Friday, 14 November 2014

Javier Ballesteros Turns Professional


Javier Ballesteros, the son of five-time major champion Seve, has turned professional.

Spaniard Seve died of brain cancer in 2011 at the age of 54, and Javier said: "Today my dad comes to my mind.

"He taught me everything or almost everything I know about golf, and I would have loved him to see me turning pro. I am sure he would be very proud."

Javier, 23, intends to begin his career by enrolling at the Alps Tour qualifying school.

He competed at the British Amateur Championship this year but failed to qualify for the matchplay stage after a poor opening round.

Javier added: "This is something I have always wanted. Whether I will succeed or not, time will tell."

Seve is remembered as one of golf's most flamboyant and charismatic players.

He won 87 titles in his career, including the Open in 1979, 1984 and 1988 and the Masters in 1980 and 1983, and played in eight Ryder Cups.


Strachan Prepares Celtic Park Welcome


Scotland and the Republic of Ireland meet at Celtic Park in a tasty European Qualifiers encounter in Group D on Friday.

The Irish arrived in Glasgow on Thursday sitting joint top of the group alongside Poland, with both sides having claimed seven of the first points available to them, three ahead of both the Scots and world champions Germany.

However, Scotland boss Gordon Strachan has warned Ireland, who have a number of current and former Celtic players in their ranks, that their familiarity with the surroundings in Glasgow will do them no favours.

Much has been made of Irish boss Martin O'Neill being a former Hoops manager with his assistant Roy Keane, skipper Robbie Keane, Aiden McGeady, Shay Given and Daryl Murphy having played for the club, while Anthony Stokes is currently a striker with the Scottish champions.

Strachan said: "We will turn Celtic Park into the home of Scottish football and you will know fine well you are in Scotland on Friday night.

"We are quite familiar with Celtic Park as well (as some of the Irish), most of our players have played there. But as I say, it is not going to be Celtic Park, tomorrow it is Scotland's park."

Scotland midfielder James McArthur has pulled out of the clash with the Republic due to a calf injury.

McArthur has come off the bench in two of Scotland's three European Championship qualifiers so far.

The Crystal Palace midfielder joins his former Hamilton and Wigan team-mate James McCarthy on the sidelines for the game after the Republic of Ireland player pulled out with a hamstring problem. Long-term casualty Robert Snodgrass is also absent for Scotland.

Defenders Alan Hutton and Phil Bardsley are both out due to injury so Steven Whittaker looks a likely starter at right-back. Brighton centre-back Gordon Greer began the 2-2 draw with Poland but Russell Martin may get the nod on this occasion.

The Scots could therefore line up with David Marshall in goal behind a back four of Whittaker, Grant Hanley, Martin and Andrew Robertson; Scott Brown and James Morrison in central midfield; and Shaun Maloney, Steven Naismith and Ikechi Anya offering attacking options behind lone striker Steven Fletcher.

Meanwhile, O'Neill's preparations for the clash have been disrupted by an alleged incident which prompted Keane to ask for Gardai to be called to the team hotel in Portmarnock.

But O'Neill has insisted it will not be an issue as they look to extend their unbeaten run in qualifying to three games.

He said: "It's only a distraction, that's all it was. I made a statement earlier on today and there's not really much more I can talk about.

"But I think we are fine, I think the players are fine, I think the man in question is fine too and we are ready to go."

Speaking on Thursday, O'Neill was more concerned about the loss of central midfielders Glenn Whelan and one of the men fuelling the other major talking point this week, McCarthy, to injury.

Whelan was always an outsider after breaking a bone in his leg during the 1-1 draw in Germany last month, but there was better news about Glasgow-born McCarthy - who had been promised a hostile welcome - as scans confirmed no significant damage to his hamstring.

O'Neill said: "James, I suppose, realistically was always an outside chance. He has improved immensely since Sunday - in fact, he went for another scan and the scan is actually quite clear, so that is really good news for the lad.

"But really I suppose since it is a muscle injury, then it was a concern for us that he needed to probably do something today and see what sort of reaction he had."

Darron Gibson and Jeff Hendrick are seemingly the main candidates to plug the sizeable gap left in the heart of O'Neill's team, although he has also handed a key role to Stephen Quinn in the recent past.

Marc Wilson is injured, so Richard Keogh could be drafted in at centre-back.


Wednesday, 12 November 2014

Capello Salary Too Rich for Russia

Getty Images
A Russian Football Union executive has admitted that the governing body cannot afford to pay national coach Fabio Capello’s controversial £6.8m annual salary.

Sergei Stepashin, a member of the RFU’s executive committee, said Capello’s salary, which has not been paid at all since June, remained unaffordable.

“I can declare that the money to pay Capello is not there,” he said. “Clearly it’s wrong to fail to pay the salary of your national team’s coach, but when they signed the contract they should really have thought about how to fund it. Today we’re still looking for a source of funding.”

Capello admitted earlier this month that his patience over the dispute was running out, saying he felt “close to the limit … I’m somewhere near”.

The financial crisis at the RFU this week led to two members of Capello’s coaching staff, Christian Panucci and Massimo Neri, refusing to travel with the side to their Euro 2016 qualifier in Austria due to what the governing body called an ongoing “contractual dispute”.

The scale of Capello’s salary has repeatedly caused unrest in Russia, with the nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky branding him “a thief”in July, while fellow MP Oleg Pakholkov said the Italian was simply in the job for the salary: “I think Capello knew very well he would achieve nothing with our team, but he simply decided it was a good way to make money, he wanted to hoover up bundles of cash for his retirement.”

Capello’s contract runs through to the 2018 World Cup, which Russia will host. Russia’s sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, has previously suggested that the RFU’s failure to pay salaries had caused the team’s slump in form, as well as reputational damage.

“It doesn’t give either the team or the coach any extra motivation ... The whole situation doesn’t make Russia look good in any way.”

Russia are second in Euro 2016 qualifying Group G, behind Austria and level on points with Sweden.



Sunday, 9 November 2014

Stephane Peterhansel Quotes


"When you think of how hard it is to win a Dakar, it's incredible that I've been able to win ten of them. It's been a long time, I've been waiting for five years to win again!"

"To take the victory in South America is a huge relief, it ranks among my best triumphs. Moreover, the race was very close during the first week and there was always a lot of pressure. Winning the rally for Team X-Raid makes it even more special, since Sven Quandt has been waiting for years for this to happen."

"I don't know what I could do to go one better! Beating this record is going to be difficult... for the others! This race is stressful, exciting and fascinating, and it's also very rewarding at the end. Now I'm going to party with the entire team and then we'll see. My finest victory will always be my first win in the motorcycle category, but this one has something special to it. I was starting to doubt myself, to think I was growing too old for this, that I'd lost it or that I wasn't made for South America... and in the end everything turned out fine!"

"But I still have a blue bandana from my motorcycling period. I didn't tell anyone, but I kept it in my pocket throughout the entire rally. It's the story of the comeback of the blue bandana."





Memories - EURO 88 - Ronnie Whelan


Back in the USSR.......
Ronnie Whelan  38 minutes, 15/06/1988 
Hannover Arena, Hannover