NEW Manchester United gaffer Ruben Amorim will be without assistant Darren Fletcher for the first two Prem games of his reign.

Fletcher has been handed an extended three-match ban and a hefty fine by the FA for kicking off with officials during Man Utd’s 2-1 win over Brentford last month.

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The incident occurred after Ethan Pinnock netted a controversial opener on the brink of half-time.

United staff complained as Matthijs de Ligt was forced off the pitch by referee Samuel Barrott after blood was leaking from a gash in his head.

It meant United were down a man when Pinnock freely headed in from a corner in the final minute of first half stoppage time.

Fletcher’s ban starts on Sunday after allegedly acting in an improper or confrontational manner as he criticised the officials.

This means he will miss Amorim’s first two Premier League games, against Ipswich Town on November 24 and Everton on December 1.

An FA statement read: “An independent Regulatory Commission has imposed a three-match extended touchline ban and £7,500 fine on Darren Fletcher. 

“The FA alleged that the coach acted in an improper and/or confrontational manner and/or that he used abusive and/or insulting words towards the fourth official and the referee and/or assistant referees around the tunnel area at half time.

“Fletcher admitted to this misconduct but denied that he was abusive.

“However, the Regulatory Commission found this to be proven and imposed his sanctions.
 
“The Regulatory Commission’s written reasons for its decisions will be published in due course.”

Both Erik ten Hag and Ruud van Nistelrooy were booked for their reactions on the touchline.

But emotions also got the better of Fletcher, who is said to have exploded at the officials inside the Old Trafford tunnel, which was included in Barrott’s referee report.

Despite falling behind just before the break, United responded with goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund sealing just the club’s third Prem win of the season.

United are appealing the severity of Fletcher’s sanction.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has opened up on details surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s shock move to Ferrari – and how he got an early tip-off from Carlos Sainz Sr.

Hamilton told Wolff during a visit to his house at the end of January that he would be activating an exit clause in his Mercedes contract and joining Ferrari for the 2025 season.

But while Hamilton’s announcement was the first official confirmation that Wolff had of his driver’s departure, he has now spoken at length about how he had been alerted to the prospect for a little while.

Speaking to the High Performance podcast, Wolff said that an initial call from Sainz Sr., father of the Ferrari driver Carlos that Hamilton is replacing, had been where he first got word that something was in the offing.

“So I heard the bells ringing two weeks before,” said Wolff. “Yeah, the old man Sainz called me and said, this is what’s happening.

“And then there were a few drivers’ dads rang me up that didn’t before. So I thought, Okay…there’s something going on there.

“And then I sent a text to [Ferrari boss] Fred Vasseur saying: ‘You’re taking our driver?’ Didn’t get any response. Very unusual for Fred. He’s a good friend. So yeah, I saw it coming.”

With his suspicion about the intention of Hamilton’s visit to his house, Wolff also revealed that he threw a curveball into their chat by first telling the seven-time champion about Mercedes having signed former Ferrari chief designer Simone Resta.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG, with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

“When Lewis arrived in the house, like he did so many years before, we had a bit of a small talk, like we always do about the Christmas holidays and all of that,” explained Wolff.

“Then I said, “Well, we’re recruiting from Ferrari now. We got this guy.” And Lewis was, “Oh, there’s something I need to tell you.” And yeah, when he said that, that initial moment was a little bit of… so this is really happening?”

When news of Hamilton’s Ferrari decision was made public, it became one of the biggest shock news events of recent F1 history.

But Wolff said that he was able to deal with the situation in quite a calm manner.

“Well, I had much worse in my life, happening, like real drama and trauma,” he said. “This is not even moving the needle.”

He added: “It’s just a new situation. It has risks and opportunities, risks in the sense of how do I inform the sponsors as quickly as possible? Because it was leaking… And on the other side, what are we doing about next year?”

Wolff also made it clear that there was no temptation from his side to try to persuade Hamilton to change his mind.

“I think if someone decides to go, then you need to let them go,” he said. “I had a chat with Pep Guardiola a long time ago, and he is a friend. I said, ‘What do you do if this and that player leaves?’ And he said, ‘What do you mean I do?’ I said, ‘Well, do you try to convince them to stay?’

