Search: ' coaching'

A relaunched domestic league has done little to divert the attention of a jaded Chinese public from Europe, writes Gary Bowerman, but sights are set high for the future

Footballing frustration hangs heavily over China. With a population of 1.3 billion, an economy fast outgrowing all others and an ingrained passion for football, the Chinese constantly berate their national team for their lowly 64th place in FIFA’s rankings. To compound the fans’ frustration, China’s recent tour of Europe yielded a scoreless draw with Andorra, a 1-0 win over Algeria and a thumping 6-0 defeat by Bar­celona, while the Under-23 team failed to qualify for the Athens Olympics.

Read more…

The arrivals of Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benítez in England demonstrate that now it is managers, rather than players, who are the focus of the Premiership's hype machine, writes Jon Spurling

Bill Shankly’s prophecy – “One day, football man­agers will be as famous and as well paid as their players” – appears to be coming true. Thirty years after the Scot retired from the Liverpool job, the profiles of several Premiership managers, not to mention their wage demands, have never been higher. Players’ wage increases, according to a recent Deloitte & Touche report, are slowing considerably, increasing by an average of only eight per cent last season, as opposed to 25 per cent over each of the last three years. A select band of coaches seem set to close the financial gap on their young stars. Rafael Benítez will earn around £25,000 a week at Liverpool. Jose Mourinho is to be paid four times that amount at Chelsea.

Read more…

Paul Merson's season at Walsall, which was widely expected to be his last, didn't quite go to plan as he finished the season as player-manager, watching his side plummet into Division Two. Paul Giess looks at the task facing the league's most unlikely manager

After several half-hearted attempts to consolidate in Division One, there was a feeling that Walsall had finally got it right last July when Paul Merson signed up. Sky turned up to cover his arrival – suddenly the Saddlers had a big name on their books for the first time. His plan was to play through a two-year contract while working towards coaching qualifications. The thought of a man who struggled to manage his own daily routine taking charge of someone’s club seemed absurd at that time. 

Read more…

Saturday 1 Leicester are relegated after a 2-2 draw at Charlton after which Micky Adams forecasts the “rape and pillage” of his squad by other clubs. Wolves are all but down, too, despite a 2-1 home win over Everton. Man City go six points above the relegation area by beating Newcastle 1-0. Walsall stay third bottom of the First after losing 1-0 at Palace. Only Gillingham, beaten 5-2 at home by Coventry, can finish below them. In the Second, Rushden drop into the bottom four for the first time after losing 2-0 at Colchester. Hull clinch promotion from the Third with a 2-1 win at Yeovil. Carlisle join York in being relegated to the Conference after conceding a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Cheltenham.

Read more…

Nick House and Torquay are bidding farewell to the basement for at least a season or so, but while it's a sweet enough feeling he can't deny that it's a lot less grim than in years past

It’s more than 40 years since the sage of the sixth form, already a football fan of a certain outlook beyond his years, passed judgment on the league to which we had returned in 1972: “Northern teams play industrial football; southern teams are more cultured. You see it at Plainmoor every other week. Dirty northern bas­tards all of them.”

Read more…