Hughes accepts offer of Fulham job

• Failure to capture Martin Jol forced the club to look elsewhere• New manager expected to be backed in the transfer market Mark Hughes has accepted an offer from Fulham to become the club’s new manager. The Welshman will succeed Roy Hodgson, who left in the summer to join Liverpool, and his appointment has disappointed [...]

Hughes accepts Fayed’s offer to become Fulham’s new manager

• Failure to capture Martin Jol forced the club to look elsewhere• New manager expected to be backed in the transfer market Mark Hughes has accepted an offer from Fulham to become the club’s new manager. The Welshman will succeed Roy Hodgson, who left in the summer to join Liverpool, and his appointment has disappointed [...]

Ferguson hits out at criticism of Glazers

• Scot says he has not been refused money despite debt• Manager happy with his squad despite lack of transfers Sir Alex Ferguson has responded to mounting criticism of the Glazer family with a staunch defence of Manchester United’s owners and a rebuke for supporters opposed to their debt-laden regime. The United manager’s spending amid [...]

Lewis-Francis joy at 100m silver medal

• ‘I am the happiest man in the world’• Lemaitre is first, Chambers finishes fifth Who could have predicted such a result? It was no huge surprise that Christophe Lemaitre became the European 100 metres champion but for Dwain Chambers, the favourite to take the gold medal, to crash and burn in fifth while Mark [...]

Bresnan replaces Shahzad for England

• Ankle injury rules Ajmal Shazad out of opening Test• ECB confirms Tim Bresnan will join squad at Trent Bridge The England pace bowler Ajmal Shahzad has been ruled out of the first Test against Pakistan at Trent Bridge tomorrow, due to an ankle injury. Tim Bresnan, his Yorkshire team-mate, has been called in to [...]

Contador rejects new Astana contract

• Spanish rider turns down ‘ultimatum of Astana’• Possible links to new Fernando Alonso team The Tour de France champion Alberto Contador will leave the Astana team at the end of this season after rejecting the team’s offer to extend his contract. The Spaniard said in a statement he will now study all of his [...]

Torres reveals he wants to stay at Anfield

• ‘Fernando Torres has told us he wants to come back’• Roy Hodgson says striker will resume training next week Fernando Torres has put a spring in Roy Hodgson’s step by pledging his immediate future to Liverpool. Speculation that the Spain striker would leave Anfield this summer has swirled around for months, but instead of [...]

Liverpool relief after Torres reveals he wants to stay

• ‘Fernando Torres has told us he wants to come back’• Roy Hodgson says striker will resume training next week Fernando Torres has put a spring in Roy Hodgson’s step by pledging his immediate future to Liverpool. Speculation that the Spain striker would leave Anfield this summer has swirled around for months, but instead of [...]

Murray splits with coach Maclagan

• Andy Murray parts with Miles Maclagan and Alex Corretja• Scot’s camp say split was amicable Andy Murray has split with his coach, Miles Maclagan, as well as his part-time adviser, Alex Corretja, ending weeks of speculation that there has been trouble in the World No4′s camp. The Australian Darren Cahill, who guided Lleyton Hewitt [...]

Farah leads home British one-two

• Farah crosses line to win gold in 28min 24.99sec• Chris Thompson wins silver for British one-two Mo Farah made history last night in the most entertaining 10,000 metres race you could hope to see, the crowd at the Olympic stadium enthralled by his antics as he won Britain’s first European title over that distance [...]

Hoy and Johnson on their bikes for 2012

Sir Chris Hoy, Boris Johnson and Lord Coe mark the two-year countdown to London 2012 with a tour of the Olympic village A thunderous cheer went up at lunchtime today inside the smooth concrete ellipse in east London which, very soon, will acquire a final skin of glass and timber to become the 2012 Olympic [...]

Mike Selvey: Wyatt’s book blows open bodyline history

The former Warwickshire all-rounder’s autobiography suggests that Douglas Jardine was not the first exponent of the tactic Yesterday, while searching for something else, I found a book for which I had been looking for a year. Immediately, as sometimes happens with these things, it sparked a flash memory, of my grandfather. He was a Staffordshire [...]

