Les Ferdinand interview: QPR director of football on making the club a talent factory again February 5, 2020 Les Ferdinand harbours dreams of leading QPR back into the Premier League but the club legend and current director of football insists a new era of success in west London will not be ushered in overnight. Ferdinand, who marked five years in the role this week, believes the Championship outfit’s return to a philosophy of [...]
South Africa send England back to earth win a bump in seven-wicket ODI defeat in Cape Town February 4, 2020 After 205 days, it was back to earth with a bump for England in Cape Town on Tuesday. The last time Eoin Morgan’s side had played a One-Day International it was that wonderful sun-soaked July evening at Lord’s when the most unbelievable sequence of events saw them beat New Zealand in a super over and [...]
Agents row in extra-time: Why Fifa is at loggerheads with football’s leading intermediaries over new rule proposals February 4, 2020 A battle which has been rumbling on behind the scenes in football appears set to explode into full public view over the coming months, with the sport’s governing body going head to head with some of its most powerful figures. The issue at the heart of the matter has nothing to do with what occurs [...]
Air Asia chief executive Tony Fernandes denies $50m bribery claims February 4, 2020 The chief executive of Malaysian airline Air Asia Tony Fernandes today denied allegations he was paid a $50m (£38m) bribe via his Formula 1 team by aircraft giant Airbus. Prosecutors alleged Airbus paid a bribe of $50m through sponsorship of the now-defunct Caterham F1 team which was owned by Fernandes to win orders from Air [...]
Sheffield United: Europa League qualification is ridiculous yet looks achievable for Chris Wilder’s never-say-die Blades February 4, 2020 Discussing a recent game, Chris Wilder made the point that football is not all about tactics – and I agree. More than anything it’s about players’ commitment to their job; the raw materials that go into being a professional. After that, extreme talents can make the difference for top sides but, as an example of [...]
Super Bowl LIV: How Patrick Mahomes turned the tide in the Kansas City Chiefs’ favour to down the San Francisco 49ers February 3, 2020 It was billed as the Patrick Mahomes Super Bowl, and with 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter on Sunday night it looked like that prediction would come to pass – just not for the reasons expected. Having not thrown an interception in 164 postseason passes, the Kansas City Chiefs’ star quarterback threw his second [...]
Saudi win shows there’s plenty more life left in lionheart Graeme McDowell February 3, 2020 First Lee Westwood and now Graeme McDowell; wins for stalwarts of the European team are coming thick and fast at the start of this Ryder Cup year. It’s funny how things pan out. Fittingly, McDowell, held off an American contingent of Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson to win his first European Tour title for almost [...]
Tottenham 2-0 Manchester City: Spurs win in classic Jose Mourinho style to move fifth in the Premier League February 2, 2020 It has taken some time but Tottenham have now experienced peak Jose Mourinho. A return to his past glories came in the perfect scenario – against his arch foe – and, more importantly, in the most traditional of manners. Tottenham had three shots, spent the majority of the game with every player behind the ball [...]
Uncle Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre review: Toby Jones delivers an acting masterclass January 31, 2020 Just as Dickens charted the plight of the underclass in Victorian England, Chekhov chronicled the slow collapse of the Russian aristocracy at the end of the 19th century. In Ian Rickson’s production of Uncle Vanya, adapted by award-winning playwright Conor McPherson, this breakdown is made literal, with trees winding through broken windows and vertiginous bookcases [...]
The Lighthouse film review: Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe shine in this tale of madness at sea January 31, 2020 From kids’ TV show Round the Twist to video game Bioshock, popular culture has painted lighthouses as, at best, weird and spooky, and at worst responsible for the complete collapse of society. Well guess what: it’s yet another bad day for the lighthouse marketing department. Robert Eggers follows up his brilliant 2016 period horror The [...]