Wednesday 11 September 2024

The summer Jimmy (and Mo) caught the train


ENGLAND finished the Test summer on their lowest note since Kiwi head coach Brendon McCullum took charge in May 2022 after a woeful eight-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka at the Oval. 

Previously, it had looked as if England were going to be able to move on from the James Anderson era in impressive fashion by claiming a clean sweep of both home Test series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka. 

But the collective performance of the team against the Sri Lankans in the third Test smacked of the sort of arrogance of which England are probably often wrongly accused. 

Losing the toss for the third time in the series, the home side nevertheless reached a solid 221-3 at the end of a first day which was marred by bad light and the strange eagerness of umpires Chris Gaffaney and Joel Wilson to take the players off the pitch at the earliest opportunity. 

It meant ticket holders saw only 44 overs on a day of absolutely no rain in south London whatsoever - and it rightly reopened the debate over whether punters were getting sufficient value for money. 

Back to the match itself - and, on day two, England progressed to 261-3 but then proceeded to throw away their wickets with a series of loose shots, losing 7-64 to finish on a suboptimal total of 325. 

Following that, some outrageously attacking fields bordered on being somewhat disrespectful to Sri Lanka - while a further element of farce was introduced by umpires Gaffaney and Wilson in the seventh over. 

Examining their light meters, the officials insisted Chris Woakes finished his fourth set by bowling four balls of club-standard off-spin despite sunshine beginning to beam through the clouds.

Then, Gus Atkinson was allowed to take the next over and bowl at 88mph - and, considering this was meant to be elite sport, much of the action and officiating on display left a lot to be desired. 

Rather more satisfyingly, England produced a better performance with the ball at the start of day three to dismiss their opponents for 263 and gain a seemingly handy first innings lead of 62.

Here then was the chance for the home side to bat Sri Lanka out of the game and make a major stride towards that clean sweep of victories. 

Instead, England were 71-6 at the afternoon drinks break as left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando began to swing the ball beautifully. 

Then that became 82-7 in front of a stunned Oval crowd before Jamie Smith, to his credit, made 67 in a fine counter-attacking effort to drag England's lead beyond 200 at tea. 

On a pitch offering plenty, a prime English bowling unit might have been able to defend the 219 runs required by Sri Lanka - but this extremely raw attack was badly exposed against the finesse of Pathum Nissanka. 

The opener carried his bat for a delightful Test career-best 127 to earn his country a memorable win, 26 years on from the triumph in their only other visit to the Oval in 1998.

By contrast, for England, this was a highly damaging defeat which effectively ended their already slim hopes of a maiden appearance in the World Test Championship final.

Now, it seems quite a while ago - even though the first home Test of the year did not take place until July to accommodate the ICC T20 World Cup which took place throughout June.

But Anderson's retirement remained the main story of an underwhelming Test season - one without a high-profile visitor to these shores and in which tickets went unsold while big sporting events such as the Olympics, Paralympics and European Championship happened elsewhere. 

Ahead of the first Test against the West Indies at Lord's, Anderson announced it would be his last after the England hierarchy stated explicitly that, in preparation for the next away Ashes series, he would not be considered for any squads beyond the end of the summer. 

In that sense, it was a slightly awkward departure - but, although the now 42-year-old felt he still had more to give, he also confirmed understood the decision and there were no hard feelings. 

This was a far more understated farewell than that of his long-time strike partner Stuart Broad, who retired against the old enemy Australia by scoring a six from his final ball with the bat and taking a wicket with his final ball, 

And, in itself, that was quite typical of Anderson. While Broad finished with a fantastic return of 604 wickets, he particularly relished Ashes contests and revelled in picking his moments. 

By contrast, Anderson was simply the embodiment of consistency. Indeed, the opposition did not seem to matter to him as long as he was taking wickets. 

Never the fastest, the Burnley Express made up for a lack of outright pace with a prodigious ability to swing and reverse swing the ball. Sometimes, in cloudy and humid conditions, he was pretty much unplayable. 

Anderson, though, was more than a mere one-trick pony - and it was obvious he worked hard at his craft throughout his career. 

Unusually for a pace bowler, his average - like a fine wine - continued to improve with age, and even in overseas conditions - the flatter decks of Australia and rank turners in the subcontinent - he was rarely less than miserly in controlling the run-rate on days when he could not be at his penetrative best. 

Strangely, on English soil for his final Test, Anderson was in fact not quite at his best as, perhaps for once, the emotion of the occasion got the better of him. 

It certainly was not the West Indies batting outfit - and, even in this rather quiet conclusion to his career, he still took 1-26 and 3-32 to finish on an incredible 704 Test scalps. 

On the all-time list, Jimmy from Burnley sits third with only two spinners - Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka (800) and the late Aussie great Shane Warne (708) - above him. 

Now, the strain on the body and the sheer plethora of opportunities available in the game for pace bowlers to swan off to less physically demanding and money-rich T20 competitions means that Anderson's record might never be beaten. 

However, Anderson loved the elongated struggle provided by First Class cricket - and, despite the positive results for England this summer, his longevity and consistency leaves a massive hole to fill. 

In fairness, there are some signs that England will be able finally to move on from the Anderson-Broad axis.

Surrey fast-bowler Atkinson enjoyed a dream debut, taking 7-45 and 5-61 for match figures of 12-106, as England blew away the West Indies for 121 and 136 in the first Test at Lord's. 

More remarkably still, Atkinson produced this effort despite playing while the speeding driver who killed his mother in a crash was being sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to eight-and-a-half years in prison.

And, commendably, the 26-year-old continued to take wickets throughout the summer to finish the home Test season on 34 scalps at an average of 20.17. 

Thankfully, for the sake of cricket, the second Test against the Windies at Trent Bridge was slightly more competitive as the visitors registered a score of 457 - and even took a first innings lead of 41 runs. 

On a good wicket in Nottingham, though, England also made hay with the bat, scoring 400+ scores in both innings for the first time in history as Ollie Pope (121), Joe Root (122) and Harry Brook (109) all reached three figures during the match. 

Inevitably, the resulting chase of 385 proved far too much for the West Indies as young spinner Shoaib Bashir made his first major contribution in an England shirt with a match-winning 5-41. 

As such, Bashir notably became - at the age of 20 years and 279 days - the youngest England bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a home Test, coincidentally taking that record from Anderson. 

In the third Test at Edgbaston, West Indies - merely trying to salvage some pride - elected to bat in the third Test at Edgbaston, but could only produce another under-par effort of 282 in the first innings. 

