Danny

Having scored six goals from seven shots on target, Welbeck is on track to surpass the career-best 10 top-flight goals he scored last season.

Several different strikers have played second fiddle to Harry Kane in recent years, but none are currently enjoying the kind of purple patch Welbeck is.

“If you look at the forward options in Tuchel’s last squad there aren’t many obvious stand-ins for Harry Kane,” Alan Shearer told BBC Sport.

“Anthony Gordon, Jarrod Bowen, Bukayo Saka aren’t going to fill that role and Ollie Watkins hasn’t been firing for Aston Villa, so any English striker scoring goals in the Premier League is going to be talked about.

“It’s seven years since Welbeck’s last cap and he’s 35 this month but Tuchel isn’t worried about the future. His only focus is the six weeks of the World Cup so there’s no reason why Welbeck couldn’t be involved if he keeps scoring and stays injury free.”

Injuries have disrupted much of Welbeck’s career and arguably prevented him from adding to his 42 England caps, but he now founds himself in the beneficial position of being able to contribute goals on the pitch and leadership off it.

“I’m loving it here at Brighton, I’ve been very important, integral, on and off the pitch,” added Welbeck.

“I’m enjoying the senior role as well, I know how important it was for me as a youngster coming through having senior members you can speak to, come to for advice, it helped me massively.

“It’s come full circle now, I’m there to pass on advice to youngsters and help those around me. It’s been pretty seamless slipping into this role.”

Welbeck recently told BBC Radio 5 Live that “the door is always open” with England.

He added: “I know that if I’m called upon then I’d love to do the job, but honestly it doesn’t come into my thinking at the moment. I’m just focused on Brighton, winning games and picking up points.”

While Welbeck has played down his chances, Onuoha, who has played against Welbeck in the past, believes he knows Tuchel will be interested in him.

“You almost talk about him like he has never played for England before. He has done that job before,” Onuoha said.

“With the profile he has, he could definitely suit Tuchel’s style as such. For someone to be in that form, he knows he is going to be part of the conversation.”

There were plenty of questions from the media pack for Thelwell.

Much has been made of the appointment of his son Robbie as head of recruitment, with fans unconvinced he is qualified for the role.

However, he defended and explained the decision to bring Thelwell Jnr to Ibrox.

“It’s always uncomfortable to hear and optically I think we all agreed when we made this step to appoint Robbie that he was going to be seen in a particular way,” Thelwell said.

“The reality of the situation is that we want to bring the very best talent here to Rangers.

“My view on Robbie’s career and situation is he didn’t need my help in football.

“He’s worked at Aston Villa as a senior scout, he then moved to Norwich City as head of scouting and then got promoted to player pathways manager.

“Before we recruited him, two Premier League clubs wanted to take him. What we did right at the start of the process was talk to Patrick, Andrew and [vice-chairman] Paraag Marathe about this situation.

“I was extremely transparent and I think Robbie probably went through a more rigorous process than anybody else who’s employed by this football club.

“What I do know is that he will work 25/8 to be successful in this football club and I’m looking forward to him proving that he’s going to be an excellent employee for Rangers.”

Thelwell also defended the signing of striker Youssef Chermiti, who arrived at Rangers for a reported initial fee of £8m, having failed to score in 24 appearances for Everton.

It was Thelwell who brought the Portuguese youth international to Merseyside from Sporting – again for big money in a £15m deal.

He was asked if he stands by his multi-million pound signing, who is yet to score in seven outings for the club.

“Yes, very much so,” Thelwell said. “I think Youssef Chermiti is a player who’s got huge potential.

“I’ve never doubted him in any way, shape or form. Again, I think Danny will help to get the best out of Youssef.

“It’s very early days for him, he’s a young talent and of course with young talents they sometimes take a little bit of time.

“But I’m certain over the course of his career here he’s going to prove that he’s a very, very good player.”

The word on Rohl is wholly positive, though. Players talk at length about his many strengths. Barry Bannan says he’s the best manager he’s ever played for.

It’s not the same, but he has operated successfully in a demanding regime before. In Sheffield, before he was appointed, the team was in the grip of the worst league start in more than 150 years.

He had an owner, Chansiri, who was, to put it kindly, eccentric. He had fans in uproar over all manner of things. He had players who were not only demoralised but also unpaid at times.

