WHATEVER the future for Lee Carsley as England manager – and he is unlikely to last long – there have been some genuine positives.
And here in Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium those positives were highlighted as Jack Grealish, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice earned England a much-needed Nations League victory.
All three of those scorers have benefited from Carsley’s management and after the mayhem of Thursday’s 2-1 defeat by Greece, they restored a sense of order to the national team.
Grealish, who became a father for the first time last week, netted the early opener – his second goal of Carsley’s interim reign.
Then Alexander-Arnold curled home a delicious free-kick before Rice netted his second goal of this brief ‘Carsball’ era to ensure victory before a late consolation.
Carsley seems increasingly unlikely to get – or even actually want – this job on a permanent basis.
But after his tactical brainstorm against the Greeks, here was a return to calm good sense and a routine win against limited opposition.
It was England’s first journey to Helsinki’s historic Olympic Stadium since 2000 – and that journey also came on the back of a Wembley shambles.
On that occasion, Kevin Keegan had quit in the toilets of the old national stadium and Howard Wilkinson took charge of a goalless draw here in the Finnish capital.
After Thursday’s fiasco against the Greeks, Carsley stayed true to his promise and selected a more conventional team with Harry Kane fit enough to start up front after an ankle injury.
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The interim manager’s decision to drop Jordan Pickford – something Gareth Southgate barely ever did – made sense too after an extremely jittery display against Greece.
Dean Henderson was handed his first England start, and his first appearance in four years, with his team-mates kitted out in a Euro 96 shade of grey.
Carsley’s team began as if hungover from Thursday, Angel Gomes gifting possession deep in his own half and John Stones having to block a Benjamin Kallman shot.
Despite that early slip, Gomes soon stepped up. The little Lille man is a neat and tidy midfield anchor who makes a team tick.
After Bellingham had a shot deflected wide, Gomes provided a gorgeous assist for Grealish as part of an excellent team move which was by far and away England’s best work of a drab first half.
First Grealish located Alexander-Arnold, who had drifted in from his makeshift left-back role into central midfield.
The Liverpool man picked out Gomes, who turned two players and provided a sublime outside-of-the-boot pass for Grealish to slot home.
It was only the Manchester City man’s fourth goal from 39 caps, but his second in three appearances under Carsley.
After bossing possession with relatively little threat, England got sloppy towards the end of the first half and an Alexander-Arnold slip let in Fredrik Jensen, who ought to have punished the visitors but shot over from close range.
Palmer, who had been very quiet on the right wing, cut inside and tested Finland keeper Lukas Hradecky early in the second half.
But the Finns were still a threat and Jensen squandered another fine chance, with England caught out of shape by a counter-attack, the centre forward spooned one from close range after a centre from Topi Keskinen
Bellingham and Declan Rice both forced saves from Hradecky but England were hardly tearing up and midway through the second half, Carsley freshened it up by sending on Ollie Watkins for Kane and Noni Madueke for Palmer.
Watkins was soon teeing up Madueke, who got his dancing feet to work and caused panic in the Finnish defence with a low centre which Hradecky pushed away.
After England won a free-kick on the left, 22 yards out, Alexander-Arnold sized it up and curled his effort deftly into the postage stamp, Hradecky doing well even to get a hand to the ball but incapable of keeping it out.
Gomes and Bellingham were withdrawn in favour of Rico Lewis and Phil Foden and the third goal soon arrived.
Watkins darted down the left and centred low to the near post where Rice tapped in.
With the job done, the Arsenal man was substituted immediately.
Arttu Hoskinen then headed home a consolation from a corner.
STRICTLY Come Dancing will not be looking into the situation with Wynne Evans and Katya Jones ‘any further’.
The pair have been checked on by the welfare team after fans expressed concern over footage from last night’s show, which saw Katya, 35, pushing away 52-year-old Wynne’s hand from her midriff.
A Strictly source said: “Wynne and Katya have confirmed that their interactions in the Clauditorium were silly jokes they had planned together and have apologised to anyone who may have misinterpreted them.
