Andy Murray v Rafael Nadal: Over £350,000 prize money at stake for winner of Madrid Open semi-final clash May 7, 2016 Andy Murray can take his earnings for 2016 past the $2m mark (£1.4m) by reaching a second consecutive Madrid Open final. But first the Scot must dispatch clay court master Rafael Nadal in today's semi-final. Should he repeat the feat of last year's final by beating the Spaniard, Murray will then face either Japanese ace Kei [...]
The most lucrative game in world football: Middlesbrough and Brighton set to battle for potential promotion prize of £290m May 7, 2016 The world's most valuable football match takes place this weekend – not in the moneyed surrounds of the Santiago Bernabeu, the Etihad Stadium or the Parc des Princes, but in a rather more mundane setting. Middlesbrough host Brighton at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday lunchtime in a straight fight for promotion to the Premier League [...]
Manchester United must pay £5m to sack Louis van Gaal at the end of the season May 6, 2016 Manchester United must be prepared to take a £5m hit if they want to sack manager Louis van Gaal this summer. The under-fire coach could earn up to £8m this season if he guides United into the Champions League and beats Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final, according to The Times. Van Gaal is reported [...]
David Haye returns to Dave to keep comeback trail on free-to-air TV May 6, 2016 David Haye will return to free-to-air channel Dave for his upcoming heavyweight clash against Arnold Gjergjaj on Saturday 21 May. The British boxer's blistering knock-out of Mark De Mori in January was Dave's first ever live sports event and scored the channel its second-highest ratings hit as a peak audience of 3m tuned in. Increasingly British [...]
Arsenal are just a franchise, Manchester United prioritise profit, Chelsea’s structure is skewed but Manchester City may be on the up – a management expert discusses Premier League clubs May 6, 2016 Build a strong team, win games, lift silverware: the external barometers for a football club are long established, but a new report suggests there is much more to look at when analysing how well a club is run. A new index from Organizational Maturity Services LLP (OMS LLP) judges Premier League clubs on their management [...]
Liverpool 3, Villarreal 0 (Agg: 3-1): Klopp taunts club’s critics as Liverpool torpedo sinks Yellow Submarine May 6, 2016 Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp taunted the club’s detractors and urged his side to complete their Europa League mission after blitzing Villarreal with a high-octane showing in Thursdays semi-final second leg. An early own goal from Villarreal defender Bruno Soriano wiped out their first-leg arrears, while Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana netted second-half strikes as visiting [...]
These Final Hours review: Plus our pick of the best films showing this weekend May 5, 2016 These Final Hours (15) Dir. Zak Hilditch | ★★★★☆ A low-budget Australian drama about a young man struggling to get to a party to celebrate the end of the world, and the young girl he meets along the way. Setting out boldly into this well-worn territory, These Final Hours is a smart film that loses its [...]
Knight of Cups review: Christian Bale stars as a traumatised Hollywood screenwriter in this faintly surreal movie May 5, 2016 Sporadic film maker Terence Malick is enjoying the most prolific period of his career, having made as many films in the last five years as he had in the previous thirty. His seventh film stars Christian Bale as Rick, a Hollywood screenwriter left hollow by success and tortured by family trauma, who embarks on a [...]
Florence Foster Jenkins review: Meryl Streep appears as the tone-deaf opera singer in this tender biopic May 5, 2016 Comedy can be a tough gig, even for Hollywood’s finest (just ask Robert De Niro). Nevertheless Meryl Streep has balanced comedic roles with more serious fare in recent years and, as with most things she does, made it look effortless. Her latest is based on the life of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress [...]
Shit-Faced Shakespeare review: a hilarious, unpredictable and booze-fuelled remix of A Midsummer Night’s Dream May 5, 2016 In Shit-Faced Shakespeare, five actors attempt to rattle through a condensed version of the bard’s pixie-fuelled sex comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Each night however, one member of the cast gets catastrophically pissed before curtain call, drinking their way through a trolley of booze as showtime approaches. Audience members are armed with a gong and [...]