Is the name as naughty as it seems, or is there a different way to pronounce it?

Where is Shittlehope?

Shittlehope sits between Stanhope and Frosterley in the upper Wear Valley, tucked into the North Pennines landscape of farmland, steep banks and old mining ground.

The name lives on in Shittlehope Burn, which cuts down to meet the River Wear, and in Shittlehope Shield, a small settlement close to the main road up the dale.

It is the sort of place you are more likely to walk or drive past than search for, until the sign flashes past and the spelling sticks in your mind.

Why the name confuses people

Written down, the first part of Shittlehope looks like a word many people avoid saying in polite company, which is why some visitors try to soften it to “Sheetlehope” or glide over the middle completely.

Online, there are threads where people argue about the “right” way to say it and joke about how broadcasters will cope.

For people in Weardale, however, the joke wears thin quickly: it is simply the name of a burn, a shield and a small corner of the valley they call home.

How do you pronounce Shittlehope?

Locally, Shittlehope – as in Shittlehope Burn and Shittlehope Shield in Weardale – is generally pronounced “SHIT-uhl-hohp”, with a clear short “i” and both parts sounded as written.

In faster local speech, it is often clipped even further to something closer to “SHIT-lup”, the second half tumbling away in a single syllable.

Both versions sit comfortably within the Weardale accent, where vowels are short and place names are often shortened in everyday use.

A call for local voices

Even in an age of mapping apps and street-level images, small places like Shittlehope rarely come with audio guides. That is why local knowledge still matters.

If you live in or around Stanhope, Frosterley or along Shittlehope Burn, how do you say it?

Do you lean towards “SHIT-uhl-hohp”, the clipped “SHIT-lup”, or something else entirely?

Let us know in the comments.

One type of outside light may make burglars “think twice before attempting to break into the property”

Worried homeowners who feel troubled by security and safety have been urged to install one type of light. And it may help prevent a break-in.

Touching on Home Security, one question on a police website asks: “Are external lights a good idea for security?” In its answer, the Ask the Police website, hosted by the Police National Legal Database, issued guidance and said “yes.”

It explained: “Yes they are, outside lights deter potential burglars from dark hidden areas. The best type of external light is one that stays on all the time. Any intruder that has made up their mind to break into a property will more than likely not be put off by lights that are triggered by movement.

“If the light is on all the time then it may make them think twice before attempting to break into the property.” In another question that asks, “how can I protect my home from burglary?”, the site recommends making sure you have taken all the necessary steps to ensure your home is not a target.

It says: “A secure home will reduce the chance of you getting burgled. Many domestic burglaries are committed by opportunists; criminals will look for homes that have little or no obvious security, have doors or windows left open or seem unoccupied.”

It recommends these “top tips” listed below “to help keep your home safe from thieves”.

• Install an alarm system will help to deter burglars.
• Ensure you have a robust, secure front door with British Standard-approved locks and hinges.
• Install outside lighting, such as motion sensor lights so that intruders cannot approach without being seen.
• Lock your doors and windows every time you leave the house, even when you are just out in the garden.
• Consider installing CCTV, as this is good deterrent for thieves and if you are targeted, CCTV can provide valuable evidence.
• When you go out, leave radios or lights in your house on a timer to make the property appear occupied.
• Keep hedges and walls at the front of your house low (under one metre) so burglars have nowhere to hide.
• Keep side and rear boundaries high and add trellis or prickly defensive planting to make it harder for burglars to climb over.
• If you have a sliding patio door, check that it has an anti-lift device fitted so it can’t be lifted out of the frame.
• Move bins or garden furniture that could be used to reach windows.
• Ensure communal doors in flats/apartments are closed and secure, and report any faults to your landlord or maintenance company.
• Never buzz anyone into the building that you do not know, or let them follow behind you.
• Lock and secure any sheds and outbuildings.
• Property mark and register valuable items.
• Think about having your door reinforced with a security door bar.
• Mark your property with a UV marker pen or Security DNA marking Kit – these can be bought online or in some stores.

