Dembele believes White Hart Lane pitch is hindering Spurs October 28, 2013 THE BELOW average size of the White Hart Lane pitch is contributing to Tottenham’s struggles to break teams down at home, according to midfielder Mousa Dembele. Spurs have won three of their five Premier League home matches this season, though needed penalties from striker Roberto Soldado to see off both Swansea and most recently Hull [...]
Football Comment: Indispensable Torres can make difference in Chelsea title quest October 28, 2013 WHEN I tipped Chelsea for the Premier League back in August, I did not for one moment think that the man to make the difference in the title race would be Fernando Torres. Yet on Sunday, when the next best team in the division visited Stamford Bridge for an excellent contest, he did. And on [...]
Trophy dreams spur Walker to sign new deal October 28, 2013 TOTTENHAM defender Kyle Walker has revealed the pursuit of silverware motivated him to extend his contract at the club until 2019. Walker joined Spurs from Sheffield United in 2008 and has gone on to make 112 first team appearances and cement a regular berth in the England team. And the 23-year-old, named PFA Young Player [...]
AVB honest but unwise to criticise own fans October 28, 2013 TOTTENHAM manager Andre Villas-Boas raised eyebrows with his criticism of the clubs’ home support following Sunday’s narrow 1-0 win over Hull. Villas-Boas was being honest and had a point: anxiety among fans can easily be picked up on by players and contribute to jittery performances, such as this one and the previous home match against [...]
Lancaster happy with front row options ahead of Australia clash October 28, 2013 THE ABSENCE of prop Alex Corbisiero will not weaken England’s injury-ravaged front row against Australia on Saturday, says coach Stuart Lancaster. Corbisiero twisted his left knee while playing for Northampton two weeks ago and will not feature at Twickenham, though the 25-year-old is believed to be progressing well and in line to make his return [...]
England’s World Cup future to be safeguarded by Platini’s proposal October 28, 2013 ENGLAND’S hopes of qualifying for future World Cups will not be hindered by plans from world governing body Fifa to increase the number of African and Asian participants, if Uefa president Michel Platini’s counter-proposal to expand the competition from 32 to 40 teams from 2018 takes off. Fifa president Sepp Blatter said last week Africa [...]
Blues reserves good enough to knock out Gunners, says Schurrle October 28, 2013 CHELSEA winger Andre Schurrle insists they can overcome Arsenal in tonight’s Capital One Cup even if manager Jose Mourinho sees through his threat to make wholesale changes for the London derby. Mourinho has railed at the scheduling of the fixture, little more than 48 hours after their Premier League clash with title rivals Manchester City, [...]
Anti-racism chief says British game not reflective of society October 28, 2013 WORLD football’s most prominent anti-discrimination official has added to criticism of the English game for failing to involve enough black people in governance and management. Jeffrey Webb, head of Fifa’s anti-racism task force and tipped as a possible future president of the world governing body, says ethnic minority players in this country are “demoralised” by [...]
Golf Comment: Don’t rule out consecutive wins for Gonzalo October 28, 2013 ONE European player impressed me perhaps more than any other at last month’s Seve Trophy, so it was no surprise to see Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano win the BMW Championship in China at the weekend. The Spaniard has a tremendous swing and a new grip appears to have helped him to overcome some problems with putting that [...]
McIlroy eyes Tour victory and spot in Dubai finale October 28, 2013 FORMER world No1 Rory McIlroy is confident of building on yesterday’s first win of 2013 in the coming weeks and ensuring his place in the season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai. The Northern Irishman defeated world No1 Tiger Woods by one shot in an 18-hole exhibition at Mission Hills in China to taste success for [...]