Theo: I blame myself for World Cup snub August 31, 2010 THEO WALCOTT doesn’t blame anyone else but himself for his World Cup omission – and insists England boss Fabio Capello has faith in him to succeed. Walcott, 21, was surprisingly left out of Capello’s 23-man squad for South Africa in the summer, but has bounced back with four goals already for Arsenal this season. Winger [...]
Black Cats purr at arrival of £13m Gyan August 31, 2010 SUNDERLAND boss Steve Bruce told of his delight last night after smashing the club’s record transfer fee to land Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan in a £13m deal. The powerful frontman spent all day in the north-east thrashing out a deal before finally agreeing to make the switch from French club Rennes 20 minutes before the [...]
Top-flight spend down £100m in a year August 31, 2010 CASH-CONSCIOUS top-flight clubs slashed their summer spending by 22 per cent in the quietest transfer window for four years. This year’s total spend of around £350m was £100m down on last summer’s transfer window and some £175m short of the 2008 peak of £525m, according to business advisory firm Deloitte. Analysts blamed the slow market [...]
SUMMER SALES August 31, 2010 Beausejour completes Blues trio BIRMINGHAM CITY boss Alex McLeish put the seal on a productive deadline day with the capture of Chilean international winger Jean Beausejour on a three-year deal. The 26-year-old left-sided player arrives at St Andrews for an undisclosed fee from Club America in Mexico. He joins former Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb, who [...]
Tweet and sour: KP in f-word web rant at England snub August 31, 2010 DROPPED England batsman Kevin Pietersen reacted with a foul-mouthed Twitter rant yesterday after learning that he had lost his place in the one-day and Twenty20 sides. Pietersen, who has also joined Surrey on loan for the rest of the season, revealed his snub in an angry tweet hours before the move was officially confirmed. He [...]
Borthwick and Stevens will gatecrash England World Cup squad, says Venter August 31, 2010 SARACENS boss Brendan Venter is convinced Steve Borthwick and Matt Stevens will force their way back into the England squad for next year’s World Cup. Injury-hit Borthwick has gone from skipper to wilderness in the space of six months, while Stevens, owing to a drug ban, is not even permitted to play again until January. [...]
Weary Djokovic survives five-set US Open thriller August 31, 2010 THIRD seed Novak Djokovic survived a huge scare last night to limp into the second round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows. The 2007 finalist was forced to come back from two sets to one down and a break down to eventually beat fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in over [...]
Unsettled Robinho seals £22m AC Milan switch August 31, 2010 ROBINHO yesterday spoke of his delight after ending his unsettled spell at Manchester City with a £22m move to AC Milan. The Brazilian striker joined the Eastlands club in a British record £32.5m move from Real Madrid exactly two years ago today, but never lived up to the club’s lofty expectations, despite 14 goals in [...]
Villa’s MacDonald unfazed by top-flight job pressure August 31, 2010 ASTON VILLA caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald insists he has not taken lightly the decision to put himself forward for the job on a permanent basis. MacDonald reached his decision after bouncing back from a demoralising 6-0 defeat at Newcastle with Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Everton. “I know that managers, from week to week, if they [...]
Omitting Casey was a big call but I can see Monty’s logic August 30, 2010 WITH the number of top-class players he had at his disposal, there was always going to be controversy and the odd surprise in Colin Montgomerie’s three wildcard picks for the Ryder Cup. Indeed, the fact that the new world No8, Paul Casey, couldn’t force his way into Monty’s thoughts for Celtic Manor just goes to [...]