One failed title bid does not mean there is a power shift in north London football, insists former Tottenham and Arsenal defender Sol Campbell May 12, 2016 Former Arsenal centre-half Sol Campbell has rubbished suggestions that a power shift is unfolding in north London and insists it will take more than one impressive season for Tottenham to emerge from the shadow of their arch rivals. A draw against already-relegated Newcastle on Sunday would realistically see Spurs secure a second-placed Premier League finish [...]
Former Ajax boss Frank de Boer odds-on favourite to land Everton job after managerial axe falls on Roberto Martinez May 12, 2016 Holland great Frank de Boer is the odds-on favourite to be named Everton boss after the managerial axe fell on Roberto Martinez. De Boer stepped down from his post as Ajax manager today claiming it was time for “something else” after his sixth and final year in charge at the Amsterdam Arena saw rivals PSV [...]
Green Room film review: Patrick Stewart and Imogen Poots star in this short, sharp horror full of slicing, mauling and stab-stab-stabbing directed by Jeremy Saulnier May 12, 2016 You know that puzzle where you have to get a fox and a chicken and some grain across a river? Green Room is like that, only the river is a neo-Nazi club-house, the grain is a punk band who have witnessed a brutal murder, the chicken is some furious men with guns and the fox [...]
Saracens v Racing 92: Owen Farrell not focusing on Dan Carter ahead of European Champions Cup clash May 12, 2016 Saracens fly-half Owen Farrell insists he is not fazed by the prospect of going head-to-head with opposite number Dan Carter in Saturday’s European Champions Cup final against Racing 92. Former All Black Carter has enjoyed a fine debut season with Racing but Farrell, currently the competition’s leading points scorer with 106, insists he is focused [...]
Newcastle relegation Mike Ashley’s annus horribilis: Here’s what’s gone wrong for the divisive Sports Direct founder May 12, 2016 Mike Ashley's year has gone from bad to worse after Newcastle United were dumped out of the Premier League for the second time in his ownership on Wednesday night. Yet Newcastle's ejection from the riches of England's top tier into the same division as Burton Albion is only the latest in a series of damaging [...]
£25m keeps Pochettino at Tottenham and puts him into premier league of best-paid managers May 12, 2016 Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has forecast an era of domestic and European success at the club after ending speculation over his future by signing a new five-year contract. The Argentinian, who has been linked with Manchester United after turning Spurs into Premier League title challengers, agreed a deal thought to be worth £25m, making him [...]
The Angry Birds Movie is a story for children about a collection of rare birds violently catapulted into shoddily built towers May 12, 2016 In a post-Battleship world, it seems no premise or product is too remote to base a film on. Step in Angry Birds, the mobile game that was the saviour of long commutes everywhere when it burst on to the scene in 2009. The spin-off movie was met with incredulity but hopes have quietly risen given [...]
George Shaw brings his haunting My Back to Nature series of paintings to the National Gallery May 12, 2016 George Shaw is best known for his highly detailed renditions of high streets and urban scenes from middle England, favouring enamel paint more commonly used for Airfix models. These deliberately unspectacular, eerie images reached their widest audiences following his nomination for the Turner Prize in 2011. It is fascinating, then, to see how this traditional [...]
How do you create a sex-heavy unreality for an unshockable twenty-first century audience? May 12, 2016 Diarist Samuel Pepys saw A Midsummer Night’s Dream – for the first and last time – in 1662, describing it as the most “ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life” despite “some good dancing and some handsome women”. Centuries later, can the sex-fuelled plot still baffle a contemporary audience? Emma Rice takes a stab in her first production as [...]
Betting: Top four place up for grabs in Premier League’s final weekend May 12, 2016 As the Premier League’s most memorable season comes to its last weekend, the only thing it could be said to be lacking is a genuinely exciting final day showdown. Leicester City’s fairytale at the top and Sunderland’s great escape at the bottom mean the title race and relegation battle have been settled. However, the race [...]