Waterspouts were spotted spiralling off the Mediterranean coast as flash floods and severe storms battered a popular Brit holiday spot

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Footage circulating on social media has captured the dramatic moment enormous waterspouts spiralled off the coastline of a popular tourist destination.

Southern Spain has been battered by flash floods as fierce storms swept through the region ahead of the summer holidays. Torrential downpours triggered widespread flooding on roads across parts of Murcia, with cars pictured floating in deep floodwater as the deluge hammered the area.

Several marine tornadoes emerged offshore, with witnesses reporting at least three waterspouts. The towering vortexes stretched from dark, brooding storm clouds down towards the Mediterranean, according to the Sun. A waterspout is a rotating column of air that forms over water, capable of producing destructive wind gusts. In extreme cases, winds can reach speeds of up to 250km/h.

Days earlier British holidaymakers in parts of Spain were issued a weather warning.

Spain’s state meteorological agency AEMET reinforced severe weather warnings across Campo de Cartagena, while authorities issued a yellow alert for thunderstorms, cautioning residents about the possibility of hail and powerful wind gusts, reports the Mirror.

An orange alert remained active for torrential rainfall, with forecasters predicting up to 40mm of rain falling within a single hour.

The conditions form part of a broader storm system sweeping across eastern and southern parts of the country, following weeks of warm weather. Meteorologists have cautioned of heavy downpours, electrical storms and rapidly shifting conditions throughout the region.

The severe weather arrives just weeks after storms struck Spain in March, claiming one life. In some areas, rainfall exceeded 250 litres per square metre, with rivers surging to perilous levels.

Earlier this year, Storm Leonardo unleashed more than 15 inches of rain within just 24 hours, forcing mass evacuations, school closures and widespread train cancellations.

The devastating storm also claimed a life in Portugal, displacing thousands of residents from their homes.

Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage

A man and a woman have suffered “serious injuries” following a single-vehicle crash in a Cambridgeshire village. Officers and paramedics were called at 7.56pm yesterday (May 7) to Yelling High Street, near Papworth Everard, where a grey Vauxhall Corsa had left the road and hit a tree.

Cambridgeshire Police have confirmed that a woman in her 20s from St Neots and a man in his 30s from Cambridge were taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital with serious injuries.

Police are now appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage following the crash. Anyone who saw what happened or has footage is urged to report it through the force website quoting Operation Nanstallon.

Stephen Hendry has made his stance crystal clear after witnessing some alarming behaviour at the World Snooker Championship

Stephen Hendry has warned that European players have to urgently raise their game or risk being left behind in the snooker world. The past two Crucible champions have both come from China, with Zhao Xintong claiming victory in 2025 and Wu Yize emerging triumphant earlier this week.

Seven-time champion Hendry still holds the distinction of being the youngest ever winner, though Wu now sits second on that list following his victory over Shaun Murphy on Monday. A total of 11 Chinese players featured in the main draw in Sheffield from a field of 32, with only England (13) providing more representatives.

“It’s incredible, the talent coming from China now. The young talent is incredible,” BBC pundit Hendry said on his Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips YouTube channel.

READ MORE: Stephen Hendry snubs World Seniors Championship and gives Ronnie O’Sullivan refusalREAD MORE: Jimmy White bites back as he tells snooker star ‘get a life’ in World Seniors row

He added: “They are taking the game to new levels. We need some young blood from these shores – obviously with Stan Moody, Liam Pullen did really well, Antoni Kowalski did really well at the World Championship.

“These three are going to have to step up if they’re going to keep up with the likes of Xintong and Wu Yize.”

English hopeful Moody, 19, made his World Championship first-round debut and established an early advantage against former champion Kyren Wilson before eventually succumbing 10-7.

Pullen was also making his main draw bow at 20 and claimed six frames from Chris Wakelin.

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Kowalski became Poland’s first representative in the tournament at the age of 22 after navigating three qualifying rounds. His run also concluded in round one, with Mark Williams inflicting a 10-4 defeat.

