Reviews from When Saturday Comes. Follow the link to buy the book from Amazon.
An assessment of the likely winners and losers in Scotland in 1997/98 – no prizes for guessing the former
ABERDEEN
Keith Davidson
How will your team do this season? With Celtic having a complete shake-up over the close season, perhaps second, although the general view from the Scottish press is fourth.
A fans' preview of the Scotland's Division One season
AIRDRIE
Jim Milton
How will your team do? Well we made the playoffs last season when nobody fancied us, so the same again must be within our grasp. Much will depend on manager Alex MacDonald’s close season activities.
Most important figure? With the club about to return to its roots with the opening of our new stadium, chairman David Smith’s role in relaunching the Diamonds within the community will be crucial.
New piece of merchandise? A Johnny Martin goalkeeping doll that burps, farts and swings on a replica crossbar.
Change to matchday environment? Bring back the target golf or referee/goalie mime troupe which proved so popular years ago at Bloomfield, and dump all these pointless mascots.
Doug Stenhouse offers his predictions for the forthcoming season
Imagine a club in your league makes up a new rule to dissolve the competition as it stands and form a new league expelling five clubs. Imagine all the clubs are circulated with the proposal except the five to be expelled. Couldn’t happen? It has happened before: this is exactly what Glasgow Rangers tried to do in Scotland at the end of 1965-66. The five were Stranraer, Albion Rovers, Berwick Rangers, Stenhousemuir and Brechin. Only a last ditch court room battle and intense lobbying by Berwick chairman George Shiel won the day. A costly result for Rangers as two years later they lost to lowly Berwick in the Scottish Cup.
Tottenham fans once adored Teddy Sheringham, but Adam Powley reflects upon the awful reception he got when he returned to White Hart Lane with Manchester United
“Tormentors”, “enemies” and, according to Radio 5 Live’s Peter Drury, “mindless supporters”. Just a few of the accusations levelled at Spurs fans by the media following Teddy Sheringham’s acrimonious return to White Hart Lane. Over reams of newsprint and hours of broadcasting time devoted to reporting Tottenham’s first home defeat of the season, radio, TV, press and even players predictably focussed on the treatment that the fans meted out to Sheringham. And once again, they got it wrong.
WSC readers and fanzine editors weight up the season to come
BIRMINGHAM
John Tandy
How will your team do next season? At best mid table; at worst it’ll end in tears.
Who will be the single most important person at your club? Probably the combination of owners and the Chief Executive. The names of the club and the stadium are up for sale, so by the time you read this I may well be watching Atletico Notcutts Garden Centre at the Bordesley Family Butchers Stadium (except if that ever happens, I won’t be). There’s money at the club, but it still has to be spent astutely.
If you had to come up with a new piece of merchandise to sell at the club shop what would it be? A Mark McGhee dartboard would sell like hot cakes.
Which player at your club most divides the home support and why? Probably, I’m afraid, Paul Furlong. There are those who say that he’s workshy, ineffective and inadequate – and there are those that really don’t like him at all.
What one thing would you most like to change about the matchday environment? I’d quite like the football to be more interesting.