WILDER GETS ON HIS BIKE FOR LOCKDOWN
SHEFFIELD UNITED supporters would hate to see him on his bike, but that is exactly where Chris Wilder has been. the Blades boss, who has masterminded a barely believable top-flight season, has been ‘hammering’ the static bike in the gym, according to Bramall Lane insiders. the amount of time Wilder has been spending on the machine, in a successful bid to shift some lockdown timber, has become legendary and is a standing joke among the squad.
PREMIER LEAGUE clubs are set for one weekly round of Covid-19 testing next season rather than two. No agreement has been signed off but the recommendation for a reduction has been passed on to clubs. At the moment, the proposals are to halve testing for the first two months of the campaign before carrying out a review. Should players show symptoms, they will be tested regardless. Much will depend on new cases, and changes can be implemented quickly, but the move could ease some of the burden twice-weekly testing brings.
HARLEQUINS announced last week that ‘in an act of friendship within the rugby community’ they had extended to London Irish the opportunity to play the remainder of this extended season’s matches at the Stoop. the Exiles’ tenancy at Reading’s Madejski Stadium has run out and their new home — Brentford’s Community Stadium — is not ready. Quins’ move seems a magnanimous act towards a side with whom they have considerable history. However, the tone of the announcement attracted criticism from Irish fans, who pointed out to Sports Agenda there was no mention of a rumoured six-figure fee.
HISTORY was made on the final day of the Premier League season, with Seb Hutchinson at Burnley v Brighton the first black commentator to call a game for the division’s IMG-controlled international television feed. That it has taken 28 years, since the creation of England’s top league, to reach this milestone is astonishing given the numbers of black players in squads. With Hutchinson a regular voice on BT Sport and ITV Sport, and the highly regarded Mark Scott heard weekly on the BBC’s Match of the Day, the pressure is on Sky Sports to diversify their line-up for 2020-21.
WEST INDIES have rightly won praise for their willingness to come to England during the pandemic and spend weeks cooped up in hotels to play three Tests. Officials at Emirates Old Trafford, where the tourists are based, have described the team and their management as ‘dream guests’. The impression the cricketers have left is best illustrated by the fact that a couple of Lancashire staff were happy to pack up more than 100 boxes of kit, equipment and souvenirs bought by the group to be shipped home. They were handed some mementoes by the Windies players in the shape of some kit, as were staff members at the Hilton Garden Inn.
THE Government’s abrupt decision to require travellers arriving in the UK from Spain to quarantine for 14 days has sparked feverish activity among players from the Premier League who had booked trips to the country. Many of their Championship counterparts — already in resorts such as Marbella — have not been so lucky. The move has put paid to further trips away for many of those in the second tier, given the small window between the two seasons. Some have scrambled to find flights from Spain direct to their next destination in an attempt to quarantine there, rather than back in the UK.
IT IS understood that the group who were the administrators’ first choice to buy Wigan Athletic were a multi-national consortium and that the deal fell through because they attempted to launch further negotiations after a price had been agreed. Talks with the second of the five interested parties were due to start today.
THE fact that the remainder of the season has been meaningless for many clubs in the top flight has resulted in opportunities for younger players. However, one such youngster won himself few friends when he was overheard after training with the first team remarking: ‘that was the s***test session I’ve ever had.’