Joe Kinnear plans to start his reign at crisis club Newcastle by telling his struggling stars to stop sulking. Kinnear, 61, was in the stands at St. James’ Park on Saturday as his new team slumped to a fifth successive defeat, 2-1 at Blackburn, to remain rooted in the relegation zone. Kinnear, who was appointed as interim manager on Friday and officially takes charge today, was shocked by Newcastle’s woeful defending which allowed Christopher Samba and Roque Santa Cruz to head the visitors into a 2-0 lead with just 41 minutes gone.
The former Nottingham Forest and Wimbledon boss, who had addressed the players before kick-off, had some choice words for them at the break, and that seemed to do the trick as they turned in a much-improved, second-half display. However, Michael Owen’s 49th-minute penalty — his fifth goal in seven games — was the only tangible reward and Kinnear knows he has a major task on his hands in training today.
“We needed to stop feeling sorry for ourselves,” he said. “We need to get rid of all the issues that are going on — Is the club being sold? Are we bringing back Kevin Keegan? — until it actually happens.”
“We need to focus on playing football, it’s as simple as that. And they need to play football well. But what has not helped matters, I am told, is that six or seven of the best players are missing,” he said.
“On the good side, with the international break coming up we could have four or five of them back. We need to be more vocal in the dressing room, we need more input. It’s something that I have always had throughout my career, feedback from players, players who show emotion, players who want to win, players who have things to say,” he said.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
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