The second innings was even tougher for the men from the Caribbean as Mark Wood (5-40) proved far too hot to handle - and openers Ben Duckett and skipper Ben Stokes were able easily to knock off the runs for a 10-wicket victory inside three days.

Stokes had opened the batting for only the second time in his Test career after Zak Crawley fractured a finger in the field. 

By the time that the Sri Lanka series came around, though, Stokes too was injured after tearing his left hamstring while playing for the Northern Superchargers in the truly lamentable Hundred competition.

That meant instead that Dan Lawrence came in at the top of the order - but the 27-year-old middle-order man rarely looked comfortable in the role and scored just 120 runs at an average of 20, with a top score of 35.

Lawrence was not alone in his struggles. Brook disappointed for the first time in a series while stand-in skipper Ollie Pope seemed slightly overawed by the position and his form suffered badly until his 154 in a losing cause. 

Consequently, the batting unit was again more often than not propped up by Root - and his twin tons in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's took him above Sir Alastair Cook to the top of the list of England century-makers in the format. 

Root now has 34 Test centuries and 12,402 runs - and his uncharacteristic failure to produce a significant score in the third Test defeat only served to emphasise just how greatly England rely upon their former captain. 

Wicket-keeper Smith at least can hold his head up following a more than decent start to his own Test career. 

Consistently smart behind the stumps with his glovework, the 24-year-old also made significant contributions with the bat including a maiden Test century in the first Test at Old Trafford to take that match away from Sri Lanka. 

Indeed, this was still a largely successful summer for an England team which is clearly in transition - and too much introspection for a side in development can be just as damaging as too little. 

Not that there is a lot of time for a deep analysis in any case. The Test team are back in action in just 26 days on 7 October in a three-match tour of Pakistan ahead of a further three games away in New Zealand before Christmas. 

And, prior to all that, England take on Australia in three home T20 Internationals and five One-Day Internationals in a series of matches which will begin today and end on 29 September as mid-autumn approaches. 

The main significance of the white-ball matches is that they will be the first for the team under McCullum after the 42-year-old replaced tactical dunce Matthew Mott

Unsurprisingly, McCullum has already moved to put his own stamp on the squads - and there is no room for 37-year-old Moeen Ali. 

Moeen took the decision upon his omission to retire from international cricket - but, while he cannot boast the sort of figures achieved by Anderson, his tally of 204 Test wickets included a dozen in the successful 2015 Ashes series. 

Meanwhile, Moeen's willingness to bat anywhere in the order made him a key figure over the years in white-ball squads - and he played a part in the triumphant 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup tournaments. 

Nevertheless, with little room for sentiment, the Bazball revolution continues unabated - and, despite the patchy results and some annoying performances, it has been largely good couple of years following the staid tactics of Chris Silverwood. 

But, with all of the teams united once again under one coach and an Ashes series just over a year away, the McCullum era really has now begun to enter the phase on which it truly will be judged. 


RESULTS
WEST INDIES  England won the series 3-0
10-14 July
England 371 beat West Indies 121 & 136 by an innings and 114 runs
Lord's
18-21 July
England 416 & 425 beat West Indies 457 & 143 by 241 runs
Trent Bridge
26-28 July

England 376 & 87-0 beat West Indies 282 & 175 by 10 wickets

Headingley

SRI LANKA • England won the series 2-1
21-24 August
England 358 & 205-5 beat Sri Lanka 236 & 326 by five wicketsOld Trafford
29 August
-1 September
England 427 & 251 beat Sri Lanka 196 & 292 by 190 runs

Lord's

6-9 September
Sri Lanka 263 & 219-2 beat England 325 & 156 by eight wicketsThe Oval

FIXTURES
AUSTRALIA Fixtures
11 September
FIRST T20  (D/N)Southampton
13 SeptemberSECOND T20  (D/N)Cardiff
15 September
THIRD T20  (D/N)Old Trafford
19 SeptemberFIRST ODI  (D/N)Trent Bridge
21 SeptemberSECOND ODIHeadingley
24 September
THIRD ODI  (D/N)Chester-le-Street
27 September
FOURTH ODI  (D/N)Lord's
29 SeptemberFIFTH ODIBristol

PAKISTAN  Fixtures
7-11 October
FIRST TEST
Multan
15-19 October
SECOND TEST
Karachi
24-28 October

THIRD TEST

Rawalpindi

NEW ZEALAND • Fixtures
27 November-
1 December
FIRST TEST

Christchurch

5-9 DecemberSECOND TESTWellington
13-17 December
THIRD TESTHamilton

Saturday 24 August 2024

Premier League preview: Arsenal primed to loosen Man City stranglehold

PREMIER LEAGUE CLUB-BY-CLUB PREVIEW
2024-2025

▪️ ARSENAL @Arsenal
Last season 2nd FA Cup Third round League Cup Fourth round Champions League Quarter finals
Last major trophy FA Cup 2020
Ownership Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (USA)
Head coach Mikel Arteta (since December 2019)
New signings David Raya, Riccardo Calafiori
Arsenal head into the campaign as the best-placed challenger to interrupt this period of Manchester City dominance in the Premier League after edging ever closer over the past two seasons. For, while it could be reasonably argued that the Gunners lost their bottle in 2022-23 with dropped points in the closing stages against West Ham United, Southampton, Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest, 2023-24 was nothing like that. Instead, a free-scoring Arsenal outfit took 50 points out of the last 54 available - and the title was effectively decided by a tight tussle at Manchester City which finished 0-0. Mikel Arteta knows his existing squad really is not far away now, so the fact there is only one completely new face this summer so far - highly-rated centre-back Riccardo Calafiori - is no great surprise, and merely just a matter of fine-tuning ahead of another season-long assault on the title. 
▪️ Prediction Champions

▪️ ASTON VILLA @AVFCOfficial
Lamovesason 4th FA Cup Fourth round League Cup Third round Conference League Semi final
Last major trophy League Cup 1996
Ownership Nasser Sawiris (EGY) and Wes Edens (USA)
Head coach Unai Emery (since November 2022)
New signings Lewis Dobbin, Ian Maatsen, Samuel Iling-Junior, Ross Barkley, Enzo Barrenechea, Jaden Philogene, Amadou Onana
Aston Villa achieved their highest Premier League finish since 1995-96 as Unai Emery impressively led the club into the premier European competition for the first time in 42 years in his first full season. Of course, with great achievement comes great responsibility to maintain the same level of performance - and, in anticipation of the extra games, Villa have filled out their squad with no fewer than seven first-team signings. Those arrivals have been funded by the sales of Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby to Juventus and Al-Ittihad for £42.3 million and £50.5 million respectively so the Villans should be in no danger of breaching the farcical profit and sustainability rules. However, the loss of Luiz and Diaby should not be underestimated - and there is huge pressure on main striker Ollie Watkins to avoid injury and remain as prolific as he was last season, despite the inevitable strain which additional games will bring.
▪️ Prediction 8th

