Brian McClair “can’t fathom” why Manchester United chose to sell Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay to Napoli this summer.
The midfielder, 27, has already scored twice in eight appearances for the Italian club and has netted 11 times in 56 Scotland matches.
He left boyhood club United in August after 29 goals in 255 games.
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Earlier this week, United parted with manager Erik ten Hag and are looking for their fifth permanent boss in 10 years.
“For me, it’s a big disappointment that he’s not still at Manchester United,” said former Old Trafford favourite McClair on the BBC’s Sacked in the Morning podcast.
“I can’t fathom why on his performances when he played and when has played he’s been very good for Napoli. For Scotland he’s been a revelation.”
The New York Yankees won Game 4 of the World Series 11-4, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in an elimination game. Now down 3-1, the Yankees have an opportunity to make history and come back from being down 3-0. Nick Wright, Chris Broussard, and Kevin Wildes discuss this possible outcome.
Entering the final lap, Reddick was in third place behind Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney, but Reddick went to the inside lane and got past Hamlin on Turn 2. He then throttled past Blaney on the outside on Turn 4 and held on to win.
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Reddick explained his perspective on the thrilling win on Monday’s edition of “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.”
“Things had to play out a certain way. Like, Denny and Blaney getting to racing really hurt their momentum on the corners [and] kept me close. That final lap, I was just hoping I was going to get clean air, and Blaney wasn’t able to cover the bottom. And Denny took such a great distance around the corner that I was able to slide up in front of them, and then Turn 3 happened. That whole last corner just kind of blows my mind,” Reddick told host Kevin Harvick. “I think Blaney was expecting something similar to what I attempted at Darlington with [Chris] Buescher. I think he was expecting me to really just overdrive entry and center and try to clear him in the middle. I think he went to cover that attack, and once I saw that, I saw my window, my opening. I didn’t lift until I got to his door. I didn’t know what was going to happen on the other side of it. I didn’t know if I was going to hit the wall or lose my momentum, but I knew if I wanted to have a shot at battling for the win, I had to at least get even with him.
“Then, my car stuck. It stuck really, really well. I wasn’t even as close to the wall in the middle of the corner and exit as I thought I would be, and I came off Turn 4, and it was just disbelief. I couldn’t believe what just happened.”
Reddick led 97 of 400 laps.
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On the season, Reddick is fourth in total points (4,098), with three wins, 12 top-five finishes and 20 top-10 finishes. Christopher Bell, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Reddick are the four drivers in the “Championship 4.”
Reddick has the utmost conviction about the No. 45 team down the homestretch.
“Kind of the name of the game for us over the course of the regular season is just not defeating ourselves. If we have an issue arise, we find a way to put it in the past and move forward. A lot of our best races in the regular season were days where things going into Stage 2 or going into Stage 3, something goes wrong,” Reddick said. “We lose all of our track position, and we have to drive back through the field. We’ve been able to do that time and time again in the regular season. In the playoffs, it wasn’t necessarily going that way for us, but our body of work and the amount of times we’ve had those days and still gotten the finishes is still there.
“I have a high amount of belief in my team, and a regular-season championship shows that we’ve been capable of overcoming things. I knew that we were going to put what happened behind us and get ready for the next stop, the next restart.”
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Prior to winning at Homestead, Reddick finished 35th in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The win marked his first top-10 finish in seven races (Sept. 8) and his first win in the NASCAR playoff.
Reddick is in his second season at 23XI Racing after winning two races in his first season with the team (2023). He spent the previous four seasons at Richard Childress Racing (2019-22).
Two races remain in the 2024 Cup Series season, with the XFINITY 500 at Martinsville Speedway this Sunday, followed by the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway the following week.
Growing up in Nottingham, Anderson signed for Forest in 1974 and it was his experience under legendary manager Brian Clough that he reveres as a turning point in his career, and importantly, his attitude towards the hostility.
“He helped me in those times when things were hard,” Anderson said.
He recalled a Newcastle match where he was booed loudly when he went to warm-up pre-match.
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He went back into the dressing room and told Clough he did not think he could play.
“He looked me in the face and he said, ‘you’re playing’,” Anderson said.
Clough then added: “You wouldn’t be here if you wasn’t good enough, you have the ability to play in this team and just go and show people what you can do.”
Anderson, now 68, retired in the mid 1990s after an illustrious career, which also included playing for Arsenal, Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley and Manchester United – where he was Sir Alex Ferguson’s first signing.
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He said the only black person he had seen on television playing football when he was growing up was Clyde Best, who played for West Ham.
As he and I spoke, my childhood memories of the pictures I sketched of Anderson playing came flooding back. I remember proudly sticking those drawings to my bedroom wall. My own grandparents were of the Windrush generation too.
To feel that personal connection with a black British sporting icon further confirmed to me that there truly was a unique essence within the Windrush generation, that resonated so deeply in their children.
