By Andy Carpenter 10 June 2016 If England’s squad were a single footballer and you compared his goal-scoring record for the 2015-16 season with his Euro 2016 rivals in a Golden Shoe-style contest, then he would be starting the tournament as the continent’s hottest striker. England would be top of the table ahead of Germany in second place, then Russia, […]
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Euro 2016 squads: cost £2.2bn but worth more than double
By Nick Harris 10 June 2016 Two interesting and credible studies published this week have attempted to quantify the cost (and separately, the value) of the 24 squads that will contest Euro 2016, which begins this evening in Paris when hosts France face Romania at the Stade de France. The first was conducted by Profit […]
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Infantino’s 100-day report card: a farcical FIFA fail
By James Corbett 4 June 2016 CLICK HERE: FULL GUIDE TO THE ELECTION In September 1997, when Britain was still intoxicated by the biggest general election landslide in the country’s history, the Labour Party spin doctor Derek Draper published a book, entitled ‘Blair’s 100 Days.’ A self-styled […]
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Where the money went: Arsenal top PL prize cash table with £101m
By Sportingintelligence 24 May 2016 Leicester’s miraculous 5000-1 Premier League title win in 2015-16 made them globally famous but the prize money table for the season was topped by Arsenal, with official figures released today showing they have pocketed £100,952,257 from central funds alone. The money comes primarily from the PL’s huge TV deals but also includes Arsenal’s share […]
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Leicester lead the way as points on the road hit record levels
By Brian Sears 14 May 2016 Winning away from home is now officially a ‘thing’ in the Premier League. The trend has been inching towards better away performances for a few seasons now but the amount of points won on the road in 2015-16 is guaranteed to be at record levels no matter what happens on […]
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Leicester’s mighty Schmeichel king of the ever-present keepers
By Brian Sears 6 May April 2016 Only three goalkeepers of the 45 who have played in the Premier League this season have played for every minute of every match and it seems appropriate that title-winner Kasper Schmeichel of Leicester City has the best record of those three. The 29-year-old Dane has appeared for every second of […]
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Leicester’s awesome improvement takes them to best of times
By Brian Sears 29 April 2016 Leicester need three points from their remaining three games, at most, to be crowned Premier League champions. That is astonishing enough given they were 5,000-1 outsiders last August. But the manner in which they have put themselves in this position is also jaw-dropping. Even with three games to play they have […]
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SRNA: Bilic ‘will manage one of the great clubs after West Ham’
By Tim Rich 29 April 2016 Slaven Bilic will go on to manage “one of the great clubs in world football” after completing his work at the stepping stone of West Ham, according to his compatriot and friend Darijo Srna. Srna, 33, is the captain of Shakhtar Donetsk and has known Bilic – who is […]
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‘Shakhtar’s story is beyond sport: exiled, denuded but dreaming’
By Tim Rich in Kiev 27 April 2016 “I remember my last day in Donetsk,” says Darijo Srna, the captain of Shakhtar, a football club in exile. “It was 16 May 2014. We were told we had to leave quickly. I didn’t take anything from my home. We just took the two cars. My shirts […]
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Villa’s relegation at Old Trafford will be a fitting way to go down
By Brian Sears 15 April 2016 Barring victory for Aston Villa this weekend combined with defeat for Norwich, then Villa’s relegation to the Championship will be confirmed as mathematical fact on Saturday. The seven ‘ever present’ clubs of the Premier League era will be six and we dealt with Villa’s demise here. You don’t need to go […]
