csconstantine.com

However, despite their recent problems, Redknapp insists Carlo Ancelotti’s side remain a threat in the league. “It would be a miracle if we did it,” said Redknapp. “People get carried away thinking Tottenham should be in the Champions League. Why should we be in the Champions League?

“We’d never been in the Champions League before, suddenly we do it and it’s: ‘Oh well, we should do it again.’ Look at Man City and Chelsea. Have a look at their wage bills. Have a look at the money they pay out. Why should we finish above them?

“If you asked me at the start of the year to put my life on who I’d go for [to qualify] – I think City with Tévez, Balotelli. Have a look at the strength they’ve got.

“Man United are nailed on, so are Arsenal. If we make the top four it will be a fantastic achievement for the players but it will be tough.”

Redknapp is without Rafael van der Vaart at Bloomfield Road after the forward damaged a calf in training on Sunday. But it is in defence that Spurs are short with Gareth Bale, Alan Hutton, Vedrun Coruka, Jonathan Woodgate, Ledley King and Younes Kaboul all missing.

William Gallas is likely to have to play at right-back as Spurs look for a fourth straight Premier League win for the first time in 11 months.

For that reason, Redknapp remains cautious, adding: “Finishing above Chelsea this season would never have entered my mind. After 10 games we were all going to give the championship to Chelsea. They were walking away with it so it’s amazing how it’s turned.

“I still expect Chelsea to go on a run. They can still finish second anyway. They’ve got the players there, the strength. It’ll be tight.

“The top four is going to be difficult. But we’re right there at the moment, as we were last year. Even with the European campaign and the injuries we’ve had, we’re still in both competitions. It’s great.”

Spurs face AC Milan in a fortnight 1-0 up and 90 minutes from reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Redknapp said: “I see the Champions League as an amazing bonus, and people forget that. If we can do it two years running it will be great.”

Ian Holloway, the Blackpool manager, lent support to Redknapp’s case to replace Fabio Capello as England manager after Euro 2012. “I would love to see him in that chair,” said Holloway. “He can handle it and he’d get our players to play the way his clubs play – with a great deal of attacking prowess.”

Holloway is still looking for emergency cover for Richard Kingson, his only fit senior goalkeeper. “We’re not able to stack and rack four or five goalkeepers like most other people,” he said.

Labels: aposmiracleapos, champions, Harry, league, Qualify, Redknapp, Telegraphcouk, Tottenham

Having secured Bolton Wanderers' place in this tie with a second-half winner at Wigan on Wednesday, his first goal since October, Klasnic supplied the crucial strike again to take Bolton into the last eight of the FA Cup for the first time in six years.

Klasnic was arrested in October after a 17 year-old alleged she had been raped in a Manchester city centre apartment but the striker discovered last week that he would face no charges.

Owen Coyle, the Bolton manager, admitted that the allegations had upset the 30 year-old. He said: “We were delighted to be told there was no case to answer, which we always knew. But the thing about it is in terms of his fan base in Germany and Croatia. A lot of people looked up to Ivan and it was horrible for them to read that. He has tried to deal with it with a smile on his face but there is no doubting from a family perspective he felt that they were hurt more than anything. Hopefully we can see the best of Ivan in the run in.”

Klasnic claimed the winner in the 19th minute and while there was no denying Bolton their victory, the game was not helped by erratic refereeing from Stuart Attwell.

The official failed to take action in the first half when Moussa Dembele appeared to be the target for some heavy challenges, and Fulham manager Mark Hughes said: “I felt there were situations where he was saying he was playing the advantage but in and around the opposition box you don’t want the advantage, you want free-kicks and set plays, which we didn’t seem to get.

“There were a couple of situations where you think the referee needs to make a positive decision and just waving your hands and saying 'play on’ can be a cop-out. You’ve got to be able to be strong enough to make decisions when they are needed.”

Hughes should have been equally unhappy with his players for squandering enough chances to have at least earned a draw.

Bobby Zamora’s return, off the bench, five months since he broke a leg against Wolves, appeared to strengthen Fulham but they could not break down a resolute defence which has now kept five clean sheets in the last six games.

Bolton were without the Cup-tied Daniel Sturridge but still dominated and before the goal Stuart Holden wasted a chance when Fulham failed to clear Fabrice Muamba’s attempt and the ball fell to Chung-Yong Lee. Aaron Hughes and Brede Hangeland could not clear his cross and Klasnic responded with his second goal in five days.

Shortly before the interval Fulham threatened when Clint Dempsey’s raking shot flew wide of the left post and Andy Johnson saw an offering blocked by the Bolton defence.

Bolton could have sewn the tie up in the 65th minute when they counter-attacked with Martin Petrov attempting to feed Kevin Davies but Chris Baird made a timely intervention. Before the end Dempsey went close to securing an equaliser and the American should have done better with a late header, from Danny Murphy’s corner, which sailed over the crossbar.

Labels: Bolton, character, Coyle, Klasnicaposs, Manager, salutes, striker, Telegraphcouk

Questions are also increasingly being asked of the FIA’s leadership. As of Sunday night the sport’s governing body had yet to make a single official statement on the crisis.

Following last week’s violence in the island kingdom, there were encouraging signs over the weekend as the army and police withdrew from Bahrain’s capital city Manama and pro-democracy protesters were allowed back into Pearl Square.

However, the overwhelming feeling within F1 — certainly from teams, sponsors and drivers — remains that it would be inappropriate to go racing just weeks after people have died and the country is attempting to build a new political consensus.

“When you hear of people losing their lives, this is a tragedy,” said Red Bull’s Webber following practice in Barcelona on Sunday. “It’s probably not the best time to go there for a sporting event. They have bigger things, bigger priorities.”

Meanwhile the warnings against “non-essential” travel issued by many governments, including the United Kingdom’s, remain in place. It seems, however, that no one wants to make the call.

Although there have been whispers that teams and drivers might boycott a race, publicly they have pledged to abide by the decision made by Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA.

There are commercial implications at play here with teams contractually obliged to turn up if the commercial rights holder stages a race.

Ecclestone repeated yesterday what he told Telegraph Sport last Tuesday, that he would leave the final decision to Bahrain’s crown prince, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifah.

“He will decide whether it’s safe for us to be there,” Ecclestone said.

Privately, it is accepted that security is not Ecclestone’s only concern. It could prove costly to cancel the race if the Bahrainis are adamant they can stage it safely. Bahrain is thought to be paying $40 million for the grand prix, plus $20 million for the privilege of hosting the season opener.

As for the FIA, the silence from Paris has been deafening although the relationship with Bahrain is a particularly sensitive one. The Bahrain royal family has close ties to FIA president Jean Todt.

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the second son of Bahrain’s king, is a FIA World Council member and played a key role in Todt’s election in 2008. Bahrain’s crown prince is also a shareholder in Nicolas Todt’s — Jean Todt’s son’s — ART Grand Prix team.

Within the paddock Bahrain has a stake in McLaren. Its sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat owns 42 per cent of the McLaren Group and 50 per cent of McLaren Automotive, the company’s road car division.

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton said on Sunday that he hoped the Bahrain race went ahead.

As for the broadcasters, the issue is similarly fraught with ethical and commercial dilemmas.

BBC F1 presenter Jake Humphrey hinted that he might boycott a race when he told his Twitter followers on Sunday: “For those asking. Just because the race goes ahead doesn’t mean the BBC have to be there. We’ll make a call, and I know what mine will be...”

Telegraph Sport understands, however, that the BBC, which paid an estimated £200 million for the rights to F1, will attend the grand prix if it goes ahead.

Complicating the issue is the fact that the final pre-season test is scheduled to be held at Bahrain’s Sakhir track a week before the race, from March 3-6.

“In the end the right decisions will be made,” Webber said. “It’s not a big deal to be honest because there are more things than F1 in Bahrain. Bigger priorities. That is what they want to work on over there, generations of issues.”

Labels: Bahrain, civil, concerns, following, Telegraphcouk, timing, voices, Webber

Yet in his first game in charge of West Bromwich Albion Hodgson showed he has a quality that is even more valuable. Napoleon once said he preferred neither courageous nor brilliant generals but lucky ones, and, in his latest managerial reincarnation at least, Hodgson looks like being one of those.

He might claim his decision to send on Carlos Vela and James Morrison, who combined to cancel out Jamie O’Hara’s goal and draw the first Black Country derby ever fought out at Premier League level, was a managerial masterstroke.

