The Intrepid Reporter

Murdoch rides to the Sun's rescue

2012-02-18T13:54:00.003Z

RUPERT MURDOCH arrived in London yesterday to launch a new Sunday tabloid and reassure staff on the Sun of their jobs.

The Australian-born proprietor of News International was in Wapping to make his big announcement and meet disconcerted staff on the Sun.

Earlier this week, five senior journalists from the paper were arrested on suspicion of bribing police and public officials as part of Operation Elveden, the investigation by Scotland Yard into newspaper corruption.

Sun reporters have also become increasingly worried that an internal News Corp investigations unit, the management and standards committee (MSC), has handed over the names of confidential sources to the police.

And so, it was against an atmosphere described as "anxious and angry" that Mr Murdoch sent an email in an attempt to heal some wounds.

He wrote: "We will build on the Sun's proud heritage by launching the Sun on Sunday very soon... We're doing everything we can to assist those who are arrested.

"All suspensions are hereby lifted until or whether charged, and they are welcome to return to work."

The reaction of the staff in Wapping to the news was positive, though this was perhaps out of relief more than anything.

A News International journalist is even reported to have said: "This is a proper fightback. Even if there are other arrests, this is a 'fuck you, here we are, we are carrying on despite everything.'"

However, others were less convinced by Mr Murdoch's statement.

Another reporter said: "This changes nothing. [There is still] a huge amount of concern across all three titles about protection of sources.

"Everyone is pleased that the suspensions have been lifted, but this is the language of the MSC. It makes no difference."

Overall, though, there is no doubt that most of the staff on the Sun will have gained a much-needed morale boost from the arrival of Mr Murdoch.

If nothing else, the upcoming launch of the Sun on Sunday shows that he is still committed to the UK newspaper industry... for now.

Nevertheless, there remain doubts over whether the whole of the Murdoch empire, namely News Corporation, will sail the same course - especially once Rupert's son, James, gains more control.

James Murdoch has made little secret of the fact that he is no fan of the printed press and it was not a surprise that he did not accompany his father on this trip.

He considers the UK newspapers to have caused him more problems than they are worth and, as a pragmatist and money man, he also thinks of them as a dying business.

The Times and the Sunday Times are loss-making while the Sun threatens to be caught in a similar mire to the one which accounted for the News of the World last July.

Of course, it has since emerged that claims of News of the World journalists deleting the voice messages on Milly Dowler's mobile phone was, on the balance of the available evidence, probably untrue.

But the very act of illegally hacking the phone of a murdered young girl, and others, was understandably enough to turn the collective stomach of the general public.

If the Sun journalists are also found guilty in this new crisis, it appears that Mr Murdoch will have short shrift for anyone involved.

For, he also wrote: "We will obey the law. Illegal activity simply cannot and will not be tolerated at any of our publications."

That appears to give Mr Murdoch, or at least his son James, a get-out clause from his apparent advances to the UK newspaper industry.

Indeed, the current BBC political presenter and former Sunday Times editor, Andrew Neil, warned: "Essentially, [Mr Murdoch] is between a rock and a hard place and he is playing for time.

"This will last until the next 12 arrests of Sun journalists or until he is forced to come down on one side.

"I am confident that the side he will come down on will be News Corporation in America. That is a multi-billion dollar business and News International is just a multi-million dollar business."

So, while on the surface, it appears Mr Murdoch may have flown in to save the Sun, this could yet be a relatively short-term fling.

That is not to say that the Sun, the Times and the Sunday Times will go the same way as the News of the World.

But, if it does all go wrong - and if James Murdoch gains any sort of control - none of the newspapers would get anywhere near as much attention from News International as they are right now.

African Cup of Nations Final: Zambia on the spot for emotional victory

2012-02-12T19:54:00.018Z

Ivory Coast 0

Zambia 0

After extra time. Zambia won 8-7 on penalties

Ivory Coast Barry - Tiene, K Toure, Bamba, Gosso - Zokora (Ya Konan 75), Tiote, Y Toure (Bony 87), Gervinho - Kalou (Gradel 63), Drogba (c). Booked: Tiote, Bamba.
Zambia Mweene - Musonda (Mulenga 12 (F Katongo 74)), Sunzu, Himoonde, Nkausu - Sinkala, Lungu, Chansa, Kalaba - C Katongo (c), Mayuka. Booked: Mulenga.
Referee: Badara Diatta (Senegal) Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
TV: Eurosport and ITV4. Kick-off: 7.30pm GMT.

Penalties: 1-0 Tiote scored, 1-1 C Katongo scored, 2-1 Bony scored, 2-2 Mayuka scored, 3-2 Bamba scored, 3-3 Chansa scored, 4-3 Gradel scored, 4-4 F Katongo scored, 5-4 Drogba scored, 5-5 Mweene scored, 6-5 Tiene scored, 6-6 Sinkala scored, 7-6 Ya Konan scored, 7-7 Lungu scored, 7-7 K Toure saved, 7-7 Kalaba missed, 7-7 Gervinho missed, 8-7 Sunzu scored

ZAMBIA won the African Cup of Nations for the first time in history on an emotional night of destiny in Libreville in Gabon.

In April 1993, 18 Zambian footballers, four coaches, the FA chairman and two others died when a plane - on its way to a World Cup qualifier in Senegal - crashed into the Atlantic Ocean just off Libreville.

Now, almost 19 years later, another fine squad of Zambians rule the roost in Africa after beating odds-on favourites Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties.

Stoppila Sunzu struck the 18th - and decisive - spot-kick of the shoot-out to become the toast of Lusaka as a southern African nation won the tournament for the first time since 1996.

The Final itself had finished 0-0, having flickered into life at times without ever fully catching alight.

Zambia started well with Nathan Sinkala drawing a save from Boubacar Barry within the first couple of minutes after a nicely-worked corner routine.

But, by the end of the half, Ivory Coast had imposed themselves on the game and, on the half hour mark, Yaya Toure should have done much better after being set up by Didier Drogba.

The second period was notable for its lack of quality around the box from both sides - until undoubtedly the best chance of the whole match fell to the Ivorians' lynchpin Drogba following a foul on Gervinho.

The Chelsea forward fluffed it, though - blazing his penalty way over the bar with 20 minutes left.

Having seen their skipper and star striker miss so horribly from 12 yards, the anxiety among the Ivorian players only seemed to increase further, and they struggled to make the breakthrough in the rest of the match.

They knew that, in the absence of Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria, this edition of the Cup of Nations was Ivory Coast's best chance of becoming African champions for the first time since 1992.

Zambia, though, had been playing exceptionally right from the start of the tournament, beating another of the fancied sides, Senegal, on the opening day.

The Chipolopolo went on to top Group A as Senegal crashed out without a point despite fielding a four-pronged attack of Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse, Moussa Sow and captain Mamadou Niang.

However, the early part of the tournament was most notable for the fine performances of the two hosts.

Equatorial Guinea belied their lowly ranking of 151 to beat Libya and the Senegalese in their first two Nations Cup finals matches on their way to qualifying behind Zambia in Group A.

Gabon did even better, winning all three of their matches against Niger, Morocco, and Group C favourites Tunisia.

Indeed, the 3-2 comeback win over the Moroccans was particularly memorable as it was only secured in the 97th minute after the North Africans had looked to snatch a point by scoring a harshly-awarded penalty in the 93rd.

But the hosts' brave runs were ended on successive days in the quarter finals as Equatorial Guinea were beaten 3-0 by Ivory Coast, and the Gabonese were edged out on penalties by Mali.

In the semi finals, Ivory Coast won their fifth successive match without conceding a goal as they beat the Malians with a solitary goal from Gervinho's on the stroke of half time.

Meanwhile, Zambia - who had matched the Ivorians' result in the quarters with a 3-0 win of their own against another surprise package, Sudan - also won 1-0 in the semis, against Ghana.

It had been a much tighter occasion, though, with Emmanuel Mayuka scoring with just 12 minutes left - and only after Asamoah Gyan had missed a penalty for the 2010 World Cup quarter finalists.

And so, with Gyan having missed from the spot in the semis and with Drogba doing the same in the Final, it really did seem that fate had decreed that it would be the Zambians who would succeed.

Herve Renard's men still needed to hold their nerve in the shoot-out, though, especially when Drogba had made some amends for his earlier miss by scoring the fifth penalty.

That left Zambian keeper Kennedy Mweene needing to score - but he did not seem to feel the pressure at all, wrong-footing his opposite number, Barry, and slotting the ball in the corner.

With the shoot-out now in sudden death, it seemed that the first failure would be a decisive miss - and the writing was on the wall for Ivory Coast when Kolo Toure had his kick saved.

But Rainford Kalaba could not handle the pressure either, and he blazed over to leave the score still at 7-7.

Incredibly, after 14 successful penalties, there was a third successive miss as Gervinho added another chapter to his woeful season by sending the ball high and wide.

This time, the Zambians were not in the mood for charity as Sunzu fired past Barry to send the Zambians into an emotional frenzy.

Frenchman Renard dedicated his team's victory to the 1993 squad and his FA chairman Kalusha Bwalya who only survived the crash because he played in Europe with PSV Eindhoven.

Renard said: "I told them if we got to the final we would play in Gabon where the plane crashed. There was a special significance in that. They found the strength. I don't know where."

Fighting back the tears, he added: "Kalusha was one of the best Zambian players of the last century. Then he was coach of the national team, now our president.

"He knows how terrible this crash was for the nation. I want to dedicate this title to him, he gave me my chance when nobody knew me."

Nobody really gave Zambia much of a chance either - but this wonderful underdog story was always destined to have a happy ending.

FULL AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS FIXTURES/RESULTS
GROUP A

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Sat 21 Jan, 18:30	EQUATORIAL GUINEA 1-0 LIBYA	Bata
Eurosport	Sat 21 Jan, 21:00	SENEGAL 1-2 ZAMBIA	Bata
Eurosport	Wed 25 Jan, 17:15	LIBYA 2-2 ZAMBIA	Bata
Eurosport	Wed 25 Jan, 20:15	EQUATORIAL GUINEA 2-1 SENEGAL	Bata
Eurosport	Sun 29 Jan, 18:00	EQUATORIAL GUINEA 0-1 ZAMBIA	Malabo
Eurosport2	Sun 29 Jan, 18:00	LIBYA 2-1 SENEGAL	Bata

Group A Table	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
ZAMBIA (Q)	2	1	0	5	3	7
EQUATORIAL GUINEA (Q)	2	0	1	3	2	6
Libya	1	1	1	4	4	4
Senegal	0	0	3	3	6	0

GROUP B

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Sun 22 Jan, 16:00	IVORY COAST 1-0 SUDAN	Malabo
Eurosport2	Sun 22 Jan, 19:00	BURKINA FASO 1-2 ANGOLA	Malabo
Eurosport	Thu 26 Jan, 16:00	SUDAN 2-2 ANGOLA	Malabo
ITV4*	Thu 26 Jan, 19:00	IVORY COAST 2-0 BURKINA FASO	Malabo
Eurosport	Mon 30 Jan, 18:00	SUDAN 2-1 BURKINA FASO	Bata
Eurosport2	Mon 30 Jan, 18:00	IVORY COAST 2-0 ANGOLA	Malabo

(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)

Group B Table	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
IVORY COAST (Q)	3	0	0	5	0	9
SUDAN (Q)	1	1	1	4	4	4
Angola	1	1	1	4	5	4
Burkina Faso	0	0	3	2	6	0

GROUP C

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Mon 23 Jan, 16:00	GABON 2-0 NIGER	Libreville
Eurosport	Mon 23 Jan, 19:00	MOROCCO 1-2 TUNISIA	Libreville
Eurosport	Fri 27 Jan, 16:00	NIGER 1-2 TUNISIA	Libreville
Eurosport	Fri 27 Jan, 19:00	GABON 3-2 MOROCCO	Libreville
Eurosport	Tue 31 Jan, 18:00	GABON 1-0 TUNISIA	Franceville
Eurosport2	Tue 31 Jan, 18:00	NIGER 0-1 MOROCCO	Libreville

Group C Table	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
GABON (Q)	3	0	0	6	2	9
TUNISIA (Q)	2	0	1	4	3	6
Morocco	1	0	2	4	5	3
Niger	0	0	3	1	5	0

GROUP D

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Tue 24 Jan, 16:00	GHANA 1-0 BOTSWANA	Franceville
Eurosport	Tue 24 Jan, 19:00	MALI 1-0 GUINEA	Franceville
Eurosport	Sat 28 Jan, 16:00	BOTSWANA 1-6 GUINEA	Franceville
Eurosport	Sat 28 Jan, 19:00	GHANA 2-0 MALI	Franceville
Eurosport	Wed 1 Feb, 18:00	BOTSWANA 1-2 MALI	Libreville
Eurosport2	Wed 1 Feb, 18:00	GHANA 1-1 GUINEA	Franceville

Group D Table	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
GHANA (Q)	2	1	0	4	1	7
MALI (Q)	2	0	1	3	3	6
Guinea	1	1	1	7	3	4
Botswana	0	0	3	2	9	0

QUARTER FINALS

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Sat 4 Feb, 16:00	ZAMBIA 3-0 SUDAN	Bata
ITV4*	Sat 4 Feb, 19:00	IVORY COAST 3-0 EQUATORIAL GUINEA	Malabo
Eurosport	Sun 5 Feb, 16:00	GABON 1-1 MALI aet (5-4 to MALI on pens)	Libreville
Eurosport	Sun 5 Feb, 19:00	GHANA 2-1 TUNISIA aet	Franceville

(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)

SEMI FINALS

TV	Date		Venue
ITV4*	Wed 8 Feb, 16:00	ZAMBIA 1-0 GHANA	Bata
Eurosport	Wed 8 Feb, 19:00	IVORY COAST 1-0 MALI	Libreville

(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)

THIRD-PLACED PLAYOFF

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Sat 11 Feb, 19:00	GHANA 0-2 MALI	Malabo

FINAL

TV	Date		Venue
ITV4*	Sun 12 Feb, 19:30	ZAMBIA 0-0 IVORY COAST AET. Zambia won 8-7 on pens	Libreville

(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)

SCORERS
Seven joint-top scorers on three goals
3 Manucho (Angola), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Cheick Diabate (Mali), Houssine Kharja (Morocco), Christopher Katongo (Zambia), Emmanuel Mayuka (Zambia)
2 John Mensah (Ghana), Andre Ayew (Ghana), Abdoul Camara (Guinea), Sadio Diallo (Guinea), Ahmed Saad Osman (Libya), Ihaab Boussefi (Libya), Mohamed Ahmed Bashir (Sudan), Mudather El Tahir (Sudan), Youssef Msakni (Tunisia)
1 Mateus (Angola), Dipsy Selolwane (Botswana), Mogakolodi Ngele (Botswana), Alain Traore (Burkina Faso), Issiaka Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso), Javier Balboa (Equatorial Guinea), Randy (Equatorial Guinea), Kily (Equatorial Guinea), Stephane N'Guema (Gabon), Daniel Cousin (Gabon), Bruno Mbanangoyé (Gabon), Eric Mouloungui (Gabon), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Ghana), Mamadou Bah (Guinea), Naby Soumah (Guinea), Ibrahama Traore (Guinea), Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast), Wilfried Bony (Ivory Coast), Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Yao Gervinho (Ivory Coast), Bakaye Traore (Mali), Garra Dembele (Mali), Seydou Keita (Mali), Younes Belhanda (Morocco), William Ngounou (Niger), Dame N'Doye (Senegal), Moussa Sow (Senegal), Deme N'Diaye (Senegal), Khaled Korbi (Tunisia), Issam Jemaa (Tunisia), Saber Khelifa (Tunisia), Rainford Kalaba (Zambia), James Chamanga (Zambia), Stophira Sunzu (Zambia), Rainford Kalaba (Zambia)
1 own goal Bakary Kone (Burkina Faso) for Ivory Coast

CLASSIFICATION
1 ZAMBIA (beat Ivory Coast 8-7 on pens in Final after 0-0 draw)
2 IVORY COAST (lost v Zambia 7-8 on pens in Final after 0-0 draw)
3 GHANA (lost 0-1 v Zambia in the semi finals)
4 MALI (lost 0-1 v Ivory Coast in the semi finals)
5 GABON (lost 4-5 on penalties v Mali in the quarter finals after 1-1 draw)
6 TUNISIA (lost 1-2 aet v Ghana in the quarter finals)
7 EQUATORIAL GUINEA (lost 0-3 v Ivory Coast in quarter finals)
8 SUDAN (lost 0-3 v Zambia in quarter finals)
9 GUINEA (eliminated at group stage: four points, +4 GD)
10 LIBYA (eliminated at group stage: four points, 0 GD)
11 ANGOLA (eliminated at group stage: four points, -1 GD)
12 MOROCCO (eliminated at group stage: three points)
13 SENEGAL (eliminated at group stage: no points, -3 GD)
14 BURKINA FASO (eliminated at group stage: no points, -4 GD, two goals)
15 NIGER (eliminated at group stage: no points, -4 GD, one goal)
16 BOTSWANA (eliminated at group stage: no points, -7 GD)

Stroppy Capello leaves England in the lurch

2012-02-09T01:53:00.005Z

ENGLAND preparations for Euro 2012 were thrown into disarray last night as Fabio Capello took it upon himself to bring down the curtain on his career as national team boss.

Capello's resignation came hours after he had faced showdown talks with Football Association chairman David Bernstein following their disagreement over the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy.

The 65-year-old had publicly declared his support for Terry on Italian television on Sunday even though the Chelsea defender faces trial in July over his alleged racist abuse of Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand.

Once it was clear that the FA was not going to change its mind on the matter, Capello decided that it was time for him to go - but not without first aiming a parting shot at his former employers over the Terry saga.

In quotes attributed to the Italian news agency Italpress, Capello fumed: "They really insulted me and damaged my authority.

"In Terry's case, they gravely offended me and damaged my authority at the head of the England side, effectively creating a problem for the squad.

"I have never tolerated certain crossing of lines, so it was easy for me to spot it and take my decision to leave."

For their part, the FA response was more amicable, though it has been made clear that this was Capello's decision, and not a case of mutual consent.

Following the prepared statement which broke the news, chairman Bernstein added: "I would like to stress that during today's meeting and throughout his time as England manager, Fabio has conducted himself in an extremely professional manner.

"We have accepted Fabio's resignation, agreeing this is the right decision. We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future."

The FA board members subsequently held a press conference at midday today in which they stated their preference for "an English or British" manager.

That desire is reflected by the betting on the next permanent manager with Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp as short as 1/6 with one bookmaker.

It completed a whirlwind of a day for Redknapp who, just hours before Capello quit, had been found not guilty on two counts of cheating the public revenue in a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

So far, Redknapp has acted coyly on the suggestion that he becomes national team boss.

But it seems unfathomable that he would not at least be tempted to take charge of England in the summer, especially as he has already received the backing from the likes of Wayne Rooney and Jermain Defoe.

Meanwhile, second favourite - and current under-21 coach - Stuart Pearce has been installed in the caretaker role for the senior team's friendly international at the end of the month against Netherlands at Wembley.

The debate over whether the England coach should be English or foreign is generally pretty tiresome but it is no surprise to see it back on the agenda now that Capello's tenure has finished.

For Capello was not just a foreigner but - unlike an Anglophile like Arsene Wenger or a linguist like Jose Mourinho - he was a foreigner who was distant and aloof, one who made minimal efforts to learn the language.

The BBC's Tom Fordyce has suggested in his latest blog that Capello "seldom seemed to enjoy England or its culture".

Meanwhile the Guardian's chief sports writer Richard Williams wrote: "His £6m a year was not enough to interest him greatly in the culture of the country whose national game he was hired to revive by winning a major international tournament."

Certainly, Capello rarely stepped outside of his comfort zone while he was in charge.

Indeed, it remains somewhat of a bugbear among followers of north east football that, incredibly, the lucratively-rewarded Italian did not once watch a game at St James Park in Newcastle or in Sunderland's Stadium of Light.

Nevertheless, Capello can actually boast of a very favourable statistical record from his time in charge.

Out of the 12 permanent England managers in history, not even World Cup winner Sir Alf Ramsey can match Capello's win percentage of 66.67%.

But, this is very much a case of "lies, damned lies and statistics" - in the same way that Euro 2008 flop Steve McClaren can claim to be a statistically better England manager than Sir Bobby Robson.

Unlike with McClaren, England actually qualified for successive major finals with Capello. However, just like with McClaren, the players struggled to perform in the really big games.

That 4-1 drubbing by Germany in Bloemfontein may have statistically only been one of six defeats in 42 matches under Capello.

But the performance - and the nature of the collapse in particular - will now forever tarnish what is left of the Italian's career.

Capello's record as a club manager - seven Serie A titles, two La Ligas and a European Cup - remains outstanding but, as an international coach, his judgement was sometimes sorely lacking.

Following an impressive World Cup qualifying campaign, in which England won nine and lost just one of their ten matches, it looked as if the team was well-placed to go far in the finals.

In the immediate run-up to the tournament, though, things began to take a turn for the worse.

First, there was the issue of the Capello Index, a formula for assessing the performances of his players which published its results in the public domain.

Then came some peculiar selections in the World Cup squad. Emile Heskey was included ahead of Theo Walcott, the injury-prone Ledley King made the cut ahead of his in-form Spurs team-mate Michael Dawson, and none of the goalkeepers knew if they had the number one shirt.

Jamie Carragher was even dragged out of retirement and Paul Scholes refused a similar offer. Meanwhile, Terry had been stripped of the captaincy for the first time following his affair with the ex-wife of Wayne Bridge.

It meant that English optimism had begun to drain away even before the start of the tournament - but still no one expected that the team would fall to a worst-ever World Cup finals defeat.

Results improved again once England returned to the relative comfort of the qualifiers but a second situation involving Terry always seemed likely to cause a divide between Capello and his employer.

In the end, the rift was irreparable and England's Euro 2012 campaign looks in turmoil before it has even properly started.

With only 120 days to go until the opening match against France on 8 June, the national team is without a permanent manager or a permanent captain.

However, an alternative view is that all is not yet lost. A successor, once appointed, could be in a no-lose situation: if he reprises England's regular appearance in the quarter finals, then he will be commended on this occasion.

If he does even better than that, then he can expect to receive unreserved adulation; if he does worse, he can blame a lack of preparation time.

Regardless of what happens in the summer, though, it is perhaps a relief that Capello will now play no further part in the successes or failures of the England team.

Arrivederci Signor Capello. There will be few tears shed at your departure.

FABIO CAPELLO: OVERALL RECORD: P42 W28 D8 L6 F89 A35 (66.67% win)
World Cup matches: P14 W10 D2 L2 F37 A11

European Championships: P8 W5 D3 L0 F17 A5
Friendlies: P20 W13 D3 L4 F35 A19

Home: P21 W16 D4 L1 F52 A15
Away: P15 W10 D2 L3 F32 A13
Neutral: P6 W2 D2 L2 F5 L7

Record: ||WLWWDWWWWW ||LWWWWDWWLWL ||WWWDDWLWWWDL ||WWDDWWDWW
Competitive record: WWWWWWWWLWDDWLWWDWDWWD

2008

FR	06.02	ENGLAND 2-1 SWITZERLAND	Wembley, London (86,857)
FR	26.03	FRANCE 1-0 ENGLAND	Paris, France (78,000)
FR	28.05	ENGLAND 2-0 UNITED STATES	Wembley, London (71,233)
FR	01.06	TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 0-3 ENGLAND	Port of Spain, T&T (25,001)
FR	20.08	ENGLAND 2-2 CZECH REPUBLIC	Wembley, London (69,738)
WCQ	06.09	ANDORRA 0-2 ENGLAND	Barcelona, Spain (10,300)
WCQ	10.09	CROATIA 1-4 ENGLAND	Zagreb, Croatia (35,218)
WCQ	11.10	ENGLAND 5-1 KAZAKHSTAN	Wembley, London (89,107)
WCQ	15.10	BELARUS 1-3 ENGLAND	Minsk, Belarus (29,600)
FR	19.11	GERMANY 1-2 ENGLAND	Berlin, Germany (74,244)

2009

FR	11.02	SPAIN 2-0 ENGLAND	Seville, Spain (42,102)
FR	28.03	ENGLAND 4-0 SLOVAKIA	Wembley, London (85,512)
WCQ	01.04	ENGLAND 2-1 UKRAINE	Wembley, London (87,548)
WCQ	06.06	KAZAKHSTAN 0-4 ENGLAND	Almaty, Kazakhstan (24,000)
WCQ	10.06	ENGLAND 6-0 ANDORRA	Wembley, London (57,897)
FR	12.08	NETHERLANDS 2-2 ENGLAND	Amsterdam, Netherlands (50,000)
FR	05.09	ENGLAND 2-1 SLOVENIA	Wembley, London (67,232)
WCQ	09.09	ENGLAND 5-1 CROATIA	Wembley, London (87,319)
WCQ	10.10	UKRAINE 1-0 ENGLAND	Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine (31,000)
WCQ	14.10	ENGLAND 3-0 BELARUS	Wembley, London (76,897)
FR	14.11	BRAZIL 1-0 ENGLAND	Doha, Qatar (50,000)

2010

FR	03.03	ENGLAND 3-1 EGYPT	Wembley, London (80,602)
FR	24.05	ENGLAND 3-1 MEXICO	Wembley, London (88,638)
FR	30.05	JAPAN 1-2 ENGLAND	Graz, Austria (15,326)
WCF	12.06	ENGLAND 1-1 UNITED STATES	Rustenburg, South Africa (38,646)
WCF	18.06	ENGLAND 0-0 ALGERIA	Cape Town, South Africa (64,100)
WCF	23.06	SLOVENIA 0-1 ENGLAND	Port Elizabeth, South Africa (36,893)
WCF	27.06	GERMANY 4-1 ENGLAND	Bloemfontein, South Africa (40,510)
FR	11.08	ENGLAND 2-1 HUNGARY	Wembley, London (72,024)
ECQ	03.09	ENGLAND 4-0 BULGARIA	Wembley, London (73,426)
ECQ	07.09	SWITZERLAND 1-3 ENGLAND	Basel, Switzerland (37,500)
ECQ	12.10	ENGLAND 0-0 MONTENEGRO	Wembley, London (73,451)
FR	17.11	ENGLAND 1-2 FRANCE	Wembley, London (85,495)

2011

FR	09.02	DENMARK 1-2 ENGLAND	Copenhagen, Denmark (21,523)
ECQ	26.03	WALES 0-2 ENGLAND	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (68,959)
FR	29.03	ENGLAND 1-1 GHANA	Wembley, London (80,102)
ECQ	04.06	ENGLAND 2-2 SWITZERLAND	Wembley, London (84,459)
ECQ	02.09	BULGARIA 0-3 ENGLAND	Sofia, Bulgaria (36,521)
ECQ	06.09	ENGLAND 1-0 WALES	Wembley, London (77,128)
ECQ	07.10	MONTENEGRO 2-2 ENGLAND	Podgorica, Montenegro (12,700)
FR	12.11	ENGLAND 1-0 SPAIN	Wembley, London (87,189)
FR	15.11	ENGLAND 1-0 SWEDEN	Wembley, London (48,876)

2012

08.02

FABIO CAPELLO QUITS

PERMANENT ENGLAND MANAGERS: OVERALL RECORDS

	P	W	D	L	Win%
FABIO CAPELLO (2008-2012)	42	28	8	6	66.7%
SIR ALF RAMSEY (1963-1974)	113	69	27	17	61.1%
GLENN HODDLE (1996-1999)	28	17	6	5	60.7%
RON GREENWOOD (1977-1982)	55	33	12	10	60.0%
SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON (2001-2005)	67	40	17	10	59.7%
WALTER WINTERBOTTOM (1946-1962)	139	78	33	28	56.1%
STEVE MCCLAREN (2006-2007)	18	9	4	5	50.0%
SIR BOBBY ROBSON (1982-1990)	95	47	30	18	49.5%
DON REVIE (1974-1977)	29	14	8	7	48.3%
TERRY VENABLES (1994-1996)	23	11	11	1	47.8%
GRAHAM TAYLOR (1990-1993)	38	18	13	7	47.4%
KEVIN KEEGAN (1999-2000)	18	7	7	4	38.9%

Caretakers: Joe Mercer (1974) P7 W3-D3-L1 42.9%, Howard Wilkinson (1999-2000) P2 W0-D1-L1 0.0%, Peter Taylor (2000) P1 W0-D0-L1 0.0%

Hammer blow for Gingrich as Romney takes Florida, Nevada... and Trump

2012-02-07T19:36:00.008Z

Associated Press delegate count (after seven states)
1 Mitt Romney 107
2 Rick Santorum 45
3 Newt Gingrich 32
4 Ron Paul 9

Nevada caucuses (Sat 4 Feb)
1 Mitt Romney 16,486 (50.1%)
2 Newt Gingrich 6,956 (21.1%)
3 Ron Paul 6,175 (18.8%)
4 Rick Santorum 3,277 (10%)

Florida primary (Wed 31 Jan)
1 Mitt Romney 775,014 (46.4%)
2 Newt Gingrich 533,117 (31.9%)
3 Rick Santorum 222,799 (13.3%)
4 Ron Paul 117,104 (7%)

PRESIDENTIAL hopeful Mitt Romney wrestled back the advantage in the Republican nomination process after it took yet another twist in Florida and Nevada.

