Barrow head coach Dino Maamria has left the League Two strugglers after only 28 days in charge.
The 54-year-old took over on 11 February but managed only one win from his six games, leaving the Bluebirds outside the relegation zone on goal difference with 11 matches remaining.
“We recognise that this has been a very disappointing season with far too much managerial change,” Barrow said in a statement., external
“As the board of directors, we understand that the buck stops with us. We believe this change gives us the best chance of remaining in the football league.”
Experienced midfielder Sam Foley, 39, has been handed the interim head coach role until the end of the season with coaches Simon Ireland and David Worrall remaining in their roles.
Former Burton, Oldham and Stevenage boss Maamria replaced Paul Gallagher at Barrow, who himself lost all five of his games during a 40-day spell at the helm, having replaced Andy Whing in January.
Tunisian Maamria’s only victory came in a late 1-0 win over Colchester United last month which was followed by four defeats from five games, culminating in a 2-0 home loss to fellow strugglers Bristol Rovers on Tuesday.
“Sometimes I want to boo the players, I understand the frustration (of the fans) I think we all know the problems and my job is to fix the problems,” he said in his final post-match interview on BBC Radio Cumbria.
Barrow are at home to Accrington Stanley on Saturday (15:00 GMT).
Kvaratskhelia’s family home in Tbilisi, where he grew up, does not announce that a global football star was raised there.
It is one of those anonymous Soviet-era apartment blocks that populate so many parts of the city: concrete, weathered, functional rather than beautiful, surrounded by identical neighbours and the everyday sounds of a working-class district.
Inside that building I met his father, Badri – a former Dinamo Tbilisi player and Azerbaijan international – and his mother, Maka, when their son was starring with Napoli.
It was a warm, welcoming home. Humble, not full of luxuries, but filled with memories. Everywhere you looked there were small mementos of his journey – photographs, trophies, shirts. Among them the first shirt he ever wore for Dinamo Tbilisi.
“Because this is where Khvicha’s professional career started. It has to be the Dinamo one,” Maka said. “His path to the top started here.”
Kvaratskhelia still uses his small bedroom whenever he returns. In one corner there is a computer table, a keyboard, large headphones and the kind of chair used by gamers.
That little world is where he disappears for hours whenever he comes home.
Born on 12 February 2001, from an early age football was inseparable from his life. As his mother recalls, he walked with the ball, slept with the ball. Football was everything, which is not to say that it was an easy path.
As a graduate of the Dinamo Tbilisi academy, he made his professional debut at 16 in 2017 before moving to Rustavi and then on loan to Lokomotiv Moscow where he would receive his first significant salary, money which allowed him to pay for life-saving heart surgery for his father.
“It wasn’t even a question to him,” said Badri.
On 22 May 2019, the 18-year-old would win his first major honour when Lokomotiv Moscow won the Russian Cup.
A move to Rubin Kazan where he would spend three seasons – and twice win the best young player in the Russian League – followed.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought an end to his stay, when Fifa announced on 7 March 2022 that all foreign players in Russia could unilaterally suspend their contracts until 30 June and sign with clubs outside Russia until the same date.
He went home, signing for Georgian club Dinamo Batumi.
Barcelona needed Lamine Yamal’s penalty with the last kick of the game to cancel out Harvey Barnes’s opener.
Published On 10 Mar 202610 Mar 2026
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Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal struck from the penalty spot with the final kick of the game to salvage a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, cancelling out a late strike from Harvey Barnes.
Newcastle appeared set to take a slender advantage into the second leg after Barnes scored in the 86th minute, when he volleyed home Jacob Murphy’s cross on Tuesday.
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But elation for the home fans turned to heartbreak when Malick Thiaw brought Dani Olmo down in the box in the fourth minute of stoppage time, and Yamal fired the penalty into the bottom corner as Aaron Ramsdale dove the wrong way.
Newcastle’s Joelinton thought he had scored earlier in the second half when he smashed home the rebound of Barnes’s shot off the post, but the linesman quickly raised his flag for offside.
