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Juve’s tetchy Tudor period ends but recent mistakes cannot be undone | Nicky Bandini

Club’s winless streak finally ended on Wednesday against Udinese but a significant task awaits the next manager

It was an oddly coy way to announce Serie A’s first sacking this season. “Igor Tudor is no longer the manager of Juventus,” read the Turin club’s social media post on Monday – as though this had happened by accident or mutual consent. The Bianconeri had not, in fact, lost him down the back of the sofa, but instead relieved him of his duties after an eight-game winless run.

That was their longest dry stretch since 2009. Claudio Ranieri got the boot back then, and it was no surprise to see Tudor meet the same fate now. Juventus had failed to score a goal in his final four matches, culminating in a 1-0 loss to Lazio on Sunday night. “I’m living in the present,” he insisted afterward. “I don’t give a stuff about the future.” Yet it came for him the next day all the same.

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Significant graduation losses challenge Marquette in its quest for 5th straight NCAA Tournament bid

Coach Shaka Smart has led the Golden Eagles to the NCAA Tournament each of his four seasons by relying on an old-school strategy for this era. Smart used the transfer portal to rebuild Marquette's roster immediately after his arrival, but he hasn't added a Division I transfer since and instead has relied on developing players already on his roster. Marquette must replace its top three scorers — including Associated Press All-America second-team selection Kam Jones — from the team that lost to New Mexico in the first round of last season's NCAA Tournament.

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Xavier begins Richard Pitino era with entirely new roster

The Musketeers had a late-season surge to get into the NCAA Tournament, then immediately went into rebuilding mode when coach Sean Miller ended his second stint on Victory Parkway by heading to Texas. Xavier didn't wait long and landed Richard Pitino after he led New Mexico into the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Pitino's roster doesn't include one returning player on scholarship last season.

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Dingwall backed to plot course through the midfield maze for England

Steve Borthwick has opted for the Northampton centre, his ‘glue’ player, over an array of talented England backs

Even Steve Borthwick admits that picking his team to face Australia on Saturday was tricky. And even after he had made his mind up, there was a training ground snapshot which underlined the slim margins involved. “There was a piece of play where the skill showed by the team not starting was absolutely incredible,” said Borthwick. “I couldn’t praise them highly enough for the way they tested the team that is starting.”

Which neatly sums up England’s intensifying backline debate. Ollie Lawrence, Marcus Smith, Henry Arundell, Henry Slade, Cadan Murley and Max Ojomoh are all fit and can’t even make the matchday 23. Not to mention the up-and-coming Noah Caluori. Nor Owen Farrell. Let alone the injured Elliot Daly, George Furbank, Seb Atkinson, Ollie Sleightholme and Will Muir.

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