Football Comment: Only Costa injury can stop Blues juggernaut October 5, 2014 YESTERDAY’S touchline scuffle between Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho was a window into the moods of both managers: while the Arsenal boss’s frustrations boiled over, the Chelsea chief was, by comparison, understandably serene. It wasn’t hard to see why Wenger was worked up, regardless of Gary Cahill’s tackle on Alexis Sanchez. The Gunners wasted one [...]
Premier League: Red-hot Sakho sinks shoddy QPR October 5, 2014 WEST HAM UNITED 2 QUEENS PARK RANGERS 0 UNDER-PRESSURE QPR manager Harry Redknapp blamed a lack of fitness rather than a shortage of determination for his toothless team’s woeful form after they suffered a fifth Premier League defeat yesterday. A Nedum Onuoha own goal and Diafra Sakho’s fifth strike in as many games underlined West [...]
Premier League: Resurgent Tottenham halt Saints’ march October 5, 2014 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 SOUTHAMPTON 0 TOTTENHAM manager Mauricio Pochettino refused to condemn Southampton supporters who taunted him yesterday as his new team beat his former charges and climbed to sixth in the Premier League. A first-half goal from midfielder Christian Eriksen ended Tottenham’s run of four league games without victory and halted Southampton’s sequence of [...]
Premier League: Falcao off mark to down Everton October 5, 2014 MANCHESTER UNITED 2 EVERTON 1 MANCHESTER United boss Louis van Gaal insists his side must ditch their sub-standard second-half performances if they have designs on maintaining their Premier League revival after edging past Everton at Old Trafford yesterday. United hitman Radamel Falcao scored his maiden Premier League goal to clinch United’s first back-to-back victories under [...]
Ofcom chief Ed Richards will leave this year October 2, 2014 Broadcasting regulator Ofcom announced yesterday that its long-serving chief executive Ed Richards will step down at the end of this year. Richards, who previously moved to leave Ofcom in 2012 when he applied to become director-general of the BBC but was passed over for George Entwistle, said he would not consider his next move until [...]
Fabregas to come back and haunt former club in London derby clash October 2, 2014 BEN CLEMINSON PREVIEWS SUNDAY’S BIG PREMIER LEAGUE ACTION ARSENE Wenger is said to have turned down the opportunity to take Cesc Fabregas back to the Emirates this summer following a rather ill-fated spell at Barcelona, paving the way for the Spaniard to join Chelsea. It’s proved a shrewd bit of business from Jose Mourinho, as [...]
Adidas: Real Madrid did not sell 345,000 Rodriguez shirts in 48 hours October 1, 2014 Adidas has refuted reports that Real Madrid sold 345,000 James Rodriguez replica shirts within 48 hours of his official unveiling at the Bernabeu. After Los Blancos made the Colombian their latest "galactico" for a fee of £63m, it was widely reported that the club had sold an unprecedented number of shirts bearing the player’s [...]
Virgin urges Ofcom to probe cost of football September 30, 2014 Virgin Media yesterday slammed the soaring cost of Premier League football on TV, as it revealed it had urged broadcast regulator Ofcom to launch a competition investigation into pricing. “Significant consumer harm” had resulted from the skyrocketing cost of live Premier League TV rights, said Virgin Media. Costs jumped 70 per cent to £3bn at [...]
So have they taken their eye off the ball? September 30, 2014 BSkyB has built a strong position in the UK media market to become the largest pay-TV provider in the country with 10.5m subscribers. Football is at the heart of its empire, but recent investments suggest it may be looking more at expanding its other divisions. Football has been key to BSkyB’s growth since its founding [...]
Premier League TV deal costs fans too much says Virgin Media in complaint to Ofcom September 30, 2014 Virgin Media has submitted a formal complaint to Ofcom about the way Premier League television rights are auctioned. The company believes fans in the UK are being charged too much to watch games from England's top tier. In 2012 the Premier League sold domestic TV rights to BSkyB and British Telecom (BT) [...]