Michael Walker

Quiet start for the next Spurs manager – Arsenal.

Thomas Frank sacked by Tottenham Spurs are winless in their last eight league games and have won just two of their last 17.

Tottenham Hotspur have sacked head coach Thomas Frank.

More from @david-ornstein.bsky.social

Six wins in a row, top of the Championship, playing real football and Coventry away next: Middlesbrough have momentum.

Middlesbrough have played some excellent, fast football of late and that first half is right up there.

Could Sheff U-Middlesbrough be any quicker?

Bohemians and St Pat’s play out stalemate at the Aviva Stadium Some 21,472 pay into the Aviva on a soggy Sunday afternoon as the goal the occasion could have done with never came

Bohemians and St Pat’s play out stalemate at the Aviva Stadium

Newcastle are losing and underachieving again. Eddie Howe: ‘I’m not doing my job well enough’ Oldcastle Disunited are back and it is not pretty viewing. Eddie Howe is all too aware of Newcastle's many problems

This felt like Oldcastle Disunited again as boos rang out and Eddie Howe said “I’m not doing my job well enough.”

#NUFC

www.nytimes.com/athletic/702...

If you're a business owner who fires someone you have assigned to an overseas job and you don't buy them a plane ticket home you should actually go to prison

Keith Andrews takes the applause of delighted Brentford fans high up inside St. James’ Park after the Bees’ first win here since 1934. Andrews impressing the committed.

Leicester get six-point deduction for breaching PSR – but financial woe is set to continue The sanction was handed down by an independent commission and relates to the three-year period ending with the 2023-24 season.

Leicester City breached their PSR loss limit by 25% in the three seasons ending in their 2023-24 promotion year.

They've been docked six points and sit outside the Championship bottom three on goal difference.

Analysis w/ @robtannerathletic.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/702...

Adam Shatz · Another Country America is a ‘battlefield’, Simone de Beauvoir wrote, ‘and you can only become passionate about the battle it is...

Highly recommend this extraordinary essay on America under Trump by Adam Shatz, a brilliant meditation on a country he has tried to ‘love with sorrow’ even as Trump transforms it into a ‘fortress state’ at war with immigrants and domestic enemies. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Medgar Evers’ killer was a Klansman, but Trump administration says stop calling him a racist - Mississippi Today Among anticipated changes to a new visitor brochure for the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument is no longer using "racist" to describe the killer of the civil rights leader.

Civil rights activist Medgar Evers was shot in the back by a Klansman in 1963.

The National Park Service has removed visitor brochures from Evers' museum and reportedly plans to remove references that call his murderer a “racist"

Since Burnley's December 2020 leveraged takeover they've gone from solid if unremarkable PL club with no borrowings to a (bad) yo-yo side, £113m in debt, costing £10m+ annually at rates from 8.5% to 12.75%

Over four years on, owners ALK Capital have still not filed any UK parent company accounts

Ukraine condemns FIFA’s Gianni Infantino, call him ‘moral degenerate’ over Russia ban comments The president of world football's governing body has been described as a "moral degenerate" by Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.

Gianni Infantino is a 'moral degenerate' according to Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.

The FIFA president has been talking about why Russia deserve a way back from footballing exile.

Details @adamcrafton.bsky.social for @theathleticfc.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/athletic/701...

FT Sunderland 3-0 Burnley. Sunderland are up to eighth and remain unbeaten at home. Now 16 pts clear of third-bottom West Ham. Burnley surprisingly limp. Sland go to Arsenal next.

Most of Epstein’s victims were either too frightened to come forward, or silenced through legal threats. Oh, and here’s a senior British politician giving Epstein tips on how to silence them

Jeffrey Epstein sent Peter Mandelson $75,000, documents show Newly released files include three payments from disgraced financier’s JPMorgan account to former UK power broker

Lord Peter Mandelson was sent money directly from disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein as early as 2003, according to new files released by US government

The files record three payments in 2003/4 from Epstein’s JPMorgan accounts of $25,000 each, all mentioning Mandelson

www.ft.com/content/1728...

Boro’s day got better when Hackney, probably the best player in the Championship, and captain at 23, replied “No, I’m really happy,” when asked if there might be a move before Monday’s 7pm deadline. Sheff U away next.

Another impressive 90 minutes from Alan Browne at right midfield today. It's five wins in a row for Boro who are now level on points with Coventry at the top of the Championship. Browne a moving part of a fluid team.

FT Middlesbrough 1-0 Norwich City. Hayden Hackney's superb early shot separates two good teams. It's five wins in a row for Boro, who join Coventry on 58pts at the top. Atmosphere rising on Teesside.

Atmosphere at Boro just soared on news from Loftus Road. Playing well but it’s still 1-0 and Norwich decent.

Who are the hardest club in England to support? The Athletic spends time with fans who have endured miserable results, injustice and the tedium of stagnation in the same division for years

Went from Bristol Rovers to Preston to Darlington to talk to fans about endurance and commitment. No online sense of entitlement here, just real supporters and good people who understand hard times. And still go through that turnstile. www.nytimes.com/athletic/698...

Alan Browne’s Middlesbrough heroics put him in the shop window for an Ireland recall Midfielder has won plaudits for his versatility, but he hasn’t represented his country since 2024

Alan Browne’s Middlesbrough heroics put him in the shop window for an Ireland recall

DOJ deleted link of Epstein Files detailing sexual assault of minors by President Trump.

Kevin Keegan: The man I know The meeting of Liverpool and Newcastle on Saturday is a fitting occasion to celebrate a footballer who means so much to so many

Lovely portrait of Kevin Keegan by @dtathletic.bsky.social – thought Joe Willock's header at PSG on Wednesday had a bit of Terry McDermott about it. www.nytimes.com/athletic/697...

Owen Elding completes move from Sligo Rovers to Hibernian in potential seven-figure deal 19-year-old English-born striker scored 16 goals last season for Sligo

Good to see Owen Elding from Sligo Rovers to Hibs is more than the 400K reported. He's 19 and looks a talent. www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer...

With the league phase of the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League now over, an estimate of prize money earned by English clubs so far:

• Liverpool €97m (£84m)
• Man City €97m (£84m)
• Arsenal €96m (£83m)
• Chelsea €92m (£80m)
• Spurs €85m (£73m)
• Newcastle €54m (£47m)

A photo shows Bristol Rovers fans ahead of their home defeat to Colchester United this month. Quote from Kacy Wood, 19, a Bristol Rovers fan: “Sometimes, you do walk away and think: ‘Why do I do it to myself?’ But, no matter what, you always know you’ll turn up next week.”

From @theathleticfc.bsky.social: Which are the hardest football clubs in England to support? Our reporter spoke with fans about loyalty, boredom, injustice, and the willingness to endure in the face of apparent logic. nyti.ms/46eOMQ0

"The argument the 2018 World Cup in Russia should have been boycotted after the annexation of Crimea is valid. It shows precisely what happens when imperial and authoritarian leaders are not confronted clearly and early, and when firm limits are not set.”

Dan Neil leaves Sunderland for Ipswich (on loan but with contract up in June). End of a local chapter. Fine footballer and always helpful.