Antonio Conte has admitted that Chelsea need to improve if they are to challenge at the top of the Premier League table this season.
After winning their first three matches of the campaign, the Blues have stuttered of late and slipped to eighth after…
Trainer Dermot Weld is pleased with the way Epsom Derby hero Harzand is recovering from the injury he sustained at Leopardstown earlier this month.
Harzand is set to run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly and is 8/1 with bet365 to win the …
Mark Noble hopes that Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Southampton proves to be the nadir of West Ham United’s season.
The hapless Hammers defence was torn to shreds by Claude Puel’s side on Sunday and club captain Noble has admitted that the visitors cou…
After a rousing 3-0 victory in Bruges, Leicester City are almost certainly ready to face FC Porto for their first home game of their Champions League campaign. But never mind that. Is the city of Leicester ready? Anthony Richardson goes to Leicester to…
After a rousing 3-0 victory in Bruges, Leicester City are almost certainly ready to face FC Porto for their first home game of their Champions League campaign. But never mind that. Is the city of Leicester ready? Anthony Richardson goes to Leicester to…
Drop goal attempts prove pivotal in the Qualifiers; Super 8s struggle to attract crowds; Cronulla Sharks show their teeth; and strange things happen in France
By Gavin Willacy for No Helmets Required, part of the Guardian Sport Network
He may be leaving on a jet plane today and we don’t know when he’ll be back again, but Aussie star Jamie Soward is convinced he will return to the British game later this year. After playing a leading role in London Broncos’ ultimately fruitless promotion campaign that ended on Sunday – despite a 46-6 win over Featherstone – Soward flew home to Sydney, vowing to be back soon.
“I’m off contract and my services are available,” he said. “I’m open to offers. I would play in the Championship but Super League is more realistic because of the salary. I want to come back and start a family over here with my missus. We’re interested in travelling over. It’s exciting times but hard on her not knowing what we are doing next.”
Drop goal attempts prove pivotal in the Qualifiers; Super 8s struggle to attract crowds; Cronulla Sharks show their teeth; and strange things happen in France
By Gavin Willacy for No Helmets Required, part of the Guardian Sport Network
He may be leaving on a jet plane today and we don’t know when he’ll be back again, but Aussie star Jamie Soward is convinced he will return to the British game later this year. After playing a leading role in London Broncos’ ultimately fruitless promotion campaign that ended on Sunday – despite a 46-6 win over Featherstone – Soward flew home to Sydney, vowing to be back soon.
“I’m off contract and my services are available,” he said. “I’m open to offers. I would play in the Championship but Super League is more realistic because of the salary. I want to come back and start a family over here with my missus. We’re interested in travelling over. It’s exciting times but hard on her not knowing what we are doing next.”
Fifa has defended its decision to scrap an anti-racism taskforce, saying it had completed the work it set out to do.The Fifa Taskforce Against Racism and Discrimination was…
Fifa has defended its decision to scrap an anti-racism taskforce, saying it had completed the work it set out to do.The Fifa Taskforce Against Racism and Discrimination was…
• 23-year-old accused of acting violently towards police outside nightclub
• Convertible sentence means he is likely to be given community service
PSG defender Serge Aurier has been sentenced to two months in prison and fined €600 (£521) for an altercation outside a Paris nightclub but is expected to avoid time behind bars as his “convertible” sentence means he is more likely to do community service and pay a heftier fine.
Related: Paris Saint-Germain shocked by Toulouse in second defeat of season
NYC FC have thrived in the face of adversity and much of that success can be traced directly back to their coach
Foreign coaches can’t win in MLS, right?
Wrong.
Return of striker Andrea Belotti and the authority shown by a rejuvenated Joe Hart against Roma bodes well for the hopes of Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side
There were a few, subtle, lost-in-translation moments during Joe Hart’s introductory press conference for Torino this month. When the club president, Urbano Cairo, hailed his new signing’s physical presence, the interpreter swapped the word “tall” for “high”. Happily, nobody took this honest mistake for a comment on how the player might like to unwind.
Later on, an Italian journalist asked Hart whether he thought Torino could qualify for Europe. But the interpreter put the question more vaguely, asking simply whether he thought that the Granata could have a strong season. “Of course,” came the reply. “We believe heavily in what we’re doing here.”
Football’s governing body obviously isn’t taking the problem of racial abuse seriously if it thinks its mission is complete. There’s a long way to go
Fifa has disbanded its anti-racism taskforce, because its mission has been “completely fulfilled”. This news will reverberate across football and beyond, and presumably herald a wholesale changing of the guard. Sam Allardyce will immediately stand down as England manager, having steered the national team to a World Cup. Theresa May will give up the premiership now that she’s proved, incontrovertibly, exactly what it is that Brexit means. Philosophers, having nailed down the meaning of life, will tend to their gardens.
Related: Fifa disbands its anti-racism taskforce declaring that the job is done
One of the greatest players in the history of golf who won 73 tournaments
In any list of reasons for the present popularity and high financial standing of golf, the name, and the game, of Arnold Palmer are irresistibly linked.
