Besides the small step on the road to recovery that was the Scottish Premiership win at Livingston at the weekend, Rangers haven’t managed to lose sight of the starting blocks.
In Austria, they had an opportunity to build a bit of momentum and make a case for their head coach, who remains under huge pressure.
Instead, a poor throw-in from James Tavernier was lofted forward by Dimitri Lavalee, controlled by Maurice Malone, and finished by Tomi Horvat. Seven minutes had elapsed.
If that was a defensive mishap, the second goal was a defensive calamity.
A high line at a deep free-kick was sliced open with one delightful daisy-cutter, and a scrambling Jack Butland was left blushing for a second time in the first half.
“Schoolboy stuff,” said former Rangers right-back Alan Hutton.
Two mistakes due to the Ibrox side’s mentality, according to Martin. Nothing to do with their set-up, system or style.
“The difference from the first half-hour to the next 60 minutes was too far apart really,” the head coach said. “It’s concentration, it’s mentality.
“I’m frustrated because we give away two poor goals, soft goals. We did so much work on them recently we were just not alive.
“We hurt ourselves because they didn’t create anything from open play. It’s hurtful and frustrating.”
After Tottenham dug in to earn a 1-0 win against Villarreal on their return to the Champions League in midweek, Lucas Bergvall praised their “clean-sheet mentality’ with that shutout their fourth in their first five games this season.
When the clean sheet opportunity was swiftly wiped out by Brighton on Saturday, the Spurs players showed a different mentality.
This time they never gave up and appeared to have the belief that they could get something from the game, despite their statistically poor ability to recover from two-goal deficits.
“The mentality that we showed, I was so impressed with,” added Frank.
“[We showed] the mentality to stay in the game, to keep going, to keep pushing and come back and get a well deserved 2-2.”
Tottenham midfielder Joao Palhinha told Sky Sports: “At least what we can take is the mentality that we had fighting for the result.”
He added: “This mentality needs to be there always regardless of the result.”
Against Brighton, Tottenham had 45 touches of the ball inside the opposition box, compared to just 17 for Brighton.
They also had 11 shots on goal but just three of those were on target.
While Tottenham appear to have improved defensively and mentality wise from last season, making the opposition goalkeeper work appears to be an area they have, for now, regressed in.
“There are a lot of things for this team to keep improving,” Palhinha added.
Outscoring the opposition was the mentality at Tottenham last season but now the focus is on keeping out goals at the other end of the pitch.
Tuesday’s 1-0 win against Villarreal in Spurs’ Champions League opener was the fourth clean sheet they had kept in five games so far this season under Thomas Frank.
In contrast, they had kept just one at the same stage of last season, when the more attack-minded Ange Postecoglou was in charge.
“We talked a lot about ‘clean sheet mentality’ this year because we conceded a lot last year,” Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall told Amazon Prime.
“They [Villarreal] did not have a shot on target, so we did a really good job.”
Defender Micky van de Ven added: “I think we are a difficult team to play against, for sure. Structure-wise we are standing really good and we all know what to do, so we’re a difficult team to beat.”
The style of Frank’s Tottenham side against Villarreal was in stark contrast to the swashbuckling football played under Postecoglou.
They were much more cautious, even after being gifted a fourth-minute opener thanks to a calamitous mistake by Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior.
But their defence was excellent, with Van de Ven in particularly halting most of Villarreal’s attacks.
Even though the visitors had 10 shots, Guglielmo Vicario didn’t have a save to make throughout.
The price for that level of pragmatism was that Tottenham themselves only had one shot on target – very little for the home fans to get excited about.
“We defended really well and gave little away throughout the game against a really good Villarreal side,” Frank said.
“I think offensively we didn’t hit the highest level. There was definitely a spell second half where we decided let’s give it to the Villarreal guys and then we’ll sprint back, that’s a very good fun thing.
Chinese leader pledges $280m in aid to members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at summit in Tianjin.
Published On 1 Sep 20251 Sep 2025
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged regional leaders to oppose “Cold War mentality” at a gathering of a security bloc that Beijing has touted as an alternative to the Western-led international order.
In a speech to attendees of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on Monday, Xi said that member states are facing increasingly complicated security and development challenges as the world becomes “chaotic and intertwined”.
“Looking back, despite tumultuous times, we have achieved success by practising the Shanghai spirit,” Xi said.
“Looking to the future, with the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit, keep our feet on the ground, forge ahead, and better perform the functions of the organisation.”
Calling for an “equal and orderly multipolarisation” of the world, Xi said the bloc should work towards the creation of a “more just and equitable global governance system”.
The Chinese leader said Beijing would provide 2 billion yuan ($280m) in aid to member states this year and a further 10 billion yuan ($1.4bn) of loans to an SCO banking consortium.
“We must take advantage of the mega-scale market… to improve the level of trade and investment facilitation,” Xi said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko are among the more than 20 world readers attending the two-day SCO summit, which opened on Sunday in China’s northern city of Tianjin.
Established in 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation began as a grouping of six Eurasian nations – China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – but has since expanded to comprise 10 permanent members and 16 dialogue and observer countries.
Analysts say that China intends to use the gathering to promote an alternative to the United States-led global order and repair ties with India amid a shifting geopolitical environment under US President Donald Trump.
There were some breakdowns before UCLA broke training camp.
Don’t worry, these were the poignant, bring-everyone-together kind.
As part of coach DeShaun Foster’s efforts to connect a team featuring 55 new players and eight new assistant coaches, everyone participated in a series of brotherhood meetings over the last two weeks at the team hotel in Costa Mesa.
