Monday 1 Airdrie United acquire the rights to Clydebank’s name and seem set to replace them in the Scottish Second Division. “If this takeover goes ahead, a franchise system for Scottish football will have been validated,” says a spokesman for the Clydebank supporters group, who had been hoping to take control of the club themselves. Mick Wadsworth, who left Oldham during last season, is Huddersfield’s new manager.
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This time there was no one else to blame, but that hasn't stopped some people believing England are on the verge of something great. Cris Freddi begs to differ
No need for a blow-by-blow: we all saw the same tournament. When England managed to protect a lead, they had shape and substance. When they didn’t, it wasn’t pretty. Denmark self-destructed and Nigeria didn’t matter, but Argentina was one of the great ones, a spookily complete payback. No coincidence, surely, that it was played under cover, in controlled conditions – and that it bucketed down for Denmark.
Saturday 1 Mick McCarthy is delighted with Ireland’s comeback against Cameroon: “There’s been a lot talked about the spirit and camaraderie and I think that has been shown today.” Niall Quinn claims he tried to get Roy Keane to return but couldn’t persuade him to phone McCarthy: “I’ll never understand why Roy didn’t make even a lukewarm attempt.”
There's a World Cup coming up, apparently, so we invited three well-travelled journalists to make some rash predictions about what will happen. As a Swede based in London Marcus Christenson has ties to two of the countries in Group F. Gabriele Marcotti has lived in Japan and how tries to explain English football to Italians and vice-versa. Alan Duncan reports regularly on Nigeria and Cameroon, who face England and Ireland respectively, as well as the three other African qualifiers
Are playing styles and tactics are becoming more homogeneous throughout the world, because most of the top players are playing in the same leagues? If so, does that make the World Cup less interesting?
Gabriele Marcotti There’s a greater uniformity. Not just in the way teams play, but also in how they train. If you look at the size of the Italian or Spanish players, they are now as big as the northern Europeans are expected to be. Everybody’s an athlete. Some of the English players still get drunk and irresponsible but the impression I get with players like Beckham and Owen is that they train seriously and take care of their diet. In some ways it has become more uniform, but in a positive way – the level of fitness has definitely increased everywhere.
Friday 1 Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric threatens to withhold the wages of his players and coaching staff: “They expect to go through the motions and then to receive a huge wage packet. It’s extortion.” The PFA’s Gordon Taylor is unimpressed: “It’s quite naive really, it’s going back to the Dark Ages.”
Saturday 2 “You are blessed to to witness something like that,” says Arsène as Dennis Bergkamp scores another spectacular goal in a 2-0 win at Newcastle that keeps his team second. Frank Sinclair nearly matches that with a 30-yard lob at Middlesbrough, but it’s past his own keeper for the only goal of the game. Liverpool go third after winning 2-0 at Fulham. Andy Cole’s dismissal for a foul on Mike Whitlow during Blackburn’s 1-1 draw at Bolton prompts a right old rumpus, with a scuffle between players and a home steward, and both managers exchanging unpleasantries. Stan Ternent rounds on Burnley fans who boo their team after a home draw with Norwich keeps them fifth in the First: “They have champagne tastes on beer money.” Halifax are ten points adrift at the bottom of the Third after losing 3-1 at Leyton Orient.