Download - Sport magazine 269
Jessica Ennis goodnight
issue 269, August 17 2012
Radar
09 Aston Martin car parts In a lifesize Airfix-style kit. We don’t recommend you put it together yourself
10 Vuelta a Espana Some of the toughest – and prettiest – climbs in road bike racing begin this week
12 Olympic legacies The stadiums from Games of old that could do with a little more love and attention. We all could
o this coming weekFeatures
18 The London Games All the glory, all the golds, all the highs – and one or two lows – from a soaraway summer
30 The Premier League: it’s back We say with absolute certainty what will happen this season. What could possibly go wrong? 44 Designed to Win Behind the scenes at Oakley’s 2012 athlete ‘safe house’
extra time
54 Grooming Our razor-sharp collection of rather nice electric stylers 56 Mieke Dockley Spurs defender’s girl who stripped off in Camelot. We want a shrubbery!
58 Kit The Prem kicks off tomorrow – we’d put their shirts on it
60 Gadgets All the gear to create a disco in your bedroom – apart from an aggressive bouncer on the door 62 Entertainment Arnie and Sly are back with more action cliches than you can wave a gun at in The Expendables 2
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| August 17 2012 | 05
Radar
| August 17 2012 | 09
Some assembly requiredhankfully, the Evanta Motor Company
hasn’t adopted the IKEA business
model of self-assembly for a real car,
because if our childhood Airfix exploits are
anything to go by most people would end up
sticking the parts to their own hands before
sinking into a glue-induced hallucination.
It wouldn’t pass an MOT, is all we’re saying.
This is, in fact, a 1:1 scale model of the Aston
Martin DBR1/2 driven to Le Mans victory in 1959
by Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori, two men
who definitely weren’t high on solvents. So clear
out some garage space – the 21ft x 11ft artwork
will be auctioned at Goodwood Revival next
month, with a guide price of £20,000-£30,000.
evanta.co.uk ric
ha
rdp
ard
on
.co
.uk
p10 – Saddle up with the Racing Post’s new iPad app
p10 – Climbing the Vuelta a Espana
p12 – Olympic stadia: a rotting legacy?
T
ere at Sport, we probably don’t
need to find more ways to gamble
our hard-earned (really) cash – but
then along came the Racing Post iPad app.
It’s just like the newspaper, but better.
And it’s available from 8pm the day before
the paper is published. Top features include
a breaking news service, with betting moves
direct from the racecourse, an incredibly
detailed database, customisable racecards
and updated results as they happen through
the day. Our favourite bit, though, is the
oak-panelled library backdrop for the
database. Very classy, very us.
You can download the Racing Post app in the
App Store. It’s free for the first 30 days,
then £1.99 per day after that
Bet your life
10 | August 17 2012 |
RadarP
ete
Go
din
g
ith Bradley Wiggins sleeping off the
hangover of his life, Chris Froome
leads Team Sky in the year’s final
Grand Tour. Cycling writer Daniel Friebe
picks out the toughest climbs facing
Froome in the Vuelta a Espana.
Puerto de Ancaras – Stage 14, 1,470m
“It’s often described as the most beautiful
climb in Spain – it’s very
green, very sparsely
populated. It’s also very
steep towards the end. Most
climbs are steep at the start, but this is 9km
long and the really hard part is after 7km,
when it goes to a 12-13 per cent gradient.
That’s where a lot of damage will be done.”
Lagos de Covadonga (pictured) –
Stage 15, 1,120m
“This is the most iconic climb of the Vuelta.
It’s a really incredible natural amphitheatre.
W
Pain in Spain
H
It’s difficult in the second half – the last
kilometre goes down and then up again,
and that’s where some key time gaps will
be made.”
Bola del Mundo – Stage 20, 2,247m
“It’s high for the Vuelta – at that height,
lack of oxygen is a factor. The general
classification will probably be decided by
then, so it won’t be pivotal. But it is brutal.
It never goes below 10 per cent, and with
1km to go it’s 23 per cent – which means
you’re almost toppling over backwards.”
Mountain High:
Europe’s Greatest
Cycle Climbs –
Saddlebag Edition
by Daniel Friebe
and Pete Goding,
(Quercus), out now,
£9.99
For our preview of
the Vuelta a Espana,
turn to page 50
hat happens to Olympic venues after
the big event has ended? It’s a timely
question and one that’s been superbly
explored in The Olympic City project. From LA
to Mexico City, the two photographers behind
the venture have visited former host cities to
record their post-Games state. Some facilities
– such as Barcelona’s diving platforms – are
still in some use and retain an eerie beauty.
Others, such as many of the Athens 2004
arenas, haven’t been so lucky (see right). Still
a better fate than hosting West Ham games.
Find out more at olympiccityproject.com.
A book is available to pre-order now
12 | August 17 2012 |
RadarJ
on
Pa
ck
, M
ike
He
wit
t/A
lls
po
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W
A
A lasting Olympic legacy
From sinking Fox to soaring Eagles
The Eagles soar (1998)The greatest upset in Challenge Cup final
history involved one of the sport’s oldest
clubs, Wigan Warriors, and Sheffield Eagles –
who had only existed for 14 seasons. Wigan
had won a record 16 finals and were odds-on
to land another, but Sheffield coach John Kear
had a reputation for galvanising underdogs,
and this was his finest moment. The Eagles
took the game to Wigan, with skipper Paul
Broadbent leading by example. Alongside
fellow prop Dale Laughton (pictured), he drove
the ball hard down the middle to lay a platform
for victory. After the game, Broadbent walked
into the post-match press conference still in
his kit, with two hands firmly on the trophy.
When asked about his efforts on the field, he
said memorably: “I ran me blood to water.”
Offiah’s wonder try (1994)Wigan were in their seventh consecutive
final against a Leeds side coached by Doug
Laughton – the man who had discovered
Martin Offiah. Offiah was on the wing for
Wigan and just 13 minutes into the game he
opened the scoring with one of the greatest
tries ever seen at Wembley Stadium.
Receiving the ball just 10 metres from his
own posts, he broke through two tacklers
and found himself in open space. Once into
the Leeds half, Offiah only had Alan Tait to
beat. They had been teammates at Widnes,
but Tait couldn’t lay a finger on Offiah who
swerved inside to check the full-back, then
accelerated outside to the line. After touching
down, he sank to his knees, stunned at what
he’d done on rugby league’s greatest stage.
Not really, David (1968)This Leeds and Wakefield Trinity match
became known as ’The Watersplash Final’ as
rain, lightning and hailstones threatened to
turn it into a farce. With seconds left, a Bev
Risman penalty seemed to have won the
game for Leeds 11-7. However, Wakefield
still had time to restart. Don Fox opted for
a grubber kick, Trinity winger Ken Hirst
hacked the ball towards the posts twice and,
with defenders slipping and sliding, touched
down. Many Leeds players couldn’t bear to
look as Fox stepped up to convert. However,
his standing foot slipped and he sent the ball
wide. Minutes later, David Coleman told the
distraught Fox that he’d been voted man of
the match. “Is it any consolation to you?“ he
asked. Fox replied: “Not really, David.“
head of next
weekend’s
Challenge
Cup final between
Leeds Rhinos and
Warrington Wolves
at Wembley Stadium,
we pick our three
most memorable
moments from one
of rugby league’s
showpiece events.
Starting with one for
our older readers...
Get your tickets for
next week’s final
from therfl.co.uk
Athens’ Olympic beach volleyball stadium as it looks today. Renovation is probably not top of Greece’s to-do list
cool, confident Tom Daley making our Nation Proud
Supported by adidas Ice Divedeveloped with athletes adidas.com/bodycare/uk
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14 | August 17 2012 |
Radar Editor’s letter
Editor-in-chief
Simon Caney
@simoncaney
Sport magazine
Part of UTV Media plc
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Senior writers: Sarah Shephard (7958),
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Staff writers: Mark Coughlan (7901),
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Picture editor: Julian Wait (7961)
Production manager: Tara Dixon (7963)
Contributors: David Lawrenson,
David Conn, Jonathan Wilson
Commercial
Agency Sales Director: Iain Duffy (7991)
Business Director (Magazine and iPad):
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Managing Director: Adam Bullock
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Colour reproduction: Rival Colour Ltd
Printed by: Wyndeham Group Ltd
© UTV Media plc 2012
UTV Media plc takes no responsibility for
the content of advertisements placed in
Sport magazine
£1 where sold
Hearty thanks this week to:
Craig Burley, Sainsbury’s for the
patriotic hamper
Don’t forget: Help keep public transport clean and tidy for everyone by taking your copy of Sport away with you when you leave the bus or train.
LAUNCH OFTHE YEAR
2008
Total Average Distribution: 304,700 Jul-Dec 2011
www.sport-magazine.co.uk
@sportmaguk
facebook.com/sportmagazine
T oday, my little boy is two years old. I mention it not just out of paternal pride, but because this column is about him.The Olympics have largely
passed him by, in all honesty. His sister
was quite taken by the gymnastics.
But overall, as ever, both preferred
to switch over and watch Peppa Pig.
But it is they who should benefit most
from the wonderful Olympics that we have
just witnessed. We have heard the word
‘legacy’ thrown around for seven years
now, without any real substance. Now is
the time to see what it really means.
Well, if there is to be a lasting effect
from these Games, how about this for
a start? More sport in schools. More
sporting facilities. Better equipment.
Better coaching. No more playing fields
being sold off. No more signs in parks that
say ‘No Ball Games’.
Yes, it will cost money, and yes, I’m well
aware we are in an age of austerity. But
the long-term benefits for our society far
outweigh the short-term cost. And I know
there are those who claim there is no
proof that sport can do good, but that’s
because no government has ever had the
balls to set in motion a long-term plan to
get the country active.
But it’s obvious. Sport reduces crime,
reduces obesity, unites communities. On
a micro-level, there are great examples.
Look at the brilliant work of the Beyond
Sport movement, where there is startling
evidence of the good that sport can do.
And when we enjoy success at the highest
level, as we have seen these past few
weeks, it makes us enormously proud.
There will probably be some statistic that
says output has doubled/halved/done
nothing at all during the Games, but that
does not tell the real story.
Instead, the very fact that people have
been smiling, and chatting, and engaging
with each other is a huge positive. A happy
country is a more productive country.
Yes, I’m preaching to the converted
here. If you’ve picked up a magazine called
Sport, then chances are you’re going to
enjoy sport. But spread the word, get
talking and make this a debate that is
heard the length and breadth of the
country. The current government’s
record on this front is not good, although
they now talk a good game. If they do not
act, however, then vote with your feet at
the next election. This is an issue that may
not seem as important as NHS reform or
cuts in education, but it is intrinsically
linked to them nonetheless.
So happy birthday, Felix Caney.
You don’t know it yet, but these Olympics
could have an enormous impact on the
rest of your life.
No more empty wordsNow we have to make the phrase ‘Olympic legacy’ actually mean something
Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand
Ima
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So
urc
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Re
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s
Watch this space: the Games have finished. Now Britain’s
Olympic legacy must begin
Reader comments of the week
A superb #olympic games
complimented throughout
by a superb
@sportmaguk. Good job
@simoncaney et al
@fypcoaching
Great article by
@simoncaney. I live in
Stratford & will miss all the
ppl, the buzz. @London2012
have done awesome job
@_ashpatel
I’ve been an avid football
fan since 1978 and I can
honestly say I’ve never
been so uninterested in
the start of the football
season.
