Poland V Russia : UEFA Euro 2012 Match Preview - Football
Published: 12 Jun 2012 - 17:08:24
Poland braced for high-octane Russian clash
Co-hosts Poland are bracing for what looks the most politically-charged match of the tournament on Tuesday in Warsaw when they face Russia who are on a high after thrashing the Czech Republic 4-1.
With Poland coach Franciszek Smuda tipping Russia as Group A favourites, his squad know they have to prove their staying power after throwing away a lead and drawing 1-1 with Greece in a tense tournament opener in Warsaw's National Stadium on Friday.
"We need to be very focussed, very concentrated, in order not to lose the game," said Smuda.
Dutchman Dick Advocaat's Russia, whose base-camp is in the Polish capital Warsaw, returned there victorious after taking the Czechs to pieces on Friday in the southwestern city of Wroclaw.
"It's going to be another interesting game for both teams," said Advocaat.
"The match with Russia is going to be something completely different," said 22-year-old midfielder Maciej Rybus.
"They don't defend like the Greeks. But we'll have got more used to the championship feel."
Reserve 'keeper Tyton to step in
Poland's man is 23-year-old Robert Lewandowski, fresh from a stellar season with German double winners Borussia Dortmund, who sent home fans wild when he scored on Friday.
Russia know they can rely on CSKA Moscow's 21-year-old Alan Dzagoev, their two-goal hero in Wroclaw, who had been a doubt for the tournament due to a broken toe but is set to play a starring role.
"We know what to look out for, so we know how to correct our mistakes," said Lewandowski. "You can expect a completely different game."
"We can't let ourselves get too carried away," insisted forward Roman Pavlyuchenko, saying the Russians should put Friday's victory behind them.
"The task isn't complete yet and we can't afford to take it easy."
Poland will be without first choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, suspended for one match after sent off for tripping Greek attacker Dimitris Salpigidis.
In his place comes overnight hero Przemyslaw Tyton, who came on and saved the ensuing Greek penalty to keep the score level.
Sporting encounters between Poland and Russia always have an extra edge due to antipathy spanning the Tsarist and Soviet eras, stoked by Moscow's resurgence under President Vladimir Putin.
That, plus the fact that both Poland and Russia have a hooligan hardcore, has fuelled fears of trouble, heightened when Russian fans beat up Polish match stewards after the Wroclaw match.
Poland V Russia - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game live.
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Swans set up manager search - Football
Published: 12 Jun 2012 - 16:48:44
Swansea hope to appoint Brendan Rodgers' successor by the end of the week, Press Association Sport understands.
The south Wales club have been searching for a new manager since Rodgers took over at Liverpool two weeks ago. Chairman Huw Jenkins has played his cards close to his chest in the search for a new boss, but the hunt is set to be stepped up when he returns from holiday in the coming days.
A number of names have been linked with the job at the Liberty Stadium including Gus Poyet, Marcel Desailly, Dennis Bergkamp and Graeme Jones.
Wigan assistant manager Jones was the early favourite for the job and held talks over the position, but he appears to have fallen down the pecking order due to his reservations about taking his first managerial role, while Desailly has revealed he turned down an approach as he did not feel the timing was right.
Instead it is former Real Madrid and Barcelona midfielder Michael Laudrup who is the odds-on favourite to take over at the Barclays Premier League club, and it is understood that the Dane has held talks over becoming Swans' boss.
Swansea are keen for their new manager to embrace the passing philosophy adopted by the club under Roberto Martinez, Paolo Sousa and Rodgers, and Laudrup would fit that mould having produced enterprising, attacking football during his spells at Brondby, Getafe, Spartak Moscow and Real Mallorca.
Blackpool boss Ian Holloway is the other leading candidate for the role, although the Seasiders have denied receiving any approach for the 49-year-old.
Holloway guided Blackpool to another play-off final last season, but having failed to return to the top flight he has admitted he would be interested in a move to a Premier League club and is a known admirer of Swansea.
While Swansea close in on a new manager, the club's hopes of completing the signing of Gylfi Sigurdsson appear to be over. Swansea had agreed a £6.8million fee with Hoffenheim for the Iceland midfielder, who scored seven goals in 17 appearances during his loan spell in south Wales, as well as personal terms.
