City to take big step towards title December 8, 2011 IT has been a rollercoaster couple of weeks for Andre Villas-Boas, but he will be delighted with consecutive 3-0 victories against Newcastle and Valencia. Consistency has been a major issue for Chelsea, though, and they face a stern test at home on Monday night against Manchester City. The West London side have lost a disappointing [...]
Sunnyhillboy on an attractive mark with McCoy in the saddle December 8, 2011 PAUL Nicholls needs just one more winner at Cheltenham over the next two days to make it 150 at the home of National Hunt racing and looking at today’s card, it might not take him that long to reach such an historic landmark. In fact, he has every chance of landing the main betting event [...]
Coalition is confused about business December 6, 2011 WE love you – actually, no, we hate you. That, roughly speaking, seems to be the government’s attitude to business and business leaders. The signals are so mixed that they are utterly incomprehensible. Take tax policy and incentives. The official position is – well, there isn’t really one. The coalition is likely to retain the [...]
O’Neill wants instant impact December 6, 2011 FOOTBALL: New Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill wants an instant reaction from his players so they can drag themselves away from the drop zone. O’Neill took over the manager’s position at the Stadium of Light on Saturday before watching the Black Cats squander lose 2-1 at Wolves. He said: “Sunday’s game against Blackburn is very important [...]
Shops, sun and spice: Marrakech is the perfect winter weekend getaway December 5, 2011 HAVING spent a bit of time in Morocco before, I was bracing myself. Six years ago, on a lone voyage on a rusty old ship from Algeciras in Spain to Tangier, I was accosted by three tipsy artifact sellers on board, before getting my camera pinched on arrival at the dusty old port. Further into [...]
CRUEL FOR CATS | O’Neill watches as Sunderland crash at Wolves December 4, 2011 SUNDERLAND’S new manager Martin O’Neill (inset) received an unwelcome reminder of the scale of the task he will inherit when he officially takes over this morning when his side lost yesterday at Wolves. The Black Cats, including Nicklas Bendtner (pictured above) squandered a lead and missed a penalty before collapsing to two Steven Fletcher goals, [...]
Wolves make Sunderland pay penalty December 4, 2011 WOLVES (2) vs SUNDERLAND (1) WOLVES manager Mick McCarthy delighted in ruining his good friend Martin O’Neill’s day, as his battling side deepened the woes the Northern Irishman is poised to inherit. Two goals from Steven Fletcher cancelled out Kieran Richardson’s thumping opener in a match that hinged on a controversial penalty won and then [...]
Chelsea’s problems set to increase December 1, 2011 ANDRE Villas-Boas is a man under pressure. Following a decent start to the season, Chelsea have now lost three of their last four games across all competitions and their confidence appears to be shot to pieces. I haven’t seen such a disorganised Blues defence for years and Liverpool made them pay again on Tuesday night. [...]
Sunderlandmake Bruce first boss to be sacked November 30, 2011 FORMER Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill last night emerged as the early hot favourite for the Sunderland job after the Premier League strugglers sacked Steve Bruce. Ex-Wigan boss Bruce became the first top-flight casualty of the season after winning just twice in the first 13 games of the season – a run that left the [...]
RAPID RESPONSES November 7, 2011 Pay may be earned Albert Ellis made some good points about executive pay [The debate over chief executives’ pay isn’t simple, yesterday]. The debate seems to have reached a stage where too many look for data to support their prejudice about overcompensated fat cats and don’t investigate any further the quality of the studies involved. [...]