ENGLAND VICTORY AS FIFA AGREE TO POPPY November 9, 2011 POPPYGATE: HOW THE ROW UNFOLDED FRIDAY Fifa president Sepp Blatter (above) rejects a request from the Football Association for England players to wear poppies against Spain in this weekend’s match against Spain at Wembley SUNDAY England and Chelsea star Frank Lampard (above) joins war veterans in condemning Fifa’s stance, with a spokesman for the player [...]
COMMENT November 9, 2011 SO common sense finally prevailed in the battle for England’s footballers to sport poppies on their shirts. The big question is: what on earth took so long? Poppies embroidered on black armbands was mooted days ago and has seemed the most sensible solution to this thorny issue ever since. England get to make the one-off [...]
Spain is the ultimate test, says Capello November 9, 2011 ENGLAND manager Fabio Capello admits the prospect of facing World Cup holders Spain has been rendered an even more daunting prospect than normal as a result of the absences of a clutch of key players. The Italian has opted to leave out Wayne Rooney, suspended for the first three games of next summer’s European Championships, [...]
How Spain left their nearly men tag behind November 9, 2011 SPAIN’S meteoric rise to the pinnacle of world football owes much to an Iberian back-to-basics coaching revolution, according to a man with one of the best CVs in the business. A decade ago Spain rivalled England as big tournament flops, but they arrive at Wembley for Saturday’s friendly as undisputed global frontrunners, having swept all [...]
Gold has doubts over West Ham Olympic Stadium move November 9, 2011 WEST HAM co-owner David Gold has admitted for the first time his club are not completely committed to taking up residency of the Olympic Stadium following next summer’s London Games. The Championship club were poised to sign a 125-year lease last month to move in to the £486m stadium, before the Olympic Park Legacy Company [...]
Leg injury still concerns Murray despite victory November 9, 2011 BRITISH No1 Andy Murray admitted he was still feeling his way back to full fitness during his second round win over Jeremy Chardy at the Paris Masters. Murray, aiming for a fourth consecutive tournament victory, extended his winning run to 17 matches with a routine 6-2, 6-4 defeat of the French wildcard. The 24-year-old was [...]
Jailed former Pakistan skipper to launch appeal November 9, 2011 DISGRACED former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has filed an appeal against the 30-month jail sentence he was handed last week for the part he played in the spot-fixing scandal. Butt, fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, as well as London-based sports agent Mazhar Majeed, have all begun spells behind bars for conspiring to and [...]
SPORT | IN BRIEF November 9, 2011 Johnson receives Moody backing RUGBY UNION: Former England captain Lewis Moody insists the RFU should stick by manager Martin Johnson and allow him the opportunity to lead the Red Rose to the 2015 World Cup. “The most important thing is that there are no knee-jerk reactions. It is essential for me Johnno continues,” said Moody who [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 9, 2011 WEIR GROUP Goldman Sachs rates the engineering company as a “buy” with a target price of 3,100p and marginally increases its 2012/13 earnings per share forecasts to reflect the broker’s increasing confidence that Weir’s joint ventures will begin to yield growing profitability. Key downsides for the group are weaker volumes, slower-than-expected economic recovery, raw material [...]
FTSE falls as Italy debt yields spook investors November 9, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares sank to their lowest close for a week yesterday on spiralling concerns over Italy’s debt as the country’s bond yields raced to dangerous levels. Italy was thrown into the spotlight as its 10-year bond yields shot above seven per cent, levels that forced bailouts in Ireland, Portugal and Greece, and as investors [...]