Jonathan Wilson: Zenit’s relentless title march

Victory over Rubin Kazan on Saturday would give Luciano Spalletti’s side a near unassailable lead in the Russian league A victory for Zenit St Petersburg at home to Rubin Kazan on Saturday would not guarantee them the league title but it would give them a lead of at least nine points with half of the [...]

Half of Britain’s Olympic sports may have funding slashed

Autumn government spending review threatens to make athletes with best medal prospects the sole funding priority At least half of Britain’s Olympic sports could have their funding slashed if the government spending review in the autumn delivers another budget tightening before the 2012 London Games. Peter Keen, the director of performance at UK Sport and [...]

Campbell set for medical at Newcastle

• Former Arsenal defender on verge of move to north east• United beat Sunderland and Celtic to veteran centre half Sol Campbell is due to have a medical with Newcastle this afternoon with a view to signing for the newly-promoted Premier League club tomorrow. The 35-year-old defender has been out of contract since his deal [...]

Scholes admits regrets over World Cup

• Midfielder had two hours to make up his mind• ‘I might have gone had Capello asked me himself’ Paul Scholes has revealed he regrets rejecting an England comeback at the World Cup and may have gone to South Africa had Fabio Capello made the offer instead of his No2, Franco Baldini. The Manchester United [...]

… will Britain deliver on its promises?

With two years till the Games, how much progress has been made on construction, logistics and legacy plans? Two years from today, the Olympic flame will be lit in a stadium that is now all but finished on a site in east London that is looking more and more as it will in July 2012. [...]

Richard Williams: True Tour rivalry needs more hatred

After the smiles and handshakes after the Tour de France finished, it was surprising Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck didn’t blow kisses to each other After all the smiles and handshakes, it was surprising that Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck didn’t blow kisses to each other as they stood on the podium in Paris yesterday [...]

Martin Kelner: News now a free-to-air free zone

Summer has entered a free-to-air-free zone before football returns. Didn’t this used to be called the cricket season? With most of the big free-to-air sport – World Cup, Wimbledon, the Open – finished, we now enter a kind of pending period before football starts again, a two‑week hiatus that enthusiasts and terminal nostalgists like to [...]

Team orders are wrong, says Button as Ferrari row builds

• McLaren driver joins uproar after Fernando Alonso’s win• World champion sees advantage in pressure on rivals Jenson Button has hit out at Ferrari over the race “fixing” affair that could see the Italian team thrown out of the sport. Ferrari were found guilty of “bringing the sport into disrepute” for ordering Brazil’s Felipe Massa, [...]

City willing to smash record for Torres

• Roberto Mancini hopeful of signing Liverpool striker• City to make final offer for James Milner this week Roberto Mancini has confirmed Manchester City are willing to underwrite a British record transfer for Fernando Torres should the Spaniard decide to leave Liverpool. Torres’s future at Anfield remains shrouded in uncertainty with Christian Purslow, the club’s [...]

City will break the bank for £70m Torres

• Roberto Mancini hopeful of signing Liverpool striker• City to make final offer for James Milner this week Roberto Mancini has confirmed Manchester City are willing to underwrite a British record transfer for Fernando Torres should the Spaniard decide to leave Liverpool. Torres’s future at Anfield remains shrouded in uncertainty with Christian Purslow, the club’s [...]

Robinson to come out of retirement

• World Cup winner joins Brian Ashton at National 2 North club• Head coach Mark Nelson hails comeback of ‘best ever player’ Jason Robinson, the former England captain and World Cup winner, has come out of retirement at the age of 35 and joined the National 2 North club Fylde. Robinson was Sale’s head coach [...]

A true rivalry requires a greater hatred

After the smiles and handshakes after the Tour de France finished, it was surprising Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck didn’t blow kisses to each other After all the smiles and handshakes, it was surprising that Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck didn’t blow kisses to each other as they stood on the podium in Paris yesterday [...]

Man City willing to break UK transfer record for Torres

• Roberto Mancini hopeful of signing Liverpool striker• City to make final offer for James Milner this week Roberto Mancini has confirmed Manchester City are willing to underwrite a British record transfer for Fernando Torres should the Spaniard decide to leave Liverpool. Torres’s future at Anfield remains shrouded in uncertainty with Christian Purslow, the club’s [...]

