Townsend eyes All Blacks upset after Scots rout US
Scotland's players now believe they can beat New Zealand for the first time ever, says head coach Gregor Townsend, after his side started their autumn campaign with a record win over the United States.
Darcy Graham and Jamie Dobie both scored hat-tricks as the Scots ran in 13 tries to blow away the Americans 85-0 in what was their biggest ever win in 100 years of playing at Murrayfield.
Now attention turns to Saturday's showdown with the All Blacks in Edinburgh, with Scotland aiming to record a first victory in the fixture at the 33rd attempt.
The Scots lost by eight points in 2022, five in 2017, and eight again three years before that.
"It's a huge match. This game has been sold out for a while. Everyone loves watching the All Blacks," Townsend told BBC Scotland.
"We've had two cracking matches against them [in recent years], but not delivered that winning performance. All these experiences, today included, have to be put into an 80-minute performance.
"The players can take confidence from how well they've trained this week. We have to build that cohesion pretty quickly. There's no reason why we can't. The guys will be up for it and have the belief they can do it."
With the USA match falling outside the designated Test window, Scotland were without key players such as Finn Russell, Blair Kinghorn and Ben White, but were ruthless in the fashion they dismantled their opponents.
Darcy Graham and Jamie Dobie both scored hat-tricks and Duhan Van der Merwe helped himself to two tries on his 50th cap. Dylan Richardson, Kyle Rowe, Stafford McDowall, George Horne, and Ollie Smith also scored.
"Straight away, the players were very cohesive, which is hard to achieve in a week's training," Townsend said.
"We asked for effort and physicality and we got that for most of the game. We were aggressive and disciplined in the main and the players worked hard for each other.
"We know next week will be a much bigger challenge and the team will be much-changed too."...
England win thriller to clinch Wheelchair Ashes
Wheelchair Rugby League Ashes, second Test
Australia (30) 42
Tries: Karim, McKenna 2, Tannock, Anstey 2, Schumacher. Goals: McKenna 7.
England (18) 48
Tries: Hawkins 2, O'Neill, Brown 2, King 3, Coyd. Goals: Collins 5, Hawkins.
Joe Coyd scored a try two minutes from time as England produced a stunning second-half fightback to beat Australia in the final Test and win the Wheelchair Rugby League Ashes.
Australia led 30-18 at half-time, but England scored six tries after the break to clinch the series 2-0 at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre in Queensland.
England also came from behind to win the first Test 56-28 on Thursday.
Diab Karim opened the scoring for Australia with a try after two minutes of the second Test.
Two tries from England's Rob Hawkins, who scored a hat-trick in the opening Test, and one from Finlay O'Neill were cancelled out by two Bayley McKenna scores, and Adam Tannock and Dan Anstey tries.
Jack Brown instigated England's fightback in the second half, scoring twice and setting up two tries for captain Lewis King, who ended with a hat-trick.
Tries from Zac Schumacher and Anstey brought Australia level at 42-42 before England substitute Mason Billington's cool final pass sent Coyd over for the winner.
Australia host the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup in 2026.
England and France have dominated the tournament since its inception in 2008, but the 'Wheelaroos' showed their development in this series....
Will Old Firm raise bar of mayhem another notch at Hampden?
So, a stock take since the last time Rangers and Celtic met in the goalless snoozeathon at Ibrox on the final day of August...
A game in which Celtic required 71 minutes to get a shot on target, and a stalemate that confirmed Rangers had made their worst start to a league season since 1983.
Martin (Russell) is out at Rangers and Martin (O'Neill) is in at Celtic.
Danilo, the £6m Rangers striker, has scored in back-to-back games for the first time in almost a year. Youssef Chermiti, the £8m Rangers striker, has finally scored after two-and-a-half years without a goal.
On Wednesday, Johnny Kenny became the first Celtic striker to score twice in a game since Adam Idah in April.
In the match against an admittedly obliging Falkirk, Celtic scored four times in 90 minutes having scored only 12 in the 810 league minutes that went before.
