Book reviews

Premiership superstars swap cubs for millions but down in the lower divisions the picture is rather different. Tom Findlay reports from the twilight world of pre-season trialists

In the summer months, when football is supposed to take a break, thousands of ‘free agents’ trawl around the smaller playing fields of England desperate to find a club. Loanees, refugees and YTSs trying to fulfil their dream. It’s not a pretty business. Cambridge United, who have spent the last two seasons bobbing round the nether regions of Division 3, played some twenty games through August featuring a small army of trialists. The first game of the shopping season featured 22 players the club had never seen before – none survived.

Read more…

Peter Taylor's appointment as England Under-21 manager caught many people off guard. Mark Winter explains why Dover's loss could be England's gain

If I were a follower of a moderate Premiership club, I might have expected it. I’m en route to an away game, listening to Radio 5 Live, when the bombshell is dropped. We’ve just lost our manager, on the eve of a new season, to the FA, where he'll be taking over responsibility for the England U-21 side.

Read more…

Boyd Hilton explains why the manner in which Bruce Rioch was removed from his job came as no surprise to Arsenal supporters

I’m almost starting to enjoy the daily stream of conjecture and rumour surrounding Arsenal. Only a few years ago life was this exciting for fans of Tottenham, these days a model of stability on and off the pitch. My guess is that all this talk of an ‘Arsenal crisis’ will soon be forgotten, though that doesn’t excuse the bizarre behaviour of the Arsenal board. 

Read more…

Harry Pearson looks at Sir John Hall's role in both the football club and city of Newcastle

A few years ago I met the former chairman of a First Division club. I tried vainly to engage him in conversation about the game. After a while he confessed that he wasn’t particularly interested in it. “Why did you go through all the bother of becoming a chairman then?” I asked. “Because it is the most exclusive club in England,” the chairman replied. I eyed him quizzically. “Look,” the chairman explained, “There are hundreds of lords, aren’t there? Hundreds of MPs and Bishops, but there are only 92 Football League chairmen.”

Read more…

Cliff Grantham explains why Portsmouth's penniless owners were only too happy to seek help from a man with financial problems of his own

There can be few better ways to diffuse an explosive situation than to announce that a former England manager is to take over the running of your club. Indeed, short of beating Sir John Hall to Alan Shearer’s signature, Martin Gregory could not have hoped to pull off a more impressive or audacious coup.

Read more…