New world champion Wu, also 22, had never progressed past the first round in Sheffield prior to this year. Yet after defeating former world champions Murphy and Mark Selby in this year’s tournament, he has no intention of leaving the city he has considered home since the age of 16.

“I don’t have any plans,” Wu told BBC Sport following his dramatic 18-17 victory in the final.

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He added: “I think I will buy a house or an apartment in Sheffield for practice and the World Championship.”

One more seasoned European player who earned plaudits from Hendry was runner-up Murphy. The 43-year-old received glowing praise during his semi-final victory over reigning champion Zhao, which led him to joke about the pundit requiring an intervention.

Hendry said: “It was nigh on the perfect session. I don’t think Shaun will have ever played as good a session, it was a super-human performance and it needed that to take out Zhao Xintong, because he wasn’t playing badly.”

For the first time in some 35 years, Jonathan Humphreys has taken a break from rugby – and he is loving the experience.

He’s quick to stress that he considers himself hugely fortunate to have made a living out of the game for as long as he did.

But he also admits there were tough times along the way, particularly when he was Wales captain and then again more recently while coaching the national team.

With that latter role having ended last year, Humphreys is now away from it all, living up in Scotland on a smallholding near Stirling.

That’s where I caught up with the 57-year-old former hooker for an extended chat about a rugby career which frequently left him struggling to believe what was happening to him.

Born and brought up in North Cornelly, a village four miles from Porthcawl, he was something of a later developer, being 23 before he became a regular with Cardiff, for whom he was to make 240 appearances.

Boxing was a big focus during his teenage years, with his father Colin having competed at a high level in the sport.

“He was the youngest ever ABA champion. He was just 17 when he won it,” he says.

“Whoever won the ABAs at the time would go to the Rome OIympics in 1960, but my dad broke his thumb in the semi-final. He boxed the final and won, but they wouldn’t let him go to the Olympics even though he was fit. It was the Games where Muhammad Ali won his gold.”

Humphreys donned the gloves himself as a youngster.

“My dad used to take me down the boxing gym in Porthcawl a lot when I was 13, 14,” he recalls.

“It would just be me and him. He made me skip for three minutes and then I would be on the bag for another three. It was brutal.

“I kept on doing that for a good while, but I didn’t do it competitively. It was something I definitely wanted to do, but my mum stepped in because a lot of the shows were in the evenings and quite late, so she wouldn’t let me do it.”

When he reflects on his rugby journey, Humphreys picks out various people who played key roles.

The first of those were Cardiff and Wales hooker Alan Phillips and his brother Howard.

“Howard was my coach at Cornelly RFC Youth,” he says.

“I had never played for any representative team, not for the County or Wales Schoolboys or Wales Youth.

“If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I would have gone anywhere.

“He went to speak to Alan and said ‘You want to come and see this boy’.

“Alan, who was coming towards the end of his playing career at the time, would then take me training. We would go over the sand dunes.

“Because of all the stuff I was doing with my dad, I was just ridiculously fit, but I wasn’t big enough. So Alan became like my personal trainer.

“I have got a huge amount to thank those two brothers for.”

It was through Alan Phillips’ influence that Humphreys made his Cardiff debut against Harlequins in September 1989, aged 20.

At the time, he was doing a Human Movement Studies degree at South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education, where he played for the college alongside future Wales scrum-half Paul John, who he shared a house with.

He went on to sign for Cardiff, but opportunities were very limited during his early years at the Arms Park. So how did that situation change?

“There was one massive reason – Alec Evans,” he replies.

“I was going to join Pontypridd because Paul (John) was there, but then Cardiff appointed Alec.

“I was third or fourth choice hooker at the time, but the very first meeting I had with him, he said ‘If I promise you the first five games of next season, will you stay?’

“And he had never seen me play! It was a pretty ballsy call by him. So I stayed.”

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Humphreys went on to become a regular starter under the Aussie coach. So what was it Evans saw in him?

