When David Jacks published a biography of Peter Asher in 2022, the veteran record producer and manager expressed surprise that anyone would have deemed his life worthy of the treatment. Four years later, he’s no less baffled to have become the subject of a new documentary, “Peter Asher: Everywhere Man,” directed by the filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine.
“It just seemed to me,” he says, “that I wouldn’t be that fascinating.”
The movie, in theaters now, argues otherwise: A child actor alongside his two younger sisters, the bespectacled Asher became an unlikely pop star during the British invasion as half of the duo Peter & Gordon, whose debut single, “A World Without Love” — written by Paul McCartney — hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1964. (McCartney offered the song to Asher while the Beatle was dating Asher’s sister Jane.) In 1968, the Beatles made Asher head of A&R at Apple Records, where he signed James Taylor; the two soon moved to Los Angeles and turned Taylor into music’s biggest heartthrob folkie.
Asher went on to shepherd Linda Ronstadt to stardom and to produce records by Diana Ross, Cher, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, Neil Diamond and 10,000 Maniacs, among many others. And at 82 he’s still at it: Last year he produced Barbra Streisand’s latest duets album — they’re due to start work on a new Streisand solo LP, he says — and he’ll perform a show of his own July 19 at the Grammy Museum. Asher, who broke his leg in a recent fall, spoke about it all the other morning at his home in Malibu, where he walked into the kitchen using a cane before sitting down at a table set with pastries and several of the day’s newspapers.
What unites the jobs of musician, producer, executive, manager? What’s the through line? Love of music and admiration for the people who do it. They’re very different jobs, and I came at them from very different perspectives. Record production was something I set out to do once I understood what a record producer did. Hire musicians much better than yourself and tell them what to do? That’s a cool job — how do I get in on that racket? Whereas I never had any ambitions to be a manager. It’s just that when James and I decided to go out on our own and try to put a career together, we didn’t know who we trusted to do it, so I kind of went, I’ll do it.
What’d you discover about the job of management? The ingredients are common sense, not being a crook and having a great client.
Which is the hardest of those three? The last one. I got to induct the first managers inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Brian Epstein and Andrew Loog Oldham — the Beatles and the Stones. That’s the hard part. The only thing that would tempt me back into management would be lightning striking for a third time — to see James, to see Linda, then to see somebody comparably brilliant, which I occasionally do. But usually they have a manager already.
What’s the last new act that knocked you out? Ed Sheeran.
Was that just because he looks like he could be your grandson? That certainly crossed my mind.
As a producer, your records helped define the sound of rock in the ’70s. The so-called California sound.
Then the zeitgeist shifted. One became aware of that. Pop music got very electronic, which I loved.
Was there a place for you in that style? I didn’t consciously try to make records in that style because I don’t think I could have — not as well as they were being made anyway.
What’s a record from the early ’80s that made you think that? “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” I couldn’t do that.
Back to the ’70s: The doc is filled with pictures of James looking — Like a movie star. With the cover of “JT,” I finally went all the way and said, “We’re doing the the glamour shot.” Then we did “Flag,” which everyone hated.
With the maritime flag. A truly perverse album cover. I loved it. James loved it. Everyone thought we were crazy.
How crucial do you think James’ good looks were to his whole proposition? I don’t know.
Oh, come on. I really don’t. I mean, how would you gauge that? There’s probably girls who fell in love with him without listening to the record.
I think you just gauged it. If he was ugly, would he be as big a star? Probably not.
(Evan Mulling / For The Times)
Same applies to Linda, right? When I first saw Linda, it was stages of realization. Someone said to me, “You’ve got to go down and see this girl at the Bitter End.” I walk in and she’s singing so well — unspeakably good. Then she looks incredibly great — barefoot, short-shorts. Oh, my God, my heart. Then you meet her, and it turns out she’s a remarkably brilliant woman — extremely well read. You just kind of go, “All these things together — how can it be?” It’s the same thing talking about the Beatles: If you cast it like the Spice Girls, you still couldn’t have gotten four to fit together so perfectly.
Did you like the Spice Girls? Terrific. “Tell me what you want / What you really, really want” — it’s a smash. And yet none of them are particularly good singers, which is kind of the point.
I went to an event not long ago where Paul McCartney played his new album for a small group of fans. It was fascinating to see the spell McCartney casts over people. He’s had to get used to it — to admit to himself that he can’t meet people who aren’t amazed that they’re meeting him. Even as someone who’s known him off and on for a long time, you still get the wave of: Holy s—.
You’re still amazed to be around him? Of course. I get it less — I’m ready for it. But you can’t pretend he’s not Paul McCartney. And he’s gotta live with that his whole life.
You grew up a member of the upper crust, I think it’s fair to say. I don’t think we were that crusty. But upper, probably, yes.
I wondered how that situated you to live and work among artistic types. If anything, the upper crust have more time to be artistic — less preoccupied with getting a job and making a living. But my parents worked incredibly hard — we weren’t upper crust in the sense of inherited wealth. My father was a doctor, my mother was a professor of music. But I never struggled, to be honest. I had a comfortable allowance, and then I went to school and worked hard. Everyone talks about sharing a flat with a million people, living on borrowed sandwiches — I skipped that phase.