▪️ BOURNEMOUTH @afcbournemouth
Last season 12th FA Cup Fifth round League Cup Fourth round
Last major trophy None
Ownership Bill Foley (USA)
Head coach Andoni Iraola (since June 2023)
New signings Enes Unal, Alex Paulsen, Daniel Jebbison, Dean Huijsen, Julian Araujo, Evanilson
Bournemouth comfortably retained their place at the top table for a eighth season out of the last 10, maintaining their role as the embodiment of support size meaning little given that their average attendance of 11,108 suggests there is no great need to extend the measly capacity of Dean Court. It means, though, that the Cherries will always have a much lower ceiling than their competitors - especially in this era where commercial income is vital to comply with profit and sustainability rules. As such, it was no surprise really that their main weapon Dominic Solanke, scorer of 19 league goals in 2023-24, had his head turned by the bright lights of the capital city and moved to Tottenham Hotspur, while talented out-of-contract centre-back Lloyd Kelly has journeyed north to Newcastle United. Last season, though, head coach Andoni Iraola produced a team last season which often played at a level exceeding the sum of its parts - so, while the goals of Solanke will be missed in particular, the south coast club can continue to punch well above its weight under the astute Spaniard.
▪️ Prediction 13th

▪️ BRENTFORD @BrentfordFC
Last season 16th FA Cup Third round League Cup Third round
Last major trophy None
Ownership Matthew Benham (ENG)
Head coach Thomas Frank (since October 2018)
New signings Benjamin Fredrick, Igor Thiago, Fabio Carvalho, Sepp van den Berg
Brentford failed to hit 40 points for the first time since their promotion to the Premier League as an unconvincing campaign required late wins over Sheffield United, Luton Town and Bournemouth to secure a fourth successive season in the top flight. The Bees actually coped well with the ban until January of main striker Ivan Toney for betting irregularities - and the 28-year-old responded to his reintroduction into the team with four goals in five games. Thereafter, though, Toney's goals dried up completely amid speculation that he was seeking new pastures, something which as of yet still remains unresolved. This spell is not the first time that there has been speculation surrounding Toney's future in a Brentford shirt - and, having seen his show better form without him in the team during 2022-23, head coach Thomas Frank may consider it is time for the west London club to cut its losses.
▪️ Prediction 17th

▪️ BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION @OfficialBHAFC
Last season 11th FA Cup Fifth round League Cup Third round Europa League Last 16
Last major trophy None
Ownership Tony Bloom (ENG)
Head coach Fabian Huerzeler (since July 2024)
New signings Ibrahim Osman, Yankuba Minteh, Mats Wieffer, Brajan Gruda, Georginio Rutter
All change again at Brighton and Hove Albion as the Seagulls begin the season with another new man at the helm. Following in the recent footsteps of Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi, Fabian Huerzeler is the latest left-field appointment on the south coast - and undoubtedly the biggest risk yet. The 31-year-old American-born German arrives in English football without any top-flight experience - and, although he led St Pauli into the Bundesliga in May in his first full season there, it is difficult to tell if he knows exactly what awaits him. For his part, Huerzeler - the youngest manager in Premier League history - has set his sights on producing a "season to remember", but that will be no mean feat considering Brighton have already had plenty of memorable days in recent years. 
▪️ Prediction 9th

▪️ CHELSEA @ChelseaFC
Last season 6th FA Cup Semi finals League Cup Runners-up
Last major trophy Champions League 2021
Ownership Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital (USA)
Head coach Enzo Maresca (since July 2024)
New signings Omari Kellyman, Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Renato Veiga, Caleb Wiley, Filip Jorgensen, Aaron Anselmino, 
Billion Pound Bottlejobs - it is going to be a difficult tag for Chelsea to shrug off especially after another summer splurge has resulted in the signing of nine new faces at a cost of over £200 million so far. Remarkably, at the time of writing, the Blues have 42 first-team players vying for a squad place - an eye-watering number and a clear result of a revolving door approach to the head coach role. On 1 July, Enzo Maresca became the fourth new man in the role in under three-and-a-half years, excluding caretakers and interim appointments - but there are already doubts over just how long he will last in the Stamford Bridge hot-seat. After all, despite the Championship title win, the Italian's reputation at Leicester City suffered some damage after the Foxes squandered a lead which had stood at 14 points - and yet chairman Todd Boehly still saw fit to bring him in.
▪️ Prediction 7th

▪️ CRYSTAL PALACE @CPFC
Last season 10th FA Cup Third round League Cup Third round
Last major trophy None
Ownership John Textor (USA), David Blitzer (USA), Josh Harris (USA), Steve Parish (ENG)
Head coach Oliver Glasner (since February 2024)
New signings Chadi Riad, Daichi Kamada, Ismaila Sarr, Louie Moulden
Crystal Palace continue to battle to keep their squad together after new head coach Oliver Glasner perhaps revealed too much of his hand during the south London club's fine late recovery last season. Glasner led Palace to six wins out of seven at the back end of 2023-24 as the Eagles eventually soared into a finishing position of 10th, only weeks after being on the fringe of the relegation battle, as the second Roy Hodgson era came to the sad conclusion that the 77-year-old was simply too frail to continue in the role. So far, following the sale of Michael Olise to Bayern Munich, Palace owner Steve Parish has rejected no fewer than four bids by Newcastle United for Marc Guehi while Eberechi Eze also has his suitors. At this point, though, it is difficult to see more than one other major player at most leaving Selhurst Park - and, as such, Glasner's men should bounce around midtable all season with little drama.
▪️ Prediction 14th

