Ex-Sunderland director wants to buy Newcastle July 12, 2009 FORMER Sunderland director Charlie Chawke admitted yesterday that he is plotting to buy bitter local rivals Newcastle. Chawke, part of the Drumaville consortium that bought Sunderland in 2006, said he had opened talks about buying the Magpies from sportswear tycoon Mike Ashley. The Irish publican faces competition from several other groups, with Malaysian and American [...]
Wiggins keeps yellow jersey in his Tour sights July 12, 2009 BRITAIN’S Bradley Wiggins remains hot on the heels of the overall leaders after yesterday’s ninth stage of the Tour de France. Garmin rider Wiggins lies fifth, 46 seconds behind yellow jersey-holder Rinaldo Nocenti of the AG2R team, after all the leading contenders finished in the main pack. Pierrick Fedrigo, of Bbox-Bouygues, out-sprinted Liquigas rider Franco [...]
Chelsea will buy again in our own time, says Cech July 12, 2009 CHELSEA goalkeeper Petr Cech expects the club to do further business before the start of the season – but insists there is no hurry. The Blues have made just three signings this summer, with £18m Russia international Yuri Zhirkov the only major arrival. But Cech says new manager Carlo Ancelotti, who only took over on [...]
No World Cup for 2012 stadium July 12, 2009 OLYMPICS: London’s 2012 Olympic Stadium will not be used for football if England host the 2018 World Cup, the Government said yesterday. Mayor Boris Johnson had said it would be “foolish” to rule out retaining its 80,000 capacity for possible football use, but Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said it would be reduced to 25,000 and [...]
Kaymer seals back-to-back wins July 12, 2009 GOLF: Germany’s Martin Kaymer will go into this week’s Open Championship on the back of successive European Tour wins after claiming the Scottish Open yesterday. Kaymer, fresh from his French Open victory last week, fired a two-under-par final round to finish on 15 under, two shots clear of his nearest challengers. Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and [...]
Schumacher cool on Brawn talk July 12, 2009 FORMULA ONE: Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher has played down suggestions he could join Brawn GP in a technical role. Schumacher, who still tests for former team Ferrari, is rumoured to be linking up with ex-boss Ross Brawn next season. But the German said: “If I’d wanted to work, I had the options, and may even [...]
Ennis leaps to high jump victory July 12, 2009 ATHLETICS: Jessica Ennis cleared a season’s best 1.91m to win the high jump at the world trials and UK Championships in Birmingham yesterday. Phillips Idowu won the triple-jump with one successful attempt at 17.05m, while sprinter Dwain Chambers withdrew from the 200m.
Crazy market is Man City’s fault – Benitez July 9, 2009 LIVERPOOL manager Rafael Benitez has slammed mega-rich Real Madrid and Manchester City for forcing up transfer prices with their money-no-object policies. Real have shelled out around £200m this summer and plan to spend more, while City, backed by Sheikh Mansour, reportedly offered Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o wages of £250,000 per week. And Benitez blames such [...]
We’ll rediscover winning formula, insists Hamilton July 9, 2009 WORLD champion Lewis Hamilton believes it’s only a matter of time before his McLaren team rediscovers its winning formula. The Surrey-based team have endured a dismal opening half of the F1 season, picking up just 13 points from the first eight races. But Hamilton, who lines up for this weekend’s German Grand Prix a full [...]
THOR BLIMEY July 9, 2009 BRITAIN’S David Millar was denied victory in the sixth stage of the Tour de France after being chased down with less than 2km left in Barcelona. The Scot was just held back in the climb for the finish at Montjuic, leaving Norway’s Thor Hushovd (above) to race through and record his seventh stage victory ahead [...]