James McClean says Republic of Ireland criticism is 'out of order'

Republic of Ireland midfielder James McClean says his side have been unfairly criticised following their World Cup play-off defeat to Denmark.

Tottenham's Christian Eriksen scored a hat-trick as Denmark came from behind to record a resounding 5-1 win over Martin O'Neill's side in Dublin on Tuesday night, despite Shane Duffy's early opener for the hosts.

O'Neill and his players came under heavy criticism from fans and pundits after the defeat, despite a qualification campaign which saw them finish second ahead of Wales and Austria.

McClean admits Tuesday night's performance was "simply not good enough" but has refused to accept "over the top" comments.

He wrote on Instagram: "Last night is going to hurt deep for a long long time, nothing can change or make what happened last night right, of course everyone is entitled to voice their opinion because it was simply not good enough from us on the night, we know that ourselves.

"But to stick the boot in and kick players and staff when they are down (players and staff [who] have been great servants to this country, players and staff that have qualified for a major tournament and was unlucky to be knocked out to a great team in the last 16, players and staff that were a game from making it to a World Cup, players and staff that would give anything for this great country!) with some over the top beyond football comments is bang out of order, hurting or not.

"And trust me when I say this we hurt every bit as much as you do. I am proud and honoured to be an Irish man and to call every one of these men fellow countrymen and team-mates! Like a said this will hurt deep, we have been written off so many times before and just like before we will bounce back!"

Source = http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12020/11127597/james-mcclean-says-republic-of-ireland-criticism-is-out-of-order

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Marouane Fellaini's future in doubt amid Manchester United talks

Manchester United are facing an uphill struggle to keep Marouane Fellaini at the club.

United have been locked in contract talks with the Belgian since last season with Jose Mourinho determined to keep Fellaini in his squad.

Fellaini, who turns 30 next week, was offered a new contract in September but rejected the deal.

United remain hopeful that they can still reach an agreement with him.

Fellaini's current contract expires at the end of the season and potentially he could sign a pre-contract agreement with another side in January.

It is understood Manchester United will not look to sell Fellaini in the next transfer window, regardless of his contract situation, and are willing to risk him leaving in the summer for nothing.

Source = http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/11127384/marouane-fellainis-future-in-doubt-amid-manchester-united-talks

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Tyrrell Hatton: Small chance of Race to Dubai victory

Tyrrell Hatton hasn’t given up hope of making a late challenge for Race to Dubai victory after moving in to contention at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Hatton requires at least a top-three finish in South Africa to head to next week's DP World Tour Championship still with a mathematical chance of ending the season as European No 1.

The Englishman - fifth in the standings - posted a two-under 70 in breezy conditions at Gary Player CC to stay in touch with midway pacesetter Victor Dubuisson and keep his hopes alive of a third win of the season.

"This week is going to be the biggest challenge for me," Hatton said. "I sort of struggled here last year, and I think mentally, you have to be quite strong around here.

"Obviously I do struggle with that sometimes, but if I can get through that this week, I'm pretty confident of having a good week next week."I'm a long way behind, but if I can have a great weekend and then have a really good week next week then I've potentially got a really small chance.

"It [Race to Dubai victory] is not something I'm thinking about. I'm just trying to play as well as I can and get as many World Ranking points as I can."

Hatton is joined in the group on three under by Ross Fisher, who requires victories in both of the season-ending events to have a chance to overtake Justin Rose at the top of the standings.

"That's probably one of the toughest rounds around this place I've played since I've played here," Fisher said after his one-under 71. "Today was breezy but it was tricky because it wasn't consistent.

"You look at the scores, and there are not too many low scores. I just needed to stay patient, as the game is in good shape.

"There's some holes out there where if you make pars, you're going to be picking shots up, especially holes like 11 and 13, and even 18. To come out and come away with 71, I'm very pleased with that."

Watch the Nedbank Golf Challenge throughout the weekend live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Saturday from 8am on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Main Event.

Source = http://www.skysports.com/golf/news/12176/11121006/tyrrell-hatton-small-chance-of-race-to-dubai-victory

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Victor Dubuisson opens two-shot lead at Nedbank Golf Challenge

Victor Dubuisson fired a two-under 70 to open up a two-stroke lead at the halfway stage of a weather-affected Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.

Dubuisson, 73rd in the Race to Dubai standings, mixed four birdies with two bogeys in tricky conditions at Gary Player CC, where play was halted for two and a half hours due to thunderstorms.

Lee Westwood and Darren Fichardt sit in a share of second on four under, with defending champion Alex Noren part of the group three off the pace.

Overnight leader Bernd Wiesberger slipped down the leaderboard with a bogey-filled 77, while Tommy Fleetwood - who can secure Race to Dubai victory with a win this week - lies tied-37th after a two-over 74.

Scott Jamieson birdied the first to briefly move tied for the lead but bogeyed his next two holes, as Dubuisson capitalised on Wiesberger double-bogeying the fourth by holing a 15-footer to grab the advantage.

Wiesberger slipped further down the leaderboard with back-to-back bogeys from the fifth, allowing Dubuisson to double his lead with a long-range birdie at the sixth.

The Frenchman moved three clear after birdieing the 10th but missed from 10 feet to save par at the next, with Jamieson closing the gap to one after beginning his back nine with successive gains.

Westwood birdied the 14th and 16th to also get within one but bogeyed the next, while Jamieson dropped a shot at the par-five 14th to restore Dubuisson's two-shot cushion.

