Reviews from When Saturday Comes. Follow the link to buy the book from Amazon.
Ben Lyttleton explains why Marco van Basten, back in football after years away, has the pedigree to become the next great Dutch coach
Marco van Basten will end his ten-year exile from football later this year when he completes his coaching qualifications and all the signs are that he will be a more successful boss than his former Milan team-mates Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard.
Dave Espley describes how quirks of geography and fluctuating fortunes on the field have left Stockport fans struggling to find a long-lasting rivalry of note
Oh, to have a natural rival. You followers of teams which share their town or city with another club don’t know you’re born. Despite a population approaching 300,000, the Stockport public can hardly find it in themselves to support one team, let alone two, with the result that County fans, over the years, have had a number of rivalries, based on various esoteric reasons.
Although they have another season in the top flight secured, Manchester City could be in for a troublesome summer in the boardroom. Ian Farrell investigates
With an aggregate derby win helping to ensure Premiership survival before the spring, all but the most optimistic Manchester City fans can be more than content with their return to the big time. Signing Robbie Fowler at a knockdown price to partner the low-maintenance goal machine that is Nicolas Anelka would seem to be another great plus. However, the deal’s complications have cast doubt over whether it will ultimately prove a positive or a negative for the club. Their true effect on Kevin Keegan’s relationship with David Bernstein, once the rock-solid chairman he always seems to need, is the major concern.
Terry Fenwick's reign has ended almost before it has started, leaving the Cobblers in dire straits. Rob Marshall reviews his tenure
“The team are disjointed and it’s definitely the case of the sum of the whole being LESS than all of the individuals. The embarrassing tendency to play the offside trap looks outdated and liable to fail at any time. The inevitable defeats are met with increasingly arcane management excuses.” A letter received by Northampton Town fanzine What A Load Of Cobblers after the Bristol City defeat? It could have been, but in fact it was a letter in a Pompey fanzine some years ago when former England defender Terry Fenwick was in charge there.
After initial success in the Premiership, Ipswich Town now find themselves in financial turmoil. Csaba Abrahall documents their fall from grace
“So much of football is about short-term glory which leads so often to boom and bust. We’re not about that.” So said David Sheepshanks when Gavin Barber and I interviewed him for WSC 172 on the day Ipswich secured European qualification in 2001. This kind of level-headed approach had been a feature of his chairmanship and while he continued to adopt it, the club appeared to be in safe hands. Yet today it is in administration, with debts spiralling and the team a long way short of delivering financial salvation in the form of a return to the Premiership. What on earth went wrong?