City to emerge from the shadows of bitter rivals August 4, 2011 THE city of Manchester dominated English football last season with Manchester United winning the Premier League and making the final of the Champions League, while MANCHESTER CITY collected the FA Cup, their first trophy in 35 years. The gap is narrowing between the two clubs and although United are the favourites to win a 13th [...]
MANCHESTER UNITED vs MANCHESTER CITY August 4, 2011 THE FA Community Shield can often be a lacklustre, tepid affair, but that seems unlikely with the Manchester Derby kicking things off for the season. The local rivals met here in the semi-final of the FA Cup in April and it was City who came out on top that day. Sir Alex Ferguson would never [...]
Weary India suffer double injury blow August 3, 2011 INDIA’S already fragile hopes of fending off England’s bid to steal their world No1 Test ranking took a further blow yesterday with the news that neither Yuvraj Singh or Harbhajan Singh will play any further part in the series. Yuvraj, a mainstay in India’s World Cup winning one-day side, initially made an encouraging return to [...]
Sotherton reveals naked truth about Olympic hopes August 3, 2011 WITH the countdown to next summer’s London Olympics well under way and the nation rapidly warming to the prospect of staging an event of such global importance, one of Britain’s greatest multi-eventers is resisting the temptation to let her mind wander. Kelly Sotherton, 34, a former Olympic bronze medallist, has never been one for toeing [...]
Milking Cowes Week: How to get most out of world’s best regatta August 3, 2011 World-beating sailor lends her expertise ahead of the Isle of Wight extravaganza PREPARATION comes in all sorts of guises. As an Olympic Sailor I spent four years preparing for one event; our thoughts encompassed all possibilities and we prepared and practised for everything that was in our control. Walking around Cowes last weekend it was [...]
Terry: Language not constricting boss Villas-Boas August 3, 2011 CHELSEA captain John Terry has hailed Andre Villas-Boas’ communication skills, insisting the new Blues manager’s low-key manner has not stopped him getting his point across. Language has been a decisive factor for the Portuguese’s predecessors, with Jose Mourinho the master of the barbed remark, Carlo Ancelotti benefiting from intensive lessons prior to his appointment and [...]
Oval to play host to extra Twenty20 matches against West Indies August 3, 2011 ENGLAND’S already overworked players will have two more fixtures to contend with this summer after the England and Wales Cricket Board announced the Oval will host two Twenty20 matches in September. The confirmation of these games means that England, whose players complained of burnout last winter, will have just 19 days between the second Twenty20 match [...]
Banahan: Fatherhood can wait till after World Cup August 3, 2011 ENGLAND’S Matt Banahan insists he is ready to sacrifice witnessing his new son’s first few weeks if it means achieving his World Cup dream. Bath star Banahan, who can play at centre but has been tipped to feature on the wing against Wales on Saturday, is less than three months into fatherhood. But the 24-year-old [...]
Jol cool on Jerome as Zamora recovers August 3, 2011 FULHAM manager Martin Jol played down the injury scare surrounding striker Bobby Zamora ahead of tonight’s Uefa Europa League qualifier, despite seeing his bid for Cameron Jerome rejected by Birmingham City. Zamora broke his hand during the Europa League win over NSI Runavik, prompting Jol to make an offer, believed to be in the region [...]
Cesc set for final curtain call August 3, 2011 ARSENAL captain Cesc Fabregas looks set to don a red and white shirt for the final time today at an open training session for the club’s members at Emirates Stadium. Arsenal are bracing themselves for an improved offer of around £35m from Barcelona for the Spaniard, but are still expecting the 24-year-old to turn up for [...]