The second leg is at Barcelona on March 18.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Mario Lemina’s early diving header handed Galatasaray a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in their Champions League last-16 first leg in Istanbul, leaving the tie finely balanced after a compelling contest in which both sides saw goals disallowed.
The Turkish champions struck after seven minutes, when Lemina nodded home after Victor Osimhen headed a corner back across goal, giving them a precious advantage ahead of the second leg at Anfield.
In Italy, Bayern Munich dismantled Atalanta 6-1 in a dominant Champions League last-16 first-leg performance on Tuesday, seizing control from the outset in Bergamo.
The visitors surged into a three-goal lead within the opening 25 minutes, leaving the home side struggling to gain any sort of foothold in the contest.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid tore Tottenham Hotspur apart in a stunning first-half blitz on Tuesday, powering to a 5-2 victory in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie and leaving the Premier League side with a mountain to climb in London.
The visitors’ 22-year-old goalkeeper, Antonin Kinsky, endured a night to forget on his first appearance since October and only his third of the season.
Two costly errors from the Czech helped Atletico race into a commanding lead, and he was substituted in the 17th minute by manager Igor Tudor immediately after Atletico’s third goal.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot calls for improvement from both his players and the officials, after the Reds 1-0 first leg defeat to Galatasary in Istanbul.
The famed Magic City adult entertainment club won’t be featured at next week’s Atlanta Hawks promotional night, the NBA announced on Monday.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged concerns from others in the league on Monday, saying that his decision to cancel the collaboration is in the best interests of the “broader NBA community.”
“While we appreciate the team’s perspective and their desire to move forward,” he said in a statement, “we have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees.”
The Hawks announced its “Magic City Monday” promotion in late February, featuring a halftime performance by Atlanta-based artist T.I., a collaborative hoodie and the offering of some of the club’s popular wings, including the lemon-pepper variety named after former Hawks player Lou Williams.
Hawks principal owner Jami Gertz was a producer on “Magic City: An American Fantasy,” a docuseries that aired on Starz. Still, the team’s decision to collaborate with the Atlanta strip club ruffled some feathers in the NBA.
San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet asked the Hawks to cancel the promotional night in a post on Medium last week, saying that it would “reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society.”
Others had argued that Magic City is a big part of Atlanta culture and should be celebrated as such.
The Hawks wrote in a statement on Monday that it was disappointed with the NBA’s decision but would respect it.
Rapper T.I. will still perform at halftime, but the live recording of the Hawks AF Podcast featuring Gertz, T.I. and Magic City founder Michael Barney was canceled. Fans who pre-ordered the collaboration hoodie will still receive one, but the sweatshirts won’t be available for purchase at the game, the Hawks wrote on X.
“As a franchise, we remain committed to celebrating the best of Atlanta — with authenticity — in ways that continue to unite and bring us all together,” the Hawks wrote.
Times staff writer Chuck Schilken contributed to this report
Technical director Colin Calderwood has been put in charge on an interim basis, assisted by Ian Sampson, both ex-Northampton managers.
“We will always be grateful to Kevin for his hard work here, he helped keep us up last season and we enjoyed a strong first half of this season,” chairman Kelvin Thomas said in a statement., external
“But since Christmas the sequence of performances and results have led us to believe a change is in the best interests of all concerned.
“We are fortunate to have someone of Colin’s experience, supported by Ian Sampson and the rest of the staff to look after matters on an interim basis.”
Nolan’s departure came on the 129th anniversary of Northampton’s formation and they are the 10th League One club out of 24 to part company with their boss this season.
With a population of just 900,000, Reunion is better known for its volcanoes, wildlife and tropical climate rather than professional footballers.
On the men’s side, former West Ham star Dimitri Payet and Newcastle winger Laurent Robert are two that fans may remember – but those that make it all the way form a short list.
Growing up, Malard tried her hand at boxing, karate, judo and handball before discovering football.
