Clarke banks on feel-good factor in Ryder mission February 18, 2015 OPEN winner Darren Clarke has vowed to place enjoyment at the centre of his strategy for retaining the Ryder Cup after the Northern Irishman was yesterday confirmed as Europe’s captain. Clarke also plans to seek advice from previous skippers before next year’s contest at Hazeltine in the United States, despite a chequered history with his [...]
Ronaldo ends his goal drought as Real power towards last eight February 18, 2015 REIGNING champions Read Madrid took a giant stride towards the Champions League quarter-finals after defeating Schalke 2-0 in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Gelsenkirchen last night. Forward Cristiano Ronaldo had failed to score in his previous three matches but gave Read the lead by heading home Dani Carvajal’s cross in the 26th [...]
Tottenham prepare £350m loan facility for new stadium project February 18, 2015 TOTTENHAM have a £350m loan facility in place for the construction of their new 56,000-seater stadium, it emerged yesterday during a High Court battle over the controversial plans. The bridging loan from HSBC is available to the club in the event of a funding shortfall for the arena, which they hope to open in 2018, [...]
Cricket Comment: England ought to pick Tredwell and Bopara instead of Finn and Ballance February 18, 2015 THERE weren’t a huge amount of positives to take from World Cup defeat to Australia last Saturday. Hopefully the main one will be the realisation that the tactics at the death were wrong and there was too much short bowling. England undoubtedly have some good bowlers but, as I wrote last week, that bowling attack [...]
Fully fit Spurs ready to begin gruelling run February 18, 2015 TOTTENHAM manager Mauricio Pochettino insists he is relishing a gruelling fixture pile-up that starts with tonight’s Europa League visit from Italian side Fiorentina. The first leg of the last 32 tie is one of six matches Spurs face in the space of just 17 days. That sequence includes the Capital One Cup with Chelsea, as [...]
Major Mullins ready for battle February 18, 2015 NEVER before has a trainer gone to Cheltenham with an army of talent as powerful as the one Willie Mullins will send over from his County Carlow base next month. Betway offer just 6/5 about him training six or more winners. But the army is not just powerful, it’s also huge. Where Mullins would normally [...]
Strongest material on Earth: Limpet teeth could be used to build Formula 1 cars, planes and human fillings February 18, 2015 Go to the dentist and you could soon come away with a limpet filling – the sea creature's teeth contain a material stronger than anything discovered or created before, and this has the potential for use by humans. By pulling the teeth apart all the way down to individual atoms in a laboratory, engineers at [...]
Champions League: Blues survive PSG fightback to claim draw February 17, 2015 PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN 1 CHELSEA 1 CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho claimed he fielded five injured players as his side survived a potent Paris Saint-Germain resurgence in their Champions League last-16 first leg tie at Parc des Princes last night. Full-back Branislav Ivanovic struck with a potentially pivotal away goal and his first European strike since the [...]
Goode in line for England recall as Brown struggles February 17, 2015 ENGLAND head coach Stuart Lancaster has handed Saracens full-back Alex Goode a Six Nations lifeline amid continuing doubts over Mike Brown’s fitness for next week’s crunch trip to Ireland. Goode is yet to feature in this year’s championship after losing the No15 shirt to Brown during 2014 but pressed his claim for a recall with [...]
Birmingham owners call in the receivers amid internal dispute February 17, 2015 BIRMINGHAM City chiefs have moved to appease fears for the future of the Championship club after their parent company Birmingham International Holdings Limited was placed into receivership yesterday. The Blues said they wanted “to reassure supporters and staff most emphatically that no winding up petition has been filed against the company (BIHL) and that it [...]