Did that shape you in any meaningful way? I don’t know. But I think when people do struggle, it becomes a meaningful part of their lives to get away from it. With someone like James, the struggle was a struggle with drugs. Now he says the worst thing about drugs is they’re a complete waste of time — you waste time doing nothing except looking for drugs. And I think that made him anxious to succeed and to be taken seriously.
I’m sure you saw the New York Times’ list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters. You knew it was gonna be silly. Randy Newman, for God’s sake — you just cannot not include him.
No Neil Diamond either. Insane.
And no Billy Joel. [Shrugs].
How’s your health? High blood pressure, high cholesterol, need to work out more — old man stuff. Other than that and a broken leg, great.
You’re OK with the cane? It’s a considerable upgrade from the wheelchair. I like the cane — it’s kind of elegant.
What seems scarier: the body going or the mind going? The mind going. And it is, slightly. I had a stroke, and bits of my brain aren’t quite working right. But compared to other people I know, I’m fine.
We’re at a moment when a lot of foundational rock ’n’ roll figures — Are dying. It’s all the rage.
What’s it feel like to see your friends and colleagues go? Better them than me.
Couple more for you: You managed Courtney Love for a spell. I met her here in Malibu. I also managed Pamela Anderson for a while because she was a neighbor and asked me to help.
What, you put a shingle out? “Manager for hire.” I’m trying to remember how I first met Courtney — I think Merck Mercuriadis was talking to her about publishing and Kurt stuff. I liked her. Very smart. I like smart women.
She’s easy to work with? Hard to work with? Impossible to work with.
What’s James Taylor’s best album? “JT,” maybe.
What’s Linda Ronstadt’s best album? “Heart Like a Wheel.” With Linda, it’s unfair because they’re so radically different. How do you compare that to a mariachi record and then to Nelson Riddle?
Working with Riddle on those albums must have been a thrill. He told us all these incredible stories about Frank Sinatra, who he didn’t like although he admired him enormously. It was John David Souther who originally suggested Nelson. Linda had tried doing the album a different way — did some versions with Jerry Wexler and it didn’t work out. So we had a meeting with Nelson: Would he consider doing a couple of arrangements for us? He went, “No.” We said, “What?” He said, “I’ll do an album, though.”
“A World Without Love” was one of eight songs to top the chart in 1964 with “love” in the title. What’s that say about pop music in the mid-’60s? Same thing it says about pop music of all time: It’s either “I love you” or “She loves you” or “Why don’t you love me?” Weird Al pointed out to me that when you’re looking for a parody of a song, any song that has “love” in the title, substitute “lunch” and it’s funny. “A World Without Lunch” — I mean, who would want to live in such a place?
The Angels have fired general manager Perry Minasian midway through their sixth consecutive disappointing season under his leadership.
The last-place Angels appointed former Cardinals GM John Mozeliak to be their interim general manager and baseball operations consultant on Friday. Mozeliak will oversee day-to-day baseball operations while assisting the search for the next GM, team president Molly Jolly said in a news release.
“Perry has been a valued leader who worked tirelessly over the last six years to strengthen our baseball operations department,” Jolly said. “I am grateful for his dedication, insight and many contributions to our organization.”
Minasian took over the Angels’ front office in November 2020, but the long-struggling franchise has made no discernible progress during his tenure under mercurial owner Arte Moreno.
The Angels’ streaks of 10 straight losing seasons and 11 straight non-playoff seasons are both the longest in the majors, and its farm system is still considered to be among the majors’ worst, just as it was when Minasian arrived.
The biggest transaction of his tenure occurred when Shohei Ohtani left the Angels after six seasons for the Dodgers in late 2023, the Angels failing to trade Ohtani for prospects before Ohtani became a free agent.
Minasian’s flurry of moves before and after the 2023 trade deadline seemed chaotic. The Angels kept Ohtani — a decision Moreno had a big hand in — and dealt away several prospects in an attempt to push for the playoffs.
But the Angels went 8-19 that August and fell so far out of contention that they placed several players on waivers in order to bring their payroll under the luxury tax threshold.
After holding the majors’ worst record for much of the current season, the Angels are tied for last in the AL standings at 34-48 heading into their game against the Athletics on Friday night at Angel Stadium. Los Angeles lost a franchise-record 99 games in 2024, its first season after losing two-time AL MVP Ohtani.
The Angels never won more than 77 games or finished higher than third in the AL West during Minasian’s tenure.
Minasian clashed with respected manager Joe Maddon early in his tenure, eventually leading to Maddon’s firing amid an epic losing streak in the 2022 season. After Phil Nevin and Ron Washington also failed to hold the managerial job for more than two seasons, Minasian hired first-time manager Kurt Suzuki from his own front-office staff last fall, giving him a one-year deal with the acknowledgment that their fates were tied.
Ray Montgomery served as interim manager in 2025.
A reduction in payroll forced Minasian to supplement this year’s team with low-cost players — several returning from major injuries — such as pitchers Alek Manoah, Jordan Romano, Drew Pomeranz, Kirby Yates and Brent Suter, outfielder Josh Lowe and infielders Yoan Moncada and Adam Frazier.
Most of the moves didn’t pan out, as Romano and Pomeranz were released, and Manoah, Lowe and Moncada have been busts.
The largest free-agent deal signed by Minasian was a three-year, $63 million contract for left-hander Yusei Kikuchi before 2025. Kikuchi was an All-Star last season but has been sidelined since late April because of a shoulder injury.