Steve, via email
@simoncaney epic last
section of your ‘Silence of
the cynics’ article in
today’s Sport... #TeamGB
#wehaveshowntheworld
@sibucknall10
If you get copy of @
Sportmaguk today - read the
top 20 premier league
moments. VERY funny.
Laughing all the way through
my commute!
@giftedapollo
Free iPad app available on Newsstand
Cover of the Year
18 | August 17 2012 |
All
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Rule Britannia
annia!| 19
For 17 days
across July and
August, Britannia
ruled the waves,
the Velodrome,
the Olympic
Stadium (for 45
surreal minutes)
and in the very
specialised
discipline of
Putting On An
Inspirational And
Awe-Inspiring
Olympic Games.
Team GB may not
have ultimately
reigned supreme
at the top of the
medal table, but
they were never
likely to. What
they did was bring
home more gold
and greater glory
than we ever
dared imagine. If
it all feels a bit of
a blur now, let us
recap the most
glorious Games in
British history...
London 2012
20 | August 17 2012 |
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London 2012
Day 1. Let the Games truly begin Saturday July 28
The morning after the opening ceremony
before, and when the firework fug finally lifted
over London on the first day proper, gold was
supposed to quickly follow, via the thunderous
thighs of Mark Cavendish in the men’s road
race. Alas, it seemed those dastardly foreign
types had other ideas and Cavendish was left
complaining that no other teams had helped
him win his gold as he huffed home in 29th.
In the women’s 400m medley, Hannah Miley
also came up short, finishing fifth and out of
the medals. This was not the start we’d been
promised, and we went to bed in a funk.
Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0
Day 2.Misery of the Mansfield Mermaid Sunday July 29
A new day brought new optimism, what with
Rebecca Adlington swimming for gold and
a new pair of Choos in the 400m freestyle.
The hot tip for everyone who knows next to
nothing about swimming, Adlington swam like
a woman with a stitch, trailing home in third
behind two women who clearly weren't
British. This was, in no uncertain terms, a
bloody outrage. But at least Team GB was
off the mark with Lizzie ArmiTstead taking a
brave silver in the women's road race –
'brave' because she wasn't expected to win.
It wasn't the medal we craved as a nation, but
silver can sometimes looks a bit like gold if
you stare at it for
long enough. And we
were on our way.
Gold 0 Silver 1
Bronze 1
Day 3. Most unappealing
Monday July 30
Another day of disappointment arrived to start
the week, with Team GB awarded just one
bronze medal for four years' hard work. It was
all starting to feel like hosting a birthday party
but not being allowed any cake. Tom Daley
and the other less celebrated bloke
were in the running for a medal of some kind
in the 10m synchronised platform diving, until
they chose the arse-first bomb for their
fourth dive and had to settle for fourth place.
For a short time it seemed we’d be celebrating
another silver in the men’s team artistic
gymnastics, until Japan argued long enough
that they should have it instead and Team GB
were relegated to bronze. The nation still
celebrated like it was gold, because by now we
were desperate – and because the bookies
were offering odds on us not winning a single
gold medal all Games long. >
Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 1
Highs and lowsHigh A skydiving Queen
Liz, an ode to the NHS and
the birth of the Industrial
Revolution. Then came Mr
Bean, the pogo-ing punks
and David Beckham in his
speedboat. We still don’t
really know what was
going on, but Danny
Boyle’s opening ceremony
was a triumph of weird
and wonderful.
Low When South Korea’s
flag was used beside a
shot of a North Korean
footballer on the Hampden
Park scoreboard before
they faced Colombia, the
crackpot state pulled their
players off in disgust.
But it was just a clerical
error, we assured them,
and they came back
out laughing.
High Proving the athletes
are not all that different
to you and I, Germany’s
Stephan Feck produced
the ‘dive’ of the Games
in the 3m springboard
preliminaries. Up, down,
twist, tuck and splash -
into the pool on the flat of
his back. Textbook stuff.
He didn’t progress any
further, amazingly.
Low When matchfixing in
badminton, it’s usually
advisable not to arouse
suspicion by repeatedly
serving into the net in
front of a global audience
of millions. No one
mentioned this to the
eight shady ladies from
China, South Korea and
Indonesia, who were
duly disqualified.
High As part of the
Olympic celebrations,
flag-waving mayor
Boris Johnson went on a
zip-wire above Hackney
- which got stuck half
way and left him dangling
on high for five sorry
minutes. “The judges will
mark him down for
artistic impression,”
said a spokesman.
Low Hoy, Pendleton,
Purchase and Hunter
- these were the Crying
Games alright, and no one
cried longer or louder
than South Korean fencer
Shin Lam, whose tears
formed part of an
impressive but ultimately
futile hour-long sit-down
protest. She may still be
weeping now.
THERE
WAS
NEVER
JUST
ONE
BOURNE LEGACYTHE
JEREMY
RENNERRACHEL
WEISZEDWARD
NORTON
IN CINEMAS NOW
© 2012 UNIVERSAL STUDIOSWWW.THEBOURNELEGACY.CO.UK /THEBOURNELEGACYUK
12ACONTAINSMODERATE VIOLENCE12ACONTAINSMODERATE VIOLENCE
22 | August 17 2012 |
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Day 6.Welcome to the Velodrome
Thursday August 2
With the Velodrome finally open for business,
Team GB added gold in the men’s team
sprint, despite a scare when Philip Hindes
fell off his bike in what was either an accident
or a calculated ploy. “I did it on purpose to get
a restart,” said Hindes, kindly clearing things
up. But because he’s a bit German, he claimed
he’d misunderstood ze question and it was all
just a terrible accident. The only bummer in
the Velodrome came in the women’s team
sprint, when Victoria Pendleton was relegated
for being too lovely, or some flimsy technicality,
taking Jess Varnish with her. But by now the
golds were rolling in, with two more in the men’s
canoe slalom double and the shooting
men’s double tRap. And by this point,
according to photos posted on a popular social
network, Bradley Wiggins was still at the booze.
Gold 3 Silver 3 Bronze 0
Day 7. God save the Queen
Friday August 3
In her last Olympics before she goes off to
agonise over something else completely,
Queen Victoria Pendleton took gold in the
women’s keirin, finishing a country mile ahead
of her nemesis Anna Meares. The men’s
team pursuit took another gold, and the
French cycling suits started sniffing round
and wondering if there was more to it than
met the eye. Throw in a third gold in the
women’s double sculls, Katherine Grainger
finally getting her hands on gold after three
previous silvers, plus four other bronze, and
Team GB was bedding in nicely behind China
and the USA on the trophy table. The biggest
disappointment of the day came in the
Aquatics Centre, where national treasure
Rebecca Adlington was beaten in the 800m
freestyle by a seven-year-old American girl
wearing water wings. Adlington complained
of feeling old and was last seen heading Up
West on a mobility scooter. >
Gold 3 Silver 0 Bronze 4
Highs and lows
Day 5. The gold rush begins
Wednesday August 1
Finally, on the Fifth Day, the Gods finally
dropped a gold Team GB's way. Down on the
water, Heather Stanning and Helen
Glover took gold in the rowing, but missed
out on the full 15 minutes of fame due to
Bradley Wiggins tearing through Surrey
like a man on heat, obliterating the field in the
44km time trial. Taking his own medal tally to
seven, this elevated Wiggins to the status of
Britain's most prolific Olympian, one ahead
of Sir Steve Redgrave, who could be seen
weeping gently in the bushes at Eton Dorney.
Wiggins then announced that only Olympic gold
counts (possibly just to annoy Chris Froome's
girlfriend, as the Tour de France winner's
personal man-servant had lagged home with
the bronze), then pedalled off to get pie-eyed
on gin. Finally, at long last, Team GB was rising.
Gold 2 Silver 1 Bronze 2
Day 4. A silver lining Tuesday July 31
With just a single, solitary silver added, in
equestrian team eventing, Team GB found
itself sitting beneath the superpowers of
Lithuania and Kazakhstan. Stop the Games,
Lord Coe, we want to get off.
Gold 0 Silver 1 Bronze 0
High Michael Phelps took
just the six medals in
London - four gold and
two silver - which took
his tally to a ridiculous 22
in all and made him the
most decorated Olympian
of all time. And yet what
we recall most fondly was
his admission that he
pissed in our pool.
High More memorable
even than Chad le Clos’
fingernail victory over
Michael Phelps in the
200m butterfly final: his
dad Bert going into mad
parental meltdown in
the BBC studio. “Un-
believable. Un-believable,
un-believable,
un-believable.”
Low All those empty
seats? Now if the seats
left scandalously empty
had featured the logo of
the company whose suit
hadn’t bothered to show
up, we’d be able to identify
them with ease from afar
and then act. Boycott their
business and send them
dog dirt through the post.
High North Korea’s tiny
Om Yun Chol lifted three
times his own bodyweight
in the clean and jerk to
take a shock gold, the
exertion seeming to make
him go a bit mad. “I believe
the great Kim Jong Il
looked over me,” he
claimed, clearly delirious
or reading from a card.
High Within 15 seconds of
walking into Horse Guards
Parade for the beach
volleyball, the Benny Hill
music had kicked in and
the MC was imploring the
crowd to “make some
noise, it's party time!” It
was 9.15am on a Tuesday.
And one day, all sport
will be like this.
London 2012
Highs and lows
| August 17 2012 | 25
Day 10. J’accuse, monsieur Monday August 6
Another day, another week and another
brace of golds. This time they came in the
equestrian team jumping (for the first
gold in that event since 1952) and from
Jason Kenny in the men’s sprint. The sight
of the slight Lancastrian being chased around
the Velodrome by the seething French mass
of Grégory Baugé in the final may well be the
abiding memory of London 2012. Afterwards,
the French finally snapped. “How have they
gained so many tenths of seconds,” demanded
team director Isabelle Gautheron, who’d
suspected something was amiss when British
cycle supremo Dave Brailsford mentioned
they had “specially round wheels”. “They hide
their wheels a lot,” she harrumphed. “The ones
for the bikes they race on are put in wheel
covers at the finish.” What she failed to mention
was that the wheels are not only round, but
also manufactured in France. But, as Sir Chris
Hoy’s dad put it: “You’ve got to upset someone.
It might as well be the French.” >
Gold 2 Silver 0 Bronze 1
Day 9. The morning after the night before Sunday August 5
After the deluge, a depression, of sorts: Team
GB won only two golds today. They came from
the ever imperious Ben Ainslie in the men’s
Finn and the tennis men’s singles, where
Andy Murray very almost cracked a smile
after obliterating an imitation of Roger Federer
in the final. Murray also took a silver in the
mixed doubles with Laura Robson, but the
challenge of having to play his singles final and
mixed doubles final simultaneously on different
courts proved too demanding. Elsewhere,
Christina Ohuruogu took silver in the
women’s 400m, likewise Louis Smith on the
pommel horse, who missed out on gold thanks
to some obscure ruling about execution of
something or other. Elsewhere, Bolt beat
Blake in the men’s 100m final – but because it
didn’t add to Team GB’s tally, we shan’t dwell.
