Arteta is one of Joan Laporta’s targets if Koeman leaves (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is among the list of managerial targets for Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta should Ronald Koeman depart at the end of the season, according to reports in Spain.
Laporta, Victor Font and Toni Freixa are vying for control at the Camp Nou will elections set to be held on March 8.
Koeman replaced Ernesto Valverde as Barca head coach last summer and while Laporta, who is seeking a second term club as club president, has publicly backed the Dutchman, Arteta is among a list of possible alternatives should he leave his post at the end of the season.
RAC1 report Arteta could be an option due to his affinity with the club and given his tutelage under club legend Pep Guardiola.
It was Laporta who gave Guardiola the opportunity to take the reins at Barcelona back in 2008 with Arteta, who worked under the current Manchester City boss for over three years, seen as a possible solution to recreate that era.
Laporta seeking a return to power at the Camp Nou (Picture: Getty)
Arteta is also a graduate of the club’s La Masia academy.
Barcelona currently sit second in La Liga, five points adrift of league leaders Atletico Madrid having played a game more.
The club are facing the possibility of elimination from both the Champions League and the Copa del Rey in the coming weeks.
A 4-1 hammering at home at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain leaves their European hopes hanging by a threat while they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Sevilla in the first leg of their semi-final cup tie in February, with the return leg scheduled this week.
Judd Trump is the defending champion at the Gibraltar Open (Picture: Getty Images)
The non-stop snooker action continues this week at the Gibraltar Open, which is being held in Milton Keynes this week.
The likes of Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby are all set to be in action this week, although new Players Championship winner John Higgins has decided to have a few days off after his stunning victory on Sunday.
The £150,000 BetVictor bonus is being contested, largely between Trump and Selby, while there are places in the Tour Championship and the top 16 for the World Championship to fight for.
The biggest story, though, is the return of seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry who is playing professionally for the first time since 2012 as he emerges from retirement.
When is the Gibraltar Open
The event runs from 1-7 March at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
What TV channel is the Gibraltar Open on and is there a live stream?
Eurosport will be showing all the action with streaming available on the Eurosport Player.
Gibraltar Open draw and schedule
Monday 01 March
09:00 Zhou Yuelong v Xu Si
09:00 Yuan SiJun v Alexander Ursenbacher
09:00 Yan Bingtao v Jamie Clarke
09:00 Martin O’Donnell v Xiao Guodong
11:30 Brian Ochoiski v Liang Wenbo
11:30 David Lilley v Duane Jones
11:30 David Gilbert v Paul S Davison
11:30 Jimmy Robertson v James Cahill
14:00 Robert Milkins v Gary Wilson
14:00 Mitchell Mann v Lukas Kleckers
14:00 Ricky Walden v Mark Joyce
14:00 Ding Junhui v Si Jiahui
16:30 Rory McLeod v Hossein Vafaei
16:30 Andy Hicks v Allan Taylor
16:30 Joe Perry v Mark Davis
16:30 Shaun Murphy v Ashley Hugill
19:00 Judd Trump v Robbie Williams
19:00 Oliver Brown v Fan Zhengyi
19:00 Michael White v Soheil Vahedi
19:00 Zak Surety v Tom Ford
Tuesday 02 March
09:00 Steven Hallworth v Jamie Jones
09:00 Chen Zifan v Daniel Womersley
09:00 Ian Burns v Leo Fernandez
09:00 Jack Lisowski v Farakh Ajaib
11:30 Mark Williams v Li Hang
11:30 Jimmy White v Joe O’Connor
11:30 Chang Bingyu v Eden Sharav
11:30 Nigel Bond v Chris Wakelin
14:00 Kyren Wilson v Kuldesh Johal
14:00 Andrew Higginson v Lyu Haotian
14:00 Stuart Carrington v Gao Yang
14:00 Zhao Xintong v Ashley Carty
16:30 Ken Doherty v Matthew Stevens
16:30 Mark Selby v Sam Craigie
16:30 Peter Devlin v Daniel Wells
16:30 Elliot Slessor v Jackson Page
19:00 Matthew Selt v Stephen Hendry
19:00 Barry Hawkins v Luo Honghao
19:00 Martin Gould v David Grace
19:00 Zhao Jianbo v Noppon Saengkham
Wednesday 03 March
09:00 Stuart Bingham v Gerard Greene
09:00 Dominic Dale v Tian Pengfei
09:00 Barry Pinches v Anthony Hamilton
09:00 Liam Highfield v Fraser Patrick
11:30 Scott Donaldson v Peter Lines
11:30 Kacper Filipiak v Alan McManus
11:30 Jak Jones v Ryan Day
11:30 Rod Lawler v Jordan Brown
14:00 John Higgins v Jamie Wilson
14:00 Lee Walker v Jamie O’Neill
14:00 Pang Junxu v Igor Figueiredo
14:00 Anthony McGill v Louis Heathcote
16:30 Amine Amiri v Sunny Akani
16:30 Neil Robertson v Lei Peifan