“When I tried football, I said ‘that is my sport’ because I could put in a lot of energy and could play free,” she says.
She began playing in the island’s capital for Saint-Denis FC before the chance meeting with Bompastor, who was managing the Lyon academy at the time.
“She tells me, ‘Mel, I like you, come to Lyon’. I had two months to think but I said yes right away because it was a big opportunity in my life,” Malard says.
The transition from sunny Reunion to the bitter winters of Lyon all alone at the age of 14 was a shock to her system.
“It was so difficult but I knew what I wanted and I knew it was football,” she says. “Every morning and every night, I would put my boots on, go to the pitch and I would be happy.”
Seizing those early opportunities has paid off handsomely for Malard – three league titles, four Champions League medals and the experience of playing alongside some of the best in the world at Lyon and the France national team.
Now, in Manchester, she is continuing to love her experiences – despite that gloomy weather.
“Every time I pass Old Trafford, it’s a dream for me,” Malard says. “The people are so nice when I play football, singing my name at the stadium. The club is very big, has a lot of history and I enjoy it a lot here.”
And it will be a full-circle moment for Malard against Chelsea, managed by Bompastor, in the cup final.
“I’m excited, it’s good for us and this club deserve that,” says Malard, who featured in the 4-0 win against Tottenham in the 2023-24 FA Cup final as United lifted their first major women’s trophy.
“I’m also excited to play against my [former] coach. If we win, we put the name again in history and that is what we want.
“I’m confident because I believe in this team – I believe in this club. We are here to win everything we can.”
Loughborough Lightning overcame a “tough” opening to strike down Leeds Rhinos 70-43 in round two of the Netball Super League season.
The win at Canon Medical Arena, in Sheffield, puts the visitors top of the early standings with six points from their opening games.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Lightning coach Vic Burgess, said: “I’m really happy with the scoreline, really pleased with the win today.
“It’s been great to see such a solid team performance. Everybody that took the court did exactly what we asked of them.”
From 24-23 behind, Lightning went on a scoring streak to lead 37-24 at the midway point and never looked back.
“The first quarter was tough, I’m really pleased with all of the girls’ performances,” Burgess said.
Lightning co-captain Nat Panagarry, a three-time title winner with the team, made her 200th appearance in the NSL.
In the other Friday match-up, defending champions London Pulse held off off a late charge from Dragons at the Cardiff House of Sport, triumphing 51-50 to also make it two wins from two.
It is unlikely to be a closed system like UFC-style leagues, where fighters are restricted to competing only within one organisation.
Seven-division champion Amanda Serrano, MVP’s marquee name, joined some of the fighters on stage at a news conference on Friday.
When asked if MVPW could introduce its own belt in the future, Bidarian said he wanted to give fans the “best possible match-ups” and work alongside the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF.
“We’re interested in having as many world champions as possible being a part of the MVPW brand,” he said.
“Ultimately it’s not really about sanctioning bodies, it’s about our athletes. We respect the sanctioning bodies and their process, but they need to evolve as well to allow for consistent matchmaking that is logical in terms of growing the brand and fanbase.”
MVPW3 will take place on 30 May in El Paso, Texas, with WBA lightweight champion Stephanie Han facing Holly Holm in a rematch following a technical decision in their January meeting.
UFC-style leagues have been banned in boxing because of concerns over promoters controlling sanctioning, rankings, belts and fighter management.
Proposed amendments would allow league-style formats while claiming to maintain protections for fighters – a move initiated by Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing.
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Igor Tudor says he believes the club will be able to avoid relegation from the Premier League, insisting “the moment will pass” after watching his side lose 3-1 at home to Crystal Palace, a result that leaves them one point above the relegation zone.
Hellberg’s chance came at a club called Kimstad in the seventh tier of Swedish football.
He jokes he was the 12th choice and was put in a charge of a side including some of his best friends.
But proving himself is something that Hellberg has subsequently done consistently during 15 years in the dugout.