But Vela’s strike two minutes into stoppage time came from a rebound when an otherwise impressive Wayne Hennessey spilled Morrison’s speculative shot. This was not planned or preordained, but really, really lucky for West Brom and their new manager, and the Hawthorns celebrated it as though they had just dealt Wolverhampton Wanderers a death blow.

Mick McCarthy, the Wolves manager, was left licking his wounds and said he was satisfied with a mere point, but it all seemed a bit false. Like overcooked pasta, Wolves remain stuck to the bottom of the Premier League, and West Brom are within touching distance of the relegation zone.

“When you equalise late in the game you feel happy, but when I look back on this in a few days I won’t feel so good,” Hodgson surmised.

The reality is that both teams demonstrated the kind of limitations which are sure to see at least one of them sent back to the Championship at the end of the season – a failure to convert the simplest of chances and the type of incompetent defending which creates them. West Brom have not kept a clean sheet since August.

Three training sessions are not enough to sort out such defensive shortcomings even for a coach of Hodgson’s experience, and Wolves found a way through just before the break when Kevin Doyle was body-checked outside the area by Gabriel Tamas.

Nenad Milijas had the wherewithal to use the free kick to square the ball to O’Hara, who struck first time with his left foot from the edge of the area into the top corner.

Hodgson said that one of his players – he would not name names – should have been level with the ball to cut off Milijas’s pass, but vaguely explained that Wolves, “through their organisation, managed to get rid of that player”. But he added that “there is not a goal scored where there is not a mistake”.

By rights Wolves should have taken a two-goal lead. Quite how Matt Jarvis did not provide Wolves with their second soon after the interval, only he knows. Tamas tried to head back to Boaz Myhill and failed spectacularly, leaving Jarvis to nip in for the simple task of volleying home. He scuffed wide.

If that was bad, Marc-Antoine Fortuné’s attempt to equalise soon after was pitiful. Peter Odemwingie found his team-mate just yards from goal and Fortuné only had to smack the ball from point-blank range past Hennessey. Instead the striker ended up hitting nothing but clean air. You don’t get much more incompetent than that.

Hodgson shook his head in disgust, and introduced Vela and Morrison. The latter sent a low shot at Hennessey, and the Welshman spilled the ball straight to Vela, who tapped in. The away support lobbed a smoke bomb – apparently smuggled into the ground inside a cuddly toy — into the Millennium corner, but the Hawthorns erupted in relief. Their new man has lady luck on his side.

Labels: Albion, Bromwich, Carlos, gives, grounds, Hodgson, lucky, strike, Telegraphcouk, Velaaposs

Email Thom Gibbs with your hard-luck stories. Anything sadder than Barry Hearn's gets published.
-----------------------------

LEYTON ORIENT 1 ARSENAL 1

18:35: Over and out from me, thanks for your company. I'll leave the final words to Henry Winter on Twitter: "With 10 mins remaining #afc fans were singing "we'll never play you again". Yes they will."

18:32: Raucous celebrations in the Orient dressing room. A light fitting has been torn down. The Brisbane Road facilities manager will be livid.

18:28: Jonathan Tahoue correctly wins ITV's novelty oversized bottle o'booze. He says "what's this?!" as it's presented to him. He also says: "This is the magic of football. Today we were the underdog, but we achieved this draw so we will look forward to the replay. We will do our best to get through."

18:25: Fantastic stuff from Orient. Arsenal pay for their complacency, and Tahoue, who arrived at Orient from the French fourth tier made all the difference. Hard not to feel pathetically touched by the scenes at Brisbane Road. Orient's grinning players mob one another and salute their crowd. Orient's long-suffering fans bellow the name of Russell Slade.

FULL TIME

90+4 min: Sagna's cross is headed clear by Chorley.

90+3 min: Awkward moment as Jones comes out of his box and looks set to collide with Forbes. Jones clears it emphatically. He's had a great game.

90+1 min: Four minutes of added time for Orient to hang on and secure a lucrative replay.

89 min: GOAL!!! Leyton Orient 1 Arsenal 1 (Tahoue)
WOW! Tahoue beats Gibbs and Miguel with some awkward-looking tricks and powers through the middle of them before unleashing a blast at goal. It went through Almunia somewhat, (surprise surprise) but what a moment!

88 min: Arsenal have made 658 passes this afternoon. Orient 169.

87 min: Arshavin gets down the right wing on his own and gets a great shot away which clips the bottom of the far post. Arsenal looking tremendously comfortable here, but we all know about that famous fictional "magic" which is associated with this competition...

86 min: Cox looks to break by Orient, but is halted under pressure by Song.

84 min: Revell is off for Paul-Jose M'Poku. Top name.

83 min: At the other end Tehoue bursts forward down the right and is pulled back superbly for Revell. It's hit first time directly into the face of Squillaci. "Ha'ballllll!" scream the Orient fans. Closeish, but no penalty. Squillaci looks to have copped that right in the eye, which is a worry.

82 min: Arshavin has a free kick out wide. It's crossed deep, but the impressive Jones claims it cleanly with outstretched arms. Ajay Kartik has me practically cheering on Arsenal with his seductive blend of reason and excitement: "We've done the double over Brum this year in the league, so at least one trophy, I'd think. Premier League is still a possibility for considering United have a much harder run in than us. A lot will depend on our results against United. And as for the Nou Camp, I'm pretty sure it will be a whole lot closer than last year. Mind we didn't have Cesc Fabregas, Gallas, Van Persie and Arshavin from our regular starters last time around, looking forward to a tasty match on the 8th!"

79 min: Tehoue is muscled off the ball by Rosicky and gives away a foul in his attempt to win it back. Richard Perkins offers the Arsenal view: "I am an Arsenal fan so we'll win all 4! Well, except the Champions League as I cannot see us getting past Barcelona. Oh, and maybe not the FA Cup as we drew Man U away. Not sure about the Premiership as I can't see Man U slipping up more often than us (despite 2 games against Chelsea). As I said ... Carling Cup glory here we come!"

77 min: Tehoue's made an impact for Orient since replacing McGleish. He chases down what looks a lost cause after Revell pings a ball towards the box, forcing a hurried clearance from Gibbs.

74 min: Yuck, Arsenal's fans sing "we'll never play you again" to Orient's. Admittedly Orient had been taunting them with a rather ruder version of my prediction that they won't win any trophies this year, but there's something so classless about fans of gigantic teams taunting supporters that follow a team that operate several leagues and universes below theirs. Like watching a burly twentysomething skinhead and his mates starting a fight with a 12 year old.

73 min: John Fischer has a reasoned response to the question of what Arsenal will have to show at the end of 2010/11: "2 trophies. Carling cup then either fa cup or premier league. Think both will come down to the game with man utd (sorry orient) not unreasonable to think they'll win one of the two."

70 min: Tehoue beats Sagna with a combination of pace and physicality and puts a hard pass along the ground for Revell. He takes on the shot first time but it's wide.

69 min: Arshavin gets to the byline and tees up Rosicky in the box. His quick shot is saved by Jones with his feet. The rebound gives Rosicky a chance with his head, Jones is up in a flash to catch the ball. Good goalkeeping.

68 min: Drury and Pleat are speculating about house prices for the flats that are at the corners of Brisbane Road. "Surely now's the time to buy!" implores famed capitalist Drury. "You pay today's price and get the benefit of the Olympics next year." He's on a one man mission to revitalise this economy through the medium of football commentary.

66 min: Slow pace to the game now, as Arsenal put their "passing it around like 11 men on sedatives" hats. James Ogilvy is the first (of many, I'm sure) to take offence to my negative Arsenal trophy haul prediction. "Zero? You're surely bear-bating! £50 says Birmingham get done!" I couldn't possibly accept that wager. It would be unprofessional (and more money than I'm willing to lose!). But I've got a feeling Brum will unsettle Arsenal in the final, and the occasion will get to Wenger's players, who haven't exactly made a habit of winning trophies in recent years.

63 min: One half time change I failed to tell you about - Tom Caroll came on for Jason Crowe. Bad liveblogging. My head is suitably hung in shame. As I type, Scott McGleish is being removed from the game, with Jonathan Tehoue coming on in his place.

61 min: Arsenal sitting deeper since the goal, impetus very much on Orient now. And here comes the onslaught of Arsenal trophy-winning arguments: "3," states the optimistic Hakan Skoglund. "Premier League, FA and Carling cups." I can't see it, especially not the first one. "At least two are three," says Randy Hakeem somewhat cryptically. I think he meant to type "or".