On Sunday at Hampden, when the teams go head-to-head in the League Cup semi-final, there will be a new/old Celtic manager and a rookie Rangers head coach, a 73-year-old in one dugout and a 36-year-old in the other.
O'Neill has managed in 27 Old Firm games, the first of them when his Sunday counterpart, Danny Rohl, was just 11.
After Martin, Barry Ferguson and Philippe Clement, Rohl will become the fourth manager to lead Rangers into an Old Firm game this year.
O'Neill, who since his return has been going around calling everybody "young man", is basking in the adulation of the Celtic fans. He got off to a good start with that 4-0 win against Falkirk.
Celtic have now won 53% of all games this season. Desperately poor, but at least O'Neill improved matters a tad.
Rangers have won 33% of their games. Hopeless, but getting better under Rohl, who has tweaked his formation, going three at the back with more tempo in the team.
The German, who logic says should be eaten alive by the horrible rigors of his job at Ibrox, also looks like he's revelling in the gig. He's now won two league games in a row, something that was beyond his predecessor.
Rangers also kept a clean sheet on the road on Wednesday, having failed on that front for 25 games on the bounce dating back to December. They had a late Jack Butland penalty save against Hibs to thank for that, of course.
All season long, these clubs have been basket cases, full of internal strife and external noise. It's been ugly. ...
'Bigger than football' - how Mjallby gatecrashed Sweden's elite
While most football fans across Europe are still settling in to the new season, the story of the year has already happened in Sweden.
The nation's top tier, Allsvenskan, is home to Champions League regulars and historic giants such as Malmo, AIK, Hammarby and Djurgarden.
Yet with three games left to play in their March to November season, it is Mjallby, based in a town of fewer than 1,000 people, who have clinched their first top-flight title and a place in Europe.
From overcoming near-bankruptcy to creating the best team in the country on a shoestring budget, the club's journey to this point has been remarkable.
Mjallby were established in 1939 by the merging of two local teams, and have spent much of the subsequent 86 years outside the Swedish top flight.
A coastal area closely tied with fishing and agriculture, the people of Solvesborg municipality are hard working and proud.
They show up in numbers at their modest 6,500 capacity Strandvallen home in the small town of Hallevik, with average attendances more than four times the size of the local population.
It's by the sea, but a far cry from the vast arenas of Stockholm and Malmo as Mjallby try to make up for lost time.
After a joint-best finish of fifth in the 2024 Allsvenskan, they have won 20 of their 27 league games this season and tasted defeat just once. Since May 2024, they have also gone 22 home league matches unbeaten.
Mjallby also beat title rivals Hammarby, currently in second place, home and away this season, despite having one of the smallest turnovers and budgets in the division.
And they clinched the Allsvenskan title with a 2-0 win at IFK Gothenburg on Monday.
"When I arrived at the club before the 2023 season I saw pretty fast that we had a lot of potential, but I thought that the mental perspective in the club held us back," 35-year-old defender Tom Pettersson told BBC Sport.
"It's something that we've been working on for a few years now. So it doesn't feel like we don't belong up there, top of the table, because we've been talking about this for a few years, that we have to stop using old excuses.
"We can still win things, even though we don't have a lot of money, even though we're a small village and all that.
"The group of players in the locker room, they're amazing. Everyone brings in energy every day, there's no egos at all, so we have a lot of fun as well."
Team-mate Elliot Stroud added: "It's difficult to take it all in, it's happened so fast."
The 23-year-old midfielder, Mjallby's top goal contributor in the league with nine goals and five assists, is thriving in a high energy, high pressing attacking system, something only recently introduced at the club.
"When people thought of Mjallby, they thought of long balls, long throws. We've always been strong defensively, but last season we brought in a new assistant coach who brought lots of great offensive ideas," added Stroud.
That coach is Karl Marius Aksum.
He had never previously coached at senior level when he joined Mjallby in January 2024, but his academic work and ideas won over manager Anders Torstensson who continues to manage the team despite a leukemia diagnosis later that year.