Contador cruises to third Tour title

• Schleck sticks to tradition and does not attack on final stage• Spaniard takes title without being at his best or winning a stage A handful of kilometres into today’s final stage of the 2010 Tour de France, Alberto Contador was handed the traditional flûte of champagne and shared a toast with his fellow members [...]

Broad and Collingwood back for England

• Ravi Bopara misses out despite back-to-back centuries• Ajmal Shahzad keeps out Tim Bresnan after impressive debut Consistency of selection is killing punditry. Where are the rabbits plucked from the hat, the surprise choices emerging straight from the left-field mind of a selection committee? Where is Darren Pattinson when you need him? Today the national [...]

Milner to discuss future with O’Neill

• Manchester City target will meet Martin O’Neill to discuss future• Midfielder may be pulled out of pre-season tour to Portugal James Milner is expected to hold talks with Martin O’Neill when he returns to Aston Villa for pre-season training tomorrow, with the furore last week about his future still fresh in the mind. The [...]

Martin Kelner: The news is now a free-to-air free zone

Summer enters a free-to-air-free zone With most of the big free-to-air sport – World Cup, Wimbledon, the Open – finished, we now enter a kind of pending period before football starts again, a two‑week hiatus that enthusiasts and terminal nostalgists like to call the cricket season. Not that this is of any interest to Sky Sports [...]

Cavendish takes final stage as Contador confirms victory

• Spaniard wins his third Tour• Cavendish cannot clinch green in final sprint Despite winning the charge to the line on the final stage of the Tour de France, Mark Cavendish was unable to wrestle the green jersey for the top sprinter from Alessandro Petacchi, who finished the day behind the Briton in second. For [...]

Snooker world pays tribute to Higgins

• He is a true legend, says Ronnie O’Sullivan• He was just a genius, adds Ken Doherty Tributes for Alex Higgins, who was found dead yesterday after a long battle with cancer, have continued to pour in from around the snooker world. Ronnie O’Sullivan, the three-time world champion and like Higgins arguably the most naturally [...]

Alonso wins controversial German GP

• Spain’s Alonso clinches 23rd career win• Felipe Massa gives team-mate cold-shouder in parc fermé Though Ferrari bosses denied using team-orders to allow Fernando Alonso to beat Felipe Massa to the chequered flag at the German grand prix, the team have been fined $100,000 following today’s German grand prix for a breach of the FIA [...]

Shahzad and Morgan to face Pakistan

• Irishman joins Ajmal Shahzad and Steven Finn in squad• Tim Bresnan, James Tredwell and Ravi Bopara miss out Eoin Morgan has retained his place in the England squad for the first Test against Pakistan at Trent Bridge next week, while Ajmal Shahzad has also been included. However there was no place for Tim Bresnan [...]

Ferdinand still six weeks from return

• Defender likely to be out until early September• Gary Neville and Antonio Valencia both now fit Rio Ferdinand may not return to action until early September after the Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealed he is still six weeks away from full fitness. Ferdinand suffered a knee ligament injury while in pre-World Cup [...]

Vettel grabs pole in thrilling home run

• Red Bull and Ferrari fill first two rows of the grid• Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton start fifth and sixth Sebastian Vettel claimed a stunning pole position for his home grand prix, fending off the resurgent Ferrari of Fernando Alonso by just two one-thousandths of a second. The front‑row pair were almost half a [...]

Vieira: City spending will spur rivals

• Midfielder says spending spree will spur on rivals• Lazio’s Aleksandar Kolarov joins in £18m deal Patrick Vieira believes Manchester City’s lavish spending will motivate opponents to want to beat them “for all the wrong reasons” next season and that Roberto Mancini’s side must learn to thrive amid the animosity. City are close to breaking [...]

Big interview: England’s new fast bowler Steven Finn

Fast bowler who dreamed of being Glenn McGrath is delivering on his promise as Pakistan loom On the last day of the school year, with kids all over our neighbourhood making the blissful walk home for the start of the summer holidays, it feels natural to sit under a leafy tree in my garden with [...]