▪️ EVERTON @Everton
Last season 15th FA Cup Fourth round League Cup Quarter finals 
Last major trophy FA Cup 1995 
Ownership Farhad Moshiri (IRN)
Head coach Sean Dyche (since January 2023) 
New signings Tim Iroegbunam, Iliman Ndiaye, Jake O'Brien, Jack Harrison*, Jesper Lindstrom* 
It was a slightly long and winding road - but Sean Dyche restored some stability at Everton last season as the Toffees survived fairly comfortably despite taking deductions of six and two points respectively. Of course, much of that was down to the desperately poor quality of the chasing pack as, for only the second time in the Premier League era, all three promoted sides made an immediate return to the Championship. However, the Merseysiders also deserve credit for their solid defensive record which brought 13 clean sheets including nine at Goodison Park, something which lessened the impact of the goal drought suffered by main striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Ideally, Dyche would have liked to have used this summer as a platform to build on - but, ahead of the delayed relocation to the new stadium on Bramley-Moore Dock next season, finances remain perilously tight.
▪️ Prediction 15th

▪️ FULHAM @FulhamFC 
Last season 13th FA Cup Fourth round League Cup Semi finals 
Last major trophy None 
Ownership Shahid Khan (USA) 
Head coach Marco Silva (since July 2021) 
New signings Ryan Sessegnon, Emile Smith Rowe, Jorge Cuenca, Sander Berge, Joachim Andersen
For Fulham, the first stage of the recovery is close to completion. Having yoyoed wildly between the Premier League and the Championship in five consecutive seasons between 2017-18 and 2021-22, the Cottagers have begun to re-establish themselves in the top flight again with trouble-free finishes of 10th and 13th in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Head coach Marco Silva also appears to have settled down and, having failed to stay for longer than a year in his four previous jobs, the Portuguese moves into a fourth full season at the west London outfit. Fulham struggled in front of goal last season at times, failing to score in 13 of their 38 league games - but if new signing Emile Smith-Rowe can overcome his recent injury woes, Fulham will re-establish themselves as part of the Premier League furniture once again.
▪️ Prediction 10th

▪️ IPSWICH TOWN @IpswichTown
Last season 2nd in the Championship (promoted) FA Cup Fourth round League Cup Fourth round 
Last major trophy UEFA Cup 1981 
Ownership Gamechanger 20 Ltd (USA)
Head coach Kieran McKenna (since December 2021) 
New signings Omari Hutchinson, Ben Johnson, Jacob Greaves, Liam Delap, Arijanet Muric, Conor Townsend, Sam Szmodics, Kalvin Phillips*, Jens Cajuste* 
Too much, too soon? In May, Ipswich Town became the fifth team during the Premier League era to gain successive promotions from the third tier - and two of the previous four (Southampton and rivals Norwich City) stayed up. The Tractor Boys will hope to become the third as top flight football returns to Portman Road for the first time since 2002 after a couple years of missing out in the playoffs turned into years of mediocrity - and then worse with the drop into League One in 2018-19. Kieran McKenna has led a magnificent recovery - and, while those of the Suffolk faithful who expect survival might be a little too drunk on optimism, their Northern Irish head coach has given them plenty of reason to dream.
▪️ Prediction 20th

▪️ LEICESTER CITY @LCFC 
Last season 1st in the Championship (promoted) FA Cup Quarter finals League Cup Third round 
Last major trophy FA Cup 2021 
Ownership Srivaddhanaprabha family (THA)
Head coach Steve Cooper (since June 2024)
New signings Abdul Fatawu, Bobby Decordova-Reid, Michael Golding, Caleb Okoli, Oliver Skipp, Facundo Buonanotte*
Out of the 20 clubs in the Premier League, Leicester City have ridden the biggest rollercoaster in the last 20 years, since relegation from the top flight in 2004. There followed a demotion to the third tier for the first time in history in 2008 before promotions in 2009 and 2014, a great escape in 2015, an incredible first English league title in 2016, a first FA Cup triumph in 2021, and a shock relegation in 2023. Even this summer, the soap opera on Filbert Way has not stopped with Championship-winning head coach Enzo Maresca moving to Chelsea. Replacement Steve Cooper looks like a sound choice given his recent experience in the lower reaches of the table at Nottingham Forest - but, just like in his last season at the City Ground, some of Cooper's fate will rest outside of his control if the Foxes receive a points deduction for breaching profit and sustainability rules.
▪️ Prediction 19th

▪️ LIVERPOOL @LFC 
Last season 3rd FA Cup Quarter finals League Cup Winners Europa League Quarter finals 
Last major trophy League Cup 2024 
Ownership Fenway Sports Group (USA) 
Head coach Arne Slot (since June 2024)
New signings None 
Arne Slot takes on the difficult job of following Jurgen Klopp at Anfield - and the Dutchman has not exactly been able to stamp his own authority yet with Liverpool making precisely zero incoming signings at the time of writing. Now, it is not as if the Reds have a weak squad - but, having finished in the top two in three of the four seasons between 2019 and 2022 and having finally won the Premier League in 2020, the Merseysiders are no longer the closest challengers to Manchester City after finishes of fifth and third in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Slot will want to rectify that - but his first priority will be to win over some sceptical fans with strong early results in a fixture list which features a relatively early-season visit to Manchester United on 1 September.
▪️ Prediction 4th

▪️ MANCHESTER CITY @ManCity 
Last season Champions FA Cup Runners-up League Cup Third round Champions League Quarter finals 
Last major trophy Premier League 2023-24 
Ownership Abu Dhabi United Group (UAE) 
Head coach Pep Guardiola (since July 2016) 
New signings Savinho, Ilkay Gundogan 
The longest shadow continues to loom large over the whole integrity of the Premier League with the investigation into the charges against Manchester City for breaching financial rules expected to reach a conclusion early next year. That might not be the end of the matter as the Blues, who deny all 115 charges, would be likely to appeal any judgement against them - but the whole legal circus is almost certain to cause a noisy distraction for Pep Guardiola's men at some point this season. Moreover, the loss of handy back-up striker Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid, albeit for £81.5 million, leaves Man City looking improbably short up front - especially if main man Erling Haaland continues to struggle make much of an impression in games against the best teams in the division. Following an unprecedented four consecutive English league titles, this could be the year in which Man City lose grip on their crown, although it certainly will not be given up easily.
▪️ Prediction 2nd

▪️ MANCHESTER UNITED @ManUtd 
Last season 8th FA Cup Winners League Cup Fourth round Champions League Group stage 
Last major trophy FA Cup 2024 
Ownership Joel Glazer and Avram Glazer (USA) 
Head coach Erik ten Hag (since May 2022) 
New signings Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui
Amid much speculation at the end of last season, Erik Ten Hag was surprisingly given a stay of execution in the Old Trafford hotseat with the decision to retain the services of the Dutchman only coming on 12 June, almost three weeks after the last domestic season ended. Ten Hag can point to trophies in successive years with the FA Cup in May adding to the League Cup won in February 2023 but, having been well backed in the transfer market, the Red Devils' descent to eighth place in the Premier League was undoubtedly a massive step backwards following the promising third-place finish in 2022-23. In truth, though, Man United have not sustained a title challenge in the 11 years since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson - and that seems unlikely to change while Ten Hag remains in charge.
▪️ Prediction 5th

