Book reviews

He may have played in white then blue, but Robbie Fowler will always be a Red to David Bendelow who has moved from shock to acceptance over his transfer

The poll on a Liverpool website sum­med it up nicely. Asked about Robbie Fowler’s move to Leeds, 28 per cent claimed it was “the end of the world” while a more reasoned 25 per cent viewed it as “sound management”. But the 47 per cent voting “Cheers la, good luck” put it best. In other words, we had seen the best of Robbie Fowler and now the decent thing was to wave him on his way and wish him well. Injuries had taken their toll and the instinctive goal-­poacher who ran amok in the mid-1990s would never be as good.

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An Englishman you’ve never heard of who carries the football hopes of a nation of one billion people? That’s Stephen Constantine, as Dan Brennan explains

If the FA’s decision to make the FIFA Pro Licence a mandatory qualification is set to send managers up and down the country scrabbling for their revision notes, one man who won’t be suffering pre-exam nerves is Stephen Constantine. On paper, at least, Con­stantine is probably the most qualified British coach around. The FIFA A Licence and Full Badge Licence already feature on a managerial CV that runs to several pages, and he expects the Pro Licence to follow. At 40 he is one of the youngest coaches to sit on the FIFA instructors’ panel and is the only Englishman.

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Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia – British coaches are everywhere, reports Gavin Willacy. And if you’ve ever wondered what happened to Gus Caesar, read on

If the current trend of importing highly talented Chinese players in to the English Premier League continues, there will soon be more Asians earning a living playing football in the UK than there will Brits in Asia. But although the number of ex-pats on the pitch in the Orient is diminishing, British coaches are still much in demand.

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In South Yorkshire fans are copying AFC Wimbledon after becoming frustrated with directors, writes Joe Quimby

Disillusioned fans of Second Division Barnsley have formed a new club, taking its inspiration from AFC Wim­bledon. AFC Barnsley announced their intention to forge ahead on their own terms, following the move made by disenfranchised supporters of the London club, because of reservations over the intentions of the Reds’ new owners.

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Bedfordshire is in shock at some dramatic upheavels, writes Neil Rose

It was all going so well. After a decade of decline, Luton Town were on the up. A high-profile manager had won promotion from the Third Division and followed it with a good season in the Second. A Luton legend was his right-hand man. The wealthy owner clearly loved the club. Then, in a dizzying week, Joe Kinnear, Mick Harford and Mike Watson-Challis all went.

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