Are job cuts down to on-field performances at Man Utd? | Eubank Jr slaps Benn with an egg | Chelsea fans protest against the club's owners
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories making the headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm Teddy Draper and joining me is Charlotte Dunker, football reporter for The Times and The Sun's football editor, Charlie Wyatt. Welcome to you both. Charlotte, let's come to you and Manchester United with your piece tonight.

In the Times, Amarim says blame team for cuts. Charlotte, you were there listening to the Manchester United head coach. What exactly did he say and do you agree with him?

Yeah, to be fair to Amarim, he's always so very brutally honest in the assessments that he gives. And it's been a really difficult, well, few months, few weeks for everyone at Manchester United, I think. And I think it's easy to try and detach him away from that. He's obviously the head coach. The players are in their bubble, but he's working in a place where people are losing their jobs. The morale is low. It's difficult for them going into work every single day, knowing that their teammates, their friends,

that another 200 people are going to be made redundant. And he was basically saying the team have to take responsibility for the fact that some of these people have been made redundant. It's the financial reality that the club need to make cuts. We've heard about them stopping free lunches at Old Trafford in the hope that that will save them a million pounds in a year.

And then you look at the wage bill that they have to cut as well. But when you look at the wage bill that they've got with the players, and Amarim specifically pointed out there in his quotes in the embargo section about recruitment and getting recruitment right, the amount of money they have spent on players who haven't,

fulfilled the potential or haven't helped Manchester United achieve their objectives is astonishing. They spent 600 million under Eric Ten Haag. So he's basically saying the team is partly to blame because they're not winning the Premier League. They're not managing to qualify for the Champions League. That would be worth millions and millions of extra money for them. So he's saying that the team have to take responsibility and have to start turning around on the pitch to help the situation as a whole.

It's a fascinating story, isn't it, Charlie? A complicated one for all involved. Telegraph covers it as well in their front page of the Sports Supplement. Amarim failing to the top to blame for United's job cuts. James Ducker there. And then there's a sort of more revealing piece, an explanatory piece from James Ducker on the inside pages. Amarim's outburst, what he said and what he meant. What did he mean, Charlie? What do you think James Ducker's getting at?

Well, I think, you know, there's a bit of everything there. First of all, Amrim accepts the fact that the results have not been good enough, the amount of money that's been spent on players. I think Amrim also speaks about that while he feels a hurt from the supporters, and I think he names the press officer who's sitting alongside him today and other people at the club, they really get it.

He sort of explains that footballers are in a bubble and we sort of know that, don't we? I don't think you can necessarily blame the players for the troubles of Manchester United. Let's not forget Manchester United were debt free until the Glazers arrived and that's when the club's financial problems really started. Equally, they've spent, what, £2 billion on

since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, so they've spent £2 billion pretty badly. And even if they'd got the success that Amrim says was the reason for their financial situation, would it have made that much difference? They've just been managed really badly. It's not the players' fault. That's those that have been paying all the money for those players, the agents' fees.

You know, they've taken so much money out of the club. You know, Anthony and Casemiro costing, what, £150, £155 million. Yet they're, you know, doing the fans over, you know, £66 minimum ticket now. I mean, it's a drop in the ocean. You know, from start to finish, United have been in an absolute shambles the last few years.

And at the moment, I don't see things getting any better off the pitch, on the pitch, they're playing Ipswich tomorrow. And that is actually a really difficult game. It's going to be a really tough one for United.

I just wonder, Charlotte, with that in mind, let's look at the back page of the Guardian Sport or the front page of their supplement, paying the price. Amarim admits bad results on pitch led to United job cuts. Jamie Jackson covering the piece here. And he says we have to improve recruitment. It's crucial, need to improve the team. They are paying the price for our lack of success. He refers to the staff members there losing their jobs. Just wonder from the players' perspective, Charlotte, how difficult is this going to be? Just four wins in the Premier League under 15 games under Amarim.

Amarim, surely this whole environment, even Amarim's comments, it's not going to be conducive to a confidence showing tomorrow, is it? No, and you're right, they've got an absolutely massive job on their hands to not just the results, but the performances have been dreadful. I was at Goodison Park on Saturday and their first half display was so, so bad. And to move on from that, like Charlie just said, Ipswich at home, and it was put to him, it was like,

Amram, this should be, it's clear three points for you. That's how it should be seen, isn't it? But nothing is straightforward with that team at the moment. They don't know the system they're playing. They just don't have any confidence, like you said. But one of the key things he said in the embargo section was that the players are in a bubble. So it's not that they don't care about these staff that have been made redundant. I think they obviously don't feel the pressure of it and they shouldn't feel the pressure that it's their fault that

these people have lost their jobs because like Charlie said, the root of the problem goes back to the debt that the club find themselves in, which was all down to leverage by out of the glazes. So we can go back all the way there to get into the financial difficulties that Manchester United find themselves in. But in terms of the players, they are in that bubble, but they need to...

surround themselves just with the football people and try and find a way to get out of this rut they found themselves in. So far since Amarim's taken over, there's been no indication that they can do that on the pitch either. No, there hasn't. And the back page of The Sun actually covering an interesting aspect to this, Charlie. Your paper, Ken Lawrence with the exclusive for you. Manchester United will face an eye-watering £12 million bill if they sack Ruben Amarim this summer. It's been a pretty shocking run of form, hasn't it? Do you think in some ways he's insulated by the financial picture?

