QUIQUE SETIEN is keen to join the Premier League’s Spanish invasion.
Former Barcelona boss Setien, 66, made a whistle-stop tour of the Prem and Championship earlier this month with managers desperate for an audience.
Italian Enzo Maresca was so eager to host Setien at Chelsea that he prepared a video showing the coach which tactical tricks he had copied from him.
Fellow Spaniard Julen Lopetegui opened the doors at West Ham while Thomas Frank reached out after learning Setien would be at two Brentford games.
And the respect does not stop there.
Any clubs interested in speaking to the Spaniard will be blown away by his references.
Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Diego Simeone, Xavi and Luis Enrique are just a few.
Just over a year after leaving Villarreal, the former midfielder is ready for a new challenge. So, did his trip tempt him to try England?
Setien said: “Obviously. I have been out for a year and in Spain I didn’t have the feeling.
“We follow all the Premier League. In Spain you watch one or two teams on TV, in England we watch all of them.
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“We came here last year for seven days but this week has been a huge surprise. I fell in love with people, the passion.
“The supporters are doing their best and the game wasn’t exciting.”
There are already five Spanish Prem bosses and, after the FA made Thomas Tuchel the new England chief having targeted Guardiola first, English football is wondering how other nations have mastered the development of coaches.
Setien believes English coaching may be on a similar course as in Spain… but it will take time.
He said: “The reference for the best, like Pep, is Johan Cruyff. He was the change of mentality.
“He changed the point of view of the sport in Spain, he changed the way to understand football.
“Something was different when Cruyff arrived, suddenly from that club several players go to the national team and it began the process.
“It’s like in England, with Pep arriving. It changes the mentality but this is a process that takes years.
“It means probably the next generation of English coaches and the teaching and learning process for the English coaches has begun in the last years.”
CONOR MCGREGOR will one day be hoping to return to action having not fought since a 2021 defeat to Dustin Poirier.
But when he is not fighting in the ring, the Irishman devotes his time to his growing family.
Conor McGregor is the proud father of four children with fiancee Dee Devlin.
The couple have been together since 2018.
Conor Jr is the UFC star’s firstborn.
He was born on May 6, 2017, and looks set to follow in his father’s footsteps.
McGregor revealed he’s been training the young boy right from the start in the hopes he will have a professional career in sports which he said is a pivotal part of development.
Speaking at a Q&A event in Glasgow, McGregor said: “When he grows up, I’m going to put him into sport.
“I believe sport is the best thing you can do. I’ve already begun training him. He’s already leaps and bounds ahead of schedule.”
Croia is Dee and Conor’s only daughter and second child.
She was born in January 2019.
The name Croia derives from the Irish word of croi meaning heart.
Rian is the couple’s third child, born in May 2021.
Announcing the birth of their third child, McGregor wrote on Instagram: “Healthy baby boy delivered! Baby and Mammy Wonder Woman are doing great!
“God I thank you for everything you give to me and my family in this world.
“My new born son, Rian McGregor.”
Conor McGregor announced on X on November 30th that his and Dee Devlin’s fourth child had been born.
The UFC icon posted: “My baby boy is born! Mammy and baby doing amazing, 8.1lbs of prime Irish double champion beef!”
Dee Devlin is a businesswoman who met McGregor in a Dublin nightclub.
The couple have known each other since 2018 with McGregor popping the question to her on August 9, 2020, on her 33rd birthday.
McGregor has an estimated net worth of £160million ($200million).
According to Celebrity Net worth, his money includes the estimated over £80million from his August 2017 fight against Floyd Mayweather, as well as £40million from his October 2018 fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
He also has an estimated £160million pre-tax earnings from the April 2021 sale of his whiskey brand Proper No Twelve.
McGregor has previously discussed the importance of working hard in order to provide for his family and give them the life of their dreams.
A CIVIL case jury has ruled that Conor McGregor sexually assaulted Nikita Hand.
However, the jury found that his friend James Lawrence did not assault her.
McGregor was joined today by partner Dee Devlin, with the pair seen entering the High Court hand in hand.
McGregor’s father Tony, mother Margaret and sister Aoife were also in the courtroom with him.
Mr Justice Alex Owens yesterday completed his two-day charge to the jury of eight women and four men.
The panel continued their deliberations this morning after sitting through eight days of evidence.
Nikita Hand, 35, had accused mixed martial arts fighter McGregor of a brutal rape after a Christmas night out.
The former hair colourist sought civil damages against the 36-year-old sports star over the alleged rape at a Dublin hotel penthouse in December 2018.
McGregor, who took the stand to claim he had consensual sex with Ms Hand, denied all allegations, as does co-defendant James Lawrence.