59 min: Daniel's corner is nodded out of the box by Arsenal.

58 min: Smith's long ball falls into the box. Miguel knocks it out for a corner under pressure from Dawson.

56 min: For what it's worth, I'm saying a big fat zero. I've got a feeling Birmingham will pull off a surprise at Wembley, I think Manchester United will take the league at a canter and probably dispose of Arsenal in this competition in the next round, and I think Wenger's side's narrow advantage will count for very little at the Nou Camp.

55 min: So Arsenal are, as it stands, still on course for a quadruple. I don't think there's any chance of that happening, but will open up this as my second half topic for discussion. How many trophies do you think Arsenal will win this season? Get your strident views to me here.

53 min: GOAL!!! Leyton Orient 0 Arsenal 1 (Rosicky)
Bendtner does well to hold off a challenge and heads wide with the ball. He swivels and chips it back into the box, Rosicky is on hand to nod precisely into the corner. No chance for Jones, and that's the Czech's first goal in over a year.

51 min: Here are Henry Winter's Twitter-hosted half time thoughts: "Orient doing well against Arsenal Lite. Dawson outstanding in c-mid. Ex-Tottenham Daniels good too. Orient may tire but they are good value for this. More hunger than certain Arsenal players."

49 min: Bendtner is crowded out of a shooting chance by a swarm of Orient defenders.

46 min: Arsenal win a corner seconds after kick off. Jones claims it well at his far post.

17:34: Tracy, a nice lady in a Leyton Orient scarf, has just interrupted Stubbs, Savage and McManamanananan on their pitchside table with an offer of some bread pudding in a Tupperware box. Instead of chiding her for interrupting live TV they seem to almost forget the cameras, and hand the tub to Savage to take care of. Lovely. Stuff.

HALF TIME
Great effort by Orient. Tiresome to watch, mind. An Orient goal would be a lovely kick in the pants. Arsenal don't look interested, especially not the front two.

45+1 min: Almunia is forced to come out of his area and head away a long ball forward.

45 min: Arshavin chips in a ball to the box for Gibbs, who brings it down well, but muscled off by Terrell Forbes. Goal kick to Orient.

43 min: I'm sorry to report that absolutely nothing is happening. Fair play to Orient, I suppose, for keeping this game so tight. Arsenal's tactic will surely be to pass their opponents into oblivion and deliver a killer blow when tiredness kicks in at around the 77 minute mark. I am from the Russell Slade school of precision. (see update at 16:20).

39 min: Arshavin dances (somewhere between a foxtrot and bogle) through the Orient defence to eke out space for a shot. His snapped shot is wide.

38 min: Chorley heads Smith's delivery back across goal but it's cleared by Song.

37 min: Smith plays it off Sagna's shins to win Orient a corner.

35 min: Gibbs' cross deflects off Whing right into the path of Chamakh who is waiting just outside the six yard box. His slid attempt to poke the ball in is dreadful, and ends up wide. That should have been a goal.

34 min: Jimmy Smith is doing an excellent job of being a midfield nuisance. He's nipping at the feet of Arsenal's players like an especially annoying terrier. It's yet to come to anything. I'm looking forward to seeing how exhausted he looks at the end of the game.

33 min: Terrell Forbes heads it well wide.

32 min: Corner to Orient, after Dawson, let's face it, fouls Sagna in his hassling for the ball.

30 min: Chamakh tees up Bendtner well, but the Dane with the extremely high opinion of himself can only offer a weak volley that screws away from goal.

27 min: Rosicky is fouled by Whing to give Arsenal a free kick close to the far side of the area. Jonathan Liew on Twitter provides a typically perceptive look at the draw for the quarter finals: "Not a great Cup draw for any team who fancies a Europa League slot for finishing seventh in the league. Either United or Arsenal going out". Bolton are through, incidentally, beating Fulham 1-0 at Craven Cottage.

26 min: Steve Davies, a Leyton Orient director, is shown watching. "Cue Steve Davies," says Pleat. That's the best joke I've ever heard David Pleat make.

24 min: Dean Cox's cross is overhit and out for a goal kick.

21 min: David Pleat opines that Orient "could get out-footballed" if they close down incorrectly in midfield. That's got to be a worry. No-one wants to see the tragedy of a team being out-footballed.

20 min: Squillaci and Song combine to clear a central Orient free kick from 40 yards that had been hopefully punted into the middle of the box. When did that ever work as a tactic?

18 min: Arshavin's corner comes to nothing. Crikey, this game is flat.

17 min: Henry Winter paints quite the picture on Twitter: "Up for the Cup: heaving balconies overlooking sold-out Brisbane Road...two blokes even sitting precariously on window ledges."

16 min: Sagna is released on the right wing with plenty of space to run into. His cross evades everyone in the middle.

14 min: Squillaci and Almunia have a communication breakdown and give away a corner. It's played back to Daniels around 25 yards out. He takes a mean first-time shot with his left foot, which fizzes just over.

13 min: Chamakh's low side-footed drive is easily saved by Jones down to his right.

12 min: Orient look to have three players offisde, running on to a long ball over the defense. Replays show it was only one, and it was marginal. Arsenal's high line is asking for trouble.

10 min: Arsenal out-singing their opponents, which is a rare thing to find yourself typing. Their tiresome desire to hang on to the ball has quietened Orient's support which was borderline noisy at the start of the game.

8 min: Miguel does well to edge out McGleish, and wins a foul following the Orient forward's over-exuberant attempts to win the ball.

7 min: The possession stats so far must be around 80:20 to Arsenal. Orient won't mind too much as the game is largely taking place in Arsenal's half.

4 min: Arsenal are playing like Arsenal. Lots of intricate but purpose-less passing. This isn't the Champions League, chaps.

2 min: Chamakh's header is well held by Jones. Graeme Walker is quick off the mark to get on the Barry-bashing bandwagon: "I always thought that managers had an easy life, but not now. Has Barry Hearn aged or has Barry Hearn aged? Prediction: Leyton Orient 0, Arsenal 6" I'll overlook the fact that Barry Hearn isn't a manager.

1 min: Arsenal, in their vibrant yellow and murky burgundy away kit, get us started. Wenger hands a debut to 18-year-old central defender Ignaci Miquel.

16:27: The teams are on the pitch and we're almost ready to start. Betting adverts seem to be taking the cue of car insurance ads, equating being annoying with being effective.

16:24: Jon Champion, ESPN's commentator this afternoon, addresses us standing up from a balcony on the odd structure that is Leyton Orient's West stand. We're told it doubles up as an NHS Poly-clinic. Is that like a sophisticated future hospital?

16:20: "I put my pen and paper away after about 11 minutes," says Russell Slade on his night out at the Emirates watching Arsenal in the week. That's very exacting, Russell. The winner of this match faces the not-so-daunting (at least after yesterday) trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the quarter finals. Here's the full draw:

Stoke v West Ham or Burnley
Man City or Aston Villa v Everton or Reading
Birmingham v Fulham or Bolton
Manchester United v Leyton Orient or Arsenal.

16:14: ESPN's coverage is a baffling, shouty, intense maelstrom of earnestly-stated rote opinions. A jittery camera pans relentlessly as Savage and McManaman egg eachother towards full-on mania. I expect them to be stood on the pitchside desk by the end of the match, pointing and screaming "THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!" and "FOOTBALL!" into the other's face until one of them collapses.

16:10: Here are the teams:

Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)

Certainly a slightly under-strength side from Arsenal, but my, Mr Wenger, what an impressive bench you have.

16:08: Steve McManaman, Robbie Savage and Ray Stubbs are working themselves into a lather about West Ham's Olympic stadium future. Savage calls playing games in stadia with a running track "the worst thing in the world." I think that's a bit of an exaggeration, to be honest. I think famine is slightly worse.

16:00: Poor old Leyton Orient. Very much London's forgotten club at the best of times, they're in danger of being obliterated when West Ham move on their doorstep to the Olympic stadium.

Barry Hearn has been vocal of his criticisms of West Ham being awarded the stadium, and Orient's manager Russel Slade has also chipped in with his own futile anger over the move.

Today they have the minor business of seeing off Arsenal in the FA Cup fifth round. Given that Arsenal beat Barcelona in the week, this could be the footballing equivalent of an especially gory massacre. Exciting!

Stay tuned for the teams.

---------------------------
PREVIEW

Sunday, February 20

FA Cup, fifth round
Leyton Orient v Arsenal
Brisbane Road
Kick-off: 16.30 GMT
TV: Live ESPN, highlights ITV1

Tale of the game

In 25 FA Cup ties against lower division opposition under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal have never lost.