Minasian also signed reliever Robert Stephenson to a three-year, $33 million deal before 2024, but the right-hander is out for this season because of another elbow injury.
Jolly and Mozeliak are scheduled to speak at a news conference on Saturday.
Minasian is a former Rangers clubhouse attendant who rose to positions in the front offices of the Atlanta Braves and the Toronto Blue Jays as a protege of Alex Anthopoulos.
Minasian had never interviewed for a GM job before he was chosen to replace Billy Eppler by Moreno, who has repeatedly hired GMs with little to no prior experience in the job during his two decades of ownership.
Mozeliak left the Cardinals last fall after three decades with St. Louis, including the past 18 in charge of baseball operations.
Shohei Ohtani was the first Dodger to be named a 2026 All-Star, after leading the majors in Phase 1 voting for the All-Star game on July 14 in Philadelphia. Six other Dodgers were finalists through the fan ballot, giving them a chance to claim starting spots in Phase 2 of voting.
Ohtani locked down the starting DH spot for the National League squad, with 3,341,257 votes. The top vote-getters in each league bypass Phase 2. Second baseman Ernie Clement of the Toronto Blue Jays was the top vote-getter in the Amlerican League, with 3,232,932 votes.
Ohtani was the expected choice, despite a slow offensive start. His red-hot June boosted him up the leaderboards. He entered Thursday with the second-highest OPS in the National League (.963), barely trailing Mets outfielder Juan Soto (.965).
Pitchers aren’t chosen through the fan vote — hurlers and reserves have to wait for the player ballot (which includes votes from players, coaches and managers) and commissioners picks. But Ohtani has been just as impressive on the mound this year.
He has a 1.58 ERA, the fourth-best mark among NL pitchers who have thrown at least 50 innings this season.
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (2,666,008 votes), third baseman Max Muncy (2,890,181) and outfielder Andy Pages (2,158,664) also led their respective NL position groups in voting. Other Dodgers finalists, who advance to voting Phase 2, include catcher Will Smith (1,871,805), shortstop Mookie Betts (1,762,343 ) and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez (1,569,932).
The vote totals reset for Phase 2, which runs from next Monday through Thursday. The remainder of the All-Star starters are set to be announced on July 4 on Fox Sports.
Here’s a bit of Dodgers trivia for the bandwagon fans in our midst: Who was the manager before Dave Roberts?
That was 11 years ago. He is Don Mattingly, who returns to Dodger Stadium on Friday as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies were 9-19 when they fired Rob Thomson and replaced him with Mattingly. They are 20-8 since then, a better record than the Dodgers have posted over the same span.
In Philadelphia, Mattingly got his chance because the Phillies were losing. In Los Angeles, Mattingly departed amid a run of winning.
For Mark Walter and what was then a new Dodgers ownership group, that was not enough. As Walter enters his first offseason as the Lakers’ controlling owner, it’s worth keeping that in mind.
“They have a hunger for victory that is the greatest I’ve ever seen, without exaggeration,” former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti told me.
In two seasons with Rob Pelinka as president of basketball operations and JJ Redick as coach, the Lakers won division titles both times, failing to get out of the first round of the playoffs one year and failing to get out of the second round of the playoffs the next.
In 2013 and 2014, with Colletti as GM and Mattingly as manager in the first full seasons of Walter’s ownership, the Dodgers won division titles both times, failing to get out of the first round one year and failing to get out of the second round the other.
In 2015, the Dodgers won the division but failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs. Friedman offered Mattingly a short-term extension, and Mattingly opted for a long-term deal to manage the Miami Marlins.
After Walter and Co. took over the Dodgers, Mattingly told me Wednesday, there was one year he thought he might be fired: 2013, when the Dodgers started 30-42 and fell 9 1/2 games out of first place in mid-June. The Dodgers then reeled off 42 wins in 50 games and won the division by 11 games.
He appreciated that Walter, team president Stan Kasten and eventually Friedman did not simply bring in a new manager at their first chance.
“You get to evaluate and see,” Mattingly said, “and you have your vision for where you want it to go, and sustain it. That’s the thing they’ve been great at: sustaining it. It’s been year after year. You can’t really doubt what they’re doing.”
Kasten’s first move was not to fire Colletti, but to ask what ownership could provide for him so that he could do a better job. The owners quickly responded by funding the addition of impact players (Adrián González and Hanley Ramirez), extending the contract of a popular home-grown player (Andre Ethier), revitalizing the Dodgers’ Latin American talent pipeline (Yasiel Puig and Julio Urías), renovating the clubhouse and, at Mattingly’s suggestion, refreshing the family room.
“We started to be able to compete with a different mindset, which was invaluable,” Colletti said.
Similarly, with Friedman and former Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi as consultants, the Lakers have added two positions for assistant general managers, overhauled the scouting staff, created more room at team headquarters by relocating their G League affiliate to the Coachella Valley, and borrowed from the Dodgers’ playbook in modernizing medical and biomechanical facilities.
This summer could be critical in determining the future of the Lakers, including who runs them. Walter can spend all he wants, as he does with the Dodgers, but the luxury-tax penalties in the NBA are more severe than in baseball and could restrict the roster flexibility so coveted by the likes of Friedman and Zaidi. A star-studded roster beyond Luka Doncic — say, a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo? — could require the Lakers to sacrifice the draft picks that also would limit roster flexibility.
