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David Moyes is proud of his side’s achievements in 2012, despite finishing the year with Sunday’s defeat to Chelsea at Goodison Park.

Everton’s 2-1 loss to the Londoners was only their seventh reverse in the league this year and their first at home since March.

The Toffees are in the hunt for a Champions League spot this season, sitting three points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham.

And Blues boss Moyes has acknowledged that the entire calendar year has been one of high achievement.

“Even though I’m gutted we haven’t won because I thought our performance was enough to do that, 2012 has been a good year for us,” the Everton manager told The Mirror

“There’s nothing we can look back on the second half of last season and the first half of this season and say we’ve done too much wrong.”

The Merseysiders took a 63 second lead against Chelsea through Steven Pienaar’s quickfire opener, but Frank Lampard’s double ensured the Blues would return to Stamford Bridge with all three points.

Everton were without Marouane Fellaini, Phil Neville, Darron Gibson, Tony Hibbert, Seamus Coleman and Kevin Mirallas, but Moyes was still satisfied with his team’s performance:

“We were limited with what we had and how we were going to play.

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“But in the end it would be wrong to talk about that because the performance was so good.”

Everton have accrued an impressive 68 points in 2012. Only Manchester United and Manchester City have registered more Premier League points this year.

Sunderland fans are not impressed by Chris Coleman’s rallying cry ahead of his side’s clash with Preston North End on Saturday.

The Black Cats have had a miserable season, and the hiring of former Wales manager Chris Coleman has certainly not had the desired effect. His side are on track to get relegated two seasons running, and desperately need a result when they welcome Preston to the Stadium of Light this weekend.

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Sunderland are currently bottom of the Championship, five points adrift of safety, and the fans are not particularly happy with Chris Coleman’s pledge to give 100%, with some taking that to mean they hadn’t been giving 100% up to this point.

The Welshman has a difficult job on his hands to motivate the players, but it may be even more difficult to motivate the fans. The club recently announced they are closing the upper tier at the Stadium of Light to increase the atmosphere.

Fans have been reacting to Coleman’s comments on Twitter, and it’s fair to say they aren’t expecting too much improvement from the players this weekend.

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Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…

Arsenal are notorious for bringing in foreign imports to the Premier League and turning them into global superstars.

Emmanuel Petit, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Thierry Henry immediately spring to mind. Now, after calls from the fans and the board of directors at the Gunners, the latest trend for the North Londoners is to buy already established stars in order for them to claim their first Premier League title for the first time since 2004.

The likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez have forced manager Arsene Wenger into putting his hands in his pockets and splashing more cash than he has done in the past. Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis said in a recent interview with the BBC: “The last five years of unlocking our international and our commercial revenues is so important for the club. It allows us to go out and, if the manager believes in someone like Mesut Ozil, he can buy him.

“It’s the same with Alexis Sanchez. Unlike the situation two or three years ago when we were really financially challenged and losing our top players, we are signing our top players to long-term contracts – guys like Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey.”

However, one player signing that was considered one of the best attackers in Germany but has struggled since he arrived in England in 2012 is Lukas Podolski. The former Bayern Munich ace was a signing from his beloved FC Koln after a disappointing spell with the German champions, only managing 71 appearances in three years at the Allianz Arena.

Despite having a thunderous left foot strike, a good eye for a pass and is good in the air, it looks as though the German is now surplus to requirements at the Emirates Stadium. Podolski endured his most frustrating spell in an Arsenal shirt in 2013/2014 where injuries came back to haunt him, only managing 14 appearances including six off the bench. The quality of a player like Podolski is still there, still managing to score eight goals and make two assists in that season. The 29-year-old World Cup winner has played just 128 minutes of football in this current campaign, and has already stated that he might have to leave in order to gain regular first team action.

The arrival of Sanchez and fellow compatriot Ozil has prompted in Podolski’s only real involvement this year is from the bench, or even worse, out of the match day squad all together. With the inevitable return of winger Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck acting as Arsenal’s main striker outlet, seeing Podolski back in an Arsenal strip is looking more and more unlikely.

Failure to beat Southampton in the Capital One Cup third round is even more bad news for the German, considering it is his only chance of gaining valuable minutes on the pitch.

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Manchester United are monitoring Athletic Bilbao’s Oscar De Marcos after Sir Alex Ferguson sent a scout to watch him play against Barcelona at the weekend.

The dynamic midfielder impressed against United in the Europa League last season and Ferguson was interested in bringing him to Old Trafford last summer, only to be put off by Bilbao’s £25million valuation.

