Southampton march on towards European history with win over Manchester United January 11, 2015 Southampton manager Ronald Koeman insists his team can continue to defy expectations and earn a Champions League debut after they climbed to third in the Premier League with a landmark victory yesterday. Midfielder Dusan Tadic’s 69th-minute goal earned the Saints a first league win at Manchester United for 27 years and lifted them above their [...]
City edge closer to Bony deal as £28m fee agreed January 11, 2015 REIGNING Premier League champions Manchester City are set to bolster their attacking options by concluding the transfer of prolific Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony after agreeing a £28m fee with Swansea City. The deal is believed to be £25m cash upfront with a further £3m in performance-related add-ons, while City expect to finalise the 26-year-old’s [...]
Alan Pardew: Top six the aim if Crystal Palace survive their relegation dogfight January 8, 2015 Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew insists his side can gatecrash the Premier League’s top six next term if he masterminds a successful top-flight survival bid in the remaining months of the campaign. Pardew succeeded the sacked Neil Warnock last week, signing a three-and-a-half year deal at Selhurst Park, after leaving Newcastle and swapping the relative [...]
Sport Comment: Why size isn’t everything for Pardew when choosing clubs January 8, 2015 WHEN word got out that Crystal Palace wanted to take Alan Pardew from Newcastle back to his old Selhurst Park haunts to replace Neil Warnock, there was much chin-scratching and shaking of heads. Why oh why would the Premier League’s second-longest serving manager give up his job in charge of the Geordie nation’s beloved club [...]
Palace can cause a shock with Pardew back in town January 8, 2015 HAVING already parted ways with Tony Pulis before a ball had even been kicked, Crystal Palace bizarrely became the next Premier League club to relieve their manager of his duties by replacing the lacklustre Neil Warnock with Alan Pardew. Pardew’s tenure at Newcastle drew praise and criticism almost in equal measure on and off the [...]
Who will go down from the Premier League? Spread betting on relegation January 8, 2015 SPORTING INDEX’S Premier League Relegation Index gives points to teams finishing in the bottom six places at the end of the season. They are awarded as follows: Bottom = 60pts, Second Bottom = 40pts, Third Bottom = 30pts, Fourth Bottom = 20pts, Fifth Bottom = 10pts, Sixth Bottom = 5pts. All others = 0. With [...]
Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver ups Rangers bid to £20m January 8, 2015 The US owner of the Phoenix Suns is not giving up on his ambition for Scottish football club Glasgow Rangers. After having his initial £18m takeover bid rebuffed, the American financier, 53, has offered £20m for a majority stake in the club. Sarver also promised to give a short-term loan of £6.5m. Rangers said the [...]
My nine key predictions for the City over the 12 months ahead January 7, 2015 It's with some trepidation that I set out my predictions for the year ahead in corporate Britain, not least because the first of them might appear misguided even by the time you read this. ONE Tesco, which today updates the City on Christmas trading, will be the winner among the food retailing establishment’s “big four” [...]
Sport Comment: Gerrard’s LA Galaxy transfer feels like two years too soon January 7, 2015 IT WAS hard not to adopt the trademark furrowed brow of the man himself as Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard this week explained his reasons for deciding to leave his club of 25 years for America’s Major League Soccer when his contract expires in the summer. Gerrard wants to play for a club at which he [...]
Wilfried Bony could be Manchester City’s most expensive January transfer window signing ever January 7, 2015 Manchester City are understood to be on the verge of signing Ivorian striker Wilfried Bony from Swansea City, but may need to break their January transfer window record in order to seal the deal. Bony will reportedly cost the reigning Premier League champions upwards of £30m, even though he is soon to jet off on [...]