Lancaster’s England are accused of being boring March 7, 2012 ENGLAND have not progressed under the guidance of their interim head coach Stuart Lancaster and remain negative and predictable, according to his Leicester counterpart Matt O’Connor. Since taking over from Martin Johnson following last October’s World Cup, Lancaster has overseen turgid victories away from home against Scotland and Italy. Lancaster tasted his first defeat against [...]
BOA confident of win in key Chambers case March 7, 2012 BRITISH Olympic chiefs have hit back at claims they are set to lose next week’s landmark legal case, which is expected to determine whether sprinter Dwain Chambers can compete at London 2012. Sports lawyer Howard Jacobs, who helped American 400m star LaShawn Merritt overturn a doping ban, said the Court of Arbitration for Sport was [...]
Best proud to lead Ireland for Scotland clash March 7, 2012 ULSTER hooker Rory Best will captain Ireland in the absence of Paul O’Connell for Saturday’s Six Nations clash with Scotland. O’Connell, who was ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a knee injury earlier this week, has been replaced at lock by Donnacha Ryan, while scrum-half Eoin Reddan comes in for Conor Murray. [...]
MIRACLE MAN TERRY TOOK TWO DAYS TO RECOVER March 7, 2012 CHELSEA captain John Terry underlined his commitment to the cause by taking just two days off after undergoing minor knee surgery a fortnight ago. It was estimated that the 31-year-old would be out for six weeks but he returned as an unused substitute in Tuesday’s 1-0 FA Cup replay win over Birmingham and is in [...]
Gers could fail to finish the season March 7, 2012 RANGERS administrators have warned that the financially-stricken Scottish champions are in severe danger of being unable to complete the season. Duff and Phelps said yesterday they had again failed to agree cost-cutting measures with players, leaving them with little choice but to accelerate attempts to sell the club. David Whitehouse of Duff and Phelps said: [...]
Messi breaks another record March 7, 2012 FOOTBALL: Barcelona striker Lionel Messi became the first player in Champions League history to score five goals in a single match as the holders ran riot at Camp Nou against Bayer Leverkusen last night. Barca romped to a 7-1 victory, securing a 10-2 aggregate win and a place in the last eight, which also featured [...]
Gandy secures Olympic berth March 7, 2012 OLYMPICS: World championship silver medallist Ellen Gandy secured her second Team GB Olympic berth with victory in the 200m butterfly final at the British Swimming Championships last night. Joining Gandy and Lowe at London 2012 will be Andrew Willis and Michael Jamieson. The 200m breastrokers edged out British record-holder Kris Gilchrist into third.
Hoddle keen on making a sensational Blues return March 6, 2012 Former Chelsea boss ready to end six-year managerial exile and says club should appoint an Englishman FORMER England and Chelsea manager Glenn Hoddle is desperate to seal a dramatic return to Stamford Bridge as Andre Villas-Boas’s successor and has urged the club to break with tradition and employ an Englishman. Villas-Boas became the sixth managerial [...]
Chelsea off to winning start under Di Matteo March 6, 2012 BIRMINGHAM 0 vs CHELSEA 2 CHELSEA caretaker manager Roberto di Matteo dedicated last night’s FA Cup fifth round replay victory over Birmingham to the man he replaced, Andre Villas-Boas. Two of the now departed Portugueses summer signings, Juan Mata and Raul Meireles, scored the second half goals which guaranteed his former club a home tie in [...]
Gunners run out of ammunition to finish off Milan March 6, 2012 Heroic comeback falls short and Wenger hopes league form won’t be affected by near miss ARSENAL 3 vs AC MILAN 0 PROUD manager Arsene Wenger hailed Arsenal’s indefatigable spirit after they came within a whisker of the biggest comeback in Champions League history — but warned them not to let the near miss affect their [...]