The jury in the High Court trial was sent out for deliberation at 3pm on Thursday following final remarks from the judge.
Mr Justice Owens told jurors that the onus of proof was on the plaintiff – and the standard of proof is on balance of probabilities.
The judge urged the jury: “Look at all the evidence.”
Judge Owens told jurors if they found that McGregor assaulted Ms Hand, they would have the option of awarding aggravated and punitive damages, as well as a general award of compensation.
After deliberating for around one hour on Thursday, the jury were sent home for the night at 4pm.
The judge had cautioned the jury not to discuss their deliberations with anyone last night, including any loved ones who must be “madly interested in all of this”.
The jury resumed their deliberations just after 10am today.
The jury of eight women and four men was given an issue paper, with a number of questions.
Question one asked: “Did Conor McGregor assault Nikita Hand?”
The judge said if they answered no to this question, then that is the end of the case against Mr McGregor.
But if they answered yes, they would then go on to consider damages.
Ms Hand has sued both Mr McGregor and Mr Lawrence, alleging the pair “brutally raped and battered” her in a hotel penthouse six years ago.
The mum-of-one, from Drimnagh in Dublin, claimed they both raped her in the Beacon Hotel, Dublin, on December 9, 2018, during a cocaine and alcohol-fuelled afterparty.
Both denied her allegation, and claimed the sex was consensual.
Before the jury were sent out to begin considering its decision, Justice Owens yesterday finished summarising Mr McGregor’s evidence.
Mr McGregor described Ms Hand’s allegation that he raped her as “lies”.
He added: “She performed oral sex on me. We began to take our clothes off. We were both naked in the bedroom and we moved to the bed.
“We began engaging in fully consensual sex. It began in the missionary position.”
McGregor told the court the sex was “enthusiastic and athletic”.
The cage fighter was shown photos of bruises on the complainant’s body taken in the days after the alleged assault.
Under cross-examination by Ms Hand’s barrister John Gordon, Mr McGregor denied causing the bruises, saying they “possibly came from her diving into the bath”.
But Mr Gordon drew the jury’s attention to the medical evidence about the severity of Ms Hand’s bruises.
And Ms Hand’s barrister highlighted how a tampon had to be removed from her using forceps in hospital when she attended after the alleged rape.
Ms Hand gave evidence alleging Mr McGregor raped her in the hotel room while she was on her period and using a tampon.
The jury heard evidence that a tampon worn by the plaintiff on the night had to be removed by a doctor using forceps.
Mr Gordon said it was “obvious” that, as the case approached, Mr McGregor “thought the tampon was going to be a problem” and this was why, in evidence, he claimed that there had been no tampon present in Ms Hand.
Mr Gordon said that Mr McGregor’s and Mr Lawrence’s claim that there was no tampon was never put to Ms Hand in court because Mr McGregor did not say this to his legal team.
Mr Gordon said: “It was a whole new version of events. Rather him repeating that my client is a liar, the liar here is Mr McGregor who doesn’t have the courage or the decency to own up to what he did.
“He’s not a man, he’s a devious coward and you should treat him for what he is.”
And referring to bruising on Ms Hand’s body, Mr Gordon said: “Let’s put it this way: somebody did it. It happened in the Beacon Hotel. It was Mr McGregor.”
STEPHEN KENNY has hailed Axel Sjoberg after the Swede agreed to stay on at St Pat’s.
Although his two years to date at Richmond Park have been interrupted by injuries, the defender has impressed when fit.
And he is believed to have had good options to return home but has instead committed his future to the Inchicore outfit.
Kenny said: “Axel showed great character to come back from a long term injury and had an excellent second-half of last season.
“His form was very consistent, his one v one defending is really, really exceptional.
“Axel is a vibrant player and person in the dressing room and around the club.
It’s not always easy to move to a new country and adapt to a new league, and he’s done very well since coming in from Sweden two years ago.
We’re delighted that he’s chosen to stay in Ireland with St Patrick’s Athletic.”
Danny Rogers, Anto Breslin and Jamie Lennon have already signed extended deals with Simon Power arriving from Sligo Rovers.
Sjoberg, 24, joined St Pat’s from BK Olympic following previous spells with his hometown club Helsbingborgs and Hammarby.
He said: “I’m really looking forward to the new season as we hope to continue on from how we finished last season.
“Stephen Kenny came in and made big changes, and he brought in a few players that made us stronger as a group.
“We had a good European campaign in 2024 and I hope we will next year as well, we want to keep going and have a great year together with everyone.”
Kitakyushu (Japan), Nov 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) The 2024 World Table Tennis (WTT) Finals continued with Chinese paddlers advancing to the semifinals in both men's and women's singles while the women's duo Qian Tianyi/Chen Xingtong faced elimination,...
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