Pakistan to defy calls to ban ‘spot-fix’ stars August 31, 2010 PAKISTAN are to defy calls from England to suspend the three players implicated in the ‘spot-fixing’ allegations. Professional Cricketers’ Association boss Angus Porter told yesterday how the England players thought it would be “preferable” that those involved would not play in the two forthcoming Twenty20 matches and the five-match one-day series. Test captain Salman Butt, [...]
Harry sweats on £8m coup for Real ace August 31, 2010 TOTTENHAM boss Harry Redknapp remained ‘hopeful’ of pulling off the biggest coup of transfer deadline day last night by luring Real Madrid ace Rafael van der Vaart to White Hart Lane in a cut-price £8m deal. Redknapp admitted he was alerted to the Dutch midfielder’s availability just two hours before yesterday’s 6pm deadline, prompting a [...]
Wenger’s lack of keeper activity beggars belief August 31, 2010 OF all the deals penned during another hectic deadline day yesterday, it was the one transfer that wasn’t completed which raised the eyebrows the most. With a scouting network to rival almost any club in Europe, it beggars belief why Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger still can’t sign a goalkeeper, despite being linked with so many. [...]
Theo: I blame myself for World Cup snub August 31, 2010 THEO WALCOTT doesn’t blame anyone else but himself for his World Cup omission – and insists England boss Fabio Capello has faith in him to succeed. Walcott, 21, was surprisingly left out of Capello’s 23-man squad for South Africa in the summer, but has bounced back with four goals already for Arsenal this season. Winger [...]
Black Cats purr at arrival of £13m Gyan August 31, 2010 SUNDERLAND boss Steve Bruce told of his delight last night after smashing the club’s record transfer fee to land Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan in a £13m deal. The powerful frontman spent all day in the north-east thrashing out a deal before finally agreeing to make the switch from French club Rennes 20 minutes before the [...]
Top-flight spend down £100m in a year August 31, 2010 CASH-CONSCIOUS top-flight clubs slashed their summer spending by 22 per cent in the quietest transfer window for four years. This year’s total spend of around £350m was £100m down on last summer’s transfer window and some £175m short of the 2008 peak of £525m, according to business advisory firm Deloitte. Analysts blamed the slow market [...]
SUMMER SALES August 31, 2010 Beausejour completes Blues trio BIRMINGHAM CITY boss Alex McLeish put the seal on a productive deadline day with the capture of Chilean international winger Jean Beausejour on a three-year deal. The 26-year-old left-sided player arrives at St Andrews for an undisclosed fee from Club America in Mexico. He joins former Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb, who [...]
Tweet and sour: KP in f-word web rant at England snub August 31, 2010 DROPPED England batsman Kevin Pietersen reacted with a foul-mouthed Twitter rant yesterday after learning that he had lost his place in the one-day and Twenty20 sides. Pietersen, who has also joined Surrey on loan for the rest of the season, revealed his snub in an angry tweet hours before the move was officially confirmed. He [...]
Borthwick and Stevens will gatecrash England World Cup squad, says Venter August 31, 2010 SARACENS boss Brendan Venter is convinced Steve Borthwick and Matt Stevens will force their way back into the England squad for next year’s World Cup. Injury-hit Borthwick has gone from skipper to wilderness in the space of six months, while Stevens, owing to a drug ban, is not even permitted to play again until January. [...]
Weary Djokovic survives five-set US Open thriller August 31, 2010 THIRD seed Novak Djokovic survived a huge scare last night to limp into the second round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows. The 2007 finalist was forced to come back from two sets to one down and a break down to eventually beat fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in over [...]