​48 minutes ago. 74 Comments. With the appointment of Roberto de Zerbi, Tottenham are on to their third manager this season and they are in serious relegation trouble. How, I ask, can a club with so much going for it end up in such a mess?. In the past few years, Spurs have developed a state-of-the art stadium and training facilities which are the match of anything across the globe.. Both are something I’m sure the club’s hierarchy are extremely proud of but, with that in mind, I’d like to recall a quote from one of these islands’ greatest football legends, Bill Shankly, who once asked if you had a choice of a great stadium and no team, or a poor stadium and a great team, which would you choose?. Bill followed it up by saying he’d have a poor stadium and a great team because the people come to see the team.. He’s right, of course. Football is about the players and the game, not the surrounds.. From my perspective as a former manager, I know supporters just want to see their teams win, and they will prioritise performances over infrastructure all day long.. So, are Spurs’ current problems simply down to them taking their eye off the ball in terms of what is happening on the pitch, and being too focused on what is happening off it?. Wwhile the club has invested heavily in the transfer market, it seems many of their supporters believe that they have always maintained a tight restraint on player wages – which I am sure has cost them when competing for signings with other top Premier League teams.. On top of that, behind the scenes they have not only moved on from long-serving executive Daniel Levy, who left in September after almost 25 years in the role, they have also consistently changed important roles in their management structure.. By doing that, I’ve got no doubt that the club has impinged on their coach’s ability to construct and sustain a stable players’ identity model, which could and would instil a much more aligned system on the pitch.. Image source, Getty Images. As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, today’s managers and coaches are more or less given players to coach rather than choosing signings themselves.. If you are the manager and you have real differences of opinion with the people making those decisions, or there are constant changes above you, then goodness knows how you can be successful, whoever you are.. With that in mind, and also looking at where Spurs have gone wrong with some of their player recruitment in recent years, I cannot believe that a manager of Roberto de Zerbi’s standing would sign a five-year contract without him having some say on signings and the new players who will be coming into the club.. With Spurs maintaining a strict wage budget, their recruitment must be smart and resourceful whatever division they are in, but it is also important it is in line with the coach’s needs and wishes.. First things first, though. How does De Zerbi try to keep them up?. ‘The Spurs players have to step up’. Image source, Gett  

​Image source, Getty Images. 54 minutes ago. The Oklahoma City Thunder condemned the Los Angeles Lakers to one of the heaviest defeats in their history – one made more painful by an injury to star Luka Doncic.. Reigning NBA champions Thunder claimed a commanding 139-96 victory, helped by 28 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as they improved their league-best record to 61-16.. The Lakers have only been beaten by a greater margin on six occasions, with this 43-point loss just six points short of their worst margin of defeat against the Dallas Mavericks in 2017.. It was a first defeat in five for the Lakers, who must now wait to learn the severity of Doncic’s left hamstring injury after the Slovenian appeared emotional as he exited the court during the third quarter.. Doncic, who had scored 40 or more points in each of his previous three games and five of his past seven, will have an MRI scan on Friday, Lakers coach JJ Redick confirmed.. The Lakers had won 13 of their previous 14 games as they seek to hold on to the third seeding in the Western Conference, behind Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs, before the play-offs begin on 18 April.. Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning Most Valuable Player, finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Isaiah Joe added 20 points for the Thunder.. Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 15 points despite struggling with back pain, and LeBron James added 13 in 26 minutes.. Thunder’s 139 points were the most conceded by the Lakers this season and the 43-point defeat was the team’s heaviest since a 44-point loss to Philadelphia in November 2023.. Related topics. Basketball  