▪️ NEWCASTLE UNITED @NUFC 
Last season 7th FA Cup Quarter finals League Cup Quarter finals Champions League Group stage
Last major trophy UEFA (Fairs) Cup 1969 
Ownership Public Investment Fund (KSA) 
Head coach Eddie Howe (since November 2021) 
New signings Odysseas Vlachodimos, Lloyd Kelly, Lewis Hall, John Ruddy, Miodrag Pivas, William Osula 
Much like many reputable bands have difficult second album, the 2022-23 campaign was a difficult second full season for Newcastle United under head coach Eddie Howe. Cup draws were not kind as, in various competitions, the Magpies faced AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea in the League Cup, and a hotly-contested derby against Sunderland, and Man City again in the FA Cup. In total, Howe's men ended up playing 51 matches while trying to cope with a seemingly never-ending injury crisis and an almost year-long ban for Sandro Tonali for breaching betting rules. On that basis, seventh place was no disgrace even if it was not good enough to qualify for any European competition this year due to Man United's surprise FA Cup Final win - although the summer has also been extremely frustrating with a long pursuit of Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi appearing to have been a wild goose chase. For as long as the likes of Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes and Tonali all remain on Tyneside, though, Newcastle really should be competing hard for a European spot once again.
▪️ Prediction 6th

▪️ NOTTINGHAM FOREST @NFFC 
Last season 17th FA Cup Fifth round League Cup Second round
Last major trophy League Cup 1990
Ownership Evangelos Marinakis (GRE) 
Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo (since December 2023)
New signings Marko Stamenic, Eric da Silva Moreira, Elliot Anderson, Carlos Miguel, Nikola Milenkovic, Jota Silva, Ramon Sosa, Alex Moreno*
Reliant on home form to stay up on their return to the Premier League in 2022-23, Nottingham Forest head into the new season having won just three of their last 17 games in all competitions at the City Ground, with 10 of those matches finishing in defeat. That record simply must improve for Forest to survive this time as the Tricky Trees cannot rely on finding three teams as averse to picking up points regularly as Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United were. In the end, Forest stayed up last season on 32 points, breaking the record for the lowest tally of any surviving team in the Premier League era - and, even accounting for the four-point deduction incurred for a breach of profit and sustainability rules, the 36 points won on the pitch would be touch-and-go normally. A baffling scattergun set of new signings - and a head coach in Nuno Espirito Santo who does not connect to the fans like his predecessor Steve Cooper did - point towards another difficult campaign on the banks of the Trent.
▪️ Prediction 18th

▪️ SOUTHAMPTON @SouthamptonFC
Last season 4th in the Championship (promoted) FA Cup Fifth round League Cup First round 
Last major trophy FA Cup 1976
Ownership Sport Republic (ENG)
Head coach Russell Martin (since June 2023) 
New signings Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Adam Lallana, Charlie Taylor, Ronnie Edwards, Nathan Wood, Yukinari Sugawara, Flynn Downes, Ben Brereton Diaz, Cameron Archer, Mateus Fernandes, Lesley Ugochukwu* 
Southampton recovered admirably from a devastating relegation season in 2022-23 in which they fell well short of the required standard, winning just six matches and collecting only 25 points. The Saints eventually ensured an immediate return by beating Leeds United 1-0 in the playoff final through an Adam Armstrong goal - an outcome which did not too likely when the south coast club lost four games in a row last September. From then, though, Russell Martin guided his side to a club-record 25-game unbeaten run in all competitions but the Premier League is a completely different beast. Indeed, a defence which leaked 63 goals in the second tier - and which still regularly features the ponderous Polish centre-back Jan Bednarek - will have top-flight strikers licking their lips.
▪️ Prediction 16th

▪️ TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR @SpursOfficial 
Last season 5th FA Cup Fourth round League Cup Second round 
Last major trophy League Cup 2008 
Ownership ENIC International Limited (ENG) 
Head coach Ange Postecoglou (since June 2023) 
New signings Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray, Dominic Solanke, Wilson Odobert, Timo Werner*
Tottenham Hotspur defied the prediction of this scribbler, and many others, by finishing in fifth place last season under Australian head coach Ange Postecoglu, as skipper Son Heung-min picked up the slack by filling the Harry Kane-sized hole up front with 17 goals. However, another late-season collapse of five defeats out of six in April and May, precipitated by another battering away at Newcastle United, prevented Spurs from returning to the Champions League fold - and that, as well as early exits in both cup competitions, left Postecoglu feeling rather downcast at the end of the season as he described the foundations of the club as "fragile". The big signing this summer of Dominic Solanke restores a presence in the centre-forward position - but it has come at a cost of £65 million, has been based on the output of a single campaign, and does nothing to address Tottenham's biggest concern, which is at the back.
▪️ Prediction 3rd

▪️ WEST HAM UNITED @WestHam 
Last season 9th FA Cup Third round League Cup Quarter finals Europa League Quarter finals 
Last major trophy Europa Conference League 2023 
Ownership David Sullivan (WAL), Daniel Kretinsky (CZE), Vanessa Gold (ENG) 
Head coach Julen Lopetegui (since July 2024)
New signings Luis Guilherme, Wes Foderingham, Max Kilman, Crysencio Summerville, Niclas Fuellkrug, Guido Rodriguez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jean-Clair Todibo*
Sometimes relationships just come to a natural conclusion and that was certainly the case between West Ham United and David Moyes despite the Scotsman having won a first trophy for the east London club since 1980 with the Conference League triumph in June 2023. Last season was much more of a toil, though - with an abrasive Moyes often forced to defend his results over questions about his style of play - and, once results declined into a series of dispiriting defeats and with Moyes out of contract, the statement released prior to final game announcing a parting of the ways came as no surprise. Julen Lopetegui was recruited  after his gap year - and the Spaniard has been backed in the transfer market with, among seven new faces, the arrival of Max Kilman and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in defence, as well as forward Niclas Fuellkrug who impressed during Euro 2024 for Germany.
▪️ Prediction 11th

