Johnny Phillips

3 weeks ago | skysports.com | Johnny Phillips

If there is caution in his voice, then that is understandable. Reece James appears to be back. A new role in midfield for Chelsea, coupled with a first goal for England during the international break, suggests that the Blues academy product has put some difficult months and years behind him. "It's been a rocky road, the last three years," he tells Sky Sports on a sunlit spring afternoon at Chelsea's Cobham training base. Got Sky? Watch Chelsea games LIVE on your phone 📱Not got Sky?

Nov 6, 2024 | skysports.com | Johnny Phillips

Pedro Neto has had a singular determination to succeed since the day he first set eyes on a professional football career. "I remember when I met my first agent," he recalls, thinking back to his time as a teenage academy prospect at SC Braga, in Portugal. "He asked me what I wanted to be. I just said, 'I want to be the best'. The agent started smiling but my father wasn't laughing and said, 'No, this is his mentality.'"Neto was brought up in a competitive sporting environment.

Oct 26, 2024 | expressandstar.com | Johnny Phillips

It has been a colourful and fascinating intervening period for all three clubs. Digging back through the archives to August 2016, when penning my first column, the subject was ownership and expectation. What did Albion, Villa and Wolves fans expect from their new custodians? As the 2016/17 season got under way, Guochuan Lai’s Shanghai Sports Development Ltd bought Albion from Jeremy Peace for a figure in the region of £180million.

Oct 19, 2024 | expressandstar.com | Johnny Phillips

Daniel Maldini became the third generation of his family to play for the Azzurri when he came onto the field with 16 minutes remaining of the Italians’ 4-1 victory. Father Paolo, who was in the stands watching the game, won an incredible 126 caps for Italy. And Daniel’s grandfather, Cesare, also played 14 times for his country. It added to the club football achievement for the final family, too. Daniel once played for AC Milan, like his father and grandfather.

Oct 5, 2024 | expressandstar.com | Johnny Phillips

Promoted via the play-offs, few observers gave George Burley’s side any hope of surviving back at the top. How wrong they were. Not only did the Suffolk club survive, they positively thrived. Challenging for a Champions League place until the final day of the season, they eventually settled for an astonishing fifth place finish.