Gold 2 Silver 4 Bronze 2
Day 8. Golds galore Saturday August 4
Saturday. Super Saturday. Super Soaraway
Saturday. Super Soaraway Sodding-
Sensational Saturday, the day when golds
rained down on a disbelieving nation. Further
golds had already been added in the women’s
team pursuit cycling, the men’s four
rowing and the women’s lightweight
sculls doubles, but nothing had prepared
Blighty for what was about to unfold in the
Olympics Stadium. First, the little-known
heptathlete Jessica Ennis took gold in style,
dominating from start to finish and racing
home to clinch victory in the 800m. Jessica
Ennis, goodnight indeed. Minutes later, Greg
Rutherford flung himself into the nation’s
living rooms with a jump (8.31m) that no one
could better, before Mo Farah did the
seemingly impossible, beating the unbeatable
Africans in the 10,000m – and then celebrated
by rolling perilously close to a large puddle
of pure white phlegm coughed up by silver-
medallist Galen Rupp. With all three medals
coming within 45 extraordinary minutes of
each other, the nation retired to its bed blind
drunk on glory – though the strong continental
lager may have also helped.
Gold 6 Silver 1 Bronze 0
Low Will we ever see the
best of Chinese superstar
Liu Xiang again? Gold in
Athens, injured in Beijing,
and out of London after
crashing in the 110m at
the very first hurdle. Last
seen heading for the exit
in a wheelchair.
High Usain Bolt retained
his 100m, 200m and
4x100m titles with
awe-inspiring ease, then
invited the Swedish
women’s handball team
back to his room and
declared: “I am a living
legend.” Which is
undeniably true. But stop
right now, big man, for
your work here is done.
Low If you were a
drunken cretin who’d just
lobbed a bottle at Bolt and
Blake on the starting line
of the men’s 100m final,
the last person you’d want
to find standing next
to you is Dutch judo
champion Edith Bosch.
She gleefully beat
the moron up until
security arrived.
Low During the hysteria
of Super Saturday, when
nothing could prick the
nation’s pride, the male
footballers had a good
go by exiting lamely on
penalties to South Korea.
Luckily, it didn’t really
matter because it’s not an
Olympic sport. But even
so – the hopeless frauds.
High The world witnessed
a dish served cold in the
Aquatics Centre when
France came from behind
to snatch a glorious gold
from the USA in the
4x100m freestyle.
Four years previously,
the Americans had
pulled the same trick
on the French.
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Low The most painful
interview of the Games:
15-year-old Lithuanian
Ruta Meilutyte took shock
gold in the women’s 100m
breaststroke and then
froze before the BBC
camera. “I can’t believe it,”
she said, repeatedly, for
five awkward minutes.
Leave her alone, Davies,
you brute.
London 2012
26 | August 17 2012 |
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Highs and lows
Day 11. The Queen is dead... Tuesday August 7
Perhaps we were getting greedy by now, and
adding another four golds to surpass the
Beijing gold tally was not to be sniffed at,
but it’s the one that got away that sticks in
the craw. In her final ride, reluctant national
treasure Queen Victoria Pendleton was
supposed to race to a crowning victory in the
women’s sprint, while wearing a crown, before
racing off into the future crying tears of
unbridled joy. Instead, thunder-thighed Aussie
villain Anna Meares elbowed our hero aside
and raced off with her glory and her gold.
Still, Sir Chris Hoy’s gold in the keirin raised
spirits and was as impressively muscular as
it was inevitable, to all but his mother at least.
It bagged Hoy his sixth Olympic gold, one more
than the previous record holder Sir Steve
’Huggy Bear’ Redgrave. But perhaps the most
significant gold of the day came courtesy of
Laura Trott, taking gold in the final race of
the women’s omnium and offering hope and
expectation for the future. The Queen is dead.
Long live the Queen.
Gold 4 Silver 2 Bronze 2
High Highly impressive to
see the Royal three-piece
of William, Kate and Harry
present at every single
game on the Olympic
calendar, sometimes
being at several events
concurrently. Quite how
they got so much time
off work or were so lucky
in the ticket ballot...
well, who knows?
High The true star of the
Velodrome was not Hoy,
Pendleton, Kenny or Trott,
but the man dressed like a
member of the Gestapo
doing laps on a 1930s
motorcycle. Sadly, he
never quite managed
to hang on for gold.
Low Of the big Brit
disappointments, medal
hope Dai Greene was
never at the races,
staggering into the 400m
hurdles final and crawling
over the line. Worse,
though: Phillips Idowu.
A genuine medal hope,
only he will ever know
what went on in that
head of his.
High In his debut Olympic
final, the 800m, Kenyan
David Rushida formulated
a simple but effective
plan: “I just decided to go
for it.” He did just that,
setting a seemingly
effortless world record in
one of the moments of the
Games. Lord Coe passed
out in a puddle of awe.
High Britannia’s first
Olympic medal-winning
brothers in the same
individual sport in 112
years, the Brownlee
brothers took gold
(Alistair) and bronze
(Jonny) in the men’s
triathlon. But for Jonny’s
15-second time penalty,
we might well have had
a frisky one-two.
Day 12. And breathe Wednesday August 8
A day of rest. Not officially, just in terms of
Team GB medals – Tim Brabants being the main
medal hope that didn’t materialise. But at this
stage, third place was as good as in the bag.
Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0
Day 13. Dance and destruction Thursday August 9
As a nation of keen pugilists, Team GB taking
gold today in flyweight boxing and taekwondo
should have come as no real surprise – even if
neither Nicola Adams nor Jade Jones was
quite expected to take the big medal. But who
knew Britain bred such magical dancing nags?
Charlotte Dujardin and the prancing
Valegro hot-stepped their way to gold in
equestrian’s individual dressage – horse
dancing to you and I. And in other business,
the world stopped once more this evening as
Bolt beat Blake again, this time in the 200m.
He celebrated by doing some press-ups. >
Gold 3 Silver 0 Bronze 1
MANY ROADS LEADTO THE MEDAL,BUT ALL BEGIN WITHA GREAT START.
SIR CHRIS HOY, 6X OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST
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NOTHING BEATS
A GREAT START.
28 | August 17 2012 |
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London 2012
Highs and lows
Day 14. Jolly hockey sticks
Friday August 10
Four years after crashing out in Beijing,
Shanaze Reade came up short of the medals
in the BMX, a frustrating sport in which
whoever got to the front first always seemed
to win. In the men’s taekwondo, controversial
British pick Lutalo Muhammad looked
embarrassed to be in the last 16, where he
went out tamely but fought back to take
bronze. As did the women’s hockey team,
beating Holland in the third-place playoff and
securing GB’s first medal in that sport for 20
years. On a day of no golds, a brace of sailing
silvers were as glorious as it got. Suddenly, a
few nerves had begun to creep in – Old Mother
Russia had begun to rouse herself and was
slowly reeling Team GB in on the medal count.
Gold 0 Silver 2 Bronze 3
Day 15. Rise of the Mobot
Saturday August 11
Though not quite as Super, Soaraway or
Spectacular as the previous Saturday, the
sight of new national hero Mobot Farah
taking gold in a pulsating and punishing 5,000m
won’t ever be erased – a day early, this was
the only closing ceremony London 2012
needed. Luke Campbell in the bantamweight
boxing and Ed McKeever in the canoe sprint
added two more golds to keep the Russians at
bay, while Tom Daley took a bronze as good
as gold in the men’s 10m platform.
Gold 3 Silver 0 Bronze 2
Day 16. 29+17+19=65
Sunday August 12
With two golds in the funny Fast Walking,
Russia crept ever closer to Team GB in third
place, but ran out of time and medals. By the
time Anthony Joshua was adding one last
gold in the men’s super-heavyweight division,
Bradley Wiggins was just about sobering up
and Team GB were securing third in the table
with 29 golds (just 22 more than the sorry
Aussies). Only the superpowers of USA and
China sat above them, and Team GB had as
good as won the whole Olympics. From here,
the only way may be down – but let’s enjoy the
view from on high for a while.
Gold 1 Silver 2 Bronze 0
Nick Harper
Final medal countGold 29 Silver 17 Bronze 19Predicted* final medal countGold 19 Silver 24 Bronze 21
*according to The Times/Infostrada predictions
Low In the 4x100m relay
semi, Team GB raced
home behind the
untouchable Jamaicans to
book their place in the
final. Sadly, they were
disqualified for having
truly buggered up the
baton change. It would
have been comical had
it not all been so sadly
predictable.
Low Kicked out of the
Games for not trying
properly in the 800m,
Algeria’s Taoufik
Makhloufi was reinstated
when he turned up with
a doctor’s note claiming
he’d been injured – then
romped to gold in the
1,500m final, laughing
all the way to the line and
his tainted medal.
Low Azerbaijan
bantamweight Magomed
Abdulhamidov was
knocked down five times
in the final round against
Japan’s Satoshi Shimizu,
yet still somehow won.
On appeal, the referee
was found to be partially
sighted and entirely
incompetent, and the
decision overturned.
High It’s easy to forget
now that, prior to the
Games starting on July 27,
it had rained constantly
for the previous 365 days
and nights. London 2012
would not have been quite
so joyous in the rotten,
hosing rain, but clearly
Lord Coe has a hotline
to the gods.
High The closing
ceremony was a
shambling, rambling,
shouty mess, with the
suspicion that they were
simply making it up as it
went along. And yet in all
those things, it reflected
Blighty nicely. Not a patch
on the opening ceremony,
but a fitting finale
nonetheless.
Number of
Golds at the
Atlanta
Games, 1996
30 | August 17 2012 |
Ninety-seven days on from the most dramatic denouement in its 20-year history, the greatest league in the worldTM is back - and bigger and better than ever. This alone is a good thing. Factor in the Championship, Leagues One and Two, the Champions League, a new World Cup qualifying campaign on the horizon and the return of La Liga (the other greatest league in the world) and we may well explode with excitement...
So, to whet your appetite, we've stuck our necks out to tell you how it will all go down
25No. 1Manchester city will prevail againthe premier league champions have
all the pieces in place to retain their
title, and this time with more than 10
seconds to spare. Here, the club’s
powerhouse midfielder, Yaya Toure,
explains why they’ll get better with
age and experience:
“With a big club you expect them to
sign big players, but we already have
a fantastic squad. It’s very young too.
I think the average age is 24 or 25,
which is great for the long term. The
boss has signed his new contract
and some of the players have or will
renew their contracts. That stability
is important, because we have
played together for one or two years
now – and when you work together
all the time, you play better as a unit.
“What’s also good is that the club
has so many natural leaders. Vinnie
[Vincent Kompany, above] is one of
them: he’s a great player, he’s young,
he’s focused and his commitment to
this club is unbelievable. Then you
have Joe Hart, who is quite young,
but is a leader. We have [Nigel] De
Jong, we have [Gareth] Barry, who
don’t talk a lot but set an example.
That’s important in games, because
in certain situations you need
characters like the ones we have.
“Even more than last year, I know
teams will be focused on us; on
trying to beat the champions. But we
will be ready for that and it will make
us raise our level. We would love to
take this trophy again – and we will
fight very, very hard to do that.”
