Never let it be said that Louis van Gaal is not a football innovator. The Manchester United manager’s cunning plan to ward off the dreaded post-Christmas form dip seems to be to lose as many games as possible before the holidays even start. First, a comical defeat at Wolfsburg saw United crash out of the Champions League, then came a 2-1 loss to Premier League new boys Bournemouth. “I shall challenge [the players] and we shall come back,” sniffed Van Gaal. Meanwhile, Wales have the chance to humiliate England at football as well as rugby after the sides were drawn in the same group at next summer’s Euro 2016 finals. Northern Ireland must face world champions Germany, while the Republic of Ireland are in a group including Italy and Belgium.
McEnroe’s dream: no umpire
He cannot be serious! Hang on, he can! John McEnroe thinks tennis would be better off without umpires; apparently the original superbrat feels the modern game has too many interruptions and can go on too long: “There should be no umpires. That would maybe be a major innovation,” he told The Tennis Podcast. McEnroe’s regular savaging of umpires drew legions of new fans to tennis, many of whom feel the modern game would benefit from a bit more of the old friction between players and officials. So on this occasion we can only hope that he was (wait for it …) talking to himself.
How off course is Trump?
An unexpected silver lining to the blond-wigged cloud that is Donald Trump: the Republican presidential hopeful’s comments about banning Muslims from entering America have provoked US golf authorities into taking a moral stance on using his courses. The US PGA said after next year it would consider other venues for the WGC-Cadillac Championship, regularly held on Trump’s National Doral course in Miami. “Mr Trump’s comments are inconsistent with our strong commitment to an inclusive and welcoming environment in the game of golf,” a US PGA statement read. “Immediately after the completion of the 2016 tournament we will explore all options regarding the event’s future.”
An ill wind for the Windies
Australia’s cricketers showed West Indies no mercy in the first Test in Hobart, thrashing them by an innings and 121 runs. Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh put on a world record fourth-wicket stand of 449; at least at this rate it will all be over quickly. There was worse news for the Windies as part-time off-spinner Marlon Samuels was banned from bowling for 12 months due to an illegal action. In Dunedin, New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 122 runs in the first Test, Kiwi openers Martin Guptill and Tom Latham scoring centuries.