The former Massachusetts governor headed into the Florida contest under pressure after his main rival Newt Gingrich had enjoyed a convincing win in the South Carolina primary.

But Mr Romney has turned the tables once more with two big wins of his own.

First, in the Sunshine State, he beat Mr Gingrich by 46.4% to 31.9%, with the other remaining candidates - Rick Santorum and Ron Paul - trailing back in third and fourth place.

And, at the weekend in Nevada, the final result puts Mr Romney on 50.1%, a massive 29% ahead of Mr Gingrich (21.1%). This time, Mr Paul (18.8%) beat Mr Santorum (10%) in the battle of the backmarkers.

It was not just at the ballot box, though, that Mr Romney has embarrassed the Gingrich team over the past week.

Much political capital was being made by the former House Speaker's campaigners of an expected endorsement from property mogul and Apprentice presenter Donald Trump.

So, imagine their surprise when Mr Trump instead turned up alongside Mr Romney in the run-up to the Nevada vote.

It really was a bitter blow for Mr Gingrich whose media relations are already at a low ebb after coverage of his extra-marital affairs left him exposed to criticism over his astounding hypocrisy.

Meanwhile, this latest episode meant he had a whole lot of explaining to do to the likes of Associated Press, CNN and the New York Times who had all reported with misplaced confidence that Mr Trump would back Mr Gingrich.

Nevertheless, it is hard to tell just how big a factor the Trump endorsement will be for Mr Romney in the long run.

After all, Mr Trump is the American equivalent of Marmite. In fact, he is probably more hated than loved - and, indeed, he is a rather strange bed-fellow for a presidential candidate considering his catchphrase is 'You're fired!'

In the short term, though, the Trump endorsement was mightily symbolic for the way that it showed this contest swinging back in the favour of Mr Romney. It also neatly distracted attention from yet another gaffe from the well-backed front-runner.

Mr Romney, who has previously come under fire for the amount of tax which he pays, is seen by many voters as aloof and out-of-touch with the average American, and this is the case even among Republicans.

In light of this, it was probably not the best idea then for the multi-millionaire Mr Romney to state he was "not concerned about the very poor".

Worse still, he made the comments on the day that incumbent president Barack Obama could bask in the glow of the improving unemployment figures which have followed hard on the back of better-than-expected growth.

It is perhaps not a surprise, then, that support is slowly ebbing back towards the Democrat with a poll putting him on an approval rating of more than 50% for the first time since Osama bin Laden was killed last May.

By contrast, even Republicans are struggling to warm to Mr Romney - although the next three caucuses from 7-11 February look set to provide him with yet more momentum.

For, moving on from Nevada, this contest heads to Minnesota, Colorado and Maine, before two primaries in Arizona and Michigan at the end of the month.

Mr Santorum is expected to challenge Mr Romney in Minnesota but the best that Mr Gingrich can hope for is to emerge from February relatively unscathed.

Achieving that would take Mr Gingrich into Super Tuesday on 6 March when no fewer than 10 states will make their nomination.

But it might be that 6 March will not just have to be super for Mr Gingrich. By then, it may need to be extraordinary.

2012 PRIMARY/CAUCUS SCHEDULE
KEY DATES
3 January Iowa (caucus) - Rick Santorum

10 January New Hampshire (primary) - Mitt Romney

21 January South Carolina (primary) - Newt Gingrich
31 January Florida (primary) - MR

4 February Nevada (caucus) - MR
7 February Colorado (caucus) - RS, Minnesota (caucus) - RS
11 February Maine (caucus) - MR
28 February Arizona (primary), Michigan (primary)

3 March Washington (caucus)
6 March: Super Tuesday Alaska (caucus), Georgia (primary), Idaho (caucus), Massachusetts (primary), North Dakota (caucus), Ohio (primary), Oklahoma (primary), Tennessee (primary), Vermont (primary), Virginia (primary)
6-10 March Wyoming (caucus)
10 March Kansas (caucus), US Virgin Islands (caucus)
13 March Alabama (primary), Hawaii (caucus), Mississippi (primary)
17 March Missouri (caucus)
20 March Illinois (primary)
24 March Louisiana (primary)

3 April District of Columbia (primary), Maryland (primary), Wisconsin (primary), Texas (primary)
24 April Connecticut (primary), Delaware (primary), New York (primary), Pennsylvania (primary), Rhode Island (primary)

8 May Indiana (primary), North Carolina (primary), West Virginia (primary)
15 May Nebraska (primary), Oregon (primary)
22 May Arkansas (primary), Kentucky (primary)

5 June Californa (primary), Montana (primary), New Jersey (primary), New Mexico (primary), South Dakota (primary)
26 June Utah (primary)

27-30 August REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION Tampa, Florida
3-6 September DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION Charlotte, North Carolina

It's all gone wrong for Romney

2012-01-24T17:14:00.002Z

South Carolina primary
1 Newt Gingrich 243,323 (40.4%)
2 Mitt Romney 167,417 (27.8%)
3 Rick Santorum 102,113 (17%)
4 Ron Paul 78,036 (13%)

THE RACE to be nominated as the Republican candidate for the presidential election in November took yet another twist at the weekend as Newt Gingrich stormed to victory in the South Carolina primary.

Mr Gingrich won 243,323 votes (40.4%) to finish well clear of previous front-runner Mitt Romney who tallied 167,417 votes (27.8%).

Rick Santorum was in third place with 102,113 votes (17%), and Ron Paul trailed in last place with 78,036 votes (13%). Both of the latter two names can now be pretty much discounted even if that has been a dangerous thing to do so far.

It seems safe to do it in these cases, though, as Mr Santorum is desperately short on funds and will not be able to compete for much longer at a national level.

Meanwhile, the call for an isolationist foreign policy from 72-year-old outsider Mr Paul means he will gain little support outside of the small base which he has already built up.

And so, it now looks like a two-horse race with the conservative Right having finally settled on an Anyone But Romney ticket by backing Mr Gingrich.

That had not looked likely previously with a whole raft of conservatives - from Michele Bachmann to Herman Cain via Rick Perry - all doing well in the polls at some point before fading away.

The moderate former Massachusetts governor Mr Romney had benefited most from all of the uncertainty as some Republicans scrambled frantically for a safe pair of hands.

Mr Romney had looked to have made a lightning-fast start in the process to be nominated by becoming the first ever Republican candidate to carry both Iowa and New Hampshire at the start of an election year.

But that all changed in the run up to the South Carolina poll last week.

First, Iowan GOP officials stripped Mr Romney of his victory in the state, declaring instead that it had no official winner because not all the votes from all of the districts could be verified.

Then, later that same day, Mr Perry belatedly brought his shambolic campaign to an end.

It had all started rather brightly for the Texan governor, despite his late entry into the race, but he quickly faltered following an almighty gaffe when he could not name his key policy during one of the debates.

The bad news for Mr Romney was that, in his concession speech, Mr Perry gave his unequivocal backing to Mr Gingrich, pointing conservatives towards a unity candidate.

Subsequently, former House speaker Mr Gingrich surged from 10 points behind Mr Romney in the South Carolina opinion polls to end up with a lead greater than that himself.

Mr Gingrich had also been helped inadvertently by Mr Romney who struggled, just like those before him, under the pressure of suddenly being favourite.

Certainly, when asked in one of the debates if he would release his tax accounts, a nervy and non-committal "probably" was not the response which the query had demanded.

It was an unconvincing display of political naivety as Mr Romney could hardly have hoped to avoid the question after days of speculation.

But, while Mr Romney has suffered a taxing time in recent days, Mr Gingrich has found that his adulterous past has returned to haunt him.

That matter came to a head after ABC News ran an interview with Marianne Gingrich, the second of the candidate's three wives, with whom Mr Gingrich wanted an "open marriage" after a six-year affair.

And what makes it worse, for those with long enough memories, is that they will remember Mr Gingrich was at the forefront of those who condemned President Bill Clinton for his lack of moral leadership

In his endorsement of Mr Gingrich, Mr Perry said: "Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?"

But, while Mr Perry is right to warn those who wish to cast the first stone, it is difficult to see Mr Gingrich's incredible hypocrisy playing well across America as a whole.

What does seem likely is that this race will continue for some time yet - and at least until Super Tuesday on 6 March when no fewer than 10 states will make their nominations.

Of course, an elongated campaign only serves to reduce the funds available to the winning Republican candidate for the general election in November.

Already, it has been reported that incumbent Democrat president Barack Obama has an election war-chest of more than $240m.

For now, in political terms at least, he can just kick his feet back and enjoy the show.

2012 PRIMARY/CAUCUS SCHEDULE
KEY DATES
3 January Iowa (caucus) - no official winner

10 January New Hampshire (primary) - Mitt Romney

21 January South Carolina (primary) - Newt Gingrich
31 January Florida (primary) - MR

4 February Nevada (caucus)
4-11 February Maine (caucus)
7 February Colorado (caucus), Minnesota (caucus)
28 February Arizona (primary), Michigan (primary)

3 March Washington (caucus)
6 March: Super Tuesday Alaska (caucus), Georgia (primary), Idaho (caucus), Massachusetts (primary), North Dakota (caucus), Ohio (primary), Oklahoma (primary), Tennessee (primary), Vermont (primary), Virginia (primary)
6-10 March Wyoming (caucus)
10 March Kansas (caucus), US Virgin Islands (caucus)
13 March Alabama (primary), Hawaii (caucus), Mississippi (primary)
17 March Missouri (caucus)
20 March Illinois (primary)
24 March Louisiana (primary)

3 April District of Columbia (primary), Maryland (primary), Wisconsin (primary), Texas (primary)
24 April Connecticut (primary), Delaware (primary), New York (primary), Pennsylvania (primary), Rhode Island (primary)

8 May Indiana (primary), North Carolina (primary), West Virginia (primary)
15 May Nebraska (primary), Oregon (primary)
22 May Arkansas (primary), Kentucky (primary)

5 June California (primary), Montana (primary), New Jersey (primary), New Mexico (primary), South Dakota (primary)
26 June Utah (primary)

27-30 August REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION Tampa, Florida
3-6 September DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION Charlotte, North Carolina

Ivory Coast and Ghana sense their chance in African Cup of Nations

2012-01-20T16:42:00.044Z

IVORY COAST and Ghana will line up as favourites to end their wait for success in the African Cup of Nations in the shock absence of some of the continent's biggest hitters.

Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria were all among the teams who failed to navigate the qualification stage of the 28th edition of the competition successfully.

And, amazingly, that leaves Tunisia as the only side in 2012 finals to have won it in the last 20 years after their triumph on home soil in 2004.

Regardless, then, of who the eventual winner is, it is almost certain to be a joyous first experience for a new generation of support.

The Ivorians last won this tournament in 1992 but start as favourites this time with their attack spearheaded by Chelsea pair Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, and Yao Gervinho of Arsenal.

Further Premier League class is provided by Manchester City's Toure brothers, Yaya and Kolo, and Newcastle United's midfield general Cheik Tiote.

But, while Ivory Coast possess plenty of talent and hold the highest FIFA ranking, at number 18, of the 16 competitors, it is second favourites Ghana who have had the most success recently on the international scene.

The Ghanaians reached the last 16 of the 2006 World Cup and then, in 2010, were only denied a place in history as the first African semi finalists by Luis Suarez's infamous handball for Uruguay.

Of course, much of Ghana's success in South Africa could be attributed to the goalscoring talents of Asamoah Gyan.

The 26-year-old, a scorer of three World Cup goals, is currently plying his trade in the United Arab Emirates on loan at Al-Ain after fleeing Sunderland at the start of the season.

Now, he and his team mates will hope to go one better than two years ago in this competition when they lost 1-0 in the Final to a late Egypt goal. Ghana last won the African Cup of Nations in 1982.

Senegal have never lifted the trophy but will have hopes of changing that record after the brilliant form of their talisman Demba Ba.

The Newcastle forward has been prolific, hitting 15 goals in 17 starts to sit behind only Robin van Persie in the Premier League scoring charts.

And now, as the sixth-placed Magpies chase a return to European football, owner Mike Ashley has splashed the cash on Ba's national team strike partner Papiss Demba Cisse, signing him from German club Freiburg for around £7.5m.

When Cisse arrives on Tyneside after the tournament, he will take the legendary number nine shirt as worn by Jackie Milburn, Malcolm MacDonald, Alan Shearer and other great Geordie heroes.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, the absence of another of Ba's team mates - Mohamed Diame - will undoubtedly be felt by bottom side Wigan Athletic.

That leaves just two other England-based players to mention: the Moroccan pair, Adel Taarabt and Marouane Chamakh of Queens Park Rangers and Arsenal respectively.

Morocco have a tough task as they search for a first African Cup of Nations since 1976. They begin their campaign against North African rivals Tunisia before taking on co-hosts Gabon and debutantes Niger in Group C.

The other co-hosts, Equatorial Guinea, are another side making their finals debut. They are in Group A along with Libya, Zambia and the Senegalese.

And a third team taking their bow at this stage of the competition is Botswana. The Zebras have been placed in Group D with Ghana, Mali and Guinea.

That leaves only the teams in Group B to confirm: they are Ivory Coast, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Angola.

In the UK, live television coverage of every match will be provided by British Eurosport (Sky 410/411), while ITV4 (Sky 120) will show four "key" games live - Ivory Coast v Burkina Faso in the group stage, one quarter final, one semi final and the Final on 12 February - as well as nightly highlights.

FULL AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS FIXTURES/RESULTS
GROUP A

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Sat 21 Jan, 18:30	EQUATORIAL GUINEA 1-0 LIBYA	Bata
Eurosport	Sat 21 Jan, 21:00	SENEGAL 1-2 ZAMBIA	Bata
Eurosport	Wed 25 Jan, 17:15	LIBYA 2-2 ZAMBIA	Bata
Eurosport	Wed 25 Jan, 20:15	EQUATORIAL GUINEA 2-1 SENEGAL	Bata
Eurosport	Sun 29 Jan, 18:00	EQUATORIAL GUINEA 0-1 ZAMBIA	Malabo
Eurosport2	Sun 29 Jan, 18:00	LIBYA 2-1 SENEGAL	Bata

Group A Table	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
ZAMBIA (Q)	2	1	0	5	3	7
EQUATORIAL GUINEA (Q)	2	0	1	3	2	6
Libya	1	1	1	4	4	4
Senegal	0	0	3	3	6	0

GROUP B

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Sun 22 Jan, 16:00	IVORY COAST 1-0 SUDAN	Malabo
Eurosport2	Sun 22 Jan, 19:00	BURKINA FASO 1-2 ANGOLA	Malabo
Eurosport	Thu 26 Jan, 16:00	SUDAN 2-2 ANGOLA	Malabo
ITV4*	Thu 26 Jan, 19:00	IVORY COAST 2-0 BURKINA FASO	Malabo
Eurosport	Mon 30 Jan, 18:00	SUDAN 2-1 BURKINA FASO	Bata
Eurosport2	Mon 30 Jan, 18:00	IVORY COAST 2-0 ANGOLA	Malabo

(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)

Group B Table	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
IVORY COAST (Q)	3	0	0	5	0	9
SUDAN (Q)	1	1	1	4	4	4
Angola	1	1	1	4	5	4
Burkina Faso	0	0	3	2	6	0

GROUP C

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Mon 23 Jan, 16:00	GABON 2-0 NIGER	Libreville
Eurosport	Mon 23 Jan, 19:00	MOROCCO 1-2 TUNISIA	Libreville
Eurosport	Fri 27 Jan, 16:00	NIGER 1-2 TUNISIA	Libreville
Eurosport	Fri 27 Jan, 19:00	GABON 3-2 MOROCCO	Libreville
Eurosport	Tue 31 Jan, 18:00	GABON 1-0 TUNISIA	Franceville
Eurosport2	Tue 31 Jan, 18:00	NIGER 0-1 MOROCCO	Libreville

Group C Table	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
GABON (Q)	3	0	0	6	2	9
TUNISIA (Q)	2	0	1	4	3	6
Morocco	1	0	2	4	5	3
Niger	0	0	3	1	5	0

GROUP D

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Tue 24 Jan, 16:00	GHANA 1-0 BOTSWANA	Franceville
Eurosport	Tue 24 Jan, 19:00	MALI 1-0 GUINEA	Franceville
Eurosport	Sat 28 Jan, 16:00	BOTSWANA 1-6 GUINEA	Franceville
Eurosport	Sat 28 Jan, 19:00	GHANA 2-0 MALI	Franceville
Eurosport	Wed 1 Feb, 18:00	BOTSWANA 1-2 MALI	Libreville
Eurosport2	Wed 1 Feb, 18:00	GHANA 1-1 GUINEA	Franceville

Group D Table	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
GHANA (Q)	2	1	0	4	1	7
MALI (Q)	2	0	1	3	3	6
Guinea	1	1	1	7	3	4
Botswana	0	0	3	2	9	0

QUARTER FINALS

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Sat 4 Feb, 16:00	ZAMBIA 3-0 SUDAN	Bata
ITV4*	Sat 4 Feb, 19:00	IVORY COAST 3-0 EQUATORIAL GUINEA	Malabo
Eurosport	Sun 5 Feb, 16:00	GABON 1-1 MALI aet (5-4 to MALI on pens)	Libreville
Eurosport	Sun 5 Feb, 19:00	GHANA 2-1 TUNISIA aet	Franceville

(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)

SEMI FINALS

TV	Date		Venue
ITV4*	Wed 8 Feb, 16:00	ZAMBIA 1-0 GHANA	Bata
Eurosport	Wed 8 Feb, 19:00	IVORY COAST 1-0 MALI	Libreville

(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)

THIRD-PLACED PLAYOFF

TV	Date		Venue
Eurosport	Sat 11 Feb, 19:00	GHANA 0-2 MALI	Malabo

FINAL

TV	Date		Venue
ITV4*	Sun 12 Feb, 19:30	ZAMBIA 0-0 IVORY COAST AET. Zambia won 8-7 on pens.	Libreville

(*this match will also be televised on Eurosport)

SCORERS
3 Manucho (Angola), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Cheick Diabate (Mali), Houssine Kharja (Morocco), Christopher Katongo (Zambia), Emmanuel Mayuka (Zambia)
2 John Mensah (Ghana), Andre Ayew (Ghana), Abdoul Camara (Guinea), Sadio Diallo (Guinea), Ahmed Saad Osman (Libya), Ihaab Boussefi (Libya), Mohamed Ahmed Bashir (Sudan), Mudather El Tahir (Sudan), Youssef Msakni (Tunisia)
1 Mateus (Angola), Dipsy Selolwane (Botswana), Mogakolodi Ngele (Botswana), Alain Traore (Burkina Faso), Issiaka Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso), Javier Balboa (Equatorial Guinea), Randy (Equatorial Guinea), Kily (Equatorial Guinea), Stephane N'Guema (Gabon), Daniel Cousin (Gabon), Bruno Mbanangoyé (Gabon), Eric Mouloungui (Gabon), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Ghana), Mamadou Bah (Guinea), Naby Soumah (Guinea), Ibrahama Traore (Guinea), Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast), Wilfried Bony (Ivory Coast), Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Yao Gervinho (Ivory Coast), Bakaye Traore (Mali), Garra Dembele (Mali), Seydou Keita (Mali), Younes Belhanda (Morocco), William Ngounou (Niger), Dame N'Doye (Senegal), Moussa Sow (Senegal), Deme N'Diaye (Senegal), Khaled Korbi (Tunisia), Issam Jemaa (Tunisia), Saber Khelifa (Tunisia), Rainford Kalaba (Zambia), James Chamanga (Zambia), Stophira Sunzu (Zambia), Rainford Kalaba (Zambia)
1 own goal Bakary Kone (Burkina Faso) for Ivory Coast

England and Pakistan downplay their past

2012-01-16T22:58:00.013Z

ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss has been at pains to downplay the recent history between his side and Pakistan as they meet for the first time since their stormy series in the summer of 2010.

Strauss' men won both the Tests (3-1) and the One-Dayers (3-2) in that tempestuous affair but it was the revelations by the News of the World in the fourth Test at Lord's for which the series will be forever remembered.

The story emerged after the now-defunct newspaper revealed video footage showing cricket agent Mazhar Majeed telling a journalist when no-balls would be bowled.

Majeed had arranged with then-captain Salman Butt, and bowlers Mohammed Amir and Mohammed Asif, for the no-balls to be bowled at specific times. Match footage then showed that this happened exactly as he had described.

Subsequently, at the Southwark Crown Court in November last year, Butt and Asif were found guilty of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments. Amir had admitted both charges prior to the trial.

But, while it would be unkind to suggest that Pakistan had failed to move on since then, it would be just as untrue to suggest the 2010 series finished in the best of spirit.

Accusations started flying all over the place and the then-chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt claimed England had thrown the third One Day international.

Strauss immediately refuted the allegations and even threatened legal action if Butt did not withdraw his comments - though the England skipper did admit to playing the remaining matches "through gritted teeth".

As this gallery on the Guardian website shows, it was not the first time there had been tensions between the two sides - and so it was no surprise that the journalists have been querying how relations are now.

Thankfully, both camps seem ready to leave the tensions where they belong - in the past.

First, Strauss said: "The spot-fixing stuff is something we're desperately keen to move on from. I don't think there's any good that can come from churning it all up again."

And, in kind, his Pakistani counterpart Misbah-ul-Haq said: "I think everybody knows in both teams that we just have to forget the past. Our area of concern is to play good cricket, fair cricket, and that's what we can do."

With that issue put to bed, it is time to assess just how England might do in their first ever Test match in Pakistan's temporary 'home', the Middle East.

Yes, in 2010, a touring England side played there in two Twenty20 matches - winning one and losing the other - but it does not exactly equate to the tough five-day game.

As well as facing a journey into the unknown, England also return to the Test arena having last played competitively on 29 October. In fact, Strauss' side last played a Test match back in August.

Coming into the series, concerns have surrounded their bowling attack with Tim Bresnan ruled out due to an elbow injury and Graeme Swann picking up a leg strain.

However, it is a testament to England's depth that, in the seam department, they can call upon Steven Finn or Chris Tremlett to support Stuart Broad and James Anderson.

Meanwhile, the lesser-spotted Monty Panesar has picked up his form and may yet be considered as a second spinner in addition to Swann.

Nevertheless, the lack of practice with the bat showed in the first innings of their first three-day warm-up match against an ICC Affiliates XI.

Only Alastair Cook (76) shone as England declared on 185-8, a deficit of 96 runs. But the Affiliates then gave England the chance of the win with a sporting declaration in their second innings.

Ruthless as ever, Strauss' men took advantage as an improved batting display saw them chase down their target of 261 with three wickets remaining.

The tourists improved further in their second game with Cook (133) again hitting a big score as England gained a 60-run advantage on first innings over a Pakistan Cricket Board XI.

And the bowlers then starred in the second innings as the PCB XI collapsed to 150 all out, giving England a win by exactly 100 runs.

But, while the world number one team will enter the main event full confidence on the back of those wins, Pakistan are a team undoubtedly on the comeback trail.

Indeed, spearheaded by skipper Misbah and the exciting off-spin talent of Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistanis have won their last 10 matches - though it must be noted that these results did come against strugglers Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

After Pakistan, England also play Sri Lanka this winter in a brief jaunt with just two Tests scheduled. There, Strauss' side will face an opponent which has won just one match out of their last 17 in that form of the game.

Most recently, the Sri Lankans were bowled out for 43, their lowest-ever One Day score, on their way to losing by the massive margin of 258 runs against South Africa.

And it now seems extraordinary that, less than 12 months ago, Tillakaratne Dilshan's team were gallant runners-up in the World Cup Final.

Life after the retirement of spin king Muttiah Muralitharan has certainly proved to be difficult for them, indeed.