Why Manchester City can dominate the
decade, by David Conn, page 36*Possibly not guarantee. But mostly – with one or two could-dos and the odd question
The Premier League Returns
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No. 2After 380 gAmes, they will finish up like this...1. Manchester City (C)
2. Manchester United (CL)
3. Arsenal (CL)
4. Chelsea (CL)
5. Everton
6. Liverpool
7. Tottenham
8. Newcastle United
9. Sunderland
10. Stoke City
11. Queens Park Rangers
12. Aston Villa
13. Wigan Athletic
14. Fulham
15. Norwich City
16. Southampton
17. West Ham United
18. West Bromwich Albion (R)
19. Reading (R)
20. Swansea City (R)
No. 3the striker isn’t deAd
No. 4promoted plAyers who will perform if the premier league’s three newcomers are to survive – or
better – this season, they will need
to learn some lessons from Messrs
Lambert and Rodgers. They will also
rely on the performances of either
the men who did so much to get
them up last year, or the ones they
have signed to keep them there...
SouthamptoNAdAm LALLAnA & Rickie LAmbeRt The other recently promoted
Lambert was top scorer in the
Championship with 27 last season.
Unlike Norwich, the Saints have held
on to their man who, at 30, is making
a late entrance on to the biggest
stage in much the same way Grant
Holt did last season. Expect him to
have a similiar effect. Lallana made
10 and scored 11 from his attacking
midfield role last year. Can he do the
same this season? Yes he can.
ReadiNgAdAm FedeRici& PAveL PogRebnyAk The Royals kept more clean sheets
than anyone last season, shutting
the opposition out 20 times – 18 of
which ended in a win. Federici can –
and will – replicate that form. At the
other end, Pogrebnyak’s six goals in
12 games for Fulham proves he can
be prolific for a side of comparitively
limited means. Five in his first three
made the Russian the quickest player
to reach five goals in Premier League
history. Expect more of the same.
WeSt hamJussi JAAskeLAinen& JAmes tomkinsIn Kevin Nolan, Carlton Cole, Ricardo
Vaz Te and Nicky Maynard, the Irons
have four 12-goals-a-season men.
But will they all fire in the top flight?
If not, it’s at the back where points
will be won. Rob Green’s move to QPR
is a blow. But, at 37, Jaaskelainen can
continue the Brad Friedel trend of
reliable keepers nearing (or over) 40
finding a new lease of life at a new club.
In defence, it’s time for James Tomkins
– at 23 – to fulfill his promise. >
football writer Jonathan wilson tells us why, despite Spain
eschewing the striker entirely in Euro 2012 and the majority
of sides opting for two holding midfielders in a 4-2-3-1, the
trusty 4-4-2 will remain the norm in the Premier League.
“The way Cesc Fabregas played in the Euros was very
unusual and different to what we’ve seen. It’s almost a target
man – not in the aerial sense we’re used to, but as a board at
the front of the midfield they can bounce passes off. He retains
possession, which creates a new angle for the midfield.
“Now, I don’t think anybody in the Premier League will do
that. But Chelsea, who have loaded their squad with really
good creative technical midfielders – Marko Marin, Eden
Hazard, Oscar – don’t really have a centre forward if
Fernando Torres doesn’t fire. Imagine a situation in which
Torres doesn’t play well and Daniel Sturridge is injured
– what do they do? Maybe stick a midfielder up there
and, through circumstance, are forced to play like Spain.
“There is a very slow evolution towards a 4-2-3-1 in
England. It wouldn’t surprise me if Swansea move to one
under Michael Laudrup, but there are a whole bundle of mid-
and lower-ranking teams who default to 4-4-2. The reason
for that? It is what most British coaches and players grew
up with, and it means there’s no danger of overcomplicating.
“That logic takes over when coaches are terrified of being
relegated, or on a run of five or six bad results. Look at what
happened to Roberto di Matteo with West Brom – he got
them promoted and playing really good football, and then
they got one point from nine games and he gets sacked.
He won the Champions League, so he’s not a bad manager.
But there’s that fear – that short-termism – that clubs can’t
allow bad runs to set in. They panic, and so stick with what
they know. You don’t experiment because it might end up with
you being sacked.”
Jonathan Wilson writes on tactics for The Guardian and is
the editor of football quarterly theblizzard.co.uk
No. 6This man will never be sacked
32 | August 17 2012 |
The Premier League Returns
No. 5There willbe bloodThe bookmakers are rarely far out on the sack race predictions for the new
season. If making money off another
man’s misery is your game, consider
the following...
sam allardyce West Ham 6/1
steve clarke West Brom 6/1
nigel adkins Southampton 6/1
mark hughes QPR 10/1
roberto di matteo Chelsea 10/1
brendan rodgers Liverpool 20/1
andre villas-boas Tottenham 25/1
arsene wenger Arsenal 33/1
roberto mancini Man City 50/1
sir alex Ferguson Man Utd 50/1
*All odds courtesy of Ladbrokes
roberto martinez might finally move on to bigger and better things this
season, but he won’t be sacked – not
even if Wigan repeat the form they
opened with last season: 10 defeats,
six draws and three wins by the turn
of the year. Dave Whelan understands
that few men could do a better job
on the budget Martinez has had,
or do it half as stylishly.
No. 7avb could be riPFoRMeR PReMieR LeAgUe STAR CRAig BURLey TAkeS A CLoSeR Look AT THe LAne’S neW HeAd HonCHo
“Make no mistake, hiring Villas-Boas is a massive
gamble. What did David Levy see in the period that
AVB was at Chelsea that said ’here’s a guy who
can manage in the Premier League?’ I don’t see it.
“The worry for Tottenham fans is that AVB
seemed incapable of controlling problematic
players at Chelsea, and he’s going to have the
same scenario at Spurs – Luka Modric wants to
leave, Gareth Bale can see bigger and better
things, and they can’t afford Emmanuel Adebayor.
Senior players suss out a bullshitter pretty quickly,
and he goes to Tottenham with a poor reputation
– his Porto record long forgotten.
“On top of that, AVB liked to play in a rigid
structure at Chelsea, and this is a Tottenham side
that likes to play in a free-flowing, expressive way,
with Bale floating around and the full-backs attacking.
Is he going to try to change that, or just let them play?
“He’s coming into the same situation as he did at
Chelsea, with problems from day one. It’s sink or
swim. If it goes the same way it did at Stamford Bridge,
he’s toast in this country. I hope I’m wrong, because a
lot of good work has gone on at the club and they put
themselves in a great position last season. They fell
just short, but I can see them going backwards this
season because I think they will lose some of their
top players. It will be more of a struggle – just fighting
for the top six could be their aim this year.”
ESPN will broadcast Newcastle v Tottenham live and
exclusive tomorrow at 5.30pm. ESPN.co.uk/tv
not a ball yet kicked in earnest and
we’re wondering how long the coach
of last season’s Champions League
winners has left in the job. It’s a
nonsense, of course, but that’s
football, particularly when
the man you call The Boss
is Roman Abramovich.
He never wanted Di
Matteo to have the big
job – he wanted a
prestige name making
astronomical salary
demands. But the
Miracle of Munich forced
his hand. So he gave the
Italian a slap in the face
with a two-year contract,
all the while fluttering his
eyelashes at Pep Guardiola.
There remains the
suspicion that many of
Chelsea’s key, inspirational players
were playing on a combination
of pride and spite last season.
Di Matteo hadn’t somehow inspired
and re-energised them – they were
just playing to prove Andre
Villas-Boas wrong and make him look
stupid. If the Chelsea coach doesn’t
hit the ground running this time
round and look to have built a team
capable of mounting a title charge
and a Champions League challenge,
the club will be looking for their sixth
No. 9Guardiola would say ‘si’ To chelsea“Pep is currently recharging his batteries playing golf with Johan
Cruyff, travelling [New York] and
seeing his family,“ says Barcelona-
based football journalist Andy Mitten.
“His agent has been speaking to
other clubs with a view to him
coaching again next season, but
an offer may present itself before
then. Would he take the Chelsea job
given the constant meddling of
Roman Abramovich? Yes, I think
he probably would.“ >
No. 8roberTo di maTTeo is on borrowed Time
manager in four years. The Russian
despot sacked Carlo Ancelotti for
returning empty-handed in 2011, a
season after winning the Premier
League (and FA Cup), but one in
which they could only finish second.
Even though di Matteo delivered the
one trophy Abramovich truly craved
– the one that gives him credibility
and kudos – unless he shows signs
of being able to repeat the trick
this season, his end will be swift
and merciless.
27%Roberto Martinez’s win rate at Wigan
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The Premier League Returns
No. 10Financial Fair Play rules won’t mean Playing Fairthis season is the second of three that count towards
the first financial fair play assessment in 2013-14
– clubs that want to compete in Europe aren’t
allowed to lose more than €45m (£35.4m) over the
three years. So clubs such as Manchester City, who
made losses of £197m in 2010-11 (the biggest in
football history, the year before the regulations
kicked in), will have to rein in their spending if they
don’t want to fall foul of UEFA’s sanctions, right?
Well, not quite. Although City’s balance sheet
probably looks a little healthier for 2011-12 thanks
to the money from their Champions League debut,
their costs are still astronomical – their wage bill
exceeded revenue in 2010-11, and that’s unlikely
to have changed with the acquisitions of Sergio
Aguero and Samir Nasri last summer.
Luckily for City, loopholes abound that will let
the club keep spending, should they want to.
They can increase the amount of cash coming in
legitimately through sponsorship deals, which
sounds fair until you realise that City’s major
sponsors are all owned by the UAE government –
of which club owner and benefactor Sheikh Mansour
is a key component.
There are plenty of ways to reduce outgoings
without actually reducing spending, too. It’s already
common practice for transfer fees to be amortised
over the length of a player’s contract. So, for
example, Sergio Aguero’s £38m transfer fee would
appear on the books as six lots of £6.3m, one for
each year of the player’s contract.
Another possibility is cutting the wage bill through
related third-party deals. So, if Carlos Tevez wants
£500,000 a week, you can pay him half that, and sort
him out with a deal with one of your sponsors to
make up the difference – by making him the face
of ’Fly Emirates to Argentina (and don’t come back
for six months)’, for example.
It becomes very difficult for UEFA to track and
apply sanctions when money is coming in freely
from different sponsor companies. The sanctions
themselves are yet to be challenged in the legal
arena, and UEFA have already had to can a planned
ban on transfers for clubs that do transgress the
rules because of potential legal issues. This is the
greyest of grey areas already.
Mancini has already signed Jack Rodwell this
summer – and will no doubt add to that acquisition.
When he does, City will be able to pick and choose
which loophole they want to employ in order to get
around – perfectly legally – the Financial Fair Play
regulations.
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Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand
No. 11Shinji Kagawa anSwerS United’S prayerSwesley Sneijder and Luka Modric proved out of reach, but in Shinji
Kagawa, Manchester United might
have found – for £17m – the
playmaker they badly require.
“Kagawa has exceptional
technique, amazing vision
and that knack of
operating in the
tightest of spaces and
yet always finding the
right solution,“ says
German football writer Uli Hesse.
