Friday, September 09, 2016

Rashford Beats Chelsea's Rival, Solanke


The contrasts between Dominic Solanke and Marcus Rashford couldn't be any more striking. Both are being billed as the future of English football on the back of their goalscoring exploits.

Whereas Solanke has been a youth-team star for Chelsea, however, it's where it matters most that Rashford is making his name.

The Manchester United striker scored on his debut for the club in last season's Europa League and hasn't looked back since. He followed up his brace against Danish side Midtjylland in February with another double just three days later against Arsenal in a 3-2 win.

A further four goals followed, including the game's only tally as United toppled rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Within seconds of making his England debut in late May, Rashford score against Australia to book his place in Roy Hodgson's Euro 2016 squad.

On Tuesday, a hat-trick on his England under-21s debut sent his reputation into thestratosphere.

In the meantime, Rashford's star is soaring. But who would have predicted this even 12 months ago? Back then, Rashford was hardly on the radar.

Solanke himself wasn't being discussed widely, but with his superior goalscoring record,
he was creating the buzz.

Just six weeks in their birth dates separate Solanke and Rashford—the Chelsea man turns 19 on September 14, with Rashford celebrating his birthday on Halloween.

In terms of their careers, though, the gap couldn't be any greater. Rashford is racing ahead, while Solanke remains stagnant.

It's a crying shame, as his presence in Chelsea's youth teams should have earned Solanke a chance at Stamford Bridge. Forgetting the off-field politics of contract negotiations, he's been a victim of Chelsea's policy of promoting reputations over potential.

Manchester United have already recouped what they spent on Paul Pogba.



The Red Devils splashed out £89m to sign the Frenchman from Juventus.

Pogba's eye watering fee is a world record, but Smith claims United have already made £143m in shirt sales - they’ve sold 190m dollars worth of Pogba shirts so maybe they got it right.




Man Utd's Zlatan Ibrahimovic regrets not playing for Jose Mourinho longer


Manchester United striker Zlata Ibrahimovic has
reiterated his belief that Jose Mourinho is a "mastermind" and revealed his only regret is that
he didn't have more time to play under the Portuguese boss.

Ibrahimovic and Mourinho spent a year together at Inter Milan, where the United boss led the club a historic Treble of Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League titles the season after selling the Swede to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.

The two stars have reunited at Manchester United, where they will participate in their first.

Manchester derby on Saturday against Guardiola's City. And the former PSG man hailed Mourinho ahead of the match.

Hector Bellerin set for new deal after Barcelona end interest.


Hector Bellerin could be set to sign a new deal with Arsenal are Barcelona ended their pursuit of the defender, according to The Sun.

Bellerin was wanted by his former club for the duration of the summer but a move never got close to completion.

But reports now suggest that Barcelona accept that they will not be able to land the La Masia academy graduate and have given up the chase.

Luis Enrique reportedly seen Sergi Roberto as his long-term successor to Dani Alves, who joined Juventus this summer.

Bellerin is believed to be happy at Arsenal and is content with his current role in the  team.

Alessio Romagnoli Was Glad He Didn't Join Chelsea


“The fact there was an offer was pleasing, but I am even more gratified by the fact Milan said no.”
Alessio Romagnoli

And it seems he’s looking forward to continuing his development in his native Italy, rather than with countryman Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge. "The fact there was an offer was pleasing, but I am even more gratified by the fact Milan said no," Romagnoli told La Gazetta dello Sport. "This pushes me on to grow even more and improve myself. I am happy to have remained.

President Silvio Berlusconi made a big investment for me and that’s enormously pleasing. "Milan are certainly behind Juventus right now, but I don’t think we are missing anything in particular. We just need to work together and grow as a unit.




Samir Nasri will be preparing for his Sevilla debut against Las Palma


It was April and Nasri had just scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over West Brom at the Etihad Stadium. It was his first start since October after a six-month lay-off with a thigh injury, and the Frenchman was already envisioning a central role for himself in Guardiola's revolution.

Fast forward a few months and his boldness appears ill-judged. Guardiola ordered an overweight Nasri to train separately to the rest of the squad in pre-season, and the midfielder's only playing time came with a 15-minute cameo against West Ham before he completed his loan move to Sevilla.

Nasri insists Guardiola fought for him to stay "until the last moment", but it is tempting to wonder whether the new coach was really so conflicted. Nasri's comments do not always tally with reality, after all.

When he was left out of City's Champions League squad for the knockout stages in February, for example, he bizarrely declared he would happily finish his career at the club.

Thursday, September 08, 2016

New UEFA Changes Poses Danger to Champion League



The recently-announced changes to the
Champions League are detrimental to domestic football in Europe and will increase the gap between the wealthiest clubs and the rest, Europe's domestic football leagues (EPFL) said on Thursday.

The EPFL, the umbrella grouping for 24 European domestic leagues, also called upon the next Uefa president to reconsider the changes which made fewer places available in the Champions League group stage to teams from smaller countries.

It was the first major criticism of the reforms of the lucrative competition, which were announced in Monaco in August after secretive negotiations between European football body Uefa and the clubs.

