Reviews from When Saturday Comes. Follow the link to buy the book from Amazon.
Steve Westby examines the financial difficulties that have surrounded Notts County in recent years
Notts County have had a record 14 relegations in their history and have now set another benchmark. On August 12 the club had been in administration for an unprecedented 421 days, surpassing the record previously held by QPR. Meanwhile they are still under threat of expulsion from the League.
Phil Town explains why Bolton should be wary of the arrival of a talented Brazilian
Bolton fans will be hoping that new signing Mário Jardel can repeat the goalscoring feats that made him a star in the Portuguese league but without the attendant problems off the pitch.
Ron Hamilton tells the story of the player that never was
A summer without football is a long, drawn-out affair for everyone. For Leeds, true to form, it’s been more than a little depressing. With the legacy of Publicity Pete’s gross financial mismanagement still hanging over the club, fans have had to come to terms with a new era of parsimony at Elland Road. Thus denied the usual pre-season fun of transfer speculation (discounting the “who’s Harry’s boyhood club this week?” affair) there has precious little to do, save for the ceremonial burning of Bernie Mandic wickermen on the Headrow every second Wednesday.
As he has a contact book that reads like George W Bush's most-wanted list, Giovanni di Stefano's decision to take over Dundee has raised some eyebrows, including those of Ken Gall
The arrival of Giovanni di Stefano on the board of directors at Dundee FC marks, depending on one’s viewpoint, either a slightly sinister turn of events for Scottish football or a unique opportunity for a provincial club to match, if not surpass, the Old Firm in financial clout. (A third possibility – that Di Stefano is in the process of perfecting some kind of alternative comedy routine – cannot be ruled out, as we shall see.)
Neil Warnock’s love of Sheffield United has received plenty of publicity but the Wednesday are currently managed by a fan, too. Chris Turner has the job of rescuing the former Premiership regulars from Division Two and talks to Al Needham about how he plans to do it in these difficult times
Managers who have been successful elsewhere have struggled at Hillsborough. Was there a particular set of circumstances that made it a difficult place to succeed?
Very much so. Terry Yorath, Peter Shreeves and Paul Jewell were battling against the financial position. They had a lot of players signed during the Premiership days on high salaries who wouldn’t or couldn’t be moved on. From what I’ve heard from Terry and Paul, a number weren’t interested in playing or training. The difficulties they had were insurmountable. Peter Shreeves inherited a squad of players who had three years on their contracts who weren’t doing the business. While managers came and went, these players stayed. I was in the fortunate position of coming in at a time when something like 14 players were out of contract. So I didn’t have the worry of having to move these players on. That doesn’t mean the problem of high salaries has gone – we still have players here on high wages, certainly too high for Second Division football.