Ex-Gunner in advanced talks for vacant managerial position

Oxford are looking for a new head coach after sacking Matt Bloomfield, while Aaron Ramsey is also believed to have interest from Wales if Craig Bellamy moves on.

Aaron Ramsey is in advanced talks to become the new head coach of Oxford United, with the former Arsenal midfielder ready to take the first significant step in his managerial career.

Oxford are looking for a new head coach after sacking Matt Bloomfield at the weekend. Bloomfield was appointed in January 2026 and oversaw a second half of a season that ended in relegation to League One, leaving the club to reset quickly before the new campaign.

Ramsey’s name has also been discussed in relation to the Wales job should Craig Bellamy leave to take over at Burnley, but the 35-year-old is believed to prefer beginning his managerial career in club football rather than stepping straight into a national-team role.

That would fit with what Ramsey said only a few months ago, when he confirmed that coaching was now his intended path after announcing his retirement from playing in April. His brief spell as interim head coach at Cardiff City only focussed that ambition, rather than making him hesitate after three games without a win.

“That [managing Arsenal or Wales] would be the dream,” Ramsey admitted (via The S*n). “I know there is a long way to go before then. It’s time to go into coaching now. 100 per cent.

“I managed Cardiff for a few games but that just made me realise it’s definitely the next step for me. That will be on the cards next.

“I’m really excited. I’ve had some coaching exposure around the Wales set-up, working with some unbelievable staff there and I’ve done some work with Cardiff’s u18s so I’ve been keeping myself busy.”

Oxford may now offer the route into that future.

Ramsey played 369 times for Arsenal, but the wider arc of his career was altered on 27 February 2010, when Ryan Shawcross went through the teenager at the Britannia and caused a double fracture of the tibia and fibula in his right leg.

The injury was horrific, players were visibly distressed, and Ramsey required immediate surgery before beginning a recovery that was both physically and psychologically gruelling. He was out for almost a year.

Ramsey made it back, and returned to the elite level, but his career was irreparably damaged. Successive loan spells were needed to rebuild him, and although he became a hugely important player for Arsenal, the injury pattern of his career had already started to form.

Now Ramsey is preparing for the next part of his football life.

Oxford, newly relegated and in need of direction, may offer that platform. For Arsenal supporters, it would be the start of a coaching journey that Ramsey has already admitted he hopes might one day bring him back to the Emirates.

• Palace frustrate Arsenal women as familiar problem returns

  Arsenal had 30 shots and nine on target but were held 0-0 by Crystal Palace, leaving Renée Slegers with plenty to address before Manchester United.

  

  Arsenal’s first home game ended in frustration with a 0-0 draw, as a former Arsenal goalkeeper thwarted attack after attack to keep a clean sheet. The statistics say it all: 30 shots, nine on target and no goals.

  Renée Slegers made three changes to her starting XI, with Chloe Kelly, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Lotte Wubben-Moy coming in for Steph Catley, Kim Little and Olivia Smith.

  The players who did not make the matchday squad were Géraldine Reuteler, Selina Cerci, Taylor Hinds and Isabella Damm. Daphne van Domselaar, Michelle Agyemang and Katie Reid all missed out due to injury.

  The unused substitutes were Anneke Borbe, Catley, Smilla Holmberg and Elisa de Almeida.

  Little, Smith, Stina Blackstenius, Caitlin Foord and Frida Maanum all came on as attacking substitutes as Arsenal tried to unlock the Palace defence.

  

  In these kinds of attack-versus-defence games, once you score the first goal, you expect the floodgates to open. That did not happen. There were echoes of last season, when Arsenal lost the title to City by four points after drawing six matches despite losing only once.

  It was interesting to see Slegers use Kelly on the left and Lisa Baum on the right, with both playing as inverted wingers, without really switching flanks during the game.

  Also notable was how the full-backs worked with the wingers ahead of them.

  Emily Fox and Baum, and Ona Batlle and Kelly, are combinations that still need work.

  During pre-season, I found the Holmberg-Baum partnership very effective going forward and much more creative than Fox-Baum.

  I also found the Georgia Stanway and Cooney-Cross double pivot interesting because both are deep-lying playmakers who want the ball, want to dictate the game and can play long passes to find space.

  

  Playing together in a midfield three alongside Mariona Caldentey as the No 10 led to plenty of chances being created.

  But could Arsenal have been more creative and efficient against a low block? I think a different midfield profile could help in those situations, as could a centre-back stepping forward to create overloads in certain areas of the pitch.

  At the end of the day, the margins between success and failure are small, and they did not go Arsenal’s way.

  Finishing is the toughest job in football. Could the forwards all have done better in the final third, both with the final ball and their finishing? Definitely. I am sure that will be worked on in training.

