NARCIS PELACH can name-drop for fun when he talks about some of the great managers he has learnt from.
Top of the list is Pep Guardiola. There was also Marcelo Bielsa.
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Narcis Pelach is hoping to make a name for himself at Stoke CityCredit: Getty
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The Spaniard has formerly worked with Pep GuardiolaCredit: Reuters
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Pelach also credits Neil Warnock with expanding his football educationCredit: Rex
As a coach at Girona he was assistant to Juan Carlos Unzue, who spent six years working under Guardiola at Barcelona.
And in the same breath there is . . . Neil Warnock, forever known as The Warlock thanks to his reputation for being a master of the dark arts of football.
For many, the old-timer’s in-yer-face philosophy is about as far from the Beautiful Game and cerebral thinkers like Pep and Bielsa as it gets.
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But Pelach – known affectionately as Chicho – will not hear a word said against Warnock when he describes how important he was in furthering the higher education that won him his first job as a boss with Stoke City.
The 36-year-old said: “For me to work under Neil Warnock and Ronnie Jepson, I cannot explain how grateful I am. It was a brilliant experience to have.
“Neil told me, ‘You’re going to see some tricks here — you will see some things you have never seen’. He was right.”
Thanks to his friendship with Unzue, Pelach was also granted a week to shadow Guardiola at the Etihad.
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And he became mates with fellow Spaniard Carlos Corberan, who was one of Bielsa’s coaches at Leeds during the first two years of the maverick Argentinian’s wild ride at Elland Road.
Corberan allowed him a deep dive into Bielsa’s ways before becoming manager of Huddersfield and making Pelach a coach.
It was there, too, that Warnock made such a huge impression on him.
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At the age of 74, he came out of retirement to keep the Terriers in the Championship after taking over when they were seven points from safety in the 2022-23 campaign.
Pelach talks about his days watching and talking to Guardiola with reverence, and he knows he owes Unzue, as well as Corberan for showing him Bielsa’s magic.
But Warnock was just as special to him through the five years he studied and worked his way up in English football.
Pelach said: “It was such an enjoyable time for me and I think he is a manager that all English people should be proud of.
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“The training methods are different, of course, but he is not so much a coach as a man–management manager.
Who are these famous footballers?
“In four months I saw lots of things that you can do with one squad to make them successful – and I was never going to see that anywhere else.
“Was that experience as valuable in its way as spending a week shadowing Pep?
“Of course, yes – even if Pep is the best manager in the world, the best in history and he has a power about him.
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“I will never forget when he was talking to me the first time. I never wanted that conversation to end.
“I have spoken to some players who were under him and they all said, ‘When Pep comes into the dressing room and talks, you just want him to stay there’.
“It is not just his knowledge. It is his pure love for football — the charisma, the aura, the certainty of sticking to what you believe in and what you want to do.
Pep Guardiola set for final Man City season
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By Martin Blackburn
AFTER eight glorious years of stability, Manchester City now head into an uncertain 12 months.
Around this time in 2025, City will be preparing for the highly-lucrative Fifa Club World Cup in the US.
Yet in all likelihood they will also be getting ready to say their goodbyes to manager Pep Guardiola, who has brought so much success to the east side of Manchester.
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Meanwhile, there could be a verdict on 115 charges of financial irregularity which have been levelled at the club by Premier League chiefs.
The suggestion is the hearing could start later this year but is likely to take several months to reach a conclusion.
City continue to deny any wrongdoing and are confident they will be cleared by the independent commission.
“That week was a fantastic experience but it was the same with Neil.
“I value all of those I have worked for or learnt from Pep, Bielsa, Carlos Corberan, David Wagner at Norwich City.
“Juan Carlos Unzue, too, who taught me so much and worked not only with Pep but with Frank Rijkaard, Luis Enrique. He was a player under Johan Cruyff.
“The months I was there with him at Girona I learnt the Barcelona philosophy and he said I had to go on this journey.
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“I value them all of them just the same – and Neil Warnock as much as any of them.”
Pelach, who is ten games into his new job after coaching at the Canaries, is likely to need to be more Warnock than Guardiola to restore the soul the Potters lost after relegation from the Prem in 2018.
