Book reviews | When Saturday Comes

Theatre of the absurd

Ron Hamilton asks where next for Darlington, as they endure another woeful season

Supporting Darlington has long had a certain Beckettian quality – an unceasing bleakness punctuated by bursts of farcical tragicomedy. Even in the aftermath of May’s FA Trophy victory, the joy of a winner in the 120th minute at Wembley soon gave way to cynical muttering about how long it would be before things went wrong. Less than six months later the club’s future is, once again, hanging in the balance.

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

National mourning

Huw Richards pays tribute to Gary Speed after his death

Even discounting for the inevitable reaction when someone dies young and suddenly, there was something different and genuine about the tributes to Gary Speed. Along with shock and disbelief was simple bafflement. Why? Maybe the inquest, which reopens on January 30, will provide some answers. His case appears to differ from other sportsmen’s self-inflicted deaths.

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Pound stretchers

Mike Ashley is reviled by many fans, but according to Mark Brophy, his tough financial policies are making Newcastle self-sufficient

As Newcastle United faced relegation in 2009, they were heavily in debt with one of the highest-paid squads in the Premier League and an owner who was trying to cut his losses by selling the club. Many expected a tumble down the divisions and an imminent financial collapse. Just over two years later, following promotion, consolidation, a summer of turmoil and the unlikeliest of good starts, Newcastle sit near the top of the league, like an urchin crashing a society party. Perhaps more importantly, the finances of the club are under control.

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Headless chickens

Absent owners and a poor manager have ruined what was once the model of a well run small-town club, says Bruce Wilkinson

When Venky’s took control of Blackburn Rovers last November and installed Steve Kean as the Premier League’s least likely manager, they repeatedly asked supporters not to pass judgement until they had been in charge for a year. Having reached this anniversary a few weeks ago, fans are now more than able to see that the club is heading in a downward spiral of such terrible proportions that a slide through the divisions and possible bankruptcy are not out of the question. Most followers were prepared to give the new owners time to show their true intentions and, at a stretch, even be persuaded that Kean could be a capable coach.

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Silverware jubilee

After 26 years of “failure”, Manchester United’s success in the Premier League era is due to the influence of one man, writes Joyce Woolridge

“Guess what, Mum, Manchester United never won the League once between 1967 and 1993. That’s 26 years!” To my numerate nine-year-old, this statistic is mind-boggling. He just cannot conceive how that could have happened. I could have fobbed him off with the platitudinous “no team has an automatic right to win anything, son” spiel by way of explanation. But it is an unfair world and big clubs, with all their advantages, should win big titles. Over that quarter-century of “failure” (in inverted commas in a vain attempt to mollify those supporters of clubs who never win anything and are doubtless chewing the carpet while reading this), Manchester United had the wealth, the players and the opportunities to be League champions but only rarely even came close. The inescapable conclusion is that the difference between then and the subsequent pot-laden decades is simply, as I informed junior, the arrival of Alex Ferguson.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - Book reviews