The case for and against the idea of bringing video replays into football to aid referees' decisions and cut down on mistakes
Yes ~
Spurs v Leicester this season. Leicester have just pulled a goal back with ten minutes to go and, suitably reinvigorated, they tear into the home side straight from the restart. Robbie Savage clatters into Les Ferdinand, Ferdinand eyeballs Savage and a predictable midfield melee erupts.
Dear WSC
I attended the York v Colchester FA Cup second round replay. Ah, the magic of the FA Cup: went for a traditional pre-match pie and when the kiosk opened I was third in the queue. The first man ordered two meat pies. The second man ordered one meat pie. The response came back: “Sorry love, we’ve sold out.” I laughed so hard I lost my place in the queue. You don’t get that kind of comedy at Old Trafford.
Alex Gage, via email
Stephen Wagg tries to make sense of Peter Taylor's departure from Leicester
I was glad, I have to admit, when Peter Taylor was made manager of Leicester City in the summer of 2000. He seemed a gentler soul than his predecessor, the frequently tetchy Martin O’Neill. He’d been a successful steward of the England Under-21 side and apparently everyone in the English football world attested to his ability as a coach.
Only Senegal prevented the reappearance of the same five African teams who made it to the World Cup in 1998. James Copnall reports on an exuberant upset
Successive wins against Morocco and Namibia propelled Senegal to the World Cup for the first time ever, and launched hundreds of thousands of Senegalese into the capital Dakar’s dusty streets for a party that lasted all night and long into the next day. A last-gasp 5-0 victory over the feeble Namibians, coupled with Egypt’s 1-1 draw away to Algeria, sealed the tightest of World Cup groups in favour of the “Lions of the Teranga”, who can now start planning their excursion to Japan and South Korea.
Wheeler-dealer Harry Redknapp was unable to keep the wheels in motion at Upton Park, as Darron Kirkby explains
If the timing of Frederic Kanoute’s runs had been half as good, we wouldn’t have found ourselves in such a mess in the first place. But within three hours of season ticket renewal forms dropping through letterboxes the length and breadth of Essex, West Ham announced that Harry Redknapp had left the club “by mutual consent”.