Gyökeres plays down Utd links: ‘Nothing concrete’​​

Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho has said he believes he doesn’t get enough credit for his team’s winning run from the local media adding he wants to “work in peace.”

Mourinho’s side is second in the Turkish Super Lig and have won five consecutive games, including Monday’s 3-1 home triumph over Gaziantep.

Fenerbahce are second in the table, three points adrift of leaders Galatasaray.

“But they [local media] still kill me,” Mourinho said in a postgame news conference. “Give me a little bit of credit.

“Don’t try to do to me to what was done to Giovanni van Bronckhorst [at Besiktas]. I don’t know any coach that in three, four, five months can make miracles, can change things. For me he [Van Bronckhorst] was doing a great job.”

Besiktas parted company with Van Bronckhorst on Saturday after his team had taken just one win in six games.

Mourinho, who took over Fenerbahce in the summer six months after leaving Roma, said of Besiktas: “The results lately were not the best but you have this culture and this is a culture that goes against stability.

“Clubs and players to evolve, they need stability also in their coaches, in their coaches’ philosophy. So give me a bit of a break, let me work in peace but if it’s not in peace, there is no problem, I still enjoy it.”

Fenerbahce have scored more goals than any other team in the Super Lig and given away the fewest.

When asked how his team has managed to go on a positive run despite the congested calendar, which also included an international break in November, he said: “That calendar is for every team that is in Europe. It’s when you have to use the squad. If you play always with the same players they will be burn out.

“You have to trust the squad. You have to give an opportunity for fresh people to play. I have a wonderful bench, full of options. With benches like this, a coach is a happy coach; and a coach doesn’t have any fear of accumulation of matches in the calendar.”

Plymouth Argyle’s director of football Neil Dewsnip has backed Wayne Rooney and said everyone at the club is behind the manager to stay despite a poor run of form.

Rooney’s side have conceded 10 goals in their past two matches, including a 6-1 defeat against Norwich City and a 4-0 loss to Bristol City in what the former England captain described as the “hardest week” of his managerial career.

“He’s driven to turn the ship around,” Dewsnip said. “We’re all behind him, we’re all fighting alongside him and hopefully we can turn that into a good performance and a winning performance on Saturday.”

Argyle face Oxford United on Saturday with both teams struggling to gain results in the Championship. The newly-promoted Oxford sit 17th in the table just one point above 21st place Argyle with 18 points.

Plymouth, with the third smallest ground in the Championship, do not benefit from Premier League parachute payments that other sides in the league receive.

Dewsnip has said the club need to be realistic about their place in the league after surviving but just one point last season.

“We compete in the Championship, which I think is the fifth-biggest league in the world,” Dewsnip said. “Over the last few years we’ve come from League Two to where we are, we’ve earned the right to be in the Championship, we want to stay in the Championship.

“We managed to do that last year and this year our aim is still the same — we’d like to do a little bit better than that.”

Since the appointment of Rooney in the summer of 2024, Argyle are yet to win an away game.

“Wayne talks about how he’d love to be safe [from relegation] with at least four games to go, so that’s kind of where the target will remain until we’ve achieved it,” Dewsnip said.

“But we mustn’t forget we’re in a league that has some really big football clubs, Premier League clubs if we’re really honest.”

Crystal Palace and England centre-back Marc Guéhi will escape an English Football Association (FA) charge after writing “I love Jesus” on his rainbow-coloured captain’s armband for Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle United.

Palace and Guehi have been reminded about their repsonsibilties that the appearance of a religious message on any item of clothing is prohibited as stated in Rule A4 of the FA’s kit and advertising regulations.

However, neither the 24-year-old or the club will face any formal action which could have resulted in a suspension or a fine.

The rainbow-coloured armbands, which feature the branding of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign in support of the LGBTQ+ community, were issued to all 20 Premier League clubs ahead of last weekend’s matches.

Law 4 goes on to say that “for any offence the player and/or the team will be sanctioned by the competition organiser, national football association or by FIFA.”

A modification was made to the law last summer to make it clear that all captains “must wear an armband which is simple and conforms to the requirements of Law 4 relating to slogans, statements, images and advertising.”

That Guéhi, a devout Christian, chose to write the religious slogan on an armband supporting LGBTQ+ issues could have been seen as an aggravating factor.

Football Association kit rules underline that “the appearance on, or incorporation in, any item of Clothing … Any political or religious message” is forbidden and “disciplinary action may be taken” for “any breach of these Regulations.”

Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy, who is a practising Muslim, was the only skipper who refused to wear the armband, and instead wore the usual black version.

The FA considers Morsy’s decision to be a matter for the club and the individual and did not contravene any kit regulations.

“Ipswich Town Football Club is committed to being a fully inclusive club that welcomes everyone,” an Ipswich statement said. “At the same time, we respect the decision of our captain Sam Morsy, who has chosen not to wear the rainbow captain’s armband due to his religious beliefs.

“We will continue to grow an environment where all are valued and respected, both on and off the pitch.”