The Sunday Telegraph - 01.09.2019

By Sam Wallace

CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER

Paul Scholes has offered another with-

ering assessment of Manchester Unit-

ed’s future, claiming that Ole Gunnar

Solskjaer will require “four or five

transfer windows” to turn them into

title contenders following a 1-1 draw

with 10-man Southampton.

It left United on five points, their

worst total from the opening four

games of a season since they earned

just four at the start of the 1992-1993

campaign, in which they went on to

win the first Premier League title.

The United manager was again

forced to address speculation about

Paul Pogba’s future after the midfielder

left St Mary’s limping following an-

other forgettable performance.

Speaking on Premier League TV,

Scholes said: “I think you almost have

to write this team off for the next two

years. Until Ole Gunnar has cleared

everything he wants out, there’s four

or five transfer windows, United are

going to be behind Manchester City,

Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.”

A consistent critic of the failings of

every regime since the retirement of

Sir Alex Ferguson, Scholes is yet to be

proved wrong in his generally gloomy

Solskjaer needs four or five

windows, says ex-player

Manager rejects talk of late

transfer abroad for Pogba

By Tim Wigmore

Every franchise in cricket’s new

Hundred competition, which launches

next summer, will be guaranteed at

least one England Test player.

Telegraph Sport can reveal complete

details of the inaugural player draft for

the new competition, which will be

held on the evening of Oct 20 ahead of

the first season next summer. Player

registration for the draft will open in

the middle of next week. Hundreds of

players – both from England and over-

seas – are expected to enter the draft.

By early October, shortly after Eng-

land’s new central contracts are final-

ised, all eight teams will have chosen

their England Test players, as well as

up to two local players a team, in ad-

vance of the draft. At the same time, the

draft order will be finalised after lots

are drawn. Players will be chosen

through a “snake” draft system,

meaning a team with first pick in the

first round would have last choice in

the second round.

Cricketers who enter the Hundred

draft will be obliged to go to whichever

franchise selects them. Players are free

to enter for a minimum price, meaning

they are only eligible to be signed for at

least this amount.

On draft night, each team will have

100 seconds to make their pick on an

electronic tablet. Teams will have three

representatives on their table in the

draft room, with the draft – similar to

the model used in US sports and the

Indian Premier League auction –

shown live on Sky Sports. A number of

England players are expected to attend,

with the draft held the day before

England fly to New Zealand.

The women’s Hundred competition

will use a different system. Instead of

the draft, England-contracted players

will be distributed to franchises, with

that process expected to be completed

by the end of September.

Non-England contracted players will

then negotiate with teams rather than

entering a draft, so they will have a say

in where they end up.

The men’s tournament will clash

with the England-Pakistan Test series

next summer, so the availability of

England’s Test players will be compro-

mised. Players are still expected to be

Continued on page 9

By Philip Duncan

in Spa-Francorchamps

French driver Anthoine Hubert has

been killed in a Formula Two accident

at the Belgian Grand Prix. The 22-year-

old died following a 160mph collision

at the high-speed Spa-Francorchamps

track.

Hubert raced for the British-owned

Arden team, founded and run by Garry

Horner, the father of Red Bull team

boss Christian Horner. A number of

drivers were involved in the second-

lap accident on the exit of the fearsome

Eau Rouge corner. The official televi-

sion feed cut away from the scene and

there were no replays. But footage

which later emerged on social media

appeared to show Hubert slamming

into the barriers on the far side of the

circuit before sliding across the track.

Ecuadorian-American Juan Manuel

Correa then crashed head on into

Hubert. Correa was taken to Liege

Hospital and is reported to be in a

stable condition.

The Formula Two race, which acts as

the feeder championship to Formula

One, followed the conclusion of

qualifying for the F1 grand prix.

A statement released by the sport’s

governing body, the FIA, read: “The

Federation Internationale de

l’Automobile [FIA] regrets to advise

that a serious incident occurred as a

part of the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race at

Spa-Francorchamps. The scene was

immediately attended by emergency

and medical crews, and all drivers were

taken to the medical centre. As a result

of the incident, the FIA regrets to in-

form that the driver of car 19, Anthoine

Hubert, succumbed to his injuries.”

Cloud over Belgian GP: page 6

predictions for his former club. United

took the lead through Daniel James,

before defender Jannik Vestergaard

equalised. New signing Kevin Danso

was sent off in the 73rd minute for a

second yellow card but Southampton

held out for the draw.

In a press conference in Spain, Real

Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane told

reporters to expect one or two sur-

prises before tomorrow’s transfer

deadline in Europe, prompting sugges-

tions that the club might bid for Pogba.

Given the state of Real’s finances and

their failure to get close to landing Ney-

mar from Paris St-Germain, that is

highly unlikely and Solskjaer said there

was no prospect of selling Pogba.

Asked about the Frenchman’s fu-

ture, he replied: “Paul Pogba will be

playing for us.” On Pogba’s perfor-

mance, he said: “As a team, after about

Test players guaranteed for Hundred teams French F2 driver Hubert dies in 160mph crash

EXCLUSIVE MOTOR RACING

FOOTBALL

Villa in a rage

Grealish booked for diving as referee rules out ‘equaliser’ at Palace

Page 4

ACTION IMAGES VIA REUTERS

Spor t

telegraph.co.uk/sport

half an hour we started giving sloppy

balls away. Paul was one of them, but

he wasn’t any different to anyone else.

“But, of course, in the last 20 min-

utes, half an hour, he did create loads

for us. Everyone expects everything

from him every game. He has to de-

fend, to attack, he has to win headers,

he has to win tackles, he has to dribble

past people, he has to make passes.

That’s just Paul and he’ll thrive on that.

He got a bad knock on his ankle.”

Solskjaer insisted his team would

come good once they adapted to a new

style of playing. “We have a clear plan,”

he said. “You can say that it’s a long-

term one, but we deserved to win the

last three games as well. The one thing

you cannot control is results and out-

comes. We’re on the right track.”

Match report: page 2

In the week that

Bury FC sank

into oblivion,

Gareth

Southgate

revealed that the

club have a place

in his personal

football story.

“The first

game I ever

went to was

Bury against

Watford [in

1975],” the

England

manager

recalled as he

announced his

squad for the

European

qualifiers

against Bulgaria

and Kosovo.

“I was very

young and I

don’t think I

watched much

as I was running

up and down the

terraces.”

Southgate’s

parents moved

south soon after

the match, so he

never again

went to watch

Bury. But it is an

endorsement

of our football

structure that

the future

national team

boss should start

his engagement

with the game

at a place like

Gigg Lane.

He admitted

to being

concerned

about the wider

implications

of the club’s

demise. “It

worries me and I

think it could be

something we

see a bit more

frequently,”

Southgate said.

“In a 92-team

pyramid, with

professional

teams at

non-League

level as well,

there are so

many clubs in

debt. That can’t

be sustainable,

so that has to be

addressed. Clubs

have to think

seriously about

their model.”

First match Southgate recalls Bury visit By Jim White

Fond farewell

Lasting legacy

of trailblazing

Super League

Women’s cricket, page 9

Stockdale joy

Ireland spoil

Gatland’s final

home match

Rugby Union, pages 10-11

Scholes: Write off United for two years

Tragedy: Wreckage of Anthoine Hubert’s

BMW-Arden car after the crash in Belgium

Target men on a roll

Liverpool and City

cruise to victory

Football, pages 2-7

** Sunday 1 September 2019

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