Sports Poets Society

ROB NEWELL/ CAMERASPORT VIA GETTY IMAGES Michail Antonio places much of the blame for  his  departure from West Ham on former manager Graham Potter Michail Antonio on West Ham’s decline, the benefits of therapy and always being asked about his car crash ‘People do treat players like pieces of meat.  As soon as you get a bit stale, they get rid of you’ 3 Jun 2026 - The Guardian Jacob Steinberg ‘I never thought I needed therapy,” says Michail Antonio during a long conversation about the darker side of football, trauma and where it went wrong for West Ham. “I was always a happy person. But I had so many demons.” This is not just about the moment that almost cost the 36-year-old his life. Antonio knows how lucky he was to emerge from the wreckage with only a broken leg after crashing his Ferrari in December 2024, but it is one part of the story and there are plenty more chapters to write. The former West Ham forward lets it all out in Humans Not Robots , his raw and entertai...

FOTO ACTION IMAGES/CRAIG BROUGH  Een fan van Southampton toont een tak met een knipoog naar ‘Spygate’ waarbij  een stagiair van de club achter een boom concurrent Middlesbrough bespioneerde. Nadat de stagiair achter een boom werd betrapt, sloot de bond Southampton uit van deelname aan finale play-offs. De ‘spion’ werd betrapt, sloeg vergeefs op de vlucht, want al op de foto 22 May 2026 - NRC Sam de Jongh  AMSTERDAM - Verstopt achter een pijnboom, aan de rand van het trainingscomplex van Middlesbrough, staat William Salt . De stagiair van het analyseteam van Southampton, met AirPods in zijn oren en een telefoon in zijn hand, heeft een missie: heimelijk de training opnemen van de tegenstander. Met die beelden moet de technische staf van zijn club meer te weten komen van de tactiek van Middlesbrough, in aanloop naar de belangrijke wedstrijd in de play-offs om promotie, om Premier Leaguevoetbal. Salt faalt; hij wordt betrapt. Hij slaat via een nabijgelegen golfterrein nog op ...

MATTHEW LEWIS/GETTY IMAGES Supporters throng the Coventry streets for yesterday’s victory parade Coventry owner hails Lampard on day of wild celebrations A top-flight return after 25 years’ absence has Coventry in wonderland, but owner Doug King is staying focused ‘Frank has been in areas that make you grow as a motivator,  as a leader, as a coach’ 5 May 2026 - The Guardian Ben Fisher Doug King is discussing the night Coventry clinched promotion to the Premier League after 25 years away. He had a tear in his eye when the moment arrived at Blackburn and, after eventually exiting the Ewood Park boardroom, the champagne flowing, the straight-talking owner worth hundreds of millions hunkered down at a Travelodge adjacent to a service station on the M65. “It was ... noisy,” he says, taking a second to land on the best adjective, “because all I could hear pretty much all night was: ‘We are Premier League.’” It has led King to feel like a party planner of late. The biggest one yet was ye...

Leicester City-speler Patson Daka treurt na het gelijkspel op 21 april tegen Hull City,  waardoor zijn ploeg definitief degradeert.  FOTO JACOB KING/AP Het King Power Stadium is niet langer vol met fans die het wonder van Leicester willen aanschouwen. Er hangt nu een „heel sombere sfeer”, nog verslechterd door de nieuwe degradatie. „Het is alsof ze plotseling niets goed meer konden doen.” De kans dat Leicester in 2016 de landstitel zou winnen, werd even groot geacht als het bestaan van het monster van Loch Ness "Om degradatie te ontlopen moet je als team de nul kunnen houden. Dat is ze al dertig wedstrijden op rij niet gelukt" - Rob Tanner clubvolger voor The Athletic 23 Apr 2026 - NRC Joost Pijpker Het zijn de sporen van een stil protest. Vlaggen van vaalblauwe en vuilwitte stof, slordig weggestopt tussen de stoeltjes van het King Power Stadium. Ze zijn er neergelegd zodat de vaste bezoekers van die zitjes ermee zouden zwaaien – bij opkomst van de spelers van Leicester Ci...

In Inghilterra, e più in generale nel mondo anglosassone, per la superstizione il 13 è un numero sfortunato.  Da noi è il 17.  Ma per Edoardo Bove, quel mondo che, 13 mesi fa - al minuto 17 - sembrava essergli crollato addosso con l'arresto cardiaco, gira in un verso tutto suo. E con esso il suo destino, che gli ha fatto dare uno strappo da Gianluca Nani, diesse del Watford di patron Gino Pozzo. EDOARDO BOVE A SKY UK: Ho conosciuto il direttore (Gianluca Nani del Watford, ndr) in aeroporto a Trieste, mentre abdavo a vedere la Fiorentina, che giocava a Udine. È stato molto gentile a offritmi un passaggio, abbiamo avuto modo di parlare nel van. Ora, quel lungo viaggio esistenziale incominciato in Fiorentina-Inter del primo dicembre 2024, è terminato 415 giorni dopo firmando per il Watford, club di Championship, la seconda divisione inglese. Anche se la vera chiusura del cerchio si avrà con il suo ritorno in campo, in una partita ufficiale. In un campionato molto tosto e competit...

