FA set Fabio England target
England manager Fabio Capello was yesterday confident that he would be able to take the England team to the heights demanded by the Football Association; that he must take the national team to the semi-finals of a major tournament by 2012. "The Football Association set out the results of its "root-and-branch review" that was announced after England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008. And according to the targets set out by the FA's chief executive, Brian Barwick, that involves 'at least' a top-four finish in the 2012 European Championship in Poland and Ukraine, with a major tournament triumph required before the 2018 World Cup," writes Matt Scott in the Guardian. (Guardian)
"My personal objective in every team I have coached and managed is to go to the top. This is no problem or surprise for me to have these targets" Fabio Capello is unfazed by the FA's demands
Ballack claims Chelsea have big mo
From a marginalised player on the fringes of the action at Stamford Bridge last year, Michael Ballack has become crucial to Chelsea’s late surge to Premier League and European glory. "Michael Ballack is convinced that the momentum of this season's tense title race has swung significantly in Chelsea's direction after the club's win at Newcastle kept them within touching distance of Premier League leaders Manchester United," writes Oliver Brown in the Daily Telegraph. “Describing Chelsea's stylish response to United's result, Ballack said: 'We saw the Manchester United game and I am sure they watched our match on television. It was important to show them what we could do. We proved we are a very strong team. We have a good shape and look good.'" (Daily Telegraph)
Scolari given Man City deadline
Luiz Felipe Scolari, the scourge of English football and in particular of the man he may replace at Eastlands, Sven-Goran Eriksson, has been offered a £3.2m a year deal to take over at Manchester City. "But," writes Oliver Kay in the Times, "Thaksin Shinawatra, the club's impatient chairman, has demanded an answer before the Brazilian leads Portugal into the European Championship finals next month. Scolari is understood to be interested by City's proposal, which was put to him by Taweesuk 'Jack' Srisumrid, the club's executive director, and an intermediary who is believed to be Brazilian. However, Scolari is concerned by Thaksin's insistence on an immediate response and would prefer to wait until after the finals in Austria and Switzerland before making a decision on his future." (Times)
Castleford reject Dwain Chambers
Time and opportunities are running out for shamed sprinter Dwain Chambers after he was yesterday released by the rugby league side Castleford Tigers following a trial with the club. Chambers remains focussed on getting the ban on him competing in the Beijing Olympics overturned, "but the sprinter missed the BOA's deadline of February 15 for appealing against his ban and it is now likely he will take his case to the high court," writes the Guardian. "The disgraced sprinter, who made his second return to athletics this winter after his two-year suspension for testing positive for the anabolic steroid Tetrahydrogestrinone, has never given up hope of trying to overturn the British Olympic Association's by-law which prevents drugs cheats from representing Team GB at any future Games." (Guardian)
"In the time frame we had it was always going to be difficult because it takes a long time to learn our game. I know he understands that and the decision that we've made" Castleford Tigers coach Terry Matterson on his decision to release Dwain Chambers
Lord’s could host neutral Tests
Lord's, the home of Test cricket, could host neutral Tests within years after the MCC released plans to fund their £200m ground redevelopment. "Keith Bradshaw, the MCC's chief executive, has just returned from India, where he visited IPL franchises and held talks with the league's commissioner, Lalit Modi, about the possibility of bringing the mooted Twenty20 Champions League to Lord's," writes Paul Kelso in the Guardian. "This year Pakistan and Australia held exploratory talks with the England and Wales Cricket Board about playing their scheduled Test series in England after Australia refused to go ahead with the tour on security grounds. The Pakistan Cricket Board was keen on playing at least one game at Lord's." (Guardian)
Murray upset by trash talking
The row between Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro rumbles on as the young Scot remains upset at remarks made by the Argentinian about his mother Judy. "Murray saw metaphorical red on the red courts of the Rome Masters after Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro made a jibe about Judy during their lively opening-round match late on Monday night, a contest that the Briton won after the gangly 19-year-old qualifier retired in the final set because of back pain," writes Mark Hodgkinson in the Daily Telegraph. "The soundtrack on television recordings indicated that the flare-up began during a change of ends in the second set, after Murray raised the issue of why Del Potro had not said sorry after drilling a ball towards his head." (Daily Telegraph)
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