As a child, drawing pictures of Anderson wasn’t a case of me wanting to be a footballer like him – it was quite simply that he looked like me.
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And that, in its most simplest form, is the great power of representative inclusion and why football can be a true platform for wider positive and societal change.
Trailing the Chicago Bears 15-12 with two seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the ball on their own 48-yard line, Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders had one option: throw a Hail Mary.
And their prayer was answered, as Daniels’ pass was bounced backwards in the red zone and into the arms of wide receiver Noah Brown, who reeled in a walk-off, 52-yard touchdown.
Seconds later, Brown dropped the ball to celebrate the score with his teammates, and that’s where Commanders equipment intern Drew Sinclair joined the chat, swooping up the loose ball to store it away.
“I just had my hands on my head in awe, and I saw everyone running around. I saw Noah [Brown] drop the ball, and my instincts just kicked in,” Sinclair said about retrieving the ball, in a story that was published on the Commanders’ team website Wednesday.
“DQ [head coach Dan Quinn] always preaches, ‘The ball is life.’ We see it everywhere. I saw ball and I got ball … I was just thinking, ‘That’s a pretty meaningful football for this team and for this organization.’”
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Furthermore, Sinclair was praised in the team’s locker room by Quinn.
What did Jayden Daniels showcase in his thrilling Hail Mary victory?
“I wasn’t expecting it. I was in the back of the huddle listening to him talk. I heard my name, and I was still in awe from the play, and I was like, ‘Oh crap that’s me,’ and I ran into the center,” Sinclair said. “That was one of the best moments of my life, for sure.”
Daniels finished the game with 326 passing yards and 52 rushing yards, while Brown finished with three receptions for 73 yards and one score. The win moved the Commanders to 6-2, good for first place in the NFC East.
On the whole, Brown has logged 17 receptions for 258 yards and one touchdown this season. He spent the 2023 season with the Houston Texans, which followed a five-year stint with the Dallas Cowboys (he missed the 2019 season due to a knee injury).
As for the one who threw the miracle completion, Daniels, whom Washington selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, is among the favorites to win Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, highlighted by him boasting a 104.3 passer rating, a 71.8% completion percentage and rushing for 424 yards.
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Daniels, Brown and the first-place Commanders aim to keep the magic alive in Week 9 when they face the NFC East-rival New York Giants (2-6) on the road (1 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app); Washington beat New York on a walk-off field goal in Week 2.
In the three weeks since the New York Jets fired Robert Saleh they’ve gone 0-3, and in many ways look even worse than they did before. That proves two very important things:
Saleh wasn’t the Jets’ problem.
And in-season coaching changes almost never work.
Of course, evidence isn’t necessarily something that will stop NFL owners looking for a quick fix. And to be fair, sometimes an in-season change is necessary to avert a complete and embarrassing disaster. Sometimes it’s even just a way for an embattled owner to throw fresh meat to his angry fans.
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That’s why the seats remain hot under several coaches all around the NFL. Some of them could be gone within weeks. Others will surely be gone after their miserable season is over.
Here is the FOX Sports’ bi-weekly ranking of the seven hottest coaching seats in the league, heading into Week 9:
It’s almost impossible to believe that the Saints were once 2-0 and being talked about as a surprise contender, because since then they’ve lost six straight games and Allen looks like a coach out of answers.
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It’s not all his fault. Losing quarterback Derek Carr was a huge blow, but backup Spencer Rattler wasn’t the answer and he was benched on Sunday for someone named Jake Haener. The Saints unsurprisingly have scored 18 points total in the last two games. They’ve lost their past three by a combined score of 110-45.
Allen seems to have an ally in Saints general manager Mickey Loomis, but how long can that last? Allen is 18-24 as the Saints coach. Add in his miserable record with the Raiders and his head coaching record in the league is 26-52. It should be clear to everyone in New Orleans that it’s not going to get better under his leadership any time soon.
Dennis Allen and the Saints have lost six straight games heading into Week 9. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
His job was very likely saved with a 32-16 win over the awful New England Patriots in London two weeks ago. There were a lot of indications that a loss would’ve resulted in him being fired before the team plane landed back in Florida.
His cause was also helped on Sunday by a narrow loss to the Green Bay Packers, which only goes to show how low the standards have gotten in Jacksonville. But the numbers count. They are now 2-2 in their last four and franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence finally showed signs of life on Sunday. Positive vibes could keep the reactionary instincts of Jags owner Shahid Khan at bay.
But only for so long. The Jaguars remain one of the biggest underachievers in the NFL and they are 3-11 since they entered last December with an 8-3 record. Plus, the Jags play at Philadelphia (5-2), home against the Vikings (5-2) and at Detroit (6-2) over the next three weeks, which could set the stage for Pederson to be fired one week later, during their bye.
Doug Pederson and the Jaguars sit at 2-6 on the season (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
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3. Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys (Previous ranking: 3rd)
Yeah, Jerry Jones swears he’s not firing Mike McCarthy, and given his painful patience with previous coaches there’s no reason not to believe him.
