Trevor Steven: Gareth Southgate tops my football roll of honour for 2018 December 18, 2018 It has been a year when quality coaching came to the fore in football. The World Cup and the Premier League is full of top bosses who are getting the best out of their players. Here are my highlights. Southgate shines in Russia Where else to start but with England’s efforts at the World Cup? [...]
Hong Kong Horse Racing Tips: Hearts Keeper can make most of a good draw for Wong December 18, 2018 Champion trainer John Size and Joao Moreira team up with the steadily-improving Nice Kick in the 12.45pm over six furlongs. You can guarantee their partnership will be heavily punted on, as the trainer/jockey combination has already delivered five winners in the past 10 days. Nice Kick produced an encouraging run when a staying-on fifth behind [...]
Hong Kong Horse Racing Tips: Sha Tin bettors can Marvel at Joy of Magic Man Moreira December 18, 2018 RACING in Hong Kong reverts to the all-weather track at Sha Tin this afternoon, which doesn’t make it easy for bettors looking to win some extra Christmas cash. The unpredictability of the all-weather track has been mentioned in this column on numerous occasions. When the humidity gets into the surface, it either suits horses that [...]
Theresa May’s survival as Prime Minister will leave an impact long after Brexit December 18, 2018 Nothing has changed. That was the widely held conclusion from Theresa May surviving her no confidence vote last week. The Prime Minister has kicked the can down the road on putting her proposed withdrawal agreement to parliament. But parliamentary arithmetic is unaltered. Her deal, as it stands, still looks dead on arrival. In the absence of [...]
Food waste will be next year’s moral crisis, just as single-use plastic was this year December 18, 2018 In these turbulent times, there was one villain who stood out in 2018. Plastered all over our TV screens, phones, and newspapers, this particular offender was everywhere. It is destructive, toxic, and impossible to get rid of. I am of course talking about single-use plastic. That said, the response to this growing threat has been [...]
What might happen in 2019? A second referendum, an economic recession, and the political parties will fall apart December 18, 2018 Anyone posing as Mystic Meg in the current environment of political turmoil would either be very brave or a charlatan. In four months’ time, the UK could still be a member of the EU, or will leave in either a chaotic or an orderly manner; with a radically different or the same government; or still [...]
DEBATE: Is the Asos profit warning a sign that online retailers face the same challenges as the high street? December 18, 2018 Is the Asos profit warning a sign that online retailers face the same challenges as the high street? Scott Guthrie, a digital strategy consultant, says YES. Online retailers have previously appeared immune to the hardships faced by their high street rivals. Yet there are many marketplace similarities between the two opposing business models – especially in [...]
Breaking the current Brexit impasse could land Theresa May in even deeper trouble December 18, 2018 Despite efforts by the Labour party and other political opponents of the government in the House of Commons, it now looks very unlikely that Theresa May will put her Brexit proposal to a parliamentary vote this side of the New Year. But there may still be plenty of public disagreements and political wrangling ahead when [...]
Opinion: Why we should follow the French by considering guardianship as a way to fill empty homes with those in housing need December 17, 2018 Christmas is the time of year when the misery of homelessness becomes apparent to everyone. Many homeless people are in this position as rising property prices and rents across London, combined with the housing shortage, has made affordable accommodation in decent locations a mere pipe dream for many young and low-paid people working in the [...]
Sam Torrance: Europe’s Ryder Cup success tops the bill in my golfing highlights of 2018 December 17, 2018 From Europe's Ryder Cup glory to Francesco Molinari's breakthrough and a British Major winner in Georgia Hall, it has been a vintage year for golf. Here, Sam Torrance picks his highlights from 2018. 1. Pulverised in Paris Europe didn’t just beat the United States at this year’s Ryder Cup; they outclassed, out-thought and comprehensively out-played a [...]