Previewing the Olympics Stars

By Shane Thomas


With the greatest show in the sporting world drawing ever closer, this blog will have a recurring series of posts focusing on those who may be a few months away from attaining the ultimate in sporting achievement; an Olympic gold medal.

While one must acknowledge that predicting success is a fool's errand at the best of times (especially in the event of injury), it also wouldn't do to ignore the fact that London will be the centre of the sporting universe for a fortnight. During this time, athletes you would already have heard of will enshrine their fame for time immemorial, while others you would not have heard of will enter the stratosphere of stardom and legend.

Olympics Stars #1 - Jessica Ennis

By Shane Thomas


Ladies and Gentleman, behold the face of London 2012, the poster girl, the person who represents all that is good about Britain, Jessica Ennis.

Now you've heard the spin, here's the reality. As far as being the jewel in Britain's athletic crown goes, we may have backed the wrong horse.

The Diary Of A Pessimistic Arsenal Fan - A Saturday Afternoon Stroll

By Shane Thomas


ARSENAL 3-0 ASTON VILLA


A comfortable Arsenal win. Remember those? Arsenal's impressive recent run reached a touchstone on Saturday afternoon, as they brushed aside Aston Villa to tighten their grip on 3rd place in the Premier League.

Athletic Main Course Humiliates United

By Shane Thomas

Many proclaimed last week's victory for Athletic Club de Bilbao over Manchester United as one of the results of the season so far. I was one of them. Turns out that was just an apertif. For their main course, they welcomed United to their home patch, and didn't just beat them, but dished out a beating.

Their intense pressing, mobile movement and incisive passing were all there from 7 days ago, but after their 3-2 win at Old Trafford, it was clear that the Athletic players knew that there was nothing to fear from the English champions, and performed accordingly. United weren't opponents, but co-conspirators in their own humiliation. United weren't defeated, they were thoroughly embarrassed.

Premier League Pacesetters Under Fire From Their Rivals

By Shane Thomas


As another Premier League weekend draws to a close, Tottenham Hotspur - who looked safely ensconced in third place, and with an eye on the two Manchester clubs - have hit a wall in terms of results. Zero points from the last nine, with Arsenal's late win against Newcastle meaning that they only hold a one point gap over their bitter neighbours on the red side of North London.

United Spun Crazy By El Loco

By Shane Thomas

MANCHESTER UNITED 2-3 ATHLETIC BILBAO

I've always thought that judging the strength of each domestic league by how their sides perform in European competition is something of an erroneous mark of evaluation. But for those who do subscribe to this sort of thing, there was no doubt that La Liga is greatly superior to the Premier League after the 5th best team in Spain gave the English champions a football lesson. Athletic Bilbao came to Old Trafford and walked away with a 3-2 victory that must rank as one of the finest nights and performances in the club's history.

Tigger and Tiger: Let Battle Commence

By Shane Thomas


Euro 2012 isn't for another three months, and the London Olympics are still a way over the horizon, but Sunday night saw what potentially could be the most momentous sporting story of the year.

Rory McIlroy won the Honda Classic, becoming golf's new World Number 1 atop the rankings. However, it's not McIlroy's impressive victory that should set tongues wagging, rather than the man who finished as the runner-up in Florida, and pushed him all the way; Tiger Woods.