List of All Articles with Tag 'f'

ITASCA, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 2023--

The new boss of Alton Towers-owner Merlin Entertainments Ltd. has urged the UK government to bring back a

Harry Kane would not want to risk tarnishing his Tottenham legacy by leaving the club in the summer, according to former Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov. After another turbulent campaign at Tottenham which will end without silverware, England captain Kane has been strongly linked with a big-money move to Manchester United. Berbatov helped Spurs lift the League Cup in February 2008, which remains the club’s last trophy, before making the switch from White Hart Lane to Old Trafford just over six months later. Kane is set to enter the final year of his Spurs contract during the summer, but recently spoke of his determination to restore a strong culture at the club, which is now on a third manager of the season. Berbatov, who went on to win the Premier League twice with United, can empathise with Kane’s dilemma, but believes the 29-year-old’s heart remains very much at Tottenham where he is now the record goalscorer. “I can understand and can relate to his situation. I feel for him, but at the same time I think he is going to stay at Spurs,” Berbatov told the PA news agency. “His legacy now is so great that he cannot force himself to tarnish it – when you say Spurs, it is Harry Kane and when you say Harry Kane, it is Spurs. “They are connected forever because he is the leading goalscorer of the team, of the country (England national team) and probably is going to break Alan Shearer’s record for most goals in the Premier League as well. “So it is down to him to know what is important for him – (for) his legacy with Spurs, which is unbelievable now. “(As for) personal records, it is important also to win something before he is finished playing football. It is up to him to decide.” Former Bulgaria striker Berbatov, speaking on behalf of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, added: “At one point, Spurs are probably going to win something and produce more consistency. “Every season they have that intent, that this is going to be the defining season, but so far, it didn’t work. “At one point, I am sure it is going to work, but when is that going to be? I don’t know.” Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has also come in for criticism in the wake of a campaign which saw the departures of head coach Antonio Conte and then Cristian Stellini, with Ryan Mason eventually stepping in until the end of the season. Every season Spurs start with a big expectation based on everything they have in their disposal Dimitar Berbatov Berbatov believes there has to be a sense of collective responsibility from the training ground to the board room. “Again they are not at the place that they wanted to be in the start of the season. It is nothing new and everybody connected with Spurs knows it,” said Berbatov, who scored 46 goals over a two-year spell with Tottenham. “Every season Spurs start with a big expectation based on everything they have in their disposal – a great stadium, the great facility to train, great players as well. “But while the season is progressing, even if they start strong, then they are declining and that inconsistency kicks in and they start to suffer from it.” Berbatov added: “It is a shared responsibility – probably 40 per cent the manager, 40 per cent the players and 20 per cent goes to the owners, the people running the club, because it has been a long time since winning a trophy like when I was there. “At one point Spurs reached the Champions League final and they had a great run with (Mauricio) Pochettino. “But most of the time that disappointment is there because (after) starting on a strong foot, then slowly and surely they continue to drop down (the table) and don’t achieve what they have wanted to achieve at the end of the season.” While Tottenham may be well out of the running for a top-four finish, they could yet still qualify for Europe again via one of the other UEFA competitions. Berbatov, 42, hopes another of his old clubs Bayer Leverkusen can go on to reach this season’s Europa League final – if they can get past Roma, now managed by former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho. “They have another leg, another obstacle in the case of (Jose) Mourinho and his (Roma) team, but I think they can manage to do it,” said Berbatov. “With me being at the final to watch in person, I would like to see them there.” :: Dimitar Berbatov featured in Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s 2022/23 UEFA Europa League campaign content, Mission Masterclass. You can view episode two in full on UEFA’s official YouTube channel

Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals is upon us, and there are plenty of ways to attack it in the prop market.This is the third time these teams have faced off in the Conference Finals in four seasons, so we know how this series typically goes. With that in mind, here are my three favorite pr...

