Football Association clears Premier League clubs to field weakened teams in the FA Cup and confirms plans to increase prize money January 8, 2017 Premier League clubs have been given the green light to field weakened teams in the FA Cup after Football Association chiefs said they would not take action against sides who made wholesale changes. Top-flight teams’ attitude towards the competition is in the spotlight again after six crashed out at the earliest opportunity over the first two [...]
Everton sell training ground naming rights to company co-owned by Arsenal investor Alisher Usmanov and majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri January 6, 2017 Everton's training ground will be renamed USM Finch Farm after the Premier League club agreed a naming rights deal with the holding company for the businesses owned by Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov. USM Holdings, which is also part-owned by Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, counts Russia's largest mining company Metalloinvest, Russian social network VKontakte and stakes [...]
Pep Guardiola dismisses retirement talk as West Ham’s Slaven Bilic talks up qualities of two transfer targets January 5, 2017 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has doused suggestions he is contemplating retirement as he prepares to embark upon his maiden FA Cup clash against West Ham at the London Stadium on Friday. Guardiola moved to clarify comments made last week in which he indicated he was pondering the end of his coaching career, which led [...]
Up for the cup: Sutton United bask in overdue return to spotlight January 5, 2017 Non-league Sutton United may be cast as extras in the FA Cup script but nearly 30 years after their last show-stopping third round performance the part-timers are busy rehearsing their lines for a long overdue encore. It was January 1989 when Sutton, playing as they are today in English football’s fifth tier, knocked out top-flight Coventry [...]
Everton new boy Ademola Lookman attracted by Ronald Koeman’s development skills January 5, 2017 Everton's new teenage signing Ademola Lookman says manager Ronald Koeman's record at developing young players convinced him to join the Premier League club. The highly-rated 19-year-old has become most expensive player ever signed from a League One side after The Toffees agreed a deal worth up to £11m with Charlton. His performances both on the wing and up front for [...]
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Chelsea could struggle after Tottenham ended their all-conquering sequence January 5, 2017 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Chelsea could struggle to regain momentum in the Premier League title race after Tottenham ended their 13-match winning run on Wednesday. The leaders slipped to their first league defeat since September as two Dele Alli headers lifted Tottenham to third place and gave fresh hope to the rest of the chasing [...]
Three important investment lessons to take from 2016 January 5, 2017 Did anybody anywhere in the world put an accumulator bet on the UK voting to leave the European Union, Donald Trump winning the US presidential election and Leicester City winning the Premier League? The bookmakers believe not and you’d think they might have noticed – after all, these events were considered so unlikely that [...]
Red Bull deny claims of £650m West Ham takeover approach January 5, 2017 West Ham United are not the target of a Red Bull takeover, according to the company's global head of football. The Hammers were reported to have turned down a bid from the energy drink company who own football clubs in America, Germany, Brazil and their native Austria, fuelling fears amongst some fans the club would be [...]
Three important investment lessons to take from 2016 January 5, 2017 Did anybody anywhere in the world put an accumulator bet on the UK voting to leave the European Union, Donald Trump winning the US presidential election and Leicester City winning the Premier League? The bookmakers believe not and you’d think they might have noticed – after all, these events were considered so unlikely that just [...]
Tottenham Hotspur 2, Chelsea 0: Antonio Conte and Gary Cahill urge beaten Blues to shrug off defeat January 4, 2017 Chelsea boss Antonio Conte shrugged off the long-term significance of defeat and backed his side to embark upon a fresh winning run after coming unstuck against rivals Tottenham at White Hart Lane. The Blues missed the chance to go eight points clear of second-placed Liverpool at the Premier League summit, while also failing to set [...]