Reviews from When Saturday Comes. Follow the link to buy the book from Amazon.
Neil White on the pros and cons of UEFA's plans for football's future pitches
When an irate Gerry Collins launched into a vitriolic rant at a post-match press conference last week, it had nothing to do with his Partick Thistle side’s insipid performance in their defeat by Dunfermline. Collins’ ire was directed exclusively at Dunfermline Athletic’s new artificial pitch – UEFA’s view of football’s future.
Harry Pearson reads two new books about David Beckham and is none the wiser about anything – except that there is nothing about Beckham to become wiser about
What can you say about David Beckham that hasn’t been said already? Well, OK then, apart from that he is an ugly waster with a great left foot and a string of failed relationships? Ever since Gazza imploded and Becks began to replace Ryan Giggs as the football cover boy of choice, we have been bombarded not so much with information about the midfielder as interpretations of him. Who Beckham is has been submerged under what he means.
Chris Taylor argues that all David Beckham had to do to become universally popular in England was to stop playing for Manchester United
The reason Real Madrid bought David Beckham was obvious to everyone. World domination. Those crafty swine from the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu weren’t content with their European monopoly, they wanted the rest of the world. And so to help promote their tour of south-east Asia, they bought David Beckham.
Reading fan Roger Titford believes that, far from going on to greater things, by leaving for West Ham Alan Pardew has turned his back on a chance to really make his name
“West Ham swoop for Reading’s Alan Pardew.” It seemed a clear enough story for the media: swoop, birds of prey, tasty morsels seized, law of the jungle and all that. Except, this time, the prey fought back and, for a few days, a “mouse bites eagle” story looked possible.
Glenn Hoddle will remain a Tottenham legend, believes Adam Powley, but was undone as a manager by the faults he was always said to possess yet never would admit
Tottenham fans now have two things to thank Glenn Hoddle for. A decade of sublime football guarantees his place among the club’s most cherished sons. And, briefly, the club led the back pages again. For fans increasingly desperate to see their side regain its lustre, such dubious comforts are strangely welcome.