Haskell boost for Johnson August 24, 2011 ENGLAND manager Martin Johnson has been boosted by the news that flanker James Haskell has been passed fit to face Ireland on Saturday. Haskell was sent for a precautionary scan on his foot, which revealed only mild inflammation to a tendon. Johnson played mix-and-match teams in the two warm-up games with Wales, but will use [...]
Mata: Torres sold Chelsea move to me August 24, 2011 CHELSEA’S newest recruit Juan Mata has cited Spain team-mate Fernando Torres as a major influence on his decision to move to England. The 23-year-old has signed a five-year deal at Stamford Bridge after joining from Valencia for £23.5m to become Andre Villas-Boas’ fourth summer signing, following the arrivals of Oriol Romeu, Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut [...]
Hammers fall to Shots in Cup August 24, 2011 FOOTBALL: West Ham crashed out of the Carling Cup at the first hurdle at the hands of League Two Aldershot as Sam Allardyce saw his side throw away a lead for the second home game in a row. Callum McNaughton put West Ham in front on 16 minutes but Luke Guttridge and a last minute goal [...]
Murray seeded fourth for US August 24, 2011 TENNIS: Britain’s Andy Murray has been named fourth seed for the US Open, which starts on Monday. Organisers have stuck to the ATP world rankings for their seeding, meaning world No1 Novak Djokovic tops the list with defending champion Rafael Nadal second. Roger Federer is at No3. The draw takes place today at 5pm.
WENGER’S £40M WORRY August 23, 2011 UDINESE (0) vs ARSENAL (1) Arsenal boss fears high-profile departures could derail his team ahead of match that will define his budget and campaign EMBATTLED Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger goes into tonight’s £40m Champions League play-off with Udinese admitting he fears the departures of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas could inflict psychological wounds on his [...]
QPR crash on bad night for big guns August 23, 2011 QPR lost 2-0 at home to Rochdale as all three Premier League newcomers crashed out of the Carling Cup at the first hurdle last night. Norwich were thumped 4-0 at home by MK Dons and Swansea lost 3-1 at Shrewsbury, while Sunderland were the other top-flight casualties in the second round, going down 1-0 at [...]
Man City leave it late but seal Nasri swoop August 23, 2011 PLAYMAKER Samir Nasri was pulled out of Arsenal’s trip to Udinese at the 11th hour after Manchester City finally ironed out the disagreements delaying his £24m transfer. Nasri trained with the Gunners squad yesterday morning (right) and looked set to board the plane to Italy with the rest of the squad, amid an ongoing stand-off [...]
Spurs to drop stadium appeal August 23, 2011 TOTTENHAM are expected to abandon their legal battle over the Olympic Stadium and could do so as early as today – clearing the way for West Ham to move in after London 2012. Spurs are instead likely to revert to plans to build a new stadium next to their current home White Hart Lane, contingent [...]
United DHL contract to trigger copycat deals August 23, 2011 MANCHESTER UNITED’S groundbreaking £40m training kit sponsorship with logistics company DHL will spark a stampede among their rivals to secure copycat deals, experts predicted last night. But they warned most will struggle to rake in anything like the £10m a season attracted by United, who can boast truly global reach and have developed the “blueprint” [...]
Versatile Prior is unsung hero in England’s ascent to pinnacle August 23, 2011 A fine wicketkeeper and an adaptable batsman, he is final piece in the jigsaw HE MAY not get the five-fers, the double centuries or the big headlines but there is one man who has been instrumental yet often unsung in making this England team so complete – not to mention world No1 and destroyers of [...]