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Agents or club chairmen – who are most disliked? Polling even worse are the growing subset who step from one job to the other. As one agent who helped bankrupt a club faces jail in Switzerland, Dan Brennan looks at the puzzling trend

Letting a football agent take control of your club might sound a bit like handing a burglar a spare set of keys to your house and telling him where the family silver is kept. That is certainly how it must now feel to supporters of Servette, the venerable Swiss club that went bankrupt two years ago and were forced to begin life again in the third division.

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Ireland’s foreign minister has broached a tricky subject: if one team can represent the island in rugby, why not in football? Paul Doyle reports on the backlash, or lack of one, from some quarters

The mainly Nationalist fans of Cliftonville came up with a new chant a few years ago to mark the beginning of the Northern Irish peace process. Reworking the words of the popular old terrace ditty “You’re going to get your fucking heads kicked in”, they taunted the supporters of traditionally Unionist-backed teams such as Linfield and Glentoran with triumphant cries of “Cross-border bodies with executive powers”. The creation of such bodies was part of the Good Friday Agreement and a move that Nationalists hope will eventually lead to a united Ireland, which, of course, is a scenario Unionists dread.

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Alex McLeish takes over when Walter Smith walks out. Neil Forsyth is worried

It takes a special kind of team to suffer an apparent plummet in stature and expectations without the players taking to the field. Scotland may be the unlikely leaders of a Euro 2008 qualifying group that includes Italy and France, but recent events have made this situation appear more like a temporary aberration soon to be rectified rather than a possible springboard to qualification.

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Monday 1 Manchester United miss a chance to go nine points clear, drawing 2‑2 at injury-hit Newcastle. Liverpool’s 3‑0 win over Bolton takes them third. “They’ve shown me in the last couple of weeks why they are down there,” says Alan Curbishley as West Ham crash 6‑0 at Reading, their third successive defeat. Wigan drop to 17th after a fifth straight loss, 3‑0 at home to Blackburn. Antti Niemi is hospitalised with a serious neck injury in Fulham’s 0‑0 draw with Watford. Derby’s 2‑1 win at Preston takes them to within three points of Championship leaders Birmingham, beaten by a 90th‑minute goal at Ipswich. Torquay are six points adrift in League Two after losing 1‑0 at Bristol Rovers.

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Saturday 2 Man Utd go six points clear with a 2‑1 win at Middlesbrough. Gareth Southgate accuses Cristiano Ronaldo of cheating to earn a penalty for the opening goal. “The lad’s got history,” he growls, sounding like he’s on The Bill. “I’m not scared of the word ‘crisis’,” says Arsène, as Arsenal beat Spurs 3‑0 to go third, helped by two iffy penalties awarded by Graham Poll. Arsène and Thierry have a pre-match row over the latter being rested. Liverpool end their away hoodoo, winning 4‑0 at Wigan. Charlton lose 2‑1 at Sheffield United, Keith Gillespie scoring the winner in the 88th minute. “There is a confidence problem being bottom of the league,” says Les Reed. Birmingham top the Championship with a 3‑0 win at home to Plymouth. Preston lose 2‑0 at Luton. Cardiff draw 0‑0 at Colchester, their fourth game without a goal. Leeds stay in the drop zone after a 2‑2 draw at home to Barnsley. In the Cup, Tamworth are into round three, while four League One clubs lose to League Two sides including Tranmere, beaten 2‑1 at home by Peterborough, and Port Vale, who crash 4‑0 at Hereford.

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