The Norwegian, who regularly shares tactical insights on social media, has a PhD in visual perception in elite football.
It has a particular focus on scanning, which refers to the active head movements players make before receiving the ball to gather information from their surroundings.
"It's a critical skill in modern football because the movements of the players are faster and the press is better, so you have to update your surroundings all the time," Aksum told BBC Sport.
"It's especially important for players in the middle of the pitch, because they could have important information 360 degrees around them."
He worked on the players' scanning to make them "better passers and better players both offensively and defensively", and was given the freedom to implement other principles to revolutionise their attacking play.
A team that once relied heavily on crosses and set-pieces now plays out from the back to keep possession and moves up the pitch as a unit.
"I trust my game model 100%, I knew it would work at this level. The players responded very, very well," he told BBC Radio 5 Live's Euro Leagues.
"It starts by controlling the game from the back. We start by creating [numerical] superiorities at the back, man v man.
"We are the team in Sweden that plays the most passes in our own third of the pitch because we want to control the game. We don't want chaos, we want control."
Aksum favours "game specific" training over drills like rondos, which focus on a specific skill without recreating real match conditions.
"No Playstation coaching, we provide players with principles but never the exact solutions. They have to make the decisions," he added.
With 49 goals from 16 different scorers in 27 games this season, Mjallby are the division's second highest scorers and have the fourth-highest average possession (54.3%) - up from 47.5% three years ago.
'We had to take control'
Making a title charge with an average player age of 24 and just three international players is impressive, but it's no accident.
Rewind to 2016 and Mjallby were struggling in the third tier and close to bankruptcy.
Victory on the final day spared them what would have been a fatal relegation to the fourth tier, but serious changes were needed off the field.
Swedish clubs are owned by fans because of the 50+1 rule, meaning rich owners cannot bankroll teams to success.
Mjallby's transformation over the last decade has been organic, and driven by chairman Magnus Emeus.
The businessman changed the mindset regarding finance, reducing the club's running costs and making the operation more efficient....
FA looks into alleged Mejbri spitting incident
The Football Association is looking into claims Burnley midfielder Hannibal Mejbri spat at Leeds United fans during the Clarets' win at Turf Moor on Saturday.
Lancashire Police is also "establishing the facts" around the alleged incident after a complaint was made by a Leeds fan in the away section of the stadium.
Mejbri, 22, came on as a substitute in the 83rd minute and was shown a yellow card in injury time for confronting Gabriel Gudmundsson following a strong tackle on the Leeds defender in front of the dugouts.
It is understood the FA is reviewing the spitting allegation but is yet to launch a full investigation.
Lancashire Police said it is "aware of an alleged incident involving a Burnley player during the second half of the Premier League game between Burnley and Leeds United at Turf Moor on Saturday".
The force added: "We are currently working with Burnley Football Club to establish the facts."
Leeds are aware of the allegation but have not commented on it.
Burnley, who won the match 2-0, declined to comment....
Why has Rugby League Ashes waited so long for revival?
The Ashes takes its name and format from the cricket series of the same title, and has traditionally pitted Australia against Great Britain.
Unlike cricket's Ashes, no actual ashes are involved - but that is not to say it is lacking in history or heritage.
Having first taken place in 1908, the series was contested 39 times until 2003, with Great Britain and Australia usually taking it in turns to host.
From the 39 series to date, Great Britain have won 19 and Australia 20. The Lions historically had great pedigree in the event, winning 24 of the 39 Tests to take place before 1945.
Since then, the momentum has shifted in favour of Australia.
Ominously for Shaun Wane's England side, Australia won a record 13 consecutive Ashes series between 1973 and 2003.
In the most recent Ashes series, staged in 2003, the Kangaroos won 3-0, although they had to come from behind to win all three matches.
The 22 years it has taken to stage another Ashes series is the longest gap between series in its history.
Why England and not Great Britain?
