Aston Villa boss – and Rodgers’ former Liverpool skipper – Steven Gerrard was sacked with Villa only out of the drop zone on goal difference following Thursday’s 3-0 defeat at Fulham.

For the first time in decades, Europe has since been the scene of a war between sovereign states – even today, Russia’s onslaught continues with increasing ferocity and destruction. According to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), more than 13 million Ukrainians have left their country since the outbreak of war, over six million of them have fled to neighbouring European countries. The images from Ukraine and the huge suffering of the civilian population continue to affect us all.

“Could have taken a point, if not all three” – #RBLBMG reaction We gathered the thoughts...

The transfer is now over the line. Werder Bremen have completed the loan signing of Maximilian Philipp shortly before the transfer window closes. The attacker has joined SVW on loan from Wolfsburg until the end of the season, after an agreement was found with the player and the Wolves.

VfL Bochum 1848 has extended the contract of Ilja Kaenzig, commercial director and management spokesman. Sebastian Schindzielorz, VfL’s Director of Sport, on the other hand, will not extend his contract. The 43-year-old has informed the club’s management of this decision. A contract extension is being sought for head coach Thomas Reis.

For seven years, Sebastian Rudy played for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The midfielder has fond memories of his time at TSG. The 29-year-old spoke with schalke04.de about the match on Saturday (20/4, 20:30 CEST) and how to deal with increasing amount of pressure on the team.

Florian Niederlechner joins Hertha BSC with immediate effect Striker featured in 107 competitive games for FCA...

Here are our talking points from the game:

The players left at the club will play Austrian side SCR Altach on Thursday at 14:00 CET behind closed doors. Altach, currently coached by Miroslav Klose, are bottom of the Bundesliga, but did earn a point against league leaders RB Salzburg at the weekend.

Fitness testing on Wednesday and Thursday morning, two focussed training sessions at Schenckendorffplatz and finally a journey to the Wörthersee Cup in Klagenfurt – there has not been a winter break to speak of so far for the Blue-Whites.  Sandro Schwarz is fine with that. The head coach is keen that his team keeps developing. “All in all, we are moving in the right direction as a team without seeming too pleased with ourselves because they are still certain things that we can do better and have to do better. We’ve built a stable base and have developed well, but there is still a way to go,” was the balanced assessment of the head coach speaking to the media after the end of the season.