▪️ WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS @Wolves 
Last season 14th FA Cup Quarter finals League Cup Third round 
Last major trophy League Cup 1980 
Ownership Fosun International (CHN) 
Head coach Gary O'Neil (since August 2023) 
New signings Tommy Doyle, Rodrigo Gomes, Pedro Lima, Jorgen Strand Larsen*
For the second time already in his short managerial career, Gary O'Neil has jumped in at the deep end - first, O'Neil took charge on Bournemouth less than a month into the 2022-23 season - then, just over a year ago, he was drafted in at Wolverhampton Wanderers as a late replacement for Julen Lopetegui. On both occasions, O'Neil has proven himself to be a quietly effective operator - and, unlike at Bournemouth, the 41-year-old has been given a second season to build upon his work at Molineux - and a first ever full pre-season as a head coach. The summer has seen the departure of injury-prone Pedro Nero to Chelsea but, perhaps far more critically, centre-back Max Kilman to West Ham United - as a former defender who builds his teams from the back, O'Neil likely faces a tough assignment again in the current campaign.
▪️ Prediction 12th

Tuesday 13 August 2024

Mixed feelings for Team GB at end of Paris 2024 Olympics


GREAT BRITAIN matched its total of 65 medals from London 2012 at the Paris 2024 Olympics as cyclist Emma Finucane and weightlifter Emily Campbell both closed the Games with bronze.

For Finucane, it was a third medal of the week following gold in the team sprint and an earlier bronze in the keirin - as she became the first British female athlete in 60 years to win three medals at a single Olympic Games.

Indeed, Paris 2024 was a groundbreaking Games for Team GB in some respects, notably in artistic swimming, formerly known as synchronised swimming.

Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe took a silver medal in the women's duet to register the first ever British success in the sport at Olympic level.

Undoubtedly, though, the moment of the second week came in the truly gripping sport of climbing as teenager Toby Roberts struck an unexpected gold in the men's lead-and-boulder competition.

Roberts transferred his practice during the COVID-19 lockdown on a makeshift wall in his Surrey back garden to the biggest stage of all, scoring 92.1 points out of 100 on the lead wall for victory.

But, somewhat annoyingly, Roberts's golden moment was only one of two for Team GB during the last six days of competition.

Ellie Aldridge won the other gold in the first ever staging of women's kitesurfing - a welcome zippy addition to the sailing programme.

Curiously, though, the sailing regatta was staged off Marseille in the calm waters of the Mediterranean, rather than in the far more suitable Bay of Biscay - and there were numerous races either delayed or cancelled altogether.

That was not the only questionable decision made by the organisers with the main faux-pas being the staging of the swimming leg of the triathlon and the open-water swimming events in the river Seine.

Heavy rain for 24 hours turned an overly-ambitious Opening Ceremony - in which the parade of athletes was staged on boats - into something of a damp squib.

Worse still, though, the downpour increased pollution in the river to unsafe levels for several days, forcing the cancellation of the proposed triathlon training sessions and the postponement of the men's event by 24 hours.

Of course, making the Seine clean to swim in for the first time in 100 years was one of the key legacy pledges made by the Paris 2024 Olympics organisers to the extent that city mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip in the river herself ahead of the Games.

But, if anything, the whole thing smacked of a costly public relations exercise - and more than a few sceptical eyebrows were raised when, on the day of the women's competition, the water quality was suddenly deemed safe enough for both competitions to take place.

Nevertheless, it would be churlish in the extreme to deny Paris 2024 was a success - or to deny that the French are feeling the same sort of buzz which was evident in large parts of the United Kingdom at the conclusion of London 2012.

Following an early false start when the French high-speed railway network fell victim to a series of co-ordinated arson attacks, and looking beyond the problems with the Seine, there were no more incidents of major concern.

Meanwhile, the hosts enjoyed its best haul at an Olympics for 124 years since hosting in 1900 with gold medals in rugby sevens, cycling, canoeing, fencing, triathlon, judo, surfing, volleyball, taekwondo, and swimming.

Most notably in the pool, a new Olympic legend emerged for the French as Leon Marchand took four individual gold medals in the 400m individual medley, 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke, and 200m individual medley.

And that was good enough to help France finish fifth in the medal table on 16 gold medals behind only United States, China, Japan, and Australia.

For the record, the Americans topped the table for a fourth time in a row and dominated the overall count with 126 in total.

However, the US finished level with the Chinese on 40 gold medals and only just caught up in the very last event of the Games by squeezing past France by a single point in the women's basketball final.

Netherlands crept above Great Britain into sixth place on the last day of competition after an excellent late run of success spearheaded by woman's marathon winner Siffan Hassan and track cyclist Harrie Lavreysen who took home three gold medals. 

By contrast, for the first time since Sydney 2000, no individual British athlete won multiple gold medals at an Olympic Games. 

Chief executive of the British Olympic Association Andy Anson said: "It’s frustrating to be seventh in the medal table but we’ve got to celebrate first the number of fantastic moments, the way athletes have won their medals.

"It’s about this continual fine-tuning figuring out what can be done better to move forward. The middle bit of the medal table below the United States and China feels incredibly competitive."

In fairness, the cycling squad is still in something of a transitional phase following the retirements of relentless winners Sir Jason Kenny and Dame Laura Kenny.

Katie Archibald was also badly missed having been ruled out with a broken leg and dislocated ankle after tripping up a step in her garden on the eve of the Games.

Furthermore, the competition now from other countries in cycling is so much stronger than it used to be. 

Ultimately, though, it was the missing gold medals in the velodrome which dropped Britain down the standings when compared to previous Games within the last 20 years.

After all, even outside of the velodrome, silver medals and bronze medals were in plentiful supply for Team GB. 

Inspired by Keely Hodgkinson's brilliant gold on Day 10 in the women's 800m, the track-and-field squad hit double figures at an Olympics for the first time since Los Angeles 1984. 

All five relay teams reached the podium with bronze medals coming in the men's 4 x 100m, men's 4 x 400m, women's 4 x 400m and mixed 4 x 400m - while the women's 4 x 100m squad took silver.

There was also a silver medal for Josh Kerr in the men's 1500m as he beat his great Norwegian rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen but failed to match a surprisingly strong late run on the inside made by Cole Hocker of the United States. 

Just over 24 hours later, Matthew Hudson-Smith was also agonisingly beaten by an American - Quincy Hall - by just four one-hundredths of a second in the men's 400m. 

However, the most blissful of the silver medals for Great Britain in the Stade de France undoubtedly went to heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson. 

At the age of 31, after being ravaged by injuries and bad luck at previous Olympic Games, Katarina Johnson-Thompson finally finished on the podium at the fourth attempt. 