This year, Australia will be taking on England for the first time under the Ashes banner, having historically faced Great Britain.
Following the last series in 2003, Great Britain as an international entity was largely wound down from 2006, barring an ill-fated return in 2019.
That year culminated in a humiliating clean sweep of defeats, first by Tonga and then consecutive losses to New Zealand before a tour-ending loss to Papua New Guinea.
The introduction of the Tri-Nations and Four Nations tournaments, as well as England's failure to reach the final of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, means that opportunities to face Australia have been limited in the 22 years since a Darren Lockyer-captained side swept aside the Lions.
A series had been mooted to take place in 2020 but was delayed by the Covid pandemic and was eventually agreed for this year....
'We have to pull fans back together' - Nuno has a 'problem' at West Ham
There were empty seats before West Ham took on Brentford in their London derby. And plenty during the game. And even more so as the game drew to a close.
The fans who were left booed their team off after a truly miserable 2-0 defeat that could easily have been 5-0.
These are toxic times at London Stadium, with some fans staying away in a protest against the running of the club.
New Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo - yet to win after three games - admits the players have to work hard to get the fans back onside.
There was no sugar-coating this performance by the head coach with his after-match verdict.
"Not good enough. Poor," said the Portuguese, who was managing his first West Ham home game since replacing Graham Potter, after two away trips.
"Fairly Brentford won the game, they were the better team.
"I think we are all concerned. You can see our own fans are concerned. Concern becomes anxiety, becomes silence. That anxiety passes to the players. We have a problem.
"It's understandable. It's up to us to change. The fans need to see something that pleases them and they can support us and give us energy.
"I understand it, I understand it totally, and I respect it. It's up to us, it's up to us to change it. We are the people who have to pull the fans back together."
West Ham remain 19th, with just four points from their opening eight games. They are in action in the next Premier League game too, visiting Leeds on Friday.
Nuno told BBC Sport: "It's a challenge for all of us. It's up to us to change the momentum and bring our fans back to support us. In four days' time we need a big improvement."...
The players with points to prove as England reach World Cup
England confirmed qualification for next summer's World Cup with victory over Latvia, enabling head coach Thomas Tuchel to start finalising his plans as the countdown to the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico continues.
Competition for places will be intense, with disappointment inevitable for some of those who have played a part in England's smooth qualifying campaign.
The jockeying for positions will continue over the next months - so who are those players with something to prove to Tuchel as he considers England's squad to take to the World Cup?
Jude Bellingham
It is inconceivable that Jude Bellingham will not be part of England's squad at the World Cup but does the Real Madrid star, who is arguably the biggest global name available to Tuchel, still have something to prove to the head coach?
The recent evidence on and off the pitch suggests he does.
It all stems from Bellingham being left out of England's latest squad despite telling Tuchel he wanted to be included, to the constant narrative of team spirit and the excellence of Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers in the number 10 role.
England's next squad for what are effectively dead rubbers against Serbia and Albania will now have one main point of interest, namely whether Bellingham is included.
If he is, Bellingham will return to duty having been made acutely aware by Tuchel that there is no star system, no special cases, no automatic route back into England's team.
And it will also come after it has been made crystal clear that Tuchel's England world does not revolved around Bellingham and how best to utilise his undoubted talent.
Bellingham is not exactly starting again with England - the odds will still be on him being in the line-up their first game in next summer's World Cup - but he has to prove to Tuchel that he can be part of the team spirit the German cherishes, and that he deserves his place back in the side.
The England star famously mouthed "who else?" when scoring a spectacular stoppage-time overhead kick when England beat Slovakia in the last 16 at Euro 2024, but he now knows there are others Tuchel is willing to consider.
Cole Palmer
Cole Palmer's England career has, so far, been a mixed bag ranging from the moment of brilliance that gave England hope with the equaliser against Spain in what was eventually a losing cause in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin, to other occasions when he has left even supporters of his superb talent wanting more.
