West Brom head coach Tony Pulis has named long-time associate David Kemp and former Wigan Athletic boss Paul Jewell as his assistants.
Pulis was confirmed as Alan Irvine s successor at The Hawthorns on New Year s Day and removed Rob Kelly, Keith Downing and Dean Kiely from the club s backroom staff on Monday.
Kemp arrives having worked with Pulis at Portsmouth, Plymouth Argyle, Stoke City and Crystal Palace, while Jewell has not occupied a managerial post since leaving Ipswich Town in 2012.
I don t know what I ve done to suffer Kempy again but I suppose I will have to put up with him, joked Pulis. But the truth is that we have a working relationship which I value very highly – he knows what I want without even having to ask these days.
Jewelly�…
Romelu Lukaku scored on his second debut for Chelsea to help the Blues to a 2-0 victory over London rivals Arsenal in Sunday s Premier League clash.
The Belgium international rejoined Chelsea for a club-record fee earlier this month and took just 15 minutes to open his account from close range at Emirates Stadium.
Reece James set up that goal and doubled his side s lead before half-time as Thomas Tuchel s men, who also hit the crossbar through a Lukaku header, eased to a second successive win without conceding to begin the campaign.
Arsenal s only real opportunity was squandered by Rob Holding on the hour mark as Mikel Arteta s side remain pointless and goalless after their first two games.
Off the mark in blue •
— Premier League (@premi…
Juventus head coach Maurizio Sarri said it is really annoying that someone has won more Ballons d Or than superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi moved one ahead of Ronaldo for the Ballon d Or record, claiming his sixth individual honour in December.
The result came despite Ronaldo helping Juve to an eighth consecutive Serie A title and Portugal win the inaugural Nations League crown.
Sari is determined for Ronaldo – who sat out Wednesday s 4-0 Coppa Italia last-16 victory over Udinese through illness – to add to his Ballon d Or collection and match Messi.
FT | | INTO THE COPPA QUARTERS!!!!
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen)
I would like to help Cristiano win the sixth Ballon d Or first, Sarri told reporters po…
Erling Haaland s goalscoring feats are comparable to those of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, according to Bernardo Silva, who believes his Manchester City team-mate shares the former s hunger for goals.
Haaland has led City s push for a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble this season, scoring at a remarkable rate since his arrival from Borussia Dortmund last year.
The Norwegian has hit 48 goals in 42 appearances across all competitions this campaign – already a record tally for a player representing a Premier League club.
Haaland has averaged a goal every 67.2 minutes and converted 58.6 per cent of his Opta-defined big chances for City, leaving Silva to compare his mentality to that of his Portugal colleague Ronaldo.
The goal figur…
Carlo Ancelotti has called on officials to dole out justice to prevent Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior from being targeted by aggressive opponents.
Vinicius has contributed 18 goal involvements (10 goals, eight assists) during another fine campaign in LaLiga, but the Brazilian has repeatedly received harsh treatment from opposing defenders.
The winger was the centre of attention once again during Tuesday s 4-2 defeat at Girona, being booked for his furious reaction after Santiago Bueno aggressively kicked the ball against him.
Vinicius has drawn 113 fouls in LaLiga this season, comfortably the highest tally in the competition – Rayo Vallecano s Isi Palazon is second with 87.
Vinicius has also been targeted by racist chants from opposing supporters o…
Manchester City will aim to recover their league form against Norwich City in a fixture that has produced 25 goals in the last two seasons.
Manuel Pellegrini s men sit six points off the pace in the Premier League as they seek to regain to the title they won in 2011-12.
Last Sunday s defeat against Chelsea was City s third of their league campaign, although they did bounce back with a 2-0 League Cup win over Newcastle United on Wednesday.
They now take on a Norwich side struggling in the relegation zone after three games without a league win.
The onus will likely be on striker Sergio Aguero to deliver the goals, with the Argentina international having scored seven times this season, and four times in as many games against Norwich.
Still, Norwich did take a…
On Saturday 25 October 2014, Barcelona s fearsome trio of five-time Ballon d Or winner Lionel Messi, Uruguay star Luis Suarez and Brazilian poster-boy Neymar MSN for short played together for the first time.
The South American trident made their mark just four minutes into a clash Luis Enrique s side would eventually lose 3-1 to old rivals Real Madrid, Suarez making his Barca debut following a four-month ban picked up for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup teeing up Neymar to open the scoring at Santiago Bernabeu.
Two years later, MSN are, without a shadow of a doubt, the most potent attacking force in world football.
With the help of Opta, we pick out some of the key numbers from the past two years of MSN.
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As for the visitors, while Juventus may not have been at their best away at SPAL over the weekend, the Italian champions did manage to pick up a 2-1 win on the road and have found a route back to the top of the Serie A table. Landing back-to-back victories since their shock defeat against Verona earlier in the month, new boss Maurizio Sarri will be desperate for his side to find some much-needed stability on the road. The former Chelsea boss has seen his side win just one of their last four matches away from the Allianz and they are yet to record an away clean sheet since opening the New Year. While Sarri s position in Turin might be coming under increasing scrutiny, the Italian outfit do have their own leading icon who finds himself in the midst of what has been a stellar purple patch.…
Youssoufa Moukoko dismissed his latest goalscoring record as worthless , believing he is still yet to achieve anything concrete .
Borussia Dortmund teenager Moukoko has set a number of new benchmarks since making his senior debut last November.
That bow, the day after his 16th birthday, made the forward the youngest ever player in the Bundesliga, while he became the competition s most junior scorer in December.
Moukoko s Champions League debut 10 days before his strike against Union Berlin had seen him make history as the youngest player to appear in Europe s elite club competition.
And there was another record to add on Thursday when he belatedly made his Germany Under-21 breakthrough, a first appearance delayed by injury last season.
At 16 years…
Charlie Austin’s proposed move to Premier League newcomers Hull City has collapsed after the striker failed a medical, .
The 24 year old had emerged as one of the clubs top targets, as he looks to further his attacking options ahead of their return to the top flight.
A fee had been agreed between the Tigers and Burley, though manager Steve Bruce will have to look elsewhere following complications during the former Swindon Town man’s physical assessment.
Austin has made ninety appearances for the Clarets since signing in January 2011, scoring forty-five times.
However, despite just missing a handful of games over the last two years, scans revealed a lasting problem, potentially with his shoulder, which he has dislocated three times since 2010. <…