ENGLAND TOUR v PAKISTAN

Date/Time (GMT)		Venue
17-19 Jan	First Test: PAKISTAN 338 & 15-0 beat ENGLAND 192 & 160 by 10 wickets	Dubai
25-28 Jan	Second Test: PAKISTAN 257 & 214 beat ENGLAND 327 & 72 by 72 runs	Abu Dhabi
3-6 Feb	Third Test: PAKISTAN 99 & 365 beat ENGLAND 141 & 252 by 71 runs	Dubai
13 Feb 11:00	First ODI: ENGLAND 260-7 beat PAKISTAN 130 (35 ovs) by 130 runs	Abu Dhabi
15 Feb 11:00	Second ODI: ENGLAND 250-4 beat PAKISTAN 230 (49 ovs) by 20 runs	Abu Dhabi
18 Feb 11:00	Third ODI: ENGLAND 226-1 (37.2 ovs) beat PAKISTAN 222 by nine wickets	Dubai
21 Feb 11:00	Fourth ODI	Dubai
23 Feb 14:00	First T20	Dubai
25 Feb 14:00	Second T20	Dubai
27 Feb 14:00	Third T20	Abu Dhabi

ENGLAND TOUR OF SRI LANKA

Date/time (BST)		Venue
26-30 Mar 10:00	First Test	Galle
3-7 Apr 10:00	Second Test	Colombo

Deconstructing the Iron Lady

2012-01-13T16:10:00.003Z

The Iron Lady (12A)
Dir: Phyllida Lloyd
Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent
Running time: 105 minutes

THE IRON LADY has split the opinion of the critics right down the middle - and many will suggest, not unfairly, that it is quite an appropriate verdict on a figure as divisive as Margaret Thatcher.

But, while I think little for Thatcherism and feel some disdain at the extent to which it sadly pervades British politics today, at the same time I found this biopic rather engaging and also strangely moving.

The film benefits from a simple background plot in which an ageing Mrs Thatcher (Meryl Streep) is being helped by her daughter Carol (Olivia Colman) to clear out the clothes of Mrs Thatcher's late husband, Denis (Jim Broadbent).

We find that Denis is never far away from Mrs Thatcher's thoughts. In fact, she still sees him all of time and his sharp sense of humour ensures that he gets many of the best lines.

In the same way as Denis is close to Mrs Thatcher's thoughts, so are the former premier's political memories, and these are presented in a series of flashbacks.

This device may seem a little contrived for some critics but it logically allows the film to shift time from present to past with a smooth chronology.

We get to see how Mrs Thatcher rose through her party from an unpromising position to win power in the 1979 general election; how she then overcame her early problems in government with decisive victories in the Falklands abroad and at home against the miners.

And, finally, how she ultimately fell from grace with her party split over Europe and her popularity diminished by her introduction of the regressive poll tax.

There are, of course, scenes throughout the film of Mrs Thatcher debating in the House of Commons and heading her Cabinet meetings. However, none of the issues mentioned above is presented in the context of a political discourse.

For, that is not what this film set out to do - these are, more simply, the sepia-tinged memories of Mrs Thatcher and her thoughts upon them now.

Still, nothing of what I have written yet explains why someone like me - far removed from the Thatcher political philosophy - found the film "rather engaging and strangely moving".

Well, while I am not about to start paying subscription fees to her fan club, even this Thatcher detractor must concede that the drive and ambition which the young Mrs Thatcher showed in rising to the top was remarkable.

In this regard, Streep does fantastically well to convey the conviction and steely determination of the green-grocer's daughter, written off by many even from inside her own party.

Nowhere in the film is this better shown than in the scenes in the Commons where, at the height of her power, Mrs Thatcher's screechy oration was able to control the attention of a rowdy chamber full of men.

However, for me, Streep really excels with her portrayal of the much older Mrs Thatcher as a dementia sufferer in the present.

Dementia is an illness which is no respecter of authority and Streep's accurate representation of how it affects one of the previously most powerful persons in the world is highly commendable.

As you may have guessed, dementia is something which is rather close to home for me. Two of my deceased grandparents suffered from it, and my remaining 80-year-old nanna is also having her final years blighted by it.

I do not think I will ever understand how the brain will allow a person to remember vividly a moment from 30 years ago or more, and yet that same person cannot say what month it is, or what they had for breakfast.

Oddly, the illness is still largely treated as a bit of a taboo subject when it comes to film and television, and so members of the Alzheimer's Society forums have been heartened to see it highlighted on the big screen.

I can only add my support to this and, consequently, I am happy to concede that Meryl Streep's Iron Lady has found an unlikely ally.

Blaydon gears up for a "proper celebration"

2012-01-09T13:21:00.002Z

EVERY Geordie will hold the 9th of June close to their hearts - but the Geordie Day coming up in exactly five months is an occasion which should be especially marked on the calendar.

Why? Well, a listen to the opening lines of Geordie Ridley's iconic folk song and ye'll soon kna:

"Aw went to Blaydon Races, 'twas on the ninth of Joon/
In eiteen hundred an' sixty-two, on a summer's efternoon..."

Yes, Saturday 9 June 2012 will mark the 150th anniversary of the perilous journey in 1862 to the Blaydon Races which was the subject of Ridley's verse.

Of course, for the 32nd successive year, the athletics club - the bumble-bee coloured Harriers - will organise their 5.9-mile run from Balmbras in Newcastle alang the Scotswood Road and reet into Blaydon toon.

Entry for the race usually opens in February and gets full very quickly - in fact, last year, the limited capacity of 4,000 entrants was reached within four days.

However, some folks want a bigger celebration and there is a fully-fledged campaign for the councils of Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne to put their hands in their pockets just a bit.

Additionally, there has been a Facebook page set up with 747 members, and a Twitter feed @BlaydonRaces150 with 1,617 followers.

Most importantly, though, there is a petition to the two councils and local businesses which has so far attracted 1,934 signatories.

Speaking on BBC Radio Newcastle, chief organiser Aidan Oswell explained the reasoning behind the push for a "proper celebration".

He said: "It's important to me, and it's important to the other supporters of the campaign, because there is undoubtedly a very strong and powerful sense of pride within the Geordie community here on Tyneside and across the whole of the world.

"And I think it's important that we articulate that Geordie pride through the celebration of this anniversary."

Negotiations with the councils and other interested parties remain ongoing with the hope of a "significant event" in Newcastle city centre next summer as well as satellite celebrations across the Tyneside area.

But it is not too late to get involved - email DrGibbs@blaydonraces150.co.uk or get in contact via the social media links such as Facebook or Twitter with any contributions.

The Season 2011/12: All eyes on Manchester again in FA Cup Third Round

2012-01-06T18:53:00.048Z

MANCHESTER takes centre stage again as FA Cup holders City take on 11-time winners United in a mammoth Third Round clash, to be shown on ITV on Sunday.

In one of only two all-Premier League ties - the other being Newcastle United v Blackburn Rovers - this isn't exactly David v Goliath.

Rather, it's more like Goliath v Goliath - but, nevertheless, the fixture remains fascinating for analysts eager to establish where the balance of power in the city now lies.

Roberto Mancini's City team will go into the game as favourites, having won 13 and drawn one of their 14 games at the Etihad Stadium in all competitions this season.

By contrast, the Red Devils trail their opponents in the league by three points having hit their worst form of the campaign.

As if Manchester United fans will need reminding, Sir Alex Ferguson's team have lost their last two games, conceding six goals in a 3-2 home defeat to Blackburn and a 3-0 away loss to Newcastle at St James Park.

And, of course, City fans will have no trouble recalling that Rovers' win was not the first by an away side in the Premier League this season.

Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko both struck twice, with the other goals scored by David Silva and Sergio Aguero, as City beat United 6-1 to inflict the worst home defeat in 56 years upon their rivals.

But, while everything so far has pointed to a Manchester City win, Manchester United are never more dangerous than when seeking revenge.

The 6-1 humiliation and two recent league losses mean Ferguson's men are very much a wounded animal and, as such, it would be no surprise if they managed a score draw and gained a replay back at Old Trafford.

ALTHOUGH the Manchester derby will undoubtedly take more than an even share of the limelight this weekend, the Third Round draw threw up plenty more interesting ties.

There are several local matches with Birmingham City hosting Wolverhampton Wanderers early on Saturday in the first of the televised games on ESPN.

Across the other side of the Midlands, Nottingham Forest take on Leicester City in an all-Championship tie - while, in the North West, League Two Macclesfield Town will fancy their chances of a notable upset against Premier League strugglers Bolton Wanderers.

In London, there are also a couple of derbies. Dagenham & Redbridge take on Millwall in an early kick-off before Fulham and League One leaders Charlton Athletic cross swords at Craven Cottage.

The biggest London clubs are all at home with Tottenham Hotspur playing Cheltenham Town on Saturday, and Chelsea repeating their 2010 Final against Portsmouth on Sunday.

Ten-time winners Arsenal do not feature until Monday due to television as they reignite their long-standing north-south rivalry with Leeds United at the Emirates.

This fixture had an airing in the FA Cup at this stage last year with the Gunners winning 3-1 in a replay at Elland Road after a 1-1 draw. However, the Yorkshire club will be putting everything into going one better this time.

While Arsenal complete the weekend's action - their match actually taking place after the Fourth Round draw is made on Sunday afternoon - Liverpool kick it off with a match at Anfield against Oldham Athletic on Friday night.

That tie was moved by Merseyside police because Everton were also drawn to play at home against non-league Tamworth.

Indeed, all but one of the four remaining non-league sides are on the road with the lowest-ranked, Salisbury City, away at Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United, and Blue Square Premier leaders Wrexham travelling to Brighton.

As well as the aforementioned Birmingham v Wolves match, another two of the televised ties feature Premier League clubs visiting sides from a lower division.

Managerless League Two stragglers Bristol Rovers will hope to raise their game against Aston Villa on Saturday night, and free-scoring Peterborough United take on Martin O'Neill's rejuvenated Sunderland on Sunday afternoon.

It really would be a surprise for their to be an upset in either of those two games - and so, instead, look no further than Highbury for possible Cup magic.

No, not the one in London which has been turned into blocks of flats, but Fleetwood Town's 5,500-capacity stadium in Lancashire.

Expect a full house as the ambitious Blue Square Premier side take on Blackpool from just eight miles down the coast. If there's a derby worth keeping an eye on this weekend, it's that one...

FULL FA CUP THIRD ROUND FIXTURES

	Friday 6 January
20:00	LIVERPOOL	5-1	OLDHAM ATHLETIC

	Saturday 7 January
15:00	BARNSLEY	2-4	SWANSEA CITY
12:30	BIRMINGHAM CITY	0-0	WOLVERHAMPTON W	ESPN
15:00	BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION	1-1	WREXHAM
17:30	BRISTOL ROVERS	1-3	ASTON VILLA	ESPN
15:00	COVENTRY CITY	1-2	SOUTHAMPTON
15:00	CRAWLEY TOWN	1-0	BRISTOL CITY
15:00	DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE	0-0	MILLWALL
15:00	DERBY COUNTY	1-0	CRYSTAL PALACE
15:00	DONCASTER ROVERS	0-2	NOTTS COUNTY
15:00	EVERTON	2-0	TAMWORTH
15:00	FLEETWOOD TOWN	1-5	BLACKPOOL
15:00	FULHAM	4-0	CHARLTON ATHLETIC
15:00	GILLINGHAM	1-3	STOKE CITY
15:00	HULL CITY	3-1	IPSWICH TOWN
15:00	MACCLESFIELD TOWN	2-2	BOLTON WANDERERS
15:00	MIDDLESBROUGH	1-0	SHREWSBURY TOWN
15:00	MILTON KEYNES DONS	1-1	QUEENS PARK RANGERS
15:00	NEWCASTLE UNITED	2-1	BLACKBURN ROVERS
15:00	NORWICH CITY	4-1	BURNLEY
15:00	NOTTINGHAM FOREST	0-0	LEICESTER CITY
15:00	READING	0-1	STEVENAGE
15:00	SHEFFIELD UNITED	3-1	SALISBURY
15:00	SWINDON TOWN	2-1	WIGAN ATHLETIC
15:00	TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR	3-0	CHELTENHAM TOWN
15:00	WATFORD	4-2	BRADFORD CITY
15:00	WEST BROMWICH ALBION	4-2	CARDIFF CITY

	Sunday 8 January
15:00	CHELSEA	4-0	PORTSMOUTH
13:00	MANCHESTER CITY	2-3	MANCHESTER UNITED	ITV1
15:30	PETERBOROUGH UNITED	0-2	SUNDERLAND	ITV1
15:00	SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY	1-0	WEST HAM UNITED

	Monday 9 January
19:45	ARSENAL	1-0	LEEDS UNITED	ESPN

THIRD ROUND REPLAYS

	Tuesday 17 January
19:45	BOLTON WANDERERS	2-0	MACCLESFIELD TOWN
19:30	LEICESTER CITY	4-0	NOTTINGHAM FOREST	ESPN
19:45	MILLWALL	5-0	DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE
20:00	QUEENS PARK RANGERS	1-0	MILTON KEYNES DONS	ITV4
	Wednesday 18 January
19:15	WREXHAM	1-1 aet 4-5 pens	BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION	ESPN
20:00	WOLVERHAMPTON W	0-1	BIRMINGHAM CITY	ITV1

FOURTH ROUND

	Friday 27 January
20:00	EVERTON	2-1	FULHAM
19:45	WATFORD	0-1	TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR	ESPN

	Saturday 28 January
15:00	BLACKPOOL	1-1	SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
15:00	BOLTON WANDERERS	2-1	SWANSEA CITY
17:15	BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION	1-0	NEWCASTLE UNITED	ESPN
15:00	DERBY COUNTY	0-2	STOKE CITY
15:00	HULL CITY	0-1	CRAWLEY TOWN
15:00	LEICESTER CITY	2-0	SWINDON TOWN
12:45	LIVERPOOL	2-1	MANCHESTER UNITED	ITV
15:00	MILLWALL	1-1	SOUTHAMPTON
12:00	QUEENS PARK RANGERS	0-1	CHELSEA
15:00	SHEFFIELD UNITED	0-4	BIRMINGHAM CITY
15:00	STEVENAGE	1-0	NOTTS COUNTY
15:00	WEST BROMWICH ALBION	1-2	NORWICH CITY

	Sunday 29 January
16:00	ARSENAL	3-2	ASTON VILLA	ESPN
13:30	SUNDERLAND	1-1	MIDDLESBROUGH	ITV

FOURTH ROUND REPLAYS

	Tuesday 7 February
19:45	SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY	0-3	BLACKPOOL	ESPN
19:45	SOUTHAMPTON	2-3	MILLWALL
	Wednesday 8 February
19:45	MIDDLESBROUGH	1-2 aet	SUNDERLAND	ITV1

FIFTH ROUND

	Saturday 18 February
12:30	CHELSEA	1-1	BIRMINGHAM CITY	ESPN
15:00	EVERTON	2-0	BLACKPOOL
15:00	MILLWALL	0-2	BOLTON WANDERERS
15:00	NORWICH CITY	1-2	LEICESTER CITY
17:15	SUNDERLAND	2-0	ARSENAL	ITV1
	Sunday 19 February
12:00	CRAWLEY TOWN	0-2	STOKE CITY	ESPN
16:30	LIVERPOOL	6-1	BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION	ESPN
14:00	STEVENAGE	0-0	TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR	ITV1

SIXTH ROUND DRAW
Ties to be played on the weekend of 17-18 March.

Liverpool v Stoke City
Birmingham City/Chelsea v Leicester City
Tottenham Hotspur/Stevenage v Bolton Wanderers
Everton v Sunderland

Romney wins narrowest Iowa vote in history*

2012-01-04T15:44:00.006Z

Iowa caucuses
1 Mitt Romney 30,015 (24.62%)
2 Rick Santorum 30,007 (24.61%)
3 Ron Paul 26,219 (21.51%)
4 Newt Gingrich 16,251 (13.33%)
5 Rick Perry 12,604 (10.34%)
6 Michele Bachmann 6,073 (4.98%)

REPUBLICAN presidential hopeful Mitt Romney leads the race for his party's nomination after an important early win in the Iowa caucuses(*see postscript at the end of this article).

Former Massachusetts governor Mr Romney (24.62%) won by just eight votes from Rick Santorum (24.61%). Ron Paul, on 21.5%, was trailing in third.

Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, managed only 13.3% but he still finished ahead of Rick Perry (10.3%) and Michele Bachmann (5%).

Front-runner Mr Romney will hope this is the first of many poll wins as he seeks the approval of the Republican party ahead of the National Convention in Tampa, Florida in August.

There, one of the contenders will be confirmed as the candidate who will run against incumbent Democrat President Barack Obama in November.

It should be noted that Iowa is important only because it is first. It is not first because it is particularly important.

The Mid-west state has only a small number of delegates and technically no delegates were elected today anyway, only delegates to county conventions who in turn elect delegates to an Iowa State Convention.

Nevertheless, even a narrow victory comes as welcome news to Mr Romney who will now carry momentum into the next contest on 10 January in New Hampshire, where he already holds a big lead.

If the multi-millionaire businessman wins there, as expected, he would become the first ever Republican candidate to carry both Iowa and New Hampshire in the caucuses and primaries.

And that would give him a huge boost heading into Super Tuesday on 6 March when no fewer than 10 states will vote in primaries and caucuses.

It is perhaps no surprise that Mr Romney has emerged as the front-runner given his ability to appeal to moderates and independents.

However, his success has caused a crisis on the conservative right of the Grand Old Party.

This political nightmare for the right has been exacerbated by their sheer inability to settle on an 'Anyone But Romney' ticket amid wave upon wave of negative campaigning.

Ms Bachmann was the first to sit atop the merry go-round. Backed by the Tea Party movement, her support peaked last July before she was overshadowed by Mr Perry’s entry to the race.

Mr Perry then faded after poor performances in debates, and he was replaced in turn by the pizza magnate Herman Cain.

Mr Cain surged in October, but support soon fell away after he became embroiled in allegations of sexual harassment, leading to his withdrawal at the start of last month.

Next, Mr Gingrich briefly challenged Mr Romney in the polls - but, having been married three times and admitted adultery, the former struggled to compete with Mr Romney's apparently clean-cut image.

And so we finally reach the present situation where Mr Romney's closest rivals are Mr Santorum and Mr Paul. Even for Mr Santorum and Mr Paul, this has been a bumpy ride, though.

Mr Santorum has come under fire from small government exponent Mr Paul for being a big spender. The 76-year-old Mr Paul has had to contend with the revelation that racially-offensive newsletters were published in his name.

Mr Paul claims not to have read them, never mind written them, but it is little wonder that the Republicans are being cast as a bunch of loons by some in the British media.

On that basis, then, you would think that this contest would be rather irrelevant, only choosing who loses the general election to Mr Obama.

Not so. For the Republicans' crisis of confidence is actually borne out of a belief that they can beat Mr Obama whose popularity ratings have been consistently poor.

Mr Obama enjoyed positive approval for the first few months of his presidency as he vowed to clear up the mess left at home and abroad by his predecessor, George W Bush.

But the honeymoon period did not last long and, having been elected with a mandate to change America and provide a fresh start, Mr Obama has disappointed at best, and failed at worst.

Dealt a poor hand by the world economic situation, he has had to deal with high unemployment while his flagship healthcare reforms were watered down at the request of members of his own party.

Subsequently, the Democrats lost control of the House in the mid-term elections, though it could have been worse: they did at least retain control in the Senate.

Abroad, Mr Obama took a risk by involving US forces in another war by bombing Libya, and troops remain in Afghanistan.

Moreover, the increased dropping of drone bombs on Pakistan has caused a breakdown in diplomatic relations there, and his promise to close down Guantanamo Bay has still yet to be fulfilled.

On the positive side, US troops are finally out of Iraq, and the president will also receive credit for the removal in 2011 of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and Osama bin Laden.

The latter resulted in wild celebrations from liberals and conservatives alike, coming as it did just months before 10th anniversary of 9/11.

It definitely represented a high point for the Obama administration so far but will it be enough for him to secure a second term?

Looking at the candidates for the GOP again, Mr Romney - as the most moderate - is probably best placed to go up against Mr Obama in the autumn.

But, if the challenger cannot even guarantee votes from his own fractious party, Mr Obama will not be sitting too nervously just yet - regardless of what his personal ratings currently show.

*POSTSCRIPT (added 19/01/2012)
(See entry at 10.25am on Guardian liveblog for South Carolina primary)
At a news conference on 19 January, the Iowa Republican Party announced that, of the votes that could be counted, Rick Santorum (29,839) actually had 34 more than Mitt Romney (29,805) in the final tally. Ron Paul (26,036) was still in third place.
However, no official winner has yet been renamed for the state because results from eight of the Iowa's 1,774 precincts are missing.

2012 PRIMARY/CAUCUS SCHEDULE
KEY DATES
3 January Iowa (caucus) - no official winner

10 January New Hampshire (primary) - Mitt Romney

21 January South Carolina (primary)
31 January Florida (primary)

4 February Nevada (caucus)
4-11 February Maine (caucus)
7 February Colorado (caucus), Minnesota (caucus)
28 February Arizona (primary), Michigan (primary)

3 March Washington (caucus)
6 March: Super Tuesday Alaska (caucus), Georgia (primary), Idaho (caucus), Massachusetts (primary), North Dakota (caucus), Ohio (primary), Oklahoma (primary), Tennessee (primary), Vermont (primary), Virginia (primary)
6-10 March Wyoming (caucus)
10 March Kansas (caucus), US Virgin Islands (caucus)
13 March Alabama (primary), Hawaii (caucus), Mississippi (primary)
17 March Missouri (caucus)
20 March Illinois (primary)
24 March Louisiana (primary)

3 April District of Columbia (primary), Maryland (primary), Wisconsin (primary), Texas (primary)
24 April Connecticut (primary), Delaware (primary), New York (primary), Pennsylvania (primary), Rhode Island (primary)

8 May Indiana (primary), North Carolina (primary), West Virginia (primary)
15 May Nebraska (primary), Oregon (primary)
22 May Arkansas (primary), Kentucky (primary)

5 June California (primary), Montana (primary), New Jersey (primary), New Mexico (primary), South Dakota (primary)
26 June Utah (primary)

27-30 August REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION Tampa, Florida
3-6 September DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION Charlotte, North Carolina

Index 2011

2011-12-31T13:03:00.001Z

FOOTBALL
Season 2010/11
08.01 FA Cup Third Round: Ronnie f*cking Radford, Immortalised
10.01 Club-by-club half-time verdict
24.01 Berbatov hits another treble
16.02 Rooney reduces Manchester United's title rivals to one
27.02 Carling Cup: Martins benefits from last-minute Arsenal mix-up
04.04 Rooney banned for hat-trick rant as Manchester United move in on title
16.04 FA Cup Semis: Manchester City and Stoke City end their long wait
03.05 Chelsea eye chance to take title lead
14.05 FA Cup Final: Toure strikes as Manchester City end their barren run
19.05 Survival Sunday calculations
24.05 Birmingham and Blackpool drop in dramatic finale
31.05 Swans soar after Sinclair hat-trick
Season 2011/12
06.08 The Championship 2011/12
13.08 The Premier League 2011/12
30.08 Manchester clubs make big early impression
20.12 All eyes on Manchester at the halfway stage
Euro 2012
25.03 All to easy for England in Cardiff
03.06 England escape with draw against Swiss
02.09 Deutschland uber alles
06.09 Narrow win edges England closer
07.10 Rooney sees red as England qualify
11.10 Scotland slump out while Irish enjoy the rub of the green
16.11 Ireland exorcise playoff hoodoo
02.12 Finals draw
FIFA
01.06 Blatter gets four more years
30.07 World Cup 2014: England draw both Euro hosts
11.11 FIFA were wrong in poppy wrangle
Copa America
01.07 Argentina hope home advantage ends 18-year wait
25.07 Suarez and Forlan fire Uruguay to victory

CRICKET
End of Ashes series 2010/11
03.01 England win Ashes series after handing out another thumping
07.01 Statistics show England dominance
05.02 Australia win the One-Dayers. No one notices.
Cricket World Cup
18.02 Group A preview
18.02 Group B preview
19.02 Full results
02.03 Record-breaker O'Brien helps incredible Ireland beat bungling England
11.03 Bangladesh defeat leaves England hopes on a knife edge
20.03 England progress against Windies as Aussie run ends
30.03 Co-hosts battle for world crown
02.04 Dhoni leads India to World Cup glory
Summer 2011
26.05 England face finalists in tough summer schedule
09.07 England scrape Sri Lanka series wins
23.08 England whitewash India to seal number one spot
04.11 Pakistan cricket scam puts ICC in the dock

FORMULA 1 2011
19.04 Hamilton halts Vettel's speedy start
31.05 Vettel streaks clear as Hamilton snaps
14.06 Senna-sational
10.07 Alonso seals Silverstone win but Red Bull retain control
29.07 BBC breaks the chain
04.08 Button excels in the wet again
13.10 Vettel completes the inevitable: stats
29.11 Team-by-team review

RUGBY WORLD CUP
08.09 Preview: Can New Zealand hold their nerve?
09.09 Complete results and fixtures
01.10 England break Scotland's brave hearts
09.10 England flop to France - Wales, Wallabies and All Blacks advance
15.10 New Zealand face yet another French test
24.10 New Zealand end 24 years of hurt

WORLD SNOOKER
15.04 Odds against Robertson and the Rocket
25.04 Selby breezes into the quarters
01.05 Trump fairytale faces Final test
01.05 Higgins holds his nerve to win fourth Crucible title

OLYMPICS/ATHLETICS/SPORTS PERSONALITY
21.04 BOA backs down in funding wrangle
18.05 Detailed torch route announced
28.07 One year to go
04.09 Mo Farah flies to join Greene with gold
22.12 Manx Missile Cavendish odds-on for SPOTY prize

NON-SPORTS COVERAGE
MEDIA
27.01 Gray and Keys over-step the line in NewsCorp's annus horribilis
01.04 Ah, tits! Daily Sport goes bust
25.05 Superinjunction farce leaves Giggs exposed
06.07 How low can the News of the World go?
19.07 Murdoch empire starts to fall apart
27.10 Private Eye still packs a punch at 50

POLITICS
May elections
21.02 AV debate divides opinion
05.05 Full results: AV referendum and English councils
05.05 Full results: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
07.05 UK rejects AV as Lib Dems crumble
Party conferences
21.09 Fighting talk from the Lib Dems has come too late
30.09 Miliband still struggling to make an impression
06.10 Cat fight overshadows Conservative conference
Other events
14.01 Miliband makes his breakthrough in Oldham
21.01 Resignation season
04.03 Barnsley Central destroys last remnants of Clegg's credibility
21.03 MPs back Libya action but confusion reigns over Resolution 1973
23.03 Osborne will not be judged on this Budget
08.08 London's burning
15.10 Fox falls on his sword
17.12 Labour relief at Feltham result

MUSIC
14.05 Eurovision: Azerbaijan surprise leaves Britain feeling Blue
20.06 Glastonbury and the Hyde Park hiatus
04.07 Glastonbury and Hyde Park: Mud, sweat and beers
26.12 Merry Christmas to the Military Wives

MISCELLANEOUS
11.02 Best foot forward
09.04 Grand National: McCain legacy continues with Ballabriggs victory
27.04 25 years on, Chernobyl continues to cast its shadow
27.04 The alternative Royal Wedding
09.06 Gannin' alang the Scotswood Road
11.11 Remembrance Day, lest we forget
31.12 Index 2011

Merry Christmas to the Military Wives

2011-12-26T14:24:00.001Z

THE MILITARY Wives comfortably sealed the coveted Christmas number one spot, the Official Charts Company announced yesterday.

