STEVEN GERRARD vowed to switch the focus away from “showboating” and “lollipops” as he was unveiled as Liverpool’s new Under-18s manager today.

On the face of it, New Zealand Technical Director is a thankless job: the country is rugby obsessed, its top players play thousands of miles away, and only half a World Cup place is available every four years. Andreas Heraf describes it as a “great gift” though.

SAO PAULO assistant Michael Beale says English football has suffered because of a focus on developing teams instead of individuals at youth level.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the film Flubber. Dr Carmel Majidi, of Carnegie Mellon University, is our latter-day Professor Brainard.

LIVERPOOL’S Andy O’Boyle has been appointed as the new Head of Elite Performance at the Premier League.

The collapse of Notts County Ladies, an established FA Women’s Super League club with four current England internationals and an FA Cup final appearance in 2015, has revived the question of whether professional women’s football is viable in the UK.

ENGLAND rugby coach Eddie Jones says he wants to make training "85% unstructured" because his players are not capable of thinking for themselves.

FOOTBALL has lost one its “brightest young coaches” following the sudden death of Ugo Ehiogu - a man who ensured he was as qualified and experienced as possible for a career in management.

NORWICH CITY have produced a superb ‘day in the life’ video making a mockery of the belief that a footballer’s working day consists of a couple of hours on the training pitch.

JOHN BARNES does not believe Chris Hughton’s success at Brighton will help the plight of black managers, because he will be “elevated out of blackness”.

WHAT links scientists at Newcastle United, NASA and IBM? The answer is Brian Moore and his eight-year-old company Orreco.

AS James Bunce sits in his new office at US Soccer’s headquarters in Chicago, he feels the same sense of excitement he did as an intern starting out in the game at Southampton 10 years ago.