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Bullard - surprise pick. BULLARD IN ENGLAND SQUAD
Jimmy Bullard has been handed a shock England World Cup call-up as coach Fabio Capello looks to begin the road to South Africa by beating Andorra and Croatia. The 29-year-old has barely earned a mention as a potential candidate for Capello’s squad, even after the loss of Steven Gerrard, who accompanied Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick onto the injured list. But Bullard has found favour following an excellent start to the season, following his influential role in keeping the Cottagers up last term. Capello is presumably banking on Bullard’s experience helping him overcome any nerves at his first call-up and the Londoner’s chirpy character should certainly help in the England dressing room. (Read the full post about ‘BULLARD IN ENGLAND SQUAD’…)

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Poulter - wild card pick. FALDO CONFIRMS WILD CARDS
Europe captain Nick Faldo has handed Ryder Cup wild cards to Ian Poulter and Paul Casey. As a result Colin Montgomerie misses out on the match which could have seen him take over from Faldo as the event’s record points-scorer. Darren Clarke also misses out, despite his victory in Holland a week ago which made he and Casey the two favourites to be picked. Casey and Poulter will join Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Soren Hansen and Oliver Wilson, who all automatically qualified for the event at Valhalla next month. (Read the full post about ‘FALDO CONFIRMS WILD CARDS’…)

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Getaway - won at Deauville. GETAWAY EASES TO DEAUVILLE WIN
Getaway bounced back to form with a comfortable victory in the Luciene Barriere Grand Prix de Deauville under new pilot Frankie Dettori. Andre Fabre’s charge was an impressive winner of the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket in May but disappointed on his next two starts at Epsom and Saint-Cloud. But he was always travelling nicely here under Dettori, who has been booked to ride the horse in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and took over from the pacemaking Sommertag early in the straight. The globetrotting Doctor Dino came out of the pack to lay down a strong challenge, but Dettori kept the 11-8 market-leader up to his work to land the Group Two event a shade cosily. (Read the full post about ‘GETAWAY EASES TO DEAUVILLE WIN’…)

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Inler - staying put. INLER STAYS IN ITALY
Arsenal target Gokhan Inler has snubbed any potential transfer bid from Arsene Wenger by extending his Udinese contract until 2013. The Swiss midfielder was one of the Arsenal manager’s summer targets and rumoured to have a price tag in the region of 8million. But Inler never had any doubts about securing his future for a further five years at the Italian club since he first arrived from FC Zurich in 2007. “I never had any doubts, and from the first day I always said I was sure of staying at Udine,” the 24-year-old told the club’s official website. “I want to go all the way with this club and play a great season. (Read the full post about ‘INLER STAYS IN ITALY’…)

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Heffernan - led Again to success. AGAIN WINS MOYGLARE STUD STAKES
David Wachman is already looking forward to next season with Again following her triumph in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh. The juvenile was sent off the 6-4 favourite for the Group One contest, having impressed in the Debutante Stakes at Leopardstown last time. But with regular pilot Wayne Lordan serving a suspension, Seamus Heffernan climbed into the saddle. Travelling strongly throughout, the daughter of Danehill Dancer made smooth headway early in the straight and showed a game attitude in the closing stage to repel the late surge of Shimah by half a length. (Read the full post about ‘AGAIN WINS MOYGLARE STUD STAKES’…)

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Robinho - Chelsea interest. CHELSEA DEFEND ROBINHO INTEREST
Chelsea have ‘refuted’ Real Madrid’s criticism regarding their conduct in the bid to sign Robinho. Brazilian striker Robinho held a press conference on Sunday to reiterate his desire to join Chelsea before the transfer window closed. Real responded by issuing a statement which hit out at Chelsea’s behaviour, particularly an incident which saw shirts bearing Robinho’s name go on sale on the club’s website. But the Blues have now defended their interest in Robinho, having made a formal offer, and say the shirt incident was ‘a regrettable accident’. (Read the full post about ‘CHELSEA DEFEND ROBINHO INTEREST’…)

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Parry - rows over. PARRY - ROWS ARE OVER
Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry says the infighting that threatened to derail the club is now over and that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet. The Reds found themselves in the headlines for the wrong reasons last season due to the ongoing row between American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The American duo were involved in a public slanging match last season, but Parry insists the problems have been resolved and stability has returned to Anfield. Parry has also found himself at loggerheads with Reds boss Rafa Benitez over transfer targets, but the chief executive insists everyone is working together to bring success to the club. (Read the full post about ‘PARRY - ROWS ARE OVER’…)

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Saints celebrate their Challenge Cup win. SAINTS SET SIGHTS ON DOUBLE
St Helens on Sunday basked in the glory of their latest Challenge Cup triumph and immediately set their sights on the double. Daniel Anderson’s men made a heroes’ return to Knowsley Road with the famous trophy they lifted for a 12th time thanks to a 28-16 win over Hull at Wembley but insisted they have unfinished business. Saints did the double in 2006 but were heavily beaten by Leeds in last year’s engage Super League Grand Final and are determined to make amends this time. They meet arch rivals Wigan at Knowsley Road on Friday in their final game of the regular season needing to avoid defeat in order to top the table for a third successive year and will then enjoy a three-day break in Madrid before embarking on the play-offs. (Read the full post about ‘SAINTS SET SIGHTS ON DOUBLE’…)

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Murray - great comeback. MURRAY DELIGHTED WITH GREAT ESCAPE
Andy Murray believes his memorable US Open victory over Jurgen Melzer in New York on Saturday night was even better than his epic Wimbledon win over Richard Gasquet earlier this summer. Murray repeated his Centre Court heroics over Gasquet when he came from two sets down to beat Melzer 6-7 4-6 7-6 6-1 6-3 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre. The near four-hour thriller in front of a packed Grandstand Stadium crowd drew instant comparisons with his battle with Gasquet as sixth seed Murray secured a place in the last 16 and a meeting with 10th seed Stanislaw Wawrinka of Switzerland. “They both were very good,” Murray said. (Read the full post about ‘MURRAY DELIGHTED WITH GREAT ESCAPE’…)

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Valuev celebrates his win. SPEED CRUCIAL FOR VALUEV
Nikolai Valuev believes speed was key to beating John Ruiz in their WBA heavyweight title fight on Saturday night. The Russian Giant clinched a unanimous points victory over the 36-year-old as he was ahead 116-111, 116-113 and 114-113 on the scorecards. In December 2005, Valuev had deprived Ruiz of the same belt at the same place. “I am not sure whether I did better in the first fight - I would have to watch the tape first,” Valuev said after his success in Berlins Max-Schmeling-Halle. “But I do know that I was quicker this time. (Read the full post about ‘SPEED CRUCIAL FOR VALUEV’…)

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