| Bolton sack boss Megson Bolton Wanderers manager Gary Megson has been relieved of his duties with immediate effect, the struggling Premier League club confirmed. foxsports.com.au |
Today in Sport: keep up to date with our news blog Discuss the day's big sporting issues with our rolling news blog. Click here to access our brilliant 2010 interactive sports calendar5.05pm: The chances of Patrick Vieira linking up with Roberto Mancini at Manchester City appear to have increased after JosĂ© Mourinho confirmed the midfielder is set to leave Inter. Asked what the likelihood was of Vieira still being at San Siro beyond the end of the transfer window, Mourinho's response was "very little". There's more here.4.10pm: A tough day for England in Cape Town has come to an end with South Africa 312-2 at stumps, a lead of 330. Graeme Smith was 162 not out by the close. We'll have a report on the site shortly.3.55pm: Steve Bruce has been charged with improper conduct over comments made about referee Andre Marriner after Sunderland's 4-3 defeat at Manchester City (the day Mark Hughes departed). Regarding Michael Turner's contentious red card, Bruce described Marriner's decision as "a joke", claiming that his previous criticisms of Marriner had counted against him."Because I have complained about him, I get that decision," said Bruce at the time. I hope he can have a look at it and he can see it was a shuddering challenge between two of the most honest professionals you are going to get."Bruce has been given until January 20 to respond to the charge. JD3.32pm: Pictoral evidence here of the problem at Eastlands:3.23pm: Astonishingly, considering the level of disruption the weather is causing across the country, Stoke v Fulham seems set to go ahead:The Club have conducted a review of the situation with match referee Mark Clattenburg and the Police at lunchtime which confirmed that the pitch itself and the footprint of the Britannia Stadium are in good condition for the game tonight.That's according to the official website. City's chief executive Tony Scholes added: "There is no reason to believe that this evening's game won't go ahead at this moment in time." No more snow is forecast, so it seems our Barry may still have a game to MBM tonight. JA3.18pm: In exciting technical meltdown news, we've had to create a new URL for the final hour of today's OBO, so to follow South Africa's march to an unassailable position click here. JA3.13pm: In answer to my 2.36pm question, I'd say it looks unlikely. JA2.44pm: A couple of galleries to draw your attention to: Tom Jenkins' favourites of 2009 and today's play at Newlands. JA2.36pm: Details are still slightly sketchy, but here's the news story on Briatore's ban appeal success. Is he really going to be on the F1 pit wall this coming season after all? JA2.10pm: A French court has just overturned Flavio Briatore's life ban from F1 ... We'll have more soon. JD1.50pm: Tomorrow night's Arsenal v Bolton fixture is the next to surely be in doubt because of the deep freeze across the country, especially now forecasters are warning of extreme weather tonight in southern England, with heavy snowfall perhaps in excess of 40cm. Still, console yourselves with the Knowledge that:Back in the icy winter of 1979, the Scottish Cup second-round clash between Inverness Thistle and Falkirk had to be postponed no fewer than 29 times.Or that another Scottish Cup game that took place 16 years earlier suffered an even worse fate when "the clash between Airdrie and Stranraer was busy setting a British record of 33 postponements. For Airdrie it was 34th time lucky as they ran out 3-0 victors." JD1.33pm: Man City's Carling Cup semi-final first leg against Man Utd has now been postponed. The rearranged City of Manchester fixture will now be on 19 January and the second leg, at Old Trafford, on 27 January. JD12.46pm: Our colleagues over on the Culture desk (arguably the only desk here at New Guardian Towers that could take on the Sports department in a battle of the beards) have had their say on Michael Vaughan's recent arrival on TMS. I'd have to agree - he's been excellent. JA12.30pm: Thanks to WhiteySale below the line posting the video of Anthony Fleet's harrowing BDO world darts first leg against England captain Martin 'Wolfie' Adams last night. It really is tough viewing, especially at the end of the clip, when Bobby George and Colin Murray share a laugh or three with Adams about Fleet letting nerves get the better of him. Adams at least shows a morsel of compassion for his fellow player, but George is merciless in his criticism of a man who has, oh yes, the same number of world titles as he does. JD11.53am: And some more on the Carling Cup postponement. The full story is already up on the site, but thanks to the marvel of Twitter we can also report that Mark Bright is pleased he "didn't get the 10am train to Blackburn" and that Aston Villa's James Collins is "stuck in the hotel in Preston of all places".11.52am: Some breaking IPL news for you: Owais Shah is to switch franchises to the Kolkata Knight Riders.11.11am: Tonight's Carling Cup tie at Ewood Park between Blackburn and Aston Villa is OFF. According to Blackburn's official website:Whilst the Ewood Park pitch is playable we believe it would be unadvisable to expect fans, staff etc to attempt to get to the match. Even if fans are able to get to Ewood Park we would not like to speculate on what type of journey home they may face at 10.00pm tonight when temperatures will be sub-zero.As shemnel points out below the line tomorrow's Manchester derby must also be at risk - City have already had to close their ticket office and club shop - and Stoke's Premier League match against Fulham this evening could be in doubt. JA11.05am: Vic Marks' lunchtime report from Newlands his up on the site:The ball's getting older, the sun's getting hotter. England are hanging on.Rob Smyth is now on OBO duty, with England in need of a couple of quick wickets. JA10.55am: Arrigo Sacchi? Check! Valery Lobanovskyi? Check! 