Book reviews | When Saturday Comes

Back to front

By moving their central defenders forward into midfield, English managers are taking a tactical step backwards, says Adam Bate

After the initial excitement, it only took a few difficult games for questions to be raised about Phil Jones. “In the end… Jones is there to stop, not start, the fun,” wrote Paul Hayward in the Guardian. And he is right, of course. A defender should be able to defend. Less understandable is the desire to move Jones into midfield – as Alex Ferguson did against Liverpool – simply because he can trap a football. It seems that Jones is just the latest victim of English football’s love affair with converting the centre-half.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

Star struck

Alex Anderson enumerates the different ways clubs symbolise their trophies and the confussion it can generate

During the TV coverage of the Premier League’s finale last season, I was puzzled that Manchester City had three stars on their jerseys when they were going for their third title. It turns out that the stars are purely decorative, not above the City crest but part of it. I am no longer confident about what’s symbolised by any stars sewn onto any jersey.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

Board stupid

Ed Wilson explains Coventry City fans’ growing discontent with Sisu Capital’s ownership of the Sky Blues

Bournemouth chairman Eddie Mitchell has already won this season’s award for elevating supporter-owner friction to the level of hilarious and harrowing performance art. But on the same day that he took to the Dean Court pitch to confront unhappy supporters, the relationship between Coventry City fans and the club’s owners, Sisu Capital, was also bottoming out. City’s 2-0 home win over Derby took place against a backdrop of antagonism towards the hedge fund, with the confiscation of a banner bearing an anti-Sisu message leading to a scuffle between supporters and stewards.

Monday, November 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

Local heroes

Cornwall’s flagship team have risen quickly through the football pyramid. James Taylor reports on the challenges Truro City now face

Cornwall has never had a Football League team but this season sees Truro City playing in Blue Square South, just two steps below League Two. Since chairman and local property magnate Kevin Heaney started investing in 2004, the club have won five promotions in six seasons, collecting an FA Vase at Wembley along the way and the nickname of “the Chelsea of non-League”.

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 - Book reviews

Corporate chaos

Manchester City’s recently departed chief executive was offensive and distasteful, but he was also good at his job, as Tony Curran reports

During his time as chief executive of Manchester City, Garry Cook developed a reputation for making public faux pas. So it was not surprise when this propensity brought him down. Cook, should we need reminding, sent an email that he believed was exclusively directed to colleague Brian Marwood in which he mocked the cancer diagnosis of Dr Anthonia Onuoha, the mother and agent of City player Nedum.

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 - Book reviews