He is the sixth full-time manager since they dropped into the Championship.
And ahead of Saturday’s home game against Millwall, he added: “History says in these last years that no one has been capable to change that mood.
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“But I come with energy and belief and all the knowledge I have been so fortunate to gain in these five years – my coaching dissertation was based on 1,000 games.
“I want to be the man who changes the mood, who gets Stoke back up to where it belongs. That is my dream.”
The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is making his second consecutive appearance in the Championship 4 — but he’d rather not repeat his 2023 performance.
Last year, William Byron earned pole position for the title-decider but fell behind rivals Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney as the race progressed.
His entry into this year’s finale is very different from the other three drivers, partly because he earned his way in on points — partly because he hasn’t won since April.
Indeed, for 27 minutes after the previous race in Martinsville, he was actually out of the Championship 4.
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Then, Byron stood stoically on pit road, waiting for a ruling to come down from NASCAR. Eventually, they deemed Christopher Bell’s accidental wall-ride an illegal safety violation, paving the way for Byron’s re-entry into the final four.
“It was excruciating,” said Byron of the wait. “I felt like it was so long. I was honestly numb to whatever was going to happen. I was honestly just preparing for not being in, then thinking about I felt like we did all we could do. It is what it is at this point. It was a lot of waiting. I felt like the longer I waited, in some ways, that it wasn’t going to work out. But yeah, it did.”
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro
Photo by: Danny Hansen / NKP / Motorsport Images
Onward to Phoenix
When it was announced that he would have a shot at the championship, the celebrations were muted and Byron appeared subdued. That doesn’t mean he’s going to let the curious journey to Phoenix impact how he approaches this critical race on Sunday.
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“I haven’t ever felt as bonded to my team as I am now,” said Byron. “We had a meeting on Sunday night about it. I feel like we’ve turned the page really, really quickly. For me personally, I’ve blocked out a ton of the noise. I haven’t looked at social media. I don’t really care. I’m just focused on trying to get the 24 car as fast as I can.
“I think past experiences have probably helped fuel that where I’ve been through enough BS in my Cup career where I kind of know what to focus on and what to block out.”
“No comment” on Martinsville penalties
Despite his decision to ignore it, the off-track noise hasn’t quieted down. On Tuesday, NASCAR penalized three teams for alleged race manipulation including the two Chevrolet drivers that rode side-by-side behind Byron in the closing laps. This week, an appeal by Trackhouse was rejected, with the panel saying it had to be done to “protect the integrity of the sport.”
Byron, the only driver related to all of the controversy that wasn’t directly implicated in some way, had little to say about what happened or the penalties that followed.
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#24: William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro, #3: Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro
Photo by: John K Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
“I was just focused on what I could do,” said Byron when asked about Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon’s actions in the closing laps. “I was driving as hard as I could. I was trying to block, just drive as hard as I could. I don’t really know. I wasn’t in their cars. But yeah, that was my goal, was just trying to do that.”
He was also asked if he agreed with the penalties but again, it wasn’t a subject Byron was keen to talk about.
“I mean, I have no comment. I’m just focused on the 24. Yeah, I mean, I just want to do a great job for my team. I feel honestly like on Sunday night, this is a huge opportunity for us to go out here and win this championship. That’s all I’m focused on.”
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A focused Byron will certainly have a lot of pressure on him this weekend as the only driver for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet in the finale. He will also be piloting the iconic No. 24, which hasn’t won a Cup title since Jeff Gordon (who now serves as HMS’ vice chairman) did it in 2001.
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Houghton and Christiansen take evasive action after a belated barker warning
The trio were discussing how Women’s Super League leaders Manchester City would fare against Tottenham on Friday night.
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Barker suddenly spotted some ominous sprinklers springing into action behind the trio as they stood with their microphones.
Pointing at the two ex-City stars, she smiled and told them: “You’re about to get soaked and I’m about to laugh.”
Almost in the same breath, as the sprinklers took aim on their surprise targets, Barker added: “There we go!”
Houghton and Christiansen turned open-mouthed and moved as quick as they did at their peak on the field – as they ran for cover behind the Sky Sports desk.