You know, I'd like to see, think that he gets beyond that, of course. You know, he decided not to sign in January because he didn't feel the right players were available. Equally, quite clearly, they don't have as much money as he'd like. So,

I think it would be very harsh, but I think if United did decide to get rid of him, they'd have to pay up his contract, which would be £12 million. But he deserves the chance. It is a complete mess. He deserves the chance to equally bring in players that he wants and to somehow...

mould this team into something better than what it is now because you know they're quite fortunate united in many respects that Ipswich are where they are and there is quite a big gap because you know maybe in other seasons this united team would be in even bigger trouble than they are

Already. And, you know, maybe it doesn't help equally looking where, you know, Liverpool are at the moment. And over the years, if you put their net spend next to Manchester United's net spend, obviously United have spent a lot more. So, yeah.

Yeah, I feel sorry for United fans. They're sort of, you know, getting it everywhere, really. And I can see why they're really concerned because, you know, not only in the summer may they not get the players they want, but they potentially could be losing some of their, you know, assets like Kobe Mainu and even Garnaccio to, you know, balance the books.

Yeah, it feels a depressing time for Manchester United. What's your assessment on the Amarim future situation there, Charlotte? We know it's pretty early on in his reign, but if they were to exit the FA Cup and Europa League in coming weeks, could you see his position coming in under threat or is it almost this season has been written off at this stage?

I think if you look and you speak to people at the club, I think after the January transfer window shut and they didn't manage to bring anyone in, mainly because of the financial difficulties they find themselves in, there was a sort of acceptance that the second half of the season would be written off, that they'd experiment with the team, see how they could get through to the end of the season. Like Charlie said, they're lucky that this season there are three clear teams that are going to be worse than them. So it's not like they're going to go down. They've got a chance...

in Europe they've got a chance in the FA Cup but even if he doesn't win either of those there was a genuine reason why they thought he was the man to succeed Eric Ten Hag and they genuinely believed from his vision that he is the man to take them forward clearly the players that he has don't work with the system he wants to play if they can't bring in the players that he wants maybe that's going to be a conversation for the summer because if he can't make it work with this group and they're not going to be able to boost it enough in the summer then that presents a bigger problem but

they can't decide in November that he's the man for the future and then decide in January after a run of bad results that they need to get rid of him. But Jim Ratcliffe isn't afraid to make bold, big changes. We've seen him make so many cuts since Ineos got that partial takeover of the club. So I don't think anything could be ruled out, but it would be a huge surprise if, given where they are on the table at the moment, they do decide to make a managerial change. And so, Charlie, the pressure's on the executives to an extent, is it, to juggle the finances, juggle the players?

Well, yeah, the executives that brought in Dan Ashworth on a lot of money. Dan Ashworth, who had a terrific track record of recruiting managers,

You know, he got Graham Potter at Brighton, he got Eddie Howe at Newcastle, he got Gareth Southgate, and then they didn't trust him with making the big decision. So they had to pay him off. So that shows you that, you know, even above that level, they've been getting the decisions wrong on a consistent basis, been wasting a lot of money on a consistent basis. So, yeah, it's the people at the top you've got to blame here, not the people at the top.

not really the players. Obviously, the players on current form, because at times they have been hopeless, they have been embarrassing.

their home form's been dreadful. But equally, I think it's those in power that are really to blame for this situation. Ibtwitch on Wednesday night and then Fulham in the FA Cup at the weekend for Manchester United. Let's talk boxing, not until April, but Connor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr's fight has stolen the headlines, certainly in your paper, the son Charlie as well. A cracking headline, that was what my producer mentioned in my ear here. Let's get ready to scramble eggs at Benedict.

is the headline, Eubank Junior, dirty little omelette, drug taunt before pelt to face. So, Charlie, it's a great breakfast at Eggs Benedict, but tell us a little bit about this if people haven't seen the video circulating online, because they may not be as good as their fathers in the ring, but they're certainly great at promotion, these two, aren't they? No, of course, this is a famous family feud, as it were, going back 30-odd years ago,

Chris Eubank Jr. going to fight Connor Benn at Tottenham Stadium April 26th. Their first face-off today, press conference. They were trash-talking, as you'd expect, and then Chris Eubank slaps Connor Benn with an egg. Connor Benn, who had a two-year battle to clear his name for an anti-doping offence. It basically was decided that...

