The Half Decent Football Magazine http://www.wsc.co.uk Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:05:55 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.wsc.co.uk/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.wsc.co.uk The Half Decent Football Magazine http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8262/38/ 5 February ~ Nobody should be surprised that Italian stadiums are so empty these days after the events behind this round of midweek Serie A and Serie B matches. Six of the 21 fixtures were postponed; four in Serie A. Only two, at Bologna and Modena, could be attributed directly to adverse weather conditions. The others, at Siena, Parma, Sampdoria and Bergamo, highlighted the inadequacy of Italian stadiums in 2012. The pitches were all playable but the games were postponed due to a combination of snow-covered terraces in obsolete stadiums that date to 1920s and blocked access to games on the roads. WSC Daily - February 2012 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:07:59 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8261/38/ 5 February ~ Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), the pinnacle of the women's football pyramid in America, announced it was suspending its 2012 season on Monday. The intention is to resume the league in 2013. The news has implications for both the American and Great Britain teams ahead of the 2012 Olympics, and, in the longer term, for the survival of professional women's football in the USA. The suspension comes as the costs of a lengthy legal battle with franchise owner Dan Borislow threaten to do irreparable harm to the league. WSC Daily - February 2012 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:45:38 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8259/38/ 4 February ~ West Ham United play hosts to Millwall today for the first time since 2009’s infamous League Cup tie, when the home fans ran riot both on and off the pitch. An early kick-off plus a scandalously small ticket allocation for away supporters was supposedly designed to prevent any possible repeat of those scenes. It appears to have had the opposite effect, with rumours of Millwall fans threatening to turn up on the day in the hope of gaining entrance to the ground or buying tickets for the home end. Only five days ago Sky announced they would be showing the game – apparently on the request of the police. WSC Daily - February 2012 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:21:27 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8260/38/ 4 February ~ Earlier this season, after Doncaster Rovers went down 2-0 at the Madejski Stadium, a fellow fan said to me Can we not just take these Reading games out of the fixture list, give them the six points and do something else on these dates? The Biscuitmen are Doncaster's bogey side. Rovers have taken just one point from their seven meetings since the two sides were reunited in the second tier. It is a foreboding fixture at any time, let alone in the week when your top scorer and talisman has moved on to pastures new. WSC Daily - February 2012 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:32:13 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8257/38/ 3 February ~ Winning Ugly is a tennis manual written by former tour pro Brad Gilbert in which he explains how to achieve success even when hampered by a lack of ability or form simply by focusing on clear strategy and resolve to defeat an opponent. Gilbert would doubtless be wringing his hands in frustration at the current Manchester City squad, who, despite having no shortage of talent, are finding the art of grinding out the difficult win when not at their best a major stumbling block to their title aspirations. WSC Daily - February 2012 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:32:52 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8258/38/ 3 February ~ In a blog for the Independent, Alex Hochuli has explained that the 74 deaths at a football match in Port Said on Wednesday night were not just the tragic result of another football disaster. He argues that it would be a mistake to simply treat the events as another in a long line of football catastrophes, in which lazy or corrupt officials fail to provide security. The causes of the violence are much broader. Politics has impacted heavily on other aspects of life in post-revolution Egypt. Since last year's uprising, political stability and security have deteriotated in the Arab world's most populous country. This disaster needs to be understood in a wide politcal context. To read the blog click here (http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/02/02/the-fight-over-the-port-said-football-narrative-has-already-begun/). WSC Daily - February 2012 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:58:03 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8251/38/ 2 February ~ Our City Our Team is the statement that greets readers logging onto York City’s official website. Sadly it seems inevitable that in the near future these sentiments will no longer be appropriate. After nearly 80 years of calling Bootham Crescent home, a planning application has been submitted to the council that would see City move to a new home three miles out of town, on the site of the Monks Cross shopping centre. Bootham Crescent, situated in the terraced streets of Bootham just a wayward free-kick away from the bustle of the city centre, is no longer wanted by the club’s directors due to its lack of corporate facilities and inability to provide income away from match days. WSC Daily - February 2012 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:25:06 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8252/38/ 2 February ~ It