Manchester United’s £630m squad named the most expensive in football history, costing £90m more than rivals Manchester City October 4, 2016 Manchester United's current squad is the most expensive in history after a record-breaking summer spending spree took its total cost to €718m (£628m), according to research from the CIES Football Observatory. The academic group based in Switzerland found that no club has ever invested more in its roster than United who ploughed €185m into the team [...]
Jonathan Trott interview: International past is no hard place for England’s rock October 4, 2016 If he had his own way Jonathan Trott might still have the ringing in his ears from an international curtain call this summer, but as he knows only too well, scripts sometimes need redrafting. Such a picture book ending would have afforded the South Africa-born batsman, who became England’s rock at No3, a last opportunity to score [...]
English cricket bosses relegate financially-stricken Durham after handing out rescue package October 3, 2016 Durham cricket chiefs have expressed their disappointment after the financially-stricken club was handed a string of sanctions, including demotion, by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The north-east outfit have been relegated to Division Two of the County Championship, docked 48 points for next season and stripped of their Test match status after [...]
American Bob Bradley tipped to soar after replacing sacked Francesco Guidolin as Swansea manager October 3, 2016 Former United States and Egypt boss Bob Bradley has been backed to have a deep-rooted impact on Premier League strugglers Swansea City after replacing the axed Francesco Guidolin. It was an unwelcome 61st birthday present for the Italian, who spent 10 months at the Liberty Stadium and guided the Swans to top-flight safety last season [...]
World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury announces retirement from boxing – then insists he hasn’t quit after all October 3, 2016 Controversial world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has provoked further confusion surrounding his future by appearing to announce his retirement – only to renege on the decision hours later. Fury’s boxing career, which peaked when he beat Wladimir Klitschko in November last year, was already in doubt after he pulled out of a rematch with the [...]
Rory McIlroy tips Europe’s new generation to reclaim Ryder Cup in Paris in 2018 October 3, 2016 European Ryder Cup star Rory McIlroy has tipped the youthful team that lost its grip on the trophy at Hazeltine to blossom when the competition resumes in France in 2018. A side featuring six rookies lost 17-11 to the United States on Sunday, with three of those – Danny Willett, Matt Fitzpatrick and Andy Sullivan [...]
Will Superman and Batman meet their match in this new series by former Alexander McQueen artist Jacky Tsai? October 3, 2016 You might have wondered who would win between Superman and Batman (Superman, obviously), or Captain America and Iron Man (#TeamCap), but what about your favourite comic heroes against figures from Chinese mythology? Well, in Jacky Tsai’s striking lacquer carvings, Superman and Captain America seem to have met their match… “Welcome Refugees” depicts the Man of [...]
England manager Gareth Southgate: I dislike a lot of things about the football industry October 3, 2016 Interim England manager Gareth Southgate admits he dislikes much about the football industry, as the dust settles on Sam Allardyce’s short-lived reign at the Football Association. Allardyce was ushered out of the England job last week just 67 days after his appointment amid controversy over indiscreet comments he made to undercover reporters posing as business [...]
Simon Stålenhag’s haunting painted stories in Things From the Flood are science fiction at its most beautiful October 3, 2016 Dystopian science fiction is often filled with explosions and sirens, chaos and pain. But the Swedish illustrator Simon Stålenhag’s work captures a different face of the future. His work is characterised by stillness and melancholy, a sense of good things having passed. His astonishingly good Tales From the Loop, published last year, imagined an alternate [...]
The Machine at Barbican is a darkly funny immersive theatre experience with added circus tricks October 3, 2016 Immersive theatre often promises more than it can deliver, held back not by the imagination of the production but the temperament of the audience. The most effective ones – Secret Cinema, Punch Drunk Theatre – tend to be hours long, giving the audience time to let their guard down. The Machine instead attempts to turn [...]