Book reviews

In the first month of 2002 the turnover of managers has shown no sign of slowing down. Andy Lyons meets Bruce Rioch, whose former clubs Derby and Aston Villa have both contributed to the upheaval this year, and he explains his philosophy and reflects on the growing pressure for quick results

When you first go into a club as a manager, do you generally have an idea of how long it will take to do what you think needs to be done?
One of the first things you talk about at a job interview is the length of the contract. Usually it’s two or three years. It’s rarely a five-year deal. If someone offers you two years and it’s a club in the south and you live in the north you might think twice about having to uproot. I’d like to say to a chairman: “What’s your ambition? Let’s look at what you want to achieve.” It might just be staying in Division One or the Premiership. You don't often go in and get the chance to build a club the way you’d want to.

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In the latest of our series on local rivalries, David Harrison attempts to convince the sceptics that Watford v Luton is as bitter and passionate as they come

Yeah, OK. It’s not exactly The Old Firm, but believe me, it all gets pretty agitated around these parts. It’s a rivalry with no name, which frustrates the hell out of the headline-besotted press. To such a degree that they tried dubbing it, pathetically, “The M1 Derby”.  Just like Arsenal v Leeds then.

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When it comes to the manager's job, clubs are rarely in doubt whether they should, as Ron Atkinson would say, stick or twist. But would it make sense to hold their nerve when things go wrong? Joe Boyle has gives his opinion on his club Sunderland

Peter Reid’s Sunderland career is in the balance. That’s if you believe internet polls: a recent one had just over 50 per cent of the 5,000 votes demanding Reid’s head. Questioned about the poll, Reid was unruffled. Criticism came with the territory, he said, and people should not forget the degree of success he had brought the club. Internet-savvy he probably isn’t, but there’s noth­ing wrong with his sense of history.

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As Alex McLeish takes over at Rangers he joins an ever increasing list of departures from Easter Road to one of the Old Firm, Jill Birnie says

My first experience of seeing my team, Hibernian, being preyed upon by the Old Firm, came as a very young child when Colin Stein, the high-scoring centre-foward, was poached by Rangers. My own children are now about the same age as I was when Stein was cruelly rem­oved from my life. In the weeks since Alex McLeish departed to become Rangers man­ager they have gone through the complete spec­­trum of emotion that I went through back in the days of black and white television. Why us again? Why can’t they leave us alone? I made the reassuring noises to them, the very ones that my own father had made to me.

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Mark Tallentire looks at the Everton board's move against racist chants by their away fans that brought shame on the club

As if Walter Smith did not have enough to do in deciding which member of his squad to play out of position next, the Everton manager had to find time in the run-up to Christmas to make a statement about the racist behaviour of more than a few of the club’s travelling fans.

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