The Lakers will have the resources. Walter will want to see the creativity and the championships — or, at least, the path to them. Ultimately, he will decide what he did with the Dodgers: Does he have the best people he can get running the team?
“You see many organizations that win, and then they take a step back,” Colletti said. “They feel like they have some goodwill in the bank, they don’t have to chase the biggest free agents, and they don’t need to re-invest in the team or the stadium.
“From my vantage point, all the way up and down that organization and especially at the ownership level, it’s almost like they’ve never won, and they’re hungry to get there. To be there and be unsatisfied — that quest to be as great as you can be — is one of the great indicators of the excellent ownership it is.”
In the meantime, any advice for Pelinka and Redick? Colletti let out a hearty laugh.
“Do your best,” he said, “and turn it up a notch.”
Rangers have appointed Derek McInnes as manager on a three-year contract after agreeing a compensation deal with Scottish Premiership rivals Hearts.
McInnes is the third boss at Ibrox inside a year and replaces Danny Rohl, whose move to Austrian side RB Salzburg was confirmed earlier on Wednesday.
The 54-year-old joined Hearts from Kilmarnock last summer and led the Tynecastle club to a second-placed finish, missing out on the title to Celtic on a dramatic final day, but edging Rangers out of the Champions League qualifiers.
The former Rangers midfielder turned down an approach from the Ibrox club in December 2017 in order to stay at Aberdeen but has now followed Tynecastle captain Lawrence Shankland in moving from Hearts.
“It is a real honour,” McInnes said. “The demands here are clear and our supporters rightfully have high expectations. It is up to me, my staff and my players to meet those expectations, and have this club performing as it should.
“There is a lot of hard work ahead, but already the preparations have begun and I am looking forward to meeting the current squad in the coming weeks and welcoming some new faces.”
Alan Archibald, Paul Sheerin and Craig Clark will assist McInnes.
While Rohl was head coach, McInnes will have the title of manager and was the frontrunner as soon as it emerged that the German was keen to leave for Salzburg.
Chairman Andrew Cavenagh said the Scot is “someone we have always rated highly” and is “exactly what this club needs at this moment in time”.
He added: “His deep Scottish and Rangers experience are important for us. He knows how to win in this league, and he is coming off an extremely strong season with Hearts.”
Rohl, 37, replaced Russell Martin as head coach in October and steered Rangers into a three-way title fight, but a post-split collapse yielded a third-placed finish behind Celtic and Hearts as the Ibrox club ended the campaign without silverware.
Cavenagh – who publicly backed Rohl at the end of the season – thanked him for his “service and commitment to Rangers”.
“He and his staff put in a significant amount of hard work during his time in charge, which we are greatly appreciative of,” he added.
“We have got a few people that the board are talking to that are very exciting and interesting candidates.
“There have been people who we have been linked to, where it says they were the frontrunner or that there was conversations, that were people we have never talked to or never even had a conversation about.”
Khan said: “There have been some rumours, but at the same time, we have had lots of conversations and meetings. We have been actively talking.
“There are two in particular who have had multiple meetings with the board and who we really like, but we are open to more conversations and talking to more people. We are working on that process right now.”
Fulham finished 11th in the table last season, missing out on a place in Europe by two points.
A former defender for both Liverpool and West Ham, Arbeloa was in charge of Real Madrid at the end of last season on an interim basis, having replaced Xabi Alonso – who has been appointed Chelsea‘s new boss – midway through the campaign.
After a successful 13-year playing career at Stamford Bridge, Lampard started his managerial career at Derby before spells at Chelsea, Everton and then Coventry in 2024.
One of the most devastating moments in world history will be brought to life on Disney+ by a beloved star of The Night Manager and Marvel blockbusters
The Night Manager star bags role in ‘gripping’ period drama(Image: BBC)
It’s shaping up to be one of the year’s most gripping docudramas.
BBC The Night Manager star Tom Hiddleston will be playing time detective in an immersive new historical series coming to National Geographic and Disney+ later this year.
Pompeii: Out of Time will reunite the iconic Marvel star with Loki executive producer Kevin R Wright for the three-part series that promises to lift the lid on the explosive historical moment.
The first-look trailer has given fans a glimpse of Hiddleston stepping into his new role as he makes the case that the eruption of Vesuvius wasn’t just a catastrophic day of death and destruction.
His latest series will feature an eye-opening investigation into those who may have survived the blast, brought to life with immersive and thrilling dramatisations.
Along for the journey is a team of ancient Rome experts, from archaeologists and historians to geologists and disaster experts, who will uncover remarkable real-life stories that challenge assumptions people have about the fateful day in 79 AD.
A teenage apprentice, a powerful businesswoman and a mysterious Praetorian Guard are all vital pieces of the puzzle as Hiddleston steps back in time to explore the hours before and during Vesuvius’ eruption in what is shaping up to be an essential watch for any history buff. A synopsis from Disney+ teases: “As the volcano awakens and the countdown to catastrophe begins, the evidence converges in a gripping race against time to uncover who survived, who perished, and what determined their fate.”
Hiddleston says in a statement: “The ancient world has compelled my imagination and curiosity for as long as I can remember: I’ve been fascinated by it all my life.
“Classical Antiquity is the foundation and cornerstone of Western and European culture. To visit Pompeii is to feel the distance of the 2,000 years between now and then compress. The past becomes the present; the past feels so close. Tangible, honest and real.
