Book reviews

Two decades after another publishing tycoon tried to sell the club, John Madejski's Reading have finally made the top flight, to the delight of Roger Titford and the surprise of the bookmakers

We have been sitting on an ever-plumper cushion since December – of five points, 15 points, 25 points – at the top of the Championship, warmed by unprecedentedly kind words from the rest of football and marinating in our own smugness. Not only has our title-winning season been perfect, it has also been quite unexpected – a 25-1 shot at the bookies.

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Sheffield United are back in the Premiership, led there by one of the game's most outspoken managers. Pete Green examines the enigmatic and anagrammatical Neil Warnock

It has been said many times in recent weeks that there are no suitably qualified English managers to take charge of the national team. Yet one such man has 20 years of managerial experience in England and has won promotion six times at a series of different clubs, building an unparalleled knowledge of the game in this country along the way, and in the search for Sven’s successor his name has never once been mentioned. What do you mean, you don’t want Neil Warnock to do it?

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Swansea's latest big-match success was against Carlisle. But, to the frustration of Huw Richards, as always a fixation with near-neighbours overshadowed the victory

Fans chanting ecstatically. Players cavorting triumphantly on the pitch. You know the routine, seen anywhere someone is celebrating the attainment of some prize – a cup, promotion, or maybe survival.

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Ashley Shaw visits the theatre to watch I, Keano

In I, Keano, an at times hilarious play about the Ireland legend’s bust-up with national coach Mick McCarthy in the lead up to the 2002 World Cup, the former Manchester United captain has inspired the ultimate musical tribute to a career that has been frequently heroic and psychotic in equal measure. Of course, the play is not specifically about the 2002 World Cup at all.

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The Riverside Stadium could soon have a shiny new neighbour. But, as Daniel Gray explains, not everyone is convinced that a casino is what Middlesbrough needs

With the exception of signing Michael Ricketts, Middlesbrough have seldom been accused of gambling in Steve McClaren’s four-and-a-half-year tenure. Indeed, the football often displayed by Boro has been so cautious that few would have been surprised had McClaren erected a set of triangular yellow signs forbidding his midfielders from crossing the halfway line next to the home dug-out.

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