Working his way up the ranks, dispelling myths about his lack of a successful playing career, he won promotions down the divisions before landing a job in the Allsvenskan, Sweden’s top flight, in 2021 with IFK Varnamo.
Not only did he keep the newly-promoted club up with one of the league’s lowest budgets, he then took them to fifth place the following season.
That brought him to the attention of Stockholm-based Hammarby, with a bigger budget and more pressure and expectation.
Two seasons delivered successive runners-up spots, playing the attractive and fluid possession game he has brought to England, bringing him wider attention, and he was on the radar for the vacant Swansea City job before Boro grabbed him.
But with his biggest achievement possibly just around the corner, what Hellberg is most proud of is how his coaching and personality have allowed him to keep progressing.
“My perspective is very important to have with me as I know where I came from, how hard I worked to be here and I have no playing career,” he said.
“Every player I’ve coached has been better than me, even at the lowest division.
“I’ve grown a lot of confidence from that. I had to be a good person and a good coach even for [Swedish fifth-tier] Kuddby players to respect me.
“That’s been a good journey for me to always come into a club to show I’m good at this – I’m not here because I was good at playing football.
“I’m here because I’m a good person, a good coach, good at building a structure, putting a game together and developing players. That gives me belief in the long way I work.”
BBC Sport charts the rise of exciting young forward Mateus Mane – from his childhood in Portugal, to moving to Manchester and now making waves with Wolves
She was a two-time state champion in high school coming out of the Syracuse area. She then was a four-time NCAA champion at UConn. She’s won three WNBA titles, three World Cup gold medals, three Olympic gold medals, even two EuroLeague titles.
And now, add an Unrivaled title to the mix — a league that she co-founded.
Stewart and Mist are the queens of Unrivaled for 2026, topping Phantom 80-74 in the championship game Wednesday night to cap the league’s second season. Stewart scored 32 points, setting the tone by scoring Mist’s first 12 points of the second half and her team — which went 0-2 against Phantom in the regular season — wouldn’t trail again.
“What I’ll remember the most about this Mist team is we might not be the loudest, but we’re going to work the hardest,” said Stewart, who was picked as MVP of the final — and whose team will split a $600,000 winners’ pool.
It ended somewhat controversially: an offensive foul on Stewart was overturned to a block on review, giving her a free throw to win the title. Stewart swished the shot, and confetti fell from the roof in celebration.
“Just focused on doing it for my team,” Stewart said.
Sparks star Kelsey Plum carried Phantom with 40 points on 14-for-21 shooting, along with six rebounds and five assists.
It was a brilliant effort — but Stewart and Mist had just a bit too much.
“It’s hard when it ends like this,” Plum said. “But overall, it was an amazing season.”
Arike Ogunbowale had 19 and Allisha Gray scored 12 for Mist, while Kiki Iriafen scored 13 and Tiffany Hayes had 12 for Phantom.
“There was complete faith in this group,” Mist coach Zach O’Brien said. “I’m just glad we got it done.”
Stewart and Napheesa Collier are credited as the co-founders of the league, one that if nothing else has filled a void on calendar for the women’s pro game.
“I think that there was a space that wasn’t kind of being used as far as what professional women’s basketball players were doing,” Stewart said. “We used to have a seven-month blackout period where you didn’t know what these professional basketball players were doing. And now you know.”
The question is what comes next.
The WNBA and its players do not have a labor agreement for next season, one that is slated — at this point — to start in about two months. The WNBA has told the players’ union that it needs to get a deal in place by this coming Tuesday to start the season on time.
And for now, there’s no indication that’ll happen. That means the Mist-Phantom final could be the last pro women’s game in the U.S. for a while.
Some will point to poor television ratings as a sign of trouble, while others can point to crowds drawn this season in Brooklyn and Philadelphia as signs of potential for Unrivaled. Players say it works, and there’s no plans to stop now.
“People probably doubt us, that we can sustain it,” Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell said. “That’s what drives us and that’s also what drives these players They’re all competitors and we are, too.”