Victory for the wives became inevitable after their charity record 'Wherever You Are' became the fastest-selling single in six years.

Indeed, after two days of last week, it had outsold its nearest rival - 'Cannonball' by X Factor winners Little Mix - by a margin of six to one.

And, in the end, it sold 556,000 copies, which was more than the rest of the top 12 combined.

Little Mix, who were the first ever group to win the ITV competition and who were number one last week, sold 117,000 records in the run-up to Christmas Day.

But the result means for the second time in three years that the X Factor winner has failed to reach number one at Christmas after Joe McElderry finished behind Rage Against The Machine's 'Killing In The Name' in 2009.

In an unfortunate geographical coincidence, the beaten McElderry is from South Shields in Tyne & Wear, and so are two of the four members of Little Mix.

There was nothing more in it than that, though. Indeed, the Military Wives are fully deserving of their number one spot as their record struck the right note with the country at large.

Even the Treasury - at the request of Oliver Colvile, Conservative MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport - felt compelled to waive VAT on the sale of the record.

Announcing the decision, Chancellor George Osborne said: "Our armed forces demonstrate incredible commitment to the nation and make sacrifices for all of us.

"The Military Wives Choir is doing a great job of raising money for this hugely worthy cause."

As Mr Osborne notes, proceeds from Wherever You Are were split between two charities, the Royal British Legion and the SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association).

And the fact is that the 100-strong choir had a more interesting back-story than, with respect to Little Mix, just another reality television show winner.

Their appearance on the BBC programme The Choir with Gareth Malone culminated in a performance at the Royal Albert Hall, and the lyrics of Wherever You Are were taken from love poems, written between the women and their absent husbands.

Meanwhile, the Little Mix record producers hardly help themselves, releasing 'Cannonball' a week too early with this year's number one actually announced on Christmas Day itself.

But while that at least allowed the Little Mix girls to wake up on Christmas morning in the number one slot, it will be the Military Wives who will deservedly go into the record books.

A Merry Christmas to them, and indeed to all of my readers. More from me in 2012!

Manx Missile Cavendish odds-on for SPOTY prize

2011-12-22T18:21:00.000Z

BBC Sports Personality of the Year is on BBC One at 8pm tonight. The candidates for the main award are:
Mark Cavendish (cycling)
Age: 26
Place of birth: Douglas, Isle of Man
Achievements: Cavendish won five stages of this year's Tour de France, bringing his total of stage wins in the gruelling race over the past four years to 20. He became the first person to win the final stage on the Champs-Elysees three years in a row as he sealed a first ever green jersey triumph for a British cyclist in the history of the event.
Devil's Advocate: A cyclist as favourite in a non-Olympic year would usually come as a surprise but, such are Cavendish's achievements in the Tour de France, no one would be shocked at the outcome if he wins.
Odds: 1/3 fav

Darren Clarke (golf)
Age: 43
Place of birth: Dungannon, Northern Ireland
Achievements: Clarke finally won his first major in 2011, and it proved to be a special victory, coming in this year's Open Championship at Royal St George in Sandwich. In an emotional post-victory speech, Clarke dedicated his win to his two children and late wife Heather, who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2006. He said: "In terms of what's going through my heart, there's obviously somebody who is watching from up above there, and I know she'd be very proud of me. But I think she'd be more proud of my two boys and them at home watching more than anything else. It's been a long journey to get here."
Devil's Advocate: Clarke's victory came from out of the blue and may be regarded in time as something of a one-off. Also, there are fears of a three-way golf split and a two-way Northern Irish golf split in the vote.
Odds: 5/1

Mo Farah (athletics)
Age: 28
Place of birth: Mogadishu, Somalia
Achievements: Farah provided the highlight of the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea for Team GB by taking the silver medal in the 10,000m, and then, with brilliant timing, the gold in the 5,000m. He became the British man to win a global title over either distance.
Devil's Advocate: Farah and his coach Alberto Salazar have stated on record explicitly that their work will not be done until the Somalia-born athletes has won both the 5,000m and 10,000m in the Olympics. If Farah manages to do that at London 2012 then it would be hard to bet against him for next year.
Odds: 12/1

Rory McIlroy (golf)
Age: 22
Place of birth: Carryduff, Co. Down, Northern Ireland
Achievements: McIlroy recovered from a horrible final-day collapse in the first major of the year at the US Masters to become the youngest winner of the US Open since 1923. McIlroy carded a record score of 16-under-par for an eight-shot win to carry off his first major and the young Northern Irishman also moved to a new career-high number two in the world rankings in November.
Devil's Advocate: Like Clarke, McIlroy will be worried about how the golf vote is likely to be split - but, unlike Clarke at least, McIlroy's age gives him the chance to take Tiger Woods' place and dominate his sport for years to come.
Odds: 16/1

Luke Donald (golf)
Age: 34
Place of birth: Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
Achievements: Donald became number one golfer in the world rankings after winning the BMW PGA Championship in May 2011. He later completed a historic double by winning both the PGA Tour money list and the European Race to Dubai, becoming the first ever player to do this. Finally, he also won the PGA Player of the Year and PGA Tour Player of the Year awards, becoming the first Englishman to win either award.
Devil's Advocate: Donald deserves his number one ranking on the basis of his great consistency, just like Clarke and McIlroy until this year, the Englishman will continued to be dogged by the lack of a major title.
Odds: 16/1

Alastair Cook (cricket)
Age: 26
Place of birth: Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Achievements: Cook made a mockery of Australian predictions that he was a weak link in the England batting line-up by proving instrumental in the successful defence of the Ashes, a first victory Down Under for England since 1986-7. The Essex batsmen scored 766 runs in the five-match series at an average of 127.66 - second only to Wally Hammond in the 1920s. Additionally, he occupied the crease for over 36 hours, a world record in a five-Test series and an English record even including six-Test series. Back home, Cook was part of the side which beat Sri Lanka 1-0 and India 4-0 on the way to becoming the best team in the world, and he also won his first series as national team captain in the One Day Internationals, beating Sri Lanka 3-2.
Devil's Advocate: Cook looked less impressive as ODI captain in the 4-1 defeat to India which followed the Sri Lanka win but he is a young captain and will learn from his errors. Perhaps more crucially, the Ashes win was almost a year ago and England have not played since September, meaning Cook has hardly featured on the sports' pages recently.
Odds: 66/1

Andrew Strauss (cricket)
Age: 34
Place of birth: Johannesburg, South Africa
Achievements: Strauss led England to successive Ashes victories, captaining the side to three innings victories in the first successful tour in Australia since 1986-7. Strauss played his part Down Under, averaging 43.85 with the bat - but perhaps his finest moment as national team skipper came this summer as his team finally reached the peak of the world rankings after beating India 4-0.
Devil's Advocate:
Odds: 200/1

Dai Greene (athletics)
Age: 25
Place of birth: Felinfoel, Carmarthernshire, Wales
Achievements: After Mo Farah (above), Welsh hurdler Greene won Team GB's only other gold medal in the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu, taking the title with a fine comeback in the 400m hurdles. He is the current holder of European, Commenwealth and world titles in his discipline.
Devil's Advocate: It may seem a little unfair, and certainly does not detract from Greene's achievement, but it is unlikely for an athlete to win SPOTY in a non-Olympic year.
Odds: 200/1

Amir Khan (boxing)
Age: 25
Place of birth: Bolton, Lancashire
Achievements: Having earlier beaten the previously unbeaten Irishman Paul McCloskey in April, Khan unified the IBF and WBA light-welterweight world titles by beating American Zab Judah in May with a KO in the fifth round.
Devil's Advocate: Khan hardly helped his cause within the last two weeks after losing his titles to Lamont Petersen in a split decision even though, controversially, the Bolton boxer was twice deducted two points by referee Joe Cooper for pushing.
Odds: 250/1

Andy Murray (tennis)
Age: 24
Place of birth: Glasgow, Scotland
Achievements: Murray enjoyed perhaps his most consistent year yet, reaching the last four of all of the Grand Slam tournaments, including the semi finals of the French Open for the first time. He made the final of the Australian Open for the second successive year, and finished the season with a flurry of wins in the Far East, winning in Thailand, Japan and Shanghai.
Devil's Advocate: Like Donald (above) in the golf, for all of Murray's consistency in the season as a whole, the Scotsman's lack of a Grand Slam title remains a problem. Murray also had to pull out of the end-of-season ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London.
Odds: 250/1

OTHER SPOTY PRIZES
England's cricket team should make it a hat-trick in the Team of the Year award, having won as recently as 2005 and 2009, after retaining the Ashes abroad with three innings victories then becoming the best team in the world.

Following on from that, Andy Flower has a good chance of being named Coach of the Year with his main rival, Graham Henry, discounted on the basis that the award relates to British sport.

It would be a shame then if Graham Henry could not represent New Zealand's Rugby World Cup win by taking the Overseas SPOTY Award, and it is unfortunate that fly half Dan Carter was injured for so much of the tournament, otherwise he would have undoubtedly been a very strong candidate. This is a very competitive year for the Overseas Award with Novak Djokovic's year in tennis and Sebastian Vettel's dominance of F1 ripe also for selection.

Finally, of the main awards, the Young SPOTY Award is between:
- Seventeen-year-old cyclist Lucy Garner who became the junior road race world champion in Copenhagen in 2011, making her Britain's first medallist in the event since Nicole Cooke, who claimed victory in 2000 and 2001. What chance a cycling double tonight?
- Seventeen-year-old Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds who won four medals in individual events at the IPC European Swimming Championships in Berlin - two gold, a silver and a bronze. Simmonds previously won the award in 2008.
- And golfer Lauren Taylor, also 17. Lauren won the 2011 Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship at Royal Portrush and became the youngest ever winner, breaking a record that had stood for 112 years. Perhaps she will make up for Clarke, McIlroy and Donald if they fall short.

There will be three other awards given at the ceremony at the BBC in Salford - the Helen Rollason Award, for someone who has shown "outstanding achievement in the face of adversity"; the Unsung Hero Award, for someone who "has given their time and talents for free to enable others to participate in sport"; and the Lifetime Achievement Award which has been won this year by Sir Steve Redgrave, Britain's greatest ever Olympian.

The Season 2011/12: All eyes on Manchester at the halfway stage

2011-12-20T21:07:00.021Z

PREMIER LEAGUE
Table at 27/12/2011
Original prediction blog

1 MANCHESTER CITY P18-W14-D3-L1 F53/A15 Pts 45
Manager: Roberto Mancini (since December 2009)
Top scorer: Sergio Aguero (13)
League Cup: Semi final v Liverpool on 11 January (H) and 25 January (A)
FA Cup: Third Round v Manchester United (H) on 8 January
Europe: Knocked out of Champions League in Group stage; Europa League last 32 tie v Porto on 16 February (A) and 6 March (H)
Verdict: Manchester City's five-point lead from just four games ago may have already been wiped out but, on the basis of the first half of the season as a whole, it is fair to say that the Blue Moon is still in the ascendancy. Roberto Mancini's men have a perfect home record with nine wins out of nine while the 6-1 defeat of Manchester United at Old Trafford will live long in the memory of City fans. Mancini has estimated that 90 points will be required in order for a team to win the league this season and City will be pleased to have made it halfway there having been well off the pace in the last two years. Better still, following the visits of Liverpool and Tottenham to Eastlands in January, City play only one other top-six team, Chelsea - again at home, in their next nine fixtures. A blistering bit of form in those games, similar to the start of this campaign when they dropped only two points from the opening 12 matches, would surely open up another gap. It would then be a case of the likes of Sergio Aguero and David Silva just holding their nerve in the final stretch for City to win their first league title since 1968.
Original prediction: 2nd

2 MANCHESTER UNITED P18-W-14-D3-L1 F47/A14 Pts 45
Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson (since November 1986)
Top scorer: Wayne Rooney (13)
League Cup: lost 1-2 aet in Quarter finals v Crystal Palace (H)
FA Cup: Third Round v Manchester City (A) on 8 January
Europe: Knocked out of Champions League in Group stage; Europa League last 32 tie v Ajax Amsterdam on 16 February (A) and 23 February (H)
Verdict: Never write off Manchester United is surely the lesson borne out of almost 20 years of Premier League football. From one perspective, this first half of the season could easily be considered one of the poorest by a Sir Alex Ferguson's side. A blinding start, capped by an 8-2 humbling of Arsenal, was brought to an abrupt halt by a 6-1 thrashing from noisy neighbours City. Worse still, the Red Devils crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage despite what looked to be, on the face of it, a pretty easy group. However, since that horrible afternoon against City at Old Trafford, United have won eight and drawn one of their last nine, completely eradicating their rival's lead. The Red Devils were once beaten 5-0 by Newcastle and 6-3 by Southampton in the space of a week in the autumn of 1996 - but they still went on to win the league the following May. City may have the resources again in January but United know from experience that it will be the squeaky bottom time in April and May which will decide the destination of the title.
Original prediction: Champions

3 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR P17-W12-D2-L3 F34/A19 Pts 38
Manager: Harry Redknapp (since October 2008)
Top scorer: Emmanuel Adebayor (9)
League Cup: lost 6-7 on penalties after a 0-0 draw v Stoke City (A) in Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Cheltenham Town (H) on 7 January
Europe: Knocked out of Europa League in Group stage
Verdict: Since heavy defeats to the two Manchester clubs in their first two fixtures of this season, Spurs have been nothing short of exemplary in the league. Indeed, in their last 15 league games respectively, Tottenham have picked up more points than both of the teams currently above them, a sequence which has prompted Harry Redknapp to claim the Londoners are in the thick of the title race. That may be true if Spurs make good on their game in hand against Everton in January to close the gap to four points but, even then, it is still a tough ask. Anyway, presumably Tottenham's primary aim is reprise their top-four finish from 2009-10 and, in that respect, things are looking good. For, if the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Scott Parker continue their form into the New Year, then a potential eight point gap to fifth-placed Arsenal is very healthy indeed.
Original prediction: 5th

4 CHELSEA P18-W10-D4-L4 F36/A21 Pts 34
Manager: Andre Villas-Boas (since June 2011)
Top scorer: Daniel Sturridge (9)
League Cup: lost 0-2 v Liverpool (H) in Quarter finals
FA Cup: Third Round v Portsmouth (H) on 8 January
Europe: Champions League last 16 tie v Napoli on 21 February (A) and 14 March (H)
Verdict: Chelsea slipped 11 points behind the leaders after a third successive 1-1 draw since their momentous victory over Manchester City on 12 December. That 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge closed the gap to the leaders to seven points, a reasonable margin after a difficult autumn which had featured three defeats out of four in the league against QPR, Arsenal and Liverpool. Consecutive 3-0 wins in the league over Wolves and Newcastle, along the victory over City and qualification for the Champions League knockout stage with a win over Valencia, seemed to have put the Blues back on track. But those 1-1 draws against Wigan, Tottenham and Fulham have put the pressure back on 34-year-old manager Andre Villas-Boas. Certainly, the Portuguese seems have to little faith in £50m Spaniard Fernando Torres, regularly demoting him to the bench - something which has presumably contributed to the startling stat that Torres has still scored more goals for Liverpool in this calendar year (four) than he has for Chelsea (three). Another recently-acquired Spaniard, Juan Mata, has looked more impressive, along with the ever-improving youngster Daniel Sturridge but the fact is that Chelsea are not winning nearly enough games to make a proper challenge this season.
Original prediction: 3rd

5 ARSENAL P18-W10-D3-L5 F34/A26 Pts 33
Manager: Arsene Wenger (since October 1996)
Top scorer: Robin van Persie (16)
League Cup: lost 0-1 v Manchester City (H) in Quarter finals
FA Cup: Third Round v Leeds United (H) on 9 January
Europe: Champions League last 16 tie v AC Milan on 15 February (A) and 6 March (H)
Verdict: Arsenal frustrated their fans at the Emirates again, failing to take advantage of Chelsea's 1-1 draw against Fulham after achieving the same result against Wolves. Victory in yesterday's game would have taken Arsenal back into the top four but the fact that they are even so close is remarkable considering their dreadful start of just seven points from their opening seven fixtures. A creaky defence was conceding goals for fun with eight shipped at Manchester United, four at Blackburn, and a 2-1 derby defeat suffered at White Hart Lane. But, following the Tottenham defeat, Arsene Wenger's men put together a run of seven wins and a draw as Thomas Vermaelen returned from injury to shore up the back line and Robin van Persie continued his incredible goalscoring record in 2011. Despite a recent 1-0 defeat at title chasers Manchester City, the Gunners seem to have got over the worst of their blip and should challenge for a Champions League spot, barring their almost-traditional late-season collapse.
Original prediction: 6th

6 LIVERPOOL P18-W8-D7-L3 F21/A14 Pts 31
Manager: Kenny Dalglish (since January 2011)
Top scorer: Luis Suarez (5)
League Cup: Semi final v Manchester City on 11 January (A) and 25 January (H)
FA Cup: Third Round v Oldham Athletic (H) on 6 January
Verdict: Well, there has not quite been a Roy Hodgson-style meltdown but, in truth, it is little better than that for Kenny Dalglish. The Reds may be unbeaten at Anfield but home draws against Norwich, Sunderland, Swansea and Blackburn - and a dreadful recent 0-0 away to Wigan - have left them 14 points adrift of the two Manchester clubs at the halfway stage. Surely Liverpool fans would have expected to make a better fist of it after spending upwards of £80m - £30m more than the Torres money - on overhauling their team. But, instead, with Steven Gerrard battling injury, the Reds have looked scarily dependant upon Luis Suarez to create and score, and they may well struggle for goals if his appeal against an eight-match ban for his racist abuse against Patrice Evra fails, as expected. Indeed, it seems that the Anfield faithful will have to be content with another appearance in the Europa League and nothing more next season.
Original prediction: 4th

7 NEWCASTLE UNITED P18-W8-D6-L4 F25/A22 Pts 30
Manager: Alan Pardew (since December 2010)
Top scorer: Demba Ba (14)
League Cup: lost 3-4 aet v Blackburn Rovers (A) in Fourth Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Blackburn Rovers (H) on 7 January
Verdict: Newcastle got back on track after a six-game winless run by finishing strongly to snatch a 2-0 win over struggling Bolton in what had been a frankly insipid match until the hour mark. However, earlier in the season, the Magpies had proven to be a total revelation, shrugging off the loss of Joey Barton, Jose Enrique and Kevin Nolan in the summer to storm up the league on the back of an 11-match unbeaten start. 'Easy fixtures' came the cry from the detractors but, even though the undefeated streak ended at City, the following week saw Pardew's men emerge from Old Trafford with a creditable point. It was only in the next match against Chelsea that things started to go wrong as Newcastle lost both of their centre-backs, Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini, to injury. Three goals were leaked to the Blues, four against Norwich and a further three at home to West Brom. At the other end, free signing Demba Ba has been instrumental in the Magpies' surge but the Senegalese striker has scored more than half of Newcastle's league goals and, at times, the team is worrying reliant on him, a matter likely to be exacerbated by his appearance at the African Nations Cup in January. Nevertheless, with 30 points by the turn of the year, Newcastle have given themselves a great platform to finish comfortably in the top half of the table by the end of the season.
Original prediction: 13th

8 STOKE CITY P18-W7-D4-L7 F18/A28 Pts 25
Manager: Tony Pulis (since June 2006)
Top scorers: Peter Crouch, Jonathan Walters (4)
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Liverpool (H) in Fourth Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Gillingham (A) on 7 January
Europe: Europa League last 32 tie v Valencia on 16 February (H) and 23 February (A)
Verdict: Stoke continue to confound the critics, collecting enough points in the first half of this season to make another push for Europe in the New Year - and through the league this time rather than the cup. However, despite some relatively heavy recent investment, the Potters remain to my eyes much like the Wimbledon teams of the 1990s. Certainly, anyone who had the misfortune to watch the dire 0-0 draw with Aston Villa on Boxing Day will struggle to subscribe to the view that Stoke's football has progressed in any way since their promotion in 2008. Liable to the odd beating - a 5-0 revenge defeat by Bolton and 4-0 drubbing at Sunderland contributing to a dreadful goal difference for a top-eight side - Tony Pulis' men have nevertheless cobbled more than enough narrow wins, including impressive victories over Liverpool and Tottenham at home, to remain a threat to the top six for now. Better still for Potters fans, City are now winning abroad as well with a convincing Europa League group phase rewarded with a tie against Valencia. Glorious times for the Staffordshire club, then, but it is unlikely the likes of Danny Blanchflower would have ever paid to watch them.
Original prediction: 7th

9 WEST BROMWICH ALBION P18-W6-D4-L8 F19/A26 Pts 22
Manager: Roy Hodgson (since February 2011)
Top scorer: Shane Long (5)
League Cup: lost 1-2 aet v Everton (A) in Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Cardiff City (H) on 7 January
Verdict: It has been a very merry late December at the Hawthorns with the Baggies taking seven points out of nine with successive away wins against Blackburn and Newcastle, and a fine rearguard action in the 0-0 home draw against leaders Manchester City. The streak has lifted West Brom into the top half of the table as manager Roy Hodgson continues to rebuild his own reputation following a horrible few months at Liverpool last year. With the pace of Peter Odemwingie and Shane Long up front, it is perhaps no surprise West Brom do so well away with four of their six league wins coming on the road this season. But, except for a thoroughly enjoyable 2-0 win over Wolves in October, it has so far been a different story at the Hawthorns. In fairness, seven of their remaining 10 fixtures at home are against teams currently below them in the table, and so, it seems obvious to point out that an upturn in fortunes in front of their own supporters will be the key to the Baggies improving on last season's 11th-placed finish.
Original prediction: 10th

10 EVERTON P17-W6-D4-L8 F19/A21 Pts 22
Manager: David Moyes (since March 2002)
Top scorers: Apostolos Vellios, Leon Osman (3)
League Cup: lost 1-2 aet v Chelsea (H) in Fourth Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Tamworth (H) on 7 January
Verdict: Everton made their customary slow start again in 2011/12, losing five games out of six between the end of September and the start of November in admittedly tough fixtures. Though Moyes' men have made a modest recovery to move into the top half, recent 1-0 defeats to Stoke City and Arsenal mean the Toffees have unusually failed to get even a single point in the seven fixtures against teams above them in the table. The lack of goals is the main worry, with top scorers Vellios and Osman on just three for the season and, though the Toffees normally ally their slow start with a storming second half of the season, the Merseysiders are already well off the European spots and show no signs of a real resurgence. Indeed, Moyes may finish the season considering he can do no more given the limited backing in the transfer market.
Original prediction: 9th

11 NORWICH CITY P18-W5-D6-L7 F27/A33 Pts 21
Manager: Paul Lambert (since August 2009)
Top scorer: Grant Holt (7)
League Cup: lost 0-4 v Milton Keynes Dons (H) in Second Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Burnley (H) on 7 January
Verdict: Who would have thought approaching the halfway stage that Norwich City would be the sixth top scorers in the Premier League? Well, actually, the Canaries' scoring record should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed their dramatic rise through the divisions. Norwich were the top scorers in their league in both of their promotions in the last two years, even though they finished runners-up to QPR last season. In particular, Grant Holt has not been fazed as Norwich have proved more than capable of competing in the top flight, securing a seven-point buffer above the relegation zone with some fine results including away 1-1 draws at both Merseyside clubs and a 4-2 beating of Newcastle at Carrow Road. Indeed, Paul Lambert's men could be looking at a mid-table finish if they continue in the same vein or somehow tighten up a defence which has yet to keep a clean sheet in the league this season. But the leaky backline is a rare negative for Norwich fans who must still be rubbing their eyes in wonderment just 28 months on from a humiliating 7-1 home defeat to Colchester United.
Original prediction: 16th

12 ASTON VILLA P18-W4-D8-L6 F19/A23 Pts 20
Manager: Alex McLeish (since June 2011)
Top scorers: Gabriel Agbonlahor, Darren Bent (5)
League Cup: lost 0-2 v Bolton Wanderers (H) in Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Bristol Rovers (A) on 7 January
Verdict: Villa served up another insipid display in the televised Boxing Day bore draw against Stoke City, leaving the Midlanders with just 19 goals from their first 18 Premier League matches this season. Manager Alex McLeish took Villa's city rivals Birmingham City down in the last campaign with a similar ironically-named safety-first style last season and, while that fate should not befall the Villains, the fans should not expect a particularly thrilling ride in the rest of the campaign. Four home defeats already will have done little to quell the fans' general disgruntlement with McLeish's appointment, though six draws away out of nine suggests Villa do possess the necessary mettle to stay out of real danger. A team which can call upon the likes of Bent and N'Zogbia up front and on the wing should be doing more than just that every season, though.
Original prediction: 8th

13 FULHAM P18-W4-D7-L7 F19/A24 Pts 19
Manager: Martin Jol (since June 2011)
Top scorer: Clint Dempsey (6)
League Cup: lost 3-4 on penalties after 0-0 draw v Chelsea (A) in Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Charlton Athletic (H) on 7 January
Europe: Knocked out of Europa League in Group stage
Verdict: Outside of the newly-promoted clubs, Fulham are perhaps most relieved to see the Lancashire trio of Wigan, Bolton and Blackburn struggling so badly. For, even at this relatively early stage of the season, Martin Jol's men have already played 33 league and cup games so far in this campaign thanks to their involvement in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League. That campaign ended in heartbreaking style as Danish side Odense scored in the 93rd minute to knock Fulham out at the group stage in the last game, preventing a reprise of their run to the Final in 2010. It remains to be seen what exact effect the early start will have on the legs of the Cottagers' players but fans will undoubtedly be glad of the current five-point buffer to 18th place just in case. In reality, the likes of top scorer Dempsey show more than enough flashes of brilliant to keep the Londoners out of real danger, as demonstrated in their recent 2-0 home win over Fulham and 6-0 thumping of QPR.
Original prediction: 13th

14 SWANSEA CITY P18-W4-D7-L7 F17/A22 Pts 19
Manager: Brendan Rogers (since July 2010)
Top scorer: Danny Graham (6)
League Cup: lost 1-3 v Shrewsbury Town (A) in Second Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Barnsley (A) on 7 January
Verdict: Swansea City have stuck to their principles since their arrival in the Premier League with a strong home record built on defensive foundations allied with a passing style which is easy on the eye. At the Liberty Stadium, the plan has so far undoubtedly worked - in fact, the Swans have the best home defensive record in the division, having conceded just three times. On the road, though, Brendan Rogers' men have struggled, with excellent 0-0 draws at Liverpool and Newcastle papering over the fact that they have taken just three points from 27 overall. A word of warning on the home record, too - of the current top seven, only Manchester United have visited the Liberty so far this season, and they won. Defeats at home in the second half of the campaign to the other top sides along with continuing poor away form would see the Swans head back from whence they came. Rogers' men need to break their away duck sharpish.
Original prediction: 19th