In the latest in our series, Paul Hayward examines a Premier League club in detail Paul Hayward 25 Jan 2026 - THE OBSERVER / Sport On-pitch performance The grumble in September was that Leeds had failed to sign a striker and undermined their survival chances. Unheralded, and on a free transfer, Dominic Calvert-Lewin did little to dispel that fear before the end of November, when he set off on a run of eight goals in nine matches. Against Manchester United, Calvert-Lewin, still only 28, outshone a £74m No9, Benjamin Šeško. He is the first Leeds player to score in six consecutive Premier League games. Daniel Farke, meanwhile, has found a settled formula that has given Leeds clear water above the relegation zone. They have lost once in 2026 so far, 4-3 at Newcastle, their only defeat in their past 10 matches, a run that includes seven unbeaten in the league – their best run in the top flight since 2001. In the core of regulars are Ethan Ampadu, Jayden Bogle, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Joe Rodon...

Brazilian midfielder Léo Scienza endured depression and hard times to finally be thriving with Southampton ‘Friends ask me if I dream of playing for Brazil.  That’s crazy, but in a good way. It’s not reality’ 23 Jan 2026 - The Guardian Thiago Rabelo Seven years ago Léo Scienza’s life broke into a thousand pieces. On his 20th birthday his father died and the young footballer locked himself in his room for two months, having lost the will to live . “You know when everything is bad and nothing makes sense any more?” the Southampton midfielder says. “My life had no meaning any more. “Everyone has a dark side and I’m not the best person to talk about depression or what depression is. In fact, I only understood it later. My father died on my birthday – that will always be marked in my life. After he died I just wanted to stay in my dark room doing nothing. I didn’t want to see anyone, I didn’t want to talk to anyone.” The Brazilian can talk about it now but it is clear it remains a haunt...

Ian Holloway, en mai 2010, en train de fêter la qualification  de Blackpool en finale de play-offs de Championship. En trente ans de carrière, le coach de 62 ans s’est fait connaître en décrochant deux accessions en Premier League et en plaçant l’humour au coeur de sa stratégie managériale. «J’adore la ville de Blackpool,  on est pareils elle et moi,  on est plus jolis dans l’obscurité»    - IAN HOLLOWAY 30 Dec 2025 - L'Équipe PIERRE-ÉTIENNE MINONZIO La scène se passe à la fin de l’année 2019, à la Réunion. À cette époque, le milieu de terrain Elliot Grandin, âgé de 32 ans, évolue à la Saint-Pierroise, un club de l’île de l’océan Indien, après être notamment passé par l’OM et divers clubs anglais. « Je terminais ma carrière en douceur, dans un endroit où l’on peut vivre en claquettes toute l’année » , confie-t-il. C’est dans ce contexte qu’il reçoit un coup de fil de l’un de ses anciens coaches, Ian Holloway, qui l’avait managé à Blackpool (2010-2012) et à Cryst...

Jamais l’autoproclamé club « le plus détesté du Royaume », 7e de Championship à deux points du 3e, n’a évolué en Premier League. Une fois, seulement, il a goûté à l’élite, entre 1988 et 1990. Tony Cascarino y était. L’ancien buteur de l’OM raconte une exp "Les fans se disent : « La Premier League ne veut pas de nous »"     - TONY CASCARINO 29 Dec 2025 - L'Équipe DAMIEN DEGORRE LONDRES – Il y a deux semaines, Millwall était troisième de Championship, premier qualifié pour les play-offs d’accession, et habité par des ambitions inédites. Parce que sportivement, c’est plutôt Amiens, bien calé au milieu de tableau de D2, que Metz, qui monte et qui descend. Jamais ce club, dont les supporters revendiquent le statut de « plus détesté du Royaume» , n’a évolué en Premier League, depuis sa création en 1992. En tribunes, en revanche, c’est la démesure. « No one likes us, we don’t care » («Personne ne nous aime, on s’en fiche»), chantent les fans à chaque match. Une fois, seulem...

SIMON DAEL/SHUTTERSTOCK & ISOSPORT/MB MEDIA/GETTY IMAGES Sacked manager Paulo Pezzolano and football agent Arnaud Mogi Bayat Watford sources deny the claims and insist they are ‘comfortable’ with decision 11 Oct 2025 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Ed Aarons Paulo Pezzolano was sacked by Watford because he resisted pressure to select players who have a connection to the agent Arnaud Mogi Bayat , it has been claimed, although this has been denied by sources at the Championship club. Pezzolano and his technical team were dismissed on Wednesday after five months and 10 matches, with Javi Gracia installed for his second spell. It is understood Pezzolano and his staff were surprised and dismayed, having secured successive league victories at Vicarage Road after a slow start to the season. Sources close to Pezzolano’s staff have alleged that his reluctance in his final three weeks to select players linked to Bayat resulted in him becoming the 11th manager Watford have moved on from since the sta...

16 May 2025 - Leicester Mercury By JORDAN BLACKWELL jordan.blackwell@reachplc.com @jrdnblackwell SEAN Dyche is not actively seeking a return to management but could be swayed if the right job comes up, he has said amid links to Leicester City. Reports at the weekend named Dyche as a frontrunner to succeed Ruud van Nistelrooy, whose future at the King Power Stadium is in doubt. Dyche has been out of work since being sacked by Everton in the winter , and said he turned down opportunities in the immediate aftermath of leaving Goodison Park. But even after a few months out of the game, Dyche says he’s not looking to make a comeback right now. The 53-year-old has, in the past, been highly regarded at City for the work he did at Burnley, and he was on the shortlist to replace Craig Shakespeare at the King Power Stadium in 2017. Interviewed on Gary Neville’s The Overlap podcast, Dyche was asked if he was looking to return to management. “ Not at the moment. The timing is wrong anyway ,” he s...