Archive for January 7, 2013
Benito Carbone will scarcely believe his eyes when he tunes in on Tuesday night and sees Bradford City take their place in the Capital One Cup semi-final against another of his former clubs Aston Villa.
No play in Hawaii for the first three days of the first tournament of the year – and the world’s best golfer says he might stay at home when his sport re-enters the Olympics at Rio 2016.
Everton reaped the rewards of fielding a virtual full-strength side as they defeated npower League Two side Cheltenham 5-1 in an FA Cup third-round tie at the Abbey Business Stadium.
Matt Roberts introduces highlights from the NFL wild card play-offs.
Bolton Wanderers manager Dougie Freedman has vowed to help “homesick” Marvin Sordell beat his Twitter “obsession”.
USA striker Abby Wambach wins the Fifa women’s world player of the year, while Pia Sundhage is coach of the year.
A host of England stars have voiced their support for Hendre Fourie with the retired flanker facing deportation to South Africa.
Everton eased to a comfortable 5-1 win over Cheltenham Town in the third round of the FA Cup at Whaddon Road.
Martin Jol appreciates that Fulham are doing all they can to keep Brede Hangeland and is hoping for positive news on the contract front.
• Director of rugby unhappy with Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts• O’Shea faces disrepute charge over criticism of refereeThe Harlequins director of rugby, Conor O’Shea, a former employee of the Rugby Football Union, faces a disrepute charge after criticising the performance of the referee Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts during his side’s victory at London Welsh on Sunday and saying that he had no confidence in the feedback process between the Premiership clubs and Twickenham.Ed Morrison, the RFU’s head of elite referees development, spoke after the match to O’Shea, who was the union’s director of regional academies for three years from 2005. He said on Monday that he was concerned at the impact public criticism of referees would have on recruitment. The Leicester director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, had been scathing about Andrew Small’s handling of the scrum against Gloucester the previous week.”It is not for me to decide whether any director of rugby who publicly criticises referees should face disciplinary action,” said Morrison
• Director of rugby unhappy with Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts• O’Shea faces disrepute charge over criticism of refereeThe Harlequins director of rugby, Conor O’Shea, a former employee of the Rugby Football Union, faces a disrepute charge after criticising the performance of the referee Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts during his side’s victory at London Welsh on Sunday and saying that he had no confidence in the feedback process between the Premiership clubs and Twickenham.Ed Morrison, the RFU’s head of elite referees development, spoke after the match to O’Shea, who was the union’s director of regional academies for three years from 2005. He said on Monday that he was concerned at the impact public criticism of referees would have on recruitment.
• ‘It sends everybody home absolutely over the moon’• Feels pride in his players’ courage to keep goingSir Alex Ferguson has admitted that he has learned to “relish” Manchester United’s habit of leaving it late to achieve a result, as his team did again when drawing at West Ham United in the FA Cup on Saturday.Ferguson’s side were trailing 2-1 in the third-round tie before Robin van Persie scored the equaliser in added time, and the manager said he feels pride in his players’ courage to keep going until the final whistle “That’s exactly it,” he told Inside United.”At the end of the day, the finish to these games sends everybody home absolutely over the moon. They’ll be walking down the street towards their cars, or getting in their cars and driving home, telling each other: ‘What a game, absolutely fantastic’.”Asked if he would prefer results to be achieved in more relaxed fashion, the manager said: “I suppose the excitement of games like the Boxing Day win over Newcastle [United, 4-3, in the closing moments] gets everyone going. You’d rather do without it, but being the manager of Manchester United you have to relish it and expect it to happen.
Former Scotland captain Mike Blair has retired from international rugby at the age of 31.
Striker and coach honoured after year in which USA women’s soccer team won their third Olympic gold in a rowThe USA forward Abby Wambach has been named Fifa women’s world player of the year, adding the game’s biggest individual prize to her London Olympics gold medal. Wambach is the first American to be voted the world’s best since Mia Hamm won the 2002 women’s award.On a marquee night for the USA team, Pia Sundhage, who stepped down after the Olympic triumph, which was sealed with a victory over Japan at Wembley, won the coaching award for women’s football.The 32-year-old Wambach edged out her national team strike partner, Alex Morgan, and five-time winner Marta of Brazil in the voting.
Millionaire racehorse owner Marwan Koukash has been unveiled as the mystery businessman locked in talks aimed at saving Salford City Reds.
• Defensive midfielder has had medical at Craven Cottage• Fee should be agreed before end of Africa Cup of NationsFulham are confident they will have reached agreement with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk over the signing of the Ghana international Derek Boateng by the time his participation at the Africa Cup of Nations draws to a close.Martin Jol’s interest in the 29-year-old is long established, with the Fulham manager having come close to securing the defensive midfielder on loan last summer. Boateng has already undergone a medical at Fulham, who have secured a work permit for him, and talks between the clubs are ongoing.A fee of about £2m has been mooted to sign a player who cost more than double that when joining Dnipro from Getafe back in 2011, but has since fallen out of favour and has made only two league starts in the first half of the season.Boateng, who had enjoyed spells in Greece, Sweden, Israel and Spain before moving to Ukraine, is currently in Abu Dhabi with the Ghana squad preparing for the tournament in South Africa – they will depart for the finals on 16 January.It remains to be seen whether Jol will also pursue his interest in Tottenham Hotspur’s Tom Huddlestone as he seeks to secure significant reinforcements in the midwinter window after the team’s recent inconsistent form.The Turkey goalkeeper Sinan Bolat, who had been training with the Cottagers, has returned to Standard Liège but Jol is still mulling over whether to sign him.
• 21-year-old defensive midfielder en route to Wearside• Martin O’Neill keen to complete first January dealAlfred N’Diaye is set to join Sunderland after the Wearside club agreed a fee, understood to be around £2m, with Bursaspor of Turkey for the France Under-21 defensive midfielder.Known for his combative style the 21-year-old, who can also play at centre half, began his career with Nancy before moving to Turkey in the summer of 2011.On Monday he was believed to be flying to north-east England ahead of a medical and discussion of personal terms with Sunderland officials.Martin O’Neill – whose squad is so thin he named only six substitutes for last Saturday’s 2-2 FA Cup draw at Bolton – hopes N’Diaye will become his first signing of the transfer window before adding much-needed power and technical ability to his midfield.SunderlandTransfer windowBursasporguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
He has become hooked on the social networking site since his £3.2million transfer to Bolton Wanderers from Watford last season
Millionaire racehorse owner Marwan Koukash has been revealed as the mystery businessman involved in talks aimed at saving Salford City Reds.
Harlequins director of rugby’s outburst against referee following victory against London Welsh will not be punished by the RFU