremy Monga as one to sign, and as he continues to go from strength to strength in the Championship, Newcastle might want to strike while they can.

Hailed as a “generational talent” by journalist Graeme Bailey, Monga is only 16 years old but he has already established himself as a permanent matchday member, scoring once and assisting one more across 15 league fixtures this season, starting five times.

Fast and furious, Monga will cost upwards of £15m, potentially much more. He is a versatile and unpredictable winger, and he has already developed something of a keen eye for goal.

Given his youth, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that Gordon could end up being replaced by this rising star, who has already shown that he could play a part in Howe’s senior side.

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Could this be the man to take Gordon’s No. 10 shirt from him? Monga ranks among the top 5% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the Championship this season for progressive carries and the top 2% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref.

There is so much to like. He is more robust in his usage of his pace and physicality, and he is only going to improve over the coming years.

Monga is a top talent, someone worth challenging the big guns for. He is already establishing himself on the senior stage and he might just have what it takes to swipe Gordon’s shirt from him down the line – perhaps not just for club but for country too.

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Posts ByAngus Sinclair

Jeff Vaughan’s third first-class century has today saved South Australia fromoutright defeat in the Pura Cup match against Western Australia at theAdelaide Oval.After scoring a duck in the first innings, the 26-year-old was keen to makeamends this time around. He confessed to feeling “pretty bloody ordinary”after that dismissal and was keen to hang about and do his part for theteam. And staying in also meant making runs.”We couldn’t afford to bat for four hours and still not be in front of them,but our number one goal was to still be on the Oval at stumps,” he said.”It’s still disappointing from a team perspective because we really stuffedit up in the first innings. But to come out of it with a fighting draw waspleasing.”Rebacks’ captain Darren Lehmann was full of praise for the right-handedbatsman, who occupied the crease for nearly six and a half hours for his unbeaten 131.”It was a great knock. Real gutsy, especially coming in on a pair; it was anexcellent effort from him,” he said.But Vaughan didn’t do it alone, receiving plenty of support from Brad Youngin particular. Young, who batted for two hours for his 71 not out, scoredat a brisk rate, belting 12 boundaries. The pair chalked up a partnershipof 132 at better than a run a minute. The highlight was one Damien Martynover that yielded 15 runs, including three fours.Lehmann was more than happy with the draw. “It was a goodfightback for us, considering we went in last night at 3/100 or whatever.So to get out with a draw there, where in the past we’d fold and probablylose the game easily, was really good,” he said.The Western Australians, who held on for a draw in similar fashion intheir previous match against Queensland, would be disappointed with theresult, but can take heart from their excellent batting performance.Martyn (122) and Adam Gilchrist (102) both enjoyed fine knocks. Gilchrist,in particular, was in sparkling form, prompting Lehmann to label his century”one of the best hundreds I’ve seen in Adelaide”. The Australianwicketkeeper was named player of the match.Western Australia next faces Tasmania in Hobart in November, while SouthAustralia takes on a full-strength New South Wales team at the BankstownOval.Vaughan said the team was looking forward to facing the Blues’ stellarline-up. “It’s a good challenge for the team. We have had a positive startto the season and it’ll be a huge challenge and one that everyone is lookingforward to. You want to test yourself against the best in the game, sowe’re all looking forward to it.”

Heavy rain washed out the sixth day of play in the World Cricket League in Jersey.Although it would have been possible to reschedule the games to Thursday, the designated rest day, the event technical committee decided to stage the three Group A matches then but not the Group B games. Only the Japan-Singapore fixture, which was washed out on Monday and was re-arranged for Thursday anyway, will go ahead, ensuring that all sides in Group B will have played four matches.All teams in Group B, as a result of the matches abandoned, were awarded one point each. That will be a relief to Jersey, who as a result go through to the semi-finals, but will be a blow to Afghanistan, who needed to beat Jersey today to guarantee their own place in the last four. They now need Japan, without a win so far, to defeat Singapore, or at least not allow then to win well enough to take their own Net Run Rate past Afghanistan’s.The Group A matches have no major consequence as USA and Nepal, who are pitted against each other, have both already qualified.

