Robinson came in as the first piece of an ambitious revamp at the Brewers.

A British-record 23 signings were made in a single transfer window, with a total of 47 player movements at Burton over the summer as 24 on the books at the end of last season were moved on.

He was to oversee an entirely new way of playing at a club invested in developing exciting talent.

Hareide told BBC Sport earlier in the season: “Mark Robinson was recruited because he matches the style of play, and these players that the club has acquired matches Robbo’s way of playing football.”

Robinson accepted the task was a challenging one as “the pieces have to fit together”, but he felt the new owners’ “realistic approach” would mean “there will be time” to make it work.

“You hear a lot about ‘this is what we want to do and how we want to do it’, but as soon as they face a little bit of adversity, everyone panics and they do completely the opposite,” he told BBC Sport last month.

But the winless league start that has Burton bottom of the table is the sort of adversity NFG have not been able to ignore.

Tom Hounsell, who left Fulham’s academy in the summer to move to Burton as Robinson’s assistant, has stepped up as interim boss.

John Brayford, a club great who retired as a player with Burton to move into coaching at the club, is among the backroom staff who will continue in their jobs.

BURTON have SACKED manager Mark Robinson with the club rock bottom of League One.

Robinson, 58, left his previous job as Chelsea’s development squad boss to become Burton head coach in June.

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But Robinson has been dismissed just five months after joining, with the Brewers already 11 points from safety.

Burton are winless in League One this season, having lost seven and drawn four of their opening 11 games.

Robinson has only won only ONE of his 14 games in charge – in the EFL Trophy.

And the club’s Scandinavian owners decided enough was enough following Tuesday’s 3-2 home loss to Wycombe Wanderers.

He was the first appointment made by Burton’s new owners – the Nordic Football Group – when the Sweden-based consortium took control of the east Staffordshire club in the summer.

Sporting director Bendik Hareide said: “During our time working together, we’ve all got to know and appreciate ‘Robbo’, which is why we have great regret over the fact that this has not worked out in the way any of us would have wanted.

He told the club website: “We have to be objective with our decision-making, and we feel we have reached a point where a change is necessary to improve the team’s results.

“We believe we have a talented squad, and we remain committed to our football strategy. Now is the time to re-group and look to deliver a positive season for our fantastic supporters.”

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Assistant manager Tom Hounsell will step up as interim head coach until a permanent successor.

But coaches John Brayford, Jake Kean and Elliott Axtell will continue in their first team roles.

Burton have conceded 24 goals this season, second behind Peterborough have sunk 25 – but also scored that many as well.

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Fifa has been accused of not paying the final part of agreed sums to players across Europe whose contracts have not been honoured by their clubs.

A number of sources from different countries with knowledge of the situation say while some payments were made by football’s world governing body, the final one has not been.

Many of the affected players are either unemployed or now retired and the sums are said to be vital.

The money was due to come out of Fifa’s Fund for Players, external, which was set up in 2020. The outstanding payments were due in September 2023.

BBC Sport has seen an email sent to Fifa from one national union, highlighting more than 30 named players and stressing the financial difficulties being faced, with a plea to release the outstanding sums.

Four hundred and twenty players are owed a total of £3.09m.

Fifa is currently in dispute with global players’ union Fifpro over changes to the international match calendar.

Fifpro, which is being backed by the Professional Footballers’ Association, believes too much is being demanded of players at the elite end of the game, potentially putting them at risk of greater injury.

Their biggest area of contention is the expanded 32-team Club World Cup, scheduled to take place in the USA next summer.

So far, Fifa has neither negotiated television contracts for the event nor confirmed the prize money involved.

Fifa has been approached for comment.

TROY DEENEY has revealed he spent his £250,000 bonus in THREE DAYS in Las Vegas following Watford’s Premier League promotion.

The former Hornets striker, 36, led the club back to the top flight as Championship runners-up in 2015.

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Prior to being promoted, Deeney had promised some of his team-mates a paid trip to Las Vegas if they went up.

And the SunSport columnist lived up to his pledge as he shelled out a remarkable quarter of a million pounds in a matter of days.

Speaking on the Undr the Cosh podcast, he said: “I did quarter of a mill in three and a half days.

“I would love to tell you it was on gambling, but we did 80k at a pool party, 80k at MGM in the morning, 60k in the night. In my head I wasn’t getting this money anyway because I made the deal with my pals.

“There were five footballers at the time out on a stag do and they were on the table next to me, we’ve ordered the first set of drinks and they’ve come out and as we have done it they have ordered at the same time.

“I saw our drinks come out, like three or four, because we are getting started and they have got like 10, so I said to my pal ‘they think they can f***ing mug me off, I’ve just got to the Prem’, ‘come here I’ll have 20’.

