England’s top three batsmen still up in the air for this summer’s Ashes following inconclusive West Indies series February 13, 2019 Only one Test match now stands between England and the start of this summer’s Ashes. Despite having just spent the last three weeks playing that very format in the Caribbean, they are no closer to solving their perennial problem. The phrase “first name on the team sheet” is a common one in sport; right now [...]
Tracey Emin at the White Cube Bermondsey: An agonised howl marks Emin’s return as an artist February 13, 2019 It’s been years since the last major Tracey Emin exhibition, but she returns with an agonised howl of a show exploring the gaping emotional wounds that threatened to destroy her as both an artist and a human being. The White Cube’s first room is dominated by 50 giant selfies of Emin in bed, taken on [...]
Ed Warner: Good riddance to ‘no compromise’, the funding policy that sucked joy out of sport February 13, 2019 Good riddance to ‘no compromise’. UK Sport, the quango responsible for handing over National Lottery funds to Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic sports, has consulted the public, unsurprisingly found that it loves medal-winners, but has still chosen to change its funding strategy for the Games in Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles four years later. And [...]
Chelsea face a season-defining fortnight starting with a Europa League trip to Malmo, but they are yet to win away in 2019 February 13, 2019 On the back of Chelsea’s worst defeat in Premier League history, Maurizio Sarri faces a battle to galvanise his side for a season-defining fortnight. The Blues meet Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday night, Manchester City, who humiliated them 6-0 last weekend, in the EFL Cup final a week on Sunday, [...]
Italian football club Juventus enlist Morgan Stanley to help in €175m bonds sale February 13, 2019 Italian footballing giants Juventus have ramped up their efforts to raise money after paying €100m to buy Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo last summer, issuing bonds to investors. The club originally planned to offer €150m (£131.4m) worth of bonds maturing in around five years at a 3.5 per cent yield, but City A.M. understands this has increased to €175m. Read more: [...]
Manchester United 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain: Ruthless French champions hand Ole Gunnar Solksjaer his first setback February 12, 2019 This was billed as the perfect time to play Paris Saint-Germain. No Neymar. No Edinson Cavani. No Thomas Meunier. A half-fit Marco Verratti. Defenders playing in midfield. A dip in form. A manager speaking openly about implementing “Plan D”. But despite all the positivity of the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era and the away wins over [...]
UK Sport’s new funding strategy: is the era of the medal-hoovering “no compromise” policy over? February 12, 2019 One phrase has come to define Britain’s transformation from international underachievers to major force at Olympic and Paralympic Games over the last 15 years: “no compromise”. The slogan was coined to distil a narrowing of UK Sport’s funding focus; from 2004, only governing bodies and athletes likely to win gold, silver or bronze in the [...]
Trevor Steven: Goalscoring genius Sergio Aguero is my leading striker of the Premier League era February 12, 2019 Ian Rush got it right this week when he said that we have Sergio Aguero to thank for reminding us what it means to be an old-fashioned centre-forward. Rarely do you see Aguero on the flanks or even outside of the width of the penalty area. He is too focused on scoring goals; that is [...]
Future in doubt for Formula One’s iconic races with Silverstone and Monza deals set to expire this year February 12, 2019 Just four weeks remain until the new Formula One season begins, yet doubts still linger over the future of some of the sport’s most iconic tracks beyond this year. Britain’s Silverstone has led the revolt against F1 owners Liberty Media as one of five races whose contracts are set to expire. Also among them is [...]
Manchester United v Paris Saint-Germain: French champions face crunch time in the Champions League amid difficult spell February 11, 2019 It’s crunch time for Paris Saint-Germain. With the Champions League knock-out stage about to begin February is the month which traditionally makes or breaks the French club’s season. When PSG were drawn against Manchester United in the last 16 on 17 December they might have been quietly pleased with their lot. But the sacking of [...]