Johnson-Thompson even pushed defending champion Nafissatou Thiam extremely hard for gold by recording her personal best in the shot put and the 800m.

Still, the required 8.5-second margin over Thiam in the 800m race which concluded the heptathlon always looked like a long shot and the Belgian duly made sure her deficit never fell below that.

But it did not matter really. For Johnson-Thompson, the silver medal was still a victory over the doubters who deemed the Liverpudlian had missed her last chance already - and a glittering reward for a sterling athletics career.

Elsewhere, Caden Cunningham was Team GB's only taekwondo medal winner at Paris 2024, as he took silver in the men's heavyweight division after a split-decision defeat to Arian Salimi of Iran.

Noah Williams won a bronze in the men's individual 10m platform event - a result which meant a diving squad of 11 matched the five-medal haul of the considerably larger swimming selection.

And, in the women's park event, 16-year-old skateboarder Sky Brown won a repeat bronze to join weightlifter Campbell in winning medals in back-to-back Olympic Games.

Finally, Lewis Richardson - with bronze in the welterweight category - ensured the disastrous Olympics in Atlanta 1996 remains the only time since 1964 in which Team GB did not win a boxing medal.

However, it is highly likely that no one will win any boxing medals at Los Angeles 2028 with the sport slated to be dropped - although this decision is set to be reviewed in 2025.

As usual, the whole competition was marred by rotten judging with fighters like Britain's Rosie Eccles somehow deemed to have lost against Poland’s Aneta Rygielska who received a points deduction for failing to keep her head up.

Horrible judging is sadly nothing new at the Olympics - but the women's competition became subject to further controversy over the eligibility of Algerian Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei, both of whom won gold medals.

Certainly, if boxing wanted a quietly effective Games in order to save its place at the Olympics, this was not it.

But none of this was the fault of a Paris 2024 itself, though - and, despite plenty of frustration for Team GB, the squad as a whole still won medals across 18 sports so there is no need for wholesale changes to be made.  

Rather delightfully, Paris did not let itself down either.  
In full glare following the unwanted Games in Tokyo 2020+1 in front of empty stands due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Lights reignited the Olympic flame for many sports fans around the world over the past two weeks. 

Merci beaucoup - and onto the Paralympics which begin on 
28 August

PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS
MEDAL TABLE

PosFinal standingsGSBTOTAL
1UNITED STATES (USA)
404442126
2CHINA (CHN)
40272491
3JAPAN (JPN)
20121345
4AUSTRALIA (AUS)
18191653
5FRANCE (FRA)
16262264
6NETHERLANDS (NED)
1571234
7GREAT BRITAIN & NI (GBR)
14222965
8SOUTH KOREA (KOR)1391032
9ITALY (ITA)
12131540
10GERMANY (GER)
1213833
11NEW ZEALAND (NZL)
107320
12CANADA (CAN)
971127
13UZBEKISTAN (UZB)
82313
14HUNGARY (HUN)
67619
15SPAIN (ESP)
54918
16SWEDEN (SWE)
44311
17KENYA (KEN)
42511
18NORWAY (NOR)
4138
19IRELAND (IRL)
4037
20BRAZIL (BRA)
371020
21IRAN (IRI)36312
22UKRAINE (UKR)
35412
23ROMANIA (ROU)
3429
24GEORGIA (GEO)
3317
25BELGIUM (BEL)
31610
26BULGARIA (BUL)
3137
27SERBIA (SRB)3115
28CZECH REPUBLIC (CZE)
3025
29DENMARK (DEN)
2259
30AZERBAIJAN (AZE)2237
30CROATIA (CRO)
22
37
32CUBA (CUB)
2169
33BAHRAIN (BRN)
2114
34SLOVENIA (SLO)
2103
35CHINESE TAIPEI (TPE)2057
36AUSTRIA (AUT)
2035
37HONG KONG (HKG)
2024
37PHILIPPINES (PHI)
2024
39ALGERIA (ALG)
2013
39INDONESIA (INA)
2013
41ISRAEL (ISR)
1517
42POLAND (POL)
14510
43KAZAKHSTAN (KAZ)
1337
44JAMAICA (JAM)1326
44SOUTH AFRICA (RSA)
1326
44THAILAND (THA)1326
47ETHIOPIA (ETH)
1304
48SWITZERLAND (SUI)
1258
49ECUADOR (ECU)
1225
50PORTUGAL (POR)1214
51GREECE (GRE)
1168
52ARGENTINA (ARG)
1113
52EGYPT (EGY)1113
52TUNISIA (TUN)
1113
55BOTSWANA (BOT)
1102
55CHILE (CHI)
1102
55ST LUCIA (LCA)
1102
55UGANDA (UGA)
1102
59DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (DOM)
1023
60GUATEMALA (GUA)
1012
60MOROCCO (MAR)
1012
62DOMINICA (DMA)
1001
62PAKISTAN (PAK)
1001
64TURKEY (TUR)
0358
65MEXICO (MEX)0325
66ARMENIA (ARM)
0314
66COLOMBIA (COL)0314
68KYRGYZSTAN (KGZ)
0246
68NORTH KOREA (PRK)
0246
70LITHUANIA (LTU)0224
71INDIA (IND)0156
72MOLDOVA (MDA)
0134
73KOSOVO (KOS)
0112
74CYPRUS (CYP)0101
74FIJI (FIJ)
0101
74JORDAN (JOR)
0101
74MONGOLIA (MNG)0101
74PANAMA (PAN)0101
79TAJIKSTAN (TJK)
0033
80ALBANIA (ALB)0022
80GRENADA (GRN)0022
80MALAYSIA (MAS)
0022
80PUERTO RICO (PUR)
0022
84CAPE VERDE (CPV)
0011
84IVORY COAST (CIV)
0011
84PERU (PER)
0011
84QATAR (QAT)
0011
84REFUGEE TEAM (EOR)
0011
84SINGAPORE (SGP)0011
84SLOVAKIA (SVK)
0011
84ZAMBIA (ZAM)
0011

MEDAL ROLL OF HONOUR
TEAM GB


GOLD


1


29-Jul


Rosalind Canter (Lordships Graffalo)
Laura Collett (London 52)
Tom McEwen (JL Dublin)
Equestrian

 
Team eventing



229-JulTom PidcockCyclingMen's mountain bike cross-country
3
30-Jul
Nathan HalesShootingMen's trap
4





30-Jul





Matt Richards
Duncan Scott
Tom Dean
James Guy
Kieran Bird
James McMillan
Swimming