15 SUNDERLAND P18-W4-D6-L8 F22/A22 Pts 18
Manager: Martin O'Neill (since December 2011)
Top scorer: Sebastian Larsson (5)
League Cup: lost 0-1 aet v Brighton & Hove Albion (A) in Second Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Peterborough United (A) on 8 January
Verdict: The Steve Bruce era at the Stadium of Light finally arrived at its inevitable unhappy ending as the plastic Geordie won the Premier League sack race following a woeful home defeat to Wigan. Bruce may have led the Black Cats to their third-highest placing in 55 years with last season's finish of 10th but that campaign also featured a 5-1 mauling from Newcastle. After the Magpies began 2011/12 with another derby victory, it was clear that Bruce's days were numbered. And, though he stumbled on for three more months by picking up a win every now and then, Black Cats fans were relieved to see him replaced with the Sunderland-supporting Martin O'Neill. The Northern Irishman had made a reasonable start with victories against Blackburn at home and QPR away, and it looks as if the former Celtic and Leicester boss should steer Sunderland comfortably to safety.
Original prediction: 11th

16 QUEENS PARK RANGERS P18-W4-D5-L9 F18/A32 Pts 17
Manager: Neil Warnock (since March 2010)
Top scorer: Heidar Helguson (7)
League Cup: lost 0-2 v Rochdale (H) in Second Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Milton Keynes Dons (A) on 7 January
Verdict: It could be a long winter at Loftus Road with Queens Park Rangers hovering uneasily above the drop zone as the season heads into the New Year. That Rangers have taken just five points from their last nine games gives even more cause for concern with Neil Warnock's men having hit their worst form of the campaign just as the games come thick and fast. A lack of goals at home - less than one per game - have contributed to a poor record in Shepherd's Bush of just one win and four draws from nine games. That victory may have come against west London rivals Chelsea but it will count for little if the season ends in relegation. For, without even half-decent home form, promoted clubs cannot survive and Warnock knows he will need reinforcements in the January transfer window. A bit of assistance for Heidar Helguson up front is what will be required with Jay Bothroyd, Adel Taarabt and even Joey Barton flattering to deceive.
Original prediction: 18th

17 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS P18-W4-D4-L10 F20/A33 Pts 16
Manager: Mick McCarthy (since July 2006)
Top scorer: Stephen Fletcher (7)
League Cup: lost 2-5 v Manchester City (H) in Fourth Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Birmingham City (A) on 7 January
Verdict: Wolves find themselves in a worryingly familiar position, sitting just outside the relegation places in 17th at the turn of the year. Of course, Mick McCarthy's men finished exactly there on the last day of last season, coming through Survival Sunday unscathed despite losing 3-2 at home to Blackburn, though in their first season back in the top flight, Wolves did slightly better, finishing 15th. However, now in their third year, it must be questioned how much longer the Molineux club can aim just to survive by the skin of their teeth each year. Of course, Stephen Fletcher scored many a vital goal at the back of the last campaign and has started in the same vein of form this time around. He will undoubtedly remain key to McCarthy keeping Wolves from the relegation trapdoor in May again.
Original prediction: 15th

18 WIGAN ATHLETIC P18-W3-D5-L10 F15/A35 Pts 14
Manager: Roberto Martinez (since June 2009)
Top scorers: Franco di Santo, Jordi Gomez (4)
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Crystal Palace (A) in Second Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Swindon Town (A) on 7 January
Verdict: Wigan once again find themselves in relegation trouble thanks mainly to a terrible run of eight consecutive Premier League defeats between September and November. Given their resources, or lack of them, the Latics are always liable to struggle or take a beating but recent victories on the road at Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion, and draws against Chelsea and Liverpool, have suggested that Martinez's men may yet pull off another great escape.
Original prediction: 20th

19 BOLTON WANDERERS P18-W4-D0-L14 F22/A41 Pts 12
Manager: Owen Coyle (since January 2010)
Top scorer: Ivan Klasnic (7)
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Arsenal (A) in Fourth Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Macclesfield Town (A) on 7 January
Verdict: Bolton beat Blackburn on 20 December in a bottom-of-the-table clash to leapfrog their Lancashire rivals but it appears to have been a temporary reprieve. For, in the next match against Newcastle, the Trotters went down to their eighth home league defeat out of nine. That dreadful record at the Reebok, combined with the worst defence in the league, leaves Coyle's men with a tough second half to the season. It will only get tougher still if Gary Cahill is allowed to leave.
Original prediction: 14th

20 BLACKBURN ROVERS P18-W2-D5-L11 F25/A39 Pts 11
Manager: Steve Kean (since December 2010)
Top scorer: Aiyegbeni Yakubu (10)
League Cup: lost 0-2 v Cardiff City (A) in Quarter finals
FA Cup: Third Round v Newcastle United (A) on 7 January
Verdict: It is just over 12 months since Indian owners the Venkys disposed of the services of Sam Allardyce, and it is fair to say that the move to bring in Steve Kean has not worked out. A pitiful record this season of just two wins, and none away, has left Rovers rooted to the bottom of the pile. Even in those two victories, a thrilling 4-3 win over Arsenal in which both defences were as bad as each other, and a 4-2 win over Swansea in which Yakubu hit all four, Rovers fans protested against Kean. Though the beleaguered boss somehow survived the 2-1 defeat to Bolton, the fans have already decided his time is up. Meanwhile, Blackburn are in such a state off the pitch with the Venkys in charge, they may well end up going down with or without Kean.
Original prediction: 17th

THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Table at 26/12/2011
Original prediction blog

SOUTHAMPTON have dropped just two points out of 36 at home to take a three-point lead in the Championship at the halfway stage as they aim to follow Norwich City's recent example in winning successive promotions. WEST HAM UNITED were always going to be there or thereabouts under Sam Allardyce given the talent of their squad in this division but it is a little bit of a surprise to see MIDDLESBROUGH level with the Hammers on 44 points. The Boro have lost just three times in the league all season to build promisingly on the momentum gained by a four-match winning streak at the end of last season.
In fourth place, perennial playoff contenders and League Cup semi-finalists CARDIFF CITY have done well to cope with the loss of Jay Bothroyd, Michael Chopra and Craig Bellamy with the goals coming instead from Peter Whittingham and Kenny Miller. Similarly, sixth-placed READING have so far filled their Shane Long-sized hole with goals from Simon Church.
HULL CITY, in fifth, seem to have shrugged off the loss of manager Nigel Pearson to Leicester with caretaker manager Nick Barmby winning five of his opening eight games to keep the Tigers in the hunt. And, also hoping for a return to the top flight are BLACKPOOL who are just outside the playoff places in seventh on the back of just one defeat in nine. LEEDS UNITED, in eighth, are slipping back the other way after successive 1-0 defeats to Reading and Derby.

1 SOUTHAMPTON P23-W14-D5-L4 F47/A24 Pts 47
Manager: Nigel Adkins (since September 2010)
Top scorer: Rickie Lambert (15)
League Cup: lost 0-2 v Crystal Palace (A) in Fourth Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Coventry City (A) on 7 January
Original prediction: 5th

2 WEST HAM UNITED P23-W-13-D5-L5 F38/A21 Pts 44
Manager: Sam Allardyce (since June 2011)
Top scorer: Carlton Cole (7)
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Aldershot Town (H) in First Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Sheffield Wednesday (A) on 8 January
Original prediction: Champions

3 MIDDLESBROUGH P23-W12-D8-L3 F29/A19 Pts 44
Manager: Tony Mowbray (since October 2010)
Top scorer: Marvin Emnes (7)
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Crystal Palace (A) in Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Shrewsbury Town (H) on 7 January
Original prediction: 6th

4 CARDIFF CITY P23-W10-D9-L4 F37/A26 Pts 39
Manager: Malky Mackay (since June 2011)
Top scorer: Peter Whittingham (7)
League Cup: Semi final v Crystal Palace (A) on 11 January and (H) on 25 January
FA Cup: Third Round v West Bromwich Albion (A) on 7 January
Original prediction: 11th

5 HULL CITY P23-W12-D3-L8 F26/A23 Pts 39
Manager: Nick Barmby (since November 2011)
Top scorer: Matty Fryatt (8)
League Cup: lost 0-2 v Macclesfield Town (H) in First Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Ipswich Town (H) on 7 January
Original prediction: 8th

6 READING P23-W10-D6-L7 F30/A22 Pts 36
Manager: Brian McDermott (since December 2009)
Top scorer: Simon Church (6)
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Charlton Athletic (A) in First Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Stevenage (H) on 7 January
Original prediction: 9th

7 BLACKPOOL P23-W9-D8-L6 F36/A28 Pts 35
Manager: Ian Holloway (since May 2009)
Top scorer: Kevin Phillips (7)
League Cup: lost 2-4 on penalties after 0-0 v Sheffield Wednesday (A) in First Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Fleetwood Town (A) on 7 January
Original prediction: 18th

8 LEEDS UNITED P23-W10-D5-L8 F36/A31 Pts 35
Manager: Simon Grayson (since December 2008)
Top scorer: Ross McCormack (10)
League Cup: lost 0-3 v Manchester United (H) in Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Arsenal (A) on 9 January
Original prediction: 2nd

All of the clubs in the middle part of the table still hold realistic ambitions of promotion via the playoffs with BURNLEY clearly leading the charge after five wins in their last six league games. Dougie Freedman's CRYSTAL PALACE are 10th but enjoyed their best result of the season outside of the Championship, beating Manchester United 2-1 after extra time at Old Trafford to set up a date with Cardiff City in the semi finals of the League Cup.
Eleventh-placed BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION have faded after a good start in which they won five of their first six games. Gus Poyet's Seagulls have now lost their last three without scoring while one of the promotion favourites, LEICESTER CITY, have flattered to deceive all season. Sven Goran-Eriksson paid for the Foxes' inconsistency with the sack but new manager Nigel Pearson has continued the record of failing to win successive league games all season.
PETERBOROUGH UNITED have recently boosted their prospects of a top-half finish with successive wins over struggling Coventry and Nottingham Forest, both of which were surprisingly just 1-0 given Posh's record of 42 goals scored and 39 conceded. But, in 14th, Nigel Clough's DERBY COUNTY have relinquished their early-season playoff spot after a run of five successive defeats in November.
Meanwhile, Chris Hughton's BIRMINGHAM CITY, who are still unbeaten at St Andrews, could easily storm towards the top six by winning their two games in hand having finally been knocked out of the distraction of the Europa League. And finally, BARNSLEY have already flirted with the playoffs after four successive wins in late November and early December. But, having lost a 2-0 lead at home to Ipswich, ultimately losing 5-3, the Tykes have since been beaten twice more to tumble down to 16th. Nevertheless, this is still just two wins away from sixth.

9 BURNLEY P23-W10-D3-L10 F35/A31 Pts 33
Manager: Eddie Howe (since January 2011)
Top scorer: Charlie Austin (8)
League Cup: lost 0-1 v Cardiff City (A) in Fourth Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Norwich City (A) on 7 January
Original prediction: 15th

10 CRYSTAL PALACE P23-W9-D6-L8 F22/A22 Pts 33
Manager: Dougie Freedman (since January 2011)
Top scorer: Glenn Murray (5)
League Cup: Semi final v Cardiff City (H) on 11 January and (A) on 25 January
FA Cup: Third Round v Derby County (A) on 7 January
Original prediction: 19th

11 BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION P23-W9-D5-L9 F23/A26 Pts 32
Manager: Gus Poyet (since November 2009)
Top scorer: Craig Mackail-Smith (6)
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Liverpool (H) in Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Wrexham (H) on 7 January
Original prediction: 10th

12 LEICESTER CITY P23-W8-D7-L8 F30/A26 Pts 31
Manager: Nigel Pearson (since November 2011)
Top scorer: David Nugent (7)
League Cup: lost 6-7 on penalties after 2-2 draw v Cardiff City (A) in Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Nottingham Forest (A) on 7 January
Original prediction: 3rd

13 PETERBOROUGH UNITED P23-W9-D4-L10 F42/A39 Pts 31
Manager: Darren Ferguson (since January 2011)
Top scorer: Grant McCann (8)
League Cup: lost 0-2 v Middlesbrough (H) in Second Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Sunderland (H) on 8 January
Original prediction: 21st

14 DERBY COUNTY P23-W9-D4-L10 F27/A32 Pts 31
Manager: Nigel Clough (since January 2009)
Top scorers: Steve Davies, Theo Robinson (5)
League Cup: lost 2-3 v Shrewsbury Town (H) in First Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Crystal Palace (H) on 7 January
Original prediction: 20th

15 BIRMINGHAM CITY P21-W8-D6-L7 F27/A24 Pts 30
Manager: Chris Hughton (since June 2011)
Top scorer: Chris Wood (9)
League Cup: lost 0-2 v Manchester City (A) in Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) on 7 January
Europe: Knocked out of the Europa League in Group stage
Original prediction: 4th

16 BARNSLEY P23-W8-D6-L9 F31/A35 Pts 30
Manager: Keith Hill (since June 2011)
Top scorer: Craig Davies (8)
League Cup: lost 0-2 v Morecambe (A) in First Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Swansea City (H) on 7 January
Original prediction: 17th

Rooted to the bottom, rudderless COVENTRY CITY had taken just one point out of 24 until their home win on Boxing Day against Bristol City - and even those three points leave the Sky Blues five points adrift of the Robins in 21st. Second-bottom DONCASTER ROVERS have made a similarly poor start though recent home wins over Southampton and Leicester thanks to the goalscoring of Billy Sharp will give the South Yorkshire club hope.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST complete the bottom three and perhaps look the most desperate of the strugglers on current form, having taken just one point of the last six games and failed to score in any of them. The switch from Steve McClaren to Steve Cotterill does not seem to have worked for the twice-European Cup winners who must be worried about a return to the third flight having recently spent three seasons there. At least BRISTOL CITY remain within Forest's grasp after the Robins wrecked a five-game unbeaten run under new manager Derek McInnes, which lifted them away from the bottom, by since remaining winless in the subsequent five games.
MILLWALL, in 20th, and IPSWICH TOWN, in 19th, enjoy five- and six-point gap to the bottom three respectively. But Kenny Jackett's Lions have really struggled without the goals of Steve Morison, now at Norwich, while Paul Jewell's Town are only just recovering from an awful sequence of seven successive league defeats.
Seventeenth-placed PORTSMOUTH and WATFORD, in 18th, are also on 27 points with Ipswich but the Hornets are enjoying a streak of just one defeat in their last 10 league games. Five of the last six have been draws, though, as the Sean Dyche's side continue tentatively after the double summer blow of losing manager Malky Mackay to Cardiff and striker Danny Graham to Swansea.
Pompey may look reasonably safe for now six points clear of the drop but, as ever, the main threat to Michael Appleton's side comes in the form of the administrators and a points deduction after yet more ownership issues.

17 PORTSMOUTH P22-W7-D6-L9 F24/A24 Pts 27
Manager: Michael Appleton (since November 2011)
Top scorers: David Norris, Luke Varney (5)
League Cup: lost 0-1 v Barnet (H) in First Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Chelsea (A) on 8 January
Original prediction: 13th

18 WATFORD P23-W6-D9-L8 F23/A31 Pts 27
Manager: Sean Dyche (since June 2011)
Top scorer: Marvin Sordell (6)
League Cup: lost 2-4 on penalties after 1-1 draw v Bristol Rovers (A) in First Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Bradford City (H) on 7 January
Original prediction: 22nd

19 IPSWICH TOWN P22-W8-D3-L11 F33/A43 Pts 27
Manager: Paul Jewell (since January 2011)
Top scorer: Keith Andrews (9)
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Northampton Town (H) in First Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Hull City (A) on 7 January
Original prediction: 12th

20 MILLWALL P23-W6-D8-L9 F24/A26 Pts 26
Manager: Kenny Jackett (since November 2007)
Top scorer: Darius Henderson (9)
League Cup: lost 0-5 to Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) in Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Dagenham & Redbridge (A) on 7 January
Original prediction: 16th

21 BRISTOL CITY P23-W5-D6-L12 F21/A34 Pts 21
Manager: Derek McInnes (since October 2011)
Top scorer: Nicky Maynard (7)
League Cup: lost 0-1 v Swindon Town (H) in First Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Crawley Town (A) on 7 January
Original prediction: 14th

22 NOTTINGHAM FOREST P23-W6-D3-L14 F18/A37 Pts 21
Manager: Steve Cotterill (since October 2011)
Top scorers: Ishmael Miller, Marcus Tudgay (3)
League Cup: lost 3-4 aet v Newcastle United (H) in Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Leicester City (H) on 7 January
Original prediction: 7th

23 DONCASTER ROVERS P23-W5-D4-L14 F19/A39 Pts 19
Manager: Dean Saunders (since September 2011)
Top scorer: Billy Sharp (9)
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Leeds United (H) in Second Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Notts County (A) on 7 January
Original prediction: 24th

24 COVENTRY CITY P23-W3-D7-L13 F18/A33 Pts 16
Manager: Andy Thorn (since March 2011)
Top scorer: Lukas Jutkiewicz (8)
League Cup: lost 1-3 v Bury (A) in First Round
FA Cup: Third Round v Southampton (H) on 7 January
Original prediction: 23rd

Verdicts written on 27/12/2011. All statistics correct as of 26-27/12/2011.

Labour relief at Feltham result

2011-12-17T01:11:00.002Z

Feltham and Heston by-election result Lab hold
Seema Malhotra Labour 12639 (54%, +11)
James Hockley Conservatives 6436 (28%, -6)
Roger Crouch Lib Dems 1364 (6%, -8)
Andrew Charalambous UKIP 1276 (5%, +3)
David Furness BNP 540 (2%, -1)
Daniel Goldsmith Green 426 (1%, +1)
Other candidates 543 (2%)
Total votes: 23299 Turnout: 28.8% Majority 6203

LABOUR breathed a sigh of relief after comfortably holding Feltham and Heston in a by-election at the end of a tough week.

Seema Malhotra, the successful Labour candidate, easily retained the seat for her party, winning 12,639 votes (54.42%) for an increased majority of 6,203 over the Conservatives' Mark Bowen (6,436, 27.71%).

Turnout was just 28.8%, the lowest in a by-election for 11 years since the West Bromwich West poll in November 2000 attracted just 27.6% of voters.

And the Liberal Democrats suffered another by-election nightmare following last year's disastrous performance in Barnsley Central where they lost their deposit.

Roger Crouch (1,364, 5.87%) did not quite face that ignominy this time but it was a close-run thing, and indeed the Lib Dems only just held onto third place after a strong challenge from UKIP (1,276, 5.49%).

The poll was yet more proof that being in government has severely harmed the electoral appeal of Nick Clegg's party.

But the same cannot be said of the Conservatives who will head into the Christmas recess in a decidedly chipper mood.

For, against the odds, the Tories have established a consistent, if rather narrow, opinion poll lead for the first time this year, seemingly in a direct consequence of Prime Minister David Cameron's veto on Europe.

Mr Cameron's refusal to bow to pressure from France and Germany to sign up to changes to the EU's Lisbon Treaty has chimed well with an increasingly Eurosceptic British public.

And the PM followed his self-styled victory in Europe with a strong performance in Westminster at the last Prime Minister's Questions of the calendar year.

Responding to a jibe from Labour leader Ed Miliband about the split in the coalition over the Eurozone crisis, Mr Cameron retorted: "No one in this house is going to be surprised that Conservatives and Liberal Democrats don't always agree about Europe.

"But let me reassure him he shouldn't believe everything he reads in the papers. It's not that bad. It's not like we're brothers or anything!"

It was a cutting put-down which clearly hurt Mr Miliband whose leadership remains very much defined by his act of political fratricide in September 2010.

Polling suggests that Mr Miliband has already blown his chance with the British public who have failed to warm to him, though he has not been helped by a Labour party still in the process of renewal.

Indeed, Labour's lack of clarity on an alternative policy really harms them on weeks like this one, and it was difficult to pin down their own position on the EU veto.

Similarly, when it comes to trust over the handling of the economy, the Labour team of Mr Miliband and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls is favoured by just 29% over the current duo of Mr Cameron and George Osborne.

That view comes despite the fact that the public thinks that slowing cuts would boost growth (69%), Britain is getting a worse place to live (47%), and the economy will be worse next year than this (41%).

Of course, British pessimism about 2012 should come as no surprise following Mr Osborne's Autumn Statement in which he announced a sharp downgrading of growth in this year and the next.

Meanwhile, in other depressing news this week, unemployment rose to its highest level for 17 years with 2.64 million people now out of work.

And so, against this dreary background, it is quite extraordinary - not to say, a damning verdict on the Labour opposition - that the Tories hold a poll lead, even if it turns out to be a transient one.

Even in traditional strongholds north of the border, where the Conservative presence is so small as to be inconsequential, Labour trails in second place.

Today saw the election of Johann Lamont as the new Scottish Labour leader, a direct result of the Scottish National Party's thumping victory in the Holyrood elections in May.

Ms Lamont should not underestimate her task with a recent poll from MORI suggesting the Nationalists' surge has continued.

Oddly, if the SNP's presence in the Scottish Parliament was replicated at Westminster, the Conservatives could yet still be denied a majority in a general election.

The main consequence of another SNP landslide would be for them effectively to replace the Lib Dems as a strong third party in the House of Commons.

And the only way that the Tories could combat the third-party presence from Scotland is by taking more seats off Labour and the Lib Dems in England.

Of course, when it comes to the latter, it could be said that they are already receiving all the help they can get.

This has been a year to forget for Nick Clegg and his increasingly disenchanted rabble of Lib Dems.

Euro 2012 finals draw

2011-12-02T13:33:00.006Z

GROUP A	GROUP B	GROUP C	GROUP D
POLAND	NETHERLANDS	SPAIN	UKRAINE
GREECE	DENMARK	ITALY	ENGLAND
RUSSIA	GERMANY	IRELAND	FRANCE
CZECH REPUBLIC	PORTUGAL	CROATIA	SWEDEN

GROUP A

TV	Date/time (BST)		Venue
BBC	Fri 8 June, 17:00	POLAND v GREECE	Warsaw
ITV	Fri 8 June, 19:45	RUSSIA v CZECH REPUBLIC	Wroclaw
ITV	Tue 12 June, 17:00	GREECE v CZECH REPUBLIC	Wroclaw
ITV	Tue 12 June, 19:45	POLAND v RUSSIA	Warsaw
BBC	Sat 16 June, 19:45	CZECH REPUBLIC v POLAND	Wroclaw
BBC	Sat 16 June, 19:45	GREECE v RUSSIA	Warsaw

GROUP B

TV	Date/time (BST)		Venue
BBC	Sat 9 June, 17:00	NETHERLANDS v DENMARK	Kharkiv
BBC	Sat 9 June, 19:45	GERMANY v PORTUGAL	Lviv
ITV	Wed 13 June, 17:00	DENMARK v PORTUGAL	Lviv
BBC	Wed 13 June, 19:45	NETHERLANDS v GERMANY	Kharkiv
ITV	Sun 17 June, 19:45	PORTUGAL v NETHERLANDS	Kharkiv
ITV	Sun 17 June, 19:45	DENMARK v GERMANY	Lviv

GROUP C

TV	Date/time (BST)		Venue
ITV	Sun 10 June, 17:00	SPAIN v ITALY	Gdansk
ITV	Sun 10 June, 19:45	IRELAND v CROATIA	Poznan
BBC	Thu 14 June, 17:00	ITALY v CROATIA	Poznan
ITV	Thu 14 June, 19:45	SPAIN v IRELAND	Gdansk
BBC	Mon 18 June, 17:00	CROATIA v SPAIN	Gdansk
BBC	Mon 18 June, 19:45	ITALY v IRELAND	Poznan

GROUP D

TV	Date/time (BST)		Venue
ITV	Mon 11 June, 17:00	FRANCE v ENGLAND	Donetsk
BBC	Mon 11 June, 19:45	UKRAINE v SWEDEN	Kiev
ITV	Fri 15 June, 17:00	UKRAINE v FRANCE	Donetsk
BBC	Fri 15 June, 19:45	SWEDEN v ENGLAND	Kiev
ITV	Tue 19 June, 19:45	ENGLAND v UKRAINE	Donetsk
ITV	Tue 19 June, 19:45	SWEDEN v FRANCE	Kiev

QUARTER FINALS

TV	Date/time (BST)		Venue
BBC/ITV	Thu 21 June, 19:45	Winner A v Runners-up B	Warsaw
BBC/ITV	Fri 22 June, 19:45	Winner B v Runners-up A	Gdansk
BBC/ITV	Sat 23 June, 19:45	Winner C v Runners-up D	Donetsk
BBC/ITV	Sun 24 June, 19:45	Winner D v Runners-up C	Kiev

SEMI FINALS

TV	Date/time (BST)		Venue
BBC	Wed 27 June, 19:45	Quarter final 1 v Quarter final 3	Donetsk
BBC	Thu 28 June, 19:45	Quarter final 2 v Quarter final 4	Warsaw

FINAL
BBC and ITV

Sun 1 July, 19:45

Finalist 1 v Finalist 2

Kiev

F1 2011: Team-by-team review

2011-11-29T01:59:00.007Z

1 RED BULL-RENAULT 650 points
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) 392 (11 wins)
3 Mark Webber (Aus) 258 (1 win)
RED BULL and Vettel did in 2011 exactly what they had threatened to do in 2010 by utterly dominating their respective championships. While their 2010 victories came in spite of reliability issues and driver error, this year Vettel was seemingly on a one-man mission to break as many records as he could. Twice, the 24-year-old German went on a streak of winning five races out of six on his way to becoming the youngest double world champion.
Vettel notched up 11 Grand Prix wins and achieved more pole positions in a single season (14) than anyone previously, beating Nigel Mansell's record from 1992. Vettel also beat Mansell's record of leading more Grand Prix laps (739) in a single season in F1 history. Even with the proviso that this was a longer F1 season than most in the past, this was still a huge achievement.
Team-mate Webber had a less happy time with Vettel's imperious performance in qualifying converting into a race-day record that the Australian was simply powerless to match. In 19 Grand Prix, Webber out-qualified Vettel just three times, and he also had a better final result on only three occasions. The last of these came in Webber's solitary Grand Prix win of the season at the final race in Brazil but, while the victory did at least promote him into third place in the championship by a single point, the feeling remains that 2010 was Webber's last chance of ultimate glory.