But Rodgers' exit for Anfield led Sigurdsson to admit he had reservations about making a permanent switch to the Liberty Stadium. And it is understood that the deal will not go ahead, which will alert Rodgers, who has admitted an interest in signing the former Reading man should he not complete his move to Swansea.
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Take That will follow up Progress tour, says Barlow - BBC News
Gary Barlow says that Take That hope to release a new album and tour the UK in 2013.
When asked about about the possibility of releasing a new record next year on Radio 1's official chart show he said: "I hope so."
He added that there would be an accompanying UK stadium tour. "Absolutely, definitely," he confirmed. "I can promise you that."
Take That's 2011 Progress tour was the UK's highest-grossing tour ever.
Band's futureIt's not yet confirmed whether Robbie Williams would contribute to a new Take That album.
Barlow has produced some of Williams' eighth solo studio album which is set for release later this year.
Following a 15-year break Williams rejoined the group in July 2010 and performed with the band for their record-breaking Progress tour in summer 2011.
Barlow has hinted in the past that the band could return to being a four-piece.
In an interview with Radio Times in October 2011 he left the situation open saying "we can revisit it whenever we want".
Gary Barlow is sitting on the judging panel for the forthcoming ninth series of ITV1's The X Factor, which will be broadcast from the late summer.
This week Gary Barlow (10 June) topped the UK single and album chart with his tracks inspired by the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
Sing, the title of both the single and album, was recorded with musicians from across the Commonwealth.
UPDATE 3-Goldman bases new Asia Pacific chairman in Beijing - Reuters UK
* New Asia-Pacific chair rejoins Goldman after 11-year absence
* Beijing base underlines commitment to China market
* Western investment banks face challenge from homegrown firms
* Schwartz will oversee all of Asia operations (Adds details on Schwartz's prior connection to Rajaratnam, Gupta)
By Lawrence White
HONG KONG, June 12 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs said on Tuesday it had rehired veteran banker Mark Schwartz in the role of chairman of its Asia Pacific unit, based in Beijing, becoming the first global investment bank to place its sole regional chairman in China's capital.
Schwartz's placement in Beijing - rather than Hong Kong where peers from other big banks sit - puts him in a position to oversee the bank's joint venture there, Goldman Sachs Gao Hua, and to have quick access to leaders of some of the world's largest companies.
Schwartz, 57, first hired by Goldman 33 years ago, will replace Michael Evans, who has served as Chairman of Asia Pacific since 2004. Evans is based in New York and will continue in his role as a vice chairman of the bank and global head of growth markets.
After leaving Goldman in 2001, Schwartz worked as an adviser to George Soros and in 2006 formed with Raj Rajaratnam and former Goldman board member Rajat Gupta a combined hedge fund and private equity group named Taj Capital.
The $1.4 billion fund, which was renamed New Silk Route, invests in India, Asia and the Middle East. Rajaratnam was jailed in October 2011 for insider trading, while Gupta is on trial on charges stemming from the investigation into Rajaratnam's Galleon Group.
Schwartz's involvement with the fund was brief, and he is not listed as an officer on its website.
Schwartz's latest move sees Goldman Sachs fill a hole that has lingered since mid-2010, when Evans' move to New York to head the emerging markets drive meant that the firm's Asia chairman was not based in the region.
"The move to Beijing is very symbolic, and is similar to HSBC moving its CEO office to Hong Kong," said Ronald Wan, a managing director at China Merchants Securities (Hong Kong).
"They want to show a commitment to the China market, and probably improve ties with state-owned enterprises and the government."
While the firm stressed that this is a regional role, placing Schwartz in Beijing puts him in a position to bolster Goldman Sachs Gao Hua's efforts in China, and push key corporate and government relationships there.
Goldman faces several challenges in China, including renewed competition from foreign securities joint ventures and the rise of domestic investment banks and brokerages.
The firm is the top-ranked bank globally for China equity offerings worldwide year-to-date, though it is only 29th for listings in the onshore "A" share market, according to Thomson Reuters data. That ranking places it below many of its Western rivals, including Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank , JP Morgan and UBS.