But he’s got to have a breaking point, right?
The Cowboys lost again Sunday night in San Francisco in a game that wasn’t close until a garbage-time comeback. In fact, if you take away garbage time, they haven’t been competitive in any of their four losses. They’re also 0-3 at home, which has to sting, and they’re already 2.5 games back in the NFC East race. Oh, and their defense has given up 77 points in the last two games.
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That last part is really McCarthy’s in-season security blanket, since his most likely interim replacement would be defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, and right now even Jones couldn’t sell that to players or fans. Don’t forget, though, that McCarthy is only signed through the end of the season. Jones doesn’t like firing coaches, but if this season gets much worse even he’ll see he won’t have much of a choice.
Is Mike McCarthy’s seat getting warmer following a loss to the 49ers? (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
4. Matt Eberflus, Chicago Bears (Previous ranking: NR)
The decision not to give Eberflus a contract extension in the offseason spoke volumes about ownership’s uncertainty about him. It also says something about their lack of a plan. The smart move, as they were about to draft a new franchise quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick, would be to commit to a coach to help develop Caleb Williams for the first few years of his career.
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Eberflus is still signed through 2025, but he could be on shaky ground if Williams doesn’t have the kind of rookie season everyone is expecting. There have been a lot of positive signs, but he’s been very up and down. Two strong weeks collapsed in an awful effort by him against Washington on Sunday in a showdown against No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels.
Eberflus also didn’t help himself with some odd coaching decisions (A handoff to an offensive lineman on 4th-and-goal from the 1 while trailing in the fourth quarter?). And it was a real bad look that one of his players was too busy trash-talking fans to defend the Hail Mary play that lost them the game. Stuff like that is hard to forget.
Will being on the losing end of a Hail Mary lead to Matt Eberflus’ demise in Chicago? (Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)
The Raiders were right to take the interim tag off him after the Raiders’ strong 5-4 finish last year and the way all his players endorsed him. He seemed to have given the franchise a much-needed jolt of energy.
But good vibes don’t last forever, especially when you don’t have a franchise quarterback and your best receiver basically forced a trade. Right now, Pierce is struggling to hold things together with the Raiders riding a four-game losing streak. They’ve been competitive the last two weeks in close losses to the Rams and Chiefs, but how long will close be enough?
They’ve got a new minority owner in Tom Brady, who almost certainly will have some thoughts to share with majority owner Marc Davis. And they’re heading towards their fourth non-winning season in five years in Las Vegas, which isn’t good.
There’s a bye looming in two weeks, though Pierce likely will survive that. But if he can’t recapture the good vibes — and a few wins along the way — the Raiders may end up starting over in 2025 with a new quarterback and a new head coach.
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Antonio Pierce and the Raiders are 2-6 on the season. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
Their 37-17 loss at home to the Eagles on Sunday shows how far this team has fallen. They should be much closer to contender status with some of the talent they have. But they keep getting farther away.
He’s still very unlikely to be fired in-season for a bunch of reasons. One is that the Bengals are notably cheap and they don’t want to eat the $4.5 million per year he’s making through 2026. The other is that they are 3-2 over their last five and one of those losses was in overtime to the Baltimore Ravens.
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But — and this is a bad “but” — in their last three games, this offense has averaged 18.3 points and 269 yards. That’s inexcusable for a team with Joe Burrow at quarterback and a receiver like Ja’Marr Chase. At some point, the Bengals will have to realize they can’t waste the prime of those two players.
Will the Bengals need a late-season run to save Zac Taylor’s job? (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
Why is he still on this list after co-owner John Mara promised that he and general manager Joe Schoen would be back in 2025? Mostly because what Mara actually said was that he won’t make any in-season changes and “I do not anticipate making any changes in the offseason.”
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The phrasing of these votes of confidence is always key.
Mara’s not lying or playing games. But he also knows that things can fall apart late to an embarrassing degree (just ask Joe Judge), and sometimes things happen that he just can’t accept (ask Ben McAdoo). So yeah, there’s a little wiggle room in his promise.
But it really would take something drastic to change his mind, according to sources inside the organization. Maybe if they don’t win another game, or players start revolting, or Daboll’s press conferences just go off the rails — something like that. His team is feisty, though, so the odds are good he’s not going anywhere. But stranger things have happened to this organization in the last 13 years.
Is there enough time for Brian Daboll and the Giants to get on track in 2024? (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
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Dropped from the list:
Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns (Previous ranking: 7th) — A big win over the Baltimore Ravens showed he can still coach, especially when he has a quarterback. Deshaun Watson being out for the season will only help his cause.
Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles (Previous ranking: 6th) — The Eagles are 5-2 now after three straight wins and their offense is clicking for the first time, really, since the 2022 season. But a playoff run may still be needed to save him.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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