  

  Next weekend brings bottom-of-the-table Manchester United, who have conceded seven goals.

  Arsenal will need to have their shooting boots on.

  Right now, Manchester City are top of the league with six points. Five teams have four points: Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace, alongside Arsenal.

  At the bottom of the table, Manchester United and Charlton Athletic have no points after two games, while Aston Villa, Birmingham City and Brighton & Hove Albion have one point.

  Although Arsenal dropped two points, the damage could have been worse. They now need to make sure they take all three against Manchester United next Saturday.

  

• Gabriel Martinelli scores 30-minute hattrick

  The Brazilian struck twice before half-time and completed his hat-trick early in the second half on only his third appearance for Al-Hilal.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9w7LgGSmRA

  Gabriel Martinelli scored a 30-minute hat-trick for Al-Hilal in Saturday’s 6-0 Saudi Pro League win away to Al-Taawoun, his first goals since leaving Arsenal late in the summer transfer window.

  It was Martinelli’s third appearance for Al-Hilal and the former Arsenal forward wasted little time making his mark.

  Ollie Watkins had already opened the scoring when Martinelli struck in the 18th minute, reacting quickest to control a loose ball inside the area before finishing low into the corner.

  His second arrived in the 43rd minute. Watkins supplied the pass and Martinelli ran on to it before sitting a defender on his arse and converting from close range to send Al-Hilal into the interval firmly in control.

  Martinelli completed his hat-trick five minutes into the second half, turning in a low delivery from Crysencio Summerville from about a yard out.

  The Brazilian was then substituted in the 55th minute, having scored three goals in a 32-minute spell.

  Watkins added his second in the 53rd minute before Sultan Mandesh completed the scoring in the 75th.

  It was also the second senior hat-trick of his career with his first coming in Arsenal’s 4-1 FA Cup victory over Portsmouth at the start of the year.

  

• Ipswich Town injury report pre-Arsenal clash

  Ipswich Town are in a strong situation with injuries ahead of Tuesday night’s match against Arsenal, but a couple of players likely to miss the match.

  

  Gary O’Neil certainly doesn’t have an injury crisis on his hands at Ipswich Town at the moment, and he used his pre-Arsenal press conference to highlight that he’s actually struggling to include everyone in his squad.

  “Really tough leaving out Darnell [Furlong] and Anis [Mehmeti] from the matchday squad [on Saturday],” O’Neil admitted.

  “Doing things like that to good people is tough, it’s one of the toughest parts of the job.

  “But I have faith in them, it’s just everyone’s fit at the moment. And we’ve had to recruit a strong squad to get us through an unbelievably challenging season.

  “Chuba [Akpom] missed out last week, but he [was] back on the bench [on Saturday].”

  

  The only Ipswich players who are likely to miss Tuesday’s game against Arsenal are midfielders Jack Taylor and Azor Matusiwa, neither of whom have been involved at all for the team so far this season.

  Winger Jaden Philogene and midfielder Florentino were also recent injury absentees, but they both returned to action in the weekend win over Crystal Palace.

  As O’Neil mentions, one of the players fit to face Arsenal is Chuba Akpom, who previously represented the Gunners himself.

  Akpom’s one senior goal contribution for Arsenal was in the League Cup in 2016, but this would be his first game playing against his former team.

  

  On the Arsenal end, all the injury doubts are on the defensive end.

  William Saliba is out, Cristhian Mosquera should be back but remains a doubt, and Ben White’s situation is unclear. He limped off with what seemed to be a left groin problem on Saturday.

  All in all, both squads should be in a good position to name a full senior side, with few youth call-ups required.

  

• Arsenal monitoring Liverpool winger for transfer

  Arsenal are monitoring Rio Ngumoha’s situation with Liverpool, eyeing up a move if the player doesn’t establish himself on Andoni Iraola’s left wing.

  

  Alan Nixon reports on his Patreon that Arsenal are watching developments between Liverpool and Rio Ngumoha with growing interest, adding that the Gunners will look to make a move for the player if he doesn’t establish himself on his current club’s left-hand side.

  Such a move would have been relatively inconceivable even just a few months ago.

  18-year-old Ngumoha had established himself in the Liverpool squad, he was getting regular minutes in the second half of the 2025/26 campaign, and it looked like things could open up even more with Cody Gakpo’s touted departure to Manchester City or Tottenham Hotspur.

  

  Instead, Ngumoha’s situation at Liverpool has significantly worsened. The club have signed both Bradley Barcola and Victor Munoz for big money, and they ended up holding onto Gakpo as well.

  Ngumoha has only made one Premier League start in Liverpool’s opening four games, and it was on the right, not his favoured position on the left.