“I think it was my attitude,” he says.

“Everything to me was a bonus. I never thought I was good enough to be there, but I just thought I will try my hardest, I will try my guts out.

“In those days in rugby, if you were fit and you were aggressive and you would just do anything, you could go a long way. You didn’t necessarily have to have a lot of skill.

“Alec was a very combative player himself, so he just loved people who had a bit of guts and would do anything.

“In those first games I started, there were plenty of people in his ear telling him what he was doing was wrong and that I shouldn’t be playing.

“But he kept on telling me I was the best hooker in Wales, because that’s the way he worked.”

Evans also saw Humphreys as the man to implement a radical change.

“When he came over, he wanted the hooker to throw in with two hands. There was nobody in the northern hemisphere doing it, but he had seen this guy in Japan do it.

“If he wanted me to, I would have kicked the ball in! So I was the one who took it up.

“I was going over the fields in Cornelly and throwing it and it was horrendous trying to do it, especially when everybody was saying ‘What the f*** are you doing?’

“I remember Alan Phillips came up to me and said ‘Look mate, you are never going to play for Wales as long as you are throwing the ball in two hands’.

“I said ‘Mate, I don’t care about that. I am playing every week!’

“I was definitely the first to do it in Europe. Now everybody does it.”

With the new approach adopted, an early highlight under Evans was the 1994 Swalec Cup final victory over Llanelli at a packed National Ground.

“It was the first time I had played at the stadium.

“I remember running out and it was just the most unbelievable feeling. I was thinking ‘What am I doing here?’

“It was just incredible because I never thought I had any chance of doing anything like that.

“It was a beautiful day and we went on to win. I remember I put Mikey Rayer in for a try down the short side. I drew a guy and passed the ball to him. I had never done that before in my life. I usually just put my head down!

“It was just the perfect day. It’s very close to my favourite rugby memory ever.”

The following year, Cardiff won the league, so Evans was an obvious choice to take over as Wales coach for the 1995 World Cup in South Africa following the departure of Alan Davies.

One of his first actions in the job was to call up his hooker.

“When I was named in the squad, it was the same old thing ‘What am I doing here?’” recalls Humphreys.

“It was unbelievably surreal. I only really started playing when Alec took over in 1993. So, we are talking two years.”

Things got even more surreal when Humphreys was selected to make his Test debut in the group match against mighty New Zealand in Johannesburg.

“I remember looking down the tunnel in Ellis Park and thinking ‘F****** hell, look at the size of that second row’. But it was Jonah Lomu!

“As I was running out, Sean Fitzpatrick said to me ‘You are not ready for this, little boy’. I felt like saying to him ‘I know, mate!’

“It was that same feeling again, ‘What the f*** are you doing here?’

“During the second half, Robert Jones passed the ball to me and Jamie Joseph forearm smashed me straight in the head. From that point on, I don’t remember anything.

“I was in the changing room afterwards asking boys next to me ‘How did I play? Was I any good?’

“I had no idea – and I played then three days later against Ireland and scored a try!”

With just two caps under his belt, Humphreys received the biggest bombshell of them all ahead of Wales returning to South Africa three months later for a game against the newly crowned world champion Springboks.

“I can still vividly remember getting the phone call from Alec.

“He goes ‘Do you want to be captain out in South Africa?’

“I think I said ‘F*** yeah!’

“So, in two years, I have gone from nothing to being captain of my country.”

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Leading Wales out against the ‘Boks that day in Johannesburg remains a very special memory.

“It was a feeling of pride more than anything. My parents flew over for the game.

“Anybody who grew up with me in rugby would have gone ‘There is no chance he is going to do that, he will never captain Wales’, but here I was.

“It was all just so new. There I was tossing the coin with Francois Pienaar, who was a world icon at that point.

“Then I’m running out in front of the team at Ellis Park and it was a celebration of South Africa winning the World Cup, so it was packed.

“We were seen as lambs to the slaughter, but we didn’t do as badly as everyone thought we would.

