Negredo on Spurs radar as hopes fade over Damiao January 10, 2013 TOTTENHAM could turn to £15m Spain striker Alvaro Negredo after manager Andre Villas-Boas conceded defeat in the club’s long-running pursuit of Brazilian Leandro Damiao. Spurs have been tracking 23-year-old Damiao for more than two years and hoped to finally clinch his signing this month, but Villas-Boas admitted yesterday that his arrival was “extremely unlikely”. That [...]
Sarries no Goode but racing into Euro quarters with Quins January 10, 2013 SARACENS can take a major step towards the Heineken Cup quarter-finals by beating Racing Metro in Nantes tomorrow. Victory for Sarries would all but secure their place in the last eight with a game to go in the pool stages. But they will have to do without England full-back Alex Goode, who is out with [...]
Torres needs to be more Tevez and less Owen January 10, 2013 IT WAS questionably disallowed, but Demba Ba scored a superb goal in Chelsea’s defeat to Swansea on Wednesday night. That strike underlined the flying start Ba has made to life at Stamford Bridge. He hasn’t looked the least bit overawed since moving from Newcastle and seems brimming with confidence. Ba was clearly bought to be [...]
Cook rallies his fringe players January 10, 2013 ENGLAND captain Alastair Cook is pushing his fringe players to seize their opportunity in the one-day series against India, which begins this morning in Rajkot. Cook has rested key players Jonathan Trott, Graeme Swann and James Anderson while Stuart Broad is also out injured. “If people perform really well, it will be hard to leave [...]
Terry steps closer to first-team return January 10, 2013 CHELSEA captain John Terry last night handed the club a timely boost by returning from a two-month absence in an under-21 fixture against Fulham. The defender, out injured since 11 November, played 45 minutes in a 2-0 win, just 24 hours after the club’s shock Capital One Cup defeat at home to Swansea. Terry, 32, [...]
Irish still in line for final eight spot January 10, 2013 RUGBY UNION: London Irish kept alive hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Amlin Challenge Cup as two tries from scrum-half Jack Moates beat Mont de Marsan 20-14, moving Irish three points off the top of Pool A.
Defender Shaw to stay with Saints January 10, 2013 FOOTBALL: Arsenal target Luke Shaw has committed his future to current club Southampton. The highly-rated 17-year-old defender is set to sign a five-year deal with the south coast club when he turns 18 on 12 July.
Ivanovic horror show leaves Blues facing shock cup exit January 9, 2013 CHELSEA 0 vs SWANSEA CITY 2 CHELSEA manager Rafael Benitez last night refused to blame defender Branislav Ivanovic after two catastrophic errors left the European champions on the brink of a shock Capital One Cup semi-final exit. Ivanovic’s dawdling in possession allowed Michu to put Swansea in front with his sixteenth goal of the season [...]
Lancaster: Clark is changed man January 9, 2013 ENGLAND head coach Stuart Lancaster insists Calum Clark has learned from his 32-week ban for breaking an opponent’s elbow, after handing the Northampton forward a Six Nations call-up. Uncapped Clark, who can play in the second row and back row, scuppered his hopes of a Test debut at last year’s championship when he hyper-extended Leicester [...]
Dope confession could help Armstrong avoid lawsuits January 9, 2013 FORMER cyclist Lance Armstrong could head off the threat of million-dollar lawsuits if he confesses to doping when he appears on American chat show Oprah next week, according to a leading sports public relations expert. Armstrong has always maintained his innocence but stopped contesting allegations from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in August and has [...]