EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING, TheScore.ie brings you the stories you need to know before 9am.
1. #TRANSFER WINDOW Well, that was underwhelming. Our good friends over at Deloitte tell us that Premier League clubs spent a paltry £60m in the January transfer window, pocket change in comparison to the £225m that changed hands this time last year. Not even Jim White can hype that.
QPR were the day’s big spenders, raiding Lazio and Fulham for strike duo Djibril Cissé and Bobby Zamora who cost £4m apiece.
2. #PREMIER LEAGUE It was a busy night of top-flight English football action yesterday evening however. Manchester United beat Stoke 2-0 at Old Trafford to take advantage of a Man City defeat at Goodison Park.
The Stetford End sang Darron Gibson’s name when they heard he’d scored for Everton on his debut to beat the Blues 1-0. Elsewhere, a last-minute Bosingwa goal earned Chelsea a 1-1 draw at Swansea, Spurs outclassed Wigan, and Liverpool ran out 3-0 winners at Wolves.
Catch up with all the action here.
3. #PREMIER LEAGUE There’s nothing better to help you beat those post-deadline day blues than another raft of Premier League games. We’ve five more games to keep us occupied tonight.
After a busy day in the Loftus Road front office, QPR travel to Aston Villa, Sunderland welcome Norwich, Bolton and Arsenal meet at the Reebok, Fulham host West Brom and Blackburn take on Newcastle at Ewood Park.
4. #SIX NATIONS Declan Kidney will name his side to face Wales in the Six Nations opener today. Who do you reckon will play at 13?
Here’s 10 of the most influential players in the tournament, we reckon.
5. #BOXING Manny Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, has cried ‘enough is enough’ and ended the speculation that his fighter will step in the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jnr on 5 May.
Mayweather infamously named a date for the long-soughtafter bout on Twitter, but Arum has consistently said that the money issues associated with the American are unacceptable.
“Floyd is out of the picture for May. He put himself out of the picture for May. Enough is enough,” Arum told ringtv.com. “Any discussion with Floyd was over when he said that he would’t go for the 50-50 split. As far as we’re concerned, that’s it. It’s over.”
6. #GOAL HANGER Last night’s game between Everton and Manchester City was disrupted when a fan handcuffed himself to the post.
The supporter invaded the Goodison Park pitch five minutes before half-time and held up play for several minutes as stewards tried to remove him from the goalmouth.
Police officers ultimately cut him loose and removed him from the pitch. The Guardian’s Daniel Taylor says the man was protesting against Ryanair.
Referee Peter Walton played five minutes of stoppage time.
Here’s the video.
YouTube credit: BOS000001
