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Futbol

Fan Jeers And A Cupped Ear - Is Postecoglou Feeling The Friction?

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou is looking more isolated than ever. The Australian directed a brief clap towards the furious travelling away fans from near the halfway line following his side's 1-0 loss at Chelsea but, by then, it could be argued the damage had already been done. Enzo Fernandez's second-half header was enough to inflict a 16th defeat of the season on Tottenham and leave them 14th in the Premier League - 10 points away from the top 10 - and the signs are growing some fans have had enough. Chants of "you don't know what you're doing" came from the away end after midfielder Lucas Bergvall was replaced by Pape Sarr in the 65th minute. Remarkably, Sarr found the net with an excellent long-range strike just four minutes later, leading Postecoglou to cup his ear and turn to the away end, only for VAR to then rule out the goal for a foul on Moises Caicedo. When asked about the incident after the match, Postecoglou said: "Jeez mate, it's incredible how things get interpreted. We'd just scored, I just wanted to hear them cheer. Because we'd been through a tough time, and I thought it was a cracking goal. "I wanted them to get really excited. I felt at that point we could potentially go on and win the game. I just felt momentum was on our [side]. It doesn't bother me. It's not the first time they've booed my substitutions or my decisions. That's fine, they're allowed to do that. "But we'd just scored a goal, just scored an equaliser, I was just hoping we could get some excitement. If people want to read into that that somehow I'm trying to make a point about something, like I said, we'd been through a tough time, but I just felt there was a bit of a momentum shift there. "If they get really behind the lads, I thought we had the momentum to finish on top of them." It's just the latest in a season of incidents between Postecoglou and sections of the fanbase. There was the recent exchange with an angry supporter after defeat by Fulham just before the international break, another similar back and forth happened after defeat at home to Leicester and he confronted the away end after they criticised players after losing at Bournemouth in December. He added when asked if he was alienating the fans: "You know what, I am at such a disconnect with the world these days, that who knows? Maybe you're right. I don't know. But that's not what my intention was." This just compounds the lack of progress on the pitch, especially with almost a full squad of players available, as Spurs look to avoid their worst season in the Premier League era. Former Spurs midfielder Jamie Redknapp put it plainly when he said on Sky Sports: "Tottenham were awful. It could have been so much more. Not good enough in any department from Tottenham. Chelsea were so much better. "When Sarr scored, it looked like Ange cupped his ears to say: I know better. There's a disconnect between the two [Tottenham fans and Ange Postecoglou] at the moment. "It's not ideal for the manager. He's got some big games ahead. He's got to keep his head up, got to keep going, working hard and believing in what they do." Postecoglou is the first Spurs manager to lose his first four matches against Chelsea, while they have fewer points in London derbies this season than any of their neighbours - and the bigger picture offers no solace. With eight games left, Spurs are 14th, and could well finish outside the top 10 for the first time in 17 years. They are now battling to avoid their worst season in the Premier League era. Tottenham's lowest Premier League finish remains 15th in 1994 under manager Ossie Ardiles - when survival was only ensured in their penultimate match. They have now lost 16 league games this season - their record in a 20-team league is 19, set in 2003-04. Since the Premier League's inception in 1992, only six times have Spurs lost 16 or more league matches in a campaign. Spurs' lowest points tally in a Premier League season - and in fact since three points for a win was introduced in 1981 - is 44. They need 11 points from their final eight games to pass that tally. With 16 defeats in 30 matches, Spurs' loss percentage this season is 53% - and they haven't lost more than half of their league matches over a whole season since 1934-35. They lost exactly half of their league matches in 1953-94, 1974-75, 1976-77 - when they were relegated - and 2003-04. Postecoglou has only won 44 points from his past 39 league matches in charge - stretching back over the end of last season. Reports suggest Postecoglou is under severe pressure. Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola, Fulham's Marco Silva and Brentford's Thomas Frank have all been linked with his job. The 56-year-old, who became Spurs boss in June 2023 and is contracted to the club until 2027, even suggested in midweek there were plenty of outstanding candidates, external to replace him. However, Spurs are expected to at least wait until the culmination of the Europa League campaign - a chance not only to win a first trophy in 17 years, but also to qualify for next season's Champions League. They host Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their quarter-final next Thursday. A club source indicated before the match that they weren't expecting any managerial changes before the end of the season. Redknapp, again speaking to Sky Sports, said after the match: "I think for Ange Postecoglou, it feels like he's going to make history or be history. "When you lose 16 games in a season as Tottenham manager, still having great players at your disposal, it's not going to wash with the fans. The performances haven't been good enough. "If they can win some silverware, it'll be unbelievable for them." Vice-captain James Maddison, reacting to the fan frustration, said: "They have every right to be an angry bunch at the moment. "I don't really want to be here talking and I'm sure the fans don't want to listen to me. It can still be a very special season if we lift silverware. We need them as much as they need us, so the message is to stick together." Like Postecoglou, chairman and co-owner Daniel Levy has faced criticism from the fans. But Levy has given the head coach resources to shape a squad. Postecoglou has spent £214.8m, with the most recent arrivals signed in January - forward Mathys Tel, defender Kevin Danso and goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky. That extra spend was an attempt to salvage the season while alive in three cup competitions, but after elimination from the domestic cups, it is Europa League or bust. It will be Spurs' last chance to live up to Postecoglou's comment early in the campaign that he "always wins a trophy in his second season" - having done so in Scotland, Japan and Australia. With little to play for in the Premier League, a end to the Spurs trophy drought would end the season on a high. On another night, Postecoglou's post-match rant about VAR would have taken the headlines. On Thursday, it was a footnote. Tottenham thought they had equalised when Sarr struck home from distance. The celebrations followed but were cut short as VAR checked for a possible foul. After a lengthy delay, the goal was ruled out. Postecoglou told BBC Radio 5 Live he "hated VAR to his core", that there was no point in having referees - and that there would soon be AI officials. Postecoglou, who has often criticised VAR, become embroiled in a lively post-match interview with Sky Sports. Here is what he said in full: "It's killing the game, mate. It's not the same game it used to be. "We all sat on our couches last night and watched TV [when Everton's James Tarkowski was not sent off for a high challenge on Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister] and I guarantee you if Jarred Gillett was VAR last night, it would've been a different outcome, so you just don't know what we're going to get. "You are standing around for 12 minutes. It's just killing the game, but no-one cares about that. They just love the drama and controversy and I'm sure there will be 24 hours of discussion about it and that's what everyone wants - they're not really interested that it's killing the spectacle of the game. "If a referee sees that and he needs to see it for six minutes, what's clear and obvious about it? "Last night we were all sat on our couches and saw one replay and thought: 'Oh my God.' "Tonight we sat there and were waiting for six minutes for something that VAR official Jarred Gillett thought was clear and obvious - it's crazy, it's madness. "We accept it and have to take the fall out from it. Clear and obvious? What does that suggest? That it's on the first replay. That's why the game is going the way it is."