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“Our relationship with the past is alive — studying who we were in order to understand who we are. Pompeii is a gateway for that conversation. It’s a privilege to host this visually immersive and dynamic series.”
He added: “Pompeii is often remembered for how its story ended. But by looking closer, we can uncover the details of people’s lives, the choices they made, and the moments that came before the city was buried.
“To revisit the final hours of those ordinary people, caught in an extraordinary moment, and to help bring these remarkable human stories back into the light, is a genuine honour.”
The upcoming series is already generating excitement amongst fans, with one user commenting below the trailer on YouTube: “Omg this seems so interesting.”
“This is absolutely fascinating — Pompeii is an incredible place, and this approach brings its story to life in a very powerful way,” someone else replied, adding they’re “really looking forward” to tuning in.
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“I want to see it NOW!” another fan exclaimed, and a final fan wrote: “For someone who’s survived Ragnarok, Tom Hiddleston couldn’t be better suited for this doc. Looking forward – or back – to it.”
Mark your calendars, as all three episodes will be available to stream in just over a month’s time.
Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston premieres Thursday, 23rd July on National Geographic and Disney+.
Benfica said they had “reached an agreement” with Silva who is set to sign a contract until the end of the 2027-28 season which can be extended to 2028-29.
Fulham were Silva’s fourth English club after spells in charge of Hull City, Watford and Everton.
Mourinho’s exit from Estadio da Luz was also announced, with Benfica saying Real Madrid will pay them £13m (15m euros) in compensation to bring the 63-year-old back to the Bernabeu.
“The coach [Mourinho] has given his agreement to this hiring,” added a Benfica statement.
“Thus ended Jose Mourinho’s second spell as manager of Benfica’s professional football team.”
Mourinho took charge of Benfica in September and led them to third place in the Primeira Liga this season as they went through the league campaign unbeaten.
In his previous spell in charge of Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013, the Portuguese won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice will be England’s vice-captain for the World Cup.
Rice has earned 72 caps for the Three Lions and will be one of the most experienced players in Thomas Tuchel’s starting line-up.
The 27-year-old has just helped Arsenal win the Premier League for the first time since 2003-04 and reach the Champions League final, which they lost on penalties to Paris St-Germain last weekend.
Rice filled in as captain during Harry Kane’s absence for the October friendly against Wales, when Ollie Watkins replaced Kane in the England attack.
Asked whether Rice knows he has that role, the England manager added: “That is a good question. I was just thinking about it. Whether it is an official thing or not.
“But I think we had this talk when Harry was not in camp with us. We started with Ollie and I think Declan was captain. That was where I told him.”
Rice and his Arsenal team-mates Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze have now joined England’s training camp in the United States and began work with the group in Florida on Sunday.
Tuchel’s side have one more friendly against Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday and will play a behind-closed-doors game with Miami FC before travelling to their Kansas City base on Saturday.
The Three Lions begin their World Cup campaign on 17 June against Croatia and also face Ghana and Panama in Group L.
Andoni Iraola left his role at Bournemouth at the end of the season and takes over at Liverpool in place of Arne Slot.
Published On 4 Jun 20264 Jun 2026
Liverpool has named Andoni Iraola as their new manager after sacking Arne Slot following a calamitous Premier League title defence.
Iraola quickly emerged as Liverpool’s top target to replace Slot, whose two-year reign came to a shock end when he was dismissed last Saturday.
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Liverpool gave no indication as to the length of the 43-year-old Spaniard’s contract, but British media have reported that he has signed a two-year deal.
“Really excited, really excited, because obviously you know about Liverpool, you know that it’s a big club, a massive club, one of the biggest in the world,” Iraola, who called time on his impressive spell with Bournemouth at the end of this season, said on Liverpool’s official website on Thursday.
“But feeling inside and understanding a little bit more of this club, I always thought it’s a special club.
“You don’t need a lot of things to get attracted by Liverpool. Liverpool is Liverpool.”
After criticism of Liverpool’s lacklustre performances in Slot’s second season at Anfield, Iraola is expected to deliver a more urgent, aggressive style of football, which characterised the team under beloved former manager Jurgen Klopp.
Iraola earned rave reviews for Bournemouth’s sixth-place finish in England’s Premier League this season, which secured the club’s first qualification for Europe, in the Europa League.
He arrived at the south coast club from Raya Vallecano in 2023, having previously managed Mirandes and AEK Larnaca in Cyprus.
Bournemouth improved each year under Iraola, finishing 12th, ninth and sixth.
The former defender was praised for his astute tactics and development of youngsters including Eli Junior Kroupi and Alex Scott.
Prior to leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, Egypt star Mohamed Salah recently called for a return to the “heavy metal football” that led to so much success under Klopp, heaping pressure on the beleaguered Slot.
Iraola has previously talked about his desire for his teams to play with an attacking, high-pressing style, in contrast to Slot’s more controlled approach.
Born in Spain’s Basque Country, Iraola played more than 500 games for Athletic Bilbao before a stint in Major League Soccer with New York City, where he teamed up with Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo.
He will arrive on Merseyside with Liverpool at a crossroads after Slot’s failure to maintain the club’s position at the summit of English football.
Slot had the tough task of replacing Klopp, who left in 2024 after winning the Premier League and Champions League during a golden nine-year spell at Anfield.
