And it was only in April that Coventry were denied a place in the FA Cup final by Manchester United on penalties after a stunning turnaround from 3-0 down by Robins’ side.

“The club is well aware that this is a difficult moment after over seven very successful years at the helm and this decision is not taken lightly,” Coventry City said in a statement on their website., external

“The performance of the team over an extended period, however, has just not been good enough and as such the board of the club has decided to make an immediate change in leadership.”

Coventry have not immediately appointed an interim boss who will take charge of Saturday’s against leaders Sunderland.

Paul George heard about it in his return to Los Angeles on Wednesday night for the first time since leaving the Clippers last summer for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Fans booed George when he was introduced at Intuit Dome, the Clippers’ new arena that wasn’t close to being full. They got vocal each time he touched the ball in the opening minutes, and he responded by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers that pulled the Sixers into an early tie.

“Boo him tonight and love him afterwards,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before the game.

George was playing just his second game of the season after a left knee injury kept him out. He scored 15 points in 32 minutes of the Sixers’ 118-116 loss at Phoenix on Monday.

“He gave us just a little bit more versatility defensively,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said beforehand. “He’s 6-9 and can kind of cover multiple things. Gave us a little size. Certainly settled us down on the offensive end.”

Late in the first quarter, the Clippers played a George tribute video on the giant halo board above the court. He waved to acknowledge the polite applause.

“He’s a special talent,” Lue said. “He’s seen everything, seen every defense.”

In five seasons with the Clippers, the native of nearby Palmdale helped them to their first-ever Western Conference Finals appearance, but they were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs the last two years.

George opted out of his player option in his $48 million contract with the Clippers to become a free agent and was wooed to Philly to play with Joel Embiid. He has yet to play this season because of a knee injury and is now serving a three-game suspension for shoving a Philly sports columnist.

The Clippers are 3-4 to open the season, hardly the kind of start they want to help attract fans to their new building.

Another fan held up a sign reading “Paul G, Please Come Back.” The Clippers are without Kahwi Leonard, who has yet to play this season while nursing his surgically repaired right knee — again. Besides George, they also lost Russell Westbrook from their Big Four that is now down to Leonard and James Harden.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi is considering the World Endurance Championship over the GT World Challenge Europe as he downscales his race programme for next season.

The BMW factory driver has revealed that the German manufacturer is steering him towards the WEC rather than a full campaign across the Endurance and Sprint Cup legs of the GTWCE in 2025.

Rossi, who contested the WEC’s new LMGT3 class and seven GTWCE events with the WRT team this year, said that at the moment his decision is “more towards the WEC”, but stressed that he has yet to make a final call.

That will not be made until after the final GTWCE enduro in Jeddah at the end of this month.

“I have quite a lot of pressure from BMW to remain in the WEC because for them it is more important,” the 45-year-old Italian explained over the course of last weekend’s final round of the 2024 WEC in Bahrain.

“I am a little bit uncertain and I haven’t decided yet. Some things are better here, some things are better there.”

Rossi has previously pointed to the prestige of racing in a world championship and the opportunity it presents to compete at the Le Mans 24 Hours, while stressing the ultra-competitiveness of GT3-only racing in the GTWCE in which he competes in the Pro class.

He has decided to cut down on the number of races he will contest from 16 this year to 10 or 11 next for family reasons at a time when the birth of his second child is imminent.

#20 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Valentino Rossi

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

To achieve that, he will have to drop out of one of the championships that have been part of his 2024 programme.

Should he choose the GTWCE, it is likely that he would do both legs of the series in which he has achieved his greatest success since his full-time swap to four wheels following his retirement from MotoGP at the end of 2020.

He took a solo Sprint Cup victory in each of the 2023 and ’24 seasons driving a BMW M4 GT3 for BMW, the former as part of a full campaign, the latter over the two short-format GTWCE events he contested alongside a full campaign in the enduros.

Rossi reaffirmed his intent to contest the Bathurst 12 Hours, the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge next February, for a third year in succession.

