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After playing in front of thousands, having a first date watched by millions didn’t seem too strange to Celtic’s former Portugal star, as Dan Brennan reports 

Jorge Cadete is remembered at Celtic as one of the Three Amigos, the forward line that bedazzled and delighted the Parkhead public during 1996-97. He and his two compadres – Paolo Di Canio and Pierre van Hooijdonk – also had manager Tommy Burns and chairman Fergus McCann reaching for the valium. It was McCann who first coined the epithet – more a sour reference to their fanciful wage demands and antics off the pitch than their buccaneering exploits on it.

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Wednesday 2 England surprise many by playing Wayne Rooney from the start and go on to beat Turkey 2-0 at the Stadium of Light, with late goals from Darius Vassell and a penalty by David Beckham, who says: “It wasn’t a bad display for a team of no-hopers, was it?” Around 100 England supporters are arrested before the match after trouble in Sunderland city centre and at the ground and there is a pitch invasion after the second goal during which a spectator appears to strike Turkey defender Alpay. There is also allegedly a punch-up in the players’ tunnel. UEFA are to investigate. Scotland concede a dubious penalty to lose 1-0 in Lithuania. Northern Ireland have two sent off in a 2-0 home defeat by Greece (“There is not a thought in my head about not carrying on,” says Sammy McIlroy), while the Republic draw 0-0 in Albania. Fulham announce that they are considering a “revised plan” to move back to Craven Cottage.

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Simon Edwards looks at Lincoln City

What were your best and worst moments as a Lincoln fan?
The very worst moments occurred last summer. We genuinely believed we would not have a club. Des­pite all the hard work of supporters (not just from Lincoln either I might add), the board, club staff and administrator, the executive decision still lay in the hands of a High Court judge. Luckily he was a sympathetic man. Best moment was kicking off this season clear of administration, just glad to be able to go to Kidderminster again.

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Barney Ronay examines why average players often make good bosses while star names struggle

It is a footballing axiom that great players rarely make great managers. No swag-bag of playing honours, no bulging armoury of international caps can prepare a middle-aged footballing man for the vertiginous leap into management. In fact, the most successful man­agers in English football currently – Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger and Gérard Houllier – all eked out relatively mediocre play­ing careers.

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Nathan Lee Davies explains why Inverness Caledonian Thistle revel in cup glory and league success

Celtic supporters will never forget February 8, 2000 when Inverness Caledonian Thistle won 3-1 at Parkhead in the third round of the Scottish Cup – a result that cost manager John Barnes his job. However, they could be for­given for thinking their team only had to turn up at Caledonian Stadium to progress to the last four of this year’s competition given that, three days earlier, they had comfortably dis­patched Liverpool from the UEFA Cup at An­field. There was little in the first half to suggest a shock was in the offing, but shortly before half time ICT striker Dennis Wyness struck and his side were 45 minutes away from re­peating their feat.

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