With the likes of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs coming close to the end of their careers, the United boss is keen to add fresh blood to his squad to compensate for the eventual losses of two players that have been ever-present at the club.

Ferguson has now resumed his interest in signing De Marcos and sent brother Martin Ferguson, his top European scout, to watch the 23-year-old in action against Barcelona.

Last year’s Europa League runners up Bilbao, who comprehensively beat United on the way to the final, are struggling in La Liga this season and many of their star players are said to be looking for a move away.

This may mean the club are willing to lower their asking price for players such as De Marcos, however United can still expect to have to offer around £20million to sign him.

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If bought in the January transfer window, he would still be eligible to play in the Champions League which will provide added appeal for Ferguson as his side enter the knockout rounds of the tournament in February.

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Laura Wolvaardt’s 56* helped Brave chase their highest target of the season to book their place in the final

ECB Media23-Aug-2025Southern Brave 126 for 2 (Wolvaardt 56*, Wong 2-34) beat London Spirit 125 for 8 (Griffith 44, Villiers 3-38) by eight wicketsSouthern Brave made it seven wins in a row in this year’s The Hundred women’s competition with a resounding victory over London Spirit at Lord’s, underscored by a superb partnership of 95 between Maia Bouchier and the stylish South African superstar, Laura Wolvaardt.The result, achieved with six balls to spare, leaves the Spirit hanging on in their quest to break into the final top three. After an uneven performance with the bat – only Cordelia Griffith, Charli Knott and Georgia Redmayne managed double figures – followed by a luckless run in the field, they will have to win their final match against the Invincibles on Monday and hope that other results go their way.The Brave are a brilliantly well-drilled unit. In Lauren Bell they have one of the standout seamers of the tournament who was excellent again here, removing Kira Chathli in her opening set and going for just 18 across her 20. Mady Villiers provided control and potency with her off-breaks, picking up three more wickets; and with the bat they rarely miss.While Bouchier impressed, eventually holing out for 43 from 34 balls, Wolvaardt was irresistible. Coming together after the early dismissal of Danni Wyatt-Hodge, given out leg-before on review to a beauty from Issy Wong, Wolvaardt opened her account with a brace of boundaries driven down the ground, before a stunning cover drive took her into double figures.A subsequent no-look slap off Wong that went for six over midwicket, carrying 74 metres, should have been the standout shot, but that honour fell to her extraordinary one-handed six over long-on. That shot brought up her thousandth run in the history of The Hundred, Wolvaardt becoming just the fourth player to do so, and the first overseas star. Her fifty came up off 31 balls, and she was still there at the death, ensuring that the mighty Brave continued their unbeaten streak.They will now, irrespective of results elsewhere, be guaranteed to finish top of the group going into the knockouts later this week. Rock bottom last year, top this; it’s been an extraordinary turnaround for the Brave.Wolvaardt’s class was recognised with the Meerkat Match Hero award: “I’m so happy that we were able to get the win. It was a nice wicket to bat on, so we did well to restrict them to that total. On a good wicket we wanted to get ahead of the game early. We knew they had a load of world-class spinners in their attack, so we wanted to get off to a fast start. I really enjoy batting with Bouch, we rotated well, and we were both able to find the boundaries as well.”Our bowlers have been absolutely amazing all tournament. The way that Belly and Tilly [Corteen-Coleman] have set the tone up front has been awesome.”

No meaningful changes to county schedule despite PCA concerns

Matt Roller22-Aug-2024There will be no meaningful reduction in the volume of men’s county cricket played in 2025, despite more than 80 percent of players reporting fears for their physical health due to the busy schedule.A Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) survey at the start of this season found that the majority of players believe the schedule is not fit for purpose, but the only changes for next season will be cosmetic. Each county will still play a minimum of 14 matches in the County Championship, eight in the Metro Bank Cup and 14 in the Vitality T20 Blast.The PCA are still pushing for incremental changes which would see T20 fixtures more spread out across a week to reduce the number of tight turnarounds, and for uniform three-day gaps between Championship matches. “There’s definitely room for improvement in 2025 compared to 2024,” Daryl Mitchell, the PCA’s interim chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo.”The schedule can definitely be managed better,” Mitchell said. “Certainly the Blast was very much looked at through a commercial lens, trying to squeeze as many games as possible into Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Utilising the majority of the week is probably the way forward, trying to spread them out to give that time for recovery, travel and preparation.”The main point of discussion for the 2025 schedule has been around the T20 Blast, and when the knockout stages should be held. In 2023, they took place straight after the group stages in July, allowing counties to keep hold of their overseas player; this year, they will take place in September, giving clubs six weeks to sell tickets for home quarter-finals.Related