2 McLAREN-MERCEDES 497
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) 270 (3 wins)
5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) 227 (3 wins)
McLAREN was the only team able to hold a light to the dominant Red Bull on a consistent basis with the two drivers racing to three wins each. That is pretty much, however, where the similarities to the respective campaigns of Button and Hamilton end.
Considering their parity in totalling their race wins, that Hamilton finished 43 points behind his team-mate is not inconsiderable - but then that is what happens to drivers who get into too many tangles. Indeed, Hamilton was involved in six incidents with Ferrari's Felipe Massa alone in a season-long spat which seemingly developed from a grouchy rivalry to outright hostility.
Hamilton's race day problems also negated a strong qualifying performance in which he beat Button in 13 of the 19 sessions. But what Button lacked on a Saturday, he more than made up for on Sundays, generally staying out of trouble and recording a series of highly impressive results in the second half of the season. In a low point, the Frome flyer suffered consecutive retirements in the British and German GPs in mid-season but, after that, he finished off the podium only once more in the remaining nine races. Even then, that was a fourth-placed finish in Korea and it all contributed to a runners-up finish in the drivers' championship.
Considering that this season could have so easily been a Red Bull whitewash, Button can reflect positively on an excellent campaign. Meanwhile, Hamilton needs to get his head sorted out, though there were signs that he is finally doing exactly that in much-improved late-season performances in Korea and Abu Dhabi.

3 FERRARI 375
4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) 257 (1 win)
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) 118

FERRARI suffered another dispiriting campaign with just one win all season coming courtesy of Alonso after he took advantage of an uncharacteristic Red Bull error in the pits at Silverstone. Indeed, his team mate Massa failed even to appear on the podium once - and his fifth-placed finishes in the Grand Prix in Malaysia, Europe, Britain, Germany and Abu Dhabi were the height of his attainment. Massa was also out-qualified by Alonso on 15 out of 19 occasions, the second worst record in the paddock, and so it was no surprise to see Ferrari warn the Brazilian that the 2012 season represent his last chance at Maranello.

It must be said, though, that Massa's performance was possibly closer to the natural ability of this Ferrari model. Alonso seemed at times to outperform his team and, after a slow start, the Spaniard finished on the podium in four races out of five in a mid-season purple patch. That is all it proved to be, however, and there were only three further podium finishes followed in the last nine races.

Nevertheless, this still gave him a creditable total of nine top-three placings in the campaign as a whole but Alonso will demand so much more of his team next season as he looks to beat Vettel in the race to become F1's youngest ever triple world champion, a record currently held by Ayrton Senna.

4 MERCEDES 165

7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) 89
8 Michael Schumacher (Ger) 76

While German giants MERCEDES went backwards in a season that many expected them to up their game, one thing did not change - Nico Rosberg's dominance of seven-time former world champion Michael Schumacher. Rosberg out-qualified his more illustrious compatriot on no fewer than 16 occasions out of 19, the best record of any driver against his team-mate in the paddock.
It is a shame then that, unlike last season when the younger German scored three podium finishes, Rosberg was unable to make it into the top-three once this season. Nevertheless, Rosberg still outscored Schumacher and finished in the points in all but one of the last 12 races.
Just like last season, Schumacher improved as the season went on, and he can at least boast that he got the team its best result of the year with a weather-assisted fourth-placed finish in Canada. But that result is rather counter-balanced by a poor record of five retirements in the season. Schumacher will turn 42 years old in January and perhaps it is time that he realises that he will never be the champion he once was. For a start, the Mercedes team still has far too much work to do to catch the top three.

5 RENAULT 73
10 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) 37

11 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) 34

18 Bruno Senna (Bra) 2
After the first two hectic races, it looked as if the two RENAULT drivers were going to challenge those top three teams - or at least appear prominently in the skirmish behind Red Bull. Petrov and Heidfeld had one podium apiece in Australia and Malaysia respectively but, after that bright start, the big points pretty much dried up. A smattering of eighth- to tenth-placed finishes for both men meant the Renault team was always likely to end up topping the mid-table battle - but, in the end, it was a close call and only secured by four points.
In that respect, Bruno Senna's two points for ninth place at Monza - though not decisive - were hugely welcome after he replaced Heidfeld in the team for the second half of the season. However, some encouraging performances from Ayrton's nephew went unrewarded in terms of points - and so it is perhaps easy to understand why Lotus Renault has chosen to pair Petrov with 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen instead for next season.

6 FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES 69
9 Adrian Sutil (Ger) 42
13 Paul di Resta (Gbr) 27
Button and Hamilton may steal the headlines at McLaren but there was a third British driver on the circuit who impressed in his rookie season at FORCE INDIA. Scot Paul di Resta opened his account with two points from the opening two races in Australia and Malaysia before a tough, pointless eight-race spell followed despite him regularly out-qualifying his more experienced team-mate Sutil. Credit must go to di Resta, then, for the way he turned it around to score in six of the last nine races.
German Sutil also improved as the campaign went on with only four points finishes in the first 11 races but five top-ten placings in the last eight Grand Prix, including ninth, eighth and sixth in the last three races. If only the Force India team could put a full season of form together - but, then, it was always said by legendary BBC commentator Murray Walker that if is the longest word in F1.
Having enjoyed a bright start in 2010 that faded, 2011 went the opposite way with a flurry of points at the end as Force India gave Renault a bit of a fright. The driver line-up for 2012 has yet to be confirmed but hopes will be higher of further improvement whoever takes the seats.

7 SAUBER-FERRARI 44
12 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) 30
16 Sergio Perez (Mex) 14
20 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) 0
Following an inauspicious opening weekend in Australia, in which both drivers were disqualified after the race for technical infringements, SAUBER soon settled into the expected mid-table role, picking up points here and there.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of them came from Japan's Kobayashi, a driver whose aggressive style in the middle of the pack during the last two years has earned him plenty of plaudits. At Monaco this season, Kobayashi was at his best and finished fifth, the highlight of six successive points finishes in the first part of the season. Sadly, he was not able to continue this run and he scored points just three times in the last 12 races.
While Kobayashi enjoyed his best weekend in Monte Carlo, team-mate Perez - the first Mexican in F1 for 30 years - suffered a nasty crash in the tunnel, missing that race and the one which followed in Canada. Away from that, though, Perez's form was mildly impressive with six points finishes and season-best seventh place at Silverstone enough for Sauber to hold off Toro Rosso in the Constructors' championship. The two drivers' reward for their efforts is a seat each for the 2012 campaign.

8 TORO ROSSO-FERRARI 41
14 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) 26

15 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) 15

With a combined age of 44, the TORO ROSSO team has an enjoyable refreshing take on its driver line-up. Spaniard Alguersuari and Switzerland's Buemi lined up for their second full season together and improved on their effort from last year with more than three times as many points.
Indeed, on four separate occasions - in Canada, Hungary, Italy and Korea - both drivers finished a race in the top ten together, though it was also the case that certain circuits, such as Malaysia, Spain and Germany, favoured neither man. A low point came at Spa, the only race in which both cars retired, but in two of the four races which followed, in Italy and Korea, the fast-improving Alguersuari finished in a season-high of seventh. Buemi's best finishes were two eighth places in Australia and Hungary as Toro Rosso fell just three points short of matching Sauber.

9 WILLIAMS-COSWORTH 5

17 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) 4

19 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) 1

After an incredible 19 seasons, it looks like it could be farewell to Rubens Barrichello. The Brazilian has raced in 322 Grand Prix, more than any other driver in F1 history, and driven enough miles to go around the world twice. His support to Michael Schumacher at Ferrari and, later, to Jenson Button in their season at Brawn GP has resulted in Barrichello being portrayed as a right-hand man but he enjoyed plenty of moments in the sun himself.
Only four men - Schumacher, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Fernando Alonso - have finished on the podium more times, and only Schumacher has finished more races in any points scoring position. In all, Barrichello won 11 Grand Prix and enjoyed a memorable maiden win, at the 123rd attempt, at the German GP in 2000, having started in 18th.
Sadly, in perhaps WILLIAMS' worst-ever season, the team was never going to provide him with a race-winning car for this particular campaign. But, as game as ever, Barrichello still recorded successive ninth-placed finishes in Monaco and Canada to finish on four points. Aged 26, Maldonado is closer to the start of his motor racing career and the Venezuelan will hopefully benefit in the long run from being in the same team as Barrichello. The Williams car did little to help this rookie and, though he managed to pick up his first F1 point in Singapore, three retirements from the last four races meant a hugely disappointing season closed at its lowest ebb.

10 TEAM LOTUS-RENAULT 0
21 Jarno Trulli (Ita)
22 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin)
28 Karun Chandhok (Ind)
For the second year running, TEAM LOTUS finished as the best of the back-markers while failing to get on the board. The experienced line-up of Trulli and Kovalainen failed to score for a second season in a row but a smattering of 13th- and 14th-placed finishes throughout almost provides some vague veneer of respectability.
Still, Trulli's race-winning antics at Renault in 2004 and Kovalainen's two years at McLaren in 2007-08 now seem to belong to a parallel universe. The two drivers can only hope that a change of name to Caterham and more Malaysian investment can make their ride more competitive in 2012.

11 HRT-COSWORTH 0
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita)
26 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)
27 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind)
HRT recovered from another embarrassing opening weekend to avoid the indignity of finishing last in the Constructors' championship after Liuzzi's 13th place finish following the torrential rain in Canada.
First, thought, it was a case of deja vu as, for the second year running, the Spanish team's cars arrived at the opening Grand Prix without any pre-season testing - and it showed. Liuzzi and Karthikeyan both finished outside of the re-instated 107% qualifying threshold and failed to qualify. Thankfully, that never happened again but the second race was only modestly better with a double retirement in Malaysia.
Little did anyone expect then that Liuzzi would haul HRT off the bottom but, with this in the bag, the team was seemingly content to amble its way through the rest of the races. Perhaps the arrival of Pedro de la Rosa for 2012 will encourage a little more from this perennial minnow.

12 VIRGIN-COSWORTH 0
24 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel)
25 Timo Glock (Ger)
A change to Russian backers failed to bring a change of fortune to the VIRGIN team as it finished 2011 exactly in the same place as it had finished 2010 - beaten by HRT to the bottom of the table and without a single point. There was no surprise that Glock out-qualified his rookie team-mate d'Ambrosio on a regular basis but the Belgian youngster had the last laugh, finishing in 14th - one place ahead of the German in the team's best performance in Turkey.
Russian manufacturer Marussia has further increased their stake in the team and apparently secured its status until 2014. Consequently, the Virgin racing cars will carry the Marussia name from 2012 onwards with Glock joined by another F1 rookie, Charles Pic. A finish at least above HRT for next year is a must.

F1 2011 SEASON RESULTS

PODIUMS

Australian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

3 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault

Malaysian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

3 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Renault

Chinese GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

Turkish GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

Spanish GP (Pole: Mark Webber)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

Monaco GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

Canadian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

European GP (Valencia) (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

British GP (Pole: Mark Webber)

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

German GP (Pole: Mark Webber)

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

Hungarian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

Belgian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

Italian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

Singapore GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

Japanese GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

Korean GP (Pole: Lewis Hamilton)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

Indian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

Abu Dhabi GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

Brazilian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)
1 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

F1 2011 FINAL STANDINGS

World Drivers' Championship

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault 392 (11 wins)

2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes 270 (3 wins)
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 258 (1 win)
4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 257 (1 win)

5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes 227 (3 wins)

6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 118

7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes 89
8 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes 76

9 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes 42
10 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 37

11 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Renault 34

12 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber-Ferrari 30

13 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India-Mercedes 27
14 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 26

15 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 15
16 Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 14

17 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams-Cosworth 4

18 Bruno Senna (Bra) Renault 2

19 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams-Cosworth 1

Nine drivers failed to score: (20 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) Sauber-Ferrari, 21 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus-Renault, 22 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus-Renault, 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) HRT-Cosworth, 24 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel) Virgin-Cosworth, 25 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin-Cosworth, 26 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) HRT-Cosworth, 27 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) HRT-Cosworth, 28 Karun Chandhok (Ind) Lotus-Renault).

Constructors' Championship

1 Red Bull-Renault (Aut) 650

2 McLaren-Mercedes (Gbr) 497

3 Ferrari (Ita) 375

4 Mercedes (Ger) 165

5 Renault (Gbr) 73

6 Force India-Mercedes (Ind) 69

7 Sauber-Ferrari (Swi) 44
8 Toro Rosso-Ferrari (Ita) 41

9 Williams-Cosworth (Gbr) 5

There were three teams (10 Lotus-Renault (Mal), 11 HRT-Cosworth (Spa), and 12 Virgin-Cosworth (Rus)) which failed to score.

Euro 2012 playoffs: Ireland exorcise playoff hoodoo

2011-11-16T01:28:00.001Z

QUALIFIED TEAMS:
Seedings:

Poland (co-hosts), Ukraine (co-hosts), Spain (holders), and Netherlands
Germany, Italy, England and Russia
Croatia, Greece, Portugal and Sweden
Denmark, France, Czech Republic, and Republic of Ireland

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND qualified for a major championship finals for the first time in 10 years after a convincing 5-1 aggregate win over Estonia in the Euro 2012 playoffs.

Two years on from their heartbreak in Paris, the Irish made sure to do most of hard work in the first leg, away in Tallinn where they won 4-0.

Keith Andrews gave the Irish a perfect start with a header after 13 minutes and Estonia went into half time a man down as well as a goal behind after Andrei Stepanov was sent off for a second booking.

Midway through the second half, Ireland made their numerical advantage count when Jonathan Walters headed a rebound after Aidan McGeady's free-kick had been parried, and Robbie Keane quickly added a third goal.

Incredibly, it got worse for the hapless Estonians, whose first ever playoff appearance had become a nightmare when Raio Piiroja was dismissed for handball.

And, with just a couple of minutes remaining, the evergreen Keane punished the nine men with his 53rd international goal from the penalty spot after Ats Purje's foul on Stephen Hunt.

Giovanni Trapattoni attempted to warn his team that the tie was not over but an expectant crowd in Dublin were already in the mood to party.

Feeding off the support, Ireland started brightly to crush any Estonian hopes of a memorable comeback, and Keane should have added to his goal tally but missed two good chances.

His profligacy mattered little, of course, and the Irish did still eventually stretch their advantage to five goals when Wolves' Stephen Ward prodded in a rebound from club mate Kevin Doyle's header.

Estonia gave the impression of a side who knew their Euro 2012 journey was at an end but the men from the Baltic played better in the second period.

Indeed, Konstantin Vassiljev levelled the game on the night when his shot squirmed under Shay Given but that only made it 5-1 and Ireland were easily able to see out the rest of the match.

The first leg results also proved decisive in two of the other ties as Croatia crushed Turkey and the Czech Republic ended Montenegro's dream.

It was not too long ago that Turkey was seen as a tough place to go but Croatia made a mockery of that with a 3-0 away win as they gained revenge for their Euro 2008 quarter final defeat to the same opponents.

Of course, an early goal always helps and Slaven Bilic's men got the perfect start through Ivica Olic's strike inside two minutes.

By half time, Croatia had silenced the crowd in Istanbul with Mario Mandzukic having doubled the lead on 32 minutes before the tie was effectively settled six minutes into the second half.

Tottenham Hotspur full-back Vedran Corluka made it 3-0 on 51 minutes and a soporific 0-0 in the second leg in Zagreb meant that the Croats' first leg performance had been more than sufficient.

The Czech Republic also put themselves in control of their tie after victory in the first leg but they took their time to shrug off Montenegro in Prague.

At 0-0 on the hour mark, the Montenegrins were still in with a good shout but Vaclav Pilar hit an important opener before a real hammer blow from Tomas Sivok. The Besiktas midfielder struck in the 92nd minute and left Montenegro with it all to do in the second leg.

In the end, it was too much to ask and the Czechs made sure of qualifying for their fifth straight European Championship finals with a late away goal from Petr Jiracek.

But, while Montenegro's dream was over, the identical hopes of a first major finals for Bosnia-Herzegovina were very much alive going into their second leg against Portugal.

A 0-0 draw in the first leg in Zenica had seemed to leave the tie in the balance but, once again, the favourites eventually prevailed by a comfortable margin.

Two super strikes by Manchester United wingers past and present - Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani - looked to have put the Portuguese on their way.

Bosnia were not giving up the fight easily, though, and they halved their deficit at half time thanks to a Zvjezdan Misimovic penalty, needing just one more goal to go through.

Instead, Ronaldo restored Portugal's two-goal lead shortly before the decisive moment when Senad Lulic was sent off for dissent.

That left the Bosnians with the figurative mountain to climb but they threatened briefly again when Emir Spahic scored against the run of play to make it 3-2 on 66 minutes.

But, from then on, Bosnia were powerless to stop the Portuguese from becoming the 16th and final country to qualify for Euro 2012 next summer.

Former Spurs striker Helder Postiga netted twice either side of Miguel Veloso's goal as Portugal ended up hitting Bosnia for six in a thumping win.

EURO 2012 PLAYOFF RESULTS:
First leg
11 November 2011

Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-0 Portugal
Czech Republic 2-0 Montenegro
Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland
Turkey 0-3 Croatia

Second leg
15 November 2011

Portugal 6-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina (Portugal won 6-2 on aggregate)
Montenegro 0-1 Czech Republic (Czech Republic won 3-0 on aggregate)
Republic of Ireland 1-1 Estonia (Republic of Ireland won 5-1 on aggregate)
Croatia 1-0 Turkey (Croatia won 4-0 on aggregate)

11/11/11: Remembrance Day, lest we forget

2011-11-11T16:06:00.003Z

THE FINAL INSPECTION

Sgt Joshua Helterbran
---

The soldier stood and faced God,

Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his shoes were shining,

Just as brightly as his brass.
*

'Step forward now, you soldier,

How shall I deal with you ?

Have you always turned the other cheek ?

To My Church have you been true?'
*

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,

'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.

Because those of us who carry guns,

Can't always be a saint.
*

'I've had to work most Sundays,

And at times my talk was tough.

And sometimes I've been violent,

Because the world is awfully rough.
*

'But, I never took a penny,

That wasn't mine to keep...

Though I worked a lot of overtime,

When the bills got just too steep.
*

'And I never passed a cry for help,

Though at times I shook with fear.

And sometimes, God, forgive me,

I've wept unmanly tears.
*

'I know I don't deserve a place,

Among the people here.

They never wanted me around,

Except to calm their fears.
*

'If you've a place for me here, Lord,

It needn't be so grand.

I never expected or had too much,

But if you don't, I'll understand.'
*

There was a silence all around the throne,

Where the saints had often trod.

As the soldier waited quietly,

For the judgment of his God.
*

'Step forward now, you soldier,

You've borne your burdens well.

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,

You've done your time in Hell.'

Donate to the Royal British Legion (1921-2011), the charity which organises the Poppy Appeal, here.

FIFA were wrong in poppy wrangle

2011-11-11T15:41:00.001Z

FIFA took their time but eventually performed a U-turn to allow England players to wear poppies on their black armbands during the friendly with Spain at Wembley on Saturday.

But the climbdown only came after Duke of Cambridge Prince William and Prime Minister David Cameron had written to FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

Earlier Mr Cameron had branded the original decision of an outright ban on poppies as "outrageous", and he added: "The idea that wearing a poppy to remember those who have given their lives for our freedom is a political act is absurd.

"Wearing a poppy is an act of huge respect and national pride."

FIFA had stated, by way of explanation, that the ban on poppies had to be enforced as "such initiatives would open the door to similar initiatives from all over the world, jeopardising the neutrality of football".

However, Blatter's organisation has failed to realise that, despite the intervention of Mr Cameron, the poppy itself is not a political or religious symbol at all. It simply serves to commemorate those who sacrificed their lives in war for their country.

Jon Snow, the Channel 4 news presenter, famously refuses to wear a poppy (or indeed any symbol which may represent his views) on screen, condemning what he calls "poppy fascism".

Mr Snow added: "In the end, there really must be more important things in life than whether a news presenter wears symbols on his lapels."

But that is not the issue here, either, as the England players were more than happy to have a poppy embroidered on their shirt.

That was certainly the case for Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere who tweeted: "My great-grandad fought for this country in WW2 and I'm sure a lot of people's grandparents did.

"[The] England team should wear poppies on Saturday. It's the nation's tradition and it would be disrespectful not to."

Indeed, the only extremism seemed to come from FIFA, the organisation with a ~~president~~ dictator who has famously been reelected unopposed on the last two occasions.

Meanwhile, the Royal British Legion expressed their disappointment at the original stance. George Batt, the general secretary of the Normandy Veterans' Associated, described the decision as "disgraceful".

Mr Batt added: "I'm lost for words. I can't see any harm in wearing a poppy. It's so sad.You surely don't need rules and regulations in Fifa like this?"

It is little wonder the soldiers were bemused and upset. They know that 90 minutes of exposure from England's top footballers would do much to help a good cause which celebrated its 90th birthday this year.

Of course, the row brought the usual measured response from the right-wing press and, even in supporting the cause, the Daily Mail slipped up.

First, the newspaper inexplicably pinned the blame for the poppy ban on the Germans before making a U-turn of its own.

But it is FIFA's change of heart which is more telling as the organisation gradually realised it was on the wrong side of the argument once again.

Indeed, as row escalated, the governing body went from banning poppies altogether to allowing black armbands to allowing poppies on the black armbands.

Nevertheless, the poppies will still not be on the shirts and so it could be argued that Blatter and co have still not nearly gone far enough.

Pakistan cricket scam puts ICC in the dock

2011-11-04T15:05:00.001Z

ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss has launched a scathing attack on the anti-corruption unit of the International Cricket Council today, labelling it a "toothless tiger".

The ICC has unsurprisingly come in for criticism after three Pakistan cricketers were found guilty of conspiring to bowl deliberate no-balls at pre-determined times in last year's Test match against England.

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt was jailed for 30 months while Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir face one year and six months behind bars respectively.

However, the problem arises in that their crimes were uncovered in a sting operation by a British tabloid newspaper, rather than by the sporting body's anti-corruption unit.

ICC chief Sir Ronnie Flanagan has said there is little to be worried about and claimed that illegal betting is "engaged in by a tiny number of people".

But Strauss has questioned whether the ICC has enough resources to be sure that corruption is indeed "not rampant in the world of cricket", as Sir Ronnie also suggested.

"They can't do sting operations like the News of the World. They can't infiltrate these betting networks. I'm hopeful only a minor percentage of cricketers are involved in it but the truth is we really don't know," Strauss said.

Strauss is not the only person to speak out about the ICC. One of his predecessors, Sir Ian Botham, has also criticised the governing body over their handling of the case.

Sir Ian said: "I think the ICC have just sat on their hands and pretended it's not there. Well now they have got to act."

In response, Sir Ronnie has insisted that the members of anti-corruption unit is "doing the best job they possibly can".

But that is not the issue here. The issue is that the ICC simply have not put enough money or man-power into their own investigations.

And, while the unit probably is doing the best it can, the truth is that it currently falls woefully short of being an adequate regulator.

The worst part of it is that Sir Ronnie and his team seem so relaxed that their job was effectively done by News of the World journalists, rather than themselves.

The newspaper may now have deservedly bitten the dust but it goes to show that, amid the calls for vigilante justice and the illegal phone-hacking, occasionally it served its readers well.

One thing which is for sure is that the papers in Pakistan are glad of the verdict even though a minority of fans has screamed that the case was a Western conspiracy against their team.

In fairness, the majority of Pakistan supporters is pleased to be following an improving team which is working hard to cast off its negative image by actually winning some cricket matches.

But a significant match-fixing underworld still exists, and the temptation to make a fast buck remains present, especially in the sub-continent.

Surely the ICC, which is not a poor organisation by any stretch, needs to put more money and man-power into ripping apart these shady practices once and for all.

For, cricket supporters all around the world deserve far better assurances that what they are watching is a genuine reflection of the teams' abilities - and not based upon the vagaries of the bookmakers' odds.

Private Eye still packs a punch at 50

2011-10-27T22:03:00.000+01:00

SATIRICAL mouthpiece Private Eye celebrated its 50th birthday this week in time-honoured fashion.

Featured on the front page of the latest edition, no. 1300, is David Cameron and his Conservative counterpart from 1961, Harold Macmillan.

It is the 23rd occasion that the current Prime Minister has been put on the cover though that is some way behind another of his predecessors, Margaret Thatcher, who leads with 95 appearances.

Famous front covers include a picture of Adolf Hitler telling us he is in fancy dress as Prince Harry after the young Royal's faux pas, and the hugely controversial 'Media to Blame' headline when Princess Diana died.

Other examples can be found on the Private Eye website which has a comprehensive index of its back issues.

Digging a little deeper, the Eye supplies fortnightly an irrepressible run of recurring in-jokes, regular columns, cartoons, and parodies of politicians, celebrities and, indeed, the newspaper industry.

Yes, journalism does not escape the clutches of the Eye: the Sun is oft-parodied for its SENSATIONALIST style, the Daily Mail mocked for its right-wing leanings and the Guardian - or Grauniad - for its spelling.

However, Private Eye is not just a joke mag but also a source itself of serious investigative journalism and a sanctuary for whistleblowers.

Indeed, the anniversary edition of the Eye has a list of 50 stories which it has broke over the years from the Profumo affair to Andrew Marr's more recent infidelity.

Among the magazine's current set of targets is former HM Revenue & Customs boss Dave Hartnett for his dodgy tax dealings with investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Of course, the Eye's propensity to push the boundaries has made it a few enemies in high places over the past half-century.

The proof of that comes in the fact that current editor - and Have I Got News For You panellist - Ian Hislop holds the unenviable record for being the most sued man in Britain.

Nevertheless, the Eye, with a circulation of more than 200,000, remains pretty well-regarded among political anoraks in this country, if not perhaps the British public at large.

Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell even tabled an Early Day Motion at Westminster, proposing: "That this House congratulates satirical magazine Private Eye on its 50th anniversary".

The motion attracted 22 signatories, though the Eye notes that this total is five fewer MPs than the 27 who signed a similar proposal for its 1000th edition, 11 years ago.

Perhaps the recent scandals surrounding lobbying and MPs expenses means the Eye has got up a few more politicians' noses - but, in that respect, Mr Hislop and his team are only doing their jobs.

The American author and journalist Finley Peter Dunne once wrote that the job of a newspaper is "to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable".

And it would seem that Private... (cont. p94)

(That's enough, Ed.)

Rugby World Cup Final 2011: New Zealand end 24 years of hurt

2011-10-24T01:03:00.214+01:00

NEW ZEALAND 8 Try Woodcock Pen Donald
FRANCE 7 Try Dusautoir Con Trinh-Duc

New Zealand Dagg, Jane, Smith, Nonu, Kahui, Cruden, Weepu - Woodcock, Mealamu, O Franks, Whitelock, Thorn, Kaino, McCaw (c), Read. Replacements: Donald (for Cruden), A Williams (for Whitelock), Hore (for Mealamu), Ellis (for Weepu), S Williams (for Nonu). Not used: B Franks, Thomson.
France Médard, Clerc, Rougerie, Mermoz, Palisson, Parra, Yachvili - Poux, Servat, Mas, Papé, Nallet, Dusautoir (c), Bonnaire, Harinordoquy. Replacements: Trinh-Duc (for Parra), Traille (for Clerc), Szarzewski (for Servat), Barcella (for Poux), Pierre (for Pape), Doussain (for Yachvili). Not used: Fulgence Ouedraogo
Attendance: 60,000 at Eden Park, Auckland Referee: Craig Joubert (SA) Half time: 5-0

NEW ZEALAND survived one hell of a fright against France to secure their first World Cup in 24 years at Eden Park in Auckland.

