Search: ' relegation'

Fielding weakened teams does not necessarily have the desired for positive effect

There is no question that Steve Coppell is a major figure in the history of Reading. He took the club into the top division for the first time in 2005-06 with a record 106 points and throughout the following season they were comfortably in the top half. But after a 1-0 win over Newcastle in the 36th fixture that kept them seventh and with a chance of European qualification, Coppell was infected by one of the blights of modern football, false pragmatism.

The fans might have been excited by the team’s progress but the manager was keeping the lid on: “It wouldn’t be a problem getting into the UEFA Cup”, he said “because I’d probably play the reserves. As far as I’m concerned we have a European Cup final every weekend in the Premiership.” Reading took one point from their last two games, losing their next match 2-0 at home to already-relegated Watford, and finished 8th, three points adrift of the European places. The following year they went down, with their weekly European Cup finals including a run of eight successive defeats after Christmas.

Mick McCarthy indulged in some Coppell-esque dissembling after Wolves won their  two opening matches this season, to top the table for the first time since September 1962. “It will be a long time before I want to get into the Europa League,” he said. “If we look like getting in through the Fair Play League, I’m going to tackle somebody.” No doubt Wolves fans would be pleased if the team achieve the manager’s primary goal of staying up, but it is hard to imagine any of them would share his distaste for getting into Europe, something they last managed by winning the League Cup in 1980. Wolves had no trouble making progress in this season’s competition, beating Northampton 4-0 in the Second Round despite fielding an under-strength side. But all three clubs promoted to the Premier League went out: Swansea at Shrewsbury Norwich and QPR lost at home MK Dons and Rochdale respectively. Neil Warnock said he was pleased by his side’s result: “If I can’t get motivated for the competition I can’t blame the players if they can’t”.

Clearly some managers, fixated on Premier League survival, would welcome the opportunity to opt out of the competition as clubs were permitted to do in the early years. One of the beneficiaries of this were Birmingham City who won the 1962-63 League Cup in which only 11 of the 22 Division One clubs participated. Through winning last season’s cup, Birmingham returned to European competition for the first time in 50 years. They were also relegated, winning only two of the 12 League games played after beating Arsenal at Wembley. But the cup run does not seem to have been blamed for the downturn in form and relegation will not have been especially traumatic for fans of a club that has moved divisions ten times in the past twenty years.

In the coming months, some of the managers who gave up on the League Cup might consider putting out weakened sides for fixtures they expect to lose (something Mick McCarthy has done before) especially now they will no longer be fined by the Premier League for doing so. Meanwhile thousands of fans of Birmingham and Stoke, another side who took a cup seriously, will be taking in away matches in Braga, Kiev and Istanbul among other places. Tony Pulis and Chris Hughton could be partially excused for not prioritising all these games. For most of its existence the UEFA Cup was a simple knockout competition, but the recently renamed Europa League is needlessly bloated – teams  who took part in two qualifying rounds will have played ten extra midweek fixtures in just over four months. But even the later rounds have been an imposition for some managers recently.

When Bolton lost to Sporting Lisbon in the last 16 in March 2008 they were missing several first teamers, rested for what was looking like a relegation battle. In February 2009, Aston Villa were understrength when beaten at the first knockout stage out by CSKA Moscow. Martin O’Neill said his priority was to qualify for the Champions League but even with most of their first team rested, Villa only drew their next match and eventually finished sixth; O’Neill’s standing among Villa fans was fatally damaged in the process.

False pragmatism can only have destructive effects. When managers see certain matches as an inconvenience, they are in effect conceding them. But if their clubs can’t take what they do seriously, then eventually the fans will cease to care too.