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Sky joined in the fun at the duo’s expense.
The broadcaster posted on social media that that the pair suffered “a surprise when one of the pitchside sprinklers attacked mid analysis!”.
Tottenham soon faced an unwarranted torrent of their own – looking all over the place as City poured forward early on.
Friday’s ONE Championship heavyweight title fight has been expected to be a doozy for a while, and that was confirmed at the news conference.
Tempers weren’t exactly kept in check when three-division champ Anatoly Malykhin and Oumar Kane (aka “Reug Reug”) squared off for the ONE 169 heavyweight title main event.
Malykhin (14-0) got a physical reaction from Kane (6-1) in their faceoff, and after a few more physical decisions they had to be separated.
Former UFC middleweight champion and current ONE VP Rich Franklin thinks there’s reason to feel a buzz around the heavyweight headliner because Malykhin is back in the division and not down a weight class or two.
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“It’s been a while since we’ve had a heavyweight title match, particularly with Malykhin bouncing around and the different matches he did in the different weight classes,” Franklin told MMA Junkie Radio. “This is the first time we’ve had the king in that division back again (in a while), so this is a big deal.”
Malykhin never has been out of the third round and has all 14 of his wins by finish, including two over former two-division champ Reinier de Ridder, who makes his UFC debut Saturday in the co-main event.
His dominance has led to him being a prohibitive 10-1 favorite at the betting window against Kane. But Franklin cautioned against counting out the 32-year-old from Senegal.
“‘Reug Reug’ – I’ll say this: I wasn’t a big believer when he came into the organization. I was like, meh,” Franklin said. “But each fight, he’s been able to close the gap a bit more and a bit more. I think Malykhin is going to be a tough opponent for him – a very tough opponent – so he’ll need to up his game because Malykhin is more of the complete package.
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“I do believe ‘Reug Reug’ will have to rely on his wrestling more. But ‘Reug Reug’ is a super athletic guy, and because of his wrestling, he’s a bit more unorthodox with his striking – so that can oftentimes make bad fighters look good, as well.”
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Britain’s Abbi Pulling made history by finishing fastest in the first all-female Formula E testing session.
The 21-year-old, driving for Nissan, was quickest of 18 of the world’s top female drivers in Spain.
“It was extremely physically demanding – I wasn’t quite expecting that,” said Pulling, who currently leads the F1 Academy standings.
“I work hard in the gym, but the new tyres made it a real challenge. I couldn’t quite get the maximum I wanted out of the car.”
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All 11 teams in the electric racing series fielded at least one driver at Circuito de Jarama near Madrid as part of its long-term strategy “to remove barriers and expand opportunities for women” in motorsport.
Originally scheduled to take place in Valencia, the usual home of Formula E pre-season testing, the event was moved to the Spanish capital after devastating floods in the Valencia region led to the deaths of more than 200 people.
The women, who hail from different forms of motorsport, took to the track during a three-hour session on Friday in the latest Gen3 Evo car, set to be used in the upcoming 2025 season.
It is capable of doing 0-60mph in 1.82 seconds, 30% faster than a Formula 1 car.
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Pulling recorded one minute 30.88 seconds, 3.4 seconds off Formula E’s Mitch Evans who claimed the fastest lap in Thursday’s men’s test on the same track for Jaguar TCS racing.
“It’s not too bad considering the limited run we had,” Pulling said. “But I wanted to be closer.”
Seven-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick was second, with McLaren’s Bianca Bustamante third fastest.
MMA Fighting has ONE 169 results for the Malykhin vs. Reug Reug fight card from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday night.
In the main event, Anatoly Malykhin defends his ONE heavyweight title against Oumar Kane, popularly known as “Reug Reug.” Malykhin has reeled off 14 straight wins to begin his pro career, while Reug Reug (6-1) has only suffered one professional loss.
Rodtang Jitmuangnon lost his ONE flyweight Muay Thai title after failing to make weight, but Jacob Smith still has a chance to win the championship after hitting the mark. Their fight is now a catchweight at 135.5 pounds.
Check out ONE 169 results below (MMA unless otherwise noted).
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