A group of Newport County fans went viral during this weekend’s FA Cup tie against Manchester United after their comedic sign mocking Marcus Rashford and his night out controversy was caught by the cameras.
Man United managed to progress to the next round of the FA Cup following a 4-2 win away at Newport, despite making hard work of it, but one of the standout moments of the night turned out to be the small group of home supporters who got very creative with their sign-making skills on Sunday night.
Just a day after the news broke that Rashford had been dropped from the squad following a cheeky and unsanctioned night out in Belfast — one which he lied about and claimed illness — the South Wales supporters did their best to make light of the situation.
As caught on the BBC’s live feed and by various other broadcasters, the Newport fans jokingly asked, “Rashford can we have your week’s wages?” ahead of his inevitable fine. The Metro has reported that he is set to be fined around £650,000, i.e. two week’s worth of wages.
Fair play, you’ve got to laugh at that — hopefully, Rashford’s had a sense of humour about it too.
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You can also always rely on Newport fans to have a laugh; we still watch the video of that ‘I’ve conquered all the chippies’ chant at least once every couple of months and it never gets old.
As for Rashford himself, the United and England star has yet to address the situation but was obviously left out of the matchday squad after footage and images on the night out in Northern Ireland began circulating online.
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Meanwhile, when quizzed multiple times by reports on what action the club had taken, Erik ten Hag insisted that it is “an internal matter”, simply repeating, “I’ll deal with it”.
It remains to be seen how big a deal this will turn out to be and what ramifications it will have on the relationship between the player and the United boss, but let’s just say Rashy isn’t the first person to try and pull a sickie.
However, there were some more wholesome scenes after the game as ten Hag also surprised Newport manager Graham Coughlan, a huge Red himself, with a bottle of wine.
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The Dublin-born coach did joke that he’s more of a Budweiser man but he still graciously accepted.
You can watch the highlights of Newport County vs Manchester United down below:
Marcus Rashford among those left out of England’s provisional Euro 2024 squad
Danny Jones
The first England squad for Euro 2024 has been revealed and a few notable names have not been included in the provisional list of players, namely Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.
Having had a bit of an off-season at club level as well as struggling with a number of injury issues, the 26-year-old has already been in and out of Erik ten Hag‘s team over recent weeks and months.
As a result, he has seemingly been left out of Gareth Southgate‘s first round of picks for the Euros, though the final selection for the tournament will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Despite being go-to players under the Three Lions boss in past tournaments, he and former Liverpool star Jordan Henderson look set to miss out on a summer where England are considered one of the favourites for a change, along with former Manchester City man Raheem Sterling too.
🚨 Marcus Rashford not part of initial England squad for Euro 2024. 26yo Manchester United attacker made strong impact at World Cup + selected for last camp but expected to miss out of provisional group Gareth Southgate names @TheAthleticFC#EURO2024#MUFChttps://t.co/pVHAuNX7it
Reacting to the news, ex-pro turned pundit Paul Merson admitted he was “shocked” by the decision, especially with Rashford potentially on the verge of picking up an FA Cup this weekend, though the bookies are favouring Man City, who have once again won the Premier League title this season.
Other notable exclusions include Ben Chilwell and often injury-stricken Chelsea fullback, Reece James – despite Southgate being slim on full-backs as it is – City loanee, Kalvin Phillips, as well as another United man in Jadon Sancho, who has only just regained some form out on loan at Borussia Dortmund.
Elsewhere, fellow teammates Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and youngster Kobbie Mainoo have all been chosen by the national team boss despite some lingering questions surrounding their fitness and experience.
You can see England’s Euros squad in full down below:
Once again, plenty can change between now and mid-June; drop-outs are almost inevitable when it comes to major tournaments, not to mention that the likes of the FA Cup and Champions League (with multiple England players featuring across both) could end up giving Southgate another decision to make.
Regardless, of the players that have been chosen for the Euros, England are fortunate to be stacked with plenty of talent, youth and experience. This could very well be the best chance of winning silverware fans could hope for.
What do you think, is this the team to help bring football home?
Featured Images — England/Marcus Rashford (via Instagram)
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Details of huge Manchester City parade through city centre announced
Daisy Jackson
The victorious Manchester City will be taking to the streets in the city centre once again to celebrate their historic four-in-a-row achievement.
Details of this year’s parade have just been announced, travelling from the National Football Museum and along Deansgate.
An open-top bus will carry the team and their winners’ silverware through town on Sunday, marking their unprecedented fourth Premier League victory in a row.
If previous years are anything to go by, thousands of fans will flood to the city centre to celebrate with Manchester City when they hit the streets on 26 May.
This also happens to be the same day as the Great Manchester Run, so Manchester is expected to be extremely busy.
After tens of thousands of runners cross the finish line on Deansgate, the space will be readied for the Manchester City Parade, which will take place from 7.30pm until around 9pm.
There’ll be a number of road closures in place on Sunday for both the race and the parade.
The Blues are the first ever male team since the inception of the Football League in 1888 to win four successive championships.
Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Congratulations to Manchester City. Being crowned premier league champions once again and for an astonishing fourth year in a row is an incredible achievement by the club and its players, showing once again that Manchester’s world class sporting credentials really are second to none.
“We know how much this means to fans of the club young and old – not just in Manchester but around the globe – and the homecoming parade on Sunday promises to be an unmissable night to remember for fans and players alike as they celebrate this historic title win together.”
A list of road closures over the weekend in connection with the Great Manchester Run is already available online at manchester.gov.uk/roadclosures and will be added to ahead of the weekend with any further road closures deemed necessary in order to facilitate the Manchester City parade.