It was the former Derby County striker’s first Premiership goal for 17 months.Five minutes later, however, Portsmouth were back in the game. Mark Schwarzer failed to hold Matty Taylor’s shot and the midfielder made no mistake with his second chance after Aliou Cisse had laid the ball back to him.With Middlesbrough forced to reorganise following an injury to Colin Cooper, Michael Reiziger moving to the centre of the defence, Portsmouth started to take control. Fuller had been very much the junior partner in the home attack, but he created space for himself with a jinking run down the left and whipped in a dangerous cross. Frank Queudrue and Yakubu both lunged at the ball, which flew into the net.Middlesbrough at last found some rhythm towards the end and forced a series of corners, but a relieved Portsmouth held out. The three points could be invaluable in the weeks ahead, as Joe Jordan, the assistant manager, admitted.”It’s a huge win,” Jordan said “It gives everybody confidence You have to get points to go with the performance. We’ve now got 30 points, which puts us 12 points clear of the relegation places.”Steve McClaren, the Middlesbrough manager, was not disheartened by his team’s display, though he was concerned about the extent of Cooper’s leg injury.”The boys gave everything they had,” he said “They kept going.
The odds may not seem generous at all to those who have loyally backed the boys in green over the years at 14-1 or thereabouts on the theory that, if Brian O’Driscoll scores some tries and Ronan O’Gara kicks his goals, it will be all right on the night. 04-01-2005Michael Dawson Nottm Forest pounds 4m 31-01-2005Andy Reid Nottm Forest pounds 4m 31-01-2005PLAYERS IN: 20 TOTAL: pounds 31.305mLOANS INDavid Limbersky Viktoria Plzen 04-01-2005Ahmed Hossam Mido Roma 28-01-2005Radek Cerny Slavia Prague 28-01-2005TOTAL: 3. Then Levy said that pounds 37.5m had been spent on transfer fees since July 2003 (it is now nearer pounds 48m) and that 17 players had left (it is now 20) and 21 arrived (now 28).”This has been possible through the support of the club’s key investors and the ongoing financial stability of the club’s operations,” Levy wrote. Indeed, the pounds 11m spent on the latter by George Graham still haunts Levy. Seven arrivals in January, with another signing a pre-contract agreement, mean that Spurs’ sporting director made the club the busiest in Europe, never mind the Premiership, during the transfer window. The sheer dreadfulness of much of the contest can be gauged from the fact that a general groan went up around the stadium when the fourth official indicated that there were four minutes of first-half stoppage time. Compared to the on-pitch fare, the prospect of a half-time pie must have seemed like an invitation to a four-course meal prepared by Jamie Oliver.Bolton Wanderers: (4-1-3-2) Jaaskelainen; Barness (Fadiga, 77), Ben Haim, N’Gotty, Gardner; Campo; Giannakopoulos (Hierro, 88), Nolan, Speed; Diouf, Davies (Pedersen, 90).
“Every year the only major subject on which I disagree with my favourite managing director” – he gestured at Flavio Briatore – “is that we are not just here to take part and put on a show. “There were some high profile performances from athletics at the Olympics,” said Sport England’s newly installed director of sport, Stephen Baddeley. Gymnastics drops marginally from pounds 2.3m to pounds 2.2m; karate from pounds 500,000 to pounds 250,000; hockey, where the women failed to reach the Olympics and the men finished ninth, has the biggest drop, from pounds 4.25m to pounds 2,348,000, and boxing also loses out, although this sport will gain pounds 1.2m over four years through the new Community Club development programme.Golf has the biggest gain, up from pounds 1.3m last year to pounds 2.07m.. Last year’s figure of pounds 2m will drop to pounds 1.35m in 2005- 6, a measure which reflects what is seen as the sport’s failure to maximise its medal success from Lottery investment. A total of more than pounds 60m was spent throughout the course of the month, excluding undisclosed deals, with only five transfers – out of 86 overall – comprising more than pounds 30m. “I thought we had a reasonable set of fixtures in December and we lost every blinking one.”Allardyce added that he was glad the Reebok crowd had been given a flourish to warm them on their way home after the mundanity of what had gone before.