So, though Rohl is only 36, he’s had experience of football’s turbulence. He’s young, but he may not be wet behind the ears. You’d hope not, for his sake. Once a defender, he was invalided out of the game with an ACL injury at 21. It takes talent and drive to do the things he has done since then.

Every Rangers fan will know the outline of his story, the assistant manager positions he held at RB Leipzig, Southampton, Bayern Munich and Germany.

He has said before that he doesn’t do dogma and is not a slave to any one system. He’s flexible, be it 4-2-3-1, 3-4-3, 4-4-1-1 or any other formation. It would appear that he’s tried them all at one time or another depending on the challenge staring him in the face.

There’s enough testimony out there about the endless hours he put in at Sheffield Wednesday and the improvement he made to the players he had – Djeidi Gassama, now at Rangers, being one of many.

The fans liked and admired him. He kept Wednesday up when most people had abandoned all hope. He got them to 12th the following season with a side high on energy and togetherness despite Chansiri-inspired mayhem behind the scenes.

The supporters didn’t want him to leave at the end of his second season in July this year, but thought he was better off out of the basket case.

He cited financial issues and a total breakdown in communication with Chansiri as the reason for a mutually agreed contract termination.

Rohl says the scale of the challenge at Rangers is part of the appeal, which is what you would expect him to say, but fans have heard too much chat from too many managers to be comforted by fighting talk.

Win games and he can be as quiet as a Trappist monk. Don’t win games and the eloquence of the greatest orator will not save him. It was ever thus.

VICKY Pattison and Dani Dyer’s dad Danny have rallied around her after she was forced to quit Strictly Come Dancing due to injury.

Strictly contestant Vicky and actor Danny led the stars sharing messages of support on Instagram last night after the Love Islander broke the news of her exit.

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Mum-of-three Dani was due to perform in her first live show on Saturday night with professional partner Nikita Kuzmin, but said: “I had a fall on Friday in rehearsals and landed funny.

“I thought I had rolled my foot but it swelled up badly over the weekend and after an MRI scan yesterday, it turns out I have fractured my ankle.”

Dani, 29, continued: “Apparently doing the Quickstep on a fracture is not advisable and the doctors have said I am not allowed to dance, so I’ve had to pull out of the show.

“To say I’m heartbroken is the biggest understatement.

“I am so going to miss dancing with Nikita but will of course be watching closely and cheering all the couples on.”

Her dad left a broken-heart emoji beneath her post, and Vicky replied, saying: “Absolutely devastated for you Dani.

“I’m going to miss you so much… Love you loads x”

The ex-Geordie Shore star added a string of photos of them together in a separate post on her Instagram grid.

She revealed they formed a close bond during their time together on the show.

Vicky said: “I am absolutely gutted for you!! I have loved every minute of our little @bbcstrictly journey together and I’m devastated this is the end..

“But I know you’ll be back next year with your incredible energy, amazing dance skills and beautiful soul… AND YOU’LL SMASH IT!!!

“I’m already peanut butter and jealous of whatever lucky sod gets to be your dressing room buddy… because you’re the best roomie ever.

“Love you mate and wishing you a speedy recovery… this series won’t be the same without you…”

Dani replied: “Going to miss you, love you millions.”

Just days ago Dani shared her nerves ahead of the live shows.

She said last week: “I’m absolutely petrified about dancing live on Saturday nights.”

Speaking to The Sun about her upcoming Strictly adventure, she was asked if her famous dad Danny Dyer was going to watch – and if he would get emotional.

The mum-of-three revealed: “He’s going to. He will try and keep it together. Him and my mum are making a little date day of it.

“They’re coming on the launch show together. They’re really excited.”

Asked whether she could persuade The Football Factory star to do Strictly in the future, she said: “When it [Strictly] was announced, someone said Dani Dyer is doing it – they thought it was my dad. It’s not Danny Dyer – it’s the other one. 

“I don’t know. You can never say never.”

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Conservative MP Danny Kruger has become the first sitting Conservative MP to defect to Reform UK.

Kruger has been an MP since 2019, and sat on Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s team as a shadow work and pensions minister.

“The Conservatives are over,” he told a press conference, sitting alongside Reform party leader Nigel Farage.

Kruger said he had been “honoured” to be asked to help Reform prepare for government, and said he hoped that Farage would be the next prime minister.