And Robin van Persie has scored five goals in his last seven FA Cup appearances.

And Orient will be aware that Arsenal have gone seven FA Cup matches without a clean sheet.

They last kept a clean sheet against Burnley in the fifth round two years ago.

Scott McGleish, the Orient striker, has scored six goals in his last five FA Cup matches this season.

But, like Arsenal, Orient struggle to keep clean sheets in the FA Cup: they have kept just one in their last 10 FA Cup matches.

The East London club started their FA Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw at neighbours Dagenham & Redbridge, winning 3-2 in the replay with a McGleish winner.

They drew in the second round as well, at non-league Droylesden.

But in the replay there were remarkable scenes with both sides reduced to nine men and Orient recovering from a two-goal deficit before forcing extra time with an 89th minute equaliser from Jonathan Tehoue.

Tehoue went on to complete a hat-trick in extra-time - and McGleish also netted a hat-trick to earn an 8-2 victory.

Arsenal's passage to the fifth round has not been comfortable; in round three they needed a last minute Cesc Fabregas penalty to force a replay which they won 3-1.

And in the fourth round another penalty was required from Fabregas, with four minutes left against 10-man Huddersfield to reach the next stage.

Past FA Cup meetings: Arsenal 4 wins.

Stat of the game: In four FA Cup meetings, Arsenal have won all four, scoring nine goals and conceding one - in 1911.

Betting tip: Arsenal have two other cups and the small matter of the league on their minds and could steal a draw. Try 1-1 at a healthy 10-1.

Team details

Leyton Orient (probable, 4-4-2): Jones; Wiing, Chorley, Forbes, Daniels; Cox, Dawson, Spring, Smith; McGleish, Revell.
Arsenal (probable, 4-2-3-1): Almunia; Eboue, Koscielny, Squillaci, Gibbs; Denilson, Song; Bendtner, Nasri, Arshavin; Chamakh.
Referee: Kevin Friend. Matches: 23. R4 Y69.

Labels: Arsenal, Leyton, Orient, Telegraphcouk

In a city that can't get enough of cricket or cricketers, Virender Sehwag set the World Cup alight on its opening day with an innings of such clarity and cricketing acumen that even a spirited showing from Bangladesh could not deny India.

At just after 2.30pm local time, the 25,000-strong crowd at the immaculate Sher E Bangla cricket stadium exhaled as one, when Sehwag took early aim at medium pacer Shafiul Islam and drilled a boundary through extra cover.

But, having begun in now customary fashion, Sehwag soon realised why Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan had put India in to bat when he had the choice. The dark brown clay that is native to the suburb of Mirpur had robbed the pitch of any real bounce, and with Bangladesh's bowlers taking the pace off the ball, strokemaking was anything but easy.

That India overcame the conditions in such an emphatic manner to reach 370-4, a score that would prove 87 runs too many for Bangladesh, despite a counter-punching 70 from Tamim Iqbal, was testament to Sehwag's nous and the purity of Virat Kohli's strokeplay.

After beginning with a boundary, Sehwag was forced to rein himself in, unable to trust the bounce and pace of the ball coming off the pitch.

In Sachin Tendulkar's company, Sehwag decided to take a long, hard look at the pitch, and played himself in rather than attacking continuously.

A master of summing up situations, Tendulkar was poised ominously when an unusually careless piece of running resulted in him being stranded at the non-striker's end along with Sehwag, who had barely left his crease after the ball was played to mid-on.

Sehwag switched gears in Gautam Gambhir's company, chipping over the infield and carving the ball into gaps, focusing hard on picking up ones and twos.

Gambhir shimmied down the pitch repeatedly to the spinners without looking for the big shot, instead placing the ball into vacant spaces and pushing his partner to run hard. That Sehwag reached his century only in the 32nd over, and would eventually end with 79 runs from ones and twos, tells you how much he strayed from his favoured style of play.

When Gambhir played around an innocuous delivery from off-spinner Mahmdullah that kept a touch low, the all-Delhi batting partnership was kept intact as Kohli joined Sehwag.

India's most improved cricketer in recent times, Kohli, who has a mature head on 22-year-old shoulders, brought to the fore the self belief that separates the best cricketers from the rest.

On a day when Sehwag threatened the 200-mark before falling to a tired stroke on 175, it was understandable that Kohli's century was overshadowed. But the first Indian to score a hundred on World Cup debut won't mind that, as his future in Indian cricket appears secure.

What Sehwag and Kohli did in the course of their 203-run third-wicket association, was show the other teams in their group, especially the likes of England and South Africa, whose traditional strengths aren't ideally suited to subcontinental conditions, just what kind of approach was most likely to work in this tournament.

On slow pitches, with the accent on spin, batsmen must be both willing to use their feet and possess the requisite skill of choosing shots wisely if they are to succeed.

With India putting a mammoth score on the board, Bangladesh's batsmen had a task on their hands, and even a couple of years ago would have been dismissed cheaply, playing too many shots. But this team has come a long way, and after a performance like this it's easy to see why there's such passion for the game in the country.

From the time you step out of the airport, you're constantly reminded that the World Cup is in town, and when the opening ceremony got under way, there were at least as many people partying on the streets outside the Bangabandhu Stadium as there were in the stands.

On Saturday, a fan held a banner that read: “Waka, waka, this time for Dhaka,” and the point was well made. If cricket can ever come close to matching the kind of mania that football inspires, it's here in Dhaka. If the 50-over World Cup needed a boost, it couldn't have asked for a better one than it got.

Labels: Bangladesh, Cricket, India, Match, Report, Telegraphcouk, World

Ecclestone began Friday “hopeful” that Formula One’s season-opening grand prix on March 13 would go ahead. However, the F1 chief executive later said the situation had deteriorated: “We should wait and see what happens over the weekend.”

On Thursday, following the cancellation of this weekend’s GP2 Asia race in Bahrain, Ecclestone had suggested that he would make a decision on the grand prix “by Tuesday or Wednesday”.

But with a lull in the violence as protesters gathered at Sitra for funerals, the 80 year-old felt sufficiently emboldened to predict that the turmoil might blow itself out. “Our people there say: ‘It’s quiet, no problems’,” Ecclestone said around lunchtime.

“I hope we don’t have to do anything. Let’s hope this all blows away. I’m more hopeful today than I was yesterday. In these parts there have always been skirmishes. Perhaps it’s a bit more than that.”

Later, having been appraised of the latest violence, Ecclestone backtracked considerably. “From what I’ve been told it’s a bit different to this morning because of this funeral that’s gone on which is what you would expect, I suppose.”

Asked if he feared there was now less chance of the race going ahead, he said: “I don’t fear anything, I just think things have changed and that we should wait and see over the weekend exactly what changes there have been.”

Asked about potential damage to the image of F1 if the sport visited the country at this time, Ecclestone said: “It seems as if people thought Bahrain was democratic a few weeks ago.

“Let’s wait and see, because we don’t know what the protesting is really about.”

He added that he “hadn’t thought” about the commercial implications of cancelling the race. The last grand prix to be rescheduled was the 1985 Belgian race.

Ecclestone said: “We scheduled that later. We may be able to do the same with this one. I hope things will just carry on as normal. Obviously some people were killed, nobody’s happy with that, I’m quite sure.”

In Barcelona, where F1 teams are conducting the third of four pre-season tests, a meeting took place last night to discuss their approach to the crisis.

The fourth test is due to take place at the Sakhir circuit from March 3-6 but it is understood there is not much appetite from within F1 to travel to Bahrain in the present climate.

A spokesperson for the Circuit de Catalunya said that the teams had checked if it would be available to hold the March test if necessary. The circuit confirmed that it would be.

World champion Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of the day in Barcelona, more than one second faster than Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari. Jenson Button was fifth fastest in his McLaren.

Labels: Bahrain, Bernie, cautious, Ecclestone, Formula, riots, Telegraphcouk

England, thrashed 6-1 in the recent one-day international series in Australia, narrowly avoided being embarrassed by minnows Canada on Wednesday, when they laboured to a 17-run win in Dhaka.

England play a final warm-up match against Pakistan in Dhaka on Thursday before transferring to India where they face Holland, who stunned them in the World Twenty20 opener at Lord’s two years ago, in their first World Cup match.

Strauss was one of the batsmen dismissed cheaply in the Canada match as England struggled to adapt from quicker, bouncy pitches in Australia to the slower surfaces on the subcontinent.

