Villa pull plug on Barry deal after Liverpool miss deadline July 31, 2008 Aston Villa last night told captain Gareth Barry that his dream move to Liverpool is dead and will not be revived. Villa took the unusual step of announcing that Barry would definitely be staying at the club, after Liverpool failed to meet their £18m asking price by an agreed deadline. “This evening, Aston Villa can [...]
Gallant Paco overshadows Moore treble July 30, 2008 Paco Boy stole the thunder of top jockey Ryan Moore as he swept to victory in the big race of the opening day of Glorious Goodwood, the Betfair Cup. Ridden by Richard Hughes and trained by Richard Hannon, the 7-1 shot timed his run perfectly to pip Stimulation by a neck with Dunelight trailing in [...]
Finally England can unleash their best team July 30, 2008 Well, it took a rather calamitous second Test at Headingley to realise it, but England can now finally lock horns with South Africa this morning with their best team on show. With the top order batting the problem, dropping Paul Collingwood for the second Test was never the answer and it’s no surprise to see [...]
England boosted by Collingwood return July 30, 2008 England captain Michael Vaughan has told of his delight to have all-rounder Paul Collingwood back in the England side – just a week after dropping him. The Durham man was yesterday recalled to the side for the third Test at Edbgaston, starting this morning, after he was surprisingly omitted for the last Test at Headingley. [...]
Spurs in the driving seat to snatch £17m-rated Bentley July 30, 2008 Tottenham have stepped up their attempt to sign David Bentley from Blackburn after banking £20m from the sale of Robbie Keane. Talks have resumed between the two clubs about England midfielder Bentley, who has made no secret of his desire to leave Blackburn for a bigger club. However, Spurs are not thought to have yet [...]
Barry will be next signing, says Benitez July 30, 2008 Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez will redouble his efforts to sign Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry after welcoming his other principal target, Tottenham striker Robbie Keane, to Anfield yesterday. Benitez was forced to sell fringe players Peter Crouch, John Arne Riise and Scott Carson to fund the £20.3m deal for Keane, and admitted further sales would [...]
Scolari extends winning run July 30, 2008 Chelsea will head to Russia this week for the latest leg of the pre-season preparations with a 100 per cent record after ending their tour of Asia on a winning note yesterday. Striker Nicolas Anelka and fullback Ashley Cole scored in a 2-0 victory against a Malaysian League Select team as the Blues made it [...]
No excuses, it was just a bad day at the office July 29, 2008 Sometimes in sport you just have to hold your hands up and accept you’re going to come across the odd bad day at the office. Unfortunately for me, that day arrived just when I least wanted it to and it spelt the end of my Senior Open Championship hopes. A two over-par 73 on Thursday [...]
Fired-up Cook plots England’s revenge July 29, 2008 Opening batsman Alastair Cook says England have banished the memories of their second Test drubbing by South Africa and are in the mood to gain revenge. A 10-wicket humiliation at Headingley last week left the hosts 1-0 down in the series ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston, starting tomorrow. England have gone one down [...]
Ryder Cup dream left in tatters for Donald July 29, 2008 Luke Donald’s hopes of gate crashing Europe’s Ryder Cup team seem to have diminished after he withdrew from next month’s US PGA Championship with injury. The 30-year-old is currently out of the automatic qualifying places and was in need of a decent showing at Oakland Hills to stand any chance of earning a wild card [...]