LET'S raise our glasses to a double British celebration this next week.
Yes, I am backing Andy Murray to go on and make it to the final of Wimbledon.
And I also believe Lewis Hamilton can win the British GP at Silverstone on Sunday - with Jenson Button coming home second or third.
WeeklySport
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
HAMILTON CAN WIN AT SILVERSTONE
Motor Racing
I AM backing Lewis Hamilton to get right back on track in the Formula One drivers' title race by winning at Silverstone on Sunday.
Lewis is due a big break after suffering at the recent European GP in Valencia.
The great Briton lost his chance to stay at the top of the rankings after crashing out on the penultimate lap after a smash involving Pastor Maldonado.
There is talk that the young Venezuelan Maldonado will seek 'revenge' on Lewis at Sunday's British GP after the events in Valencia.
Maldonado drove Lewis off the circuit - depriving him of 12 points and the leadership in the drivers' championship.
Stewards blamed Maldonado for the incident and stripped him of his 10th place finish - hence the claim that he will now be looking to wreck Lewis's dream of winning on home territory.
I do not believe for one minute that he will do that - he is a professional driver and will be doing his best to finish as high up the field as he can for Williams. That will be his priority - not sabotaging a fellow driver!
Lewis last won at Silverstone in 2008 and I can see him repeating that feat on Sunday - he certainly sounded confident at a Press conference this week.
He said: 'Winning at Silverstone was the highlight of my career after becoming world champion. I want to get back up there, hear the national anthem and see the crowd. Silverstone is one that I look forward to. That’s the one you want to win.
'Winning was just the most incredible feeling – and I always remember leading the race in 2008 and coming through Abbey. Every time I made it as everyone else was spinning off everyone would stand up and cheer. It was horrible weather. But they didn’t care.
'And when I got my pole position in 2007, I could feel the roar of the crowd above my engine noise. I hope to do them proud again this year.'
I am sure you will, Lewis. So go win it for all of us Brits who love you.
I AM backing Lewis Hamilton to get right back on track in the Formula One drivers' title race by winning at Silverstone on Sunday.
Lewis is due a big break after suffering at the recent European GP in Valencia.
The great Briton lost his chance to stay at the top of the rankings after crashing out on the penultimate lap after a smash involving Pastor Maldonado.
There is talk that the young Venezuelan Maldonado will seek 'revenge' on Lewis at Sunday's British GP after the events in Valencia.
Maldonado drove Lewis off the circuit - depriving him of 12 points and the leadership in the drivers' championship.
Stewards blamed Maldonado for the incident and stripped him of his 10th place finish - hence the claim that he will now be looking to wreck Lewis's dream of winning on home territory.
I do not believe for one minute that he will do that - he is a professional driver and will be doing his best to finish as high up the field as he can for Williams. That will be his priority - not sabotaging a fellow driver!
Lewis last won at Silverstone in 2008 and I can see him repeating that feat on Sunday - he certainly sounded confident at a Press conference this week.
He said: 'Winning at Silverstone was the highlight of my career after becoming world champion. I want to get back up there, hear the national anthem and see the crowd. Silverstone is one that I look forward to. That’s the one you want to win.
'Winning was just the most incredible feeling – and I always remember leading the race in 2008 and coming through Abbey. Every time I made it as everyone else was spinning off everyone would stand up and cheer. It was horrible weather. But they didn’t care.
'And when I got my pole position in 2007, I could feel the roar of the crowd above my engine noise. I hope to do them proud again this year.'
I am sure you will, Lewis. So go win it for all of us Brits who love you.
DON'T BLOW YOUR BIG CHANCE, ANDY MURRAY
Tennis
DON’T BLOW YOUR BIG WIMBLEDON CHANCE, ANDY MURRAY
EVERY year we kid ourselves on that a British bloke CAN win Wimbledon - and every year it fails to materialise.
For years it was Tim Henman and then Andy Murray came to take his place as the swould-be aviour.
But both let us down time after time - although Murray has always had more of a real chance of doing the business. He is a far superior player than ‘Come on Tim’ ever was and it has been his misfortune to be around at a time when there are three other terrific players ahead of him.
Murray has always been No 4, with Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and now Novak Djokovic barring his route to legendary status.
But this year a miracle has happened - Nadal is already out and Murray has a clear run to the final.
OK, it may well be against the formidable Djokovic - but at least the Scottish ace can be there at the climax of the men’s singles.
And who knows...maybe the miracle can take on an extra dimension with Murray finally ending the long wait for a British champ.