“We were actually leading for a bit and we were pretty competitive for large periods. We showed a lot of guts.”

Humphreys continued as captain for victories at home to Fiji and Italy under new coach Kevin Bowring and then the 1996 Five Nations. Initially, there was something of a honeymoon period.

“I was so naive about it,” he admits.

“What happens with anything, the first period of time, everybody is positive. Everybody is saying good things about you, you are doing stuff for the papers.

“Nobody had ever asked me for an interview before, so it was all right, here we go.

“But what it doesn’t prepare you for is when it all turns.”

There was the high point of a victory over title-chasing France in March 1996, but that summer brought heavy defeats on tour in Australia and then things really got nasty during the 1997 Five Nations.

“We beat Scotland in the first game, but then went downhill badly after that.

“You had the disharmony in the Welsh camp with all the players from different clubs fighting against each other. There was a massive divide between Cardiff, Swansea and Neath. There was no team spirit as such. There was a huge split in the camp.

“Then, outside that, you had the clubs and the Union fighting against each other.

“It was just a perfect storm, especially for me.

“What should have been the best time in my life was literally the worst.

“I wasn’t prepared for the criticism. It felt like it came from everywhere. It did affect me and it affected my family. It was the toughest time in my rugby life.

“I remember the bus journey to one match and I was counting in my mind ‘How many games have I got until I retire?’

“I probably didn’t think I deserved to be there, in the team, let alone captain, and then I’ve got everyone telling me I shouldn’t be there.

“The tail end of the 1997 Five Nations was the worst bit. I was getting hate mail sent to the team hotel. I had to stop reading the papers at that point. Every letter the Western Mail would print would be about me. That’s what it felt like.”

Around that time, he was being pilloried for the number of penalties he was giving away, picking up the unflattering nickname of ‘Offside Humphreys’.

“I don’t know who started that. I have no idea,” he says.

“I look back at all that and I think it was probably that I would do anything to stop us getting pumped.

“Wales weren’t very good at the time. I would be offside because I thought to myself if they get the ball they are going to score. I did give away a lot of penalties. I was over committed, I suppose.

“If you wanted to decipher it, it probably came from a place of ‘If we get pumped here, I am going to get more s**t.’

“I remember in games, if we were losing, I was thinking ‘What the f*** are the press going to do to me now?’

“What sort of way is that to live?”

So when his first reign as skipper came to an end after the 1997 Five Nations, it was something of a blessing.

“When Kevin Bowring rang me to say he was going to put Gwyn Jones as captain, my reaction was immense relief,” he reveals.

“I didn’t want to do it anymore.

“I remember Gwyn coming round my house and he thought it would be an awkward conversation, but I welcomed him with open arms. It was ‘In you come, son!’”

Over the next couple of years, starts for Wales were to be few and far between, with Garin Jenkins, Barry Williams and Robin McBryde all vying for the hooking berth.

However, Humphreys did share in the memorable winning run in 1999, coming on as a replacement for Jenkins in the series-clinching win out in Argentina and the historic victory over South Africa in the first game at the new Millennium Stadium, while also figuring at the home World Cup that autumn.

“After that World Cup, I started playing the best rugby I had probably played for a long time,” he recalls.

“I remember Graham Henry ringing me up to say I would be starting the 2000 Six Nations opener against France. But, that same day, I dislocated my shoulder against Harlequins, so I never got back.”

With that, Humphreys’ international career appeared to be over, but then, in 2003, came another seismic shock.

Now with Bath and aged 33, he was called up to the Wales squad as injury cover by Steve Hansen ahead of the Six Nations game against England – but that was just the half of it.

“I was only expecting to be there for a day,” he recalls.

“I saw Steve and he said just to go into a couple of meetings and I would be done.

“So, I went into this team meeting and, with them playing England, one of the coaches said ‘What do we know about Jason Robinson?’.

“Because I was playing in that league and nobody was answering, I said he does this, this and this.

“Anyway, I came out of that meeting and said I will have something to eat and I will go.

