England

French giants approach unsettled United star. Check in to Transfer Window: Done Deal Alerts PSG have made an approach for unsettled Manchester United star Wayne Rooney, according to L'Equipe. The 27-year-old's future has come under much speculation recently after Sir Alex Ferguson claimed that the England international had submitted a transfer request at Old Trafford. Rooney later denied these allegations, though it is still thought that he is considering his future at the club after becoming something of a squad player this season. The former Everton star has been on the bench for some important games, and has often been played out of position on the wings or in midfield to accommodate others. It is thought that new United manager David Moyes very much wants Rooney in his plans, but he will now have to fight off interest from a number of Europe's top clubs for Rooney's signature. The likes of Barcelona, Chelsea and Bayern Munich have all been linked with the forward, but PSG are now stepping up their interest, as they hope to add Rooney to their latest in the line of recent big-money signings for the club. The French giants would like to partner Rooney with Zlatan Ibrahimovic next season, in what would be a mouth-watering partnership upfront, and the United attacker could find himself playing under former Chelsea and Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez, who has also been linked with the club.

The Ace Cafe is a biker's cafe in North West London (website) is not somewhere you will come across by accident, you have to go out looking for it. That's something I recommend, if you are ever at a loose end.

Etihad Stadium side reveal their new strip and it's pretty damn decent. Check in to Transfer Window: Done Deal Alerts

Bundesliga side to offer big Dane a lifeline. Check in to Transfer Window: Done Deal Alerts Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt are set to offer Arsenal misfit Nicklas Bendtner an escape route from the club this summer, according to talkSPORT. The 25-year-old hasn't figured in Arsene Wenger's plans for quite some time now and has spent the past two season's on loan with Sunderland and Juventus, respectively, and is expected to be one of the many surplus players to leave the north London club this summer. Neither of his loan sides decided to turn his move into a permanent deal after notching just eight goals in 30 games for the Black Cats and managing a paltry 10 appearances for Juve and failing to score a single goal. Bendtner still has a year left on his current deal and even though Frankfurt have declared an interest they admit that he will have to take a substantial cut in his wages if they are to bring him on board. They have suggested that they would be open to a loan move, but ideally they would like to take him on a long term deal. Frankfurt are currently sixth in the Bundesliga table, a point behind SC Freiburg in fifth and will need to win their final game of the season this weekend if they want to secure Europa League football next season.

Former England 'keeper to stay with the Hoops. Check in to Transfer Window: Done Deal Alerts QPR goalkeeper Robert Green has reiterated his desire to stay with the club next season and claim the number one spot for himself, Sky Sports reports. Green moved across the city from West Ham last summer believing that he was set to be the first choice goalkeeper at the club, but was quickly followed by new signing Julio Cesar, who has kept him out of the side for the bulk of the campaign. However, with Cesar expected to move on this summer, the door has opened for the ex-England number one to make the place his own. "I see my future wherever I am told it is really," he told the QPR website. "Life of a keeper, particularly an English one, is very different to an outfield player where you get 25 squad places with rotation and maybe European games if you are at one of the bigger clubs. "You get the need for a lot of players whereas with a keeper there are not many teams where you have two first choice keepers - here is one of them. "You see people saying it is up to us if we stay or go but sometimes it really isn't. "If I get told I am here next season then I am here next season and I will do my utmost for the team. "If I get told I am here next season and I am on the bench then that is my life and you have got to take it how it is. "That is something I have learned from this season as much as anything that it is not all laid for you on a red carpet."

New Zealand wicket-keeper BJ Watling has been ruled out of the second and final Test against England which begins at Headingley on Friday with a knee injury. He picked up the injury during New Zealand's 170-run defeat in the opening match at Lord's and will be replaced - as he was at the home of cricket - as wicket-keeper by captain Brendon McCullum.

