Premier League news: Sunderland AFC – The success story so far
On their much-anticipated return to the Premier League, underdogs Sunderland have defied expectations, and the usual struggles of newly promoted sides - by sitting fourth in the table with 18 points so far.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Ellie McDevitt outlines five reasons why the Black Cats have started the season so well.
How to ‘actually’ cultivate culture: Lessons from high-performing sport cultures
LinkedIn is flooded with posts about organisational culture. You can’t escape it. Companies pride themselves on having a positive, [insert buzzword here] culture. And there’s no shortage of tropes that come with trying to “improve” it.
Think: the dreaded pizza “party,” table-tennis tournaments, mandatory team-building days, vague company-values campaigns, or anonymous surveys that never lead to action.
These gestures do little to change a culture, and employees can smell the BS from a mile away.
So, how do we make a real difference? Where do organisations get it wrong? And what do we actually mean by culture? Research into high-performing sport environments may hold some answers, writes Sports News Blitz’s Ted Purcell.
Soccer opinion: VAR on trial - Should football maintain faith or scrap it for good?
When video assistant referees were introduced to football, they were meant to represent progress, a step toward fairness and accuracy in a sport long defined by human error.
VAR promised to correct the infamous injustices of the past, from Thierry Henry’s handball in 2009 to Frank Lampard’s ghost goal in 2010.
The technology was sold as the answer to decades of controversy. Yet over five years after its introduction to the Premier League - fans, players and managers remain divided.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Ben Phillips looks into arguments for and against the continuation of the VAR project.
Soccer news: Are parachute payments damaging the fabric of English football?
The English Football League system is often hailed as the most competitive and unpredictable football pyramid in the world.
From the glamour of the Premier League to the gritty charm of League Two, the promise of promotion and the peril of relegation create a dynamic narrative season after season.
Yet, in recent years, one feature of this structure has come under increased scrutiny: parachute payments.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Ben Phillips looks at the positives and negatives of parachute payments in the English football league and looks at potential alternatives to the method.