Unrivaled — a 3-on-3, full-court game played on a 72-foot floor, shorter than an NBA or college court — sells itself on being fast-paced, with an 18-second shot clock, 7-minute quarters and plenty of open space for players to create.
Kelsey Plum dribbles against Veronica Burton in the second quarter.
(Leonardo Fernandez / Getty Images)
The title game didn’t disappoint in that regard.
They were the top two seeds entering the playoffs — Phantom 1, Mist 2 — and Wednesday was back and forth. It was 24-24 after one quarter, 43-43 at the half, neither team having led by more than seven at any point.
Mist led 68-62 going to the fourth, an untimed final quarter where 11 points get added to the leading score as the end-of-game target.
To win the title: first team to 79 wins. Mist scored the first six points of the final quarter, going up by 12. Plum answered with five straight points, pushing her total to 35 for the night and getting Phantom within 74-67.
But Mist held the lead the rest of the way, and Stewart — as she has so many times — had a title to savor.
“It was our goal from Day One to be here, to be on this podium,” O’Brien said.
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Roki Sasaki’s struggles from his first Cactus League start carried over into Tuesday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians at Goodyear Ballpark.
The Dodgers right-hander gave up three walks and two hits, including a grand slam to Guardians slugger Kyle Manzardo, before he was lifted after 23 pitches. He displayed no command, missing arm side repeatedly and throwing only eight strikes. None of the five batters he faced in the first inning saw a first-pitch strike.
But then, he flashed the tantalizing potential that the Dodgers saw when they signed him before last season.
Re-inserted into the game to start the second inning, which is allowed in spring training, the 24-year-old settled down and retired all six batters he faced in his last two innings of work while throwing 22 pitches — 13 for strikes — in the Dodgers’ 5-4 win.
Working in a healthy mix of fastballs, cutters and splitters, Sasaki struck out two and was able to limit hard contact, which had been an issue for him in the first inning and in his first start last week against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The home run by Manzardo recorded an exit velocity of 104.6 mph.
“I wasn’t overly concerned,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But it was good to see him bounce back.”
Sasaki said through an interpreter after he was lifted from the game that something felt off about his upper-body mechanics. He made a simple adjustment and found success in it.
“It was actually my upper body,” Sasaki said. “My lower half actually felt pretty good. My upper body felt a little off, so I was trying to make an adjustment.”
Said Roberts when asked about Sasaki missing arm side: “Maybe he’s trying to be a little too fine and/or just a little bit out of sync with the delivery. That’s why you have spring training, you work though it, you’ve got to be able to make in-game adjustments. As he gets more experienced, you would expect that to happen in the inning rather than sit for 20 minutes, come in and reset.”
Match of the Day will bring you all the best of the action and talking points from the Premier League on BBC One on Wednesday 4 March at 22:40 GMT.
The BBC Sport website will feature highlights of every Premier League match during the 2025-26 season.
At weekends, these will be available on the BBC Sport app, website and iPlayer on Saturdays and Sundays – ordinarily from 20:00 GMT.
If there is an evening match, highlights from all matches that day will be available 30 minutes after the final game of the day finishes.
Highlights of weeknight matches will be published at 22:30 GMT.
You can join Alex Scott and guests every week on Football Focus (Saturday, 11:30 GMT) for all the big talking points, reaction and interviews with players.
Don’t miss any of the goals as they go in on Final Score – starting on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Red Button from 14:45 GMT and BBC One at 16:30 GMT on Saturdays.
Arteta and Arsenal now have to hold the nerve we have all questioned.
But it does seem somewhat contradictory to slate Arsenal for their style when they fall short, then carp when they reach March in firm contention for all four major prizes.
This is what Arteta means when he talks about the “noise” surrounding title races, especially if your club has not won one since 2003/04.
And is the criticism of Arsenal‘s systematic style actually fair?