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. NASA’s Artemis II crew is on its way to the moon, giving Americans a firsthand look at life aboard the spacecraft as they travel farther from Earth than any crew in more than half a century.. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch of the U.S., along with Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, boarded the 322-foot-tall Orion spacecraft and lifted off at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Artemis II crew is expected to travel around the moon and back.. Speaking with Fox News’ Trace Gallagher Thursday night, the four-person crew described what it is like to be part of a mission set to carry astronauts farther from Earth than any crewed flight since the Apollo era — and what life aboard Orion is like as they begin their 10-day journey.. “There is no difference between up and down, and so, yes, I’ve been sleeping with my feet there and my head down here, and it’s very comfortable,” said mission specialist Christina Koch. “I think I’ll probably stay there the whole mission unless someone kicks me out. We’re finding out how to make this space capsule a home.”. NASA CHIEF VOWS FOUR MOON MISSIONS BEFORE TRUMP’S TERM ENDS IN AMBITIOUS 2028 TIMELINE. Pilot Victor Glover said he was surprised when the crew got the “go for launch,” turning the mission into reality.. “We like to say that we’re prepared without having an expectation, but you know in the back of your mind, you kind of hope you launch,” he explained. “And then when we got really close, it was like, wait, we’re getting ready to go to space. And when those solids lit, you know, it was a ride where you’re trying to be professional, but the kid inside of you wants to break out and just hoot and holler.”. Glover credited NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team and launch control team, who have been preparing for the mission for months.. TRUMP HYPES MOON MISSION AS ARTEMIS II PREPARES TO LIFT OFF UNDER PRESSURE FROM PAST FAILURES. “It was an example of how hard they’ve been working lately that we launched,” he said. “Even though we didn’t get to really watch, but it felt beautiful.”. As the crew answered questions, they passed around a floating microphone in zero gravity. The crew had just completed a trans-lunar injection burn, committing the mission to a trajectory toward the moon.. “We are definitely 100% on our way to the moon,” commander Reid Wiseman said. “The lunar gravity will take over in a couple of days here and start pulling us around the far side.”. NASA’S ARTEMIS II CREW COMMITS TO MOON TRAJECTORY AFTER CRITICAL BURN SENDS ORION INTO DEEP SPACE. Wiseman highlighted the significance of the Artemis II mission.. “At the end of our trans-lunar injection here, about an hour and a half ago, we just really looked at each other. And I know the United States has done this 1968 through 1972, but it’s just – this is unbelievable that we can put our minds to something and pull it off. This is an u  

​Phantom v Price – can a Gladiator keep up with a world champion?. Phantom v Price – can a Gladiator keep up with a world champion?. Can a Gladiator keep up with a world champion boxer in the gym? Lauren Price meets Phantom and puts him through his paces to find out.. READ MORE: Price v Pineiro, Chisora v Wilder – all you need to know. Watch Price defend her world titles against Stephanie Pineiro on Saturday from 17:00 BST on BBC iPlayer and from 22:00 on BBC Two.. Boxing. 7 minutes ago. Share page. About sharing  

​Image source, Getty Images. By. Andrew Benson. F1 Correspondent. 1 hour ago. 146 Comments. The month-long break forced on Formula 1 by the war in the Middle East is a time for reflection after a controversial and incident-packed first three races following the introduction of the biggest rule change in history.. Even before the new cars ran for the first time, there was intense debate about the merits of a set of regulations that have created an entirely unfamiliar version of racing. That has continued since the season started.. Engines with a 50-50 split between internal combustion and hybrid power – complete with ‘overtaking’ and ‘boost’ modes – have led to accusations of artificiality.. Critics including four-time world champion Max Verstappen have likened the new F1 to the Mario Kart computer game, and gone as far as to call it “a joke”.. At the same time, Lewis Hamilton has described his fight with Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc during the Chinese Grand Prix as “the best battle” he has had for more than 10 years, and “like racing should be”.. Hamilton, though, like all of the drivers, has misgivings about the way the new engines have diminished the importance of their skills.. And Oliver Bearman’s frightening 191mph crash during the Japanese Grand Prix has focused minds on long-held concerns voiced by the drivers about the speed differentials inherent in the way the cars and rules operate.. Let’s take stock of the lessons of the first month of the season, with regards to racing, qualifying and safety.. ‘Anti-driving’ or ‘the best form of racing’?. Image source, Getty Images. The way the chassis rules have been adapted to fit in with the demands of the new engines has changed the nature of racing in F1.. The need for both front and rear wings to open to increase the amount of energy harvesting possible meant a replacement was needed for the DRS overtaking aid, which had made passing easier since 2011. The result was modes known as ‘overtake’ and ‘boost’.. ‘Overtake’ mode gives a driver within a second of the car in front the ability to harvest 0.5 megajoules more electrical energy per lap.. In combination with the ‘boost’, which allows the driver to override the car’s programmed systems to have maximum electrical energy on demand, this has led to what has been referred to as “yo-yo racing”.. In the past, once a car overtook another, that tended to be that. This year, battles have been going on for several laps, with cars passing and re-passing, as the energy advantage switches between the two cars.. Verstappen has derided this as “anti-driving”, bBut many of his colleagues have said they quite enjoy it.. Hamilton said: “If you go back to karting, it’s the same thing. People going back and forth, back and forth – you can never break away.. “No-one has ever referred to go-karting as yo-yo racing. It’s the best form of racing, and Formula 1 has not been the best form of racing in a long, long time.”. Many others, though, are in the middle – r