  With Munoz and Barcola both making starts at the weekend against Fulham, the new signings seem to have consigned Ngumoha to a bench role. At 23 and 24-years-old respectively, Munoz and Barcola should both be around for many years to come.

  Then Gakpo is also still an option on both flanks, starting three of Liverpool’s opening Premier League games and providing four direct goal contributions. And when Federico Chiesa returns, he’ll block things up even further.

  Ngumoha clearly isn’t nearly as close to a starting role as he was at the start of the summer, and if he looks at all unsettled by that, Arsenal are evidently ready to pounce.

  

  It’s worth mentioning that David Ornstein reported for The Athletic over the summer that Bayern Munich were also interested in Ngumoha, and Liverpool were emphatic that they would turn down any bids from the German club.

  The player has a contract until June 2028, so Liverpool can’t be forced into a sale just yet.

  But if he refuses to extend and enters the final year of his deal next summer, Liverpool may then consider cashing in.

  

• Pro Ref called out after errors in Arsenal and Manchester United games

  Arsenal finished the weekend top of the Premier League, but refereeing decisions involving Sunderland and Manchester City have left more questions for Howard Webb and Pro Ref.

  

  Pro Ref (formerly PGMOL) endured another damaging Premier League weekend in which one major error has already been acknowledged, another controversial decision is set to prompt contact from Arsenal, while questions have again been raised over the consistency with which matches involving the Gunners are being refereed.

  Arsenal to contact Pro Ref over Sunderland penalty

  Arsenal are expected to contact Howard Webb and Pro Ref on Monday seeking an explanation for the penalty awarded to Sunderland during Saturday’s match at the Stadium of Light.

  The decision ultimately did not cost Arsenal, who went on to win, but that does little to lessen the concern over how the decision to award it was reached.

  

  Henry Winter reports that Arsenal intend to raise the incident after Dan Ballard was judged to have been fouled by Ezri Konsa. The footage appeared to show Ballard pulling Konsa to the ground by his shirt before the pair fell.

  Mikel Arteta was furious despite Arsenal eventually taking all three points.

  “I watched it 10 times. It’s a judo roll. It just cannot happen…this should never happen, it’s not fair, and I am sad, very sad, in that sense,” he said after the match.

  The damage was limited because David Raya saved Enzo Le Fee’s penalty and Bruno Guimaraes scored two minutes later.

  Had Sunderland converted, Arsenal’s task would have been considerably more difficult.

  Former referee Mark Halsey also believed the decision was wrong.

  “When you look at an incident, you can clearly see in my opinion, that Ballard committed the first offence,” he said.

  “He’s got hold of Konsa’s arm, so he’s pulled him around and they’ve both ended up on the floor. Then it looks like Konsa has tumbled into Ballard. For me, I think that Ballard has committed the first offence and it’s not a penalty.

  “I know that they’ve set a high bar now in VAR getting involved but I think that was one where they should have got involved because Ballard committed the first offence.”

  Former Swansea City defender Ashley Williams reached the same conclusion on Match of the Day.

  “I think [the referee has] got it completely wrong,” Williams said. “Mikel Arteta’s right, it’s almost a perfect hip toss, like in judo. If you look at Ezri Konsa’s elbow getting driven down, he can’t do anything about it at this point, he has to roll over. If anything, this has to be a foul the other way.”

  Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank agreed.

  “I completely agree, I don’t think it’s a penalty.”

  Pro Ref admit Manchester derby mistake

  

  That alone would have provided Pro Ref with an uncomfortable weekend.

  Sunday made matters worse.

  Manchester City were allowed to beat Manchester United 1-0 through a goal Pro Ref have since admitted should have been reviewed differently.

  On-field referee Michael Oliver had earlier sent off Phil Foden for violent conduct while Bruno Fernades’ kick at the same player was ignored, but City were handed the decisive goal when Erling Haaland converted despite Enzo Fernandez being in an offside position and making a clear attempt to play the ball.

  

  VAR Matt Donohue did not recommend that Oliver review the incident, and Pro Ref subsequently acknowledged the error.

  “The VAR did not recognise the likely impact of [Enzo Fernandez’s] position and should have recommended an on-field review.

  “Contact has been made with Manchester United this evening to acknowledge what we deem is an error of judgement. A review of the incident will take place.”

  Donohue is understood to be a Tottenham supporter, with reports that he previously held a season ticket.

  He has officiated Manchester United matches seven times, Chelsea five times, Liverpool four times and Manchester City three times, but has not worked on matches involving Arsenal or Tottenham themselves.

  Officials are required to declare conflicts of interest and are then excluded from matches involving their favoured club or its direct rivals.

  Donohue is not, however, excluded from Manchester City fixtures.

