Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage is in serious danger of losing his job five months into his reign, BBC Sport reports. Palace go into the international break bottom of the Premier League with two wins from their first 10 matches, the latest defeat a 3-1 loss to Liverpool on Sunday. The club are considering Thomas Frank and Sean Dyche as possible replacements.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson says his agent is in talks with the club and he hopes to stay beyond the end of the season, when his contract runs out. The 34-year-old made a string of saves in Sunday's 3-1 win at Crystal Palace, a week after his error led to Arsenal's winner at Anfield. He said his family is happy on Merseyside and he is still hungry for titles.
Tom Brady has ended his three-year involvement as a minority investor in Birmingham City, the Championship club said on Monday. The seven-times Super Bowl winner joined the ownership group in August 2023 through Knighthead Capital Management and chaired its advisory board. The club gave no reason and did not say what happens to his stake. Birmingham top the Championship on goal difference with 29 points from 15 games.
Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai will have tests on a knee injury before Hungary's last two Nations League games, away to Georgia on Saturday and at home to Northern Ireland on 17 November. The 26-year-old came off after 69 minutes of the 3-1 win at Crystal Palace. Hungary are second in Group B2, a point behind Northern Ireland, so the final game could decide the group.
Blackburn right-back Ryan Alebiosu faces three to four months out, and possibly longer, after a knee injury, manager Tony Mowbray has confirmed. Alebiosu, who has started 14 of Rovers' 15 Championship games this season, was hurt in the defeat by Stoke and is expected to need an operation after a scan last Wednesday. Mowbray called it a tough break for the team.
Mauricio Pochettino, now head coach of the United States, would consider a return to the Premier League with Manchester United if Michael Carrick is sacked, says the Sun. United are 18th after Sunday's 4-4 draw with Aston Villa.
Manchester United are expected to relieve Michael Carrick of his duties, according to the Athletic, with Pochettino likely to figure highly among the candidates and Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann also having admirers at the club.
United are moving towards sacking Carrick, though director of football Jason Wilcox, who is leading the review, has made no final decision, reports the Guardian. Carrick had been given the Chelsea, Roma and Aston Villa games to turn results around.
Eddie Howe, out of work since leaving Newcastle, turned down a recent approach from Crystal Palace to replace Pierre Sage, says the Sun. Palace go into the international break bottom of the Premier League.
The futures of Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres and Spain midfielder Mikel Merino at Arsenal could be in doubt as the Premier League leaders look to balance their finances, according to AS in Spain.
Barcelona have shown interest in Bayern Munich defender Jonathan Tah, 30, but the German champions do not plan to let him go and the player is not considering a move either, reports Sky Sports Germany.
Manuel Neuer, 40, could retire at the end of the season, and Bayern are considering Schalke's Loris Karius and Fulham's Bernd Leno as back-up to Jonas Urbig, says Sky Sports Germany.
Napoli are plotting a move for Gustavo Varela, the 21-year-old Portuguese striker at Monza, who has already attracted interest from a number of other clubs, reports Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy.
The international break is when football clubs do their worst thinking. No games for a fortnight, the players scattered across the world, and a boardroom with nothing to do but stare at the table. This morning two Premier League clubs are staring hard.
Manchester United are 18th with one win in 11 games and 30 goals conceded in all competitions. Sky Sports says they will not rush a decision on Michael Carrick. The Guardian says they are moving towards one. The Athletic says they are expected to act. Somewhere between those three is the truth, and only Jason Wilcox knows where.
Crystal Palace are bottom, with two wins from ten, and Pierre Sage has been in the job five months. According to the BBC the club are already looking at Thomas Frank and Sean Dyche. According to the Sun, Eddie Howe has already said no.
Five months is not long enough to judge a manager. A run of bad results with the whole squad still to come back fit is not a verdict on a season. But a fortnight with no football is long enough for a club to talk itself into a sacking it would never have made on a matchday.
If United and Palace believe in their head coaches, the break is the time to back them in public and work in private. If they do not, they should decide now and give the new man the fortnight. What they must not do is drift for two weeks and sack someone the day before the next game.
The FA Cup first round ended on a Monday night in Plymouth, with two seventh-tier clubs that had never been this far and a full Bolitho Park.
Plymouth Parkway beat Berkhamsted 2-1 after extra time. Both their goals came from the penalty spot, and both came from Rocky Neal. The first, on 73 minutes, was the kind that will be argued about in Hertfordshire for years. The second, in extra time, was a shirt pulled in the box.
The prize is a home tie with Barnet, who are second in League Two. The draw was made before kick-off, so both sets of players knew exactly what was at stake for two hours.
The saved results feed had the game finishing level after 90 minutes, with no extra time recorded. The reports from the ground say otherwise, and the paper prints what happened: 2-1 aet. A cup score is only as good as the report behind it.
Parkway have earned their day with Barnet. Berkhamsted earned more than one goal's worth of sympathy. And a cup round that finishes on a Monday at a club this size is still the best argument for the competition.