Book reviews

A German’s view of our beautiful game
by Raphael Honigstein
Yellow Jersey, £11.99
Reviewed by Mike Ticher
From WSC 274 December 2009 

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Psychoanalysing national character is “a murky business”, says Raphael Honigstein, a German journalist who has lived in England since 1993. It certainly is, especially when your picture of the nation is a caricature. An unflattering view from an outsider is often unsettling. It can also be refreshing and challenging, but only if the insights are original. Honigstein has absorbed a lot about English football through direct experience and its literature (he leans heavily on David Winner and David Downing), but most of his conclusions seem to me exaggerated, too broad or half-truths, at best.

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Paul Joyce reflects on the tragic death of German goalkeeper Robert Enke and examines football's poor record when it comes to helping players with mental illness

Unlike many of today's players, people felt like they genuinely knew Robert Enke. An ambassador for children's heart charities and anti-fur campaigns, the German national goalkeeper embodied a new generation who rejected the combative machismo of Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann in favour of an unspectacular integrity. Yet it turned out that no one knew Robert Enke at all, not even his Hannover 96 team-mates. "You learn over time how to trick the media," he once said, tellingly. "You talk a lot, but say nothing."

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With their big-spending years over and Champions League place under threat, Rangers' future looks grim, says Neil Forsyth

Well at least we now know what was behind Rangers’ most recent insistence that they will soon leave the SPL behind, seeking greater riches in England or the ludicrous proposition of an Atlantic League (a strange set-up involving clubs from “second tier” nations such as Portugal and the Netherlands). No sooner had any observers still paying attention wearily worked through statements such as Rangers chief executive Martin Bain’s declaration that Rangers would be out of Scottish football “within ten years”, then the real motivation for this latest attempt to escape to a bigger TV deal became clear.

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Rangers and Celtic have once again hinted that they could leave the SPL. Keith Davidson thinks it might be for the best

This autumn, Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell and Rangers equivalent Martin Bain once again raised the issue of their clubs quitting Scottish football for more financially lush pastures – England or a North Atlantic League involving sides from the Netherlands and elsewhere.

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James Appell looks at Arsenal's struggles with their former ground, now echoing to marketing rather than crowds

On September 24, Arsène Wenger took an afternoon off from fielding questions about Emmanuel Adebayor’s goal celebrations, Eduardo’s lack of balance and such like, and headed down to the site of the old Highbury Stadium. There, lining up alongside a team of other Arsenal greats – Bob Wilson, Frank McLintock, George Graham and, er, Perry Groves – he cut the ribbon to formally open Highbury Square, a new housing development built on the site.

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