The East Wiltshire MP – who has said he would not be triggering a by-election – said the Conservatives were no longer the main party of opposition.

He said: “There have been moments when I have been very proud to belong to the Tory party”, but added: “The rule of our time in office was failure.

“Bigger government, social decline, lower wages, higher taxes and less of what ordinary people actually wanted.”

He added: “This is my tragic conclusion, the Conservative Party is over, over as a national party, over as the principal opposition to the left.”

Although he said he had “great regard” for Badenoch, he said the Tory party had a “toxic brand”, adding: “We have had a year of stasis and drift and the sham unity that comes from not doing anything bold or difficult or controversial.”

Describing his move leaving a party he has been a member of for 20 years as “personally painful”, he said his “mission” with Reform would be to “not just to overthrow the current system, it is to restore the system we need”.

Responding to the news of the defection, Badenoch said: “Danny has made his case very clear, that this is not about me.

“I can’t be distracted by that, and I’m not going to get blown off course by these sort of incidents.

“I know this is the sort of thing that is going to happen while a party is changing. I’m making sure people understand what Conservative values are.”

Kruger’s defection is damaging for Badenoch, not only as a Tory thinker and veteran, but also as the most significant among several from the party moving to Reform.

Speaking after the press conference, Kruger told the BBC he had come to the conclusion the Conservative Party remains “the same party that failed the people in the last government” and doesn’t have “any chance” of winning the next election.

A few weeks ago, Kruger said he agreed with Reform on many issues except public spending, telling MPs in July: “There is a problem: they would spend money like drunken sailors.”

Asked about his comment, Kruger said: “I think we’re all sober sailors now, I’m glad to say, because since I said that Reform have corrected their position on welfare spending.

“I was very concerned that we need to really reduce overall benefit spending… Nigel made clear he also wants to bring down overall benefit spending but he does want to support families with children.”

Kruger is the second sitting MP to join Reform UK. Lee Anderson, who was previously a Tory MP, sat as an independent before joining Reform in 2024.

Reform now have five MPs in the Commons, having seen two of their MPs elected in the 2024 general election, Rupert Lowe and James McMurdock, leave the party.

His previous jobs include serving as former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron’s speechwriter, penning the “hug a hoodie” speech, and as former political secretary to Boris Johnson when he was prime minister.

Kruger spoke in a 2022 Parliamentary debate about the US’s abortion ban and told MPs he disagreed that pregnant women had an “absolute right to bodily autonomy” and that he didn’t understand why the UK was “lecturing” the US.

In 2023, Kruger was one of the speakers at a National Conservatism Conference, an event organised by a right-wing think tank from the United States, and made comments about the role of conventional family values in society.

The evangelical Christian told delegates that marriages between men and women were “the only possible basis for a safe and successful society” and one that “wider society should recognise and reward”.

Rishi Sunak, the Conservative prime minister at the time, distanced himself from the remarks.

Kruger is the son of TV chef Prue Leith and an Old Etonian, who studied at Edinburgh and Oxford Universities before becoming a director at the Centre for Policy Studies.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage can recruit as many failed Tories as he likes – it won’t change the fact that he has no plan for Britain.

“Britain deserves better than Reform’s Tory tribute act that would leave working people paying a very high price.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper labelled the Conservative Party “a shell of its former self” and said Badenoch had pushed lifelong Tories towards her party “in their droves”.

“Nigel Farage’s party is shapeshifting into the Conservatives in front of our very eyes,” she said.

“It is getting to the point where the only difference between them is just a slightly lighter shade of blue.”

Fernandes is not the only United player I look at and think he is a square peg in a round hole.

Luke Shaw has played in a back three before but he has spent the majority of his career as a dynamic left-back and it feels like he is being shoe-horned into a centre-back position under Amorim.

Again you can argue he should have the quality to adapt, and for Jeremy Doku to beat him so easily for the first goal was poor defending whether you are a left-back or a centre-half, but if any players are not completely comfortable in their roles, then it is going to affect the team.

For City’s second goal, again it was not down to the United system failing, more a mixture of things – and a multitude of individual mistakes.

Ugarte starts off on Foden but then follows the ball, like he did in the City move that led to their opener, and goes to press Nico O’Reilly, leaving Foden free.

From there it’s a knock-on effect.

