As wishes go, that was rather more hopeful than the Christmas wish that Wenger nurtured as a 10-year-old, "When I was a kid I wanted a train so much," he recalled, "I got one from my godfather and I still have never forgotten about it." In his position, you might have expected the Arsenal manager simply to hope that his unpredictable team beat Aston Villa at the Emirates tomorrow.

It is one of the stand-out fixtures of the weekend, not least because so far Martin O'Neill's team have beaten ( Read more... )
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Haye had been due to fight Wladimir Klitschko for his three world titles in June, then he was expected to fight Vitali Klitschko in September for his title. It being boxing and Haye being the World Boxing Association heavyweight champion, there were always going to be a few secret twists and turns along the way, and close observers speak in terms more suited to George Smiley than Don King, but in the end a different deal was done by Haye's business partner Adam Booth during ( Read more... )
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The "noisy neighbours" are in a mess again and Ferguson, predictably enough, agreed with the suggestion that the lack of class he depicted before the season started and City were parading their Carlos Tevez poster across Manchester had been borne out by the events of the past week. "It's a difficult job being in a city with Manchester United and the success they've had over the years and therefore there is always a moment where they think they can upstage us or something," Ferguson said. "I think ( Read more... )
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"We want to arrive on top ? because of this we must change the mentality. We must want to win always at home, away. If we have this mentality we can change this situation."

Roberto Mancini. December 24, 2009

The managers are different ? so very different ? but their diagnoses of Manchester City's problems are just the same. After an 18-month tenure in which Mark Hughes was initially withering about the flabby culture of poor match preparation he ( Read more... )
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A bad-tempered match erupted shortly before half-time when Samir Nasri appeared to tread on the ankle of Hull's Richard Garcia. Stephen Hunt then clashed with Nasri and a mass confrontation took place in front of referee Steve Bennett, with Arsenal goalkeeper Almunia sprinting 100 yards to get involved. Players became embroiled in ugly scenes with Bennett eventually booking Hunt and Nasri. Arsenal won the game 3-0. The clubs have until 13 January to respond.

Diouf ( Read more... )
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When England similarly avoided defeat in the opening game of the Ashes, it swept them to Lord's ? and eventual victory ? on a wave of optimism, and while the ever-upbeat Pietersen lauds England's "strength of character" the suspicion is that Smith's observations, however skewed, ring truest.

"We've probably given them a few question marks, especially over the batting line-up," Smith said as the teams prepare for the start of the second Test on Boxing Day. "When you collapse like that it ( Read more... )
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Hughes was sacked immediately after last Saturday's victory over Sunderland, even though it had been common knowledge throughout the day that his time as Blues chief was up. City have come under fire this week for the whole way they have gone about installing Roberto Mancini as Hughes successor.

Blues chief executive Garry Cook has attempted to defend his position, although that has managed only to draw more ire from his club's interrogators. And Ferguson feels Cook is ( Read more... )
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But very soon, transgression-ridden sports stars may not be granted such luxuries. TMZ, the chequebook-waving gossip site that has caught Mel Gibson drink-driving and broke news of Michael Jackson's death almost an hour before the BBC, is expected to launch a site targeting sports personalities early next year. It comes off the back of zealous coverage of the Tiger Woods revelations, which have brought a five million spike of unique visitors to TMZ this month.

The timing coincides with a ( Read more... )
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The 22-year-old all-rounder learned his cricket at the Surrey Academy before spending the last two seasons at Sussex.

He told Surrey's website: "It's no exaggeration to say that returning to Surrey as captain is the dream of a lifetime for me personally as well as a massive honour and a huge responsibility."

He added: "I will make sure I fulfil the confidence that Surrey and specifically Chris Adams have shown in me and I am determined to help bring the club success ( Read more... )
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England clung on desperately to withstand everything their hosts could throw at them in the first Test - and despite losing five wickets for 13 runs on the final evening, they just managed to achieve a stalemate.

"We got through it; it's still 0-0 in the series. That can be a little bit dispiriting for the opposition, so it's back to square one on Boxing Day," said Strauss.