Mike Brearley: How Murali has changed cricket

The Sri Lankan wizard, who has ended his career with 800 Test wickets, has shifted the horizons of what is possible Muttiah Muralitharan has revolutionised cricket with his bowling. His doosra deliveries, which he first bowled in Tests in 1997, have become part of the game’s make-up, along with reverse swing and switch hitting. Though [...]

Alex Higgins dies after prolonged battle with cancer

• Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins twice won the World Championship• Reports suggested he was too frail for surgery Former snooker player Alex Higgins has died at the age of 61. The two-time world champion, nicknamed ‘Hurricane’, had been suffering from throat cancer for a number of years. Higgins will be remembered for his flamboyant playing style [...]

Vettel beats Alonso by finest of margins

• Vettel claims Red Bull’s 10th pole of the year by 0.002sec• Alonso pleased despite missing chance to take pole Sebastian Vettel claimed Red Bull’s 10th pole position of the year following an electrifying battle with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard, quickest in the first two qualifying sessions, seemed poised to take Ferrari’s first pole [...]

Harbinger stuns Ascot with record win

• Sir Michael Stoute may now aim Harbinger at Arc• Derby winner Workforce trails home in fifth place Grundy versus Bustino it was not. The speculation ahead of today’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes had imagined a duel up the straight between Workforce, the Derby winner, and his stablemate Harbinger. Instead, Olivier Peslier [...]

Contador on verge of third Tour title

• Contador extends lead over Andy Schleck to 39 seconds• Spaniard close to second successive Tour title The tussle for the 2010 Tour de France title is set to end in Alberto Contador’s favour after the defending champion increased his advantage in today’s penultimate stage. Contador (Astana) held an eight-second overall lead over Andy Schleck [...]

Manchester City complete Kolarov deal

• Left-back joins for around £18.9m and signs five-year deal• Roberto Mancini insists Wayne Bridge still has Eastlands future Manchester City have continued their summer spending after completing the signing of left-back Aleksandar Kolarov from Lazio, for an undisclosed fee believed to be around €22.5m (£18.9m). The 24-year-old Serbia international passed a medical in Manchester [...]

Pakistan beat Australia to level series

• Australia 88 and 349• Pakistan 258 and 180-7 Pakistan secured their first Test win against Australia in 15 years after they nervously knocked off the 40 runs they required on the fourth morning at Headingley. Pakistan’s breakthrough win had looked like a mere formality at the start of the day, when they resumed at [...]

The Joy of Six: Breathtaking one-twos

From Sunderland’s G-Force of Marco Gabbiadini and Eric Gates to Glenn Hoddle’s masterpiece against Manchester United, we remember six of the most breathtaking give-and-goals of all time NB: for the purposes of this article we have used the strictest definition of “one-two”: i.e. that the return pass must be played first time. This rules out [...]

Simon Burnton: A devilish problem for Man Utd

The week ends with an air of mild disappointment and the vuvuzelas the one real casualty If I had been told, even just a few days ago, that a group of Manchester United fans would be ordered to strip off their shirts and “repent immediately”, frankly I wouldn’t have been at all surprised. It’s only [...]

Barney Ronay: Is there ever no sports news on Sky?

Impossibly beautiful robo-babes of the future serve up handfuls of excitable transfer tittle-tattle – even when there is no news This has been a strange – but also quietly triumphant ª week for Sky Sports News, the 24-hour news channel that spends its time urgently grouting and filling and papering over any chinks in the [...]

France suspend entire squad for friendly

The new France manager has decided not to select any of the players who crashed out of the World Cup for his first match Laurent Blanc will begin his tenure as France’s manager without any of the 23 players who brought shame to the nation at the World Cup finals, having chosen to suspend each [...]

England 1-1 France

• Matt Phillips clinches draw in 90th minute• England face Spain in the next round England will face Spain in the semi-finals of the European Under-19 Championships after a last-gasp equaliser from Matt Phillips earned them a 1-1 draw against the hosts France in their final group game. France had taken the lead, after missing [...]

Brazil name Menezes as new manager

• Corinthians manager Mano Menezes takes charge• Brazil hoping for more exciting football under the 48-year-old Mano Menezes has been confirmed as the new Brazil coach, replacing Dunga, whose contract was not renewed following Brazil’s disappointing World Cup campaign. The Corinthians manager was invited to coach the five-times world champions yesterday after Muricy Ramalho earlier [...]

Fábregas needs more rest says Wenger

• Spaniard won’t be back to his best until September• Gunners ready to make improved bid for Schwarzer Arsène Wenger says that Cesc Fábregas will be not be firing on all cylinders until the beginning of September but his prediction has nothing to do with the timing of the closure of the summer transfer window. [...]

Cole’s goals and Cadel’s headbutt

This week’s round-up also features mini-golf, a breathtaking catch and a very sweary cameraman 1) Liverpool have snapped up Joe Cole on a free transfer this week. And guess what? It turns out he’s quite good at football. In fact, so good *NSYNC once wrote a song about him. Still, there are simple ways to [...]

Mark Cavendish cruises to fourth Tour stage win of 2010

• Manx rider wins stage 18 to close gap in race for sprint title• Schleck ready for ‘most important day of my life on a bike’ Mark Cavendish revived his slender chance of capturing the green jersey in the 2010 Tour de France today with a victory which saw him prove beyond doubt that he [...]

United delight as Vidic agrees new deal

• Defender’s new £90,000 a week deal ties him to club until 2014 • ‘It’s not signed but we’ve shaken hands’ says David Gill Manchester United have ended the uncertainty surrounding Nemanja Vidic’s future by reaching agreement with the Serbia international over a lucrative contract extension. The as yet unsigned deal is expected to keep [...]

Pakistan close in on victory over Australia

Australia 88 & 349; Pakistan 258 & 140-3 Pakistan are on the verge of a stunning victory. When they left the field in gentle sunlight – to the mild surprise of those who thought they might like to claim the extra half-hour – they needed 40 more runs with seven wickets remaining. This is Headingley [...]

Inside story of a team at war

Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull principal Christian Horner discuss their intense rivalry ahead of the German grand prix “It’s not a knitting competition, is it?” Mark Webber says wryly as he describes the bruising acrimony surrounding his victory at the British grand prix earlier this month. His team’s divisive decisions, and Webber’s [...]

Hamilton upbeat despite crash in practice

• Jensen Button targets podium finish in German grand prix• ‘It’s important for us as a team to win before summer break’ “I’m in the wall, the car is damaged. Heavily,” are not the words they wanted to hear on the McLaren pit wall today, but that is exactly what Lewis Hamilton had to say [...]

World Cup 2010: The party’s over, now for the verdict

As the World Cup organisers relish having proved their critics wrong, David Smith looks at what the media are saying now The bunting hangs limp, the balloons sag with wrinkles, the used paper cups and plates drift to the floor on a chilly breeze. The football World Cup – greatest show on earth, most watched [...]

Mike Selvey: Murali’s record won’t be broken

Sri Lanka’s record-breaking spinner leaves the Test arena after setting a mark no other bowler has a hope of surpassing What theatre. What drama. Oh to have been in the stands at Galle, or perched on the flag-fluttering ramparts of the fort, as Murali, shoulder twingeing, twirled down over after fruitless over, 23 of them, [...]

Harry Pearson: Indurain was Judge Dredd on a bike

Many riders have broken the Tour de France’s unwritten rules, and many more have broken the written ones as well On Monday there was a minor hoo-ha in the Tour de France when Alberto Contador took advantage of his chief rival Andy Schleck’s chain mishap to build up a lead. There’s an unwritten rule in [...]

Man City up Milner bid to £24m but deal turns ugly

• Midfielder reacts angrily over Martin O’Neill’s comments• Villa seeking higher bid plus Stephen Ireland in part-exchange Manchester City will make a £24m second and final offer for James Milner within the next 48 hours as they seek to push through a deal for the England international. The proposed deal is being conducted amid considerable [...]

Fulham turn to Eriksson and Hitzfeld

• Former England manager heads Craven Cottage shortlist• Switzerland’s Ottmar Hitzfeld also a candidate for vacancy Sven-Goran Eriksson would welcome the invitation to manage Fulham and is a leading contender, along with Ottmar Hitzfeld, as the west London club digests the disappointment of their failure to prise Martin Jol from Ajax. Eriksson, the former England [...]

Tour de France stage 17 – live!

Click on the auto-refresh button for all the latest action. Email your musings (musettes, even) to john.ashdown@guardian.co.uk. Click on the link for our interactive guide to the Tour. 4.12pm: Still 7km to go. Still Contador follows Schleck up the Tourmalet. Schleck stands up once again, the Spaniard again goes with him. 4.11pm: These TV pictures [...]

Murali reaches 800 with his final ball

• Sri Lankan reaches milestone with dismissal of Pragyan Ojha• Muralitharan to retire after Test match against India• In pictures: The career of Muttiah Muralitharan The ending was pure Bollywood and Indian producers are surely already lurking behind the stands at Galle with contracts at hand. Muttiah Muralitharan, a spin bowler with a disability who [...]

Milner can leave Villa, says O’Neill

• O’Neill ready to sell midfielder to City if clubs can agree fee• Villa have already rejected one £20m offer from City Martin O’Neill has said that he is ready to sell James Milner to Manchester City – if the two clubs can agree a fee for the midfielder. City have made clear their intentions [...]

Hodgson keen to set realistic targets

• We cannot match Spurs or City financially, says Hodgson• Manager trying to use money ‘sensibly and intelligently’ The Liverpool manager, Roy Hodgson, is keen to make further signings before the start of the season but admits he has to be realistic in his aims. The Englishman accepts he cannot match the spending power of [...]

Cracknell stable after truck accident

• Cracknell suffers fractured skull in an accident with a truck• Arizona hospital: He is conscious and his condition is stable James Cracknell is said to be in a stable condition after suffering a fractured skull in an accident with a truck in Arizona. The Olympic rowing champion also suffered a gash to the back [...]

Marina Hyde: Hilarity rates high on Capello Index

It’s not only England’s World Cup squad that finds itself laid bare on the controversial rating website May I be so scientifically bold as to give the Capello Index a 91.48 rating? Like an indomitable case of herpes, or Kathy Bates at the end of Misery, it is the entity which refuses to die no matter [...]

David Conn: Cricket’s grassroots need watering

The ECB says it wants to spread the word but currently it spends less than a quarter of its TV income outside the professional game At All Hallows secondary school in inner city Salford they have strained sinews to lay on cricket for pupils who until 2008 had no opportunities to play the game. Chris [...]

Mancini adds Donovan to shopping list

• City’s manager tells New York audience of ‘interest ‘ • Club still on trail of Mario Balotelli and James Milner Roberto Mancini has caused a stir in the United States by claiming Manchester City are interested in the USA forward Landon Donovan. City’s manager also confirmed his interest in Mario Balotelli and James Milner [...]

British racing plans ‘premier league’ style revolution

• High-profile events to be packaged together for TV rights• Many of Britain’s tracks could be relegated to ‘minor league’ British racing is planning a radical overhaul which would revolutionise the way the sport is broadcast on television and create an elite “premier league” of racecourses. In what is seen as the logical conclusion to [...]

FA tells Capello deals must be approved

• Manager given warning after Capello Index furore• England players’ individual rankings removed on Tuesday As the embarrassing Capello Index saga rumbled on today, the England manager has been reminded that he must run any future business ventures past the Football Association first in an effort to avoid a repeat. As with other FA employees, [...]

Inter open talks over £25m Mascherano

• Mascherano poised to link up with Rafael Benítez in Italy• Manager says last season’s troubles cannot be cured overnight Liverpool are in talks with Internazionale over the possible sale of Javier Mascherano after the Italian club made an approach for the midfielder. Roy Hodgson is believed to be ready to sell the Argentina captain [...]

Meadows: Rivals ‘laughed’ at Semenya

• Briton reveals cruelty of fellow competitors to 800m champion• South African may never be accepted by rivals, says Meadows Jenny Meadows says Caster Semenya’s return to competition has not been accepted by her fellow 800 metres runners. Meadows, who won bronze for Britain at the world championships last year, has always been sympathetic to [...]

Jol agrees personal terms with Fulham but Ajax stand firm

• Sources claim Jol has agreed three-year deal with Fulham• Ajax, however, refuse to negotiate manager’s release Martin Jol has finalised personal terms on his move to Fulham and the only thing that is holding up the transfer is Ajax’s continued refusal to negotiate with the London club over the manager’s release. According to sources [...]

Hodgson: ‘Doom and gloom’ not over yet

• Manager says last season’s troubles cannot be cured overnight• Joe Cole completes move to ‘biggest club in the country’ Roy Hodgson has warned Liverpool supporters it will take much more than the arrival of Joe Cole to lift the “doom and gloom” that enveloped the club last season. The manager, speaking after Cole completed [...]

Hapless Australia bowled out for 88

• Teenage left-armer Mohammad Aamer claimed three for 20• Fellow seamer Mohammad Asif also claimed three wickets Australia were bowled out for their second lowest total against Pakistan on the opening day of the second Test at Headingley. Pakistan’s seamers revelled in the overcast conditions after Ricky Ponting won the toss and chose to bat, [...]

Wiggins alters tactics to aim for stage win

• Briton considering change of strategy• Saturday’s 52km time-trial is opportunity for win Team Sky leader Bradley Wiggins is considering shelving his overall classification bid to target a stage victory at the Tour de France. Tomorrow’s 174km stage 17 from Pau to the summit of the Col du Tourmalet is crucial in the race for [...]

Judo youngsters recover after tornado

• Several hospitalised after incident at Belgian training camp• ‘The roof came off and smashed and everything was falling’ Two young British judo players have spoken about the moment a tornado tore the roof off the sports hall where they were training last week. The incident, which left several youngsters needing hospital treatment, happened last [...]

Ashes to remain on Sky as free-to-air plan is rejected

• Review panel had called for ‘crown jewel’ list to be extended• Government will call on sports to spend more on grassroots The government is expected tomorrow to reject a review panel’s recommendation that an extended list of major sporting events, including England’s home Ashes cricket series against Australia, be made available on free-to-air television. [...]

Gerrard indicates he will stay at Anfield

• Midfielder looking forward to linking up with Cole• ‘I’m very impressed with [Hodgson's] plans for the future’ Roy Hodgson appears to be winning some key battles for hearts and minds inside Liverpool’s dressing room after Steven Gerrard effectively tied himself to the club for at least another year. Fresh from signing Joe Cole yesterday, [...]

Fédrigo reins in Armstrong challenge

• Fédrigo wins 16th stage in sprint finish from Sandy Casar• Armstrong had been in lead group for much of the day The head went down and the legs pumped, but the finish line was still 30 metres away when Lance Armstrong reached the painful conclusion that the game was up. Seeing the turquoise jersey [...]

British tennis turns to UK Sport for help

• Move comes after another poor Wimbledon for home players• Tennis to be included in Mission 2012 programme The organisation that helped turn Britain’s Olympic also-rans into world beaters has taken on its most difficult challenge yet – helping British tennis overcome decades of underachievement to triumph in 2012. The Lawn Tennis Association has turned [...]

Ribéry, Benzema charged over prostitute

Franck Ribéry and Karim Benzema, both of whom deny any wrongdoing, face up to three years in prison if convicted The summer of shame engulfing French football reached a new low today as two players were charged with soliciting an underage prostitute. Franck Ribéry, 27, a midfielder for Bayern Munich and part of the French [...]

Andy Bull: The amazing story of Afghanistan cricket

The wonderful film about Afghanistan’s incredible cricketing journey deserves to be seen by as many people as possible For a month now I have had a DVD perched in the middle of a pile of papers on the corner of my desk. It has taken me four weeks to get around to watching it. Partly [...]

Lawrence Donegan: Oosthuizen’s win wasn’t dull

Anyone can win at professional golf these days, except perhaps the TV executives who gorged for years on Tiger’s hegemony Another major championship, another surprise winner, and now professional golf rolls on to Whistling Straits, Wisconsin, where next month’s US PGA Championship will take place. But before the circus departed St Andrews the Royal and [...]

Richard Williams: Contador’s defining moment

The polemic surrounding the Spaniard’s decision to capitalise on misfortune says plenty about the sport’s code of ethics It is only because cycling sets such store by its complicated and historic etiquette that Alberto Contador’s behaviour in yesterday’s 15th stage created, to borrow his own word, “a polemic”. In most other sports – think of [...]