Arsenal have scored more goals (58) and conceded fewest (22) in the Premier League. Their goal difference of +36 is the highest.
Predictably, Arsenal are way ahead on goals scored from set pieces, including penalties, with 21 compared to Manchester United‘s 15 in second.
They have scored 27.6% of their goals this season from corners, with 16. Spurs are top of that particular table have scored 13 of their 38 goals from corners – a total of 34.2%.
The Gunners have had more touches in the opposition box (981) than any other team. Liverpool are second with 939. They are second with Brentford, as measured by OPTA statistics, on creating big chances. They have 87 compared to City’s 89.
This points to efficiency and success – so far – this season, even though Arteta himself accepts things must be better than the panic-stricken conclusion to the Chelsea win.
He said in the immediate aftermath: “It is certainly something we will discuss as we have to improve it and do better.
“I’m trying to stay calm, but we weren’t getting the control we wanted, especially against ten men.
“You see with every team that is winning games that everyone is suffering and the margins are so small. But it’s good.”
City have suffered similarly stressful conclusions to their two most recent league wins against Newcastle United and Leeds United, but is this not what champions – or those wishing to be champions – do?
Are Arsenal also paying the price for the elite level football served up by Pep Guardiola’s City as they won six titles under the Catalan, and their closest rivals Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, who won one before his successor Arne Slot repeated the feat in his first season?
Guardiola’s style has become the purists’ template, while Klopp’s explosive “heavy metal football” provided a thrilling counterpoint.
Arteta has made Arsenal more pragmatic in the attempt to finally bring that elusive crown to Emirates Stadium.
There is more than one way to win a Premier League title – and if Arteta’s earthy approach ends that 22-year wait, there will not be one person of an Arsenal persuasion who will care what the critics say.
MEDLEY, Fla. — Rhyne Howard scored 30 points to lead Vinyl past Laces and into the Unrivaled semifinals on Saturday, while Paige Bueckers’ 29 points led Breeze past Rose to secure its semifinal berth.
The Sparks’ Dearica Hamby hit the game-winning shot against No. 3 Laces in Game 1 of the first round of Unrivaled’s playoffs. Once they secured the 82-69 win, players from the sixth-ranked Vinyl club — the last Unrivaled team to clinch a spot in the playoffs — jumped into Hamby’s arms in celebration.
Dominique Malonga had 17 rebounds and the game-winning free throw to help Breeze rout Rose, last year’s Unrivaled champion, 69-50 and advance to the next round, which will be played at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Monday night.
Top-seeded Phantom and No. 2 seed Mist earned automatic berths to Monday’s semifinals.
The title game will be March 4 at Unrivaled’s home arena in Miami, with a prize pool of $600,000 to be split among players from the championship-winning club.
Unrivaled announces end-of-season award winners
Phantom forward Aliyah Boston, who is entering her fourth season with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, was named Unrivaled’s defensive player of the year on Saturday after emerging as one of the league’s biggest defensive standouts.
Boston, who was also named to the league’s second-team All-Unrivaled list, led the league with 29 blocks in 14 regular season games and finished second in total defensive rebounds (111). She also led Phantom in rebounds (136) and points off turnovers (39). She averaged 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game — a significant leap from her first Unrivaled season, when she averaged 5.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.4 blocks.
Boston’s Phantom teammate Kelsey Plum, of the Sparks, was named first-team All-Unrivaled along with Bueckers and Rose guard Chelsea Gray.
Bueckers led her Breeze club in points (22.1) and assists (5.5) per game and shot 38% from three-point range this season. Gray, who won Unrivaled’s one-on-one tournament earlier this month, had four game-winning baskets and became the first Unrivaled player to surpass 600 points, 200 field goals, and 100 assists.
Phantom’s Roneeka Hodges was named coach of the year after leading her team to a league-best 11-3 record in her first season at Unrivaled.