Had he continued to race in both WEC and GTWCE, the Australian enduro would likely have been a casualty of his efforts to reduce his number of races.

Rossi played down the chances of him racing BMW’s M Hybrid V8 LMDh after try-out in a WRT-run car at last weekend’s WEC rookie test in Bahrain.

He said that he was “happy to test the [Le Mans] Hypercar and put it in my collection”.

RIO FERDINAND slammed Martin Keown for being “touchy” after Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan at San Siro.

The Gunners suffered their first Champions League defeat of the season with Hakan Calhanoglu’s controversial first-half penalty enough to separate the sides.

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Arsenal have suffered three defeats in their last six in all competitions.

While their only wins in that run have come against Shakhtar Donetsk and Preston North End.

And there’s no sign of their form changing ahead of what is now a HUGE visit to Chelsea on Sunday.

But Arsenal legend Keown is not worried about the Gunners’ dip in form.

Speaking on TNT Sports, he said: “The point I’m making is that in the second half, Arsenal did all they could to score a goal here. And I saw a really good reaction.

“Everyone wants to put Arsenal away. I don’t think there’s a massive crisis for Arsenal. I don’t think they’re that far away from getting it right.

“They’ve got to keep believing in what they’re doing. Yes they’re not scoring goals but I thought when Ethan Nwaneri came on – perhaps should have been on a bit earlier – and he demonstrated some real quality when he came on.”

Fellow pundit Ferdinand replied: “I want to see him more. But I don’t think anyone is trying to put Arsenal away here, Martin, we’re just stating facts.”

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But Keown bit back: “No I’m admiring what Inter Milan are doing. They have a different model. They have a director of football who is coming to the end of his career shall we say?

“A lot of people knocking Arsenal, I’m standing up for them a bit tonight.

“I thought they did better. Maybe it was mentioned in the commentary. I thought they had one or two chances that they didn’t put away but they certainly went after their opponents today.”

Ferdinand then turned to host Laura Woods and said: “Why are Arsenal people so touchy?

“I don’t understand, why is that? No one’s having a dig – we’re not having a dig.”

The Man Utd legend’s comment triggered a fit of laughter from the rest of the TNT panel and left Keown speechless.

Mikel Arteta was left fuming after a tale of TWO penalties on Wednesday night.

Mikel Merino was adjudged to have handled inside the box from close range during stoppage time in the first half.

Merino had earlier been denied a penalty after he saw himself on the receiving end of a punch in the head by Inter keeper Yann Sommer.

Arteta said: “We were very harshly done. I don’t understand [Inter’s penalty]. It is a deflection. There is no danger, no reaction because it is very close to his body.

“There is nothing he can do. I don’t know how you can get away from it.

“We were told at the start of the season that was not going to be a penalty but it was a different story.

“But if that is a penalty then when Merino is punched in the head it is one thousand percent a penalty. It is very difficult to accept that.”

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Arsenal player ratings v Inter Milan

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TOOTHLESS Arsenal were beaten by a superb Italian job in Milan as they lost 1-0 thanks to a controversial penalty.

Here’s how the Gunners stars were rated by SunSport’s Tony Robertson.

David Raya – 6

Unfortunate with the penalty on an otherwise quiet night. Passing was below par with on three out of nine long passes finding their mark.

Ben White – 7

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Dependable as ever at right back. Can’t be blamed for the defeat from a defensive standpoint.

William Saliba – 7

Marshalled defence well and produced some strong passes.  Three clearances and six duels won said everything about his performance.

Gabriel Magalhaes – 7

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Had a slightly better time in duels than Saliba but was worse on the ball.

Jurrien Timber – 7 

Had a good rapport with Martinelli down the left flank. Dependable but undone by the controversial penalty call.

Mikel Merino – 5 

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Difficult to see what he brings to the midfield at the moment. Clearly Arteta likes his height and strength, but not on the same wavelength as team-mates tonight. Unlucky to give away the penalty.

Thomas Partey – 6

Should have been given more licence to roam forward in the second half. But didn’t look like he had the legs to do that job.