The former Feyenoord boss made a strong start, leading Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th English league title in his debut season, spearheaded by Salah’s 29 goals.
But Slot was unable to halt Liverpool’s slide in the 2025-26 season as the Reds collapsed from late September onward, finishing a turbulent season without a trophy.
The death of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota in a car crash last July had an immeasurable impact on the squad, while the club’s 450-million-pound ($605m) splurge on new signings failed to pay off.
Slot’s relationship with Salah also deteriorated, while Liverpool fans turned on the manager due to his team’s lifeless displays and poor results.
The club limped to a fifth-place finish, 25 points behind champions Arsenal, which at least guaranteed qualification for next season’s Champions League.
For those associated with the club, the desire to watch a successful team next season is blended with a need to shake off the damage Eckert’s actions have caused.
One of the more egregious conclusions drawn by the EFL investigation into Southampton’s practices was that the young analyst intern who was caught spying outside Middlesbrough’s training ground had raised concerns about the task he was given, but was put “under extreme pressure” to carry it out by more senior personnel, including Eckert.
In many workplaces, a senior staff member pressuring a junior colleague into performing a task which violates industry rules would be met with a swift and significant punishment.
But Solak told BBC Sport that the intern was at fault for not kicking up more of a fuss, saying: “I believe that our junior intern felt personally it’s wrong, and he didn’t feel right for doing this, and I think he should have expressed that stronger.”
Solak insisted he has subsequently offered the intern analyst a full-time job with the club.
But the treatment of a young, inexperienced member of staff has raised concerns about the club’s culture.
“The club has lacked in terms of leading on the problem, and sorting out their own mess,” Tessem adds.
“I hope they have all learned a very harsh lesson. When you’ve been caught red handed, you need to take responsibility for the situation.”
If Southampton do manage to keep Eckert in his job, then the question of whether the club really has learned that lesson will continue to be asked.
Liverpool are in advanced talks with Andoni Iraola as they look to appoint a new head coach following the sacking of Arne Slot.
Iraola left Bournemouth at the end of the season and is the clear favourite for the role at Anfield.
Liverpool are keen to make an appointment at the earliest possible opportunity and want a manager who fits their preferred playing style, which is to deliver front-foot, aggressive football.
No approaches have yet been made with regard to Iraola’s potential coaching staff, but the 43-year-old Spaniard is keen on bringing his assistant at Bournemouth, Tommy Elphick, a lifelong Liverpool fan, with him.
BBC Sport understands that Elphick has had no contact yet from the Reds but would be interested in the opportunity.
The former Bournemouth centre-back, 38, turned down the opportunity to become the Bristol City manager last week in order to assess his other options.
The hiring process at Anfield is being led by Richard Hughes, Liverpool‘s sporting director, who previously worked with Iraola at the Cherries.
The Reds sacked Slot on Saturday, just a year after the Dutchman guided them to the Premier League title.
Michael O’Neill says he is “100% committed” to Northern Ireland after he signed a new four-year contract with the Irish FA, but he has not ruled out another dual role in the future.
O’Neill had been appointed interim Blackburn Rovers boss in February and had been balancing this role with his position at Northern Ireland, who lost to Italy in the World Cup play-offs in March.
On Wednesday, the IFA confirmed that O’Neill had extended his current contract by four years until 2032.
When asked if he would consider taking on a short-term dual role again in the future, O’Neill did not rule it out as he said: “That’s not a question I need to answer at this minute”, adding it was “hypothetical”.
O’Neill said that he did not “have any regrets” about taking on the role with Blackburn, but admitted he “probably could have done with a little less drama”.
“I said all along, I didn’t think it would affect our preparation for the Italy game, which it didn’t,” O’Neill said.
“I managed to keep Blackburn up, which was the remit of the job.
“I probably think that maybe I underestimated the reaction to it a little bit, but ultimately that’s a learning experience for me as well.”
Frank Lampard has been named the League Managers Association manager of the year after guiding Coventry back to the Premier League.
Lampard’s Sky Blues finished 11 points clear at the top of the Championship to clinch the title and return to the top flight for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
The former England midfielder, who has previously managed Derby, Everton and had two spells in charge at Chelsea, was presented with the Sir Alex Ferguson award by England manager Thomas Tuchel.
The award, named after the former Manchester United manager, is voted for by managers throughout the leagues and takes into account success and the resources available.
Tuchel read out a letter from Ferguson, who said Lampard’s Coventry play “great football with confidence and belief”.
“I have enjoyed watching you. Best of luck in the Premier League next season,” he added.
Brentford‘s Keith Andrews, Arsenal‘s Mikel Arteta, Aston Villa‘s Unai Emery, Bournemouth‘s Andoni Iraola, Manchester City‘s Pep Guardiola, Lincoln City’s Michael Skubala and Bromley’s Andy Woodman were also shortlisted.
Manchester City‘s Andree Jeglertz won the Women’s Super League award after leading them to the title.
Arteta, who led Arsenal to their first Premier League title in 22 years, won the Premier League award while Lampard also took the Championship equivalent.
Skubala, who won League One with Lincoln, took the award for the third tier and Woodham won the League Two award after he led Bromley to the title.
The WSL2 award was taken by Karen Hills, who led Charlton to the WSL for the first time.
Steve Bruce and Martin O’Neill were inducted into the Hall of Fame after each reaching 1,000 games as a manager.
