Prestwich businessman to run against Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham

Jamie Carragher has revealed that he called Djibril Cisse a "f****** spaceman” after his antics during Liverpool’s famous Champions League win in 2005.After going 3-0 down to AC Milan in Istanbul, the Reds looked down and out but Rafa Benitez masterminded a brilliant comeback.This was a Milan team full of some of the best players of all time: Paulo Maldini, Kaka, Alessandro Nesta, Andrea Pirlo, Cafu, Andriy Shevchenko, Clarence Seedorf… with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm.Maldini and Herman Crespo put the Italians 3-0 at half-time which sparked Benitez into life by changing to a back three and putting Didi Hamann.A shocking six-minute period came just before the hour mark where Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso all scored to send the match to penalties - which Liverpool won.But while Benitez was making his changes, Cisse inexplicably got ready to come on as Carragher recounted the hilarious moment while speaking on The Overlap podcast with Gary Neville and Roy Keane.He said: “What Benitez did, which was his great strength, is change things through a game and not get emotional, that was his thing. He just made changes, changed the system, he even changed substitutions in the dressing room.“He told Djimi Traore to get a shower and because his English was not great he just said ‘Djimi.

boss has handed himself in hot water with internet users after he responded to a message from a transgender person by saying he 'identified as a dog'.A screenshot of the conversation quoted on Twitter by freelance journalist Katelyn Burns showed a tense exchange over text between a person Allie, who introduces themselves as transgender, and the boss.The chat appears to come while Allie introduces themselves to a new or prospective employer, and begins with them writing: "By the way i came out as transgender this year, i go by allie now. but if you ever see a resume for Althea that's mine haha."But the boss then controversially takes this as an opportunity to introduce his own gag, writing: "I'm identifying as a DOG now."I stay home and sleep all day and lick my balls."Wait for people to feed me"Allie then registers their offence at the quip and tells them that they were not joking about being transgender, saying: "Idk if you think I'm kidding but i'm 100% serious and find your 'joke' offensive."Reaction on Twitter was hugely critical of the boss, with many rushing to offer their support to Allie.One user wrote: "That's appalling and I'd consider it sexual harassment on top of bigotry.

Gary Lineker, 60, admitted the first time his dad Barry, told him that he loved him was right before he passed away.The sports legend looked back at the loss of his father, who used to work as a fruit and veg trader at Leicester Market, and recalled having to run out the room at the time, before he burst into tears at the touching sentence.Gary appeared on Danny Wallace and Phil Hilton's Manatomy podcast, where the trio began a rather sombre discussion.Danny revealed that his dad had passed away in his sleep."He went to sleep and didn't wake up," he told Gary and Phil."But it's something I'm pleased about for him."Gary chimed: "It's a lovely way to go though."Might deny the chance perhaps to say goodbye, but that's the thing I'd dread more than anything else!"The Match of the Day host went on to explain that he's not "particularly scared" of dying, but there are certain elements that will pain him before he passes."The only thing about dying that worries me is I'd have to say goodbye to my boys," he sighed, "or my family and my best friends."He continued: "But you want to say goodbye, but at the same time how emotional would that be?"Gary then recalled his own dad's death, and the touching statement that left him tearing up."I remember when it happened with my dad, he died about three years ago," he remembered."He had lung cancer and it was getting worse and he said, 'Son, I've had enough of this.'"I said, 'I understand', and we had these conversations.

Salem Ilese has opened up about her experience collaborating with Tomorrow X Together (TXT) on her new single ‘PS5’.The American singer-songwriter had originally teased the track on TikTok prior to its release, and at the time, the song had only featured vocals from her. But for the final version, she reached out to Yeonjun and Taehyun of TXT, who she had previously worked with on the boyband’s 2021 viral hit ‘Anti-Romantic’.“It was so great getting to collaborate again with Yeonjun and Taehyun,” Ilese told Consequence.

threatened to derail it and meant the document didn’t materialise. The row centres on a single site, the Bredbury Park industrial estate, despite it having been in the plan since the first version was published in 2016.

Andy Burnham has been told to ‘get a grip’ and ensure the region’s development masterplan gets over the line after a row over an industrial estate left it dangling by a thread.The third - and final - version of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework was due to be revealed on Monday, but it was pulled as Stockport and Tameside bosses continued to argue over plans to extend Bredbury Park industrial estate into the Tame Valley.It raises the incredible possibility that the blueprint, developed in partnership by all ten boroughs over the last five years, could be scuppered at the eleventh hour.Councillor John Blundell, Rochdale town hall's regeneration chief, says that cannot be allowed to happen as boroughs in the north of the region

