Away games hurt Manchester United top line, but outlook remains unchanged November 15, 2018 A six per cent drop in revenues after the team played fewer home games was not enough to knock Manchester United which reiterated its outlook for the financial year. The figures Revenues at the club dropped 6.1 per cent to £135m in the first quarter of the financial year, driven largely by a 27.2 per cent decrease [...]
Chris Tremlett: Sam Curran has shown the temperament and ability to move up England’s batting order November 14, 2018 The opening day of the second Test match against Sri Lanka was in many ways a typical one for England. The top order batsmen struggled, losing four wickets in the first session, before the lower order came to the rescue to get them in the game. It’s been a problem for quite some time now, [...]
England v USA: Christian Pulisic leads youthful visitors as they start afresh a year on from their nadir November 14, 2018 Thirteen months ago the US men’s national team reached its nadir. Needing just a draw against Trinidad and Tobago – ranked 99th among national sides – to qualify for the World Cup, the unthinkable happened. Omar Gonzalez scuffed a horrendous clearance over his own goalkeeper and into the net after 17 minutes and 19 minutes [...]
How do you solve a problem like England’s No3? Ben Stokes’s move highlights uncertainty not flexibility November 13, 2018 Jonathan Trott retired from international cricket in May 2015 after a return to the England side ended in a disappointing stint against the West Indies. While the struggles to find a successor to opener and captain Andrew Strauss following his retirement in 2012 have been well documented, the difficulties in the No3 batting position have [...]
Trevor Steven: Moving abroad is a risk but young English footballers can only benefit November 13, 2018 To understand why young English players are increasingly attracted to the prospect of joining teams in other European leagues you need only look at the case of Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The midfielder, 22, was part of the England squad that achieved their best World Cup finish in 28 years during the summer, yet back at Chelsea [...]
Happy Valley betting tips: Bigwood looks set to earn big cheers for loyal punters November 13, 2018 REIGNING Hong Kong champion jockey Zac Purton has finally found himself back in the limelight and in favour again with the racing-crazy betting public. The Aussie pilot suffered a few reverses in the month of October, despite riding 13 winners from just 51 rides. Purton pleaded that a lot of his horses were just in [...]
Happy Valley betting tips: Champion jockey Zac Purton can star for connections November 13, 2018 RACEGOERS at Happy Valley will be looking for another dose of double-delight when trainer John Size and jockey Zac Purton team up once again with progressive duo Country Star and Red Warrior. In September, and again last month, the stablemates travelled to the Valley on the same afternoon and left their rivals gasping for air, [...]
Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson are taking Germany by storm, but how are the rest of England’s youngsters faring abroad? November 13, 2018 It’s no secret by now that for Jadon Sancho a move abroad has reaped huge rewards. Since leaving Manchester City in 2017, the teenager has established a starring role in a Borussia Dortmund side that currently leads the Bundesliga and beat Bayern Munich 3-2 at the weekend. But he has not been the only English [...]
Chris Kermode interview: ATP Tour chief on the men’s tennis circuit’s rebranding, efforts to attract new audiences and the future of London’s ATP Finals host status November 13, 2018 The iceberg looming for men’s tennis is the shelf life of the superstar players who have virtually monopolised the game’s top prizes for the last decade – according to conventional wisdom, at least. Chris Kermode, president and executive chairman of the ATP Tour, has bigger worries, however. For Kermode, the greatest challenge facing the elite [...]
Sam Torrance: Tasty vintage Lee Westwood is playing as well as ever November 12, 2018 Lee Westwood swung as well as I have seen him swing for a long, long time on his way to a magnificent victory in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City in South Africa on Sunday. The Englishman, 45, hadn’t won for four years but looked oustanding all week and some of the golf produced [...]