West Brom boss Alan Pardew reinstates Jonny Evans as captain ahead of Premier League relegation six-pointer with Huddersfield February 22, 2018 West Brom manager Alan Pardew has reinstated Jonny Evans as captain despite him being disciplined for breaking a curfew during a club trip to Barcelona this month. Evans was among four players accused of stealing a taxi on a night out in the Catalan city and was stripped of the armband for last weekend’s FA [...]
EFL clubs bring forward summer transfer deadline to mirror Premier League February 22, 2018 English Football League (EFL) clubs have followed their Premier League counterparts and voted to bring forward their summer transfer deadline to early September. The 72 clubs in the second, third and fourth tiers have agreed to close this summer’s transfer window at 5pm on Thursday 9 August – the same time as teams in the [...]
Manchester United’s new YouTube channel highlights platform’s influence on football February 22, 2018 Such was the hype surrounding big tech’s supposed interest in acquiring live Premier League broadcast rights that YouTube’s name was inevitably thrown into the mix alongside Sky and BT as a potential bidder in the current auction. Yet Google’s online video behemoth was never interested. Why would they be? As demonstrated by Manchester United’s migration [...]
Chris Tremlett: White ball-only contracts are the future of English cricket February 21, 2018 Alex Hales and Adil Rashid opting to sign white ball-only contracts with their counties has caused a stir but I say fair play to the pair of them – they certainly won’t be the last players to concentrate solely on limited-overs cricket. I understand the fuss, which is accentuated by Hales and Rashid having played [...]
DEBATE: With rising automation, is the Royal Society of Arts right that it’s time for a universal basic income? February 21, 2018 With rising automation, is the Royal Society of Arts right that it’s time for a universal basic income? Dr Lauren Ware, lecturer in philosophy at the School of European Culture and Languages at the University of Kent, says YES. We suffer from a culture of competitive overwork that is unpleasant, unhealthy, and unsustainable. Faced with [...]
Trevor Steven: Paul Pogba should be Manchester United’s Kevin De Bruyne but has failed to adapt to the Premier League February 20, 2018 When Paul Pogba left Manchester United in 2012 it was in large part down to Sir Alex Ferguson’s hesitation to give him the first-team action that he felt ready for, perhaps due to doubts about whether the 19-year-old could adapt his game to be successful in the Premier League. Pogba went to Juventus and thrived [...]
Chelsea v Barcelona preview: Antonio Conte admits to having sleepless nights over prospect of facing Barca February 19, 2018 Chelsea boss Antonio Conte admits the prospect of facing Barcelona has given him sleepless nights but insists his side are ready to embrace the tag of underdogs and topple their fearsome rivals in the Champions League last 16. While they are unbeaten in their last seven matches against Barcelona, the Blues head into Tuesday’s first [...]
Barcelona star Lionel Messi backed to overcome Chelsea hoodoo in Champions League last 16 tie February 19, 2018 Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has played down the significance of Lionel Messi’s failure to score in previous matches with Chelsea ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash between the teams. Barca’s No10 has scored 97 goals in the competition yet has drawn a blank in eight appearances against the Blues, even missing a penalty in the [...]
Arsenal scores record £200m shirt sponsorship deal February 19, 2018 Arsenal today signed record-breaking five-year shirt sponsorship deal with Emirates. The extension to Arsenal’s current partnership with Emirates is understood to be worth in excess of £200m, the largest sponsorship deal ever agreed by the Premier League club. Emirates branding will feature across the North London club’s shirts and training kit until the end of [...]
Chelsea v Barcelona: Champions League tie gives Eden Hazard the chance to finally step up to the European elite February 18, 2018 It was the Champions League that persuaded Eden Hazard to join Chelsea in the first place. Early in the summer of 2012, when the Belgian had the pick of Europe’s leading clubs, it was Chelsea’s triumph in Europe’s top club competition that tipped the balance in their favour. “When they won the Champions League, I [...]