London could get second NBA game as basketball league considers European expansion January 16, 2019 Tickets are like gold dust, those who manage to buy them flock from across continental Europe to London just for the privilege, and celebrities clamour to be courtside. By most metrics, the NBA’s annual regular-season game at the O2 is a resounding success. This year’s match, which sees the New York Knicks take on the [...]
The Hundred shows Tom Harrison and the ECB putting all of its eggs into one basket – will the gamble pay off? January 15, 2019 For a competition that doesn’t yet exist The Hundred – if, as expected, that is what it will eventually be called – has caused an awful lot of consternation. Since being announced in April, information about the new 100-ball format has leaked gradually, like a broken tap, with each drop prompting more questions than the [...]
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a perfect fit for the Manchester United job and has given the club a decision to make January 15, 2019 Less than month ago Manchester United were a dysfunctional club, with a team susceptible to being turned over and a manager who had lost the dressing room. Now, under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, they have been galvanised, their collective spirit is back and, with six wins from six games, they are an opponent to be feared [...]
Old friends become foes as Arsenal legends Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira face each other as managers for the first time January 15, 2019 They stood side by side for club and country over a decade ago, winning just about every trophy there was to be won, but on Wednesday evening, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira will put their playing pasts behind them as they go head to head as managers for the first time. The Arsenal and France [...]
Is this the end? Andy Murray’s emotional Australian Open defeat by Roberto Bautista Agut leaves tennis fans in limbo January 14, 2019 “If today was my last match, it was a brilliant way to finish.” That was how Andy Murray summed up an epic, gutsy and emotional contest with Roberto Bautista Agut at the Australian Open which left tennis fans in an enthralled yet slightly confused state. In the end Murray lost the five-set, first-round contest 6-4, [...]
Big brands doing big deals show the UK sports sponsorship industry remains in rude health January 14, 2019 January is typically the time to look forward, to forecast and predict what will happen in the coming year. To understand the state of the UK sponsorship industry, however, it’s more worthwhile to look at what happened in the months leading up to Christmas. Rewind to the week after Black Friday in December and big [...]
Spyro Reignited Trilogy review: The purple dragon with attitude is back January 14, 2019 Back in the late 1990s Spyro, the purple dragon with a bad boy attitude, aspired to be the next Mario or Sonic. Though he never reached the same heights of mascot fame, he was beloved by fans and has at least done enough to earn this remastered edition for nostalgia junkies. With the Spyro Reignited [...]
Fallout 76 review : Bethesda fails to cram multiplayer into the long-running RPG series January 14, 2019 Fallout 76, the latest in the long-running series of RPGs, is the answer to a question no-one was asking: what if it was multiplayer? In the new release, you play as a member of a nuclear bomb shelter sent out to reclaim post-apocalyptic America. You explore Appalachia (a reimagined West Virginia) and scavenge the wasteland [...]
Tottenham 0-1 Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer shows tactical prowess as Marcus Rashford makes it six straight wins January 13, 2019 Talk of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s perfect start to life as Manchester United manager has tended to be accompanied by caveats. Easy run of fixtures. Class players. Made to look good by what preceded him. Barring the latter, none of those points hold true any more after a 1-0 win over Tottenham at Wembley which showed Solskjaer [...]
Arsenal’s slump in form is making Unai Emery’s omission of Mesut Ozil harder to justify January 13, 2019 Nothing fortifies a manager’s decision-making like wins, and when you are on a long unbeaten run you can do much as you please. Change formations week to week? Sure. Leave it late to take the points? No problem; never in doubt. Freeze out the club’s top earner, indeed one of the best paid players in [...]