d in the regular season, have to fig

From secret board meetings to a PR specialist in crisis management - how Newcastle replaced Steve McClaren with Rafa Benitez... With Newcastle facing relegation and the home crowd calling for McClaren to be dismissed after Saturdays 3-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth, the club have acted.Here, Sky Sports News HQ reporter Keith Downie lifts the lid on developments at the club over the past week which led to the former England boss being sacked and Newcastle appointing a man who was managing Real Madrid earlier this season… Five games which cost McClaren We look at five games which cost Steve McClaren his job Steve McClaren had been under pressure at Newcastle for some time and on Thursday night last week a source outside of the club told me he could potentially lose his job if Newcastle lost to Bournemouth at St James Park on Saturday.However, on the morning of the match, another source, from within the club, said that no matter the result against Bournemouth, hed keep his job. So there was conflicting information going into the game.More than the 3-1 defeat, though, it was perhaps the reaction of the fans which heightened the speculation around McClarens future. Half of the crowd were singing Steve McClaren, youre taking us down, and the other half were singing Youre getting sacked in the morning. Newcastle fans vented their anger at McClaren during the defeat to Bournemouth Interestingly, Keith Bishop was at the game. Hes owner Mike Ashleys PR man - a specialist in crisis management - and would have spoken with members of the board and fed that back to Ashley. Its not unusual to see Bishop around the club - but he is a more frequent visitor when there are problems to deal with.After the game, I was the first to interview McClaren. Stood there in the tunnel, he told me he absolutely would not walk away. I asked him whether he thought hed be in charge for the Leicester game on Monday Night Football on March 14, and he just said he hoped so. At that stage, he knew he was under pressure.Sunday was a day off for everyone at the club, and there were no developments. Previously, when Alan Pardew or John Carver were under pressure, Newcastle have issued statements or made press briefings indicating their support of the manager. There was no announcement made by the club in the wake of the Bournemouth game. McClaren says the negative chanting from the Newcastle fans in their 3-1 loss at home to Bournemouth was justified On Monday, there was a board meeting, attended by three of the four board members. The missing person was McClaren, who didnt even know the meeting was taking place.When McClaren was appointed Newcastle manager last summer, he became the first Premier League manager to be given a place on a clubs board. However, the first he knew about Mondays meeting would have been when he read the papers or turned on his TV.The meeting took place near York, with managing director Lee Charnley, the main decision maker at the club, joined by chief scout Graham Carr and club legend Bob Moncur. Its believed they discussed a number of managerial options, with Rafa Benitez and David Moyes the most high profile. McClaren continued to take training this week Injured players were the only ones at the club on Monday - the first-team and McClaren himself returned on Tuesday for training. The manager still hadnt heard anything about his future when he left at 4pm and headed straight for home.McClaren remained in the dark on Tuesday night and returned to the training ground at 8am on Wednesday morning. It was then that he was invited to a meeting with Charnley. That was the first time hed heard from the managing director since Saturdays defeat.However, McClaren left the training ground at 4pm and went straight home. Charnley had asked him to meet him at the stadium but McClaren refused. Instead, they had a quick chat over the phone. McClaren arrived for work as usual throughout the week On Thursday, McClaren came back in to take training and we later interviewed stand-in skipper Jonjo Shelvey, who said the players had let the manager down. Once again, McClaren left the training ground having not heard anything about his future at the club.It seems that on Thursday evening, the deal with Benitez was agreed in principle. Newcastle had been speaking with two English intermediaries about Benitez taking over from McClaren.Charnley phoned McClaren on Thursday evening, asking him to come to the club on Friday - his day off. McClaren told him that if he was only coming in to be sacked, hed rather do it over the phone and not mess around. Rafael Benitez arrives at the Newcastle training ground McClaren would have known he was at risk, given all the speculation around Benitez, and at 10.30am on Friday he received a call from Charnley telling him he had been sacked.Charnley had wanted the deal with Benitez to be all-but complete by the time he sacked McClaren and, at 2pm, Benitez arrived at St James Park to sign his contract. It was the first time Benitez had met Charnley face-to-face and, half an hour later he had become Newcastle manager. Benitez with Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley Robert Newhouse Youth Jersey . Lisicki beat South African Chanelle Scheepers by a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) margin. Next up for the Wimbledon runner-up will be Slovenian Polona Hercog, who outlasted Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Connor McGovern Womens Jersey . Weise left the arena with a splint on his wrist and underwent tests to determine whether the tendon is torn. Winger Travis Moen will also miss some time after suffering a concussion in Mondays contest. http://www.cowboysrookieproshop.com/Cowb...Dorsett-Jersey/. Viewers in the Jets region can watch the game on TSN Jets at 6:30pm ct/7:30pm et. The game is also avialable on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg at 7pm ct. Emmitt Smith Womens Jersey . The ongoing funk on penalty kill and an unusually quiet night on home ice for the power play divided the Leafs from the Bruins at the ACC in a rare Sunday night affair. Tony Romo Womens Jersey . Spencer Abbott and Trevor Smith scored third-period goals erasing a 2-1 deficit giving Toronto a late 3-2 lead.MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Grizzlies know they have to stop blowing fourth-quarter leads. Consecutive overtime wins makes the needed corrections much easier for Memphis. Mike Conley scored five of his 20 points in overtime, and the Grizzlies beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 98-95 Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round Western Conference series. "Obviously, were happy with the win but disappointed at the way we handled that last quarter," Conley said. "We knew they were going to make runs. We knew theyd keep fighting because thats what they do, and its the playoffs. Theyre going to make runs. Theyre going to make plays. They have two of the best players in the league." Still, the Grizzlies won their second straight overtime game this time after leading by 17 before going cold for most of the final 7:43 of regulation. Courtney Lee clinched the win, hitting three of four free throws in the final 10.9 seconds of OT. Game 4 is Saturday night in Memphis. The Thunder, who had the NBAs second-best record in the regular season, have to figure out how to shoot better against the team that ousted them in the conference semifinals in five games last year. "We just got to stay together, and we will do that," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "Were down right now in the series 1-2, but just got to focus all of our attention after tomorrows review of the film together as a group and take it all to the next game and do our best to tie it up and take it home 2-2." NBA scoring champ Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook each scored 30 for the Thunder, who even got another four-point play in the final minute to force overtime. This time, it was Westbrooks turn with 26.6 seconds left. But Durant missed all eight 3-point attempts and was 10 of 27. Westbrook was 9 of 26, though he grabbed 13 rebounds. The Thunder hit only 3 of 12 overall in overtime. "Kevin is really prideful," Brooks said. "He loves what he does and loves doing it with the guys that hes playing with. He was frustrated a few times with himself missing shots he normally makes in his sleep." Durant said they have to get easier shots and will figure it out for the next game. "Personally, I think we missed a lot of good looks, some open 3s, some lay-ins, some I wish I could take back," Durant said..dddddddddddd Zach Randolph scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds for Memphis, which now has won 15 straight at home. Tony Allen, who scored 16 points for Memphis, gave the Thunder one final chance at an improbable play to keep the game alive. After Lee split his free throws with 1.7 seconds left, Westbrook was racing up the right sideline trying to get a shot off before the buzzer. Allen tripped Westbrook, sending him to the line for three attempts. Westbrook hit the first, missed the second and then clanked the third off the rim on purpose. But Ed Davis tipped away the ball to seal the win for Memphis. Marc Gasol scored 14 points for Memphis. Beno Udrih added 12 points, and Lee finished with 10. Serge Ibaka had 12 points for the Thunder, which went 5 of 28 beyond the arc. The Thunder trailed 81-64 in the fourth quarter. Then they scored 17 straight with Westbrooks 3-pointer in the left corner tying it up with 57.3 seconds left, and setting up yet another thrilling finish between these teams. "We got to be better down the stretch is the thing that sticks out," Allen said. Memphis couldnt protect its lead by going completely cold after a hook shot by Kosta Koufos with 7:43 left. The Grizzlies didnt score again until Allens baseline dunk with 57.3 seconds to go. He then scored on a layup after stealing the ball from Westbrook for an 85-81 lead. But Westbrook made up for his turnover on the next trip down the court. He hit a 3-pointer and dropped to the floor on a hard foul by Allen. His free throw tied it at 85 with 26.6 seconds left. Memphis tried to hold for the late shot, but Conleys one-handed layup clanked twice on the rim before rolling off. Durants 3-pointer for the win missed harmlessly off the backboard, sending these teams into their second straight overtime. In overtime, the Thunder took their first lead since 9-8 on a three-point play by Durant for an 88-85 lead. Notes: Mike Miller checked in with 1:06 left in the first quarter for his first playoff game in Memphis since May 1, 2006, in his