Exclusive: Lee shock at Hughton axe December 6, 2010 FORMER Newcastle star Rob Lee has condemned the St James’ Park hierarchy for sacking manager Chris Hughton just seven months after leading them back into the Premier League. Magpies chiefs yesterday showed Hughton the door, despite being in 11th place after a solid return to the top flight, saying they now wanted someone with more [...]
Perform Group names banks for £500m IPO December 5, 2010 DIGITAL sports media specialist Perform Group has named investment banks Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse to work on a planned £500m flotation for next year, according to weekend reports. People familiar with the matter said last month that owner and billionaire Len Blavatnik was considering an initial public offering of Perform Group on the London [...]
WINNERS & LOSERS December 5, 2010 WHO swam and who sank? City A.M sorts the champs from the chumps. WINNER SAMIR NASRI The France schemer took his goals tally for the season into double figures with an ultra classy brace against Fulham. Nine of Nasri’s 11 goals have come when Cesc Fabregas has been missing. WINNER RICKY BURNS Scotland’s big hope Ricky [...]
Grant insists Hammers will beat the drop December 5, 2010 SUNDERLAND (1) vs WEST HAM (0) WEST HAM manager Avram Grant remains adamant his side will stave off relegation despite seeing the Hammers slide back to the bottom of the Premier League table following defeat at Sunderland. Consecutive home wins against Wigan in the league and Manchester United in the Carling Cup quarter-final had hinted at a possible [...]
Lee backs Becks and Dein for top FA positions December 5, 2010 PR GURU Mike Lee believes England’s 2018 World Cup bid was always destined to fail and has urged the Football Association to appoint former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein as its chairman, writes James Goldman. Lee, who worked on Qatar’s successful 2022 bid, also suggested the FA integrate itself within Fifa and Uefa by taking more [...]
Hodgson delighted as fringe players and young starlets prove their worth December 2, 2010 STEAUA BUCHAREST(1) vs LIVERPOOL(1) LIVERPOOL manager Roy Hodgson believes his side’s progression to the last 32 of the Europa League is the perfect riposte to those who doubt the depth and quality of his squad. The Reds are through to the knockout stage of the competition with a game to spare following last night’s draw [...]
Arsenal land plum draw and Irons get the Blues December 1, 2010 ARSENAL’S position as overwhelming Carling Cup favourites was enhanced last night when they were paired with Championship side Ipswich in the draw for the semi-finals. The Gunners, without a trophy since their FA Cup victory over Manchester United in 2005, are now ideally placed to win their first silverware since they moved into Emirates Stadium. [...]
HAMMERED: IRONS BLOW UNITED AWAY November 30, 2010 WEST HAM 4 v/s MAN UNITED 0 WEST HAM cast their relegation fears aside to knock Manchester United out of the Carling Cup, a result their manager Avram Grant claimed would provide the turning point in their season. United, Premier League leaders and winners of the competition in each of the last two seasons, came [...]
Gunners just three games from ending trophy wait November 30, 2010 ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger watched his side take a huge step towards ending their six-year trophy drought, but insisted he would not let the pursuit of long-awaited silverware become “an obsession”. An own goal from Antolin Alcaraz and a second-half strike by Nicklas Bendtner eased the Gunners into the semi-finals of the Carling Cup. With [...]
Chelsea back on top, but only in agents’ spending fees table November 30, 2010 CHAMPIONS Chelsea were the Premier League’s biggest spenders on agents’ fees for the period October 2009 to September 2010, shelling out over £9m, according to figures released yesterday. Chelsea made only two major acquisitions during the period in question – Yossi Benayoun from Liverpool and Ramires from Benfica – but the club’s policy of staggerring [...]