Rubiales found guilty of sexual assault | Liverpool drop points as Slot hits out at Nunez | What does Man Utd's future look like?
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories making headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm David Garrido. Joining me are The Times' Charlotte Dunker and The Athletic's football correspondent, David Ornstein. Welcome along to you both.

Okay, welcome along to our guests once again, Charlotte and David. We're going to start off with Luis Rubiales and we're going to go to the Telegraph for our first paper of the show. Obviously, this has been in the background for a while. He's been found guilty of sexual assaults

for what was a non-consensual kiss with Jenny Hermoso, the Spain player. Charlotte, how do you judge, how do you assess how this has all ultimately panned out?

What a relief it must be for Jenny Hemoso to finally be able to put this chapter of her career behind her. This should have been one of the happiest moments of her life. And it's been dissected. It's been played out in public. It's been over 500 days. It's been 18 months that she's had and she's had to go in court. She's had to testify all of her teammates as well. So I think it's a good day for her to know that this is,

the beginning of the end. I don't think it necessarily is the end. Like you said, Ruby Arliss has said he is going to appeal the conviction. So no doubt that will drag on a little bit longer. But in the end, I'm hoping that she feels like she got a bit of justice because they found on her side and he's been convicted of

sexual assault it's such a shame that it overshadowed such an amazing moment for them and now it's where does Spanish women's football go next we know they've had problems before they've the women's team they've been fighting not just in courtrooms but they've been fighting the federation as well so hopefully this is a new era for Spanish women's football as well and it'll be interesting to see how we move on from this now

David, in The Athletic, you've been covering this story. Jenny Hermoso not the victim that people wanted her to be. We should be grateful to her for that. I mean, I wonder, that must be one of the big learnings from this whole affair, I guess. That's a really good piece by my colleague Lea in The Athletic. And, yeah, she sort of concludes on the point that

and this was raised by the defence lawyers, that you're expecting some perfect victim who displays all the signs of devastation in the aftermath of a sexual assault of this variety. But actually, she was celebrating the greatest moment of her career. And this is a player, by the way, who's the top scorer in women's football for the Spain national team of all time, and she's helped change the face of the sport. And she also testified yesterday

with him just a few meters away, much of his testimony during this trial, he was muttering while she was speaking. It's explained in this piece, but actually she comes out on top and this is the moment that the verdict kind of says, we believe you. And that's seismic for women,

for, for sports and for this sort of imbalance, because, you know, there's, it's polarized Spain. There's been a lot of conjecture, um, about the whole case and of course the outcome, um, should it have been a prison sentence, which was wanted, uh, by the prosecution in the end, it turned out to be a fine and a sort of, um, and restrictions on, on how he can act and behave and contact, et cetera. But that's not really the point. It's the point that, you know, he can't,

go around acting like he's above the law anymore. And that's the kind of seminal point in this. And it wasn't just the kiss. It was the act in the sort of stands at full time, which was also perceived as being vulgar. And many people will feel that, you know, this is really important on so many levels, and especially for Jenny Hamoto, who can hopefully move on positively in her life now.

OK, let's move on to Emma Raducanu. The line today was that the man was detained, she did not press charges, but in any case, he's now got a restraining order after he was seen in just the first few rows of the crowd for her second-round match against Karolina Mukova in the WTA tour event in Dubai. I mean, again, Charlotte, it just shows that...

elite female athletes increasingly in the spotlight, but the situation around their welfare and their security is becoming even more acute, isn't it?

Yeah, but in the case with Emma Raducanu there, I think it's really good that her safety has been taken into consideration and seriously as well. This man was detained and now he won't be able to go to the tennis matches where she will be. I know that she's dropped the charges now, but she was visibly really, really upset. She's trying to do a job. She's a young girl. She's got a lot of attention on her. And she felt so uncomfortable that she was upset trying to play tennis. I just...

It's not acceptable and hopefully acts as a deterrent to other people as well, because these things should be taken seriously. Why should anyone in any walk of life feel unsafe doing their job? So this person had approached her before and she's raised the issues and the concerns that she had around that. So both of these cases coming out today and the results that we've had and the outcomes that we've had, as much as it's been positive, hopefully going forward, it should act as a deterrent and that should be the lowest barometer.

barrier that we accept now like these sorts of things shouldn't be accepted these people who do these actions and people who make people women men feel uncomfortable they shouldn't be accepted into sporting arenas they shouldn't be allowed to go to these events so yeah hopefully it's going to be positive moving forward and the man that was detained will learn from his lessons and not make anyone else feel like that again

I mean, yes, her security was taken seriously, although she did alert WTA to the man approaching her the day before, giving her a letter, taking a photo. And then it appears that even though she was playing later that evening, they didn't stop him entering the stadium. I just wonder, David, you know, is this enough of a deterrent? If we look at the back page of The Telegraph,

It says this, Raducanu dropped stalker charge, restraining order for Dubai fan. We've been here before with Emma Raducanu. She's already had someone who walked 22, 23 miles to her home in London. He also had a restraining order. That must be terrifying for her, knowing that this could happen at any point.

It's despicable. And you wonder, the mind boggles, how he was allowed into the arena for the match, given the incident in the hotel, passing her a note. And yes, she was given bodyguards for that match, but her reaction spoke volumes. And imagine the sort of flashbacks and what she'd been through before, the trauma that must have resurfaced. She's a young girl, an athlete, a sportswoman of age.

Very high level. And she's now been through multiple incidents of this. And when you've seen incidents in the past in sport, most notably Monica Seles, you know, you could fear the worst, especially if you're in that position. And she was visibly distressed by what was going on.

And thankfully, it appears to have been dealt with in a safe and proper way. But it really should serve as a warning and a reminder of the seriousness of this. And such depraved behavior has no place in any walk of life, let alone the sporting environment.

Let's move on to the situation at Newcastle between manager and one of the players, that's Darwin Nunez. And Arnaud Slot, Charlotte, not happy with the player's attitude after that miss that would have put Liverpool in front of

Villa Park didn't seem to exhibit the same work rate that Darwin Inez is is known for What'd you make of this route Anfield rap says the back of the Sun slot slams poor work creative flop Nunez but strike a blast back I never give up. Is this a distraction?

Yeah, I was at Villa Park last night and I think everyone in the ground expected him to score that goal. I think everyone was in disbelief when he managed to somehow blaze it over the bar. It's interesting, obviously, Slott did his post-match last night and a little over 12 hours later, he's obviously had time to think about it and he's come back out again. Last night he was talking about

Nunez being disappointed and saying everyone in the dressing room was disappointed, but he was the most disappointed, which was natural because he was the one that's missed that chance. But those quotes that you can see there, Slot who's criticising the work rate. And to be fair, if you looked at him, Nunez, he was sort of strolling around a bit. Liverpool were trying to get that

vital, vital goal so they could get the three points and they just didn't have that clinical cutting edge. I think Slot mentioned as well there was that incident where Martinez came out to clear the ball when Nunez was clear through and he thinks that if he just put that little bit more effort in then possibly he could have got to the ball first. Obviously, we're never going to know if that was possible but luckily for him he's not his first choice striker as long as Mohamed Salah is still popping up

scoring goals in every single Premier League game, then it's not like he's definitely needed. But of course, the fans were delighted when he scored those winning goals against Brentford a couple of weeks back. So he has got a part to play in the running. I'm not sure they need a player and manager falling out, but maybe this will be the sort of encouragement that he needs. Slott has done a lot of positive things. Maybe getting the polish on Darwin Nunez hasn't been quite the one. We've not seen him hit the miraculous goal score in Heights of Salah, but

who can show that sort of level. So he's definitely got a part to play, but I can't see it being a big problem. But it's refreshing to see a manager come out and be honest in his assessment of what he thinks as well. Maybe it'll give him the kick that he needs ahead of that huge game on Sunday. And it is a huge game. I just wondered, David, with Manchester City coming up on Super Sunday,

What do you make of how Arnaud Slott is dealing with this real kind of crunch point in the season? I mean, Liverpool still are beaten in 22 Premier League games. They still have an eight-point advantage. But it feels like these are the tough games. Wolves last weekend, Villa Park, now Manchester City, that he really needs to negotiate some pretty sort of shifty waters right now.

Yeah, and then Newcastle afterwards. It's a sticky run coming up and that's giving fans of Arsenal and those who want to see the Premier League title race go down to the wire some hope that we might be in for some box office action and it could well happen, but...

I've got to say, Arne Slott, hats off to him so far this season. He's done brilliantly on his first campaign in the Premier League and a club like Liverpool, the stature, the expectation, the pressure, and they didn't make any signings coming into the season and they've excelled in the Premier League and the Champions League too.