Dubuisson rolled in from five feet at the 15th to go three ahead just before play was halted at 3.22pm local time (5.22pm GMT), but bogeyed the last after missing the green with his approach.

Tyrrell Hatton and Ross Fisher, both still with a mathematical chance of Race to Dubai victory, are joined on three under by Jamieson and Noren, who closed his level-par 72 with a tap-in birdie.

One-time joint-leader Shane Lowry was five under for his first 10 holes but triple-bogeyed the 14th on his way to slipping back to one under, while Fleetwood heads in to the weekend 10 shots adrift.

Source = http://www.skysports.com/golf/news/12176/11120939/victor-dubuisson-opens-two-shot-lead-at-nedbank-golf-challenge

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Marquez' 2017 crash record: down 25 times and not out

 Pushing to the limits - and finding them - is the reigning Champion's MO. That hasn't changed, from premier class rookie to 2017 challenger

Going into the season finale, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) holds a 21-point advantage over Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) in the standings, with the rider from Cervera chasing his sixth World Championship and fourth in MotoGP™. It’s a stunning rate of success already for the number 93, but it hasn’t come easy – with Marquez one of the most prolific crashers on the grid. This season, the Championship leader has taken a tumble 25 times so far - the most of any non-rookie.

In 2013, when Marquez himself was a rookie, he fell 15 times. Getting to grips with the premier class and testing the limits, the number 93 nevertheless only suffered one crash out of contention in a race.

That was at Mugello, and it came after a weekend filled with incidents – including one of the most hair-raising crashes in recent times, from which the eventual Champion incredibly escaped unharmed.

2014 again saw Marquez take the crown, beginning the year with his incredible run of ten wins in a row. That’s also the season in which the Repsol Honda rider has crashed the least so far, with only 11 incidents throughout the year. With such a big points gap, the pressure was off by the time he suffered his first crash in a race, at Misano, and even more so once the title was wrapped up at Motegi – leaving Marquez pushing to the limit at Phillip Island to try and make as big a gap as possible. It wasn’t to be, but the reigning Champion was pragmatic: “It’s better that this happened now, so that I gain experience for next year.”

Next year being 2015, when Marquez wholly avoided the same mistake at Phillip Island, winning the stunning Island Battle. But there were a number of DNFs beforehand that saw him dent his title hopes, including a crash at Catalunya and another when trying to stay with leader Jorge Lorenzo at Aragon. Although the Repsol Honda rider only crashed two more times during the season, more incidents happened in races, rather than in practice.

After losing out on the crown the year before, 2016 saw Marquez on a mission to take back the throne. He crashed 17 times, but crucially only one of those came in a race before he wrapped up the title. That was at Le Mans, and it was a mistake mirrored by his title challenger this season - Andrea Dovizioso. Or more, the two were perfectly in sync…

2017 has seen Marquez back in full attack mode, and the crash statistics are his highest yet: 25 for the year so far. The first in a race was in Argentina, before another at Le Mans. The reigning Champion then finished every race up until Silverstone, where he suffered another DNF but this time a mechanical. Although not consisting of crashes alone, if Marquez wins the crown it will be the first time since 1998 that a rider has done so with three or more DNFs.

It’s also the season that has seen Marquez pull off what may be his most impressive save yet – somehow staying upright in this stunner at Sepang.



On his approach and the amount he crashes, Marquez gave one of his quotes of the year following the San Marino GP, succintly standing his ground:

    “I crash because I am pushing. I give 100% from FP1 until the race, and try to do my best. This is my style, and it’s given me five World Championships.”

With a 21-point lead, that may be six at Valencia – so tune in to see if Marquez can take the crown on Sunday 12th November.

Source = http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2017/11/02/marquez-2017-crash-record-down-25-times-and-not-out/245164

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The ‘Doctor’ and teammate Maverick Viñales debrief a difficult Malaysian GP

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP duo Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales had a more difficult Sunday at Sepang after the weather changed just ahead of the race, with the M1 a tougher prospect in the wet as they work on some issues that have plagued the squad this season.

“We were a bit unlucky with the weather,” said Rossi, “because I think in the dry we could have been competitive. We needed a good race because we arrived from a podium at Phillip Island and it’s good to try to stay at the top.” After topping FP3 in the dry and heading the second row of the grid, the race saw the rider from Tavullia only able to fight to seventh - finding most of the going tough: “Unfortunately today we were not strong enough on this bike in the wet, we had a lot of problems. I was struggling and slow for three quarters of the race. We need to understand it and try to improve.”

Viñales had a similar struggle in the rain, and crossed the line in ninth after dropping out of the points at one point. The Spaniard believed his wet weather woes to have been solved in Warm Up at Phillip Island and backed that up with good pace in FP2 at Sepang but come race day, it was a different story. “I was thinking in the wet we made a big step in Phillip Island, and here in FP2 we were third. Every lap was good,” shrugged the rider from Roses. “But in the race it as a totally different feeling, losing the rear at every corner and it was hard to get a rhythm or confidence.”

The pace on race day for many was different to that of FP2, and Viñales says he’ll focus more on the result in Warm Up in Australia and his feeling on Friday afternoon. Then, it’s on to Valencia: “I have to keep FP2 in mind and not think to much about the race. We know it was a problem but we know we were fast in practice, and in Valencia we have a good opportunity. It’s a track I like and somewhere I’ve always been fast.”

That fires up mid-November as Viñales returns to the venue at which he first rode the M1, with one more chance at a win.

Source = http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2017/10/30/rossi-in-the-dry-we-could-have-been-competitive/245097

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