“But then Steve comes on to me and says ‘Can I have a chat with you, mate?’

“So he takes me into a room and he goes ‘I want you to play on the weekend and I want you to be captain’.

“I looked at him and my exact words were ‘F*** off’.

“The press conference that afternoon when they announced me as captain was chaos.

“I went on my phone afterwards and it had gone nuts.

“It was all the boys from Bath going ‘Is this a joke?’”

But it was no joke, with Humphreys returning to the side as skipper.

“We could have beaten England and we should have beaten Ireland,” he recalls.

“My eldest son came to watch the games, so at least he saw me play in that stadium.

“I was honoured to captain Wales. I did it 19 times in all. But I think the only time I actually really enjoyed it was when I came back in 2003 because I was determined I was going to enjoy it for what it was.

“Then it came full circle where everybody was saying nice things about me.

“I had young children and I was conscious of ‘Am I going back into all this shit again?’

“But to have people say nice things about you at the end was a nice way to go. They said nice things at the start and nice things at the end!”

In all, Humphreys won 35 Wales caps and played more than 300 games for club and country before hanging up his boots in 2005, aged 36.

Then came the move into coaching, with the next two decades taking in spells with the Ospreys, Scotland, Glasgow and Wales.

“I could have stayed playing another year at Bath, but I just felt I was done. I didn’t like the nerves before games any more. That sort of stuff.

“So I never missed playing and coaching was just something completely different for me.

“You still get the buzz, but I never felt like I wanted to go back out there and throw myself around.

“I really enjoyed the early part of my coaching career because it was all so new to me and we were pretty successful at the Ospreys. The biggest shame was we never won Europe because we had a team that should have done so.

“My fondest memories as a coach are of the people I worked with, some incredible people, people I really enjoyed.”

Humphreys came in as Wales forward coach after the 2019 World Cup to work with new boss Wayne Pivac and shared in both the 2021 Six Nations title triumph and the historic victory over South Africa in Bloemfontein the following year.

After Pivac’s departure, he was retained by the returning Warren Gatland and looks back on the 2023 World Cup campaign with particular fondness.

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But, following Gatland’s exit, Humphreys’ time with Wales came to an end after the 2025 Six Nations.

“I’m not bitter about leaving because if you lose 17 games in a row you’re lucky to stay in a job. So I have no issue that they wanted to go a different way.

“I loved my time with Wales and I was proud to win the Six Nations and beat the Springboks for the first time out in South Africa, but everything must come to an end at some point.

“I will always look back at my time in the job with an equal measure of pride and disappointment.”

Since the end of his six-year stint with Wales, father-of-three Humphreys has stepped away from the game.

“I have taken a big break because I haven’t had one for 35 years,” he says.

“I have taken a complete break which I have very much enjoyed. I have loved it. I haven’t missed rugby at all.

“With Wales, towards the end, you knew it was going to be a massive struggle to compete. All that comes with the stresses of it all.

“Until you have actually taken yourself away from it, you don’t know how much effect that has on you.

“It’s again like having the Welsh captaincy taken off me. It’s like a relief and I feel a lot better for it.

“I’m more relaxed and your emotions are not up and down on a weekly basis.”

So it is that we find Humphreys at ease with life up in the Scottish countryside with the crowing of a cockerill and the braying of a horse in the background as we chat.

“We are about 15 minutes from Stirling. We moved up when I did the Scotland job and the kids all settled up here. It’s great.

“I have got a smallholding, a few acres at the back of the house, and my wife has got horses.

“I have been able to spend more time with my younger son, who is 14. It’s been good.”

So, finally, as he looks back on it all, what are his thoughts?

“I was lucky to have rugby as my life for so long,” he says.

“It has given me everything. I was very fortunate to play when I did, where I could do something I would have done for free as my living.

“I have never had to work a day in my life and that’s true. It’s never felt like work. There are not many people who can do that.”

