Vieira: England players don’t love the team October 10, 2012 WORLD Cup-winning former France captain Patrick Vieira has voiced his concerns at the widespread player apathy towards representing England, blaming a lack of love for the national team and weakness of the Football Association. Vieira also expressed his astonishment that it had taken the FA so long to establish their own national centre dedicated to [...]
A code of conduct doesn’t convince, so leave it to clubs October 10, 2012 AN interesting development this week was the announcement from FA chairman David Bernstein that there is to be a code of conduct for England players. I, for one, am not sold on the idea. All clubs have their own rules and regulations for how their players should behave. Putting social media aside, on a daily [...]
Ring retirement tempted DeGale October 10, 2012 EUROPEAN super-middleweight champion James DeGale has revealed that he came close to quitting as a boxer after a difficult 12 months spent largely out of the ring. The 2008 Olympic gold medallist has punctuated Saturday’s fight against Hadillah Mohoumadi at Glow in Bluewater, Kent with a solitary defence of his 168lbs title since winning it [...]
Broad ready for KP return October 10, 2012 ENGLAND Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad has welcomed the potential international return of the controversial Kevin Pietersen. The batsman is hoping to make an England return on the four-Test tour of India that begins later this month and Broad insists that there would be no opposition to this from he or his team-mates. “The team have [...]
McIlroy needs Woods victory October 10, 2012 GOLF: World No1 Rory McIlroy must today defeat America’s Tiger Woods if he is to stand a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals of the World Golf Final in Turkey. Woods said: “I’ll try and keep him out of those semi-finals. I’m sure that’s not what the tournament wants but it’s what I’m going to [...]
Murray to meet Dolgopolov October 10, 2012 TENNIS: British No1 and US Open champion Andy Murray today faces Ukraine’s Alexander Dolgopolov in the third round of the Shanghai Masters after yesterday’s second-round opponent, Florian Mayer, withdrew with a wrist injury. He said: “Whoever I play will have played two matches in these conditions. It may take a while for me to adjust.”
Triesman baffled by Terry ban October 10, 2012 FOOTBALL: Lord Triesman, the former chairman of the FA, has admitted he sees no reason why John Terry’s ban for racially abusing an opponent is shorter than Luis Suarez’s.
Hart not best in world yet, says ‘66 hero Banks October 9, 2012 ENGLAND’S only World Cup winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks believes Joe Hart is not yet the world’s finest and has conceded that the lack of a genuine back up to him is a sincere concern. Since succeeding David James as England’s first-choice goalkeeper following the disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign, Hart has developed to the previously [...]
World Twenty20 illustrates difficulty of dominating all forms of the game October 9, 2012 ENGLAND failed to live up to expectations at the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, which concluded at the weekend, but they certainly weren’t the only ones. I was surprised to see South Africa also struggling to compete, while India didn’t do as well as they would have hoped, especially in familiar conditions. It’s no coincidence [...]
Three Lions, four stoppers October 9, 2012 JOE HART MAN CITY The 25-year-old is one of the first names on England’s team sheet. An exceptionally athletic and confident individual, Hart is widely considered one of the world’s best goalkeepers, is possibly the greatest in the Premier League, and continues to improve his game. JACK BUTLAND BIRMINGHAM Great Britain’s goalkeeper at the London [...]