Uefa rearranged the group-stage slots in favour of its four top-ranked leagues, in effect Spain, England, Germany and Italy, by guaranteeing them four places each.

Places for the winners of the 11th and 12th ranked leagues were cut and the number of places reserved for teams from the remaining leagues, who play their way through a qualifying competition, was reduced from five to four.

Uefa also announced changes in the distribution of revenue with more emphasis placed on the historic sporting results of the clubs and less on the value of their television market.

The changes came amid reports that the biggest clubs had been discussing the creation of a so-called Super League.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Nurse Accused of Raping Three Female Prisoners


A mental health nurse accused of raping three female prisoners told a colleague he was checking an inmate's make-up when she found them alone in a room, a jury heard. Peter Barrowman denies raping three inmates in 2014, and indecently assaulting a fourth at HMP Cornton Vale between 2009 and 2010.

He also denies supplying drugs to prisoners. Prison officer Janine Hunter, 40, told the trial Barrowman, 35, was “hyper”.

She said she saw him take the woman he is accused of assaulting and later threatening into a nurse’s room and shut the door. She went in 10 minutes later.

Hunter said: “He was a bit flustered. He was standing between her legs. He said he was checking her foundation.

The man who spearheaded a high-profile campaign against speed cameras in the Highlands has been left embarrassed – after being caught speeding. Mike Burns, founding member of the group “A9 Average Speed Cameras Are Not The Answer”, was fined £180 this week after being captured by a speed camera doing 40mph in a 30mph zone. But while he “holds his hands up” to the offence, he has now embarked on a fresh battle with the authorities to have his conviction thrown out.

The Foyers-based campaigner has raised a series of complaints over the “shocking” handling of the process by police, prosecutors and the court service.

Mr Burns shot to prominence in 2013 when he became the most outspoken opponent of the Scottish Government’s controversial introduction of average speed cameras on the A9 Inverness to Perth road.

A mobile speed camera captured Mr Burns driving his Volkswagen Passat at 40mph just a few feet from the signs that mark the end of the 30mph zone near Cromdale on the A95, at 10.17am, on February 20.

Mr Burns was fined £180 at the Justice of the Peace Court in Inverness on Wednesday and had his licence endorsed with three points.

However, he has raised a series of concerns in relation to the procedures which led to the penalty, and what he called “interesting discrepancies”.

His initial complaint, which was upheld after a police investigation but has since been referred to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) for a further review, relates to “inaccurate” information provided to him in correspondence with the East Scotland Safety Camera manager Andrew Jones, claiming he had been caught by a fixed camera rather than a mobile one.

Young Girl Caught Driving on Highway, Says Boyfriend Too Woozy to Drive


A 14-year-old girl caught driving
through Morwell told police her. boyfriend was too "woozy" from smoking drugs to be behind the wheel. Latrobe Highway Patrol police impounded the Toyota Camry after pulling over the pair on Haywood Street about 4pm Friday.

When asked why her 20-year-old P-
plater passenger wasn't driving, the
teenager told police he had been
smoking drugs and was feeling "woozy".
Victoria Police spokeswoman Leonie
Johnson said the teenager was expected
to be charged on summons with traffic-
related offences.

The car will be impounded for 30 days and $1400 will need to be paid for its release.

Pastor Who Said Orlando Victims Got What They Deserved Charged for Child Molestation


Pastor Ken Adkins, who infamously said the victims of Orlando’s Pulse nightclub shooting got “what they deserve,” was arrested Friday on a charge of child molestation, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

According to The Florida Times Union, the arrest stems from allegations made by a young male former member of his congregation. Special Agent Stacy Carson said the investigation is focused on suspected molestation in several locations in the

Brunswick, Georgia area, including at Adkins’ church, a vehicle and a victim’s home. Adkins’ wife, Charlotte, told the paper, “This young man was part of our teen ministry. Ken and I have treated him like family, as has our church. He is a deeply troubled young man, to be sure, but our thoughts and prayers remain with him even now.”

In a June 16 tweet on Adkins’ now-private Twitter account, he wrote, “Been [sic] through so much with these Jacksonville Homosexuals that I don’t see none of them as victims. I see them as getting what they deserve!!” Adkins, who does double-duty as political consultant in the Jacksonville area, is being held at the Glynn County Jail.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Jackie Chan Is Now The Second Highest Paid Actor In the World


Forbes recently listed the Hong Kong star on their global list following his stellar year in the Chinese box office. His newest film, “Dragonblade”, starring notable Hollywood names including Adrien Brody and John Cusack, grossed $120 million in China alone.

The actor and investor also starred in the latest installment of the “Monkey King” franchise and has a number of Chinese films in post-production. Chan, who came in second on the list after Dwayne Johnson, has an estimated net worth of $350 million.

Chinese cinemas have grown at almost a 33% rate over the past five years. Captivating the Chinese box office is a high priority for filmmakers after witnessing recent successes with movies like “Warcraft.” During its debut weekend , Warcraft flopped in North America, but was a record-breaking success in China.