LOCAL DIFFICULTIES
Foreign investment banks have found it difficult to make headway in China's onshore markets, with local firms using their deeper connections to win the lion's share of fees.
While Goldman Sachs has more control over its China operations than some rivals who arrived after a tightening of the ownership rules, the U.S. bank also suffers from not having total ownership of its China business.
The compensation structure of foreign banks also makes it harder for them to be profitable in China.
While Western firms need to chase big deals to cover the costs of their well-paid bankers, Chinese securities firms originate business using large teams of lower-paid dealmakers who get a cut of the fee for success.
With fewer jumbo-sized mandates available as the big banks and state-owned industrial firms complete their IPOs, the fees are more evenly distributed among medium and small-sized companies that the Chinese underwriters are better suited to execute.
"That's our biggest competitive advantage," said Dan Weil, global head of institutional sales and trading at Guosen Securities, the top-ranked China equity house year-to-date.
"We have 500 bankers, but we're not paying them $1 million each just to walk through door. They get paid on success. That enables the firm to have reach."
Part of the strategy behind locating Schwartz in Beijing will be to use his seniority to win more deals, in a market where bankers say clients put particular emphasis on the rank of the person pitching to them.
STRONGER FOOTING
Goldman is on a stronger footing in Asia-Pacific investment banking overall, having closed 2011 as the second-ranked firm in the region by fees and market share according to Thomson Reuters data, behind UBS.
This year, when completed listings have been thin on the ground, it won roles on some of the more high profile attempted listings, including Formula One and Graff Diamonds.
In Asia excluding Japan M&A advisory year-to-date, Goldman is top-ranked so far with 39 announced deals worth a combined $33 billion.
Schwartz's role will see him oversee all of the firm's business in Asia, encompassing asset management, private wealth management and securities trading in addition to investment banking.
While he is the first sole Asia Pacific chairman of a global investment bank to be based in Beijing, Morgan Stanley's Asia Pacific Co-CEO Wei Sun Christianson is there. Morgan Stanley has no regional chairman.
Schwartz is a Goldman Sachs veteran, having joined the firm in 1979 in the investment banking division. He was named a partner in the firm in 1988.
His career at Goldman Sachs saw him work in fixed income and then run the capital markets division from 1991 to 1997, before a move to Tokyo to become president of the Japan business. He held the title of chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia from 1999 to 2001.
On leaving Goldman at the end of that stint in 2001, Schwartz worked for Soros Fund Management, first as an adviser and then as president and CEO from 2003 to 2004.
Since 2006, Schwartz has been the chairman of MissionPoint Capital Partners, an investment firm he co-founded, which is focused on the transition to a lower carbon economy. (Additional reporting by Michael Flaherty and Kelvin Soh; Editing by Alex Richardson)
NME apologises to singer Morrissey over article - BBC News
The NME has publicly apologised to singer Morrissey over an article it published in 2007, which, the singer claimed, suggested he was racist.
The former Smiths star sued the magazine, saying it "deliberately twisted" his comments on immigration.
The NME and publisher IPC apologised in a joint statement, adding: "We do not believe [Morrissey] is a racist."
An NME spokeswoman said the magazine was "pleased it has buried the hatchet" with the singer.
She added the matter of the libel case was now closed and that the settlement did not involve payment of any damages or legal costs.
The case had been due to go to trial next month after Morrissey won a pre-trial hearing against former NME editor Conor McNicholas and IPC at the High Court last October.
The singer welcomed the verdict, saying he wanted his day in court to "clear my name".
The original 2007 article, titled Morrissey: Big Mouth Strikes Again, quoted Morrissey allegedly saying: "Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears."
He was also quoted as saying: "the gates of England are flooded. The country's been thrown away."
In the statement published on its website and in the magazine, the NME said: "We wish to make clear that we do not believe that he is a racist.
"We didn't think we were saying he was and we apologise to Morrissey if he or anyone else misunderstood our piece in that way.
"We never set out to upset Morrissey and we hope we can both get back to doing what we do best."
Morrissey's solicitor was not immediately available for comment.
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