Group A

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts
Nepal	4	4	0	0	0	8
U.S.A.	4	4	0	0	0	8
Germany	4	2	2	0	0	4
Norway	4	1	3	0	0	2
Mozambique	4	1	3	0	0	2
Vanuatu	4	0	4	0	0	0

Group B

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts
Jersey	5	4	0	0	1	9
Afghanistan	5	3	1	0	1	7
Singapore	4	2	1	0	1	5
Botswana	5	1	3	0	1	3
Japan	4	0	2	1	1	2
Bahamas	5	0	3	1	1	2

India will be without opener M Vijay, their most consistent and prolific batsman over the last year, as they begin a three-Test series against Sri Lanka in Galle on Wednesday. A hamstring injury sustained in Zimbabwe, said team director Ravi Shastri at the media briefing this afternoon, had not healed enough. “He is still under recovery, not fully recovered, and we don’t want to take a chance with weather like this and slippery outfield.”Vijay will be replaced by KL Rahul, who produced two 40-plus scores in the Indian team’s tour opener in Colombo against the Board President’s XI. Shastri said Vijay’s omission would be a “big blow” as he was the “in-form player who has had a fabulous run in Test cricket.”Prior to India’s departure for Sri Lanka, there had been reports that Vijay had some injury concerns but captain Virat Kohli said he expected Vijay to be “match fit” even before the start of the only tour game, on August 6. “No, I don’t see any issues with Vijay’s fitness,” Kohli said. “As far as I know, Vijay is almost 100% straightaway and I am sure he will be match fit even before the warm-up game.”Vijay did not bat in the tour game, but that was expected as India looked to decide on who would partner him at the top of the order: Rahul or Shikhar Dhawan.Vijay turned up at the India nets this afternoon, batting only against the spinners and testing out his ability to stretch forward. While visible movement appeared not to be a problem against the spinners, Vijay was seen shaking his right leg between deliveries, and it is this doubt over the internal injury that has led the Indians to sit Vijay out of the first Test. Shastri said Vijay’s experience and his “ability to play the long innings” would be missed in a batting line up that will bat wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha at No. 6 in their drive to play five bowlers in every Test match and push for wins.In his last 10 Tests for India, from June 2014 onwards, Vijay has scored over 1000 runs in 19 innings with three centuries and six fifties at an average of 54.42. His solidity at the top of the Indian order, whether batting alongside Shikhar Dhawan or Gautam Gambhir in England and Dhawan or KL Rahul in Australia, gave India the platform that led to a far better batting performance in 2014-15, than on India’s previous tours to both countries in 2011-12.

Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has rebuked Shane Warne for suggesting he was opposed to Peter Siddle’s selection for the Oval Test, while also declaring the recalled seamer has a Test future.Speaking on television commentary in both Australia and England, Warne was highly critical of the decision to choose Siddle ahead of Pat Cummins for the dead fifth InveTest, having previously advocated his inclusion for the Ashes-deciding match at Trent Bridge.He reinforced his point by saying “the word on the street” was that Lehmann and the captain Michael Clarke had been overruled by the selection chairman Rod Marsh, who wanted Siddle to play.Siddle finished the match as Australia’s best bowler, leaving open the question of why he had not played earlier in the series. But rather than explaining why he had not, Lehmann spent most of his time responding to Warne’s critiques, and insisted that his former teammate was not across the selection discussions that had taken place. This is in marked contrast to the previous Ashes tour, when Warne was a near constant presence in the Australian dressing rooms.Asked initially whether he was unhappy with how the selection debate had been depicted, Lehmann gave a simple “yes”, before expanding.”Peter was in our original squad and the chairman Rodney and I thought it was the best opportunity to give him that chance ahead of Patrick Cummins,” Lehmann said. “Someone like Shane Warne always has his opinion because he loves an opinion full stop. And that’s fine but he doesn’t know what goes on behind the scenes and we’ll keep it athat and I’ll probably stop there.”Lehmann went somewhat further when interviewed by Sky. “I don’t think we were too bad to be honest. I know Warney gives us a lot,” he said. He’s always going to do that. That’s the way Shane Warne is. From our point of view we might have messed up at Trent Bridge a little bit, we admitted that – Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh.Darren Lehmann says Shane Warne knows less than he thinks•Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

“Shane’s entitled to his opinion … so that’s fine. But … there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes when you are making decisions – we are obviously trying to get it right as best as we can as selection panel. You have to work out what is going to win the game, what is going to get you 20 wickets.”Australia’s bowling plans for the series were badly affected by the forced retirement of Ryan Harris before the first Test, a loss that robbed the attack of the requisite experience and control Clarke had enjoyed in the past two series against England. Lehmann said Siddle had not been a part of initial plans, but said that based on his display at the Oval he would remain very much in contention for future assignments.”Plan A would have had Ryan Harris playing the first Test match for us, and that was plan A – plans can change,” Lehmann said. “The guys we had managed to get wickets. We leaked a bit too many runs and they know that, but at Lord’s we didn’t and here we didn’t. We bowled a lot better in these conditions. We didn’t play well enough and we got beaten.”You’d love those type of bowlers all the time, but those other guys have done a really good job for us over the summer, West Indies and a couple of Test matches here. We’ve got to work out what the right attack is in the right conditions.”The way Peter Siddle bowled, he was fantastic this game. If he gets it in the right areas he’s a quality bowler and his record speaks for itself. So we’re really pleased that he bowled the way he did and there’s always a future. We’re not saying we pick out-and-out fast bowlers all the time. Obviously it may seem that way but we pick the best team to try and win every game.”Australia’s next Test assignment is in Bangladesh in October, and Lehmann said the squad for that tour would be finalised during the ODIs against England that follow the Ashes. The limited overs squad departs for Belfast on Tuesday ahead of a meeting with Ireland.