Palmer's current problem is a lingering groin injury. Further down the line it will be the Chelsea star performing in consistently eye-catching fashion that might persuade Tuchel to find a place for the 23-year-old in what is already a crowded area.
Tuchel is unlikely to start fitting square pegs in round holes so close to a major tournament - therefore Palmer, who has only played 64 minutes under the German, has work to do.
He is unlikely to get in as the 10, with Rogers currently in possession and Bellingham waiting in the wings.
It is hard to see a place on the flanks, where he is less effective, with Anthony Gordon and Marcus Rashford contenders on the left and Arsenal pair Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke fighting for a place on the right.
This effectively means Palmer will have to produce a spectacular run of form to force his way back into Tuchel's thinking.
Phil Foden...
India set to host 2030 centenary Commonwealth Games
India is set to host the centenary Commonwealth Games in 2030 - the second time in 20 years that the event will have been held in the world's most populous nation.
The city of Ahmedabad in the west of the country has been chosen ahead of Abuja in Nigeria by an evaluation commission from governing body Commonwealth Sport.
And the decision to hold the Games there in five years time is now expected to be ratified at the organisation's general assembly in Glasgow on 26 November.
Ahmedabad can boast the Narendra Modi Stadium - the largest in the world, with a capacity of 132,000 - which hosted the Cricket World Cup final in 2023.
The city has a population in excess of five million people, and has even been suggested as a potential bidder to host a future Olympic Games.
"We see the 2030 Games as a powerful opportunity to inspire our youth, strengthen international partnerships and contribute to a shared future across the Commonwealth," said Dr. P T Usha, president of Commonwealth Games Association India.
The Games first visited India in 2010 when Delhi hosted.
It is the second time Abuja has missed out on staging the Commonwealths, having been overlooked for the 2014 edition in favour of Glasgow.
The news looks set to end fears that Glasgow 2026 might be the last-ever Games, with Scotland's largest city having stepped in after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew for financial reasons.
That came after Birmingham took on the 2022 event after the South African city of Durban pulled out.
However, a reimagined format - with fewer sports, athletes and venues - has lessened the cost and enticed India, Nigeria and a handful of other countries to make their pitch to welcome the 74 Commonwealth Sport nations and territories.
A Commonwealth Sport statement said they "assessed candidate cities against a wide range of criteria“ and have “agreed to develop a strategy for supporting Nigeria's hosting ambitions for future Games, including consideration for 2034."
Meanwhile, Glasgow 2026 chair George Black said the news “marks a significant milestone”. He added that they “stand ready to create a powerful bond between Scotland and India that will be the bridge to the Games of the future”.
The 2030 Games will mark the centenary of the inaugural event held in Hamilton, Canada, in 1930.
'New optimism about future editions' - analysis
ByDan Roan
Sports editor
It was not long ago that many wondered if Glasgow 2026 could be the very last Commonwealth Games, such was the difficulty in finding hosts.
But members of the Commonwealth movement will see this as vindication of its controversial decision to adopt a slimmed-down version of the event for next year.
Reducing the cost of staging it has clearly helped encourage potential host countries to bid after a period in which the future of the Games appeared to be in jeopardy amid scrutiny over its relevance and association with colonialism.
BBC Sport has been told there is now a willingness to expand the sports programme for 2030, and new optimism about future editions.
Indian sports chiefs, meanwhile, will hope this can boost their hopes of Ahmedabad winning the right to host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2036.
Related topics...
Club record signing Alyssa Thompson scored her first goal as a dominant Chelsea emphatically beat Paris FC in the Women's Champions League league phase.
The Blues had begun their European campaign with a frustrating 1-1 draw at FC Twente last week which meant they were already trailing other European heavyweights in the standings heading into the second round of games.
The visitors set up with a compact defence and frustrated Chelsea as they struggled to create chances in the box, but Sonia Bompastor's side were gifted the opener when Sjoeke Nusken was judged to have been fouled in the area after a video assistant referee (VAR) check and Sandy Baltimore rifled home from the spot.
