I’m ready to play every week, vows Arsenal starlet Oxlade-Chamberlain January 23, 2012 ARSENAL winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hopes his eye-catching performance against Manchester United on Sunday will be enough to convince Arsene Wenger he is worthy of a regular first team place. Wenger’s decision to withdraw the versatile 18-year-old attacker after 73 encouraging minutes drew stinging criticism from fans and appeared to be met with equal astonishment from [...]
Palace boss Freedman piles the pressure on Cardiff’s bottlers January 23, 2012 CRYSTAL PALACE manager Dougie Freedman has risked a Cardiff backlash by depicting the Welsh side as “nearly men” ahead of tonight’s Carling Cup semi final second leg. Under previous manager Dave Jones, Cardiff wasted several promising positions in the league to miss out on automatic promotion to the Premier League and have failed in the [...]
Can Farah go the distance and cap landmark year? January 23, 2012 LESS than two weeks to go and the countdown is on to the 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards. The most prestigious sports awards in the world, the winners are chosen by the 47 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, which includes British greats such as Sir Ian Botham, Sir Bobby Charlton, Lord Sebastian Coe [...]
Lampard to miss QPR cup clash January 23, 2012 FOOTBALL: Chelsea will be without Frank Lampard for Saturday’s eagerly anticipated FA Cup fourth round tie against west London rivals QPR at Loftus Road. Lampard was taken off with a calf injury at half time during Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Norwich, but the midfielder is expected to return in time for the trip to Swansea [...]
Raikkonen back in the saddle January 23, 2012 FORMULA ONE: Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen impressed on his first day of testing for Lotus after a two-year absence from the sport, according to the team’s trackside operations director Alan Permane. “From the first run he was pretty much there,” he said of the Finn. The 32-year-old was driving a two-year-old Renault R30 at [...]
Brown a doubt for Calcutta Cup January 23, 2012 RUGBY UNION: Saracens flanker Kelly Brown is a major doubt for Scotland’s Six Nations opener against England at Murrayfield next Saturday. Brown suffered a leg injury in Sunday’s Heineken Cup win over Benetton Treviso.
Redknapp rages after Balotelli escapes red card for clash with Parker and then crushes Tottenham comeback with penalty winner January 22, 2012 MANCHESTER CITY (3) vs TOTTENHAM (2) MANCHESTER 2 LONDON 0 CRESTFALLEN Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp criticised referee Howard Webb’s failure to send off Mario Balotelli after the controversial forward took full advantage of his reprieve to sink Spurs with an injury-time winner. Balotelli’s decisive penalty came seconds after Jermain Defoe missed a chance to snatch [...]
Fans turn on Wenger for substituting Chamberlain and bringing on Arshavin as Welbeck’s winner sends Arsenal to third consecutive Premier League defeat January 22, 2012 ARSENAL (1) vs MANCHESTER UNITED (2) MANCHESTER 2 LONDON 0 ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger confessed he was at fault for the bungled substitution that contributed to a third consecutive Premier League defeat which by his own admission left his side facing an uphill struggle to finish in the top four. Robin van Persie’s 19th league [...]
Nadal issues warning as he closes in on Federer clash January 22, 2012 SECOND seed Rafael Nadal warned his rivals that he is already firing on all cylinders after claiming a place in the Australian Open quarter-finals and staying on course for a last-four showdown with Roger Federer. Nadal beat compatriot Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to continue a strong beginning to the year’s first grand slam that [...]
Fraser: Morgan Review will undermine England Test side January 22, 2012 ENGLAND’S world-beating Test team will suffer if radical plans to reform the county game are passed by governing body the ECB, fears Middlesex chief Angus Fraser. The headline recommendation from the Morgan Review, which the ECB will discuss today, is a reduction in the number of matches in the County Championship, while keeping a two-division [...]