The award for Lampard is the most significant individual honour in his coaching career.
His Derby side lost in the Championship play-off final in 2019 and he was then appointed at former club Chelsea, where he spent 13 years as a player.
He was sacked after 18 months in charge in 2021 but later returned as a caretaker.
In between, he spent less than a year in charge of Everton during which he oversaw an escape from relegation but was later sacked.
This season his Coventry side were the Championship’s highest scorers with 97 goals in 46 games. They also had the best defence.
Chris Wilder, who won the award while in charge of Sheffield United in 2019, and Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna, the 2024 winner, are other recent managers to receive the LMA’s top award while managing outside of the Premier League.
It was far from a convincing performance against Thistle, hardly surprising given what was at stake, and the relief from fans and players alike was obvious after the game.
“We wanted to make sure the players were remembered as legends at this club after winning the League Cup,” McLeish said.
“We didn’t want that black mark against our name.
“First half was nervy, cagey and full of mistakes. It wasn’t really tactical, just us controlling our emotions. We did that better in the second half.”
McLeish won three of his nine league matches after Robinson left, but he was unable to keep St Mirren out of the play-off spot as Kilmarnock shone after the split.
A change of approach initially yielded an upturn in performances, but results started to slide and a run of four defeats without scoring cost them.
The 36-year-old stand-in boss was unable to completely solve the goalscoring issues that plagued their season.
Key defender Alex Gogic says McLeish could do more with greater time, though, and would be happy for him to stay on.
“Yeah, of course, whatever the club chooses,” Gogic said.
“If he has a pre-season, it will probably be better than what it is. If the club decide to go his way, we’ll all be behind that.”
Former Dundee United and Partick Thistle boss Ian McCall says McLeish has done his chances no harm by steering St Mirren to safety.
“I don’t think he had any chance of getting the job if St Mirren were relegated,” McCall said.
“What he has done is conducted himself really well and given himself a real chance of the job.
“The power-that-be here took a real chance appointing a young lad like that. But he has come through it really well. He has talked really well.
“He came through one dodgy moment when Kilmarnock won here 3-0. But he’s come back from that really strongly.
“It didn’t just plummet when Craig McLeish took over. It was a bad run of results when Stephen Robinson was there after the cup final which brought this on. He certainly has a chance.”
Outgoing Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said the memories and relationships built during his decade at the club mattered more than the 20 trophies he won, as he reflected emotionally on his unforgettable spell at City following his final match in charge.
SAN DIEGO — The good people of New York like to consider themselves tough. If you can make it there, as Frank Sinatra crooned, you’ll make it anywhere.
Do not confuse hot takes with sounding tough. Two New York sports talk hosts this week took daft shots at Joe Davis and came off — in the last adjective with which any true New Yorker would want to be described — as soft.
Let’s rewind: Davis is the lead voice of the Dodgers on SportsNet LA. He is also the lead voice of the national baseball broadcasts on Fox. In the latter role, he called last Saturday’s game between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets.
At one point, Mets outfielder Carson Benge dropped an easy fly ball. Without missing a beat, Davis said: “Oh, no! Oh, no, the Mets!”
It was the perfect call. The foibles of the Mets are so many and so weird that Mets fans themselves have embraced a term for them: LOLMets. You can learn all about it in a 23-minute YouTube video narrated by a former Mets pitcher.
Commentator Stephen Nelson, Dodger Shohei Ohtani, interpreter Will Ireton, Dodger Roki Sasaki and broadcaster Joe Davis address fans during Dodger Fest at Dodger Stadium on Jan. 31.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Firing one manager (Willie Randolph) at midnight in Anaheim? Dumping another manager (Carlos Beltran) before he could manage a game because he was the only player cited in the commissioner’s report on the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal? Opening this season with baseball’s highest payroll and spending some time with baseball’s worst record?
“This year, and in recent years, there have been so many moments where it looks like the Mets are right there, ready to make a run or win the division or win a championship, and then something just tends to go wrong,” Davis said in San Diego Tuesday.
“They were in a stretch right there where every single day, they were getting a stud hurt. They put together a winning streak against the Tigers, then Clay Holmes has the comebacker break his ankle.”
The next day, Benge totally clanked it, and Davis totally nailed it — in the moment, not with some scripted phrase waiting in his pocket.
“You hope that your reactions in those moments — in any moment in this job — are authentic,” Davis said. “You don’t have much time for it to be anything else.”
On Monday, Evan Roberts — a host on WFAN, New York’s top-rated sports station — unloaded on Davis for “mocking” the Mets.
“Joe Davis has become a clown for the Los Angeles Dodgers and we all hear it,” Roberts said, in remarks posted by the Awful Announcing website.
Got anything else?
“I think he’s a Dodger fanboy,” Roberts said. “I think he wants to just make love to Shohei Ohtani every time he talks about him … He’s a great broadcaster, and I’ll admit it. But, for now, I think Joe Davis is a Dodgers shill and it’s obnoxious.
“And I’d give him this advice, not that he cares, he doesn’t care: Don’t go to the Dodger parade and be the emcee. It’s a bad look. It just is. You’re sitting there as the national voice and now you’re pom-pom waving at the Dodger parade. Come on, man.”
Davis works for the Dodgers. When the boss wants you to emcee the World Series championship rally, you do. Would the Mets’ broadcasters do the same? When the Mets win their first World Series championship since 1986, we’ll find out.