So he'll hope to go on and lead them to silverware. Comments like this, I think Charlotte encapsulates it really well. Hopefully for Liverpool, it gives Darwin Nunes the kick up the backside. What I don't want to see is a sort of pile on and you've kind of seen it already a little bit on social media. It's quite unusual to see a manager come out and speak like that. They normally defend their players and he's

clearly asking for more. Nunes hasn't done that badly. It's sort of 39 goals, I think, in 130 plus appearances in the two and a half years since he joined from Benfica. He's under contract until 2028. There was real interest in him from, I think it was from Al Nasser in the Saudi pro league before they signed Nunes.

John Duran from Villa prior to the January deadline. And there seems to be this suggestion that he might well be on his way in the summer, but there's a huge amount to play for now. And, and Arnaud slot will need him on side. He'll need to keep his own composure. We've seen, you know, we expect a touchline ban coming up after his red card, after the Merseyside Derby. So, so maybe these are signs that, you know, he's feeling the heat, which is understandable. Any manager would in this position, but he's still in a commanding place.

And I think they're firm favourites. You know, the bookmakers, the statistics all show it. And I do expect Liverpool to go on and lift maybe multiple trophies this season. But this is the big test coming up right now. And if they come through it starting on Sunday, which will be a potentially titanic clash,

then all credit to him. Yes, another added element ahead of that game at the Etihad on Super Sunday. OK, let's go to the Telegraph and their feature on Manchester United. It's been 12 months now under Imios Jim Ratcliffe and there have been, oh my goodness, so many details that have come out over that time and in particular in the last few days to do with how much compensation they paid for Eric Ten Hag's departure and Dan Ashworth to do with what you can see there in the headline, Christmas cancelled, loyalty bonus axed.

and nowhere to work, and of course, under Ruben Amrim, not going well. 14 points from 14 Premier League games. Welcome to Manchester, it says there, heavily ironically. OK, David, let's come to you on this. I mean, you know, Manchester United fans would surely have expected so, so much more than where they're at in every single sense 12 months ago.

Yeah, definitely. There's a certain shift in the atmosphere around the ownership, what's going on at the club on and off the pitch. But I think Manchester United fans, given what they've been through with the Glazer ownership...

will give this quite a bit more time to deliver their verdict. And I think we're going to come on to speak about Peter Schmeichel shortly. He gives an interview in which he doesn't give an opinion on this because he still feels it's too early, because there's been so much work that's had to be undertaken, cost-cutting, making up for errors of the past in terms of the transfer market and so much more besides.

And when you read through the detail of some of these pieces, like James Ducker in the Telegraph talking about how, you know, boxes of screws being counted and sellotape being rationed and portions of food in the Harrington canteen being reduced in size.

you really gain an appreciation of the scale of this challenge and what Sir Jim Ratcliffe is trying to institute here, counting every pound and penny as part of this effort to bring the costs in order and

tighten the ship and comply with financial fair play, PSR. They've got ambitions to be successful on the pitch. They want to divert all of their money into that and then build a new stadium potentially as well. I mean, it's a patch Charlotte knows better than me, so I'll defer to her. But, you know, when it rains, it pours. It seems that every single day there's a major story or multiple on United. And certainly I think it's as, you know, we talk about

a shock to the fans, but maybe even to those involved at INEOS. They probably didn't realise the scale of what they're getting their teeth into. They're rebuilding the training ground. They're looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone right now. It's really difficult, but they will hope that this is the pain that is required and necessary to eventually bring about progress and get to where they want to be.

Charlotte, what do you think is the detail or any particular details or anecdotes that really, really rankle if you're a United fan reading these pieces?

As David pointed out, the INEOS crew that have come in, they're having to make cost-cutting measures because of the mistakes of the past. We look at how much money Manchester United have wasted in transfers for argument's sake. But in the last year, INEOS have shown themselves that some of the decisions that they have made have also wasted money. We need to look at the Dan Ashworth experiment that cost them £4 million, giving Eric Ten Haag a new contract and then letting him spend £200 million on transfers that suited his style of play to then sack him not too long into the new season.

then they had to pay to get Ruben Amrim out of his contract. And I think when you look at all the cost-cutting measures that are being made, and it's the, in quotes, normal people who've given their whole lives to Manchester United working there, these are the people that are being laid off.