16:30 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Sean Maddocks
16:30 Billy Joe Castle v Ben Woollaston
19:00 Graeme Dott v Ben Hancorn
19:00 Oliver Lines v Riley Parsons
19:00 Simon Lichtenberg v Lu Ning
19:00 Ronnie O’Sullivan v Ali Carter
Thursday 04 March
09:00 Iulian Boiko v Fergal O’Brien
09:00 Mark Allen v Jamie Curtis-Barrett
09:00 Brandon Sargeant v Aaron Hill
09:00 Mark King v Luca Brecel + Last 64 matches
Friday 05: Last 64 & L32 Saturday 06: Last 32 & L16 Sunday 07: Quarters, Semi & Final
Gibraltar Open prize money
Winner: £50,000
Runner-up: £20,000
Semi-final: £6,000
Quarter-final: £5,000
Last 16: £4,000
Last 32: £3,000
Last 64: £2,000
Highest break: £5,000
Gibraltar Open odds
Judd Trump 7/2
Ronnie O’Sullivan 9/2
Neil Robertson 6/1
Mark Selby 15/2
John Higgins 9/1
Kyren Wilson 11/1
Mark Allen 14/1
Shaun Murphy 16/1
Ding Junhui 18/1
Stuart Bingham 22/1
Barry Hawkins 25/1
Yan Bingtao 25/1
Jack Lisowski 25/1
Mark Williams 30/1
Zhou Yuelong 30/1
Dave Gilbert 40/1
Anthony McGill 70/1
Zhao Xintong 70/1
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 75/1
Tom Ford 75/1
Martin Gould 75/1
Ali Carter 75/1
Billy Gilmour was left out against Manchester United (Photo by Alex Burstow/Getty Images)
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel admits it was a ‘hard decision’ to leave Billy Gilmour out of his side’s squad for the 0-0 draw against Manchester United on Sunday.
The talented Scot was not named in Tuchel’s 20-man squad to take on the Red Devils at Stamford Bridge and hasn’t featured for the club since impressing in an FA Cup win against Barnsley.
Chelsea failed to close the gap on the top four as they played out a drab draw with the Red Devils and they face another crucial fixture next with a trip to face Liverpool at Anfield in midweek.
With Chelsea lacking creativity in central midfield against United, Tuchel was quizzed on his decision to leave Gilmour out.
But the German insists there was nothing personal, nor an injury issue at play, insisting instead that Gilmour was simply suffering the fate that others have recently due to the size of Chelsea’s squad.
Tuchel insists tough decisions will have to be made given the size of his squad (Picture: Sky)
‘It was also a hard decision for Billy Gilmour, because Billy played very well in the Cup,’ said Tuchel.
‘He’s been very, very strong in training. He gets also the hard decision and it was about judging all the alternatives we have.’
‘It’s a decision. We had this decision in the first game I think for Andreas Christensen, and we had it already for Emerson. This is the way it is.’
With Chelsea facing another six-pointer against Liverpool in midweek, the club will be seeking all three points against the champions as they look to close the gap on the top four.
The Blues had the best chances at Stamford Bridge against United but they were fortunate not to concede a penalty when referee Stuart Attwell overruled advice from VAR, much to the relief of Callum Hudson-Odoi.
A host of players donned Woods’ trademark outfit on Sunday (Pictures: Getty Images)
Tiger Woods has thanked his fellow golfers for their ‘touching’ show of support on the final day of the WGC-Workday Championship in his first comment since last week’s horrific car crash.
Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Patrick Reed were among the stars who played the final day at The Concession wearing Woods’ iconic red shirt and black trousers.
The 15-time major championship winner, who has suffered serious injuries to both legs, was able to watch the tournament from his hospital bed in Los Angeles as he recovers from the crash.
Tommy Fleetwood was among the players who wore Woods’ iconic outfit (Picture: Getty)
‘It’s hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the TV and saw all the red shirts,’ wrote Woods on his Twitter account.
‘To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time.’
It is hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the tv and saw all the red shirts. To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time.
McIlroy and Reed were paired together for the final round, both wearing red and black, while the likes of Tommy Fleetwood and Cameron Champ also joined in – as did many of the spectators and even some of the caddies at the event.
‘I guess for us it’s just a gesture to let him know that we’re thinking about him and we’re rooting for him,’ McIlroy said of the tribute.
‘Obviously things are looking a little better today than they were on Tuesday, but he’s still got a way to go, he’s got a huge recovery ahead of him.
‘But I think it was just about everyone showing their appreciate for what he means to us out here.
‘If there was no Tiger Woods I just think the tour and the game of golf in general would be in a worse place.
