Europa League prize money: Manchester United triumph more lucrative than their Champions League campaign May 25, 2017 Manchester United pocketed €14.7m (£12.7m) in prize money after winning the Europa League with a 2-0 win over Ajax in the final. The Premier League giants secured the final winner's prize of €6.5m to add to the €8.2m they'd already earned from European football governing body Uefa. Ajax, whose total wage bill is more than [...]
The Treatment review: A darkly satirical take on the movie business and its players May 5, 2017 The Treatment is a work of lofty, detached genius, reminiscent of the jostling intellectualism of Martin Amis – it's dense, complex, and utterly assured of its own brilliance. On face value, it’s about how the media – in this case, the film industry – edits and rewrites “truth” until it’s at best a distant cousin [...]
Sleepless review: A buzzing cast can’t rescue this low-rent Die Hard-alike May 5, 2017 Universally recognised as the greatest film about clambering around inside air vents ever made, Die Hard has inspired a long list of distinguished imitators, each of them about crawling around inside different kinds of building. Among them was 2011 French action film Nuit Blanche, about a bent cop who gets tangled up in a [...]
More than 70 MPs write open letter to BBC director general accusing the broadcaster of bias in its Brexit coverage March 21, 2017 A group of more than 70 MPs have published a letter to BBC director general Tony Hall attacking the broadcaster's Brexit coverage and warning that it could "undermine our efforts to carve out a new, global role for this country". "It particularly pains us to see how so much of the good economic news we've has [...]
Arsenal players want Arsene Wenger to sign a new contract, insists Gunners striker Olivier Giroud March 20, 2017 Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has declared that he and his team-mates want Arsene Wenger to sign a new contract despite the team’s current alarming slump. Wenger’s future remains uncertain, with the Frenchman yet to reveal whether he intends to extend his 20-year stay in north London and club chiefs silent on an increasingly sensitive issue. [...]
Masters 2017: Tiger Woods still hopeful of bidding for fifth Green Jacket at Augusta despite injury troubles March 20, 2017 Former world No1 Tiger Woods insists he still hopes to be fit for next month’s Masters, despite scrapping plans to make his latest comeback at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Woods, 41, has completed just one tournament since 2015 due to persistent back problems and was last seen in competition six weeks ago when pulling out [...]
Jermain Defoe dreaming of Russia 2018 World Cup after earning long-awaited England recall March 20, 2017 Evergreen Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe admits he is desperate to capitalise on his second chance with England by earning a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad for next year’s World Cup in Russia. Defoe’s decision to leave the Premier League for Toronto and Major League Soccer in 2014 appeared to have dealt his international career a [...]
Leyton Orient winding-up order adjourned until June as owner Francesco Becchetti vows to inject £1m March 20, 2017 Leyton Orient have avoided administration – for now, at least – after the League Two club’s controversial owner Francesco Becchetti staved off a winding-up order brought by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Becchetti settled the unpaid tax bill but, at a High Court hearing today, was given until 12 June to pay off four other [...]
Six Nations 2017: France and Ireland show cunning to outfox Wales and England March 20, 2017 Scrum to France, final play, 5m out. France five points ahead and frothing with Gallic trickery. Monstrous prop, Uini Atonio suddenly needs a head injury assessment which sees France return their top tighthead, Rabah Slimani, to the field. As a prop there is no scenario of greater importance than a defensive scrum 5m from one’s [...]
Rory McIlroy may not be winning but I’m sure he’s on the cusp of another prolific run March 20, 2017 He may have been beaten to the Arnold Palmer Invitational by a great finish from Marc Leishman, but Rory McIlroy looked magnificent once again over the past few days at Bay Hill. It could have been a different result if Rory had been able to apply more pressure on the back nine on Sunday, but [...]