Men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay






531-Jul
Alex YeeTriathlonMen's event
6



31-Jul



Lauren Henry
Hannah Scott
Lola Anderson
Georgie Brayshaw
Rowing



Women's quadruple sculls




7

02-Aug

Emily Craig
Imogen Grant
Rowing

Women's lightweight double sculls


802-AugBryony PageGymnasticsWomen's trampoline
9


02-Aug


Scott Brash (Hello Jefferson)
Ben Maher (Point Break)
Harry Charles (Romeo 88)
Equestrian

 
Team jumping



10








03-Aug








Sholto Carnegie
Rory Gibbs
Morgan Bolding
Jacob Dawson
Charlie Elwes
Tom Digby
James Rudkin
Tom Ford
Harry Brightmore (cox)
Rowing








Men's eight









11


05-Aug


Sophie Capewell
Emma Finucane
Katy Marchant
Cycling


Women's team sprint

 

12
05-Aug
Keely HodgkinsonAthletics
Women's 800m

13
08-Aug
Ellie AldridgeSailing
Women's kite

14
09-Aug
Toby RobertsClimbing
Men's lead-and-boulder combined




SILVER


127-JulAnna HendersonCyclingWomen's road time trial
228-JulAdam PeatySwimmingMen's 100m breaststroke
3

29-Jul

Tom Daley
Noah Williams
Diving

Men's synchronised 10m platform


429-JulAdam BurgessCanoeingMen's C-1 canoe slalom
529-JulMatt RichardsSwimmingMen's 200m freestyle
631-JulKieran ReillyCyclingMen's BMX freestyle
7



01-Aug



Helen Glover
Esme Booth
Sam Redgrave
Rebecca Shorten
Rowing



Women's four




8

02-Aug

Ollie Wynne-Griffith
Tom George
Rowing

Men's pair


902-AugBen ProudSwimmingMen's 50m freestyle
10
02-Aug
Duncan ScottSwimming
Men's 200m individual medley

1104-AugAmber RutterShootingWomen's skeet
1204-AugTommy FleetwoodGolfMen's event
1305-AugJoe ClarkeCanoeingMen's kayak cross
14


06-Aug


Jack Carlin
Ed Lowe
Hamish Turnbull
Cycling


Men's team sprint



15
06-Aug
Josh KerrAthletics
Men's 1500m
16




07-Aug




Dan Bigham
Ethan Hayter
Ethan Vernon
Ollie Wood
Charlie Tanfield
Cycling




Men's team pursuit





17
07-Aug
Matthew Hudson-SmithAthletics
Men's 400m
18

09-Aug

Elinor Barker
Neah Evans
Cycling

Women's Madison


19





09-Aug





Dina Asher-Smith
Amy Hunt
Imani-Lara Lansiquot
Daryll Neita
Desiree Henry (heats)
Bianca Williams (heats)
Athletics





Women's 4 x 100m relay






20
09-Aug
Katarina Johnson-ThompsonAthletics
Women's heptathlon
21

10-Aug

Kate Shortman
Isabelle Thorpe
Artistic swimming

Women's duet


22
10-Aug
Caden CunninghamTaekwondo
Men's heavyweight (+80kg)



BRONZE


1

27-Jul

Yasmin Harper
Scarlett Mew Jensen
Diving

Women's synchronised 3m springboard


228-JulKimberley WoodsCanoeingWomen's K-1 canoe slalom
329-JulLaura Collett (London 52)EquestrianIndividual eventing
431-JulBeth PotterTriathlonWomen's event
5

31-Jul

Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix
Lois Toulson
Diving

Women's synchronised 10m platform



6

01-Aug

Becky Wilde
Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne
Rowing

Women's double sculls



7



01-Aug



Oli Wilkes
David Ambler
Matt Aldridge
Freddie Davidson
Rowing



Men's four





8

02-Aug

Anthony Harding
Jack Laugher
Diving

Men's synchronised 3m springboard


9








03-Aug








Heidi Long
Rowan McKellar
Holly Dunford
Emily Ford
Lauren Irwin
Eve Stewart
Hattie Taylor
Annie Campbell-Orde
Henry Fieldman (cox)
Rowing








Women's eight









1003-AugEmma WilsonSailingWomen's IQFoil
11


03-Aug


Lottie Fry (Glamourdalec)
Carl Hester (Fame)
Becky Moody (Jagerbomb)
Equestrian


Team dressage



12
03-Aug
Jake JarmanGymnasticsMen's floor
13




03-Aug




Sam Reardon
Laviai Nielsen
Alex Haydock-Wilson
Amber Anning
Nicole Yeargin (heats)
Athletics




Mixed 4 x 400m relay






14
04-Aug
Lottie Fry (Glamourdalec)Equestrian
Individual dressage
15
04-AugHarry HepworthGymnastics
Men's vault
16



05-Aug



Alex Yee
Georgia Taylor-Brown
Sam Dickinson
Beth Potter
Triathlon



Mixed relay event




1705-AugKimberley WoodsCanoeingWomen's kayak cross
1806-AugSky BrownSkateboardingWomen's park
19
06-AugLewis RichardsonBoxingMen's welterweight
20



07-Aug



Elinor Barker
Josie Knight
Anna Morris
Jess Roberts
Cycling



Women's team pursuit




21
08-Aug
Emma FinucaneCycling
Women's Keirin

22




09-Aug




Jeremiah Azu
Louie Hinchcliffe
Zharnel Hughes
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake
Richard Kilty (heats)
Athletics




Men's 4 x 100m relay





23
09-Aug
Jack CarlinCycling
Men's sprint

24
10-Aug
Noah WilliamsDiving
Men's 10m platform

25
10-Aug
Georgia BellAthletics
Women's 1500m

26





10-Aug





Lewis Davey
Charlie Dobson
Alex Haydock-Wilson
Matthew Hudson-Smith
Toby Harries (heats)
Sam Reardon (heats)
Athletics





Men's 4 x 400m relay






27







10-Aug







Amber Anning
Laviai Nielsen
Victoria Ohuruogu
Nicole Yeargin
Yemi Mary John (heats)
Hannah Kelly (heats)
Lina Nielsen (heats)
Jodie Williams (heats)
Athletics







Women's 4 x 400m relay








28
11-Aug
Emma FinucaneCycling
Women's sprint

29
11-Aug
Emily CampbellWeightlifting
Women's +81kg


EARLIER PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS BLOGS
26.07  Sport-by-sport preview
01.08  Flurry of gold for Team GB
07.08  Hodgkinson crowned new queen of British athletics