Author: The Guardian

Sunderland sacked Michael Beale on Monday just two months after appointing him as Tony Mowbray’s successor at the Stadium of Light and are now looking for their 22nd manager in 22 years.The former Rangers and Queens Park Rangers manager has won just four of his 12 games since taking charge on December 18, leaving the Championship club 10th in the second tier, just shy of the play-off places 4 points left.It is understood tensions have been building behind the scenes since the 43-year-old Londoner began expressing concerns about the lack of experienced centre-forwards in his young side. Notably, Sunderland’s 27-year-old…

Name: Goldendoodle.Age: The first goldendoodle is thought to have been bred by Monica Dickens, the great-granddaughter of Charles, in 1969.Our mutual (four-legged) friend? Stop that.A dog, I’m guessing? As opposed to an absent-minded scribble with a metallic pen … yes, a goldendoodle is a dog. Created by breeding a golden retriever with a poodle. AKA a Groodle. Not to be confused with Dougal.Who’s Dougal? Google him; he’s a skye terrier from The Magic Roundabout and not important here.And pass notes is interested in the goldendoodle/groodle because? It is the nation’s most sought-after dog.Not the labradoodle? Nope. It’s down at No…

The NBA wants more competition. Instead, it scored more points—more than ever before. The All-Star Game is once again all about offense and no defense.The Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 211-186 on Sunday night, with the winner posting the highest score in the game’s 73-year history. The previous score was 196 for the West in 2016.NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wants more competition as the game’s television ratings have plummeted in recent years, and his displeasure subsequently became apparent. “For the Eastern Conference All-Stars, you score the most points,” Silver said. “Well…congratulations.”It was a string of records: 397 total points,…

It may charge nearly £700 for its most expensive steak but even the flamboyant condiment-sprinkling chef Salt Bae’s London restaurant has been forced to turn off the heating amid soaring energy bills.Nusr-Et steakhouse, the outlet at the Park Tower hotel in Knightsbridge known for expensive dishes such as £680 wagyu striploin or £630 giant tomahawk steak, said it had made an effort to cut costs despite recording a jump in profits.The company, which was founded by Salt Bae, a Turkish butcher turned steak-monger whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, said pre-tax profits rose 44% to almost £3.3m in 2022 as…

Rate, comment and share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. Today on the podcast; Manchester City draw with Chelsea; Did we hand the title to them too quickly or was it just a bad day at the office for Erling Haaland? Elsewhere, convincing wins for Liverpool and Arsenal saw Manchester United close the gap on fifth-placed Tottenham and Ollie Watkins’ return to form kept Aston Villa in the hunt for the final Champions League spot. Plus: Sheffield United suffer another huge loss, pressure mounts on West Ham’s David…

Imagine you’re out for dinner at your favourite restaurant and the waiter seats you at the best table. It is nice and quiet, so you can have a pleasant conversation with your partner. The table is also right next to a window with great views. You drink your wine and enjoy some delicious food. The dinner lasts a couple of hours. Do you think you’d enjoy the evening more if you sat at the nice table the whole time, or if you were occasionally sent to the back of the restaurant where it was crowded and noisy?“Well, that’s a stupid…

It wasn’t love at first sight with me and Simón. In fact, I didn’t want him. I had been promised a labrador, but when we met in 2004 he turned out to be a street dog – one of the estimated 66,000 strays that prowl the streets of Bogotá, a deep-black furred creature with a white chest who may have been the grandson of a labrador. He was aggressive and I was scared of him, yet we took him home. After all, we had driven for eight hours from my home city, Bucaramanga, to collect him after my uncle, while…

Prevention, in exercise as in so many other things, is better than cure. When you start a new sport or workout regime, it’s easy to let endorphins or sheer competitiveness get the better of you – but tweak a ligament or ping a hamstring, and there’s every chance you’ll feel it for months, even years. With that in mind, we’ve assembled an all-star team of coaches and athletes to talk you through the most common injuries for whatever type of training you’ve just taken up – and the measures you can take to avoid them. And please remember, if all…

SEven, eight, nine, ten… The Belgian referee stopped counting, opened his arms to signal the end of the game, and stared sympathetically down at the figure lying on the canvas. British boxer and war hero Frank Dove’s Olympic career ended less than five minutes into the match at Antwerp’s Celebration Hall when he was struck in the jaw with a right-hand sledgehammer by Denmark’s Søren Petersen.On that warm August afternoon more than a hundred years ago, only a handful of fans and officials were scattered around the ring to witness the quarterfinals of a heavyweight contest.Dove was unconscious for several…

Declan Coney, a former eel fisher, knew there was something wrong when the famed swarms of Lough Neagh flies failed to materialise. In past years, they would appear around the Northern Irish lake in thick plumes and “wisps” – sometimes prompting mistaken alarm of a fire incident, Lough Shore residents say.Clothes left out on a washing line “would be covered in them”, Coney says. So would any windshield on a vehicle travelling around the lough’s 90-mile shoreline. Conservationists marvelled at their courtship dances, hovering above treetops.Last spring the flies never arrived. “This is the first year ever that, if you…