From WSC 296 October 2011

Dear WSC
Interesting that your review of egotistical arch-buffoon Bobby Gould’s autobiography, 24-Carat Gould, (WSC 294) mentions him glossing over allegations of his racism in only four paragraphs. Having written to the man himself during his calamitous tenure as Wales national manager asking for an full explanation of his reported remarks to Wales striker Nathan Blake, I  received a written reply from him (leading my mum to this day to describe him as “a decent man”) supplying “proof” that he is, in fact, not racist at all. Deep within the body of his non-sequitur-littered letter was his challenge to me, an ultimatum that makes my head ache even 15 summers later. Using the classic “I can’t be racist, a lot of my friends are black” gambit, Gould laid it out to me: “…if you think I am racist I suggest you make contact with the following…” going into a list of, you’ve guessed it, black players with whom he had worked. While hoping that I did not need to become Rufus Brevett’s pen-pal to get to the truth of the matter, I was astonished that Gould’s list included the surreal “…and Laurie Cunningham (the late).” Dear old Bobby. If he had merely forgotten that the prodigiously gifted erstwhile Orient, WBA and Man Utd winger had been tragically killed in a car crash, I could have forgiven him. But explicitly to advise me to contact a player whom he admitted he knew was dead seemed to sum up everything every Wales fan already knew about Gould. This, the international manager who chose his captain by drawing lots in the dressing room (with fellow bluster-buddy Vinnie Jones winning the armband, presaging a 7-1-going-on-24-1 defeat in Eindhoven). Bullshit, bluff, arrogance and solipsistic stupidity. Write to a dead player. Oh aye yeah Bob, tell us another Crazy Gang story, you deluded dullard. Luckily Gould left the Wales job soon after and our trajectory ever since has been an embarrassment of trophy-laden tournament wins, coming to Wembley in September to make Barcelona’s Champions League Final performance look a bit kick-and-rush.
Mark Ainsbury, Hertford

Dear WSC
Having read Rob Murfin’s article Easy Pickings (WSC 294), I can only assume from his wish to see newly created clubs start so high up the pyramid that he supports either one of the runners up to the reformed clubs this season, or one of the reformed clubs themselves. Though obviously not Kings Lynn Town, as he would have known that they did not win the United Counties League this season, but came second to St Neots Town and were therefore not promoted. He questions why reformed clubs are placed so far down the pyramid from the liquidated clubs they were formed to replace. Has he not considered this might just be to deter other clubs from repeating the mistakes of these clubs (granted they don’t all heed this message)? Also having the larger supporter base should not give any club a divine right to leapfrog lesser clubs that have been established for many years. I presume he also thinks it was the right decision to allow MK Dons to begin life in the Football League as opposed to starting from the bottom of the pyramid. Some will say it unfairly punishes the supporters of the defunct side, but apart from Chester, whose team was ruined by misappropriation as opposed to outrageous spending on the team, most fans are quite happy to go along for the ride while the cash is flowing and only voice their objection when it all goes horribly wrong. I had the misfortune to see the nouveau riche Crawley and their obnoxious manager secure the Conference title at Tamworth last season. As their expensively assembled side carved open our hapless defence and scored for the third time, their fans started a chant of “That’s why we’re champions, that’s why you’re going down” (only half right, people). Any criticism of Crawley’s outlandish spending habits this season has been dismissed by these supporters as jealousy. I doubt anyone will feel much sympathy if and when Crawley fans find themselves back in the Southern League sometime soon. Rob Murfin writes that that “clubs in a relegation battle can often find some solace in the financial plight of a rival”. The fact is that rival has achieved their position in the league by spending money they don’t have and tax avoidance, whilst the relegated club has been far more prudent and attempted to live within their means. Who really deserves a place in the Conference next season, Southport or AFC Rushden & Diamonds?
Sean Hallam, Tamworth

Dear WSC
Clive Pacey (Lettters, WSC 294) may wish to dismiss my article as “drivel” but his comments only serve to reinforce the case I was making. Surely he realises that the article was not about corruption. It was about attitudes and where we stand as a nation in relation to football in the rest of the world. The House of Commons Media, Culture and Sport Select Committee took my views seriously enough with regard to their report on the 2018 World Cup bid, that they took evidence from me and used a number of points that I raised in the article as part of their conclusions and recommendations as to the way forward for English football. Is it too much to ask that football fans in this country recognise and respect the fact that football exists beyond the Premier League?
Guy Oliver, Christchurch

Dear WSC
I was very surprised to read the following with regards to Brighton in Tom Green’s League One review (WSC 293): “The danger is that, without huge financial backing, or a big home crowd, their future is rather too dependent on retaining their likeable Uruguayan boss.” In August, Brighton are moving into their new home the American Express Community Stadium. A 22,000 seater state of the art stadium costing £100 million. The stadium has been fully paid for by our chairman with no debt to the club. Season tickets have also sold out for next year, with 18,000 being sold. With planning approval going through for new training facilities, Brighton are now set up for Premiership football. With our terrific fan base and chairman I fully expect us to be more likely to do a Norwich than a Scunthorpe.
Richard Allchild, Brighton