“We only arrived here a couple of days ago and the conditions are clearly very different to what we experienced in Australia, so the key for us is making our adjustments,” Strauss said. “It is important we improve quickly.”

England have been runners-up in the World Cup three times, but failed to make it beyond the Super Eight stage in 2007.

Memories of the defeat by Holland at Lord’s in the 2009 World Twenty20 are still reasonably fresh in the memory and Strauss has warned his players that there will be no easy matches in the World Cup.

“There is going to be no easy fixture in this tournament and that bodes pretty well for the success of it as a whole,” he said.

The 14-nation tournament opens tomorrow with a match in Dhaka between co-hosts Bangladesh and India. The final is in Mumbai on April 2.

England off-spinner Graeme Swann will be available to play against Holland having delayed his arrival to await the birth of his first child, a son called Wilfred, who was born on Thursday.

Swann was always expected to miss England’s warm-up games but he will fly to India at the weekend after his wife, Sarah, gave birth.

“This is an incredibly special day for us, and we are both absolutely delighted and very proud parents,” Swann said.

“Both Sarah and Wilfred are doing very well, and I am looking forward to enjoying the next couple of days with them both before I fly out to join the team for the World Cup.”

The birth completed a busy 24 hours for Swann, who was found not guilty of a drink-driving charge on Wednesday after a long-running court case.

Strauss and the rest of the England team attended the opening ceremony at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka yesterday. The highlight of the two-hour spectacle was an aerial cricket match, where high-flying acrobats hit and chased after a laser-beamed ball against a vertical backdrop of a playing pitch.

Indian singer Sonu Nigam and Bangladesh-based Runa Laila, as well as veteran Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, were the headline acts in front of a crowd of 25,000.

Labels: Andrew, approach, change, Cricket, England, rapid, Strauss, Telegraphcouk, wants, World

Just as he did in 2008 – when he scored in a 2-0 victory in the Portuguese capital - Steven Whittaker put Rangers into a position to progress in Europe with a goal that lanced through the frustration enveloping Ibrox in this below-par first-leg instalment of their Europa League tie against Sporting Lisbon. Whittaker’s breakthough came midway through the second half after El-Hadji Diouf, with his most electrifying contribution since arriving during the January transfer window, forced the Portuguese side to defend at full stretch at the cost of a corner kick.

The delivery from Vladimir Weiss was precise, the header by Whittaker venomous. However, that good work was undone by late carelessness when Matlas Fernandez, who had come in for the final quarter hour, beat Allan McGregor with a fine unopposed header to level the proceedings. Should Rangers prove capable of proceeding to a last-16 stage tie against either PSV Eindhoven or Lille, they might well find that their resources are too thin to sustain further ambition, especially because Diouf, Weiss and Kyle Lafferty all picked up entirely needless cautions.

Sporting were forced to mix and match, too, with Jaime Valdes and Leandro Grimi absent through injury for the Portuguese visitors, although Yannick Djalo had recovered from the thigh problem that had kept him inactive since Jan 3. Djalo was to cause Rangers difficulties and one cutback from the forward who had come through the Sporting youth ranks was particularly dangerous, rolling right across the unguarded goalmouth without a taker, when a tap-in would have opened the scoring.

Rangers’ problems, though, were principally of their own making thanks to carelessness in possession which was, at times, extreme.

The steadying presence of Lee McCulloch was badly missed in the holding role – at one stage even the normally cool Steven Davis was ambushed on the edge of his own penalty area and had to be rescued by David Weir – while Lafferty repeatedly failed to hold the ball long enough to allow reinforcements to arrive from midfield.

The Northern Irish forward did, though, have two opportunities to put Rangers in front, first when he met a Whittaker cross with a bulleted header that flew narrowly over the crossbar and then with a less positive effort after Vladimir Weiss had put him in with a hanging ball from the left.

The crowd, not for the first time, expressed irritation with Lafferty’s waywardness and Diouf, too, felt their ire when he chose to wait for a Bougherra pass to arrive in his vicinity and allowed Sporting to intercept. When Rangers appeared for the restart a good three minutes before the Portuguese side it could be assumed that Smith’s half-time address had consisted of words few and brief.

The impression was confirmed by the racing tempo displayed by Rangers, who forced a corner kick – their first of the evening – within 15 seconds and added another three within five minutes. Again, however, Lafferty’s contribution, while energetic, reminded the home supporters how much they missed the presence of the ineligible Nikica Jelavic.

Weiss attempted to remedy the defect with a lancing run straight through the heart of the Sporting defence, only to be hauled cynically off the ball by Daniel Campofor a free-kick that came to nothing.

The rest of the contest unfolded in a fashion familiar to denizens of Ibrox on European nights during Smith’s tenure. Sporting threw on substitutes and began to claim increasing swathes of territory while Rangers stepped back to absorb the heightened pressure, comfortably enough, it seemed, until the Fernandez intervention.

Match details

Rangers (4-4-1-1): McGregor; Foster, Bougherra, Weir, Papac; Whittaker, Edu, Davis, Weiss; Diouf; Lafferty.
Subs: Alexander (g), Fleck, Naismith, Healy, Bartley, Ness, Hutton.
Booked: Bougherra, Diouf, Weiss, Lafferty.
Sporting Lisbon (4-1-2-1-2): Rui Patricio; Pereira, Carrico, Polga, Evaldo; Mendes; Maniche (Fernandez 77), Zapater; Cristiano (Salerio 74); Postiga (Solomao 85), Djalo.
Subs: Tiago (g), Santos, Coelho, Vukcevic.
Booked: Djaio, Carrico.
Referee: M Grafe (Germany).

Labels: Lisbon, Match, Rangers, Report, Sporting, Telegraphcouk

Former Ireland fly-half Tony Ward is in no doubt that O’Brien’s time has come, staring with Declan Kidney’s side’s opener against Italy on Feb 5. “The Tullow man simply must run out in Rome for the opening Six Nations joust, with the back-row position his to lose after that,” he wrote recently.

“On the simple premise of form, he’s a shoo-in. Nor can there be any counter-argument as regards balance, with a Ferris/O’Brien/Jamie Heaslip trio picking itself, leaving either David Wallace or Denis Leamy as cover for all three positions on the bench.”

Further evidence of O’Brien’s emergence as one of the most exciting young back-row forwards in Europe came in the form of strong interest from France before Christmas.

The Irish Rugby Football Union, keen to ensure they did not lose such a precocious talent, moved quickly and O’Brien agreed a new three-year deal with Leinster in January.

“While it was flattering to have interest from overseas, I desperately want to be part of the Leinster story for the foreseeable future,” said O’Brien.

His mercurial rise is made more remarkable by the fact that it did not follow a traditional path. As a boy he excelled at Gaelic football before rugby came to dominate his life.

He grew up in Ardristan, County Carlow, was educated at Tullow Community School and played his rugby for Tullow RFC before representing Ireland Youths, the representative side drawn from Irish clubs, not those players at affiliated schools.

O’Brien won three caps for Ireland Youths, captaining the side to a win over Scotland and a defeat by England. His performances were of such quality that he immediately attracted Leinster’s scouts and was offered an academy contract.

“I really enjoyed my experience there in 2003, the Ireland Youth side is a fantastic thing, a chance for those who are not in the schools system,” O’Brien recalls. “The side was coached by Lenny Brown and Wille Gribbin, and I think we were all aware that this was a set-up that could produce players who might go a long way in the game.

“Trevor Brennan and Shane Horgan came through this way, while more recently Niall Ronan played with the Irish Youths.”

O’Brien cites former Leinster and Ireland No?8 Victor Costello, and former Ulster and Ireland lock Paddy Johns as the two players who inspired him to follow his dream for playing for Ireland. His first start came last November when he replaced the 34-year-old Wallace in the side that defeated Samoa.

While O’Brien has recently been operating at No?8 for Leinster during Heaslip’s absence as he struggles with an ankle injury, he insists he would be happy to operate at open side flanker and has spent hours on the training paddock working hard on his contribution at the breakdown.

Ireland coach Declan Kidney has a tough decision to take, with many believing that O’Brien is finally

ready to replace the formidable Wallace.

“I would be very happy at seven, it is just the matter of getting an opportunity,” O’Brien says. “Ball-carrying is one of my strengths, but I have been working on the breakdown in trying to cause havoc by getting back on my feet quickly.

“It hasn’t been hard to stay patient, but it’s not like I’m at the end of my career. I’m young and have been picking up experience the whole time. Even when training with those lads you’re learning.