Palmer, who has died aged 87, was one of the most charismatic golfers ever to play the game, a man’s man who was adored by women and a player for whom no play was ever impossible. He got into, and out of, more trouble on the course than any of his championship winning peers, and so outrageous were some of his recovery shots that he quickly attracted a huge following.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett talk following a 37-18 Seattle victory at CenturyLink Field. Bennett has spoken out in support of Kaepernick’s decision not to stand during the national anthem in protest at the oppression of black people in the United States.
The County Championship gave us the tightest, toughest and tingliest finish anyone could have hoped for when it lumbered into life in the cold days of spring
By Gary Naylor for the 99.94 Cricket Blog, part of the Guardian Sport Network
Thousands were inside Lord’s, basking in preposterous September heat; hundreds of thousands more were sitting at computer screens watching updates click over or listening to breathless commentary; 14 men stood in a field as a 15th ran in to bowl, seeking a third wicket in his last three deliveries. The flabby, outdated, soft County Championship had contrived the tightest, toughest, tingliest finish anyone could have hoped for when it lumbered into life in the chilly days of spring. It was the most elegant of rebukes to the naysayers; the most unanswerable of cases to return to a 16-match, all-play-all, two-divisions format as soon as possible; the greatest of games at its greatest. From the straw-chewing shepherds who invented this most satisfying waste of a sunny day to its noble (the word is not misplaced when one reads the reactions of the vanquished when their fates became known) principals today, those of us on the outside of the boundary rope offer our gratitude.
After five defeats in six league games, Slaven Bilic has problems in all areas of his West Ham side, and he needs more impact from his summer signings
Asked about West Ham United’s failure to kill off Crystal Palace in April, Slaven Bilic pointed out that it is impossible to score three goals in every match. The message was that his team had to become more solid. But little has changed since that 2-2 draw with Alan Pardew’s side at Upton Park. West Ham remain weak defensively and have conceded two or more goals in 15 of their past 23 matches following Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Southampton, which left a side that challenged for Champions League qualification last season languishing in the bottom three after opening this campaign with five defeats in six games.
The question of whether or not the Rams chose wisely by drafting Goff over Wentz is not quite answered. But a picture is beginning to emerge
I doubt I was the only one who went into this Sunday’s football spread expecting Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles to fall to Earth faster than the asteroid in Armageddon. After all, this was a rookie quarterback going against a proven defense and a veteran signal caller, Ben Roethlisberger, on offense. Plus, it wasn’t as though Wentz and company suffered much competition in weeks one and two. The Bears (who kept their losing streak going against the Dallas Cowboys) and woeful Browns hardly count as a challenge and are both likely already out of playoff contention. The Eagles might have had a harder time beating 11 Verne Troyers than the Bears or the Browns. But then came the Steelers game.
A proper, unmistakeable rout of the Steelers cements Wentz as a legitimate force to be reckoned with. Finishing with 23 completions out of 31 attempts, 301 yards, and two touchdowns, it would be foolish to presume that this is some kind of wacky fluke or charming underdog story. The Eagles truly and completely walked over a team that on paper should contend for the AFC championship. Before today, the Steelers were 19-2 against rookie quarterbacks. They were 2-0 this season, beating the Bengals and Washington — two teams that are legitimate playoff contenders. Wentz was not even supposed to be the Eagles starter, but his undeniable quality caused the Eagles to trade Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings — a team desperate for a veteran behind center after losing Teddy Bridgewater for the season.
• Player gets the call from Davis Love over world No7 Bubba Watson
• Golfer sealed spot after performance in Atlanta Tour Championship
United States captain Davis Love III named Ryan Moore as his final Ryder Cup wild card on Sunday, three hours after Moore lost in a play-off for the Tour Championship.
Related: Rory McIlroy scoops FedEx Cup glory to give Europe Ryder Cup momentum
Jimmy Gopperth gets a let-off for Wasps, England may benefit from resting Farrell, Ryan Lamb has a mixed game and it’s deja vu for Gloucester
Wasps were comfortably holding on to their 13-5 lead in the second half, looking far more likely to score than concede, when an attack on Northampton’s 22 ended when the referee, Luke Pearce, awarded the home side a penalty. He had taken exception to advice shouted at him by Jimmy Gopperth who, along with Danny Cipriani, had been warned in the first half for turning up the volume. The Saints used the decision to play their way downfield and, eventually, reduced the deficit to one point. Had Courtney Lawes not dropped an admittedly poor pass with two men free outside him with four minutes left, Gopperth would have been left to reflect on how words can now cost in the Premiership, with officials told to crack down on dissent and verbal abuse. He would have had no sympathy from his director of rugby, Dai Young, who while acknowledging that it is as difficult for players not to shout at a referee when they feel an opponent should be penalised, points out that they have been made aware of the consequences of loose lips and should not be allowed to fulminate like footballers. Another focus for referees is simulation and Ben Foden, who, after being clattered late by Nathan Hughes, had a look at the sidelines before writhing around in pain and was fortunate the officials did not pick it up as they reviewed the challenge. Paul Rees