Paris attempted to battle back but were shaky - Erin Cuthbert snatched possession in midfield and fed Thompson out wide, who found Johanna Rytting Kaneryd in the area to head past Mylene Chavas.
Chelsea's dominance produced a string of promising chances, with Aggie Beever-Jones nearly adding a third when she struck the underside of the bar shortly before half-time.
It took less than 90 seconds from the restart for 20-year-old United States forward Thompson to inflict further damage on Paris, prodding home a drilled Keira Walsh pass at the back post.
Paris never looked like finding a path back into the game and Chelsea further extended their lead when the visitors failed to clear after substitute Sam Kerr headed a Baltimore corner towards goal, allowing Cuthbert to tap in on the line.
The attempts continued to flow for the hosts and Guro Reiten rattled an effort off the bar, but they were unable to increase their goal tally.
Victory means Chelsea have four points from their opening two matches in Europe and are unbeaten in all competitions after eight games this season....
How are World Cup favourites shaping up - and who will win?
England have booked their place at the 2026 World Cup and so attention turns to how they might fare in North America next summer - and how some of their rivals are looking.
Thomas Tuchel's contract runs to the end of the tournament and the feeling has been that England have gone all out to get to this point.
Yet Tuchel believes England will be "underdogs" at the World Cup "because we haven't won it for decades".
Argentina and Brazil, who have both qualified, will hope the location gives them a boost.
Seven of the eight World Cups set in the Americas have been won by a South American team.
And 10 of the 11 World Cups held in Europe have been won by European teams.
BBC Sport looks at how some of the World Cup favourites are shaping up.
Spain
Spain are the early bookmakers' favourites to win the World Cup - and with good reason.
They were deserved winners at Euro 2024, beating England in the final.
And in teenage Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal they have one of the best players in the world.
Not counting a penalty shootout defeat in June's Nations League final against Portugal, they have not lost a competitive game since facing Scotland in March 2023.
They have not yet qualified although sit top of Group E on maximum points....
From England contender to reputation in tatters - Potter's fall from grace
Graham Potter's downward direction of travel has taken him from the coveted coach heavily touted as Sir Gareth Southgate's potential England successor to the pain of two brutal sackings after brief spells at Chelsea and West Ham.
Potter was dismissed by West Ham after only eight months in charge as they stand 19th in the Premier League in the wake of four defeats in five games, his reign following on from seven months at Stamford Bridge before he suffered a similar fate.
He claimed he was the victim of a "perfect storm" at Chelsea, his appointment coinciding with the club's new ownership - who sacked Thomas Tuchel in September 2022 to appoint Potter - embarking on a £323m spending spree in the January transfer window.
Potter, a meticulous coach who thrived at Brighton on time and structure, was left with a squad so big the changing room was too small to fit them all in. He was sacked in April 2023.
Now Potter has been engulfed by a similarly chaotic environment at West Ham, the reputation he built so carefully - along with a talented team at Brighton - in tatters.
Potter won only six of his 25 matches in charge since succeeding Julen Lopetegui, his low-key personality never winning favour with West Ham's demanding fans and his plight worsened by wretched results.
West Ham's sacking will arguably be even more disappointing for Potter than when he was dismissed at Chelsea, a decision that came with a measure of understanding because of the frantic, unstable surroundings that accompanied his tenure under co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.
This is because Potter waited 637 days to make what he regarded as a carefully calculated return to the game after leaving Chelsea, believing West Ham was the ideal place to flourish once more.
Potter described his arrival at West Ham as: "A bit like Christmas - Christmas for the adults."
Instead, it became a long, drawn-out nightmare reaching its inevitable conclusion, although West Ham's timing still raised questions, coming as it did 24 hours after Potter had been allowed to carry out media duties looking ahead to Monday evening's game at Everton.
Potter was certainly not the sole culprit at West Ham, with the anger of fans also directed at chairman David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady, with protests taking place before the home defeat by Crystal Palace, which proved to be the manager's final game.