Dear WSC
Regarding Andrew Woods excellent article in WSC 294, I share his sadness at the demise of “proper” away ends in an increasing number of football grounds. Having watched Leeds away from home since the late 1970s, I’ve now visited 123 English league grounds and have seen my team play at all but eight of these However, I’ve become increasingly frustrated in recent seasons at the proliferation of new identikit grounds, where the away end just merges into the rest of the ground and has no redeeming features whatsoever (not that Elland Road is blameless in this regard either). When Leeds are now playing away, I am more likely to be wandering around northern England visiting a new non league ground (71 so far and increasing rapidly) – I accept they often don’t even have an away “end” but at least the traditional old-fashioned grounds remain in many instances and I invariably get a powerful sense of nostalgia, remembering how I 1st started visiting new grounds all those years ago.
Paul Dickinson, Aberford

Dear WSC
Regarding Martin Howard’s view on the current restrictions on players’ goal celebrations (WSC 293), I would agree that little harm could come from a player removing his shirt, donning a mask or even indulging in dancing of dubious aesthetic quality. But as for running into a crowd of his own supporters the present rules must surely remain in place. Whenever this happens a scrum inevitably ensues to try to mob the celebrant. This used to be less of a problem in terraced stadiums where fans were cushioned by others around them. I was often swept along several metres by the crowd on the old Kop – scary, but relatively safe. In today’s stadiums though, the seats can become lethal knee-high traps and from experience when celebrations get out of hand in this environment there’s a real danger to life and limb. And this is before we even start to discuss the potential dangers to the player. So I’d encourage broadcasters and journalists, before they – yet again – recite the tiresome “health and safety gone mad” to think about the well-being of the paying punter. Radical, I admit.
John Inman, Warrington

Dear WSC
I pretty much agree with Andrew Woods’ “No man’s land” (WSC 294), other than of course to say Milton Road was the home end at The Dell. Away fans were housed at the Archers Road end, except in its final years when they were shifted to part of the East Stand, and for a period in the West Stand as well until presumably the local constabulary realised the potential for a pincer movement on Saints’ fans in the now-seated Archers Road, by then known as the Bike Shed. “Crummy….stick to beat….embarrassment”; do I detect Andrew finally letting his frustration out after seeing his team lose there all those years ago? Perhaps that’s because popular myth would tell you The Dell was worth a goal start to the Saints who hardly ever lost there. Looking back to the old ground’s final season ten years ago, despite a tenth place Prem finish (ah, them were the days) home defeats were tasted against Cov (twice), Boro, Man City, West Ham, Ipswich and Sunderland. As loved as it was (by home fans! in its day, I doubt you’d find many Saints’ fans who’d find the move from The Dell regressive. And that’s even taking into account the last six years of turmoil caused in part by financing St Mary’s, where away fans are well placed and in full few of the TV cameras.
John Middleton, London W12

Dear WSC
I greatly enjoyed Guy Oliver’s article “The Empire Games” (WSC 293) and generally agreed with the points made therein. However, as an American, I take umbrage with the comment, “…with just the US, Scotland and Australia standing in our way, we might just win a World Cup again one day.” Allow me to remind Guy that the US finished atop the table in group play at the 2010 World Cup, ahead of England. In addition, the two drew when they met in the group stage. While the popularity and success of both the US men’s team and MLS have both grown since the mid-1990s, the England team has clearly regressed. The EPL’s success, of course, has been largely built on outstanding imports. As a nation, England can keep heaping praise on aging players such as Terry, Lampard and Gerrard, but the national team has been exposed for the mediocrity it is. The US will absolutely win a world cup before England ever gets to another final. England must get over their undeserved smugness if they wish to ever succeed at the international level.
William J Smith, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Dear WSC
Archie McGregor’s article in WSC 294 about the lack of a pyramid system in Scottish football was interesting, but I think he may have overestimated the volatility of the English system. Comparing the 1986-87 and forthcoming 2011-12 season – the 25-year period over which Archie points out that 8 new clubs have entered the Scottish league – there were 12 clubs who played in the earlier season but will not be in the league this coming year: Luton; Grimsby; Mansfield; Chester; York; Darlington; Newport; Wrexham; Cambridge; Halifax; Stockport; and Lincoln. Of these teams, all will play in the Conference next season except Chester and Halifax, and both are well on their way back there, subsequent relegations having been caused as much by financial problems as playing issues (see Rob Murfin’s article also in WSC 294). Some of these teams are having only their debut season at the fifth level (Stockport), or have only been down a season or two; the only really long-term absentees have been Newport. I think we can certainly expect Luton to return soon, and probably a few of the others. The following clubs are in the league this coming year but were not there in 1986-87: Wycombe; Yeovil; Accrington; Cheltenham; Barnet; Morecambe; MK Dons; Stevenage; Barnet; Burton Albion; Crawley; and Dagenham & Redbridge. For a league twice the size, and a population eight times the size, this therefore makes the English league rather less volatile than the Scottish over that period. This is more true when we look at the achievements of the promoted clubs. Of these 12, none will play above the third level this season, nor indeed have ever done so. Accrington were a league club of long standing in the past, and MK Dons a zombie club akin to Airdrie United. Without meaning to offend the fans of the remaining ten clubs I would say that from amongst them, only Wycombe and Yeovil have truly established themselves in the league, though I suspect Stevenage will also do so. Certainly none of them have achieved anything comparable with Inverness CT in Scotland, nor even Ross County. I am not saying I agree with Scotland’s approach to relegating clubs from to its league but when we look at the achievements of those it has admitted, it is not apparent that the ‘arbitrary choice’ method is any worse at selecting worthy league entrants than the ‘playing prowess’ view favoured south of the Tweed, and arguably, it might even be more successful.
Drew Whitworth, Hebden Bridge

