| Liverpool sale to BoSox in trouble Liverpool's takeover by the owners of the Boston Red Sox will not go ahead if the English club is forced to enter a form of bankruptcy protection and gets penalized in the Premier League standings. cbc.ca |
UK Athletics backs West Ham's stadium bid • UK Athletics impressed by West Ham's bid• West Ham's intention to retain track could be keyWest Ham United's bid to take over the London Olympic stadium after the 2012 Games has received a major boost in the form of formal support by UK Athletics.The Hammers, who have made a joint bid with Newham council, have committed to ensuring there is an athletics track as well as a football stadium.It is a big blow to the joint rival bid from Tottenham Hotspur and AEG who had indicated a running track was not part of their future plans.The UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner said: "What has impressed me so much about the joint bid from West Ham and Newham is their clear commitment to the spirit of the Olympic legacy and not just athletics at the elite end, but with the retention of the community track, our future champions and club runners too."It was clear from the start that only a partnership approach would bring to life the vision Seb Coe had when he committed to an athletics legacy in 2005 and we believe the collaboration of West Ham, Newham and UKA gives the strongest opportunity for a vibrant sporting legacy that will go well beyond 2012."West Ham have also made clear their support for hosting the 2015 World Athletics championships at the stadium – London is bidding against Beijing for the event.Warner added: "The team at West Ham have also been keen to support our bid to host the World Athletics Championships in 2015 at the stadium, fully understanding that a significant international event will play a major part in realising their ambition of a British sporting hub."Last week, the AEG president Tim Leiweke said it would not make economic sense to keep the stadium geared up for athletics because of a small number of major events that could be staged at the venue.West Ham's vice-chairman, Karren Brady, said: "This is fantastic news. We believe ours is the only bid that can deliver London's legacy commitment to the International Olympic Committee. UKA's endorsement is a powerful and highly-valued testament of that."Our plan is not just to have a new stadium for West Ham but a real sporting centre for London and the rest of the country. We want to create a home of sport, featuring two of the greatest sports, football and athletics, side by side where they can grow and flourish together."UKA have been great in helping us develop that vision over the past eight months and, together with Newham Council, we are ideally placed to make our dream a reality."We now hope to move on and secure the stadium and enable world-class athletics to continue in east London beyond the Olympic Games – hopefully including the IAAF World Championships in 2015."Olympic StadiumWest Ham UnitedOlympic games 2012Athleticsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Sydney FC too soft: Rudan As Sydney FC head west to play Perth Glory, former captain Mark Rudan says the team are not "playing up to expectations". foxsports.com.au |
Premier League chalkboard analysis Johnny Heitinga v Rafael van der Vaart, Newcastle's approach play, Nemanja Vidic's success in the air and West Brom's midfield dominanceJohnny Heitinga, a centre-back by trade, has often looked uncomfortable when deployed as a central midfielder by David Moyes, but had a good game in that position up against his Dutch team-mate Rafael van der Vaart at White Hart Lane on Saturday. The difference seemed to be because Heitinga had a specific player to track – against Manchester United's 4-1-4-1 last month he struggled with no direct opponent, but his marking of Van der Vaart (the playmaker in Tottenham Hotspur's 4-4-1-1) was essentially the job he is used to doing at centre-back, merely slightly higher up the pitch. His success here is reflected in his tackle completion rate (five from seven) but more tellingly from Van der Vaart's passing Chalkboard. Note how few successful passes are made from a central playmaking position (especially when compared to his equivalent Chalkboard against Aston Villa) and how many take place in his own half of the pitch. Indeed, it became clear that Heitinga's sole job was to prevent Van der Vaart from creating in the Everton half. He was removed soon after Tottenham brought on Roman Pavlyuchenko, and Harry Redknapp pushed Van der Vaart to the left of a 4-4-2. Heitinga therefore had no direct opponent, and was no longer needed. Moyes criticised Heitinga's lack of focus before this match, but will have been pleased by his performance here.Newcastle United fielded only one true winger against West Ham, with Jonas Gutiérrez charging up and down the left flank and Joey Barton in a narrow right-sided role. Newcastle primarily looked to play down the left with balls into Gutiérrez, as the above Chalkboard shows – overall, 29% of their passes took place down the left flank, compared to just 15% down the right. But despite this imbalance both Newcastle's goals came after Barton crosses from the right – perhaps West Ham were surprised by the change of approach. First, Barton's ball towards Andy Carroll rebounded to Kevin Nolan, who finished well, then the winner came when Carroll headed in a perfect Barton cross.Any centre-back travelling to the Britannia Stadium is in for a test of his aerial abilities. Stoke City's reliance on long balls, crosses and set pieces is well-documented, and since Kenwyne Jones had scored four goals in his previous six games – all from headers – Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were set for a tough afternoon. Ferdinand had a mixed game, winning just two out of five challenges, but his replacement as Manchester United captain was superb, winning 10 of the 11 challenges he contested, including all 10 in the air. Vidic's record for the season now stands at 50 challenges won from 68.Mark Hughes was without his entire first-choice midfield for Fulham's trip to the Hawthorns on Saturday. Damien Duff, Dickson Etuhu, Danny Murphy and Simon Davies were all unavailable through injury, and their stand-ins were unable to cope with the physical challenge in the central midfield zone. The Chalkboard of West Brom's tackles shows an impressive completion statistic of 33 from 46 and in the area between the two penalty boxes the figure is an incredible 27 from 30.Michael Cox is the editor of zonalmarking.netChalkboardsTottenham HotspurEvertonNewcastle UnitedManchester UnitedStoke CityFulhamWest BromMichael Coxguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Wigan Athletic goalkeeper Chris Kirkland's future up in the air following Bolton draw Wigan Athletic 1 Bolton Wanderers 1While Chris Kirkland, one of the few Premier League goalkeepers eligible for England, remains the forgotten man of Fabio Capello's available choices, he has become equally forgotten by Wigan, too. telegraph.co.uk |