Capello and FA ponder action over Index

• Capello Index fiasco goes into fifth day• Negotiations between parties remain ongoing The stand-off between Fabio Capello and his partners in the controversial player rating website that bears his name continued into a fifth day, albeit with a partial climbdown as the marks attributed to England players were finally removed. Football Association executives again [...]

Chelsea warn Cole against Madrid move

• No escape from press abroad, says chairman Buck• Club working to make his private life ‘more enjoyable’ The Chelsea chairman, Bruce Buck, believes Ashley Cole would not escape the intrusion into his private life with a transfer to an overseas club. The Chelsea and England left-back feels hounded in England, where his every movement [...]

Fulham frustrated by Ajax’s Jol stance

• Dutch club unwilling to release their manager• Jol has told Ajax he wants to join London club Martin Jol’s proposed move to Fulham has encountered a problem, with Ajax refusing to negotiate with the London club over the manager’s release. Alistair Mackintosh, Fulham’s chief executive, was in Amsterdam today in an attempt to close [...]

West Ham’s stadium hopes given boost

• Hammers want to move into Stratford site after 2012• Company behind shopping centre around stadium receptive West Ham United’s bid to move into the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 games received a boost today after the company behind the huge shopping centre that will dominate the entrance to the site said it would back [...]

Premier League clubs’ no to vuvuzelas

• Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham among clubs to join ban• Several other clubs expected to follow suit before season The discordant sound of the vuvuzela, which seemed to be loathed far more than it was loved at the World Cup finals, looks unlikely to become an issue in the Premier League after five top-flight clubs [...]

‘Milan manager must play two strikers’

• Berlusconi puts Massimiliano Allegri in the shade• ‘We don’t want to see just one forward’ Silvio Berlusconi contrived to put Milan’s new coach Massimiliano Allegri in the shade by publicly demanding his team play with more than one striker this season. In an extraordinary news conference on the first day of pre-season training, the [...]

Liverpool hope Cole’s arrival will appease Gerrard and Torres

• Former Chelsea midfielder signs £18.7m, four-year deal• Hodgson hopes capture will also appease Torres Liverpool hope Joe Cole’s arrival at Anfield on a four-year deal worth £18.7m can convince Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to commit their futures to the club. Cole agreed to become Liverpool’s second summer signing today when he rejected the [...]

Ferguson rules out vast spending spree

• Manager content with the signings he has already made• Scholes open to extending Old Trafford career beyond 2011 Sir Alex Ferguson has ruled out a lavish spending spree at Manchester United this summer and insisted he is content with the signings the club has already made. The United manager has said repeatedly that he [...]

Capello Index risks conflict with League

• Capello Index launch day descends into farce• England manager keen to distance himself from venture Fabio Capello’s controversial online ratings venture could come into conflict with the Premier League, it emerged tonight, after a farcical day during which the England manager’s marks for his players remained on the website despite repeated assurances that they [...]

Contador seizes yellow from Schleck

• Contador dropped rival after Schleck’s chain came off• Spaniard takes yellow jersey with eight-second lead If Alberto Contador wins the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday, in many eyes there will be an invisible asterisk alongside his third victory in the world’s biggest bike race. The Spaniard snatched the yellow jersey from his [...]

Strauss backs Pietersen to end poor run

• England captain says batsman will return to form• ‘He is a high-quality cricketer and he will come back’ Andrew Strauss has backed Kevin Pietersen to find his form again in England’s upcoming four-Test series with Pakistan, ahead of the Ashes this winter. “Kevin has just turned 30 but he has got a lot of [...]

Kevin Mitchell: Casey laughed but Oosthuizen won

Paul Casey needed a minor miracle to win the Open at St Andrews yesterday, but he delivered only an apology As the gallery on the 9th hole emptied and we wheeled for home, so the few dregs of drama left in this wretched finish to the 150th anniversary Open vanished on the wind. And when [...]

Greg Wood: Bookies and racing as far apart as ever

Bluster and self-righteous indignation are common currents in submissions to the Levy Board over how to finance the sport One of the most persuasive lines in the bookmaking industry’s submission to the Levy Board last week – which argued for a significant cut in the Levy returned from betting to racing – was the one [...]

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