Book reviews

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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Southampton fans live in hope, despite a poor season and the sale of Theo Walcott. Will they soon see the back of the chairman? Tim Springett looks at the potential bidders

As far as many Southampton supporters are concerned, dissatisfaction with chairman Rupert Lowe has never been far below the surface. It became a tidal wave on January 21 during a home defeat by Ipswich. Some fans occupying prominent seats opposite the directors’ box unfurled a giant banner with the simple message: “Lowe Out”. This was followed by thunderous applause all around St Mary’s Stadium together with an innovative variation on Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (the irony of which would not have been lost on Sir Clive Woodward) suggesting that the hapless chairman be swung from the nearby Itchen Bridge.

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The appointment of a famous figure from the world of rugby league has angered many at the JJB. Yuri Goffinet reports

On March 15, Wigan fans reacted with disbelief to the news that Maurice Lindsay, a famous figure in rugby league and the man who ran Wigan Warriors for many years, had managed to get himself elected on to the board of the town’s football club. To Wigan Athletic supporters, Lindsay is the propagandist supreme of rugby league, a man who took every opportunity to belittle the “soccer” club during the Eighties and Nineties. Even as recently as last season, when the Latics were in dispute with the Greater Manchester constabulary about what chairman Dave Whelan thought were extortionate policing fees, Lindsay immediately distanced himself from the controversy, pointing out that they had no such problems at the rugby. 

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Russian influence on football is not just about buying clubs, as Garry O’Connor’s move to Moscow proves. He will be the first of many from these shores, predicts Dan Brennan

The transfer of Hibernian striker Garry O’Connor to Lokomotiv Moscow has caused quite a stir. In signing a five-year deal that will make him a multimillionaire, the Scottish international has become the first Briton to play in Russia’s Premier League. Now, instead of meandering off for a midweek trip to Motherwell, he finds himself negotiating tricky away fixtures 8,000 miles down the road in Vladivostok.

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In a global game, it shouldn’t be a surprise that clubs such as Arsenal have so many foreign youngsters. But, wonders Barney Ronay, where are the youthful English expat stars?

Alan Pardew’s complaint was that not one of the Arsenal side that eliminated Real Madrid from the Champions League was born in this country. Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the PFA, was similarly exercised: “It’s not an English success. It’s tinged with disappointment. It would be more enjoyable if we saw Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell as part of it.”Alan Pardew’s complaint was that not one of the Arsenal side that eliminated Real Madrid from the Champions League was born in this country. Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the PFA, was similarly exercised: “It’s not an English success. It’s tinged with disappointment. It would be more enjoyable if we saw Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell as part of it.”

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