“He’ll run until the sun goes down –
he’s learned that in Dortmund,
because Borussia’s game was based
on constant movement – and he can
score as well as create. Think the
new Paul Scholes rather than the
new Roy Keane.“
No. 12reaL Madrid retain La Liga as Barcelona-based football journalist andy Mitten explains, post-Pep Barça could
struggle to hit their previous heights: “Barcelona’s new coach Tito Vilanova is
following Barça’s greatest ever in Pep Guardiola – and the demands are almost
impossibly high. If he’s unable to regain the title from Madrid or win the
Champions League, it will be considered a failure. Vilanova is well liked and
popular with the players, but the mood will turn quickly if his Barça side are
not as impressive as Guardiola’s. Vilanova doesn’t have Guardiola’s force of
personality, nor his status as a club legend on the pitch.
“Some players idolised Guardiola the player before he became Guardiola the
coach. Vilanova will have to convince the players he’s the right man and shift
from being a pally assistant coach to someone who lays down the rules in a
dressing room full of egos. And all the while, Jose Mourinho will be trying to trip
him up in the media. It’s a tough one to call for the title, but I’d go Madrid.“ >
36 | August 17 2012 |
The Premier League Returns
The football nation watched it happen – last season’s Premier League title
euphorically grabbed in the 94th minute of a crazy final match – and yet it still
feels faintly surreal to dutifully describe Manchester City as this season’s
formidable favourites to dominate. The recent rise of City, the club that in the
1980s and ’90s won only “cups for cock-ups”, as lamented by former player
and then chairman Francis Lee, remains difficult to comprehend.
Just four years ago, City finished ninth in the Premier League, having for
three decades never worried the top places. They were written up as the
’real’ Manchester club, in contrast to United’s triumphs and corporate
money-making. The Sky Blues had an owner – former Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, on the run from corruption charges in his home country
– who was trying to offload the football club he had landed with a wage bill he
could no longer afford to service.
Now Sir Alex Ferguson persistently complains the transfer market is
overpriced for United, whose owners, the Glazers, have drained more than
£550m from the club since 2005 to service the debts of their own takeover.
City, by glittering contrast, field Yaya Toure (one of the world’s greatest
midfield players in his prime), Spain’s sparkling David Silva, and the power of
Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero, who scored that injury-time title-winner
against Queens Park Rangers. Mario Balotelli’s fiery performances for Italy
at Euro 2012 finally explained why City’s manager, Roberto Mancini, retains
faith in a player with so combustible a temperament. City have arguably the
league’s strongest central defence in captain Vincent Kompany, signed
for only £6m from Hamburg during Shinawatra’s ownership, partnering
England’s Joleon Lescott. And Joe Hart, the only City player featuring
regularly in last season’s title run-in who had been at the club since his
youth (Micah Richards was on the bench for the crucial final matches),
is England’s goalkeeper.
So, City are truly the team to beat. The only complication in what should
be a tale of sporting romance is that the ’real’ Manchester club’s revival is
down to the arrival of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi –
their outlandishly rich owner. Since he bought the club from Shinawatra in
2008, Sheikh Mansour, a member of the oil-rich emirate’s ruling family, has
spent around £1bn, principally on buying players and paying wages large
enough to attract them.
Toure came in for £24m from Barcelona in 2010, the summer of most lavish
expenditure, on a wage that touches that of Carlos Tevez. The Argentine is
contractually guaranteed to be City’s highest paid player, on a basic £198,000
a week. In the title-defining derby against United, three matches from the end
No. 13ManchesTer ciTy can doMinaTe This decade by david conn
| 37
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of last season, it was Toure’s overwhelming of Paul Scholes, the 37-year-old
hauled out of retirement to anchor United’s midfield, which encapsulated the
divergent fates of the Manchester clubs. Silva cost £26m from Valencia;
Balotelli £24m from Internazionale, where Mancini previously did his best to
manage him. In 2011, Mansour’s City bought Aguero for a mountainous £38m,
and two Arsenal Frenchmen whose departures shocked an ashen Arsene
Wenger: Samir Nasri for £24m, and Gael Clichy for £7m.
This muscular and powerful squad faces this season with the confidence
of winners, having vanquished in that final match not just QPR, but the ghosts
of City’s past – the failures under pressure, the cock-ups of modern times.
Wenger has repeatedly attacked the scale of City’s spending, although
sympathy for Arsenal, whose former English shareholders made £300m for
themselves after selling their stakes to the American Stan Kroenke, is
running lower than it previously did.
Around Europe, many are aghast at the English game allowing clubs bearing
the names of towns and cities to be sold in the global marketplace. UEFA’s
Financial Fair Play rules, operational from 2014, are aimed at dampening
down players’ wage inflation by preventing clubs running up losses (City’s
deficit was £197m last year) even if bankrolled by an owner. It remains to be
seen how firmly UEFA are prepared to enforce these rules, although City are
trying to bring costs down. Their income, though, is escalating with success.
When Shinawatra, his assets frozen in Thailand, was hawking the
Manchester club in the Gulf four years ago, City were in genuine danger of
falling insolvent. Mansour, a son of Sheikh Zayed, the visionary leader who
steered Abu Dhabi’s composed investment of its oil bonanza that began in
the 1960s, was at the time looking for a club to buy.
The Premier League has, since its own pay-TV windfalls began in 1992,
gradually overtaken Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A to become the most
watched domestic competition on televisions around the world – including in
Abu Dhabi, according to City’s appointed chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak.
Mansour considered buying Everton before City piqued his interest, but the
Manchester club had the attributes he wanted. It was a major Premier League
club; its supporters had proved their bloody-minded loyalty during the long
years of decline – including a season in the third tier of English football (now
League One) just 10 years earlier. Unlike Everton, struggling at beloved,
outdated Goodison Park, City also had a new stadium, built with £127m lottery
and local council taxpayers’ money for the 2002 Commonwealth Games –
and converted for the club thereafter.
Mansour did not want to spend the first few years of his Premier League
football club ownership adventure with planners, architects and builders
poring over a new stadium project. He wanted to buy players and appoint
a coach to launch his chosen club rapidly towards winning trophies.
Marshalled by Al Mubarak, a new team of executives has rebuilt
Manchester City expertly to do that, win in four years the league the club
had not won for 40 before Mansour. And then win many more.
Unlikely as the story is – repellent to some, a delight to most of the club’s
supporters – Manchester City are the overwhelming 2012-13 Premier League
favourites because of the inherited fortune of a sheikh in the ruling family of
an oil-rich emirate some 3,500 miles away.
David Conn is a football writer for The Guardian. His book Richer Than God: Manchester
City, Modern Football and Growing Up is published by Quercus and out now
No. 14Sky Blue IS The Colour
+48%Increase in Manchester City fans since January – according to their Facebook page, anyway
+62%Increase in Man City shirt sales at prodirectsoccer.com, between 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons >
38 | August 17 2012 |
The Premier League Returns
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No. 15The so-called experTs will conTinue To insulT your inTelligence in this hi-tech era, most of us have learned to watch Match of the Day on Sky+
so we can just fast-forward through the seemingly endless banality. But, if you
find yourself trapped in front of live TV for some reason, here's a little game to
get you through. If you're the first person to be subjected to all of these
occurrences, you win. Sort of.
1. Gary Neville can’t get the ‘Sky pad’ to work
2. Alan Shearer sports a double-collared shirt
3. Alan Shearer simply describes what’s happening in a clip, as it happens
4. Jamie Redknapp uses the word literally incorrectly or references his dad’s time at Spurs
5. Gary Lineker makes a knowing reference to “You can’t win anything with kids”
6. Sky commentator shouts “And it’s live” going into a break, as if that’s never happened before
7. Alan Hansen describes something as a ‘disgrace’ or says ‘shocking defending’
8. Mark Lawrenson makes an awful pun instead of providing any kind of insight
9. Lee Dixon says ‘at the end of the day’ or refers to Arsenal’s famous offside trap
10. Ray Wilkins says “my word” at least five times
Date completed:
No. 16There willbe no honeymoon for brendan rodgers... goodwill ambassador luis suarez
has signed a new contract, ageing
talisman Steven Gerrard looks like
starting the season somewhere
approaching fitness and, wait for
it, tricky youngster Joe Cole is back
from his year abroad. But not
everything in the Anfield garden is
rosy for new man Brendan Rodgers,
who might find life a little tougher
than when cutting his Premier
League teeth in an impressive first
season with Swansea last term.
Manchester City are sniffing
around stylish defender Dan Agger,
deceptively soft hardman Martin
Skrtel has been linked with AC Milan,
and the Kenny Dalglish comedy
collective of Downing, Henderson
and Carroll remain. Rodgers has
stated a desire to play the game
the ’Liverpool way’, but universal
approval has not been forthcoming
from a Kop unconvinced by the
former Chelsea employee’s
appointment – and there must be a
question mark over how much cash
John W Henry is willing to spend
beyond the £25m used to bring
in Fabio Borini and Joe Allen.
Rodgers is a an effective operator,
but he’ll need to be much more than
that if he’s to drag Liverpool from
the Europa League mediocrity
bequeathed him by King Kenny.
No. 17expecT fireworks on sepTember 15 The day Queens park rangers entertain chelsea
in a derby given added spice by the Anton
Ferdinand-John Terry episode from last season
and this summer. But that's old news, right?
Stand well back! nine other friSky looking fixtureS for the new SeaSonNovember 17: arsenal v TottenhamOctober 7: barcelona v real madridOctober 7: ac milan v internazionaleDecember 8: manchester city v manchester unitedFebruary 24: internazionale v ac milanMarch 2: Tottenham v arsenalMarch 3: real madrid v barcelonaApril 6: manchester united v manchester cityMay 4: manchester united v chelsea
... or paul lamberTThe other new boy to impress with a
promoted side last season has also
moved on, with Aston Villa his slightly
less intimidating destination. The
improvement required from owner
Randy Lerner and a generally
downbeat Villa Park faithful should
be within Paul Lambert’s reach, so
dismal was life for pretty much
everyone under Alex McLeish. But
the Scot will have his work cut out
rebuilding a squad that is short on
strength in depth and that age,
injury and illness threaten to deprive
of a spine that, in Messrs Given,
Dunne, Petrov and Bent, is actually
still pretty handy on paper. >
ALLformal shirts and Red Herring suits
Now on
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NEW LINES ADDEDPLUS 70% OFF**UP TO
*Excludes Je� Banks White and Thomas Nash Ultimates. Full price menswear only. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other o� er. O� er ends Monday 27 August 2012. **Selected lines only. Debenhams Retail plc.
The Premier League Returns
40 | August 17 2012 |
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No. 18This loT can’T be as good again, can They?1. PaPiss Demba Cisse newcasTleThirteen goals in 14 Premier League
appearances after joining Newcastle
in January, including one run of nine
in six games and the most ridiculous
strike of the season in a 2-0 win
at Stamford Bridge. No goal in his
last two, mind, so his bubble has
clearly burst.
2. NikiCa JelaviCeverTonThe former Rangers hitman scored
11 in 16 in all competitions after
arriving from the former Rangers
last season. He looks proper handy,
but by now will have read the memo
that says any Everton player must
be useless until at least February.
3. CliNt DemPseyFulhamTwenty-three goals in one season?
From a Yank? Who isn’t even a
striker? And plays for Fulham?
How can this man be stopped?
Oh, Liverpool have been on the
sniff? That should do it.