Dear WSC
I was disappointed – but not surprised – to see disparaging remarks about Rafa Benitez in WSC 294. Apparently, according to your editorial, he was guilty of “impulsive bulk buying” which has hampered Kenny Dalglish’s efforts to build a squad. Your writer implies that Milan Jovanovic was one of these “bulk buys”, when a quick check would have revealed that Jovanovic was in fact the first signing of that shrewd talent spotter, Roy Hodgson, who was generally applauded for it by his chums down there in the southern press. Woy then proceeded to add further kwolity in the shape of Joe Cole, Paul Konchesky, Christian Poulsen and Brad Jones – all of whom are currently congesting the Anfield exits. Even Woy’s best signing, Raul Meireles, seems earmarked for departure. In the meantime, two of Benitez’ signings – Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres – were sold for a combined total of around £70M, which must have made things exceedingly difficult for Kenny when he wanted to buy Luis Suarez and the crocked Andy Carroll for £55M total last January. Benitez’ critics – like your Adam Bate (Home Valuation, WSC 294) generally point to extravagant and ill-judged spending as his major weakness. But the figures, which are easily available, show that his net spend (a notoriously difficult concept to grasp for the journalist with an agenda) was just £90M in six seasons – a total that even the Daily Mail agreed with. Dalglish has already spent more than half that amount this summer buying “topnotch” British players. Amongst other things, Benitez produced the best Liverpool team for 10 seasons and achieved the club’s two best ever Premiership points totals. I won’t mention regular top four finishes and European glory nights, as these obviously don’t count. Bashing the sporting press for excesses and inaccuracies is all very well, but the story about motes and planks comes to mind.
Fred Oldfield, Bromsgrove

From WSC 295 September 2011

It’s the 40th anniversary of a season that began with a dramatic garden party, a tape recorder and a set of match-fixing allegations that shocked West German football, writes Gunther Simmermacher

A pall of gloom hung over the Bundesliga as a new season started 40 years ago. The clouds had started to gather just over two months earlier, at a garden party to celebrate the 50th birthday of a fruit importer. June 6, 1971 was a sunny day. Horst-Gregorio Canellas, the gravelly-voiced Kickers Offenbach president, welcomed the luminaries of the German FA (DFB) and influential journalists to his home in the Rosenstrasse in the village of Hausen. At exactly ten minutes past noon, a sound engineer clicked the play button of a centrally-placed tape recorder, Canellas sat back as he theatrically flourished a cigarette, and West Germany’s biggest football scandal broke.

Film footage shows a perplexed national coach Helmut Schön hearing Bernd Patzke of Hertha Berlin – who had played in the World Cup semi-final against Italy a year earlier  –  and another Hertha player, Tasso Wild, proposing to fix games to manipulate the relegation battle that had concluded only a day earlier, followed by Schön’s number three keeper, Manfred Manglitz of FC Cologne, offering to throw his club’s game against Kickers.

That final round of the 1970-71 season had ended with Offenbach’s relegation after a  4-2 defeat in Cologne  –  Manglitz didn’t play after Canellas alerted FC captain Wolfgang Overath to the goalkeeper’s corruption. Rot-Weiss Oberhausen had saved themselves on goal difference with a suspect draw at Braunschweig, and Arminia Bielefeld survived with a 1-0 win in Berlin  –  as the crowd’s perceptive chants of “fix, fix” echoed through the Olympiastadion.  