So ‘Come on Andy’! We’re all right behind you, mate.
DON’T BLOW YOUR BIG WIMBLEDON CHANCE, ANDY MURRAY
EVERY year we kid ourselves on that a British bloke CAN win Wimbledon - and every year it fails to materialise.
For years it was Tim Henman and then Andy Murray came to take his place as the swould-be aviour.
But both let us down time after time - although Murray has always had more of a real chance of doing the business. He is a far superior player than ‘Come on Tim’ ever was and it has been his misfortune to be around at a time when there are three other terrific players ahead of him.
Murray has always been No 4, with Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and now Novak Djokovic barring his route to legendary status.
But this year a miracle has happened - Nadal is already out and Murray has a clear run to the final.
OK, it may well be against the formidable Djokovic - but at least the Scottish ace can be there at the climax of the men’s singles.
And who knows...maybe the miracle can take on an extra dimension with Murray finally ending the long wait for a British champ.
So ‘Come on Andy’! We’re all right behind you, mate.
TOTTENHAM HAVE HIT THE JACKPOT WITH VILLAS BOAS
FOOTBALL
I THOUGHT Tottenham supremo Daniel Levy had lost his mind when he sacked Harry Redknapp last month. What more could old ‘Arry have done for the club? When he arrived at White Hart Lane in October 2008, Spurs were four points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League.
From that rock-bottom, he led them to their first-ever Champions League campaign in 2010. And they only missed a return to the competition because Chelsea won the Champions League - finishing fourth would normally have been enough to guarantee that achievement.
So just how could Levy do better than Harry - unless he secured the services of Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho or Pep Guardiola?
Well, he has blind-sided us by pulling from a hat a man who might well trump Harry in the glory stakes.
I would never have conjured up the name of Andre Villas Boas as Harry’s replacement.
Who would? He had been sacked at Chelsea after a torrid few months at Stamford Bridge and appeared destined to rebuild his reputation in Italy.
But now he has the ideal opportunity to do that in England - and at one of Chelsea’s biggest rivals!
That makes it an incredible appointment - and an incredibly exciting one for all Spurs fans. For now they have a man even more motivated than Redknapp in their hot-seat - a man who simply cannot afford another failure in England.
He has everything to prove and I think he will take some stopping. He will be given the control he craved but was denied at Chelsea (where player-power cost him so dearly) as Levy backs the Portuguese’s plan for domestic then world domination.
AVB (as Villas Boas is known in press circles) will be able to introduce the higher defensive backline he was unable to bring in at Chelsea (primarily because John Terry is too slow to cope with it) and produce a brand of attacking, winning football as he did at Porto.
Yes, I predict AVB will be a winner at Tottenham - and that he will take them to greater heights than Redknapp. Well done, Levy, for digging yourself out of a hole with a truly amazing appointment.
I THOUGHT Tottenham supremo Daniel Levy had lost his mind when he sacked Harry Redknapp last month. What more could old ‘Arry have done for the club? When he arrived at White Hart Lane in October 2008, Spurs were four points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League.
From that rock-bottom, he led them to their first-ever Champions League campaign in 2010. And they only missed a return to the competition because Chelsea won the Champions League - finishing fourth would normally have been enough to guarantee that achievement.
So just how could Levy do better than Harry - unless he secured the services of Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho or Pep Guardiola?
Well, he has blind-sided us by pulling from a hat a man who might well trump Harry in the glory stakes.
I would never have conjured up the name of Andre Villas Boas as Harry’s replacement.
Who would? He had been sacked at Chelsea after a torrid few months at Stamford Bridge and appeared destined to rebuild his reputation in Italy.
But now he has the ideal opportunity to do that in England - and at one of Chelsea’s biggest rivals!
That makes it an incredible appointment - and an incredibly exciting one for all Spurs fans. For now they have a man even more motivated than Redknapp in their hot-seat - a man who simply cannot afford another failure in England.
He has everything to prove and I think he will take some stopping. He will be given the control he craved but was denied at Chelsea (where player-power cost him so dearly) as Levy backs the Portuguese’s plan for domestic then world domination.
AVB (as Villas Boas is known in press circles) will be able to introduce the higher defensive backline he was unable to bring in at Chelsea (primarily because John Terry is too slow to cope with it) and produce a brand of attacking, winning football as he did at Porto.
Yes, I predict AVB will be a winner at Tottenham - and that he will take them to greater heights than Redknapp. Well done, Levy, for digging yourself out of a hole with a truly amazing appointment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)