“You have to stay patient. If you get down because you’re not getting an opportunity then it can affect your game. I’m happy with the way my game’s gone and I have to back it up every week.”

Labels: bides, flanker, Ireland, Nations, OaposBrien, Telegraphcouk, young

19.40 It's Jeff Stelling on Sky for us tonight. From the sound of it, he's lost his voice a little. The teams are in the tunnel. William Gallas and Mathieu Flamini share a warm embrace in the tunnel. All right, lay off that.

19.35 What do we reckon? Can Tottenham pull this one out of the bag? Or will AC Milan - who have looked in impressive form of late in Serie A - pick them off? Do drop us a line.

19.15 Milan line up pretty much as expected, with Robinho preferred to Alexandre Pato. For Tottenham, Luka Modric misses the starting XI but makes the bench after being laid low by an appendix-related illness thing, Peter Crouch takes the lone striker role ahead of Jermain Defoe, and there's the heartening sight of Jonathan Woodgate on the bench. The last time he played for Tottenham, they won 9-1. I'm not sure that's strictly relevant, but, you know.

19.10 Hands up. When Tottenham were 3-0 down after half an hour against Young Boys, who thought we would see this moment? Tottenham's Champions League journey to this point has been the metaphorical topsy-turvy, up-and-down, never-dull, all-action, roller-coaster/thrill ride/soap opera/see-saw. It's the San Siro again for them, as they take on the mighty-but-not-quite-as-mighty-as-they-were AC Milan. Stricken by injuries (to his team, not himself), Harry Redknapp has pledged all-out attack, vowing to 'have a right go'. Of course, it might have been one of those Redknapp-esque, twinkle-in-the-eye quips (for which read: outright lie) for which he is becoming renowned. But if Tottenham do give it a go, it should be quite a contest. Right, let's get some team news before I break the hyphen key on my keyboard.

AC Milan (4-3-1-2): Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, Yepes, Antonini; Gattuso, Thiago Silva, Flamini; Seedorf; Robinho, Ibrahimovic.

Subs: Amelia, Pato, Papastathopoulos, Oddo, Jankulovski, Merkel, Legrottaglie.

Tottenham (4-4-1-1): Gomes; Corluka, Gallas, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Palacios, Sandro, Pienaar; Van der Vaart; Crouch.

Subs: Cudicini, Pavlyuchenko, Modric, Defoe, Bassong, Kranjcar, Woodgate.

Referee: Stephane Lannoy (France)

Labels: Hotspur, Milan, Telegraphcouk, Tottenham

“These days players across the world are as big and as powerful as each other. We’ve all got access to gyms and conditioners. There’s no real difference between the teams.”

Lamont is wrong of course. And right. Right because, self-evidently, the size of the gene pool doesn’t influence the results of international matches in the way that it did a generation or so ago; because Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy, with fewer players to choose from, can now, on the back of specialist nutritional advice and a load of weights, churn out individuals who tip the scales with, and stand as tall as, the best of the rest.

But wrong because Lamont’s answer ignores the way France go about their rugby, which, at its finest, is an explosive combination of very powerful men running fast at pockets of unguarded space. It is the Holy Grail of modern Test rugby, and no one, not even New Zealand, does it as well as France when they are up for it.

In recent seasons, it has come with a twist. France have always done big and direct. From the brutish and bullying Gerard Cholley and Jean-Pierre Bastiat, down through Marc Cécillon, and onto the likes of Fabien Pelous, a succession of French coaches have reasoned that a good big ’un will marmalise a good little ’un. Current boss Marc Lièvremont is no different.

He also is of the opinion that size matters, only Lièvremont has shifted the big is beautiful philosophy from the pack to a specific area of the backs.

When Ireland take on France in the Aviva Stadium this afternoon they will encounter a midfield of Damien Traille, switched from full-back to centre because of an injury to Maxime Mermoz, and Aurélien Rougerie, who are a stone and a half heavier and five inches taller than their oppos, Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll.

Rougerie and Traille, at 16st 5lb each, are heavier than three of the French forwards, and taller, at 6ft 4in, than six of them. This is not a one-off. Last season Lièvremont selected Mathieu Bastareaud who is six-foot tall and 17st 4lb, while Yannick Jauzion, on the bench this afternoon for France, has been an ever-present at 6ft 4in and 16st 7lb.

It’s not as if Rougerie and Traille are just big lumps either. Rougerie, having spent much of his career on the wing, has gas, and, as his deft poke through for France’s opening score against Scotland demonstrated, can manipulate a rugby ball with his feet. Traille, no slouch himself, has started at outside half as well as full-back and centre for France in his 78-cap career. These guys can play.

That’s Ireland’s first job. Stop the French midfield from operating and you start to stop France, because they are at their most dangerous when their big men get in behind the tacklers and are able to offload to support runners flooding the holes close in. That’s the benefit of being tall and heavy on attack. It allows you to ride over or through the collisions, freeing up a hand to distribute. In defence the additional weight on impact can dislodge the ball, forcing turnovers.

Ireland play it differently. If their run-out against Italy is anything to go by, they will attempt to bewilder France with the variety of their offence.

Ireland weren’t very good against Italy. There were far too many unforced errors by D’Arcy in particular, but they are more of a play-book side than France, more reliant on choreographed decoys and deceptive running lines involving the back three. France thump in midfield.

Ireland, led by the majestic O’Driscoll, aim to obfuscate, to fix or wrong-foot defenders by confusion. Pull Traille and Rougerie out of their defensive channels and they fall off tackles. It’s not quite beauty against the beast, but almost.

The other big difference between the two sides is at the scrummage. France can. Ireland can’t. Again, size is the issue here. France were a stone a man lighter than Scotland up front yet forced a penalty try from Scottish inadequacies, damaging Euan Murray’s reputation for competence into the bargain. Against Ireland, France are just half a stone lighter but they still expect to dominate that area. Less weight, more go-forward. It doesn’t make sense.

Except that it does when you take account of the fact that French oomph is channelled through a front row which houses a freak of a forward.

At a vertically challenged 5ft 8in, Thomas Domingo, the French loosehead prop, is the Six Nations’ little big man. His diminutive stature is a virtue because taller opponents find it almost impossible to get underneath him to shunt him backwards. Nicolas Mas, Domingo’s mate on the tight head, is also smallish for a modern prop.

At 5ft 11in, he completes a squat trio which, when the front rows engage, naturally thrusts up and against taller opponents. Trying to get low in the stance to meet them head on, which is what Murray tried to do, means shifting your feet further back away from the hips which in turn makes you vulnerable to collapse. Ireland could be in real trouble here this afternoon.

Mike Ross is six inches taller than Domingo, a massive discrepancy. With the International Rugby Board keen to address the mess of collapses and resets polluting Test rugby, English referee Dave Pearson is honour bound to reward the dominant scrum.

So, a game of intriguing contrasts, of petit French props and huge centres against big Irish props and little centres. They may not be the only issues around which the game turns. The French mood generally, the return of the excellent Jamie Heaslip and the fact that Ireland won’t be as diffident as they were in Rome may affect the result. But in an age where the top teams are all much of a muchness, it is rather satisfying to anticipate genuine points of difference.

Labels: France, French, hopes, Ireland, lifted, little, Nations, Telegraphcouk

Butt was banned for 10 years, five of which were suspended, and Asif for seven, with two years suspended, after being found guilty of being involved in spot-fixing last August. Mohammad Amir was hit with a straight five-year ban and plans to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but both Asif and Butt are still to reveal their next move.

Sources close to the investigation have told The Daily Telegraph both players will have to make full confession and show appropriate remorse for their suspended sentences to be waived, conditions which may deter them from appealing to CAS.

A statement from Asif’s legal representatives, Addleshaw Goddard, on Monday read: “Mohammad Asif has co-operated fully with the International Cricket Council’s investigation and is very disappointed and upset by the decision it reached.

“Together with his legal representatives, he is now considering his response and will not be commenting further due to the ongoing criminal proceedings.”

The three players will today be handed the written judgments of the ICC disciplinary panel but the governing body may be unable to make them public due to a parallel criminal investigation being pursued by police in London.

Last Friday the Crown Prosecution Service said that the three players, as well as agent Mazhar Majeed, face criminal charges and have been summoned to appear before magistrates in London on March 17.

The ICC are taking advice from media law specialists after the CPS advised the board not to publish the judgment for fear of prejudicing any criminal trial.

