Ronnie O'Sullivan, never one to make a controversial statement, has criticised the standard of refereeing in the sport.

The 39-year-old lost to eventual winner Stuart Bingham at the World Championships in Sheffield last month.

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"The referee who was overseeing my game with Stuart Bingham kept walking around the table while I was on the shot," O'Sullivan said in his Eurosport blog, external.

"I've had a few ding-dongs with referees this year. The standard of some of the refs has been below par. There's nothing worse then a ref breaking your rhythm."

Uwe Rosler, who once looked like this...

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And now looks like this...

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... has held talks with Leeds United about becoming the club's new boss.

Rosler has been out of work since being sacked by Wigan in November.

Leeds' current head coach Neil Redfearn is out of contract this summer and seems set to leave after chairman Massimo Cellino called him "a baby" and "weak".

We're expecting Newcastle boss John Carver any moment. He's giving a news conference ahead of the Magpies vital final game against West Ham. Only a win will guarantee their survival - it will be interesting to hear what he has to say.

Image source, Damian Spellman

"The media await the arrival of #nufc head coach John Carver," tweets the Press Association's Damian Spellman.

Liam Broady is also in first round qualifying action and will continue his match with Romanian Radu Albot today, 5-4 up in the first set.

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Players have to come through three rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw at Roland Garros, which begins on 24 May.

Women's qualifying begins today, with Britain's Johanna Konta and Naomi Broady taking on Jovana Jaksic of Serbia and Turkey's Cagla Buyukakcay.

Some good news. Britain's James Ward, Kyle Edmund and Brydan Klein have all progressed through the first round of French Open qualifying with three-set wins.

Ward overcame Irishman James McGee 6-1 1-6 6-0 and will face Sweden's Christian Lindell on Wednesday.

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Edmund will meet Victor Hanescu after recovering from a set down to beat Gerald Melzer 3-6 6-2 6-4.

Klein's 3-6 6-2 9-7 success over Mathias Bourgue set up a second-round encounter with Facundo Arguello.

Here is what is making the headlines so far today:

Football: Liverpool's Raheem Sterling has been named as the club's Young Player of the Year, but was booed by a small number of fans as he collected his award.

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Golf: Golf's world number one Rory McIlroy says he wants to be "the best player of my generation".

Cycling: Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford says cycling should copy Formula 1 and allow TV viewers to hear radio communications between teams and their riders.

The final of the Coppa Italia Women has been cancelled after a football official allegedly referred to female players as a "bunch of lesbians".

The comment was included in the written minutes of an amateur football meeting last week.

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However, Felice Belloli, president of Italy's amateur football association, who is accused of making the statement, has denied doing so.

Brescia were due to face Tavagnacco in the final on Saturday.

West Ham have given attacking coach Teddy Sheringham permission to speak to League Two club Stevenage about their manager's job.

Stevenage boss Graham Westley, whose contract expires on 31 May, has hinted he may leave after they failed to gain promotion through the play-offs.

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Ex-England striker Sheringham, 49, rejoined the Hammers 12 months ago.

Should be be appointed, it would be the former Tottenham and Manchester United forward's first managerial position.

Then, with presenter Jim Rosenthal wrapping up proceedings in Old Trafford's Manchester Suite, there was a Van Gaal encore.

Returning to the stage and grabbing the microphone, he shouted: "Hello, hello, pay attention to the manager!"

He then admonished those present for not applauding the female saxophonist, who he said had played "fantastically".

Matter of time before he gets his own TV show.

Louis van Gaal is a very good football manager. But not half as good as he is at comedy.

The Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal produced what was described as the "greatest speech of all time" to steal the show at the club's player of the year awards evening.

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After Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea won both the Players' Player and Fans' Player of the Year accolades for a second year running, Van Gaal took to the stage live on MUTV.

Recalling a team meeting at which captain Wayne Rooney said United could push for second in the Premier League, the Dutchman bellowed "yes" and punched the air.

Here's an interesting one. Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford says cycling should copy Formula 1 and allow TV viewers to hear radio communications between teams and their riders.

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The former British Cycling performance director believes it will help explain the sport's tactics.

Cycling is trying to find ways to boost its appeal but Brailsford does not want to see a drastic overhaul.

"It would be super interesting to hear what the sporting directors are saying to the riders," he said.

As long as they didn't swear, obviously.

Might be a bit early for this but Ben Burgess - footballer turned primary school teacher (you may remember this brilliant feature) - has just tweeted, external this with the message 'have a go at our maths starter of the day'.

Image source, Twitter

Just in case you can't read it, the puzzle says: "Arrange the numbers one to five in the squares so that the total of the row is the same as the total of the column'.

Could be a tough day for the kids in his class...

While we're on the subject of Rory McIlroy, have a read of this piece by BBC sports editor Dan Roan, who sat down with the world number one for a lengthy and candid chat.

It's an illuminating article, in which McIlroy talks about wanting to be "the best player of my generation" and how being happy off the course ensures you play better on it.

There's also a video of the interview.

Image source, BBC Sport

Well worth checking out.

Rory McIlroy has been named - and I don't think this is the greatest of shock in the world - Golfer of the Year and Players' Player of the Year at the the European Tour Players' Awards.

The world number one was presented with the double award at a ceremony in London following a stunning year in which he won the Open and the US PGA Championship as well as playing in Europe's Ryder Cup win.

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The Northern Irishman's last 10 European Tour finishes have seen him claim five victories, three runners-ups places and two more top-10 spots.

McIlroy said: "The last 12 months have been absolutely incredible. I've put the hard work in and it's really paid off. I've got seven wins in the last 12 months and I'm just trying to keep going and increase that tally."

Sounds ominous for everyone else.

Remember that act of kindness we mentioned earlier?

Fans of Gateshead have raised the £7,000 required to pay for an operation that could save a player's career.

Midfielder JJ O'Donnell, 23, is suffering from Sesamoiditis, a condition which causes inflammation in the bones under his toes.

Image source, Getty Images

A group of supporters began fundraising on 2 May and an online charity appeal was set up for donations. The total reached almost £5,000, before Sunderland striker Danny Graham then stepped in to contribute the rest.

"To everyone has donated, whether it was a fiver or £100, to what Danny Graham gave ... I am just so grateful," said O'Donnell.

Brings a tear to the eye.

Speaking at Liverpool's awards night, Brendan Rodgers admitted it had been a "difficult, trying season".

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The Reds' boss said: "A number of distractions that we couldn't have planned for have made it difficult, but the players have given everything."

Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho was voted the club's player of the season.

So to Raheem Sterling, who is certainly dominating the headlines at the moment.

The Liverpool winger was named as the club's Young Player of the Year at a ceremony at the Liverpool Echo Arena last night, but was booed by a small number of fans as he collected his award.

Image source, AFP

The 20-year-old forward received the accolade 24 hours after it emerged that he will ask to leave to club.

While some fans jeered, others shouted: "Stay, Raheem."

All the speculation now is about where Sterling will end up if he leaves Anfield, with Man City and - perhaps surprisingly - Bayern Munich apparently interested.

Image source, The Guardian

More Sterling in the Guardian, but the main story is about Jason Gillespie's prospects of landing the England coaching job.

Image source, The Mirror

Manchester City remain the front runners to sign Sterling from Liverpool, with The Mirror claiming the Blues will pay £40m for the 20-year-old, and pay him £150,000 a week in wages.