McIlroy says the players wanted to show Woods how much he means to them (Picture: Getty)
Jason Day also donned red and black at the event in Florida on Sunday (Picture: Getty)
‘He’s meant a lot to us, he still does mean a lot to us, and I think this was just a little way to show that.’
Woods was hoping to play at The Masters next month having undergone his fifth back operation at the end of last year, but those hopes have been dashed by the crash.
The 45-year-old has ‘significant injuries’ to both legs, including multiple fractures and a shattered ankle, and faces a very long rehabilitation process just to walk again, let alone play golf.
Manchester United are currently in second (Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Gary Neville has taken a dig at Jose Mourinho by insisting Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a ‘far better’ chance of ending the club’s wait for a Premier League title due to the new-found spirit and harmony at Old Trafford.
Mourinho was appointed in 2016 to end United’s wait for a title since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement but he departed in late 2018 having failed to deliver.
Solskjaer is yet to win silverware in his two years at the Theatre of Dreams but the Norwegian has stabilised the club and supporters are happier with the style of play at the club, as well as the progress in results.
And Neville believes Solskjaer has put his former club in a far stronger position than Mourinho ever managed, with the ex-United skipper questioning whether the players liked one another under the Portuguese.
Neville sees better signs at Old Trafford (Picture: SkySports)
Over the last 12 months, Manchester United have put an incredible run of results together.
‘The points tally has been big, year to year. To actually go 20 games away from home needs applauding because it’s hard to do that,’ Neville told the Sky Sports Podcast.
‘What do you use to demonstrate teams that have got good character and personality?
‘They’re good away from home, they’re good on set pieces, they look like they want to play with each other.
‘That’s why I think this Manchester United team is better suited than the one from two or three years ago under Jose Mourinho that finished second.
‘I actually feel there’s a better spirit. I think they’ve got a far better chance of winning the league in the next two or three years than they were under Jose a couple of years ago.
‘I thought it was a strange bunch of lads, they just didn’t seem to like each other. They didn’t really appeal to me as a fan.’
United’s 0-0 draw against Chelsea means they’ve capitalised on defeats to rivals Leicester and West Ham this weekend but Liverpool are the big winners as the champions closed the gap on the top four.
Jurgen Klopp’s men host Chelsea at Anfield in midweek, where United will hope to make the most of dropped points for either or both of the sides with a win against Crystal Palace.
United’s focus will be on securing second place in the Premier League given Manchester City’s lead at the top and they currently have a six-point buffer on Chelsea in fifth.
Manchester United and Chelsea shared the points after Sunday’s drab stalemate (Picture: Getty)
Luke Shaw stunned viewers after Sunday’s goalless draw at Stamford Bridge as he claimed Stuart Attwell chose not to award a penalty against Chelsea for fear of a potential backlash – but Manchester United insist the left-back misheard the referee’s exchange with Harry Maguire.
The major talking point of this weekend’s drab stalemate came in the 14th minute as Callum Hudson-Odoi handled the ball inside his own box while grappling with United forward Mason Greenwood for possession.
VAR instructed Attwell to consult with his pitchside monitor and players from both sides surrounded the official before United’s desperate appeals were dismissed and play continued.
United claim Shaw misheard Maguire’s conversation with the referee (Picture: Sky Sports)
‘At the time I saw a handball but I didn’t know if it was Mason [Greenwood] or Callum,’ the United and England full-back explained when reflecting on the incident.
‘I just carried on, I didn’t even know that there was a potential check. I don’t know why they’ve stopped it if it’s not a penalty. If it’s not going to be a penalty I don’t think they needed to stop.
‘The referee even said to H [Harry Maguire], I heard him say: “If I say it’s a pen then it’s going to cause a lot of talk about it after.” So I don’t know what happened there.
‘H said they got told it was a pen, he [the referee] got told it was a pen by VAR. So I’m not sure what’s gone on.
‘I don’t understand why he’s stopped, if he’s stopped you would think he’s going to give a pen because we had the ball, we were attacking.
‘So it’s confusing with this VAR because… look, if it’s not going to be a pen they might as well just carry on the game and not stop the flow of the game. But I’m not going to moan about it because like I said, I don’t think either team did enough to win.’
Attwell consulted with his pitchside monitor after Hudson-Odoi handled in the area (Picture: Getty)
Shaw’s comments would likely have landed Attwell in hot water if they were proven to be accurate but United have issued a swift and clear response, telling both Manchester Evening News and Sky Sports that the defender was mistaken.
The club insist there was no malicious intent and that Shaw simply misheard what was said between Maguire and the official.
Though frustrated with the refereeing on show in west London, Shaw admitted United should have done more to win the game as they lost further ground on league leaders Manchester City.