The report could be published outside Britain but it would be hard to prevent it being accessed on the internet, which may persuade the ICC to keep it private until a later date.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has pledged to help the players with their rehabilitation over the next five years although their own anti-corruption methods have been subjected to a review by the ICC.

“The time since August last year, when the spot-fixing case came to light, has been an extremely painful one for Pakistan cricket. I now hope that this unfortunate saga is put to rest and we can concentrate on cricket,” said Ijaz Butt, chairman of the PCB.

“We will continue to work with the ICC on this sensitive matter. We will also see how we can help the three players with their education and rehabilitation programme.”

Labels: aposconfess, banned, Mohammad, Pakistanaposs, Salman, Telegraphcouk

Kubica’s accident appears to have polarised opinion within the paddock between those who consider allowing such activities irresponsible and those who consider them essential.

Three-times world champion Sir Jackie Stewart, a man who regularly raced in sports cars during his F1 career, said he was more inclined these days to consider such activities irresponsible having been a team owner himself.

His argument is that teams and sponsors pour millions of pounds into racing every year and hundreds of people depend on that for jobs.

“You’ve got to look after that investment,” Stewart said. “It’s quite a challenge to stop drivers doing the things I believe are unwise leading up to a F1 season. Skiing is the one you would immediately think of.”

Yet Ferrari annually raise eyebrows by allowing their highly-paid drivers to ski every year at their pre-season trip to the Italian Dolomites.

And speaking on Monday at the launch of the MVR-02, Virgin team principal John Booth admitted he had recently taken his two drivers skiing as well.

“We took Jerome [d’Ambrosio] and Timo [Glock] skiing a couple of weeks ago,” Booth said. “We said ’OK guys, stick to the piste blah blah blah.’ So we got to the top of the lift, the gates opened and they were just flat out.

“They were everywhere. And that’s how they are. That’s what makes them so good. It’d be difficult to stifle that, wouldn’t it? You can’t wrap them in cotton wool.” Some teams try.

It is understood that McLaren’s two British drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, must seek permission if they wish to pursue any sort of dangerous extra-curricular activity. A request to go rallying would not likely be granted.

Over at Red Bull, Christian Horner said last December he would consider banning Mark Webber from mountain biking after the Australian broke a second bone in as many years falling off his bike.

Ultimately, each team is different although whether attitudes will harden in light of Kubica’s accident remains to be seen.

The Pole remained in an induced coma on Monday, woken only briefly to speak to family and friends, as doctors at the Santa Corona Hospital near Genoa rested him ahead of possible further operations to fractures of the shoulder and elbow.

Professor Mario Igor Rossello, part of the team who carried out the seven-hour operation to save Kubica’s right hand on Sunday night, cautioned that it would be a while yet before it could be deemed successful.

“The hand is warm and this means the operation went well,” Rossello said.

“We need at least six days to check if the circulation of the blood in the limb responds as it should.”

That leaves Renault in an awkward position. Boullier said on Monday that he would not make a decision on Kubica’s replacement until he knew how long he would be out for. However, with the second of four winter tests starting in Jerez on Thursday, time is of the essence.

Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean are Renault’s two reserves waiting in the wings, but Boullier is believed to favour signing a driver with greater experience.

Nick Heidfeld, with 172 grands prix behind him, has that in abundance while there has been a groundswell of support for 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen to return.

The Finn’s manager, Steve Robertson, was unavailable for comment on Monday night.

Labels: crash, decision, defend, Kubica, rally, rallying, Renault, Robert, Telegraphcouk

The club’s board made a “unanimous” decision to relieve the Italian of his duties and place him on ‘gardening leave’ after their 3-0 defeat at Manchester City, which completed a run of 13 defeats in the club’s last 18 matches.

Di Matteo’s departure – with West Brom outside the relegation zone by virtue of goal difference alone – prompted rumours that Sam Allardyce or Martin O’Neill might return to management.

However, former Newcastle manager Chris Hughton was established as the bookmakers’ early favourite. Brighton manager Gus Poyet — a former team-mate of Di Matteo’s and currently fourth in the League Managers Association’s performance table — and St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes are also understood to be in the frame.

Close friends of Di Matteo said he was irritated not to have been able to make proper reinforcements last month and in a statement released through the LMA, the 40 year-old explained that he was shocked by the club’s decision.

“I was extremely surprised and disappointed to be relieved of my duties,” he said. “Winning promotion to the Premier League with West Brom last season was without doubt one of the highlights of my career and certainly my managerial career.

“Playing in this league is tough and we have had to compete against some fantastic sides, but we have shown that we can compete with the best. Apart from the first week of the season, the club has not been in the bottom three. I am disappointed that I don’t now have the chance to lead the team through this crucial period and keep them in the league.’’

Richard Bevan, chief executive of LMA, added: “Roberto represents yet another victim of the ‘hire and fire’ mentality that pervades in our game.”

Di Matteo’s dismissal was also met with surprise by supporters, not only because West Brom have not been known as a sacking club – as chairman Jeremy Peace was at pains to point out, they have had just four managers in 11 years — but because of the relative progress made by the side. Despite their 6-0 opening-day defeat at Chelsea, the team enjoyed a strong start to the season, making a brief appearance in the top four.

Di Matteo was praised for his commitment to attacking football, yet Peace said in a statement that the board had lost confidence in his ability to pull the club out of its tailspin.

“Our poor sequence of results stretches back more than three months and there has been little sign of it coming to an end,” he said. “If this run continues much longer, achieving our goal of retaining our Premier League status will become increasingly difficult. That is why we felt compelled to act now.”

Control has temporarily been handed to first-team coach Michael Appleton but the club hope to have a new head coach installed in time for a crucial home match against West Ham this weekend, and certainly before the following Sunday’s home fixture against Wolves.

Although Allardyce, O’Neill and Martin Jol have been mentioned as possible replacements, the club have stressed that any appointee would be required to fit into the club’s “existing set-up” and work under sporting and technical director Dan Ashworth.

Labels: after, defeats, disastrous, Matteo, Results, Roberto, Telegraphcouk

While Naismith was offered sympathy, however, for Wolverhampton Wanderers’ striker Steven Fletcher, who made it clear that he did not wish to be part of manager Craig Levein’s plans, there was only bafflement from Houston.

Naismith, who had previously been cautioned, was dismissed 14 minutes from time at Ibrox after going to ground in theatrical fashion.

Television replays proved that Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew made no contact with his opponent, leaving the Dundee United manager to mount an unconvincing defence of the 24-year-old’s actions.

“Craig and I were sitting in the director’s box and at the time I thought it was a foul,” he said. “The debate we were having was whether it happened inside or outside the box so it’s a magnificent call from the referee.

“Obviously, you see players in certain teams going down but I don’t think for one second that Naisy [Naismith] is a cheat: he’s a player I respect and admire and I’d love to have him in my team.

“I think that he was going so quickly that he was on the way in a forward momentum that took him down. I don’t think that he deliberately dived.

“He’s not been accused of that in the past so I don’t think that it’s even worth mentioning that he’s a cheat or that he tried to con the referee.

“His momentum took him down due to the pace he was going at. He could have slipped – it was a slippery pitch on Sunday – so I don’t believe he has to worry because he’s not anywhere near being the type of person who will con referees.

“For me he’s one of our most honest and hard-working players and I’ve noticed that even more since working with him for Scotland. I think it would be really unfair if he was tarred as a cheat.”

As for Fletcher, one was left with the impression that his decision to sit our Levein’s reign (as Kris Boyd and Lee McCulloch did with George Burley) will not provoke wailing and gnashing of teeth from the Scotland management team.

“I don’t know why Steven’s chosen to do what he’s done,” he said. “We have a squad of young players who want to be here and I think that’s the biggest thing. “We are becoming more like a club side and people are wanting to be here more often than not although Steven Fletcher is a different kettle of fish.

“He has chosen his pathway and I don’t know if he will change his mind. He has decided to concentrate on his club, but all I’m interested in is guys who want to be here.

“We have to look forward as there are many more who want to be in the squad.

“For anyone to knock back playing for their country, I justc an’t understand that. It’s a big thrill for me, as a club manager, to come here.

“I love the experience I’m gaining as a coach with the national team. I see how other teams play – ones I’d normally only watch on television – and now I’m party to trying to beak them down and win matches against them. I’m also a Scotland supporter and I’ve seen call-offs in the past and people who don’t want to play but I’m just looking to the future.

“This squad could be really good for the national team in the future. The biggest thing is getting back to the time when Craig Brown got us to the finals of European Championships and World Cups. I think we have asquad now which, given time, can do that.”