These are the people that are paying the price for these bad decisions that are being made by people who are getting paid so, so much more money than them. And I think if you read James Ducker's piece in the Telegraph, he talks about that feel of community at Manchester United that just seems to have gone. And the next big thing will be how the fans are hit by this, because Jim Ratcliffe has already hiked up prices to £66 with no concessions for tickets remaining for this season, which has

caused anger amongst supporters and season ticket renewal prices aren't out for next season yet. So if as expected, he puts them up and it's the fans and the normal people who work at the club who are having to pick up the shortfall for these bad decisions and mismanagement at the club that's been going on for years and years. So Ineos might be able to come in and change this over the long term, but in the short term,

A lot of people are being left upset. A lot of people are losing their jobs. And at the minute, when you talk to people who work there, it just doesn't seem like a very happy place to work at all.

Let me just show again the Times, your paper, Charlotte, because there's a detail here. Jim Ratcliffe asked Katie Zellum what her role was at Manchester United, not being able to understand. She was the captain at the time. She was the captain of the women's team. She's since left. But that surely is such a terrible look, added to everything that you've just said. I mean, it just, you know, it beggars belief, doesn't it?

It's embarrassing. I'd be embarrassed if I was him when he stood there and she explained who she was. She'd been at Manchester United a lifelong fan from the age of eight. She was captain of that team. She was there when they made the women's team. She doesn't play there anymore. But Jim Ratcliffe has sort of made his feelings clear on women's football in that he's not really too interested by it. He tries to defer to other people. The day when Manchester United women won the FA Cup at

But Wembley, he was watching the men's team play against Arsenal. So that was his decision. He knows why he made that. And if he's ever asked about the women's team in interviews, he doesn't really tend to give big, massive explanations. But in fairness to them, they've got this challenge to win the 21st league title for the men. And they have mentioned to win the first league title for the women. So they are incorporating them into

into the big vision, but I just think that detail there of not knowing who the captain, women's captain is of the team that you've just acquired a stake in, I just think is highly, highly embarrassing. Let's just rattle through a couple more stories. Time is running out, guys, so I appreciate your brevity. Going to The Guardian and Peter Schmeichel's comments. I'll stay with you, Charlotte. I was loved by Ferguson. I was ideal for him. He loved me. What have you made of what Peter Schmeichel's been saying of late?

Yeah, well, he's got a documentary out, hasn't he? So there's plenty, people can hear plenty from him at the minute because he's talking about all the things that he's been winning and what a time he had, yeah. What a great relationship with Ferguson. He was such a massive personality when he was playing for Manchester United and was obviously part of that elusive treble winning team as well. And,

He's all smiles there, isn't he? I'm sure you can pick up many a newspaper this week and read all the great stories about all the glory years going on. I'm sure Manchester United fans would love to read about some of the glory years given what's going on at the moment. So, yeah, plenty of positive words from Peter Schmeichel going around at the moment. Yeah, the great day in providing a bit of light relief for the United fans. David, let me come to you on your story in the Athletic final. It reached agreement to appoint Robin van Persie.

could well be drawn against Arsenal tomorrow's Champions League last 16 draw. Tell us more. Yeah, two and a half year contract for Van Persie, who's been coaching at Heerenveen. And of course, he's got a long term association with Feyenoord as a player and even started off coaching there after retirement. Rene Hacker, who was at Manchester United under Eric Ten Hag, will be his assistant.

It's all agreed in principle. They're drafting the contract and it will take him through to the summer of 2027. So that's going to be a huge test. If he draws Arsenal, what a story that will be tomorrow. But regardless, they're into the last 16 of the Champions League. And let's see if the latest sort of big name former player can make it at the top level of management because it's a great opportunity. It really is. Really, really quickly, Charlotte, just on the boxing back page of The Sun, obviously,

Daniel Braat not being able to make his fight against Joseph Parker because of a virus. I mean, a blow to the card, but they've managed to replace him quickly.

Yeah, massive blow to the card, but there's still some really good fights on there. Fair play to both Parker and Buchholz for stepping up because it means that they got a replacement in really quickly because of Dubois' illness and should be still a really interesting... Some people are saying it's going to be the greatest fight card that we've ever seen. So, a bit of a disappointment that that one's not happening anymore, but still plenty for boxing fans to be excited about. Super. Thank you so much to you both. Really appreciate it, Charlotte and David.