Cricket Comment: T20 shouldn’t end Giles job hope April 1, 2014 FIRST things first: for England professionals to lose to the Netherlands’ team of virtual amateurs by a big margin this week at the World Twenty20 was embarrassing and pathetic. It’s a blow for Ashley Giles’s hopes of landing the Test job, but the players have to carry the can. You can train and motivate but [...]
QPR player in quenelle rap April 1, 2014 QUEENS Park Rangers’ Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Hull’s Yannick Sagbo face fines or bans after being charged by the Football Association for Twitter posts about the “quenelle” gesture. The pair were yesterday charged with improper conduct for posts the FA deemed abusive, insulting or improper and classed as being aggravated by a reference to ethnicity, race [...]
Mourinho probes Paris spending spree April 1, 2014 CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho says Paris Saint-Germain’s £300m, three-year squad investment raises questions about whether they have broken Financial Fair Play rules. Since the Qatari Investment Authority’s acquisition of the club in 2011 some of Europe’s hottest properties, including striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, have arrived helping to secure a first league title in 19 years last [...]
McCoy ponders Grand National ride April 1, 2014 HORSE RACING: Champion jockey AP McCoy must decide ahead of tomorrow’s declaration whether to ride Colbert Station or Double Seven, both trained by J.P. McManus, in Saturday’s Grand National at Aintree.
Trott struggles in comeback game April 1, 2014 CRICKET: Batsman Jonathan Trott was out for four runs in Warwickshire’s friendly with Gloucestershire yesterday. Trott has not played since England lost the first Ashes Test in November.
United always favourites at Old Trafford, says defiant Giggs March 31, 2014 MANCHESTER United midfielder Ryan Giggs insists his club are too big to ever be labelled underdogs, even when Champions League holders Bayern Munich visit Old Trafford tonight. With seven matches to spare the German giants have already been crowned Bundesliga champions and have lost just once in all competitions since Pep Guardiola succeeded Jupp Heynckes [...]
Golf Comment: Bowditch win a lesson in patience March 31, 2014 PERSEVERANCE is a huge part of golf, and few wins will illustrate that better than Australian Steven Bowditch’s maiden PGA Tour victory, at the Valero Texas Open on Sunday. Bowditch has had more to contend with than most, having battled clinical depression, and endured a few nervous moments in his four-over-par final round of 76. [...]
Giles undeterred despite shame of Dutch defeat March 31, 2014 ENGLAND limited-overs boss Ashley Giles insists he is still the right man to succeed Andy Flower as Test coach despite yesterday’s humiliating thrashing by Holland at the World Twenty20. A miserable five months that included an Ashes whitewash reached perhaps its lowest point with a 45-run defeat in Bangladesh, the Dutch part-timers skittling England for [...]
Tidal Bay tops Aintree weight March 31, 2014 TIDAL Bay has retained top weight for Saturday’s Grand National following eight withdrawals that leave the race still heavily oversubscribed. The Paul Nicholls-trained 13-year-old, who unseated his jockey in the 2011 running, will bid to be the first horse since Red Rum to prevail at Aintree on top weight. Katenko, Godsmejudge, Sunnyhillboy and Roi Du [...]
Premier League: Allardyce: Win at Sunderland means West Ham are safe March 31, 2014 SUNDERLAND 1 WEST HAM UNITED 2 WEST Ham manager Sam Allardyce declared his team safe from relegation last night, following a 2-1 victory that heaped the misery on struggling Sunderland. Goals from Andy Carroll and Mohamed Diame ended a run of three straight defeats, with Sunderland, who netted through Adam Johnson, left languishing in 19th [...]