‘There weren’t too many chances from either side. We need to keep pushing because we obviously wanted to win today, to close the gap, even though we know the gap is big,’ he added.
‘But we take the point, we know they’re a very good team and they haven’t conceded too many either.
‘They defend well. So we need to move on, we’ve got another big game against Crystal Palace this week.’
The Red Devils will look to respond when they travel to Selhurst Park to face 13th-placed Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening.
Solskjaer’s men then travel to the Etihad for a crunch match with Pep Guardiola’s rampant City side, who could extend their winning streak to 21 matches with victory over their bitter rivals.
Liverpool beat Sheffield United to bring an end to a miserable run of four league defeats (Picture: Getty)
Jurgen Klopp expects to have Alisson and Fabinho back for Liverpool’s upcoming heavyweight clash with Chelsea and is hopeful Diogo Jota could also feature at Anfield on Thursday.
Adrian came in to replace the Brazil goalkeeper at Bramall Lane as Curtis Jones’ 48th-minute strike and Kean Bryan’s own goal ended Liverpool’s miserable run of four successive defeats in the Premier League.
Jota suffered another setback ahead of the game (Picture: Getty)
Jota had looked set to make his return for the champions after recovering from a serious knee injury but the Portuguese picked up an illness overnight and was not considered, while Fabinho was also absent.
The versatile Brazilian, who has been filling in at centre-half for much of the campaign, has been sidelined with a muscle problem since Liverpool’s thumping defeat to Manchester City.
Asked whether the trio could return to face Chelsea at his post-match press conference, Klopp replied: ‘Alisson and Fabinho, I’m pretty sure [will be available].
‘With Diogo, he was with us in the hotel, but he got sick overnight and we had to send him home.
‘It depends how quick he will recover, obviously. He was in the squad and as I said before, he trained with the team and it all looked really good but unfortunately he got sick overnight.
‘I think he will be available but I don’t know.’
Jones broke Sheffield United’s resistance shortly after half-time (Picture: Getty)
On the significance of Liverpool’s victory, Klopp said: ‘It’s very big.
‘We needed the points, obviously, to get kind of in contact with the teams above us so it was very important.’
The German said he never doubted the spirit and togetherness of his squad despite the heavy criticism they have faced in recent weeks.
‘I was never in doubt about the togetherness of this team,’ he added.
‘The world is like this: we win a game and we show togetherness for everybody. We don’t win a game and people guess we are not together. It’s not as easy as that.
‘But it was another special week and it’s a very nice touch from Curtis [dedicating his goal to Alisson] but it was clear that it will be like this, that we try our everything for Ali.’
On Jones’ man-of-the-match display, Klopp continued: ‘There’s a lot to come from Curtis so the potential is exceptional.
‘We had a lot of talks this week, especially with video sessions as well, and we showed him just that he has to be more in his decisive areas because he’s very good with the ball, he controls the game really well.
‘That’s all really good but a player with his quality, we need him finishing situations as well.
‘Tonight that worked out really well so I’m happy about that.’
Celtic are enduring a terrible season by their standards (Picture: Getty Images)
Chris Sutton feels the next Celtic manager is in for an extremely difficult task unless numerous signings are made over the summer.
Neil Lennon resigned as Bhoys boss earlier this month with the title race all but over in Scotland.
Celtic currently sit 15 points behind Rangers and hopes of catching their bitter rivals are at an end.
John Kennedy is currently in charge of the side and is in contention to become the permanent manager, although former Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe is the current favourite with the bookmakers to be in charge next season.
Whoever it is who takes the reins, Sutton has serious sympathy for them given how this season has gone at Celtic Park.
‘Celtic have been sleeping this season,’ Sutton told BT Sport. ‘There’s been a lack of leadership all throughout the club and its a massive problem and they are not out of the woods just because Neil has stepped down.
‘Many Celtic fans think Neil was selfish by carrying on. Neil thought he could turn it round. On the face of it, I thought Neil should’ve stepped down after the defeat against Ross County in the League Cup back in November.
‘But now Celtic have to look forward and think about next season. The truth of the matter is that a new manager coming into Celtic, if he’s appointed in June, if he has to work with this current squad then God help him.’
Sutton has suggested a couple of managers currently in charge in the Championship as good candidates for the role in Glasgow, although they might not be the ones you would expect.
Eddie Howe is in contention for the Celtic job (Picture: Getty Images)
‘It’s a really, really difficult one. Maybe Celtic have something up their sleeve and will pull somebody in from the continent with a big reputation,’ he said.
‘I think somebody like Michael O’Neill has done a pretty decent job throughout his management career. Maybe have a shot for somebody like him.
‘I’ll tell you an interesting one down south. Mick McCarthy’s gone into Cardiff City and turned them around. He may not be everybody’s cup of team but you sort of know he will organise his team and get them playing a certain way.’
