President Xi loves football, but China’s spending spree won’t last long says ex-Manchester City man Sun Jihai January 9, 2017 Premier League clubs need not worry about losing their best players to the China, says former Manchester City defender Sun Jihai who predicts a slowdown in spending from the emerging football power. Chinese teams’ spending has exploded as some of the country’s richest men acquired football clubs in the wake of President Xi Jinping revealing [...]
How the Africa Cup of Nations affects Premier League clubs January 9, 2017 While January offers the opportunity for squads to be bolstered before the campaign’s business end, some Premier League managers are already counting the cost of international call-ups for the Africa Cup of Nations. A quick browse of the list of top-flight absentees for the tournament in Gabon, which begins on Saturday, shows those sides who [...]
Laurence King, founder of the eponymous publisher, talks adult colouring books, soviets, Ezra Pound and anti-digital January 9, 2017 "We caused a shortage of felt pens in Brazil,” says Laurence King, founder of Laurence King Publishing, the creator of the original adult colouring book that sparked the recent craze. In 2013, the firm published the Secret Garden, illustrated by Johanna Basford. In the first two years, it sold 250,000 copies. “It was then we became [...]
Fears calmed after England flanker James Haskell’s return to action lasts less than a minute January 8, 2017 Wasps boss Dai Young calmed fears over James Haskell’s fitness after the England flanker’s return to action lasted just 36 seconds during his side’s victory over Leicester at the Ricoh Arena. Second-half replacement Haskell was making his first appearance for seven months following a toe injury but was forced from the field after appearing to [...]
Tottenham Hotspur 2, Aston Villa 0: Mauricio Pochettino tips rookie midfielder Harry Winks for stardom January 8, 2017 TOTTENHAM boss Mauricio Pochettino tipped rookie midfielder Harry Winks to scale lofty heights after his side began their FA Cup campaign with a regulation victory over Championship side Aston Villa. Eight-time tournament winners Spurs cruised into round four after brushing aside an initially stubborn Villa, currently 12th in the second tier, courtesy of second-half goals [...]
Chelsea 4, Peterborough United 1: Fringe stars shine for Blues in FA Cup but Antonio Conte still eyeing January transfer business January 8, 2017 Chelsea 4, Peterborough United 1 Chelsea manager Antonio Conte insists he still hopes to add to his squad this month despite fringe players forcing their way back into his thinking in an FA Cup romp against Peterborough on Sunday. Unsettled striker Michy Batshuayi scored his first goal since August, midfielders Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nathaniel Cahlobah [...]
Liverpool 0, Plymouth Argyle 0: Jurgen Klopp defends team selection after draw adds to fixture pile-up worries January 8, 2017 Liverpool 0, Plymouth Argyle 0 Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists he has no regrets about his selection gamble after an FA Cup stalemate with fourth-tier Plymouth exacerbated the Reds’ fixture congestion. Klopp selected the youngest starting XI in Liverpool’s history for Sunday’s third round tie and they failed to break down an Argyle side determined [...]
Football Association clears Premier League clubs to field weakened teams in the FA Cup and confirms plans to increase prize money January 8, 2017 Premier League clubs have been given the green light to field weakened teams in the FA Cup after Football Association chiefs said they would not take action against sides who made wholesale changes. Top-flight teams’ attitude towards the competition is in the spotlight again after six crashed out at the earliest opportunity over the first two [...]
Everton sell training ground naming rights to company co-owned by Arsenal investor Alisher Usmanov and majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri January 6, 2017 Everton's training ground will be renamed USM Finch Farm after the Premier League club agreed a naming rights deal with the holding company for the businesses owned by Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov. USM Holdings, which is also part-owned by Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, counts Russia's largest mining company Metalloinvest, Russian social network VKontakte and stakes [...]
Here’s our pick of 2017’s best upcoming films January 5, 2017 Blade Runner 2049 Dir. Denis Villeneuve, out late 2017 Set thirty years after the events of Ridley Scott’s seminal science-fiction classic, Blade Runner 2049 stars Ryan Gosling as the wet-behind-the-ears replicant hunter tasked with tracking down a missing Rick Deckard, played by the unknowable force of nature that keeps Harrison Ford’s seemingly immortal body in [...]