Let’s hear from Sal Licata, formerly at WFAN and now working independently: “What’s up with Joe Davis, by the way? You Dodger homer. ‘Oh no, the Mets,’ that’s a national unbiased broadcast? You biased Dodger blue fool.”
There always will be people who claim Davis is biased toward the Dodgers, just as people claimed his predecessor, Joe Buck, was biased toward the St. Louis Cardinals. Buck worked for Fox on weekends and called Cardinals games during the week.
And, for the people who see only what they want to see, Davis is the voice of baseball’s evil empire. Maybe that aggravates New Yorkers, but consider how aggravated we are that we have to fight through hellish traffic to get to Dodger Stadium or a television set by 5 p.m. so we can see our team play in the World Series because the East Coast needs to see the game in prime time.
Or how annoyed we are that we get televised Yankees-Red Sox games shoved down our throats when Red Sox management has opted for irrelevance and the best rivalry in baseball is here, between the Dodgers and Padres.
Better yet, how about we all chill? It’s just a game. We could break bread with New York’s famous bagels, except the New York Times told us we have the better bagels.
Manchester United have reached an agreement with Michael Carrick to become the club’s permanent head coach.
The formal process of exchanging contracts is now under way, with an announcement expected inside the next 48 hours.
As things stand there is some doubt over whether the formalities can be completed before Sunday’s match against Nottingham Forest, but there is a will to have it done in time for the club’s final home game of the season.
Carrick will sign an initial two-year deal with the option of an additional 12 months.
Northern Ireland fans will be delighted that O’Neill has agreed to continue in his role as manager, especially given the foundation he has laid for possible future success.
He had said that he would “return to the status quo” for Northern Ireland’s June fixtures when asked about his future in March, but then said in April that a decision was still to made, which would have set alarm bells ringing.
Thankfully, for all parties, a decision has been made swiftly, allowing O’Neill to work towards preparing his NI squad for June’s friendlies and the upcoming Nations League campaign, while Blackburn now have plenty of time to appoint a permanent boss ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
O’Neill, like in his first spell, inherited a struggling Northern Ireland side from predecessor Ian Baraclough and while they missed out on qualifying for Euro 2024 and this year’s World Cup, he has certainly shaped them into a more competitive and attractive side.
The average age of O’Neill’s starting team for the defeat against Italy in their World Cup play-off in March was just 22.5 years – the country’s second youngest on record since World War Two.
Add in three key players in Conor Bradley, Dan Ballard and Ali McCann, who were missing for the game and the age profile remains the same, demonstrating the high ceiling this youthful but talented team has to grow.
With O’Neill remaining in the role, belief will really start to grow that he can guide the team to another European Championships as he did after a period of building with his squad in 2016.
The Irish FA would have known that the job would have been much more attractive now to potential candidates than before O’Neill returned in 2022, but will be pleased that he has decided to stay on for the next qualifying campaign and there won’t be any upheaval before the Nations League starts in September.
Matt’s family say he often struggled to emotionally switch off from football, and that negative comments on social media had begun to have an impact on his mental health.
He found breaking bad news to players about their place in the squad or future plans particularly difficult emotionally, according to Debbie.
“Matt always felt so bad having to let someone down,” she explains. “There would be tears, they might have shouted at him, and the player’s family and the fans could sometimes be negative towards him too.
“He and other staff members would make the decisions but, because he had to deliver the news, the emotional burden all came down on to him.
“Matt was there for everybody and he hated letting people down. He looked out for everyone else, but sadly not himself.”
In the summer leading up to his death, Matt had been appointed manager of Burnley in the third tier.
But Matt’s family say he wasn’t happy with the way the club was being run. WSL side Leicester City made it known they were interested in hiring Matt.
BBC Sport understands Burnley turned down an offer from Leicester to buy out the rest of Matt’s contract. Matt then resigned, but the move to Leicester never came to pass.
Burnley placed Matt on gardening leave, meaning he was unable to work or talk to other clubs for a period of three months.
Burnley declined a request to comment from BBC Sport on the nature of Matt’s departure from the club.
“We went to a small village in Malaysia,” Tonton Zola Moukoko told me. “I gave my passport to the officer. He was shocked. ‘Are you really Tonton Zola Moukoko?’ he asked. ‘You can’t be the one that was playing at Derby!'”
Moukoko’s legend travelled far and wide, carried on fans’ forums and whispered between Championship Manager anoraks. And there was truth in its roots.
Derby beat AC Milan and Bologna to sign the 15-year-old from Djurgardens in Sweden, where he moved from Democratic Republic of Congo to live with his brother after losing both parents.
He was a fledgling star in County’s academy, whose attributes on the game would see him grow into a skilful number 10 in the mould of Lionel Messi, often ending up at Europe’s biggest clubs.
At real-life youth or reserve games, fans would ask for his signature. But Moukoko never made a senior appearance at Derby. The death of his older brother saw him return to Sweden, and he spent his career in the lower Scandinavian leagues.
“Things happened around me which changed me a lot, changed my football career,” he said. “I didn’t really enjoy football any more.
“I found it very difficult to sleep for a long time after my brother died. Football was not the right thing for me after that.”
Moukoko is happy, though, that his legend endures among those who signed him on the game: “Still now, I have people calling from Australia, France, all over the place.”