Liverpool could be preparing for another star’s exit this summer after their latest contract admission

A victory against Chelsea on Saturday will secure Liverpool‘s passage into the Champions League next season. In what has been a season to forget for the Reds, a positive end to the campaign is still on the cards despite the absence of trophies.

Qualification for European football’s biggest prize will also significantly boost the club’s ability to spend this summer, with Arne Slot expected to remain in his position to lead yet another expensive transfer window.

On the Dutchman’s to-do list includes replacing Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson who will leave the club after nine years. Slot may also contend with dealing with Alexis Mac Allister’s contract situation, while the Reds boss has also been told to make a “dream” signing for the club.

Mirror Football delves into the biggest stories coming out of Anfield…

Mac Allister future discussed

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Alexis Mac Allister only has two years left on his Liverpool contract but is not engaged in conversations about an extension, according to his father Carlos. The former Boca Juniors midfielder also revealed his son is not in talks regarding a potential move away from Anfield either.

The 27-year-old’s midfield colleagues, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai, have been prioritised for extensions this season as speculation has recently emerged that Mac Allister could move on soon.

READ MORE: Virgil van Dijk to receive imminent offer with Liverpool star ‘ready to leave’READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp’s opinion on Michael Owen’s Mohamed Salah replacement tip

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Discussing his son’s future, Carlos told WinWin: “Alexis has a valid contract until June 2028 and so far we are not speaking publicly with any other club. We believe that the club’s fans deserve this level of respect from the player, and so far the club has not negotiated with us to renew the contract.”

The World Cup winner is one of several players this season who haven’t performed to levels previously shown with the Reds set to finish the season without silverware.

Slot told to make dream signing

Liverpool’s attack will be subject to significant investment this summer. With Mohamed Salah on his way out, Hugo Ekitike potentially out of action until 2027 and Federico Chiesa’s future uncertain, Slot will need to bring in firepower.

Among the numerous names linked with a move to Merseyside, ex-Reds star Bolo Zenden believes Paris Saint-Germain winger Desire Doue would represent a “dream” signing for the Premier League champions.

Discussing the France international’s superb talent, Zenden did admit prising him away from the Champions League holders could prove to be a difficult task. He said: “A player I like a lot and would be my dream signing for Liverpool is Desire Doue.

“Having said that, I think it would be really hard to persuade him to leave PSG. Doue is doing really, really well for his age and has a certain profile that would obviously fit Liverpool. But, as I said, he’s at a great club, and they’re winning most of the trophies that they can.

“For him to leave Paris, it will be a difficult one, but he’s definitely a player that I like to watch. He’s one of the players that plays on that wing and week in, week out shows his qualities. It would be a dream signing.”

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

Bruno Fernandes is having his best season yet at Man Utd but his future could again be in the spotlight this summer.

Michael Carrick expects Bruno Fernandes to stay at Manchester United this summer after the attacking midfielder was voted the Football Writers’ Association’s player of the year for 2025/26.

Fernandes is enjoying his best season yet at Old Trafford, and he needs one assist to equal the Premier League record of 20, held jointly by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.

The 31-year-old is in a league of his own when it comes to chances created, with his tally of 120 almost double that of his nearest challengers, Dominik Szoboszlai and Declan Rice.

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Fernandes is delivering his golden season after a summer in which he almost left United. He weighed up interest from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal after defeat in the Europa League final last May, and although he opted to stay at Old Trafford, he felt the club would have been happy to cash in on him.

United have made it clear this summer that they want Fernandes to stay and have no interest in selling, but he has a release clause of around £56million that could be triggered by clubs from abroad.

But United have secured a return to the Champions League and there is a sense of momentum building domestically, and Carrick believes Fernandes wants to be a part of that after a season in which he has shown he is as good as ever.

“I think Bruno, you can see he’s happy and he’s playing some fantastic football,” said Carrick. “Maybe he’s as good as he’s played ever and he’s had really good spells here. So he looks happy.

“I think he’s got a big end to the season here. He’s got a big summer, of course. But yeah, as a football club, we love having him here. He’s a big part of what we do.”

