Martinez on Wigan radar as Bruce weighs up Sunderland June 1, 2009 WIGAN boss Steve Bruce is on the verge of being appointed Sunderland manager after the two clubs agreed a compensation package. A deal could be completed as early as today after Sunderland officials flew to Portugal, where Bruce is on holiday, to open talks. Wigan chairman Dave Whelan had demanded £3m to release Bruce from [...]
Ancelotti promises to recreate his European success as Chelsea boss June 1, 2009 FORMER AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was anointed Chelsea manager yesterday and immediately vowed to deliver the Champions League glory the Blues so desperately crave. Ancelotti, whose three-year contract begins on 1 July, has an outstanding continental pedigree that helped make him Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s No1 choice. The Italian, 49, led Milan to two [...]
Hardcore of fund bosses bank on falls June 1, 2009 A DWINDLING number of hardcore high-profile fund managers continue to hoard cash and shelter in defensive equities, in the belief that recent gains on the FTSE 100 are part of a bear market rally – not a recovery. As the FTSE 100 yesterday broke through the 4,500-point barrier, compared to lows around 3,500 just three [...]
AnaCap vehicle to target financial services firms June 1, 2009 EUROPEAN private equity firm AnaCap has bucked the dim fundraising environment by gathering €575m (£496m) for a fund that will aim to snap up vulnerable UK financial services firms. The group, whose heavyweight investors include Goldman Sachs, Allianz and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, said the fund is twice the size of its other vehicle, [...]
F&C adds two heavyweights to its board June 1, 2009 ASSET manager F&C has added a former PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) chairman and a former chief executive of rival Henderson to its board, in a bold reshuffle ahead of its shift to corporate independence. The group, currently being demerged from life insurer Friends Provident, named ex-Henderson chief executive Roger Yates as a non-executive director. He will be [...]
High-profile Bath trio quit club June 1, 2009 RUGBY UNION: Bath joint captains Michael Lipman and Alex Crockett, and winger Andrew Higgins, yesterday resigned from the club – hours before an internal hearing into allegations they refused to take drug tests. The trio deny refusing to take tests, calling the claims “scurrilous and unsubstantiated”. The Rugby Football Union has asked Bath for more [...]
Legend O’Brien dies aged 92 June 1, 2009 RACING: Vincent O’Brien, considered by many to be the greatest racehorse trainer of all time, died yesterday at his home in Co Kildare, Ireland, aged 92. O’Brien, who ended his 51-year career in 1994, claimed 16 English and 27 Irish Classic victories, 25 Royal Ascot wins and 23 Cheltenham Festival successes.
London claims more victims June 1, 2009 IT was described as the tournament that no-one wanted to win, but the fact than no one player took a firm grasp of the European Open trophy just goes to show how tough the London GC in Ash, Kent is. I’m fortunate to have won there twice and know just how difficult the back nine [...]
Blanchflower: jobless to rise 100k a month June 1, 2009 BRITISH unemployment will continue to rise this year and next, adding some 100,000 more to jobless numbers a month, former Bank of England monetary policy committee (MPC) member David Blanchflower said yesterday. Blanchflower, who stepped down from the MPC at the end of last month, said the current recession made the economic outlook particularly difficult [...]
Markets lifted by Chinese manufacturing expansion June 1, 2009 NEWS that China’s manufacturing sector expanded in May for the third consecutive month boosted optimism and lifted world markets yesterday. China’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 53.1 from 53.5 in April, but remained above the critical 50 level, which separates expansion from contraction. Investors were relieved that the pace of contraction was slowing [...]