A recent disappointing meal at Hong Kong Diner had us looking around for another restaurant in Chinatown that served good Hong Kong style cuisine. I came across a lot of positive reviews for Old Town 97, the year being significant as that was the end of British rule in Hong Kong. We had a late lunch there one Saturday not too long ago. They have a great lunch deal – £4.80 for a dish of rice or noodles with a free bowl of their daily soup. We chose the char siu on fried hor fun which came out looking quite plain but turned out to be some well fried hor fun topped with a generic Asian brown sauce and some quite good sliced char siu. A bit of chili oil (excellent stuff) and it was a great dinner. The accompanying soup (pork bone, carrot and tomato) was a bonus. I wanted to try a dish that I’d only heard about online – ‘LSE fan‘ (or ‘LSE rice’, about £9.50); the story goes that the dish was either invented or made famous by an LSE student. On our queries, our waiter informed us that it was a honey and black pepper pork served with egg fried rice. It turned out to be more of a triple eggy delight – egg fried rice, fried egg and the honey and black pepper pork was topped with an additional eggy sauce. It was definitely over-the-top, excellent and certainly almost enough for two. Their drinks are very good there – here’s a milk tea and an iced lemon tea. Sadly, a second, more recent visit wasn’t as good. One of their specialties, Hainan chicken rice (£7.30), had overcooked chicken breast but tasty enough rice and accompanying chilli sauce. A little more care, though, could have been taken over the presentation of the rice. I wanted to try their crispy noodles. Fried noodles with mixed seafood (£8.00) turned out to be mediocre noodles in a wading pool of gloopy (albeit well-seasoned) sauce. It all seems to be a bit hit and miss. While it’s likely we’ll be back to try their beef brisket (thanks for the rec, Lizzie) and their hor fun in eggy sauce (two dishes I’ve heard good things about), as in most places in Chinatown, service left a lot to be desired. Depending on which waiter you get, service can be acceptable or miserable. Why do they do that? And poor Blai is extremely upset that by default, they gave him a fork when he sat down! Old Town 97 19 Wardour Street London  W1D 6PF

After three sub-par seasons in San Francisco to start his career, the light bulb finally went off for wide receiver Michael Crabtree in 2012. He led the 49ers in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns by securing 85 passes for 1,105 yards receiving and nine touchdowns. Moreover, he turned in two 100-yard receiving games over the course of three playoff games. Even though the 49ers didn’t win the Super Bowl in 2012, Crabtree appeared to be on his way to superstardom. Not to mention the fact he was also finally starting to live up to his lofty draft status (former 10th-overall pick in 2009). However, life rarely follows suit, especially in the NFL. Mike Garafolo of the USA Today tweeted out a short time ago that Crabtree suffered a torn Achilles yesterday during San Francisco’s organized team activities. Obviously, the best-case scenario would be a partial tear that doesn’t require surgery. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Christ Mortensen of ESPN.com has already tweeted out the fact that Crabtree underwent surgery on his torn Achilles. For those of you who don’t remember, Terrell Suggs partially tore his Achilles last May. He rehabbed the injury on his own and returned five months later to help the Baltimore Ravens win the Super Bowl. Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas of the Denver Broncos suffered the same type of injury back in 2011. Thomas didn’t recover as quickly as Suggs did, but he did return to action seven months later, as good as new. His seven-month timetable fell right in between the suggested six-to-eight-month recovery timetable. So there is hope that Crabtree could indeed return in time for a playoff run in 2013. But before we look too far ahead, it’s important to analyze the impact his injury has on the 49ers’ offense, roster and championship aspirations. The immediate question stemming from Crabtree’s injury is: Who will step in and replace the former first-round pick? The most obvious answer is newly acquired wideout Anquan Boldin, but the most logical answer is 2012 redshirt rookie A.J. Jenkins. Jenkins had a hard time finding the field last season. He even went as far as saying it was a humbling experience, according to Eric Branch of sfgate.com. Humbling is right, when one considers the lack of playing time he received in 2012. He logged 37 offensive snaps during the regular season and 10 offensive snaps in postseason play. Only wide receiver Chad Hall played fewer snaps last year. Jenkins’ low snap total was attributed to the talent in front of him and his inability to learn the offensive playbook in a timely manner. A full season of watching and waiting should allow the second-year wide receiver to step in and contribute right away. Additionally, the 49ers drafted Louisiana Tech wideout Quinton Patton and Rice tight end Vance McDonald. Both players may see more playing time than originally expected because of Crabtree’s injury. Yet head coach Jim Harbaugh rarely puts a lot of stock in first-year players. This, in turn, could open the door for a street free-agent signing. The biggest name out there who makes the most sense is former New England Patriots wide receiver Brandon Lloyd. Lloyd is familiar with the Bay Area, and in his one game against the 49ers last season; he torched San Francisco to the tune of 190 yards receiving on 10 catches. The only knock on Lloyd is his "unique personality." Sure, his age is working against him as well, but that doesn’t mean he is done physically. If one were to include the playoffs, he posted over a 1,000 yards receiving last year. With roster implications being the most immediate concern, the second-most talked-about aspect of the injury is what it means for the 49ers' playoff hopes. Honestly, the injury is a big blow to San Francisco’s passing game, but it shouldn’t have much of an affect on playoff implications. The Niners are one of the deepest teams in the NFL on both s

Dec 2, 2012; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick talks with defensive tackle Vince Wilfork (75). Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports Welcome to the fifth installment of a multi-part review and grading of the previous drafts of the New England Patriots under coach and executive Bill Belichick.  As the Patriots are beginning their “voluntary” organized team activities along with their other NFL counterparts, this period of preparing for the 2013 season until the kickoff of the official training camp in July is often the only down time in the NFL calendar. Now is an ideal time to look back and re-grade the previous drafts of the New England Patriots while under the leadership of Bill Belichick. As a note, these draft grades take into account the player’s impact while in New England weighed against the other players who were available in the draft at that time, as well as the the strength of the draft as a whole that season.  Below is the revisit and re-grading of the Bill Belichick draft that played a key role in adding two consecutive Super Bowl championships in New England: the 2004 NFL Draft. The Patriots ended the 2003 season on a high note, as the team shook off a mind-numbing 31-0 loss to the recently released from New England Lawyer Milloy-led Buffalo Bills in week one to roar through the schedule and finish with 12 consecutive victories and a 14-2 regular season  record one year after missing the playoffs. The season included a memorable victory over Denver on a Monday night game at Mile Hile featuring an intentional safety by the Patriots. The Patriots were pinned down at the one yard line and went three-and-out and intentionally to the safety to pin Denver back. The strategy paid-off as young quarterback Danny Kanell went three-and-out and gave the ball back to the Patriots with 2:15 on the clock.  Tom Brady led the Patriots down the field and completed an 18-yard touchdown pass to young wide receiver David Givens with only 36 seconds remaining in the game. There was also an epic defensive battle against the resurgent Dallas Cowboys under Bill Parcells on a cold Sunday night in November at Gillette Stadium.  The Cowboy’s defense showed up, limiting the Patriots to 12 points and quarterback Tom Brady to a rare, sub-50% completion rate that night.; however, he did–as was customary in that offense–complete passes to 8 different receivers.  New England’s defense showed up strong and shut out the Cowboy’s offense (one of the defense’s 3 shutouts that season and 2 additional games without allowing a touchdown), as cornerback Ty Law picked off two Quincy Carter passes and fellow cornerback Tyrone Poole added another pick. Dallas’s leading rusher, Troy Hambrick, was held to 41 yards on 16 attempts on the ground.  The Patriots only scored once, a 2 yard plunge by running back Antowain Smith set-up by a 57 yard completion to David Givens on the previous play. The Patriots headed into the 2004 draft with an additional 1st round pick and 2nd round pick courtesy of their previous trades into this draft year during the 2003 draft.  New England had packaged their second 1st round pick (#19) in 2003 to Baltimore for their 2nd round pick in 2003 and Baltimore’s 1st round pick in 2004. The Patriots also had traded one of their 3rd round picks (#78) to Miami for their 2004 2nd round pick.  That 2nd round pick was traded to Cincinnati for their disgruntled running back Corey Dillon, who allowed New England to replace aging and ineffective running back Antowain Smith with an all-pro talent on the cheap. Cincinnati drafted safety Madieu Williams with the 2nd round pick. Williams was a solid pick-up, but definitely it was a trade that New England would make every time, considering the next running back drafted after that spot was Mewelde Moore (Chris Perry, Kevin Jones, Greg Jones, Julius Jones, and Tatum Bell were drafted ahead of the pick that was traded for Dillon, along wi

MIDTOWN EAST — Salvation Taco debuts its custom-brewed "Devil's Plaything" citrus IPA tonight at the rooftop bar. The beer is a collaboration between Sam Anderson and Bill Brooks, the beer managers at Salvation Taco and The Breslin, and Greenport Harbor Brewing Co., and is made with chilies, oranges, limes and dried Haitian bitter orange segments. [EaterWire] NOLITA — Tomorrow, May 23, Mike Breach, the guy who makes crazy latte art portraits will be at The Little Fox Cafe from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Stop by and you can get your portrait done in your afternoon coffee. [EaterWire] GOVERNOR'S ISLAND — Little Eva's, the seasonal outpost of Kevin's Red Hook is re-opening for the summer on Governor's Island this weekend. They've moved their location to the end of Colonels' Row in the Historic District of the island, and will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. for all of the Memorial Day long weekend. [EaterWire] FOOD TV — The James Beard Award-winning PBS series The Mind of a Chef just announced its second season, which features both Sean Brock and April Bloomfield. The 16 episodes will be split between the two chefs, with the second half dedicated to Bloomfield as she travels "from the Pacific Northwest to Birmingham, England, tracing culinary tradition, instinct and obsession – from cops to curries to clams." [EN] [Krieger]