4. RobiN vaN PeRsiearsenal/manchesTer uniTed/ wherever Thirty goals in one Premier League
season was ridiculous enough from
the Emirates one-man show, but that
he managed a full 38 appearances in
the process is a feat the Dutchman
ain’t going to be repeating any
time soon. Had a crap Euro 2012
too, so he must be finished.
5. stePhaNe sessegNoNsunderlandNine assists and seven goals in the
Premier League last season – and
when the Benin international scores,
the Black Cats don’t lose. Can’t be
long before his pace and trickery
are nullified by Martin O’Neill’s
increasingly joyless approach to
the game, however.
No. 19while This loT simplycan’T be any worse 1. PatRiCe evRamanchesTer uniTedA folk hero beginning his seventh
season at Old Trafford, but Patrice
Evra’s budding romance with Luis
Suarez last season helped mask
the fact that he is a growing liability
as a defender. Laurent Blanc noticed
as much during Euro 2012, replacing
him with Gael Clichy at left-back in
the France team – how long is it
before Fergie realises the same?
Not long, we’d wager.
2. JoRDaN heNDeRsoN liverpoolInexplicably found himself on the
plane (after Michael Carrick's
stubborn refusal to be considered
even as a substitute) to Euro 2012
after a season in which 37 league
appearances yielded two goals and
almost no quality. There is still hope
that he can prove himself to be
worth even a fraction of the £20m
Liverpool paid for him, but not much.
3. lee CatteRmole sunderlandCombative. Dogged. Tenacious.
Cattermole was none of those
things last season, as 10 Premier
League bookings and one red card
left him with a disciplinary record
cleaner only than that of one
Joseph Barton. The adjective you
are actually looking for, we believe,
is cretinous.
4. ChaRles N’ZogbiaasTon villaFrom Wigan saviour to Villa flop in
the matter of months, his pace, flair
and eye for a goal negated by Alex
McLeish’s reign of doom. A steadying
of the ship by Paul Lambert must
surely stop the Frenchman
floundering.
5. stewaRt DowNiNg liverpoolHe can, though. And he almost
certainly will.
No. 20Torres is back!
The problem in predicting Fernando Torres
will be back to his former self and finally
justifying his £50m price tage is that we’ve
been here before. Several times. Last
season he waited six games to open his
account, but then scored four in five – and
we wondered: Is He Back? But then he went
25 games without scoring and played like
a man with the weight of the world on his
shoulders and his boots on the wrong feet.
In April, he killed off Barcelona and scored
a hat-trick against QPR – and again we
wondered: Is He Back? But he didn’t score
again that season and was left seething on
the bench for Chelsea’s Champions League
final. But, with Didier Drogba gone and
Torres now the big dog, and with him
summering so well with Spain and winning
the Golden Boot, albeit on a technicality,
let’s try again. Torres is back! For now. >
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42 | August 17 2012 |
The Premier League Returns
No. 21It’s Real MadRId’s ChaMpIons league – alMost by default
It’s still too early for Manchester City
to mount a serious charge, though
they should at least reach the
knockout stages this time.
Manchester United, Arsenal and
even holders Chelsea lack the
quality, and Barcelona without Pep
Guardiola have suddenly become an
unknown quantity. Bayern Munich
may yet prove us wrong, but it’s
hard to imagine anyone other than
Jose Mourinho walking away from
Wembley with old jug ears next May.
No. 22Roy hodgson’s honeyMoon Is oveRthrown to the lions with so little time to prepare,
a ceasefire was declared at the European
Championship – and Roy Hodgson couldn’t lose,
even when England lost. It wasn’t his team, it
wasn’t his fault. Now it begins, though.
And Hodgson will discover that being an amiable
fellow counts for nothing if England aren’t winning
and winning, and winning well. The World Cup
qualifying campaign opens away in Moldova on
September 7, with the relative big guns of Ukraine
and Poland following in September and October.
By then, we should have found out if keeping all
11 men behind the ball was part of Hodgson’s
longer-term plan. And if by then the knives are
out, he’ll have discovered if he made a terrible
error in ever saying yes.
WoRld Cup QualIfyIng fIXtuResMoldova v england, friday september 7 2012england v ukraine, tuesday september 11 2012england v san Marino, friday october 12 2012poland v england, tuesday october 16 2012san Marino v england, friday 22 March 2013
Montenegro v england, tuesday March 26 2013england v Moldova, friday september 6 2013ukraine v england, tuesday september 10 2013england v Montenegro, friday october 11 2013england v poland, tuesday october 15 2013
| 43
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Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand
No. 23This is how The ResT will FinishFooTball league expeRT MaRk CleMMiT Talks us ThRough The Rise and Fall oF The season ahead
No. 24ThRee good Reasons blaCkbuRn RoveRs won'T bounCe sTRaighT baCk1. Venky's.2. Steve Kean.3. Nuno Gomes, 43.
No. 25CelTiC should win The splprobably, we reckon. But as ever,
any one of those 12 teams could
sneak it. That's what makes the
SPL so unmissable.
League Twopromotion Fleetwood Town will be up
there, having invested hugely since
they came up. They’ve lost one of
their star forwards to Leicester in
Jamie Vardy, but they’ve brought in
quite an array of players to get them
goals. Below them, Steve Evans
knows how to manage at this level,
so I expect Rotherham to go well in
their new stadium. The third for me
could easily be Cheltenham – if they
can start like they did last season.
playoffs My surprise package in here
would be Oxford United, and I think
they could go up. They’ve seen
steady increments of progress
under Chris Wilder. Other than that,
expect Southend and Torquay to be
there or there abouts again this
season, and I think Bristol Rovers
have brought in a few decent names
and could cause a bit of an upset to
make up the quartet.
Relegation At the bottom of the
Football League, it’s the lack of
resources that cost teams. It will
be an interesting season for
Accrington Stanley, who will have to
get used to life after manager John
Coleman, who moved to Rochdale.
He’s been responsible for so much
of their growth, so they could be
in trouble. The overwhelming
favourites for the drop, though,
have to be Barnet.
After surviving on the last day
three years on the trot, I would not
like to be a Barnet supporter this
year. Other than that, I guess the
likes of Burton, Morecambe and
Dagenham & Redbridge could well
get dragged in because they just
don’t have the resources. There’s
only so many times you can tell a set
of players that they’re better than
the opposition and hope that will
carry them through.
Championshippromotion Bolton really haven’t lost
too many of their players, and Owen
Coyle has been here before when he
took Burnley up in 2008, so the
Trotters will be looking to make an
immediate return. The other automatic
spot should go to Leicester.
Sven-Göran Eriksson accumulated
many good quality Championship
players – Neil Danns, David Nugent,
Kasper Schmeichel – and they’re all
still there. Sven also brought too high
a profile, but Nigel Pearson now has
the player quality to get them up.
playoffs There’s a change with the
arrival of Stale Solbakken at Wolves,
who must be a bit demoralised after
last season’s relegation, but I think
they’ll be in the playoff mix because
they have too much quality, even if
Steven Fletcher goes. Despite the
Bahrani takeover failing, I think you’d
have to say Leeds will be there on
Neil Warnock’s reputation alone.
He’s done promotion seven times, so
they’ll be in with a good shout. I’ve
got a feeling Nottingham Forest will
be the surprise factor with the
money behind the new takeover and
and with Sean O’Driscoll at the helm.
He was undermined at Doncaster,
but his teams play lovely football, so
he has a point to prove and he’s
brought in some good names.
Blackpool could be in the mix, too,
simply because of Ian Holloway's
influence. Outside those four,
Charlton, Middlesbrough, Sheffield
Wednesday and Ipswich are probably
the main challengers – but they’ll
need a good start.
Relegation You’d have to say, in
terms of resources, Barnsley and
Peterborough are likely to struggle.
With the greatest of respect to their
managers, I do wonder sometimes
whether, pound for pound, they
can keep up and keep the players
believing they can topple bigger
clubs. The other one I’d be worried
about would be Millwall. They had a
bad second half of last season, so
they need to start well again. I also
think Huddersfield are going to find
it harder than they are expecting.
League onepromotion Obviously the whole Ched
Evans thing derailed Sheffield United
last season, but I was there at that
playoff final defeat and the pain and
devastation on the players’ faces
means they’ll be very keen to lead
the charge once more. Elsewhere,
I’d back Swindon to go up again.
Paolo Di Canio has just confounded
everyone, and now he’s had a bit
of a clearout and brought in some
players better suited to this league,
I think they might go straight
through. Hanging on to Paolo is the
big challenge for them.
playoffs Notts County are a very
ambitious outfit and I expect them to
be up there again, along with MK
Dons. I thought Coventry finished
quite well in the Championship, and
went down because of their early
season performances – so they can
be up near the top. My surprise
package is going to be Preston.
There’s been a hell of a lot of
disruption there, and Graham
Westley has cleared out just about
every player there, but I’ve just got
a feeling he can do what he did with
Stevenage and get Preston up.
Relegation Bury are going to
struggle, having lost their manager
10 days before the start of the
season. Walsall have been down
there too often, so their luck might
run out. I worry how much there is
left in the Yeovil tank after two
promotions in recent seasons, while
Leyton Orient didn’t have a brilliant
season last time round, and Oldham
struggled as well. The unpredictable
team is Portsmouth, because of
their 10-point deduction and the
fact their squad is currently made
up of youth players and trialists.
Michael Appleton has a brilliant
reputation, but they’re probably
going to struggle.
44 | August 17 2012 |
An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the place where hundreds of athletes retreated to avoid the worldwide glare of the Olympic athletes’ village...
WORK, REST AND PLAY
Away from the hustle and bustle of the Olympic
village, hundreds of athletes have spent the
past few weeks relaxing at the state of
the art Oakley ‘safe house’, situated above
the Design Museum next to the Thames.
It’s been a home from home for them, offering all
manner of comforts. Technology on tap (many of the
Oakley athletes have been Skype-ing family at home),
top-notch food and drink, and of course plenty of big
screens on which to watch the Olympic action. Not only
that, but many athletes have also visited after their
events had finished, so were able to make full use of
the bar. They’ve also been able to customise their
own sunglasses, with all manner of weird and
wonderful designs.
Oakley and Sport are partners of the latest Design
Museum exhibition, Designed To Win, and Oakley
wasted no time in snapping up the space above the
museum. “It’s been an amazing few weeks,” said Cuan
Petersen, performance sports director at Oakley.
The setting of Oakley’s ‘safe house’ for athletes – next to Tower Bridge – proved a huge draw. Inside, visitors were able to meet up, relax or simply watch the big screens. Beneath the safe house, the Design Museum is currently hosting a sporting exhibition, called Designed To Win.
“The athletes have been able to come here and relax,
away from the village. They’ve been able to sit out on
the balcony, with a great view of London – Tower Bridge
is next door and the city skyline is a stone’s throw away.
Many of our athletes haven’t been to London before, so
they have really enjoyed it. Our barbecue evenings have
been very busy, and the place was packed with athletes
wanting to watch the 100m final on the screens.
“We’ve provided custom-made product to more
than 700 Oakley athletes from 203 countries, covering
19 sports – all competing over the past three weeks.
The safe house has also been open to our other
ambassadors – for example, Kevin Pietersen and
Shaun Pollock have spent time with us.”
The exhibition at the Design Museum below the
Oakley safe house has also been a hit. It showcases
design in sport over the past 50 years, and is a great
insight into the advances of technology in everything
from football boots to bobsleds. The exhibition runs
until November.