Do you think the lockdown system should be changed? Have your say in the comments below It is believed no areas in England would immediately be mapped into Tier 3.Responding to the potential system, Mr Burnham said he believes 'the new approach could improve public understanding of the restrictions in different areas.'But he warned that 'it will not be acceptable if the policy is imposed by Whitehall without meaningful consultation, which so far has not happened.'The Mayor set out five 'key conditions' on which he said the new system should be based:Extra restrictions have been in place in Greater Manchester since July 31 but infection rates have continued to steadily increase - and have rocketed in recent weeks.The latest figures today

A full list of all the projects is at the end of this article.Funded by the Mayor’s Challenge Fund, all of Greater Manchester’s 10 districts will benefit from a total of 35 projects, with the first Bee Network signage to be installed by next summer. Chris Boardman, Greater Manchester's cycling and walking tsar, told the Manchester Evening News: "I'm just so excited to see it happening at such a scale.

further 43 people who tested positive for the virus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in hospitals in England to 30,005.

The government's introduction of tougher coronavirus measures in the north of England ‘could do more harm than Margaret Thatcher’, according to Andy Burnham.Greater Manchester’s mayor has warned that the north-south divide will ‘massively increase’ in the winter if millions of people in the region are still under the restrictions without further support.Mr Burnham said places like Bolton, where the hospitality industry has been shut down despite infection rates being higher elsewhere, had been ‘forgotten about’ by national politicians.The approach in Bolton has also left the Conservative council’s leader David Greenhalgh ‘incredibly frustrated and angry’ with the government.Mr Burnham told a press conference on Wednesday that people were

Bolton should come into line with everywhere else.  “Pubs should be allowed to open.

There has been a ‘significant increase’ in the number of coronavirus patients in ICU beds across Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham has revealed. The mayor spoke out about the rising number coronavirus cases during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.The ‘significant rise’ in cases refers to those in ICU and non-ICU.There were 41 cases of Covid-19 in ICU beds across Greater Manchester hospitals in the week ending September 29, up from 28 the previous week. There were 228 cases of Covid-19 cases in non-ICU beds recorded during the week ending September 29, up from 173 the previous week.The mayor pointed out these numbers are low compared to when we were in the height of the first wave back in April. During the conference, he said: “What

Bolton did when its pubs were ordered to close - but none of them have been hit with the same tough lockdown rule.

spilled into Manchester city centre streets and supermarkets on Saturday night at 10pm closing time after the new rule was introduced on Thursday in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus. The scenes prompted Andy Burnham on Monday morning to call for an urgent government review into evidence from police forces across the country.

here"The government has said the 10pm curfew is based on Belgium, but they also have police to disperse people on the streets."My personal feeling is that the curfew is probably doing more harm than good as it’s creating a major incentive for people to carry on drinking and partying at home. And that is where we are told the virus spreads - gatherings in the home."He added: "If it is doing more harm and damaging businesses, then the government shouldn’t just plough on with it.

hugely damaging to residents' health, especially if they live with dementia.Now, care home bosses and charities are calling for a solution to enable safe visitation.Earlier this month, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham spoke of testing for residents and visitors and vowed 'to have a look' at the issue.But on Thursday, a spokesman from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority said: "Under the current central Government measures, local areas with increased restrictions are advised to not allow visits from family and friends to care homes, apart from under exceptional circumstances.

Tighter coronavirus restrictions in Bolton which have forced pubs and restaurants to close completely are ‘immoral’, the mayor of Greater Manchester has said.Landlords in the town will get no reprieve from the strict lockdown rules in place over the last few weeks after new figures showed the borough's infection rate has reached 242 new cases for every 100,000 people.It is the highest rate recorded in Bolton so far, significantly above the numbers from the first wave of the pandemic.Despite this, Andy Burnham says he has asked the government to bring the borough in line with the recently announced 10pm national curfew for hospitality venues.Currently all pubs and restaurants in Bolton are only allowed to operate as takeaways while residents

Extra lockdown restrictions without extra financial support mean the North of England is being "levelled down" during the fight against the coronavirus, Andy Burnham has claimed.

Manchester Evening News asked Mr Burnham about the position on care homes, as he had previously promised to take on the issue, after hearing heartbreaking stories from families. The M.E.N.

hereHe spoke of concerns over the performance of NHS Test and Trace in Greater Manchester, particularly the contacts of the people testing positive."The numbers are increasing each week as we see more positive cases," he said."So is the number of people not being reached.

hereSpeaking as the total number of cases rose to 4,368 in 24 hours and Covid-related deaths were recorded as 41,788, Mr Burnham also called on the Government to consult consistently with the regions - and invite more regional voices to the COBRA meetings, one of which is to be held today (Tuesday).He said: "If he (Boris Johnson) listens more to people at a regional level we would build a greater sense of national unity in facing this virus going into the rest of autumn and the winter."Referring to he government's commitment to give financial support for people on low pay who need to self-isolate, he said northern leaders had been calling for this throughout, adding: "They do listen but these things would be done better if we did it in