Full-back Johnson out of Brazil friendly November 10, 2009 ENGLAND suffered an injury blow ahead of Saturday’s clash with Brazil when defender Glen Johnson pulled out of the squad. Liverpool right-back Johnson withdrew yesterday after hurting his calf during Monday’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Birmingham. It leaves England head coach Fabio Capello short of options for the weekend friendly in Doha, Qatar, but [...]
Vermaelen: Free-scoring Arsenal are in title hunt November 9, 2009 ARSENAL defender Thomas Vermaelen has warned their Premier League rivals that they are capable of mounting a sustained title challenge this year. The Gunners have not won the league since 2004, and last season rarely looked likely to trouble front-runners Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. But Saturday’s 4-1 win at Wolves continued their impressive start [...]
Zola keeps the faith with his Hammers November 8, 2009 BOSS Gianfranco Zola insisted he wasn’t concerned about his side’s lowly league position after the Hammers slipped to another defeat. Goals in each half from Louis Saha and Dan Gosling subjected Zola’s men to a third home loss of the season despite a Tony Hibbert own goal setting up a rousing finale. With Hull beating [...]
Last-gasp win earns boss Phil a stay of execution November 8, 2009 A LAST-MINUTE winner from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink earned Hull only a third Premier League victory in 33 matches – and probably saved his manager’s job. Reports suggested boss Phil Brown would have been showed the door by new chairman Adam Pearson had the Tigers failed to beat Tony Pulis’ Stoke. Matthew Etherington must have [...]
Prem goal fest means punters who buy goals keep winning November 8, 2009 A FEW weeks ago, there was a story kicking about that the high street bookies were suffering because of the low number of draws that we have seen in the premier league so far this season. The high number of goals meant that there were fewer nils-nils and one-alls, and far more edge-of-the-seat, high-scoring thrillers. [...]
Blues can start kicking away from title rivals November 5, 2009 CHELSEA vs MANCHESTER UNITEDSUNDAY – 4.00PM SKY SPORTS 1 CARLO Ancelotti squares up to Sir Alex Ferguson for the second time as Chelsea boss and although his team won the Charity Shield you can be certain a win on Sunday will mean more to the Italian. The Blues have looked different class at Stamford Bridge [...]
IN-RUNNING TRADING HINTS November 5, 2009 WE have already looked at Man United’s poor record away at the Big Four, but it’s always worth remembering that it is still Man United we’re talking about and that Sir Alex Ferguson is calling the shots. He is one of the greatest managers of all time and will want to get one over on [...]
Rafa’s op fear over Torres and Gerrard November 5, 2009 LIVERPOOL manager Rafael Benitez has admitted that key duo Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres may both need surgery to overcome lingering injuries. Long lay-offs for captain Gerrard and top scorer Torres would be a severe blow to the Reds’ hopes of silverware, which already look gossamer-thin. A stoppage-time equaliser meant Liverpool had to settle for [...]
Chelsea to sell naming rights November 5, 2009 CHELSEA last night took the shock step of putting the naming rights for their current stadium, Stamford Bridge, up for sale. The move comes just days after Newcastle’s home of 117 years was re-branded sportsdirect.com@St James’ Park, to widespread derision. Chelsea are owned by Roman Abramovich, one of the world’s richest men with an estimated [...]
Takeover looms as Kroenke ups stake to 29.9% November 5, 2009 ARSENAL’S largest shareholder Stan Kroenke yesterday crept to the brink of a takeover bid when he increased his stake to 29.9 per cent. Billionaire Kroenke, who has been steadily building his shareholding since first investing in April 2007, will be obliged to make a formal offer for the Premier League club if he reaches 29.99 [...]