Much as the revelations on Canellas’ tapes shocked the public, the clues had been there before. Schalke’s home defeat against Bielefeld in April had been regarded as highly suspicious (as if to make up for it, Schalke went on to lose also against Offenbach and Oberhausen).  Canellas first became aware of match-fixing in early May when he received a telephone call from Manglitz, who asked for an incentive fee to not accidentally “let in a few” against Offenbach’s relegation rivals Rot-Weiss Essen, who would finish bottom of the table. Canellas paid, and Cologne won. He could do nothing about Cologne’s 4-2 home defeat to Oberhausen three weeks later  –  that game was fixed.

Astonishingly, some players claimed to be unaware that they were breaching ethics. Braunschweig’s international Max Lorenz even wanted to issue receipts for the bribes he received, as if these were legitimate business transaction. His teammate Franz Merckhoffer later recalled in a TV interview: “I didn’t think much of it. If the senior players were taking the money, I thought I was entitled to do so myself”.   

Canellas hoped that the incontrovertible evidence would move the DFB, whose secretary-general was present at his birthday party, to relegate Bielefeld, thereby saving his club. Instead, the federation swiftly banned Manglitz, Patzke, Wild  –  and Canellas, on the grounds that he had admitted to having made bribery payments. Offenbach went down; Bielefeld and Oberhausen were allowed to kick off the new season in the top flight. Feeling betrayed, the whistleblower turned sleuth, uncovering an impressive quantity of dirt. He had even warned the DFB of corruption, in early May, when he reported Manglitz’s approach in regard to the Essen game, the one he paid for and for which he would be punished. The DFB had dismissed his allegations as “vague suspicions”.

When Canellas uncovered evidence of Schalke’s fixed defeat against Bielefeld, eight Schalke players sued for libel. These players, who included the great Reinhard Libuda and future West Germany internationals Klaus Fischer and Rolf Rüssmann, eventually were found guilty of perjury and fined, earning their club the moniker FC Perjury. That game would become emblemic of the scandal.
Their hand forced, the DFB initiated a thorough investigation, headed by its relentless chief prosecutor, the judge Hans Kindermann. More than 50 players from seven clubs, two coaches and six club officials were punished. Altogether 18 games were officially declared fixed (remarkably, none of the results was annulled).

As a result of the scandal, attendance records dropped sharply over the next couple of seasons, from a match average of 20,661 in 1970-71 to 17,932 the following season and a record low of 16,387 in 1972-73  –  at a time when all members of the West German sides that went on to win the European Championship in 1972 and the World Cup two years played in the Bundesliga.

Indeed the 1971-72 season was something of a high-water mark for the quality of football. Bayern Munich and Schalke (strengthened by the arrival of the Kremers twins from relegated Offenbach) played brilliantly in their neck-to-neck race for the championship which culminated in a title-decider on the last day of the season, held as late as June 28. In the inaugural game at the new Olympic Stadium, Bayern won and became the only side ever to score more than 100 goals in a Bundesliga season.

The following year, Schalke’s young squad fell apart as several of their scandal-tainted players were banned or left West-Germany. A purple patch in 1976-77 apart, the club never recovered. Bielefeld might have started the 1971-72 season like everybody else with 0 points  –  but that’s the points total with which the club finished. In mid-April, the DFB finally pronounced its punishment: Arminia would be relegated with 0 points, with all their results counting only for or against their opponents. Bielefeld was allowed to play out their final six games, winning only one of those, a 3-2 before 9,000 spectators that helped send Dortmund down with them. With 19 points, Bielefeld would have been relegated anyway. Taking their place in the following season was Kickers Offenbach. Rot-Weiss Oberhausen was not punished and survived for another year.

The DFB was proactive in fixing the root causes of the scandal: the federation abolished the maximum wage system, and it set up a second professional tier, starting in 1974, to cushion the harsh consequences of relegation on players.

And soon the spectators returned in even greater numbers than before. West Germany’s success in hosting and eventually winning the 1974 World Cup reignited a passion for football in the country. The clouds of the scandal were lifted.

