The new WSC is out now, available from all good newsagents or dispatched on the day of order from the WSC shop. Including:
Is racism a problem off the pitch too?
Role model Rio Ferdinand is public property
Keeping in touch on Saturdays at 3pm
Islam Feruz's contentious move from Celtic
Jorge Mendes cleans up in the Spanish transfer window
Legal objections to Liverpool's breakaway
Centre-halves take a tactical step backwards
Africa's big guns miss out on Cup of Nations 2012

In this issue:

Men out of time McClaren and Eriksson
"After the initial shock and subsequent debate across the city of Nottingham, the appointment of Steve McClaren as Forest manager in the summer made a sort of perverse sense. After all, both club and new manager had a lot to prove. For the former, the opportunity to replace the moaning, awkward Billy Davies with someone who has sat at the right hand of Alex Ferguson was an irresistible punt. For the latter, the opportunity to return to a club seething with the potential to get back to where they seemingly belonged was an obvious shortcut to expunging memories of holding an umbrella and looking helpless. As a friend pointed out: 'Forest have gone from having the best manager England never had to the worst manager they did have.'" Buy here to read the full article

Brighton & Hove Albion 0, Hull City 0
No goals, but much excitement
"The first professional football match I ever attended was just over 40 years ago in September 1971. A treat for my ninth birthday, en route back from a late summer holiday at the Golden Sands Chalet Park in Withernsea. It was at Hull City, as it happens, at the old Boothferry Park. In later years, with Kwik Save and Iceland stores embedded into its queasy, dirty yellow structure, it cut a grim spectacle indeed (it was home to Hull until 2002) but back then, to my young eyes, it was a veritable Humberside Xanadu, wreathed in the alluring odour of fried onions, a mass plumage of hats and scarves, the floodlights towering with Wellesian awe like gigantic alien overlords at all four corners of the stadium." Buy here to read the full article

Golden balls From Matthews to Messi
"In Paris three years ago, after Cristiano Ronaldo became the fourth Manchester United player to win the Ballon d'Or presented by France Football magazine, Alex Ferguson was asked which Old Trafford legends he considered unlucky not to have lifted the prize. 'Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs,' he replied. No Roy Keane? No David Beckham? Ferguson's wrong side is a lonely place to be. At first glance, the list of winners of football's most prestigious individual honour since 1956 is notable for some glaring omissions. Diego Maradona's exploits at Napoli went unrecognised. Romário's Barcelona years were ignored. But prior to 1995 only European players were eligible for the prize." Buy here to read the full article

Future fandom Choose your kid's team wisely
"A colleague at work, drawn and tired, complained to me recently that he doesn't want his son to grow up supporting his team. Their performances have been so shameful and the management of the club has been so dire that he would be ashamed to pass on such a legacy. I looked at him for a second, then laughed in his face. He supports Arsenal. But it's a dilemma we all face. When our children reach the age where bullies, those active agents of Darwinism, start to single out from the herd those with sticking-out ears, or not-quite-brand-new trainers, or parents who thought Astro-Hercules was an excellent name for a small boy, it is only natural to want to give the spiteful bastards as little ammunition as possible. And so, we fathers decide if we really wish to inflict our own woes on our poor, innocent children." Buy here to read the full article

Plus
Lancaster City host Halifax in the FA Cup
West Ham should reconsider their Olympic move
Coventry v Colchester, 1964. Jimmy Hill wins Division Three on goal average
Hillsborough campaign latest; Plymouth takeover; elite player prices; Scotland's Euro let-down; Man City's empire expands
European Clubs unite to take on FIFA; Champagne could catch up with Blatter
Ancona fans unite to rescue their club
Peace, politics and prizes in Georgia
Paraguay draw moans from fans
Sky wins as pub landlady beats Premier League
Alvechurch and Oxford City play for the longest tie in FA Cup history
The three sides of Andy Morrison; tramp's tale; Fred Keenor's Cup; bossy Scots

Availability
WSC is the only nationally available independent football magazine in the UK, and you can get it monthly for a very reasonable £2.95. You should be able to find a copy in your local newsagent, otherwise outlets that stock WSC include WH Smith, mainline train stations plus selected Tescos. If you're having trouble finding the magazine, you could do one of the following:

1. Ask your local newsagent to order it for you
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3. Subscribe now
4. Buy the latest issue direct from WSC
5. Sign up for our digital edition

Photo by Simon Gill, illustration by Tim Bradford

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