“They addressed them on Wynne’s Instagram, where their apology can be found.
“Katya would like to clarify further that she was not offended by Wynne and was not made to feel uncomfortable in the least.
“The welfare team have checked in on the pair and there are no further actions planned.”
The pair later apologised in a video, saying they were “just messing around in the Clauditorium on Saturday night and just want to say sorry. It was a silly joke”.
A caption alongside their apology said they “really are amazing friends” and added that the “high 5’s is a running joke”, after another moment on Saturday night appeared to show Katya not wanting to hive five her celebrity partner.
Katya then posted a further video, again insisting it was all ‘silly’, and made it clear she was not offended.
The couple scored 34 for their tango to Abba’s Money, Money, Money during Saturday night’s show.
Strictly returned in September this year for its 20th anniversary with a new cast of celebrities and some changes, including the presence of chaperones “at all times” during rehearsals.
The chaperones followed a review launched by the corporation after Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington made complaints about her 2023 Strictly professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice.
The BBC last month apologised to Abbington, saying in a statement: “We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made.
“We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do.”
The Sun has contacted Strictly for comment.
ANGEL GOMES was the star of the show as England sealed a 3-1 win over Finland.
Lee Carsley‘s side put in a solid performance as they bounced back from the defeat to Greece.
Grealish made his mark on the game in the first half by slotting home after being found by a brilliant through ball by Angel Gomes.
The Manchester City star marked the celebration with a touching gesture to Sasha Attwood just days after the birth of their child.
Trent Alexander-Arnold also impressed as he filled in at left-back and even bagged himself his first international goal with a brilliant free-kick.
Declan Rice also grabbed himself a goal as he wrapped up the result for England before Arttu Hoskonen grabbed a consolation for the hosts.
But it was Gomes that ran the show for the Three Lions with his composed performance in the midfield.
Cole Palmer, however, struggled on the other flank to create much for England before he was hooked off in the second half.
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Only his second cap after long-time No1 Jordan Pickford was dropped. Not a lot to do, but pretty assured when he was called into action, including a smart, first-half stop to repel a Benjamin Kallman strike – even if the Finn was later flagged offside. Could do little to prevent Finland‘s goal.
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After the calamity against Greece, it was no surprise to see Lee Carsley turn to his most experienced defender. Now just nine caps shy of a century, Walker was solid. Could have had an assist late on but his cushioned down header was poor.
England’s more conventional system meant the defence was far less exposed – though Carsley’s attacking approach did still see the Finns create chances. Stones made a good early block to deny Kallman after Angel Gomes gave the ball away.
Our best defender in the Euros group stages, Guehi was back in here with Levi Colwill dropping out. Pretty assured for a player who by his own admission has not started the season particularly well for his club.
We saw him in midfield at the Euros, and here the Liverpool right-back was shunted to left-back. Looked vulnerable defensively at times but who cares when he produces such quality on the ball – epitomised by his terrific free-kick to kill off this game.
We saw him in midfield at the Euros, and here the Liverpool right-back was shunted to left-back. Looked vulnerable defensively at times but who cares when he produces such quality on the ball – epitomised by his terrific free-kick to kill off this game.
Looked far more comfortable with Gomes playing in behind him, as opposed to the one-man defensive operation he was forced to put up against the Greeks. Looked proud as punch after stroking home England’s third from Watkins’ cross.
Played in a more familiar wide right position compared to his central-midfield experiment against Greece. Yet it reduced him to a peripheral figure, adding more questions than answers as where best to deploy him, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden.
The Real Madrid superstar played off Harry Kane and had the occasional, exciting link-up with Grealish, but this was not one of his more memorable games overall.
No doubt will be hoping Carsley does get the job full-time as his fellow Brummie seems to appreciate his talents. His composed finish was his second goal in three games under Carsley – doubling his overall haul from 39 caps.
Cap 101 for the captain but not one he will remember particularly fondly. He offered the presence the team lacked against Greece when they played with no striker, but did not get much of a sniff in front of goal.