1950s Austrian football expert Willy Meisl? Check! It can only mean one thing: Jonathan Wilson is up to his old Question-answering tricks. Today's puzzler for out resident tactical mastermind: is TV holding back the evolution of football? JA10.27am: The task of replacing Coyle, if he does in indeed head to the Reebok, will be an interesting one for Barry Kilby and the Burnley board. It's not like they've had to choose managers very often of late - Coyle was their third permanent manager since 1998 (Stan Ternent and one-time-next-big-thing Steve Cotterill being the others). Some bookies have already drawn up odds for Coyle's replacement: the usual suspects - Paul Jewell, Darren Ferguson, Gareth Southgate, Peter Reid, Alan Curbishley - are all up there, with Manchester United assistant Mike Phelan a leftfield favourite with one bookmaker. One name I'll throw into the ring is Doncaster's Sean O'Driscoll, whose done a superb job at the Keepmoat Stadium, deserves a chance at a higher level and has a similar footballing ethos to Coyle. JA10.20am: OK, morning meeting update:• The third Test continues on the third morning in Cape Town, with South Africa currently 46-1, a lead of 64 after running through England's tail earlier. Andy Bull and Rob Smyth are on hand with OBO coverage throughout the day, with reports and reaction from the ground as well.• It's the first Carling Cup semi-final tonight, with the first leg of Blackburn v Aston Villa. Barry Glendenning will be in the MBM hot seat from around 7.30pm for an 8pm kick-off. You can also follow the Premier League game between Stoke and Fulham with our match centre from 7.45pm.• Elsewhere in football, Pompey's players are due to be paid, rather belatedly again, later today; Owen Coyle's move from Burnley to Bolton is due to be completed in the next 48 hours - who should replace him at Turf Moor? And we'll be monitoring the latest transfer window news throughout the day.• The IPL trading window shuts later today.• And a verdict is due in Flavio Briatore's appeal against a lifetime ban from F1.• On the sportblog: the Spin is taking a breather until the close of the third Test, but there will be Jonathan Wilson tackling the first Question of 2010: is television holding back the evolution of football; and Louise Taylor's Football League blog focuses on whether Jermaine Beckford should dump Leeds for Tyneside. JD10.08am: And today's Rumour Mill has emerged, with more transfer gossip than you can shake a four-year-contract-with-ÂŁ25m-release-clause at.10.06am: If you've not been keeping up with the cricket this morning, you've missed another enthralling session of cricket. Andy Bull has been oohing and aahing in the OBO corner of the office (think a sort of giant hamster cage, but without the exercise wheel) - he's got the latest. JA9.40am: Good morning and welcome to our daily sports news blog. You probably know the drill by now, but if not, the idea is this: throughout the day we will update this page with news, links, and what's expected to happen in the hours ahead. Time permitting, we'll also try to wade in below the line, answering your questions and comments. However we'd like your input as much as possible – please send us your favourite links to stories/clips on YouTube etc and we'll flag up the best above the line. JAJames DartJohn Ashdownguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
The 10 shortest managerial reigns to rival Paul Hart's brief stay at QPR The 10 shortest managerial reigns to rival Paul Hart's brief stay at QPR. telegraph.co.uk |
Portsmouth High Court bid to have winding up petition struck out fails Portsmouth application to have winding up petition from HM Revenue and Customs struck out dismissed by High Court judge. telegraph.co.uk |
Stoke City 3-1 Arsenal Arsenal did not want this match on a schedule that may lead to greater prizes, but the FA Cup tie was still hard fought and victory will be prized in particular by Ricardo Fuller, who scored Stoke's first two goals. His winner came in the 78th minute as he headed in a cross from Mamady Sidibe.Fuller had done so by getting in front of Sol Campbell, who was making the first appearance of his second stint at Arsenal and found that his reserves of match fitness were understandably shallow. The visitors cannot have expected much of themselves and would scarcely have been surprised when Dean Whitehead added a third goal in the 86th minute.Of the Arsenal players who began this tie only DenĂlson and Cesc Fábregas had started in the defeat of Bolton four days earlier. Campbell was eager to demonstrate his organisational gifts but a Rory Delap throw-in flew high over him and the men he was instructing in the third minute.The visitors' goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was passive and Fuller easily got in front of him to give Stoke the lead. Tony Pulis's side should have had an opportunity to extend the advantage but Fuller stayed on his feet in the 35th minute when fouled by MikaĂ«l Silvestre and the referee Martin Atkinson took no action.At that stage a 1-0 lead looked ample since Arsenal then were innocuous and uncoordinated. It took an unsympathetic ruling to pave the way for an equaliser. In the 42nd minute the ball brushed against the arm of Whitehead, who had been trying to avoid the contact, and a free-kick was harshly awarded by Atkinson. Fábregas rolled the ball to DenĂlson and his deflected effort ran low into the net.Nothing that followed was to Arsenal's liking. Still, Campbell did get a workout. The only previous first-team game in which the 35-year-old had featured this season was with Notts County in League Two for a 2-1 defeat at Morecambe in September.FA CupStoke CityArsenalKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |