Search: 'Paul Ince'

Phil Town looks at how Porto have fared since winning the European Cup

Luigi Del Neri never got to warm the coach’s seat at the Estádio do Dragão. FC Porto had a chew on him at the ChampionsWorld Series in America and spat him out within the 30-day trial period provided for by Port­uguese general labour law. They didn’t like him. Not one bit. But just how do you follow an act like José Mourinho, who, in two years, had left the greatest impression of any coach in the history of the club? He was without a doubt the great architect of Porto’s success, helped by the club’s ability to buy key players such as Benni McCarthy and Carlos Alberto, but also by his unerring ability to get the best out of previously modest players that had cost little or nothing, such as Maniche, Derlei, Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira. 

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Wigan Athletic's chairman controls clubs involved in both codes of rugby, too, but Ashley Shaw finds that few object to this takeover of a town as the Latics fly high

Pies, piers and rugby league used to dominate Wigan. Yet as a town situated handily between the football hotbeds of Manchester and Liverpool, it comes as little surprise that supporters of Wigan Athletic reject the stereotype straight away.

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Sunday 1 Mark Palios resigns, saying: “My action is essential to enable the Football Association to begin to return to normality.” Sven gossip-broker Colin Gibson is also reported to have offered to quit. At this rate Tord Grip will soon be answering the phones.

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As Raymond Domenech steps up from the Under-21s, some believe the national team just don't pay enough to lure the country's top coaches, writes Ben Lyttleton

In a rare moment of candour, France’s football federation president Claude Simonet recently admitted that, in an ideal world, Arsène Wenger would have replaced Jacques Santini as France’s national coach. “He would be the perfect choice but he is light years away from the job,” Simonet said. “There’s no way we could get him, not only because of his club but also because of his salary.” Santini was paid a basic annual salary of £300,000 and Raymond Domenech, the new coach who was promoted from his post as Under-21 boss on the sixth anniversary of France winning the 1998 World Cup, will earn the same. “For me it’s not a question of money,” said Domenech. “I work for the federation and have done for the past 11 years. They’re just offering me a different post.”

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Expectations were low for Colombians Once Caldas going into July's Copa Libertadores final. Jake Lagnado explains how they pulled off one of the biggest shock in South American football history

When Colombia’s Once Caldas beat Boca Juniors 2-0 on penalties in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final on July 1, it wasn’t just the quality of both sides’ penalties that shocked South Americans. Few had expected a team who in just two previous attempts had never made it past the first round, to beat the illustrious victors of three of the past four finals. Boca manager Carlos Bianchi was so aggrieved he did not even lead his team up the podium afterwards claiming unconvincingly that he was so used to winning he was unaware that losing teams got medals too.

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