Shola Ameobi, the Newcastle United striker, has handed manager Joe Kinnear a welcome boost today by signing a three-year contract extension.
The 27-year-old, one of four men to be offered new deals last month, became the first to put pen to paper. The deal completes a remarkable turnaround for the former England Under-21 international, who spent the latter part of last season on loan at Stoke City and rejected a permanent move to the Britannia Stadium, prompting enquiries from Ipswich Town and Norwich City.
"I'm delighted to sign a new deal and commit my future to Newcastle," Ameobi said. "I hadn't played for a while and had to prove myself again. Thankfully I believe I did that. Now I can look forward to playing a lot more games for Newcastle, which didn't look likely a few months ago.
"I believe I can do that and now my future is in order I can focus on getting it right on the pitch. I am confident I can do it and the club are also, which they have shown by their faith with the contract.
"Now it's down to me to prove that."
Kinnear will now hope for similar responses from Nicky Butt and Steve Harper, although he will have to wait until the end of the season for a decision from Michael Owen.
Ameobi, who was brought up on Tyneside from the age of five, emerged from the ranks at St James' Park under Sir Bobby Robson, making his senior debut as a substitute against Chelsea in September 2000.
He has made 244 appearances for the club, 100 of them as a substitute, and scored 49 goals.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Andy Murray eases into Qatar Open last eight
Andy Murray progressed to the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open in Doha with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 victory over Philipp Petzschner, of Germany.
The 2008 US Open finalist was rarely troubled as he remained on course to defend his title and continue his encouraging build-up to the Australian Open, which takes place later this month.
Murray claimed the first break of serve in the third game after unsettling Petzschner with some determined defence.
The key breakthrough, though, came when a Murray set up break-point with his signature drop shot. A Petzschner lob then went long and the Scot held for a 3-1 lead.
Petzschner, 24, threatened at times on his forehand from the baseline, but Murray extended his advantage to 5-2 with a break in the seventh game and took the set on his second set-point when a Petzschner backhand landed wide.
The world No 66 then meekly surrendered his serve to love in game three of the second set, Murray claiming a 2-1 lead as the German sent a forehand long to compound a series of unforced errors that started with a double-fault.
Murray moved 3-1 ahead by holding in game four and served out the match in the tenth game, claiming the second of three match points.
The 2008 US Open finalist was rarely troubled as he remained on course to defend his title and continue his encouraging build-up to the Australian Open, which takes place later this month.
Murray claimed the first break of serve in the third game after unsettling Petzschner with some determined defence.
The key breakthrough, though, came when a Murray set up break-point with his signature drop shot. A Petzschner lob then went long and the Scot held for a 3-1 lead.
Petzschner, 24, threatened at times on his forehand from the baseline, but Murray extended his advantage to 5-2 with a break in the seventh game and took the set on his second set-point when a Petzschner backhand landed wide.
The world No 66 then meekly surrendered his serve to love in game three of the second set, Murray claiming a 2-1 lead as the German sent a forehand long to compound a series of unforced errors that started with a double-fault.
Murray moved 3-1 ahead by holding in game four and served out the match in the tenth game, claiming the second of three match points.
Tiger's injury absence just shows his worth
Two men were giving a golf clinic in California one day last October and, gathered around them on the practice ground, watching closely, were the select few who had been invited to attend. Tiger Woods was calling the shots and Anthony Kim was hitting them. It seemed a metaphor for golf in the second half of 2008, when the game went on without Woods, its biggest star, while he recovered from knee surgery and, in his absence, the talk was of who would challenge him when he returned to the game.
Professional golf from June 16 to the end of the year was an unusual time in the game's history. Without Woods, TV ratings were down and so were attendances at tournaments. Two major championships and almost exactly half a season's events were staged without the world's pre-eminent player.
Woods did not compete in the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1995 - and the United States won for only the second time since 1993.
The American was not even able to compete in his own tournament last month. Still recovering from his knee surgery, his role at the Chevron World Challenge was that of host.
Woods had won the first four tournaments in which he competed in 2008, finished second in the Masters and won the US Open after 91 holes, but he did not win the Player of the Year award in the US, as he had in eight of the previous nine years. That went to Padraig Harrington, who won the Open and the USPGA Championship three weeks later.
Yet any doubt about Woods's dominance of his sport should be dispelled by the publication in Golf Digest, the US magazine, of figures suggesting that Woods won $7.73million (now about £5.31million) in prize-money last year and earned a further $109.60million from endorsements. No other player came close to his total of $117.33million: not Harrington, who earned $17.63 million in winnings and sponsorship, and not Sergio García, the world No2 whose income on and off the course combined to bring him $24.97 million.
In fact, the player after Woods who earned the most money on and off the course was Phil Mickelson, with $44.85 million, a cool $72.48million less than Woods.