Noussair Mazraoui comes out to Foden but can’t stop him playing a pass around the corner, Leny Yoro gets rolled by Jeremy Doku – the one player you know you don’t get tight to – then Shaw is not strong or fast enough to stop Erling Haaland.

Ultimately, most goals are down to a mistake somewhere but when players are comfortable in the system, and in the right position within it, they do the right things – and the errors don’t stack up like that.

DANNY Jones reportedly ‘legged’ it from the NTAs after accepting an award with Maura Higgins.

The pair reunited as I’m A Celeb won the gong for Reality Competition.

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All eyes were on Danny Jones and Maura Higgins after their illicit snog at the Brit Awards six months ago.

They stood apart on stage as Danny delivered the acceptance speech.

Meanwhile, the singer performed with band McFly to open the show, then was seen with Maura to collect the gong.

But then he scarpered.

On the award win, runner-up Coleen Rooney later said: “It’s amazing, it was a tough category. We’ve had a fantastic year.”

Co-star Oti Mabuse said to press: “Our king of the jungle Danny has left already!

“He wanted us to say he is on tour so he had to leg it.”

Last month, Danny shared holiday snaps with wife Georgia and son Cooper.

The king of the jungle sported a tan after he jetted off to a mystery European seaside location.

He posted a string of assets onto his Instagram profile as he strolled through the streets with Georgia and their seven-year-old son Cooper.

The young family beamed from ear to ear as they enjoyed each other’s company by the sea.

After starting his career at Bournemouth, Ings was picked up by Burnley in August 2011.

He scored 21 goals in 40 Championship games to help the Clarets secure promotion and then 11 more in the Premier League, despite his team ultimately being relegated.

Ings’ displays though secured a £8million to move to Liverpool in June 2015.

That move also brought him his first England cap, but his stay at Anfield was dogged by knee injuries and after scoring four times in 25 games over three seasons he was loaned out to Southampton.

That saw him return to goalscoring form and brought a permanent move to St Mary’s Stadium in 2019-20, as well as a recall to the England squad after five years..

After bagging 46 goals in 100 games for the Saints Ings moved on to Aston Villa, where he scored 14 in 52 appearances, and then on to West Ham.

Danny Musovski scored a goal in each half and 18-year-old Snyder Brunell scored in his league debut as the Seattle Sounders cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Galaxy on Sunday night.

Seattle grabbed the lead in the 25th minute on an own goal by defender Julián Aude.

The Sounders took a 2-0 lead in the 37th minute on Musovski’s unassisted goal. He made it 3-0 in the 54th minute with another unassisted goal. Musovski has already scored a career-high eight times this season. He had five goals with LAFC as a rookie in 2020 and five for Real Salt Lake in 2023.

Brunell subbed in for Jesús Ferreira in the 73rd minute and scored in the 85th. Defender Álex Roldán notched his third assist of the season and the fourth of his career. Rookie Kalani Kossa-Rienzi collected his third assist.

Andrew Thomas finished with three saves for his first clean sheet in his seventh start of the season for Seattle. He had two shutouts in five starts last season.

Novak Micovic saved five shots for the Galaxy. He had three saves and Thomas wasn’t tested in the first half.

Seattle is unbeaten in its last seven league matches at 4-0-3 and is on a 10-match unbeaten streak across all competitions after winning all three matches in Leagues Cup play.

Seattle leads the all-time series 15-11-14 in league play and 21-18-14 across all competitions.

The Sounders travel to play Minnesota United on Saturday. The Galaxy head to Florida to play Inter Miami on Saturday.

Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl has left the crisis-hit Championship club by mutual consent.

The 36-year-old’s departure, less than two weeks before the season starts, is the latest development in a chaotic summer.

The Owls are under a number of embargoes because of financial issues, including players being paid late in both May and June, and owner Dejphon Chansiri is looking to sell the club.

Rohl had looked set to leave last month when he did not return to take pre-season training but eventually came back in early July.

The club have confirmed that coaches Sascha Lense, Chris Powell, Neil Thompson and Sal Bibbo have all also left and BBC Radio Sheffield understands that Henrik Pedersen, who took pre-season training before Rohl’s return, is likely to be named his successor.

He’s miles away from Albert Square and all the EastEnders drama, but Danny Dyer was still thrilled to be reunited with one of his former co-stars while filming for Mr Bigstuff.

Nudity, fights and secret kisses – Danny Dyer doesn’t hold back in the second series of Mr Bigstuff. He even bumped into one of his former co-stars in EastEnders.

