Stuart Attwell gave himself plenty of thinking time before sending Jack Stephens off against Manchester United during today’s Premier League match at St. Marys’.
Despite the Saints trailing 2-0 following first-half goals from Matthijs De Ligt and Marcus Rashford, the defender had put in a decent individual performance.
Making several important interceptions and tackles, the 30-year-old centre-back was responsible for keeping the scoreline respectable.
However, in a moment of pure frustration in the closing stages of the game, the Torpoint-born defender was seen flying into a tackle on Alejandro Garnacho.
And speaking about the incident, which resulted in the home team playing the final 11 minutes with 10 men, pundit Joe Cole, who had a great view of both benches while being seated in the stands, said: “The ref has seen that, and I thought he actually showed a lot of restraint in not giving it [the red card] straight away.
“He’s given himself time to think, but for me it’s It’s an easy straight red. It comes from the frustration, but you cannot tackle like that. And you certainly cannot be a tackle that high in front of the opposition bench.
“It’s proven that statistically that area is where the most red cards are given on the pitch.”
Erik Ten Hag and his coaching staff won’t care one bit about suggestions their reactions helped make Attwell’s decision easier.
The Dutchman came into today’s game under huge pressure and desperately needed a good performance, and more importantly, all three points to help quieten calls for him to become the first Premier League manager to be sacked this season.
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The 2025-26 Premier League season kicks off on Friday, Aug. 15, with defending champion Liverpool hosting Bournemouth at Anfield. There are three lead candidates for the league title this season: Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City. However, just behind them lie several teams capable of making a strong trophy run... and potentially even winning the league outright. Here are the Premier League's top three dark horse teams for the 2025-26 season: Chelsea Last season: 4th Key departures: attacking midfielder Joao Felix (to Al-Nassr), winger Noni Madueke (to Arsenal), forward Armando Broja (to Burnley) Key additions: forward Joao Pedro (from Brighton), winger Estevao (from Palmeiras), forward Liam Delap (from Ipswich Town) Chelsea's overloaded, overpaid squad (anyone remember £116M Mykhailo Mudryk?) made it the laughing stock of the Premier League for several seasons. That said, after a strong finish to the 2024-25 season, no one's laughing anymore. Chelsea is the defending Club World Cup champion after beating PSG 3-0 in New Jersey this summer. It hasn't just made it back to the upper echelon of European soccer; it's blown past everyone and taken the top spot. The Premier League season is long, though. While Chelsea's revamped squad will no doubt challenge for silverware, it still falls behind Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City on questions of consistency and grit. But it does have one crucial thing going for it: a new goalscorer who has already proven his bona fides. Arsenal fans will have to wait and see if new striker Viktor Gyokeres is the real deal; Chelsea fans, after watching Pedro terrorize the Club World Cup in his debut this summer, don't have to wait at all. Aston Villa Last season: 6th Key departures: forward Marcus Rashford (to Barcelona), center back Axel Disasi (loan expiry; back to Chelsea), attacking midfielder Marco Asensio (loan expiry; back to PSG) Key additions: forward Zepiqueno Redmond (from Feyenoord), forward Evann Guessand (from Nice) It's been a quiet summer for the lovable Premier League dark horse. The club has bid farewell to a few of its loanees and welcomed young, largely unknown prospects in their wake. None of Aston Villa's summer signings make much of a statement... that is, until you realize what coach Unai Emery is doing with them. Emery, in partnership with his longtime director of football Monchi, doesn't want a Chelsea-sized stable of high-value players. He'd much rather work with moldable young talents that he can train as needed and sell on for a profit in the future. This approach is something of a gamble in a competition as moneyed as the Premier League, but it's worked out well for Emery thus far. His Aston Villa has bounced back from finishing 14th in 2021-22 to finishing in 7th, 4th and 6th in the three seasons of his tenure. Tottenham Hotspur Last season: 17th Key departures: forward Son Heung-Min (to LAFC), defensive midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (to Marseille), forward Timo Werner (loan expiry; back to RB Leipzig) Key additions: winger Mohammed Kudus (from West Ham), center back Kevin Danso (from Lens), forward Mathys Tel (from Bayern Munich) It's hard to know just what's going on with Tottenham Hotspur. On one hand, things have turned around drastically from last season's nigh-unbelievable 17th-placed finish: new coach Thomas Frank has established a healthy working environment, the club has cleared out some of its older and less productive players, and key signings Kudus and Tel are already proven on the European stage. But crisis is never far away at Spurs, and that adage has proven itself to be true once again in 2025-26. Attacking midfielder James Maddison suffered an ACL tear in preseason and is expected to miss the entire year; statement signing Morgan Gibbs-White fell through after Nottingham Forest renegotiated to keep him on its roster. Both are huge losses for the North London club. As the Premier League season ticks closer, the question on everyone's mind is this: which Spurs will we get in 2025-26? The Spurs that consistently failed to compete against their Premier League peers despite their riches and quality? Or the Spurs that stormed to the Europa League trophy despite all that frustration? With Frank's steady hand on the tiller, signs point to the latter — and that firmly throws Spurs into the mix as a dark horse title contender in 2025-26.
Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is supposed to remain in charge of the team for years even after the sale. Given what just happened with the Boston Celtics, it might only be months. When the Grousbeck family sold the Celtics for $6.1B in March, ESPN reported that Wyc Grousbeck would stay on as the Celtics CEO and governor through the 2027-28 season. Now, new owner Bill Chisholm will take over once the sale is final. That should concern current Lakers team governor Jeanie Buss, whose family sold a majority interest in the Los Angeles Lakers to investor Mark Walter. Buss is supposed to stay on as team governor for "at least a number of years," according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, but new NBA owners haven't been keen on waiting to take control of teams recently. Mark Cuban thought he would continue running the Dallas Mavericks when he sold a controlling interest to the Adelson family in November 2023. Before the end of that season, when Dallas advanced to the NBA Finals, new team governor Patrick Dumont, the son-in-law of Miriam Adelson, was firmly in charge. General manager Nico Harrison reported directly to Dumont, which is how Luka Doncic ended up traded to the Lakers despite Cuban's objections. It might be different with the Lakers. Walter has owned a minority share in the Lakers since 2021, so he's had a working relationship with Buss. Her role as team governor may be a condition of the sale itself. With the team preparing for a long-term future with Doncic, Walter and his fellow owners might opt for continuity in the team governor role. But in general, people do not spend billions of dollars on a professional sports team so that someone else can be in charge. Buss is in charge of the Lakers now. Recent history says she won't be for long.
In 15 career games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill has a .351 batting average, .377 on-base percentage and .509 slugging percentage. His 20 hits against Los Angeles are more than any team Merrill has played since his 2024 debut. As the Padres try to chase down the Dodgers in the National League West standings, the 22-year-old center fielder has been instrumental in the hunt. The teams are separated by one game through Monday. “Of course, we see it, but we’re playing our own game, not really trying to think about it right now,” Merrill told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Just play our own game and it’ll come.” It's a boring answer, but it's revealing of the focus that allowed the Padres to trust Merrill with a nine-year, $135 million contract extension that runs through 2034 (with a team option for 2035). The extension, signed in April, kicks in next year. The Padres made Merrill their everyday center fielder as a 21-year-old rookie a year ago. His superlative 2024 season ended with a Silver Slugger Award, a ninth-place finish in National League MVP voting, a place in the All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas, and a runner-up finish for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Merrill began last year as the Padres' No. 9 hitter, but worked his way up to No. 5 by season's end. This year, he's most frequently found himself batting fourth, behind Manny Machado. Although his batting statistics have slipped (.261/.320/.406 through Monday, a 101 OPS+), he remains a plus defender in center field. Only Fernando Tatis Jr. (4.9), Machado (3.7) and Xander Bogaerts (2.3) have been worth more Wins Above Replacement than Merrill (1.7) through Monday, according to Baseball Reference. After playing the Giants Tuesday and Wednesday in San Francisco, the Padres will enjoy an intrastate travel day Thursday. Friday, they will host the first of three games against the Dodgers with the National League West at stake. The Dodgers have finished first in the National League West each of the last three seasons. The Padres finished second in two of those years (and third in 2023). The act of chasing down the Dodgers has become a ritual at Petco Park. They revived the tradition last October in the National League Division Series. Los Angeles came back from a two-games-to-one deficit in the best-of-five series to advance to the NLCS. The Padres and Dodgers had never met in the postseason before 2020, but now have done so three times in the last five years. Merrill would be forgiven for salivating over a rematch, as many fans are, but he is resisting the temptation to look ahead. Latest Padres News For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.
Dan Quinn said in a press conference recently that the Washington Commanders will always be willing to add to its roster if it helps improve certain positions. That same day, they hosted 14 players for workouts and signed three of them. The Commanders are likely not done moving pieces around and trying out players, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they took a look at a player that just became available. Adam Peters should take a flyer on former third-round pick Brian Asamoah II to improve the depth at linebacker and possibly more. Recent moves showed their opinions on the position The team wasted no time moving on from LB Dominique Hampton, who was a recent fifth-round pick of Peters after just one preseason game. Hampton was a liability at LB, and the team needed more flexibility on special teams as well. The next corresponding move made was the signing of veteran LB Duke Riley, who directly replaces Hampton and can play both sides. Riley is 31 years old, though, and no one is sure if he will actually stick on the roster. It wouldn't surprise me if the team added more options as roster cuts start making players available, like Asamoah II, who was released by the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday. Asamoah II was drafted by the Vikings with the 66th overall pick back in 2022, but never could carve out a sustainable role on the defense. He's only played a total of 70 snaps on defense over the last two seasons after falling down the depth chart, but he's still only 25 years old. Maybe learning behind Frankie Luvu and Bobby Wagner could go a long way in his development. He also fits the mold of what Peters looks for as a freak athlete who had an 8.90 Relative Athletic Score when he was working out for the NFL draft. The potential has always been there for Asamoah II. Jordan Magee is still hurt, and Nick Bellore is 36 years old and only plays on special teams. Riley is the next man up with rookie Kain Medrano, so the depth is a major weak point of the defense right now, and they also need someone who can be versatile on special teams. Asamoah II did have a major role on special teams for the Vikings though, and he logged almost 800 snaps on that side of the ball over the last three seasons. The special teams efforts in the first preseason game showed that they need some backup help as well. The Commanders have a real roster need at backup linebacker as well as special teams tacklers, and Asamoah II could provide both while the young project continues to develop. Keep an eye on the Commanders making more changes before the season starts.
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