Graham Onions and Paul Collingwood's last-ditch defiance was an action replay - ( Read more... )
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Anelka, 30, tore the hamstring in training last week, which ruled him out of last weekend's draw with West Ham. It was only yesterday that the full extent of the injury was revealed by manager Carlo Ancelotti, who now faces a busy run of fixtures without his two leading strikers.

Drogba and his Ivory Coast team-mate Salomon Kalou are available for the Boxing Day game at Birmingham City, but the following day they must leave on international duty, unless the Premier League ( Read more... )
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The 40-year-old German will be paid £6.2m to drive for Mercedes in 2010, recreating the partnership with technical guru Ross Brawn which resulted in Schumacher winning the drivers' world championship with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, and with Ferrari in the years 2000-2004.

Satisfyingly for those for whom Schumacher's ruthlessness on the track means he remains something of a pantomime villain, there was a hint of the old arrogance in the way the old master laid down a challenge to younger ( Read more... )
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It should also be pointed out to Premier League managers like Avram Grant, that they and their clubs knew the nationality of the African players in question when they signed them so there are no excuses for complaining when those players claim their right to represent their countries every other January.

The departure of, for instance, Didier Drogba is unfortunate for Chelsea but it is not as if they have not had plenty of warning. Drogba was from the Ivory Coast when he signed for Chelsea ( Read more... )
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The Belgian, who won seven Grand Slams and 41 titles overall before retiring at the top of her game in May last year, will join a top-class women's field which features nine of the world's top 10 players including Serena Williams, Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Caroline Wozniacki and Elena Dementieva and Australia's world number 13 Samantha Stosur in a tournament which runs from January 10-16.

Henin, who held the number one ranking for 117 weeks, announced ( Read more... )
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At best you're up on Christmas morning, off to training, home for a short while (resisting the temptations of alcohol), then back out again late afternoon to meet up with the squad.

If there's a home game on Boxing Day, you tend to stay in a hotel Christmas night before anyway, and if there's an away game you'll probably travel on Christmas afternoon ? then stay in a hotel again. It's especially hard on players with kids ? and I've got two. Last year was my first Christmas ( Read more... )
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It had taken the best of his football talent. That emerged in the two seasons that followed his amazing recovery from a fractured skull and serious kidney damage.

And when they said it had indeed removed the best of the footballing skill it was saying a lot because if Munich hadn't happened there was a strong chance that he would have signed for another power in English football, Arsenal.

It was a gradual process, the slide from all that he might have been and for ( Read more... )
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Pietersen was bowled by a delivery from Morne Morkel in the first innings of England's Centurion draw against South Africa, only to discover on returning to the dressing room that it should have been called a front-foot no-ball.

"I think something needs to be done about it," he said on Wednesday morning at England's team hotel, where they have begun preparations for the second Test of a four-match series at Kingsmead on Boxing Day. "If you're going to use the referral ( Read more... )
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A bad-tempered match at the Emirates Stadium erupted shortly before half-time when Samir Nasri appeared to tread on the ankle of Hull's Richard Garcia.

Stephen Hunt then clashed with Nasri and a mass confrontation took place in front of referee Steve Bennett, with Arsenal goalkeeper Almunia sprinting 100 yards to get involved. Players from both sides became embroiled in ugly scenes with Bennett eventually booking Hunt and Nasri.

Arsenal went on to win the ( Read more... )
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However, United have a defensive injury crisis, Chelsea look strangely vulnerable and are about to lose key players to the African Nations Cup, and Arsenal have lost Robin van Persie.

With fewer games played the old saying, "You can't win the title at Christmas, but you can lose it", is no longer true, but the holiday programme should provide some clues. Leaders Chelsea have a pair of fixtures which look much harder now than when drawn up in the summer. Birmingham are ( Read more... )
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The Spanish striker has also underlined the bleak future facing Liverpool by admitting the club cannot afford to buy top-class players in the January transfer window.

"I think sacking the manager is not a solution," said Torres.

"The manager is not playing so we have to be positive with him, try to work with him.

"We are the main reason, the players are the persons that have to find a solution to the situation. The manager is not playing, so we have ( Read more... )
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