FORREST IS BURNING FOR ‘TV REVENGE’
– Conte cost the club millions by telling Costa via text he was no longer in his plans – and made any negotiation on his sale difficult. – He arrived late for post-match press conferences.
– He failed to turn up to, or was late for, appearances with sponsors.
– Conte did not park his Nissan in the assigned space at the Cobham training ground.
– Costa was still sold for £57m – that’s a £25m profit on a player bought in 2014.
– Chelsea renewed the head coach’s contract in July 2017 – and increased his salary – even after the infamous text message to the Spain striker.
– The delay in sacking Conte stopped him getting another job. – Conte is claiming €10m (£8.7m) for damage to his reputation.
UNAI EMERY is being hailed for giving Arsenal staying power.
The Gunners boss has overseen an impressive 14-game unbeaten run after his reign began with defeats by Manchester City and Chelsea.
Second-half improvements by
Arsenal have been a regular feature in their sequence of games without defeat.
And that continued on Saturday when they rescued a point against Liverpool with a late Alexandre Lacazette equaliser.
The clash against Jurgen Klopp’s title contenders was considered an acid test of Arsenal’s progress under Emery (right).
And the final outcome, especially after going behind, was an encouraging one.
Gunners legend Nigel Winterburn (above) said: “What Unai Emery has done to this team is he has made them stay focused, made them stay competitive, the performance may not be perfection, but they’re hanging in there in games.
“They may be drawing, they may be that goal behind, but they’re staying in there right to the end and then they’re coming through very strong with great mental belief.
“Again at the weekend that’s exactly what happened. They stayed in the game and obviously Lacazette’s finish was terrific.
“It looks like the whole squad are really behind the new manager and what he’s trying to achieve.”
Arsenal are aiming to make it 15 games without defeat against Sporting
Lisbon in the Europa
League tomorrow.
Emery’s side are top of Group E and three points clear of Sporting after a 1-0 win in Lisbon a fortnight ago.
Another victory will see them seal their place in the knockout stages with two games to spare.
Arsenal face a Sporting side led by caretaker manager Tiago Fernandes at the Emirates.
He has been put in temporary charge following Jose Peseiro’s sacking.
Peseiro was in charge for the first meeting against the Gunners, but axed last week after the
Lisbon side were dumped out of their league cup by secondtier
Estoril. JAMES FORREST is convinced Celtic can get their Europa League dream back on track tomorrow – after plotting RB Leipzig’s downfall from his sofa.
The Hoops winger sat out last month’s 2-0 defeat in Germany, but tuned in to get some tips on how to get the better of the Bundesliga men.
Forrest – who has blasted seven goals in five games since coming back from his ban – admitted it was painful viewing.
“It was frustrating to miss out,” he said.
“It was a weird feeling, watching it on the telly. You’re just eager for the boys to do well and get a good result. I’m not really used to being suspended. You do look closely, though, and the boys did well, especially that first 30 minutes. But they scored a couple of quick goals.
“When you’re not playing, you pay close attention to the guys in your position and who you may be up against. Everything helps.”