Shashank Manohar has emerged as the latest favourite to be the next BCCI president, a position he vacated only four years ago, after receiving the endorsement of the powerful Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political outfit that not only runs the federal government in India but also has a wider say in the running of the Indian cricket board. Sharad Pawar, Manohar’s mentor and predecessor as BCCI president, is understood to have pulled out of the reckoning and told his supporters to back Manohar.On his part, Manohar declined to divulge details of his meeting with Arun Jaitley, the federal finance minister and former Delhi association chief, which he termed as a “private conversation”. He also said he would wait for his group’s opinion before making up his mind.However, he acknowledged that he met Jaitley on Thursday evening in Delhi. Also present at the meeting were BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, also the head of the BJP’s youth wing, and Ajay Shirke, former BCCI treasurer and current president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association.A BCCI official, speaking off the record, said a formal announcement was likely by the BJP camp soon to make public that Manohar was their “unanimous choice” candidate to stand for the elections for the president’s post necessitated by Jagmohan Dalmiya’s death on September 20.This fresh development also means N Srinivasan, the current ICC chairman, is likely to be an isolated figure within the BCCI with the BJP clearly wanting to maintain a distance from him given his recent legal issues. Srinivasan had met Pawar in Nagpur on Wednesday evening and assured him support from his camp. Pawar did not commit to any deal, but informed his supporters who, as reported on Friday, were a disgruntled lot.At the Delhi meeting, called by him, Jaitley made it clear that the BJP was willing to support Manohar but not Pawar. The other possibility was Rajiv Shukla, the IPL chairman, who has expressed his desire to fight the elections. Shukla, however, did not have adequate support. Manohar and the rest asked Jaitley himself to stand for the top job in BCCI, but he refused and made clear his preference for Manohar.According to the BCCI official, till Friday Pawar was banking on the 18 votes he felt he was assured – 12 from the Srinivasan camp and six from his own group of supporters. But with the key members of his own camp – including Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha – not in favour of Srinivasan, the official said, Pawar realised he was standing on weaker ground. The BJP’s antipathy towards Srinivasan was also made this clear to him.If Manohar does indeed step into the ring as candidate, all aspirants from the East Zone will now have to retreat. According to the BCCI’s rotation policy it is the turn of the East to have the first say in nominating a name for the interim president’s position, whose tenure will end in 2017. Immediately after Dalmiya’s death, majority of the six members of the East Zone had stated that they did not want an outsider and would work towards picking one of their own. But that seems highly unlikely now.