Woods hopes to return to competitive golf in March, perhaps at a World Golf Championships event at Doral, near Miami, Florida. That would be one month before the Masters, the first major championship of the year. His recovery after an operation on an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on June 24, 2008 is said to be going well. He was hitting chips and putting before Christmas; he is now moving up through his bag. Soon he will be hitting drives.
The game needs him playing competitively again and so do the players. “The reason we want Tiger back is because he drives the game of golf,” Mickelson said. “He drives television ratings, the sponsors need him in their events and fans turn out to see him. We are very lucky in golf to have the No1 athlete in the world. We had some of the greatest players in history, whether it was Ben Hogan or Jack Nicklaus, but nobody ever reached the status of the premier athlete in the world before.”
Which brings us back to that clinic in California last October conducted by the world No1 and the American who made such an impression in the Ryder Cup. Kim, 23, is considered by some to have a better swing than Woods at the same age and to be the young player most likely to challenge Woods in the coming years. This would seem to ignore the claims of Harrington, who has won three of the past six major championships, García, the new world No2, Vijay Singh, who won the FedEx Series of play-off events in the US, and Camilo Villegas, 26, the talented Colombian, who is ranked No7 in the world.
As evidence for this claim about Kim, his supporters point to the fact that he is the first American under the age of 25 to win two events in one season since Woods. So this was a clinic given by “The King” and his heir apparent, you might say. It was also one that reminded you of just what the game was missing.
source:the london times
Professional golf from June 16 to the end of the year was an unusual time in the game's history. Without Woods, TV ratings were down and so were attendances at tournaments. Two major championships and almost exactly half a season's events were staged without the world's pre-eminent player.
Woods did not compete in the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1995 - and the United States won for only the second time since 1993.
The American was not even able to compete in his own tournament last month. Still recovering from his knee surgery, his role at the Chevron World Challenge was that of host.
Woods had won the first four tournaments in which he competed in 2008, finished second in the Masters and won the US Open after 91 holes, but he did not win the Player of the Year award in the US, as he had in eight of the previous nine years. That went to Padraig Harrington, who won the Open and the USPGA Championship three weeks later.
Yet any doubt about Woods's dominance of his sport should be dispelled by the publication in Golf Digest, the US magazine, of figures suggesting that Woods won $7.73million (now about £5.31million) in prize-money last year and earned a further $109.60million from endorsements. No other player came close to his total of $117.33million: not Harrington, who earned $17.63 million in winnings and sponsorship, and not Sergio García, the world No2 whose income on and off the course combined to bring him $24.97 million.
In fact, the player after Woods who earned the most money on and off the course was Phil Mickelson, with $44.85 million, a cool $72.48million less than Woods.
Woods hopes to return to competitive golf in March, perhaps at a World Golf Championships event at Doral, near Miami, Florida. That would be one month before the Masters, the first major championship of the year. His recovery after an operation on an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on June 24, 2008 is said to be going well. He was hitting chips and putting before Christmas; he is now moving up through his bag. Soon he will be hitting drives.
The game needs him playing competitively again and so do the players. “The reason we want Tiger back is because he drives the game of golf,” Mickelson said. “He drives television ratings, the sponsors need him in their events and fans turn out to see him. We are very lucky in golf to have the No1 athlete in the world. We had some of the greatest players in history, whether it was Ben Hogan or Jack Nicklaus, but nobody ever reached the status of the premier athlete in the world before.”
Which brings us back to that clinic in California last October conducted by the world No1 and the American who made such an impression in the Ryder Cup. Kim, 23, is considered by some to have a better swing than Woods at the same age and to be the young player most likely to challenge Woods in the coming years. This would seem to ignore the claims of Harrington, who has won three of the past six major championships, García, the new world No2, Vijay Singh, who won the FedEx Series of play-off events in the US, and Camilo Villegas, 26, the talented Colombian, who is ranked No7 in the world.
As evidence for this claim about Kim, his supporters point to the fact that he is the first American under the age of 25 to win two events in one season since Woods. So this was a clinic given by “The King” and his heir apparent, you might say. It was also one that reminded you of just what the game was missing.
source:the london times
Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores both resign after row, say reports
Kevin Pietersen, the England captain, and head coach Peter Moores have both resigned, After one of the most bizarre weeks in English cricket.
Andrew Strauss is standing by for the third time in his career to lead England on a full-time basis after Pietersen left his role only five months after his appointment.
Moores is also thought to have left his position, with his assistant Andy Flower likely to be offered the role on an interim basis for England's tour of the West Indies.
South African-born Pietersen had questioned Moores' ability as a top international coach in a dispute that became public.
Once Kevin Pietersen's opinion became public, it was hard to see how Peter Moores could continue
MIchael Atherton
Officials had been keen to have the disagreement between the duo resolved before the England squad travelled to the Caribbean on January 21 for their four-Test tour of the West Indies.
Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, delivered his assessment to an emergency meeting of the ECB board last night having taken soundings from Moores' coaching staff as well as senior players.
Pietersen, who said on Sunday that differences needed to be settled before the squad departed for the Caribbean, is due to return from his holiday in Africa tomorrow.
The pair have not always seen eye to eye, with reasons for the dispute ranging from a clash of personalities to Pietersen's lack of respect for Moores's tactical credentials, technical know-how and playing career, to the captain's dissatisfaction with Michael Vaughan's omission from the tour to the West Indies.
The unhappy result of this power struggle is a huge blow for English cricket in Ashes year. Stephen Harmison this week had urged both parties to settle their differences to give the team their best chance of wresting the urn back from Down Under after the humiliating thrashing of 2006-07.
Pietersen was appointed last year after Vaughan resigned, England having already lost a series to South Africa. The batsman led the team to a victory in the final Test of that series but England lost the recent two-Test series in India 1-0 and there was criticism that, despite his batting skills, he was tactically naive as a captain.
Before leaving for his two-week vacation, Pietersen told Moores that he wanted Vaughan recalled to the squad for the West Indies tour even though the Yorkshire batsman has been out of form and has hardly played for the past four months.
Vaughan was left out of the squad despite Pietersen’s request and, since then, reports of his disputes with Moores have dominated headlines and news reports.
Strauss was the alternative candidate to Andrew Flintoff to lead England in Australia in 2006-07 and again when Pietersen succeeded Vaughan last August. His moment may have come as England captain and many will feel it is not before time.
Pietersen may have overplayed his hand and be disillusioned by the lack of support he has been given, but at least by jumping before he was pushed he can claim to have saved some face.
Mike Atherton, writing at the time of Pietersen's appointment as captain, said the ECB's decision was their biggest gamble ever and that his relationship with Moores would determine the success of his tenure.
"It is no secret that Pietersen has not seen eye to eye with Moores of late and so these differences will have to be settled quickly and irrevocably," the Chief Cricket Correspondent of The Times wrote, before adding, "I hope I'm wrong, but I have a horrible feeling that this is going to end in tears."
SOURCE:THE LONDON TIMES.
Andrew Strauss is standing by for the third time in his career to lead England on a full-time basis after Pietersen left his role only five months after his appointment.
Moores is also thought to have left his position, with his assistant Andy Flower likely to be offered the role on an interim basis for England's tour of the West Indies.
South African-born Pietersen had questioned Moores' ability as a top international coach in a dispute that became public.
Once Kevin Pietersen's opinion became public, it was hard to see how Peter Moores could continue
MIchael Atherton
Officials had been keen to have the disagreement between the duo resolved before the England squad travelled to the Caribbean on January 21 for their four-Test tour of the West Indies.
Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, delivered his assessment to an emergency meeting of the ECB board last night having taken soundings from Moores' coaching staff as well as senior players.
Pietersen, who said on Sunday that differences needed to be settled before the squad departed for the Caribbean, is due to return from his holiday in Africa tomorrow.
The pair have not always seen eye to eye, with reasons for the dispute ranging from a clash of personalities to Pietersen's lack of respect for Moores's tactical credentials, technical know-how and playing career, to the captain's dissatisfaction with Michael Vaughan's omission from the tour to the West Indies.
The unhappy result of this power struggle is a huge blow for English cricket in Ashes year. Stephen Harmison this week had urged both parties to settle their differences to give the team their best chance of wresting the urn back from Down Under after the humiliating thrashing of 2006-07.
Pietersen was appointed last year after Vaughan resigned, England having already lost a series to South Africa. The batsman led the team to a victory in the final Test of that series but England lost the recent two-Test series in India 1-0 and there was criticism that, despite his batting skills, he was tactically naive as a captain.
Before leaving for his two-week vacation, Pietersen told Moores that he wanted Vaughan recalled to the squad for the West Indies tour even though the Yorkshire batsman has been out of form and has hardly played for the past four months.
Vaughan was left out of the squad despite Pietersen’s request and, since then, reports of his disputes with Moores have dominated headlines and news reports.
Strauss was the alternative candidate to Andrew Flintoff to lead England in Australia in 2006-07 and again when Pietersen succeeded Vaughan last August. His moment may have come as England captain and many will feel it is not before time.
Pietersen may have overplayed his hand and be disillusioned by the lack of support he has been given, but at least by jumping before he was pushed he can claim to have saved some face.
Mike Atherton, writing at the time of Pietersen's appointment as captain, said the ECB's decision was their biggest gamble ever and that his relationship with Moores would determine the success of his tenure.
"It is no secret that Pietersen has not seen eye to eye with Moores of late and so these differences will have to be settled quickly and irrevocably," the Chief Cricket Correspondent of The Times wrote, before adding, "I hope I'm wrong, but I have a horrible feeling that this is going to end in tears."
SOURCE:THE LONDON TIMES.
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