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Marcus Rashford’s Manchester United return feels like a marriage of convenience | Will Unwin

A lack of offers and problems in finding a replacement may be behind the move, but that does not mean it cannot work The first chant of the match was for Marcus Rashford, Manchester United’s returning rogue son, the one banished for 18 months, first to the Midlands and then Catalonia. Every football fan loves an academy product who has risen up the ranks, from scrawny child to getting 76,000 off their seats. Rashford is one of these, living out the dream of everyone inside Old Trafford and they are willing to forgive but want something in return. Not since 7 December 2024 has Rashford been seen in red at Old Trafford. Then it was as a substitute forlornly trying to turn things around in an eventual 3-2 defeat by Nottingham Forest. His relationship with Ruben Amorim was already deteriorating, the second head coach to have become irritated with Rashford. After loans with Aston Villa and Barcelona, everyone is surprised to see him back; it feels like a marriage of convenience bec...
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Man killed by falling sign at Christian festival named as church pays tribute

Robert Guanco, 41, a pastor at Jesus Living Water church in Eastbourne, described as having ‘touched many lives’ A 41-year-old man who died after a large wooden sign fell at a Christian festival on Friday has been named as Robert Guanco, a pastor at a church in Eastbourne, East Sussex. A tribute from his church on Sunday described him as a respected pastor who was a “loving husband” and “a devoted and caring father”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/U2YFvqx

No country for old men: Premier League grind is why managers are getting younger

The boss in the dugout is typically no longer an ageing former player – most are in their 40s on an exhausting treadmill One of the problems with getting older is that you’re never quite sure whether it’s you or them. Is the world really changing, or is it just you, struggling to adapt? There’s a milestone in life, probably as you’re contemplating university or a first job, when you realise you’re watching a footballer who is younger than you. Then, 15-20 years later, you realise you’re watching a manager who is younger than you. And 15-20 years after that, especially if you’re watching the modern Premier League, you realise that almost every manager is younger than you. At which you do two things: give thanks for David Moyes; and check to see whether it’s actually happening, or whether this is just the football equivalent of the policemen-getting-younger cliche. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/5cdi3Hx

Spencer Jones: Dogs review – barking comic sniffs out community through canines

Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh Behind this grab-bag of papier-mache heads and walkies banter lies a celebration of simply talking to one another First came Ricky Gervais’s cynical cats ; now here are Spencer Jones’s optimistic Dogs. One was tawdry, the other couldn’t be sweeter, as the prop-comic delivers this hymn to the canine-human relationship. Like much of Jones’s work , it’s a grab-bag, as he circles seemingly at random between character comedy in papier-mache heads, loop-pedal nonsense and dopey dog-walking business with an animatronic mutt. Not all of it is dog-related. And yet, it adds up to something winning, as Jones leads his four-legged friends towards a closing message about social cohesion in acrimonious times – and how our pets can help. It begins as a chat with the audience about their animals, with Jones poshing it up in character as a snobby dog-walker. One strand of the show, taking as its motto the question “Aren’t humans weird?”, functions as a gleeful anthropology of ...

Olé for Robinson as England take firm control of Lord’s Test against Pakistan

Second Test, day two: England 290 & 81-3; Pakistan 110 Ollie Robinson takes 4 for 11; Jofra Archer picks up three Joe Root did not want the England captaincy when it started to be floated earlier this summer. After performing the role as a stand-in for the suspended Ben Stokes against New Zealand at the Oval, his father, Matt, asked about a full-time return as a hypothetical and has since said this was met with a “no”. Root was apparently then swayed by the impending arrival of Stephen Fleming as head coach, with the pair speaking regularly before roles were finally locked down. But watching this one-sided second day against Pakistan at Lord’s – and indeed the one-sided series opener at Headingley – one wonders whether being handed the keys to this pace attack was just as much of a clincher. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/skwzap1

Freddie Meredith: Need a Light? review – one hilarious hour of cringe

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Watching a man labouring to strike up conversations in the smoking area of a nightclub proves not just funny but also touching and uplifting Ever pretended to use your phone to avoid the shame of being Norman No-Mates at a party? Freddie Meredith’s new show is a 60-minute channelling of that experience, an hour-long cringe at a man labouring to strike up conversations in the smoking area of a nightclub. Meredith, a familiar face to viewers of Big Boys, Such Brave Girls and other TV series, has alighted on a familiar social type here, albeit one rarely so brilliantly depicted. His alter ego is a shy and insecure beta male desperately trying to look – well, alpha is out of his reach, but even basic social functioning would be an upgrade. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/tzH2mZM

The Wreck review – scuba drama about siblings under pressure

Summerhall, Edinburgh Gabe Winsor’s inventively staged tale is charming and sweetly lo-fi, but the emotion never quite clicks Deep sea diving and plumbing the depths of family history make a decent parallel in this nimble multimedia production by Buzzcut , which has a sweetly eccentric air yet leaves a little too much beneath the surface. The premise is familiar, as Eddie (Morgan Beale) returns to the seaside town where his sister, Ira (Camilla Anvar), still lives in her childhood bedroom and runs the family pub now that their parents are gone. Guilt, resentment and jealousy bubble up as they squabble over which of them was their parents’ favourite and what to do with the business, while Ira shares her doubts about Eddie’s new husband. At Summerhall, Edinburgh , until 31 August All our Edinburgh festival reviews Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2qFSGlP