Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta knows it will take time for his side to get to the level Manchester City are at. The Gunners’ faint Premier League title hopes went with a whimper after a 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest handed City a fifth crown in six years. Arsenal were insatiable for most of the campaign, spending 248 days on top of the table, and held an eight-point lead over City in March, but an alarming slide has seen them win just two of their last eight games. That allowed them to be overtaken by Pep Guardiola’s relentless juggernaut, who have won 11 games in a row. The Spaniard says Arsenal have to find a way to compete with City but it will not be a quick fix. “This is my job, this is our job, and this is what this club deserves,” Arteta said. “It wasn’t enough. I know we’re not at that level, but we have to find a way. This is not enough. It’s not going to change in three months time. We need to be at that level but we need to find other ways to do it. “For example at Forest we needed to play much better. This is my responsibility. “That’s why we have to push for that to happen. That’s not going to happen if we don’t make a lot of right decisions and think smart and have the mentality every day to get to that level.” It wasn’t enough. I know we’re not at that level, but we have to find a way. This is not enough. It’s not going to change in three months time. We need to be at that level but we need to find other ways to do it Mikel Arteta While Arsenal had a definitive outcome for their aspirations, so did Forest as they secured their Premier League status against the odds. For large parts of the season, which began with more than 20 new signings, they looked destined to return straight back to the Championship, not least when they were on an 11-game winless run going into the end of April. Boss Steve Cooper steered them away from danger, thanks to 10 points from the last five games, and he is thankful to the fans, who have been vociferous in their support throughout the campaign. It looked possible that the Welshman could be sacked on two occasions during the campaign, but Forest fans voted with their feet and came out in unanimous support of their manager. And Cooper will never forget that. “My family and myself will be in debt to these supporters forever,” he said. “What they have given me this year in an era of people always wanting change and having no patience, our supporters have been the complete opposite. They have been the best with me in some difficult times. That takes some doing. “The whole sense of being part of something, being wanted and that sense of belonging is such a powerful feeling. Our supporters have set the standard for how to support a team.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Ruben Neves could leave Wolves as he chases Champions League football Newcastle boss Eddie Howe hails Callum Wilson’s form Bryan Mbeumo delighted to come to the fore in absence of Ivan Toney

By Brendan Pierson The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a state law banning gender-affirming care for transgender

Republic of Ireland Under-21s international Sinclair Armstrong has spoken of his pride in himself for resisting the urge to punch an opposition player after he was allegedly racially abused. The 20-year-old QPR striker was warming up on the sideline during Ireland’s friendly against the Kuwait Under-22s in Austria last month when a comment was made which prompted him and his team-mates to walk off the pitch and the game to be abandoned after 60 minutes. The Football Association of Ireland has backed the stance of the players and manager Jim Crawford and reported the matter to UEFA and FIFA, although the Kuwaiti FA categorically denied the accusation and claimed a halt was called because of “excessive roughness and tension between the players”. However, speaking to the Training121 podcast, Armstrong said: “I had never experienced racism on the pitch. I remember going out to warm up. It was me and Killian Phillips. He was right beside me. “The lad made a gesture. Me being me, I just laughed. Then he said what he said, and I looked at him thinking: ‘There is no way he just said that’. “It’s kind of like the devil and the angel on my shoulder. Should I go and punch him? Or calm yourself and see what happens. “But I am proud of myself because I know I could have hit him. There was no one stopping me from hitting him, but I just thought, if I hit this lad, I’m not going to get anything out of it. It’s wrong. You can't be saying this sort of stuff on the pitch. Republic of Ireland Under-21s international Sinclair Armstrong “He had already said what he said. I have already heard it. I am proud of myself that I didn’t hit him and just dealt with it the way I dealt with it, by just telling the linesman: ‘He said this’ and telling the gaffer: ‘He said this’. We just walked off.” The game in Bad Radkersburg was one of two abandoned in Austria on the same day with New Zealand refusing to return for the second half of their fixture against Qatar after no action was taken over an alleged racist remark. Armstrong stressed the need for education to address the issue and urged those affected to speak out. He said: “It’s wrong. You can’t be saying this sort of stuff on the pitch. It happens again and again, but I hope I see change. We have to talk about it. Hopefully we do see change.”

TL;DR: There are many ways to watch the LIV Golf Team Championship. Check out the

The Atlanta Braves are expected to make several minor upgrades to their pitching staff prior to the deadline. That started on Monday with a trade for Pierce Johnson of the Rockies.The stove is ON, technically! While far from the biggest name to be traded this deadline (we hope), Pierce Johnson o...

Japan’s price growth in services hit 2% in July for the first time in 40 years, a long-awaited

Atlanta Braves skipper Brian Snitker provided another hint to how his team's roster will look for the postseason, this time regarding the starting rotation.

South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai, the reigning Women's British Open champion, fired her second consecutive six-under par 65 on Sunday to win the ShopRite...

Canadian authorities said Friday they would launch an investigation into the loss this week of the Titan submersible along with five people onboard during a...

