Boss facing moment of truth January 18, 2011 COMPETENT coach unfairly tarnished by hopeless causes in Portsmouth and now West Ham, or under-qualified charisma-void still dining out on his fleeting association with a great Chelsea side? Whatever you might think of Avram Grant, he certainly divides opinion like few other managers. Grant’s supporters will point to the fact he led Chelsea to the [...]
Easter: I’ll grab England armband with both hands January 18, 2011 ENGLAND No8 Nick Easter says he would relish the chance to lead his country into the Six Nations if asked to take over as captain from the injured Lewis Moody. Regular skipper Moody was yesterday ruled out for up to six weeks, meaning he is likely to miss England’s first three matches of the competition, [...]
Murray through to face Marchenko January 18, 2011 BRITISH No1 Andy Murray banished his pre-tournament jitters by cruising into the second round of the Australian Open. The Scot sealed his progress Down Under after opponent Karol Beck retired with injury with the No5 seed leading 6-3, 6-1, 4-2. Murray, still hunting a first grand slam, entered the tournament on the back of an [...]
Double-bagel woe for fading Safina January 18, 2011 DINARA Safina became the first former world No1 to suffer a grand slam double-bagel as she crashed out of the Australian Open to Belgium’s Kim Clijsters. The Russian, who has plummeted 74 places in the world rankings in just 15 months, lost 6-0, 6-0 to third seed Clijsters in just 44 minutes. Elsewhere there were [...]
Cup success is a real possiblity, says Van Persie January 18, 2011 ARSENAL striker Robin van Persie admits Arsenal need a major improvement on their last two cup performances if they are to get the better of Leeds this evening. The Gunners were well below par in their FA Cup third round tie at Emirates Stadium 10 days ago, when they required an 89th minute Cesc Fabregas [...]
Sven’s Eastlands return a losing one January 18, 2011 SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON’S return to Eastlands ended in defeat as Manchester City booked their place in the FA Cup fourth round with a 4-2 win over Leicester. Carlos Tevez put City ahead before Paul Gallagher’s immediate response from the penalty spot. Two goals in 90 seconds before half-time, from Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson, put the [...]
Bent puts seal on record Villa move January 18, 2011 ASTON VILLA have smashed their transfer record by paying £18m – a fee which could eventually rise to £24m – to Sunderland for England striker Darren Bent. Bent, who signed a four-and-a-half year deal, denied his move was motivated by money. He said: “I could could have gone to West Ham for more money but [...]
Babel looks set for Hoffenheim switch January 18, 2011 HOLLAND forward Ryan Babel looks set to part company with the Liverpool after an offer from German side Hoffenheim was accepted. Babel cost Liverpool in excess of £10m when he arrived from Ajax in 2007 but scored just 22 goals in 146 appearances. Liverpool are expected to use the funds from the Babel transfer to [...]
City firm to put £1m into fencing January 18, 2011 CITY insurance firm Beazley has pledged £1m of funding for British fencing to boost hopes of Olympic gold at London 2012. The five-year partnership comes at a crucial time for the sport following 59 per cent cuts in funding from UK Sport. The investment will be put towards GB teams, the British Fencing National Academy [...]
White admits interest in RFU job January 18, 2011 RUGBY UNION: South Africa’s World Cup winning coach Jake White is considering applying to become the Rugby Football Union’s new performance directo. “I am interested but I am waiting for a detailed job description and to find out how much responsibility the director will have,” said White, who is spending this week with London Irish [...]