He had some contaminated eggs or too many eggs, which was the reason for Chris Eubank sitting, taking an egg with him, sitting through the press conference and right at the end, putting the egg in his opponent's face. So as you'd expect, wasn't particularly well received.

got a bit nasty and they're due to meet again on Thursday. So I imagine there's going to be quite a lot of security needed for that one. And obviously it was planned from the Eubank side, but I think, uh,

Connor Benn and his dad, who was also there, were absolutely livid. So I think that's definitely going to get a bit nasty, this one. Yeah, it didn't seem choreographed, did it? It certainly shocked him. He was very sly in the way he delivered that slapped egg, Chris Eubank Jr. Quite deaf, wasn't he, Charlotte? Picture in your paper here, Eubank slaps Benn with egg. Is this the modern way of grabbing attention? I suppose it's always been the way in boxing, but on the back pages, back pages of your paper and across social media, everywhere I look tonight.

Yeah, I think it probably could have been the best thing that happened for the fight. We're all sat talking about it. Like you say, it splashed all across the back pages if it had just been a normal press conference and he hadn't taken that egg in and used it in the way he did. I don't think we would have been sat here talking about it. Now we all know exactly when the fight is, when the next press conference is. Everyone's going to be sat waiting with bated breath to see if they go at each other again on Thursday because they've already been spoken about having to be restrained. So it's

great for the fight, great for both of them, even if he wasn't expecting it and he looked absolutely furious when it happened. But a really good publicity stunt. It's worked out well for them. Let's go to the Telegraph. Charlotte, consider the Telegraph front page sports supplement. And Chelsea, Blues, Crews, Maresca's men go fourth. Chelsea, four. Southampton, nil. Against a really struggling team, Charlotte, but how important were those points for Chelsea after a really sloppy run, I suppose, in terms of results?

Yeah, it was massive. I think obviously everyone expected them to beat Southampton tonight, but the convincing way in which they did it, four different goal scorers and most importantly as well, keeping a clean sheet. I think that's the first game in nine that they've managed to keep a clean sheet. So if they have aspirations of finishing in the top four, which obviously they do, it's only a few months ago we were talking about them on here, whether they were in the talk for the title. So like you said, it's been a difficult few weeks. They've

lost some games, the performances haven't been going the way that many Chelsea fans have wanted. There's been a lot of criticism about Maresca. There was fans protesting before the game today about the ownership as well. So for them to go out there and put on a convincing display, 4-0 win,

and move a step closer to securing that Champions League football. They've got some really difficult games to come up before now on the end of the season though. So they are going to have to hope that they can use this as a confidence booster and get some momentum in terms of finishing. Obviously, we're hoping that top five will be Champions League this season. But yeah, a

really big three points for them and a really big performance. Indeed, they make the back page or the front page of the Sports Supplement in the Guardian. Levi Colwell, pictured with Christopher Nkonku, two of the scorers there, 4-0. Chelsea cheer getting back into top four. Charlie, did you feel that? How big was it for Enzo Maresca as well? Charlotte referenced it there. Some people speculating that perhaps he's not so great after Christmas as before it.

Yeah, I mean, you know, Chelsea started the season with 18 wins from 26 and that's what, three out of 12. So that's not very good. And that's why Charlotte mentioned, you know, the fans did a bit of a protest about the ownership and Todd Bowley before the game tonight. So it was a must win. It was a predicted win. And, you know, to beat Southampton 4-0, you could just expect them to do that. And again, as Charlotte said, they've got some tough games coming up.

And it's really difficult, the Premier League at the moment, isn't it? Because while we do have a team running away with the title, after that, it's really tough to call who's going to finish in the top four for a Champions League spot or probably top five, which could be enough. Because at the moment, you're looking at third place at Forest down to tenth. You've only got five points separating them all. So, you know, a decent 5-6 match winning run

could really propel a team back into the Champions League spot. And equally, if Chelsea have another wobble, which this team is entirely capable of doing, and I think most Chelsea fans would admit that, although they do have some terrific players, you can't rely on them. So that is why a Champions League place is absolutely not certain. A place in Europe is not certain. That's why I still think, you know,

tie against Copenhagen next week is really important. Ideally, Chelsea need to win the Europa Conference and they've got every chance of doing that to make sure they're in Europe next season. So, yeah, good win tonight.