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Worldnews

Median CEO Pay In US Hits Record High Even As Markets Tumble

Margins between CEO pay have long been a point of contention between workers and a rallying cry for progressives. Median pay among top United States CEOs rose 7.5 percent to a record $16.8m for 2024, a new study found, as big stock grants have boosted leaders’ reported earnings well beyond the pay received by US workers. The CEOs of Axon and Union Pacific were among those getting big pay boosts from stock awards, according to the review of pay among S&P 500 CEOs by ISS-Corporate, the corporate advisory arm of Institutional Shareholder Services. Other CEOs also did well, as their targets were set during the relatively stable days of 2023, said Roy Saliba, managing director at ISS-Corporate, which oversaw the study. That was before US President Donald Trump kicked off a trade war that has set off turmoil in global markets in recent weeks. “One thing that jumps out is that these numbers don’t mesh with year-to-date stock performance or current company performance, and the looming uncertainty. The time gap explains that the pay decisions for 2024 would have been made at least a year ago,” Saliba said. He said his unit is advising companies to wait before changing plans to adjust pay to account for uncertainty in the markets. Boards could use a different set of performance measures that compare an executive’s work against their peers, he said. Saliba’s study looked at 320 companies in the S&P 500 with pay data filed so far this year. The executives did relatively well. US Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows average hourly earnings for US workers rose 4 percent last year, while Department of Commerce data shows inflation ran at just less than 3 percent in 2024. Company shares performed above those rates, helping drive the CEO’s gains. Among the 320 companies Saliba reviewed, the median total shareholder return was 15.1 percent in 2024. At Axon, maker of the Taser stun gun, CEO Patrick Smith was at one extreme, officially receiving $164.5m last year, up from $40,058 in 2023. In that year, he received only a salary of $31,201 and $8,857 in other compensation, including private air transportation. The stock units that accounted for most of Smith’s 2024 pay are “an incentive for future performance in the form of a high-risk, high-reward compensation plan, and the value is realisable only if and when each set of stock price and operational goals are achieved,” Axon’s filing states. Axon declined to comment. At Union Pacific, CEO James Vena was paid $17.6m for 2024 versus $2m for his service for part of 2023, after he was hired in August of that year. The majority of his pay last year reflects big stock and option awards that a spokesperson for the railroad said are performance-based. “If the company does not perform well, his actual bonus and equity will reflect that and be less,” the spokesperson said. High CEO pay has long been a rallying cry for progressive Democrats in Washington, such as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who has introduced legislation on several occasions that would raise taxes on companies whose executive compensation is 50 to one that of the average compensation of their worker. The legislation has yet to become law. On social media, the senator has long pointed out that the gap between CEO pay and that of the average worker has become significantly wider over the last few decades. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Worldnews