From WSC 295 September 2011

Arsenal assistant manager Pat Rice is a beacon of hope to sufferers of a rare and misunderstood social affliction, writes Damian Hall

Some Arsenal fans want assistant manager Pat Rice to retire or even step aside. The idea is that the former Gunners captain will be replaced with some hitherto unidentified tactical genius and “no” man who’ll push the club on to grab some silverware more prestigious than the Emirates Cup. Which we’ve won in three of the last four years, by the way. Pat (I can call him that because we’re mates – you’ll see) is seen as something of a “yes” man to Arsène Wenger and the feeling is that perhaps Le Prof’s philosophy needs tweaking here and there. Such as, try shooting. But I don’t want Pat to leave. Not now. Not ever.

You see, we shared a common affliction. On a mild September afternoon in 2000 I had what can only be described as an epiphany. Dennis Bergkamp had turned the ball towards the Coventry goal, only for an airborne Magnus Hedman to halt its path. “That was his third great chance,” I bellowed from my seat behind the goal. “Bergkamp really should have scored by now!” People were turning to stare my way, with bemused looks in their eyes and we-know-better, sympathetic smiles. I was smirkingly informed that Bergkamp was in fact Freddie Ljungberg. I badly needed spectacles.

Of course, it’s obvious now that I should have taken more time to think about it. But when the optician – who you would hope to be a morally responsible person – suggested spectacles with an in-built automatic tinting system that would be good for driving and stop me having to buy prescription shades too, it sounded like a very good idea indeed. Safe, economical and with a hint of secret spy gadgetry about it.

The thing was, I had bought a pair of frustrated shades. They could, and would, turn black with a pinprick of light – on the underground, in the pub and any time I ventured near a street lamp.

To the outside world I had become a permanent shades wearer, slipping seamlessly into the same bracket as teenage wannabe rock stars and people who think they’re famous because they’ve appeared on Kilroy. I was oblivious to when the glasses were tinting and had to rely on friends to point it out. Which they did reliably. It wasn’t all bad, admittedly. I could see things a bit better. I realised, disappointingly, that David Seaman wasn’t actually wearing a Davy Crockett hat and that someone called Gilles Grimandi had been playing for Arsenal for the last few years entirely without my knowledge. Yet these life enhancements seemed scant consolation. It got worse.

My nadir came on a cold February afternoon as I watched a Conference match at Forest Green’s inappropriately named ground, The Lawn. At just after four it was getting dark. As the floodlights came out to play, my dependably disobedient spectacles did their party piece. I was used to it by then and was oblivious anyway. But the Sky cameras just happened to be there and had, with horrible coincidence, chosen that moment for a close up of yours truly. Wearing shades. In the dark.

Not your average close-up either. The producer, or whoever decides these things, evidently found something worthy of public interest in my appearance and let the camera linger a while. There was nothing much happening on the pitch after all, just a frantic relegation dogfight. And a while more. Long enough for an absent so-called friend, battling back the tears of laughter, to reach for the VCR record button just in time. There’s no two ways about it, I looked a prize pillock. And my moment of fame is on videotape for posterity.

But then, at my lowest point, an angel came to me, albeit an angel in a tracksuit. I had always imagined that I was utterly, bitterly and desperately alone with my miserable social handicap. But I discovered I wasn’t the sole sufferer of spectacle folly. Sitting on the Arsenal bench, without a care in the world, though tucked under a blanket looking disturbingly like a grandmother about to reach for the Thermos at this time of year, was someone with the very same pair. Assistant manager and Arsenal legend Pat Rice. My new hero.

Pat sits there so defiantly unselfconscious as his specs change from transparent to dark and back again by the minute (as, for example, a light-obstructing substitute jogs past). Regardless of what life has dealt him, he just gets on with it, as if he’s as normal as the next man. Saint Pat’s not ashamed or embarrassed, he’s just comfortable with who he is. He is the Rik Waller of football. He is a role model, a beacon of light in dark depressing days, who gives strength and courage to bad spectacle sufferers the world over. Gawd bless him.

I just wanted to say, thank you Pat. You gave me hope when all else was lost. And for this reason he must stay in the public spotlight, to others who’ve made the same dreadful and desperate mistake.

From WSC 295 September 2011

Dear WSC
I’m assuming the Ruud Gullit who recently defended himself working for a dictator by saying he wasn’t interested in politics (Caucasus calling, WSC 292) to be the same one who dedicated his 1987 European Player of the Year to Nelson Mandela. I realise people’s opinions can change over 20 years, but I’m just curious as to what made him decide he wasn’t bothered about injustice anymore.
John Chapman, Sheffield

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