France Vs Honduras – An alternative match report

By Chris Brown “Tasty”, “Fruity”, “ A proper mad tear-up” – D. Dyer (2004) Honduras take us back to simpler times, when football was played in flickering black and white, when Arsenal’s line was led by Charles “Charlie” Charles (one of the legendary Charles brothers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4CXY6TVBMc ) and the Continent began at Dover. When South and Central American games were invariably “Battles” and European commentators accordingly routinely “disgusted”. Why are we stepping back to yesteryear? In July, 1969, Honduras...

Five Outside Bets for the World Cup

Since 1970 only six nations have won the World Cup. Indeed, the same six nations are among only seven to have appeared in a final during the same period and if I was to stake a bet this year, I’d put good money on the final of Brazil 2014 being contested by either Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France, Germany, Spain or the Netherlands. But we love an outsider, and this year the World Cup is awash with nations that have just...

David Luiz for £50 million, what were they thinking?

By John Simms I'm sure no one would argue with me when I say that David Luiz is not worth £50 million. Even in relative terms it's a crazy amount to spend on a player of his quality. He is undoubtedly a good defender but at the current going rate that fee could buy almost any other player in the world. He has sparkled in patches for Chelsea but is error prone and has a tendency to get carried away,...

New-look England set for Sri Lanka Test

David de Winter - Sports Writer On the same day the football World Cup kicks-off a few thousand miles away in Brazil, England’s cricket team will embark on their first test series, against Sri Lanka, since the 5-0 debacle in Australia.  There is a real sense of a new era with this squad.  Graeme Swann, Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott, big players for almost a decade, are no longer involved in the set-up for various reasons and Peter Moores has...

Can managing a chimp win the World Cup?

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic Is Dr Steve Peters the key to World Cup success for England?  England travel to Brazil this week with a secret weapon in their bag; a chimp management specialist. The notion that psychology matters – particularly on the biggest stage – has become a focal point for professional sports teams across the country. From the terraces to the dugout we've long been aware of the psychological battles athletes endure - “their heads...

Can anyone stop Rafael Nadal?

by David de Winter - Sports Writer Before some mickey-mouse football competition in Brazil gets underway, there’s the small matter of a little tennis tournament in Paris to sort out.  The French Open is under way on the clay of Roland Garros, but given that the Rafael Nadal has won the past eight of nine tournaments, is there much point of even holding it? The most likely man to prise the trophy from the King of Clay is World No....

Don’t blame Ashley…Blame Pardew

By Ian Carroll What follows could easily be a(nother) rant from a Newcastle United fan about Mike Ashley, Sports Direct, lack of money spent, good players sold and not replaced, Wonga etc etc. However, the biggest problem at Newcastle United, by far, is Alan Pardew. The man is a complete joke of a football manager, who somehow is still employed on a contract with more than six years left to run. On the face of it, finishing tenth in the...

Premier League Team of the Season

By David de Winter - Sports Writer The 2013/14 Premier League season has been one of the most exciting in recent memory.  A title race that went down to the wire, a Houdini-style escape by Sunderland, Alan Pardew going a bit loco, and Manchester United finished in 7th.  What’s not to like?  Here are the eleven players who excelled themselves this term. Goalkeeper:  David Marshall (Cardiff City) It’s almost unheard of that the goalkeeper of the league’s bottom club is...

Naïve Liverpool blow chance of title

David De Winter   - Sports Writer Hindsight is a wonderful thing.  What if I had actually revised for my A-Levels instead of watching the 2006 World Cup?  Would I have gone to a better university?  Probably (thank God I didn’t).  What if, on one of my desperate and all-to-frequent forays on to Tinder, I had swiped that borderline girl right instead of left?  Would I finally have a match?  Don’t be silly.  What if Steven Gerrard hadn’t stumbled and let Demba...

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