Sport promotion
| 45
Amount, in pence, you
would have won with
a £1 accumulator
on Frankel’s three
runs this year
49
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HIGHLIGHTS
» Athletics: Diamond League, Lausanne » p48
» Golf: The Barclays » p50
» Cycling: Vuelta a España » p50
» Football: The Championship » p52
» MotoGP: Round 11 » p53OUR PICK OF THE ACTION FROM THE SPORTING WEEK AHEAD
46 | August 17 2012 |
WEDNESDAY HORSE RACING | JUDDMONTE INTERNATIONAL | YORK RACECOURSE | CHANNEL 4 3.40PM
Chances to see Frankel, the finest horse of a generation, are running out.
Tomorrow he contests the Juddmonte
International at York and, after that, he
will race just one more time – in the Qipco
Champions Stakes at Ascot in October.
It has been a privilege to watch him, and
the fact that he was kept in training as a
four-year-old, when most horses of his
stature are retired, was a great sporting
gesture by his owner, Prince Khalid Abdullah.
Tomorrow’s race could even be seen as
something of a risk: it is over a mile and
a quarter, and Frankel has never raced
beyond a mile before. But, as his last race
demonstrated, he is now so much better
than every other miler that there are no
horses left for him to race at that distance.
And his breeding suggests that stepping up in
distance will be no problem – his dad, Galileo,
won the Derby over a mile and a half.
Going up against specialist 10-furlong
horses will give him something to think about,
however. More importantly, it will give his
jockey Tom Queally pause for thought too.
Queally has his critics – and on occasion has
not ridden Frankel as well as he might have
done, often charging unnecessarily from
the front. Over a mile, Frankel has the insane
pace that doesn’t let his rivals get close, but
over a longer distance, Queally needs to
exercise a little more caution. He can switch
on the afterburners whenever he likes but,
while Frankel dismissed Frankie Dettori’s
mount Farhh with contempt over a mile at
Goodwood, that horse is proven at 10
furlongs. There is no cannier jockey than
Dettori, too, and if anyone is going to
pounce on a Queally mistake, it will be him.
Other rivals are falling away, however.
Nathaniel and Cirrus Des Aigles might both
have given Frankel a race, but have opted
to swerve him, and that leaves the mighty
beast officially rated almost a stone better
than anything else in the field. So, on all
known form, there is no reason why the
great horse will be beaten. We may never
see his like again.
Catch him while you can
THE LIMITS OF POSSIBILITY HAVE BEEN REDEFINED | LIMITED EDITION OAKLEY RADAR®
OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF TEAM GB
UK.OAKLEY.COM©2012 Oakley, Inc. | 01727 795791
Sevens might be making its Olympic bow in Rio in four years (token Olympic
mention out of the way), but it’s the
15-a-side form of the game that’s set
to take the stage when the newly
formed Rugby Championship gets
under way tomorrow morning, with
world champions New Zealand taking
on Australia.
The All Blacks are generally the team
to beat, and this year is no different,
having added a Super XV title
(courtesy of the Highlanders) to last
autumn’s World Cup win. Conrad
Smith’s injury is a blow to Steve
Hansen’s men, but the availability of
Sonny Bill Williams should soften that
blow, while Dan Carter and Aaron
Cruden are both on fine form and look
set to battle it out for the fly half slot.
The Aussies, meanwhile, will have
to do without James O’Connor and
captain James Horwill. But they will
be looking to target the All Blacks’
breakdown through the power of
new skipper David Pocock and Scott
Higginbotham, as well as the creativity
of their little genius Will Genia
(pictured) behind the pack. Stop him
and keep Pocock quiet, and New
Zealand will be well on their way
to victory.
Later in the day, history will be
made when Argentina head to South
Africa to take their place at the
southern hemisphere’s top table. The
Springboks have been hit by injuries to
JP Pietersen and Schalk Burger, while
their dearth of second-row options is
embarrassing for a side known for
their forward power. The Pumas
couldn’t have hand-picked a better
opening game (away from home,
at least), but they’ll need a huge
performance from their front three
and their big-name stars – Juan Martin
Hernandez finding his form would go
a long way to helping, too. Whatever
happens, it’s good to see the Pumas
finally given a crack at the big stage.
Oh, and rugby – it’s good to have you
back, dear friend. Ca
me
ron
Sp
en
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ett
y I
ma
ge
s, A
dri
an
De
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is/A
FP
/Ge
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48 | August 17 2012 |
7 Days
THURSDAY ATHLETICS | SAmSung DIAmOnD LEAguE: LAuSAnnE | STADE
OLympIquE DE LA pOnTAISE | BBC THREE 7pm
SATURDAY RugBy unIOn | RugBy CHAmpIOnSHIp: AuSTRALIA v nEw
ZEALAnD | AnZ STADIum, SyDnEy | Sky SpORTS 3 10.30Am
Being a legend doesn’t mean you can just sit on your legendary backside, as Usain
Bolt (pictured) is about to find out.
The Jamaican 100m and 200m Olympic
champ is set to run in the Lausanne
Diamond League event next Thursday,
proclaiming a special affection for the
Stade de la Pontaise and “one of the
best curves I have ever seen”.
Sadly for the three Swedish handball
ladies with whom he was recently
pictured in particular, Bolt is talking
about the splendid bends of the track
rather than anything he laid his eyes on
in Stratford. So it’s no surprise that
he’s since decided upon the 200m for
his debut outing as a double, triple-
Olympic champion – or, in short, as a
legend. He has, however, eschewed the
opportunity to compete on the boring
old straight of
the 100m.
His closest
rival and
compatriot,
Yohan ’The
Beast’ Blake, is also set to compete in
Lausanne, although at time of writing
has not yet laid his marker down on
either sprint distance. With Bolt likely
to have spent much of the past week
DJing and searching for the future
Mrs Bolt, Blake might fancy his
chances against his golden nemesis.
Or he might take the easy option and
run the 100m. With American duo
Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin also
confirmed for Lausanne, however, it’s
unlikely to be a summer stroll for Blake.
Elsewhere, Olympic champs
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (100m),
Sally Pearson (100m hurdles), Kirani
James (400m) and the mostly drunk
Russian Ivan Ukhov (high jump) are also
competing. It’s like the Olympics
all over again. We wish.
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50 | August 17 2012 |
7 Days
THURSDAY > GOLF | THE BARCLAYS | BETHPAGE BLACK, NEW YORK | SKY SPORTS 3 8PM
SATURDAY > CYCLING | VUELTA A ESPANA | PAMPLONA | BRITISH EUROSPORT 5.45PM
Four majors down? Check. WGCs all contested? Check. Good, it’s time
for the PGA Tour to start playing
for some real money. Depending on
who you ask, this is either the most
exciting bit of the season or quite
the silliest. But the next four weeks –
which the PGA Tour likes to dub
‘The Playoffs’ – will see someone
crowned FedEx Cup champion.
And with that title comes a prize
fund of a mind-boggling $10m.
That’s Ten. Millon. Dollars.
It all begins this week at The
Barclays, contested at the legendary
Bethpage Black. There will be 125
golfers in the field, who will be
whittled down to 100 for the
next event, the Deutsche
Bank Championship,
then 70 for the BMW
Championship, before a
final 30 tee it up for the
Tour Championship. In
short, this is a four-event
shootout for untold riches –
won last year by journeyman Bill
Haas (pictured), who collected
the $10m thanks to victory in the
Tour Championship.
The 2011 Barclays had to be cut
to three rounds because of poor
weather, and it was Dustin Johnson
who came out on top, two clear of
Matt Kuchar.
This year, all eyes will be on the
pairing of new US PGA champion Rory
McIlroy and Tiger Woods over the
first two rounds. Should be
some battle – but
our money’s on the
wee fella from
Holywood.
Paying the Bills
He had to take second billing behind Bradley Wiggins in the Tour de France, but at the Tour of Spain Team Sky’s
Chris Froome will get to play the lead
role he’s shown he’s more than capable
of fulfilling.
The Kenyan-born rider won bronze
in the Olympic time trial – once again
behind Wiggins – and has excellent
form in the Vuelta, having finished
second in last year’s race, just 13
seconds behind winner Juan Jose
Cobo. That podium place saw Froome
relegate teammate Wiggins into third,
despite having started the race on the
assumption he’d be riding as support
for Team Sky’s main man.
At the time, it was the highest finish
achieved by a Brit in a Grand Tour
for some 24 years. Wiggins’ feats in
France this year have now topped that,
of course, but with the Tour de France
winner giving the Vuelta a miss this
year, Froome has a chance to grab
some glory of his own.
He’ll be up against the home
favourite, Alberto Contador, who’s on
the comeback trail after his return
from a two-year doping ban. After
finishing eighth in his first race back
– the Eneco Tour, which took place at
the beginning of August – the Spaniard
said: “I’m in good shape. I’ve felt better
and better every day and I believe
there’s still room for improvement
in the coming week.”
Froome says Contador will go into
the race with plenty to prove after
his time away, but the same could be
said of the Team Sky man himself,
who will want to show team principal
Dave Brailsford and company that he’s
more than capable of filling Wiggins’
skinny trousers.
Stepping up
261The four-round
tournament
record at
Bethpage State
Park, set by Bob
Gilder back in 1982
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52 | August 17 2012 |
7 Days
Chasing status
FRIDAY Cardiff v Huddersfield | Cardiff City stadium | sky sports 1 7.45pm
The Championship is littered with fallen giants – some, such as Newcastle or
West Ham, bounce back at the first
time of asking, while others find
themselves sliding even lower down
the football pyramid. Fans will get a
chance to see what’s in store for their
teams this weekend, as the first round
of games kick off, with another lot on
Tuesday night. Here’s a few to keep
an eye on this weekend.
Defeated playoff semi-finalists Cardiff have had a bit of a makeover over
the summer – they’ll line up in red
home shirts as part of a Malaysian
investment that will see them pushing
for automatic promotion. They’re up
against Huddersfield, who did rather
better in their own playoff campaign,
winning promotion from League One
with a penalty shootout victory over
Sheffield United. Keep an eye on
Terrier Jordan Rhodes (left), who
scored 36 goals in 40 league
appearances last season – it’ll be
fascinating to see if he can carry
that form into a higher division.
SATURDAY leeds united v Wolves | elland road | sky sports 2 12.45pm
SATURDAY Burnley v Bolton | turf moor | 3pm
Wolves will want to bounce back at the first time of asking under new
manager Stale Solbakken, but their
first assignment will be a reminder of
just how difficult that can be. Leeds fell
through the trap door eight years ago
and are still trying to find their own
way back, finishing 14th in the
Championship last season. Wolves’
Norwegian manager has, so far,
managed to hang on to their top talent
– rejecting hefty bids for the likes of
Matt Jarvis (left) and Stephen Fletcher
– while Leeds have lost talented winger
Robert Snodgrass to Norwich.