This game was made for him to make an impact off the bench and he almost teed up Watkins after one fine run but the Finns cleared.
Low cross for Rice’s third was right on the money.
Slotted in at centre midfield when coming on and looked busy.
Embraced the post ruefully after Madueke opted to shoot instead of crossing to him for a tap-in seconds after Finland’s goal. Was marking Arttu Hoskonen when the Finn headed home a consolatio.
His first appearance under Carsley but too late to make an impact.
His tactical gamble backfired against Greece but he held his hands up and went more conventional here.
It paid off as England were relatively comfortable – although his teams have looked defensively vulnerable at times in all four of his games and this was no different.
But the three best players, Gomes, Grealish and Alexander-Arnold, were all given starring roles by Carsley when used sparingly or not at all by predecessor Gareth Southgate – and for that, the interim boss should take credit.
BRITS are set to enjoy warmer temperatures in just a matter of days – with the Met Office forecasting highs of 22C.
Chilly conditions covering much of the country this weekend could soon come to an end, the weather service has said.
As we head into a brand new week, the frosty mornings could be left behind – with commuters not expected to deal with colder starts.
By Wednesday, eastern England including the south east, could see temperatures rise to 20C, say the Met Office.
And in London, Cambridgeshire, and other locations down south, conditions are predicted to exceed that – hitting at least 22C.
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said on Sunday: “Temperatures are going to rise gradually, peaking probably on Wednesday in eastern areas, and we might well see in some spots 20C.
“And 22C is not out of question, probably in eastern England – so East Anglia down towards the South East.
“But it will be much milder compared to now for everyone.
“It’s possible we could exceed 20C in London but the peak temperatures might well be up towards the home counties and up to Cambridgeshire.
“There’s going to be a stark contrast in temperatures between today and Wednesday.
“Some places will be 10C warmer because today is a very chilly day for early October, so the main theme for this week that it’s turning much milder for all.”
Unfortunately, the last glimpse of a summer won’t be around for long.
By the end of the week and looking into next weekend, blistery and wet conditions are predicted to return.
Mr Morgan added that the west and Wales could be “quite wet” midweek with the rest of the country expected to see strong winds and band of heavy rain pushing eastwards on Friday.
He said next weekend is “looking pretty unsettled”, with the North West including Scotland and Northern Ireland being wet and windy but possibly less so in the South East.
He added: “So it will be pretty autumnal with temperatures that might be much higher than this weekend, so into mid-teen temperatures.”
ENGLAND have beaten Finland 3-1 to claim their third win in the Nations League.
Jack Grealish tucked away the game’s opener on 18 minutes after the Manchester City star got on the end of a superb defensive splitting ball from Angel Gomes.
Late in the second half, Trent Alexander-Arnold doubled the Three Lions’ lead, netting from a superb long-range free-kick.
Declan Rice tapped in England‘s third before Arttu Hoskonen headed in a consolation goal for the hosts to make it 1-3.
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DOUG Pederson checked into a posh hotel on the outskirts of London on Friday expecting to enjoy 10 or 11 days of luxury.
But the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach may have to hand back to room key and cut his stay short after Sunday’s horror show.
The Jags lost 35-16 to the Chicago Bears to fall to their fifth defeat in six games.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams had his way with the Jaguars defence at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
And the Jaguars offense looked devoid of ideas with quarterback Trevor Lawrence not helped by his receivers having a case of the drops.
Jacksonville seems lost as a franchise at the moment.
They have a big problem in that quarterback Lawrence has just signed a new five-year deal with $200 million in guaranteed money.
But the reason Pederson should be fearing for his job is because of the stage his team just lost on.
Last week the New York Jets lost to the Minnesota Vikings in the very same stadium in London, England.
New York looked awful on offense in a game that was nationally televised in the United States and played on an international state.
Jets owner Woody Johnson acted – and fired coach Robert Saleh two days later when he returned to New York.
Pederson might not get to wait until he’s back in the States, judging by this performance.
New York fell to 2-3 with that loss last weekend while the Jags have slipped to an even worse 1-5.
