Joe Green Sports

“England picked a rookie coach to coach a team at the World Cup.” Eddie Jones’ rather harsh verdict on his predecessor Stuart Lancaster may have seem justified in the aftermath of England’s disastrous 2015 World Cup campaign, but as Japan 2019 draws ever closer, Jones is discovering that you don’t have to be a rookie to make rookie errors. After a scintillating start that included 2 Six Nations titles and a series whitewash in Australia, England suffered a dramatic fall from grace, embarking on their longest losing streak since 1906 and dropping down the world rankings. However, World Cup hopes are still alive after a promising autumn salvaged an otherwise abysmal 2018. Wales and Ireland will also be looking to build on successful November periods, while Scotland and France will be hoping to translate their fleeting brilliance into consistent results following a mixed tournament last year. Italy seem once again confined to the wooden spoon before a ball is even kicked, as even...

January Transfer Talk: Higuain to Chelsea, Arnautovic to China? Maurizio Sarri’s quest for a striker that can score more than 6 goals in a season seems to have come to an end, with the Chelsea manager finally settling on a man who has scored 6 goals this season. A popular stat doing the rounds on social media is that imminent Chelsea signing Gonzalo Higuain has somehow scored less than flop Alvaro Morata in 2018-19, who hasn’t exactly had the most stellar of seasons in front of goal. While the Argentinian would undoubtedly be a big-name signing, to sign a 31-year-old who hasn’t performed at the top level since 2016 seems bizarre. Evidently Morata and Giroud have not been good enough for a Champions League-chasing club, and a replacement is clearly needed, but I find it hard to believe that Higuain is the answer considering no-one else seems to want him. Following the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus looked to get shot of the striker they had spent £75m on only 2 years ...

With the European transfer window slamming shut last night, fans across Europe will no doubt be looking back over the past couple of months and wondering whether the frantic period of buying and selling has actually benefited their club, or whether they are in a worse position than before. And with £1.26 billion being spent in the Premier League alone, this transfer window will surely have its fair share of bargain buys, as well multi-million pound flops never to be seen again after October. It’s time to rank the best and worst transfers of summer 2018 in the Premier League. Premier League’s Best Buys: 5. Lukas Fabianski    Swansea to West Ham - £7 million Despite getting relegated with Swansea last season, Polish shot-stopper Fabianski was a shining light in an otherwise grim season for the Swans. In an era where the value of goalkeepers is rapidly increasing, to spend just £7m on a quality keeper is a great piece of business for West Ham, and the arrival of Fab...

Transfer Talk: Klopp’s Keeper Crisis Solved, Pogba on the Move, Richarlison for £50m?   The painfully long summer between the end of last season and the start of the new one is so desolate and devoid of any football action that football fans cling to anything that may resemble even the faintest glimmer of excitement or activity. The void is usually filled by endless discussion of inconceivable transfer rumours, made up by meddling agents who then sit back and watch Sky Sports analyse these false rumours for hours on end, only for the player in question to sign a new five-year contract a week later. However, there has been no such footballing hiatus this summer, with the World Cup occupying the footballing world for an entire month. As brilliant as the World Cup may have been, it has left very little time for any meaningless chatter about transfers, meaning the agents have had to concentrate all their lies and dodgy tip-offs that their client is on the move into just three w...

FC Barcelona are one of the most famous clubs in the world, and with the likes of Lionel Messi in their ranks they are also one of the best. They are currently in unbelievable form, top of the Spanish league and 19 points ahead of Real Madrid. If they were to crash out of the Champions League after losing to the team bottom of their group, there would be understandable uproar. So why isn’t this the case for Exeter Chiefs? After losing twice to Leinster in the middle of their European campaign, the Chiefs had to beat Glasgow Warriors, situated rock bottom of Group B on 2 points, in order to progress to the knockout stages of the European Champions Cup. They failed. This now means that the current Premiership champions, the team who beat Saracens and Wasps en route to achieving domestic success, will play no further part in the tournament in which they were expected to flourish, but instead fell at the first hurdle. But how has this failure been allowed to happen? Put simply, Exet...

The Day the Players Disappeared There have been some shocking refereeing decisions in the past few years. Whether it be the referee sending off the wrong man, ghost goals being allowed, or leg-breaking defenders getting away with a warning, the man in black is often prone to an absolute howler. However, way back in 1945, one referee’s decision led to perhaps the most farcical match of football ever played. Dynamo Moscow were due to play Arsenal in a match that would end the Soviet champions highly successful tour of Britain, in which they had thrashed Cardiff 10-1 and put on a very entertaining display against Chelsea in front of nearly 100,000 spectators, the match finishing 3-3. But the centrepiece of the tour was the highly anticipated math versus Arsenal, to be played at White Hart Lane after Arsenal’s usual home, Highbury, was yet to be converted back into a football stadium after being used as an air-raid control centre during the war. Dynamo coach Mikhail Yakushin even said...

Vuelta a Espana 2017- The Favourites The 72 nd edition of the Vuelta a Espana is under way, and already there have been signs of who is clearly out of their depth and who has a chance of walking away with overall glory. Here are the riders who fall into the latter category, and some who may upset the odds. The Favourite – Chris Froome The Sky leader has never been in such good form coming into the Vuelta. A 3-time runner-up (2011, 2014, 2016), Froome has already gained an advantage on all his rivals after the stage 1 team time trial and the opportunistic bonus seconds he picked up on stage 3, where he released an astonishing acceleration that decimated his rivals and put him in the red leader’s jersey. With a 42km time trial on stage 16 that is perfect for Froome and a disaster for nearly everyone else, even if the Kenyan-born Briton loses time in the mountains he will likely reclaim it here. However, the 4-time Tour de France champion has looked in total control even whe...