US sports executive: Leicester City in the Champions League would hold back likes of Manchester United, European Super League still on the agenda March 4, 2016 Europe's elite clubs could make much more money by closing off the Champions League to smaller teams such as Leicester City, an American sports executive who met with the "big five" Premier League clubs on Tuesday has claimed. Earlier this week executives from Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool held talks with Relevent [...]
This wildly reimagined A Midsummer Night’s Dream is riotously fun March 3, 2016 Hammersmith Lyric | ★★★★☆ There are few things more tragic than Shakespeare’s comedies. The plots are silly, the pacing is woeful, and what jokes there are are usually buried in such antiquated language and stale cultural references that you need a degree in early modern literature to have a chance of properly appreciating them. But Filter [...]
Hail, Caesar! is a witty love letter to Hollywood’s Golden era March 3, 2016 Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen | ★★★★☆ "Squint! Squint into the grandeur!” a film director yells as George Clooney, in a swinging leather skirt and scabbard, peers earnestly into the camera. He looks ridiculous, but then who wouldn’t? This image is the Coen brothers’ latest star-studded comedy in a nutshell, and thanks to their particular [...]
Pochettino stokes north London derby by questioning Arsenal’s title credentials March 3, 2016 Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has fanned the flames of Saturday’s north London derby by questioning whether title rivals Arsenal have the credentials to be crowned Premier League champions. Defeat at high-flying West Ham on Wednesday robbed second-placed Spurs of the chance to overtake leaders Leicester and hit top spot, although they remain firmly ensconced in [...]
Botticelli Reimagined is a blockbuster show full of ideas and insights March 3, 2016 V&A | ★★★★★ When an exhibition says it will focus on an artist’s “influence”, it’s often a signal that it hasn’t got enough of his or her work to show. The Royal Academy’s disastrous Rubens and His Legacy and the National Gallery’s Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art are cases in point, both containing far [...]
Manchester United kit deal helps Adidas to record football sales of £1.75bn March 3, 2016 Adidas enjoyed the best ever performance of its football business last year – thanks in part to the lucrative £75m kit deal it signed with Manchester United. Football sales for the fiscal year reached a record €2.2bn (£1.7bn), the company revealed in its annual results, helping it to overall sales of €17bn for 2015. The [...]
Great Britain begin defence of Davis Cup title against Japan: When is it? Where can I watch it? Who is playing? March 3, 2016 Andy Murray and team-mates can take heart from Great Britain’s impressive history of defending the Davis Cup when they begin their title defence with a first-round tie against Japan in Birmingham tomorrow. The last time Great Britain won the competition before last year’s triumph, it marked a fourth straight year that they had won tennis’s [...]
Premier League leaders Leicester City winning on and off the pitch after revealing record profit and revenue figures in latest financial accounts March 3, 2016 After increasing their lead at the top of the Premier League this week, Leicester have given fans more reason for cheer by announcing record profit and revenue figures. Leicester heralded the "transformational impact" of being in the Premier League after they turned a £26.4m pre-tax profit last season, their first in the top flight in [...]
Could a European super league actually happen? Three experts discuss the likelihood of Arsenal, Manchester United and co breaking away from Uefa March 3, 2016 Could a European super league actually happen? Are the Premier League's biggest clubs plotting to break away from the Champions League? Those are the questions being asked by football fans after representatives from Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool were photographed emerging from a meeting at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Tuesday. [...]
Arsenal 1, Swansea 2: Petr Cech injury compounds sorry night for Arsene Wenger as Gunners waste chance to close gap on Tottenham before north London derby March 2, 2016 Arsenal 1, Swansea 2 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger banned title talk after his team's Premier League challenge crumbled further with a dispiriting defeat to struggling Swansea. The Gunners missed a huge chance to close the gap on leaders Leicester and rivals Tottenham — ahead of Saturday's north London derby — despite winger Joel Campbell putting them in [...]