Owen Coyle abandoned Burnley to the
Championship when he left them during
their sole season in the Premier
League to manage Bolton. Two years
on, he’s back at Turf Moor to face a
Burnley side who finished 13th under
Eddie Howe last season. Trotters
chairman Phil Gartside has vowed to
halve the club’s wage bill, but Ivan
Klasnic is the only significant
departure thus far. On-loan Arsenal
striker Benik Afobe is ready to step in
– he hit a hat-trick in the club’s
penultimate pre-season friendly – and
the return of Chung-Yong Lee (left)
from long-term injury is like a new
signing. With Stuart Holden due back in
October, Trotters fans are confident of
a return to the Premier League at the
first attempt. This tricky away tie,
however, might temper expectations.
Other games
satUrDaY 3Pm
Barnsley v middlesborough, oakwell
Birmingham v Charlton, st andrew’s
Crystal palace v Watford, selhurst park
derby County v sheffield Wednesday,
pride park
Hull v Brighton, kC stadium
ipswich v Blackburn, portman road
leicester v peterborough,
Walkers stadium
millwall v Blackpool, the den
nottingham forest v Bristol City,
City Ground
tUesDaY 7.45PmBrighton v Cardiff, ameX stadium
Bristol City v Crystal palace, ashton Gate
Charlton v leicester, the valley
Huddersfield v nottingham forest,
Galpharm stadium
middlesborough v Burnley,
riverside stadium
peterborough v millwall, london road
sheffield Wednesday v Birmingham,
Hillsborough
Watford v ipswich, vicarage road
Wolves v Barnsley, molineux
tUesDaY 8PmBlackpool v leeds united, Bloomfield road
Bolton v derby, reebok stadium
The big news in MotoGP at the moment – after a
three-week gap in the schedule – is that, from next
season, seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi
will be returning to the Yamaha team with which he
had so much success. The Italian has struggled with
his Ducati for the past season and a half, but has still
managed to score points in all but one race so far
this time round. His forthcoming return to a team
that suits him is a clear wake-up call to the other
riders – if you want to win the world title do it now,
because next year it could be a lot harder.
Rossi’s future teammate Jorge Lorenzo is still
best placed to do just that, despite being beaten by
Casey Stoner in the last round at Laguna Seca.
He still has a 23-point lead over second-placed Dani
Pedrosa in the championship as it heads across the
US to Indianapolis. The MotoGP track, which hosted
its first race in 2008, incorporates some of the
famous oval circuit, with the remainder of the lap
winding through the infield.
Defending champion Stoner won here last year
on his way to the title, but his overall record at
Indianapolis is not good – that was his first
podium finish in three attempts. It’s that kind of
inconsistency, so rare in his championship years,
that has plagued the Australian of late – can he use
his Laguna Seca win to launch a run of race victories
and end his career on a high?
| 53
SUNDAY MOTOGP | ROund 11: IndIanaPOlIs | IndIana, usa | BBC TwO 6.30PM
Motor city
Helly Hansen
catwalk
Helly Hansen beauty
and tHe beast
a 26.2 mulit-lap trail maratHon
cHallenge for induviduals and teams
22nd september 2012, stonor park,
Henley-on-tHames. sign up and join us
on tHe Helly Hansen catwalk at www.
HellyHansenbeautyandtHebeast.co.uk
FRIDAY
CRICKET England v
south africa:
Third Test day 2,
lord’s, sky sports 1 10.30am
GOlF wyndham Championship day 2,
sedgefield Country Club,
north Carolina, sky sports 3 8pm
RuGBY lEaGuE super league:
london Broncos v warrington wolves,
Twickenham stoop,
sky sports 2 8pm
FOOTBall Mls: nY Red Bulls v
Houston dynamo,
Red Bull arena,
new Jersey, EsPn 1am
SATURDAY
FOOTBall sPl: Ross County v Celtic,
Victoria Park, dingwall,
EsPn 11.30am
TEnnIs Cincinnati Masters 1000:
semi Finals, lindner Family Tennis
Center, Ohio, sky sports 4 6pm
RuGBY lEaGuE super league:
widnes Vikings v Hull FC,
Halton stadium, sky sports 2 6.15pm
FOOTBall la liga: sevilla v Getafe,
Estadio Ramón sánchez Pizjuán,
seville, sky sports1 7.30pm
SUNDAY
FOOTBall FIFa u20 women’s world
Cup: Brazil v Italy, urawa Komaba
stadium, saitama, Japan ,
British Eurosport 7am
FOOTBall sPl: dundee utd v dundee,
Tannadice Park, sky sports 4 12.45pm
TEnnIs Cincinnati Masters 1000: Final,
lindner Family Tennis Center, Ohio,
sky sports 4 5.30pm
MONDAY
CRICKET England v south africa:
Third Test day 5, lord’s,
sky sports 1 10.30am
BasEBall MlB: la dodgers v
san Francisco Giants, dodger
stadium, downtown los angeles,
EsPn 3am
TUESDAY
CRICKET ICC u19 world Cup:
semi Final 1, Tony Ireland stadium,
Townsville, sky sports 2 12.30pm
WEDNESDAY
CRICKET CB40: Kent v Yorkshire,
st lawrence Ground, Canterbury,
sky sports 1 4.30pm
THURSDAY FOOTBall supercopa:
Barcelona v Real Madrid,
Camp nou, sky sports 1 8.55pm
BEST OF THE REST
Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand
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Extra time Grooming
54 | August 17 2012 |
Making the most of your time and money
Give them a buzzIf you want a five o’clock shadow, a goatee
or just want to look a bit like Louis Smith,
one of these super trimmers should do
the trick. And stop using your dad’s, son
Making the most of your time and money
P60
Illuminate your living room
with lamps inspired by a 1980s
Soviet video game. Or else
Braun cruZer6 precision£19 | boots.com
Sassoon for Men: Titan Series Rechargeable Beard Trimmer£20 | amazon.co.uk
Philips Multigroom: Grooming Kit Pro£30 | boots.com
Rem
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| 55
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The UK’s top sport magazine The biggest interviews The best previews
56 | August 17 2012 |
Extra time Mieke Dockley
Magic
Mieke
Me
et
Mie
ke
Do
ckle
y, t
he
mo
de
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ctre
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wh
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– a
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wit
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th
at,
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pro
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bly
fo
un
d it
.
| 57
Ce
leb
rity
Pic
ture
s
Extra time Kit
58 | August 17 2012 |
Your favourite
shirtFans united behind Team GB are
now divided – here’s how you tell
| 59Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand
Top row: Arsenal | £45, Aston Villa | £45,
Chelsea | £50, Everton | £50, Fulham | £45
Second row: Liverpool | £45, Manchester
City | £45, Manchester United | £50,
Newcastle | £50, Norwich | £45
Third row: QPR | £43, Reading | £40,
Southampton | £42, Stoke | £45,
Sunderland | £50
Bottom row: Swansea | £45, Tottenham | £45,
WBA | £45, West Ham | £45, Wigan | £40
Extra time Gadgets
60 | August 17 2012 |
Disco inferno
Recreate a night out from the comfort
of your own bedroom – well, everything
except the ill-advised kebab shop visit
1. Mio Spirit 697 LM This sat nav can find your car
if you forget where you parked,
tailor routes to your requirement
(shortest, fastest, easiest, most
economical), and actually tells
you in which lane you’re meant
to be travelling in advance. It
also comes with lifetime map
updates, while voice entry
means you’re one step closer to
driving KITT from Knight Rider.
£170 | eu.mio.com
2. Skullcandy Mix Master DJ Headphones These nauseatingly dubbed
‘celebriphones’ were designed
in an 18-month (!) collaboration
with DJ Mix Master Mike of
the Beastie Boys and include
DJ-ready features including
dual-channel cue control and
one-touch mute, so you can
check the crowd’s reaction to
the sick beats you’ve dropped.
£250 | skullcandy.co.uk
3. Denon AH-D7100 For a more refined listening
experience, look no further
than Denon’s new flagship
headphones. With ear cups
crafted from mahogany, they
provide reference-quality audio
thanks to their Free Edge Nano
Fibre drivers. We’re not sure
what any of that means, but
at a grand a pair we’re willing
to bet it’s something good.
£1,000 | denon.co.uk
2
3 4
1
5
4. Tetris LightIf you love Soviet-era nostalgia,
or just want to fill your living
room with kitschy tat, then this
game-inspired lamp is perfect.
You can rearrange the blocks
to any configuration you want
and the light will keep shining,
though beware – if you happen
to accidentally make an
uninterrupted row, it could
disappear. No refunds.
£30 | firebox.com
5. Pioneer DDJ-Ergo-k Any idiot with a laptop and
a collection of 1990s song
samples to rip off can make a
hit record these days. Join their
ranks with this DJ controller,
which plugs into your laptop
and, in conjunction with the
included software, will let you
mix and scratch to your heart’s
content. You’ll be DJing eighth
birthday parties in no time.
£429 | pioneer.co.uk
Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand
Marley
Perfectly timed on the month Jamaica celebrates
50 years of independence is the Monday release of
this definitive Bob Marley documentary. Interviews
with family, pals and ex-Wailers is
mixed in with live footage, such
as the free concert Marley gave
in Kingston days after a bullet
injured him in an attempt on his
life. A compelling portrait of a
man even Usain Bolt is awed by.
Darksiders IIVideo game heroes used to be
simple folk, such as Pac-Man or
Mario. Darksiders II’s protagonist,
Death, looks like Skeletor on
steroids and probably chews
Italian plumbers for breakfast.
He’s also one of the reasons this
new action-RPG is immense fun.
Controlling this agile hulk and his
twin scythes – battling demons,
dragons and giants – looks an epic
experience. The surrounding realms
are also far more expansive than
the original, and you even get your
own pony, Despair, to explore this
imposing backdrop. Just don’t ask
this nag to do dressage – we get
the feeling it’s not for him.
Wilfred Season 1
This darkly amusing US
sitcom starts with Elijah
Wood mixing an overdose
milkshake, before a new
buddy pulls him from his
despair. That’s Wilfred,
his neighbour’s dog – who
looks normal to others
but is a crass, funny,
advice-giving Australian
to our hero. Hmm. We’d
still prefer the milkshake.
Sleeping Dogs (PC/PS3 Xbox 360)
Ever wanted to smash
up Hong Kong like you’re
Bruce Lee taking down
Triads? Sleeping Dogs
gives you this chance
and – despite a troubled
development – the game
has arrived to surprise
critical acclaim, winning
praise for its fast, fluid
martial arts combat and
a bustling open-world
city. Enter it from today.Umbrella Will Self
He’s a fan of abstruse language, so reading Will Self
usually involves having a dictionary open – but he’s
often worth it. There are Booker Prize whispers
for his latest novel, an ambitious
effort encompassing a maverick
psychiatrist, a Victorian mental
asylum and a patient he brings out
of a 53-year-long coma. Expect
rave reviews and a Danny Dyer film
adapatation (okay, not the latter).
The Expendables 2
The first was a box office hit, so Sly Stallone has
rounded up his (literally) old pals for a return. Arnie,
Bruce and Jet Li are back, joined by Jean-Claude Van
Damme playing a villain called – wait for it – Jean
Vilain. As for the plot? Well, that’s
thinner than Bruce Willis’ hairline,
but you can expect explosions,
creaky violence and some cheesy
one-liners (Jason Statham’s “I now
pronounce you man and knife” is
just a starter). Oh Sly, you have
been good to us! Out from today.
To
ny
Ky
ria
co
u/R
ex
Fe
atu
res
62 | August 17 2012 |
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