http://www.sportwithoutspin.com Rumour-busting, chat-spotting, plain-talking sport Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:03:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en There's a Grand Prix this weekend after a controversial race in Germany just a few days back, we're in play in a Test match which has seen a new talent, Eoin Morgan, score his first century at this level, and the football season is getting ever closer and Liverpool were ... http://www.sportwithoutspin.com/2010/07/30/the-daily-star-and-sport/ John Cross is up to his usual trick of forgetting things that he has put his name to in the Mirror this morning. Today his subject matter is Cesc Fabregas. Droning on about Cesc Fabregas needing now to show some loyalty to Arsenal after the summer saga with Barcelona, there's ... http://www.sportwithoutspin.com/2010/07/29/living-in-a-pre-contract-wonderland/ Royston Drenthe, the 23 year-old Dutch left-back on the fringes of the Real Madrid squad, is ripe for a transfer rumour. And the rumour is a fair sight easier to muster when he does all the hard work for you. According to his Facebook page, it appeared that a deal ... http://www.sportwithoutspin.com/2010/07/28/royston-drenthe-and-fact-checking-his-liverpool-move/ Some cracking over-reaction from the Daily Mail in the wake of the German GP. Fernando Alonso eased past Felipe Massa thanks to a brilliant overtaking manoeuvre instruction from his team and won the race, and nobody much cared for it. People don't like the fastest driver having to pull over to ... http://www.sportwithoutspin.com/2010/07/27/f1-and-new-lows/ An odd logic failure from the Telegraph this morning as they fill a little space wondering whether Robbie Keane, who has done his fair share of club-hopping in the last two seasons, will be staying at White Hart Lane or moving to his eighth club (this time, probably to his ... http://www.sportwithoutspin.com/2010/07/26/keanes-future-no-clearer/ Martin Samuel makes a very observant argument in the Daily Mail (yes, we know) this week. When it comes to England managers, the margins between perceived success and failure are very small, but the media swings are violent ones. When the team wins, faults are brushed aside. When the ... http://www.sportwithoutspin.com/2010/07/23/the-capello-pendulum-continues-to-swing/ Three months ago The Sun ran a story headlined Abu are ya? in which it was claimed that Marlon King had converted to Islam, had asked to be known as Abu Hamza Tariq in honour of the well-known cleric and hate figure, and that he was telling people he was ... http://www.sportwithoutspin.com/2010/07/22/tall-tales-from-the-cell-of-marlon-king/ This morning, may we present conclusive evidence that nobody is listening to anybody when it comes to transfer rumours. Thank you for your co-operation (or lack of) in advance, The Sun and Manchester United: It all begins here, when yesterday Neil Custis reporting from Philadelphia on Manchester United's pre-season records the ... http://www.sportwithoutspin.com/2010/07/21/what-good-are-words/ The Capello Index. It's a simple concept. Players are rated according to a complex formula based on their every contribution to a game of football, and the results are laid out in statistical form with a score of 100 being the best and 0 being the worst. And to give ... http://www.sportwithoutspin.com/2010/07/20/storms-in-teacups-the-capello-index-reappears/ Red Bull are doing a whole-hearted job of undoing their best season ever with an incredible string of dropped points despite their cars turning up race after race as the fastest on the grid. The last race at Silverstone was notable for being the race where Red Bull largely stopped pretending ... http://www.sportwithoutspin.com/2010/07/19/red-bulls-advisor-puts-forward-worst-conspiracy-theory-ever/