These games in London mean a lot to Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan.
He owns Fulham in the Premier League and even tried to buy Wembley Stadium a few years back.
Jacksonville have played 12 games in London with No. 13 coming next Sunday against the New England Patriots.
This game against the Bears was also watched by NFL boss Roger Goodell.
The New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings kick off the NFL's annual run of London fixtures.
New York and Minnesota face off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday October 6 at 2.30pm local time – 9.30am ET for fans back home in America.
It is the first of three straight NFL Sundays that begin with an early game live from London.
The following week, Tottenham also plays host to the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Chicago Bears.
And on October 20, the Jags will head across town to Wembley Stadium to take on the New England Patriots.
The commissioner spoke at a fan forum ahead of this game, and revealed the Jaguars have plans to play even more in London.
This is the second straight year they will play on back-to-back weekends in the British capital.
And there are plans for even more in the 2026 season when Jacksonville will need to find a new home while they renovate their stadium.
Jags owner Khan will not want to see his franchise painted in this light on such a stage.
And that could spell trouble for Pederson – whose London trip may be significantly shorter than he thought when he left Florida.
BIANCA Censori participated in her husband Kanye West’s “twisted” sexual fantasies, the rapper’s ex-assistant has claimed in a lawsuit.
Lauren Pisciotta also alleges West, 47, grabbed her by the throat in front of an “unfazed” Censori as part of new court documents containing shocking claims against Ye.
Pisciotta claims in the lawsuit she was mistreated by the rapper while working for him and in the months after – including allegations he raped and drugged her at a party hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs.
West has previously denied all her claims labelling the allegations as “baseless”.
The former OnlyFans model and Instagram star – who was West’s Chief of Staff at his company Yeezy, working for him from 2021 to 2022 – first sued him back in June.
But a fresh 86-page filing with an LA court has revealed a raft of new claims, including details about West’s alleged sexual desires.
Pisciotta’s lawsuit says that shortly after she stopped working for West around November 2022 she met Ye and Censori at a Post Malone concert in California.
The pair were not yet married at the time of the meeting in the court filings with them not tying the knot until December 2022.
Censori, 29, was working for West as the architectural designer for his brand, Yeezy after relocating to the US from Australia to work for Ye.
Pisciotta claims in the docs her ex-boss allegedly grabbed her by the throat and put his tongue into her ear during the brief interaction.
The former personal assistant alleges West starting saying: “I always knew what I would do to you if I ever saw you again.”
Pisciotta claims Censori watched on “unfazed” as she stood directly next to the pair.
The model alleges in the lawsuit that Censori was used to how West was acting.
With Pisciotta alleging the Australian would consensually participate in “twisted and bizarre sexual behavior, fantasy and foreplay that resembled the actions” of West on her at the concert.
The court filings also allege that West would host a “sex-party” on several occasions where Censori would often attend.
It also claims that Censori was seen as an “on call sex party participant/employee”, according to Pisciotta.
Another section of the lawsuit alleges how West told Censori he wanted to have sex with her mom, according to Pisciotta.
The court docs detail how West would regularly allege he wanted to bed his partners’ mothers – something Pisciotta claims was an “obsession”.
The model claims that West showed her a text message exchange between himself and Censori.
West allegedly messaged her on September 28, 2022 saying he wanted to have sex with her mother Alexandra, who was visiting from Australia at the time.
Pisciotta also claims West showed her another message he planned to send to Censori in the same exchange – in which he clarified he wanted his girlfriend to “watch” him have sex with her mother.
It’s unclear if he ever sent the follow-up.
Pisciotta alleges in the documents that West showed her the reply from Censori which said: “She’s [Alexandra] married.”
The court documents also mention a number of other concerning allegations regarding West’s alleged behaviour to Pisciotta.
With Pisciotta accusing him of drugging and raping her at a party with disgraced rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
She claims in the docs she was “roofied” when a drink which was poured and served to her by West was laced with an unidentified drug.
Years before the pair worked together, West co-hosted a Santa Monica studio session with Combs inviting Pisciotta round.