Potter joined West Ham refreshed and with his reputation intact, a highly regarded, measured individual who was in the Football Association's post-Southgate calculations and who had also attracted the interest of Everton when they dismissed Sean Dyche.
He had risen steadily, a considered constructor of clubs and teams rather than a quick-fix problem solver that made him an ill fit for clubs as demanding - on and off the pitch - as Chelsea.
After waiting so long for what he believed was the right club for his managerial and coaching talents, Potter walked straight into a hole at West Ham.
He came to prominence at Ostersund in Sweden before being appointed manager of Swansea in June 2018, and his development and attractive playing style earned him a move to Brighton a year later.
Brighton was the perfect platform for Potter, home to patience and planning under owner Tony Bloom alongside technical director Dan Ashworth, with a smart recruitment team that uncovered gems such as midfielders Moises Caicedo and Alex Mac Allister.
Potter was at his best on the training ground, leading Brighton to ninth in the Premier League the season before he left, leaving them to join Chelsea when the Seagulls were fourth after winning four of their first six games, including an opening-weekend win at Manchester United.
He can point to leading Chelsea into the last eight of the Champions League while at Stamford Bridge, but - as at West Ham - Potter seemed at times to be overwhelmed by events before being consumed by a ruthless sacking.
Potter's downfall has come from joining two clubs with polar opposite approaches to Brighton, where Bloom never lost faith even after an early run of only two wins in 19 games. Potter had the trust and faith of the hierarchy in a manner which has never been replicated since.
Former England defender Martin Keown told the BBC: "Potter was at Chelsea not so long ago. He could have been an England manager.
"Now you look at his career and his win percentage at Chelsea and West Ham. His next job now in the Premier League, if he gets one, is really very important for him."
Potter has not actually dealt in high win percentages throughout his Premier League career.
In 120 games at Brighton he won 34 and lost 42, with a 28% winning ratio. At Chelsea it was 32%, with seven wins, while at West Ham he won six games or 26%.
Potter's strength as a coach was always organisation and tactical discipline, yet he even looked lost in this context at West Ham, especially at set-pieces.
Keown said: "I watched them play Spurs a couple of weeks ago and you saw the set-pieces.
"They have conceded seven goals from set-pieces this season. It looked like a set of schoolboys out there - no real direction. Eventually that has to come back to the manager."
The usually calm Potter exterior was replaced by a personality who looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders as a second high-profile Premier League failure unfolded.
Where Potter goes next is purely guesswork.
The continent may call, where he could find a set-up that suits him, but the notion of a big Premier League post is fanciful in the extreme.
Potter's ending at West Ham caps a spectacular fall from grace from the territory where he was once a live contender in the conversation of those with the qualities befitting an England manager....
Robert Lewandowski nodded in a second-half winner as Barcelona came from behind to beat Real Sociedad and top the La Liga table.
With the scores locked at 1-1 Barca manager Hansi Flick brought on Ballon d'Or runner-up Lamine Yamal in the 58th minute.
Just seconds later the 18-year-old beat a defender before dinking in a perfect cross which an unmarked Lewandowski headed in.
Real Sociedad had taken a shock lead in the 31st minute on the counter-attack when Alvaro Odriozola slid in to turn home Ander Barrenetxea's low cross.
But the hosts levelled two minutes before half-time when defender Jules Kounde met Marcus Rashford's corner with a thumping header.
Rashford had another fine game for the hosts, regularly carving out chances down the left and had dipping shots well saved by Sociedad keeper Alex Remiro either side of half-time.
The Manchester United loanee was brought off in the 78th minute with Flick presumably having one eye on his side's Champions League tie with Paris St-Germain on Wednesday.
Sociedad had a late opportunity to level after Kounde dawdled and had the ball pinched off him, but Takefusa Kubo was unable to finish off the move, instead clattering the crossbar.
About 30 seconds later, Barca went up the other end with Yamal setting up Ferran Torres who found Lewandowski, but the Pole's effort bounced off the underside of the bar, down on to the goalline but stayed out.