Coaches stood before the entire team, sharing anecdotes about their experiences in the game. Players told their stories in more intimate position-group settings run by a coach from a different position.
“A lot of tears,” Foster said Saturday before his team’s final camp session. “So I just like that the players were being vulnerable and letting their guard down because they saw the coaches do it. So, you know, I just think that really brought us together and we’re gonna see if it worked.”
One of the more stirring stories came from tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel, the former Bruins quarterback. Neuheisel talked about his anxiety after leading UCLA to a come-from-behind 20-17 road victory over Texas in 2014. He had come off the bench to replace injured starter Brett Hundley.
Foster said Neuheisel relayed how he was “kind of nervous just for another opportunity to happen and not being as successful the next time, you know? So that was huge because you would have never thought that with Jerry with how he is as a person.”
Offensive line coach Andy Kwon told players that regardless of the situation, they needed to finish what they started.
“Nobody cares if you’re tired, nobody cares if you’re hurting, nobody cares if you have an injury that’s pushable,” guard Julian Armella said. “Like, you can keep going, therefore you have to have a mentality each and every single day that you know that there’s going to be somebody that lines up across from you that wants your position, that wants to take the food off your family’s plate to be able to go and provide for theirs.
“So, I think just having that mentality of being able to finish, come out each day — whether it be recovery, whether it be in the classroom, off the classroom, on the field — all of these things build up in order to have that finish mentality.”
Offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri’s message — stop thinking about what other people think about you and focus on yourself — resonated with veteran tight end Hudson Habermehl.
“You don’t want to let others’ input affect you,” Habermehl said, “because at the end of the day, all we have is each other.”
The collective mindset has resulted in a new motto for 2025: We over me.
Back at it
UCLA tight end Hudson Habermehl smiles after a touchdown catch against Boise State in the L.A. Bowl in December 2023.
(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
As soon as he went down in the spring of 2024, his anguished screams carrying across the practice field, Habermehl had one thought running through his mind.
Am I going to be able to play again?
His coach running over to check on the player who had just torn his anterior cruciate ligament, Habermehl repeatedly yelled five words that reflected his love for the game.
“I just want to play!” he said. “I just want to play!”
Some 15 months later, a rehabilitation that included plenty of doubts and a second surgery to clean up debris in his knee finished, Habermehl is on the verge of completing his comeback.
“It really made me step back and think,” Habermehl said, “how bad do I really want it?”
A lot, it turned out.
Along the way, he had more than a little help from his friends. Teammates and coaches constantly checked in on him and drove him to rehabilitation appointments at a time when he couldn’t put any weight on his leg for two months. Former UCLA linebacker Josh Woods, who persevered through his own devastating knee injury, was especially helpful in offering advice, telling Habermehl that he would learn a lot about himself during his recovery.
A symbolic change came over winter break when Habermehl trimmed his long, flowing locks, leading to a much more streamlined look. Foster had to check with another coach to ask who Habermehl was after walking past him in the weight room.
“He comes up and he’s like, ‘Huddy?’ ” Habermehl said. “And I was like, ‘What up?’ He’s like, ‘I didn’t even recognize you. I thought you were an alum.’ ”
Calling his new hairstyle “aerodynamic,” Habermehl looked incredibly sleek while making one of the highlight plays of camp when he sprinted to the corner of the end zone to make a leaping catch. He figures to be the team’s top tight end during a final college season that will also make him possibly the most educated player on the team.
Having completed a bachelor’s degree in geography and environmental studies, he’s also earned master’s degrees in legal studies and transformative coaching and leadership. This fall he’s taking extension classes in project management, though he conceded maybe he’s lost an opportunity.
“If you had told me I was going to be here this long, I would have started the doctorate right away,” Habermehl quipped. “You could call me Dr. Habermehl.”
Etc.
Safety Key Lawrence returned to individual practice drills Saturday, one week after suffering an apparent right leg injury. Foster said Lawrence would be eased back into practices. … UCLA will hold a mock game open to the public on Aug. 23 at the Rose Bowl. Foster said it was intended to help the team’s newcomers experience the logistics of a game one week before the season opener against Utah. … Foster confirmed that the team’s new grass practice field would not be ready for the resumption of on-campus practices next week, forcing it to use Drake Stadium. The team will shift to the intramural fields, which feature artificial turf, ahead of its Sept. 6 game at Nevada Las Vegas to prepare for the same playing surface inside Allegiant Stadium. … UCLA’s weight room renovations have been completed, Foster said, providing more modern equipment and better spacing.
Before Motherwell found their late equaliser, former Rangers midfielder Derek Ferguson has expressed deep concern about his old side’s approach.
“At the moment there’s nothing coming from Rangers; it’s quite worrying,” he said on BBC Sportsound. “I’ve not got a clue what their tactic is. I don’t see it.”
After Motherwell netted the leveller their play more than merited, Ferguson added: “I’ve got a real worry after watching that second half. They players still have a lot to prove to that Rangers support.”
Speaking on Sky Sports, irate former Rangers striker Kris Boyd said: “It’s the same things that keep happening time after time after time.
“It’s early in the season. We know there are going to be players arriving. We know there are going to be players going out. But the alarming thing for is he’s calling them out so early on.”
Despite agreeing with Martin, former Celtic forward Chris Sutton was also taken aback by the Rangers boss’ comments, saying the remarks “were extreme”.
“For him to for him to do that first game of the season, he sees him every day in training, he must think they’re rank rotten,” he said on Sky Sports.
“Because why wouldn’t there be a bit more balance there? When have you ever seen a manager do that first game of the season? That was extreme as extreme.”