The lawsuit claims: “As Plaintiff [Pisciotta] began to slip into an altered and heavily impaired state, she felt less in control of her body and speech and that is where the Plaintiff’s memories of that night escape her.”
Pisciotta woke up the next day feeling ill, confused, and full of shame that she couldn’t recall a single detail of the night following the drink.
For years she thought that nothing happened, only to find out that West said he had “hooked up” with her, the lawsuit claims.
West allegedly “reminisced” about the night when the pair started working together, saying “we did kind of hook up one time”.
Pisciotta also alleged that West tried to make her bring him “honey” that he would use to boost his sexual performance as a way to try and sleep with her.
BIANCA Censori is a 29-year-old Australian architectural designer who moved to the US to work for Kanye West’s Yeezy brand in November 2020.
Born on January 5, 1995, in Melbourne, Australia, the 29-year-old started a jewelry company called Nylons after leaving high school.
Bianca later received a degree in architecture at the University of Melbourne, before working as a design consultant for a year.
After working as a student architect for three years, she completed a master’s degree between 2019 and 2020 ahead of moving to Los Angeles.
There she met with West after he is believed to have slid into her DMs and started working for his brand as the pair grew close.
Prior to Yeezy, Bianca worked as a student architect at DP Toscano Architects and as a design consultant at Kelektic, according to her LinkedIn profile.
On Friday, October 6, 2023, The Daily Mail reported Kanye and Bianca wed on December 20, 2022.
The couple tied the knot under a “confidential marriage license” in the state of California.
The two wed in Palo Alto, California, according to the document.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Bianca has an accumulated net worth of $1million, as of February 2024.
In recent years the Aussie model has garnered plenty of attention because of her skimpy outfits.
One video, originally shared by TMZ, showed the former architect student walking barefoot through a casino.
Other times she has been seen walking next to a masked West wearing a revealing bodysuit.
The rape allegations were made by Pisciotta as part of a wider wrongful termination and sexual harassment lawsuit.
Proceedings were first brought against West by Pisciotta back in March, but they didn’t become public until June.
The lawsuit alleges West used his branded companies as “conduits to persue and satisfy his unusual; fantasies and delusional desires…
“And he further used the money created by him and these entities to fund his obsessive, compulsive, sexually dominated and driven behaviour.”
Pisciotta details a number of times in the docs how West allegedly sexually harassed her, including masturbating next to her on a plane and standing over her naked while on a bed.
She also claims in the suit West failed to pay her $3million in severance after she stopped working for him, plus an additional $1 million he allegedly promised her for deleting her OnlyFans account.
She also claims West repeatedly sent her vulgar text messages.
West allegedly sent the following text to Lauren: “One time I took Viagra and f***ed [A-list celebrity] for three hours.
“Not sure why that thought came to me.”
Another offensive text allegedly read, “l just thinking back to the bowling alley thinking of what the headline could have been Ye arrested for f***ing the s**t out of his assistant on the bowling alley floor.”
West also allegedly sent several sexual videos to Pisciotta, including a 24-second clip he filmed of a model performing oral sex on him.
West’s spokesperson previously said: “In response to these baseless allegations, Ye will be filing a lawsuit against Ms. Pisciotta, who actively pursued him sexually to coerce employment and other material benefits, then engaged in blackmail and extortion when her advances were rejected.”
The Sun has reached out to Pisciotta for a response.
KANYE West has faced a number of controversies in recent years.
In November 2022, a former Yeezy staffer alleged Kanye showed them intimate photos of his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, according to court docs.
West has denied all allegations.
In October 2023, Adidas dropped the rapper as various social media sites barred him from their platforms for making anti-semitic comments online, in interviews, and with his clothing.
Amid pleas from fans and threats of major boycotts, Adidas announced its decision to terminate his contract.
Gap and Balenciaga followed suit.
The rapper is now being sued by his ex-assistant, accusing him of sexual harassment and wrongful termination – something the rapper denies.
Kanye has said in the past that he suffers from a porn addiction, making the comments in an online rant that has since been deleted.