United hope that their ambitious recruitment plans this summer will show their captain they mean business when it comes to challenging in Europe and domestically.

Club bosses are eyeing at least two new midfielders, with Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson the top target while there is interest in Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni, who has been disciplined at the Bernabeu after a fight with teammate Federico Valverde.

They are also monitoring Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers as part of a plan to sign another forward and will strengthen at left-back as well, and Carrick said discussions over recruitment are ongoing after Champions League football for next season was secured last week.

“Yeah, there’s always discussions going on, some informal, some smaller than others but there’s always discussions. There’s a lot to talk about,” said Carrick, who is still waiting to hear what his own future holds.

“Recruitment is the obvious one and when it gets to this time of year that’s what everyone wants to know about and understandably so. There’s a lot of work going on and it’s not just for me leading like that, there’s a lot going on, making plans for what the summer and beyond looks like.”

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

To John Swinney, congratulations – and a warning. The country has given you the benefit of the doubt, again. You’ve been a lucky leader. Now be a great one.

We’re in John Swinney’s hands for another five years.

That’s Scotland’s verdict after a “meh” election that left the nation cold.

The message from polling booths across the country was this: we don’t want more of the same.

Like a league table at the end of the football season, an election result is never wrong. Scots made it clear they want the SNP as the largest party, with trusted gaffer John Swinney in the dugout.

His party has earned the right to be top of the tree – it has been better than the ­alternatives.

But Scots didn’t give him the majority he wanted. Scots didn’t vote for the referendum he promised.

They did vote for Swinney to put Scotland right. To sort our ­hospitals, our schools, the cost of living.

If the SNP treats this result as permission to spend another five years picking fights about ­independence, it will eventually be punished.

Punished, perhaps, like the former party of government Scottish Labour, now in Scottish politics’ relegation zone, dragged down by the deadweight of Keir Starmer’s London Labour.

Anas Sarwar did what he could but a campaign that never caught its stride was tripped up by scandal down south.

In the end, Scottish voters rejected Labour’s red rosette in favour of their own red card.

That is the lesson Sir Keir Starmer must take from this election. He’s dragging his party down.

Meanwhile, the ­populists of Reform and the Greens scooped up plenty of votes from ­scunnered Scots.

Politicians should instead ask themselves why Reform and the Greens picked up so much support.

We exposed some of Reform’s candidates as racists and cranks. But those who voted for Nigel Farage’s party are neither of those things. They’ve just had enough of platitudes on immigration. Maybe they like Reform’s pledges to fix the NHS and cut energy bills, too.

People who back the Greens don’t want to crash the economy, either. But they do like the party’s compassion for the poor and the young, their promises on public transport and their plans to tax the rich.

These parties now form a new-look parliament – the Holyrood Scotland has chosen. A government that won cleanly – but without a majority. A government that needs partners. An opposition that must be rebuilt.

Today’s Holyrood must do better than yesterday’s.

NHS waiting lists have not shrunk overnight. Schools are still slipping down the league tables. Drug deaths still shame us. The ferries are still failing islanders.

The attainment gap Nicola Sturgeon staked her reputation on closing is as wide as the day she made the promise.

None of it disappeared while votes were totted up.

So, to every MSP:

● Fix the NHS. Get the waiting lists down. Stop blaming Westminster for choices made here.

● Fix the schools. Close the gap between Scotland’s richest and poorest children.

● Fix the drug deaths. Stop treating them as someone else’s problem.

● Fix the ferries. Just. Fix. The. Ferries.

And do it without spending five years arguing about a referendum the country has not asked for.

To Anas Sarwar, our respect. The road back will be long. You have the character for it.

To John Swinney, congratulations – and a warning. The country has given you the benefit of the doubt, again. You’ve been a lucky leader. Now be a great one.

To every Scot who voted on Thursday: you did your duty. Now we look to our ­politicians to do theirs. A new Holyrood’s work starts now. Let’s demand a world-class performance.

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