Labels: aposdiveapos, battle, defends, Houston, Naismithaposs, Peter, Scotland, Steven, Telegraphcouk

And that is why there will be little praise on offer when they all gather on Monday morning at their Surrey training base, despite their first win at the Millennium Stadium in eight years. Johnson is all too familiar with the boom and bust trend of recent times, decent wins being followed by a lull: from the euphoria of beating Australia to a ho-hum afternoon against Samoa in November.

“You can only get better if you’re tough on yourself,” Johnson said. “What’s the alternative... pats on the back? At least we’ve got a good platform from which to be tough. It was a big, emotional time in Cardiff. But we’ve got to perform whatever the build-up is, set out own standards.

“Our match won’t be the big focus this weekend. The expectations will be different. It’s important we get the mindset right. Look at the All Blacks. Even their worst performance is still pretty good. Their standards are high. Our performance has got to be better against Italy than it was against Wales. We handled the lead-in to Wales very well. Now we’ve got to handle this very well. It’ll be a test for us this week.”

A self-critical tone is crucial if England are to make best use of what was a notable championship victory, only their third in seven years away from home against all opponents bar Italy. Any sense that they can now coast through the tournament with three successive matches at Twickenham before heading to Dublin in mid-March for a tilt at a Grand Slam is as fanciful as expecting bankers to give up bonuses. Johnson intends to weed out any self-delusion the moment the group gets together.

“If only it were all as simple as that,” he said when the Grand Slam scenario was outlined. “Our fans are pretty sensible when it comes to that. Being favourites just isn’t on our radar.”

England were far from being polished or emphatic in all that they did. They are still one-dimensional in midfield and also prone to bouts of daftness in giving away penalties. James Haskell, Chris Ashton and Shontayne Hape were guilty of lapses at different times.

“Those silly things you can regret for a very long time if the score goes against you,” Johnson said. “There’s lots and lots to get better at. If you looked at the local papers it’s all doom and gloom down in Wales and things will be said about us. We all know the truth is somewhere in between.”

There is little doubt, though, that England have matured. They worked themselves into a commanding position at 23-9 yet allowed Wales to come back at them and were grateful for Jonny Wilkinson’s penalty five minutes from time to ease jitters. Yet England did hold firm and grafted their way through the sticky patch. That resolve and hard-nosed awareness have not been present for a long time. A year ago England might have lost that game. Johnson himself conceded that point.

“Yes, certainly there would be more of a chance to lose it,” he said. “But after what this squad has been through in the summer and autumn – well, it’s why you play the game, to get better.”

True, but there is no guarantee that more time together necessarily leads to improvement. One player, though, who has grown in stature over the past 12 months is fly-half Toby Flood. Friday was his eighth start in successive games since he took over the reins from his former Newcastle team-mate, Jonny Wilkinson, for the game against France last season.

“We’ve seen Toby’s maturity, especially day-to-day on the training field,” Johnson said. “He was fantastic in the autumn. If you’re bright enough and hard-working enough to make the best of your experiences, then that’s what happens.”

There were other figures of substance in England ranks, notably debutant flanker Tom Wood and lock Tom Palmer. Wood was terrific, a real prospect even if only drafted in the first place because of injuries to others. He looks entirely comfortable at this level, unfazed by everything around him, even overcoming a bout of illness to go the distance.

“You’ve got a lot to deal with – the bright lights, the male voice choir, the band and even the goat,” Johnson said, revealing England had been pushed off their warm-up patch by the band.

“But Tom just got on with what he had to do, being accurate and that’s his little part done. A match is made up of lots of little fundamentals. If you win the majority of those battles, that’s what wins you games.”

England have a clean bill of health bar bumps and bruises. They name their side on Thursday.

Labels: Championship, determined, England, Johnson, Martin, Nations, Telegraphcouk

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David Pipe has found a superstar in Grands Crus Telegraph.co.uk But, for once, the build-up was justified as at least three realistic Festival hopes won at Cheltenham on Saturday, just 24 hours before Willie Mullins gave warning of a powerful Irish challenge when ... David Pipe puts Grands Crus on trial for the Cheltenham FestivalThe Guardian Grands Crus looks a corkerIndependent Quicker ground no worry for CrusThe Press Association SkySports -Liverpool Echo -Mirror.co.uk all 277 news articles »

Labels: David, found, Grands, superstar, Telegraphcouk

Option 1: 4-4-2 Kuyt, Gerrard, Meireles, Maxi, Carroll, Suarez
Much of the focus on Liverpool’s deadline day signings has been on how they will dovetail as a partnership. Suarez certainly seems to feel he can work well with a player of Carroll’s type, and a traditional 4-4-2 would provide a platform for the two to forge a little-and-large partnership.

It may, though, cause trouble in midfield, where Liverpool possess no natural wingers – Dirk Kuyt is a converted striker, while neither Maxi Rodriguez nor Joe Cole are left-sided – while a central two of Raul Meireles and Steven Gerrard do not provide much defensive cover. One would most likely have to miss out to allow Dalglish to include the more defensively steady Lucas.

Option 2: 4-3-3 Gerrard, Lucas, Meireles, Kuyt, Carroll, Suarez
This is the formation Dalglish seemed to be inching towards against Fulham and Wolves, before Torres’s departure. Gerrard, Lucas and Meireles are a formidable midfield, providing cover where necessary, eliciting the best from the Portuguese and allowing the captain to roam, while Kuyt functions far better in a more advanced role.

Suarez, meanwhile, has experience playing on the left side of a front three for Ajax and Uruguay and, though he is not naturally left-footed, his menace would come from cutting inside to work off Carroll, employed in a target man role. That may suit the former Newcastle striker, too, who is equally adept with his back to goal and as an aerial threat in the box.

Option 3: 4-2-3-1 Lucas, Gerrard, Kuyt, Meireles, Suarez, Carroll
Still the system with which most of Liverpool’s team are comfortable from Rafael Benitez’s time at the club, it would allow Carroll to function effectively as a straight replacement for Torres. Suarez and Kuyt would play from slightly deeper than in a 4-3-3, joined by Meireles in a more advanced role, with Lucas and Gerrard sitting.

Dalglish’s only concern with this system would, most likely, be a lack of pace on the flanks, a problem which has bedevilled Liverpool for years. Maxi and Joe Cole provide slightly more guile than Kuyt, but neither possesses a turn of speed. With Suarez looking to cut inside, Carroll may find his supply line cut. Playing Suarez and Kuyt further forward would alleviate – if not cure – that ill.

Labels: Carroll, January, Liverpoolaposs, spending, spree, Suarez, Telegraphcouk

Rumours were rife in Edinburgh that Riordan and manager Colin Calderwood did not see eye to eye and that the player would seek to leave when his current agreement expires in the summer. He was at pains to point out that the opposite is the case.

“I’m happy at Hibs, I enjoy it, I’m from Edinburgh and I support Hibs so it’s good for me,” he said.

“Hopefully, I can stay on beyond the end of the season, I want to stay at Hibs throughout my career but that will need to happen at the end of the season.

“I have had wee talks with the manager - I think everybody has - but they said they would decide later on. I’m happy playing football.”

Riordan also publicly backed Calderwood, who had left him out of the starting line-up for the three previous games, and insisted there is no bad blood between them.

“I’m glad for the gaffer, obviously,” he said. “He has been through a tough time since he has come in.

“But he’s got the players in he wants now, and we have got that first win so it has obviously worked.

“You want to do well for him because he is such a brilliant guy, one of the nicest managers I’ve had.

“Everyone gets on really well with him, he is a really nice guy and you don’t want to see bad results go against him.

“I was really happy for him after this win: it means he can have a good weekend and we can all look forward to next week.”

Riordan looked drained after claiming his first win bonus in 13 matches, and he conceded that joy was not the prominent emotion when the final whistle blew.

“It was a sense of relief, to be honest,” he said. “It was a good feeling at the end of the match.

“We knew this was a big game for us at the bottom of the table and it has pushed us up the league a bit.

“I think we had gone something like eleven hours without scoring a goal so now we have got those goals I’m hoping more will come along.

“It’s important we build on this now. We want to stay in the SPL: that’s our aim.

“Given the run we have been on and the fact we are down there people were saying we were relegation candidates.

“We’ve got to get points on the board now. We have won an important game and we need to carry that on.”

Labels: Derek, future, Hibernian, pledges, Riordan, Telegraphcouk