Up next
Phantom will face Vinyl Monday in the first of two semifinal games in Brooklyn. Mist will go against Breeze in the second matchup.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, pictured in February at the White House, announced in a memo that the Defense Department is ending its senior officer fellowship programs with 22 institutions — including Ivy League schools — after alleging that they do not measure up the armed forces’ requirements. File Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo
March 1 (UPI) — The Defense Department is ending its relationships with several Ivy League universities and think tanks that service members are permitted to attend.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ended graduate school fellowships at 22 institutions starting with the 2026-2027 academic years, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale, Princeton, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and The Brookings Institution, according to a memo released by the DOD.
The memo follows a Feb. 7 announcement that the DOD would end stop sending officers to Harvard as part of its Senior Service College Fellowship programs, which Hegseth said in the memo is being retooled and offered list of institutions that offer equivalent programs.
Like Harvard, the expanded list of institutions the department is removing from its SSC programs are alleged to be “woke” and no longer meet requirements for officers in the armed forces.
“Our Professional Military Education institutions are among our most sacred and essential means to restore and maintain the warrior ethos within the [DOD],” Hegseth said. “It is imperative that our war fighter education system forges strategic senior leaders who are trained to think critically, free of bias and influence.”
In a press release, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the “Aligning Senior Service College Opportunities with American Values” memo directs the DOD to focus SSC fellowships away from institutions that “diminish critical thinking, have significant adversary involvement or fail to deliver rigorous education grounded in realism.”
Universities that are replacing the Ivy League schools include three senior military colleges and three DOD or U.S. government programs, as well as 15 other universities, including Liberty, George Mason, Tennessee, Michigan, Iowa State and Hillsdale College.
Currently enrolled DOD personnel will be permitted to finish their courses of study, but the new policy and list of acceptable institutions applies to all personnel starting this fall, Hegseth said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a press conference after the weekly Republican Senate caucus luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
There is a school of thought among some fans that a good season is one where your team still has plenty to play for come April.
Liverpool will not be winning back-to-back Premier League titles, but they will head into March still in the FA Cup and the Champions League and now in a strong position to finish in the top five, which would effectively confirm Champions League football next season.
At the end of a week in which the club confirmed record revenues of over £700m for the last accounting year, with a profit after tax of £8m, the importance of that European spot cannot be underestimated.
Midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, who scored Liverpool’s third goal, told Match of the Day: “The last four or five months is when teams show what they can do.
“That’s what we want. We know how important it is to qualify for the Champions League for the club and us as a team. The goal is there and we are going to do everything to qualify and be closer to the teams on top.”
Team-mate Cody Gakpo took a similar view, telling Sky Sports: “It was a good afternoon. Step by step, we’re getting [to be] a better team.
“We had a difficult moment during the season, but hopefully these last few games are the start of something beautiful.”
With consecutive games against Wolves in the league and FA Cup next week, before a trip to Galatasaray in the Champions League, the next 10 days or so will go a long way to shaping how their season ultimately is remembered.
Get through that unscathed and, whisper it quietly, Liverpool fans may well start to genuinely believe that they can do something beautiful indeed.
London Mavericks head coach Tamsin Greenway sent out her players in a range of kits, with shorts, skirts, skorts, leggings and vests all being options this season for the capital side.
They are the only NSL team going all-out to provide their players with such an outfit choice in a sport where dresses have long been the norm.
Greenway says the traditions of women’s sportswear come from “the olden days”, which is why she welcomed news of the change.
Former England player Greenway told BBC Sport: “When it was presented to me, I hadn’t even thought about it because netball is played in dresses, right? I know the dress is iconic for many people.
“But as a 12-year-old kid I wouldn’t have wanted to play [in a dress] – I was a proper tomboy, I wore shorts and T-shirts and loved my football team who wore that, and I wouldn’t have enjoyed [wearing a dress].
“You’re out there putting out your best, so you want to look your best, feel your best, so why should there not be options for that, as long as it all looks like a uniform, which it does.
“Most of these teams won’t train in dresses – in what other sport do you wear a completely different outfit to what you actually perform in?”
