Search: ' Latvia'

Ken Gall argues that the demise of the home internationals left Scotland chasing irrelevant targets such as the World Cup

With Björn Borg-style skinny-fit tracksuits and Go­la trainers in the shops, and Planet of the Apes set to be the summer’s hit movie, surely all we need to complete a nostalgia-fest for jaded thirty-somethings is the return of the home internationals. For Scots fans of that age, the memories linger: Brian Moore in the commentary box with Sir Alf; male relatives drinking cans of beer in the afternoon around the television; the Hampden roar; the offensive chants about Jimmy Hill.

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Gary Johnson was sacked as Latvia coach after a draw with San Marino. Daunis Auers explains what he was doing there in the first place 

Gerijs Dzonsons (or Gary Johnson as the English spelling would have it) bounced into Latvian football at the tail end of yet another doomed campaign for the national side, a respectable but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to qualify for Euro 2000. Johnson offered a colourful contrast to the grey, dour Soviet negativity of Revaz Dzodzashvilli, his Georgian predecessor, with his bubbly, upbeat, chirpy cockney (I could go on, but I think you know what I’m driving at) demeanour that had never been seen in Latvian football, or, come to that, anywhere in Latvia.

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Sunday 1 Blackburn move into the second promotion spot in the First Division with a 5-0 thrashing of Burnley, prompting Graeme Souness to issue a warning: “We’ll be treating every fixture like it’s the last game of our lives.” After a 1-0 home defeat by Wolves, Birmingham’s sights are now set no higher the play-offs, where they could yet be joined by Sheffield United, who win their local derby, 2-1 at Hillsborough. Leicester’s European hopes fade with a 2-0 defeat at Charlton, but Peter Taylor has identified the problem: “We are missing a footballer.”

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John Beck's return to Cambridge has delighted some but disgusted others. Simon Knott explains why there is such a difference in opinion

And so, he’s back. The man who gave us our proudest moments as Cambridge United fans returns under a cloud, albeit someone else’s. John Beck’s reappearance in the Cambridge hot seat has been greeted with a few gasps of horror and revulsion. These have mainly come from younger fans, brought up on Roy McFarland’s gentle arm-round-the-shoulders dressing room diplomacy, as well as the horror stories of their parents; there are mums on Ditton Fields who still threaten their naughty children with what Beck might do to them.

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Life has been tough for the independent countries that grew out of the olf Soviet Union. Kevin O'Flynn  tracks the progress of the smaller republics in the latest qualifiers

In 1988, the soviet union’s football team was more or less at its peak, reaching the final of the European Championships. Unfortunately for them, it was more or less the only part of the country that still functioned as well. When the Union broke up ten years ago no one realised how badly afffected the new republics would be. The lack of decent competition – think what would happen if the Premiership were split into 15 regional leagues – was bad enough, but the economic collapse of most of the republics meant that most decent foot­ballers could not earn a proper wage.

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