Football Comment: London clubs in three-way fight for Champions League December 14, 2014 WHILE Manchester United emerge as serious title challengers and Liverpool prepare for a huge week in the future of manager Brendan Rodgers an intriguing three-way fight is breaking out in London. Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham look to me like they will slug it out for fourth place, while I expect Southampton to continue to [...]
Familiar foes lurk as English sides prepare to learn European fates December 14, 2014 ENGLISH clubs will hope to avoid some familiar foes when the draw for the next rounds of European competitions are made today. Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City are all in the pot for the last 16 of the Champions League, while Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton await their opponents in the last 32 of the Europa [...]
Cech: Evaluate Chelsea in May December 14, 2014 CHELSEA keeper Petr Cech is adamant winning trophies will be the only true measure of comparing the club’s current talent base with previous title-winning sides. Cech started in the absence of Thibaut Courtois as Chelsea maintained their three-point lead at the Premier League summit with victory over Hull on Saturday and is set to retain [...]
Martinez wary of QPR’s form December 14, 2014 EVERTON boss Roberto Martinez is wary of reading too much into QPR’s abysmal away record so far this season as his side prepare to face Harry Redknapp’s charges at Goodison Park tonight. Rangers have failed register a single point from their seven Premier League matches on the road this campaign and will be without eight-goal [...]
Julie Verhoeven: Whiskers Between My Legs – art review December 12, 2014 ICA | ★★★★☆ Confrontational feminist art It’s Christmas! And that can only mean one thing at the ICA – bitingly confrontational feminist art from the brilliant Julie Verhoeven. Don’t be fooled by the title; Whiskers Between My Legs is at no pains to pussyfoot around the subject of women’s portrayal in the media. The [...]
Film review: Electricity December 12, 2014 Cert 15 | ★★☆☆☆ For a supermodel looking to venture into acting, there will always be a plum role as a hottie in a Hollywood blockbuster. But in her transition to the screen Agyness Deyn has taken the path of greatest resistance. The sometime model built her rep as an actress with brave performances in [...]
Theatre review: Treasure Island December 12, 2014 Olivier Theatre | ★★★☆☆ The National Theatre employed the services of a “comedy consultant” for its lavish new Treasure Island adaptation. Whatever he did, it didn’t work – the jokes let down an otherwise impressive production that kids will enjoy (if not love) and adults will tolerate. Too often laughs are grasped at clumsily, upsetting the [...]
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – film review December 12, 2014 Cert 12a | ★★★★☆ When Peter Jackson approached Billy Connolly to play the fiercest of Tolkien’s dwarves, he asked, “Have you read The Hobbit?” and Connolly replied “No, and I don’t like people who have. His comments, said in jest, nevertheless encapsulate the franchise’s reputation for being somewhat nerdy and inaccessible for those who have [...]
Manchester City are the lowest prize money earners in the Champions League knockout stage December 12, 2014 With the Champions League group stage now wrapped up, the executives at Europe’s elite clubs will be counting up the cash their teams have earned. Real Madrid are this season’s biggest earners so far, having won a total of €14.6m in prize money from Uefa for their performances in Europe. No other Champions [...]
Film review: The Green Prince December 11, 2014 Cert 15 | ★★★☆☆ In August 2008, from the safety of exile in the States, Mosab Hassan Yousef (pictured) went public with his betrayal of Palestine. The son of a senior Hamas leader, he revealed that he had spent ten years spying on his father and others for Shin Bet (the Israeli secret service) under [...]