“He said: ‘No, if somebody thinks he can play elsewhere better or earns more – you have just got to let them go.’ And it is something that I embrace in the same way here. Somebody wants to go – then let’s make it as good as possible for each of the parties.”

Tottenham have been charged by the Football Association over alleged homophobic chanting by their fans during a 3-0 win at Manchester United earlier this season.

The chanting is said to have taken place in the 49th and 79th minutes of the Premier League fixture at Old Trafford on 29 September.

Immediately after the game, Spurs condemned “abhorrent homophobic chanting” as “simply unacceptable” and vowed to take the “strongest possible action”.

The club has been charged with two breaches of FA Rule E21, which governs the behaviour of supporters at matches, “for misconduct in relation to crowd control”.

An FA statement said Tottenham “failed to ensure” that fans “conduct themselves in an orderly fashion” and “don’t use words or otherwise behave in an improper, offensive, abusive, indecent or insulting way with either an express or implied reference to sexual orientation”.

Spurs have until next Wednesday to respond to the FA in relation to the charge.

Chael Sonnen thinks Ilia Topuria has the potential to become a bigger star than Conor McGregor.

After knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to claim the featherweight title, Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) became the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in the UFC 308 main event.

Undefeated Topuria has already amassed millions of followers on social media, and had soccer superstar Sergio Ramos travel to Abu Dhabi to support him for his title fight against Holloway. His rise to stardom has the UFC eyeing a debut event in Spain in 2025.

If Topuria continues his dominance in the octagon, Sonnen says the sky is the limit for “El Matador.”

“He’s got the Prime Minister of Spain watching his fights and having people filming,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “He’s got the biggest actresses, the most successful athletes – which are football (players) in Spain – coming and watching him live.

“The guy never misses. It turns out he’s as good as he said. I mean, it’s going to be a short period – he’s not here now, but it’s a short period of time. At this trajectory, believe this or not, he’s going to pass Conor McGregor.”

Topuria and McGregor have already taken numerous shots at each other. Topuria once longed for a fight with McGregor, but has recently changed his tune, saying that “The Notorious” wouldn’t be worthy to fight him.

As it stands, it will be difficult for any fighter to outdo McGregor’s popularity, as the former UFC dual-champion is responsible for eight out of the UFC’s 10 highest-selling pay-per-views.

Aston Villa boss Robert de Pauw said he knows clubs “cut off the head of the manager” if results do not meet expectations.

De Pauw, who was appointed in June after Carla Ward stepped down at the end of last season, is still searching for his first win in the Women’s Super League (WSL).

Villa sit 10th in the table with two points after six games – their worst start to a WSL campaign.

“It’s also football and a performance-driven company. So yeah, they cut off the head of the manager,” De Pauw said.

The Dutchman has overseen just one competitive win – a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace the Women’s League Cup – during his seven games in charge at Villa.

However, his side have pushed reigning champions Chelsea and leaders Manchester City close in the league, losing both games by just one goal.

“If the performance drops and the results don’t come, then you know what happens,” De Pauw added.

“I try to stay unattached to that because I know I can look myself in the mirror and the staff can look themselves in the mirror, that we do everything about it.

“We know we work hard and we leave no stone unturned before every game.”

De Pauw, who is new to the league after leaving Bayer Leverkusen at the end of last season, said he has spoken to experienced players like Jordan Nobbs about the difficulties of the WSL.

“I speak a lot with them because they know this league better than than most.

“Jordan knows it better than everybody, and she says it will come. So I trust also that it will come, but it has to come soon.”

Villa will hope to end their winless run on Sunday when they travel to Manchester United, who are unbeaten in the league this season.

“That’s the next step we have got to take, to take something from the game and not only rattle the cage, but bring the cage home and bring the points home,” De Pauw said.

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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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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

“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.

“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.

And Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat to neighbours United was a reminder that this glittering and unforgettable era will not go on for ever.

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.

Read Martin Blackburn’s full column here.

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“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.

“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.

“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.”