Khan seals his place as The King after winning the WBA World light-welterweight crown

Khan puts in his best performance to date to win his first World title

It was dubbed “The Man Who Would Be King” and Amir Khan showed why he deserved that title after putting in his finest performance to date to beat Ukraining Andreas Kotelnik and grab the WBA World light-weltweight crown in the MEN Arena in Manchester.

His rehabilitation under renowned American trainer Freddie Roach came full circle as he produced a dominant display against Kotelnik and brush any memories of his devastating 52 second knockout by Breidis Prescott last September, well and truly under the carpet.

At the start of his professional career, Khan became known for knocking out his mediocre opponents quickly and thus every fight brought the question, which round will he knock him out? It was the same question that shadowed his loss to Prescott and his urgency to send him sprawling to the canvas backfired badly.

This time, Khan put in a performance of maturity, composure and concentration and will have silenced some his critics, myself included. Despite beating former world champion Marco Antonio Barrera due to a nasty the cut Mexican got, I was still unsure whether Khan had really improved, although the signs were there. Tonight, he went through only his second twelve round battle and came through with flying colours and the world title he so badly wanted.

Roach, who’s masterminded the fortunes of the pound for pound king Manny Pacquaio, has only accelerated his reputation as the finest boxing trainer on the planet at the moment. Khan’s improvement in his footwork, more thought out combinations in his punching and refusing to go down, is all down to Roach’s wizardary as a trainer.

For Khan, only good thing await the Olympic silver medalist. I for one, hope he will resist the lure of fighting good mate Ricky Hatton and go on to a huge fight in the States. The man from Bolton, is now well and truly, The King.

Soho Square’s reaction to scandal and controversies are revealed by Davies

Don't expect any new blockbuster revelations but just honesty and passion from Davies

England’s football team has had its fair share of triumph, tragedy and penalty heartaches over the years. With no silverware in the cabinet since the 1966 World Cup win over Germany, since then, the Football Association has been a regular visitor of the sports’ back pages for whatever reason. Former executive director David Davies gives a behind the scenes look inside the governing body, in his book FA Confidential.

Since joining the FA in 1994, Davies has seen the highs and lows of a footballing organisation under constant surveillance by the football community and the media. From England players’ drunken night antics before the European Championships in 1996, to witnessing the revolving door at FA HQ in Soho Square bringing in a new England manager. Working under four England managers (Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Sven Goran Eriksson), Davies was in the midst of fire-fighting on negative stories on England, and trying to move the organisation forward.

Under Eriksson’s reign, the Swedish coach delivered in competitive games and has an excellent record during his five years as England coach. But, Eriksson’s tenure as manager will also be remembered for the scandals, affairs and controversy and one, which drew in an innocent Davies. When his PA, Faria Alam accused the FA of unfair dismissal and sexual harassment by Davies, he was plunged into despair and shockingly, not given any backing by his employers. Always a confident figure in public, Davies fought back resiliently which resulted in Alam’s case being dismissed emphatically. Alam’s behaviour encapsulated what is wrong with Britain’s society today as she made £410,000 in selling her story to newspapers and TV whilst humiliating Davies, who was a caring employer and who was keen to improve women’s roles within the FA.

Most football fans wonder what life is like inside the plush headquarters of English football, and this book reveals the lid on the frantic working in the FA. If you’re expecting a conveyor belt of ‘revelations’ then you might be disappointed. There aren’t any jaw dropping bits of news, but just shows the behind the scenes work of when stories such as scandals and affairs have rocked the FA.

What you don’t get in revelations, Davies’ book delivers on his passion for the game. Having witnessed the World Cup triumph in 1966, and his subsequent love for Manchester United, Davies has a clear footballing passion that shows through as he explains his early life, schooling, meeting his wife and a career in journalism. This lead to a position at the FA, where his face was always associated with the FA.

FA Confidential is a good read for any football fan, to discover how the country’s football body privately dealt with the scandals and stories that stunned the organisation. Davies comes out looking as a very well respected person within the game and who strived to make a difference in the sport which he loved so much.

FA Confidential, David Davies, Simon & Schuster, 347 pages, £17.99

The darker side of Saudi Arabia’s regime besides it’s successes from oil

Sandy Mitchell, was stuck in Saudi jail for two and a half years for a crime he didn't commit

Imagine you’re enjoying the sunshine in a foreign country, when out of the blue, you’re hustled into a car and on the way to a place in a dark and dirty jail cell and accused of a crime you didn’t commit. Then follows an inhumane time of torture, interrogation and beatings. That’s what Scottish anesthetic technican Sandy Mitchell endured in two and a half years in jail in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Babylon: Torture, Corruption and Cover Up In the House of Saud gives a detailed insight into what Mitchell and other Westerners suffered at the hands of sadistic Saudi intelligence officers, keen to show no mercy to the people they had locked up. But it’s not all grim, the book gives an interesting historical story on the origins of Saudi Arabia and it’s huge Royal family.

The middle part of the book is like a movie that has too many sub-plots and the main storyline has left the audience absolutely confused. It goes into detail to describe the make up of the House of Saud and the companies, contracts that the various Prince’s hold control of.

At the same time it’s hugely intriguing the vast amounts of money that the Royal family deals in, some Prince’s have a vast property catalogue that has luxurious houses in Los Angeles and other exotic places in the world. But also big yachts, and millions of dollars of deals taking place. The life of a Saudi prince must so hard with all that money and lavish lifestyle on hand to cater to there every move, isn’t it?

With huge incomings of money can see corruption take place and the book has comments on Prince’s receiving millions of dollars worth of bribes, for their own little piggy bank. While the majority of the Saudi public, most of the mainly young, suffering from unemployment and a lack of job opportunities.

The overriding feeling on the book is the shocking, harrowing and brutally descriptive torture of Mitchell and other Westerners, all of them who were innocent people, charged with crimes they couldn’t have thought of even committing. It was done by the Saudi regime to brush under the carpet the notion of Islamic terrorism in their country and bury themselves into a deep state of denial.

Margeret Dunn, the sister of Mitchell, is left with feelings of anguish and despair as she tries to get her brother released from Saudi Arabia. Here, she comes up against a big, bricked wall in the form of the Foreign Office, who show a serious lack of urgency to help Sandy and are more concerned about upsetting their friends in Saudi.

Saudi Babylon is an informative book as it looks at the history of Saudi Arabia which is keen for it’s deserts and lands filled with oil, but it delves deeper into the darker, dangerous side of the regime that allows torture to innocent people.

Saudi Babylon: Torture, Corruption and Cover Up in the House of Saud, Mainstream Publishing, 239 pages, £15.99

Husain’s journey from an Islamist to his own personal reformation in his religious beliefs

A book I wasnt initially keen on reading at first but was left impressed

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is what the saying goes, something that I did all too quickly when plucking out The Islamist by Ed Husain from a bookshelf in my local library. I made an assumption that I knew what the book about Islamic extremists would include, but after reading, I was left pleasantly surprised.

My initial feelings before reading were that it would be about how Husain went from extremism to a dramatic transformation where he renounced his previous beliefs. The book cover entitled ‘Why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left’ gave me an eerie feeling that my thoughts about the book were correct.  To some degree it was, but it added unique depth into his turn around as he went digging deeper to find some much needed relaxation to him as a person.

Husain reveals the journey he went through from being a 16-year-old and joining radical organisations to his own personal scepticisms of what he was promoting, to undergoing his own deeper investigation into Islam and its different understandings. This involved trips to Syria and then Saudi Arabia, where he continued to show the other side of the country where Islam’s holiest sites are based. It also looks at the cultural differences in the Arab world and the UK, as he tries to understand the view point of different form of Islam such as Wahabbism.

I found myself agreeing with some of Husain’s post-extremism life, especially in the last few chapters as he discusses his return to Britain after a two year spell in Syria and Saudi Arabia. Such as his feelings on the political situation here, and the role of race and religion that played in voting for political party candidates. Something that I have noticed the trend of voting because “We know this guy and he’s Pakistani” or Muslim etc, so lets vote for him. In the local elections this year, I decided to vote for the Liberal Democrats rather than vote for Labour, as some of my family members were as one of the candidates was something who we knew.

Personally, anyone who decides to transform their lives from bad or incorrect ways and genuinely tries to become a better person deserves recognition for being able to realise that they need to make a change.

But in the circles of Islamic extremism, these ‘transformations’ are viewed very cynically as a money making opportunity and a chance to avoid a spell in Her Majesty’s pleasure in a jail cell. An example of this would be ex-extremist Hasan Butt, who I do remember renouncing his ways and was about to start work on a book, so it’s expected to attract thoughts of earning some pounds to their bank balances.

With Husain’s book, I get the feeling he was someone who was impressionable and found himself in a web of mixed emotions. After a student was stabbed to death by a friend of his, it began a long journey of establishing a peaceful soul within himself.

To conclude, it’s easy to have a cynical point of view and say “He did it for the money” which he is entitled to earn a living from his experiences. But as a first time reader of this particular type of book, it was an insight into a world that I fortunately, have never gone and never will go close to.

The Islamist, Ed Hussain, Penguin Books, 286 pages, £8.99

Ferguson keeps the pennies in the bank to buy a transfer ‘bargain’…

Owen cut a frustrated figure in an injury hit spell at Newcastle

In the heyday of when he scored goals in front a delirious Kop at Anfield and a national treasure, the sentence of “Michael Owen to join Manchester United” would never even have come into the mind of the striker himself. But as a troublesome season came to an end in relegation at Villa Park, the ex-Liverpool forward is set to resurrect his career at Old Trafford.

News filtered through late afternoon that United had exploratory talks with Owen’s advisors, but come this morning, the 29-year-old had already undergone a stern medical on his knee and close to joining the Premier League champions.

A couple of weeks ago, Owen had probably resigned himself to accepting that he’d have to join the likes of Hull or Stoke to continue playing in the Premier League to have a chance of resurrecting his England career. But Sir Alex Ferguson has given Owen a lifeline with a golden ticket return to the big time, by joining the club Liverpool fans have a passion of hate for.

At first, it was a bizarre choice by the Old Trafford supremo. Why sign a striker who’d ended last season with a relegated club, had spent more time on the treatment table than on the pitch and seemed a player who’s sell by date was nearing?

But, in the cold light of day, it could turn out to be a bargain buy for the Old Trafford club. No transfer fee to pay which means no money to be taken out of the £80m transfer kitty that United have got due to the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo, buying a striker who has a proven goalscoring record at Premier League level and has that finishing ability that at times last season, eluded United’s attacking array of talent.

And finally, it’s no win no lose situation. If Owen fails due to injury or unable to produce the goals, then with a reduced salary, it’s no big loss. However, United’s squad is littered with attacking service and that has been improved with the signing of Wigan’s Luis Antonio Valencia, it seems inconceiveable that Owen will struggle to get help in putting the ball into the back of the net.

Also, Owen’s arrival could impact on his one-time England strike partner Wayne Rooney. Last season, Rooney at times played on the left wing where he showed promise but Owen’s entry could see the ex-Everton forward play in the role that he’s good at, and importantly enjoys playing in.

In the midst of transfer speculation and big names linked to Old Trafford, Owen was the last name United fans expected to be joining the players at Carrington when they resume pre-season training next week. But, Owen could turn out to be Sir Alex’s best instinct purchases in recent years.