Bukayo Saka – 6

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Captain for the night with Odegaard only fit for the bench. Saka was always a threat, but all too often or not chose the wrong option to go inside or out.

Gabriel Martinelli – 7

Flashes of brilliance and a thorn throughout the clash. Created four chances but team-mates were unable to help him out.

Kai Havertz – 6  

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Couple of flashes of brilliance, including a beautiful curled effort at goal that forced Sommer to punch clear, but needed to be a stronger force up top. Went off with a bloody head in injury time.

Leandro Trossard – 6 

Buzzed around and had threatening moments. But just didn’t get the ball enough in dangerous positions.

Ferrari academy driver Dino Beganovic will make the step up to Formula 2 with DAMS for the final two races of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The 20-year-old replaces Juan Manuel Correa, who returned to competition in 2021 after sustaining serious injuries in the same crash at Spa Francorchamps in 2019 that claimed the life of Anthoine Hubert.

In what was a highly competitive F3 campaign which saw 12 different drivers taste victory – this number not including Leonardo Fornaroli who became the first winless champion – Beganovic was victorious twice, topping the podium in the Australia feature race and the Belgian sprint for Prema.

While seven zero scores limited his championship potential, he remained in the mathematical contention until the final weekend in Monza, eventually ending the year in sixth – a result which matched that of his rookie season.

Beganovic will join Luke Browning, Christian Mansell and Oliver Goethe in graduating from F3 for the final rounds, but the announcement comes without any hint that this union will run beyond the two weekends.

“I can’t wait to make my Formula 2 debut with DAMS, who has so much history as well as a tremendous drive to achieve great results,” said Beganovic.

Dino Beganovic, Prema Racing, 1st position, lifts the trophy in celebration

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“This feels like the natural next step in my career, and I’m ready for the challenge in an extremely competitive championship.

“My aim for these two races is to learn as much as possible and to be scoring points in my first F2 action in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.”

The decision will come as a blow to Correa, who successfully climbed back to F2 after recovering from his injuries, having initially been placed in an induced coma following the incident.

Recommencing his racing career initially in F3, Correa has spent the past two seasons in F2 while also contesting in LMP2 machinery having won the European Le Mans Series finale at Algarve in 2022. 

Juan Manuel Correa, Dams

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

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But the American-Ecuadorian has endured a tough year, though he returned to the podium for the first time since that Spa crash in the Spanish feature race – an occasion that came five years to the day since he had last stood on the F2 podium alongside Hubert.

Speaking of the switch, DAMS team owner Charles Pic said: “We’re excited to take on a talent like Dino for the remainder of the season. It’s a step up from Formula 3 and a very competitive championship, but we’re confident that with the help of the team, Dino can be competitive in these final two rounds.

“He has an excellent racing CV, and we believe he has what it takes to fight for strong points.

“I would also like to thank JM for his efforts this season, it was a pleasure to work with him and we wish him all the best for the future.”

England picked four debutants – Jordan Cox, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton and John Turner – for the first ODI and were beaten by eight wickets via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

Liam Livingstone, standing in as captain for the injured Jos Buttler – another of England’s absent first-choice players – scored a stunning century in the second match to level the series but the tourists were punished in the third match after a top-order collapse left them 24-4.

Phil Salt made a careful and uncharacteristic 74 and Mousley hit his first ODI fifty but their total of 263-8 proved well below par as Keacy Carty and Brandon King stroked centuries for the hosts.

The series defeat follows a 3-2 loss to Australia in September and another away loss against West Indies last winter, which came after their dismal defence of the 50-over world title won in 2019.

Trescothick suggested England have learned more from the series than the results would suggest, name-checking his captain and 21-year-old all-rounder Jacob Bethell, who scored a half-century in the second match of the series.

“We have a better understanding of what our team will look like in comparison to series results,” he said.

“A few guys are really stepping up. Liam Livingstone, for example. Bethell has really shone in the short space of time he has had.

“The support we get is amazing. We have to try and stick with it and understand what we are going through.”