but quite a lot of uncertainty from quite an unpredictable team. Indeed, they've got a week off now to prepare for that European tie, not in the FA Cup. But Charlotte, Charlie says that perhaps the title race may be over, but Mikel Arteta and the Sun saying Arteta is dead set. Jordan Davis with the story on the left-hand side there. Mikel Arteta is adamant Arsenal will only give up on the title race.

over my dead body, ahead of this tricky game at Nottingham Forest, Charlotte. How tub-thumping was the Arsenal manager? Well, you'd like to hope that he'd come out and say something like that. I imagine he'd come out and said the total opposite after everyone had said that Liverpool had won the title when they beat Manchester City at the weekend. So, yeah, while it's mathematically possible for Arsenal to fight back and win the league, you'd like to hope that Arteta is going to come out and say that his team are going to do everything they can to close the gap. But it's not just...

their own form that they need to be concerned with. Liverpool, they just don't look like dropping any more points. They've lost one game all season. It's not in Arsenal's hands. Arsenal are struggling with the lack of forward options that they've got due to injuries. Like you said, they've got a really difficult game to go to the City ground against Nottingham Forest tomorrow night. So,

Yeah, I think everyone would be pretty shocked if Arsenal went on to win the league this season. But he's come out fighting and fair play. I don't think anyone would expect anything less. But I think deep down in his heart of hearts, maybe he even knows that it's over now. I just wonder with Liverpool taking on Newcastle on Wednesday evening as well, Charlie, it could be a 14-point gap if results go against Arsenal. Do you think a lot of people, neutrals, people in the media are hoping there's a bit of a swing on Wednesday night just to make it interesting?

Yeah, I think lots of neutrals would like to see a good title race. Of course, you know, ideally you want it to go down to the last day. And that's definitely not going to happen, is it? It's just no chance. And, you know, Liverpool have been brilliant this season. They've been really consistent. Arsenal, it's the injuries, it's not signing number nine in the summer. And it's the fact that I still don't think under Arteta they've got the right mentality to be winners.

Because there's some good players there. And, you know, I was at Arsenal on Saturday and they were awful and they deserved to lose. And, you know, I understand the fans' frustration. You know, Mikel Atassi has got to start sorting this out. And he's got a really big summer ahead because he's not going to win the title. They're still in the Champions League, of course. But, yeah, I just don't see this Arsenal team making the steps forward that you would have expected if we'd have gone back to August.

No, it's going to be an interesting inquest into Arsenal's season, isn't it? They don't win anything in the Champions League, of course, as well. We'll keep across them. Let's keep across Jose Mourinho. We're watching from afar in Turkey. Tom Gibbs in the Telegraph. Charlotte, Mourinho's Turkish odyssey is, as you would have expected, chaos. This after a very fiery off-the-pitch game between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce. The derby ended 0-0. Charlotte, can you tell us what's been happening in the latest controversy around Mourinho?

Yes, so Fenerbahce and Galatasaray played each other and Mourinho made a remark about how the Galatasaray bench were celebrating and he's also been critical of Turkish referees and the Galatasaray, there's actually a statement from them in there which has accused him of racism and they said they're going to start criminal proceedings against him. So we are used to Jose Mourinho hitting the headlines. He's not scared of making an inflammatory comment in a press conference anymore.

But this isn't really a side that we've seen before. Fenerbahce have said it's slander and they're not expecting it to go anywhere. But it might be an interesting one to see going forward because they clearly don't agree with the comments that he made or the tone that he's... This isn't the first time he's been critical of the refereeing over in Turkey. It's been happening since he went over there. So...

He's clearly got an issue with it and this is Jose Mourinho. He's going to make his feelings known and he's not one to go out quietly, is he? He's certainly not. Charlie, what do you make of Jose Mourinho? Is this the final fiery sort of twist in Fenerbahce? They're six points off Galatasaray. Can he return to one of the so-called big leagues in Europe?

Well, even in the autumn, he was saying how he wanted to come back to England. And that was after he'd been really, really critical, almost mocking Turkish football within a few weeks of arriving there. And as Charlotte said, he's been critical of the referees. That's why they had to have an overseas referee for this game. And the other thing that sort of stood out, apart from the chaos, as you mentioned...

was the fact that there were 30,000 policemen at that game. I mean, 30,000. That's the size of St Mary's at Southampton or the King Power. So I think it's fair to say Turkish football's got a few problems at the moment, other than Jose Mourinho, who I don't expect to be there next season. But there was obviously crowd trouble. At one stage, they weren't sure the game was going to continue. Yeah.

But yeah, referees is an issue. But I think general behaviour, as we've seen in the last couple of years in Turkey, and we've had owners hitting referees. And yeah, I think it's going to be a short but explosive stay by Jairz Mourinho in Turkey. And it wouldn't surprise me. I don't know which club, if we see him back in London at some stage next season.