Businesses Pare Back Outlook As Trump Tariffs Weigh On Spending

From carmakers to restaurant chains, companies face financial setbacks amid tariff fears. Businesses across multiple sectors have cut financial guidance amid growing uncertainty as United States President Donald Trump’s trade war pushes up costs, upends supply chains and stirs concerns about the global economy. Thursday’s earnings made it clear that corporations around the world ran into a wall of uncertainty in the first quarter, as executives found themselves navigating the Trump administration’s constantly shifting stance on trade.   Comments from the biggest packaged food companies also underscored worries among businesses and investors that Trump’s tariffs and his attacks on US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will hurt confidence on Main Street. “Some political decisions, economic decisions taken have rather undermined already soft consumer confidence,” Nestle CEO Laurent Freixe told reporters in an earnings call. Dove soap maker Unilever, which was also reporting earnings, described “declining consumer sentiment” in its North American markets. Stocks drifted on Thursday, and a rebound in the dollar fizzled out as investors tried to pick through the Trump administration’s fast-changing announcements on tariffs and the leadership of the Fed, the US central bank. While most of the tariffs have been paused for 90 days until July 8, a 10-percent universal rate and additional duties on aluminium, steel and car imports remain in place, as do eye-popping levies on goods imported from China, to which Beijing has responded in kind. The Trump administration will look at lowering tariffs on imported Chinese goods pending talks between the two countries, a source told Reuters on Wednesday. With the first-quarter earnings season entering its second busy week, companies were counting the costs of the chaos and setting out how they plan to stem the fallout. Procter & Gamble, soda and snacks giant PepsiCo and medical equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific became the latest companies to cut annual profit forecasts, citing the trade turmoil. American Airlines withdrew its 2025 financial guidance, mirroring its peers. Thermo Fisher also warned of the impact of the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to academic research funding. Hyundai Motor said it had launched a task force to handle its response to the tariffs and moved production of some Tucson crossover vehicles from Mexico to the US. “We expect a challenging business outlook to continue due to intensifying trade wars and other various unpredictable macroeconomic factors,” it said. The carmaker is also considering whether to move production of some US-bound cars from South Korea to other locations, it said as it reaffirmed its annual earnings targets. Hyundai and affiliate Kia, which together are the world’s third-biggest automaking group by sales, generate about one-third of their global sales from the US market, and imports account for roughly two-thirds of their US car sales. Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com said nearly 3,000 firms have already made enquiries about its 200 billion yuan ($27.35bn) fund, announced on April 11, to help exporters sell their products domestically over the next year. Consumer sentiment tumbles  Adding to worries about economic weakness, the German government cut its 2025 growth forecast on Thursday and now sees stagnation instead of a 0.3 percent expansion as uncertainty from global trade disputes hobbles growth and dampens investment. And in another sign of ebbing consumer confidence, Essity’s CEO, Magnus Groth, told Reuters the Swedish tissue maker had seen a drop in demand for hygiene products from hotels and restaurants in North America because people are eating out less and may not be travelling. That echoed a warning from Chipotle Mexican Grill late on Wednesday that Americans are spending less on dining out due to elevated economic uncertainty, prompting the food chain to cut its sales outlook. Telecoms equipment maker Nokia flagged a short-term disruption from the US tariffs, while Dassault Systemes, which sells software to carmakers, aeroplane manufacturers and defence companies, cut its forecast profit margin due to tariff-related market volatility, knocking its shares. Nestle and Unilever delivered better-than-expected quarterly sales, but they and their big-brand rivals are easing US price increases to avoid losing US shoppers to retailers’ less expensive private-label brands. That may help soothe concerns that tariffs will fuel a spike in inflation and slow the US economy, although other companies, including Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, LG Electronics and Interparfums, have said they are hiking US prices or may do so. “As we look ahead, we expect more volatility and uncertainty, particularly related to global trade developments, which we expect will increase our supply chain costs,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said on Thursday. “At the same time, consumer conditions in many markets remain subdued and similarly have an uncertain outlook.” Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Futbol

Galatasaray Boss 'acted Like He'd Been Shot' In Mourinho Row

Fenerbahce have accused Galatasaray boss Okan Buruk of acting "as if he had been shot" after a confrontation with their manager Jose Mourinho on Wednesday night. In a strongly-worded statement, Fenerbahce accused Buruk of having the "audacity to make disrespectful hand gestures" to provoke Mourinho, who then "briefly touched his nose" in response. The Turkish Cup match, which Galatasaray won 2-1, came amid increased animosity between the two clubs. Following the match Galatasaray accused Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho of "physically attacking" their manager Buruk after he appeared to grab his nose following the fiery derby match. The incident occurred after the final whistle at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, when both managers were interacting with the match officials in the centre circle. "This was a planned provocation [by Buruk] and as part of this plan the individual acted as if he had been 'shot' and fell to the ground in a professional manner, and his disrespectful words and actions are documented on video," Fenerbahce said in a statement. "The absurdity of someone who is touched on the nose immediately throwing himself to the ground and writhing for seconds is clear to the public. "It is evident that this individual's tendency to fall to the ground, seen during his playing days, continues in his coaching career, showing that this behaviour is a characteristic attitude." Buruk sought to play the incident down at his post-match news conference, saying there was "nothing" between him and Mourinho. But Galatasaray inflamed the situation further by posting a video on X mocking Mourinho in the style of US comedy South Park. Fenerbahce substitute Mert Yandas and Galatasaray substitutes Kerem Demirbay and Baris Yilmaz were shown red cards for their part in a melee between the two benches during stoppage time. Following a goalless draw between the two clubs in the Turkish Super Lig in February, Galatasaray said they would "initiate criminal proceedings" against Mourinho after claiming he made "racist statements". The Turkish Football Federation handed Mourinho a four-game ban and a fine of £35,194 for two separate disciplinary matters. Mourinho responded by launching a lawsuit against Galatasaray "due to the attack on the personal rights" of the Portuguese.