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This year’s Blast schedule was described as “ridiculous” by Kent’s T20 captain Sam Billings, who said that staging the final two months after the group stages “just does not make sense”. But ESPNcricinfo understands that T20 Finals Day is highly likely to remain in September next year, most likely overlapping with England’s white-ball series against South Africa.”Everyone’s in agreement that the schedule isn’t perfect, is it?” Mitchell said. “The ECB and the counties – particularly the directors of cricket that I’ve spoken to – are on board with what we’ve said. I don’t think players in general would actually want a significant reduction in cricket, maybe just a few days here and there… we’re looking for small, incremental change.”The ECB announced England’s international fixtures for the 2025 summer on Thursday, with incoming men’s tours from Zimbabwe, India, West Indies and South Africa, and women’s tours from West Indies and India. The Hundred will be played in August, starting immediately after the fifth Test against India and running until the end of the month.

Gavaskar also wants board to take a re-look at the domestic schedule, and players to “never forget” importance of domestic cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2024Sunil Gavaskar has urged the BCCI to implement the Test cricket incentive scheme in the Ranji Trophy as well, saying it would encourage domestic players and look after the feeder system.Earlier this month, the BCCI announced that those who play 75% of India’s Tests in a season will earn INR 45 lakh per Test, and those who play 50 to 75% of Tests will earn INR 30 lakh. This is in addition to the match fee of INR 15 lakh.”That is a wonderful thing by the BCCI to reward those who would be playing [Test cricket],” Gavaskar said on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai on Friday. “But I would also request the BCCI to ensure that the feeder to the Test team, which is the Ranji Trophy, is also looked after.”Related

• Mumbai men to get 100% pay raise from 2024-25 domestic season

• Making a better Ranji Trophy schedule and finding room for DRS

• Indian players stand to earn INR 45-60 lakhs per Test

• Shardul Thakur: 'Extremely tough to play ten games with three-day gaps'

• BCCI warns players: Don't prioritise IPL over domestic cricket

Currently, a player earns around INR 2 lakh per match in the Ranji Trophy. If he plays every match in the season and his team makes it to the final, he ends up with ten games. The match fee for the Vijay Hazare Trophy is INR 50,000, and for the Syed Mushtaq Ali INR 17,500.”[If your team doesn’t qualify for the knockouts], your whole year’s earnings are around 20 lakh, which is like the base price in the IPL,” a domestic player told ESPNcricinfo. “If there are proper contracts, then players will feel more motivated to play red-ball cricket.”Gavaskar said: “If the Ranji Trophy fee can be doubled or tripled, certainly there will be a lot more people playing the Ranji Trophy, [and a] lot less pullouts. They will all be wanting to play with the slab system – [if] every ten first-class matches you get that much more – so I would request the BCCI to look at that aspect as well.”Gavaskar also asked for a re-look at the short gap between Ranji matches, and suggested that the Ranji Trophy should be played from October to mid-December, and the domestic season should end with the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy so that it ties in smoothly with the IPL.Currently, the Ranji Trophy is the last tournament in the domestic calendar. The 2023-24 season ended with the Ranji Trophy on March 15, with the IPL starting from March 22.”That way, everybody will be available to play [the Ranji Trophy], except for the ones featuring for India,” Gavaskar said. “There will be no real excuse to pull out. With the one-dayers beginning from January, people who are in the IPL can have enough practice from them.”Gavaskar also supported the BCCI’s directive to players to prioritise domestic cricket.”It is something that should be looked up [to] by every cricketer – domestic cricket is actually how they have come up,” he said. “If they had not started at the domestic level, be it the domestic T20, the domestic one-day tournament or the Ranji Trophy, they wouldn’t be where they are.”Very few cricketers have actually come up from not having played domestic cricket. They always have played some domestic cricket – it could be junior cricket or Under-19 cricket or something like that. That is something the players should never forget.”

India wicketkeeper is working up to “being able to walk properly again” after serious car accident

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2023Rishabh Pant is “making some good progress with my recovery” after suffering a serious car accident in December 2022. The India wicketkeeper is expected to be out of action for most of 2023 after tearing three key ligaments in his knee, but is hopeful that “with the grace of God, and the support of the medical team, I will be fully fit very soon.”Pant’s influence on the Indian team has grown over the last few years, especially since his heroics during the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy. He has been their highest-scorer in Test cricket over the past two years and would have been a shoo-in to take the gloves during the ODI World Cup which India will host in October 2023.The accident, however, has complicated matters. Sourav Ganguly, who has a management role with Pant’s IPL team the Delhi Capitals, believes it might take two years for him to be back playing again.