MK Dons youngster Callum Tripp thanked his manager Mike Williamson for faith in him in letting play the whole game against Portsmouth.
The 17-year-old, who can play in defence or midfield, played the whole match as the Dons played a 1-1 draw against Pompey, and speaking after, Tripp said he enjoyed the test and enjoyed contributing as the Dons played out the tie with a side who will be in the Championship in the upcoming season.
He said, “I enjoyed it out there. 90 minutes against a Championship team – what more can you ask for? I want to say thank you to the gaffer for giving trust in me. Against a good side we got a great result and good minutes in the tank for all the lads. A positive night.
“They’re newly promoted and they have a good chance in that league. Us in League Two against Championship, you’re thinking ‘Hmmm’ but I thought we put up a good test and a 1-1 draw where we had lots of chances and played great football made it a positive night.”
Tripp praised the team’s determination in coming back from conceding an early goal to play the game and establish themselves as a presence in the contest.
He said, “It was a scrappy and unlucky goal to be honest but aside from that, I thought the determination to get back in the game, create lots of chances and work it around the box in their half (was there).
“I had a chance – should’ve put it away! But getting that goal gave us comfort and we started playing proper football again. It was a positive.”
Tripp also said he felt the team played well in their defensive shape in limiting Portsmouth’s chance creation.
He said, “I thought our shape was really good tonight in the way we held ourselves against a very possession-based Championship side good at moving the ball. I thought we were compact, held our shape and thought we were good blocking them from having many chances.”
Tripp started playing in a wing-back role before moving to a centre-back role after a mid-game reshuffle, and Tripp said he was happy to be involved.
He said, “I enjoyed it – fun. Just using my energy to get up and down the wing. I play in many positions, wherever the gaffer says, I play. I played right wing-back and right centre-back today, and just enjoyed it. It was having fun on the pitch and playing my football.”
Tripp said he was also hoping to get a chance to play in more competitive games. So far, he has made 4 appearances for the MK Dons first team, making his EFL debut last year.
He said, “The aim for the past 3-4 years has been being in and around, waiting for the opportunity and gaining the trust to be put on and see out the game or come on and have an impact. When I’m given the chance, hopefully I’ll take it.”
MK Dons have been active in the transfer market, with 10 new signings at Stadium MK, and Tripp said he was impressed by the new recruits.
He said, “New boys have come in, great boys, even better on a football pitch. That’s what you want when new lads come in – you want good footballers and good humans, and I think that’s what we have here.”
MK Dons’ academy graduate defender Charlie Waller will join Sutton United on loan.
The 18-year-old will join the National League side for the first part of the upcoming season, staying with the side from South London until January.
The move will be Waller’s third professional loan move away from Stadium MK, following previous moves to Billericay Town and Banbury United, though the move to Sutton will see Waller play in the National League for the first time.
Waller has made two appearances for the MK Dons first team, which both came in the EFL Trophy last season and saw him score for the Dons against Northampton Town on one of his appearances.
MK Dons’ Sporting Director Liam Sweeting said in a statement on the club’s website that they felt the move would be beneficial to Waller’s development.
He said, “We have some exciting young players coming through our Academy and challenging for places in the First Team. That means we have to plan each Player’s pathway appropriately, and for Charlie, it’s important for his continued development that challenges put in front of him.
“Joining Sutton is a fantastic opportunity and exposes him to an extremely competitive level of football. We’ll be following him closely as he takes on this new challenge.”
The boss of the Silverstone-based Hitech GP racing team has taken a job as Team Principal of the Alpine Formula One team.
Oliver Oakes was confirmed earlier this week as Alpine’s new Team Principal as a replacement for Bruno Famin, who was announced ahead of last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix as leaving the F1 side of Renault’s operation at the end of August 2024.
The 36-year-old was confirmed on Tuesday (31/07) as the new boss of the team, where he will report to the Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo.
He will be the second-youngest team principal in F1 history, in a record beaten only by Christian Horner, who was 31 when he first took charge of Red Bull Racing in 2005.
Oakes helped relaunch Hitech as Hitech Grand Prix in 2015 and had been racing cars in the Formula 2 and Formula 3 series. The firm also made a bid to join the F1 grid when the FIA opened up a process for potential new teams to apply, but were unsuccessful.
Before becoming a team administrator, Oakes had previously been a race driver, winning the Karting World Championship in 2005 and being funded by Red Bull’s driver programme when he attempted to step up to race cars before retiring from competitive driving.
Oakes said in a statement published by Alpine, “I am extremely grateful to Luca de Meo and Flavio Briatore for this opportunity to lead BWT Alpine F1 Team back to competitiveness. The team has talented people and excellent resources at its core, and I am confident that we can accomplish a great deal together during the remainder of this season and the longer term. I look forward to getting started after the summer break.”
Hitech GP have yet to comment on their arrangements going forward.