The All Blacks came into the match as heavy favourites after the two teams' mixed routes to the Final but this ended up being yet another close call for Graham Henry's men.

Palpable tension filled the arena as the French advanced in a V-formation on the All Blacks' Haka and there was evidence of early nerves in the New Zealand line-out.

France enjoyed the first clean burst of possession but they made little ground and worries from the neutral of a one-sided Final quickly returned as the All Blacks drew first blood.

The try on 15 minutes was a simple one, ironically from a lineout inside the 22 given their early troubles.

It was scored from the most unlikely of figures as prop forward Tony Woodcock strode through unchallenged after Jerome Kaino's clever knockdown.

But Piri Weepu was unable to add the conversion and it became evident that the scrum-half was not having the best of days off the tee when he sliced a penalty horribly wide shortly afterwards.

Kiwi fans always feared that they would miss the outstanding goal-kicking talent of Dan Carter but the team's accuracy in play was a lot better, and Richard Kahui almost set up another scoring chance with a grubber kick.

Aurelien Rougerie mopped that up well and it was clear that France, who had been put out of the game by this stage of the Pool match, were competing much better this time.

Nevertheless, they had to wait until towards the end of the half for their best spell of pressure through fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc, on for the injured Morgan Parra.

First, Trinh-Duc missed an ambitious drop goal before the glimmer of an even better chance as he made a line-break.

However, New Zealand reorganised to close the door and Weepu hastily brought an end to the first half with both sides very much still in the contest.

It was perhaps no surprise, then, that the second period began with a spell of frantic, open rugby.

The French started brightly again and forced a penalty when Kiwi skipper Richie McCaw was penalised for handling in the ruck.

Dmitri Yashvili missed a tough kick and New Zealand responded by winning a penalty of their own after Kieran Reid's brilliant take from a lineout reignited the atmosphere in Eden Park.

Stephen Donald, making his World Cup debut as the All Blacks' fourth choice fly-half after an injuries to Carter, Colin Slade and Aaron Cruden, placed his kick just inside the right-hand post.

That made it 8-0 and, as the ball sailed between the sticks, it seemed likely that Henry's men would get to loosen the shackles in the last 35 minutes of their World Cup adventure.

However, New Zealand's knockout matches with France are never that simple, and this was to prove no exception as the French hit back almost immediately with a try.

Captain Thierry Dusautoir was the scorer, sliding over next to the posts after the French backs had done well to keep alive the move once Yashvili had slipped.

Yashvili then sent over the simple conversion and, suddenly, New Zealand's lead was down to one point with the score at 8-7.

At this stage, based upon past experiences, All Blacks fans could not be blamed for watching the rest of the match through their fingers or even from behind the sofa.

But the steely character of this New Zealand team is the best that it has been since 1987, as we had witnessed in their previous match when they completely shut down the second half of the semi final against Australia.

France would suffer a similar fate as they struggled to make headway against the All Black defence despite having more than 30 minutes to score any points.

It was not through the want of trying, though, and Marc Lievremont's strange reign as the French head coach ended with his team giving one of their best performances.

But, while France had ensured this Final was a worthy contest and not the whitewash that had been feared, New Zealand were undoubtedly the worthy winners.

The spell has been broken, the haunting chains of failure have been removed. After 24 years, the All Blacks' pain is finally over and there is something about that which just feels right.

FULL RESULTS
SEMI FINAL RESULTS

Date		Venue	Tries
Sat 15 Oct	WALES 8-9 FRANCE	Eden Park, Auckland	1-0
Sun 16 Oct	AUSTRALIA 6-20 NEW ZEALAND	Eden Park, Auckland	0-1

QUARTER FINAL RESULTS

Date		Venue	Tries
Sat 8 Oct	IRELAND 10-22 WALES	Wellington	1-3
Sat 8 Oct	ENGLAND 12-19 FRANCE	Eden Park, Auckland	2-2
Sun 9 Oct	SOUTH AFRICA 9-11 AUSTRALIA	Wellington	0-1
Sun 9 Oct	NEW ZEALAND 33-10 ARGENTINA	Eden Park, Auckland	2-1

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011: FIRST ROUND RESULTS/TABLES

POOL A

TV	Date		Venue
ITV1	Fri 09 Sep	NEW ZEALAND 41-10 TONGA	Eden Park, Auckland
ITV1	Sat 10 Sep	FRANCE 47-21 JAPAN	North Harbour, Auckland
ITV4	Wed 14 Sep	TONGA 20-25 CANADA	Whangarei
ITV1	Fri 16 Sep	NEW ZEALAND 83-7 JAPAN	Hamilton
ITV1	Sun 18 Sep	FRANCE 46-19 CANADA	Napier
ITV4	Wed 21 Sep	TONGA 31-18 JAPAN	Whangarei
ITV1	Sat 24 Sep	NEW ZEALAND 37-17 FRANCE	Eden Park, Auckland
ITV4	Tue 27 Sep	CANADA 23-23 JAPAN	Napier
ITV1	Sat 1 Oct	FRANCE 14-19 TONGA	Wellington
ITV1	Sun 2 Oct	NEW ZEALAND 79-15 CANADA	Wellington

Pool A Table	W	D	L	F	A	Tries	Pts
Q NEW ZEALAND	4	0	0	240	49	36	20
Q FRANCE	2	0	2	124	96	15	11
TONGA	2	0	2	80	98	7	9
CANADA	1	1	2	82	168	9	6
JAPAN	0	1	3	69	184	8	2

POOL B

TV	Date		Venue
ITV1	Sat 10 Sep	SCOTLAND 34-24 ROMANIA	Invercargill
ITV1	Sat 10 Sep	ENGLAND 13-9 ARGENTINA	Dunedin
ITV1	Wed 14 Sep	SCOTLAND 15-6 GEORGIA	Invercargill
ITV1	Sat 17 Sep	ARGENTINA 43-8 ROMANIA	Invercargill
ITV1	Sun 18 Sep	ENGLAND 41-10 GEORGIA	Dunedin
ITV1	Sat 24 Sep	ENGLAND 67-3 ROMANIA	Dunedin
ITV1	Sun 25 Sep	ARGENTINA 13-12 SCOTLAND	Wellington
ITV4	Wed 28 Sep	GEORGIA 25-9 ROMANIA	Napier
ITV1	Sat 1 Oct	ENGLAND 16-12 SCOTLAND	Eden Park, Auckland
ITV1	Sun 2 Oct	ARGENTINA 25-7 GEORGIA	Palmerston North

Pool B Table	W	L	F	A	Tries	Pts
Q ENGLAND	4	0	137	34	18	18
Q ARGENTINA	3	1	90	40	10	14
SCOTLAND	2	2	73	59	4	11
GEORGIA	1	3	48	90	3	4
ROMANIA	0	4	44	169	3	0

POOL C

TV	Date		Venue
ITV1	Sun 11 Sep	AUSTRALIA 32-6 ITALY	North Harbour, Auckland
ITV1	Sun 11 Sep	IRELAND 22-10 UNITED STATES	New Plymouth
ITV4	Thu 15 Sep	RUSSIA 6-13 UNITED STATES	New Plymouth
ITV1	Sat 17 Sep	AUSTRALIA 6-15 IRELAND	Eden Park, Auckland
ITV4	Tue 20 Sep	ITALY 53-17 RUSSIA	Nelson
ITV1	Fri 23 Sep	AUSTRALIA 67-5 UNITED STATES	Wellington
ITV1	Sun 25 Sep	IRELAND 62-12 RUSSIA	Rotorua
ITV4	Tue 27 Sep	ITALY 27-10 UNITED STATES	Nelson
ITV1	Sat 1 Oct	AUSTRALIA 68-22 RUSSIA	Nelson
ITV1	Sun 2 Oct	IRELAND 36-6 ITALY	Dunedin

Pool C Table	W	L	F	A	Tries	Pts
Q IRELAND	4	0	135	34	15	17
Q AUSTRALIA	3	1	173	48	25	15
ITALY	2	2	92	95	13	10
UNITED STATES	1	3	38	122	4	4
RUSSIA	0	4	57	196	8	1

POOL D

TV	Date		Venue
ITV1	Sat 10 Sep	FIJI 49-25 NAMIBIA	Rotorua
ITV1	Sun 11 Sep	SOUTH AFRICA 17-16 WALES	Wellington
ITV1	Wed 14 Sep	SAMOA 49-12 NAMIBIA	Rotorua
ITV1	Sat 17 Sep	SOUTH AFRICA 49-3 FIJI	Wellington
ITV1	Sun 18 Sep	WALES 17-10 SAMOA	Hamilton
ITV4	Thu 22 Sep	SOUTH AFRICA 87-0 NAMIBIA	North Harbour, Auckland
ITV1	Sun 25 Sep	FIJI 7-27 SAMOA	Eden Park, Auckland
ITV1	Mon 26 Sep	WALES 81-7 NAMIBIA	New Plymouth
ITV4	Fri 30 Sep	SOUTH AFRICA 13-5 SAMOA	North Harbour, Auckland
ITV1	Sun 2 Oct	WALES 66-0 FIJI	Hamilton

Pool D Table	W	L	F	A	Tries	Pts
Q SOUTH AFRICA	4	0	166	24	21	18
Q WALES	3	1	180	34	23	15
SAMOA	2	2	91	49	9	10
FIJI	1	3	59	167	7	5
NAMIBIA	0	4	44	266	5	0

TOP POINTS SCORERS (minimum 20 points)
62 Morne Steyn (South Africa)
52 James O'Connor (Australia)
45 Kurt Morath (Tonga)
44 Ronan O'Gara (Ireland)
41 Piri Weepu (New Zealand)
39 Dimitri Yashvili (France)
37 Morgan Parra (France)
36 Colin Slade (New Zealand)
34 James Arlidge (Japan)
33 Rhys Priestland (Wales)
30 Chris Ashton (England), Vincent Clerc (France)
28 Jonny Wilkinson (England), Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia), Stephen Jones (Wales)
26 Felipe Contepomi (Argentina), Berrick Barnes (Australia)
25 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia), Keith Earls (Ireland), Israel Dagg (New Zealand), Tusi Pisi (Samoa)
24 Theuns Kotze (Namibia), Dan Parks (Scotland)
23 Chris Paterson (Scotland), James Hook (Wales)
22 Ander Monro (Canada), Seremaia Bai (Fiji)
21 Toby Flood (England), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Dan Carter (New Zealand), Paul Williams (Samoa), Francois Steyn (South Africa)
20 James Pritchard (Canada), Mark Cueto (England), Vereniki Goneva (Fiji), Zac Guildford (New Zealand), Richard Kahui (New Zealand), Jerome Kaino (New Zealand), Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand), Scott Williams (Wales)

TOP TRY SCORERS (minimum three tries)
6 Chris Ashton (England), Vincent Clerc (France)
5 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia), Keith Earls (Ireland), Israel Dagg (New Zealand)
4 Mark Cueto (England), Vereniki Goneva (Fiji), Zac Guildford (New Zealand), Richard Kahui (New Zealand), Jerome Kaino (New Zealand), Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand), Scott Williams (Wales)
3 Berrick Barnes (Australia), Drew Mitchell (Australia), Ma'a Nonu (New Zealand), Francois Hougaard (South Africa), Francois Steyn (South Africa), Alesana Tuilagi (Samoa), Jonathan Davies (Wales), George North (Wales), Shane Williams (Wales)

LATEST IRB RANKINGS (correct as of 24/10/2011)
1 NEW ZEALAND 91.43 - Winners
2 AUSTRALIA 87.42 - Third place
3 FRANCE 84.70 - Runners-up
4 SOUTH AFRICA 84.34 - Quarter finals
5 ENGLAND 81.58 - Quarter finals
6 IRELAND 80.65 - Quarter finals
7 ARGENTINA 80.28 - Quarter finals
8 WALES 80.18 - Semi finals
9 TONGA 76.63 - Group stages
10 SCOTLAND 76.20 - Group stages

IRB AWARDS 2011
IRB International Player of the Year Thierry Dusautoir (France)
IRB International Team of the Year New Zealand
IRB International Coach of the Year Graham Henry (New Zealand)

Rugby World Cup 2011: New Zealand face yet another French test

2011-10-15T08:30:00.014+01:00

	THE RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011 FINAL
Sun 23 Oct 09:00	FRANCE v NEW ZEALAND	Eden Park, Auckland

NEW ZEALAND will face a familiar foe in the form of France when they aim to win their first World Cup in 24 years on Sunday at Eden Park in Auckland.

The All Blacks beat the French 29-9 in the inaugural final back in 1987. That was also at Eden Park but, since then, France have done more than any other team to extend New Zealand's World Cup drought.

In 1999, France won a brilliant semi final 43-31 at Twickenham and, four years ago, the All Blacks felt aggrieved when the French scored from a forward pass on the way to a 20-18 quarter final victory.

Graham Henry's team have already avenged that controversial defeat with a classy 37-17 defeat of France in the Pool stages.

But the New Zealanders know it will all count for nought unless they walk away with the William Webb Ellis trophy this time.

Unsurprisingly, given the nature of the two sides' progress to the Final, the All Blacks are huge favourites, as short as 1/9 with most bookmakers.

By contrast, France, who also lost a Pool match to Tonga before beating England in the last eight and Wales in the semis, are generally rated a 6/1 shot - long odds in a two-horse race.

Of course, it could be argued with some justification that France should not be there at all after the Welsh controversially lost their first World Cup semi final since 1987.

This has been a tournament in which the Dragon has roared, one in which only New Zealand and Australia have scored more tries.

Wales started their semi final with positive intent again but only had James Hook's penalty to show for their territory and possession when the match was inexorably turned upon its head in just the 18th minute.

The vital moment came when Welsh skipper Sam Warbuton made it a strong tackle without any malicious intent on Vincent Clerc.

The French winger's feet left the ground and the spear challenge looked set to be met with a yellow card and 10 minutes in the sin-bin.

But, instead, Irish referee Alain Rolland flashed a red at the devastated Warburton, and Wales were forced to play their biggest match for 24 years with 14 men.

At first, it looked as if Rolland's call would completely spoil the contest as the French launched a flurry of attacks, winning a further penalty just before half-time to lead 6-3.

France scored first in the second period, another accurate Morgan Parra penalty making it 9-3 and many began to fear the worst for Wales.

The 14 men in red thought differently, though, and Mike Phillips followed up his effort against Ireland last week with another brilliant try.

Phillips picked the ball up at the base of the ruck, then sold a dummy to the French defence before handing off Pascal Pape to dash over the line.

Suddenly, it was game on at 9-8 but, vitally, Stephen Jones could only shave the post with the conversion. Nevertheless, the try restored Wales' belief and France were forced to defend wave after wave of attack.

Indeed, this was nothing short of a heroic effort for the short-staffed Welsh who eschewed the chance of a drop goal in favour of pushing for the line again before knocking on.

That was perhaps a little naive but the Welsh would be rewarded with one final chance of going through to their first-ever World Cup Final winning a penalty just inside the French half with five minutes left.

Leigh Halfpenny, who had kicked such a distance before, stood over and addressed the ball, swiping the kick high into the Auckland sky and between the posts. Agonisingly, it fell a couple of feet short.

One final attack summed up the spirit in the Welsh ranks as they recycled the ball through 26 phases in search of another penalty or try.

It never came and French resistance had worked and got them through to a barely-deserved third World Cup Final, having lost the previous two.

France may have defended well in the last half an hour of their match against the Welsh but that will hold no fears for a New Zealand side who have just demolished a stout Australia team.

The Wallabies' quarter final victory over South Africa was the stuff of Australian sporting legend as they won 11-9 despite the Springboks enjoying more of the ball and an incredible 75% of the territory.

Against the All Blacks, Australia could not repeat the feat. Indeed, it all started to go wrong right from the kick off which New Zealand-born Quade Cooper sent straight out of play.

That gave New Zealand the chance to effect some early pressure and, after four minutes, the hosts went ahead with a well-worked try.

The danger came as the impressive Israel Dagg made a break and, just as he looked to be heading into touch, he sent a brilliant one-handed pass back to Ma'a Nonu to go over in the corner.

Piri Weepu, who impressed in the quarter final against Argentina, missed the conversion but he was soon on the scoresheet with a straight-forward penalty to make it 8-0 after Aaron Cruden had broken into the Wallaby 22.

Australia were in danger of going under fast but responded with pressure of their own which ended when James O'Connor slotted over a simple kick.

Even that early on, though, it needed to be so much more as the momentum of the game was set.

Indeed, the All Blacks Zealand had restored their eight-point advantage again by half-time, leading 14-6 as Cruden and Cooper swapped drop goals before Weepu fired over a long-range pen.

Another Weepu penalty straight after the interval made it 17-6 but the second period was a masterclass in defending a lead from New Zealand.

The All Blacks won turnover after turnover as the Wallabies tried, in complete vain, to get a foothold back in the game.

With just eight minutes left, New Zealand forced yet another turnover at the scrum and Weepu added three points to his tally.

That made it 20-6 and, though there had only been six points in the second half, this had been an engrossing defensive performance from the ABs.

It is hard now to see a much less talented French team succeeding where Australia failed.

For, even shorn of top international points scorer Dan Carter, surely it is the All Blacks' destiny to win the World Cup this time. On Sunday in Auckland, we will find out for sure.

SEMI FINAL RESULTS

Date		Venue	Tries
Sat 15 Oct	WALES 8-9 FRANCE	Eden Park, Auckland	1-0
Sun 16 Oct	AUSTRALIA 6-20 NEW ZEALAND	Eden Park, Auckland	0-1

QUARTER FINAL RESULTS

Date		Venue	Tries
Sat 8 Oct	IRELAND 10-22 WALES	Wellington	1-3
Sat 8 Oct	ENGLAND 12-19 FRANCE	Eden Park, Auckland	2-2
Sun 9 Oct	SOUTH AFRICA 9-11 AUSTRALIA	Wellington	0-1
Sun 9 Oct	NEW ZEALAND 33-10 ARGENTINA	Eden Park, Auckland	2-1

POOL STAGE RESULTS
The results and tables from all 40 Pool matches can be found here.

Fox falls on his sword

2011-10-15T08:10:00.000+01:00

DEFENCE Secretary Liam Fox resigned last night after days of mounting pressure over his professional links to his friend, the self-styled advisor Adam Werrity.

Dr Fox had apologised last weekend and he was put under investigation by the Permanent Secretary Gus O'Donnell for an apparent breach of the ministerial code.

But, realising the slow, drip-drip effect of the media storm against him, Dr Fox pre-empted Mr O'Donnell's report by stepping away from frontline politics.

"I mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my government activities to become blurred," Dr Fox wrote in his resignation letter.

"The consequences of this have become clearer in recent days. I am very sorry for this."

Prime Minister David Cameron praised Dr Fox for his "superb job" in the role but also said he understood the reasons for his departure.

Indeed, Dr Fox's decision relieved some of the pressure on Mr Cameron as well after it appeared that he had effectively passed all responsibility to Mr O'Donnell.

In doing so, Mr Cameron faced accusations of dithering and errors in his judgement, just as he had over his employment of former News of the World editor Andy Coulson once the phone-hacking details emerged.

But at least the PM acted quickly in reshuffling his Cabinet. Transport secretary Philip Hammond moves to Defence while Treasury minister Justine Greening is promoted into Mr Hammond's role.

Although he has no background in Defence, Mr Hammond is seen as a safe pair of hands who will provide continuity for his department at a time in which the British forces are still involved in two wars.

Meanwhile, Ms Greening becomes the fifth woman in the Cabinet as the PM seeks to regain some of the support which the Conservatives have lost among female voters.

Labour has, of course, been making plenty of political capital out of only the second ministerial resignation from the coalition government so far, and the first Conservative to go.

Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy has called on Mr O'Donnell's investigation to be continued despite Dr Fox's resignation.

But, while it looks disingenuous and even hypocritical given the actions of some Cabinet ministers in the previous 13 years, Labour is simply doing the job of HM Loyal Opposition... by opposing.

The press has also come in for some criticism from some members of the Conservative party for having an agenda against Dr Fox.

Peter Bone, who will now be joined on the backbenches by him, was most critical and accused the media of indulging in "tittle-tattle" and organising a "witch-hunt".

Mr Bone added: "He said he made mistakes and with hindsight he wouldn't have done it but I didn't think that was enough to require him to resign."

However, Mr Bone needs to realise that this is exactly the sort of situation which causes a minister to resign.

Of course, the daily front-page headlines will have been hard for Dr Fox to take - and some would even suggest they were unedifying.

But, just as the Labour opposition are there to oppose, then the press are there to hold ministers to account - and it could hardly be said that Dr Fox did not have a case to answer.

After all, Mr Werrity had made as many as 18 trips abroad with the minister despite having no official role in the government.

He had also handed out business cards suggesting he did, in fact, have an official role and he was present at meetings which Dr Fox had with military figures, diplomats and defence contractors.

There remain unanswered questions such as who was funding Mr Werritty's global travels, why were they doing it and why was it allowed to continue for so long.

But, even if the investigation shows Mr Werrity had not paid cash for access to government, the impression that he had done - and the fact that he was too close to Dr Fox - could not be shrugged off.

Dr Fox knows the ministerial code prevents Secretaries of State not only from wrongdoing but also giving an impression of wrongdoing. In this regard, Dr Fox knew he had to resign.

Oddly, by apologising and pre-empting the report, Dr Fox may have saved his political career in the long-term.

Clearly one of the more intelligent ministers of recent times, his mistake was nevertheless a simple one - the entwining of his personal and professional lives.

And, though his position had become untenable, it was not a good old fashioned British sex scandal and no cash has been proven to have actually changed hands between Dr Fox and his friend - yet.

If that remained the case, it would be no surprise to see Dr Fox back at the top of British politics before his career is over.

But he would be wise to read the ministerial code from cover-to-cover first.

F1 2011: Vettel completes the inevitable

2011-10-13T01:13:00.000+01:00

F1 2011 SEASON RESULTS

PODIUMS

Australian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

3 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault

Malaysian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

3 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Renault

Chinese GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

Turkish GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

Spanish GP (Pole: Mark Webber)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

Monaco GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

Canadian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

European GP (Valencia) (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

British GP (Pole: Mark Webber)

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

German GP (Pole: Mark Webber)

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

Hungarian GP (Pole: Sebastian Vettel)

1 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

Belgian GP
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes

Italian GP1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari

Singapore GP
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault

Japanese GP
1 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault

REMAINING CALENDAR

16 October Korean GP (Yeongam)

30 October Indian GP (Greater Noida)

13 November Abu Dhabi GP (Yas Island)

27 November Brazilian GP (Sao Paulo)

F1 2011 STANDINGS

World Drivers' Championship

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault 324

2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes 210
3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 202
4 Mark Webber (Aus 194

5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes 178

6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 90

7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes 63
8 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes 60

9 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 36

10 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Renault 34

11 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes 28
12 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber-Ferrari 27

13 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India-Mercedes 20
14 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 16

15 Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 13

16 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 13

17 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams-Cosworth 4

18 Bruno Senna (Bra) Renault 2

19 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams-Cosworth 1

Nine drivers have yet to score: (20 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) Sauber, 21 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus-Renault, 22 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus-Renault, 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) HRT-Cosworth, 24 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel) Virgin-Cosworth, 25 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin-Cosworth, 26 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) HRT-Cosworth, 27 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) HRT-Cosworth, 28 Karun Chandhok (Ind) Lotus-Renault).

Constructors' Championship

1 Red Bull-Renault (Aut) 518

2 McLaren-Mercedes (Gbr) 388

3 Ferrari (Ita) 292

4 Mercedes (Ger) 123

5 Renault (Gbr) 72

6 Force India-Mercedes (Ind) 48

7 Sauber-Ferrari (Swi) 40
8 Toro Rosso-Ferrari (Ita) 29

9 Williams-Cosworth (Gbr) 5

There are three teams (Lotus-Renault (Mal), Virgin-Cosworth (Rus) and HRT-Cosworth (Spa)) which have yet to score.

Euro 2012 qualifiers: Scotland slump out while Irish enjoy the rub of the green

2011-10-11T10:59:00.030+01:00

SCOTLAND failed in their bid for an unlikely Euro 2012 playoff spot after losing 3-1 to Spain in Alicante tonight.

The Spanish, who had already easily won Group I, dominated the early exchanges and David Silva gave the hosts the lead by firing under goalkeeper Allan McGregor.

Scottish hopes were now pretty much in the hands of Lithuania who were at home to the Czech Republic but, here also, matters went against Craig Levein's men.

Michal Kadlec gave the Czechs the lead from the penalty spot and, by half time, Scotland were effectively out of Euro 2012, going 2-0 behind to another Silva goal while the Czechs led by three.

It was to the Scots' credit then that they fought valiantly in the second half even though they fell further behind when Silva set up David Villa for his 50th international goal.

Blackburn Rovers' David Goodwillie pulled a goal back with his first touch from the penalty spot while, hundreds of miles away, another penalty by Darvydas Sernas also reduced Lithuania's deficit to 3-1.

But confirmation that it was the Czechs - and not Scotland - who would make it through came when Kadlec scored his second spot-kick of the night to make it 4-1 in Vilnius.

Holders Spain thus finished top of Group I with a 100% record with the Czech Republic in second but the Spanish were not the only team with a perfect record.

Euro 2008 runners-up Germany matched that achievement with 10 wins out of 10 in Group A as they easily beat playoff hopefuls Belgium 3-1 in Duesseldorf.

Mesut Oezil and André Schuerrle struck late in the first half before Mario Gomez added another goal just after the restart. Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini scored a consolation goal back for the visitors after 86 minutes.

The Belgians' defeat let in Guus Hiddink's Turkey for the runners-up spot after Burak Yılmaz scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan in Istanbul.

Russia sealed their expected qualification from Group B with a 6-0 thumping of Andorra leaving Republic of Ireland and Armenia to slug it out for a playoff place.

The Irish won the race but only after a dramatic night at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Almost two years on from Thierry Henry's handball in the 2010 World Cup qualifying playoffs, this time Lady Luck smiled on Ireland in two quick successive handball incidents.

West Brom striker Simon Cox appeared to take down a long ball with his hand before his attempted lob was saved by the chest of Armenian keeper Roman Berezovski.

Extraordinarily, Berezovksi received a red card for illegally denying a goalscoring opportunity and it got worse for Armenia before half time.