“It was all ego, I was an a***hole of the highest order, I could do with that quarter of a mil now, I’ll tell you that.”

Deeney went on to explain how he avoided pictures while partying with Victoria’s Secret models – while he also kept quiet that he was a famous face.

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He added: “She’s like ‘are you famous’ and I’m like ‘nah, nah, I’m not famous I just don’t like pictures’.

“She’s like ‘can you tell your friend to stop taking pictures, I am a Victoria Secret model and I can’t really be seen like this anyway’.

“I’ve gone ‘I’ll get them to stop’ and she’s gone ‘just so you are aware all of us are Victoria’s Secret models”.

“I was like ‘thank you Jesus, I am in heaven now’. Didn’t even do anything as well, f***ing drank so much I got carted off in a taxi.”

Deeney spent 11 years at Watford, earning a second promotion to the Premier League in 2021.

He scored 140 goals in 419 games for the club – who signed him for just £250,000 in 2010.

After departing Watford he spent two seasons at Birmingham, before he ended his playing career at Forest Green Rovers.

Who are these famous footballers?

Jayson Tatum continued Boston’s Banner 18 celebration by scoring 37 points and making eight of the Celtics‘ NBA record-tying 29 3-pointers on Tuesday as Boston ran away with a 132-109 victory over the New York Knicks on opening night.

Derrick White scored 24 points, Jaylen Brown added 23 and Tatum had 10 assists for the defending champions, who raised their NBA-most 18th championship banner to the rafters before the game. Boston led by as many as 35 points before missing its last 13 3-point attempts while trying to break the record.

Jalen Brunson scored 22 points for New York, and new addition Karl-Anthony Towns had just 12 points and seven rebounds.

With the Celtics leading by more than 20 points early in the third quarter, the TD Garden crowd’s attention strayed from the basketball game and it began chanting “Yankees Suck!”

Takeaways

The new-look Knicks were supposed to be the biggest threat to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference, but even after adding Towns and Mikal Bridges over the summer, they were no match for the team that finished 14 games in front last season.

Key moment

On July 28, U.S. Olympic basketball coach Steve Kerr benched Tatum for a game against Serbia, guaranteeing Tatum would be motivated for the Celtics’ title defense.

Key stat

The Celtics hit their 29th 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, then fired up two long airballs and 13 misses in a row from beyond the arc as they went for the record set in 2020 by Milwaukee. The crowd chanted “One more 3!” in the final minutes, but on Boston’s last possession Payton Pritchard dribbled out the shot clock without making another attempt.

Up next

The Celtics visit Washington on Thursday and the Knicks play their home opener against Indiana on Friday.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Rodgers is brave, in a sense. He’s sticking to his guns, no matter the noise. He’s totally sold on the belief that things will turn around soon enough.

What he sees, few others see, but if he’s to be proven right then he needs some encouragement on nights like this. He needs some ammunition to fire at all the sceptics. A combative performance is required.

That type of display becomes all the harder when you note Celtic’s penchant for imploding under pressure, their ruinous habit of conceding goals in bunches.

They conceded the first two in Dortmund in four minutes and conceded two later on in three minutes. It was the continuation of a brutal trend.

They conceded in the 82nd and 85th minute against Lazio in Rome last season.

They conceded in the 60th and 66th minute against Atletico in Madrid.

Postecoglou’s team had this weakness, too. Real Betis. Real Madrid and Leipzig all scored twice in rapid order in games on his watch.

It was also a feature of Rodgers’ first spell. Barcelona scored three times in 10 minutes. PSG scored in the 34th and 40th minute and in the 83rd and 85th minute in one game and in the 22nd and 28th minute and in the 75th and 79th minute in the other.

Salzburg scored twice in six minutes in a Europa League game under Rodgers. Leipzig, again, scored two in four. What chance have you got when that happens?

Celtic do not need to get anything from this game in terms of points – easier matches lie in wait later on – but the restoration of pride after the debacle in Dortmund is a must. For the team and for Rodgers himself.

Rodgers has been a brilliant domestic manager, but in European terms he’s been decidedly second-rate at Celtic, the owner of some of the most excruciating losses in the club’s history.

The last marquee European victories were the home and away triumphs against Lazio in 2019. Lennon was in charge.

Celtic need more performances of that ilk and resilience under pressure is part of it. Too often in this type of game they have made it easy for opponents to play against them in critical moments rather than being the nightmare rival that Rodgers wants them to be.

McGregor will be at the heart of it for Celtic. For his sake, onlookers would want him to be the spearhead of a resounding display rather than being the one chasing shadows again. Rodgers says he’s excited. That’s one word for it. There are others.