New footage from inside the Emirates Stadium has shed some more light on the bust-up between Kyle Walker, Erling Haaland and members of Arsenal’s backroom staff following Manchester City’s 1-0 defeat over the weekend.
Walker and Haaland were involved in a touchline spat with one of the Arsenal coaching staff as the teams were leaving the pitch on Sunday, the individual who has now been revealed to be set-piece coach Nicola Jover, a former Man City employee himself.
Despite the cameras catching glimpses of the argument, it was only later in the coverage of the post-match scenes that an angle showing the altercation from start to finish that viewers got a clearer picture of what happened.
While it is still unclear what words were exchanged by the immediate trio involved, the latest footage appears to show Jover reaching out for a handshake only for Walker to wave his arms in dismissal before growing frustrated and turning to confront the coach.
Kyle Walker & Haaland raging at our Set Piece coach for offering a handshake 😭 pic.twitter.com/WjLNisdj1L
A longer video showing what sparked the fight between Walker, Haaland and the Arsenal coach.
Once again, although it is not yet known what was said by Jover or Walker during the bust-up, there is presumably a trigger beyond the City fullback refusing to shake his former coach’s hand, with Haaland also coming over to intervene before the fight escalates further.
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As you can see in the clip, several other members from each team ultimately get involved before Walker, Haaland and others are shepherded down the tunnel.
Serving on the punditry panel, Gary Neville joked that players “don’t like set-pieces on the training pitch full-stop, let alone the opposition set-piece coach having a go”, whereas former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott suggested that City “are not used to losing” and that instead of their usual “professionalism”, he believes “a nerve has been picked here”.
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It will be interesting to find out exactly what was said, whether this was simply emotions boiling over after a loss, or perhaps even a personal issue between a player and his old coach. Speaking to media after the game, manager Pep Guardiola confirmed he knows what happened but didn’t want to divulge it.
🗣️ “I know what happened but I don’t want to say… They know it.”
Pep Guardiola says he was unwilling to reveal what happened between Kyle Walker, Erling Haaland and Nicolas Jover at full-time between Arsenal and Manchester City yesterday. pic.twitter.com/orMuyXEUTg
Shaking his head and simply adding, “They know it” — presumably referring to Walker and Haaland — Pep also went on to say that he understood the reaction from the Arsenal staff, suggesting that the incident predominantly arose as a result of his own players’ reactions.
That’s back-to-back wins for Arsenal against the Blues following the Community Shield victory at the start of this year’s campaign but a first Premier League victory against his former club for Mikel Arteta since becoming a manager.
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In fact, it was the Gunners’ first league victory against City since 2015, before Guardiola had even arrived at the Etihad.
Nevertheless, the Catalan coach’s post-match interview was filled with plenty more humour as well, clearly taking the defeat in stride and even brushing off the jokes that Arteta is a “mini-me” with a light-hearted comeback.
Reporter: Do you look at Mikel and think there's a mini me?
Pep: I dress better… I'm more elegant, I'm sorry. My wife gives me the perfect outfit all of the time 😂
Featured Image — Kyle Walker (via Instagram)/Sky Sports/Man City (via Twitter)
Sport
Leigh Leopards share update regarding Tesi Niu allegations
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester rugby league side Leigh Leopards have now issued an update addressing the allegations levelled at one of their players, Tesi Niu.
With the statement coming directly from the club’s owner, Derek Beaumont, the club have shed light on their understanding of the situation.
Beaumont, who bought the team over a decade ago and rebranded it from ‘Centurions’ to the Leopards back in 2022 (and also owns a local decking company based in Worsley), appeared to speak on behalf of the club following the accusations made last week.
Sharing an official communication on social media on Wednesday afternoon, 8 January, they open by saying that “the club is aware of social media activity of concern from one of its players’ accounts, that of Tesi Niu.”
“The club can confirm that the player’s account was accessed externally and without his knowledge or consent”, they continue, “and [was] deleted a short period thereafter.”
“We were instantly aware of this as it happened”, says the Leigh Leopards owner. “As a club, we have policies and procedures and employ a Player Welfare Manager who is a qualified counsellor.
“Our first port of call in these circumstances is to ensure the welfare of our player and any external party that may be involved. This was immediately initiated.
“Having since personally spoken with Tesi and Kiana individually and at length, and then our Player Welfare Manager and Head Coach, I am completely satisfied that they are both being fully supported.
“I can also confirm that there is no official complaint to the club regarding the player, nor to any relevant authorities. To that end, the club will make no further statements about the matter and would welcome supporters’ trust in the club’s processes and findings.”
For context, you can read what 24-year-old Niu has been accused of in full down below.
While the organisation has now insisted that nothing formal has been raised within the club nor with the police at this time, many supporters are still insisting that there must be a full investigation into the troubling claims.
At present, however, the statement seems to suggest that they won’t be taking the matter any further internally – at least not for now/until a proper case is opened.
Nevertheless, many Leopards supporters, rugby fans and people online in general have understandably raised more concerns following the statement.
Neither Tesi Niu himself nor Kiana Smith – his partner of more than five years, currently said to be pregnant with their third child – has yet to share any further message(s) following the initial declaration of alleged abuse.
Serving as yet another fitting tribute from his beloved football club, who already honoured the late, great, Manc musician at Old Trafford, it’s rumoured to launch later this year.
Snapped alongside United’s current third kit for the 25/26 season, the rumoured ‘lifestyle’ jersey is apparently coming very soon.
This pair of images has seemingly confirmed the claims made by trusted online kit source, Footy Headlines, who specialise in sharing pictures of the football shirts, boots and more, who had already reported on the release in 2025.
As you can see, not only does the design feature a striking blue take on the band’s iconic album art style (expanded from an original painting by guitarist John Squire), but if you look closely, it also features the band’s iconic song and overriding slogan, ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, built into the crest.
You can see the rest of the existing Stone Roses collection in full down below.
We’re sure there are loads of other little details besides the twist on the badge still to be spotted, but for now, all we know is that the world-famous sporting franchise is continuing to capitalise even further on The Stone Roses connection.
Since the last batch of officially licensed adidas x Stone Roses merch quickly became collector’s items, we can only assume that this latest shirt won’t be the only new addition.
For instance, one user already commented, ‘Where’s the bucket hat?’
As for Manchester United, they’re no doubt looking to generate as much revenue as possible after having to pay another sizeable severance package following the sacking of Ruben Amorim – the question is, who is going to be next?
Danny Jones -
9th October 2023 