  Former Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney was baffled by the decision to award the goal.

  “To not see that and recognise that Enzo Fernandez is in an offside position… anyone who’s played the game at any level understands that and knows that he’s in an offside position,” he said. “So to get it so wrong, it’s just baffling.”

  Sunderland time-wasting figures deepen concern

  

  For Arsenal, the frustration extends beyond one penalty decision and one Manchester City goal. The handling of Saturday’s match at Sunderland also produced a striking discrepancy in how referee John Brooks dealt with time-wasting.

  Brooks overturned one Arsenal throw after deciding Riccardo Calafiori had taken too long. Calafiori had taken 18 seconds.

  The figures from the rest of the match tell a different story.

  According to Scott Willis of Cannon Stats, Arsenal averaged 12.2 seconds over their throw-ins. Three took longer than 20 seconds and none exceeded 30.

  Sunderland averaged 22.5 seconds.

  Willis recorded Sunderland taking “12 that took longer than 20 seconds, 5 that took longer than 30 seconds, and 3 that took longer than 40 seconds.”

  Even after removing Sunderland’s long throws, which are not subject to the new five-second rule for ‘reasons’, the home side still had five throw-ins taking more than 20 seconds.

  Brooks did not reverse a single Sunderland throw for taking too long.

  Questions over narrative refereeing remain

  

  That disparity feeds into a wider concern around the way Arsenal matches are being officiated, particularly when narratives around the team appear to be influencing decisions.

  Last season Sunderland moved their advertising hoardings closer to the pitch in an attempt to disrupt Arsenal long throws that they were not even taking. The Brighton & Hove Albion manager complained about Raya taking too long to distribute the ball despite him being one of the quickest goalkeepers in the league and Brighton one of the slowest.

  Rules at corners have also changed this season in what has widely been deemed an ‘anti-Arsenal’ move, despite Arsenal not being the side using the so-called ‘meat-wall’.

  Saturday supplied another example.

  Ballard was awarded a penalty despite appearing to roll Konsa to the ground. The Match of the Day commentary described the incident as though Konsa had taken his eyes off the ball to concentrate on Ballard, while TNT Sports supported the original decision and repeated the suggestion that Arsenal had spent much of last season fouling opponents in the penalty area without punishment.

  

  The footage showed Konsa continuing to watch the ball until Ballard rolled him to the ground, at which point his gaze dropped.

  There were other contentious moments.

  Brooks allowed Martin Odegaard to be stamped on without even awarding a free-kick, while VAR Stuart Attwell did not intervene over the Sunderland penalty.

  

  Gabriel was booked while acting as peacemaker during another confrontation, and fourth official Elliott Bell reported Arteta for leaving his technical area, resulting in the Arsenal manager also being shown a card.

  Taken together, Arsenal were being judged by one standard and Sunderland by another.

  Nor was Saturday the first significant decision to go against Arsenal this season.

  The KMI panel has already accepted that Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty, with a red card shown, when Guimaraes was brought down against Aston Villa.

  That leaves Arsenal on the wrong end of two major incorrect penalty decisions – and a red card – in the first four Premier League matches.

  There is a distinction between referees simply making mistakes and the concern now surrounding Arsenal.

  The latter is whether assumptions about the team are beginning to affect how incidents are interpreted before the evidence itself is properly considered.

  The weekend has done little to ease those concerns.

  Arsenal top despite another difficult weekend for officials

  

  Pro Ref have already admitted that Manchester City’s winning goal at Old Trafford should have prompted an on-field review.

  Arsenal are now preparing to ask Webb and the organisation for answers over a penalty that several former professionals and a former referee believe should never have been awarded.

  Despite it all, however, Arsenal ended the weekend top of the Premier League.

  Same referee awaits Arsenal in the League Cup

  

  Their next domestic cup appointment will at least come without VAR.

  The EFL have confirmed that Peter Bankes will referee Arsenal’s League Cup tie away to Ipswich Town on Tuesday, assisted by Constantine Hatzidakis and Alex James, with Josh Smith as fourth official.

  There will be no VAR because the EFL only deploys the system in rounds where every stadium being used has access to the technology.

  Bankes also refereed Arsenal’s League Cup semi-final second leg against Chelsea and the final against Manchester City last season, meaning he will now take charge of the Gunners for a third consecutive match in the competition.

  His Arsenal record has largely avoided controversy.

  The biggest mistake associated with one of his matches was the offside missed when Brentford drew with Arsenal in 2023, but the initial error belonged to the assistant referee and was then compounded by the VAR official ‘forgetting’ to draw the lines.

  After the weekend Pro Ref has just had, Arsenal may regard the absence of VAR on Tuesday as no bad thing.