New Burnley investor and ex-NFL player JJ Watt is determined to win over doubters still sceptical of Americans who buy into English football. The one-time Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year and his footballer wife Kealia Watt were unveiled as the Premier League-bound club’s latest backers earlier this month, but the retired defensive end is no stranger to the game. Watt watched his first Premier League match over a decade ago, soon finding himself fully drawn in thanks to an affinity for Didier Drogba, and completely appreciates why some may be wary of an upswing in US interest. “I don’t blame them for having cynicism,” he told the PA news agency. “I would if I was in their shoes. Think about it. You’ve had the best league in the world, and it’s been around for over 100 years, and it’s kind of your national treasure. “I absolutely understand why you’d be sceptical of Americans coming in and wanting to be part of it, but having said that our experience has been unbelievable. We haven’t met one single person who hasn’t been incredibly welcoming, so we’re very thankful. “But we understand the situation and we want to continue to earn that trust and show that we are going to honour and respect that tradition and history.” Burnley’s majority shareholder and chairman Alan Pace, Watt’s compatriot, took over in December 2020 and has previously spoken about his own integration challenges. American businessman Todd Boehly and his consortium acquired Chelsea last May, while Creed actor Michael B Jordan became part-owner of Bournemouth after Bill Foley’s December 2022 takeover. The most immediate comparison to the Watts, however, might be with Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who are currently celebrating their own club’s promotion. The Welsh side’s rise under the Hollywood duo has largely been seen as an overwhelming success, though they too have detractors. Watt has already sought out the advice of dual Canadian-American citizen Reynolds. He said: “We talked a lot about the tribalism over here with the clubs and how much it means. Over in America we have the ability to watch every single match and it’s a little easier to have multiple teams. “You don’t do that here (in England). You’re born somewhere, you support that club and that is your club, ride or die forever. That’s very, very, important. “(Reynolds) talked a lot about honouring and respecting that coming in and knowing that this club has been here long, long before we got here and it’s going to be here long after we’re gone, so it’s just a matter of doing right by the supporters and doing what you can to help shepherd it into the next chapter in a better place than you found it.” If it was possible, I wanted to make sure I could speak properly about it. JJ Watt Watt has fully immersed himself into a self-taught Clarets curriculum to “learn what is important to these people so we can relate”. Most recently, that meant catching up with clips from May 1987’s ‘great escape’ encounter with Leyton Orient. Though Watt’s Wisconsin accent will always betray his nationality, he is also conscious of the nuances in vocabulary that might be perceived as shudderingly Yankee on these shores, like “locker room” instead of “dressing room”. Watt’s authentic appreciation of English football – he also speaks eloquently about the women’s game – was initially motivated by his ambition to one day invest in a club, “because someday, if it was possible, I wanted to make sure I could speak properly about it”. As a true student of the game, Watt “loves” listening to meetings about player business and says “just talking to Vince (Vincent Kompany), watching film with him and breaking down our strengths and weaknesses, where we can enhance even further, that’s been fascinating. That’s my favourite stuff.” He hopes to use his own background as an elite athlete to get involved in conversations around training, nutrition and players’ buy-in to the Burnley mission, but he is quite content to leave certain things to the experts. He added: “I’m never going to give my input on a player. I’m never going to be at the knowledge level to tell Vincent Kompany what I think.”

BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 2023--

Investment banks are split over whether weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data for April redefine the growth outlook for the

France's ex-president loses his appeal against a 2021 conviction but can wear a tag instead of going to jail.

By Tassilo Hummel PARIS French former president Nicolas Sarkozy lost his appeal against a 2021 conviction for corruption

MUNICH Hyundai Motor Co's European chief said the carmaker was not making a direct change to its pricing

European shares slipped on Wednesday as investors remained concerned about whether the outcome of the U.S. debt ceiling

The video looks like a gun advertisement -- on steroids. Shot in the style of a music video, with quick edits and a pulsating beat, three athletic looking men test fire a variety of machine guns, rocket launchers, assault rifles and handguns.