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WSC readers and fanzine editors weight up the season to come

BIRMINGHAM

John Tandy

How will your team do next season? At best mid table; at worst it’ll end in tears.

Who will be the single most important person at your club? Probably the combination of owners and the Chief Executive. The names of the club and the stadium are up for sale, so by the time you read this I may well be watching Atletico Notcutts Garden Centre at the Bordesley Family Butchers Stadium (except if that ever happens, I won’t be). There’s money at the club, but it still has to be spent astutely.

If you had to come up with a new piece of merchandise to sell at the club shop what would it be? A Mark McGhee dartboard would sell like hot cakes.

Which player at your club most divides the home support and why? Probably, I’m afraid, Paul Furlong. There are those who say that he’s workshy, ineffective and inadequate – and there are those that really don’t like him at all.

What one thing would you most like to change about the matchday environment? I’d quite like the football to be more interesting.

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Tuesday 1 Bournemouth seem set to survive after being taken over by a community-run trust fund which will use money raised from a public appeal to acquire a controlling interest in the club. The rescue package has to be ratified by the League and the Inland Revenue, who have postponed a winding up order on the club. Nathan Blake says he withdrew from Wales' squad for their World Cup match at the weekend after being racially abused by manager Bobby Gould. "I have a total lack of respect for him," says Blake. "Perhaps we are of a different era. You learn, one becomes a little wiser," says Gould, unwisely.

Thursday 3 Scotland fans will be booking seats on Eurostar for Summer 1998 after two Kevin Gallagher goals secure a comfy win over Austria. Not so good for the Irelands, though, with the North losing 2-1 away to Ukraine and the Republic going down 3-2 in Macedonia, where nice, mild-mannered Jason McAteer is sent off after a last-minute dust-up. In England's group Poland and Italy share a goalless draw in Chorzow.

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Dear WSC
Matt Nation (WSC No 122) clearly wasn’t among the hardy souls that witnessed a quite literally stomach-churning performance by Leeds at Shrewsbury in the early ’80s. Having led 1-0 at half-time, Leeds collapsed spectacularly in the second half to lose 5-1. All this was clearly too much for one John Donnelly, a midfield journeyman for whom the epithet “He can’t be worse than…” would be praise indeed.Midway through the game he just about made it to the touchline before bending double and throwing his guts up. Any suggestion that the permed Scottish bruiser had been out on the raz the night before would be completely scurrilous, but let’s just say he left on a free transfer at the end of the season. And while going for a 40-60 ball with Roy Keane may not count as heroics in Matt Nation’s eyes, there’s every chance of seeing any player who does try and ‘compete’ with Roy quite literally shitting themselves on the pitch. I know I would.
Andy Limb, Brixton

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Dear WSC
I recently attended the Blackburn Rovers v Coventry City delayed Fourth Round FA Cup tie. During the game the referee approached Gordon Strachan to warn him against coaching from the sidelines only to receive the reply that he was allowed to run up and down the touchline because he was sub. Aside from whether or not this is a valid defence, it occurred to me that the ban on coaches and managers issuing instructions from the side of the pitch is rather bizarre. Can explain why it shouldn’t be allowed? It seems to me that thousands of people in the ground are allowed to shout (often conflicting) instructions to the team, and to ban the coaching staff from doing so is unfair. In any case the chance of the manager’s voice being heard above the noise is slim, the chance of the instructions being understood by the players is very remote, and there is an ice cube in hell’s chance of them actually acting on the instructions and making a difference to the game. It may even add to the entertainment if, say, some of the more vocal managers were allowed to run up and down the touchline shrieking instructions. Imagine it’s the last five minutes of Manchester United losing to Wimbledon in the FA Cup – you’d have Alex Ferguson, Brian Kidd, Joe Kinnear and Sam Hammam vying for positions on the wing and shouting simultaneously, “Get it in the box!” and “Hoof it in the crowd!” You might even get the odd player losing concentration at a crucial time and missing the ball because, for example, he was trying to understand what Arsène Wenger had just yelled at him.  Surely everyone would like to see Arsenal lose like this?
Jeremy Barker, Tonbridge

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Saturday 1 Man Utd stay a point clear after a late Eric Cantona goal brings victory over Southampton. Stan Collymore keeps Liverpool in second place with the only goal at Derby, who play for most of the second half with ten men after Darryl Powell is sent off. Arsenal are still third but three points adrift after a goalless snoozeathon at Leeds – for whom it is a tenth clean sheet in 15 games since George Graham took over. A godsend for the tabloids as UEFA announce that they will be backing Germany's bid for the 2006 World Cup. World At War! says the Mirror; Kraut of Order! – says the Sun. "Unannounced pacts behind closed doors are no substitute for democracy and fairness," says the FA's David Davies. The final decision will be taken in three years' time. FIFA are said to favour South Africa as hosts but that may change if Joao Havelange fulfils his promise to step down as President in 1998. Meantime it will go on, and on, and on.

Sunday 2 Business as usual at St James' Park where Newcastle come back from 3-1 down against Leicester with 13 minutes left to win 4-3, Alan Shearer completing a hat trick with the winner in injury time. "You know what Newcastle are like. You never know what is going to happen," says their new manager, after a long lie down.

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