At the age of 15, a net session sent Reece Topley to hospital when he was struck on the side of the head by a Kevin Pietersen drive while bowling to England at Loughborough. As a 21-year-old, another net session with the national side went so well that it has propelled him to within touching distance of a place in the World T20 squad.It was during the one-day series against New Zealand when Topley was asked to come down as a net bowler. He so impressed Paul Farbrace, who was still looking after the team day-to-day before Trevor Bayliss arrived, and captain Eoin Morgan that he was named in the T20 squad for the New Zealand match at Old Trafford.He did not make the XI that day, but did debut against Australia where he showcased his nerve to help close out a tight victory at Cardiff. His ODI debut followed at Old Trafford and he has recently featured in all four matches against Pakistan, helping England to a 3-1 series victory by taking six wickets and with an economy rate of 4.40.It has all taken Topley a little by surprise. In 2014 he missed most of the season with a stress fracture of his back having put too much strain on his frame as a 19-year-old when he burst on the scene the previous summer – following an outstanding Under-19 World Cup in Australia where he was the leading wicket-taker – and was then called up for England Lions. Now, the forthcoming three T20s against Pakistan are a chance for him to further push his claims for a spot in the 15-man squad for the World T20 in India next March.”Last year I was on the sidelines with a stress fracture so if I was able to get into the World T20 squad, a year ago I wouldn’t have said that would be a possibility,” he said. “Now playing in this series, everyone in the squad has an eye on the World T20. We are all fighting for places, it’s healthy competition.”You want people earning the right to be on the flight and from a team perspective it will be a good chance to gauge ourselves – three matches in a row will measure where we are, it can be hard having a Test series, a one-day series and a one-off T20 so this is a good time to relish that opportunity.”Topley’s first attempt to return from his stress fracture at the start of the 2015 season had to be aborted when the injury re-emerged and on his second comeback he was carefully used by Essex. He played just two Championship matches last season but Topley, who has since completed a move to Hampshire, insists he is now completely recovered.”I played a full summer when I was 19, think I only missed two or three games, and I bowled a lot of overs then I came away with the Lions. As a 19-year-old when your country comes calling there was no way I was turning that down, so a bit naively I went down that route although I was told I didn’t have to go on it.”It was the straw which broke the camel’s back, well it broke my back not the camel’s, and led to the stress fracture. I spent six months out of the game, came back early season for Essex and probably did a bit too much too early then it went again and it led to a label of me being injury-prone which I think is a bit unfair.”And while he is having “the time of his life” being part of England’s limited-overs set-up he is eager not to be pigeon-holed purely as a one-day and T20 cricketer.”I started played for Essex in red-ball cricket but then it just happened that I was playing a lot more white-ball cricket with the U-19s and they my white-ball skills took off,” he said. “I felt I learned quite quickly, it overtook my red-ball ability, but I have a massive passion for first-class cricket. It would be an absolute demon hanging over me if I was labelled a white-ball cricket because I’m not.”England will prepare for the T20 series with a warm-up match against a UAE XI in Abu Dhabi on Monday before the first of the three internationals takes place in Dubai on Thursday.

Bangladesh inningsTh match commenced at the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium Karachi with Nepal winning the toss and opting to field first.Bangladesh opened the innings with Mohammad Ashraful and Nafees Iqbal losing the 1st wicket at a score of 20 when Nafees was run out for 6. Ashraful and Shafiul Alam took the score to 88 when Shafiul alam was out after scoring 27 runs.While the wickets kept falling after regular intervals, Ashraful continued to dominate the field punishing all types of bowling. He was run out after scoring prolific 102 runs in 131 balls. His innings contained 7 fours and 2 fantastic sixers. Nasir ud Din 23 and Shariful Islam 27 not out were the other contributors to the total. Bangladesh ended up with an impressive total of 225 for the lost of 4 wickets.Nepal inningsFacing a massive target of 226 runs Nepal opened with Monik Shreshta (10) and Sagar Pant (1), both of them being out at a total of 18. Not having a solid start, Nepal lost 4 wickets for 41 runs in the first 20 overs.Although the batsmen tried their best to resist but Bangladesh’s bowling proved too good for them. The whole team was out for 82 runs in 40 overs. Kaniska Chaugai (13), Bidod Das (11) Amit Shrestha (12)and Basanta Regmi (13) were the batsmen to reach the double figures. The bowlers equally shared the wickets. Bangladesh defeated Nepal by 143 runs.

Martin Saggers – used seam to unpick Derbyshire batting Photo © AllSport

Derbyshire, who failed to garner even one batting point, lost ground to Kent,fellow-strugglers in the First Division, in their championship match at Derby. They fell to Martin Saggers, using the seam to good advantage, at the beginning of the innings and David Masters taking three wickets in three overs at the close.With half-centuries in two consecutive championship matches Steve Stubbings and Dominic Cork provided the only resistance in an otherwise inadequate batting performance. Derbyshire began unconvincingly against Saggers, who dismissed Stephen Titchard and Michael Di Venuto in the first four overs, and first-class debutant Ben Trott as the ball moved around.A ECB pitch liaison officer watched the difficulties of the batsmen but the county are not likely to face a second points deduction. The early batsmen fell in an attempt to push along the score before they had settled to the pitch. Matthew Dowman and Stubbings, let off before he had reached double figures, put on 52 runs for the fifth wicket.The latter went on to his fifty from 130 deliveries but lost his partner to a slip catch not long after lunch. A ball from Saggers struck Cork on the left foot causing him to have treatment, but showed resilience in hitting the next to the ropes to put the total into three figures. Stubbings’ innings endedto a cover-catch after 227 minutes at the crease.Wickets tumbled after that: Cork lashed out to try to break spinner Min Patel’s tight bowling of giving away only 31 runs in nearly 27 overs. Kent then began their innings in the gathering gloom. Tim Munton dismissed David Fulton to a catch at the wicket in the first over, but Robert Key and Rahul Dravid held on until the umpires, prodded into action by a Cork bowler, offered the batsmen to come off at 27-1 which they accepted.