For Ireland went 1-0 up, not through their own effort but following an own goal from Gevorg Ghazaryan who poked into his own net when it was just as easy to clear the ball for a corner.

After the break, Giovanni Trapattoni's men put themselves in an even better position when Richard Dunne bundled home from close-range.

But the Armenians, who were top scorers in the group with 22 goals, hit back straightaway as Henrik Mkhitaryan took advantage of slack marking to hit a low shot past Shay Given.

If Armenia had been the group's livewires, then the Irish had been the stalwarts and that was the first goal that Ireland had conceded in more than eight international matches.

Trapattoni's perfected catenaccio ensured this would be their only defensive lapse and Ireland will now contest their sixth playoff since 1996.

By contrast, Estonia have made it into their first playoff without playing after Slovenia outdid their Balkan rivals Serbia with a 1-0 win in Group C.

Slovenia, who had nothing to play for, scored on the stroke of half-time through Dare Vrsic before Serbian skipper Nemanja Vidic had a second-half penalty saved by Samir Handanovic.

Serbia's defeat left them a point behind Estonia who completed their programme on Friday with their second successive win over Northern Ireland.

Those defeats brought the resignation of Nigel Worthington's whose reign bowed out on a low note with a 3-0 defeat to runaway leaders Italy in Pescara.

Milan striker Antonio Cassano scored goals either side of half time before a late own goal by Gareth McAuley left Worthington with just two wins in his last 24 matches.

In competitive games overall, Worthington oversaw only eight wins in 26 games and his record was simply not good enough in the end - even for a wee country.

While Estonia had exceeded expectations by making a playoff from Group C, Bosnia-Herzegovina were trying to go one better this evening by beating France in Paris to top Group D.

The shock looked on when Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko gave the lead to the visitors just before half time.

But the French got out of jail with just 12 minutes left when Dzeko's club mate Samir Nasri scored from the spot having been tripped himself by Emir Spahic.

Laurent Blanc's side finished on 21 points, a point clear of Bosnians who nonetheless still harbour hopes of a place in a major tournament as an independent nation for the first time, despite not being seeded in the playoffs.

Group E runners-up Sweden have no such concerns after depriving Netherlands of a 100% record by beating them in the final qualifier in Stockholm.

Kim Kallstrom gave the Swedes an early lead before the Dutch hit back either side of half-time through Klass-Jan Huntelaar and Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt.

But Sweden knew that a win would qualify them automatically as the best-runner up in the nine groups and Sunderland's Sebastian Larsson scored a second goal in a week before Ola Toivonen hit the winner a minute later.

There was an even more dramatic finish in Group F as Euro 2004 champions Greece came from behind to beat Georgia and seal a place in the finals.

It all looked like going wrong for Fernando Santos' men after David Targamadze gave Termuri Ketsbaia's Georgians the lead while Croatia led 2-0 at home to Latvia in Rijeka.

However, Giorgos Fotakis scored a vital equaliser with 10 minutes left, rendering the Croats' result irrelevant, before Angelos Charisteas made sure there would be no Greek tragedy in Tblisi. Slaven Bilic's Croatia will contest the playoffs.

And finally, the biggest upset of the night came in Copenhagen where Denmark beat Portugal 2-1 to win Group H and consign Cristiano Ronaldo and co to the playoffs.

The Danes' victory was richly deserved after Morten Olsen's men scored a goal in each half through Michael Kroen-Dehli and Nicklas Bendtner to ensure they kept their 100% home record. Ronaldo's stoppage time strike was much too little, too late for the Portuguese.

Group G is only the section not yet mentioned as there was nothing riding on tonight's results with England having qualified after Friday's draw against Montenegro, and with the Montenegrins having made the playoffs.

Nevertheless, it is worth commenting on a third successive win for Wales as Gareth Bale scored his second goal in a week to beat Bulgaria 1-0 in Sofia.

Bulgaria fans boycotted this qualifier and their action comes as no surprise given their team finished bottom with just five points from eight games.

Gary Speed's improving Wales were fourth despite losing their opening four qualifiers, and they were denied third place only because Switzerland took advantage of a disinterested Montenegro team to win 2-0.

QUALIFIED TEAMS
Poland (co-hosts)
Ukraine (co-hosts)
Germany
Netherlands
Italy
Spain (holders)
England
Greece
Russia
Denmark
France
Sweden (best-runner up)

PLAYOFF DRAW:
Turkey v Croatia
Estonia v Republic of Ireland
Czech Republic v Montenegro
Bosnia-Herzegovina v Portugal
First legs played on 11-12 November. Second legs on 15 November.

EURO 2012 RESULTS
11 October 2011
Final group-by-group standings (BBC)

GROUP A
Germany 3-1 Belgium
Turkey 1-0 Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan 0-0 Austria

GROUP B
FYR Macedonia 1-1 Slovakia
Republic of Ireland 2-1 Armenia
Russia 6-0 Andorra

GROUP C
Italy 3-0 Northern Ireland
Slovenia 1-0 Serbia

GROUP D
Albania 1-1 Romania
France 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina

GROUP E
Hungary 0-0 Finland
Moldova 4-0 San Marino
Sweden 3-2 Netherlands

GROUP F
Croatia 2-0 Latvia
Georgia 1-2 Greece
Malta 0-2 Israel

GROUP G
Bulgaria 0-1 Wales
Switzerland 2-0 Montenegro

GROUP H
Denmark 2-1 Portugal
Norway 3-1 Cyprus

GROUP I
Lithuania 1-4 Czech Republic
Spain 3-1 Scotland

Rugby World Cup 2011: England flop to France - Wales, Wallabies and All Blacks advance

2011-10-09T18:06:00.002+01:00

SEMI FINAL DRAW
Both matches live on ITV1

Date/Time (BST)		Venue
Sat 15 Oct 09:00	WALES v FRANCE	Eden Park, Auckland
Sun 16 Oct 09:00	AUSTRALIA v NEW ZEALAND	Eden Park, Auckland

ENGLAND returned home today amid acrimony after their disastrous World Cup campaign in New Zealand.

The tour finished as badly as it began with Manu Tuilagi becoming the latest player to find himself in the headlines after being detained by police and fined £3,000 for jumping off a ferry.

Earlier incidents included mystery blondes, dwarf tossing, bungee jumping and players making inappropriate comments to a female hotel worker. The BBC has even compiled a catalogue of the misdemeanours here.

It would not have been so bad if the off-field antics had been accompanied by a decent performance level on the field but there was a lack of discipline during the matches as well.

Nevertheless, Martin Johnson's men had at least won all four of their Pool matches while their opponents, France, had lost half of theirs.

England thus began as strong favourites against the French with a rejigged line-up featuring both Jonny Wilkinson and Toby Flood in the absence of centre Mike Tindall.

Wilkinson and Flood combined well in the early stages as England made a bright start with the ball-in-hand.

But poor handling and set-pieces started to creep into England's game as Dimirti Yachvili gave the French confidence a boost by slotting over two penalties to make it 6-0.

Then, just a couple of minutes after the second penalty came a hammer blow as England lost another of their own line-outs and the impressive Vincent Clerc danced around the defence to score.

And, with just half an hour gone, England were as good as out. Alexis Palisson evaded the attention of three tacklers and fed Maxime Medard who had the simple job of diving over for 16-0.

England emerged from the dressing room for the second half knowing that it could hardly go any worse and, indeed, the 2003 champions finally built up a head of steam which resulted in Ben Foden scoring.

Wilkinson converted for perhaps his last points in international rugby as England reduced the deficit to 16-7.

However, the next spell of pressure came from France again after Tuilagi knocked on in his own 22.

Indeed, the French put the England defence under severe strain before settling for the drop goal, slotted over neatly by Yachvili's replacement Fracois Trinh-Duc.

That made it 19-7 and so England were two converted scores away from winning the tie with just 10 minutes left.

Typically, England teased and made a slight suggestion that they could pull of a ridiculously miraculous escape when Mark Cueto just managed to ground the ball over the line.

The decision went to the video referee, almost four years on from when Cueto had been denied a try in the final having been adjudged to be out of play.

Cueto was given the benefit of the doubt this time but it made no odds as another knock-on at the restart put paid to any chance of a comeback.

England were out, and deservedly so, failing to reach the last four for just the second time.

By contrast, Wales were rewarded for continuing with their positive approach by reaching the World Cup semi finals for the first time in 24 years.

Warren Gatland's men beat Ireland 22-10 in a pulsating northern hemisphere match in Wellington thanks to tries by Shane Williams, Mike Phillips and Jonathan Davies.

The Welsh got the early breakthrough to settle any nerves when Williams went over in the corner after just three minutes.

Ireland responded well, kicking for the corner in a bid to restore parity rather than allowing Ronan O'Gara to kick for the posts until later in half.

But the Welsh held firm against the Irish pack and, even when O'Gara eventually did kick successfully to make it 7-3, Leigh Halfpenny restored the seven-point lead within a couple of minutes.

Soon after half time, though, the advantage was gone as Ireland drew first blood in the second period when Munster's Keith Earls went over next to the flag.

It was all to play for now but, having got themselves back on terms, the Irish were sucker-punched by two more Welsh tries.

First, Phillips eluded Gordon D'Arcey before ensuring his score with swallow dive in the corner.

Then, just past the hour, Davies broke through the defence for a simple try which Rhys Priestland converted to make it 22-10.

That is how it stayed as Ireland struggled to make much headway against the excellent Welsh defence who are sure to provide more resistance to France than England did.

THE other semi final is an antipodean affair as hosts New Zealand continue in their quest for a first World Cup in 24 years by taking on twice-winners Australia.

However, only the South Africans will know why their defence of the William Webb Ellis trophy did not extend beyond their last eight match with Australia in Wellington.

Incredibly, the Springboks failed to cross the line once despite dominating possession and enjoying 76% territory throughout the match.

This was truly one of the most remarkable Australian sporting victories and a tribute to the Wallabies' never-say-die spirit.

Robbie Deans' men were given something to hold on as James Horwill scored an early try and then induced a penalty from which James O'Connor made it 8-0.

David Pocock was instrumental in keeping the Aussies ahead for as long as he did but Morne Steyn did at least get the Springboks on the board before half-time with a regulation penalty.

South Africa continued to dominate after the break and Jean De Villiers looked to have set Patrick Lambie away for a try but Kiwi ref Bryce Lawrence pulled it back for a forward pass.

Then, shortly afterwards, Steyn struck his second penalty before landing a drop goal to give the holders a 9-8 lead.

However, the Boks perhaps knew it was not to be their day when O'Connor restored the Wallabies' narrow advantage with a brilliant kick from the touchline after an infringement at a line-out.

Only 10 more minutes of rearguard action were required by Australia as they somehow scrambled through to their fifth World Cup semi final.

South Africa were left to wonder what might have been, though their coach Peter De Villiers was defiant in his post-match press conference.

And, just for a while, it looked like New Zealander Graham Henry would also have to explain the inexplicable as Argentina went 7-6 ahead after 30 minutes of the fourth quarter final.

The All Blacks were unsurprisingly dominant in the early stages with Kieran Reid just forced into touch before he could score.

However, the hosts only had two Piri Weepu penalties to show as the Argentines hung tough and waited for their chance.

It came after half an hour as Julio Farias Cabello broke over the line while the Kiwi defence were still dealing with the initial break.

But the Pumas were unable to see out their advantage until half-time as Weepu made it 12-7 with another two kicks.

Argentina continued to frustrate New Zealand in the first part of the second half as Marcelo Bosch made good with a huge kick from the halfway line.

Weepu kept the scoreboard ticking over the All Blacks, though, with another couple of penalties before, late on, the breakthrough came at last.

Read, who was denied in the first half, scored the try, finishing in the corner after taking Jerome Kaino's flicked pass which Martin Rodriguez flailing arm had only just failed to intercept.

And, after another Weepu penalty, the All Blacks made sure of their place in the last four for a sixth time as Brad Thorn scored easily to make it 33-10.

The Argentines were out on their feet and New Zealand briefly threatened a further try but this would have given the final score a somewhat unfair reflection.

Nevertheless, despite their early struggles, the All Blacks were deserving winners for, although their tries came late, Read and captain Richie McCaw had both gone ever so close earlier on.

Mils Muliaina joined McCaw on 100 caps but then retired after fracturing his shoulder as injuries continue to plague the Kiwis' campaign.

The fact that the ABs are already without record points scorer Dan Carter will give hope to the Wallabies that they can pull off an upset.

But, at the same time, it is impossible not to imagine New Zealand making a breakthrough against Australia, no matter how well the Aussies defend again.

Prediction: New Zealand bt Australia, Wales bt France. New Zealand v Wales in the Final.

QUARTER FINALS RESULTS

Date		Venue	Tries
Sat 8 Oct	IRELAND 10-22 WALES	Wellington	1-3
Sat 8 Oct	ENGLAND 12-19 FRANCE	Eden Park, Auckland	2-2
Sun 9 Oct	SOUTH AFRICA 9-11 AUSTRALIA	Wellington	0-1
Sun 9 Oct	NEW ZEALAND 33-10 ARGENTINA	Eden Park, Auckland	2-1

Euro 2012 qualifiers: Rooney sees red as England qualify

2011-10-07T16:38:00.013+01:00

ENGLAND qualified for the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine after early goals from Ashley Young and Darren Bent secured a 2-2 draw against Montenegro.

The good news ends there, though - and, on the second half performance, England will do well to play any more than their three group games next summer.

Worst of all tonight, Wayne Rooney 'earned' a deserved second international red card - and a ban which will extend into the summer tournament - after an impetuous kick.

Meanwhile, Rooney's team mates let themselves down by contriving to concede a goal at the end of both halves to lose a 2-0 lead.

On the stroke of half time, Elsad Zverotic was given too much space on the edge of the box and then, in stoppage time, Andrija Delibasic headed an equaliser, sparking off a wild, celebratory invasion of the soaked Podgorica pitch.

Montenegro had done it - the tiny Balkan nation, with a population of 625,000, had securing an unlikely playoff spot from Group G.

And it was no more than they had deserved having launched a succession of second half attacks on the England goal, undoubtedly buoyed by the fact that rivals Switzerland were surprisingly losing 2-0 in Wales.

However, such an outcome looked impossible after all-but the last attack of a first half which England had completed controlled.

Fabio Capello's men took the lead on 10 minutes when a delicious cross from Theo Walcott gave Young an unmissable header.

Then, just past the half hour mark, Young turned provider after crossing from the left to give Bent an equally simple finish.

But, from that point onwards, it all went horribly wrong for the Three Lions - and particularly badly for Rooney.

His brainless swipe at Miodrag Dzudovic on the halfway line completed a terrible week, coming just days after his father was arrested as part of a probe into betting irregularities.

Rooney senior's arrest specifically related to a sending off in a Scottish Premier League match and, inevitably, it was joked that he had been at it again tonight.

This was no laughing matter for Capello, though, as he is now deprived of his talisman for part of the finals campaign.

At least, England have got there this time after the haunting failure to qualify for the last European Championships under recently-deposed Nottingham Forest boss Steve McClaren.

Indeed, the Three Lions finished the group unbeaten with five wins and three draws from their eight games and so perhaps my earlier assessment was harsh.

Then again, Capello's men qualified for the World Cup convincingly but thoroughly failed to impress in the finals in South Africa.

And, of course, this time, they cannot rely on getting Algeria and Slovenia in their group in their quest to scrape it through to the knockout stages.

England are no way in a position to get ahead of themselves and their qualification summed up perfectly exactly the sort of team which they currently are. Underwhelming.

QUALIFIED TEAMS:
Poland (co-hosts), Ukraine (co-hosts), Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain (holders), England

EURO 2012 FIXTURES
7 October 2011

GROUP A
Germany, who sealed qualification to Euro 2012 last month, continued their 100% record in qualification with a 3-1 win over Turkey. Goals from Mario Gomez, Thomas Mueller and Bastian Schweinsteiger made it nine wins out of nine for the Nationalmannschaft. Manchester City's Vincent Kompany was among the scorers as Belgium took advantage of the Turks' defeat by recording an easy home win over Kazakhstan.
That win puts the Belgians a point clear of Turkey in the race for the playoff spot - however, Belgium face Germany away in the final qualifier while Turkey play at home to Azerbaijan and they also have a better head-to-head record.
Azerbaijan 1-4 Austria
Belgium 4-1 Kazakhstan
Turkey 1-3 Germany

GROUP B
Russia took full control of Group B after Alan Dzagoev scored the only goal in a tight match against Slovakia in Zilina. The Russians now need only avoid defeat at home to Andorra and they will be into next year's finals; meanwhile, Slovakia's dreams of a second successive major championships are over.
Assuming Russia qualify top, then the playoff spot is settled by what is effectively in itself a playoff as Republic of Ireland host Armenia in Dublin, requiring just a draw to make it through. Both teams go into the game on the back of a positive result. Early goals from Kevin Doyle and Aiden McGeady were enough for the Irish to beat Andorra 2-0 while the Armenians struck four past FYR Macedonia.
Andorra 0-2 Republic of Ireland
Armenia 4-1 FYR Macedonia
Slovakia 0-1 Russia

GROUP C
Estonia completed the double over Northern Ireland to give themselves a feasible chance of making it to the Euro 2012 playoffs. Konstantin Vassiljev scored a late double as the Estonians came from behind to inflict more pain on the Northern Irish. Nigel Worthington's men were humiliated in a 4-1 loss in Tallinn last month, and it is difficult to see how much longer he can continue in his role after yet another defeat.
Estonia, who are currently in second place on 16 points, have now completed their programme. Serbia are just a point behind with a game in hand but they will require a win over Slovenia in their final match due to their worse head-to-head record after Estonia won 3-1 in Belgrade.
The Serbs will be confident, though, after Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic helped them to a 1-1 draw at home to unbeaten group winners Italy. Claudio Marchisio had given the Azzurri an early lead.
Northern Ireland 1-2 Estonia
Serbia 1-1 Italy

GROUP D
Edin Dzeko and Florent Malouda both scored as Bosnia-Herzegovina and France enjoyed comfortable wins to set up a dramatic group decider in Paris in four days' time. As well as enjoying home advantage, Les Bleus also hold a one-point lead at the top of Group D meaning they only need to avoid defeat to qualify.
The loser of this head-to-head battle will definitely finish in second place in the group after Romania could only draw at home to Belarus despite two goals from Adrian Mutu.
Bosnia-Herzegovina 5-0 Luxembourg
France 3-0 Albania
Romania 2-2 Belarus

GROUP E
Netherlands, who had already qualified last month as a best runner-up at least, have now won Group E - though it is fair to say their 1-0 home win over Moldova was no classic. Nevertheless, the three points ensured the Dutch retained their 100% record while Klaas-Jan Huntelaar extended his lead at the top of the goalscoring charts with his 11th goal in qualifying.
Sunderland's Sebastian Larsson and Blackburn Rovers' Martin Olsson were on target as Sweden scored early goals in both halves to secure the runners-up spot with a 2-1 win over Finland.
Finland 1-2 Sweden
Netherlands 1-0 Moldova

GROUP F
Georgios Samaras and Theofanis Gekas are the toast of Athens as they scored late goals in Greece's 2-0 home win over group rivals Croatia. The Croatians had held a two-point lead going into the match but the unbeaten Greeks have now overturned it and they hold a one-point lead of their own after the late surge.
The home win also means Greece now hold a better head-to-head record so Croatia will need to beat Latvia to take advantage of a Greek tragedy in Georgia.
Greece 2-0 Croatia
Latvia 2-0 Malta

GROUP G
England secured their place in the European Championship finals for an eighth time but they produced another worrying performance in Podgorica against Montenegro. It all started well enough with goals from Ashley Young and Darren Bent but the game changed in Montenegro's favour when Elsad Zverotic scored on the stroke of half time. Wayne Rooney was then stupidly sent off before Andrija Delibasic headed an injury time equaliser for the hosts.
That goal ensures the tiny Balkan state has made it into the playoffs after their only rivals for second place, Switzerland, lost disappointingly against Gary Speed's rejuvenated Wales in Swansea. Aaron Ramsey's penalty and a rasping left-foot drive by Gareth Bale gave the Welsh a deserved win and helped them off the bottom of the group. The wooden spoon decider will take place against Bulgaria in Sofia in four days.
Montenegro 2-2 England
Wales 2-0 Switzerland

GROUP H
Portugal were involved in their second eight-goal thriller of the qualifying campaign as they beat Iceland 5-3 in Porto to stay top of Group H on 16 points.
Manchester United winger Nani scored the first two goals for the Portuguese who were 3-0 up at half-time before their lead was reduced to 3-2 early in the second half. Joao Moutinho and Eliseu scored late goals to make it 5-2 before former Reading midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson completed the scoring in stoppage time.
Portugal drew 4-4 earlier in the campaign with Cyprus but it is another previous match, the 3-1 victory over Denmark, which puts them top as the Danes are also on 16 points after their easy 4-1 win over Cyprus. Dennis Rommedahl scored twice as Denmark led 4-0 inside 22 minutes before stepping off the gas. A winner-takes-all clash between Denmark and Portugal takes place in Copenhagen on Tuesday, the Portuguese will qualify with just a point.
Cyprus 1-4 Denmark
Portugal 5-3 Iceland

GROUP I
European Championship holders and Group I winners Spain kept their 100% record and did Scotland a huge favour as first half goals from midfielders Juan Mata and Xabi Alonso showed Vincent del Bosque's men could easily cope despite the absences of key men Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas. A 2-0 win over Czech Republic in Prague means Scotland can - and should - go second in the group as long as they can find a way past Liechtenstein on Saturday.
The Scots' only problem then is that the last fixtures on Tuesday pit them against the Spanish while the Czechs go to Lithuania. The most realistic scenario that sees Scotland reach the playoffs is if they beat Liechtenstein and the Czechs lose in Lithuania, rendering the Scots' result in Alicante as irrelevant.
Czech Republic 0-2 Spain
Liechtenstein 0-1 Scotland

Cat fight overshadows Conservative conference

2011-10-06T22:59:00.180+01:00

A DRAB conference season from all of the parties briefly sparked into life thanks to an extraordinary spat between two ministers over an asylum seeker with a cat.

Home Secretary Theresa May was first to unleash her claws at the Conservative conference in Manchester.

She used her speech to deride the Human Rights Act and claimed it had saved a South American man from deportation "because - and I am not making this up - he had a pet cat".

Mrs May was treading a dangerous line - surely her script-writers should have worked out that such a ridiculous claim would not stand up to scrutiny.

Indeed, it was unsurprisingly soon rebuffed by top judges from the Judicial Communications Office and Mrs May's Conservative colleague, the Justice Secretary Ken Clarke.

But, despite scorn being cast upon her comments, Mrs May had still done enough to play to the gallery who lapped it up gleefully.

And Mr Clarke, who has always cut a rather controversial and sometimes lonely figure with his pro-Europe stance in a largely Eurosceptic party, was also rebuked by Prime Minister David Cameron in his keynote speech.

Mr Cameron, who was, in fairness, attempting to make light of the issue, referred to the fact that he had been involved in recording audio books for the blind as part of a social project being run at the conference.

He said: "There was one book that I chose personally. I said 'Ken, this one's called Crime And Punishment and I want you to read it, twice'."

That appeared to be a slight on Mr Clarke's generally softer stance to sentencing than most of his party and, indeed, some of those on the opposition benches.

However, on a separate issue, Foreign Secretary William Hague was unable to appease the Tory right as the party's divisions over Europe continued to bubble under the surface.

Mr Hague ruled out a referendum on Britain's membership to the European Union, arguing one would be called only to approve or reject further transfers of sovereignty. "Our place is in the European Union," he said.

Nevertheless, this still did not stop the rather one-eyed populist press from claiming a breakthrough - most notably, here in the Daily Mail, and here in the Daily Express.

But those on the Tory right knew where they really stood after Mr Hague's speech, and some inevitably grumbled about taking their vote to UKIP instead.

Of course, although the number of defectors may actually be small, the issue of Europe still leaves Mr Cameron in a political quandary.

Does he pander to the right in league with the tabloid press or does he continue to alienate them and risk failing again to get an outright majority at the next general election?

For now, the coalition with the Liberal Democrats forces Mr Cameron's hand in that he must do the latter.

And, as the world economy dives into perhaps "the worst financial crisis in history", there seems much about Mr Cameron's premiership which is - frustratingly for him - outside of his control.

Certainly, when he launched his election manifesto over 18 months ago on Westminster Bridge, his vision of a Big Society was at the forefront of his objectives.

Now, in power, he seemingly faces a daily battle just to stop society from falling apart and so it is to his credit then that his approval rating remains as 'high' as it does.

In YouGov's weekly poll for the Sunday Times, Mr Cameron's rating is steady at -8, well ahead of Labour leader Ed Miliband who is on -32.

Similarly, the same report by Populus for Lord Ashcroft, 'The Leadership Factor' - which labelled Mr Miliband as "weird" - was much kinder to Mr Cameron whom the general public consider to be "determined" and "competent".

However, none of the party leaders scored particularly highly when people were asked who had the best policies on a wide-range of issues.

Of the ten areas selected, the 'none of the above' party led in eight with the Tories leading only in two categories - cutting the deficit and reforming welfare.

And so, while Mr Cameron is more well-liked than Mr Miliband, you would be hard-pushed still to argue that the current Prime Minister has widespread popular appeal.

Next year marks the 20th anniversary since the Conservatives last won an outright majority at a general election.

Once considered the natural party of government, Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes recently pointed out: "The Tory party is absolutely not the dominant force in British politics that it used to be."

As the UK Polling Report website notes, Mr Cameron and his party still have an image problem in vast swathes of the country up north.

Indeed, in some areas, the spectre of Thatcherism is so toxic that it is hard to see, now over 20 years on, the Tories ever recovering their ground.

This continued lack of presence in the north is especially problematic for the Conservatives as the retained first past the post system requires them still to win yet more seats to gain a majority.

Even accounting for the collapse in the Lib Dem vote, the rise of the Scottish Nationalists and the overall representation of other parties may still prevent there being a decisive result.

As the Britain Votes blog explains: "At the 2010 general election, 86 seats were won by parties other than Labour or the Conservatives.

"The result of that is, whichever of Britain's two major political parties comes out on top, they need to beat the other by 88 seats just to get a majority of two"

"The Conservatives' 48 seat advantage over Labour last year would have given them a majority in all post-war elections up until 1997.

"Instead, [Mr] Cameron ended up 20 seats shy, and more like 40 short of a workable majority. The worrying conclusion from all this is that Britain could be heading towards a state of perpetual hung parliament."

Of course, Mr Cameron was not slow in congratulating the work of the campaigners who argued against the Alternative Vote - it was, in fact, the second item of his speech.

What delicious irony it would be if the retained ever-so reliable old system can only provide us with another stalemate in 2015!

Perpetual hung parliament under first past the post? That would really set the cat among the pigeons.