Tottenham sack André Villas-Boas; Andy Murray wins BBC award; Formula One dreams up double points grand prix plan
Ah, England, good to have you back. After a few years of entirely untraditional and frankly un-English cricketing excellence, Andy Flower's side have reverted to type in the Ashes, a 150-run defeat in the third Test in Perth handing the urn back to gleeful Australia, who now lead the series 3-0. "The simple fact of the matter is we haven't had enough players in form with either bat or ball," bemoaned England captain Alastair Cook, using the kind of pinpoint precision sadly lacking from his recent batting. Ben Stokes's dazzling century, in only his second Test, at least offered a glimpse of future optimism for the tourists. But as Australia celebrated a first Ashes series win since the 5-0 whitewash of 2006-07, England's main objective now is to avoid another repeat of that humiliation.
**Spurs sack Villas-Boas**
* *
And so farewell André Villas-Boas, dumped as Tottenham manager after a 5-0 home obliteration by Liverpool in the Premier League left Spurs trailing in the race for a Champions League place next season. AVB had pledged to cling on after Sunday's game but the pursed expression of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy told a different tale. Also joining the managerial jobs queue was Steve Clarke, fired by West Bromwich Albion after a run of four successive defeats. In Germany, Bayern Munich increased their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to seven points as Bayer Leverkusen lost to Eintracht Frankfurt. In Spain, Barcelona beat Villareal and remain above Atlético Madrid on goal difference. Real Madrid trail by five points. But at least Cristiano Ronaldo got to open a museum dedicated to … Cristiano Ronaldo.
**Murray gains a personality**
* *
Congratulations, then, to Andy Murray for winning British sport's version of the X Factor, the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year. Forget his Olympic, US Open and Wimbledon titles, this was the one he was really after, definitive proof that Murray can perform on the big stage. Of course, that didn't stop dullards from pointing out the hilarious irony of Murray winning when – wait for it, for it is a good one – he doesn't have a personality! Because he's boring! And miserable! And Scottish! Tee hee hee! Sir Alex Ferguson got an award for being Sir Alex Ferguson, and then joined in the applause for himself.
**F1 dreams up another winner**
* *
Sebastian Vettel's dominance of Formula One has been such over the past few years that organisers have been dreaming up novel measures to stop him making the end of the season a predictable non-event. Plans have been made for double points to be awarded for the last race of the season from 2014, meaning victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be worth 50 points instead of 25, making it less likely that the title will already be decided. Although it probably will be.
Jacob Steinbergtheguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago.
Ah, England, good to have you back. After a few years of entirely untraditional and frankly un-English cricketing excellence, Andy Flower's side have reverted to type in the Ashes, a 150-run defeat in the third Test in Perth handing the urn back to gleeful Australia, who now lead the series 3-0. "The simple fact of the matter is we haven't had enough players in form with either bat or ball," bemoaned England captain Alastair Cook, using the kind of pinpoint precision sadly lacking from his recent batting. Ben Stokes's dazzling century, in only his second Test, at least offered a glimpse of future optimism for the tourists. But as Australia celebrated a first Ashes series win since the 5-0 whitewash of 2006-07, England's main objective now is to avoid another repeat of that humiliation.
**Spurs sack Villas-Boas**
* *
And so farewell André Villas-Boas, dumped as Tottenham manager after a 5-0 home obliteration by Liverpool in the Premier League left Spurs trailing in the race for a Champions League place next season. AVB had pledged to cling on after Sunday's game but the pursed expression of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy told a different tale. Also joining the managerial jobs queue was Steve Clarke, fired by West Bromwich Albion after a run of four successive defeats. In Germany, Bayern Munich increased their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to seven points as Bayer Leverkusen lost to Eintracht Frankfurt. In Spain, Barcelona beat Villareal and remain above Atlético Madrid on goal difference. Real Madrid trail by five points. But at least Cristiano Ronaldo got to open a museum dedicated to … Cristiano Ronaldo.
**Murray gains a personality**
* *
Congratulations, then, to Andy Murray for winning British sport's version of the X Factor, the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year. Forget his Olympic, US Open and Wimbledon titles, this was the one he was really after, definitive proof that Murray can perform on the big stage. Of course, that didn't stop dullards from pointing out the hilarious irony of Murray winning when – wait for it, for it is a good one – he doesn't have a personality! Because he's boring! And miserable! And Scottish! Tee hee hee! Sir Alex Ferguson got an award for being Sir Alex Ferguson, and then joined in the applause for himself.
**F1 dreams up another winner**
* *
Sebastian Vettel's dominance of Formula One has been such over the past few years that organisers have been dreaming up novel measures to stop him making the end of the season a predictable non-event. Plans have been made for double points to be awarded for the last race of the season from 2014, meaning victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be worth 50 points instead of 25, making it less likely that the title will already be decided. Although it probably will be.
Jacob Steinbergtheguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago.