When the World Cup ended, many thought Japanese football would slump but, as Justin McCurry reports, the exact opposite has happened
Strange things are happening at Gamba Osaka. It isn’t just that the perennial underachievers are closer than ever to winning J-League honours; they are doing so in front of crowds not seen since the heady days of the league’s launch ten years ago.
Former Belgium goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff now has his own reality TV show, much in the mould of The Osbournes, which John Chapman has watched
The Art Nouveau gates swing open to a soundtrack reminiscent of Dynasty and Dallas. We’re already thinking JR. The characters are introduced: Nicolas and Debbie on the tennis court, Sam and Kelly by the pool, “Bompa” pouring himself another drink and Lyndsey jumping out of a 4×4. There’s Jean-Marie checking the financial news, while his loyal wife Carmen keeps an eye on what’s cooking in the American-style kitchen. But this is no soap. It’s The Pfaffs, Flemish TV’s answer to The Osbournes, and it’s a massive success.
There is a new management team at Sunderland and Joe Boyle looks at how their coaching qualifications might fair in comparison to findings from a recent book
“Preparation, practice and training.” This is Howard Wilkinson’s way. After that, you’ll get some flair. As the Stadium of Light mustered one final groan at the end of Wilkinson’s first game in charge at Sunderland, the 1-0 defeat against West Ham, it was clear his players were set for a large dose of preparation, practice and training. Give me time, Wilkinson said afterwards. But, as Chris Green’s new book The Sack Race makes clear, time is something managers don’t have. Fifteen months is the average tenure in a job which, in Green’s account, offers long nights, sapping journeys up Britain’s motorways and the inevitable chop from a scapegoat-hunting boardroom.
Despite the shocking racial discrimination experienced in Bratislava, the FA do not have the right to start pointing fingers when it comes to the issue of racism
Imagine you’re a Football Association official. In the space of a couple of weeks you will have experienced two very different attitudes towards race prejudice. In Bratislava for England’s Euro 2004 qualifier with Slovakia, you will have seen and heard a large section of the crowd, the middle-aged people with their children in the expensive seats as well as the skinhead nationalists, join in abusive chants aimed at black England players. The following week, you might have attended a “Kick Racism Out of Football” event at an English League ground where you will have seen the crowd applaud the anti-ra-cism banners carried around the pitch by teams of schoolchildren.
Tuesday 1 “We’re in the qualification comfort zone,” says Sir Alex, lolling in his hammock after a 4-0 win over Olympiakos. Newcastle lose again, 2-0 at Juventus, though they have a goal wrongly disallowed for offside when one down. Sir Bobby isn’t sure whether he’s given up yet: “It’s almost impossible, but we won’t say that at the moment.” Oxford Utd make the headlines in the Worthington Cup, beating Charlton on penalties after a goalless draw at The Valley. West Ham are also taken to spotkicks, finally beating Chesterfield 4-3. Sunderland treble their goals tally for the season in winning 7-0 at Cambridge. The FA are to investigate a “throat-cutting” gesture made by Eyal Berkovic to a Man City fan who had allegedly been barracking him during the team’s 3-2 win over Crewe.