Danny Dyer‘s appearance in the first season has already earned him the 2025 TV Bafta for Male Performance in a Comedy Programme. Now, the show returns with Danny and creator Ryan Sampson as chalk-and-cheese brothers Lee and Glen – two blokes bound by blood but tested by secrets and deep-rooted dysfunction.

The emotions may be deep, but Mr Bigstuff doesn’t forget its slapstick roots. The stunts are back, and Danny has gone full throttle. “It’s very physical. It was a whole day of me having a tear-up,” he says, “I don’t mind that stuff, but it’s getting a bit more difficult as I get older.”

One brawl sees Lee square up to members of a working men’s club – and even Ryan couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Danny was very impressive, he’s like Errol Flynn when he gets going,” he says, “I’ve never seen anybody do that before. It’s really technical and knackering.”

Alongside the bruises and banter are a few familiar faces, with Taskmaster’s Fatiha El-Ghorri popping up again as Aysha, as well as EastEnders stars Alan Ford, who played Stevie Mitchell, and Linda Henry, aka Shirley Carter. “I love Linda,” says Danny, who starred as Shirley’s son Mick in the BBC soap. “I wanted more scenes with her.”

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Both actors were inspired by their own lives to nail the chaotic relationship. “They’re at each other’s throats, aren’t they?” says Ryan, 39. “I have siblings, and we sometimes tear strips off each other.”

Danny’s real-life brother Tony provided some inspiration for Glen and his character Lee. “We’re only 18 months apart but we’re so different, a little bit like Lee and Glen.

My brother hated football when he was a kid. His best friend was a girl and he loved playing with Barbies,” Danny, 47, recalls. “He was the bane of my life because being in an East London school, he was being bullied for it and I was fighting his battles a lot.

“He’s a straight man, but he wanted to play with dolls. There’s nothing wrong with that at all.” And then there were the games they played together.

“We used to play a game called Judo Mermaid. He was the mermaid so he would put my mum’s tights on his head and I was Judo. I’d turn up, a bit like Columbo, with a celery stick in my mouth, and solve crimes.”

But in Mr Bigstuff the laughs stop for Glen when his fiancée Kirsty – played by Harriet Webb – starts behaving strangely. She’s sitting on a secret that could destroy everything.

As fans will remember, Kirsty shared a stolen kiss with Lee at the end of series one. And she’s kept it to herself since. But in real life, Harriet admits she isn’t to be trusted with her own secrets.

“I’m very much an over-sharer,” she admits, “I once lied about how many sausages I’d eaten. Then immediately, after telling the lie, I revealed the truth.”

When a mystery blackmailer appears and threatens to spill the beans, silence becomes critical for her relationship with Glen. “Throughout series one, they told each other, ‘No more secrets,’” Harriet says.

“They made a pact, especially after he found out about Kirsty’s shoplifting. So to have another secret, although I’m not the only one, is a lot.”

Series two doesn’t just revolve around Kirsty’s moral dilemmas. Lee and Glen go digging into their father’s past, only for Lee to stumble on something that could shatter their sense of identity.

Not all scenes were fun for Harriet. She recalls one tough day of filming in Canvey Island, Essex. “There was one day dedicated to a scene in episode five and Ryan told me, ‘I can’t wait for this,’” Harriet says.

“And I was like, ‘It’s going to be hell, I’m going to have to be on the verge of tears for an entire day.’ That was my biggest challenge this season.”

For Ryan, the toughest scenes were the romantic ones. As a proud gay man, filming intimate moments with Harriet took some getting used to.

“I’ve written a lot of sex scenes and kissing,’” he says, “But actually doing it… There was one moment Kirsty was like, ‘I think you grab my boob now.’ That might only be the second boob I’ve grabbed.”

Still, the messy love triangle, the family drama and the emotional gut punches all come wrapped in the off-beat humour that made Mr Bigstuff a surprise hit. And its second series goes bigger and bolder.

As for a third? The cast are all on board, though Ryan says he hasn’t got it nailed down yet. “I’m waiting to see what the viewers think,” he says. “But season two ends on the biggest plot twist I could think of. That’s the jumping off point for series three. I already have a few ideas.”

Mr Bigstuff Series 2 launches on Sky and streaming service NOW on Thursday 24 July.

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