What’s new in hair color right now? We’re so glad you asked. There’s a whole spectrum of shade options, which is both exciting and overwhelming when you’re planning your next appointment. To help, we asked some of our favorite colorists to break down the exact tones and styles they’re excited about for summer — like a surprisingly low-maintenance platinum-adjacent blonde, or a tone of gold that reads as almost pearlescent.

They’ve been talking about it for weeks. In fact since the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at the beginning of March, Mercedes have pinpointed this weekend in Imola as a new beginning not only this season, but in this new phase of ground-effect regulations first brought in last year. Toto Wolff has made no secret of F1’s return to traditional European circuits as marking a line in the sand for his team’s prospects in 2023, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell waiting eagerly in the cockpit to see how far they can reduce the hefty gap – 128 points in the constructors’ standings – to Red Bull out in front. News on Wednesday then of the cancellation of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix comes as a bitter blow to their development plans. In the wider scheme of things, though, Mercedes’ fortunes are very much not a priority. The swiftness of those at Formula 1 on the ground in Imola has not gone unnoticed in the past few days. F1 made the right call to cancel given the severe flooding in the region, even if as expected the race cannot be rescheduled this year. For a sporting entity and a governing body, the FIA, who have repeatedly blundered in recent months, this time the communication between executives, teams and the media was clear throughout in an ever-changing situation. As opposed to Australia in 2020 amid the coronavirus outbreak, as well as Spa in 2021 with heavy rain eventually rendering racing redundant, the call here was decisive while matters of far more importance to local bodies in northern Italy, not least the emergency services, take greater hold. However, given the sheer anticipation at Mercedes for an upgrade package which was set to include a trio of new sidepods, floor and front suspension, this delay is far from ideal. As recently as the weekend, engineering director Andrew Shovlin said: “We took some decisions on how we develop the car – how the car works aerodynamically, how we shape the characteristics of the car, how it is in terms of handling. "What we are going to be bringing to the track in Imola is the first step of that work. This takes quite a long time to develop in the wind tunnel, you can’t just do these things overnight. But the Imola package is the first step in that direction.” At Imola, with three practice sessions, qualifying and a 63-lap race on a traditional European circuit with 19 turns – even if rain was forecast – the technicians and engineers at Mercedes would have gathered swathes of useful data regarding the W14’s performance, consistency and raw speed. An immediate evaluation would have been collated: have the upgrades made the car quicker? But it is no longer the Imola package. Rather unsatisfactorily, it is now the Monaco package. Out of all 23 race circuits on the 2023 schedule, the twisty turns of the principality are perhaps the last place upgrades would want to be tested first time out. The unique dimensions of the Monaco street circuit are out of quilter with the vast majority of tracks on the calendar, meaning upgrades designed to improve the quality of the car over the course of a season may not have a positive impact in Monaco. Thankfully, the race that follows is in Barcelona – a track which before the pandemic was traditionally used for testing. A more appropriate analysis can be ascertained during that weekend in Spain. While Ferrari were also expected to bring improvements this weekend, the focus was undeniably on the Mercedes garage. Now, that anticipation and development plan will have to be re-routed. Hamilton stated after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April that he was “counting down the days” until the anticipated upgrades at Imola: the scene of his ultimate humiliation when he was lapped by old foe Max Verstappen in last year’s race. Unfortunately for the seven-time world champion, he will have to wait that little bit longer. Read More F1 Imola Grand Prix cancelled F1 Grand Prix – live: Lewis Hamilton reacts after Imola race cancelled Will Imola Grand Prix be rescheduled? Where are Mercedes and Ferrari? Frankly, you don’t want to hear the answer ‘Nasty piece of work’: Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes slammed by Toto Wolff Lewis Hamilton would be taking gamble by leaving Mercedes, says former rival

Podcasters can be known for their controversial takes, but one football pod has angered footy fans everywhere with their opinion on supporting a team. The clip that has gone viral is from the Half A Yard TV podcast hosted by Hass, Omz and Omar where the trio discussed whether a football fan can only support one team or whether they can support multiple ones in different leagues. It came after Omar initially questioned why Queens Park Rangers fans support their team. "This might be controversial but I don't think you can proper[ly] be into football and like only support that team," co-host Hass said. "You gotta have like a Premier League [team], someone that you enjoy in the Prem something like that." He said "I can't be an Accrington Stanley fan," referring to the League Two side. While one of the co-hosts Omz appeared to disagree, the third co-host Omar explained why they sided with Hass's take. "It's facts because abroad that's what happens, they have their normal team but then they support a Real Madrid or Barcelona." To counter, Omz noted how he's a Manchester United fan and "would still be" in the hypothetical scenario that the team got regulated to the Championship. The pair conceded this point, though Omar noted Man Utd's "history," with Omz disagreeing that the history of the team isn't a factor in whether you would continue to support them if they were regulated into a lower league. Hass also mentioned how QPR have previously been in the Premier League. "You could never write off these teams - remember Leicester when they won the league," Omz added. This conversation has since been viewed over 8.1m times on Twitter/X, and has provoked a lot of reaction - and it's fair to say many football fans disagree with the idea of supporting more than one team for each league. Here are some of the angry responses: In response to the backlash, the podcast's Twitter account tweeted: "I guess this take was controversial… " with the awkward monkey side eye puppet meme. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.