Special Wayne
WAYNE PIVAC shoots for the stars with Wales tomorrow wearing the self-satisfied smile of a coach who has reduced his critics to silence.
Four months ago, he was being viewed as a poor imitation of fellow Kiwi Warren Gatland.
The summer couldn’t come quickly enough to activate the two-year break clause in his contract.
Twenty-four hours out from Wales’ Grand Slam attempt against France in Paris, Pivac (inset) is on
■ the verge of entering the Six Nations hall of fame. So was he judged too quickly by Welsh fans? “Possibly, but it goes with the territory, doesn’t it?” said Pivac. “People will always have their opinions, and rightly so – they support the team and put a lot of faith in what we do.
“So if things don’t go well, questions get asked. “I’m not bothered by that in the slightest. It’s human nature, isn’t it?”
CREWE finally responded to the football sex abuse scandal and admitted more could have been done to stop paedophile Barry Bennell.
But there was no mention of former boss Dario Gradi, who has been banned from football because he represents “a potential risk to children”.
Gradi hired Bennell (inset) to work as a by DAVID MCDONNELL youth coach in 1987, but has denied being aware that the convicted paedophile – now serving 34 years in prison – had a sexual interest in boys. Crewe’s statement is the first time they have made any public comment on the matter.
In the statement, Crewe acknowledge that “more could have been done to monitor the situation concerning Mr Bennell”.
The statement also accepts culpability in not acting upon indications that youngsters were being abused by Bennell.
It also went on to say: “The club is truly sorry if there were in fact any warning signs that ought to have led the club to do more.
“Had the club had any suspicion or belief that Mr Bennell was committing acts of abuse, either before, during or after he left the club’s employment, the club would have informed the police immediately.
“The club wishes to make it absolutely clear that it sincerely regrets and is disgusted by the terrible crimes committed by Mr Bennell upon many young footballers over a significant number of years.”
The statement was released in the wake of the Sheldon Report.
by JOHN CROSS
HAKIM ZIYECH believes Chelsea could be the surprise package in this season’s Champions League.
Chelsea join Manchester City and Liverpool in today’s quarter-final draw as the balance of power shifts back towards English clubs this year.
City were the sole representatives in the last eight last year and were knocked out by Lyon, while the year before saw all four English clubs reach the last eight and an all-english final when Liverpool beat Tottenham.
Despite the demands of the Premier League fixture list and recent failings, the bookies have almost unanimously made Pep Guardiola’s City strong favourites to win the trophy this year.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has already warned that he does not believe his team can reach the top four, so will be relying on the Champions League as a passport back into Europe next season.
But Chelsea must be seen as the outsiders, despite boss Thomas Tuchel insisting that they will fear no one and no opponent will fancy drawing them.
Tuchel could get former club Paris St-germain, while Real Madrid, Bayern, Porto and Borussia Dortmund are also in the hat.
Ziyech has reached the semi-finals before while playing for former club Ajax, who suffered defeat to Tottenham in 2019.
The Chelsea playmaker believes that when clubs get to the latter stages, then anything is possible, while he has also seen a big improvement under new boss Tuchel.
The German has been in charge for 13 games, has yet to lose and has kept 11 clean sheets in that time.
He also has the experience of leading PSG to the final last season.
Ziyech said: “We are in a good way and we need to keep improving and play like this, and I am sure then it will be a good season.
“In the Champions League you never know what can happen. The most important thing is we all know we give our best in every game.
“In the end we will see but, of course, if you are still in it, you have to try to go forward.”
Ziyech scored his first Chelsea goal at Stamford Bridge as they beat Atletico Madrid to reach the quarter-finals.
He also linked up with Kai Havertz and Timo Werner and believes they now have the makings of a strong understanding.
He added: “Kai and me, we know Timo’s game and try to use him in the space because we know he is really fast, and we did it well in this game.
“I think everybody who supports Chelsea is happy.”