would be understandable if Vladimir Weiss, who quit his job as coach of Slovakia this week by mutual consent , reflected that he had become a victim of his own standards. Three and a half years ago Weiss took on a team that had become a target of ridicule after losing a Euro 2008 qualifier 5-2 at home to Wales. He proceeded to guide them to the top of their World Cup qualification group, earning a rare win over neighbours the Czech Republic in the process. In South Africa, a thrilling victory over the World Cup holders Italy sent the Slovaks through to the last 16. WSC Daily - February 2012 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:16:19 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8254/38/ 2 February ~ Chile is an unpredictable place, epitomised by the desert city of Antofagasta ( Anto is Spanish for opposite, while fagasta can be loosely translated as Reeaally? ). The club's crest refers to the constant state of alert locals are in when disposing domestic refuse and recycling. It is not unknown for residents and council employees to be surprised by a white panther rearing up at them from inside wheelie-bins. Grown to excessive size by feasting on human detritus, these scavenging behemoths were responsible for the phenomenon of mob recycling , in which armed parties of up to 30 neighbours separated their glass, paper and card accompanied by a priest and a doctor. Deportes Antofagasta have used this terrifying image to suggest Dormant Menace, which, coincidentally, is pretty much Andy Carroll's role in the current Liverpool side. Read more (content/view/8253/33/) WSC Daily - February 2012 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:03:25 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8250/38/ Premier League – More Merseyside misery for ManciniRoberto Mancini's frustrations continued on Tuesday night, when they lost 1-0 to Everton. The Italian manager has never won in Liverpool, despite leading his teams to the city six times since February 2008, when his Inter side were beaten at Anfield in the Champions League. It is bemusing, then, that Mancini has admitted he took the game too lightly, particularly considering that City have won only once in 14 visits to Goodison Park since 1993. The defeat leaves City ahead of Manchester United on goal difference, while Everton have climbed to ninth. WSC Daily - February 2012 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:31:55 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8249/38/ In today's Reappraisal Ed Wilson proposes that, if you look past his bitter demeanour, Gordon Strachan is a decent managerGordon Strachan is probably one of British football's most quoted people. When asked by a journalist for a quick word , he famously replied Velocity . This quotability is, in fragrance terms, The Essence of Strachan: while other managers are noted for being charismatic, beleaguered, or defiant, he is quintessentially pithy. WSC Daily - Reappraisal Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:07:07 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8247/38/ 31 January ~ Last week the Bundesliga announced a record high revenue for its 18 clubs during the 2010-11 season, with a turnover of almost €2 billion (£1.7bn) and an overall profit of €52.5 million. On the same day, UEFA revealed that more than half of its top 650 clubs lost money during 2010, despite the threat of exclusion from European competitions under its looming financial fair play regulations. What is Germany doing right that the rest of Europe is doing wrong? WSC Daily - January 2012 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:02:04 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8248/38/ With Harry Redknapp in the news at the moment, we took a flick through his autobiography and found the following passage, where Redknapp talks about signing the striker Carl Richards for Bournemouth. An incredulous Redknapp was shocked to discover the player didn't know he had to pay income tax.Carl turned out to be a massive success for us. Opposing defences couldn't handle him. But off the field he didn't have a clue. The first week he got paid he came to my office and accused me of fiddling him. You told me I'd be getting £250 a week but I'm only getting £190, he complained. That's your tax and stuff, I said.He looked at me accusingly. You didn't tell me anything about this. That's your income tax, I said, amazed. Everyone in the country has to pay it. When you went to work before you joined us you must have paid tax, didn't you? Page 74 of Harry Redknapp: My Autobiography published in 1998 by CollinsWillow WSC Daily - January 2012 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:31:40 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8245/38/ FA Cup ~ Crawley continue to defy their league placeIt has almost stopped becoming a shock for Crawley Town to knock higher-league opposition out of the cups. They dispatched Derby County in the FA Cup third round last season and have now eliminated two Championship clubs this season. They beat Bristol City and then, this Saturday, Hull City 1-0 to advance to the fifth round for the second successive season. The investment in the squad and behaviour of manager Steve Evans – whose assistant was sent to the stands on Saturday – has made them unpopular, but their success is hardly likely to upset Crawley fans. The club will host Stoke City in the next round. WSC Daily - January 2012 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:55:24 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/8246/38/ Equatorial Guinea midfielder Narcisse Ekanga takes diving to a new level.BJbSxMt7oH8 WSC Daily - January 2012 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:01:37 +0100