Bell has plenty on his Plate at Newcastle June 23, 2011 MICHAEL Bell won tomorrow’s Northumberland Plate (3.05pm), or Pitmen’s Derby as it is known locally, in 2007 with an unexposed four-year-old in Juniper Girl. He has two to go to war with this year – Tactician, owned by the Queen, and ACTIVATE, who is seeking a four-timer after an impressive win at Haydock last time. [...]
THE HUMBLE ONE June 22, 2011 NEW CHELSEA manager Andre Villas-Boas admits he will never be able to avoid comparisons with Jose Mourinho but insists his tenure will be underpinned by a focus on the team rather than self-promotion. The 33-year-old’s career has mirrored that of his mentor, who announced his arrival at Stamford Bridge in 2004 by anointing himself as [...]
Bold choice demands a bold response June 22, 2011 IT GOES without saying that Chelsea have made an extremely bold decision in paying a world record sum to hire a 33-year-old with less than two years’ management experience. But what fascinates me about the appointment of Andre Villas-Boas is how bold he is going to be in putting his stamp on a Blues set-up [...]
Easy does it for on song Murray but it’s heartache for wounded Watson June 22, 2011 FOURTH seed Andy Murray made serene progress into the third round of Wimbledon after a straight sets win over Germany’s Tobias Kranke, but it was an otherwise mixed day for British hopes, encapsulated by Heather Watson’s galling defeat against Sweden’s Mathilde Johansson. After beginning his campaign in less than commanding fashion against Daniel Gimeno-Traver on [...]
Daley to help City AM team June 22, 2011 THE Laureus / City A.M. team is busily preparing for one of their big moments in the build-up to the London leg of the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship – their first training session this weekend with double decathlon Olympic gold medallist Daley Thompson. As global charity partner of the International Triathlon Union, Laureus [...]
Hamilton-Brown: T20 success is vital to Surrey’s hopes of returning to glory days June 22, 2011 SURREY captain Rory Hamilton-Brown believes the prize on offer for winning the Friends Life t20 would help catapult his county back into the big-time. Surrey head into this evening’s crunch clash against London rivals Middlesex needing a victory at the KIA Oval to advance their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages. He said: “Winning this [...]
BOA deny Team GB ploy June 22, 2011 BRITISH Olympic chiefs have hit back at suggestions their much-ridiculed announcement that an “historic agreement” had been reached for a Team GB football team at next year’s Games was a ploy to shift tickets. Tuesday’s announcement was widely taken to mean that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had joined England in supporting the plans – [...]
Fifa probe accuses duo June 22, 2011 WORLD governing body Fifa was engulfed in a fresh bribery storm last night after it emerged an in-house probe had found evidence implicating two of its most powerful members, Mohamed bin Hammam and Jack Warner. A secret report by Fifa’s ethics committee said it had uncovered “compelling” material suggesting that bribes were paid to officials [...]
United close in on Villa’s Young June 22, 2011 FOOTBALL: Manchester Untied are expected to complete the signing of Ashley Young from Aston Villa by the end of the week after the player underwent a medical at the Old Trafford club yesterday. The 25-year-old England winger is expected to sign a five-year deal with Villa to receive a transfer fee in the region of [...]
Woods remains an Open doubt June 22, 2011 GOLF: Former world No1 Tiger Woods has been advised to continue his lay-off rather than play next week’s AT&T National in Pennsylvania, casting further doubt on his participation in next month’s Open. Woods hasn’t played since he pulled out of the Players Championship last month and is yet to recover from knee and Achilles injuries. [...]