The Silverstone-based Hitech currently sit 4th in the F2 Constructor’s Championship, with Paul Aron having been a contender in the championship fight. They have 4 rounds remaining in Monza, Baku, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
The team also sit 5th in the F3 Constructor’s Championship, although driver Luke Browning remains in contention for the Driver’s Championship ahead of the final round in Italy later this month.
The move comes amid a time of flux for Alpine, who recently re-hired former Team Principal Flavio Briatore as an executive advisor.
Having finished fourth in the 2022 season, they finished sixth in 2023 and currently sit eighth in 2024, picking up just 11 points from the first 14 races of the season.
Rumours are suggesting that the team, which is majority owned by Renault, is considering shutting down Renault’s F1 engine programme and becoming a customer of another engine manufacturer.
The team is also yet to confirm it’s second driver for 2025 alongside Pierre Gasly, with Esteban Ocon set to leave at the end of 2024 after five seasons with the team to join Haas.
Northampton Town have seen two of their League One games in December and January selected for live TV broadcast by Sky Sports.
The Cobblers’ games against Peterborough United and Burton Albion will now have new kick-off times for Sky TV broadcast, with both games moving as part of a greater announcement of TV picks by Sky Sports between October and mid-January.
The Nene Valley Derby between the Cobblers and Peterborough at Sixfields will be shown on Monday 9th December 2024 and will take place as an 8pm kick-off. The game was originally scheduled for a 3pm slot on Saturday 7th December.
The other game that will be moved by Sky will be the Cobblers’ trip to play Burton Albion, which was scheduled for Saturday 4th January 2025.
The match at the Pirelli Stadium will remain on that date, but will now be a 12:30pm kick-off rather than a 3pm one.
Northampton’s other game to have had a date change for TV purposes was previously announced last month, in the form of a match against Wycombe in mid-September.
Sky have chosen the Northampton v Wycombe game for a TV broadcast on Saturday 14th September, with the game being a 12:30pm kick-off.
The EFL broadcaster is also televising all opening day fixtures in all 3 of the EFL tiers, which includes the Cobblers’ opening day trip to Bristol Rovers, along with all games in international break weekends.
Red Bull have confirmed the departure of the team’s Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley will leave the team to take a position as Team Principal at Audi’s planned team.
Wheatley, 57, will leave Red Bull after 18 years with the Milton Keynes-based team at the end of the 2024 season, before starting work with Audi after a period of gardening leave. The two teams have not publicly stated when Wheatley will start with Audi, with his future team saying he is to start there by July 2025.
The move is part of a reshuffle at the Audi project, which has seen former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto recently confirmed as the team’s new Chief Operating Officer and Technical Officer. Former higher-ups Andreas Siedl and Oliver Hoffmann were confirmed as leaving last week.
The German motor manufacturer is taking over the Sauber team, with the team to race as Audi from 2026.
Audi have said the structure of their Sauber operation will see Binotto run as an operational manager out of the team’s base in Switzerland and oversee technical development of the race cars, while Wheatley will work on managing the team at races and as a Team Principal representative.
Wheatley had joined Red Bull in 2006, leaving the Chief Mechanic role at Renault just after they had won the 2005 Drivers and Constructors championships.
The Briton joined Red Bull as a Team Manager, before gaining the title of Sporting Director in 2018.
He has been involved in Red Bull for all of their championships, with the team winning six Drivers and seven Constructors Championship titles, including the last 3 Drivers and 2 Constructors prizes.
The Milton Keynes-based team currently lead both championships after 14 races of the current F1 season, which is currently on a summer break.
Wheatley is the second noteworthy figure to leave Red Bull, with the team’s Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey announcing his departure after 17 years with the team in May. It is as yet unknown where he is intending to move to after leaving Red Bull, which will happen by March 2025.
In a statement, Red Bull’s Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner paid tribute to Wheatley and said that the team will now look to reshuffle the team’s structure.
He said, “It has been a long and successful relationship with Jonathan, over 18 years. His contribution to six World Constructors’ Titles and seven World Drivers’ Championship, first as Team Manager and latterly Sporting Director will forever be a marker in our Team history.
“Jonathan will remain in his position until the end of the 2024 season, as the Team seek to defend both our World Drivers’ and World Constructors’ Titles successfully. A period of gardening leave will follow in 2025.
“Everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Technology wish him all the best in his new role and would like to place our thanks to Jonathan. Red Bull Racing have tremendous strength and depth and this provides opportunity to elevate others within the Team. We will announce a new Team structure in the coming weeks.”
In a statement published by Audi, Wheatley said he was proud of his work with Red Bull but was excited to take the task of helping Audi launch their first ever Formula One team.
He said, “I am extremely proud to have been a part of the Red Bull Racing journey over the last eighteen years and will leave with many fond memories. However, the opportunity to play an active part in Audi’s entry into Formula 1 as head of a factory team is a uniquely exciting prospect, and I am looking forward to the challenge. Also I am glad to be working together with Mattia, whom I have known for many years and who is the right person to collaborate with in this exciting project.“
