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LIEENDOTHERMIC1 Female in charge of hotel with
superior neckwear (5)
4 Emotional old lover worthy of
praise in war? (9)
9 Steps leading to the shower? (4,5)
10 Dance round quietly with girl
taking the lead (5)
11 Revolutionary actors siding with
revolutionary soldiers (6)
12 Anger’s returning against friend in
a row (8)
14 Popular vet working in country
years ago (5,5)
16 Render pardon for doing a bunk (4)
19 Position of diver fixed, beginning to
spring off (4)
20 Waves farewell when this holiday is
taken? (5,5)
22 See hospital about to admit sick
and “peaky” types (8)
23 A male essayist producing a novel
(6)
26 Wood-dweller to value lake (5)
27 First during summer month to get
to river (9)
28 East Anglian town to record one
not conforming (9)
29 Lines penned by old man to convey
spirit of nature (5)1 Defence building protecting city
with our open area (9)
2 Bill joined by little son and little
girls (5)
3 Like type of delivery in pit area (8)
4 Times puzzle on Saturday has got
filled in (4)
5 Yes, rector will finally upset part of
the church (10)
6 Gentleman and unpleasant person
capsizing in river (6)
7 Instrument a research
establishment conjured up is given
to space traveller (9)
8 Leaders of ministerial team said to
be vain (5)
13 Sign near headland perhaps that is
precise and concise? (2,3,5)
15 Gambles — after initial loss, steals
(9)
17 I shouted to be heard, being under
close scrutiny (9)
18 Like a parrot, reddish-purple and
old (8)
21 Envelope specially prepared to
contain ring and stones (6)
22 Explosive Pole who ordered a
death penalty? (5)
24 See posh car followed by unknown
vehicle (5)
25 Hideaway excellent for keeping
sides apart (4)Newspapers
support recycling
The recycled paper content of
UK newspapers in 2020 was 67%Paul Hirst, Pol Ballús
Pep Guardiola has warned Jack
Grealish and Phil Foden about their
conduct after he dropped them from
the Manchester City team following a
night out.
The Times understands that Guardi-
ola and his staff took a dim view of the
England internationals’ conduct after it
emerged that the duo visited a bar in
Manchester shortly after playing for
the entirety of the 7-0 win over Leeds
United last Tuesday.
City were content for the players to
spend time relaxing after the match but
were unhappy with the condition in
which they reported the next day for a
recovery session at the club’s training
ground.
Guardiola, 50, did not oversee the
warm-down session last Wednesday as
he was in Barcelona for Sergio Agüero’s
retirement announcement.
Five days after the Leeds game,
Guardiola dropped Grealish, who was
signed for £100 million from Aston
Villa in the summer, and Foden; the
players were both unused substitutes in
the 4-0 win over Newcastle United.Guardiola warned after the victory at
St James’ Park on Sunday that any
future ill-discipline would not be toler-
ated. When asked why he decided to
rotate his team, Guardiola told BBC
Radio 5 Live: “[It was] not rotation, no.
I decided for this team because they
deserved to play today, these guys and
not the other ones.
“At Christmas time I pay a lot of
attention to behaviour on and off the
pitch. And when off the pitch is not
proper they are not going to play.”
City would not comment on the
matter when approached by The Times16% not jabbed
in top division
Martyn Ziegler, Paul Joyce,
Tom RoddyNearly one in six Premier League
players have refused to have a Covid
vaccination, the latest figures have
revealed, as the top flight and other EFL
clubs decided to continue with the
festive fixture programme.
Premier League clubs were told at a
meeting yesterday that 77 per cent of
players had been double-jabbed and
84 per cent had received at least one
dose of the vaccine, but that 16 per cent
have declined to be vaccinated.
The Times can also reveal that at least
one recent match, Burnley v Watford,
Continued on page 61Pep punishes England pair
yesterday. John Stones, who played at
right back in the win over Leeds, was
also dropped for the Newcastle game,
but it is understood that he did not
attend the night out with Grealish and
Foden.
The only reason that the England
defender dropped to the bench for the
Newcastle game was because João
Cancelo, the specialist right back, had
served the one-match suspension that
had ruled him out of the Leeds match.
Grealish, 26, and Foden, 21, scored a
goal apiece in the hammering of
Continued on page 61Grealish and Foden dropped over night out in Manchester
Sp ort
Swimming sensation Tom
Dean relives Olympic glory
Pages 56-57My golden year
2GM Tuesday December 21 2021 | mber 21 2021 | ththe timeshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee e eeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetittitititittttitttttttttttitttttttittttttitttttttttttttttttttttttttttiiimesPHILIP BROWN/POPPERFOTO/GETTY IMAGESRoot: Bowlers
got it wrong
Elizabeth AmmonA frustrated Joe Root accused his
players of repeatedly making the
same mistakes and implied that his
bowlers had let him down by
bowling too short in Australia’s
first innings after England fell to a
275-run defeat in the second Ashes
Test in Adelaide.
Despite his excellence with the
bat this year, pressure is mounting
on Root’s captaincy. His side trail
Australia 2-0 going into the third
Test on Boxing Day at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground. Only
one team has ever come from 2-0
down to win the Ashes — and that
was an Australian team led by Don
Bradman in 1936.
Yet the England captain praised
Jos Buttler’s 207-ball rearguard
action, calling on his team to show
the same spirit as the wicketkeeper.
He added that England “have to
believe” they can go on to win this
Continued on page 65Mike Atherton’s
verdict
England’s Ashes
unravel in nine days,
page 64Jos Buttler
looks pained
after treading
on his stumps
to end his
207-ball vigil*