Ultimately though, the miss wasn't costly as the defending champions held on for their sixth win in seven league matches and move a point clear of Real Madrid, who lost 5-2 at Atletico Madrid on Saturday....
Arsenal seize 'massive opportunity' by proving mentality
Time was rapidly running out for Arsenal.
With 83 minutes on the clock, Newcastle United were still in front at St James' Park courtesy of a powerful header from Nick Woltemade.
And it looked like being one of those days for the visitors.
A penalty award had earlier been overturned following an intervention from the video assistant referee (VAR) after Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope appeared to bring down Viktor Gyokeres.
Leandro Trossard saw an effort crash off the post.
Pope made superb saves to keep out a pair of volleys from Eberechi Eze and a header from Jurrien Timber.
But not only did Arsenal equalise through substitute Mikel Merino - they won thanks to Gabriel's dramatic stoppage-time goal.
No wonder manager Mikel Arteta celebrated wildly on the touchline as his side moved within a couple of points of league leaders Liverpool.
"To win in the manner that we have done it, wow, what a feeling," he told Match of the Day. "Football is about emotion and going through things and today we had a beautiful one at the end of the match.
"That is how you get to a different level. By going through those moments and take those lessons from it.
"It was a massive opportunity to make a statement and to prove to everybody and ourselves the team that we are."
Arteta plays trump cards
Arteta has felt very different emotions on recent visits to St James'.
Newcastle had won each of their previous three home games against Arsenal in all competitions.
There has been an edge to these matches in recent years - one that has tended to bring out the best out of Newcastle.
And Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe has long told his players they play better when they hit that "sweet spot of aggression and competitiveness".
"We are competitors," midfielder Joelinton roared before the game. "We want to compete. We want to win."
If Joelinton's words did not fire up his team-mates enough, Jamaal Lascelles wrote in his pre-match programme notes about how playing at a febrile St James' "makes you feel like you can run through a brick wall".
That was the challenge Arsenal faced - not least after going behind in the first half - as the home support roared at tackles and blocks.
There were even taunts of "Mikel Arteta - it must be the ball" in reference to the Arsenal manager's explanation for his side missing the target when these teams met in the Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg last season.
Yet Arteta had a couple of familiar trump cards to fall back on: his bench and set-plays - and not for the first time.
Substitutes Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Martinelli previously linked up for the equaliser against Manchester City. Martinelli and Trossard both scored after coming off the bench versus Athletic Club in the Champions League. Trossard helped seal the midweek EFL Cup win at Port Vale after being thrown on as a replacement.
This time, it was Merino's turn to make an impact....
Packers and Cowboys play out epic tie in Dallas
A long and exciting fourth Sunday of the NFL season opened with a historic first game in Dublin and closed with an epic clash in Dallas.
Micah Parsons' return to Dallas was overshadowed by the on-field mayhem as the Green Bay Packers and Cowboys went toe to toe in what ended as a rare tied scoreline.
The Kansas City Chiefs looked back to their best as they put the Baltimore Ravens in severe trouble so early in the campaign, while the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills remained the final two unbeaten sides.
All in all, it was quite the night in the NFL.
Packers pinch a tie in thrilling Parsons return
Parsons made a quick return to Dallas after his blockbuster trade to Green Bay in a game that not only lived up to the pre-match hype but far exceeded it.
The Packers and Cowboys played out the second-highest scoring tied game in NFL history and the first ever to end 40-40.
Jordan Love and Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes each and traded blows in an exhilarating second half, with six touchdowns on six straight possessions seeing the lead continuously change hands.
Brandon McManus kicked a Green Bay field goal as time expired to force overtime, and did the same again with the last play of the extra period to end a breathless game with honours even.
Ties are relatively rare in the NFL - it is the first Green Bay have had since 2018, while Dallas haven't had a tied game since 1969.
Without Parsons the Cowboys' defence isn't much to write home about, but after a barnstorming 40-37 overtime win against the Giants in week two and now this, they're a team well worth watching this season....
